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Empire of Dreams on A&E last night

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Didn't watch the whole thing as I've already seen it (rented from Netflix), but it just got me thinking again. It's actually a pretty good documentary that shows how much creativity was involved with making the OOT (i.e., model work, sound FX). One of the modelers actually fondly recollects being asked for an autograph outside of Mann's Chinese Theatre after the premiere. Now.....wouldn't you think that the average moviegoer, after watching this nice nostalgic documentary, would be outraged that those original, unaltered films are no longer available? I guess not, but it's crazy to think that much of the model work and other SFX discussed in that documentary is now obselete thanks to the Special Editions (e.g., Yavin space battle). Yeah, yeah...I know this has been discussed ad nauseum but it never ceases to amaze me that more people aren't pissed off about Lucas steadfastly refusing to release the OOT on DVD.

Another interesting part from the doc (albeit not surprising) is how one of the best lines in the entire saga (Han saying "I know" before being lowered into carbon freeze in ESB) had NOTHING to do with Lucas at all. Lucas had originally written Han responding to Leia's "I love you" with "I love you, too." (how boring would that have been?) Kersh and Harrison Ford tried it and tried it and realized it wasn't working, and it was finally Harrison who came up with the line! I think Kersh even said that if Lucas were on the set that day (which he wasn't), he probably would have objected to that line. Just goes to show that alot of the best moments from the OOT had nothing to do with Lucas. As many have said, it was a collaboration. I'm so sick of the media portraying Lucas as the sole "genius" behind Star Wars, and of course he just sits back in his chair and smugly acknowledges it as if it were true.
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Yeah, but if you watch the commentary on Return of the Jedi, it almost sounds to me like Lucas is trying to take credit for the "I know" in Empire. When Leia does the "I know" in Return, Lucas says something like, "And now we have Leia saying 'I know' as well, in order to make that connection back to the previous film."

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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well, the media doesn't portray lucas as the sole "genius" behind the films...lucas does. BIG difference. there's a reason all the major media pieces on lucas are for the most part gushing: that's how you get access. the LFL PR machine is amazing at using access to control the message. always has been.

also, i don't specifically know that lucas was the man who wrote the unused "i love you, too" response...could have just as easily been Kasdan or Leigh Brackett, right? either way, i'm with kersh: i don't see lucas letting that change go by.
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Originally posted by: Max Reebo Rocks
..it's crazy to think that much of the model work and other SFX discussed in that documentary is now obselete thanks to the Special Editions...I know this has been discussed ad nauseum but it never ceases to amaze me that more people aren't pissed off about Lucas steadfastly refusing to release the OOT on DVD.

Maybe alot of people have given in to thinking there's no way to see the original film so they've just accepted that it'll soon be gone forever . Until recently, I had. The only difference was that I refused to watch the altered versions(never have, never will). I was content to keep my LD copies of the original until I could find a way to convert it - watch my VHS of the original once every few years so the tape wouldn't wear out or get damaged - and to listen to the soundtrack every few months.

It wasn't until I started to try to find someone to convert the LD to DVD for me, that I stumbled onto this site.

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I fired up my copy of it this morning. I was amazed to hear him discuss how Alan Ladd Jr. was able to "...recognize talent and ability" and how he recognized it in him and invested in him, not the SW movie.

I find GL to be quite good at promoting himself, earned or not.
Nemo me impune lacessit

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