TMBTM's "The War of the Stars"; a Star Wars "grindhouse" cut (Released) — Page 3

This looks great. Would love for someone to torrent and PM me. I have too much trouble with RS and Newsgroups

Thanks for your words, Angel. Glad you liked it :)

I don't have plans to make torrent myself (I almost don't use it anymore ) but I would not mind someone to make one.

Ripplin said:

 

Update: I just read a review by Mollo. He didn't like it. But again, like others who are saying negative things about it, I feel like they aren't "getting" it. Not the way intended, anyway.

Just a difference of opinion.  Happens all the time, no need to worry.  :)

**Spoilers in these ramblings**

I was curious how the Grindhousing of SW would play out.  Is it a phucking shithole?  Often with fan edits, there's a concept but it's not quite followed through or gets muddled in what the creator can accomplish.  For me, The Wars of the Stars works.  Mostly because the concept is strong.  Grindhouse cinema was escapism which had a twisted view point which often became synonymous with graphic depictions of violence, gore, horror and other unappealing aspects of reality.  People went to the theaters knowing they were going to see some excapist fantasy played out on the big screen.  Why kill someone yourself when you can release those emotions while watching a movie.  The Grindhouse cinema of the early/mid 70s latched onto peoples desire for this kind of somewhat pessimistic release.

...then came Star Wars.


The movie has been said to have been successful because it did bring back the positive messages people like to say they believe and follow.  So then how would TMBTM accomplish twisting one of the quintessential stand up and cheer, happy feeling movies into something more sinister and devious.  I was doubtful.

...and you're going to have to watch the edit to find out how it was done.

But for me the pay off works, quick little flicks of a few scenes here are there really modify character development, their actions and the edits in tWotS reinforce and build upon each other.  Some might see it as a compilation of viral video moments (and several of them would gain a lot of page views) but the editing choices, film visual manipulation and audio reassignment do add up to a very different movie then where TMBTM started.  TMBTM has exploited this tale for his own storytelling legacy.

Luke's development arc, is decimated to make the character the dim wit who falls for the waving hand and suggestive phrase.  He's not the winner anymore, or a looser he's 'the Used'.  All those bad feelings which used to signify the character perceiving something in the future, in tWotS the bad feelings is because something bad DID just happen, and no one seems to care.  And this is reinforced in the Awards Ceremony (with lovely new music) still cheery and full of praise but the previous actions hang over the sham spectacle.  That's Grindhousey, you're cheering for the murderer and sick inside because of it.  (and not in the Clerks kind of way, although that does apply) And that pay off is sealed with the R2 subtitles, which I found I would have liked to have seen more of.

For me tWotS also works because of the stories behind the initial screening of the original SW.  GL had shown his circle of the friends Star Wars before special effects were added.  (most seemed to not get it, one of those was Brian dePalma was making Carrie at the time, a more grindhouse like film)  How close this was to the Lost Edit before the second team started editing the movie, we'll probably never know.  This first edit most likely focused in on Luke's character growth more with the inclusion of the Tatooine cut scenes to flesh out his circumstances and relationships.  The War of the Stars brings them back as setup for the big pay off.

Even liked the kitsch of the twin sun scene which was moved (and effects added).  Great new sequence/storyline created by moving a pertinent scene to a new location where it pulls out an alternative message.  Would have thought the rest of Troops would have been shown.  The music choice really had that 70s vibe, of slow building significance in the form of a guitar durge.  And the lyrical tie in of 'seasons' resonates the point.  tWotS's Luke lacks many of the gifts as original told.  It's a devious change of character.

Technically, seeing where TMBTM started out (30s silent edition) this is a great progression of skill development.  (missed Sharksploitation Jaws)  Enjoyed almost all of the music choices and atmospheric audio additions.  (don't get the new cantina music connection)  The musical additions don't rely on one critic.  Some are there for a joke, some for atmosphere, others invoke the grindhouse era.

The Puggo 16mm restoration starting point is the perfect backdrop for the edit.  Some of the other material could have had a few more imperfections to get to the Puggo level.  (ie the Interactive Video Board game footage)

Liked the additional Vader lines, although there's been at least two short viral videos of other James Earl Jones alternative movie dialogs over DV scenes, these worked well.  Was hoping we'd see Vader's pet somewhere along the way to work one of those lines into an in edit joke.  and without all the father stuff, DV comes across as the last mystical jedi user.

Could have been more gore.  (all those Stormtroopers get blood bathed, but Chief Blast doesn't get added spectacle.  missed opportunity to reinforce a point.  [Chief Blast is a scene (modified in the Special Editions) which has been cut down to limit the 'violence' level of ANH])

For those who appreciate lo-fi, there are inclusions of many failed cut scene or blooper shots to keep you chuckling periodically.  All about tarnishing the movie people hold up on the Pedestal of Perfectitude.

Still thinking about how other characters come off in this version, Han and Leia more or less are unchanged while Ben gets reduced.

It was fun watching the movie to pay attention to what's been added/subtracted and how that changes your perception.  And there's continuous changes to work your mind around.  Would this work as a film without understanding the original Star Wars, maybe not, and that's why it's been subtitled 'A New Hope Grindhoused'.  This is probably where the majority of fan edit criticism might rely upon.  The need for the final movie to be this magical stand alone object, instead of one which builds upon the past.  They are view points in eternal conflict.  On the mystical appropriation/reuse scale, tWotS exists somewhere between The Phantom Edit and Jedi Love.

So thanks to GL and Lucasfilm for the raw materials, and fans preservation communities like OTcom with members like Sluggo and OCPmovie who have preserved, upgraded and compiled along the way, and cheers to TMBTM for putting together an interesting version of an old tale.  As someone who's tired of ""original"" entertainment this is my kind of idea of a good time.

and I watched the bonus video before watching the movie.  pwwwwwt.

Im a bit stoked that you have done this TheManBehindTheMask after seeing what you did with Jaws. Many thanks goes to p_indrail for that.

I always make a point of thanking the maker/provider for distributing it for free. 2 bad others who are very interested just grab it "semi" anonymously, then cant be arsed sharing it regardless :-(

So TMBTM, any chance we'll be seeing a grindhouse cut of Alien? If so, what titles would you consider? "The Alien Body Invader" "Alien Parasites from Planet X." Something more generic and convoluted than "Alien," more in line with the 50's-60's schlock space monster movies. We've already got a great double feature going on here with War of the Stars and Jaws Sharksploitation, but I'd love to see what's next. ;)

Timstuff said:

So TMBTM, any chance we'll be seeing a grindhouse cut of Alien? If so, what titles would you consider? "The Alien Body Invader" "Alien Parasites from Planet X." Something more generic and convoluted than "Alien," more in line with the 50's-60's schlock space monster movies. We've already got a great double feature going on here with War of the Stars and Jaws Sharksploitation, but I'd love to see what's next. ;)

The next edit will be a relative "normal" one: Peter jackson's King Kong with hopefuly the same lenght as the original 1933 one (1h40).

I use the old movie as a basis and try to use the scenes of the 2005 movie that fit the original the best. So it will not be a "full of surprises" edit this time. Maybe I could make a black and white 4:3 version if there is interest in. Still, there is already a good B&W shorter "vintage" version of King Kong, made by Gekko, at fanedit.org. But my cut will be different.

I have no plan to make another grindhouse edit for now. But who knows?

Whoa. The deleted scenes now sort of fit in now! Its amazing how changing the music gives a filum a different feel. Love the bloodshed, Koo Stark, and hearing Vader laughing gives him even more menace about him.

The bonus features top off a great experience (expecially Laisse tomber les filles, even if i suspect the lip syncing is slightly out - thats hot!).

You are a gifted editor TMBTM and i look forward to your future works...There were a couple of movies made after Star Wars following the same storyline BTW.

Thanks buckethead for the heads up, or this one might of slipped me by otherwise ;-)

Im off to view Lassie lez tumberlars files for the the umpthteen time again...

can someone PM me the rapidshare link? fanedit.info isn't working for me.

Yeah, I'd love to download a torrent. This whole rapidshare thing is a pain.

Sounds promising. Personally, what I'm looking for in a King Kong edit is one that's just plain shorter, better paced, and technically well executed. The Vintage Cut is pretty cool, but I would like to see a cut at some point that preserves most of Peter Jackson's original intention for the movie, but without the extra fat. Maybe a 2 hours + version as opposed to the bloated 3 hour original, with about 30-50 minutes being cut. You've definitely got strong technical prowess though, so I look forward to seeing what you do with King Kong, whatever that ultimately turns out to be. :)

Timstuff said:

So TMBTM, any chance we'll be seeing a grindhouse cut of Alien? If so, what titles would you consider? "The Alien Body Invader" "Alien Parasites from Planet X." Something more generic and convoluted than "Alien," more in line with the 50's-60's schlock space monster movies. We've already got a great double feature going on here with War of the Stars and Jaws Sharksploitation, but I'd love to see what's next. ;)

 Alien Sex Fiend would be a great title seeing as it basically put a bun in John Hurt's oven.

So, Finally got to watch this. I have to got to say, I really enjoyed a lot of it but I felt too much remained unchanged. The Wiliams score has really got to go, completely, for this the work, It's just too familiar and doesn't feel right. Vader is inconsistent, i LOVED the effects and most of the new dialogue but it's completely at odds with the original dialogue still included, which is mannered and reserved. I think Vader and possibly 3PO ought to be entirely redubbed. The thing is, I enjoyed the new stuff: The Cantina, the new music, the twin suns scene. But too much of it remains the same. Also, the gore was inconsistent, I think we needed to see more throughout the movie, overall I felt there was too much talking and not enough badassery. The Troops scene also needs to be cut shorter IMO and the stormtrooper needs to be redubbed or his voice needs to be modulated. I enjoyed the inclusion but it felt like it was from another movie with all the shaky cam effects and referencing the camera.

Overall, nice try. I'm not too familiar with Grindhouse movies but I get the idea, I just think you need to go further because it still feels like A New Hope a little cut up with a few cheesy scenes thrown in.

this was amazing. i agree with some of the other points and suggestions that people have made, but i think they're pretty minor and don't really detract from the overall experience. tmbtm, you totally made my day with this. thank you.

It deserves a second go.

A weird colourised day for night version of the Treadwell scene (leading to broad day light), a cheesy vocal prologue replacing the crawl.

The titles should be photographed and badly matted over the footage (the digital titles are a give away), the shaky-cam from the Troops sequences should be badly smoothed out (like it had been farmed out to a clueless third unit and given to a equally clueless post production team to try and sort out).

The red alert light is a good idea but the explosion should be bleach out the red (those sort of effects were usually done with gels on the set lights or with filters) either way the sparks before the big boom would be bright enough to still show as white.

The added noise spreading beyond the picture is also a big give away, it might have worked better if you just used Puggo's version and adjusted the rest of the footage to match.

A few added boom in shots and a lot of added duplicated and flipped shots of special effects would have been cool.

Remember these films are like drunks. The people making them aren't self-consciously making a pigs ear of the film they think they are doing a good job.

What this edit does need too is more boobs (look at Battle Beyond The Stars and ask yourself what Sybil Danning could do for this picture).

Bingowings said:

 it might have worked better if you just used Puggo's version and adjusted the rest of the footage to match.

This is exactely what I have done, I just zoomed/cropped the Puggo Grande, that's all. But I agree with your other points (specialy boobs...!)

My "workprint" featured a scene with obvious flipped shots, but I cutted the scene for the edit to be shorter.

I really loved the opening crawl going across the desert sand. I thought it was a great touch that made it feel more like a cheesy sci-fi B-movie than an epic space opera. As Bingo Wings said though, if you could get someone to read it too, that would add an extra layer of delicious cheesiness. :D

Also, RD-D2's subtitles were difficuly to read at times because they would appear on top of a light colored backdrop. Maybe you could fix this by making the subtitles yellow with a black outline?

Also, while I LOVED the use of 70's funk to give the death star escape scene a comedic tone (although the volume was a little too high in some parts), I think I'd consider taking it out during the scene where Obi-Wan dies. Even if this is a cheesy B-movie, I think that schlock!Lucas would have tried to make the scene have some emotional weight, even if the end result was to fail miserably.

Maybe when Obi-Wan dies you should have a montage of all the moments he had with Luke, and then have some sad old song playing behind it? I think that would feel more like an authentic B-movie since it'd show they at least tried to make Obi-Wan's death sad, even if they did it half-assed. It'd also be more consistent with the death of Owen and Beru.

Oh yeah, and one tiny technical nitpick: in the scenes taken from the Star Wars Video Board Game, it looked to me like they needed more deteroiration effects. They looked a lot cleaner and had better color than the rest of the movie, so they felt a bit out of place. I thought they were a great addition, they just needed to be dirtied up a bit more.

Overall, this was a great edit. I'll definitely be sharing this one with my friends and family!

Timstuff said:

Also, RD-D2's subtitles were difficuly to read at times because they would appear on top of a light colored backdrop. Maybe you could fix this by making the subtitles yellow with a black outline?