Well, I finally got around to putting this together. Let me know what you think!
https://youtu.be/qRmCUjvZti0
I had a chance to ride Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland in CA yesterday. It doesn’t open here until the 17th, but I’m an employee of the company and sometimes they give us perks like that to make it worthwhile 😉
As far as I can tell it’s virtually identical to the Florida version (of which there are many ride-throughs on YouTube, including the one linked above) but damn if it isn’t one of the greatest rides ever built. I’m a notorious grump about new Star Wars and new theme parks (thought Smuggler’s Run was underwhelming and hated Ep IX), but this thing is something else. Do yourself a favor and get to Anaheim or Orlando to check it out.
And, for the record, I’m not even getting paid to say this!
Had a lot of fun playing these back in the day. Re: voice acting, I heard somewhere that they were experimenting with the idea of making that optional. I prefer the silent comedy/mumbling style a lot better too.
That’s a good suggestion about the deleted scenes. I might try that out. I had the same thought about wanting 3 stories instead of 2 but all I could come up with was the Bea Arthur song from the HS.
If I ever get around to doing a more polished and elaborate version of this, I think the deleted scenes idea is a really good one.
Happy Life Day! ‘Christmas in the Stars’ is a project that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time and I finally have a version that I feel comfortable sharing.
Essentially, it’s the Holiday Special cut down about as much as possible. All told, I got it down to approximately 25 minutes. That includes the full cartoon segment and a super-condensed version of the live action story which features very few scenes without the main Star Wars cast.
But it’s a little different than just an aggressive edit of the Holiday Special because bookending the two stories (cartoon and live action), are some short wraparound segments with C-3PO and R2-D2. These were made from footage from the 1977 Making Of Doc and dialogue pulled from a variety of sources (mostly that special and the radio drama). I also used some original Star Tours footage toward the end.
Some day, I’d like to do a much more elaborate version of this which would involve replacing all the footage that’s repurposed from the film and putting together an entirely new soundtrack. But, this is a pretty good first version, I think. I hope you enjoy it.
Full Edit: https://youtu.be/AbC5MbFeU88
HelloGreedo is awesome. And I hate to be “that guy”, but I did put out a video on my YT channel that’s more comprehensive on the Disney+ changes.
Check it out if you have a sec: https://youtu.be/ESuLxJJFZtE
Hi. I’ve done a few Star Wars comparison videos on YouTube that a few people on here have enjoyed. Here is the most recent: https://youtu.be/FDftt6hqzg0. I’m really still trying to get a grasp on putting together these videos (and doing VO, which I can’t stand), but I want to turn my attention next to the (in)famous Lost Cut of Star Wars.
I know there have been some valiant attempts at recreating The Lost Cut over the years but I’m more interested in creating a demonstration of what was different about it than recreating the entire thing. This might also be a good place to compile everything we know about it into one place.
To kick things off, here are the notes I have so far. Please feel free to add or correct any information as necessary.
The Lost Cut Overall:
-Put together by John Jympson with little help from Lucas.
-Black and White 35mm.
-13 reels.
-Maybe silent? There is debate on this but, if it were true, I would choose to ignore that.
-Onset audio, including David Prowse’s voice as Vader and Anthony Daniels’ pre-ADR performance.
-30-40% different footage (alternate/longer takes and deleted scenes).
-More of a documentary feel.
-Used more primitive effects shots where applicable (i.e. rear-projected landspeeder).
-A much longer opening crawl.
-Distinct from the infamous cut shown to Spielberg, De Palma, Coppola and others, I think? I get the impression that that was closer to the final version that we all know but with some less dynamic editing, the Tosche Station scenes still in tact, slates and/or WWII footage in place of special effects shots and temp audio featuring Holst’s The Planets. I could be wrong about that.
Specific Editing Changes (not deleted or alternate takes):
-The Tusken Raider that knocks Luke down did not rock his staff up and down.
-C-3PO’s “I think I’m melting” beat takes place aboard the Tantive IV.
-Some shots of R2 in the Death Star set were repurposed for the above scene, and during his game with Chewbacca.
-The conversation in Ben’s hut was reordered.
-Shot of Falcon leaving the trench run was originally for their escape from the DS (probably not relevant here -as it is a special effect shot).
-The Death Star was originally not preparing to destroy the Rebel base during the climax.
-Much of the dialogue during the Battle of Yavin was likely written and dubbed in at a late stage.
Sources of deleted/alternate material:
-Blu-Ray Bonus Disc.
-Rinzler ‘Making of’ e-book.
-Empire of Dreams has a few dailies and alternate takes (some overlap with the Rinzler stuff).
-Fanmade recreation of Declan Mulholland’s Jabba scene in less-than-ideal quality.
-An extended bit of dialogue in the Death Star conference room shown at Star Wars Celebration 2017. Only available on YouTube? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Erf6s_wYJk&list=PLCbkx7pMKGDj54sompJCYeA11t87_ekC9&index=4&t=0s)
-Ponda Baba’s decapitated head shown at Star Wars Celebration 2019 that I recorded on my iPhone!
My goal here is to put together the most comprehensive look at The Lost Cut possible using footage available to the public, so I’m asking for your help to make sure I’m not missing anything! Like I said, this won’t be a full recreation that you could watch as a film, but merely a collection of moments that are different along with explanations. But, hey, anyone is free to use the work done here for their own projects.
Thanks in advance. You guys rock.
21st January Edit…
“Star Wars: The Lost Cut” Explained:-
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRmCUjvZti0 - a 34 minute video at 13las’ ‘Film Spaced’ youtube channel
Unfortunately I don’t have any secret sources or anything exciting like that. But hopefully I can dig up something you haven’t seen before!
SomethingStarWarsRelated said:
I’m curious, what’s part four going to be about?
A certain trilogy of films that people tend to forget about 😉
‘STAR WARS CHANGES (Part 1 of 4) — A New Hope’:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn2eD-RI-dc - from the ‘Original Thrillogy’ youtube channel
I haven’t had a chance to watch all of it yet - though looks promising going on the first 4-5 minutes…
(Is it by one of us from here?)
This really needs more views.
…I hope it doesn’t get taken down though.
Hey, thanks! That’s my vid and I appreciate the positive response in this thread. I couldn’t have done it without this site.
There’s a couple of copyright claims against it for the music (I’m assuming from the music in some scenes I let play out in their entirety). Apparently it’s just preventing me from monetizing the video? I’m new to YouTube, but that’s my understanding so far so I think it’s safe for now.
The ESB video is up now, btw. (And Jedi in the works)
Wow, I can’t believe how much I agree with your original post and editing philosophy. It’s almost like I wrote it. The appearance of Tarkin and Leia left such a bad taste in my mouth that Rogue One is the only Star Wars film I haven’t cared to rewatch. And I found the Darth Vader hallway scene similarly distasteful. But I know there’s a lot to love in the film besides all of that.
I wish I had more to offer in terms of suggestions, but all I can say is that I’m interested and excited to follow the progress of this edit.
This is going to be a lengthy one. I don’t think I’ve seen this exact list on here before, and I don’t for a minute pretend to be unbiased. My _/10 ratings reflect only Star Wars films, so the top and bottom films reflect the absolute ends of the spectrum. In other words, these ratings would be different if I were rating them in the landscape of cinema in general.
From favorite to least:
These first two are almost equal, though Star Wars is DEFINITELY first:
Star Wars: Not only my favorite Star Wars movie, but my absolute favorite movie in general. I could watch it every day and it would never lose its magic. Some of my very earliest memories are of being transfixed by the opening battle on the Tantive IV and the droids’ adventure on Tatooine. This defined what Star Wars means to me - and I mean just the first 15 minutes or so. I like the weirder, goofier, more experimental parts of the saga than most people do, I think. It’s true escapism for me. And that’s not to devalue the rest of the film. It’s all perfect. It’s the movie to which I compare all other movies. But what else can I say that hasn’t already been said. 10/10
The Empire Strikes Back: Again, not much to say that hasn’t been said. It’s phenomenal. Star Wars ‘77 is just a little better. 9.5/10
Return of the Jedi: Not quite as satisfying as the previous two for me, but I have a hard time separating the OT too much. It’s all one thing in my mind, so it couldn’t go anywhere but third. I actually like the goofiness of it (creatures, stuff with Jabba, even most of the Ewok stuff) and of course the space battle and Emperor stuff is great. The stuff that knocks it slightly below the previous two are the elements George put in to wrap the saga up quickly (Leia being the other Skywalker, the cheesy happy ending) and the whole second Death Star thing. 8/10
The Last Jedi: While nothing will ever fully live up to the OT, this came damn closer than I ever would have expected. I’ve seen it FOUR times already. I went in with practically no expectations having avoided all trailers. I understand how it could have been a shock (and an unpleasant one) to a certain type of fan, but I approach Star Wars without much feeling of ownership. I like being shown someone else’s vision of the galaxy far, far away. That’s why I tend to enjoy the prequels more than most, I think. And, for me, the stakes aren’t that high. The OT is never going anywhere (the OOT as well, thanks to the talented members of this forum) and I’m willing to let this franchise take chances even if not all of them pay off. I’d much rather see a distinct creative vision that fails than a movie-by-committee that is passable. That being said, I don’t think Johnson failed. At all. It all clicked for me like I never thought Star Wars would. I could go on about what I loved about TLJ (and the things I didn’t), but I’m sure people are tired of that by now. Real quick, though, shout out to John Williams’ score. I don’t hear people talking about it, but I think it is fantastic. 8/10
The Force Awakens: First time I saw it, I wasn’t crazy about it. The excitement building up to the release was something that no movie could have lived up to. I waited in line at the theater for ten hours. I didn’t hate it, but it felt a little cold to me. Like someone was trying too hard to reverse engineer what Star Wars feels like without adding the heart. The problem is, it’s so damn entertaining that I can’t possibly put it any lower on this list haha. 7/10
The Phantom Menace: One of the first films I can remember seeing in theaters upon its original release. Of course I loved it then. I went through a phase of trashing it as I grew up, but now I’ve reevaluated. I honestly don’t think it’s that bad. It feels like Star Wars and if the gungans and the nemoidians weren’t so irritating, this one would jump up above TFA for me. I really like the story it tells. Again, I’m all for that strong creative voice, I just don’t think George stuck the landing in a few places. 6.5/10
Revenge of the Sith: This one is weird for me. I loved it the first time I saw it. It was the first midnight screening I had ever been to and I got to show up to school the next day to rub it in my friends’ faces. For a lot of years I would have put this one much higher. But every time I watch it, I like it less. I can’t exactly put my finger on it. 5.5/10
Attack of the Clones: Eh. I still watch it every now and then. I don’t hate it, but it’s definitely the weakest of the saga films. 5/10
Rogue One: I get it. I know why people like it. But I hate it. It’s the only SW film I never have any desire to see again. It felt so sterile, like it was made in a lab. It tells an inconsequential story, throws in jarring callbacks that have no story purpose (I don’t find TFA as guilty of this because nostalgia is a theme in that film) and the digital Tarkin and Leia characters make me sick to my stomach. I hate that technology. It devalues an actor’s work and seems to imply that their superficial appearance is their only worthy contribution. Even the Darth Vader scenes felt this way. I didn’t need to see him take out a hallway of rebels. It was gratuitous and left a bad taste in my mouth. The rest of the film was so bland and disjointed that I hardly remember it. 1/10
My roommate is an exchange student from China who had never seen a Star Wars film.
He started working somewhere that encourages at least a basic knowledge of the franchise (we both work at Disneyland), so I’ve been putting him through the crash course.
He was already familiar with and could hum the main title theme and the imperial march as they are “a part of popular culture that everyone knows”.
We watched the latest special digital editions of the original trilogy, just because they are (sadly) the official versions of the films.
He enjoyed ANH quite a bit (was slightly disappointed in the absence of the imperial march lol) and immediately wanted to watch ESB and ROTJ, which we did.
His comments were not quite as illuminating as I would have hoped. Most often, he pointed out story elements that felt authentic to the fairy tales he enjoyed as a child in China: Yoda being a small and unlikely creature who is revealed to be a powerful sage, Luke’s internal struggle, etc.
We then saw TFA. He definitely enjoyed it a lot. Upon leaving the theatre he was energized and excited, but wasn’t sure if Rey was Luke’s daughter or not. He asked because, without subtitles, he thought he might have missed that confirmation.
He watched TPM without me (I don’t oppose watching it, I just had other things to do).
He didn’t outright hate it either. He laughed at the Nemoidians’ clearly Asian-inspired way of speaking, and really enjoyed the Lightsaber fight. His problem with the film, however, was that there was ‘no struggle’. I assume he meant an internal struggle like Luke’s in the OT that he had enjoyed so much. It’s an interesting issue, I think. Possibly a symptom of TPM’s supposed lack of a clear main character (although, I do believe it to be Jar Jar).
Since then, he hasn’t watched AOTC or ROTS. Not because TPM was offensively awful, but because it was flat.
This would also be one of the first times a newbie was introduced to the saga in the order: IV, V, VI, VII, I, II, III.
I hope this was at least a little bit of an interesting read for someone!
Funny story. I went to a screening at the Tech Museum in San Jose with my dad who had had spinal surgery a few weeks earlier. He couldn’t handle the ‘stimulation overload’ so we had to leave after about five minutes.
I loved what I saw (and heard) of the film. The image was slightly distorted, but this didn’t bother me.
Also, I noticed that the opening crawl seemed to jitter independently of the star field. Does anyone know if they did this on purpose? There’s no reason for that to happen if it was done digitally which I assume that it was. Right?
The best part was seeing the audience’s heads move left and right to read the crawl. The sound of the film projector before the film started was an awesome throwback as well. I really hope that they exhibit Episode VIII in this format next year.
Count me as a +1 for wanting a VHS transfer.
I find it a more ‘cozy’ viewing experience, if that makes any sense, which is a nice change of pace from other media.
I know what you mean, yet I have a very strong feeling that there is a ton of stuff that we know nothing about yet.
In addition to a certain someone who has not been featured in any footage or stills, I’m willing to bet several exciting sequences or locations are still being kept under wraps.
After successfully avoiding the final trailer for over a month, I was dragged to see the Hunger Games in the theatre and couldn’t bring myself to sprint out of the theatre or pull my hoodie over my head when the TFA trailer played.
I’m so glad I avoided up until that point so I could experience it for the first time on the big screen. It was the first time that I can remember where I saw a trailer for a movie that I was eagerly anticipating on a big screen in a long time. So much more incredible than it would have been on Monday Night Football or a computer screen.
I sat there with a big dumb smile on my face the entire time while the my friends and family glanced over to me, knowing that I hadn’t seen the trailer before.
Even if the movie is garbage (I can’t imagine it will be), I’ll forever remember the joy that this trailer brought me when I had no idea what to expect.
So for those of you who still haven’t seen anything from the film, keep it up! It will be so goddamn worth it.
“Similar to Story and Plot, there’s a clear difference between Mystery and Suspense, but basically Suspense > Mystery. Why? Suspense also has to do with emotion while Mystery is just something you don’t know. Oh my god there’s a green cat for some reason. Such mystery. Call Sherlock Holmes.”
-Is it really necessary to point out the flaw in this logic? Suspense and mystery are not comparable concepts, and you negated your own definition of Mystery as ‘something you don’t know’ with a reference to Sherlock Holmes – titular character of some of the the most famous mysteries in literature that were astronomically more sophisticated than ‘something you don’t know’. A large part of that was suspense, as in consequences for not solving the mystery or a ticking clock. Just to show that suspense is a means of driving mystery.
“Let’s me give you Alfredo’s favorite example. Say there’s two people sitting and talking. Under them is a bomb that will blow up at 2 o clock. Neither the audience nor the characters know this. Bomb blows up. Two seconds of tension. Let’s redo it. We tell the audience there’s a bomb under the two people. Through the conversation, you begin to care about them. You wanna scream at them “THERE’S A BOMB! GET OUT!”. They keep talking. It’s 2:00. Don’t show the bomb blowing up. Up to 10 minutes of tension. THAT’S suspense.”
-Hitchcock was describing the difference between SURPRISE and SUSPENSE in this example. Mystery is not present here except for if the audience is meant to wonder who placed the bomb under the table and why. Or if the mystery a detective was solving elsewhere could prevent the bomb from detonating.
"The other main PLOT is the romance, and of course we know that was masterful sarcasm. "
-This is not plot. This is STORY. The plot is Anakin and Padmé hide on Naboo from Padmé’s attackers.
—I agree with a lot of what you’re saying in general terms but someone needed to take you down a peg, you’ve been wrong about almost everything you’ve said so arrogantly.
Cheer up, people just want to discuss about something they love, that's exactly what Disney expect us to do right now. It's an opportunity for everyone, after all. Don't worry: every fan will give the movie a chance one way or another, me too, even if by now I have mixed opinions.
P.S.: If Hollywood need to rob a bank to make a movie, it's their fault: people I know ask for good stories, not bigger budgets, as far as I know.
I didn't mean to sound so negative. I have no problew with civil discussion. It's just when people have set criteria in their head that will make or break the movie for them beforehand. That's not how I think movies should work. Let the theatrical experience speak for itself.
And people may not be asking for bigger budgets but the reality is that movies are ridiculously expensive to produce, there's no getting around that.
This is why Hollywood can't take risks any more. Every movie is analyzed to death before it comes out ("it'll suck if X character is in it" or "X thing will happen so it's going to be the best movie ever!"). With the cost of producing a blockbuster movie, would you blame them from pandering as much as possible to the fans? This film will be guilty of it, to be sure. But pre-judging it on those merits is perpetuating the problem, if you as me.
Some 'fans' are stupid, why set up such specific criteria for a film before it is even released? It doesn't make sense to me, that's why I've chosen to avoid spoilers and trailers going forward for the Force Awakens. Because I love Star Wars and want to experience a Star Wars movie as a theatrical experience (was born after the OT was released). I may not end up enjoying the movie, but I'll be glad to give it a chance.
It's really sad that some people can't do something as simple as that.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: one of the last great oceanside amusement parks. If you're looking for some good food in that area, try Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing (local favorite/hole in the wall but featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay) or any of a number of restaurants at Capitola Beach (great place to walk around/people watch). Monterrey and Carmel are also really nice, Monterrey Bay Aquarium is one of the finest in the world.
I have plenty more recommendations for the San Francisco/Silicon Valley/Monterrey area if you'd like them. And it would help to know what you would like to do.
I also have (less) knowledge about the LA area.
Looks awesome! I think with panning/zooming/focusing it will be even better. The only potentially helpful thought I can share is that you might want to animate the Star Destroyer as traveling faster than the Tantive. In the preview they appear to be going the same speed.
Really excited about this project. Amazing work so far!
Thanks for the support! I've had a lot on my plate lately in the real world (good things), so I haven't done much editing for a few weeks. But it's always good to hear people are interested. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to work very soon.
regularjoe said:
I watched the cantina draft scene and liked what I watched. The volume of the music is too loud and after a while I turned it off due to that. The intention of the clip was great but the music overpowered it so much that it undermined what you're trying to do. You're off to a great start and I think that sort of thing will be easily conquered by you.
For the record, that clip was for a different project I sorta started a few months ago (turning the OT into a single western-type film win Han Solo as the main character), where I got similar feedback. But thanks for the kind words of support otherwise!
Also, does anyone know where I could find a high quality picture of concept art for the imperial castle that was in the early drafts of either ESB or ROTJ? I know the picture exists, because it's one of the final properties on the pre-SE SW Monopoly that I have lol.
Thanks, both of you!
I'll be looking for someone to do voiceover work for a couple small character once I am a little farther along in this project. Just throwing that out there early in case anyone would be interested.