ATMachine

Speak for yourself, George.

ILM has unveiled the winners and honorable mentions of its 2016 SW art challenge.

Some breathtaking character designs there. Also, judging by one particular piece, apparently certain adult subtexts in ROTJ are an open secret at ILM.

^ That was exactly the sort of thing I meant – only the Stormtroopers come in from the opposite direction for the scenario I proposed to make sense.

It does look like the little guy was running from something which we never quite find out what it is, and then the big guy takes off after him. Pleasantly ambiguous!

ZkinandBonez said:

ATMachine said:

I suspect the shot of the one drunk alien being dragged away by his friend might be an outtake from the SW 1977 cantina footage. It strikes me as just the sort of amusing slice-of-life/documentary moment that GL would like.

(Plus the crew also improvised other sight gags during filming, like a gunfight between two guys of extremely different height in a Mos Eisley back alley.)

Are you referring to this shot?

Like Tyrphanax said, there’s no fighting, the little guy just runs through his legs. But, I don’t doubt that they shot other “sigh gags” like this. I’m guessing this one survived because it was used in the Holiday Special.

(It’s a weird shot, because the small guy seems to have an empty holster, and he’s clearly running away from something, and the tall alien follows him off screen. Just another day in Mos Eisley I guess?)

Yup, that was what I was referring to.

From your description, the Holiday Special version sounds incomplete – as if there were more to the scene, like a third person arriving in the alley to interrupt a two-way gunfight (causing both people in the image above run away).

I wish Tales from the Crypt were available on HBO Go.

Friends don’t let friends look directly at stone burners.

http://uproxx.com/movies/star-wars-tv-movies-tnt-tbs/

So TNT and TBS now have the exclusive TV rights to the first six SW films?

Very interesting – especially since in a 1988 speech to the Library of Congress, GL publicly denounced TBS founder Ted Turner for his colorization of classic B&W films. And then went on to warn that future copyright holders could digitally alter classic negatives to suit their own whims – as he himself began doing a decade later.

And now Disney is selling SW broadcast rights to Ted Turner’s company.

It’s looking more and more like the SE was an elaborate exercise in reverse psychology, where GL sought to stir up the public against precisely those things he warned about in his Library of Congress speech. (Kurosawa fans might remember General Makabe’s use of reverse psychology during an argument with the Princess in the opening of The Hidden Fortress.) And is Disney continuing in this vein, I wonder?

I wrote a bunch of words about how Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn novels incorporate lots of ideas from the development of the OT. You can read them if you can brave a visit over to TFN.

That aqua-stormtrooper guy in one Marvel UK cover (with arms around Luke) does looks like he’s based on an action figure, even if it’s not one from SW. The color scheme on his uniform is gaudy enough for the Legion of Doom or some other day-glo spandex outfit.

ZkinandBonez said:

Anchorhead said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTC3SqPyEDU&sns=em

This public service announcement from 1979 is still being used. They showed it in my defensive driving course just last year.

Wow, really?
Then again, why not. SW is as relevant now as it has ever been.

(I wonder if they shot that for the PSA, or if they used outtakes? Or maybe a bit of both?)

I suspect the shot of the one drunk alien being dragged away by his friend might be an outtake from the SW 1977 cantina footage. It strikes me as just the sort of amusing slice-of-life/documentary moment that GL would like.

(Plus the crew also improvised other sight gags during filming, like a gunfight between two guys of extremely different height in a Mos Eisley back alley.)

The mostly colorless version of Artoo shown in the Marvel art above looks similar to the all-silver design for R2-D2 seen in Ralph McQuarrie’s paintings. Maybe that was an additional influence.

It is rather a strange decision. But strange things resulted from GL’s tenure as Grand High Commissar of Star Wars.

Lord Haseo said:

ATMachine said:

I think I’ve figured out why George Lucas insisted that Wookiees and Hutts should not be allowed to be Jedi in the old (Legends) EU.

Namely, as a punishment. For the transgressions of certain members of their respective species.

If all Hutts are the size of Jabba then I can understand the thinking behind it but not Wookie’s as they’re humanoids.

It’s not the size of the Hutt, it’s the motion of the sail barge.

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

ATMachine said:

Namely, as a punishment. For the transgressions of certain members of their respective species.

Punishment??

Well, this was the man who brought us the Jedi wisdom that ‘only a Sith deals in absolutes.’

But what those Wookiees did was bad and they should feel bad, and also maybe not be Jedi. Even if Chewbacca is Gillian Anderson’s boyfriend.

I think I’ve figured out why George Lucas insisted that Wookiees and Hutts should not be allowed to be Jedi in the old (Legends) EU.

Namely, as a punishment. For the transgressions of certain members of their respective species.

Didn’t you get the pan-galactic memo? Ix changed his name, he goes by Ford Prefect now. 😄

Sometimes James Earl Jones can’t win a James Earl Jones impersonation contest.

Not that the voice actor in The Force Unleashed was any better mind you. I don’t know why LFL keeps using him as a substitute Darth Vader; his line readings are really cheesy.

The new brand of TIE fighter looks like somebody just tore off one of the solar panels from the triple-winged cloaking TIEs in LucasArts’ Rebel Assault II.

Indeed. Kevin McClory famously held out to his share of the rights for Thunderball until he died, after which his heirs sold their stake to EON and the Broccolis.

As for Fox et al, Disney’s current strategy seems to be siege warfare: i.e., making non-Disney Marvel film franchises unviable by actively destroying their comic-book counterparts.

Last I heard, the Fantastic Four were still in the realm of “cannot be published”. After all, that might lead to a company other than Disney making money at the box office.

Apparently the mentor character in LucasArts’ Kinect SW game had a yellow lightsaber. Surprised that LFL let that stay in the game.

Then again, maybe they just didn’t care at that point, since it came out in 2012, right before the Disney takeover.

Yeah, I think the idea is that Qui-Gon and Shmi have some prior history of some sort. It’s based largely on the performances of Liam Neeson and Pernilla August, I’d say.

IIRC the theory was a lot more common before ROTS talked about Darth Plagueis and his magic ability to use the original dint the Force to create life. Not surprising really.

^ That would probably go against the popular fan theory of Qui-Gon having done that exact thing.

Density said:

joefavs said:

Never understood the disdain for “Sheev”. It’s no dumber or better than 80% of other Star Wars names. Certainly not as bad as the last couple decades of ridiculous Darth names.

I didn’t say it was worse than “Dooku” or “Grievous” but “there was dumber stuff in the prequels” isn’t exactly the best defense. Point is Palpatine is a character who doesn’t even need a name other than “Palpatine.” “Sheev” just takes away from his badassness.

What about Darth Plagueis the Obscure John Milton Reference?

Tyrphanax said:

Personally, I think there’s a difference between being a “purist” and going overboard. I think the idea here is mainly to preserve the original theatrical cuts (more or less), but I definitely think there’s such thing as being too persnickety about things like a decimal change in frame rates or exacting color timing.

As opposed to simply accurate color timing. Which is currently lacking in official releases of the OT.