frank678 said:
just checked out the revised BLU2 sample. awesome work Team Blu!
I agree. It's looking excellent, guys!
Niphoet said:
bspaunhorst said:
Except that it may draw unwelcome attention to the site. Maybe better to fly under the radar?
Very true. maybe if the petition were to come from a site (maybe a new one) not at all affiliated with OT.com. That way, if/when it falls on deaf ears, the many, many projects here will still have a safe place to live.
Alternative idea: Instead of a petition, let's write up a template "Letter of Request" for individuals to mail on their own. It may seem more "real" if Disney/LFL were to receive signatures in ink from a pen.
Edit: Furthermore, we can even arrange several specific dates for everyone to coordinate mailing Disney/LFL at once. That might get their attention!
Edit 2: Also, notice that this would be inherently unaffiliated with this website.
Ewan McGregor: "Wonder if they will need any Obi-Wan Hologram action??!”
What does he mean? I'm confused...
SilverWook said:
Oldfan said:
1990osu said:
According to the Associated Press,
The seventh movie, with a working title of "Episode 7," is set for release in 2015. Episodes 8 and 9 will follow. The trilogy will continue the story of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia beyond "Return of the Jedi".
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5isZzQ0Rv9bEkLNtP9TjI8lGu1h9A?docId=9ad81ca01a9e4246b0e719fb4e3a3b18
I have no idea how they would pull that off. I can't imagine Harrison Ford wanting anything to do with Star Wars again. His career has done just fine without it and he's past all that now. Mark Hamil, maybe, he has appeared in many chessy sci-fi films over the years, so he may be interested if the script seems interesting enough to him and the timing is right. Carrie Fisher, I can't imagine her coming back for more. The thing is - how shall I put this gracefully - they have all aged.
What if they tried to pull it off as an animated film, like Polar Express or Final Fantasy:Spirits Within? Use the likeness of the main characters (with their permission of course) and have the film near photo-realistic. They could maybe convince them to provide the voices that way. That would also allow them to offer visuals that are boundless. Of course after Mars Needs Moms flopping, I'm not sure if Disney would want to do a motion-capture Star Wars, even though it wasn't the animators' faults.
Obviously though they are planning on a live-action film. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to accept anybody else playing Luke, Han and Leia.
I think in a few more years, the head CGI used on Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy will be seamless. We'll probably be inundated with movies starring dead actors though. And "live" Elvis concerts.
This sounds crazy, but it may be useful in some circumstances.
It'd be much better than the cardboard-cutout of Bruce Lee's head that they used to finish The Game of Death. :-)
1990osu said:
According to the Associated Press,
The seventh movie, with a working title of "Episode 7," is set for release in 2015. Episodes 8 and 9 will follow. The trilogy will continue the story of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia beyond "Return of the Jedi".
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5isZzQ0Rv9bEkLNtP9TjI8lGu1h9A?docId=9ad81ca01a9e4246b0e719fb4e3a3b18
Wow, cool!
If they pull this off, then "my six" may be 4-9, as I'm not a big fan of the PT. :-)
As others have said, I'm cautiously excited.
timdiggerm said:
As for fan edits... You know how sometimes you like to use Star Wars analogies?
You may end up talking about fan edits and this site...before the dark times, before the Empire.
Also well said, timdiggerm.
But who knows, they could buy Adywan too and make them yet another alternate version to milk for more money!
How much does one Adywan cost, exactly?
Now does this make sense considering the recent news regarding Disney?
Can we start drawing up a new petition here?
SilverWook said:
Going private is a can of worms best not opened there's a reason to. This site thrives on new people and ideas. It would stagnate if we get all paranoid about who gets in.
Well said, SilverWook.
dlvh said:
Hey fellows,
I know this may be premature, but seeings Disney now owns Lucasfilms (Star Wars), are project like this one (and others) going to be stopped by the Disney lawyers? In other words, does this site have limited days?
Is there now a need to speed-up projects such as these, without sacrificing quality? I hope not, but I'd hate to lose these projects you'all worked so hard on.
From,
A concerned citizen
I agree. It may be worthwhile to get IV-VI out the door warts-and-all (at 2K) before it's too late.
Someone else (or even the original team) can pickup from there to do the restoration work.
I don't mean for this to sound entitled, so please don't interpret it as such. I'm just worried about the future of this project and our entire community, for that matter.
Harmy said:
This is all making me quite anxious...
I'd feel the same way, if I were you.
With that being said, it may be wise to do something similar to what -1s team is doing; e.g., a private website. I can help with this, if you're interested.
Going members-only may make Disney come down harder on us for trying to "hide" our actions. Furthermore, what would prevent Disney's entire legal team from becoming members with usernames like ReleaseTheOOT778083?
It's hard to hide... publicly.
Plus, it's probably something Jay would be against, as this website isn't entirely about fan-edits and preservations.
Erikstormtrooper said:
Wasn't there a single released back in the day? I think I had it. Maybe the English version was on that.
Urth (with Joseph Williams, John Williams' son!) released it in English, but it's not "the" English version.
Gomu69 said:
je7ome said:
Hi, everyone,
Just wanted to throw a HUGE thank you to Harmy for this massive undertaking. Truly a labor of love, and it has introduced me to this whole fan edit/preservation community, which has lead to my USB thumb-drive becoming accidentally write-protected with the Star Wars Despecialized versions filling it up (which I mind not at all) as well as my girlfriend almost dumping me because I won't shut up about Star Wars. Totally worth it.
Thanks!
I know that feeling, my girlfriend would rather not be overwhelmed by my enthusiasm for it which is only a small compromise while there's still appreciation to be had.
Thankfully, my wife knew she was marrying a crazy person. :-)
Tobar said:
I could swear I've heard the English version of Lapti Nek before but I can never find it anywhere.
Well, it serves as background music to part of Return of the Ewok. Have you seen that before?
OK, I fixed the broken hyperlinks. Please let me know if you find any more!
Sci-Fi Scandal! Second Sy Snootles Speaks, Claims Lucas Was “Keeping Company” With First Snoot
By James Greene Jr. on May 19, 2011 @ 12:02 pm
Two weeks ago, we ran a lengthy article about “Lapti Nek”, the intergalactic disco jam by Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band that appeared in the original version of Return of the Jedi (since deleted in favor of CGI nonsense). One of the more curious points uncovered by our research for said article concerned the timeline of the two most famous “Lapti Nek” recordings: While Internet resources generally suggest that the Michele Gruska “Club Mix” of the song was recorded and released after Lucasfilm lost the master tapes of the Annie Arbogast version actually heard in the film, several behind-the-scenes videos that predate Jedi’s completion (all easily found on YouTube) clearly feature variations of the Gruska recording.
If Lucasfilm already had a couple different takes of “Lapti Nek” under their belt by Gruska, including the widely released “Club Mix”, why did they drop Arbogast’s version into Jedi’s final cut? No disrespect to Annie—her “Lapti Nek” is spunky and classic, and she also wrote those delightfully wacky Huttese lyrics—but she was just an in-house sound engineer for Lucasfilm whereas Gruska was apparently an independently contracted professional session musician. An e-mail to Lucasfilm yielded no help (“I apologize, but I do not know the answer to that,” wrote PR person Amy). Intellectual curiosity growing by the minute, we tracked Michele Gruska down (via Facebook, of course) to see if she could drop some knowledge. Did she ever!
“I auditioned [in Los Angeles] to sing for Return of the Jedi, then they asked me to sing ‘Lapti Nek’ for the Jabba The Hutt scene,” wrote Gruska (pictured, left), who currently works as a vocal coach in California. “It was both another day’s work and challenging on two counts—one, learning this new made-up language on the spot was not too easy, [and] two, it was unnerving singing for [20th Century Fox music supervisor] Lionel Newman, THE John Williams, and George Lucas.”
Gruska got the job and, ecstatic, shuttled to San Francisco to record the final version(s) of “Lapti Nek” some time before Return of the Jedi was completed. So how did Annie Arbogast’s “Lapti Nek”, which can be assumed was merely a scratch track before Gruska was hired, wind up in the final cut?
“My version was definitely going in the scene,” remembers Gruska. “But unfortunately at the time the rumor was Anne was keeping company with George Lucas. Oh well.”
Scandalous, if true! Perhaps that explains why the Arbogast master tapes were mysteriously “lost” and why George later digitally scrubbed “Lapti Nek” out of every post-1997 Jedi release. Maybe the affair ended badly. On the other hand, there’s just as much reason to believe absolutely nothing ever went on between George and Annie in a non-professional capacity. Maybe George just thought Annie sounded more like an alien than Michele Gruska, so he put the former in the movie and saved the latter for the commercial vinyl releases (where polished, professional singing counts for more). Shame on you, Kevin Burns, for missing this subplot in your otherwise great Empire of Dreams documentary.
But I kid the Schenectady-born director who also helmed Behind the Planet of the Apes. The tales of Carrie Fisher partying all night with Harrison Ford and big handfuls of yay on the set of Empire Strikes Back are admittedly leagues more interesting than any canoodling that went on between the Supreme Beard and one of his underlings. Still, if either party wishes to come forward and refute (or confirm!) this wild accusation made by Michele Gruska, by all means hit us up. This story is sort of the Schwartzenegger love child deal of the Star Wars universe.
“Lapti Nek”: The Star Wars Disco Hit That Never Was
By James Greene Jr. on May 4, 2011 @ 12:18 pm
Today is May 4th, which in recent years has become an unofficial Star Wars holiday (MAY the FOURTH be with you, yuk yuk yuk!). In honor of this deliciously nerdy observance, Crawdaddy! has decided to look back at “Lapti Nek”, a vanished musical gem from everyone’s favorite galaxy far, far away. As any Tusken Raider worth his gaffi stick can tell you, “Lapti Nek” is the sleazy disco song Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band originally performed for Jabba the Hutt in 1983′s Return of the Jedi before Luke Skywalker showed up dressed like Johnny Cash to harsh Jabba’s sweet Tatooine mellow.
Although their screen time proved fleeting, Expanded Universe literature would later posit the Max Rebo Band as one of the most popular musical groups from Endor to Hoth. In real life, “Lapti Nek” was sung in Huttese by Lucasfilm sound engineer Annie Arbogast, who wrote the phony alien lyrics herself. Famed Star Wars orchestral composer John Williams penned “Lapti Nek’s” backing outer space funk and arranged the entire song with son Joseph and Hardware Wars director/producer Ernie Fosselius. The trio succeeded in giving “Lapti Nek” a grimy feel perfectly suited for Jabba’s dark and foreboding palace.
Arbogast’s spirited, Cyndi Lauper-like take on “Lapti Nek” would never see any sort of commercial release outside Return of the Jedi’s theatrical and VHS runs; Lucasfilm apparently lost that recording’s master reel before it could be included on any corresponding soundtrack albums. Luckily, around the same time, the company commissioned an extended version of “Lapti Nek” by professional session singer Michele Gruska specifically for the dance circuit. That smoother, sexier “Nek” was released on PolyGram in 1983. While Gruska’s anonymous five minute “Lapti Nek (Club Mix)” brought the Max Rebo Band to full fruition outside Jedi, the single failed to blow up disco charts like the Death Star.
Michele Gruska also recorded a version of “Lapti Nek” with English lyrics penned by Joseph Williams prior to Return of the Jedi’s completion. This “Nek” scratch track was inexplicably dubbed “Fancy Man”, even though the official line from Lucasfilm is that “Lapti Nek” translates to “Work It Out” in English (which of course means that famous Public Enemy song could be called “Brothers Gonna Lapti Nek”). “Fancy Man” can be heard below in the background of assorted ROTJ behind-the-scenes vignettes (including Warwick Davis’s never-completed or released movie-within-a-movie Return of the Ewok).
Naturally, Italian disco demigod Meco Monardo—who shot to fame in 1977 with a boogie-oogie interpretation of the original Star Wars main title theme—had to have his own go at making “Lapti Nek” a crossover hit. Strangely, Meco made almost no alterations to the Michele Gruska “Club” version when he got his hands on it, basically rereleasing the same recording with louder drums and some flourished instrumentation. Meco’s “Lapti Nek” stalled at #60 on our Billboard Charts, effectively cooling Monardo’s movie-related music hot streak. In Thailand, however, this “Nek” was apparently one of ’83′s biggest hits.
If you think the milking of “Lapti Nek” ends with Meco, you’re more mistaken than Han Solo in Cloud City. A 12″ single called “Lapti Nek Overture” was also released in 1983 on Warner Brothers by one-off group Urth. Not surprisingly, Urth was fronted by Joseph Williams, taking a break from his adult contemporary meal ticket Toto. “Lapti Nek Overture” is not only the rarest and funkiest of all “Lapti Neks”, it’s also the most satisfying. Urth was smart enough to mix in snippets of the elder Williams’ beloved Star Wars score as well as a few bars of Lucasfilm sound wizard Ben Burtt’s highly contentious Ewokese “Yub Nub” song. Variety is the spice of “Lapti Nek”!
Still, America balked, and Urth’s version of “Lapti Nek” was the third strike in George Lucas’s attempt to put Sy Snootles on the level of Blondie or Pat Benetar. To Joe/Jane Sixpack, this latest slice of booty-shakin’ space music just did not have the same je ne sais quoi as the first Star Wars film’s much-ballyhooed “Cantina Band”. Yet “Lapti Nek” made an indelible impression on scores of younger, less seasoned Star Wars fans at the time. Check out footage below of a wee Snoot wannabe lip synching to “Lapti Nek” shortly after Return of the Jedi’s release.
Indeed, “Lapti Nek” held a place in our geeky hearts, which is why it was so appalling to see the tune completely excised from Return of the Jedi in Lucasfilm’s 1997 “Special Edition.” In “Nek’s” place was an excruciating R&B exercise called “Jedi Rocks”. The Max Rebo Band was expanded to include a troupe of “sexy”/tacky extra-terrestrial dancers and a squat, furry embodiment of digital annoyance called Joh Yowza. To paraphrase Tom Bissell, “Jedi Rocks” is the most unspeakable sequence in all the “Special Edition” Star Wars films, a moment in history almost too depressing to discuss at any length. Even Greedo shooting first wasn’t this painful.
“Jedi Rocks” has remained in all versions of Return of the Jedi since 1997 (including the just-announced Blu-Ray release), forcing a new generation to come up in a Star Wars galaxy utterly void of “Lapti Nek’s” funky dance floor goodness. Thankfully, the Internet will always be able to preserve on some small scale the genius George Lucas abandoned in favor of pure insanity. Here’s looking at you, Max Rebo. In our world, you’re playin’ “Lapti Nek”—an Apex Award-winning composition(!)—all night long with no gross alien bimbos or hairy CGI abortions cluttering your landscape.
[Special thanks to Eric's Little Black Star, Wookieepedia, and YouTube for helping engineer this post.]
Crawdaddy wrote two posts back in 2011 about Lapti Nek, my favorite song from the OOT. The original hyperlinks are dead, but the articles have resurfaced on a Crawdaddy archive (see the hyperlink at the beginning of this post).
I doubt anyone knows how long this archive will stay afloat, so I've decided to backup both articles here. I don't know if this counts as fair use, so I'll remove them if any copyright issues are raised. Until then... enjoy!
For the record: Both articles are Copyright © 2011 Crawdaddy! - The Magazine of Rock.
Unfortunately, this won't get done by Halloween. I'm sorry, guys!
I'd like to have it for next year, at least. Can we assemble a proper team?
ray_afraid said:
How did the print look? Did they screen the new documentary with it? I'm going tomorrow!
Excellent, but a little fuzzy in the beginning.
The documentary was shown, but it seemed to be made on-the-cheap. Also, it looked like it had some sort of motion-smearing issue.
This will probably be put into the Worst Edit Ideas thread, but whatever.
Did Harrison Ford play in enough pre-ANH titles for us to rotoscope him into a Han Solo backstory? We’d have to do it frame-by-frame, of course, and we’d have to change his costume…
How are you printing to 35mm?
My recommendations:
1. Panasonic AG-1980P: It's a really nice deck that uses a field-TBC.
2. Panasonic DMR-ES10: It corrects horizontal jitter really well in passthrough-mode, as it uses a line-TBC.
3. Leitch DPS-290: Cuts through Macrovision like butter, as it uses a (full)frame-TBC. It also serves really well as a kind-of PreAmp for video.
I suggest eBay as well. I got all of this for under $400 there.