C3PX

EyeShotFirst said:

I have a love for Star Wars and I have been a fan since way before special editions or prequels and I can't find a single way to save them. My best idea turns them into an un-soggy shit sandwhich. I guess the best thing to do is what many of the older members like anchorhead do and just forget they even exist. To me and to many others the last Star Wars movie was ROTJ. I tried to defend them. But I cannot any longer.

 

Bravo! Join the ranks of those of us who have decided not to care about the PT at all. I am sorry I ever spent time caring about them and wishing they were better when it is so easy to just write them off and ignore them. I used to be sure one day some wonderful edit would come along and make them watchable, but I have long since realized there just isn't anything there to work with. There is a good reason we have never seen a Revenge of the Sith edit from the original two best known names in fan editing, Magnoliafan and The Phantom Editor. Other editors have tried, but there is just no way to fix that film. The PT is really in the state where the only fix is to delete and start over, but since that isn't an option, simply deleting it in your own mind is the best option.

I feel fan edits made a lot of us hold onto the prequels far longer than we should have. They gave us this false sense of hope. Remember when other film series had unfortunately bad sequel made for them? Seemed nobody had a problem just forgetting about them and ignoring them. Had the idea of fan edits not come around, many of us would have done the same with the prequels. With a few edits, The Phantom Menace became watchable and even somewhat enjoyable. We were amazed at this, and feeling sure that Ep 2 would be a better film to start with anyway, things looked pretty bright. Unfortunately, the other two films are a whole lot worse and have severe problems that no amount of editing can fix. Almost feels like ol' George felt so urked by fanedits that he decided to set about making Ep3 100% uneditable, saturating it with so much crap and awfulness that no amount of editing could remove anything like a significant amount of it.

It is easier just to let go and forget about them. You'll be a happier person for it.

captainsolo said:

Is DC vs Mortal Kombat worth $15? Haven't played any MK since MKIII and Trilogy.

Honestly, I still haven't gotten around to playing it myself. Reviews for it seem to be in the "good but not great" range, which can be pretty awful incomparison if you don't play many games and tend to stick to the really great ones. With MK vs DC, from what I have read if you are a big Mortal Kombat fan, you'll be disappointed, MK vs DC is really toned down (only rated T) and just doesn't live up to the classic MK feeling, but if you are a DC fan the novelty of playing as DC characters in a decent fighting game makes it worth while. At least that seems to be the view I took away from several different reviews I skimmed through before buying it.

Considering people are still paying in the $50 dollar range for it in most stores, and $39 at gamestop, I figured it'd be a welcome addition to my collection at that price. Have some other games I want to finish before diving into it though. I have a bad habit of starting games, getting into them, then getting side tracked and setting them aside. I'd like to finish Mirror's Edge, Time Shift, Stranglehold, and Halo 3 before I get too involved in something else.

Yeah, when you hit that stride and are able to just keep moving, it is really great. Unfortunately I keep hitting snags myself, and when you end up playing the same section over and over and over and over because you keep dying and can't figure out what to do, the fun kind of goes away.

No, they have always been there. Not as obnoxiously as things like this appeared in the PT, but they were there. The Sarlacc burp never really bothered me, it is a made up alien lifeform after all, so I don't feel I have the authority to say a creature like that wouldn't burp, or make a burping sound after swallowing a mass quys. And I found the tarzan yell funny when I was a kid, but now I can see it as another bit of odd humor that made that film the awkward step child of the trilogy. And then there was the scene were the giant frog belches after eating the giant fly... Return of the Jedi, and in turn the entire SE were gradually preparing us for things to come... and we still weren't ready damnit! We could have never been ready! *sobs*! :P

I think he may have been asking if they even had movie reviews back then, but I find it hard to believe he'd ask that since he said he was alive to see the first film in the theaters. And I have never heard of a movie review in a documentary... so that probably wasn't what he was talking about at all. Must of have been in response to one of the earlier posts.

 What exactly were you refering to, rcb?

Ziz said:

No, it was available in US packaging too, it just came out near the end of the line so it was a little harder to get.

Eh, just like those pesky and elusive Power of the Force figures that are nearly impossible to obtain. I have all of the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back figures, many of the Return of the Jedi figures, but only one from the POTF line.

Huh, I guess different Targets do their clearance differently. My local Target has a shamefully small space dedicated to 360 games, they offer about twice the selection size for PS3, Wii, and even DS. Also, I just realized the last time I was there that they keep the PS2s, PS3s, PSPs, DSs, and Wiis, all locked away behind a glass cabinet, but their 360s just sit on the shelf in the wide open, seems like somebody there is a PS3 fanboy.

I guess the limited amount of shelf space they have dedicated to 360 games is the reason I keep scoring such great deals, The Force Unleashed for $8, Left 4 Dead for $15, and now MK vs. DC for $15.

And now for something completely different... sort of...

I have been playing my way through Mirror's Edge lately, anybody else ever play that game? All the reviews for it are pretty mediocre, but I am really enjoying it. Not sure what people didn't like about it, maybe it just clicked with me, but I think it is absolutely brilliant. I think it deserves a lot of credit for originality, something sorely lacking games these days. Sure, the whole dystopian storyline is something we have all heard a millions times before, but it sets the mood for the game pretty nicely I think. I am not even sure how you'd categorize the game. A FPR, first-person-runner? I really like that while you have the option to disarm law enforcement officers and take their firearms, it is your choice if you want to use them or not, the whole game can be played without firing a shot, or technically every time you run up against a bunch of cops, you could take one of their guns and take each and every one of them down.

Anyway, I'd definitely recommend this game, it certainly will not be the same kind of full experience as games like Fallout 3 or GTA4, but it'll make for an exciting weekend or everyday-after-work-for-a-week-or-so experience.

bkev said:

Nice knowin' ya Ric, hopefully this means more Frink (hey, that rhymes!)

Does it? Perhaps I am just rhymically challenged, but I don't hear it.

Whoa, I've never seen that De La Foret before! Have I somehow never been fortunate enough to see one throughout all my years of browsing any and every store that sold old collectable toys, or is it perhaps another one of those across the pond exclusives?

Cool idea for a thread, most of us olderish guys will remember the ol' mini-rigs.

The MTV-7. That thing was crazy, like a steam roller with a front mounted gun and the ability to bob up and down. I had one as a kid, but I never really knew what to do with it... it is that whole bobing thing, it just didn't make any sense! And I loved the thing for it. The MLC-3 was pretty cool too, I loved the bubble canopy.

^ True that. Slow times here at OT.com, and as lame as I find this thread, it seems to have earned appreciation among the limited few who wander the off topic section, so apparently it must be destroyed!

Yeah, from everything I have heard about this thing, it is a total replacement, not just the filming of and adding in of a few alternate videos.

ChainsawAsh said:

Just got back from District 9 - it was about a hundred different kinds of amazing.  It might just be the high of seeing it for the first time, but I'll go out on a limb and say that it's easily the best action sci-fi film I've ever seen - yes, it's better than Aliens.  And the CG never once stood out to me as being CG, which is extraordinarily rare these days.

I highly recommend it to everyone here.  Amazing.

Alright, just got back from seeing District 9 myself. It was most certainly different. Still not sure how I feel about it, guess it hasn't completely sunk in yet.

It was definitely different from your typical tired Hollywood film, but I still think it carried on a lot of the issues I have with the typical Hollywood movie, namely not very well thought out plot points (wizard did it kind of stuff) and over long action sequences.

However, it was refreshing to have a plot that actually takes itself seriously (seems like many action/sci-fi flicks these days have a hard time with this one, resorting to over the top moments for comic relief).

Anchorhead said:

It's not only possible Lucas didn't (and still doesn't) understand what he did correctly in 1977, it now seems like that is in fact exactly the case.  His going back and "reinventing" the originals supports the theory even further. Instead of making the second trilogy mirror what worked for the first trilogy - he altered the originals to match what didn't work for the second trilogy.

Very well put. I think that pretty much sums up the entire situation in a nut shell.

G E Predator said:

So while I can't force you to appreciate Lucas or his recent works, I will not give in and become a basher and a hater.  I am a SW fan for the enjoyment of the films, for the fun of playing with the action figures and pretending to be the hero or the villain, and for the inspiration to write me own creative masterpieces.

No one is trying to get you to become a basher. It is great that you like the prequels. You are certainly entitled to, no one is trying to take that away from you. Also, the fact that you mentioned "playing with the action figures and pretending to be the hero or the villian" as parts of your enjoyment of the movies indicates you are quite a lot younger than the other guys in this discussion (which is absolutely fine, not meant as a negative comment).

When I was a kid I really enjoyed Return of the Jedi, and thought my older cousin was a retard because he felt it was poorly written and childish. To me this was unbelieveable, I felt Return of the Jedi was one of the greatest films every made, my cousin obviously didn't know what he was talking about! Well, now that I am older and can look at Return of the Jedi with more mature eyes, I can see very clearly that my cousin was absolutely right about that film.

To some of us older guys, it is just impossible to find fart jokes and Jar Jar's antics in the least bit humorous or enjoyable to watch, or to find Anakin's character the least bit heroic or his turn the least bit tragic. The PT is clearly missing a lot of the magic that made the originals loved by so many. Some of us lament the situation, because honestly, a prequel trilogy had a lot of potential, and sadly, that potential was wasted on films with insanely high budgets, but writing, situations, and acting slightly under par for a Disney Channel original movie.

I don't expect you to agree with our feelings toward the PT, nor would I want you to. I think it is great you like these films and that you can enjoy them.

SilverWook said:

2011? That's a long way off for this to be the final rendered footage.

Bear in mind, we are talking about a ride here, not just a digital movie. The ride will open in 2011, there is a lot more involved in the process of opening this ride than just video sequence.

Ouch, sorry to hear it cost you so much. Glad you were able to recover everything okay though.

What was the question?

At any rate, I don't doubt we will very likely eventually see something like this, but most definitely not until the man has passed on.

skyjedi2005 said:

I have Mark Hamills autograph, i would never ask Hayden for his.

Dude, that is cool. What do you have his autograph on, just a photo? The only celebrity autograph I have is my signed copy of If Chins Could Kill by Bruce Campbell. I suddenly feel like a very lousy nerd...

skyjedi2005 said:

Batman arkham asylum is supposed to be Mark Hamill's last hurrah as the Joker.  He won't do the voice any more at least that is he said he was retiring the voice.

Batman is voiced by the original actor from the animated series, the could not afford Bale and who cares really his voice was awful in the dark knight.  Conroys voice might be a bit cheesy at times, but at least its not Adam West. Yeah sure some fanboys would have loved Micheal Keaton as the voice, but whatever.

I bet Mark would still be willing to do more Joker if the opportunity were to come along. But thinks that fall into the continuity of the Batman animated series (DC Animated Universe) are nearly non-existent anymore (guess there is still some JLA stuff being made, right?), and the Joker has been over used quite a lot in the past several years, so it is probably not to likely the opportunity will come along.

To me Mark Hamill's Joker is by far the definitive Joker. People can get orgasmic all they want over Heath Ledger's Joker, but my feelings are that the greatness of his performance is greatly blown out of proportion. Don't get me wrong, he did a great job with the part and brought us a very dark and adult oriented version of Joker to go along with our new dark and adult oriented version Batman, but to me, Mark Hamill's Joker will always be THE Joker.

I am glade that Arkham Asylum decided to go with Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and other TAS voice actors for the game. I have always thought Kevin Conroy was perfect as the voice of Batman. Bale's raspy Batman voice comes off as just downright akward to me. And as for Micheal Keaton, the man just simply wasn't Batman. He did a great job of portraying a playboy running around at night in a costume beating up bad guys, but I don't think that is really who the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman is. To me Batman has always been a man who takes off his face and prentends to be a playboy during the day. As for Nicholson's Joker... er... um... no comment.

"Conroy's voice might be a bit cheesy at times..."

Just out of curiosity, at what times does his voice come off as cheesy to you, sky? I will admit there were plenty of cheesy things about Batman TAS throughout its run, but Kevin Conroy's portrayal of the character would have been one of the last things I'd have expected to see given that label. Perhaps it has just been a really long time since I have really sat down and watched through some of the episodes.

skyjedi2005 said:

I like the Marvel VS Capcom franchise better, but to each their own as they say,lol.

Actually the First Marvel VS Street Fighter arcade was my favorite, i kicked ass as RYU and Wolverine.

I'd happen to agree regarding Marvel vs. Capcom, the whole idea behind that game is brilliant. Besides being a much bigger fan of Marvel than of DC, I have always been a Street Fighter guy as opposed to a Mortal Kombat guy. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is an obvious ripoff of Marvel vs. Capcom, though it is not at all original I still like the concept. And hey, fifteen bucks is fifteen bucks, that is still less than half the price of a used copy of MK vs DC from gamestop.

I was at Target picking up some groceries today, and decided to zip by the video game clearance section to see if there were any good deals to be found; sure enough! Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe for only $14.98.

Just thought I'd give you all the heads up.

G E Predator said:

What we see in the official DVD's is what GL envisioned. 

Vaderisnothayden already covered this, but yeah, you can't really say that is what Lucas "envisioned". That makes it sound like what we have now was somehow his plan all along, and clearly it wasn't. If he had had the whole thing planned out all along, you can bet things would have been much better thoughtout. Instead we end of with a lot of afterthoughts, convoluted plot points, and massive gaps in the plot. Honestly, I could have forgiven the prequels for a good deal of their awfulness if they actually possessed the ability to go along side the original trilogy to some extent. But it takes an awful lot of over thinking and self delusion to plaster over all the cracks in order to come up with a smooth enough surface to safely walk across without tripping. It is really hard to suspend your disbelief enough to make these fims work, for those that are able to, more power to you, but for some of us it is simply impossible.

Vaderisnothayden said:

CO said:

1.  No Luke, Leia, and Han.  Sorry guys but characters drive movies, characters connect with the audience, there was no way any of us were going to love these movies because they were missing the big 3 from the OT.

When Luke Leia and Han first appeared we didn't know them. The film and the actors sold us on them. The same could have happened with the PT's characters if they were written, directed and cast right.

Yeah, every time someone claims the PT was destined to suck because it was in some way or another "not the originals", I find the words "bullshit" uncontrollably escaping my lips.

The prequels could have absolutely been good movies, there really is no reason they had to suck for any reason.

VINH put it perfectly when he explained that we didn't know Han, Luke, or Leia when we first saw Star Wars, but yet we managed to fall in love with them. The PT had so many things wrong with it you could write a book about it. Rather than listing all the things wrong with the PT, it is easier just to sum up the reality that they really did next to nothing right. There are really no excuses for those poor films. They were just plain bad, and could have been far better than they were. Sure, maybe they never would have been as good as the first two, but they could have been enjoyable by people who were not either under the age of twelve or blinded by the euphoria brought on by the words "Star Wars" in the title.

bkev said:

Ric Olie, I think your plan backfired. Rather than pitting us all against each other like most trolls do, YOU have united us in silliness.

Hmm, I have never actually heard of a troll pitting forum members against each other. That would be a very clever troll, and most trolls seem to be bored 12 year olds with nothing better to do.

I have always (okay, sometimes) seen trolls as blessings in disguise, bringing forum members closer, bringing them together in a common bond as they join forces to defend their web forum of choice in brotherly unity...er, something to that extent anyway.

EyeShotFirst said:

Ric Olie I am trying to quit smoking. What things would you do to quit?

My whiney blog which recently turned advice column (the Hot.Like.C3PX thread) would be a good place to inquire about such advice.

Shameless self promotional plug over.