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DarthPoppy

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Join date
1-Feb-2006
Last activity
11-Feb-2008
Posts
16

Post History

Post
#300704
Topic
Does the PT work as a fun & fluff comic book production?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/300704/action/topic#300704
Time
A train wreck by any other name is still a train wreck.
The PT failed as movies.
They would fail as comic books.
They would fail as grand opera.
It is a bad, telegraphed story, poorly told.
No tweaking of genre or medium can change that.
In the end, I really think they shouldn't have been made. We knew everything important about the "backstory" from a couple of lines in the original film, we didn't need 6 hours of poor exhibition.
Post
#300223
Topic
What happened to the live-action show?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/300223/action/topic#300223
Time
Big networks even can reserve the right to cancel shows after they air a series they have bought. Remember after Seinfeld ended, the actors who played George, Kramer and Elaine each got their own show. All of them were cancelled after, if memory serves me correctly, the broadcast of only one episode. Later the Elaine actress got a different show which has been successful. The three flops were the year after Seinfeld quit. I don't know the first thing about how the legal end of all this works (what the networks actually bought), but the reality was they decided the shows were bad and not going to be popular, so they cancelled them, based on the audience's response, after airing the premieres. I also know it happens all the time that new series get cancelled in mid-season. Maybe it works different in the cable (particularly the lower budget cable) markets, but for anything big, even seasons are not guaranteed.
Post
#300155
Topic
Caption Fun
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/300155/action/topic#300155
Time
Originally posted by: Sluggo
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a117/Sluggomatic2000/Jawa_Crawler1.jpg


STARWARS.COM, official Star Wars Shop Limited Time Offer!!!

LucasFilm Limited has made a limited run of functioning replicas of ugly vehicles from the Star Wars Saga!
For just $11,000,000,000,000 (that is Eleven-Trillion dollars for those who cannot count zeros), this fine replica can be yours. It even drives! (But is not street legal in the United States, EU or any other developed nation). LucasFilm has made an extremely limited edition of just 10,000 models, so place your order while our supplies last!
Post
#300130
Topic
Would you give up ESB in exchange for...?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/300130/action/topic#300130
Time
I think my "yes" vote is strengthened by the fact that people are justifying their "no" votes with comparisons to the Matrix and Back to the Future franchises. Sure Back to the Future was fun and the Matrix was very clever, but compared to the original Star Wars, they are both pretty trivial films (in my opinion)--just good examples of blockbusters. Neither one has the cross generational, timeless aspects of the original Star Wars. They were good films, don't get me wrong, but no one is surprised that they don't show up in AFI top 100 lists, etc. As for Godfather I and II, they are both based on preexisting story by Mario Puzzo. Zombie's parallel with the Rocky franchise makes more sense to me. But the original Rocky was never changed to with the idea that Rocky IV was always intended and the filmmakers don't ever make the claim that Rocky is not the story of Rocky Balboa, but really the story of Apollo Creed, etc.

The point I am making is that Star Wars back in 1977 wasn't just another blockbuster, it was a truly special, transformative cultural event; the same cannot be said for the other films (even the Godfather, which might well be a superior film).
Post
#299943
Topic
Would you give up ESB in exchange for...?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/299943/action/topic#299943
Time
Well, I am proud to say that I voted "yes". Let's look at why and this involves a little personal history:

I was a lucky kid to be born in 1971, and in 1977 I was all of 6 years old when Star Wars came out. That movie was my whole life for the next 5 or so years of my life, and when ever I think about what it was like then, a smile still comes to my face.

(For those of you who were there and remember, check out the old 1977 trailer at IMDB: Star Wars 1977 Trailer and tell me that doesn't put a smile back on your face: the Movie is called Star Wars, Vader is in that trailer for two seconds, Luke, the farmboy is the center of the story, wow!)

When I watch Star Wars in its original, unmolested form, it is still my favorite film of all time (and I am not a sci-fi geek at all, the rest of my top 10 list are films like Casablanca, Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Quai, Taxi Driver, Paths of Glory, To Have and Have Not, The Godfather, The French Connection and Dr. Strangelove).

When The Empire Strikes Back came out, I loved it as much as the next fan (well maybe not quite, as I always prefered Star Wars, but I really, really loved it). I even can concede that from a technical, filmmaking POV, it might be the superior film; however, from a story point of view, it really is only half of a film--the conclusion of the story being told is found in Return of the Jedi, a film that I strongly disliked even when it first came out. In the end I feel that Star Wars tells a complete story by itself--a truly big, complete, wonderful story of a fantastic universe where good beats evil in a final confrontation (even the opening scroll indicates that the possibility of the Rebels destroying the Death Star would be a conclusive victory). The personal soap opera like story of the Skywalker family that the sequels (and later the prequels) tell is just not nearly as compelling to me. In fact, I have to pretend I never heard it to appreciate the quality of story and storytelling Star Wars is unique in the series for reaching. I never liked or was convinced by the whole story of the evil Vader's redemption--it goes against my own beliefs and values that say one is always responsible for ones actions, even if you say your sorry on your deathbed. So while I can acknowledge that ESB is an excellent film, I do not find it to be a very good story (if this makes any sense).

As for the SEs and PT, I find that they only distract and detract from the original. The juxtaposition of 1990s and 2000s era effects in a film from 1977 is completely distracting and damages my suspension of disbelief; I can buy any one effects convention (none of them are particularly realistic in themselves, they are all, afterall conventions), but when you start mixing them up it just makes you think about them. Every film and fashion is dated by it own time, I have never felt this was a bad thing. Being true to its own time makes it feel true, mixing and matching makes it appear false and ergo harder to accept.

So in the end, I am really a Star Wars '77 fan, first and foremost. So while I enjoy ESB, I would give it up in an instant for a quality copy of my favorite film of all time to watch on DVD whenever I wanted to.

Further the lack of quality of RotJ and most of the prequels and the downright absurdity of most of the EU has hurt the credibility of the original film to many outside hardcore fandom. This is a loss for our cinematic culture as I feel very strongly that Star Wars deserves a place up there with the greatest films of all time, something that the franchise juggernaut is beginning to deny it. And this is far more "tragic" than the story of Darth Vader.
Post
#299865
Topic
"Lucas can't find home for Star Wars spin-off"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/299865/action/topic#299865
Time
Wow CO, that post of your above is scary for me to read, because I could have written exactly the same thing! I couldn't agree with you more. I too am really overwhelmingly a Star Wars '77 fan. I too saw it in '77 (at age 6) and loved every minute of it--to me it is a perfect film, and still my favorite. When ESB came out, I was as in to it as the next fan, and I might even concede that technically (from a filmmaking POV) it is the superior film; but (and an important but) storywise, it is merely the first half of a film whose second half is RotJ which to me is a pretty damn bad film. And I never bought the Vader redemption thing in the first place. In the end, all of the important information of the saga (accept for Vader's redemption) is contained in the original; the rest of the saga is largely dottig "i"s and crossing "t"s and spelling out everything for those who didn't have enough imagination to appreciate the original (my opionion, obviously). For me the original Star Wars has held up--when I watch it I still get that feeling I had as a kid. The rest of the "saga" feels largely like another formulaic franchise cash cow. To return to the original topic of this thread, this is why I fear the TV show, nothing lends itself to formulaic franchise cash cows more than serial episodic cinematic spin-off TV shows.
Post
#299441
Topic
"Lucas can't find home for Star Wars spin-off"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/299441/action/topic#299441
Time
My curiousity about all these Star Wars TV shows and another blockbuster franchise film (Indy IV) in the works is that I thought Lucas said that part of the reason he decided to do the PT was to make a lot of money to self-finance all kinds of experimental
"arthouse" films. I read this to mean getting away from franchise TV spinoffs and summer blockbuster movies (ala INdy IV--didn't he say he thought the age of the feature film/theatrical release was over some time last year), and get back to his roots with truly experimental film (like the original THX). I guess either I was wrong or he changed his mind.
Post
#299221
Topic
"Lucas can't find home for Star Wars spin-off"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/299221/action/topic#299221
Time
When will Lucas learn that, regarding Star Wars, less is more? The franchise was best remembered before the Dark Times, before the SEs and PT. I fear these TV shows will end up making the PT look like the OT. The backstory of Pod Racing is all we need to gaurantee that future generations will look at those of us who loved Star Wars in 1977 as lunatics, since all that they will be able to see is the SuperUltimateLastFinalLucasOnHisDeathBedEdition of Star Wars which will now be numbered Episode 104, as the 100 TV episodes will take place between Episode III and Star Wars. Whatever is left of Lucases legacy and good name will be buried on the shelves of the Library of Congress I am afraid.
Post
#299143
Topic
"Lucas can't find home for Star Wars spin-off"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/299143/action/topic#299143
Time
Again, we will see how the ratings do; I don't think we have enought data about how many people actually saw the later PT films (TPM was huge, it had everyone who ever liked Star Wars going, and we brought our skeptical wives and friends--they didn't come with us to see AotC or RotS!). Yes they were very successful movies, but just go and look over at TF.N (back in the days when the movies were out) and see all the people who posted that they saw RotS, literally, 38 times or 50 times, etc. Such fanatical devotion of repeat viewers carries no wait in the TV market where one time market share is all the matters. It will be very interesting to see what kind of ratings these shows garner and will go along way in answering how popular the post-PT Star Wars franchise actually is.
Post
#298903
Topic
"Lucas can't find home for Star Wars spin-off"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/298903/action/topic#298903
Time
Thanks everyone. I do lurk here a bunch and read what you all say quite a bit. I just am not as tech/filmmaking savy as most of you all here. CO is right, I am definitely an old school Star Wars '77 kind of guy! Lately I have been a bit less engaged in things Star Wars (still waiting for an acceptable release of the original Star Wars, and my VHS copy from the 80s died a couple of years ago, so I can't even watch the film I love in good quality) lately. But I have been doing some research here to see how I can get a great "unofficial" version of the film!

The topic of this particular thread really fascinated me, as sometimes it appears that Lucas really does live in a fantasy world--making 50-100 episodes of a TV show that he has not sold. That he is not preoccupied with this problem shows two things:

A) he has a lot of money, and can probably take a loss (i.e. direct to video or subscription net ala "hyperspace")

B) he really has lost perception of reality, which would explain that he is not lying but merely forgotten reality when he says he always thought of Star Wars as the "Tragedy of Darth Vader", etc.

It is all very strange, and a regular working guy like me will never understand the dilemmas and psychology of a guy who lives and works on his own compound, finances his own multi-million dollar projects etc. But it is interesting to see how far Lucas has distanced himself from the human reality that most of us live in and some that his early work (American Graffiti and, yes, Star Wars '77) so well portrayed. What I find particularly fascinating is how this lack of understanding of reality has now seeped into the one place where I thought he was still on top of his game--business sense!
Post
#298801
Topic
"Lucas can't find home for Star Wars spin-off"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/298801/action/topic#298801
Time
I think the reason the networks aren't terribly interested in this series are multiple:

1.) Commitment. Normarlly a network buys a (single) pilot episode, focus groups the hell out of it and goes back to the production company with results, which lead to changes in format, characters, etc. (Classic example being the orignal Star Trek pilot with Captain Pike wich was considered to "intellectual" and "liberal" (with a woman 1st officer) and transformed into the series we know). They buy one episode without commitment and work from there; they do not buy 100.

2.) A network buys a series to make a profit (like any other business venture); a network makes a profit by selling advertising. Advertisers buy time to sell a product to a market which has money to spend on said product. If the only people still interested in the franchise (particularly the PT era) agter the reception of the PT are people like the so-called "TF.N gushers", the only products this group spends its money on are Star Wars merchandise, which they will buy anyway. After spending their bucks on this stuff, they have no money left over. So, who would be the target for advertisers? Not beer makers, car makers, pharmaceuticals or any of the regulars.

3.) The reception of the PT. While Sith got a better reception than the first to prequels, this was largely due to the fact that it was the last one. You can only sell something as the last one so many times. Lots of people are just sick of the whole thing. And unlike a film in theaters where a film makes that same amount of money if ten people see it or if one person sees it ten times, advertising based broadcasting is entirely based on ratings--the raw number of people who see it at once. It is clear with cult films (which the franchise has become) that the huge numbers the PT generated at the box office were largely the result of the multiple viewings of a harcore fanbase, which does not translate well to the broadcast arena.
Post
#289342
Topic
I just can't watch Star Wars anymore....
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/289342/action/topic#289342
Time
I don't usually post at this site, but some of you will know me from ORS and, occaisionally, TF.N.

I couldn't agree more with the original poster on this thread. When I first saw Star Wars in 1977 as a kid, it was my life. When ESB came out, I loved it too, maybe even more than the original. However, I didn't care for RotJ, even when it came out. But I loved the other two so much, I tried to convince myself it was ok. When the prequels came out, I tried to do the same; however, I thought TPM and Clones were so weak, I couldn't pull it off. As for Revenge of the Sith, I briefly convinced myself I liked it, but on further reflection realized it was more of the same. About 2 years ago, I finally realized that all of my rationalization of the other five films just came from my love of the original; still the greatest action adventure film of all time for me. ESB itself, even with its technical superiority and better direction, was where the "saga" began to fall apart--making Vader Luke's father was a great pay-off moment, but the death knell for the "saga" to me. I liked the Galactic Civil War story of Star Wars, not the family drama of redeeming a man as evil as Hitler of the Saga. I don't really care where Vader came from and don't want to see him "redeemed". The original film had it all, and it had its own beginning, middle and end; no need for the rest. And I refuse to call that film anything but its real name: Star Wars; the rest is revisionist history.