logo Sign In

Fang Zei

User Group
Members
Join date
14-Oct-2006
Last activity
1-Jul-2025
Posts
2,779

Post History

Post
#286866
Topic
A question about NTSC telecine
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/286866/action/topic#286866
Time
Well I just looked up the U.K. releases of the Casino Royale blu-ray disc and the Harry Potter 4 hd-dvd and they both match their imdb running times exactly. I guess this high definition stuff really is the future. Moth3r, in regards to that flicker I was talking about, what I meant was that there is a very apparent cinema-like flicker when viewing high def media. At least there was when I saw a demo of Cinderella Man on HD-DVD.
Post
#286580
Topic
A question about NTSC telecine
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/286580/action/topic#286580
Time
So I was wondering,

When a 24 frame per second movie is telecined for NTSC, is the original playback speed faithfully preserved or is it running the slightest bit slower? It's just that I recently read the wiki entry for 24 fps to NTSC telecine and it said that because it's not 30 fps it's actually 29.97, the film has to be slowed from 24 to 23.976 fps in order for the original framerate to be redistributed across the NTSC framerate. All this time I thought NTSC actually preserved the original framerate! So which is it, 24 or 23.976?
Post
#286353
Topic
What could have made the PT better?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/286353/action/topic#286353
Time
Another aspect of the backstory in making the PT is that of all the planets in that galaxy far, far away that we were yet to see, Lucas chose Tatooine, a planet that already overstayed its welcome in ROTJ. You could easily fan edit ROTJ to make Jabba's palace and the Pit of Carkoon on some other planet, It's not like they shot it in Tunisia anyway. Because of the choices Lucas made, the same could not quite be done for Tatooine in the PT. I could make a couple guesses at why he did this. One is for the convenience of Owen and Beru's backstories. The other is that maybe he just couldn't think up another planet that was different enough of an environment to justify not making it Tatooine. You've probably all seen those lists that people make. Bespin is clouds, Yavin is jungle, Hoth is ice, Dagobah is swamp, Endor is forest, etc.
Post
#286228
Topic
What could have made the PT better?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/286228/action/topic#286228
Time
On the other hand, this means that the PT is still just backstory and not the beginning of the story. Star Wars '77 will always be the beginning of the story, Empire the middle and Jedi the end. The PT was always going to be the backstory simply because it was made later, and much later at that. It's just funny since the prequels ended up making tons of money all the same.
Post
#286209
Topic
for what it's worth.... a placeholder for the OT on blu-ray has been posted at amazon
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/286209/action/topic#286209
Time
Digital Cinema is stuck at 2K anyway right now. In regards to technology stepping up, I recently read over at thedigitalforum that Van Ling was quoted as saying that the Abyss will not recieve an anamorphic transfer until its high def release. In regards to Star Wars, well, I don't think we should have to wait until any later than 2008 to get our anamorphic OOT. Whether or not we'll have to is another matter.
Post
#286090
Topic
for what it's worth.... a placeholder for the OT on blu-ray has been posted at amazon
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/286090/action/topic#286090
Time
It might not be the last ten years that's done it, although seeing the original versions in 35mm would've been nice. Even '04 and '05 were pretty good for me so far as Star Wars goes.

The last year, that took its toll.

The GOUT is what would've been better off not existing. It's the lowest LFL has ever stooped. That said, it's not like the OOT is the only non-anamorphic release out there. Let us not forget the R1 releases of The Graduate. Nevertheless this is Star Wars, the most popular film series ever, and when LFL is shameless enough to put out something like the GOUT I just shake my head and ask why.
Post
#285314
Topic
Anyone else nostalgic to the PT?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/285314/action/topic#285314
Time
It's proof positive of how shameless the guy is. He'll bury the originals, but not episode II oh no!

Opening day was unforgettable if only for the reactions of my friends and I. Even then I knew we were all probably annoying everyone else in the aud (we were sitting towards the front) but even I didn't care, the movie was just that bad. My friend to the left went "Jimmy Smitts?!" and my friend to the right patted me on the shoulder and said "hang in there, man" as soon as the scene ended. One of them quoted Anakin's "but the women, and the children too" right before Anakin said it. Even I joined in and went "unleash the beast!" upon hearing Wat Tambor's voice for the first time. We laughed our way through the Geonosis scenes but one of us at least gave a woot as Dooku challenged Yoda to a saber duel. The absolutely priceless quote came from one of my friends who'd sat at the back of the theater as we were exiting during the end credits, "It doesn't matter how well it does because it's never going to beat LIKE MIKE!"
Post
#285304
Topic
Anyone else nostalgic to the PT?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/285304/action/topic#285304
Time
LFL chalking up people's desire of the OOT to nostalgia and using it as an excuse to dump it onto disc was indeed really shitty. At the end of the day, I can't boil down their motives to anything else than money. If George is willing to show it, there simply is no other reason for why he isn't willing to show it the right way. With the 30th anniversary approaching, it seems to me that next to no one cares about the films themselves and just takes whatever LFL says without a grain of salt. Last semester I overheard someone in my film course say to someone else before the class started "I don't even think of Star Wars as movies anymore, to me it's more like a way of life" or something to that effect. This was of course around the time the GOUT discs hit. The other guy was voicing his plans to pick them up and the first guy said "don't, they're non-anamorphic." I think he also implied that the SE's were better but there was no way of knowing what he really thought on that matter without me asking him. I also chimed in and told the second guy not to pay 60 bucks for the original versions. Actually, when you really think about it, the problem is kind of two-fold. People don't care enough about the Star Wars movies as movies and also aren't technically savvy enough to know that the GOUT discs are shit quality. LFL has certainly exploited this. We now live in this world as Star Wars fans where no one is right and no one is wrong. And you're correct, it's all because of GL.

One funny thing I've been thinking recently is that if GL really is persistent about not giving a shit about the original versions, maybe future historians will look back and see that he actually did the world a favor: he made people move on from Star Wars.
Post
#285254
Topic
Anyone else nostalgic to the PT?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/285254/action/topic#285254
Time
Having been born in '85, retroactively just in time for the original versions to officially never be hitting the big screen ever again, my answer would have to be yes, of course I'm nostalgic towards the PT. It was more Star Wars movies.

Speaking of plastic sabers, I'll never forget being at the Tysons Corner Galleria FAO Schwartz a couple weeks before TPM was released and swinging around the Darth Maul saber while a tv monitor there played both trailers on a loop. That's also where I spoiled the ending for myself by flipping through the comic book adaptation but I think I'd already heard about it/figured it out for myself by that point anyway. The spoilers were something I'd follow for the other prequels as well.

Then there was opening day, and I went to go see TPM by myself sometime in the late afternoon passing a friend who'd just seen it as I arrived. The aud wasn't even filled to capacity, but as I left afterwards I remember passing a pretty huge line and seeing yet another friend who was about to see it. It is funny looking back on it now how TPM got hyped only because it was the first Star Wars movie in 16 years and ROTS got hyped because it would be the last ever, leaving nothing to hype AOTC over.

Speaking of which, I remember being at my uncle's house outside of San Francisco in August of '01 when I first read online what the official title of Episode II would be, a very cool moment since I wasn't far from where Star Wars was pretty much born. My uncle had a toy car and he mentioned it was of one of the cars in American Graffiti. Months later I saw Spider-Man on opening night and a kid turned on his green toy lightsaber and waved it in the air at the exact moment that Mary Jane kisses Peter Parker and I yelled "only 2 weeks to go!" amidst the other yells of the crowd. The morning of the 16th there was a story on the radio about how people were planning on skipping work to go see AOTC, and indeed I cut class with a bunch of friends to see it at the union station amc theater. I must've been pretty bored that summer because I went back to see it multiple times, unfortunately not once in digital projection no thanks to scooby-doo.

That last year before ROTS was pretty good. The lack of an OOT dvd didn't bother me to anywhere near the extent that it bothers me now, and besides I remember a lot of people picking up that boxset anyway. A friend and I watched Star Wars on his 60 inch widescreen in component video and 5.1 surround (I'd already read about the soundtrack screwup and yea, it was definitely noticeable. The Lars Homestead scenes come to mind). We were blown away by the picture resolution right from that opening scuffle aboard the Tantive IV. We just weren't used to it looking that clear! It was cool to once again hear Luke mention the Clone Wars now that we'd seen it for ourselves. The next month was the ROTS teaser, timely in its use of that very same digitally restored footage. The trailer in March blew me away.

I could go on and on and on about this, but I'll just close by saying that it was a blast seeing ROTS at midnight with another group of friends. Before the show started, I noticed someone in the audience watching the original version of Empire in widescreen on his laptop! I'd already known that fan preservations existed, but that was another thing that eventually led me to this very site.
Post
#285249
Topic
Star Wars screening with Q&A with Lucas tonight
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/285249/action/topic#285249
Time
Since I don't feel like starting a new thread just to ask a question, I'll ask it here.

I need some clearing up on a certain subject. I keep reading here and there about how Lucas apparently did some fx cleanup work to the OT for one of the early 90's home video releases, totally prior to the special edition. Is this true? Are people possible confusing this with the THX remastering that was done for the '93 LD?

I already know about the various sound remixes thanks to davisdvd's home video timeline, but I keep reading this story about pre-SE changes to the actual picture on message boards and the like.
Post
#281930
Topic
What 30th Anniversary?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/281930/action/topic#281930
Time
Over the weekend I watched my TPM dvd on a 4:3 tv with s-video and was suprised by how good I thought it looked. Then I reminded myself it was an anamorphic disc and therefore being downscaled in order to fit the screen. On my computer at full rez, no, the transfer doesn't hold up very well and its flaws become very obvious, but even the worst anamorphic transfers look pretty good on the tv and this is why I've been spoiled by them. A few months back I picked up Conan: The Complete Quest even though I noticed Conan the Destroyer was 4:3 letterbox. Let's face it, there's not exactly an outcry for that one like there is for Star Wars. Anyway, while taking it for a spin I was almost transported back to '97 and the days of watching the widescreen SE vhs. The only other letterbox discs I've seen off the top of my head are the old releases of Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma! and South Pacific, Artisan's first release of Frank Herbert's Dune, Universal's first release of the Dune movie, Fox's first release of Planet of the Apes and Michael Collins.

Is George Lucas's ego really such that he can't even swallow his pride for one split-second and just remaster the things? It's the 30th anniversary and yet LFL is determined to sell everything except that which we want the most from them.