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Fang Zei

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14-Oct-2006
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30-Jun-2025
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Post
#281086
Topic
should I get the GOUT?
Time
Originally posted by: Puggo - Jar Jar's "Yoda"
But seriously, how would anyone who's a crazy enough SW fan to be on this forum, have the willpower NOT to buy it?


Somehow, I've found a way to control myself. It's saving 60 dollars versus having some of the greatest movies ever made finally on dvd but only technically as they are from laserdisc masters and not dvd masters as the vast majority of movies on D-V-D are. If I buy it today and then in a few weeks find out they are getting, you know, the actual expected level of treatment later this year, I'll be kicking myself. Seriously, unless I keep them sealed in their plastic and somehow retain their status as collector's items, I will pretty much have thrown away 60 dollars. I don't need people at TF.N reminding me that no one is holding a gun to my head in order to realize it for myself, but to echo words of wisdom from another message board, Lucas really seems to be going out of his way to make things difficult for the fans.

This crazy theory came to me yesterday. What if the '04 release really was nothing but a hype up for ROTS? Think about it, especially considering the prequelizing changes that weren't made to the movies until that first dvd release (Hayden, Ian, Temuera's voice, etc). I mean, it's bad enough that LFL had to pull the mother of all poser moves and basically release an official bootleg, but maybe they'll continue this trend and some good will come of it if and when a remaster is released.
Post
#280929
Topic
should I get the GOUT?
Time
I'm facing the same dilemna myself. I realize that if Lucas really did release this in intentionally bad quality with serious plans to just roll out the expected treatment for them the very next year, that it would be some kind of a record in the dvd industry for how quickly a bad release was followed by a much better one, but I just can't shake the feeling. My logic is, all LFL would have to say is that the next dvd release officially isn't happenning, at least not this year. However, they haven't said anything. It's so simple that something has to be amiss. That and, well, I just can't justify spending 60 dollars on laserdisc transfers .... even if it is Star Wars.
Post
#280845
Topic
To those who own the OOT Sept Release & an HDTV
Time
Originally posted by: Blackjack
plus, I recently watched the undestroyed version on a 51 inch HDTV and at times I actually feared I had put the destroyed edition in instead because it looked so good.


While it's heartening to hear this, I almost don't want to hear it. The only GOUT disc I've actually seen is ROTJ. It looked and sounded pretty bad but this was on a ps2 and small tv.

Every time I walk into the local indie shop, those IV, V and VI are still there, still wrapped in plastic. Yes, even this far into the year. That voice in my head keeps saying things like "it's not that bad of a quality and what if it really is the only time they'll ever be on the format???" Still, that same voice would proabably call me a sucker and remind me of how I'd just blown 60 bucks on laserdisc-to-dvd ports.
Post
#280835
Topic
the original episode I
Time
This makes it easier to at least accept the prequels for what they are, as GL's backstory and nothing more. Even on wookiepeedia the OT is described as the core of the star wars saga, not simply the second half. This is all yet another reason why I don't mind the prequels' existence just so long as the originals are rightfully preserved. Sadly, they haven't been.
Post
#278984
Topic
The Secret History of Star Wars
Time
Zombie,

I had to do some more skimming as I couldn't quite take the constant talk about the original film's script revisions (don't worry, I'll come back to it when I can), but I noticed you pointed out the Rosie O'Donnell interview. I remember watching that! She thought Darth Maul was actually Mace Windu in disguise and then actually asked George if she was right. His reply was a simple "no." She also asked him if he ever watched Star Trek and he said something like "I caught a few episodes but I wasn't a Trekkie or anything." I think he was also asked how long until Episode II would be released and it was "3 years, although I wish it was 4."

I've skimmed over huge sections now, including the one about George and Marcia's divorce. I didn't see anything addressing the rumors that Marcia got %15 of sales of the OT and that maybe that's why George changed them into different movies, aka the Special Editions. On the other hand, I guess there wouldn't be much documentable evidence to treat that as anything more than it is, rumor.

Also, I didn't know that the official fan club actually shut down at one point. I know people always refer to the late 80's as the dark times but I didn't know it was that dark.
Post
#278446
Topic
The Secret History of Star Wars
Time
Zombie,

First off, many thanks for putting this thing together. I skimmed over it before actually sitting down and reading it. I wanted to stand up and applaud when I noticed the comparison of Anakin and the Clones' march on the Jedi Temple to the similar scene from Dune. Reason being, that section of the movie when Anakin becomes Darth Vader and Yoda senses it from the other side of the galaxy has always reminded me of the scene from the Dune movie when Paul takes the water of life and the reverend mother senses it from the other side of the galaxy. Anyway, I'm about 40 pages or so in and it's insanely interesting. I can already see you bring up Dune a number of times actually! For a little six degrees of seperation story, Rudy Wurlitzer, one of the guys who wrote Two Lane Blacktop, would later write a Dune screenplay with Ridley Scott before that folded and David Lynch became the director, true story.
Post
#278293
Topic
What were your original expectations for the PT?
Time
Yea, the multiple Darths throughout the PT did get kinda lame and it's almost as if it was there just so Lucas could conveniently work his way From Darth Maul and Darth Sidious (and the backstory of Darth Bane) in TPM to Darth Tyrannus in AOTC to the backstory of Darth Plaguis to Anakin being dubbed Darth Vader by the emperor in ROTS. Correct me if I'm wrong, but whether or not it was implied that Vader wasn't the only Darth, he was the only Darth we knew about until TPM was made. I didn't like finding out that the Emperor was also a Darth. There was one Darth too many in TPM.
Post
#277631
Topic
Six-Movie Star Wars Marathon at Celebration IV
Time
Originally posted by: CO
It is so ironic that they are celebrating the 30th Anniversary of SW by showing all 6 films, and the version that is 30 years old doesn't exist anymore! It should be a marathon of all 6 movies to commerorate the 10th Anniversary.

Yea, except the SE's 10th anniversary has already passed!

Originally posted by: CO
I wonder what exactly they will be screening, and how? Will there be new prints made or high res digital projection from the digital masters, or will they simply be projecting the dvds, as is sometimes done? If they are from digital masters, i wonder if they will be any of the updated versions of the films, if such things are indeed coming. That would be quite the way to reveal them. Anyone who attends these screenings should be on the lookout for pink and green lightsabers in Star Wars--if theres not then these are brand new masters which will assumingly be made for an impending release. And if there are still pink and green lightsabers in Star Wars during a marathon screening organized by Lucasfilm for the 30th anniversary...then thats just dumb. But i guess it will go well with Greedo shooting first and Hayden Christenson in Return of the Jedi.


The posters shown on the website are from the '97 SE. The AFI in Silver Spring, MD has shown those prints as recently as the past couple years so those will probably be screened at this thing. This assumes of course that it isn't some sort of grand unveiling as you're suggesting.
Post
#277341
Topic
What were your original expectations for the PT?
Time
I remember buying a copy of a magazine way back in '94 that said "Three Years until the next Star Wars Trilogy" against some photo of the Millennium Falcon on the cover. It was the first issue of the magazine, it was called Science Fiction Universe or something like that. The actual story proceeded to break three years down into even smaller units, ending in seconds. There were blow up quotes (or whatever you call those), one of which was Luke and Ben's brief conversation about the Clone Wars from ANH. They used one of those OT paintings, the crazy jackson pollock looking one with lots of grey colors and spaceships, I think it was supposed to be the battle of endor. I don't remember anything from the actual article. Hopefully it's still lying around somewhere at home but with my luck it's long gone.
Post
#277325
Topic
The Go-Mer-Tonic™ Thread - Today's Topic: Whose your favorite author and why?
Time
The first time I saw it at all was in June of 2000 when SciFi channel aired the original theatrical version letterboxed. I remember reading an article on how it would be the first time in ten years that the theatrical version had been shown on tv. All I can really remember is being impressed by the visuals and the music.

A couple years ago I picked up the dvd of the director's cut, mainly out of concern that they weren't going to be reissuing it in a better dvd. Less than two years later, bamn, remaster. Yes, I have that as well.
Post
#276865
Topic
Hypothetical: 30th anniversary theatrical release
Time
Like I've said before, LFL has made its choice in regards to the GOUT and can't take it back. All it can hope for is to salvage whatever shred of decency it's left itself by remastering the OOT from an IP and getting it over with. It'll be impossible to explain the 2006 release as anything more than an easy cash-in, but if they didn't feel like giving the bare minimum expected treatment then they could've simply not released it. Again, they've made their choice and can't take it back.
Post
#275433
Topic
How much does it cost Lucasfilm to make a DVD?
Time
Originally posted by: zombie84
The other option would to just take a print--or better yet, a IN or IP--and just run a straight transfer, with the standard dirt/scratch/grain removal filters that come standard in telecine packages. This would not yield a perfectly clean version of the film, but it would be as sharp as any other classic film out there and would be imperfect but reasonably clean--and it would definitly blow everyone away with its resolution and clarity. The cost of doing this is practically peanuts, which is why worthless shit that only few people buy like Smokey and the Bandit 2 and Revenge of the Nerds 3 get the same treatment--way under $50, 000. Add authoring a master and creating a simple menu system and you are looking at a great looking version of Star Wars that would cost Lucasfilm just under $100, 000. So basically, if ever user in this forum bought a copy, Lucasfilm would already be making profit on the disk, and obviously this would sell a few million copies and not just a few hundred.


Which is exactly what I was thinking would happen when the news broke back in early May. Weren't all of the original theatrical releases off of IP's anyway? And as you said, most old movies are put to dvd via IP at best, not the o-neg. And if telecines of the OOT were still being made as of 1995, doesn't that seriously call into question LFL's statement about the existing film copies being in bad condition? I mean, maybe after another 12 years they are now in bad condition, but I still wouldn't know.
Post
#275205
Topic
How much does it cost Lucasfilm to make a DVD?
Time
Originally posted by: skyjedi2005
On top of that the original negative was altered. that is the best source for a restoration, being a first generation or no generation copy of the film coming right from the camera. that is what they used to restore the bond films by lowry the o-neg. sure Lucas must still have the interpositives or selected takes of those scenes on film rolls but the quality is at least 1 to 2 generations older than the o-neg.


a depressing, but true statement

also, this leads me to a question I've had. A lot of people said that it was Lowry's digital restoration that screwed up the colors for the '04 dvd, but since this was also the first time that the negatives had been scanned directly into the computer, do you think it's possible the negatives always looked like that? All of the previous releases were off of the IP's.
Post
#274394
Topic
a rumor from thedigitalbits.com...
Time
pretty much....

Like I've said before, you don't alter the old movie just so the new movie will conveniently flow with it. What was the point of making the old movie in the first place if that's what you were going to do? It's cheating. You don't see the studios doing this with their old movies when a new installment in one of their franchises is released. In fact, you see the studios going more and more for an archival treatment of their films serieses on dvd. That's why Lucas has less and less of a leg to stand on with each passing day.