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Fang Zei

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14-Oct-2006
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8-Nov-2025
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Post
#271268
Topic
Do you legally own the OOT?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/271268/action/topic#271268
Time
Yea seriously, vbangle. I actually thought this was the same thread as before.

Technically I own the whole thing except my copy of empire doesn't work. I got the '95 ANH fullscreen vhs for christmas that year and was a damn fool not to make sure I got the rest in due time. About a year and a half ago I stumbled upon used copies of the '95 empire and jedi tapes, both fullscreen, at a record and tape traders in rehoboth, delaware. ANH was not to be found. Perfect coincidence, right? Well, when I eventually play the tapes I discover that the copy of empire is totally shot. There's basically constant static and nothing I do is fixing it. Jedi played just fine though.

About a month prior to this, I found a used copy of the '86 Jedi fullscreen vhs (still in its cardboard box!) at my local potomac video's spring sale. I'm pretty sure it's the copy that they rented out for all those years, it still had the sticker on it from when another company owned the place. So logically this one should've looked and sounded like shit, right? After pressing play and getting past the static of the lead in tape, there was the cbs/fox logo and then it went straight into the movie. Beautiful.

So yea, I've got ANH, two copies of Jedi and a shot copy of Empire.
Post
#270898
Topic
The OT on HBO HD this month, unfortunately it is the SE
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/270898/action/topic#270898
Time
Of course we should be so lucky, but that's another story. You have to wonder how many people are actually bothering to sit down and watch the OT SE in HD on HBO. Are people by and large really that accepting of the SE? Regardless of Sansweet's comments at comicon, no one simply "doesn't care" which version they're watching. There will always at least be a marginal preference for one over the other.

By the way, I don't know what eros' problem is. To reiterate what I said, my computer monitor is high enough resolution for 16:9, 480p (anamorphic dvd resolution) but only barely enough. That's why I couldn't care less about watching the OOT in 720 or 1080 because I don't have anything to watch that high resolution of a picture on. I just want my remastered, anamorphic OOT dvd.
Post
#270651
Topic
Star wars Refferance in Lost
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/270651/action/topic#270651
Time
Also, I caught at least one Trek reference while watching it with my roommate a few months ago. Two of the guys are walking around, one younger one older, and the younger guy starts talking about red shirts on away missions. The older guy had never seen the show and, upon hearing about Captain Kirk, says something to the effect of "Sounds like one dumb captain." I just thought it was a funny referance since JJ Abrams (one of the creators of the show) is producing the new Star Trek movie.
Post
#270648
Topic
Seeing the Saga in order - a review by a first-time viewer....
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/270648/action/topic#270648
Time
Originally posted by: SW
Abit off topic but the PT dvds put the OT dvds to shame coz of the extres . TPM has 6 hours of extres
and loads more on ep II and III.

That's because AOTC and ROTS were new movies and LFL wanted to meet the industry's expected standard for releasing a new movie on dvd in a nice two-disc set with loads of extras, etc. TPM was a bit different because they waited a couple years to release the dvd instead of releasing it at the same time as the vhs, which itself didn't hit shelves until a good year after the movie hit theaters.

That's why the OT dvd was like one huge tradeoff. We got good pq and sq, startlingly good at times, but it was the SE. In terms of the extras, it was very retrospective but there were always mentions of the changes made in '97/'04 and how "it's the way George wants it now."

Originally posted by: SW
I think if GL made all six movies back in the 70s and 80s then it would have been better. After all six came out in 2005 GL did say to watch them 1-6 . The only thing is the pt is all CGI which makes them differnt.


He kept insisting that it was all his. The PT could've been done much differently and much better if Lucas had just collaborated with the kind of people he worked with on Empire and Jedi. I mean seriously, no one can say for certain that those two movies would've been quite as good if Lucas had directed them. Look at a movie like The Return of the King, made during the same era as the PT. 1500 special effects shots, but in a 200 minute movie like that you have no where near every shot using them. That's called good filmmaking. All George felt like doing was playing with the technology at his disposal. As for collaboration, the farthest he ever went was bringing Johnathen Hales to co-write the AOTC screenplay.
Post
#270465
Topic
Seeing the Saga in order - a review by a first-time viewer....
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/270465/action/topic#270465
Time
Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
Heh, that's cute about your niece.

She's my friend's niece. I should've made that a little clearer.

Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
I think your other story, about your friend, really proves that you have to watch the PT after the OT or not at all, not the other way around.


Well yea, but if you're going to watch the OT first then what's the point of watching the PT at all?
Post
#270372
Topic
Did Anakin's fall start with Qui-Gon?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/270372/action/topic#270372
Time
Ok, I see what you're saying. Just as long as Qui-Gon's not there by the time of "the big duel," because that's something that's been talked about ever since the early 80's or whenever it was first brought up. Your alternate storyline for Qui-Gon could've worked just as well as, if not better than, what we got in TPM. I think what we got instead was Anakin killing Mace with Palpatine's help.

Your alternate storyline seems motivated out of a desire for a family dynamic that continues throughout the entire PT, similar to Leia, Luke and Han in the OT. As it is, Obi-Wan and Anakin are barely acquainted by the end of TPM, and just in time to get a different actor to play Anakin in AOTC. I do see where this is coming from, though. Like you said, it would've been nice to see more Jedi like him.
Post
#270357
Topic
great quote on the radio re the changes
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/270357/action/topic#270357
Time
Originally posted by: Puggo - Jar Jar's "Yoda"
Yesterday I was listening to the John & Ken show on the local radio station... they were discussing having watched Star Wars on television the night before. The hosts commented that the 1977 special effects didn't stand the test of time, and the example they used was -- the scene with Han and Jabba!!!

George, are you listening?


That's so awesome it defies words.

A few nights ago I was watching the GOUT dvd of ROTJ with some other people. During Lapti Nek this girl said that she loved the scene because it looked real and fake at the same time. Again, too awesome for words.
Post
#270354
Topic
Seeing the Saga in order - a review by a first-time viewer....
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/270354/action/topic#270354
Time
In regards to the Luke/Vader dynamic, yes, I could maybe see that working. On the other hand, Yoda saying "you're father is" to Luke in ROTJ is also speaking to the audience. James Earl Jones didn't even believe it when he read the line. Watching the PT between Empire and Jedi spoils that.

Also, the OT isn't only about Luke and the Skywalkers. That last scene of Empire is just as much if not more about how they're going to get Han back. This gets completely interrupted if you stop to watch the PT between Empire and Jedi.

I still say watch the PT before the OT or don't watch the PT at all.

On a side note, this brings back some good memories. About a year and a half ago, my friend and I sat down with a mutual friend who'd never seen the OT and showed it to him (it was my '04 widescreen boxset). Yea, it was the SE complete with wierd colors and sounds here and there but at least it was good picture and audio quality.....

Anyway, I think he mentioned beforehand that he'd "tried to watch the newer ones (the prequels) but couldn't get into them because they didn't make much sense" or something to that effect. So the three of us sit down to watch the OT. By the way, yes you can definitely still see the garbage mattes depending on your dvd/tv setup. They're as plain as day.

We finish ANH, our friend gets up and goes "next!" So we pop in Empire, that gets done, he goes "next!" By the time we finished Jedi it was the middle of the night. I'd also brought over TPM and AOTC (this was summer of '05) so I let him borrow those to watch. I asked him what he thought of them now that he'd seen the OT and he was like "yea, they make a lot more sense now." I'm assuming he also saw ROTS at some point.

I think this all goes a long way towards proving just how much better than the PT the OT is. You can jump right into ANH but you can't do the same with TPM. I think this shows just how much the prequels would've failed if they'd been made first, back in '77 and with the technology of the time. It's the story we really care about and no amount of SEing has truly ruined the OT, at least not yet.

Another story I'd like to share is rather brief by comparison. A friend of mine's niece is not two years old, but a few months ago he showed her the OT for the first time ('04 widescreen boxset). He noticed that whenever Vader was on screen she was making these wierd sounds with her mouth, but then he realized she was immitating his breathing! Watching it with her also reaffirmed my friend's opinion of just how awesome the OT truly is (even in SE form).
Post
#270321
Topic
Did Anakin's fall start with Qui-Gon?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/270321/action/topic#270321
Time
Watto's chance cube was fixed in the first place, although whether or not Qui-Gon was aware of this does have some bearing on just how dishonorable his force-push really was.

Wookie Wedgie, I'm not so sure about Qui-Gon not getting killed until Episode III. It had always been implicit that it was only Anakin and Obi by the time the lava pit duel rolled around. Maybe he could've stayed on in some other capacity once Obi-Wan started to train Anakin? Or maybe (and this is something I just thought up just now) he could've stayed in the shadows after Episode I as some mysterious figure and then had his big reveal in Episode III and then gotten killed by Anakin.

Gaffer Tape does have a good point, though. Even without the Greedo scene there are way too many cameos making the PT feel more like one huge homage instead of a continuation.
Post
#269978
Topic
The OT on HBO HD this month, unfortunately it is the SE
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/269978/action/topic#269978
Time
Like I said in another post somewhere, my computer monitor is 1024 by 768 which is perfect for watching 16:9 dvd's at their full resolution as oppossed to watching them on 4:3 tv at only 2/3 or 3/4 the resolution or whatever the downconversion is. This is why I only want the OOT looking and sounding the best it possibly can on regular ol' dvd. Until there's an affordable HD format that can rival the resolution and quality of 35mm film, I couldn't care less.
Post
#269698
Topic
The OT on HBO HD this month, unfortunately it is the SE
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/269698/action/topic#269698
Time
LFL would have to somehow justify the 9/12 release in order for any remastered OOT release to seem logical, zombie. A good number of copies were sold of that release, yes? Even the people with HD tv's picked them up. They're going to be quite pissed when they find out an actual 16:9 transfer has been released, if that even happens. Lucas now has a choice between sticking behind his vision for "his" movies or giving into moneymaking. Maybe my mind just isn't open enough, but what I see happenning is a 6 disc saga boxset, unless LFL wants to go all out and please all of the fans, in that case they'll release it along with a pristine looking OOT. All I'm saying is that LFL releasing it the very year after they scammed us with the 9/12 release wouldn't make much sense to me.

LFL released the OT in 2004 because they wanted as many dvd players out there as possible. LFL released the OOT laserdisc onto dvd in 2006 because they didn't want to wait until there were a lot of widescreen tv's out there, they wanted to make an easy dollar.

As for the uphill battle, I can't say I really care about seeing the OOT in HD although I don't see why LFL wouldn't do an HD master before making a new dvd. No, that wouldn't stop them from holding back an HD release for years and years and years, but all any of us really wants is for it to at least look the best it can on regular ol' dvd.
Post
#269633
Topic
"Archiving seminar reveals 'Star Wars' tidbit?" Another SE?!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/269633/action/topic#269633
Time
My thoughts exactly

I'd have to look at the numbers to see how things have sold over the years, so let me just say something about the '04 dvd. Many people, myself included, were just so distracted by all the bells and whistles and just the sheer fact that the movies were finally on dvd at all (after the first two prequels had already been released on the format) that we just didn't care about its not being the original version. Now, not everyone shared this sentiment. Chud.com didn't even bother to review the boxset and a reader wrote the site's founder, Nick Nunziata, to ask why. Nick replied in his mailbag column with something along the lines of "oh, yea, it's been a while since I've seen those movies, so maybe I'll give them a watch."

He didn't write a review simply because it was the SE, and this is coming from a guy whose website reviews just about every dvd that gets released.

It goes without saying then that the Limited Editions were also not reviewed by the site. People have become turned off to Star Wars because it's just not worth it. They can't just be movies anymore. They have to be, as I overheard someone in one of my film classes put it, "a way of life."
Post
#269627
Topic
Will you buy the OOT again ?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/269627/action/topic#269627
Time
Originally posted by: Mike O
Originally posted by: Fang Zei
The real kicker is going to be the explanation LFL comes up with for why the 9/12 release wasn't what it should've been. Not that films don't get double dipped all the time, but there's bad anamorphic quality and then there's laserdisc quality. It took Universal a good eight years to release an anamorphic dvd of David Lynch's "Dune," but it did happen. Yesterday I was watching Criterion's double dip of Seven Samurai which I rented from Video Americain (it turned out they were having a "rent 3, rent 1 free" thing, so my friend payed for 2 of them). I remember renting the old dvd years ago and how grainy it looked. The newer dvd is quite impressive, smooth, crystal clear. And this was made from a dupe negative!!! It really gets me excited with what would be possible for the OOT on dvd, given the proper treatment.

This is not "Conan the Destroyer" we're talking about here, it's Star Wars.


Yes, but will Lucas allow it? That's the problem.


All it raises is questions, and at the end of the day all I have left is the idea that maybe the Marcia lawsuit story is true.

I finally saw the GOUT dvd of ROTJ earlier tonight at a friend's place. No, I still haven't seen the discs for Star Wars and Empire, but watching Jedi brought back some good memories. During Lapti Nek, this girl we were watching it with said that she loved the scene simply because it looked real and fake at the same time. No, I didn't bother to say a single thing on top of that. I just smiled a geniune smile.
Post
#269599
Topic
any news on the OOT ?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/269599/action/topic#269599
Time
It would be negative only because it's been built up ever since the non-anamorphic news broke back in May. The problem is that it's all been built up on the assumption that the limited edition was a scam (which it pretty much was, no matter how optimistically you look at it).

Call me spoiled, but I like watching stuff on my computer at full resolution and 4:3 letterbox becomes a lot more noticeable under that particular method of viewing. On 4:3 television I guess it's all the same, and it probably would look so to me, once I'd gotten past the very video, nonfilmlike look of it, which is pretty much how Conan the Destroyer looks. I don't have a 16:9 tv, but a friend of mine lost the remote to his and as a result we had to watch Judge Dredd all stretched out because he needed the remote just so he could press "zoom." Anamorphic video is nice because you can have it either way.