Fang Zei

User Group: Members
Join date: 14-Oct-2006
Last activity: 26-Jun-2025
Posts: 2,779

Post History

Post: #258652
Topic: Final Consensus On 2006 OOT
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/258652/action/topic#258652
Time: 27-Nov-2006 1:48 PM

Originally posted by: andy_k_250
Now that everyone's had a chance to let these sink in, what is the final consensus? Are any of the fan-based LD transfers currently out better? Or is this the highest-quality copy of the OT in existence?

heh, well it sure is nice for those wanting to buy the movies individually

Post: #257866
Topic: "Black Friday" SW DVD Sales...Wow, Did Some of You...
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/257866/action/topic#257866
Time: 21-Nov-2006 12:33 PM

anxiously awaiting black friday sale lists for all the stores, but seriously these would have to drop to at least $5 and more realistically $3 before I even consider picking them up. $10 isn't quite what I was hoping for.

Don't hate me, everyone. I might not even pick them up just so I can stand by what I wrote in that angry email six months ago, and plus if the movies don't get remastered we're screwed either way.

Post: #257806
Topic: Where do I go from here as a SW fan?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/257806/action/topic#257806
Time: 21-Nov-2006 2:02 AM

speaking of the 1985 IP, are we to assume Lucas had that destroyed as well?

Post: #256941
Topic: Where do I go from here as a SW fan?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/256941/action/topic#256941
Time: 15-Nov-2006 3:27 PM

Ugh, I turn my back and this thread gets two pages longer.

Not a single post has mentioned the interpositives. Why could Lucas not simply have used the interpositives to make an anamorphic transfer?

Post: #256774
Topic: Where do I go from here as a SW fan?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/256774/action/topic#256774
Time: 14-Nov-2006 5:13 PM

What I'm saying is that Lucas used those things I listed, which are all good things in and of themselves, in order to sell us the SE. With the '06 dvds, LFL first announced them in regards to the GOUT but then made the tv ads to focus on them being available "individually for the first time ever," and again he was just selling us the SE.

They'll no doubt use tactics similar to the '04 boxset to sell the '07 release. Who knows, maybe they actually will remaster the O-OT but as that guy from wired magazine so aptly put it, they won't make the fans happy because a happy fan has everything he or she needs.

Post: #256752
Topic: Where do I go from here as a SW fan?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/256752/action/topic#256752
Time: 14-Nov-2006 2:58 PM

for the 2004 dvd boxset, lucas used things like documentaries, commentaries and a digital restoration to distract us from the elephant in the room which is that it's not the O-OT.

Post: #256749
Topic: What versions of the SW saga do you own (OT, PT, preservations, etc)?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/256749/action/topic#256749
Time: 14-Nov-2006 2:53 PM

PT:

-'00 TPM fullscreen vhs.
-'01 TPM widescreen dvd.
-'02 AOTC widescreen dvd.
-'05 ROTS widescreen dvd.

OT (copy pasted from the other thread):

-'95 ANH fullscreen vhs. Christmas gift that year.
-'97 widescreen vhs boxset. Christmas gift that year.
-'04 widescreen dvd boxset. Mom got it a few weeks after it was released, it's still back at home.
-'86 ROTJ fullscreen vhs. Found it by pure chance at my video store's used vhs sale in May of '05, still in its original box after all these years and it also plays just fine!
-'95 TESB and ROTJ, both fullscreen. Found these only a week or so later at a record and tape traders. Perfect luck since I already had the '95 vhs of ANH. Perfect luck....or so I thought. ROTJ works fine but I got totally gyped on TESB. Either edge of the tape is wrinkled so there's constant static like every other second practically. And the worst part is that I saw the complete '95 boxset (probably also fullscreen) at that same record and tape traders but passed on it since I already had ANH, plus I might not have had enough cash on me for it. In any event, curses on whoever sold that TESB tape to them in the first place. I was soooooo clooooooooose.
-cowclops v2 transfer of the OT, not 4 months before LFL's out of the blue announcement.

others:

-clone wars volumes 1 & 2
-ewok adventures
-a musical journey

Post: #256736
Topic: Where do I go from here as a SW fan?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/256736/action/topic#256736
Time: 14-Nov-2006 2:11 PM

Originally posted by: JediRandy
He gave it to you..... just not in "non-anamorphic" blah blah transfer.

So in other words he didn't give it to us at all.

Post: #254489
Topic: Link to history of OT scripts
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/254489/action/topic#254489
Time: 2-Nov-2006 12:59 PM

Was this page always on the starkiller site or was it just made recently?

Post: #253953
Topic: Letterbox looks like CRAP on a widescreen HDTV :(
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253953/action/topic#253953
Time: 29-Oct-2006 12:34 PM

To be totally honest, I probably wouldn't care about them being non-anamorphic either if the damn subtitles weren't getting cut off. Everything I've read says GOUT is the best transfer out there. The anamorphic transfers probably look better on a 16:9 tv, but like I said they probably don't look as good on 4:3 televisions, short perhaps of doing that full resolution reverse stretch trick, and who really wants to do that?

Lucas could've been cool, he could've told us in advance about whatever he's doing next year ala New Line with Lord of the Rings or Warner Bros with the recent Blade Runner release, but then we'd have no reason at all to buy shitty non-anamorphic transfers unless we didn't know the difference.

Black friday can't get here soon enough.

Post: #253933
Topic: George Lucas interview - 29th October 1979
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253933/action/topic#253933
Time: 29-Oct-2006 2:50 AM

Now I know what one of my friends really meant to tell me. He said that Lucas and Coppola helped to pay for Ran out of gratitude, appreciation, etc.

At least he wasn't far off.

Post: #253783
Topic: Here's my stance
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253783/action/topic#253783
Time: 27-Oct-2006 6:46 PM

Obi, I totally know where you're coming from on the "Star Wars" vs "A New Hope" issue. I once heard it argued that if Empire has one flaw, it's the "Episode V" that's always been at the begginning of the movie. If Empire and Jedi just had titles and not episode #'s, the original trilogy could at least stand totally on it's own, but for better or for worse the sequels have always said V and VI respectively.

This is why I could really go either way on the "Star Wars" vs "ANH" issue. Seeing Star Wars as it actually was in '77 would be amazing, but that really cuts out the prequels if I wanted to do a true saga marathon (PT and the O-OT). On the other hand, letting the absence of an Episode number and subtitle slide isn't all that hard even if I were to watch all 6 films.

Like I said, people didn't get anywhere near as pissed with the addition of "ANH" as they did with all the SE changes. It is an alteration, yes, but from what I hear there were many other alterations made between the original theatrical releases of the movies and their SE releases. That is why, as far as I'm concerned, the O-OT is any release of the movies before '97, and there are many.

Post: #253774
Topic: Letterbox looks like CRAP on a widescreen HDTV :(
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253774/action/topic#253774
Time: 27-Oct-2006 6:18 PM

Originally posted by: Harlock415
But damn it Lucas, this took me a couple of hours to do onmy home computer that's 4 years old. He could have done the same thing, probably with bette results.

I theorized about this during the summer. The only reason I can think of for why LFL didn't just make the 4:3 into 16:9 is that, while it would have no doubt looked better on widescreen displays than the non-anamorphic transfers that they gave us, it might not look as good on 4:3 displays. If they had cropped a 480 picture and then made a new 480 picture out of that, people watching it on 4:3 displays would be seeing it after the dvd player performed the 4:3 downscaling (or downconversion, whatever it's called). This might not have looked as good as the 480 letterbox non-anamorphic transfer that he gave us, but of course that screwed over anyone trying to watch it on a 16:9 display.

Lucas/LFL is really behind the times. First he waits until the best possible moment to release the trilogy on dvd, several years after the format had clearly caught on, then waits two more years to release the O-OT in a format that's been obsolete for nearly a decade.

Post: #253565
Topic: Hyperspace: Yep, I Think that Something is DEFINITELY up for '07!
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253565/action/topic#253565
Time: 26-Oct-2006 4:43 PM

while apples and oranges to a degree, star trek did reach the height of its popularity a couple years before its 30th....

Post: #253506
Topic: Letterbox looks like CRAP on a widescreen HDTV :(
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253506/action/topic#253506
Time: 26-Oct-2006 10:56 AM

Yea, I think my friend's family got it more for the 5.1 setup than anything else.

Post: #253385
Topic: Here's my stance
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253385/action/topic#253385
Time: 25-Oct-2006 6:21 PM

I also thought the official story was that "EpIV ANH" was added in '81, but I've also heard people say that LFL doesn't know its own history and the alteration was in '79. A story I've heard that supports '81 as the date mentions how surprised people were to read "Episode V The Empire Strikes Back" in May of 1980, but then again they just might not have seen the '79 re-release if that's indeed when it was added.

Post: #253293
Topic: Letterbox looks like CRAP on a widescreen HDTV :(
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253293/action/topic#253293
Time: 25-Oct-2006 1:29 AM

the only letterbox dvds I can remember watching on my friend's widescreen tv, off the top of my head, are "The Prophecy" and "Judge Dredd." Neither looked "all that bad," but this was on a nice bose dvd player hooked up with component cables to a 60 inch sony HDTV.

Post: #253288
Topic: Here's my stance
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253288/action/topic#253288
Time: 25-Oct-2006 12:51 AM

no problemo

at the very least, there are no changes in the DC that are post-1980, even if they are visual effects changes. After all, the O-OT I grew up on in the early 90's always had "Episode IV A New Hope," so as far as I'm concerned that is the O-OT. I also heard that the "Toschi Station...Power Converters" line was not in one or more of the theatrical releases. Is this true?

Post: #253282
Topic: POLL: Which version of the OT do you own?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253282/action/topic#253282
Time: 25-Oct-2006 12:07 AM

all are NTSC
In order of when I got them:

-'95 ANH fullscreen vhs. Christmas gift that year.
-'97 widescreen vhs boxset. Christmas gift that year.
-'04 widescreen dvd boxset. Mom got it a few weeks after it was released, it's still back at home.
-'86 ROTJ fullscreen vhs. Found it by pure chance at my video store's used vhs sale in May of '05, still in its original box after all these years and it also plays just fine!
-'95 TESB and ROTJ, both fullscreen. Found these only a week or so later at a record and tape traders. Perfect luck since I already had the '95 vhs of ANH. Perfect luck....or so I thought. ROTJ works fine but I got totally gyped on TESB. Either edge of the tape is wrinkled so there's constant static like every other second practically. And the worst part is that I saw the complete '95 boxset (probably also fullscreen) at that same record and tape traders but passed on it since I already had ANH, plus I might not have had enough cash on me for it. In any event, curses on whoever sold that TESB tape to them in the first place. I was soooooo clooooooooose.
-cowclops v2 transfer of the OT, not 4 months before LFL's out of the blue announcement.

Post: #253239
Topic: Here's my stance
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253239/action/topic#253239
Time: 24-Oct-2006 8:25 PM

hmmmm, well, my whole point with the CE3K analogy was that the dvd is Spielberg's Director's Cut and does not have any added effects shots from after '77, but it has been a while since I've seen the original version and some people here have very good memories.

Was the original version ever available on vhs? I seem to recall seeing seperate versions, one of them the "special edition," on the vhs rack of a video store way back when. Of course one of them might have been the '97 vhs which is the same as the '01 dvd.

Post: #253117
Topic: Here's my stance
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253117/action/topic#253117
Time: 24-Oct-2006 10:06 AM

why does the OT defy comparison to any other revised work?

First of all, books are books. By nature of their medium they're not subject to the constantly changing world of home video formats, to say nothing of actual film. Plus it's only one person working on a book whereas a film has many.

Close Encounters: Columbia released a "Special Edition" not too long after the film's original 1977 release. I think this was 1980 or so. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the dvd edition does not have any added special effects that were found in the SE release, making it no more than a director's cut.

Apocalypse Now: both versions, enough said

Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Paramount and Robert Wise gave it somewhat of a Special Edition treatment for the dvd. Even though they didn't include the original theatrical cut, they did include every single altered shot in its original unaltered form on disc 2 of the set, in addition to deleted scenes and scenes from the television cut.

Blade Runner: the '92 (or was it '91?) director's cut is just that and nothing else. Besides, we're finally getting the original theatrical next year.

Any argument about "Lucas didn't have the time or money" is pointless. The movie was several million dollars over budget when it was released in May of '77. To my knowledge, the only studio interference was the removal of "Episode IV A New Hope" in the opening crawl. I'll grant Lucas that one revision because, hell, it had nothing to do with money or technology. No amount of money would have achieved the SE's cgi because the technology did not exist in 1977, so please, Go-Mer, don't say one thing when you mean another. Dykstra's motion control was a huge step forward in '76/'77, that was something that had to be invented, and Lucas tries to stomp all over that in 1997 with outdated cgi? If Lucas really means what he said in that quote, I doubt he has much self respect.

Post: #252102
Topic: Here's my stance
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252102/action/topic#252102
Time: 18-Oct-2006 6:46 PM

this one

Originally posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
Yeah, I'm trying to keep things light and fluffy through the use of humor.

My point is, sure it's within Lucas' means to fully restore a print and make an anamorphic transfer, I just understand why he wouldn't want to, and don't think there is anything wrong in not spending your own money on things you don't want to spend them on.

Putting the laserdisc master on there was going out of his way as it was, and I don't fault him for not wanting to spend more than he did on it. Especially considering that he did it mainly for people who have crapped on his vision for the whole saga since ROTJ.

Post: #252097
Topic: Here's my stance
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252097/action/topic#252097
Time: 18-Oct-2006 6:43 PM

Go-Mer,

On the whole, people might not like ROTJ nearly as much as the other two, but it is only since '97 that the uproar over alteration has been happenning.

Post: #252049
Topic: Letterbox looks like CRAP on a widescreen HDTV :(
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252049/action/topic#252049
Time: 18-Oct-2006 5:20 PM

Originally posted by: cador
it looks like a RealPlayer video when you try to zoom out the black bars

ouch

Originally posted by: cador
would it be considered rude if I gave away my '04 DVDs to friends as Christmas presents? They've only been watched once.

Do you mean the '04 boxset or just just the individual '04 dvds from the new '06 release? Either way I think those discs are pretty well put together despite the fact that they're the SE. Picture and sound quality (ANH issues aside) plus audio commentary make them a pretty good xmas gift I'd say.

Post: #252042
Topic: Here's my stance
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252042/action/topic#252042
Time: 18-Oct-2006 4:58 PM

I don't even see why there's a debate over the merits of Lucas releasing a 1993 transfer.

Lucas releasing a 1993 transfer in 2006 is objectively wrong, that is how I see it.

Why do I complain when he does this instead of going back to actual film prints and making new transfers? Because it is perfectly within his means to do so. Last time I checked, he's worth 3.6 billion. What's interesting is that if this really is the final OOT release, Lucas will not have lied to us about the films never hitting dvd from a certain point of view. Hear me out. Back in '04 he said the originals are never coming out again, but since he didn't even bother to remaster them all we got was the '93 transfer archived on a dvd, and if that's all there is than he still hasn't put the originals out on dvd, if you follow me.