Fang Zei

“Tie Fighters. Those are still cool, right?”

joefavs said:

I was actually aware of the 70mm screenings, but as it stands I’m still several states away from the nearest theater listed as having it. Let’s hope they end up expanding that after all. But yeah, I meant apart from the 70mm. There’s a theater reasonably close to me listed for screenings in the new Laser system, but I believe that’s 3D as well.

If it makes any difference, they’ve added several locations since tickets went on sale a couple weeks ago.

Here’s the list:

http://www.imax.com/community/blog/star-wars-the-force-awakens-imax-tickets-on-sale-now/

joefavs said:

and unless there’s plans for a 2D IMAX version that I haven’t heard about

I was already considering starting a thread about this, and your post might’ve just convinced me.

There will be actual 70mm IMAX 2D screenings, but as of now there will only be 15 locations in the world showing it that way. There will probably be a few more locations added by the time December rolls around. I say that only because TFA will have a much bigger box office draw than something like, say, Interstellar, and there were at least 30 IMAX prints made for that one. Apples and Oranges maybe, since at least half of Interstellar was actually shot in IMAX compared to (allegedly) just one scene in TFA.

Not unlike what happened with STID, the studio is more focused on squeezing the extra dollars out of the several thousand 3D-capable screens than they are about showing off the only several hundred IMAX screens.

Speaking of which, all of the full-sized IMAX theaters that have upgraded to the new digital laser-illuminated system will be showing TFA, but only in 3D unfortunately (same with the smaller “lie max” screens). They’re not bothering to fit in even one 2D screening a day like Man of Steel did (and as I certainly hope Batman v Superman will do, since that will actually feature native IMAX footage just like TFA).

SilverWook said:

Could this be real?

https://soundcloud.com/xandreofficial/star-wars-episode-7-the-force-awakens-theme

An elaborate fake, I’d guess.

Sounds like it was recorded using synth for one thing.

I also heard note-for-note themes from E.T., Revenge of the Sith and, of all things, Inception.

Overall, the track doesn’t scream John Williams. It barely screams Star Wars.

I’m a big proponent of seeing a movie the way it was shot. So, when it’s a movie that was actually shot in 3D, I’ll always see it in 3D.

I’ve made exceptions to that rule, of course. Pacific Rim was probably the first time I intentionally got a 3D ticket knowing full well the movie wasn’t shot that way. I ended up seeing Gravity in 3D about a month after it opened and was somewhat disappointed with the luminance of the image. More often than not, I’ve found that to be the case with 3D movies. Unless you see it in IMAX 3D, where there’s a certain amount of quality control, it’s a total roll of the dice as to what kind of 3D experience you’re gonna get. I just saw The Martian in 3D last month in AMC’s own “premium large format” and still found the light levels to be seriously lacking.

TFA, like Star Trek Into Darkness before it, is an interesting beast. Abrams shot some of the movie in IMAX even knowing it would be post-converted into 3D. Disney is at the very least striking several 15/70 2D prints and listing their locations, which is more than Paramount could say for itself with STID.

I will say this. When I saw the opening scene of STID in digital IMAX 3D (in front of The Hobbit), I was very impressed with what I saw. The anamorphic 35mm and IMAX 65mm footage all looked very nice converted into 3D and shown in digital IMAX 3D. Several months later, I saw a press screening of Man of Steel in 3D. I’m guessing they optimized the projector luminance just for that screening simply so we’d come out raving to our friends about how good the 3D looked. But I can’t lie, they actually did a pretty good job with the post-conversion. They managed to make the anamorphic 35mm footage look like natural 3D. I’m starting to think that might be the ideal source format for 3D if you’re not going to actually shoot in stereo.

If you can see it in 2D, I would say go with 2D. The movie was shot that way, on film in CinemaScope (just like the OT and TPM) with a DI finish. The 3D is a post-conversion, and while yes I’m sure they probably did a fine job with it and yes all of the cgi would’ve been natively rendered in 3D, seeing the movie that way isn’t really a “pure” experience IMO.

I’m assuming Abrams won’t be involved. I can’t imagine he will, considering the cbs/paramount split. He likely will have moved on to exec producing 8 and 9.

It’s not surprising to see them going with one of the big names behind the recent movies. Between Kurtzman and Orci, they had a guy who, like Abrams, was not so big a Star Trek fan but seems level headed, and a guy who’s a huge fan but also a conspiracy theorist.

They went with the former.

I was pretty excited reading the story over at birthmoviesdeath. Did a big huge “Whaaaaaa???” upon seeing the headline.

Then I got to the part about it being exclusive to cbs’ streaming service.

Uuuuuigh.

So I guess they’re gonna try and make this the House of Cards to their Netflix? Or will it be available for free to those of us already paying for cable (I’m guessing the answer is no)?

(EDIT: Warbler beat me to it!)

Pretty disappointing CBS won’t be airing this on their actual network. On the other hand, if the streaming service frees them up to do things they couldn’t as an actual OTA network tv show, it might be for the best.

Anyone else think JJ secretly filmed Billy Dee’s surprise cameo like he did with Nimoy in Star Trek Into Darkness?

generalfrevious said:

I don’t know if this has already been said, but I would be upset if Luke Skywalker turned out to be Kylo Ren. That would ruin his whole arc in the OT.

That magazine article from months ago, it was either Empire or EW or Vanity Fair, had photos of Adam Driver as Kylo Ren without the mask on.

AuggieBenDoggie said:

Fang Zei said:

As an article I was reading today pointed out, Disney is really going after the younger audience with the marketing.

To them, that’s what a Star Wars poster looks like.

Struzan has already confirmed that he has done more stuff, and not just the D23 poster, and he was in line to do the official one sheet. So I’m hoping we get to see some of the other concepts he finished. I guess time will tell.

Why does my Spidey sense tell me they’re saving it as a retailer exclusive cover for the bluray?

It would be a nice surprise if this turned out to be yet another promotional poster and Struzan did the final one sheet.

My first thought upon seeing this poster was “huh, it looks like a Marvel poster.” Iron Man Three in particular came to mind, the way the characters almost look like they could’ve been painted.

My second thought was how much it reminded me of all the fan posters we’ve seen over the last couple years, what with Leia’s new hair style and costume. This was better in some ways and yet also worse at the same time. The fan posters were amateur attempts at the Struzan look whereas this was a professionally made photoshop job.

Which brings me to my third thought, which is how much this reminded me of that “saga” photoshop artwork you always see the movie news sites using in their stories about Star Wars.

Of course, seeing the first good look at Starkiller base also reminded me of Spaceballs.

“Air… Air!!!”

Wazzles said:

Fang Zei said:

Wazzles said:

but then again, so are II and III.

Yes and no (I think). The cameras used for shooting II and III were only 1920:1080, yes. But I want to say that the vfx and the DI were done at actual 2k cinema resolution.

IMDB confirms that, but it seems kind of silly to have a DI in a higher resolution than your filmed portions. The 2011 OT is a different beast entirely, however.

Correct. The 2004 masters were only 1920:1080. One of the Lowry guys even specified this at a press conference for the dvd when someone asked if it was 2k. And that’s the master that’s still being used eleven years later. There was even a screening in Georgia last year of ANH IIRC, an actual DCP of the 2011 version.

Maybe I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. Maybe 1920 vs 2048 isn’t a massive difference. But I would think the outdated resolution combined with the '04 master’s other issues would be enough for LFL to finally start using a newer transfer (I put it that way because we know a newer one exists).

Wazzles said:

but then again, so are II and III.

Yes and no (I think). The cameras used for shooting II and III were only 1920:1080, yes. But I want to say that the vfx and the DI were done at actual 2k cinema resolution.

Ah, the threads that finally get noticed and bumped after a forum migration.

Ten million? Are you sure?

I remember hearing that 80,000 (or was it only 20,000?) signatures figure being tossed about, but maybe that was just over a certain amount of time after the petition’s creation in order to emphasize the response it got. I’d have to go back and watch Jay’s interview in The People vs George Lucas, if it’s still up on Netflix.

It may very well have gotten to ten million by May of 2006. Maybe it even kept growing after that. After all, we never actually got the unaltered trilogy on dvd in actual dvd quality. Although by that point the HD disc formats were out and that was the next frontier.

When was the petition created anyway? 2002?

AuggieBenDoggie said:

The new trailer was great. Cant say as much for the new poster though :\

As an article I was reading today pointed out, Disney is really going after the younger audience with the marketing.

To them, that’s what a Star Wars poster looks like.

For the time being, the marathon screenings on December 17th are the next “let’s wait and see” release of the movies, but I’d be shocked if it were anything other than the special edition per usual.

George does not seem to mind the possibility of the original versions finally receiving equal treatment to the SE, especially now that it would no longer be on his dime.

Even the situation with Fox doesn’t seem like a roadblock, if the digital release and the upcoming marathon are any indication.

Disney’s ownership of Star Wars is a double-edged sword. The fact that Episode VII is happening has been enough of a distraction over the last three years from them needing to say anything at all about the OOT.

That guy from Wired magazine might’ve said it best back when the GOUT fiasco happened:

“They’re not gonna make the fans happy because the happy fan has everything he or she needs. They will kill the goose that laid the golden egg, they will cook it and they will sell the bones on eBay.”

I hope these words won’t hold true now that Disney’s in charge. Obviously nothing’s stopping them from producing a stellar OUT restoration, and there’s enough new content on the way to keep them going for many years to come.

Like I said, at most it'll be the surprise debut of the 4K SE, maybe even with the rumored restoration of Han shooting first again.

If it was the original versions we would've heard about it by now, not through the cinerama's website.

The quotation marks around "original" could actually be saying it's the original trilogy in name only and not the original version. Otherwise I don't get why they would be putting it in quotes like that.

Could I see Disney doing this as some amazingly awesome surprise? Sure.

Do I actually see it happening? Not bloody likely.

The running time could be yet another example of the theater owner grabbing the numbers off of imdb or something without bothering to check which version it was for.

I must admit it's weird for them to specify "original" in quotes like that right on the theater's website.

See how I'm trying not to get those hopes up?

Not gonna get my hopes up

Not gonna get my hopes up

Not gonna get my hopes up....

I'd be down for that. It would be cool to actually meet some of you people in person after all these years. The tickets are selling out fast (just sayin') but someone send me a PM if you want to organize something.

Wow, I hadn't even considered the significance of the in-theater marathons. That means Fox and Disney not only worked things out over digital online distribution, but theatrical as well. If I'm not mistaken, this will be the widest theatrical re-release of the films since 1997.

I'm still curious if this will be the surprise debut of the 4k SE, but I'm not gonna pay to sit through a crazy long marathon just to find out.

Here's hoping your friend actually knows what he's talking about, Lt. Hija. Bowing the OUT on blu-ray day and date with TFA next Spring was a possibility I'd also considered. I'm not holding my breath though, especially since we just this month got a reissue of the 2011 discs.

canofhumdingers said:

Fang Zei said:

canofhumdingers said:

And never mind... I should've paid more attention tithe lists. Both the DC and Citywalk theaters are the laser projectors. NOT 70mm. :-/

There are two Air&Space museums in the DC area.

One is downtown in DC itself and still uses 15/70 projection.

The other one, the Udvar-Hazy center out in Chantilly VA near Dulles Airport, just recieved the laser upgrade earlier this year.

When slashfilm posted that list, they must've either neglected to include the downtown location in the list of 70mm theaters or it just hadn't been added yet as the list was "subject to change" (I'm guessing it was the latter). If you go to Imax's website you'll see it.

In any event, I didn't see it until it was too late to secure a ticket to the 7pm Thursday screening.

Sorry for the confusion.

No kidding. I knew there were two museum locations, but didn't realize the one on the mall ALSO had an IMAX theater AND that it was still 70mm! It's been several years since I've been there... Awesome! I've already started plotting logistics of where to go and how to get there and this just gave me another option!

 That's something else I should point out.

There are at least several dozen 15/70 theaters in the US. Interstellar played at more than 30 of them. Disney is probably just being careful about where they show TFA in that format because like I said it's so expensive to make the prints. Conveniently, several theaters already have the new laser system and I can only assume the movie will be playing at all of those locations because it costs next to nothing to make a dcp. Unfortunately, those laser locations will only be showing it in 3D as of right now.

Oh, and here in the DC area we actually have three full-sized Imax theaters. Yup, we're spoiled like that. The one at Air&Space DC opened in '76. I remember my Mom taking me there to see Blue Planet and To Fly in the early 90's when I was just a kid. The Museum of Natural History, directly across the mall, also got an Imax theater in the late 90's. Both theaters have been 3D-capable for years now. Udvar-Hazy opened in 2003 and was always 2D-only for some reason until the laser upgrade this year. The Smithsonian owns and operates all three theaters. Dark Knight Rises was the only time a movie opened at all three locations if I'm not mistaken.

canofhumdingers said:

And never mind... I should've paid more attention tithe lists. Both the DC and Citywalk theaters are the laser projectors. NOT 70mm. :-/

There are two Air&Space museums in the DC area.

One is downtown in DC itself and still uses 15/70 projection.

The other one, the Udvar-Hazy center out in Chantilly VA near Dulles Airport, just recieved the laser upgrade earlier this year.

When slashfilm posted that list, they must've either neglected to include the downtown location in the list of 70mm theaters or it just hadn't been added yet as the list was "subject to change" (I'm guessing it was the latter). If you go to Imax's website you'll see it.

In any event, I didn't see it until it was too late to secure a ticket to the 7pm Thursday screening.

Sorry for the confusion.

canofhumdingers said:

Holy moly! Was this already known about and I just missed it, or is this new news?

Where to see The Force Awakens via 70mm IMAX prints!

It's sad to see how few IMAX theaters there are left that actually show 70mm prints anymore. But at the same time...AWESOME! They're actually making and screening 70mm IMAX prints of the new Star Wars movie!!! I was not expecting this at all! I may have to make a special Christmas trip to one of these theaters just for the experience...

 It flew a little under the radar. I check slashfilm constantly so I saw that story not long after it went up.

Unfortunately, they didn't include Air&Space DC in the list (maybe it was a late addition?) and I didn't see it until I checked IMAX's website, by which point it was too late to get tickets to the 7pm Thursday screening. 10:45 pm on Friday is actually the earliest showtime that doesn't give me an "unavailable/check back later" message. I am nevertheless overjoyed that I'll be able to see it in 15/70 2D without traveling more than a few miles, and with easy access to public transportation. Maybe it's a good thing the regular-sized showings nearest me were already sold out. Now I have a reason to save my cash for the real deal, even if it means going into internet blackout for a day or two.

The best part of this news is that Disney is simplifying things by playing the 15/70 version in 2D and the laser and xenon versions in 3D. It would be nice if they included some 2D showings on their laser and xenon screens as well, for the people who can't make it to the only dozen or so places playing it in 15/70, but oh well. We've still got two months to go, so maybe they'll add more locations as more and more tickets sell out.

The decision to only show the 70mm version in 2D makes sense from a business standpoint as well. It costs at least thirty grand just to print one of those things and I would assume twice as much if the movie is in 3D.

I'm just glad it will be that much easier to see the movie the way it was intended.

GlastoEls said:

towne32 said:

SilverWook said:

There were many stories of people arranging to get May 25th 1983 off well in advance.

 Sure. And those marathons will sell out this time, I'm sure. But as far as I know, they're one day only events and that's probably not how they would handle a OOT release. Then again, how they would handle it seems to be 'not at all'.

Which again is the strangest part of all of this.

Not one single mention either way, by anybody at Disney / LFL, since the purchase back in 2012.

All we have on the record is the John Landis quote.

 It kind of begs the question as to whether we're making enough noise about it, or if there just aren't enough of us out there to begin with.

I'd like to think LFL/Disney is simply taking its time righting the wrongs of the last twenty years. The OUT/SE issue is something that actually bookends the prequels ('97 and '06). Maybe the new regime wants to first wash the taste of the prequels out of our mouths with TFA and Rogue One, before tackling the big elephant in the room.