Fang Zei

Bingowings said:

Most importantly Lucas should not have written it all and only directed maybe the first one if that.

ANH and ESB worked because they were team efforts pushed by his energy the rot set in with ROTJ and Lucas should have realised this and played to the strengths of what worked before.

 

This is the only "what might have been" aspect of the prequels that interests me. Frank Darabont should've been the PT's Lawrence Kasdan. Joe Johnston would've been perfect to direct one of the movies. Lucas writing and directing the whole thing himself was what prevented the PT from rivaling the OT and made it "just some prequels." Considering Lucas admitted he only had one movie's worth of material, yeah, he really should have known better than to do the whole thing on his own.

This is sorta stream-of-consciousness, but here's an idea that just came to me in terms of "what might have been" behind the scenes:

Episode I, directed by Steven Spielberg. He's known for working really well with child actors, so he'd be perfect for this (assuming Anakin would still be a kid in the script).

Episode II, directed by Joe Johnston. It's "the one with Boba Fett," the character Johnston himself designed back in '78. Also, there's the Anakin/Padme romance and I can't help but think of Johnston's Rocketeer.

Episode III, directed by Dave Fincher. There's probably a better-fitting director I could think of, but this is what's coming to my mind right now. He's an ILM and/or Lucas alum just like the other two directors and he's known for dark movies, making him a good choice for Anakin's turn to the dark side.

In any event, the original 1977 Star Wars should've remained the last George Lucas directed film.

CE3K is a different story. The differences between the three versions are (mostly) editorial, which made it easy for them to branch all three onto the same disc.

For Star Wars, each version would need its own disc to properly do it justice. We would be insanely lucky to get three-disc versions for each of the OT movies ("current" version, '97, original), but let's just say it did happen. The lowry-restored (unless LFL decides to have that job completely redone) version would be on the first disc. The '97 version would be a on a second disc, mastered from the '97 IP. Finally, the original version would be on the third disc, mastered from its IP.

I wouldn't hold my breath for anything more than a two-disc set (not that many of us care about the most recent version) with the original theatrical version we've all been clamoring for.

With Avatar I'm sure there must have been some theaters showing it in digital 2D in 1.78:1, since they might've had a digital projector installed but not real-d. There were 18 different versions made for U.S. theaters alone. The blu-ray might not replicate my own theatrical experience (twice in 1.78:1 real-d and then a third time in 2.35:1 real-d), but it's absolutely optimized for 2D hi-def presentation.

I joined and invited 40 of my friends.

I'll be honest. Most of the screenshots I've seen from the Fellowship blu-ray look pretty good to my eyes. But there are a few instances where DNR has been needlessly applied. The most egregious example I've seen is this:

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/1883031-post2.html

The hdtv broadcast clearly looks better in that comparison, and that's just unforgivable. If the uproar over this release doesn't get the studios to lay off the DNR once and for all, nothing will.

What's really laughable is how if you go to the menu on the official website there's a tab reading "restoration process" that says "coming soon" when you mouse over it.

http://lordoftherings.net/home.htm

Yeah, there definitely wasn't a restoration for this release, quite the opposite lol. Maybe they're talking about the updates of the extended editions Peter Jackson mentioned he's working on, because there isn't even anything to "restore" in the case of TTT and ROTK since they got complete DI's.

The next release of the SE needs a Final Cut treatment anyway. There are still some unfixed effects errors in the '04 version like the transparency issues brought up in the People vs. GL thread. The most glaring effects error of all is the second time the Death Star II blows up a ship and all of the ships in the background roll with the camera.

Oh, and the deleted scenes are gonna be on the blu-ray no question. They were conspicuously absent on the '04 release and we now know that people at LFL are going through the material. So deleted scenes are a given. I still don't think that's gonna be enough for LFL to get the numbers they're looking for without throwing in a remastered OOT.

The circle is now complete. Star Wars has become a show based on a toy line based on a movie.

TheBoost said:

CO said:

See I don't have a problem if they are honest about the target audience.  If they want to cater to the kiddies, then cater to kiddies only, and don't try to mass appeal it like the Prequels.  The Prequels have Jar Jar Binks who appeals to 5 year olds and Anakin burning up on a Volcano planet for teenagers and adults, as Lucas can't have it both ways.

"Star Wars" has adorable beeping R2D2 and Luke's Aunt and Uncle's burning corpse.

"Empire" has more R2 cuteness, Ugnaut football games, giggling backpack Yoda, and Han being tortured and Luke getting his hand chopped off.

"Jedi" has cute lil Ewoks and Luke being electrocuted.

Lucas obviously CAN have it both ways.  

You forgot Slave Leia.

The Holiday Special.

The film is having its world premiere right now ( ~ 6:30-8:00 PM Central Time) at the South by Southwest (aka SXSW) Music and Film Festival in Austin.

http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/5208

Can't wait to hear the responses.

Yup.

If any potential buyer has a computer with internet access with which to go on ebay, they have a little thing called google video search!

I knew I forgot something:

John Mollo designed the costumes for Star Wars, Alien and Empire.

Oh, and I remembered that Jodorowsky quote as something more along the lines of "Star Wars ripped off our designs." Reading it again now, though it could be inferred from his statement I'm not so sure he's saying that. He may simply be pointing out it "resembles the style." His version would've been way too bizarre and had little to do with the book. I'm surprised it even got as far as it did before the plug was pulled, but imagining what it could've been like (especially when we got Star Wars just a few years later) is fascinating. The guy may be crazy, but check out El Topo if you haven't, one of the best movies I've ever seen.

It should be noted that Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov and other SF writers were pissed that GL was reaping so much success over ideas that were basically lifted from their novels. But that's a discussion for another thread.

Ridley was working on Dino's Dune film when Empire came out, and he says in the Blade Runner making-of that it "would have been a step very much in the direction of Star Wars." Maybe that's why he's writing the intro for the book.

I love the David Lynch film because it makes you feel the same way as when you read the book. Paramount is trying to turn it into a film once more, with the guys who made the two mini-series serving as producers and Pierre Morel (as of right now) attached to direct.

I actually have the original 1986 pan n' scan vhs of Jedi (saw it on sale back in May of '05 at my local potomac video and absolutely had to have it). Which mix did they use for that one?

I wonder if I would be able to find the original vhs releases of Star Wars and Empire anywhere at this point.

What JediTemple said.

The 50-gig capacity of dual-layered blu-ray discs would allow them to include all of the sound mixes.

here's an interesting breakdown of the differences in the sound mixes:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_changes_in_Star_Wars_re-releases#Theatrical_Releases

I'm assuming there were no differences for ROTJ since it's not listed. It was, after all, the first THX-certified theatrical release.

Heh, totally forgot this was (originally) about to come out. Ridley Scott doing the intro had really piqued my interest. I didn't know Roger Christian worked on Alien until just now, none. Brian Johnson, one of Alien's sfx people, co-supervised the vfx of Empire with Richard Edlund (he brings it up in the dvd making-of).

This is what makes the OT such an interesting trilogy:

Star Wars

-Written and Directed by GL, Produced by Gary Kurtz, Shot by Gil Taylor

Empire Strikes Back

-Directed by Irvin Kershner, Produced by Gary Kurtz, Screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, Shot by Peter Suschitzky

Return of the Jedi

-Directed by Richard Marquand, Produced by Howard Kazanjian, Screenplay by Kasdan and Lucas, Shot by Alan Hume and Alec Mills

Compare that to the PT, which was entirely shot by David Tattersall and entirely written and directed by Lucas with help on AOTC's screenplay from Jonathan Hales.

..... Well, the first thing that came to my mind was that TPM does need to be restored by Lowry if the master used for the 2001 dvd is indeed the best LFL's got. There are all kinds of defects in the picture, from gate weave to scratches to color timing issues. AOTC and ROTS, being completely digital, don't have any of these problems.

In response to Sky's OP:

Yup.

Lucas makes that little comment at the beginning of "The Beginning" (heh, "the beginning of the the beginning") documentary on the TPM dvd when he's doing the Leslie Stahl interview back in '99.

The Prequels are all him, the OT isn't.

re: what sky said,

That's why it would be nice for each of the three films to get a 3-disc blu-ray. If Lucas releases his most recent version of the trilogy in theaters (and c'mon you know he eventually will, the 3D craze would certainly give him an excuse), that could be what ends up on the first disc. The second disc could be the '97 version (mastered from the '97 IP's) and the third disc would be the original version. This would be a nice historical preservation of the three theatrically released versions of the movies.

There are 3-disc blu-ray cases that some of the studios use that don't even take up any more space than the ones that hold 2-discs or even 1-discs, so Lucas doesn't have much of an excuse there.

And guys, lemme just say it:

At this point, there's no question in my mind that when the OT hits blu-ray he'll AT LEAST throw in the remastered original versions. Each set will be at least two discs, mark my words. He KNOWS the money he'd be losing by not including it. Think of how many people will go out and buy blu-ray players just for this!

Yeah, maybe we won't get '97 Jabba, Luke's Cloud City scream and a "Galactic Celebration" sans Naboo and JarJar, but the originals will be there.

Oh, and 2012 would make the most sense at this point. It's the 35th, and blu-ray will have been on the market for just about as long as dvd was back in '04.

What's annoying is seeing so many movies, both new releases and catalog titles, being given such nice treatment on blu-ray while Lucas - a guy on Scorsese's film preservation board - keeps burying the original versions of his own material. I'm sure we'll see the original version of the OT nicely remastered for the blu-ray (if he can stamp out two-dvd9 sets for the '06 release, he can stamp out two-bd50 sets for the blu-ray), I've stopped worrying about that as it's an inevitably in my mind at this point, but it would really be nice to see the originals of Graffiti and THX nicely preserved on blu-ray. I wouldn't even care if the best existing prints aren't in great condition, just being able to watch them in hi-def would be a treat.

Oh, and I really hope that cgi shot from the Raiders HD broadcast doesn't end up on the blu-ray, but I'm not getting my hopes up because why would they have put it there if that's not what they were intending to eventually do? I guess if they know how much backlash there is against it they'll change their mind. Seriously, wtf was up with that? Whose idea was it, Lucas or Spielberg? Guess we'll never know.

Vaderisnothayden said:

Indiana Jones got more than just wires erased. There's that cgi shot added to Raiders. I wish he'd just leave it the fuck alone.

Which made its debut in an HD broadcast of all places!

Actually, in all these years I still haven't seen a breakdown of the erasures for the dvd release. All I've ever read was that they got rid of the reflection in the snake pit and erased something that was visible in the "bowling ball" shot. I've google searched it once or twice and come up with nothing. Maybe I'm just not using the right words. Does anyone know where I can find screenshot comparisons?

I honestly doubt that the movies won't be available individually when they hit blu-ray. Despite what George and Rick have been saying since '99, they and the rest of LFL know all too well how people feel about the movies and they're not gonna be stupid about how to make money off this release. Sure, there will probably be a saga boxset you can get, but they won't limit the options to that or even just two trilogy boxsets. My prediction is that the movies will be available individually and in a six-film set.

pjvader said:

2 words

3D blu-ray (or is that 3 words) i bet there is no star wars release until the 3D versions are completed then shown theatrically for the 35th anniversary then there will be the blu release by then 3D will either be passe or the norm (in terms of unavoidable when buying a new tv or blu-ray player) star wars only comes out on new formats when saturation has been proved unfortunately

What I really wouldn't be surprised to see happen (and, at the same time, have no idea how they would financially pull off) is what you're saying right here.

Someone wrote an article not too long ago about how Star Wars is the second highest grossing movie of all time in terms of domestic box office if you adjust for inflation (Gone with the Wind being the highest). All GL needs is to re-release it one last time and he's got his world title.

Avatar's massive box office success has probably made a 3D conversion of Star Wars an inevitability, honestly. The blu-ray spec was updated to allow 3D content to be stored on the discs, and the players are rolling out this year. The new spec requires that the discs be backward-compatible for the players that can't do 3D.

LFL, if you're reading this (and you're most likely not), I would be willing to spend between 30-40 dollars per movie for a blu-ray that has the following:

-Disc 1: Final / Most recent version

-Disc 2: '97 version

-Disc 3: original

In all honesty, and this is just my opinion, but I think that's a big part of the disappointment with the prequels. The people in their late 20's/early 30's in '99 had sooooo much more invested in it than people like me who were almost 14 at the time.

I agree with Pittrek. The PT should be watched first or not at all.