Then, of course, the unimaginable happened in 2012. And I’ve been trying to convince myself that it’s really true ever since.
It’s true…all of it.
Enjoy the movie.
It’s more of a ‘review’-type thread, for everyone’s post-viewing thoughts…as opposed to a ‘spoilers-beforehand’ kind of thread, I guess. I just thought it would be good to encourage everyone to add their impressions in the one, single thread at this point. But no-one’s forcing you to use it, of course (see what I did there?) - I read your own comments with interest by the way, and look forward to seeing what others reckon to the movie as well.
Just wanted to remind everyone here that Jay has now added a dedicated thread for everyone who has seen the movie to add their thoughts to. And I suggest no peeking in this new thread whatsoever, until AFTER you’ve seen the movie for yourselves - originaltrilogy.com/topic/The-Force-Awakens-Official-Review-Thread-SPOILERS/id/46786
I finally saw the movie for myself this afternoon here in the U.K., and look forward to adding some thoughts of my own eventually. 😃
Just wanted to remind everyone here that Jay has now added a dedidicated thread for everyone who has seen the movie to add their thoughts to. And I suggest no peeking in this new thread whatsover, until AFTER you’ve seen the movie for yourselves - originaltrilogy.com/topic/The-Force-Awakens-Official-Review-Thread-SPOILERS/id/46786
I finally saw the movie for myself this afternoon here in the U.K., and look forward to adding some thoughts of my own eventually. 😃
Just saw Lifehacker did a story on Harmy too.
In addition to that article, I see that Harmy’s work has been featured again in this follow-up over on io9 (dot) com too - lifehacker.com/how-to-properly-catch-up-on-all-the-star-wars-movies-be-1748097695
(Harmy, that abc (Australia) link was a really neat write-up on your project. By the way, there seems to be a lot of gobbledygook text in your very first post now - I don’t know if it’s to do with the changeover in some way or not, but perhaps you may want to edit it)
Just thought I’d link to this recent article, as I agree with a lot of the thoughts in it - io9.gizmodo.com/no-matter-if-you-love-or-hate-return-of-the-jedi-youre-1748161502
A few thoughts before I check out of this thread entirely for the next few days…
I heard on the radio today that there are some who are now starting to see very early showings of ‘The Force Awakens’. With only 2 days to go before I get to finally see it for myself, I reckon it’s going to be a tough couple of days to avoid some sort of random ‘early review’ etc. on the Net, on TV, on radio, or in the papers…
But I’m gonna try my best…as the last thing I want is to hear someone else’s point-of-view at this stage (whether positive or negative), after managing to avoid a lot of info. up till now - it hasn’t been easy! However, I’ll certainly be interested to catch up with all the reveals/speculation/and opinions I’ve missed in the spoiler threads these past weeks, once I’ve made up my own mind on it all.
After only seeing the initial 2 trailers, and knowing very few details about the storyline, I’m feeling optimistic while keeping my expectations reasonably moderate. I know it’s only another ‘Star Wars’ movie at the end of the day…but dammit, I want it to be one that a lot of audiences like.
Anyway, here’s what I’m personally hoping the movie will bring, and I’ll know in a couple of days -
I’m hoping that the lead-in logos to the ‘A long time ago…’ wording, main titles, and ‘scroll’ aren’t too jarring, seeing as the familiar 20th Century Fox image and fanfare are going to be absent this time around…
…and I’m hoping the ‘scroll’ wording will end up being a lot more enticing than the talk of ‘Trade embargos’ that we got for ‘The Phantom Menace’…and that it sets things up for this latest trilogy in a more appealing way…
…and I’m hoping that J.J. will give us a more memorable ‘opening shot’ than what we got for the start of the prequels - I’m not expecting anything as impactful as what we got for ‘A New Hope’, but I’m hoping for something a bit more eventful than the simple ‘panning’ shot we got of the ship at the start of George’s prequel trilogy…
…and I’m hoping that I like a lot of the design-work for the movie, where the vehicles…props…creatures…costumes…and sets are concerned. I’m sure I’ll dislike some aspects, but I hope that I’ll end up liking most of them - and I can’t wait to see some of the inevitable ‘Art of…’ books that will follow…
…and I’m hoping that John Williams has managed to come up with another excellent score, as that’s one of the aspects I’m most looking forward to once again - and the soundtrack will be another must-have to get eventually…
…and I’m hoping that the storyline does the older Luke, Han, and Leia characters justice, and that we don’t have too many instances of George’s ‘mirrored’ dialogue throughout the movie (rehashing if you ask me) - I don’t particularly need to hear someone repeating the “I have a bad feeling about this” line again, for instance…unless it’s by 'ol Han himself…just once. One of the things I’m confident about though, is that none of the dialogue in this will be as dire as some of the worst which was written for the prequels…so that will be an immediate improvement…
…and I’m hoping that Darth Vader’s ‘Chosen One’/Force-induced ‘immaculate conception’ origin isn’t mentioned…as I don’t want to include that aspect in my prequel re-edits whatsoever…
…and I’m hoping that the Jedi ‘rule’ of ‘no close relationships allowed’ isn’t maintained either…as I don’t want to include that aspect in my prequel re-edits either…
…and I’m hoping for some humourous little moments that are actually warm and funny once again. Something along a more ‘childlike’ vein, such as when Artoo slowly keeled over after being zapped by the Jawas in ‘A New Hope’, or when Chewie startled the ‘mouse droid’…rather than done in a ‘childish’ manner, like when Jar Jar stepped in poodoo, or got farted on in ‘The Phantom Menace’…
…and I’m hoping the little BB-8 droid is going to be as appealing as I think he’s going to be…
…and I’m hoping that the majority of the special effects will indeed look cutting edge and special, as these movies always pushed the envelope where those were concerned…
…and I’m hoping that I’ll be very satisfied by the time 'J.J.'s end credits appear, and that I’ll leave the cinema looking forward to the next instalment…knowing that the ‘Star Wars’ brand is back with a successful bang, despite the missteps of the prequels…and knowing that lots of fans of the overall saga will be able to feel the same…
…it’s a big ask, but not long now till I find out… 😃
I see these particular edits have recently gotten a little love over on io9 (dot) com too, and I always find it interesting to read the various comments at the bottom of articles like these - (note - this article includes a newer link to JeremyMWest-Esquire’s ‘The Phantom Menace Anti-Cheese Edit’, which shows it in full HD now) - io9.com/include-these-anti-cheese-star-wars-prequels-while-you-1747781701
I actually downloaded a heap of prequel edits from Youtube over the last couple of weeks - approx. 15 or 16 of them in total (!), both individual and 3-in-one style versions. This was because I don’t think any of them are listed over at Fanedit (dot) org…and I was curious to see what these guys had done with certain scenes compared to my own intended ‘cut-lists’. And also because I wasn’t sure how long they would be available to view there!
I haven’t had the time to check out any of them properly yet, but I skimmed a couple of the scenes in JeremyMWest-Esquire’s ‘The Phantom Menace Anti-Cheese Edit’…and his re-subtitled Watto dialogue about ‘detonating’ young Anakin when he first appears gave me a chuckle - this new dialogue should be in every edit that features this scene now, as far as I’m concerned…and Watto delivers the line with aplomb. 😃
On the strength of that alone, I’m going to check out all of these ‘anti-cheese’ edits throughout, to see what else he came up with - I know he’s scrapped Shmi’s ‘immaculate conception’ assertion to Qui-Gon, which is a bit of dialogue I’m definately removing too…as I’m very content to leave whatever happened to Anakin’s ‘father’ as an open-ended question - I just imagine he probably died or got killed when Anakin was even younger…or maybe he was just ‘passing through’ that part of Tattooine at the time, and only had a brief fling with Shmi before moving on to somewhere uknown to her - who knows? 😉
Personally, I’m not keen on the whole ‘chosen one’ aspect of the Jedi that George settled on…but can accept that storyline better so long as there’s no ‘unexplained birth/midiclorians’ involved whatsoever.
And the next prequel edit I hope to watch all the way through after those, will be one called ‘Star Wars: The Blackened Mantle (The Prequels Rewritten/Recut)’ by Darth Lunar - this looks to be a really interesting 3-in-one style edit, due to the fact it uses the Japananese language soundtracks, and has been completely re-subtitled throughout! So as I don’t understand Japanese, I can watch (and listen) to this quite happily, and imagine it to be a ‘foreign film’ version of the movies. Again, I’ll be interested to see what Darth Lunar came up with, and I reckon it could transform the tone of these movies with an almost ‘samurai’-type of gravitas for certain characters now.
For the record, my own ideal versions won’t have any re-subtitling over and above the brief subtitles that already exist in the prequels, as I want my younger family members to be able to easily follow what’s being said by the characters…without asking me what they are saying throughout! 😉
However, Darth Lunar’s edit looks to be a very different take on the source material, and I don’t mind reading fully-subtitled movies, personally. There’s a link to it in the first post of this recent thread about it, if anyone else is interested - originaltrilogy.com/topic/Has-anyone-watched-The-Blackened-Mantle/id/46103
(By the way, can anyone tell me how on earth some of these full-length edits have remained up on Youtube for so long, while other snippets and clips get removed almost instantly? I’m curious to know)
I’m pretty sure this refers to Disney editing the prequels, not fanedits, and especially having the original prequels vanish.
This was certainly the way I was interpreting it, as I had suggested just that beforehand. But while I agree with GlastoEls that it was ‘double standards’ on my part to do so…I’m more than comfortable with that, where George’s prequels are concerned. 😉
In addition to the ‘extended’ versions of the prequels that ADigitalMan released, he also re-cut each of them too. I always happened to like the title he gave to his TPM edit, which was ‘Episode I: A Vergence In The Force’
(and the other titles he used were ‘Episode II: Path To The Darkside’ and ‘Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith’)
Here’s his thread - originaltrilogy.com/topic/id/2446
Despite my intention to alter a lot of George’s prequel footage for myself, I’ll be keeping the existing ‘The Phantom Menace’/‘Attack Of The Clones’/‘Revenge Of The Sith’ title scrolls just as they are - but I think ‘Episode I: A Vergence In The Force’ would have been a terrific title to name the ‘first’ chapter of the official prequel trilogy with instead…as I really happen to like how the combination of words work together.
And as far as the original ‘STAR WARS’ movie goes…even though we’re all completely used to it being sub-headed ‘Episode IV: A New Hope’ these days, I reckon ‘Episode IV: A Vergence In The Force’ could have also worked as an excellent re-naming of that particular chapter too, at the time.
We cannot campaign for the OOT and simultaneously call for editing of the PT.
Double standards of the highest order.
Agreed. Better to wait to see if we get the OOT out of Disney first… 😉
Do we then start a petition to bring back the Original Prequel Trilogy? Their badness is part of our cultural history and needs to be preserved for future generations to loathe.
Heh, all good points there Frank, but it would certainly make for delicious irony if Disney were to re-cut George’s versions somewhat…for the sake of the future generations of fans who have yet to see the prequels. And for additional fun, they could always release ‘limited edition’ non-animorphic ‘bonus’ discs of his original prequel versions for anyone curious in future…
However, I agree that the existing prequels require a drastic amount of re-editing/cutting to help improve some core flaws, rather than just a snip here and there…but I still doubt that Disney would totally ‘overwrite’ George’s efforts with a complete remake anytime soon, even if some would welcome that.
I agree with those who reckon that there are plenty of other stories for Disney to come up with/or ‘milk’ over many long years, without contemplating a whole new ‘re-imagining’ of George’s prequels whatsoever.
However, I’ve no doubt that there are some at Disney who would certainly welcome the notion, if they thought there was some serious money to be made by doing so! 😃
But while there’s a certain section of the ‘Star Wars’ fanbase who would no doubt love to see a ‘different’ storyline for the ‘early years of Anakin/Darth Vader’ altogether, there’s also a section that hold the existing prequels in high regard - warts and all. A lot of them will always have a lot of affection for them, no matter what…especially if they were the movies that they saw on the big screen first, and happened to be their initial introduction to George’s overall saga.
Personally, I didn’t like the particular ‘tragic downfall of Anakin Skywalker’ scenario that George settled on, never mind how he went about scripting it…but one way or another, that’s the version of events that he decided on, and that’s what’s on the shelves. I just don’t think that Disney would go the extra mile of ‘re-doing’ the ‘prequel storyline’ any time soon, considering the sheer amount of characters and settings that the franchise offers them already.
On the other hand, I’d sure like them to do a ‘compromise’ of sorts…and re-edit each prequel into something a lot less awkward overall, to get rid of their worst moments! - hell, they could ‘market’ these re-edited ‘re-issues’ as being ‘a world’s first in home cinema’…and have them become the ‘de facto’, improved versions instead…with the existing versions eventually disappearing from the store shelves and TV schedules altogether!
Ah well, I can but hope… 😉
But no matter, as I’ve come up with ‘cut-lists’ of my own which I’m very satisfied with, and can re-edit them for myself in due course - for various reasons, I’ll always look on these chapters as merely a ‘companion piece’ to be watched once the original trilogy has been seen…as the saga will ALWAYS begin with the mid-adventure Stardestroyer chase of ‘A New Hope’ for me, and be focused on Luke first and foremost.
And to end on a happy note for myself, I’ve now worked out a way which makes it absolutely necessary for me to only watch the prequels AFTER seeing the original trilogy, despite what the ‘chapter numbers’ say - and I’m extremely pleased with what I’ve come up with, as it really helps me to ease into the existing ‘Phantom Menace’ scroll and storyline much better now. 😃
Bob Iger said there will not be a Disney logo at the front of the movie.
I hope it’s just the Lucasfilm logo with no sound and nothing else.
Everything else will undoubtedly be the same, though. There’s no good reason it wouldn’t be.
Glad to hear about the lack of a Disney logo. 😃
And I also like the notion of complete silence with only the Lucasfilm logo and usual ‘a long time ago…’ wording, until the main theme finally blasts out.
Myself and my youngest son are booked for the comfy seats in our local multiplex on the afternoon of 17th Dec. 😃
We’ve chosen a 2d showing as our first viewing, and will see it again a couple of days later with the rest of the family, before Christmas - again in 2d.
At some point during it’s run, some of us are intending to go back and see it in 3D also.
(I had hoped to see it on the biggest screen here for my first viewing, but it’s going to be used exclusively for 3D screenings only, so I’ll have to wait to see it on that - still, our other screens are plenty big too!)
By the way, it’s a nice touch to have a ‘countdown clock’ attached to the site now, and the anticipation is rising. I’ve managed to avoid the last couple of trailers (especially the latest Chinese one, which I believe showed off quite a bit), and was able to dodge a lot of spoiler-ish articles so far. Unfortunately, I was doing some recent Christmas shopping in a local toystore, and inadvertantly spotted something at their ‘Star Wars’ display, which I was trying to avoid - I won’t say what it was, but it was certainly something I hadn’t expected, and I wish I’d seen it for the first time in the movie itself… Never mind, I know very little about it all so far, compared to when ‘The Phantom Menace’ came out.
Also, I wonder how the intro. to this movie is going to play out? - no 20th Century Fox logo (or fanfare either, I guess) this time around. The new Lucasfilm logo is ‘black’ now (I preferred the previous ‘rainbow/golden’ version, personally)…but will we get an additional Disney logo of any kind mixed in?..or a Bad Robot one? And will it even have the standard yellow ‘STAR WARS’ main title, chapter heading, and scroll over a starfield?..or will it be altered somehow? Will J.J. have the main title coming towards us, instead of receding away?..who knows?..but I look forward to hearing the first bars of John Williams’ familiar score boom out on the big screen once again, and can’t wait to hear what he’s come up with for this latest instalment.
Finally…in this age of pre-booking, it’s kinda heart-warming to know this tradition is alive and well - and I take my hat off to these dedicated guys and gals. Don’t let them down J.J. !! - www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/movies/star-wars-the-force-awakens-fans-are-already-lining-up.html
Wonderful work on the painting and weathering of the miniatures shown - it’s like seeing a group of old friends all together again. Great stuff. 😃
Wishing you a very enjoyable Christmas break adywan, as you’ve put in some fabulous work on ‘ESB:Revisited’ again this past year. It’s nice to know that all your time-consuming efforts are going to be wowing everyone before too long now.
If ‘The Force Awakens’ turns out to be a satisfying follow-up to the original trilogy, the anticipation for ‘ESB:R’ afterwards will be all the more sweeter I reckon.
(and for the benefit of those in the U.K. - just to give you a heads-up that Channel 5 has some ‘Star Wars’-related programs tomorrow night at 9pm onwards…so set your recorders if you’ve got plans to go out)
EDIT: Both of the hour-long documentaries last night were a nice primer for the upcoming movie - ‘Star Wars: The Definitive History’ covered the whole saga so far (including the SE’s), and featured the likes of Gary Kurtz along the way, while ‘How Star Wars Changed The World’ featured some very dedicated fans from around the world with their great-looking projects and collections. Both docs are on again tonight on Channel 5 starting at 10.25pm, if you missed them. (or alternatively, on Channel 5 + 24 starting at 9pm tonight instead)
Bottom line is, you sum all the annoying things in TPM and you are still way below the annoyance level of Anakin in AOTC. And it is not Hayden’s performance that should take the main blame. He basically just acted perfectly in accordance with the annoying character that was conceived/written.
Yes, apart from some bizarre expressions/and ‘emoting’ that we got from Hayden in quite a few shots, there’s no doubt that’s it really down to George that we ended up with such a generally unappealing characterisation. The ‘earlier backstory’ for one of cinema’s best creations should have been a ‘golden’ role for anyone to land…but unfortunately for Hayden (and Jake Lloyd before him), far too much of Anakin’s scripted dialogue is laughably bad unfortunately…especially when it came to the various ‘romantic’ interludes between him and Padme in ‘AOTC’!
I don’t doubt that the character is unfixable for you, no matter how anyone re-edits him…but as I previously said, I spent the time to see if I could come up with things that would improve the numerous issues with the prequels that bugged me personally.
Anyway, one of the biggest things which I despaired about was George’s mishandling of Anakin and Padme’s ‘relationship’ build-up…so I’ll describe what I’ve decided to amend for my own eventual version -
Firstly, I’ve settled on a shortened, re-edited version of the short chat about Padme between Anakin and Obi-wan, when they are in the elevator on the way to see her.
…and I’m also including a shortened, re-edited version of the initial meeting between Anakin and Padme, as we’ll as a shortened re-edited version of Padme’s ‘security arrangements’ discussion between Anakin and Obi-wan in front of Padme.
…and that is followed later by a shortened, re-edited version of the discussion between Aanakin and Padme concerning Obi-wan’s attitude to Anakin, as Padme packs ready to leave Coruscant.
…and I’m also including a shortened, re-edited version of Anakin and Padme’s chat as they are about to embark on a transport to Naboo with Artoo.
…and I’m also including a shortened, re-edited version of the chat that they have aboard the transport to Naboo…
…and I’m also including a shortened, re-edited version of their visit to Padme’s family home.
…and I’m also including a shortened, re-edited version of their ‘gondola’ trip to the Naboo retreat, where they walk in a courtyard, and end up having their awkward kiss - but they do not kiss at this point in my version, and won’t until they face their impending ‘arena’ doom towards the end of the movie. So by the time we see it now, the moment between them seems as if it been ‘earned’ a little more.
…and I’m also including a shortened, re-edited version of the ‘Naboo picnic’ scene - which does not involve Anakin’s critter-riding antics, nor rolling about in the field with Padme afterwards.
NOTE - I also initially spent a fair bit of time working out a shortened, re-edited version of their ‘floating pear’ dinner table scene for myself…as well as working out a very shortened, re-edited version of their excruciating ‘fireside discussion’ scene…and in addition to those, I also spent time on coming up with a very shortened, re-edited version of their scene together in the ‘Lars homestead garage’ that I could live with - each of which drastically improved things for me over the existing versions. However…I’ve finally realised that I can do without seeing any of that particular footage and dialogue ever again…and decided that even my cut-down versions were just plain unnecessary in the scheme of things, and just slowed/dragged down the pace of the movie too much - even though I liked the nicely recreated ‘Lars garage’ setting.
Therefore, ALL 3 of those scenes are totally GONE from my ideal ‘AOTC’ version now…and I find that Hayden’s role immediately becomes more bearable, while the movie’s momentum is given a boost too. (and in the case of the ‘fireside’ scene, it’s total removal also helps with my intention to completely do away with all references by anyone to the ‘Jedi code’ of ‘personal relationships’ being frowned upon - I don’t happen to like this aspect that George came up with, as it really gives a po-faced tone to being a Jedi…and puts both Anakin and Padme in poor light for pursuing their relationship together - I’d prefer to see their ‘romance’ play out in a far less deceitful way, so that it all seems a bit more ‘tragic’ when things go wrong eventually…so I’m really hoping that this Jedi ‘rule’ isn’t mentioned in the upcoming sequel trilogy!)
…so that’s the majority of things I’m changing to keep their ‘build-up’ more subtle…and along with one or two other slight re-edits where Anakin and Padme interact together, I’m also including a shortened, re-edited version of their ‘arena’ entrance, to remove some of the clunkier dialogue before their (first) kiss.
(and of course, there’s an extensive amount of their scenes together in ‘ROTS’ that I’ve ended up altering too…seeing as my issues didn’t end with ‘AOTC’! But that’s for another day…) 😃
If you somehow cut out Jar Jar, there are very few annoying things left. On the other hand, AOTC is in fact unfixable. There is a clear main character and he is super annoying (much more than Jar Jar in TPM). I cannot see how anyone could even remotely relate to Anakin in AOTC.
There’s quite a lot of annoying things left in ‘TPM’ I’d say, even if an edit were to remove ‘Jar Jar’ completely. An extremely young ‘Darth Vader’-to-be in the shape of ‘Li’l Ani’ as just one example, and it’s a major one I reckon. But while I’ll always think George ended up casting far too young for that role…I’ve found that by cutting a lot of superfluous dialogue/shots that he’s in, it really helps to minimise the problem for me, and it helps to bring the maturer voices around him to the fore instead.
By making ‘Li’l Ani’ say much less throughout various scenes, his character improves quite a bit for me now. And this applies to ‘Jar Jar’s’ childish-sounding voice/unnecessay dialogue too, as well as to the majority of ‘older’ Anakin’s creepy/shouty dialogue throughout the other two prequels. Far less poorly-delivered, eye-rolling dialogue by Hayden makes a huge difference to how he comes across in ‘AOTC’ and ‘ROTS’, compared with the existing versions. And this has helped to make his performance/character a lot more effective for me now, also…even though he’s not the ideal casting I’d have preferred for the backstory of ‘Darth Vader’.
(by the way, keeping the references to the ‘Jedi rule’ forbidding ‘personal relationships’ kinda makes Padme at fault too, seeing as she lets herself get fully involved with Anakin. But a heap of cutting still makes them a more appealing couple, regardless. On the other hand, if that ‘rule’ isn’t specifically referenced in the upcoming sequels, then it’s also possible to recut things slightly so that no mention of this ‘rule’ pops up in ‘AOTC’, to eliminate their deception in this matter)
StarChewyWar, just to let you know that I’m extremely pleased with the various alterations I’ve got in mind for my future ‘TPM’ edit now. However, a ‘3-In-One’ cut might also be interesting for me to attempt sometime using some of my intended prequel changes. But on the other hand, I happen to like too much of the imagery/music in ‘TPM’ to discard the majority of it for a single edit. And I’ll be able to go along with the likes of ‘li’l Ani’s’ and 'Jar Jar’s involvement a lot better in future, seeing as scrapping a heap of their dialogue greatly improves their performances!
(by the way, no-one needs to quote the whole of my lengthy previous post again)
Just wanted to add a couple of my own thoughts on this, in the run-up to the next instalment -
I’m aware that there are a few who believe that ignoring the ‘TPM’ movie altogether improves the ‘prequels’ substantially, since you start with an ‘older Anakin’ storyline with ‘AOTC’ at least.
But I don’t think it makes any difference in the scheme of things, due to the fact that each prequel is as dreadfully bad as the other two, in my opinion…thanks to their overall poorly-conceived plotlines, dire dialogue, crass childishness, and awful acting in places. Oh, and don’t forget the numerous examples of disappointingly-poor, over-the-top effects work in certain areas too! It’s just one awkward moment from start to finish throughout the trilogy, and you don’t have to wait long for one to come along.
Whereas I can still feel a strong attachment to nearly every single moment of the original (theatrical) trilogy over the years…any re-watch of the prequels just makes me cringe, dammit! And the years haven’t improved them in any way for me, unfortunately.
However…despite all that, there remains some highly-memorable imagery and music throughout the prequels…so I was inspired by certain fan edits to see if it was at all possible to come up with any kind of potential ‘cut list’ which could improve the many moments that bothered me personally.
Although I highly doubted there would be, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are indeed ways to re-edit them into something which I would be happy to re-watch with my family someday. In fact, nearly every dodgy scene and moment which annoyed me, had a possible alteration/or removal I preferred, it turned out! (and TMBTM’s radical style of editing was a big encouragement for me not to be precious about any particular footage, and to consider trying to re-structure/or remove it in a major way in certain instances, if I preferred it that way)
It’s been a very time-consuming challenge, but I’ve now got a lengthy ‘cut-list’ for each prequel which gives me a version of the saga which conveys George’s intended ‘tragic downfall of Anakin’ storyline in way that’s a lot less ridiculous than his (or Frinks!) version…where Anakin and Padme both come across a lot more appealing to me now, with a far more slow-burning ‘relationship’ than what the existing versions portray - thanks to drastically removing a lot of their woeful dialogue throughout each movie, as well as completely removing a couple of their more odious scenes altogether! In the case of their interactions together, less is a whole lot more, I reckon.
But on top of finding a way to rejig their ‘romance’ into something that doesn’t make me throw up, there were a few other crucial sequences that I wasn’t sure if I could re-structure in a way that would absolutely satisfy me - namely ‘Palpatine’s fight with Windu’/his ‘transformation’ into the Emperor’ during it/and ‘Anakin becoming his apprentice’ just afterwards…as well as the whole ‘ROTS’ ending concerning ‘Anakin’s fate’ & ‘Padme’s childbirth/death’ and sequence of events afterwards which round off the prequel trilogy. Well, I’m especially pleased with what I’ve come up with for all of those, and it’s made the whole time I spent on looking at these damned prequels worthwhile.
Palpatine’s ‘transformation’ and his subsequent dialogue with Anakin was one of the most problematic things I played around with throughout the whole trilogy, as it’s as ludicrous as Vader’s ‘yelling’ scene I reckon…and it took me ages to come up with a way to make some of the existing footage work in a way that restores the Emperor’s gravitas somewhat, despite the dodgy make-up. The way that the Emperor and Vader were portrayed during those moments in ‘ROTS’ were amongst the worst disappointments in the prequels for me…so these ended up being some of the alterations which I’m most happy with. (and I hope to be able to show clips of what I’ve come up with at some point in the coming months, one way or another, when time allows)
While I’m not expecting any mentions of ‘midiclorians’(!) to be featured in the upcoming movie…I’m curious to see if it will end up mentioning ‘the chosen one’ notion or not, as well as whether there’s going to be any reference to the Jedi not being allowed to have ‘personal relationships’, or whether the ‘rule of two/master and apprentice’ concept is referred to either…as there’s ways to remove them all seamlessly from the prequels, if I choose to go down that route.
Anyway, future discussions on the prequels are bound to run and run for a long time to come, seeing as the franchise is being thrust into the limelight again over the coming years. So I’ll leave you all with these recent links on the subject to contemplate on, as some of the accompanying comments underneath are always interesting to read -
TPM - io9.com/star-wars-the-phantom-menace-doesnt-really-get-what-it-1742188503
AOTC - io9.com/attack-of-the-clones-is-a-star-wars-wish-fulfillment-ch-1743553858
ROTS - io9.com/sure-revenge-of-the-sith-is-the-best-star-wars-prequel-1744646183
Like others here, I’ll be treating myself to a re-watch of the saga in some manner before ‘The Force Awakens’ opens. And I’m still finding it hard to get my head around the fact that in less than a month now, we’ll be getting to see a Star Wars movie which is a ‘continuation’ of the events seen in ‘Return Of The Jedi’…complete with the original main cast members, and all-new John Williams score! I mean, it just seems like the other day that I was completely shocked to hear that George had actually ‘sold off’ his creation to Disney…and now the first movie is just around the corner.
After being used to many years of high praise by so many fans around the world thanks to his much-loved trilogy, the negative backlash generated by his eventual prequel and ‘special edition’ efforts must have been uncomfortable for him. Although I owned the theatrical trilogy on laserdisc, I remember looking forward to the announcement of when it would finally hit the successful new dvd format at the time…but while loads of other lesser movies were appearing with reverential quality treatments, the Star Wars trilogy remained stubbornly unavailable on the format for years and years. That was the first of a series of dubious miss-steps, and instead, George eventually came up with his dissapointing prequel trilogy and awkwardly-tinkered-with OT versions. And the belated, sub-par GOUT releases were yet another reason why he lost a lot of the high regard he was previously held in by some fans of the OT.
And now in his latest comments, he’s remarked that Disney and co. ended up ditching his own conceived story ideas in favour of ‘something for the fans’…and describes his take on the saga as being a ‘soap opera of family problems’. Well, I don’t know what J.J. and his writers have come up with, but if they’ve come up with something that ends up keeping the majority of fans happy, then I’m certainly all for that.
I’m hopeful that this latest entry will be a successful ‘continuation’ of the adventures of Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, and the Droids…and that it will simply have the same sense of ‘fun’ that the original trilogy provided overall. I’d have rathered that George had come up with some sequels involving the original cast himself back in 1999…but hopefully, J.J.'s instalment will be the start of a great new trilogy.
Anyway, here’s the saga order I’ll be watching in the run-up to the latest movie -
STAR WARS Despecialized (the blockade runner/stardestroyer opening chase will always kick off the saga for me)
STAR WARS Revisited
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Despecialized
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Revisited ‘workprint’
RETURN OF THE JEDI Despecialized
(no prequels whatsoever, and that’s mainly due to the fact that I’ve already spent a lot of time working out many, many cuts/re-arrangements on each one that I hope to re-edit for myself next year into a trilogy I can bear to re-watch)
Here’s the link to the vid now, although the end is cut off where they all then appeared on stage in front of the ‘Children In Need’ audience to reveal the fact that the show had already generated over £15 million pounds at that point in the night - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgnsswvpz6k
Holy hell! Barbara Windsor as Chewbacca!? I never thought I’d see that!
Well never did I mean… w’uh ?
Not sure if you caught it or not Bingo, but for those that didn’t, she was part of a short ‘Star Wars’ skit on the BBC’s annual ‘Children In Need’ fundraiser earlier tonight. Warwick Davis, C3PO, R2D2, BB-8 and the new Stormtroopers were all involved. It will be up on Youtube before long, no doubt.
Good to know that ‘bookmarks’ and ‘draft posts’ functionality will return at some point Jay, as they were two of the most vital benefits to me around here, I found.
I didn’t get a chance to comment in the ‘bugs report’ topic before it got locked after 6 pages, due to having trouble with re-registering, so just wanted to say it’s good to be back, before this thread is locked down too.
Sad story time - I knew this server migration was imminent, as it had long been flagged up by Jay…but I kept having one family drama, work crisis, etc. getting in the way of me finding some time to try and capture all my hundreds(!) of various saved ‘bookmarks’ which I’d stored for various reasons to refer back to. And also my many saved ‘drafts’ that I was still currently finalising for various topics.
So anyway…I finally got a chance to sit down to spend a while doing this…when the site suddenly went ‘offline’ at that particular moment!!.. I’m gutted. Aaargh!
So I’ve lost the lot, and can just console myself that at least my PMs are still viewable after the migration.
Then on top of this, I didn’t realise that the reason that I wasn’t getting sent a ‘reset password’ e-mail…was because it kept getting sent to my hotmail ‘Junk Email’ folder instead of my ‘Inbox’ folder. And until doubleofive/Jay let me know that was the likely case, I couldn’t log on…as I never check that particular folder! D’oh.
I rarely check in using a mobile, so the current layout is taking a little getting used to on my laptop. But at the end of the day, I appreciate that the previous server problems were getting out of hand, and things should stabalise for us now. l also appreciate that all of Jay’s efforts are done out of his own pocket, so many thanks are in order for this resource.
Happy Halloween to all.