I miss some of the people from the old days.
Russs15 and his site on preservations. The pan and scan transfers etc.
We only have HD versions of the 97 Star Wars and Empire due to fan preservations. Not just the original but the 1997 cuts only exist on laserdisc.
Lucasfilm is only interested in the current version that would be the 2020 4K cut. Its funny how the 20th anniversary Special Edition is also not available on blu-ray.
Its ditto on theatrical Phantom Menace without cgi Yoda, it exists on laserdisc and fans did a 35mm preservation because Lucasfilm can’t be bothered to release the theatrical.
THX 1138 and American Graffiti are also probably a lost cause until some fan restores them. I’ve written Lucasfilm off, They are only interested in Disney Star Wars not in catalog releases of Lucas movies.
The original Matrix. Bubble gum surface level philosophy, wrapped up into a comic book like world that is completely without any verisimilitude or belief. It only helps that its all happening in a videogame like computer so the ridiculous unbelievable cgi scenes can be forgiven. I still enjoyed the sillyness and fun of it all. Its also a highly overrated movie. Carrie-Anne Moss is fantastic, but i feel like Keanu wasn’t yet the cool guy he is now and he was sort of awkward. I also feel like Neo and Trinity had zero chemistry and Morpheus basically does nothing and Laurence Fishburne’s talents are wasted.
Yeah its lame it returns to Tatooine, and other than Endor their isn’t anything new. George always planned a bunch of different locales in the OT but because of the budget their was very few. We never got to see Alderaan, even Imperial Center aka Coruscant wasn’t added until the Special Edition.
What the OT did well was the used universe or worldizing. What Donner called Verisimilitude.
The prequels looked like a videogame. And the Disney movies are far too perfect looking and digital, even rogue one which comes the closest isn’t as gritty looking as it should have been.
The only places that seem kind of believable are Jakku and Ach-To in the sequels.
I watched Love and Monsters it was just okay, pretty much meh.
The behind the scenes make me appreciate the film a bit more.
It may not be my cup of tea, none of the Disney films are. But i can appreciate the art and artists behind the work.
The attention to detail on getting the look right to the original film is something rarely done these days.
Looks incredible. The detail of the different planets, the lighting and shadow. How detailed the ships and locations are. It makes the last one i played from the original Xbox look like a joke.
They are recompositing shots from the 65mm negative effects work of Doug Trumbull with modern tech for the 4K of the directors cut of the motion picture.
I wonder if its to reduce grain and, does the digital composite done now today have no matte lines?
I just got Kaldar World of Antares in a collection of stories and also Edmond Hamilton’s Return to the Stars the sequel to the Star Kings.
I haven’t read one of his books since i read Star Kings.
Looking forward to reading some of this old pulp Sci-Fi.
Edit:
Kaldar was really bad, it was very poor Burroughs pastiche. The most remarkable things in it are a Star Trek like matter transporter that can move the person to a far away planet, and a Star Wars like lightsaber laser sword.
I watched Matrix Resurrections. It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t great. I liked Bugs played by Jessica Fenwick.
Quite an unnecessary sequel. But it isn’t as awful as some people have made out.
Worth a rental only.
I remember the soundtrack well. Godzilla pure mother Bleeping filler. Taking your eyes off the real killer.
By definition Disney Star Wars is fanfiction because it isn’t from George Lucas. So i’m not surprised.
I haven’t seen Book of Boba Fett it or Mando for that matter beyond the Luke Skywalker episode and the first season episode 1.
Filoniverse is fanfic its always been. Its never been on the level of Star Wars 1-6. Even though Disney elavated it to such a canon status.
By no means is that condemnation the EU was also fanfic and so is the new EU.
I think that only the works from Lucas should be seen as canon, even bad ones.
I like Filoni fanfiction to a certain degree. I enjoyed Clone Wars and Rebels.
I don’t think Men in Black International is all that bad. It just needed to be more refined at the script level and production not be rushed.
I honestly don’t understand why it flopped and people hating it so much.
I kind of like the sequel, liked Juno Eclipse.
Starkiller is okay sort of. Though Vader having a secret apprentice is daft.
And the way Palpatine and Vader are portrayed is silly, almost Saturday morning cartoon villain.
The original game is fun in terms of gameplay but as an EU story it was never going to fit inside canon.
Now its completely non canon due to Disney.
Muppets Take Manhattan. Only because it is a film i was old enough to see when it came out, i was like a year old when The Muppet movie came out.
I saw that this morning it sucks he died yesterday. I read Courtship of Princess Leia, The Golden Queen, and his Runelord books.
I never knew he was a friend of Kevin J Anderson or was a mentor to other writers. He was just a guy whose books i enjoyed.
I sort of liked the first one when i saw it on tv once, but the second one is one of the worst things i’ve ever watched. I’d never watch a third movie.
The worst 4k recently for me is probably a tie between Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl and the Lord of the Rings 4K.
The DVNR is atrocious and it destroyed fine detail.
I watched Ghostbusters 2 and its kind of underrated. I think i might have been unfair in my earlier assessment of the movie.
Still think Vigo is a weak villain and the character Peter MacNicol plays is annoying.
But everything else sort of works. Its only damned for being too pedestrian and too late 80s. But i think Bill Murray is pretty good in it, and so is Sigourney Weaver.
Everything since has sucked. If they weren’t going to do a Ghostbusters 3 they should have left it alone.
I love Pacific Rim, but only the first one. Its like a live action anime. I loved every single moment of over the top cheese. Pure fun. The sequel is one of the worst movies i’ve ever seen its barely better than the second Independence Day.
Star Wars is the only picture i’ve ever seen a standing ovation at the end with people cheering and clapping. And that was for the 97 version. Would love to see what kind of response a showing of the original version would get.
Star Wars being hypnotic for me that would be seeing Return of the Jedi i was like 5 or 6 when i saw it.
That scene on the skiff where Luke salutes Artoo and his lightsaber is launched to him. Had me enraptured.
At the time i hadn’t seen a lot of movies and never saw pirate movies, or swashbucklers so it was quite exciting.
When Luke strides into Jabba’s in black cloak like he owns the place, i thought that was cool. As i did the hologram to Jabba scene. And the death star battle at the END and Throne room confrontation.
As for Indiana Jones, Raiders gets me every single time it hooks me in from the opening.
THE EU was canon up until Filoni Clone Wars. It obviously had to be struck from canon when the lore between Clone Wars and the EU were at odds and Filoni regarded it as fanfiction. And if George was to ever make his sequels it would have been erased anyway. Even Zahn and KJA knew this in the 1990s.
George never really saw it as his Star Wars, but he was free to copy ideas and characters and places from it.
Ghostbusters Afterlife. It isn’t a bad movie about family, but its a bad Ghostbusters movie. I don’t know why i bother i should just stick with the first one. Every single sequel has been incredibly disappointing and i just keep setting myself up.
It was cool for 5 minutes when the original cast shows up and i smiled and had nostalgic feelings. But it was a waste of 20 dollars.
The kids all do a decent job, but i wanted Ghostbusters 3.
Watched Army of Darkness. Super Cheesy but also super fun. I haven’t had such a good time watching a movie in ages. Bruce Campbell is so good.
I watched All 4 Men in Black movies. Film 2 and 4 aren’t that bad and i honestly don’t understand why they are hated. And i also don’t get why people act like part 3 is the best. It isn’t that good. Tommy Lee Jones is barely in it. Brolin is overrated in this film.
Added Ghosbusters Afterlife digital.
Solo a Star Wars Story 4K
Rogue One a Star Wars Story 4k
Demon Slayer Mugen Train
I’m surprised they didn’t just put the GOUT on their service non Anamorphic and all, in SD sub DVD quality with all the problems inherent to the technology of composite video masters.
I thought he said after Indiana Jones IV Lucasfilm was moving from the silver screen into television. This was before streaming was even a thing.
George Lucas had this tv series that the working title was called Star Wars Underworld. Did he really intend to do Star Wars sequels or Indiana Jones V. Because i just don’t see it. A couple of pages of notes isn’t a screenplay. He had hundreds of hours of scripts for that unmade tv series.
I would like to see his treatments be fleshed out, that was what i wrongly thought Michael Arndt was doing before the filming of 7 commenced.
George says Disney didn’t use any of his treatment or story and we have to take him at his word i guess.