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JamesEightBitStar

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5-Mar-2004
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30-Sep-2008
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187

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Post
#250209
Topic
What do you think of the <strong>Prequel Trilogy</strong>? a general discussion thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/250209/action/topic#250209
Time
I'm probably in a minority here, but I didn't mind the CGI or the movies themselves. Excuse me if I speak heresy, but Star Wars was never that great. They were fun action-adventure flicks that left the possibility of a larger universe open to us, but plot-wise the movies were back to back cliches in new trappings that didn't really do anything to innovate the field except add more special effects. Don't say originality is dead or that all movies are rip-offs of something else, because I could point out story upon story that was original or unique in times where it was contemporary. In this light, the prequels aren't so bad, as they maintain that same quality: They do nothing original but are still decent action-adventure films. I mean, who didn't love that lightsaber fight at the end of Phantom Menace?

However, as I said, one thing I found Star Wars did was open my mind to a large fantasy universe. Just watching the original trilogy, I find myself wondering what else has happened before, after, and during the adventures I see in these films. However I'll never read an expanded universe novel because I don't really want that question answered--my imagination does it better than any franchise book... that and, to be honest, I HAVE read a few Expanded Universe novels and found them to be completely dull, and moreover the answers they gave were ones I didn't like.

The prequels, to an extent, suffer from that latter problem, of giving answers nobody likes. Midichloriens being a popular example. However I think the bigger problem is simply that they're prequels. Prequels of any stripe are usually made for one reason: To answer questions posed by an existing story, to show how it all came to be... to explain things. Prequels almost universally suck because the answers they give are never totally necessary, if they were ever necessary to begin with. Come to think of it I can't recall a single prequel I'm familiar with that ever enhanced or shed light on the thing that it was a prequel to. Did we really need a prequel to The Exorcist? to Amityville? to Dune? to Superman?

But since this is a Star Wars topic, let's discuss the Star Wars prequels: The Prequel Trilogy fell into the common trap of feeling like it needed to "explain" the original trilogy, so we get things like the origin of the Empire, Palpatine's rise to power, how Anakin met Obi-Wan and became Darth Vader, how several important characters came to be where we find them in the original trilogy, and so on and so forth. And of course, no one likes the answers. This is both because they deny our imagination, replacing our various hypothesized scenarios with concrete answers, and as I said earlier, because the answers the movies give us suck. Moreover, these answers simply were never necessary in the first place! There were no aspects of the original trilogy that didn't or couldn't make sense on their own without any external knowledge. We don't need to know the backstory of the Star Wars universe to understand the original trilogy any more than we need to know the complete history of Arrakis to understand Dune.

On a more personal note, I've always felt the prequels were too much like an entry in the Expanded Universe--suddenly we have terms such as "Padawan" and "Sith" being thrown around. I also never liked how the EU introduced this "Star Wars naming convention" where every character has to have this name made up of three syllables--two for the personal name and one for the surname, and the more flat it sounds the better, names such as Quigon Jinn and Jar Jar Binks, and bad guys have to have some derivitive, "evil-sounding" name such as (to use an example from the novels) Thrawn or General Grievous. I mean, watch the original trilogy: The heroes had names such as Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, Leia Organa and bad guys had names such as General Tharkin. The sudden change from mostly nominal (if a little exhuberant) or even just plain "normal" names to these suddenly comic book-esque "alien" or "evil-sounding" names has always been one of my pet peeves with the Expanded Universe.

Personally, and excuse my arrogance, if I had written the Star Wars prequels, I would not have done it as George Lucas did. The empire would already be in place and making motion after motion to sweep aside and eliminate the Republic, the rebels would already be in place and striking back. The Jedi would be a widespread religious order that is slowly being driven underground. These would not be explanations of the original trilogy but rather events previous to the trilogy that may or may not have a bearing on future events. And so many things would be different that I have honestly considered doing my own Star Wars prequels in the form of a fanfic, being held back only by the thought that if I have the imagination and inclination to do that then I should darn well write original stories.

That's my thought, anyway.
Post
#250205
Topic
&quot;If you leave now, help them you could...&quot;
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/250205/action/topic#250205
Time
Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
Originally posted by: boris
Originally posted by: JamesEightBitStar
So really, what's with Yoda's warning? Do you honestly not understand the plot?


Geez, boris, harsh. It's a perfectly good question and not the first time Yoda's actions and lines in ESB have been debated. So chill out.


I wasn't really offended by boris' line.

But anyway, everyone here has pretty much summed up my feelings on this matter. It is a pretty weird thing and has some ambiguity to it. But they did manage to get through it without falling afoul of anything Yoda warned about. I also find it weird that Yoda is so eager for Luke to face Vader the second time around. I mean, how could Luke's self-training in that year make him so much different in between the two movies?


Actually, Yoda's reversal of stance makes sense to me, if we go with the idea that he was afraid of Luke finding out that Vader was his father and thus, either being destroyed or turning to the Dark Side. By the time ROTJ comes around, Luke's been dealing with that knowledge for a year. Remember also that Darth Vader was turned by hatred, anger, and a desire for power. By this point it's proven that Luke has none of these things--he cares not about greatness or control, he merely wants to protect people and try to bring his father back to the good side. Neither the emperor nor Darth Vader had any hope of turning him to the dark side. Even if Luke HAD given into his anger and killed both the Emperor and Darth Vader, he would've immediately regretted it and spent the rest of his life trying to make up for his sin (either that or commit seppuku).
Post
#249460
Topic
&quot;If you leave now, help them you could...&quot;
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/249460/action/topic#249460
Time
So I was just watching Empire Strikes Back, and I suddenly realized one monumental plot flub:

Luke sees a vision of Leia and Han being tortured and decides he has to go to Lando's mining colony. Yoda tries to stop him by saying "If you go now, help them you could, but you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."

Ummm... HOW, exactly, little green dude? Considering that all they have "fought and suffered" to do for the last hour or so was stay the heck out of Vader's grasp! It's not like Luke's arrival single-handedly led to the downfall of the rebellion or anything. In fact, Luke going to Cloud City seemed to not have any major benefit or detriment at all outside of Luke losing his hand (maybe they "fought and suffered" to make a cybernetic hand only to feel devestated when they had to give it to Luke?)

So really, what's with Yoda's warning?
Post
#243126
Topic
Disabling Auto-Stop?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/243126/action/topic#243126
Time
I mentioned elsewhere that my grandmother recently acquired a Magnavox VCR/DVD+RW combo (Model MWR20V6). I've been using this to dub my favorite movies onto DVD--most of these movies have not had an official DVD release and, indeed, aren't even well-known. Others are old recordings from the 1980s/early 1990s that I want to backup for nostalgia's sake.

But, it turns out the player has one annoying little flaw: Occasionally it will just stop recording, for no reason, and at completely random times. One time it recorded an entire six-hour tape with no problems, but on another six-hour tape, of the exact same brand, it kept stopping every five minutes or so. For these backups of recordings I didn't mind so much--I just rewound the tape a bit and began anew. But recently it happened while I was trying to dub off a VHS movie that wasn't a recording.

Anyway, according to the manual, the dubbing process will automatically cease if the device does not detect an image on the source medium for three minutes. Okay, something's wrong here, because it quite obviously IS detecting images (otherwise there'd be blank spots on the produced DVD, no?) but it keeps auto-stopping anyway. And I've looked all over the setup menus and have seen nothing resembling a "disable auto-stop" function.

So, does anyone who has this exact player, or one similar to it, know how to disable this particular "feature" or otherwise get around it?

Thanks in advance.
Post
#242775
Topic
FAN EDIT REQUEST THREAD - Post your dream Fan Edits Here!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/242775/action/topic#242775
Time
Originally posted by: Jobel

Erm, are you a dude?


Do you know any girls named "James"?

WELL?!

Oh, I get it, you're one of those guys who thinks "My Little Pony" is about a bunch of ditzy female horses combing their hair, aincha? This review from X-Entertainment will show you the light:

http://www.x-entertainment.com/messages/591.html

(Actually, to be completely honest, the episode reviewed there is the only one I care about... the other episodes I would want to be available uncut just for the sake of completeness).

Post
#242571
Topic
FAN EDIT REQUEST THREAD - Post your dream Fan Edits Here!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/242571/action/topic#242571
Time
Okay, I've got more I'd like to see:

Gojira -- rip the subtitles from the current DVD and then remake them with a new font, and fix the timing errors.

Tom and Jerry: The Movie -- Remove half (or all) of the songs and this thing might just be bearable.

My Little Pony -- Several episodes on the current DVDs (specifically, "Rescue at Midnight Castle," "Escape from Catrina," and "The Glass Princess") have missing scenes/musical numbers. Someone should re-integrate these into the episodes.

The Karate Kid trilogy -- Splice the recaps at the beginning of each to make it look like Part III takes place before Part II.

Robotech -- Make a "remastered" version that doesn't change the opening credits or commercial bumpers and doesn't have CGI logos and episode titles. Also use the original mono soundtrack.

And to reiterate the ones I mentioned earlier (since I can't find my old post or its follow-ups):

Castle of Cagliostro -- re-integrate the original animated opening credits into the "special edition" of the film.

Gundam movie trilogy -- Replace the 2.0 track on the current DVDs with the audio from the VHS releases.
Post
#238929
Topic
FAN EDIT REQUEST THREAD - Post your dream Fan Edits Here!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/238929/action/topic#238929
Time
Hmmm...

Two I'd like to see:

1. Manga Video recently released a "Special Edition" of the Hayao Miyazaki film "Castle of Cagliostro," which I hear was good, except for that the intro credits sequence, which was beautifully animated, has been replaced with a still-frame credit sequence (the story is that this was at the request of the Japanese producers). I'd like to see a fan version of this DVD that uses the original, animated credits sequence.

2. The Mobile Suit Gundam movies had their soundtracks altered for the DVD releases--sound effects have been replaced, background music has been removed in certain scenes, etc. I'd like to see a fan edit that replaces the DVD's 2.0 track with the original mono soundtrack that has the original songs and sound effects.
Post
#238777
Topic
How to get around copy protection?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/238777/action/topic#238777
Time
My uncle recently bought my grandmother a Magnavox VCR/DVD+RW combo (Model MWR20V6). Now, already I'm thinking of all the stuff I have on VHS that hasn't officially come out on DVD, that I want to preserve. But the manual says that it can only record between formats as long as the original VHS or DVD I'm trying to copy does not have copy protection. Some of the stuff I want to preserve DOES have copy protection, so what can I do about it?

And as an aside, does anyone know if this player has a code to disable region lock?

EDIT: And yes, I've been to Google. Found nothing.
Post
#238420
Topic
So, this is how the DVDs are going to look...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/238420/action/topic#238420
Time
Judging from these screenshots, the "official crap" doesn't look so bad at all. They look about as good as ADVs first line of Robotech DVDs--not perfect, but watchable (and the trade-off is the same too... these may not have the best video in the world, but at the very least they're the original versions, without any touch-ups).

That being said, I'm not sure I want them. At $30 a pop, and with the unedited version of Godzilla coming out next month for the first time ever in Region 1 (and frankly, I find Godzilla is more important to me than Star Wars will ever be... sorry to say)...
Post
#235270
Topic
Mark Hamill's thoughts on the Original trilogy
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/235270/action/topic#235270
Time
Originally posted by: BadAssKeith
Originally posted by: JamesEightBitStar
"Oh my God, it's my mother! She's a double-agent working for the good guys!"

Man, I would've been impressed if the films actually did that.


Yes, I always thought that the first quarter of ROTJ was not very good. I think that whole area needs a major face-lift


No! No more alterations!
Post
#235269
Topic
Star Wars isn't the only one...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/235269/action/topic#235269
Time
Originally posted by: Ingo Sucks
I think I tried that before, but then it crashed horribly.

However, the patch I mentioned before that can downgrade Ultimate DOOM to Original DOOM 1.1 can be found in certain locations, but NOT on id's webpage.


Yea, DOS Doom crashed on me too, but it did it with Doom 2 and Final Doom as well, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

I just hope that "downgrade" patch also maintains all the bugfixes that were present in Ultimate DOOM. For myself, I'm perfectly happy with Ultimate Doom and don't really see what's so wrong with Thy Flesh Consumed.
Post
#235189
Topic
Star Wars isn't the only one...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/235189/action/topic#235189
Time
Ingo: Did you see my post, where I pointed out that you can have the original, three-episode version of DOOM simply by downloading a demo version and replacing its WAD with Ultimate Doom's?

Really, as far as I know the video games that most mirror the Star Wars situation are probably the Dragon Warrior games. In the mid-1990s Enix made "enhanced" versions of the first three games for the Super Nintendo. Besides having better graphics, they also dumbed down some of the challenge. These versions have been constantly re-released ever since.

And while we're at it, old games in general have a bad tendancy to become unavailable after only a few years... not like the movie industry where everything is always preserved and continually re-released.
Post
#235000
Topic
Star Wars isn't the only one...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/235000/action/topic#235000
Time
Please tell me this topic is a huge joke. The Doom situation barely mirrors the Star Wars situation.

First of all, there's actually a very easy way to get rid of "Thy Flesh Consumed." Download a Shareware DOS edition of the original Doom. After installing it, search its directory for the file called "Doom1.wad" and delete it, and replace it with the "Doom.wad" file from Ultimate Doom. Now run the game. It's now the full game... except Episode Four isn't even an option! Congratulations, you now have the original Doom, just the way you want it (except that the title screen is different, but please tell me that's not going to be a point of contention). And the best part is, you didn't even have to do anything illegal!

In fact, all DOOM level/episode information is contained in the WAD, so if you really don't like Thy Flesh Consumed, all you have to do is find an older WAD file from before "Ultimate" Doom.

And there's an even easier way: Simply don't play "Thy Flesh Consumed." The original "Knee-Deep in the Dead", "The Shores of Hell," and "Inferno" episodes are all there, completely UNCHANGED. For all intents and purposes, all "Thy Flesh Consumed" does is make itself an option when you start a new game (and change the title screen, but if you're running a Windows or source port version you won't even see this).

Doom's situation is NOTHING LIKE Star Wars. You can't watch A New Hope and simply "ignore" Greedo shooting first, or all the banthas that roar into the camera. You can't watch Return of the Jedi and just "ignore" the new ending or the musical number. You CAN play Doom and simply refuse to play episode four, so really, complaining about it is picky.

Again, I hope this topic is some sort of joke.