logo Sign In

Master Sifo-Dyas

User Group
Members
Join date
17-Mar-2003
Last activity
6-Nov-2018
Posts
564

Post History

Post
#118772
Topic
A revised opinion of George Lucas
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/118772/action/topic#118772
Time
I would agree with you if George Lucas would be in a similar situation than the one you just described. Yet, as a matter of fact he owes his success to these 'imperfect' versions and he never seemed to care wether fans were happy with what they had. To take it one step further, it's not just a matter of disrespect towards the fans who'se devotion to StarWars helped him to get the possibility to do what he's able to do today, it's also a matter of disrespect towards all the participants in the StarWars project, which was a collaborative effort. George Lucas seems to think that he's a master at everything film, if he could he would eliminate all participants it takes to realize a film project. His ideal is some kind of holo-deck or magic wand as a tool to bring his vision to life without any other people "getting it wrong" and thus interfering with his ideas. The problem with this attitude is, that if it's so much about himself and not the dreams and whishes of others, that he should have kept all this stuff for himself. He may be happy about his situation, but he has forgotten that he's not the only person to be credited for his immense success.

Another thing I would like to point out is, that you had a very clear vision of how it should have been. That is not the case with George Lucas, imho. You just did what every OOT fan would probably have loved - took out the matte lines and some technical 'bugs'. You didn't think: "Hey, I think I'll put a rocket launcher in his hand instead of a guitar." He will never make up his mind how it actually should look and sound today or how some plot-nuances should be "updated". He can't even admit that the current DVD release of the classic trilogy is nothing more than a sloppy rush job, because the most important thing to him nowadays is the plot updates - not the film and sound quality. Slowly but surely he's dismantling all the quality standards in cinema and home video he pushed for all those years. Since the german DVD releases of Indiana Jones (german sound is merely stereo) and the classic StarWars trilogy (ruined ANH sound, inconsistent picture color and broken lightsabers throughout all three movies), THX has turned from a quality seal into a warning sign for me.

Nowadays it's just more about him and toy sale figures and less about a so called "definitive vision" or to retain certain quality standards.
Post
#117419
Topic
What happened to Supershadow?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/117419/action/topic#117419
Time
Just a rumor site?!
Quote
Dear Mr. Lucas. Really like all the Star Wars movies. Episode 3 was the best of em al. In the beginning of the battle when Anakin and Obi-Wan flies up and down with the rest of the fighters, it felt like I was in the movie. Just like when you watch a cool 3-D roller coaster movie on an amusement park! I must say that you really managed to do a GREAT MOVIE! The saddest moment in "Revenge of the Sith" for me was when the Jedi got almost wiped out. The greatest moment was when I`ve got to see Anakin get the mask and Vader’s first breath take. Got just some questions hear: 1. Did you had in mind when you first wrote the script for the old movies that Darth Vader should have a dark voice? 2. The uniforms of the Empire, they look very similar to the Germans from World War 2, how come? HAVE A NICE SUMMER!

George Lucas: Thanks for all your kind words about Revenge of the Sith. Shadow and I poured three years of our lives into making that film and I believe Shadow really outdid himself this time around. The best thing to ever happen to Star Wars was for me to meet Shadow. I’m thankful to God for introducing Shadow in my life.

The voice for Darth Vader evolved over time. I wanted something extremely menacing and experimented with all types of voices. The Vader breathing came about by accident. I eventually settled on the James Earl Jones voice because it sounded the most promising. Also Jones worked real cheap so it all worked out for me financially.

Ralph McQuarrie was inspired by the Nazi when he created some of the Imperial outfits. It’s no accident that the Imperial Navy has similarities with the Nazi. The Empire is basically what the Nazi would have been if they had won World War 2.

[...]

Are the rumours true? Will you be making Star Wars Episode 7 - 9?

George Lucas: Yes, absolutely 100% correct. Shadow will be in charge of all aspects of making the sequel trilogy. The fact that the prequels have been so successful proves that the full genius of Shadow should be unleashed without any interference from me. I expect the sequels to be the best of the best. Shadow knows more about Star Wars and pleasing the fans than anybody else on the planet, including me.
Post
#115841
Topic
Message to Paramount Please fire Rick Berman!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/115841/action/topic#115841
Time
Why not have a series about 'the other side'. How about a series that circles around a romulan ship that is 'exploring' the galaxy? I would have liked to see something along those lines. Would have been a great way to involve a greater backplot that involves the shared history of romulans and vulcanians as well. The franchise has so much more to offer than the endless exploration of every facet of the federation.
Post
#115431
Topic
Anakin & Obi-Wan: The Friendship We Never Really Saw
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/115431/action/topic#115431
Time
Well, if "Return of the Jedi" would not have a certain duality in it's meaning, I would fully agree with you. Alas, I always deemed it very cool that you could actually interprete the film title in two ways: You could either say the Jedi as an institution/religion have returned, but you could also say that anakin - the jedi - returns.

I simply expected that the same thing would work for "Revenge of the Sith". That you could of course say, the Sith as a fraction take revenge on the Jedi. Yet, I also was waiting for Anakin's personal revenge for something that was done to him that justified a gruesome revenge. That never really happened and thus represents yet another missed opportunity for a great parallel to "Return of the Jedi".
Post
#115033
Topic
Anakin & Obi-Wan: The Friendship We Never Really Saw
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/115033/action/topic#115033
Time
Yes, I was thinking the same thing the other day. A lot of time in "Revenge of the Sith" is actually occupied with last minute attempts to finally show the deep friendship they were supposed to have, which left much too less time for a plausible fall of a hero, because it's just too abrupt and the audience has to buy into the 'forced to turn evil to get the only chance to save padme' thing. I also wonder what kind of revenge there was to see in the film - especially in the light of understanding it as anakin's revenge (in analogy to the jedi's (anakin's) return in RotJ).
Post
#114061
Topic
Gripes About The Matrix Trilogy
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/114061/action/topic#114061
Time
My main gripes:

- The first movie is very ambitious, you feel the ambition to tell a great story in the best possible way with the maximum of quality. If you watch the making of of "The Matrix" you will realise almost everything is 'hand made' no cgi characters or models (except one scene, where neo touches the mirror). All wirework and models. Alas, the other two movies were produced in one stroke and have tons of bad cgi in them. You don't get that same 'labor of love' feeling in the other two movies, imho. They come across as rush jobs with a lot of wasted potential starkly contrasting to the first film in that respect.

- The character of "Tank" (one of the few links to the first movie) was written out of the story and replaced by the jarjar-binks equivalent of that character. Just a lame rastaman stereotype put in there for comical relief "woohoo!".

- Zion. In the first film the only place you really get to see of the real world, is Morpheus' ship - the Nebucadneza. You get this eerie "Das Boot" feeling, with all the ragged cloth and the crap they have to eat. And then you have Tank talk about how cool a place to be Zion - the last city - is. But when we actually get to see Zion, it's nothing more but a huge gargantuan "Nebucadneza" - the people still wear rags, they don't even fix the holes in them. Only a few military folks are allowed to wear some old school star trek uniforms. I simply expected something new and wondrous instead of a tired steam-punked repetition of the 'Nebucadneza' design style.

- The elongated 'dance party' scene intercut with some mild adultery scenes. One of the few times I was truly bored in a film. The whole logic of "we are aboard a ship with a minimum crew and thus have all the privacy in the world - but we wait with sexuality until we arrive at a place were we can be sure that we won't get any privacy at all" didn't really make any sense to me. Heh, funny thing. I just noticed an interesting parallel: Anakin and Neo are both chosen ones and both dream of their loved ones dying.

- "Battletech" style defense vehicles, as with the whole Zion setting I didn't like those at all. Just showed the lack of ideas on behalf of the Wachovsky's, imho.

- Establishing the Merowingian as an important opponent/factor in the second movie and then abolishing that approach in the third film, by basically writing him (and any of his plot relevance) out of the story. Just another example that the Wachovsky's didn't seem to have any idea where to take the story and thus, what to do with that character in the third film.

- Replacing the deceased actress of "The Oracle" with a bad attempt of casting a 'look-alike' actress, instead of being bold and keeping true to the religous motives appearing in the film and using one of the kids (or potentials - as the oracle called them) as a replacement, thus following the logic of circularity of events.

- All in all failing to deliver original ways to show the power "the one" has within the matrix. It merely boiled down to: Ok, he can fly, kick ass with kung fu and see the code.

To me, the Matrix trilogy is a very good example how it is sometimes better to stop when you have to admit to yourself, you've run out of ideas that are as original as the initial ones. Lots of potential wasted, it's sad to me, since I'm basicly a fan of the first film and would have loved to see the story continue to be told in the same passionate way as the first one. I love the "Smith against Neo" coreplot throughout the trilogy, but everything else around it just doesn't strike a cord with me at all.
Post
#112555
Topic
Interview with LucasArts President: "Right now there is no story in games."
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/112555/action/topic#112555
Time
Hey, I just stumbled across this interview and would like to know what you guys think about it:
Quote
LucasArts Interview [Source: boomtown.net]
In this exclusive interview, we discuss the future of gaming with LucasArts President Jim Ward.


Jim Ward is President of LucasArts and Vice President of Marketing and Distribution at Lucasfilm. He began his career in advertising and was responsible for the promotion of Apple's Powerbook. Now heading LucasArts, he's responsible for bringing such franchises as Star Wars and Indiana Jones to the gaming public. In this exclusive interview, we ask Ward how LucasArts aims to succeed in the current market, where the future of gaming lies and how the company views the next generation of consoles.


Coming from the movie industry, you must be pretty happy about what the new gaming consoles can do graphics-wise?

I'm more excited about what the next generation consoles allow us to do in what we are focused on which is revolutionizing the ideas of storytelling and character development. With the raw power and capacity that those consoles have, that will allow us to do our job better.


Is there still room for a revolution?

Oh, absolutely. Right now there is no story in games. Gaming right now is about button management, basically. Take for instance Grand Theft Auto, a great game, I love it and play it, a fantastic game. But the story of that is just simply a broad context, you drive around some places and shoot people. But there is no real compelling story telling, very rarely you see this in good games.

In Half-Life, there was an attempt. But we need to infuse story into those games and make them compelling because every kind of entertainment, if it's a movie, a play, whatever it is, is all based on story and characters.

We need to figure out ways in which to make the story compelling in terms of humour and suspense. So that maybe whatever I'm wearing has an impact on that storyline and ripples through and changes on an infinite branching base what the story meant to be.

And then on the character side, tell me the last character you played that you fell in love with. That happens very rarely, right? It's not like going to a movie. So we have to change that and there are a couple of levels to that. One is on a more mechanical level, where the character has to, through AI, feel real. And the other is a more Turing level AI, so if you interact with a character, they ARE real. This is the Holy Grail and we've got to achieve that. The next generation platforms will help us along the way.


Isn't it much more difficult to tell a story in a game than in a movie because you have to tell an infinite number of stories in a game?

Absolutely, but that doesn't mean it cannot be done. There are some noble attempts. But that's the question, what does story mean in interactive games? We have to figure that out. And that's why we take this to be an art form and make it even more compelling and more engaging. That doesn't mean to reduce gameplay or action.

But my gosh, people want to have a great story, people want to play a game because that character is so fun to be around. Today we have NPCs that say five words and then they are gone - as the gamer you don't relate to that, you don't develop a relation to them. [...]
Post
#112344
Topic
all the new people
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/112344/action/topic#112344
Time
Quote
Originally posted by: Shimraa
you know thats not true alot of them had that but nto every other post, and he shouldnt be banned because of the way he feels. he was only getting into fights with other people when they started one with him i read like 7 or 8 of them myself, and the last one when he was finally banned was most definatly not his fault. hte truth is jay knew that, its just jay was getting pissed off at people always coming to him and wineing about it so he just got rid of the annoyance.
I concur. He was a difficult person, but his unnerving behaviour only started to get off hand after some people started to continually pick on him for fun - no matter if he started a serious discussion, or was trollbaiting. So it wasn't entirely his fault in my book.
Post
#112003
Topic
"Hoooow is that possible..."
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/112003/action/topic#112003
Time
Quote
Originally posted by: fans own the trilogy
I just wish, I could wish them all away!!! LoL! These prequels will show there age far faster then the originals, I still think the originals blow the prequels away. No bloopers or special effects fixed just the originals thats all we want, and then we can all fade away into bolivia, or is it oblivion?
I'm with you on that.

Post
#110999
Topic
The Liam Neeson Mystery (spoilers within but questions answered)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/110999/action/topic#110999
Time
Well, unfortunately I lost the link when the old forum entries here were deleted. But I'll try to google it up again.

Edit:

I found something: "As he lay dying, Vader ceased to be. Anakin Skywalker returned. He asked his son to remove the cumbersome, fearsome mask that had concealed his face for decades. His mask and life support removed, Anakin looked upon Luke for the first and last time. He then died, his body disappearing into the light side of the Force. Luke burned the dark armor that had encased Anakin's crippled body in a quiet funeral pyre on the forest moon of Endor that night."
[From the official starwars.com databank]

"According to Pablo's Q&A on Hyperspace, Anakin disappearing does come from Lucas, and he specifically requested that it be stated expicitly in the databank."
[From the theforce.net forum]

You might also want to check this forum thread on nightly.net (haha, that rhymed).
Post
#110995
Topic
The Liam Neeson Mystery (spoilers within but questions answered)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/110995/action/topic#110995
Time
Quote
204 EXT. MUSTAFAR-MAIN CONTROL CENTER BALCONY-DAY

ANAKIN forces OBI-WAN down a narrow balcony outside the Control Room. He rips objects off the wall and throws them at OBI-WAN as he pushes him further and further along the walkway.
That's a scene I immediately visualized when listening to track #9 of the ep3 soundtrack - it contains an exact musical quote from ESB were Vader uses the force to throw all kinds of junk at Luke. If you watch closely you will also notice that one area on the Mustafar Base actually slightly resembles the area with the big window in ESB.



Another interesting question is: In an interview I have read, George Lucas claims that in the RotJ funeral pyre scene, Vader's armor is supposed to be empty at that time and that Anakin is supposed to have dissipated into the force just like Obi-Wan and Yoda. If it's really how Lucas depicted it to be, how did he achieve the knowledge of how to do that without the same kind of training Obi-Wan and Yoda hat to take?

In my mind Vader's armor isn't empty. It works so much better for me as an analogy of Qui-Gon's funeral scene (i.e. Anakin finding his way on his own, like Qui-Gon had to.)
Post
#110983
Topic
Ben Burtt Quits...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/110983/action/topic#110983
Time
Quote
Originally posted by: Hardcore Legend
What does this mean for getting the DVD soundtracks and scores done correctly?
Well on the danger of being unfair here, but since the 2004 DVD edition of 'A New Hope' I didn't really feel like it would be a good idea to have Ben Burtt on such a project again. If there'd be one person that would have had an opportunity to say "Hey George, this DVD is an inferior product - I'm not finished with it yet - there are still a few sounds missing and the musical scoring just doesn't feel right - I won't allow this baby to ship in this unfinished state! It doesn't do the film the credit it deserves!". Hmm... well perhaps he actually did say that and what we now see are the consequences of Lucas' 'positive' reaction and Burtt's frustration with it. Oh well.

Quote
Originally posted by: Bossk
But Pixar is going to offer him so much flexibility and creativity. SW probably did at one time, but all the sounds (save for a few newer creatures) seem to be pretty canned anymore so it's not really resulting in too much creative effort for him. He's gotta be bored off his ass.

Pixar... sweet!
When it comes to the prequels, the coolest memorable sounds that Ben Burtt came up with, imho was Anakin's podracer in TPM, the engine and weapon sounds for Slave I, especially the seizmic charge *TWANNNNNNNNG* from AOTC. Those sequences really showed his full creative potential unfolded again.

Good luck on yer future projects, and may yer bosses be mentally more flexible than your last one.
Post
#110974
Topic
Greedo in theaters
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/110974/action/topic#110974
Time
Well, the Greedo scene is actually a replacement for the Jabba scene, which (as we all know) was filmed and abandoned at the time because the stop motion creature they wanted to insert just looked stupid/didn't work (not that anything of that has changed since back then). When it was later reinserted, the Greedo scene just stayed in there as well - hence you get the same informations twice in the film.

I think that may be what your friend was trying to get at.
Post
#109492
Topic
The Prequel Curse
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109492/action/topic#109492
Time
Quote
Sifo-Dyas, for someone that doesn't like Lucas's "revisions" you sure did alot of it connecting my words to whatever you wanted them to say.
Uuh, ok?

Well, I suppose you chose a blindfolded avatar for a reason. I never said I did not enjoy the PT, it really has it's moments - I just did not enjoy it as much as the OOT. I did not critisize your preferrence of the PT nor do I think the idea of making them was a bad idea in itself. The fact that little kids like StarWars is really not that big of a deal, kids also like Tele Tubbies. Of course there were technological achievements established through the production of the films - but it is these technological achievements that are revolutionary (kudos to Lucas for that, if ye will), alas the films themselves are certainly everything else but revolutionary. And from my point of view, furthering the industrialization of what already has become a "movie industry", is nothing I'd consider a benefit in every aspect of the art. My gripe is not the story of the PT, but Lucas using the great story ideas he had for the PT and frankensteining with them for the sake of pushing the evolution of digital film technology as far as possible. Technology first, story second - that's an agenda I simply don't agree with.
Post
#109408
Topic
The Prequel Curse
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109408/action/topic#109408
Time
Well, can you actually tell me what else you are than one of those yes-men I just described in my post above? You just summed up all the Lucas apologism that's available on the net. Or are you just some astroturfer from ILM?

The old movies theoretically do not exist anymore - Lucas has said it himself several times. They have been replaced by his new vision of the films - and they don't represent what the films once were (anyone claiming differently automatically depicts all the changes applied as unnecessary, imho - which again raises the question why they were done in the first place). Another point you failed to mention is that the current DVDs represent nothing more than a sloppy rush job. Even the folks who do love the special editions were repulsed by the obvious technical mistakes that had been put up with in order to get the thing out of the door asap.

You said it yourself - most people don't care if something is good or not these days, it goes along very well with Lucas' "good enough" attitude. Just because we live in a time were crap sells as if it was gold, doesn't turn it into gold. I'm not denying the PT's commercial success or that there are people that like it. I just say the new films are not as much of a revolutionary achievement as the original trilogy in it's genuine form was. The PT is full of unused potential, because George Lucas became a person who does not want to put more effort into things than absolutely necessary.
Post
#109342
Topic
The Prequel Curse
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/109342/action/topic#109342
Time
Yep, but StarWars is more than just a bunch of movies. The original theatrical versions of the classic trilogy are a piece of film history Lucas is in denial of - he is destroying a cultural heritage. All he basicly says is: One day the people who witnessed the appearance of a true revolution of movie history, that try to preserve a cultural heritage, will have died out - he hopes to finally have an audience completly consisting of yes-men (or people who basicly don't give a fuck wether his films exist or not).

All I can say is, that all the young people I know of - still prefer the old (original cut) trilogy over the new one. So it'll never be like Lucas wants it to be - he's only got so much power over things. Most of them are StarWars fans, and fans of George Lucas the rebel, who managed to pull off StarWars against all odds - but they are not fans of Lucas the Emperor, with his vision of a sterile new order that StarWars has to fit into (and all the people who like it).

I really do like the story the prequels try to tell, the films just don't do a very good job at it - and that's merely the fault of a "good enough for the audience" attitude that is driven by market analysis and not the artistic desire for perfection and intelligent visual storytelling.
Post
#107450
Topic
ROTS: Question about Palpatine/Sidious (SPOILER)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/107450/action/topic#107450
Time
Remember the story Palpatine told Anakin about ye olde Sith Lord who could manipulate the *cringe* midiclorians. In the face of this story it was pretty clear to me that Sidious must be as old as Yoda if not older and that what was revealed was indeed his true form.

In my book he could not keep up concentrating on his masquerade while using his force lightning (i.e. being overwhelmed by his hatred which he had to hold back and hide for such a long time), while at the same time he was of course trying to depict that mace windu was being responsible for this effect taking place.

When it comes down to the doodeling changy voice and the crappy makeup, I'd rather label that sloppy treatment of the scene which was approved by George Lucas with a "good enough".