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Mentasm

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Members
Join date
3-Sep-2004
Last activity
11-Apr-2013
Posts
94

Post History

Post
#74008
Topic
Jim Ward on SE Changes...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/74008/action/topic#74008
Time
I read this statement a while ago and what really irks me about it is their reliance on meaningless sales figures to justify the changes. So what if they made over $100,000,000 on the first day? That's hardly a record breaking volume of units when you consider that this was a four disc boxed set that retails at a higher price than most one or two disc releases. Add to this the fact that they never advertised the re-working of the films, ensuring that the majority of people buying the set would have no idea that they were getting another version of the movies. As much as most of us would like to think otherwise, the overwhelming majority of people just simply don't use the Internet to research or purchase their consumer goods.

It's sad that all they see to focus on is how much money it generated, not how well received it was by the fans. It's a good job they didn't, as I for one found this to be the biggest DVD disappointment of the year. If it had been any other release it would have been slated because of the technical faults, but because it's Star Wars people let it off the hook. Too many reviewers looking at the films through rose-tinted specs.
Post
#73407
Topic
I'm doing a comparison - opinions please!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/73407/action/topic#73407
Time
Probably going to stay there. It's pretty bandwidth intensive and I don't really want to start paying for things like that myself when I have their resources available to me. Although having said that with a few meg of sounds and images and about forty thousand people trying to access it at once, the server did struggle a bit! We actually had to take it down and put it in html for a while to help lighten the load, so we don't have an accurate count of how mnay people have viewed it. Apparently one US government server alone tried to access it 26,000 times in one hour. Perhaps George set the Feds on me

I've just started the Jedi article actually, but I have less time this week. What's very strange about this whole thing is that one UK magazine has expressed an interest in running a piece on my articles. Early days yet so it may never happen, but if it does it might at least show people the extent of the tinkering over the years. Ideally I'd like to get some better quality rips of the OT, cause while the Dr Gonzo discs are ok for watching on TV they don't look too good when captured for the articles., but I'll have to wait and see how the current crop of laserdisc rips turn out.
Post
#72807
Topic
Attack of the Clones soundtrack
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/72807/action/topic#72807
Time
Can you back that up with facts? Not that I don't believe you, but I'd like to read it for myself. Everything I've read so far basically says that a lot of the music Williams recorded was rejected by Lucas, and the reason the music is all over the shop is because the film was still being edited late in the day, which required a lot of shifting around. I don't hate the Clones soundtrack, as the love theme is particularly nice, but it's possibly the weakest of the scores overall because of all the music that been re-used and re-edited. The single disc soundtrack album can't compete with the two-disc sets for the other films either.
Post
#72805
Topic
Your hottie?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/72805/action/topic#72805
Time
Well there were six years between the release of the films... She was only nineteen when she did ANH, and had a lot of puppy fat. I think she looks well nice in that film though, especially as she isn't encumbered by a needless bra Didn’t she do a load of coke in between making the films? That would explain a lot!

There’s only one Star Wars lass for me though—Natalie Portman. No one else even comes close to being as fit as her.
Post
#71717
Topic
Lazy, lazy Lucas.
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/71717/action/topic#71717
Time
Bulloch never did Boba's voice, it was Jason Wingreen. The saber issues, with the possible exception of Luke's green saber, are a result of the averaging out of the contrast over the scenes. If one bumps up the contrast levels then the white cores of the sabers return, but obviously this makes the rest of the film look rubbish. Ideally things like this should have been corrected manually, but as Lowry were only given thirty days to restore the films one can hardly blame them. I think Lowry himself was quoted as sayng that if it were up to him they'd still be working on the transfers. It really annoys me that we were denied the films for years for no good reason, only for them to be rushed out because of 'piracy' concerns.
Post
#71048
Topic
I'm doing a comparison - opinions please!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/71048/action/topic#71048
Time
Yeah, the caps are from the Definitive bootlegs DVDs and my DVD5 bootlegs of the SEs (the ones before the Five Star release). Unfortunately I just don't have the time to go into the kind of detail you intended, but I will be covering all the major changes. I've now made the article live, but will be adding bits and pieces (as well as correctign a few spelling mistakes that slipped through) as soon as I can. I'll be starting work on Empire when my current workload dies down.

At some point in the future I'm hoping to get a better transfer for the originals and SEs to take caps from, but that all depends on what's available and how much it costs!
Post
#69875
Topic
I'm doing a comparison - opinions please!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/69875/action/topic#69875
Time
Because of all the different versions and audio mixes over the years I've decided to do a series of comparisons for the original trilogy. I've made a start on IV, as this is the one that's been screwed with the most, and will be doing the others when time permits. Bearing in mind that it isn't even live yet, and without any screaming and shouting, could I have opinions on this please? I know that some things are missing, such as the new Mos Eisley and the Falcon departure, but as I said it's a work in progress (and probably always will be - see I'm becoming George Lucas). If anyone can offer suggestions as to scenes they believe to be significantly altered (and they would like included), just let me know. I know other sites have done something like this, but they're not as comprehensive (unless you know otherwise). Oh, and don't pay too much attention to the text as I've not written most of it yet.
Post
#62807
Topic
They have totally lost it now! (OT 2004 DVD)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/62807/action/topic#62807
Time
The character ages/timeline of Star Wars have always bugged me. I am particularly baffled by Lucas' explaination of the crappy swordfight in Star Wars. He says it's because Vader was mostly machine and Obi Wan an old man. Well, Qui Gon was in his late 50s or early 60s, and he handled a saber well enough. Same can be said of Dooku. Going by the current timeline, Obi Wan is 56 at the time of Star Wars, so hardly past in in Jedi terms, but he looks a hell of a lot older.

Making Anakin 9 in TPM was also a huge mistake. Not just because the character was too young to be effective, but because his future love interest was almost 5 years older. I don't know many 24 year old Senators who'd fall for a bratty, whiney 20 year old boy (he must have been almost 10 in TPM, and Padme just turned 14). As for a planet 'electing' a 14 year old girl as queen...

Also, how long did Luke spend on Degobah? The film makes it seem like days, but surely he couldn't have become that good in such a short space of time. I've also often wondered how long it took the Falcon to get from Anoat to Bespin on sub-light drive. Then again, these are only films, and perhaps I think too much. Still, it would be nice if Lucas could at least attempt a bit of continuity. On that note, why the hell did it take 20 odd years to build the first Death Star, and less than 5 to build the bigger, more powerful second?