SKot

I saw it with my girlfriend on Sunday.  And guess what?

I liked it.  I really enjoyed it.  We both did.

Now, we both still have big problems with the prequels.  But I tried to go into the theater with no real expectations either way.  And I quite honestly had a really good time watching it.  It reminded me of reading the old Marvel Star Wars comic books back when I was a kid, or the newspaper strips.  It was basically just fun stories set in the Star Wars universe.  They didn't always have to be great, but they were always exciting to read.  And something about this being animated rather than live-action gave it an excuse to be less serious.  I really laughed at some of the jokes that would have irritated me in a live-action film (the battle droid screaming "whyyyyyyy?!" when Ventress force-throws him off the ledge is one good example - I pointed and guffawed!).  I didn't find myself cringing like I did with the prequels.  I think I had a smile on my face the whole time.

I do need to mention though that we were absolutely the only people in the theater.  Period.  I don't think I've ever had an entire theater to myself before.  Of course I didn't mind; we could sit anywhere in the whole place and make as much noise as we wanted.  But it did drive home the point that this film has really bombed.  I don't think it really deserved to bomb like it did (far worse films that deserved to bomb have done far better), but on the other hand I do hope it finally sends a wake-up call to George Lucas that the majority of the fans have had enough of buying anything he wants to sell them.

Personally, I'm excited to see more chapters of the Clone Wars... but realistically I really do think it's time for Lucas to put Star Wars aside and move on.  You cut the golden goose open, George, and there's nothing in there but entrails now.  Concentrate on the golden eggs you already have called the Original Trilogy... polish them up properly before you sell them (again), and then move on and make some great, non-Star Wars movies.  Please.

--SKot

I actually expect Lucas to one day do animation set in the OT time.  I think it's just a matter of time before he does... provided the Clone Wars doesn't tank so badly that he never wants to do any more after that.

I always wished that they would have done more cartoons in the exactly same way they did the original Nelvana cartoon in the Holiday Special, with the original actors voicing the characters where possible.  If Lucas did this now with current digital animation, it could be like a dream come true for me.  True, he could do some horrible things with the much-loved characters from the OT, but would it really be worse than what the comic books and novels have done?  I just ignore what I don't like.  Even the Marvel comics had some really bad tales... and some really good ones.

--SKot 

Oh, I had thought it was 35mm as well!  Even better that it's in 16mm for our purposes.

I think Puggo's the man for this one.  I can't wait to see and hopefully hear the results.

--SKot

Tobar said:

That's cool SKot, so he made a dvd copy from the original then?

Yes, he did... which is great, but it will also be compressed video.  What we really want is the raw, uncompressed video that we can work with without further quality loss.

--SKot

Jay said:

Ha. No problem.

I'm working on this. It's tough because it means recoding form button layouts completely (IE6 apparently doesn't like floated divs) and it affects a lot of pages. Should have something soon.

 Hi Jay,

Any updates on this?  I think I've gotten the hang of "No Button Posting" in the meantime...

--SKot

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

SKot said:

Working on it now.  Not sure if I'll be able to get the original tape, but I will certainly be able to get a copy of the DVD transfer from it.  And I'll do the best I can to see if there's a way to get raw, uncompressed video.

 

I'm confused... if you get a copy of the DVD transfer, it's by definition NOT raw uncompressed video, right?  Or do you mean that there had been a transfer to some uncompressed digital medium (such as a mini-DV tape)?

I don't know it there was ever an uncompressed transfer, but I'm going to see if that's the case.  If not, I'm trying to find out if it's possible to do one.  That may require getting hold of the original tape, if the owner is willing.

In the meantime I'm getting a copy of the DVD so I can compare it to the KCCI version and see how it holds up.  At the very least, it's good to have two nice copies in case there are glitches (or station IDs!) you want to work around.

--SKot

Two things about the digital changes to the original series Star Trek that made it okay in my eyes:

1. Before any changes were ever done, the series was made available in good quality on DVD.

2. They made the changes with the utmost reverence to the original source material.

That's it.  Actually, all they had to do was make the original available in acceptable quality on DVD (which they did) to make me happy.  So at this point, they can do whatever they want with the series, and I'm okay with that since I already have the unmodified series in my hands.  In fact, I love what they've done, and I plan to buy the digitally enhanced series eventually when they get it out on Blu-ray.

If only George Lucas would have done the same, there would have been no real complaints from me.  The solution is so simple: put the original trilogy out in a high-quality anamorphic format, and then do what you want with the films from there on out.

--SKot

Baronlando said:

Remastered for dvd quality?! What do you think this is, Xanadu? 

Speaking of Xanadu, I just bought the latest DVD version of Xanadu.  Nicely remastered picture, anamorphic widescreen... looks awesome.  A craptastic film that looks really great on a widescreen TV.

The original (GOUT) Star Wars, on the other hand, which is non-anamorphic and taken from a laserdisc master, looks like crap on my widescreen monitor after I blow it up to fit the screen.  And that's where the problem lies for me.

--SKot

Dewback: Awesome, really awesome... based on the version I actually care about!

Lucas: That's hilariously funny.  The only possible follow-up to the Jar-Jar in carbonite from a few years back.

Thanks for posting those.

--SKot

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

Tobar said:

Hey everyone, I think I might have found a new copy of the Holiday Special.

 

Looks nice!  I hope you follow-up on it.  I've got a good VHS deck with tracking control and a variety of TBCs and would be willing to transfer it.  But I wouldn't be surprised if someone here on the forum is even better-equipped, VHS-wise.

Working on it now.  Not sure if I'll be able to get the original tape, but I will certainly be able to get a copy of the DVD transfer from it.  And I'll do the best I can to see if there's a way to get raw, uncompressed video.

--SKot

zombie84 said:

ESPECIALLY the holiday special.

 

 

:p

 

Come on, Jefferson Starship kicks fucking ass.

Not only that, but it gives Bea Arthur a place in the Star Wars universe... what could be better than that?

--SKot

Ziz said:

I just got one from someone over at FanEdit.org who said it's better than the KCCI, but I'm in the middle of moving to a new apt right now so give me a week or so to have a chance to compare them and see what's up.  A quick scan thru it shows promise but I want to look for specific parts to compare one to the other.

Use the comparison page (link given in a post above) to see which one it is.  Let us know what you find out...

--SKot

Awesome.  It may not seem that awesome, but it's definitely a really cool item.  Even the official sources have so far not mentioned this (to my knowledge).  Hopefully there's audio to go with it.

I wonder if maybe the background clouds are animated, at least?  They would look very much the same throughout the frames even if they were.

--SKot

Tobar said:

Hey everyone, I think I might have found a new copy of the Holiday Special. Back around February I was browsing around on Youtube and found this pristine scene (for youtube) from the Holiday Special. I'm no expert on the various copies floating around out there but it's the cleanest copy I've ever seen. So I contacted the uploader asking about where he had gotten his copy and he told me the following:

One that I found myself! The guy recorded it at SP mode on a VHS tape, if you believe it. It's too bad he didn't leave the commercials in, but other than that it's complete.

Rick

 

I told him that you guys might be interested in it and he was completely open to being contacted about it. What do you guys think?

 I think this looks like a winner.  The picture and color is very sharp.  It may even be better than the KCCI copy, or at least as good, and worth looking into for preservation's sake.  At the very least, it's a broadcast version I've never run across before.  Does this guy Rick own the original tape now, or did he just make a copy from the guy who does?

--SKot

Mielr said:

I've noticed that the Dr. Gonzo trailers are of better quality than the Rowman disc's- better color, less compression artifacts.

How do they fare on the Editdroid extras discs?

I don't have the Gonzo or Rowman discs to compare with, but EditDroid always seemed to make sure to have the best quality video on everything they put out.  Most of the transferred material they did themselves, and did it very well.  I would expect their version to look the best, but correct me if I'm wrong.

--SKot

Quotes in thread titles appear to be causing problems, according to one of the bug report forums.

--SKot

JohnGreenArt said:

SKot said:

Now try to imagine in the year 2027 (80 years from 1977), this headline:

"EXCITING news: lost "STAR WARS" original uncut negative FOUND!!!!!!!!!"

 

--SKot

You sure your math is right? ;D

Oops!  That should be 2057.

Obviously it's been a long time since I attempted to do math.  Nowadays we have computers for that sort of thing.  ;)

--SKot

I saw this news on thedigitalbits earlier today, and I think this is one of the most amazing pieces of news in cinema history!  All my life the only Metropolis I've ever been able to see has been incomplete, and now this treasure of historical significance, worthy of excavation by Indiana Jones, has been uncovered after 80 years of being thought lost forever.  This is just awesome.

It would also be amazingly cool if other lost prints (like the complete version of London After Midnight, for instance) turned up like this during our lifetime.

Now try to imagine in the year 2027 (80 years from 1977), this headline:

"EXCITING news: lost "STAR WARS" original uncut negative FOUND!!!!!!!!!"

Yeah, right.  We can only dream...  ;)

--SKot

negative1 said:

digitalfreaknyc said:

It looks like Negative1 decided to outbid me.  Oh well.  Now he just has to pay more because of it.

 oh shoot!!!!

 

i forget i had left in a bid in an automated system a long time ago (in a galaxy, far far away), and didn't remove it!!!!

sorry!!!!!!!!!!!

 

ok, how about this, now we can 'play around' with this print,

and then decide what to do with 'empire strikes back'..

 

deal?

 

ok,.............................(reminds himself to not put in automatic bids)..

 

actually i thought it would go a lot higher than that!

So did I... very nice price on that.  Excellent work!  I can't wait to see what this trailer has on it.  I've never heard of it, and with the early "pointed W" version of the SW logo, it could contain some really cool stuff.

The only 35mm film reel I own is a trailer from the SE of ROTJ.  Never been played; still has the sticker sealing it.  Too bad it's not the original edition one with the sandstorm footage...

--SKot

digitalfreaknyc said:

It looks like Negative1 decided to outbid me.  Oh well.  Now he just has to pay more because of it.

Looks like he got it, for the low price of $26.65.  Not bad!

Not sure what the point of outbidding you was, though.  Maybe he didn't know it was you by your eBay ID?

As long as one of us got it and is willing to share, all is good.

--SKot

Sluggo said:

I think SKot and -1 are talking about the Empire reel. 

 

As far as the 35mm trailer for Star Wars, I was thinking about bidding, but if you are, dfnyc, I'll refrain as to not drive up the price.  Let me know if you want some money to help pay for the thing.  I'm happy to help.

Yes, dfnyc... go for it on the 35mm trailer, and I hope you win.  I'm very curious about that thing.

I'm also willing to contribute if you need extra $$ to help win it.

--SKot

negative1 said:

ok,

was there any differences between the 35mm version of 'empire strikes back', (maybe a mono mix? or was it

stereo only?) ...

 

and the laserdisc versions?(any of them)

 

or as mentioned in the beginning

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Empire Strikes Back (original theatrical version)
Best source: official 2006 OUT DVD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

are they all the same?

 

i will be able to provide some information hopefully once we get ahold of

that copy, later

-1

There are different sound mixes from different video releases over the years.  Also, there are 70mm and 35mm sound mixes for ESB that differ.

I've thought about expanding my list here to include the different sound mixes as well as visual differences.  The list would be significantly longer and more complicated that way, of course.  But it might be worth it.

--SKot

Erikstormtrooper said:

Hey Jay,

Any updates on this? My buttons still seem to be missing.

Thanks!

I too have been missing any post/submit/send buttons for a little while now.  At first I couldn't figure out a way to post at all, or even send private messages or notify the administrators(!) of the issue.  Then I figured out if I clicked off the check mark in the "show your signature" box and immediately hit enter, my post would go.

Btw: I am stuck on IE6 as well, on both my work and home computers for the time being.

--SKot

EDIT: Yikes!  Triple post due to the method I use to post not working so well this time... sorry!

Darth Neo said:

Hi Guyz,

that's because you need to wait for my (admin) approval. The reason I have to do this is because I get a lot of spam from russian and american sites. I get a lot of applications per day but most are weird names like "ffghghjd" or something to do with porn or cars or medicins. If for some reason you don't get approved just send me an email with a desired username and password and I will set up an account for you.

If anyone has any other options on how to deal with these spammers please let me know.

 Mielr / see you auntie / SKot: I found your applications and approved them ............ so enjoy

Cheers,

 

Darth Neo

Thanks, Darth Neo!  Looking forward to swapping some nice images with you, particularly Holiday Special-related.

--SKot

negative1 said:

SKot,

i'm glad you answered, and can see we're on the same page,

yeah, you jumped to conclusions (i've been on this board for several years from way back , never posted though)....just like i jumped

to conclusions about you..

 

let's put it all behind now...and work together for a common cause..

 

i would like a truce, so we can just continue working on what we care for.

(and no i've never seen any of your projects, sorry, i'm still new at actually getting any of these releases,

as i just now have gotten my own high speed internet connection, and can finally download some of these releases

i keep hearing about)..

 

ok, hopefully we can move onto the fun part of actually getting the material, and having

something to play with..

 

later

-1

 

'may the force be with you always'

I'm with you there.  Let's do it!

The 35mm project looks like one of the most exciting things to come our way for a long time.  I will be following its career with great interest.

Let's hope it is as good as the seller says it is.

--SKot