Scruffy

User Group: Members
Join date: 29-Nov-2005
Last activity: 31-May-2016
Posts: 625

Post History

Post: #229284
Topic: No explanation necessary (but we got one anyway)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/229284/action/topic#229284
Time: 26-Jul-2006 1:42 AM

Originally posted by: auraloffalwaffle
I also dislike the directions that Luca$h took the character of Anakin Skywalker. Having him be a mythical figure in Jedi lore and, particularly, using the tag 'The One' - I know I won't be the only one that was thinking of 'The Matrix'.

The Matrix was the best Star Wars movie of the 1990s, possibly since 1983.

I particularly hate the Immaculate Conception idea. The character of Anakin Skywalker would have been much more interesting without any of that shit.

There was no Immaculate Conception idea in the PT, not as far as I can tell.

And the Force was much more interesting when it was something that permeated the entire universe and that you could learn to use through training, rather than the result of some kind of symbiotic protozoan.

Indeed, it went from "(binding) the universe together" to a telekinetic power battery that occasionally gave people misleading prophecies.

Post: #229238
Topic: News on the TV Series if Anyone Cares.
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/229238/action/topic#229238
Time: 26-Jul-2006 12:28 AM

We need a sworn, uniformed branch of service to defend Star Wars. I want to be Grand Moff.

Post: #228847
Topic: ComicCon - to highlight our cause?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/228847/action/topic#228847
Time: 24-Jul-2006 9:17 PM

Dude ... if you're going to lase people, use red. Green lasers are a lot more dangerous. I recall the feds getting involved because of kids lasing airplanes taking off from a nearby airport ... the green laser was powerful enough to screw up the pilots' vision.

Post: #228844
Topic: first viewing of the 2006 OOT dvds
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/228844/action/topic#228844
Time: 24-Jul-2006 9:06 PM

Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape

If this new news is true, and the picture is as bad as they claim, screw this. I'm not buying it. Beat Lucas by giving him money? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

I think we're going to keep hearing this, because there's some confusion or obfuscation over short- and long-term goals, and pragmatic and moral victories.

For some people, their short term goal is getting the trilogy. Because they want an official copy of it in the "best" format available. My short term goal is saving money; spending it only those things that are of exemplary quality. Because I am poor. Or stingy. Take your pick. In any case, I can derive no satisfaction, even over the short run, by purchasing something I consider substandard. (Exceptions: Beer, if I am already drunk. Pizza, if I am hungry.)

Getting the trilogy is my long-term goal. I am younger than GL, I can wait for him to die, or for the cash flow from the TV show and the 3D rererelease to dry up around 2014-2020. The sooner the cash flow at the Ranch dries up, the sooner Lucas will go back to the O-OT and give it a proper treatment. High sales of the 2006 release will only retard this effect by increasing current revenue, encouraging investment, and increasing future expected profits, sans any good release of the O-OT.

After choosing a goal, we can frame our choices as a pragmatic or moral victory. I think the people who are "giving in" are explaining their choice as a moral victory. "I'll get the O-OT, mail the SE back to George, and that'll show him!" Yes, I admit I was one of the early proponents of the mailback scheme. I still am, if you absolutely must purchase the new release. But that was more for the masturbatorily ironic feelgood warmth of direct consumer action, not out of any belief that it would change things. I'm not out to "prove" anything to Lucas, because I don't think I can. I'm not in this for your rebellion, Princess. I'm in it for me. Sorry. So I may not get the official DVDs, but I consider that a thoroughly pragmatic victory, in line with both my short and long term goals.

To get back on topic, the presentation of this footage is exactly the way I imagined it would be. Well, I thought there wouldn't be any interlacing artifacts, but I guess you can't anticipate everything.

Post: #224148
Topic: Explaining the shoddy OOT treatment in public
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/224148/action/topic#224148
Time: 3-Jul-2006 9:37 PM

Are the D1 masters properly telecined? Do you believe the DVDs will have a pulldown flag for 24fps display on progressive devices?

Post: #224143
Topic: Star Wars in High Definition: OT clips from "Science of Star Wars" in HD
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/224143/action/topic#224143
Time: 3-Jul-2006 9:29 PM

people are identifying Blu-Ray disks as a kind of HD-DVD as well, and the superior HD-DVD at that.

Really? Over at AVS Forum, the general opinion on picture quality is almost entirely in favor of HD-DVD. Better codec and more disc capacity. (The BD spec allows for double-layer discs that will be larger than HD-DVDs, and advanced video codecs, but we haven't seen them yet.) With a lower price (by hundreds of dollars) and better performance, HD-DVD has a much better demonstrated price/performance ratio.

Post: #223923
Topic: Should Wedge have been tried for cowardice?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223923/action/topic#223923
Time: 2-Jul-2006 5:09 PM

But if you're flying, you can pursue your target and dogfight them until you get a good shot in. If you're the gunner, you're at the whim of the pilot. Second the motion that you play X-wing: Alliance. Those missions when you're stuck in the YT's gun suck.

Post: #223849
Topic: The Emperor & line change in ESB SE 1997
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223849/action/topic#223849
Time: 2-Jul-2006 4:04 AM

Thank you for the correction. It now appears even less likely that the Falcon made an interstellar trip at less than light speed.

Post: #223837
Topic: The Emperor & line change in ESB SE 1997
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223837/action/topic#223837
Time: 2-Jul-2006 2:17 AM

I haven't seen it in a while, but I'm pretty sure a strict interpretation of ESB allows Han to fix the hyperdrive before arriving at Bespin. IIRC, some kind of power coupler was busted, and they started to replace it while in the space slug. Then they got chased out, and latched onto Avenger. After Avenger dumped her garbage and went to lightspeed, the Falcon cleared the debris field at sublight. The next time we see the Falcon, she's at Bespin.

Emergency repairs to the hyperdrive could've been made after we see the Falcon "floating away with the rest of the garbage." On Cloud City, Lando asks what's wrong with the Falcon, and Han just says, "Hyperdrive." He doesn't say the drive is completely broken, just that there's something wrong with it.

The interstellar sublight hypothesis might work if the stars were in the Core or the Deep Core*, but most EU material suggests the Core is heavily populated and the Deep Core is devoid of human life except for some military outposts and Palpatine's Berchtesgaden.

But the trip from Hoth to Anoat is still problematic.

* According to This source, there are 100 stars per cubic parsec in the core of the Milky Way. That means the mean distance between stars is 0.7 light years.** But the galactic core is not the friendly kind of place where Tauntauns and Wampas can evolve ... it's got radiation, and occasional bursts of energy that make the Death Star's superlaser look like a trickle.

** My math is probably wrong.

Post: #223828
Topic: Lucas may have caved, here is a link to Barnes & Noble early review of the O-OT DVD's:
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223828/action/topic#223828
Time: 2-Jul-2006 12:28 AM

This "review" lists extra features that are not in any of the announced features lists. And no one has explained how someone got a copy two and a half months before it's released. It's a fake.

Post: #223788
Topic: The Emperor & line change in ESB SE 1997
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223788/action/topic#223788
Time: 1-Jul-2006 7:28 PM

According to Han Solo, Anoat and Bespin are two different systems, and they are "pretty far" for whatever drive systems the Falcon had available. Which, by this point, probably included some form of hyperdrive. They had had several hours or days to fix things.

Post: #223512
Topic: The Emperor & line change in ESB SE 1997
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223512/action/topic#223512
Time: 30-Jun-2006 5:14 PM

Originally posted by: hairy_hen

Getting from one solar system to another at slower-than-light speeds takes a long friggin' time . . .

Maybe Luke could have finished his Jedi training by then, at least. lol

Sure, it's possible that Luke experienced a couple of years on Dagobah while Han took the Relativity Express to Bespin. But that raises a few questions...

a) How come Luke's hair didn't grow? Or get cut?
b) Why did Luke never change clothes? Did Yoda teach him some sort of textile purification Force power?
c) What were Boba Fett and Vader doing during those years when the Falcon was in transit to Bespin?
d) Why didn't the Empire intercept the Falcon while it was in transit? (It is, after all, moving millions of times slower than the fastest Imperial ships!)
e) Why didn't Han just call someone for a tow? Surely the risk of Imperial eavesdroppers isn't as bad as the living in a tiny space with See Threepio for such a long time.

I think the WEG solution is still the best. The Falcon had a backup/spare hyperdrive motivator with just enough juice to crawl to a nearby star system.

Post: #223402
Topic: Ages of Luke & Leia
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223402/action/topic#223402
Time: 30-Jun-2006 3:45 AM

EDIT: I just went off on a rant about why the hell does everything have to be rationalised/explained

Because we're a curious species with a touch of rationalism. Even here in the natural world, when we see things happen, we ask, "Why?" Philosophers have spent millennia working on that. In worlds of artifice, we are doubly curious; unnatural worlds of artifice, fairy tales as you called them, invite this type of inspection in spades. Because fairy tales have meaning. And fairy tales on film have limited time, so everything shown to us has a point -- shots without some purpose are left on the floor of the editing room.

I'm sure there's lots of meaningless chaff in the prequels, but I like to think the team behind ESB had reasons for the choices they made. And I don't think it's unreasonable to look for them.

Post: #223354
Topic: Ages of Luke & Leia
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223354/action/topic#223354
Time: 30-Jun-2006 1:20 AM

Not a Prequel fan, but ...

Yoda admits that he's been watching Luke for a long time. In fact, that's how Luke detects Yoda on Dagobah ... he feels like he's being watched. I hypothesize that Yoda's long surveillance of Luke created a two-way connection; that, as Yoda peeked in on Luke's psyche, Luke began to perceive Yoda's environment.

Or maybe he hit his head in the crash landing and wasn't thinking straight.

Post: #223255
Topic: The Emperor & line change in ESB SE 1997
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223255/action/topic#223255
Time: 29-Jun-2006 7:37 PM

But now you know exactly how he got from Could City to Executor. Too bad we still don't know how the Millennium Falcon got from Hoth to Anoat to Bespin....

Post: #223252
Topic: End of SE ROTJ...
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223252/action/topic#223252
Time: 29-Jun-2006 7:35 PM

I've never understood the planets celebrating. Sure, probably some planets celebrated, but Coruscant, Tatooine, and a mining colony on Bespin? It would be hard to come up with three worlds less likely to celebrate the death of the Emperor.

But I'll try! ... Kuat, because of all the ship-building contracts, Byss, because it's full of true believers, and Naboo, because it's his homeworld. Please don't tell me they added Naboo to the DVD....

If Lucas really wanted to show the Galaxy celebrating the death of the Emperor, he should've shown us some worlds that really suffered under the Emperor but weren't under Imperial rule. It's his own fault that he blew up the only rebellious planet in the whole trilogy.

Post: #223249
Topic: Carmina Burana in Revenge of the Sith
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223249/action/topic#223249
Time: 29-Jun-2006 7:29 PM

I never really paid as much attention to the PT as I did to the OT. I saw the scene you're talking about on HBO a while ago, and I just remember a statement from the Imperial March, then some prequel-standard underscore. I saw it three times in theaters (yes, it's true), and didn't notice anything from OF. Maybe someone on jwfan.net would know more?

Post: #223243
Topic: Should Wedge have been tried for cowardice?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223243/action/topic#223243
Time: 29-Jun-2006 7:19 PM

Except we know ... at least we think ... that Biggs is an Academy graduate. Academies usually churn out trained leaders. So it's not like they're all newbies and Luke won the rock-paper-scissors tournament.

Best I can come up with is that Luke proved in the simulator that he was among the best they had at precision bombing and, like you said, that gave him priority in the third echelon to attack the exhaust port. Wedge and Biggs were assigned not as underlings, but as bodyguards. Luke didn't have de jure command authority over them, but his status as the designated shooter gave him de facto authority. We can see Biggs and Wedge questioning his orders ("Are you sure we can pull out in time?" "Are you sure the computer can hit it?" "What about that tower?"), which is consistent with my theory. They're trying to keep the whiz kid alive long enough to hit the exhaust port, and it's painfully clear to them that maybe the kid can hit the target, but he knows almost nothing about staying alive in a starfighter.

Post: #223110
Topic: Should Wedge have been tried for cowardice?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223110/action/topic#223110
Time: 29-Jun-2006 2:20 PM

Best I can come up with ...

a) In the Radio Drama, Luke wows everyone on the simulator, so he gets put in charge of Biggs and Wedge. Which doesn't make too much sense; just because you're good at your job doesn't mean you're good at leading other people in their jobs. Luke's experience blowing up womp rats might make him a fine pilot, but it doesn't mean he'd be good at commanding other people and leading an attack. Although Luke does seem to know what he's doing when things get hot.

b) There's a cut scene (maybe uncut in the SE, who knows) in which Red Leader talks about Anakin Skywalker and what a great pilot he was. If you smash your head into a wall a few times, it makes sense that Red Leader would promote Luke because of his father.

c) Either of the above, combined with Biggs's remark that Luke was the best bush pilot in the Outer Rim. Biggs is an Academy graduate, so he has at least some say-so. Though I'm not entirely sure why he'd want to subordinate himself to Luke. Even in all the cut scenes between Luke and Biggs, it's obvious who's the alpha dog, and it's not Luke.

d) Leia pulled some strings. She was probably the moral and financial backer of the Yavin Rebel cell, and for whatever reason she decided Luke should be boss of a couple people. Chalk it up to "Force impressions" or that wonderful sibling lust they had going for them.

As for Wedge replacing Han in the trench attack, I'm all for it. It's always bothered me how Solo, unprovoked, fires on Vader. It makes him seem like a murdering pirate instead of the patient, tolerant, friendly hero that he is.

Post: #222820
Topic: OT.com = TFN?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/222820/action/topic#222820
Time: 28-Jun-2006 8:34 PM

Madine. I knew I forgot someone. Of course, given the way the Alliance handed out GO commissions in RotJ, he was probably just some guy who found Princess Leia's wallet and returned it or something like that.

Post: #222816
Topic: Carmina Burana in Revenge of the Sith
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/222816/action/topic#222816
Time: 28-Jun-2006 8:16 PM

Originally posted by: PaulisDead2221
You can't be serious! The part that's used in movies too much! I guess it might be the introduction, with the low choral voices that pick up into an apocalyptic climax that's great until you hear it so many times.

Yeah, I'm serious. I just checked Amarok. It's a little over an hour long. CB opens and closes with O Fortuna, is that what you're thinking of? Or you could be thinking of Vulnera Plango Fortune ... it's got some range and gets pretty frenetic. Or Ave Formossissima ... it segues into O Fortuna in a fairly apocalyptic manner.

FWIW, I'm pretty sure part of In Taberna Quando Sumus was used for part of LucasArts' TIE Fighter theme.

Post: #222811
Topic: Should Princess Leia have gotten a medal in A New Hope?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/222811/action/topic#222811
Time: 28-Jun-2006 8:03 PM

Pard'n me, and since when the Kalidor Crescent is Alderaanian?

I grant you pardon, but since when was that medal the Kalidor Crescent? It doesn't look like the Kalidor Crescent, and nothing I can find on Wookieepedia suggests that it was the Kalidor Crescent. It's not even a military award -- Luke and Han are out of uniform when they get it. It's a civilian award, such as a civilian authority like a planetary sovereign would grant. For all we know, she had just made them Knights Commander of the Alderaanian Order -- I'm sure any and all Alderaanian honor societies had vacancies at that point.

Post: #222805
Topic: Should Wedge have been tried for cowardice?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/222805/action/topic#222805
Time: 28-Jun-2006 7:45 PM

And about the Wedge thing. I donno. If I was in his position I would leave as ordered too. But Wedge says "I'm hit, I can't stay with you." and then Luke says "Get clear Wedge, you can't do any more good back there." It seems like Wedge was trying to bail even before Luke gave him the order to leave.

He's not trying to bail. Luke had ordered his element to go in full throttle ... "That oughta keep those fighters off our backs." After sustaining a hit, Wedge was unable to maintain that speed; he couldn't stay with Luke. (Evidently, the jamming fields around the Death Star made space a resistive medium.) Luke figured -- rightly or wrongly -- that Wedge couldn't do anything useful with a broken fighter and told him to clear the trench. We're not really sure what Wedge did after that -- the TIEs were at least matching Luke's X-wing for speed, so he was unable to pursue and shoot at them. Returning to the main group to dogfight would be a dubious proposition. Dropping his ordnance on the Death Star surface would've been satisfying, but not terribly useful. A direct assault on the superlaser could be even more satisfying, but less useful. Basically, imagine what an untrenched Wedge would be doing, and that's what he did. Or go to the C-canon. Stackpole probably wrote something about Wedge noticing the emergency exhaust port was closed and opening it for Luke after landing on the Death Star and a tense firefight with several battalions of stormtroopers. (Just kidding, I like Stackpole -- even his DS2 retcon.)

Incidentally, Keyan Farlander was the Y-Wing pilot.

Post: #222799
Topic: OT.com = TFN?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/222799/action/topic#222799
Time: 28-Jun-2006 7:07 PM

Originally posted by: TheCassidy
I just don't think it's necessary to debate the colour of Luke's underwear here - this is site dedicated to the preservation of the original Star Wars trilogy, and other films. There's plenty of Star Wars fanboy sites on the net.

This is the "General Star Wars" forum. So, at the very least, we can discuss the underwear of Dodonna, Veers, Han Solo, and Lando Calrissian*. I think discussion of Luke's underwear is not entirely off-topic, either.

And really, how many conversations can you have about preserving the O-OT?

"I think the O-OT should be preserved."

"Yeah, me too."

* We already know from the end of ESB that Lando raided Han's wardrobe, so I guess they shared underwear, too.

Post: #222016
Topic: Ages of Luke & Leia
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/222016/action/topic#222016
Time: 26-Jun-2006 7:10 PM

Now THAT'S interesting! I dare you to come up with something for Naboo! Come on! I dare you!

I don't know a tenth as much about the prequels as I do about the Trilogy. I assume it is a made up baby-talk word he uses when conversing with his increasingly embarrassed children.

GEORGE
Nabooboobooboo! Nabooboobooboo! Who's my little Boba Jett?

JETT
Dad, will you stop calling me that, please?

GEORGE
Rarr! Look out! Here comes the rancor!