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Scruffy

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Join date
29-Nov-2005
Last activity
31-May-2016
Posts
625

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Post
#252858
Topic
Here's my stance
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252858/action/topic#252858
Time
Originally posted by: Tiptup

Hmm, would that be an approach to Jackson's movies? If so, that sounds like a fun way to look at things. Still, I bet there can be better movies made someday even considering the fictional universe.


Jackson's movies, Bakshi's movie, the Rankin/Bass movies ... if we accept the conceit of LotR, that it's a translation of one historical document about ancient events, then all of these coexist with Tolkien's translation. Tolkien's translation of the Red Book may be the most interesting and artistically valuable of the lot, but that should not stop other artists from using telling historical fiction about the Third Age. In fact, it seems the main obstacle to that is the Tolkien Estate. And I don't blame them. As fun as it may be to speculate about "new insights" into the Third Age, most of it would probably be dire. Jackson's movies work because he drew on established Tolkien artists and other luminaries, while consciously staying close to the text.

This same technique can be applied to Star Wars. The "Long Time Ago" phrase hints that the film may not be objective cinema verite, showing real events from the POV of an omniscient narrator. (And a predisposition to translating Galactic Basic into the native language of his audience.) It's a story, and there's a storyteller with limited knowledge and his own biases. In several EU books, the editor is given a name: Voren Na'al or Arhul Hextraphon, New Republic historians (or propagandists) focusing on closed sectors of Imperial society.
Post
#252853
Topic
Is Lucas Remaking The PT?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252853/action/topic#252853
Time
What, exactly, is "sick" and "explicit" in this conversation? The word "vaginoplasty?" I guess some people consider the v-word verboten. How about I say "hoohaaplasty" instead? Is "monkey" too explicit? I guess "monkey" is sometimes used as a racial epithet, so I'll concede that. Anyway, saying "monkey" without specifying new world or old world is taxonomically lazy. How about "pygmy marmoset" instead of "monkey?" The pygmy marmoset is small enough that it could probably emerge from someone's butt without causing too much damage, and is a more likely candidate for this exercise than, say, the stately mandrill. "Butt" is a bit crude and homophonous with "but," so I probably should've used "bum:" It's less crude, has transatlantic appeal, and anyone who would be insulted by the term probably does not have access to a computer.

And who's "bashing" Lucas in this thread? We're merely comparing the probability of him remaking the PT and the utility of speculation regarding the same to that of him getting a hoohaaplasty and/or pygmy marmosets flying out of his bum. No one is questioning his skills as an artist, his dignity as a person, or his value as a warm, snug repository for pygmy marmosets.

WARNING! SICK AND TWISTED!
EXPLICIT!
PERVERSE!
(Also, I can't get a screen shot right now, but Space Quest V.)
Post
#252677
Topic
Here's my stance
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252677/action/topic#252677
Time
Originally posted by: Tiptup

Hmm, yeah, though I do believe the original form of the book is still available if you look for it. I'm not sure about this though.


As others (i.e. me) have said in other threads addressing this topic, the first edition text of The Hobbit is available in The Annotated Hobbit. A great deal of Tolkien's unpublished and published-yet-hard-to-find work has been (re-)published by his literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, who recognizes the great value in his father's words.

Since all the Middle-earth books are, in their fictional universe, ancient documents translated by Professor Tolkien, there is room for multiple editions to comfortably co-exist. Just as there are multiple translations and multiple texts of other ancient texts, like the Bible, there exists multiple texts and translations of the Red Book of Westmarch and Bilbo's collection of Elven lore. In this fictional universe, there can even be action-adventure movies based on the Red Book, and no one complains about "canon" or authorial intent because historical fiction frequently deviates from historical records, which themselves frequently deviate from historical truth.
Post
#252370
Topic
The Merits of the Prequel Trilogy and the "Saga"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252370/action/topic#252370
Time
The whole "creation of life" thing was stupid. Midiclorians are symbiotic, found in other lifeforms. Therefore they can never create life ex nihilo, they can only interact with existing life. And that's all they were ever reported to do in the movies. They allegedly "created" Anakin by making his mother pregnant, something no more miraculous than parthenogenesis. (Unfertilized bee eggs produce drones, which can only mate with a queen. Hey, I just discovered the genesis of the Anakin-Padme relationship!) Later, we hear midiclorians can "keep Padme from dying" of some unspecified ... death. Keeping someone from dying isn't creating life, it's extending life. When I got a shot of penicillin to cure my tertiary syphillis, it wasn't creating life, I was already alive.
Post
#251896
Topic
Here's my stance
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/251896/action/topic#251896
Time
Originally posted by: CO

I bought the LOTR set the other day on DVD, and it included the Theatrical Versions and the Extended Versions in one boxset, both transfers with Anamorphic Widescreen and 5.1 DD. Geez, that wasn't that hard to please all of the LOTR fans?


But neither version has the car driving along the edge of Farmer Maggot's field, so you're not getting the TRUE, ORIGINAL theatrical version. You're just getting one step in Peter Jackson's ever-changing "vision." Honestly, if you're okay with Peter Jackson erasing cars from Middle-earth, but you've got problems with Lucas erasing blaster burns or inserting theme-restaurant style CGI musical numbers, you're clearly biased.
Post
#251568
Topic
Star Wars: The Stupidest Quotes!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/251568/action/topic#251568
Time

Piett: Bounty hunters! We don't need that scum!
Officer: Yes sir.

Notice how the officer says "yes sir" after hearing Piett's comment? Does he actually think it's an ORDER!? That he need to get rid of all the bounty hunters even though it was Vader who summoned them!? Good God!


He's agreeing with him. Rather dismissively, I thought. It's just a polite way to acknowledge a superior officer before blowing him off.
Post
#251408
Topic
Star Wars prequel film noir (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/251408/action/topic#251408
Time
"So a neat thing that could be included (but I don't know if it's even possible) is Palpatine teaching Anakin. One such scene could involve Palpatine bringing in various men and women into his room and having Vader practice killing them without touching them. Obviously this would be difficult logistically, but I have a few shots in mind."

Dude! You could do a training montage! Complete with the Montage song from TA:WP! You can even shoot yourself grasping at your throat and gurgling as a kind of director's cameo!
Post
#250159
Topic
What do you think of the <strong>Prequel Trilogy</strong>? a general discussion thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/250159/action/topic#250159
Time
Yeah, and there's another line usually misinterpreted. In Echo Base, most people hear Han say, "You look strong enough to pull the ears off a gundark." He actually says Luke can pull "the years off a gunned ark," that is, make an aged battleship appear new. It's apparently an old Corellian compliment to one's resilience or durability.
Post
#249925
Topic
your buying the PT all over again in Blue ray !!!!!!!!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/249925/action/topic#249925
Time
Originally posted by: Seiji
Is the Blu-ray vs HD DVD thing still going on?

I'm still scared off by this to invest in either format. I'm sure you've seen it compared to the Beta vs VHS days.


Just invest in mutual funds or a 401(k). Even if you do want to pick your stocks, investing in a member of the Blu-ray Alliance or the DVD Forum based solely on which optical disc format they back is rather short-sighted IMHO.
Post
#249868
Topic
I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided this makes no sense. (Qui-Gon and Anakin's ghosts.)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/249868/action/topic#249868
Time
Originally posted by: ronlaw
I've never understood this desire to try and find detailed explanations for things.
Lucas and the other writers just did what seemed the coolest/most dramatic in the particular scene. And their idea of that changed in the different movies.
In general, I believe they are much more concerned about making a fun movie than trying to slavishly follow every rule and idea that came up before. It's only the hard-core fans who feel everything should be explainable.


You're absolutely right. To hell with verisimilitude, continuity, and characterization! Who needs 'em?
Post
#249865
Topic
&quot;..secret to the future is quantity,&quot; Lucas said
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/249865/action/topic#249865
Time
October 5, 2006

Pigs get second chance

In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. will release a twelve-disc boxed set of the Star Wars Saga in 2007. The set will contain all three prequels as well as the three original films, with new special effects and enhancements. Producer Rick McCallum said, "At last, we are able to present George's original vision. For instance, in Return of the Jedi, the Gamorrean guard that falls into the rancor pit will sprout wings and fly away, taking Luke to safety."


I have to admit I'm kind of intrigued by this change. It'll probably be regarded as one of the "safe" changes by most O-OT fans, like the Battle of Yavin and fixing Lando's erection.
Post
#249707
Topic
I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided this makes no sense. (Qui-Gon and Anakin's ghosts.)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/249707/action/topic#249707
Time
Disappearing doesn't necessarily imply that one will return as a ghost. In the films, we've got at least one dead Jedi who doesn't disappear but does have some ghostly powers, and one dead darksider who blows up but doesn't have any ghostly powers. (He gets them in the EU, though.) Vader was probably familiar with the idea of Jedi disappearing at the moment of death; even if none of the Coruscanti Jedi did, he had probably seen other proscripted Force users die in such a manner, or read about it in his studies.

Even if Vader was aware that disappeared Jedi always reappeared as ghosts, he probably wouldn't have understood the "more powerful than you can possibly imagine" line. Ghosts aren't inherently powerful. What made ghost Obi-Wan powerful was the fact that he had bonded with Luke, a potential Jedi and the Son of the Suns. Had Vader known that Obi-wan's ghost would be coaching Luke at Yavin and giving him directions to Yoda's planet, he probably would've taken him alive.

Obi-wan's power was not inherent in his disappearance or his reappearance, but in who he knew and what he could maneuver that person to do.