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SilverWook

User Group
Members
Join date
9-Dec-2004
Last activity
6-Apr-2023
Posts
22,080

Post History

Post
#550631
Topic
"The People Vs. George Lucas" documentary...
Time

Diving right into the deep end of the pool with your first post? Okay.

A Michelangelo statue is a great work of art regardless of it's subject. I would speculate the yellow ball head was a wry commentary on altering anything that is considered a work of art. Michelangelo's David might have been a better choice, but then somebody might be upset over the nudity. I doubt the filmmakers were deliberately out to offend anyone's faith with it.

Was this statue digitally inserted, or was it really in the background?

Post
#550222
Topic
Star Wars Blu Ray Impressions
Time

Talk about nightmare fuel!

Anyway, I snagged Star Wars on Ebay. Part of my continuing effort to buy the set one disc at a time, avoid the crappy disc sleeves with hideous artwork, and spite Lucasfilm. ;)

I was amazed at the level of detail in the original shots if nothing else. (All the 1997 shots stick out even more now.) I swear you can see the crew reflected in Artoo's eye and even Leia's belt buckle at times. It's no wonder our shiny droid friends are so filthy for most of the movie!

You can't appreciate how awful the CGI rocks in front of Artoo shots really are until you see it in motion. The archival commentary was enjoyable though. Carrie Fisher always has interesting things to say.

Was also interesting to hear Ralph McQuarrie talk about the SF novel cover George brought him to use as an inspiration for Chewie. Probably the one in my avatar.

George makes more odd analogies to justify changing the films. I'm sure artists tweak their paintings sometimes, but twenty years after the fact? When he talks about movies being recut and rescored by others, it's almost like he's referring to fan editors.

Post
#550208
Topic
New Star Wars Curry's/Pc World UK ad campaign.
Time

doubleofive said:

The Chewie in those commercials looks better than the one in RotS. How does that happen?

Either there's a vintage Chewie suit they still use for such occasions, or the "promotional" costume is made of the same materials as the original. (Knitted mohair and Yak hair.) One detail I got off the Blu Rays is the ROTS Wookiee fur was made from synthetic hairs.

Post
#550105
Topic
Let's all say something nice about George Lucas. No insults allowed.
Time

If new generations require modern CGI FX in order to be able to simply enjoy what is now and forever a classic film from 1977, then they can go screw themselves. I don't mean to be difficult, but that's how strongly I feel about it.

I wonder if George has sat down to watch Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers lately? He needs a refresher course in what he was trying to make in the first place.

Post
#550004
Topic
OBITUARY - Star Wars Fullscreen/Pan and Scan versions. R.I.P.
Time

russs15 said:

They were in a US gold box set in 2004 and released as individual films with the GOUT in 2006. I have been looking on ebay for all 3 2006 versions but only have ANH so far. Most sellers will not mail outside the US so getting them is a struggle.....

 

EDIT. The same problem exists with some Amazon.com sellers too!!

Are you willing to settle for used copies of these? I'm hunting down the prequels in full frame, and I might be able to get Empire and Jedi from the same seller dirt cheap.

Post
#549859
Topic
OBITUARY - Star Wars Fullscreen/Pan and Scan versions. R.I.P.
Time

Pan and Scan refused to die in the U.S. thanks to consumer confusion/ignorance/indifference, and the studios' lack of any real effort to educate people about those black bars. There were some widescreen VHS tapes in the 90's as well, but if you were really into seeing movies the best way possible, you bought an LD player.

When DVD first hit the market, one of the features touted was the ability to pan and scan a widescreen movie on the fly. I've never encountered a disc that actually offered this though.

It was probably sales of widscreen tv's taking off that finally nailed the coffin shut.

Although now there are digital tv sub channels like "This TV" that are broadcast 4:3, and show a lot of movies, so Pan and Scan will never totally be gone either.

Thanks for posting all the comparisons, russs15. I was doing a lot of that figuring out the lineage of the "HBO" version. I tend to prefer the pan and scan that favors Chewie. ;)

It's interesting that there wasn't a fullscreen version of the GOUT on DVD.

Post
#549574
Topic
Idea & Info: Westworld / Futureworld / Beyond Westworld - preservations of?
Time

Didn't know there was a making of DVD. Is this the same as the Westworld featurette that airs on Turner Classic Movies once in a while?

Amazing that there hasn't been a bloated remake of Westworld yet.

I think there's a good chance we'll see the series as a MOD release sometime. I never thought we'd see a release of "The Man From Atlantis" show, so anything is possible now.