OCR doesn't work so hot for me. Plus there would always be some wiseacre who'd say the text was rewritten by fanboys. ;)
Can google get away with that?
Part of a preservation I'm working on...
I seem to recall much gnashing of teeth elsewhere about that curious error when the UE DVD came out.
Given how the studios sometimes grab whatever reels seem to be handy without really checking the contents, I'm surprised nobody ever released the ABC tv cut by mistake. ;)
I'm simply trying to figure out if Lucasfilm is going to continue editing and rewriting it's own history. There's a lot in the original book Lucas would probably like to go away to begin with. His statements on having written treatments for all nine films, calling the next film "Revenge of the Jedi". Not to mention the tensions and arguments on the set, and Carrie's vague health problems, which now are pretty obvious in retrospect.
It was the fact this amazing film resulted out of all of that turmoil that impressed and inspired me as a kid. I consider it the best making of book ever written.
I don't think such a book could be written about a movie made today. Everyone involved would be far too controlling of their image and publicity.
Anyway, I'll just buy the new book, or sneak read it at Barnes and Noble.
Has he read the book? The interview tapes are only half the story.
Nice to know that those tapes weren't erased from the archives. ;)
Doesn't quite answer if he's read the book based on those tapes.
Whether the Lucas interviews that contradict what he insists he intended to do all along will ever see the light of print again remains to be seen.
I'm pretty sure the Region 1 UE DVD has the mono mix, because that's what I listened to!
Bond fans in Region 2 did inexplicably get stiffed on it though.
Feeling old as well. The book coming out was the first tangible sign Star Wars was coming back to life, after several lean years in which even the fandom itself was pronounced "dead".
If there ever was going to be a sequel trilogy, Zahn would be a good choice to write the scripts.
Add sexist, xenophobic hiring policies to the list. When was the last time you saw a foxy Imperial babe outside the EU? And all of Palpatine's alien lackeys seem to be gone by the OT.
And don't get me started on the Empire's evil lack of adherence to basic safety in the workplace. How many troopers fall off those catwalks on a normal day aboard the Death Star, for simple lack of railings? And what about those poor guys in the superlaser shaft? They don't even get safety goggles, let alone protective clothing!
There was a DVD of the Hobbit not put out by Warner that was turning up in the "99 Only" stores a couple years back. (Of dubious legal origin to be sure.)
I have no idea if it can still be found or if it's taken from a different master.
This closed Ebay auction will show you the cover art.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Hobbit-DVD-/110594556508?pt=US_DVD_HD_DVD_Blu_ray&hash=item19bff3025c
none said:
If anyone has a question for Rinzler, post away, i'll be going to NYCC and can possibly ask a few and see what he's got to say.
Could you ask him if he has read Alan Arnold's making of ESB book, "Once Upon A Galaxy"?
I totally busted a gut when I got to the second line, Moth3r! ;)
http://disclord.tripod.com/vhddiscworld/id1.html
http://home.q03.itscom.net/nsa/vhd.htm
VHD is the only disc format I've never actually owned! Sad to think Metalstorm is letterboxed on VHD while the DVD Universal released this year is a pan and scan disaster.
Stormtroopers slaughtering innocent Jawas, and framing innocent Tuskens for the crime ring any bells?
Not to mention the BBQ over at the Lars' moisture farm...
I'm actually kind of surprised they were not kicking down doors in Mos Eisely while searching for the droids. Troopers must not be good with locked doors. ;)
FanFiltration said:
SilverWook said:
skyjedi2005 said:
From what i have found out the pre special edition, THX version DVD's have both a widescreen version of the films and the full screen on the same disc. Wonder if they are letterbox or anamorphic, according to what i read these were Dual Layer DVD's and something of a novelty at the time. Of course now all DVD's or mostly all are DL.
I wonder if they are anamorphic, or if they are just the laserdisc video ported over. The Special Editions came out later.
As said earlier in the thread, I have all of these except TSWLM. All have anamorphic transfers on one layer. Moonraker rotted(!) but the others are fine. Watched bits of them a couple weeks ago, and they hold up on a modern flat screen.
I would love to see these THX discs! Can you tell us what bit rate they use?
Just for the record, my copy of the "Moonraker" Special Edition started to show signs of rot over a year ago. My "Goldfinger" now has rot related errors too. So it's not just the THX series with these problems.
IIRC, my Blu Ray player has a bit rate indicator display. I'll try to find out tomorrow night.
skyjedi2005 said:
From what i have found out the pre special edition, THX version DVD's have both a widescreen version of the films and the full screen on the same disc. Wonder if they are letterbox or anamorphic, according to what i read these were Dual Layer DVD's and something of a novelty at the time. Of course now all DVD's or mostly all are DL.
I wonder if they are anamorphic, or if they are just the laserdisc video ported over. The Special Editions came out later.
As said earlier in the thread, I have all of these except TSWLM. All have anamorphic transfers on one layer. Moonraker rotted(!) but the others are fine. Watched bits of them a couple weeks ago, and they hold up on a modern flat screen.
Narrating the Star Wars scroll is one thing, they would have had to refilm it in dozens of languages otherwise.
The Italian THX narration is just the dumb it down sort of over explaining things that happened with the original release of Blade Runner. Lucas would never have signed off on it, nor reframe the entire film as a flashback.
Unless somebody has Robert Duvall's cell phone number, (provided WB didn't use a sound-alike) we may never know for sure. But we can make some educated guesses. Moving the big chase scene to the beginning smells of studio thinking.
Welcome aboard, erri_wan!
What you displayed from the version you have is good old fashioned bad pan and scan. It's interesting they didn't squeeze that shot to avoid chopping it up that way. In the old days, these things were often left up to whoever was transferring the film to videotape, often to the dismay of the director and cinematographer!
I've lamented the fact the early pan and scan titles were the only ones to really ever use the original poster art. I used to see Bond films used as LD demo material almost as much as the OT back in the old days. ;)
A lot of the RCD CED releases had totally unique cover art.
Be aware, a few of the CBS/Fox discs are time compressed! I know for sure some of the Roger Moore films were at least...
Scratchy original it is then. :)
And thank you very much, Leonardo, for taking a stab at translation. Someone is going to have to make subtitles eventually.
I've heard back from "erriwan" on Youtube. And he's happy to help out. I want to make sure he gets a copy of the final product in return.
He downloaded the whole film many years ago. What he actually has is an AVI file. But anything better than Youtube quality ought to work? I'm anxious to find out which logo is at the beginning.
The best we could hope for is subs using the translation provided I guess. Unless someone here speaks Italian! I wonder if Robert Duvall did the English narration, or a sound-alike was used?
IIRC, the DC extras don't really go into detail on what Warner's did in recutting the film, so this is as important a historical record as the "happy ending" cut of Blade Runner or Brazil.
Sent a pm to the fellow who posted the Italian clip. From his comments on YT, I think he will be sympathetic to our cause. :)
Yes, I saw the thread. Bumping it down to VHS is degrading a bit too much though. ;)
I'd try recording 4:3 output from composite on a DVD player, but I don't have anything that can cope with macrovision anymore.
I was also thinking recording the opening credit roll would be a good idea as well. Could it be de-colored to match the original look? I'm on the fence about it, as the scratchy original seems more in character of the original film.
IIRC, Lucas stated on the ESB commentary track he wouldn't mess with the OT Yoda. He did try to get Frank Oz a supporting actor nomination after all!
If he ever did have second thoughts about it, I doubt he wants to look up from his desk late one night, and see Oz standing in the shadows with Miss Piggy on his arm. He's lucky the ghost of Sebastian Shaw hasn't come to haunt him yet! ;)
There's money to do this thing, but no money for a proper OT restoration? I smell Bantha poodoo!
As to legal loopholes, does George's ex-wife own any piece of Star Wars?
Toy Story 1 and 2 is kind of a gray area though, because they can go back to the original animation files to get the 3D. Pixar has been doing true 3D still images for Viewmaster reels for a while now...