If Dolby Stereo had not caught on, the mono mix would have been very necessary.
I had Spike Tv on in the background over the weekend as they ran Jedi for probably the 2000th time, so here are my random thoughts.
Am I seeing things, or was there somebody else lying on the ground in the rancor pit when Luke and the pig guard exit the chute? Now I have to dig out the laserdisc again!
I suspect Jabba was stoned out of his mind half the time. How did the MPAA not notice he was taking hits off a frog filled bong?
The Ewoks could have been furry little badasses if Lucas had let them. (The gray one with matted fur on his face who emerges from the bushes after R2 cuts the vine actually looks fierce!) There were some fully articulated Ewok masks seen in the documentaries, but why they never seem to be used in closeups is a mystery. Warwick Davis deserves kudos for making Wicket mouth seem to move though, especially since he wasn't originally supposed to be the Ewok who befriends Leia.
Many Ewoks had knives, but aren't seen using them on Imperials. Lucasfilm famously forced Topps to recall and redo a trading card depicting an Ewok about to stab a trooper. Because being beaten to death with stone axes, or shot with arrows is much more kid friendly...
Even a pile of bones and armor seen nearby when Luke and the gang are about to be spit roasted, would have taken the cute edge off of them. Since Episode One, I like Ewoks a little more now.
I have this awful feeling the bait in the Ewok net trap the lures Chewie is actually the rump of some roadkill deer the crew found, then stuck teeth and eyes on!
Death Star II does feel like a rerun, but it's deliberate unfinished appearance is pretty diabolical and sneaky. On the other hand, making access points big enough to fly ships into the easy to destroy reactor, is why the Empire needs to stop letting the low bidders design their ultimate weapons. The New Republic probably got stuck with the bill, as it wasn't paid off yet.
Post prequels, being the third greatest Star Wars film isn't a bad thing at all.
I'd have to watch the SE Laserdiscs again to be sure, but IIRC, the 97's have their own color problems. Didn't Greedo look too blue or something?
32 years ago today, I saw this in the newspaper, and realized Star Wars was something that was never going to fade away. It's still my second favorite SW poster.
"It's not dead, Jim!"
There was news coverage of the charity screening on Channel 7 in Los Angeles tonight. Ford and Peter Mayhew were in attendance. Ewan McGregor was there as well.
Some guys were handing Harrison Raiders Laserdisc covers to sign. :)
In spite of the issues we all have with what version is being shown, it's for a good cause. And I'm cool with that.
Maybe. But, if you look at the screencaps, what was redrawn doesn't seem any more detailed than what was replaced.
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/thelionking2.html
There was a rumor the crocs in that shot were too close to some artist's trademark style, and were changed to avoid legal nasties.
Parts of the "I just can't wait to be king" number in Lion King were redrawn for some reason as well.
The last thing we need on Blu are those 1993 non anamorphic masters that were never intended to be watched on today's HD screens. You can't create detail that isn't there. There are still archival film prints out there if nothing else.
The OT has been changed so much besides the obvious, (some shots have been subtly reedited such as when Imperials are being shot) that a seamless branching disc may just result in a "fake" original cut like Disney has pulled with some of their 90's classics.
Best that the originals get their own separate discs to breathe on.
How about "Puggo Undertexter"? (Swedish word for subtitles according to google.)
Jaxxon thought they might actually be Norwegian subtitles though. It's hard not think of the fake Swedish subs on Monty Python and the Holy Grail when seeing the real thing. ;)
Unless you donated money to this thing, or are privy to what happens in people's lives outside this board, it seems silly to be drawing comparisons to real crooks.
There are far easier ways to grift people than funding esoteric video restoration projects.
It's not a special edition, it's a director's cut. If it was an SE, the people who did the new effects would have been credited. Therefore, there are no new effects...
If it was an SE, Lucas would explain on the commentary track how he really wanted Robert Duvall's eyes to roll back into his head cartoon style, and fight mutant baboons, but ran out of time and money.
If it was an SE, Lucas would not discuss the logistics of shooting real 1970's locations in the making of doc as a CGI cityscape is shown, thus causing my head to explode Scanners style.
So remember, kids, if you pretend that the movie looked like that in 1971, future generations just might believe you!
There is going to be an original cast film fest in L.A. this summer. TMP is being shown in 70mm!
none said:
Here's an idea for a future letter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/movies/05metropolis.html?ref=movies
It seems that Metropolis is going to be getting the full archival preservation treatment. The film which was the inspiration for 3po, which got a colorized special edition in the 80s (something Lucas despized [colorization] at the time yet 10 years later mimiced [special edition]), well they've found a 'missing' half hour of the movie and it will be included in future released versions.
Metropolis colorized? This is news to me. Are you sure you don't mean the color tints Giorgio Moroder used for his 1984 restoration? Tinting is a technique that's been around since movies were invented.
Is it just me, or is Phil Tippet slowly morphing into Ray Harryhausen?
Sluggo said:
It sounds better than "Warehouse in Van Nuys"
But the warehouse had parties! And a waterslide! ;)
I don't think Skywalker Ranch actually existed in the period '77 takes place in...
Kenner made small globes of several planets in the 90's, (with action figure dioramas inside) that depicted major locations in the films. I presume they had something from Lucasfilm to work from. They made a Death Star globe too.
I found the maps of Middle Earth fascinating when I was a teenager.
Didn't know where else to post about this, but someone has been selling copies of this and Empire on Ebay.
Just for laughs, put Q in there staring out the window. :P
zombie84 said:
Actually, the DE was as good or better than most Criterion titles, and certainly was one of the better studio disks on the market. I'm not sure if your post is supposed to be ironic or what.
For $250 bucks, I felt a little ripped off. Criterion would have done it better. Your mileage may vary.
The Definitive Collection LD set was not exactly cutting edge compared to what Criterion was doing at the time, and had been doing since 1985.
The DC has about the most sparse commentary track ever conceived, and trailers that look like they were copied from bootleg VHS.
The packaging was cheap, and the sleeves split open ten minutes after you opened the box. The book on Lucas had already been on the market for a while, and was a double dip for some fans.
The technical goofs in this set are legendary, and the sub-par much hyped THX mastering is still haunting us to this day. ;)
That quote needs to be on the front page of the site!
If Cameron turned out to be the knight in shining armor we've needed, wouldn't that be something?
It was part of a 20th Century retrospective, and Star Wars was selected to represent the 1970's. Lucas denied them permission to show an original print, thus missing the whole point of the festival. The '97 was shown in it's place.
Lucas has prevented several other screenings since then. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to take back the prints the Library of Congress and the British Film institute have in their collections.
There were limited showings of the trilogy timed to when the AFI sucked up to give Lucas an award in 2005. They were the '97 versions again.
Rebel1one1 said:
I have this funny feeling Lucas is going to stick us with the same laser discs transfers we got on DVD as a bonus. Maybe just to be different he will make sure they are anamorphic?
The only way to do that to the non-anamoprphic 1993 masters would be to blow up the letterboxed image, which would only make things worse.