Slavicuss

It’ll NEVER happen.

The prequel novelisations expand and improve upon the (disappointing) films.

ray_afraid said:

why use a primitive one when you can have a modern one?

Fresh air is nice.

Not a ship but, no votes for the Ewok Hang Glider?

Best performance(s) in the OT? The actors portraying the Imperial Officers.

As a poster already noted, they’re very watchable.

Mark Hamill was earnest in his performances throughout the OT, but imo, never convinced as a Jedi Knight in RETURN OF THE JEDI. He was more believable as a farm boy.

Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor was variable. Very effective in some scenes, but corny in others. Never did enjoy the funny voice or cackling.

Carrie Fisher was effective - even when wasted (drugs).

Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew probably deserve the most praise.

ATMachine said:
One thing that’s to Lucas’ credit IMO is that he’s always been very worried about what sort of things might break audience immersion.

Like bad dialogue and poor acting?

ChainsawAsh said:

The 2015 Blu-Ray is solid, probably the best one out there and it has both cuts on the disc.

I used to like the extended cut but over time I’ve come to prefer the pacing of the theatrical. One of these days I’d like to do a hybrid cut with just a couple of extended cut scenes restored…

(FYI I’m talking about the primary extended cut; the Easter Egg one has the cheesy alternate ending, I think.)

The second extended cut has the deleted scene in John’s bedroom, with the T-1000, and the Michael Jackson reference/Planet of the Apes make-up for Linda Hamilton alternate ending.

I don’t like the deleted scene where John Conner is trying to teach the Terminator how to smile - Schwarzenegger looks like a horse.

As with STAR WARS’ 40th anniversary celebrations, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is shamefully unavailable (officially) in its original release form.

I see nothing here to celebrate.

Start at the beginning.

Original 1991 theatrical release first. If you enjoyed that, then treat yourself to the 1993 SE, and if you also liked that, spoil yourself with the *extended SE cut (a home video exclusive), that can be accessed by a code. The code (Judgement Day date) should be provided somewhere on the disc packaging.

• This cut is the same as the 1993 SE version - but with two additional scenes.

ATMachine said:
Looks like Leia’s Hoth hairstyle may have been different originally, with two long dangling plaits instead of a crown braid.

I think she also played a background extra (female rebel soldier). A completely different character to Leia - hence the different hairstyle - and costume.

digitalfreaknyc said:

Such sad news.

One thing that I, selfishly, immediately thought about was a conversation I had with him that was, I believe, sent through PM on facebook. He has videotape copies of the SW workprint in his storage. Not sure if it’s B&W or what but he said he had it.

I wonder what is going to happen to his archives now.

And I was selfishly thinking about his upcoming Bob Penn ALIEN book.

By “SW workprint” you mean he has/had videotape copies of “The Lost Cut”?

I just want the OOT. I have no interest in the SEs (1997 / 2004 / 2011 / 2019).

RidgeShark said:

Other good news, I found a cheap copy of the Australian 30th Anniversary JAWS PAL release, so I’ll be able to check the deleted scenes out and compare them to the 30th NTSC.

Hang onto the 30th Anniversary 2-disc set you’ve acquired. There’s some new images in the photo galleries you won’t find in any US release and an interesting interactive feature on GWS anatomy.

It’s a 2006 release … so, it’s OOP. Try Ebay.

Moiisty said:

hmmm so i should get the UK DVD?

Yes. I have it and I’m very happy with it. I don’t think it has any bonus content, not even the trailer?

The shorter European Cut also has some alternate takes and camera angles in addition to the ‘shotgun scene’.

The trailer has a brief clip from a deleted scene, that can’t be found in any other versions (that I know of). There’s also an alternate take of Barlow coming into frame (the prison cell?).

Cthulhunicron said:

Slavicuss said:

Cthulhunicron said:

SilverWook said:

Maybe the crowd was just more of these guys?

Or else I think it’s just his personal army of Torgos. ;P

Who exactly are those guys? Anyone know?

Perfumed, arse-licking toadies. The Emperor kept them around as advisors, I think. If you’ve read the RETURN OF THE JEDI novelisation, you’ll know Lord Vader had a very low opinion of them.

I actually did read the novelization, but it was a long while ago and I barely remember it.

Time to revisit it then. It’s a well-written novel with plenty of interesting passages (expanded scenes and dialogue).

I don’t know why Snoke couldn’t have made a reappearance in Ep IX. The Snoke in Ep VIII could’ve been a clone, with the original hidden until the next chapter.

I didn’t like the Emperor in the prequels. The acting was OTT. Ian McDiarmid was more subtle in Ep IX. Better make-up too.

SilverWook said:
What was Kenner thinking making one of these guys an action figure when we never even got a Wedge?

Poor chap never even got a proper name at the time.

I remember seeing this ‘peg warmer’ in 1985, along with some other collector coin figures. I thought it was an ugly woman at the time. Bizarre choice for an action figure.

Cthulhunicron said:

SilverWook said:

Maybe the crowd was just more of these guys?

Or else I think it’s just his personal army of Torgos. ;P

Who exactly are those guys? Anyone know?

Perfumed, arse-licking toadies. The Emperor kept them around as advisors, I think. If you’ve read the RETURN OF THE JEDI novelisation, you’ll know Lord Vader had a very low opinion of them.

Mocata said:

I’ve heard that before, and I think it’s clear that Lucas’s on financing tactics are to blame at least partly; he wanted to test out the CGI and also make money to fund TPM. What makes zero sense are all the later differences over time, particularly when some changes like Luke’s scream in ESB went back to the old version. The sad truth is that he’s probably just an obsessive old control freak, and this is his way of being involved in “his movies” after the other really creative minds have been forced out.

Very sad that he has to keep revisiting the films and ‘improving’ them into failures.

This has to be some sort of age thing - or mental health issue? Crazy, whatever obsesses/drives/compels him to do this.

Darth Dougal said:

Apologies if anyone else commented on this previously, but I wonder if LFL/Disney intend to sit on the unreleased footage from Ep. IV etc. and the OT editions until the 50th anniversary of Star Wars?

It’s a horrible thought, but maybe they are already thinking ahead to 2027?

They could be. I was hoping the previously unseen outtakes (alternate Death Star conference scene, etc) unveiled during the 40th anniversary celebrations would be part of the 4K set’s bonus features. Sadly not.

Who knows whether physical media will still be around in 2027? I suspect DISNEY are sitting on and plan on using the wealth of unseen material for their digital services. If the OOT is ever released by them, it’ll be exclusive to the service.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens after Lucas passes. The original versions are simply too important to people for DISNEY not to do anything with them.

RidgeShark said:

Thank you Slavicuss - it sounds like the 30th Anniv NTSC edition is the one to get then. Hopefully I can get it back from my buddy

The thing is, the R4 PAL DVD version appears to have a slightly better looking image for the deleted scenes than the R1 NTSC DVD. I think the PAL image has a bit more resolution and sharpness to it?

RidgeShark said:

Moiisty - I doubt the PAL releases had native PAL transfers for the deleted scenes. Most likely converted from the NTSC laserdisc masters to PAL - and I don’t trust Universal to do that properly. Though maybe someone with a PAL 30th Anniversary could check.

The DVD PAL deleted scenes look okay, but the frame rate for one particular deleted scene (AMITY TOWN HALL/Quint’s truck - not originally included for the first DVD release) does look choppy - as it does on the 2012 Blu-ray.

RidgeShark, I would stick with using the 30th anniversary R1 2-disc DVD set from 2005, (should be easy to get) instead of the Blu-ray. The deleted scenes - with upscaled resolution - should seamlessly (or almost) match the 720p (or whatever) video quality of the main feature.

Don’t bother with the original 25th anniversary DVD release from 2000, as it’s missing content: no original mono audio and - most importantly - the deleted scenes package is truncated. Quint’s black pick-up truck, Cassidy’s reaction to Chrissie’s offscreen remains and Salvatore’s (Quint’s first mate) scenes are missing. Definitely get the 30th anniversary 2-disc R1 NTSC release (no PAL speed-up).

The reason I went to the trouble of putting my edit together in fullscreen, rather than the more attractive widescreen, was solely for the “tackle box” footage being (frustratingly) available only in fullscreen. I wanted all the footage to seamlessly fit within the surrounding material. I didn’t want to be taken out of the film by changing aspect ratios.

I colour corrected the shots as best I could (the bounty hunters killing the shark was a bastard to do - the turquoise Atlantic Ocean water is tough to match to the film). The softness of the picture quality helps mask the difference in resolution between film and deleted material.

I didn’t have a fullscreen copy of the film, (having ditched my old fullscreen VHS copies long ago.) so had to painstakingly crop and reframe every shot from the two hour widescreen film. Only later, did I discover JAWS was made available in fullscreen (R1) alongside the widescreen version in 2000, for less discerning viewers.

RidgeShark said:

Slavicuss, that sounds like a great effort even with pic quality not being good. Its a shame Universal still sticks with old laserdisc masters for the bulk of their extras. I mean, I get it from a financial perspective, but as a fan of course I would love to have new HD/2k/4k transfers of this alternate material.

Are there any other deleted scenes from JAWS 1 not available in widescreen and exclusive to the tv version other than Quint’s tackle box?

Thanks.

No. The “tackle box” shots are it. If this footage was ever released, It would be nice to see it in widescreen and unbroken, as ONE continuous shot - not split in two - as edited for the TV cut.

I believe there’s more JAWS footage in the film vaults, that for whatever reason, isn’t being released. Curious how the same collection of deleted scenes/outtakes have been reissued over and over again, since 1995. I suspect the film is so popular, UNIVERSAL can get away with reusing the same material.

I would love to see the deleted scenes in 2K/4K and completely colour corrected. NEVER going to happen though. A pity, it would save us a lot of work!

I did put together an extended edit. It has ALL the additional footage found in the television version but without the edits to language & violence.

My extended edit is in fullscreen. Having to crop the (widescreen 4:3) deleted scenes (from the DVD release) and reframe (and sometimes zoom in) each individual shot, has resulted in a great loss in resolution. My extended edit has a very soft image. I’ve never shared it as the picture quality isn’t very good.

I don’t know if there’s an edit out there that has EVERYTHING back in. It wouldn’t surprise me, JAWS is a VERY popular film.