TheBoost

If you can "hyperspace" directly to where you want to go... would there even be 'borders' or 'fronts' in any traditional sense?

So, if the enemy manages to control all the planets around Coruscant, does it even matter, or can the Coruscantees still be defended from people Hyperspacing in, and still exert their influence by just Hyperspacing passed their nearby enemies.

skyjedi2005 said:

The trailer had the same bad voice over guy for palpatine as force unleashed.  Billionaire Lucas could not afford mcdiarmid for the game, or james earl jones for vader.  They used Chad vader, and he suprisingly did a good job.  As good as would be expected if it was a fanfilm and not an official lucas product.  Though the Soundtrack was pretty good.

I doubt Lucas had any input, or concern, over the voice actor casting. I imagine he gave the team a budget, and rich actors like McDiarmid and Jones didn't feel like flying in to spend a day or two in the booth for something as seemingly unimportant as a video game.

That's a pity. That man made some truly iconic films.

I try not to sweat crappy remakes much. Like the 1970's King King, bad ones will eventually be relegated to saturday afternoons on AMC, and good ones will be appreciated and usually get the origianal film a good new DVD release.

Anchorhead said:

 

I have a copy in my car and listen to it twice a year.  Each episode is about 30 minutes, which also happens to be what my work commute is, so it takes me 7 or 8 days to get through the entire thing.  I also have it on my iPod.

I'll see that, and raise you the other two series (I know they're not your taste, but i love radio drama).

G E Predator said:

I'm not 100% sure of this, but I believe Adywan included the Emperor's theme (more specifically, "Palpatine's Teachings" from the ROTS soundtrack) in that scene because the Emperor and was mentioned.

 

Fair enough. Just to me (subjectively) the music is too scary and ominous for that scene.

But like it said, it's a minor quibble.

I watched the GOUT the other day, and I had forgotten about that last shot of Tarkin with that shit-eating look on his face just before the DS goes boom. While it's debatable if the new shot of the ships flying off is an improvement, off all the cut shots, I think that was quite unfortunate to see Tarkin's final moment go.

Since it seems to be up for discussion again, I'm going to share some of my thoughts on SW:R.

As for the music. I think "Battle of the Heroes" is an excellent addition. It adds drama to the moment, and if you view it with the PT in mind, it carries on an emotional resonance from the last time these two fought.

I have mixed feeling about the insert of "The Imperial March." I like the sequence (great FX work!) but musically it does take away from the Death Star theme... not a theme really, but that three note "DAH-dah-DAAH!" that signifies the Death Star. That little leitmotif can't compete with the awesome grandeure of the March. It's a small trade, and if I was the man making decisions, I'd still keep Ady's new sequence, music and all.

On the other hand, I don't care for the Emperor theme in the briefing room. The Emperor isn't there. "Battle of the Heroes' plays when Obi and Darth do battle again. "Imperial March" plays when the Empire is shown to kick ass. Emperor's theme plays when... some dudes have a staff meeting. It just doesn't feel right to me.

And checking out DoubleOh5's visual companion, I am f-----g amazed at the new shots Adywan created durign the final battle. I had no idea how much he'd done... I just knew the whole thing rocked.

adywan said:

The one change that would be happening would be re-adding the spinning starfield.

:)

That made me tear up a little. Whenever I watch SW:R I have to spin my head to the side at that shot, and frankly it's starting to hurt my neck.

Did Tony Scott direct it? He's big into yellow.

Mr Ghostface said:

 

Actually Mr Ghostface has a lot of other things to do besides come here all the time because, as you asked, yes, I work in the industry. Before this goes any further, please let me say that I don't feel a negative criticism demands deeper explanation than a positive. If you feel disrespected, I'm sorry. Insulting you wasn't the intention. But if I can't say I think the blue planet sucked without getting demands to justify myself, then sorry, delusions of grandeur have taken hold. So what if it was a hi-res NASA photograph? When you composited it and did whatever you did to it, it didn't look very good. And while I'm busy not defending my point of view, and my right to criticise, let's all just take a look at how freely we all lambast George Lucas for what he's "done" to our beloved trilogy. I'm sure I don't need to cut and paste negative opinions of the special editions, or indeed Adywan's own feelings which motivated him to make his edits. But that's okay? Despite the fact that he created these movies in the first place, it's then perfectly okay for people to throw harsh criticism at some of his decisions over the special editions. Yet when someone like me criticises further changes made by a fan editor, I'm out of order? That's more than a little hypocritical. Yes, Adywan has put a commendable amount of effort into his work. I think his dedication to it is truly impressive. But that means I can't say some of it doesn't work? Or that some of it is just plain unnecessary? Nonsense.

Star Wars was a moderately budgeted sci-fi flick which happened to do big business. If there are minute discrepancies between the position of R2-D2 in one shot and the next, because of the practicalities of the shoot, who cares? Not very many people. If some scenes don't have music, maybe Lucas and Williams know what they're doing? And so who cares if someone spends hours of their time "correcting" something that never needed correcting?

Way to take the "big picture" approach to deflect any criticism of you postings, after a series of vague, meaningless,  complaints ("Adywan makes poor artistic choices") and innacurate, dismissive attacks ("this edit is nothing special").

As an "industry professional" I would hope you could communicate your critiques at least as well as a well meaning amature, but "it didn't look very good" isn't constructive, useful, or impressive. It's hardly a step above posting "NOOB!!" on a youtube clip. Does "work in the industry" mean you sell popcorn at the Krikorian?

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Adywan's work, or the work of any faneditor who wants to communicate on this type of site, is above criticism (the lack of spinning starfields makes me cry) but your tone of superiority and dismissiveness towards Adywan's work is uncalled for, and now this post tossing aside any merit in fan-produced work comes off as sour grapes.

After watching the (bad ass) trailer again, I'll go one step farther.

There is not one single new idea, image, or concept in this trailer that isn't already in another movie or game. It's all sizzle. There may or may not be steak, that remains to be seen.

C3PX said:

As for the no obvious reason part, I am going to have to assume your computer doesn't have sound... the Darth Vader knock off narrates and explains that the Sith have been waiting to take down the Jedi for three hundred years, growing in strength while the Jedi grew proud and lazy.

I have sound. I just find:

Not-Vader: "We've been waiting to kick you asses!"
Nameless Jedi: "Bring it, bitch!"
Not-Vader: "Attack Sexy Fettette!"

to be perfect for a trailer, but it's not a compelling story. It's not even a story. It's a few badass lines of dialogue. Just because a short (admittledly awesome) game advertisement does what it's designed for, which is make our geek blood boil for 90 seconds,  I'm not exactly enthralled. The Phantom Menance had some awesome trailers too.

KOTOR 1 was awesome. KOTOR 2 was markably less so.

I dont do MMORPGs, so ultimately I'll never know, but just because this ad has a checklist of things I Pavlovianly drool for (Vader, Fett, boobs, lightsaber fighting) I'm not ready to declare it anything more than a really cool looking commercial.

Mr Ghostface said:

 

Again, the rendering of the new CG shots is really impressive, but the other "new" shots are just elements taken from other FX shots in the trilogy composited together with the occasional new element. The Death Star reveal is a prime example. The first shot of the Star Destroyer is just taken from Empire and flipped horizontally. It's obvious to anyone who knows these films.

 I've watched Star Wars and Empire probablly 200+ times in my largely misspent life, and I had NO IDEA that's how he did it.

I recently heard of it from a park ranger I know, and plan to give it a shot this winter.

Much like my previous years hunting for Sasquatch, something like this gives a goal, however meaningless, to camping, and makes it a tad more fun.

ps.

I never found Sasquatch.

THe new Catholic Bishop of Ohio is named George Lucas. That's mildly funny to me.

Darth Richard said:

My bestfriend and I watched it (He is big into KOTOR) and we both agree that those three minutes are infinitley better than the Prequels combined.

 Yeah... a total fake Vader and a chick Boba Fett fighting a bunch of nameless Jedi for no obvious reason. That's some compelling stuff there.

C3PX said:

How they go on about who the best faneditor is and give out awards and have contests and pat each other on the back for having turned a Hollywood piece of turd into a hacked up and now nonsensical, but supposedly more artsy and "darker" (it is all about the darkerness. Darker = better), piece of turd with their own title and names in the credits. P

 

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who notices that 90% of those films are just attempts to cut out any humor or romance and call the film "darker and more serious."

I keep meaning to make an edit of "Star Wars" that removes all humor, romance, or anything other than barebones plot and violence. I bet it would be highly praised.

Although on topic, I showed "ANH:R" to my cousin and her husband the other night.

She, less a geek, was shocked that the film hadn't always looked that good.

He, a tad geekier, loved it, and was a huge fan fo the Duel of the Fates music especially.

and for the love of GOD will we ever get a decent adaptaion of the best selling novel of all time: DRACULA?

Let's have Hollywood make on Dracula film a year until someone makes one worthy of that book!

LordVader said:

To me, sequels will always be more acceptable than just "rebooting" a franchise, it completely devalues movies these days,

Remakes have always been central to Hollywood.

The Wizard of Oz is a remake.

Gaslight is a remake.

The Maltese Falcon is a SECOND remake.

 IMHO, remakes need to do one of three things.

1- Have something new to say or a fresh way to present the original theme.

2- Be a better adaptaion of great source material.

3- Be faithful to the original film, but update the presentaion to modern standards.

When I was a lad, my understanding of entertainment properties was a little lax.

My brother, my cousin, and I would often play together, teaming up as Han Solo, Lt. Starbuck, and Captain EO to fight Darth Vader and the Cylons.

I always wanted to be Captain EO.

Mr. Jackson, your majesty, you will be missed.

This Evony thing has been the ad on this site for  a whilenow. I figure it's some kind of MMORPG and didnt give it much thought, outside of noticing a lot of cleavage on the banner-ads.

But now the new one advertises 'discreet' playing?!?! Discreet? RuneScape never says it's discreet. Now I look at the big-breasted princess, and the two hot chicks caressing eachother and wonder, what type of game IS that?

Orinoco_Womble said:

I think the basic story and plot arc of those movies was reasonably ok, but like Knightmessenger said, could have done with a lot more tweaking.

Honestly, given the sheer number of writers and rewrites on the OT, the fact Lucas wrote all of these in 6 months in one draft is the main weakness.  With some rewrites, some other voices in the process, better editing, and a bit more care with character, we might have been sad when Anakin's mom died, we might have beleived Padme and Anakin fell in love, we might have followed and been moved by Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, and we might have laughed at Jar Jar.

CO said:

TheBoost said:

 

Isn't that the nature of sequals; not to be as good as the original?

 

 I would have no problem if any of the movies above didn't have any sequels.  99% of the time, sequels are not as good, and they usually lead to more sequels where the series usually get stale to the point of the movie is a joke.  Batman & Robin anyone?

Even I dare say that the sequels for SW has put a damper on the series?  Stay with me on this one:

If Star Wars never had any sequels, I guarantee we would all have a copy of the Original Original Star Wars in Pristine DVD quality, and awaiting a BluRay release in the next year or two.  There may have been a SE, but the demand would not be there for it on DVD, so THAT would be the alternative version.

Now we have the SE'97, SE'04, OOT, PT, EU, and none of us as fans are happy! None of us can really enjoy the movies anymore on DVD because Lucas is headstrong on the SE 2.0 as his present day SW version.

I know we are giving up ESB, and for many who love ROTJ, you are giving that up too, but if Lucas stopped in 1977, Star Wars would essentially be like ET. 

What do you think?

 Im on the record as liking (or hating less) the PT more than most on this board... but even if I hated them with a burning passion beyond reason I wouldn't trade ESB or ROTJ for anything.

And yes, Lucas is a douche about not releasing the OOT, but even if I could have a pristine 5 disc Blu-Ray retrospective of Star Wars, I wouldnt trade ESB or ROTJ for that.

I also wouldnt trade "Batman Returns" for never having seen "Batman and Robin." I simply wish I had my $6 back, and never watch it again. 

This thread is odd to me.

Isn't the idea of a 'perfect' film series, really just a way of saying 'Sequals are almost always not as good as the originals." In almost every case people mention here, they just eliminate the later entries in the series (with the exception of Temple of Doom).

Isn't that the nature of sequals; not to be as good as the original?

For the first movie in a series to be good enough to fully warrant a sequal, it almost by definition needs to push the boundaries of how much good story a certain concept can have, or else it will feel watered down and unimportant. Very few great films leave you feeling "Wow! That movie is sure open-ended!"

In the extremely rare cases of sequals that are highly respected (Bride of Frankenstein, ESB, Godfather II) they acheive that level by taking an original film that wasn't terribly deep character-wise, and exploring the all-ready beloved characters.

But usually a sequal is forced to find some way to dilute or reinterpret the original tale in order to continue it (Matrix, Highlander, Terminator). If not a diluted continuation the sequal either tries to go a different direction to mixed results (Temple of Doom, Back to the Future III, Futureworld) or is just a glorified remake (Rocky II-XXIII,  ROTJ, the Jurassic Parks, French Connection II).

Oh yeah, and I love ROTJ.

The Golden Idol said:

EyeShotFirst said:

It would have been clean and shiney in the PT era.

 

 That's one of the things I hated about the PT. Everything was new and shiny, there was none of that awesome "used universe" feeling like in the OT.

 Yeah, but everything was the property of Queens, and Jedi, and Senators. No rag-tag rebellion or shady smugglers.