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auraloffalwaffle

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23-Jun-2006
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6-May-2011
Posts
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Post
#252945
Topic
The Merits of the Prequel Trilogy and the "Saga"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252945/action/topic#252945
Time
ROTJ represents the origin of such theories, that's for sure. SW '77 and ESB '80 do not suggest any more than that Luke is inspired to become a Jedi by the memory of his father. The openness of Yoda's teaching in ESB has been undermined by developments from ROTJ onwards, in my opinion. The proposition of Luca$h's saga, that ability to use the Force is primarily determined by your genome rather than your commitment and willingness to learn, is a poorer one, I think.
Post
#252944
Topic
OOTCon
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252944/action/topic#252944
Time
You know, it would be great to have a little OOTCon next year for the anniversary. Not hiring out a theatre, etc., etc. but just a little get-together of UK ot.com-ers to toast the health of SW '77 and maybe watch the OOT. You know, nothing too fancy. Depending on numbers, you could do it in somebody's lounge. You could still call it OOTCon!
Post
#252863
Topic
Good capture card?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252863/action/topic#252863
Time
This thread has also been of great interest to me. Thanks!

I've recently purchased a JVC S-VHS VCR. My intention is to capture my 1995 widescreen VHS tapes of the OOT so that I can produce my own dual-layer DVDs of them (until such time as Luca$hFilm release something better than my non-anamorphic versions, of course!).

I intend to purchase a desktop PC, which forms the next phase of my masterplan! I assume that most shop-bought desktops won't come with anything like the capture cards discussed as standard? Is 512Mb RAM sufficient or do you need at least 1024Mb? Is there a minimum clock speed I should be looking for on the processor? And what software would be best to use to capture the footage from my tapes and burn to dual-layer DVD with the least amount of quality losses possible?
Post
#252859
Topic
Is Lucas Remaking The PT?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252859/action/topic#252859
Time
Originally posted by: Scruffy
We're merely comparing the probability of him remaking the PT and the utility of speculation regarding the same to that of him getting a hoohaaplasty and/or pygmy marmosets flying out of his bum. I think that was very satisfactorially Bowdlerised. Let's see how it's received by the Moral Majority, however...Originally posted by: Scruffy
No one is questioning his skills as an artist, his dignity as a person, or his value as a warm, snug repository for pygmy marmosets.
Well said, Mr. Scruff!
Post
#252846
Topic
The Merits of the Prequel Trilogy and the "Saga"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252846/action/topic#252846
Time
Originally posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
Jedi are no more different from others who don't have as high a midi count than tall people are from people who are short.
This statement flies in the face of the facts. The larger the population of midichlorians in someone's body, the greater their potential as a Jedi. That is what the PT states, in no uncertain terms.
Post
#252838
Topic
The Merits of the Prequel Trilogy and the "Saga"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252838/action/topic#252838
Time
Originally posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
The Jedi are fundamentally against forming personal attatchments, but they do bear children here and there. Ki Adi Mundi for example has several children with several wives on his home planet, because there is such a low % of men compared to women and everyone has to "do their part" so to speak, or something like that. If a member of the Jedi Council can do that, then why can't any Jedi? Is Ki Adi Mundi expected to have no attacment to his offspring? Is that why Mannequin had to be so secretive?
Originally posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
Also there is the idea that hereditary traits could skip a generation as well, resulting in a non Jedi candidate to bear a jedi candidate. You're referring to exactly the same thing as the recessive traits I was talking about and, as I said, I don't think the evidence supports it.Originally posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
If anything, I think the Midichlorian concept serves to make the Force -less- hereditary. Before Luke was strong in the force simply because he was Anakin's son. Now it's more specifically, because he (like his father) had a strong predisposition to use the Force.
These two sentances both mean the same thing - that it is hereditary.Originally posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
Now with the Midichlorian concept, it's not that they are fundamentally different from the other beings in the galaxy, they just have an easier time tapping into the Force.
If they have an easier time tapping into the Force due to a hereditary trait then it does mean that they are fundamentally different from the other beings in the galaxy.
Post
#252837
Topic
The Return of Six Degrees of Star Wars
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252837/action/topic#252837
Time
All Six Degrees:

Trey Parker (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, 1999) Eric Idle (Monty Python And The Holy Grail, 1975) John Cleese (A Fish Called Wanda, 1988) Jamie Lee Curtis (True Lies, 1994) Bill Paxton (Weird Science, 1985) Robert Downey Jr. (Bowfinger, 1999) Terence Stamp - Chancellor Valorum

I couldn't find anything quicker than Two Degrees:

Trey Parker (BASEketball, 1998) Robert Vaughan (The Mind Of Mr Soames, 1970) Terence Stamp - Chancellor Velorum... er... again!!

Happy Birthday, Joan Fontaine!
Post
#252825
Topic
What did the Prequel Trilogy need?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252825/action/topic#252825
Time
Originally posted by: JamesEightBitStar
... ideas are made of the most elastic rubber in the universe ...
Well said, sir!

I'm glad that we all want to invest in this idea so that it actually happens, rather than just fizzling out!

I had a new idea, which I'm quite proud of actually, and I wondered what you guys would think of it:

Darth Vader becomes a Sith Lord after having been an apprentice Jedi. I got to thinking - what would the other Sith Lords think of him? Maybe it would be interesting to show Darth Vader as a lonely figure who has turned his back on the Jedi order only to be ostracised by the Sith Lords because he's an ex-Jedi. Maybe that could be a reason for Vader being stuck out in the Outer Rim dealing with the Rebels, rather than with the Emperor at the heart of power. It would provide a good basis for Vader becoming interested in Luke and eventually deciding to defy the Emperor. It also puts an interesting complexion on Tarkin's line: "You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion".

Any thoughts?
Post
#252822
Topic
The Merits of the Prequel Trilogy and the "Saga"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252822/action/topic#252822
Time
Originally posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
They may inherit the Mitochondria from the mother, but the concentration of mitochodria per cell could be another hereditary trait passed on by the father.
The reason that we now theorise that mitochondria, and chloroplasts as well, started out as unicellular organisms which other cells engulfed and, eventually, turned into intracellular bodies without any independence, is that both contain a circular strand of DNA. This is a trait of bacteria and totally different to the chromosomal DNA in nuclei. This circular DNA controls much of the reproduction and activity of these bodies. I have never seen any evidence that heredity has any hand in determining the numbers of mitochondria (or chloroplasts) in cells.

Numbers do vary according to the type of cell in question. For example, muscle tissue cells are rich in mitochondria, whereas red blood cells have none.

The claim in the PT is that midichlorians are symbiotes, not intracellular bodies. If I remember correctly, though, Qui-Gon does say that they are found inside cells, am I right?

Unless one comes up with an entirely new idea for how sexual reproduction occurs in the humans in the SW galaxy, then one must accept that cell contents are inherited from the mother. The only thing passed on from the father is his half of the child's genome. The midichlorians would come from the mother. These would then, presumably, reproduce and distribute themselves among the cells of the growing foetus as they divide and multiply.

Go-Mer-Tonic's theory would require that "Force-sensitive" beings (and particularly members of the Skywalker family) have some sort of hereditary trait that makes them a better habitat for the midichlorians, promoting the development of unusually large colonies of them in the body.

This theory encounters problems in the form of the Jedi's laws of celibacy. If no Jedi (or Sith?) have ever reproduced for "over a thousand generations", then the likelihood of this hereditary trait occuring spontaneously, by mutation, in multiple species regularly enough to allow for the order to survive by taking on new apprentices is extremely unlikely.

Even a recessive trait would eventually disappear over such a long time period if those showing the trait are always removed from the gene pool. One could argue that some of those with the trait may not be taken into the order, but the implication in TPM is that this is unlikely. Even if it did happen, over the time period given, I do not think that the evidence supports the theory.
Post
#252745
Topic
Is Lucas Remaking The PT?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252745/action/topic#252745
Time
Never, in fact, posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
If Lucas chooses to add such a scene to his movie, then so be it. It's his movie, after all.

I just can't understand all this hostility to what Lucas is trying to do. It seems to me that many O-OT fans are living with a terrible hatred for Lucas, despite the fact that he made the very movies they love. I just wish they could let go of their hate and all fans could get back together, like we used to be.

Lucas hasn't dropped the ball yet on any of the movies, be they O-OT, SE or PT, so if he wants to add in scenes of abortive, gender-altering surgery and simian infestations of the lower colon, then I think we should all be open-minded enough to see it from his point of view, that's all.
Post
#252670
Topic
What did the Prequel Trilogy need?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252670/action/topic#252670
Time
At present, my intentions are to write nine novels. I'm sorting out my concepts before attempting to write any chapters. Do you think a collaboration would be more productive? It could be a lot of fun. But it strikes me that there are some very different ideas being aired here which wouldn't co-exist as well as they could stand alone, you know?

I watched the OOT the other day (on my new S-VHS VCR - yay!) and it struck me that ESB has the best script of all three films. I was also struck by how much fault must be laid at ROTJ's door. The whole Anakin Skywalker = Darth Vader thing is only in ROTJ, Luke's sister = Leia is only in ROTJ, the musical numbers (the song that was replaced by 'Jedi Rocks' is actually pretty ropey to begin with) and burp jokes started in ROTJ. Off the back of that, I decided that I won't alter much, if anything, of ESB in my novelisation. It will be ROTJ that receives the most re-writing.
Post
#252291
Topic
The Merits of the Prequel Trilogy and the "Saga"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252291/action/topic#252291
Time
I prefer to think of the Force as being something which one must discipline oneself to feel and learn techniques to manipulate. I think it is more interesting if Jedi are no different to anyone else except that they have committed themselves to this path. It takes determination and disciplined training to become a Jedi Knight and takes a lifetime to become a Master. I find it less impressive if a person's potential is determined at birth.

Also, from a dramatic point of view, it makes Anakin almost impossible to portray, as he would have to demonstrate such superhuman ability at some point during the saga, that he would be more powerful than any other Jedi. I don't think that this was ever satisfactorially shown in any of the six episodes.
Post
#252244
Topic
The Merits of the Prequel Trilogy and the "Saga"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252244/action/topic#252244
Time
Originally posted by: zombie84
Most of those film lists are American ones/ Hollywood ones, ie AFI, so you don't have "foreign" films, which would result in an incredible different listing.
Yes, the AFI's list is clearly their top twenty American films. The BFI & Sight & Sound polled critics and directors from many different countries, not just the UK or USA. What is interesting is that, as they noted in the accompanying articles, despite this approach the results are dominated by US films. It is also interesting how close Vertigo came to beating Citizen Kane among the critics.

Star Wars was picked by Scott Rosenberg (critic, USA/Thailand), Roger Corman (director, USA) and Anurag Mehta (director, India).

Milos Forman (director, USA) picked American Graffiti.

Go here for a full, searchable report of all the people polled and what they picked.

I recommend looking up George Romero's top ten and comments - brilliant!
Post
#252086
Topic
The Merits of the Prequel Trilogy and the "Saga"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252086/action/topic#252086
Time
My issue is that I think that you may be confusing your favourite films with what are the best films. They are often two different things. My top ten favourites (at the moment) are:

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Star Wars (Original Theatrical Cut, 1977)
Planes, Trains And Automobiles (1987)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Shadowlands (1993)
Dead Man (1995)
Heat (1995)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Fight Club (1999)
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

These are ten films I could sit down and watch any time, no matter what mood I was in. Most of what I would call the best films I've ever seen do not qualify, as they are not so easy to watch.
Post
#251984
Topic
The Merits of the Prequel Trilogy and the "Saga"
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/251984/action/topic#251984
Time
Here's the sort of thing I take my lead from. It's not for everyone, I know, but if we're talking about quality and impact on cinema history, then who better to ask than these people?

In 2002, The film magazine Sight & Sound conducted their sixth ten-yearly poll of international critics and directors. They asked for a top ten from each of them and then compiled a top ten for each group based on number of votes.

The critics' top ten:

Citizen Kane (1941) - 46 votes
Vertigo (1958) - 41 votes
The Rules Of The Game (1939) - 30 votes
The Godfather & The Godfather: Part II (1972 / 74) - 23 votes
Tokyo Story (1953) - 22 votes
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - 21 votes
Battleship Potemkin (1925) - 19 votes
Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927) - 19 votes
8 1/2 (1963) - 18 votes
Singin' In The Rain (1951) - 17 votes 256

The directors' top ten:

Citizen Kane (1941) - 42 votes
The Godfather & The Godfather: Part 2 (1972 / 74) - 28 votes
8 1/2 (1963) - 19 votes
Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) - 16 votes
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1963) - 14 votes
Bicycle Thieves (1948) - 13 votes
Raging Bull (1980) - 13 votes
Vertigo (1958) - 13 votes
In The Woods (1950) - 12 votes
The Rules Of The Game (1939) - 12 votes
Seven Samurai (1954) - 12 votes

Critics' top ten directors:

Orson Welles - 69 votes
Alfred Hitchcock - 69 votes
Jean-Luc Godard - 43 votes
Jean Renoir - 40 votes
Stanley Kubrick - 39 votes
Kurosawa Akira - 38 votes
Federico Fellini - 36 votes
John Ford - 31 votes
Sergei Eisenstein - 30 votes
Francis Ford Coppola - 28 votes
Ozu Yasujiro - 28 votes

Directors' top ten directors:

Orson Welles - 52 votes
Federico Fellini - 50 votes
Kurosawa Akira - 39 votes
Francis Ford Coppola - 38 votes
Alfred Hitchcock - 35 votes
Stanley Kubrick - 34 votes
William Wilder - 33 votes
Ingmar Bergman - 28 votes
Martin Scorsese - 25 votes
David Lean - 23 votes
Jean Renoir - 23 votes
Post
#251854
Topic
What did the Prequel Trilogy need?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/251854/action/topic#251854
Time
I agree with you. The project I'm planning supposes that the Sith, not Stormtroopers, attack the Jedi. Either way, I think one must conclude that Yoda and Ben are not the only Jedi to survive, hence my post just before yours.

In fact, an earlier idea for a novel was following a Jedi marooned on a primitive world around the time that Ben is retiring to Tatooine.