canofhumdingers

OMG. WOW!!! I’m speechless. Poita, did anyone ever sort out a way to donate without the insane paypal fees?

Tobar said:

Evidence B. is that car that crashes through the destroyer bridge in ROTJ.

Wait, what?

trimboNZ said:

canofhumdingers said:

They even made a toy of the ROTS Falcon.

Did they reverse the dish just for this model, or is it poseable?

It can be spun 360 degrees at the base.

Duly noted, I should’ve thought about the screen ratio of my iPad before I said anything.

So… Is the source for those clips of Luke and Vader dueling in Cloud City unique? It doesn’t look like the grindhouse or the copy of dreamastered v2 (which is just the grindhouse cleaned up) that I’ve got…? What other 35mm source is out there?

Hmm, maybe so. I was watching it in VLC on my iPad so perhaps it wasn’t displaying quite properly. For one, my iPad (like most, or all?)is actually a 4x3 screen when in landscape. So when watching it, the scope shots filled the width of the screen but were letterboxed. The academy ratio shots were windowboxed with black on all four sides and a tiny image.

For my purposes I just zoomed in so the 4x3 image filled the screen and the scope shots were cropped (which probably pretty closely recreated the original viewing experience anyway).

I wasn’t able to get it to play directly from google on my tv, so I don’t know how it actually looks on a 16x9 screen… (speaking of, is there a guide somewhere for converting mp4 to an AVCHD disc compatible file so I can burn a copy of this?)

Wow, this was so incredibly cool! Thank you for preserving this Harmy, I’d never heard of it. It was incredible to see exactly how matte paintings worked (I always wondered how exactly they composited in the live action pieces into this black holes…). And seeing how an optical printer works in such detail was just wonderful. Wonderful. I’ve read about how optical printing worked and had a pretty good idea of the process, but there is just no comparison to actually seeing it demonstrated first hand. What a spectacular treasure trove of information!

I have to know, what was your source for the ESB clips of Luke and Vader dueling? It looks better than any copy I’ve obtained…

Also, not that I’m asking you to do this (you’ve already done so much and I’m eternally grateful for your efforts), but if you were to revisit this doc one more time… I wouldn’t be opposed to a “16x9” version made specifically to conform to today’s tv standards. As in, rather than window boxing the 4x3 material, use the maximum available screen real estate for each image. So the CinemaScope images would be letter boxed but use the full width of the screen; and the academy ratio stuff would be pillarboxed, but use the full height of the screen. That way each image would be as large as it can on today’s standard 16x9 screens without cropping anything. Sure you’d have a shifting aspect ratio, but the doc as is already has that anyway…

But regardless, amazing work as always and THANK YOU for making this available! Easily one of the coolest Sfx docs I’ve ever seen!

For me it’s the second worse. AOTC is just totally unsalvageable and is the absolute low of the franchise. ROTS is a little better. I’ll agree, of the PT, it probably has the best “character work” as you put it. But what really kills the film for me is the absolutely terrible handling of Anakin’s motivations for turning to the Dark Side, the very fast actual turn and embrace of it, and him murdering children. Follow that with the way the film totally craps all over continuity with the OT and I just can’t find any real enjoyment in it.

I find TPM to be the most bearable prequel but a lot of that is because it looks the most like a Star Wars film and it’s so far removed from the OT that I have an easier time overlooking its inconsistent continuity. Also, I actually like Qui-gon and Darth Maul (as much of a wasted character as he was). I also have a little nostalgia for TPM with the marketing and the build up and excitement for new Star Wars (I remember cutting class early to stand in line for tickets! I was in high school at the time). By the time AOTC came out, reality had sunk in. And with ROTS, I was just hoping it would at least kinda stick the landing. But it didn’t.

Jedit:
I don’t know why but I feel the need to point out I’ve not watched any of the PT in well over a decade. The closest thing I’ve done is read Darths and Droids and watch the Auralnauts’ edits on YouTube. And honestly, that’s how I prefer my exposure to the PT to remain: as parody. Those are genuinely entertaining and fun. Something that cannot be said of the PT in its purer form.

They even made a toy of the ROTS Falcon.

Yeah, I tried to send something thru paypal a few weeks ago and the fees were insane, so I haven’t followed through on it yet…

Well, a stunt prop is just that. It’s for stunts, long shots where the detail can’t be seen anyway, and scenes where the more detailed, expensive, and fragile hero prop might get damaged.

Article says it’s mostly wood. It’s probably a stunt prop and not a hero prop.

I know a lot of the stunt stormtrooper rifles were casts (not sure what material, probably plastic or some type of foam rubber) of the original props.

LexX said:

Has there been mentioned anywhere why DS II is always showed in the same angle in ROTJ? They built the full model but in every full shot it’s always exactly the same position. Did they even have video of it or is it just a single shot in front of a blue screen?

It’s not always shown from exactly the same angle…

Also, did you know all shots of the model are flipped in the film? The unfinished construction is actually on the other side.

Christopher Nolan still uses quite a few practical effects in his movies.

The Dark Knight Trilogy and Interstellar used quite a few large miniatures. Heck, the new Star Wars films all make pretty heavy use of practical creature effects. CGI is almost certainly used as a crutch too often, but practical effects aren’t dead yet.

As for the last GREAT practical effects film? I just don’t know. Based on the examples above, I think they’re still making them!

That was a fun read. I’ve been amazed at how well the new guy has been able to portray the character of Chewbacca. I honestly can’t tell the difference between him and Peter Mayhew when they’re onscreen. I remember an anecdote from filming ESB when Mayhew was out sick for a few days. They hired a stand in to fill the suit so they could continue filming. When they got the dailies back, they had to scrap all the footage because it was so obviously NOT Chewbacca! All that’s to say what a great job I think the Suotamo is doing.

I got to meet Peter Mayhew (and get his autograph) about 10 years ago at SDCC which was really cool. He was very affable and entertaining. I hope I can likewise meet Joonas Suotamo at a con someday. He seems like a genuinely nice guy too.

Man, that’s really cool news. I will ALWAYS cherish and seek out fan 35mm preservations. But if we FINALLY get an OFFICIAL quality restoration and release of the OOT that will be something great indeed! These films need to be out there for general audiences to see; not just the obsessive enough, hardcore enough, technically savvy enough of us to hunt down things like 4K77.

If this comes to fruition, I think it will be REALLY interesting to see whether I personally prefer the official release or the fan preservations. But having these officially available again would just be so nice!

Here’s hoping this comes to fruition!

I think he’s referring to a special issue of a magazine or comic book? Maybe even a special edition of Star Wars weekly?

Mocata said:

Visually it was very washed out, but no more than Rogue One. It’s like their official spinoff grading I guess. Not sure how it replicates the style of the first movie but whatever.

What? R1 washed out? Say what you will about the story or characters but come on! R1 is a flipping gorgeous movie to look at with fantastic cinematography and lighting!

I don’t see how, if “Darth” is a title, calling him “Lord Darth Vader” is any different than saying “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II” or “His Royal Highness Prince William”.

There’s lots of silly formalities out there (many of them British, lol) where people are referred to by multiple titles in one go. Why can’t Star Wars have that?

SilverWook said:

I thought there were and they did?

JEDIT:Artoo’s panels are still black in the DS battle, but I always thought they turned black when in outer space for some reason.

And dead Artoo still has black panels when Luke returns to the base, supporting my theory. 😉

There must be a reason the Y-wings don’t have R2 units? Even the Kenner die cast toy has one.

I swear photos I’ve seen of the original models have them, but they could have been added later?

The design of the Y-Wing cockpits would make it impossible to see the R2 units behind the pilot even if they were there.

Huh, I can’t believe I’ve never noticed the empty droid sockets in that shot. The models DID have droids in the sockets, and just doing a quick look at the copy I have on my iPad I was able to find this:

So I’m not sure why the models would have them sometimes and not others. Unless maybe they didn’t build as many droids as they did ships and they were swapping the droids from model to model and just forgot sometimes?

Ha, I think Chirrut, Baze, and K2 are the best characters (ok, and Krennic). It’s mostly Jyn and a little bit Cassian that I thought fell flat initially. Though with repeat viewings I’ve come to like them as well.

But Baze and Chirrut are easily my favorite characters from R1 and I wish we could have gotten more of them (still need to get their little novel). Heck, they’re some of my favorite characters from all the new Disney era films period!

Yeah, in the crime-boss-with-vertical-face-scars guy’s penthouse or office or whatever it was. You know how he had all that stuff (armor, weapons, artifacts, etc) on display? On one table, tucked in amongst other statues and sculptures was the fertility idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

That was actually an Easter egg I liked. As well as the skull from the cover Han Solo and the Lost Legacy (also in that guy’s collection).

One other issue I had with the movie was all the callbacks/references/winks to the fans/fan service/whatever you want to call it.

It’s not that I dislike that kind of thing (I actually enjoy it if it’s clever or subtle or funny and used sparringly). The problem I had was the sheer volume of it in this movie. It was CONSTANTLY putting stuff in there going, “Hey! Remember when Han said moof milker in TFA? Remember when 3PO complained about the falcon dialect? Remember that crappy PlayStation game? Remember that novel? Remember that other adventure movie starring the actor who used to play Han? Remember this? Remember that?” It was just really distracting and kept pulling me out of the movie over and over. It didn’t help that many of them weren’t subtle or particularly clever

I have hope that it won’t bother me on subsequent viewings, but man was it distracting the first time through which made it harder to just enjoy the new movie in its own right.

And Darth Maul SUCKED. I’m still not over that piece of garbage ripping me out of the film right at the finale.

oojason said:

Mate, please keep any personal comments about fellow members out of the thread - thank you.

My apologies.