canofhumdingers

User Group: Members
Join date: 7-May-2005
Last activity: 25-Sep-2023
Posts: 1,285

Post History

Post: #301608
Topic: A New Thought on George
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/301608/action/topic#301608
Time: 19-Nov-2007 6:02 PM

many people, myself included, have been saying this same thing for years

Post: #300662
Topic: real life jedi academy
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/300662/action/topic#300662
Time: 5-Nov-2007 9:01 PM

haha! it's ok, you can admit to being a nerd, it's not the end of the world. i mean really, whos the more nerdy? the nerd, or the nerd who discusses nerds on internet forums?

Besides, it's quite clear you're not the only person in the world who's made a lightsaber fight choreography (& most likely far from being the nerdiest). But i would question why you felt the need to defend yourself so strongly about it when no one even directly addressed you as a nerd....

I still stand by my statement that these people are nerds. & good for them. i don't care for their particular brand of nerdery (& i woefully disdain their "swordfighting" techniques, if you can even call them that) , but i certainly have my own nerdery that many would argue easily competes with these people's.

oh yeah, regarding how they don't "look" star warsy to me, after showing my wife the video, she said, "it doesn't even look like star wars! all i saw were star whores!" heheh.

Post: #300649
Topic: real life jedi academy
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/300649/action/topic#300649
Time: 5-Nov-2007 7:09 PM

glad to see people are enjoying this. personally, i'd say they're big nerds. But then, so am i. I used to go to a swing dance club in high school. Everyone there would dress up too so it's somewhat similar i guess.

there is an aspect i'm not a big fan of, however. I seriously hope that these people don't think that they are really learning to fight. I know it sounds ridiculous, but i've met too many people who think they have real combat skills b/c they've joined some sort of club similar to this (such as some of those medieval "re-enactment" groups). I took olympic style fencing lessons for a few years in college & have been taking Kendo (japanese fencing) for over a year now. I guess i'm somewhat prejudiced when i see people who "sword fight" but clearly have no training in anything that even resembles actual sword combat techniques. I'm by no means an expert on sword fighting, & i dont kid myself into thinking fencing or kendo are real sword combat (as in "to be used on an actual battlefield"). But, they are sports derived from actual sword techniques that were designed to kill real people. So, they do have some practicality & history that give practitioners some understanding of what actual sword combat would be like (i.e. what would work, & what would just get you killed quicker). I guess it makes me cringe sometimes to see people "playing sword fighting", especially if (as i'm sure some of these people might) they have any interest in actually taking fencing, kendo, etc. as this will develop some really bad habits that will be hard to break if they begin taking real lessons (again, i've seen it happen to a guy).

Not to mention that when i look at those people, i don't see star wars. I see gothic comic book super heroes.... but i digress.

All in all, i'm sure it's fun (heck, i can't deny swinging around my master replicas lightsaber from time to time), but at the same time it makes me cringe a little inside...

Post: #300553
Topic: real life jedi academy
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/300553/action/topic#300553
Time: 4-Nov-2007 7:30 PM

i'll post my own thoughts on this after some others have chimed in. have fun!

New York Jedi Academy (abc news video)

Post: #297988
Topic: Some questions concerning Bruce Lee's movies (aficionados needed!)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/297988/action/topic#297988
Time: 28-Sep-2007 6:30 PM

just fyi, region hackable dvd players are dirt cheap. the Cyberhome brand that has been sold at most major retailers (has been found anywhere from $50 to as cheap as $30) is well known for being easily hacked. Not only that, the cyberhomes do PAL to NTSC conversion very well. I've had one that i got for about $40 for 3 years & it works great! You might not even have to buy a new player. MANY (i'd almost say most) dvd players are region hackable. just google "dvd region hacks" & you'll find plenty of websites where you can look up your specific model number & see if there's a hack, & how well it handles multiple regions & PAL conversion.

Oh, just in case you're wondering, the "hack" is usually nothing more than a special code that you punch in with the remote (mine was just four digits followed by the "enter" button). this will bring up a menu where you have the option of choosing which region. to play all regions simply select region "0". That's not always how it works, but that seems to be the most common way of hacking players.

Post: #295280
Topic: Who got their membership pkg and "letter" from George Lucas?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/295280/action/topic#295280
Time: 14-Aug-2007 9:09 PM

this may come as a shocker to some of you guys asking about the "letterboxed" bluray stuff.... any movie you have on standard dvd that is anamorphic, but wider than 16x9, is also letterboxed. it's just not letterboxed AS MUCH as a non anamorphic dvd... So, the bluray stuff being "letterboxed" is really no different than the way they do standard anamorphic dvds....

Post: #294642
Topic: I say forget the OOT on DVD, lets target HD-DVD/Blue Ray Now
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/294642/action/topic#294642
Time: 5-Aug-2007 9:29 AM

Originally posted by: Fang Zei
DVD's have sorta been ruined for me ever since I found out about how NTSC transfers run a 24 frame per second movie at 23.976 frames per second. Yes, I know it's next to nothing, but now that I know it's there it'll bother me.

Please tell me you're kidding.... I just did the math out of curiosity, & that means that an 2 hr movie on NTSC DVD plays at 0.1% faster than it "should"..... Thats one TENTH of one percent.... I can't imagine what you must think of PAL, with it's 4% speedup... (or, a speedup that is forty times that of NTSC, which is stilll unnoticable by many people...)

Post: #291116
Topic: 30th Anniversary - Empire Magazine
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/291116/action/topic#291116
Time: 24-Jun-2007 8:20 AM

not to derail the topic, but isn't the quote "more wealth than you can imagine"? I thought it was "well" for a long time, until i realized that wealth made much more sense in context. I guess i could go drag my copy of the script out & see for myself, but i'm at work right now...

Post: #291041
Topic: MECO's rare ESB 10" record (Released)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/291041/action/topic#291041
Time: 23-Jun-2007 8:45 AM

i'd never heard the Meco ESB recordings til i DL'ed these a few weeks ago (heck, i'd never even heard of them, just the first ones from Star Wars). Anyway, i was in Toys R Us yesterday & guess what was playing over the speakers in the boys' toys section? The Meco ESB songs!! I thought that was pretty cool.

Post: #289985
Topic: Your first words of reaction after watching one of the PT movies for the first time.
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/289985/action/topic#289985
Time: 11-Jun-2007 3:30 PM

i haven't heard of this either, & it sounded interesting 'til i got to this:

4. Re-rotoscoped all lasers to closer match the PT

& then, i stopped reading after these:

8. Added blinking lights to Vader's chest plate
9. Vader's eyes recoloured to remove the red tint.

See, imo, that's exactly one of lucas's major problems. Going back & changing what was presented to the audience first to match what was presented later.... It's should be that things presented later either match with what cam before, or there's a resonable explanation for the change. As an example, Vader could easily go through multiple suits, that get upgraded over time, which explains the differences in his costume throughout the OOT. In ROTS, i really expected to see a proto-vader that was totally new. maybe something more resembling some of McQuarries original preproduction art. Something that would very clearly evolve into the vader suit we see in ANH, but something not quite there yet. more primitive. Instead we got what was essentially the most refined (in terms of sheer production quality) costume of any of the films, which makes no sense in chronological order of the stories.... Oddly enough, while it may have been the most refined, symmetrical suit; it totally lacked the soul of the oot suits...

Post: #289792
Topic: Your first words of reaction after watching one of the PT movies for the first time.
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/289792/action/topic#289792
Time: 9-Jun-2007 11:11 AM

After TPM: "woah, that lightsaber fight was awesome!" (as i've discussed before, i really can't stand the lightsaber fights in the prequels now b/c i've actually studied european and japanese fencing. At least the OT tried to resemble actual swordfighting).

After AOTC: "I hated it." (that actually an exact quote. the very first words out of my mouth to my friend in the theater beside me)

ROTS: "well, it was better than ATOC"

Post: #289477
Topic: What about the slaves?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/289477/action/topic#289477
Time: 7-Jun-2007 11:30 AM

^^^^
which makes the galaxy celebration at the end of ROTJ:SE all the more ridiculous. Especially the scene where coruscant is shown, complete with people tearing down the emperor's statue... most of those people wouldn't even know yet & i'm sure most wouldn't be happy as they'd likely all be corrupt & loyal to the empire anyway. Unless that scene is supposed to take place months or years later... & why the heck would tatooine be celebrating?! it's controlled by gangsters, not the republic or the empire...

It worked so much better with just the rebels celebrating with the ewoks....

Post: #288825
Topic: So, um... no new DVD's announced this year?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/288825/action/topic#288825
Time: 2-Jun-2007 4:14 AM

i have a phillips 30 inch 16x9 tube HDTV & standard dvds on it look awesome. Cable can be hit or miss both on SD & HD channels. A lot of that has to do with the compression of the signal though... but most channels look quite good. one big factor is whether the channels are digital or not. I have digital cable, but in my area, not all channels are digital yet & those that aren't look notably worse. However, nothing looks terrible. & as i said most looks very nice.

I have had one problem with it though, & that's been edge ghosting. It can be pretty annoying at times. I think the tv just needs a good professional calibration, but Circuit City has been no help there. I have a 3 year service plan & have made 3 attempts to get it fixed & nothing's been done. The first company they sent, the repair guy was very uneducated about his profession. I had done my research & knew the right questions to ask & he couldn't answer any of them. He told me that edge ghosting was normal & all HDTVs do that unless it's showing an HD signal. Needless to say, nothing got fixed. The second repair company never showed up, & now i'm on the third. They've been nice over the phone, but they haven't come out to the house yet. they were going to, but said they talked to phillips technical support, who told them that replacing a certain part would fix the problem. so, they canceled the house call, ordered the part & said they'd contact me when it came in to set up an in home repair visit. well, it's been 2 weeks & i haven't heard back..... I'm about ready to give CC customer service a piece of my mind about the companies they contract for tv repair.... Which is sad b/c when i bought the tv, i was very happy with CC as they price matched it with walmart & then gave me a discount on top of that, saving me almost $200 altogether.

Post: #288810
Topic: So, um... no new DVD's announced this year?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/288810/action/topic#288810
Time: 1-Jun-2007 10:29 PM

Originally posted by: SilverWook
Mielr, did your niece buy a EDTV by accident?(Extended Definition, which isn't true HD and looks like crap in every store model I've seen.) Most current HDTV sets should be able to upscale DVD nicely. Having a progressive player hooked up properly helps too. Most cable systems are using overcompressed crappy signals to begin with.

Actually, EDTV means "enhanced" definition. Also, as many have pointed out before, almost all tvs look like crap when you pull them out of the box. They have to be properly calibrated. Perhaps that's the problem with this LCD? (FWIW, i've never seen an LCD tv that i thought looked very good, picture quality wise.)

Post: #286666
Topic: George Lucas calls Spiderman 3 'silly'
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/286666/action/topic#286666
Time: 15-May-2007 6:20 AM

darn... any chance there's a youtube link of it?

Post: #284940
Topic: Original theatrical trailer from 1977 (wanted)
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/284940/action/topic#284940
Time: 30-Apr-2007 5:38 PM

that trailer's also on the Definitive Collection laserdisc, in the event (lik eme) you don't want to support the SE's......

Post: #284665
Topic: Offical Holiday Special Figure!
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/284665/action/topic#284665
Time: 28-Apr-2007 9:29 AM

Originally posted by: lordjediAt least it's not just a repaint.

Actually, the Holiday Special Boba Fett is a repaint of 2004's Vintage Original Trilogy Collection Boba Fett from ROTJ. It is a really nice figure though, so it's not so bad. If you guys like the McQuarrie concept vader, you might be interested to know that there's a whole line of McQuarrie based concept figures coming out this year including the aformentioned luke, a really neat Boba Fett (all white, & NOT just a repaint), Chewbacca & Han, a convention exclusive two pack of R2 & 3PO, & more. You can find more info at any number of star wars action figure websites.

Post: #278309
Topic: The Secret History of Star Wars
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/278309/action/topic#278309
Time: 20-Mar-2007 2:51 AM

I've only just begun reading this, but what i've read so far is great. A true shame that you might never get to publish it, b/c it certainly deserves to be in print.

Post: #277641
Topic: R2 goes postal!!
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/277641/action/topic#277641
Time: 16-Mar-2007 4:52 AM

if you collect that, you're likely to wind up in federal pound-me-in-the-butt prison.... Would be neat to have though.

Post: #277206
Topic: What were your original expectations for the PT?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/277206/action/topic#277206
Time: 13-Mar-2007 10:50 PM

I was hoping to see Anakin & Ben Kenobi portrayed as great friends that get torn apart by their diverging reactions to the war around them. I imagined the final duel to take place on top of a volcano. I imagined (& hoped) the clones would be real Mandalorians in mandalorian armor. I imagined that the clone wars would be about the Mandalorian warrior race trying to conquer the republic. B/c they come from only one planet, they clone themselves in order to have a large enough army to take on the Republic. I imagined the Republic, with no standing army, relied on the Jedi & volunteer forces from various planets to fight the Mandalorians. When these proved unsuccessful, i imagined the Republic resorting to the controversial tactic of cloning the Jedi to combat the Mandalorians. This would begin tearing apart both the Republic & the Jedi order due to the strong reactions regarding the ethics of all this. The cloning Jedi thing would've tied in nicely the the whole C'baoth thing from the Thrawn trilogy, which i had just read at the time. I also remember reading something somewhere suggesting that Obi-wan might actually be "OB1" which stood for "Old Ben 1", inferring that the Ben Kenobi who teaches Luke might actually be the first clone of ben kenobi left over from the clone wars. I thought it would be really cool if the new trilogy addressed that possibility, but left it open-ended so that we never know for sure whether we're watching a clone or the real mccoy in A New Hope. I of course, assumed the Emperor would play a major part & use the events around him to rise to power. I also imagined it would look & feel like the classic trilogy & blend seemlessly together, visually speaking. I hoped they would use practical effects, makeup, puppets, and model work whenever possible, & treat CGI as a last resort for the most difficult effects. I hoped GL would only direct the first one as he had originally planned.

Looking back, i still wish we had gotten most of those things instead of what we did (maybe with the exception of Obi-wan in ANH possibly being a clone...)

Post: #277171
Topic: The Best Star Wars Books?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/277171/action/topic#277171
Time: 13-Mar-2007 8:11 PM

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0345394429.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Some of the best Star Wars novels out there collected into one nice little package. Plus, they do a better job of capturing the Star Wars "feel" than any others IMO, b/c they were written while the OT was still being made. Back when Star Wars was still fresh (& good).

Post: #275083
Topic: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/275083/action/topic#275083
Time: 3-Mar-2007 8:53 PM

i agree with most o f the opinions here. FU looks way too over the top & very un Star Wars-ish. What made the force so cool back in the day was its SUBTLETY, a word lost on the masses of today it seems. Ben Kenobi fooled stormtroopers with a wave of his fingers. Vader choked people across the vastness of space & hurled heavy objects at Luke without moving a muscle. Luke saw visions of the future and demonstrated super human (but still within the realm of believability) jumps & reflexes. There was no excessive flourish (which, having studied several forms of swordfighting, i've quickly learned flourish in combat just gets you killed faster) & there were no fancy colored "auras" or "halos" or "energy blasts". Personally, i think Jedi Knight & Jedi Outcast came the closest to capturing the proper "feel" of the force for a video game.

Post: #275078
Topic: To those who own the OOT Sept Release & an HDTV
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/275078/action/topic#275078
Time: 3-Mar-2007 8:33 PM

back ot the original question:

I have a 30" widescreen HDTV. It's not any of the new technologies, but a more traditional picture tube, which delivers a great picture. Before the GOUT, i was watching my DC laserdiscs on the tv, using the tv's zoom feature. they weren't perfect, but were more than watchable. Now, with the GOUT, the picture has a bit more detail & i'm not having to change discs twice for each movie. So, they were a step up from what i had been using. Unfortunately my dvd player doesn't have the proper "letterbox" zoom option that corrects the subtitle position, but they were always being cut off on my laserdisc anyway, so no change there. I was happy with & had come to accept my laserdiscs as the "final" version i'd ever have (until the X0 comes out...) so the GOUT was an unexpected & welcomed surprise. While it's far from perfect, i could live with the GOUT quality & my hdtv & be happy* if it was never released again. Though i might eventually convert them to anamorphic for the sake of not having to zoom & getting the subtitles in the correct position some day.

That being said, it's still incredibly frustrating and unfortunate the way Lucasfilm has decided to treat the OOT & that the GOUT is the best official quality of what are arguably the most popular & successful films ever made. But, i can't do anymore to change lucasfilms hearts. I've voiced my opinion in multiple ways to them &, like they've done with all of us, they've ignored it. However, i'm able to seperate my frustration & anger with the company from my enjoyment of the films & can happily sit down, hit the zoom button, & escape to a galaxy far, far away. Even if that galaxy's non anamorphic & a bit grainy.

*happy watching what i have, not happy that this substandard treatment was the best we ever got

Post: #273844
Topic: Chefelf's Nitpicker's guide to Star Wars
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/273844/action/topic#273844
Time: 26-Feb-2007 5:41 AM

With yet more of Lucas's new grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-shake-you-violently film philosophy, we are treated to an extended scene of Oola in the rancor's pit.

That made me laugh. A lot.

Post: #272401
Topic: What if the OOT was made Public Domain?
Link: https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/272401/action/topic#272401
Time: 17-Feb-2007 8:36 AM

actually, if they're public domain, you CAN sell them for profit. that's why there's some older movies that have twenty different releases out from 20 different companies (see Fritz Lang's Metropolis....)

That being said, George would never let this happen while he's able to b/c we all know how anal Lucasfilm can be about anyone else making a profit off their properties.... (of course, that's not necessarily wrong of them, since it IS their property...)