captainsolo

These are throwbacks to a lost age: sci-fi swashbucklers. With this in mind, film the Han Solo Adventures.

Mielr said:

Octorox said:

I have a theory that the reason for the extreme coloring on the 04 DVDs may have been to make the films look truer to Ralph McQuarrie's original art. Take a look at some McQuarrie art, all which has the blue cast which can be seen prominently on the 04 dvds. I'm not defending the coloring, just pointing out a probable cause.

It's an interesting theory (and sharp of you to notice that in the McQuarrie art), but I think you're giving Lucas too much credit. I think his days of doing anything for artistic reasons are long gone. :-P

I'm hearing Lowry has done a fantastic job on the new James Bond blu-rays - I wonder how they managed to do such a botched job on the '04 SW dvds (assuming it wasn't deliberate). I've heard various theories - I wonder if Lucas really requested that "look" for the dvds?

The Bond films have been meticulously restored to their original glory by Lowry. That's it. Lowry restored the OT and Indy. Nothing else. Lucasfilm then took the OT and desecrated it.

It would be nice to think that the color correction on these discs was actually some type of creative decision, but it still makes me want to puke.

Its got to be B for me. Yub Nub is charming, but never seemed to fit the end of ROTJ. The new music just feels right.

This means that the EU can be good again! Zahn previously said that Allegiance would be his last SW novel. This will be worth the wait.

As for me, I had high hopes for Shadows of Mindor and was disappointed.

Long live Han Solo at Star's End!

I never got that. If Mace is delving into the dark side, why doesn't anybody else care? There are some other instances of jedi "delving into dark side techniques"-even Dooku snuck into the archives to study Sith Holocrons. Does any jedi actually heed their own teaching to "mind your surroundings"?

The novelization is the best part of ROTS-Stover really gets these characters: read Shatterpoint for more.

Anakin in the books is a much more believable and likeable character. The Clone Wars Anakin exists to drive the plot forward and is devoid of any and all real emotion or thought-just like the cartoon itself.

The books really make the prequels seem as if they might be connected to the OT. All three novels are light years ahead of the films and are my preferred way to reexperience I/II/ and III.

THX-1138 is fantastic. Lucas was a visionary director, and ANH is well directed for what it is-despite "faster and more intense". Kershner was able to direct the actors in a way that Lucas never could, and Kasdan infused new life into the script. I have nothing against George but the prequels and the OT fiascos are really pissing me off. At least we can remember the George Lucas who made the phenominal THX-1138.

THX-1138 was made by the same guy who made AOTC? HOW IN THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN??

I too have recntly come back to the prequels after years of disowning them. While TPM is bad at least it works as a film in its own right. AOTC is a near atrocity. I wince in almost every scene Anakin appears and has any dialogue! What I wondered was: what does Dooku have in mind if Obi-Wan joins him-he's now a Sith so why would he destroy them? On top of that, if the Separatists supposedly designed the Death Star-wouldn't that undermine the story of Maw Installation and render parts of the EU null and void?

AOTC would have been a great film if it had been nothing but Obi-Wan and Dooku-how the hell did they get Christopher Lee to be in this mess? His scenes are the only high point, and he maimed Hayden Christensen-at least he still has some sense!

Jango Fett is retarded! Boba Fett is not some little retarded clone! Long live Mandalorians! Why couldn't the novel Shatterpoint be a film? It is leagues above this absolute heap of bantha fodder!

Am going on to ROTS next, hopefully it isn't as bad as I remember.

These prequels made me give up SW for some time-until I discovered the GOUTS!

That cantina scene was almost surreal. There are instances of the final dialogue with completely different lines etc. That just goes to show all of the editing brilliance that went into the original film. There must have been a mountain of fottage to worm through. The Greedo scene has completely new angles-even closeups of Greedo! why didn't George utilize some of this cut footage when he redid things for the SE in stead of just manipulating existing frames?

Gotta love that one British guy voicing all of the minor characters.....Now with Michael Caine as Princess Leia!

I agree with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan-absolutely perfect. Mace Windu is strong enough to warrant deeper stories. Other than that, nothing from the prequels save for Duel of the Fates.

Sequels to the OT would have to be far along in the EU if the original actors are used. There can be no Heir to the Empire etc. because that passed long ago. With the current shift in moviegoer taste, it might be prevelent to do a film version of the NJO. (Can't believe I said that.)

On the Episode I Bonus DVD, the doumentaries have references to the OT complete with the OT footage. What does this come from? This must mean that masters exist somehow-unless these are the 97 masters.

ROTJ bad points:

Han is a giant wimp.

Vader is a giant wimp and is a tethered guard dog: VADER? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE?
YOU'D THINK BEING EMPEROR WOULD ALLOW FOR A LATTE BUT NOOOO!

The "final epic" father-son battle is over in a flash- anti-climactic as hell: what happened to Bespin?

The Emperor just sits and gloats.

The ewoks are too tribal and magically set up traps in a matter of moments to stop Imperials.

Chewie has a Tarzan yell.

Leia does relatively nothing but sit around-she shoots a couple of guys, strangles Jabba, and crashes a speeder bike-that's about it.

The Imperial troops on Endor are pathetically stupid.

Lando flies the Falcon in the Battle of Endor!

Boba Fett "dies" like a fool.

Han is blind in the beginning.

Luke's planning skills need work.

Script needed lots of work.

direction could have been light-years ahead.

"He's my brother." "Oh."

The final scene of Star Wars is beyond comprehension of lame! Oh look, I'm Lando-I'm just gonna stand here and clap awkwardly...woo I'm so great!

Good points:

Lando hitting head in close-up.

Palpy's taunts.

Luke having a tantrum and thrashing Vader.

Luke voluntarily surrendering.

Luke has a damaged mechanical hand in a black glove.

Luke in black.

Luke uses force grip on Gammoreans.

Luke getting pissed at Ben.

Jabba gets owned.

The slave outfit-there are you happy? I said it.

Vader's death.

Yoda's death.

Ben and Yoda joined by older Anakin in the force as they stare at Luke.

C3PO's Revenge!

Papaloo on the speeder bike!

I could keep on with good and bad points.

The best shot of the film: Luke setting an ember to his father's armor as the Binary sunset theme begins to wail up in the background. The film should have ended with this and the last shot would have been Luke standing in front of the flames. Oh, that would have been Irvin Kirshner making an actual film about characters instead of this uninspired mediocrity.

Jedi is not a bad movie, but it is disappointing to encounter after the escapism of ANH and the force of ESB. It is painfully obvious that more time could have been used in preproduction, a better director could have been used, and that this one was for the kiddies. I lament for what could have been a true fitting end to the Star Wars Trilogy, but my complaints are only out of nitpicking love for these films.

ROTJ gets a hard time because of the change in tone. It really isn't that bad. Keep in mind: it's not a prequel despite what George would like you to think! TPM works as a film on its own. In the SW universe, it does leave much to be desired. (Damn midiclhorians!) However it isn't terrible. (Except for the damn midichlorians!) AOTC is absolutely unforgivable. ROTS is tedium save for Ewan McGregor channeling Sir Alec Guinness.

Likes:

SW in theaters-the way it was meant to be seen.

The 1977 ANH

The 1980 and 97 ESB

The 1983 and 97 ROTJ (except for freakin Jedi Rocks-arrgh!)

IV, V, and VI soundtracks.

Kenner toys-especially Power of the Force 2 series action figures and vehicles.

The old Star Wars Insider

Ben's original Krayt dragon call.

The Han Solo Adventures- (Star's End/Revenge/Lost Legacy)

Shatterpoint (SW meets Apocalypse Now)

Boba Fett's real voice.

Jedi Apprentice series-best thing to come out of the prequels. I know they're for "younger readers" but I love them anyway.

Toy lightsabers and blasters.

Jedi Knight/Dark Forces Game Series.

Rogue Squadron Game Series.

Rebel Assault II.

Star Wars Demolition and Jedi Power Battles (Game that nearly made me destroy a PlayStation in frustration!)

Mara Jade

Oh, and Han before ROTJ. Especially Han in IV and before-traveling the space lanes far and wide with loyal Wookie in tow-blasting Rodians from under the table at a moments notice.

This is not to mention old Obi-Wan on some fool's idea of an idealistic crusade...

Just curious-does anyone know what exactly was done for the 1995 "one last time" faces THX set on VHS and laserdisc? I have the fullscreen tapes of this, and they seems better than the 93 set.

I started the NJO years ago and gave up. Tried the first of the Legacy series, and gave up. Then Mara was killed off and Jacen went to the dark side-hasn't this already been done before? How stupid could Jacen be to say: "Oh. I have to be a Sith so that everything will turn out OK and we'll have peace. All I have to do now is kill everybody." It sounds like Episode III!

What's with all these "epic series" of SW the Del Rey keeps putting out? Shadows of Mindor had its problems, but at least it was an attempt to return to the greatness of Han Solo at Star's End. I don't know if I'm even going to try Outcast. I'll probably try to go back into the NJO just to make sense of it all. I just don't understand why we've had to go into an EU where everything is upside down.

I have a feeling that we'll never see the '97 SE again. It will become the lost version, and an eventual blu-ray will posess only the altered '04 version (likely to be further augmented) and a better version of the originals in some anamorphic transfer.

The only hope for the '97's seems to be Max Rebo's superset preservation as our tapes are starting to wear thin. 

The old interviews on the tapes have Lucas talking about almost losing the original negatives due to decomposition and that they were restored to former glory before embarking on the SE footage. there are even short comparisons between the damaged negative and the 97 restoration!! IV had the most damage, and this is why it cost the most to repair and remaster. V and VI were then done as a: "Oh that was cool with the first one, why not redo the other two..."

What does this mean? The negatives were remastered, but all we have to show for it is the 93 Definitive laserdisc? Nice try, but even the THX 95 faces set is better than the 93 set. The OT was restored in '97 and is probably sitting in a Lucasfilm vault somewhere in the Dune Sea.

Is it worth it to go and find letterbox laserdiscs of the OT and a player? The GOUTs just don't seem to do it for me. I've lived off my fullscreen tapes for too long. Is laserdisc really miles ahead of the letterboxed VHS tapes?

I wonder if they can make them larger-this is awesome!

Although I wonder what has been done about the smell....

Rogue Squadron on the N64 took forever to finish!

The Jedi Knight games are fantastic.

For me the best thing to come out of the prequels was the Jedi Apprentice book series that followed young Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. I know they were supposedly for young readers, but the stories are actually quite good.

Mace Windu: Shatterpoint- Star Wars meets Heart of Darkness.

The 1997 Re-release in theaters.

Electronic lightsabers.

I don't think  that this survey is going to do very much. I'm never rejoining the fanclub, as SW Insider will never be as it once was. Nowadays the site is geared up for the clone wars seres and little else.

Mielr said:

Yeah, there's no contest. Don't bother with the VHS.

BTW- the 1993 set is the set with the Hologram on the box, correct?

That one has a different sound mix than the 'faces' tapes (it has the extra C-3P0 line, etc.), and it's a different video transfer, too, AFAIK.

Yes it's the first letterbox release and is supposedly from the first widescreen laserdiscs.

I can definitely agree that this is the worst of the original three. This mainly stems from the fact that the story itself is lame. The cardinal sin is that Han turns into a giant wimp! This is the guy who continually conned Jabba, coolly fried Greedo, destroyed Star's End, faced down Boba Fett (why, oh why did we have to have a blind Han take out Boba? We know he's good but we want a real fight between them!), and stood up to Vader. ROTJ makes him mushy! Arrrgh!

Palpatine is the best part of the film, with his goading of Luke adding the only real spark in the entire film. Then the "climactic" battle between father and son is all too brief and marred by waaaay too much cross cutting between the Battle of Endor and Lando in the Falcon. (What? Why doesn't Han pilot in the most famed space battle ever? Oh, beacuase in this movie he is a lame duck!)

I have no problem with the ewoks (can't believe I said that.). The idea of rocks, spear, and logs triumphing over the Empire's best troops seems a bit absurd-but it barely works. (Palpy needs some better instructors over at the academy...)

ROTJ should have been subtitled 3P0's Revenge!

The film most suffers from inadequate scipt and story, but moreover from the lack of a good director's control. I have nothing against richard Marquand, but he seems to have been swept up in the vast SW machine. It is said that Steven Spielberg was originally to direct ROTJ. This would have fit perfectly, ROTJ could have been a great film with this fact in mind and if someone had actually decided to write an effective screenplay!!!

I actually agree with the 97 ending music being superior. Upon finally seeing an acceptable original version with the famed "yub nub", I was like: that's it? That's how SW originally ended? Oooookay? The new music adds a sense of finality and respite from danger. It fits the film better than "yub nub" which seems goofy and more out of place than "Jedi Rocks". (Why the hell is that called Jedi Rocks anyway? I never knew a Jedi that rocked. Mace Windu perhaps did so.) This may be just me, as I have read previous posts praising "yub nub".

The "plan" to rescue Han is absolutely retarded and takes up way too much time. One by one our heroes go in to rescue Han and they all fail! Oh yeah, Luke's plan was that they all get captured and fight their way out. Great plan. Lando probably suggested this all for his badass reveal close up-"Oh yeah...it's really me-Lando Calrissian and I am still the administrator of this facility! What now!"

All in all, ROTJ is an acceptable film. IV and V are so beyond VI that it makes VI's mistakes and problems much more noticeable. Otherwise, ROTJ would be much less scrutinized.

Hey, at least it's better than the prequels.

It's true. These modern transfers suck all of the life out of film elements all in order to give maximum definition. Its really sickening in some ways, like remastering soundtracks with entirely different and new sound effects.

Hopefully we would get Blu-rays of all versions of the OT. It isn't like Lucasfilm wouldn't have the space on a Blu disc!

ANH Disc: 1977 version, 1997 version, 2004 version(for completists only)

ESB Disc: 1980 version, 1997 version, 2004 version(not really necessary)

ROTJ Disc: 1983 version, 1997 version, 2004 version(throw the 04 blu ray in the bargain bin)

All transfers should be anamorphic and fully restored with new tracks plus the original versions should have all sound mixes!!! This means having the 35mm, 70mm, mono, stereo and all other mixes of ANH, ESB, and ROTJ!!!

Lucasfilm will come round eventually and bring balance to the force....do or do not-there is no try!

I'm trying to determine which Widescreen or letterbox version of the trilogy is best on VHS and what the differences are in various releases. As far as I know there are these versions:

1990 Special Collector's edition Letterbox set

1993 set

1995 "Faces" THX remastered set

1997 special edition set

2001 Widescreen set (of 97 SE)

I am mainly concerned with finding the best quality release, as I remember these being superior to the new GOUT DVDs.