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And yet... we are still where we were 10 years ago. And another 10 years of deterioration for the film elements. What's the point anymore?
20th Century Mark said:
Nicholas J. Michalak said:
I watched "Empire of Dreams" last night. Am I wrong, or did they use extensive footage from the original theatrical releases in that? Even Jason Wingreen's voice appears as Boba Fett. The stuff from the original Star Wars looked dodgy in places, but for Empire & Jedi, I believe it was really good quality from the original theatrical editions. The lightsabers aren't all screwed up, and the color timing looks to be pre-97/04. That begs the question of where did they get those good prints from if Lucas insists the films are in irreparable condition? Can someone with a sharper, more educated eye double check this?
-NJMI recently re-watched EoD and thought the exact same thing! It just doesn't make any sense.
"Madness has no reason"
And it all stems from one man. This has to be a sick joke.
Well, at least he is an evil businessman.
skyjedi2005 said:
What i find to be the most ridiculous of all is there is a piece on the blu ray's on empire 30th anniversary, yet that anniversary had no restored DVD release or blu ray, and the fact the real film from 1980 is not on this set is beyond any sort of sanity.
It is not even there on the set as a thank you or a job well done for the recently passed Kersh, or there as a testament to his cemented legacy.
The fact someone wrote a better script than Lucas, and someone directed a star wars film better than Lucas is not to be accepted ever by Mr Lucas. And would not happen again after 1980.
Lucas is just pure evil. The first SW film was intended by GL to be a practical joke upon the audience, but managed to be a great film despite the director's intentions. As Chuck Klosterman said, he is not even a Brian de Palma. I guess he decided to destroy the OOT because he can't admit he is a seventh-rate director on a good day.
The Russians took people out of photographs, GL took actors out in the new versions of the OT (Sebastian Shaw and Clive Revill). How is that not the same thing?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_images_in_the_Soviet_Union
http://www.digitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarschanges02.html
Sure, changing a movie is not as extreme as totalitarian oppression, but it is the same form of censorship.
What I hate most is how cold-blooded and sadistic GL is in suppressing the OOT. I know people are going to think this hyperbolic, but what he is doing is the worst from of censorship in history. It is exactly like the 1930s when the Soviets would take out certain people out of photographs because they did not gel with the current Stalinist ideology. Everything hinges on the OOT getting an official release anyone can buy without resorting to the black market. Nothing else matters. The actual OT needs a real, professional release. It should not be our job to preserve these movies; it should LFL, the people who made the fucking movies.
You're right; it's not surrealism. It supposed to be science fiction, yet in the movie there are too many unexplained elements about the Jedi, the Trade Federation, Naboo, and Anakin that it gives off a weird vibe that has no logic. So I stand corrected; it is not a surrealist film. It is just an illogical film. Sorry for the confusion.
Also in favor of this film being surreal:
14-year old girls are elected to be the queen of their planet(?)
Aliens that somehow look like early 20th century racist caricatures
A nine year old boy is deemed too old to begin jedi training, and was conceived by microscopic organisms that allow you to jump high and predict the future
Sebulba (enough said)
The main plot is about taxation
Anything else I missed?
twooffour said:
generalfrevious said:
No really. I think TPM is a surrealist film in the vein as Luis Bunel. But the problem is that in a science fiction movie, you need exposition to what is going on and how that universe works in order for the film to succeed. TPM does not explain and is governed by no logic- hence a surrealist film.
Um what, are you kidding?
Nothing, absolutely nothing, in TPM, is in any way "surreal" (well, maybe that scene where Qui-Gon meditates in the lightsaber duel) - it's a down-to-earth space adventure movie with lazy exposition and convenient plot devices.
It takes more than a lazy script to pass for "surrealist", sorry.
It still did not make any sense. Hence that is why I called it a surrealistic film. I didn't mean that it was good in any way.
SilverWook said:
ESHBG said:
SW, like most of us here, has been a very important part of my life for decades now. I won't get into the whole story, but I had a really rough time growing up and the SW movies were an escape for me...I also have very fond memories of bonding over SW with people who have since passed away. So when people say they are "just movies", well, to some of us they are not because of all of the nostalgia we have attached to them. From a more artistic point of view, SW was groundbreaking for its time and was one of the greatest achievements of human culture...whether you like it or not, you cannot deny its impact on the world.
This, this, and this. Well put!
And this is why it should have never been given the treatment GL has given it over the last 15 years. It's equivalent to Da Vinci burning the Mona Lisa. Does Lucas even understand that he is the only person to alter his movies and suppress the real versions from the public? I guess not talking to anyone who criticizes your actions disconnects you from reality. Too bad Kate Lucas is following in her father's footsteps: it would mean the originals would be suppressed long after GL's death.
That's all we want, is to see the OT before the SE changed it all. GL's stubbornness has ruined it all, since he feels the original version should not be seen by anyone. They are not the Holiday Special Lucas, you don't have to smash every copy of the pre-97 OT. Yet he treats them as equivalent. And it doesn't help that he has completely ruined his legacy by making the PT. If the PT was not even half as terrible as it ended up, we could accept the idea that GL was a genius and a good filmmaker instead of schizophrenic businessman and cinematic hoax.
dark_jedi said:
zombie84 said:
If it has all or most of the quality control problems of 2004, I'd at least say you've been ripped off.
We will all see this September won't we, I just refuse to buy into this whole Doom and Gloom thing, and right out of the box label it an "Epic Fail", sorry, but until we have rock solid proof of this, and people have actually seen them in person, pretty much everyone is talking, well you figure it out.
You don't have to be psychic to know that the Blu-ray's are going to suck, because they are using the same masters as 2004. Even if that wasn't true, there will be problems on the release that will be there regardless of LFL "quality control." The pattern is simple: if they could not get SW right on VHS and DVD, then they won't on Blu-ray. That is the way with many movies other than SW: they are forever plagued with substandard video transfers. People who say we no solid proof these are going to suck apparently haven't paid attention to what LFL has said what they are going to do with their video releases.
Patrick R. said:
If he follows the previous DVD release pattern, there will be a set in 2013 that includes the OOT in SD DVD quality.
At least some people are perfectly happy with SD DVD. But let's hope it is not put on a Blu-ray.
This is what I hate the most: the real OT is still stuck in the early 90s in terms of video quality. I might be saying this all over again, but we should make a petition to bring back 4:3 televisions if LFL continues to refuse to restore the OOT. It would honestly be a more useful petition.
On a side note, at least the horrible BD art is indicative of the horrible quality these movies are going to be. I'm going to say they will make us nostalgic for the 04 sets.
Jar Jar failed, therefore the film failed. For once GL was right.
No really. I think TPM is a surrealist film in the vein as Luis Bunel. But the problem is that in a science fiction movie, you need exposition to what is going on and how that universe works in order for the film to succeed. TPM does not explain and is governed by no logic- hence a surrealist film.
Maybe they would sell better if they did not fuck up the first time around. We don't need to see Hayden at the end of ROTJ
Live action series? I really hope it does not come to fruition now. It would make the franchise even worse than it is now. Most people want the OOT, skyjedi2005, yet GL is the only human being on the planet who does not understand this.
There really should not be three hours devoted to cosplayers/toy collectors and parodies. No serious boxset would include that for their movies. It is completely moronic that that junk would get a higher priority over the original films. The very thing that should be on the boxset is not there- the original versions of the OT. That's all you need, not this other bullshit that does not matter in the long run.
The main problem is that TPM is a surrealist film disguised as a mainstream blockbuster film.
I completely forgot about the six-part robbery known as the 3D releases of the SW saga. The PT is totally going to be hyped all over agin by the press, despite people like RedLetterMedia who explain why the PT sucks. Plus, none of the SW movies are native 3D so the picture is going to be on par with The Last Airbender. Why did they wait so long to release SW on Blu-ray anyway? To hype up the 3D releases. They did in 04 with the OT DVDs, in order to hype up ROTS after the failure of the first two movies of the PT.
corellian77 said:
generalfrevious said:
What did we honestly do to deserve to be constantly fucked int he ass? It seems the better quality home video gets, the OT gets increasingly worse treatment. GL/LFL are probably the most sadistic people alive today (outside of a third world dictatorship). They made the most profitable franchise in movie history, so I guess that gives them the right to screw people over and not even give a fuck about the legacy they are destroying. Lucas is a fraud. A stone cold, utterly talentless fraud. NO one honestly expected the PT to as bad as it ended up. NO one expected the OT to be constantly changed every seven years and make the originals that made him an undeserving billionaire unavailable and impossible to enjoy. All he is done in the last 20 years is expose himself for the waste of life he truly is. He is scum. And people think I am insane? GL and his cartel have not done a sane, reasonable act since 1981.
Every time I read your posts, generalfrevious, this image comes to mind:
generalfrevious said:
Too bad GL is controls people like a psychopath. I am becoming more convinced that he made SW to manipulate and psychologically control people.
Go ahead asshole. That still does not erase the fact that GL is the greatest fraud in the history of cinema, and people still consider him a genius, there is still the fact the continues to shit upon the OOT and can't do the ridiculously simple act of releasing these movies in a quality format, there is still the fact that the BD release is going to suck royally (and the box art reflects this), and the fact that we have no idea what version LFL is going to throw at us in this new release, whether it will be the 04 version or some new, even worse version that will make you nostalgic for the 04 sets.
You don't need to be an insane conspiracy theorist to understand that GL views even the OT as products designed to make money. They may have become accidental masterpieces, but they still products designed to make people money. The problem with GL is that he continues to screw us over with product no one wants and never gives us the products he wants. He is a psychopath, in the sense that he has no empathy for other people and manipulates others through many psychological techniques to win over others. He does not understand the emotional attachment we have to these movies and feels like he can screw it up with the PTSE. Go look up the word psychopath if you don't believe me.
Too bad GL is controls people like a psychopath. I am becoming more convinced that he made SW to manipulate and psychologically control people.
You have your shot. Go ahead!
What did we honestly do to deserve to be constantly fucked int he ass? It seems the better quality home video gets, the OT gets increasingly worse treatment. GL/LFL are probably the most sadistic people alive today (outside of a third world dictatorship). They made the most profitable franchise in movie history, so I guess that gives them the right to screw people over and not even give a fuck about the legacy they are destroying. Lucas is a fraud. A stone cold, utterly talentless fraud. NO one honestly expected the PT to as bad as it ended up. NO one expected the OT to be constantly changed every seven years and make the originals that made him an undeserving billionaire unavailable and impossible to enjoy. All he is done in the last 20 years is expose himself for the waste of life he truly is. He is scum. And people think I am insane? GL and his cartel have not done a sane, reasonable act since 1981.
Make sure they have the theatrical versions and not the SE. Criterion prefers the versions that are according to the director's intentions.
On the actual covers of the Blu-rays: wow; that is making all the DVD covers look a like Rembrandt. I was at work so I could not comment earlier, but my god, no film should have box art like that. It looks like a crappy religious painting- there is fan art that is on par with those covers. I just love how LFL always aims for the zero in their products nowadays. 20 years from now they may start going for negative scores. I can't believe an adult actually helped choose this kind of artwork.
