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hairy_hen

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Join date
27-Mar-2006
Last activity
11-May-2023
Posts
1,609

Post History

Post
#236919
Topic
I found a book called "Star Wars on Trial" in a Barnes and Noble bookstore.
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/236919/action/topic#236919
Time
I read nearly the entire book at Barnes & Noble a few days ago. It was very interesting. I found that I agreed and disagreed with both sides over some things. I agreed with the prosecution when they attacked the prequels for being ridiculous and awful, and with the defence when the prosecution behaved in a douschey fashion towards the originals, which they unfortunately often did.

It was funny that as ardent as Stover was in his defence of Lucas, he could make no coherent argument against the notion that the execution of the prequels (dialogue, acting/directing etc.) was very poor. The main prosecutor made the mistake of lumping all six movies together in the same category of being "Star Wars", making criticisms against all the movies on the basis of his quibbles with only the later ones. Later chapters brought up the original vs. SE debate and several participants made it clear they considered the earlier films, particularly in their unaltered states, to be entirely separate from the decisions of 90's Lucas and ought not to be criticised in the same manner (I agreed with this argument).

Ultimately no verdict was delivered, leaving it up to the reader to decide for themselves what they thought. I had a good time reading it.
Post
#233021
Topic
***The "Darth Editous" Episode IV DVD Info and Feedback Thread*** - a partially "de-specialed" DVD
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/233021/action/topic#233021
Time
My wishlist for a new DE version would certainly include a bit of colour correction, at least in a few places. Desaturation where appropriate, and also getting rid of that horrible blue tint on the walls of the Tantive IV. Goodness that one bugs me a lot.

Actually, my greatest wish would be for the audio track to be the '97 mix instead of the '04, since the '04 has so much wrong with it. It isn't even just the obvious stuff like missing music or quality of dialogue or crossed surrounds, but to my ear nearly the entire mix is flawed, mainly because the bass volume is turned up unnecessarily high. Listen particularly to the opening shot of the Star Destroyer and Tantive--you'll see what I mean right away if you compare the '04 to any previous sound mix. The bass is overwhelming, with the result that many sound effects are obscured and distorted, even drowned out. Some appear not to have been placed in the mix at all. I find it unlistenable, frankly, and having the '97 would make that scene watchable again, because that version sounds magnificent. The same is true of the shootout in the Tantive corridor; it sounds nothing at all like any previous sound mix. I have to wonder if it was made by chimp with only a flawed and fleeting memory of what the movie was supposed to sound like. lol The beginning of the movie suffers most in this regard, but many other scenes exhibit the effects of too much bass boosting as well.

So . . . any chance of that coming to pass? Perhaps not, but that would be my greatest request--it could be my definitive Episode IV if that were the case. I know it's not 5.1 EX or whatever but frankly I don't care about that--correct sound in two channels is preferable to flawed sound in six.
Post
#232329
Topic
Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side (the TM edit) (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/232329/action/topic#232329
Time
The trailer for this looks like it's going well, and I'm very excited to see the finished product.

You mentioned the possibility of redubbing Mas Amadda's lines to get a better voice. He's the blue guy who says "O-dah!" etc. I'd be interested in doing that, to see if you liked how I did it. (If not, that's fine, lol.) I have done some acting and work with accents in the past, though not all that much.

Actually, I'm nervous of volunteering, but hey, it's worth a try at it.
Post
#232141
Topic
Poll: Who is more annoying, Lucas or McCallum?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/232141/action/topic#232141
Time
Rick McC is *way* more annoying to me. I can't stand him, for he is a rectum-sniffing hack who doesn't know what it means to have a mind of his own, because he's too busy worshipping Lucas' every move. Reminds me of the scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, when the crowd are determined to believe Brian is the Messiah when he isn't, won't go away when he tells them to "Fuck Off!", and grovel over "His Shoe!" when it is thrown in their direction . . .

And I agree with Mielr, that even the way he talks is a plague on the ears.

Wanting a quality transfer of the most popular movies ever made isn't too much to ask, regardless of decades-later changes in 'artistic vision'. What the hell is his problem, anyway? Who does he think he is? I bet he's so into the mentality of what's being changed and what he thinks is 'better' that he hasn't even watched the movies for the story in a long time. Or even if he ever did, if his comments on them are anything to go by.

Lucas made the changes, and is annoying and stubborn, but at least he did create them, which is something. McC's useless, wretched toady-ing just grates on the nerves far more, for the tone of it.
Post
#229708
Topic
Info: Some thoughts on this community.
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/229708/action/topic#229708
Time
I agree with Zion; in its own way the community here can be as negative and disrespectful as the wackaloons at tfn, from the opposite side. I've vented once or twice in anger but generally I try to distance myself from bashing, because not only is it rude and inappropriate, it's immature as well, and those who are quick to resort to insults and flaming do everyone else on this site a disservice.

And don't forget, anger and hate lead to the dark side, after all.


As far as the Indy trilogy dvd's, that is a great set and I'm very glad to own it. If SW had been given a similar treatment, largely free of senseless tampering, I'd be extraordinarily pleased with it.
Post
#228541
Topic
first viewing of the 2006 OOT dvds
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/228541/action/topic#228541
Time
Yep. That's it for me . . . I'm checking out of this release. I'll have nothing to do with it; if I want pixelated and washed out, my TR47s and Editdroids will do okay. X0 is where it's at, and no more Lucas tripe is ever going to be purchased by me.

God, the tone of the Lucasfilm PR is the thing that pisses me off most. They're so snide and dismissive of everything. I wish they'd all go stuff these new dvd's up their arses and maybe jump off a cliff for good measure. *shakes head*

I never imagined, when the special editions came out, that it would ever come to this. To think I actually preferred those pieces of tripe at one time! But even they, in '97, were far less bad than what became of them in '04.
Post
#228323
Topic
first viewing of the 2006 OOT dvds
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/228323/action/topic#228323
Time
Hmm . . . well, if they do look washed out and pixelated, I'm not getting them. It's just not worth the money.

It's both laughable and ludicrous how difficult George is being about all of this. I wish he would just quit the business and leave it so someone who actually cared about the fans and about quality, instead of money exclusively. Too much to hope? Certainly.
Post
#226708
Topic
new book on a new hope coming in september
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/226708/action/topic#226708
Time
I like RotJ fine, mostly. Having Steven S. direct it would have been great, though . . .

I don't like everything he does but there's no doubt he's a fine director who really knows his stuff.

Question: if Lucarse couldn't have Steven S. direct Jedi, how did he keep having him for the other Indy flicks? Because those still have the credits in the beginning? Sheesh, I've never understood why the credits thing is such a big deal, anyway. Who wants to read a bunch of stupid names while the movie's starting? Save it all for the end, when it's just music and no picture. lol


I'd sure like to read a book about the making of SW that didn't have any official Lucarse propaganda. That would be really interesting.
Post
#226419
Topic
$36 pre-order (AR) for all 3 titles...anyone found it cheaper??
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/226419/action/topic#226419
Time
Arr. Damn it. I *still* can't decide whether to get the September release or not! It's very frustrating . . . I'm a little tight on cash with bills to pay and all, and planning a cross-country vacation in October to meet the lady friend; and I'm already pretty happy with my Editdroid set, plus there's the X0, whenever that is finished. But still . . . the fye.com $7 rebate on each one is pretty tempting, and I want to see how the set looks. Oh I dunno. The rebate offer is good until 9/25, so I can wait until after it's come out to decide, I guess. *shrug*

I'm not even thinking about the principle of the matter so much, just what I can afford, and the quality of what I want to watch . . .
Post
#225531
Topic
Finally Got Rid of My 2004 DVD's...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/225531/action/topic#225531
Time
I'm considering doing the same thing . . . my best friend has been in Germany studying abroad for almost a year now, and he likes Star Wars plenty but doesn't mind the special editions. The '04 set might make a good welcome-back present, and I won't miss it because I'll just get them back in the September release anyway.

I do like the silver and black packaging it came in, though. Putting better, original version copies in that box might be the way to go, I can't decide. lol
Post
#224210
Topic
Explaining the shoddy OOT treatment in public
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/224210/action/topic#224210
Time
I'm not sure if anyone knows for sure if the source used is D1 or D2, do they? Belbecus found an article about the construction of the '93 sound mixes which contained a reference about them using D1 masters, which is what THX is referring to, I believe. But are there also D2 tapes that might be used instead? Wish we had more information about all this.
Post
#223831
Topic
Info Wanted: What is the preservation project closest to the original 1977 release?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223831/action/topic#223831
Time
Question--in the scene where Han and Luke storm the detention center and blast all the guards and cameras, do the cameras have loud "broken glass" sound effects when they are shot, in the old German mix?

The reason I ask is because these sounds were first heard in an English release in the '93 laserdisc remix, I believe; if I remember correctly they are not present on even the mono mix. Yet the '93 and the SE mixes contain these sounds, and from Belbecus' article about the construction of the '93 it says the Ben Burtt added various extra sounds to the 70mm that he had used for the foreign language mixes. I wonder why he didn't put most of the mono sounds, like the Falcon's gun beeps and 3po's tractor beam line. Hmm.

I ask about the breaking glass in particular because it's one of the most noticeable differences between the '93 and every prior English mix--if it's there it means he didn't come up with it as a new sound in '93, as I'd thought, but instead in late '77.
Post
#223826
Topic
The Emperor & line change in ESB SE 1997
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223826/action/topic#223826
Time
The distance from our solar system to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star, is 4 light-years. Without a hyperdrive, 5 years would probably be the absolute minimum travel time to get there. The distance from the sun to the edge of the system is only about 1/1000 of a light-year, so it wouldn't have much effect on inter-system travel where in the system they were . . .

Dang it. Why does Empire have this ginormously gaping plot hole? They never mention backup hyperdrives; it's only because I've read Zahn's books that the idea of a ship having one even occurred to me at all. Oh well.

Actually, now that I think of it, I'm fairly certain Zahn's having Talon Karrde reference a backup hyperdrive in Dark Force Rising was a subtle suggestion (in part) about how the Falcon could have managed to trip to Bespin. Karrde says his damaged ship had to "limp back to civilisation on the backup hyperdrive" and I suppose the Falcon could have done the same.

Wasn't this thread supposed to be about the Emperor scene? lol
Post
#223575
Topic
John Williams' Music
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223575/action/topic#223575
Time
Ah, the Binary Sunset alternate track . . . gosh I love that cue. I first heard it in the game Jedi Outcast (it occurs in part in the second level) and I always wondered where it was from, because it sounded Star Wars-y but I didn't recognise it. Once I got my complete soundtrack cd's I finally discovered what it was! I've watched that part of the movie with my cd player doing the alternate track--it matches up perfectly timewise, but the feel of it is so different it's amazing to think what it would have been, if Lucas hadn't asked Williams to write something different instead.

I like the alternate Sail Barge cue as well, also having heard it first in Jedi Outcast. It doesn't re-use the older themes the way the final version does, though Jabba's theme does come in (possibly when Leia is strangling him?). I think the reason they didn't use that was because they kept changing the edit of the whole sail barge sequence, according to Ben Burtt on the commentary, so the music had to be completely redone.

I have that Skywalker Symphony cd as well--it's interesting to hear the various concert arrangements of things that weren't recorded in full for the films. I think the group was only put together for the one recording, wasn't it?
Post
#223369
Topic
John Williams' Music
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/223369/action/topic#223369
Time
Lately I've been fairly obsessed with the Star Wars scores, having bought the soundtrack cd's last summer (the ones with the bad covers). I already knew most of the music really well, but hearing all the stuff that was recorded and not used got me very interested in the music for its own sake. The Hoth scenes, for example, contain large amounts of deleted music, and those have become favourites of mine.

I can never decide which of the three films I think has the best music--they're all great, in their similar-yet-different way. I love how each film has its own distinct "feel", all recognisably SW but unique in the particulars of the style.

My pet project the past few months concerns the background music--the parts that are quieter and less noticeable, generally not containing the main themes, or only faint renditions thereof. I'm editing sections of music together, finding ways to combine them so it sounds like they'd been composed that way to begin with, into tracks of four or five minutes each. So far I've got about an hour's worth; once I get around 75 minutes it'll be burned to cd. I'm having a lot of fun with that, but it's time-consuming and hard to get it to sound exactly right. People I've told about it think I'm nuts, I think, but hey. lol

The idea for that came from the game Jedi Knight--there are cd tracks in the game containing heavily-edited together sections of the film scores, mostly the background stuff. I like the SW ambience feel that you get from that.
Post
#221385
Topic
Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side (the TM edit) (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/221385/action/topic#221385
Time
Trooperman--regarding music cues, have you considered using the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack? I think that could be good: it's Star Wars-y enough to fit without being too familiar as to be jarring; also, none of the cues have a specific visual image associated with them in our minds since it was composed to go along with a novel.

I only have it as mp3 files unfortunately, but if you needed it I'm sure someone could provide you with the uncompressed cd tracks.

Also--I really like having Anakin become angry with Padme. It should give the scene some sorely-needed believability.