nightstalkerpoet

This is a (mostly) shameless plug for a device I want more info on - and that info can be earned through Facebook likes here: https://www.facebook.com/HyperkinGames

Hyperkin is a company that releases accessories for current and retro video game systems. Need a Gameboy battery cover, they have them. Need an ac adapter for an NES, they have those too. Need some component cables for the Wii. Yep.

Beyond that, Hyperkin also releases retro gaming consoles, allowing for a modern, simple option to play SNES, Sega Genesis, and NES games. They recently release a portable, handheld Super Nintendo. But it's about to get better.

Hyperkin has recently announced a high tech retro system, complete with more reliable bluetooth controllers and cartridge slots for 4 systems - NES, SNES, Genesis, and GBA. It will be HDMI capable, with 1080p upconversion. There are also controller ports that allow you to use the original controllers from those systems. Details are slowly leaking out about the system, and they are revealing a piece of a picture of the console each day until the official unveiling on March 23rd. Anyone who is even slightly interested in this, please go and like their facebook page. If they get 50 likes today, they will release new details and a more revealing piece of the picture. Please help me :D

I like the idea of Despecialized and Revisited in the same case. Perhaps we could get a cover designed specifically for that purpose...

Earlier today, Ady said on facebook: Just £276 left to go 

People in the US, that is about $420.

My advice is avoid Dolby TrueHD. DTS-HD has a plain DTS core inside it, and allows it to play on older equipment, while TrueHD isn't much use to anyone without HDMI capable surround equipment, because you'll have to include a seperate Dolby Digital file. To be honest though, a full bitrate DTS file is more than adequate in almost all situations. And with the number of different audio options you usually provide, full bitrate lossy DTS will provide enough space for all of those options. I would suggest that you provide YOUR preferred option in a 640kbps Dolby Digital option, so that people with even older, non DTS capable equipment also get the best out of their system.

For anybody who has not yet made the jump to an HDTV yet - Get yourself a bluray player anyway. It is amazing the image quality difference, even watching Bluray content in standard definition. The extra color information alone provides a much more vivid viewing experience. And Harmy's edits deserve to be shown in the best setup you can possibly show it in :)

TV's Frink said:

I think Hoth should look like that...

Yes Frink, I quite agree.

I guess I should jump on this begging for a myspleen invite train. Somebody send one my way if you can. 

I agree with the above. Perhaps though, you would be better off searching for people who were children when they saw the PT. It matters little what order you saw the films in if you saw all of them for the first time as a child, and they were able to merge inside your memory. I mean, seeing the PT films at 9, 12, and 15 (and the OT at 5), I definitely am able to separate them to a certain degree. But when you mention a Jedi, I'm more likely to envision someone from the PT as opposed to Ben, Luke, or old Yoda. When you mention a ship from Star Wars, I'm more likely to give an OT example, though with a few PT examples in reserve... just a though, if you're having a hard time finding contrasting opinions.

1. In one sentence, what is your description of a villain?

The bad guy, who is working against the hero of a story, whose actions are unjustified morally.

2. Do you consider yourself a Star Wars fan? On a scale of 1-10, 1 being not a fan at all and 10 being a “super fan”, what would you consider yourself?

Yes, an 8.5

3. In what order did you first watch the Star Wars films?

A. Episodes 6, 4-5 first, then Episodes 1-3 (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith in that order.)

I will add to this, however, that I was 9 years old when The Phantom Menace came out, still remember being awed and amazed when Yoda first used his lightsaber in AotC, and was only really judgemental of the PT with Revenge of the Sith when I was 15. Either way, I think I probably fit more into your “saw the PT first” category, because in my mind they are all the single “Star Wars” story. Oddly enough though, I still prefer my faces VHS of the OT to my blus J

4. Who is your favorite character from the films?

Anakin

5. Who is your favorite villain from the films?

Palpatine

6. What is the first thing you think of when you think of your favorite villain from the film?

Force lightning

8. If your favorite villain was not Darth Vader, what is the first thing you think of when you think of Darth Vader?

James Earl Jones :P… probably Luke cutting off his hand in Jedi

9. What is Senator Palpatine’s motivation for becoming the Emperor?

Palpatine is motivated by a lust for power. His “sith revenge” reasoning is flimsy at best, even to himself.

10. What is Anakin Skywalker’s motivation for becoming Darth Vader?

Anakin want’s to save Padme’s life and believes the Emperor knows how.

11. Do you feel sympathy for the Emperor?

No I do not.

12. Why or why not?

His character isn’t developed enough to know what kind of person he really is, or how he turned to the dark side.

13. Do you feel sympathy for Darth Vader?

Yes

14. Why or why not?

Honestly, Anakin never should have been told he was the chosen one, or told how amazing of a swordsman he was etc. I think the Jedi fueled his arrogance. It also was stupid that the council never returned to free his mother, instead leaving him with the guilt of ditching his mother as a slave. By setting him up for failure, the council never prepared him for loss, and when he did lose his mother they did not adequately help him mourn (believing you should not mourn). All of these things contributed to his fall to the dark side. I feel this way having seen the films many times. The first time I saw RotS, I just couldn’t believe that he fell that easily, and started killing kids instantly… so I have only grown to sympathize with analysis.

15. When the Emperor died in Episode VI, what emotions did you feel, if any?

Yes!

16. When Darth Vader died in Episode VI, what emotions did you feel, if any?

Sorry for Luke, but triumphant, happy.

17. Do you think the Emperor fits into your description of a villain from question one?

Yes

18. Why or why not?

He had only self serving, immoral reasons for the choices he made.

19. Do you think Darth Vader fits into your description of a villain from question one?

Yes, but only at certain points.

20. Why or why not?

Vader was manipulated into the role that played in the Empire. He did many bad things, and was a villain for many years, since his actions were born out of cold heartlessness. Following ANH, I truly believe that his actions were altered to less of a villain than someone confused and intent upon a goal. His children were the light in the dark he had needed. I think a true villain lacks the complexity to be redeemed. Though murdering younglings still chills my blood and I have a hard time accepting it, despite it’s appearance on the screen, because it is too abrupt and illogical.

King of Theives is by far my favorite Aladdin movie :)

but I was rather fond of this growing up:

I have a feeling we're going to be getting quite a few direct to video cgi films, which I don't really mind. They're worth the single watch. If they're good, cool. If they're not, then disregard them. Same as EU books, especially those that contradict eachother. Your personal canon is what you make it :) I don't think it'll effect the live action, "core" films. 

I have no idea if Adywan would even be interested... but I have a feeling he would be the single person we'd all be most comfortable with handling the finances, considering his experience working with Revisited. Expanding that to his second/third unit could keep it in the US.

As for kickstarter... I don't see prizes being as acceptable in this situation. The entire point is to avoid any "imperial entanglements". It would have to be limited to "get your name on the front page of OT.com" and things like that. But perhaps I'm being too cautious...

Over in the Sites and Publications Supporting the Petition subforum, there has been a discussion related to creating a full page print advertisement that could be released in a magazine, possibly Variety. We figured it would be seen by more people here.

It would need to be funded by donations from anyone interested in getting an OUT Bluray release.

It would be similar to this:

The one biggest obstacle in creating this advertisement would be avoiding violating any Star Wars, Fox, Lucasfilm, or Disney copyrights. Generally, that means that any logos or photos from the films would be prohibited, as well as artistic depictions too similar to what is seen in the films, cartoons, video games, etc.

My suggestion to avoid this is using credible quotes from people connected to the franchise, indicating their agreement that the original, unaltered trilogy should be released. By doing so, we can avoid even directly mentioning Star Wars outside of someone being quoted.

I think the biggest impact would be made if a simple generic black and white starfield were used as the background, with yellow lettering over the top. 

Here is a rough attempt.

"American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history... In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten."

--George Lucas, 1988

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won't last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the [Special Edition] version."

--George Lucas, 1997

THE FANS WANT THE ORIGINALS

"(In the future) theres going to be no more digital enhancements or digital additions to anything based on any film I direct. Im not going to do any corrections digitally to even wires that show...I think letting movies exist in the era, with all the flaws and all of the flourishes, is a wonderful way to mark time and mark history."

--Stephen Spielberg, 2011, Ain't It Cool

"I would have to answer that officially, it's never going to happen...  obviously, I have my own personal feelings, I hope (George Lucas) does (release the original unaltered trilogy)."

--Rick McCallum, 2012, Collider

JOIN THE CAUSE! Bring the Original, Unaltered Trilogy to Blu-Ray! 

What do you think?

I'm advocating heavily for this, but am in no way organized enough to head this mission, so looking for someone to take the reins here.

The original thread can be found here: http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Crazy-idea-petition-White-House-to-get-OT-released/topic/15074/page/1/

I'm actually all for this - I'd kick in at least a $20. Should we start a seperate thread? I was almost thinking it should be moved to General Star Wars discussion, because fewer people come to this part of the forums.

What if we ran a full page ad with a standard black and white star field background, with yellow text.

Have it read:

"American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history... In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten."

--George Lucas, 1988

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won't last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the [Special Edition] version."

--George Lucas, 1997

THE FANS WANT THE ORIGINALS

"(In the future) theres going to be no more digital enhancements or digital additions to anything based on any film I direct. Im not going to do any corrections digitally to even wires that show...I think letting movies exist in the era, with all the flaws and all of the flourishes, is a wonderful way to mark time and mark history."

--Stephen Spielberg, 2011, Ain't It Cool

"I would have to answer that officially, it's never going to happen...  obviously, I have my own personal feelings, I hope (George Lucas) does (release the original unaltered trilogy)."

--Rick McCallum, 2012, Collider

JOIN THE CAUSE! Bring the Original, Unaltered Trilogy to Blu-Ray! 

My favorite fanmade trailer thus far

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzyfFihkTWA

I'd love to hear Padme's "Hold me" lines given to Palpatine as while he reveals himself to Anakin. :)

Only that I'm waiting for my invite to the blog ;)

Hey, what's up with the hostility? Half of this thread has been personal attacks against people for having an opinion...

Though every post I've made in this thread has been... mysteriously skipped by discussion :P Maybe I've dodged a bullet there... ;)

The best thing they can do, honestly, is to film it the way the OT was filmed using the best modern technology to do so. The Matrix technology was so amazing when it came out for the 360 degree angles, etc. Imagine what that can do for a model being filmed against a blue/green screen for a space battle.

Drop the CG except to compliment where there is no other alternative.

Do that, and anything Arndt has to deliver will shine in that nostalgic way that the PT never could have.

Abrams is a self-proclaimed SW fan. I expect him to do good things (though, nothing great that is going to push the envelope) because he has respect for the original source material. But I guess these days, going back to physical models for a Sci-Fi movie really is the only way to push the envelope...

Ady posted a page back that George's son Jett tweeted "J J Abrams will do wonders!" so there is a source close to the source, at least.

Rather than assume visual style based simply on JJ directing, who do you expect to see him hiring as his production designer? I would love to see Stuart Craig here - his work on HP to create physical models whenever possible was pretty amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDHswtk88SY

What do you get when you cross Toy Story 3 with Star Trek '09?

Honestly... I'm "okay" with the choice...

I'd love to see him co-direct with Joss Whedon, tbh.

I definitely understand Ady not editing the ST - I'm really hoping that they are done well so that it's not necessary. With that said, my hope is that as he edits the PT, Ady takes ST continuity into account (if only slightly). It is going to be devastating if we are provided an amazing 6 part Revisited saga... that can't be watched cohesively with the ST. I'm assuming that shouldn't really be an issue, since the PT should be minimally mentioned in the ST... but when it comes to SW, you never know what could happen...

The problem with Jar Jar is that he is the only character in the film with a full character arc... My fear is that if they "fix" him, the film will focus even more on him - not intentionally, simply because our brains are searching for a specific zero-to-hero stereotype and Jar Jar fits the bill for the most part, just not pleasantly.

I think one of the biggest things missing from TPM was controversy between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Anakin should have known Obi-Wan didn't think he should be trained as a jedi, and been defensive about it and eager to prove himself. They could have bickered slightly, just a few short remarks back and forth. Obi-Wan, over the course of the film, should have grown to grudgingly like him, with the destruction of the Trade Federation ship being a catalyst for him taking Anakin as his apprentice.  Including that in the film would have given Anakin and Obi-Wan their own arcs to rival and probably supersede Jar Jar's arc. 

Instead we got a "last wish" from Qui-Gon, which left much to be desired...

If Ady can paint him out of the scenes, he is completely unnecessary and the film works without him - I cut The Phantom Menace to an hour without any of the other Gungans. Without the other Gungans, Jar Jar's story arc is compromised, allowing him to be removed from the film. I'm just not sure how the film can be fleshed out with all of them cut to be an acceptable length.