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17-Aug-2004
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2-Sep-2011
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Post
#530841
Topic
Harmy's STAR WARS Despecialized Edition HD - V2.7 - MKV (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/530841/action/topic#530841
Time

Hello Harmy - just wanted to add that for years I've gone without watching my favorite movies like I had gone through some sort of bitter divorce with an ex-wife. It was just too painful to watch those "fun bonus discs" in all their non-anamorphic glory on my HD widescreen TV.  But seeing your versions have helped me to fall back in love with Star Wars all over again.  You've restored my sanity after nearly being driven crazy with anger towards the man responsible for my love of filmmaking in the first place!


I would like to add some suggestions for v1.2:

•    Someone else mentioned the Falcon fleeing the Death Star. I assume this is referencing the blue halo effect I saw behind the Falcon.

•    The shot of Luke before he boards his X-Wing (which takes place just seconds before he meets up again with Biggs in the Special Edition) looked strange to me - like it was in slow motion and grainier than normal.  Was wondering if there was a way to make this brief moment look more natural?

•    I also noticed the final shot of the movie looks as if it's standard definition.  (I assume this is because the original credits are presented intact.)  Is there any way to switch to the original credits after we see "Directed by George Lucas"?  I just hate that such an iconic moment in the movie takes you out of the movie due to such a jarring difference in picture quality.

 

Thanks!

Post
#250002
Topic
I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided this makes no sense. (Qui-Gon and Anakin's ghosts.)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/250002/action/topic#250002
Time
Originally posted by: auraloffalwaffle
Had a thought last night in bed. Yoda was trying to tell Luke about his sister when he died and he was clearly trying to hang on to life long enough to do it. He was sick and it killed him. He didn't give himself to the Force at the last minute, he had no choice.



I like the idea that Obi-Wan and Yoda didn't actually die, but instead went into a meditative state that transformed them just before their life ended. But you're right. This makes no sense. (And don't get me started on Obi-Wan and Yoda helping Anakin to cross over!)
Post
#249725
Topic
I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided this makes no sense. (Qui-Gon and Anakin's ghosts.)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/249725/action/topic#249725
Time
Originally posted by: MagnoliaFan
Qui-Gon did originally disappear, but the scene was cut down in editing.


EXT. THEED - CENTRAL PLAZA - FUNERAL TEMPLE STEPS - SUNSET

QUI-GON's body goes up in flames as the JEDI COUNCIL, the
QUEEN, SIO BIBBLE, Capt. Panaka, the HANDMAIDENS, and ABOUT
ONE HUNDRED NABOO TROOPES, TWENTY OTHER JEDI, PALPATINE, OBI-
WAN (standing with ANAKIN), JAR JAR, BOSS NASS, and TWENTY
OTHER GUNGAN WARRIORS watch. There is a drum roll that stops.
Doves are released, and the body is gone. ANAKIN looks to
OBI-WAN.

OBI-WAN
He is one with the Force, Anakin...You
must let go.

ANAKIN
What will happen to me now?

OBI-WAN
I am your Master now. You will become
a Jedi, I promise.




Wow. It would have been so much better if that scene was left intact. All Lucas had to do was cut five seconds of Jar Jar screen time to make room for it.
Post
#249612
Topic
I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided this makes no sense. (Qui-Gon and Anakin's ghosts.)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/249612/action/topic#249612
Time
I think it's safe to say that if I ever get around to creating my own fan edit of TPM, I'm going to eliminate that funeral pyre scene. Problem solved. Unfortunately, if I do that I'll be deleting the only quotable line from the whole movie - the one about how the Sith has a master and an apprentice. No more, no less.
Post
#249510
Topic
I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided this makes no sense. (Qui-Gon and Anakin's ghosts.)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/249510/action/topic#249510
Time
When I first saw TPM, my original thought was that Qui-Gon didn't disappear because he was secretly a Sith Lord. Then when Obi-Wan found the clone army in AOTC, I thought it was going to be revealed that Qui-Gon was the one who actually placed the order. (It could've been a cool way for Lucas to save himself after forgetting to turn Qui-Gon into a Force ghost.) But instead, they mentioned some Jedi no one ever heard of before (Sifo-Dyas) and no one has ever mentioned again since. (Another great unexplained mystery from the PT in my opinion.)
Post
#249500
Topic
I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided this makes no sense. (Qui-Gon and Anakin's ghosts.)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/249500/action/topic#249500
Time
OK, I'm sure everyone has a theory on why Qui-Gon did not disappear after his death in TPM. Unfortunately, the only explanation I can come up with is that Lucas screwed up and couldn't come up with a logical explanation to fix it.

I have several problems with this. First of all, Qui-Gon apparently came back as a Force ghost to train Yoda and Obi-Wan on how to perform the same "trick." Well, problem #1 is Qui-Gon never disappeared - so how the heck did he become a Force ghost in the first place? Problem #2 is that if a ghost can provide Jedi training, why did Luke have to go to Dagobah when he could have just completed his training with Obi-Wan?

So this leads to problem #3. No, not why is Anakin's ghost at the end of ROTJ now a smirking kid. (I've given up trying to figure that out.) Why is Anakin appearing as a ghost at all? He didn't learn this trick from Qui-Gon. In fact, he acted kind of surprised after he killed Obi-Wan, so he obviously had no knowledge that Jedis could disappear like this.

Can anyone provide a reasonable explanation that somehow saves the greatest moment in ROTJ from now becoming a great big head-scratching moment?
Post
#243855
Topic
Am I turning to the darkside?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/243855/action/topic#243855
Time
I almost caved when they first came out two years ago, but I kept reminding myself of all the sound errors for SW which Lucasfilm claimed were "artistic decisions." Selling a poor quality product like that and then excusing it was enough to make me avoid it. I did borrow them to see what they looked like, but never watched them in their entirety. I just kept forwarding to different spots on the discs and cringing: Obi-Wan's new scream that scares the sandpeople. John Williams' score fading down during the Death Star battle. That screwed up dialogue between the Emperor and Vader in ESB. And the final bitter pill in ROTJ - a guest appearance by Hayden Christensen.

This time I caved because I admit I would've bought bootlegs that looked as good as these, and probably would've paid more for them. So I have to just keep reminding myself that I've bought high-quality bootlegs and be happy about it.
Post
#243759
Topic
Am I turning to the darkside?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/243759/action/topic#243759
Time
Well, everyone can start calling me by my new Sith name - Darth Lucasboy - because I caved on my lunch hour. To add insult to injury, the DVDs were $14.99 each at Circuit City even though I thought they were going to be $12.99. Like a Jar Jar-loving punk I paid the extra without raising any objection. If I could've thrown in some condoms and porn to make my purchase less shameful I would have. I hope Pimp Lucas enjoyed my contribution to either his new yacht or private jet, and now I'll just go home and get my fix on his low-quality THX brand of crack.
Post
#243654
Topic
Am I turning to the darkside?
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/243654/action/topic#243654
Time
I was one of those disgruntled fans that swore for months I would not be buying these DVDs. I even fired off an angry letter to Lucasfilm proclaiming that very sentiment. But I have to admit - I DID want to see them. I just refused to give [expletive] Lucas anymore of my money.

So I had the trilogy waiting for me in my Netflix queue. I timed the return of my movies from last week so Netflix would get them on Tuesday and ship out Star Wars that same day. Well - isn't it funny that it suddenly took an extra day for Netflix to receive my return this week? Yes, very funny indeed. And now the trilogy is showing up in my queue as "Very Long Wait."

Well - this could be the event that triggers my journey towards the darkside. I can see Emperor Palpatine sitting in Circuit City right now, holding up all three and saying, "You want these, don't you? Take them. They cost less than $40. Take them home and your journey towards the darkside will be complete."

It's very tempting, and I'm afraid I might cave. I pride myself on being a man of my word, and now I feel weak and pathetic. If I buy them, I'll have to shamefully hide them and never show them to anyone. I might even have to change my username on several forums.

What should I do?
Post
#240356
Topic
What it was like to experience Star Wars for the first time in 1977.
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/240356/action/topic#240356
Time
Now someone needs to start a thread "What it was like to experience The Phantom Menace in 1999."

Midnight showing. Opening Day:

30 seconds into opening crawl - Huh? Trade Federation? Trade disputes? This is Star Wars, right? What about the Clone Wars?
30 minutes later - Ummmmm, is that goofy-looking thing going to be in every scene, because he's kind of annoying.
Jar Jar steps in poo - Theater is completely silent. Cue sound of crickets.
Pod race - OK, this is pretty good. Maybe Lucas can save this movie.
Everything after that - Nope. I was wrong.
Anakin accidentally blows up command ship - Gee, now why didn't we have Luke Skywalker says "Oops." and then accidentally blow up the Death Star? That would have been MUCH better.

Next morning - I wake up and think, was it all a bad dream? Lucas spent 14 years writing THAT?
Post
#240115
Topic
What it was like to experience Star Wars for the first time in 1977.
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/240115/action/topic#240115
Time
I can honestly say the experience was a pretty defining moment for me. It's why I have such an appreciation for film today. It's why I'm very much into home theater. It's why I love movie soundtracks and equate them with modern day classical music. The first soundtrack I ever owned was, of course, Star Wars - on 8-track tape no less!
Post
#240037
Topic
What it was like to experience Star Wars for the first time in 1977.
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/240037/action/topic#240037
Time
Just thought I would share my experience in 1977, and maybe others would like to as well. I think the majority of the newer generation raised on the SEs cannot fully appreciate what a profound influence Star Wars has had on science fiction.

It's not too hard to find a program on TV these days full of special effects, spaceships and aliens. Star Wars just seems to be one of a hundred shows competing for everyone's attention. But what some people don't realize is that Star Wars did it first. Before Star Wars, science fiction was serious and cerebral (not that there's anything wrong with that). Star Wars changed all of that. I was only 8 years old, but I'll always remember what it was like to witness this change take place:

The theater was packed. Shortly after the movie started, there were some chuckles as R2-D2 and C-3PO managed to cross a hallway unscatched during a shootout. Seeing Darth Vader for the first time was an intimidating moment. Soon afterwards, the Jawas appear, everyone laughs at how they sound, Artoo is zapped, and everyone laughs again at how he sounds. We're all pretty quiet for awhile as the story unfolds and the next group of characters are introduced. A lady in the audience actually says, "Awww" when Threepio loses an arm and tells the others to leave him behind in the desert. And then, the cantina scene begins.

Lucas may claim he hated this scene, but everyone in the audience was laughing as hard as they could, and loving every minute of it. This was the first time we were seeing aliens socializing together. (Of course, this scene would have zero effect today. Not only has every 8-year-old kid by now seen hundreds of "aliens" on TV, but the SE tries to cram all sorts of creatures down our throat when Mos Eisley is introduced - now before we even get to the cantina. How could Lucas not realize this diminishes the impact of the cantina when he authorized all of his "improved" changes?)

Next, Han Solo and Chewbacca are introduced. And once inside the Death Star, there's a few laughs when Luke coaxes Han to go along with them by saying, "She's rich." Soon everyone is loving the chemistry between Han and Princess Leia. Her "walking carpet" remark about Chewbacca gets a big laugh. Her hug with Chewbacca after their escape gets an even bigger one.

But the biggest moment everyone seemed to love (next to the cantina scene) was near the end. It's looking like Luke is about to get shot down by Vader's tie fighter. Vader says, "I have you now." And suddenly - there's a laser blast above them. The screen shows Han yelling "Yahoo!" and the crowd goes wild. Everyone is applauding because we like him, and we are so glad that he made the right decision. Having experienced that scene in '77, it's still my favorite moment from the movie.

I was disappointed when I saw the rerelease in 1997. It was my fourth time in the theater, and I was hoping to reexperience it the way I remembered from the '70s. Of course, I didn't like all the changes that were done. But there was something else missing - everyone had already seen the movie a hundred times and knew every line.

Again, the theater was packed. But this time no one laughed during the cantina scene. No one laughed at Luke saying "She's rich." or Princess Leia's "walking carpet" line. And - much to my dismay - no one clapped when Solo triumphantly emerged in the Death Star battle.

The realization that seeing it for the first time in 1977 was an experience that could never be repeated was probably the most disappointing part of seeing the '97 rerelease. I don't even think ESB back in 1980 could repeat the experience. Sure it was a great story that expanded on the characters and never fell into the sequel trap of basically copying the original's plot. But by then, Star Wars clones were a dime a dozen. Aliens didn't elicit laughs anymore like they did in the cantina three years prior.

This is why the original Star Wars will always be my favorite.





Post
#228732
Topic
first viewing of the 2006 OOT dvds
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/228732/action/topic#228732
Time
I like this quote from the Sansweet presentation:

"Then, the real deal was shown. The cantina scene with Han shooting Greedo first was shown and received a huge round of cheers..."

Where was George Lucas when this happened? Was he safe inside his isolated room where everyone on his payroll keeps telling him he's a genius? If not, I'm concerned his fat head might have exploded.
Post
#225975
Topic
Fox France confirms the French OOT release >NOT< to be anamorphic
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/225975/action/topic#225975
Time
I thought "Close the blast doors!" was in the original, original, original version of Star Wars, then it somehow got omitted in all the home video versions that followed. All of us who watched it on VHS for years got accustomed to this version. So when we saw the SE, we thought we were hearing it for the first time when, in actuality, the SE restored this original line back into the soundtrack.
Post
#213180
Topic
The Official Lucasfilm Response
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/213180/action/topic#213180
Time
I don't want him to die over these movies. But I would like to see him go out into the middle of the road, get hit by a car Earl Hickey-style, and as he lies in a hospital with a broken leg and a neck brace, he writes out a list of all the things he's done wrong in life. Hopefully #1 will read, "Denied my fans the anamorphic DVD version of the orginal Star Wars." Is that wrong?
Post
#213002
Topic
.: The XØ Project - Laserdisc on Steroids :. (SEE FIRST POST FOR UPDATES) (* unfinished project *)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/213002/action/topic#213002
Time
Originally posted by: vbangle
However, maybe I wasn't clear in my questioning...what I really wanted clarification on was your statement, "We are going to do our absolute best to get ANH done by then. This thread may not be open to discussion anymore after that." That sounds like to me that the X0 releases of ESB and ROTJ would be left out and not finished....is that true? If the X0 ANH is finished as the official DVDs are released how could the other two movies in the triliogy be worked on and finished if this thread and the X0 project get locked down?


In light of vbangle's question, I have a little suggestion (for what it's worth). Can we at least have the restored Lapti Nek and Yub Nub scenes from ROTJ included in ANH as extras? If I had to compromise, I suppose I could live with that.
Post
#212977
Topic
We start the war from right here
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/212977/action/topic#212977
Time
The fight's not over - although I do believe we're done with getting Lucas to cooperate. But he won't win this. Technology is advancing to the point where fans WILL eventually be able to restore these movies to the condition they deserve.

You gotta love this quote from Lucas...

"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 DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you'll be able to project it on a 20' by 40' screen with perfect quality. I think it's the director's prerogative, not the studio's to go back and reinvent a movie."

Well I'm sorry to say Mr. Lucas, you're DEAD WRONG. In a hundred years the original versions will disappear? Not unless there have been changes in copyright/public domain laws.

To reiterate the comments of the original poster, is there perhaps a Paypal account where I can contribute to the X0 project?
Post
#212812
Topic
The Official Lucasfilm Response
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/212812/action/topic#212812
Time
Well, I can tell you I'm beyond boycotting this DVD release. I'm now boycotting anything associated with Lucasfilm. So - yes - that certainly means I'm not watching the upcoming TV series or buying those DVDs either. Getting our hopes up with this DVD announcement was the nastiest thing any company could have ever done, and they have pretty much declared war on their loyal fans.