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screams in the void

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Join date
5-Aug-2007
Last activity
10-Jul-2025
Posts
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Post
#1288936
Topic
Idea Wanted: How would you re-edit "Battlefield Earth"?
Time

Just decided to watch this movie again for the first time since I rented it when it came out on vhs . I was not able to get through more than 20 minutes of it back then but watched the whole thing after reading this thread last night. to see if there is anything that can be done to salvage it .Only things I can think of are to get rid of the same curtain wipe they use over and over , change the music and get rid of all scenes of maniacal laughter .Maybe even get rid of all of Travolta’s English speaking lines but not sure if that is possible .I think the best solution would be to make it a full on parody and splice scenes from other movies in .they ripped off Bladerunner a few times as is .

Post
#1288485
Topic
The original Marvel Star Wars series
Time

Tobar said:

ZkinandBonez said:

I haven’t actually been able to find out exactly when this comic strip was made.

screams in the void said:

according to this source , Al Williamson drew the 12 strips in 1978 and they were first published in The Art Of Al williamson book in 1983 . I also seem to remember reading that Al had some commitments to his Secret Agent X9 strip that he was doing with Archie Goodwin that prevented him from doing the original adaptation, as he was George’s first choice, and he did not feel like he could give his all to the project . When x9 ended , he was freed up to come on board for Empire . anyway , here is the link I mentioned…http://www.battlegrip.com/spotted-online-unpublished-star-wars-comic-strips-by-al-williamson/

The X9 commitment explanation is actually a professional courtesy cover story for some unfortunate business that happened behind the scenes. The original conceit of the daily Star Wars strip was that it was just going to be a straight adaptation of the original film. To this end, George Lucas was a huge fan of Flash Gordon and Al Williamson’s work. So they commissioned Williamson to create these 12 test strips to see how he’d handle Star Wars.

Unfortunately, there was a mix up at the Lucasfilm offices. Here’s an excerpt from an interview Williamson did where he discusses the incident:

“I was contacted to do it when the movie came out,” Williamson recalls. "I had heard that ‘Lucas loves your work,’ and I thought it was bologna, frankly. I finally got a call from somebody at Lucasfilms, saying that they wanted me to do the strip, and would I consider it? I figured ‘Why not? It sounds like a good idea.’

"I got a hold of my friend Archie Goodwin, who was a wonderful artist and terrific writer, and he adapted two weeks of the first movie. I sent it in, and didn’t hear from them, and I needed the money. I called up and got the young lady that I was dealing with said, ‘I’ll have someone get in touch with you.’ I get a call from this guy, who is absolutely insulting and yelling at me, saying ‘How dare you ask us for more money!’ He’s going on and on.

"Finally, when he stopped, I said, ‘Let’s get one thing straight: I haven’t been paid, I just want my money.’

"Then there’s this silence on the other end. ‘Oh, okay.’

“I decided then that I wasn’t going to work with these people.” Williamson laughs. “I finally got the check, and I said ‘No, I can’t do it.’ Then they got a hold of Russ [Manning], and he did a nice job. That’s what happened, but I never mentioned it to Lucasfilm, since I figured to just let it go.”

Thankfully years later they were eventually able to bring in Williamson and Goodwin to the strip after the departure of Manning. I can also post an excerpt where Williamson discusses this if anyone is interested.

It’s interesting though, George or someone in the offices must have really loved those test strips. They appear as blown up wall decoration in some behind the scenes ESB photos that are floating out there.

^ I would love to read that !I learned something new today , thank you !

Post
#1288037
Topic
George Lucas: Star Wars Creator, Unreliable Narrator & Time Travelling Revisionist...
Time

^ I have always equated the word with humor , but had to look it up , and according to this , you are correct …https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire though it is stated that satire is usually meant to be humorous , there are exceptions . I learned something new today .I think the writer of the article you posted would have been better off describing it as an allegory though .

Post
#1285627
Topic
Anyone else totally disregard Leia being Luke's sister?
Time

Anchorhead said:

screams in the void said:

…until that moment , he did not realize it was staring him in the face in form of Leia being his sister . So that was when that plot point came along.

Wait, I thought it was back in 1974 when he was writing the original Darth Vader 6 - 12 - 1 - 9 film Saga (genuflect).

I think it’s weird that Lucas doesn’t seem to think there are people who remember him saying he wrote “no, there is another” before he had any idea of how he was going to address his lack of story regarding that fill-in line.

The truth is out there for people who care enough to take time to look for it.

yup. hmmm…maybe this is why the documentary From Star Wars To Jedi The Making Of A Saga has not been re released on a modern format and has been out of print for decades …it raises too many questions .

Post
#1285626
Topic
Anyone else totally disregard Leia being Luke's sister?
Time

ToscheStation said:

screams in the void said:
If you watch the documentary From Star Wars To Jedi , Lucas talks about how he needed a reason for Luke to snap on Vader when hiding under the stairs and until that moment , he did not realize it was staring him in the face in form of Leia being his sister . So that was when that plot point came along .

If the plot point could come to him at that moment (out-of-the-blue), how is it less probable for the notion to have occurred to him years earlier?

uhhh…because then it would not have been out of the blue 😃

Post
#1285506
Topic
General Star Wars <strong>Random Thoughts</strong> Thread
Time

^ agreed . And he was hand picked by Lucas for his work on Cody Starbuck prior to doing Star Wars, but from what I have read , he phoned it in and was behind schedule . The difference is evident between the first issue and the rest . The inkers that worked over his pencils deserve a lions share of the credit . It’s a shame too , I actually enjoy Chaykin’s work on other projects but this interview took my opinion of him down a few notches .

Post
#1285418
Topic
General Star Wars <strong>Random Thoughts</strong> Thread
Time

^ I would re think taking Howard Chaykin copies of Star Wars to sign , I have seen recent interviews with him and he has not been very happy for being only known in fan circles for that over his original works . He has also said that it was not his best work by a long shot and had he known how big the movie was going to be, he would have done a better job .He even went so far as too say he was embarrassed by it .He was pretty pissed and salty about it on a video interview on youtube …around the 44 minute mark…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-cvoqg9wzg

Post
#1285210
Topic
Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker - Discussion <em>NON SPOILER THREAD</em>
Time

I thought Empire of Dreams was decent but dragged in places , I like the look into the creative process that From Star Wars To Jedi gives more though . I am surprised it has never been released on a modern format.I have a vhs copy of it that came with my 92 Widescreen Vhs boxset .And , yeah , Dangerous days was fantastic !

Post
#1285195
Topic
Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker - Discussion <em>NON SPOILER THREAD</em>
Time

I think The Last Jedi had a pretty good documentary on the making of the film , but I was very disappointed with the extras on the Rogue One Blu Ray as it seemed like nothing more than self congratulatory hype reels or a collection of short webisodes for what I thought was a great film and deserved better .In my opinion , the documentary , From Star Wars To Jedi The Making Of A Saga is the Gold Standard of all official Star Wars documentaries to date.