logo Sign In

sweyland

User Group
Members
Join date
11-Feb-2004
Last activity
13-Jan-2009
Posts
297

Post History

Post
#54790
Topic
Star Wars - The Edits and DVDr releases thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/54790/action/topic#54790
Time
Originally posted by: SammyTheBull
With all the fan edits and remasters, we now only need a fan remastering of that horrible "Turkish Star Wars" travesty ...

(If I just gave someone an idea, for the love of God, DON'T... I've only seen snippets of this, and I'd rather watch a two hour footage of Ahmed Best, Hayden Christensen and Jake Lloyd making fart noises with their armpits and stupidly giggling "Peeyoosa!" at one another. Calling that "film" horrible would be glorifying it...)

OMG! That is frickin' hilarious! Scary, but hilarious...

------------------

Oh, and thanks for looking into that subtitle issue for us Magnoliafan. As a fellow fan I really appreciate yours' and Rikter's efforts.
Post
#54283
Topic
Star Wars - The Edits and DVDr releases thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/54283/action/topic#54283
Time
Yeah, I heard the same rumours back then, but it really is unlikely considering how busy he's supposed to be working professionally, and how much he likes Ep 1 and 2 as they are (at least publically).

The bootleg thread is getting really unwieldy so for those who may be interested, I'm gonna repost my review of the Holiday Special along with my review of the 1975 Auditions.

*

THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL Review: The DVD has selectable menus presenting the Special, the Star Wars episode of the Muppets Show and vintage Kenner toy commercials.

For a 1978 broadcast taped off television, it looks pretty good. Obviously I mean 'good' by 5th generation VHS standards. The picture is blurry, and colours are washed out and smeared, but the video is very smooth with only some distortion, and drop out is at a minimum. The sound is kinda harsh and hollow, but quite 'listenable' and you can jump ahead with chapter stops. Really, I still have tapes from the 80s that don't hold up as well. As for the show itself, anyone familiar with that era's sketch variety shows will be familiar with the structure. The special opens with a live action plot about Chewie's family on Kyshykk waiting for him to arrive so they can celebrate Life Day together. Eventually, Chewie and Han do show up, but not before the imperials and a roster of comedy players including (Golden Girl's) Bea Arthur, Art Karney, (Mel Brook's alum) Harvey Korman, and others get mixed up in their 'wacky' shenanigan's. Needless to say, their antics are embarrassingly bad. I actually like most of the performers, but it’s all very slow and boring, especially the first 15 minutes when nothing happens. Interspersed throughout are bizarre 70's sci-fi dance and musical sequences, with trippy lava-lamp visuals. Aside from an appearance by one of my fav bands, Jefferson Starship the best part by far is the Nelvana cartoon sequence that introduces Boba Fett. Fans of Droids will especially love this. I've never seen this before and was surprised as Boba is already a cool badass character. This is well worth watching, too bad it’s so short. The Leia sing-a-long is a hoot too.

Included on the disc is the Muppet Show episode with Luke and the droids. I'm a huge Muppets fan and I love this episode. There is a sharp visual and audio buzz near the middle, but otherwise it looks and sounds pretty good. Like 1st gen VHS.

The real bonus is the vintage Kenner commercials and these are awesome. I haven't seen these since I was a kid and they bring back a lot of memories. I even still have a few of them! Sure, they're real dark and poor quality, but where else can you see them? Overall, just great stuff.

I got all this for the cost of the disc and shipping, and Rikter even threw in a couple of cool bonuses. Thanks a lot! You are a true fan and anyone in the Star Wars community would appreciate your efforts to preserve all this great memorabilia for Star Wars history!

*

STAR WARS: THE 1975 AUDITIONS Review:

The DVD runs an hour and a half with 20 chapter stops and has a menu with play function. First, let’s just realize that this is gonna look bad. Bearing in mind this is something like 5th generation VHS however, and you can see that Rikter has done a respectable job of remastering it, offering black and white video that is fairly smooth, if blurry and fluctuating, but more importantly where most of the actors are still recognizable.

These are audition tapes, not a movie, so the camera almost never moves and the whole thing is all just close ups or 2 shots. But no one is watching this for sheer entertainment value. Instead the material is fascinating all by itself. Obviously an early screenplay of the film was used with familiar dialogue peppered with strange names, Organa Major instead of Alderaan for example. The real thrill is watching such different performers in these famous roles. The potential there was phenomenal. Who knows how different Star Wars might have been?

I’ll admit I don’t recognize most of these faces, but there were a few pleasant surprises. One of the best is Kurt Russell. He reads for both Han and Luke and with several different actors. Considering the number of times he was used, I’m sure Lucas was really considering him for a role. He’s fun to watch and plays well against others. I’m a huge Russell fan, and although I love Harrison of course, Russell would have made for a cool Han as well.

Another surprise was none other than the Greatest American Hero himself, William Katt. He was in a couple of auditions and I think he also read with Kurt Russell. He would have been a pretty different Luke, although they both share goofy blonde locks. I love TGAH so I’m glad he eventually found the right vehicle for himself, although he and Russell were pretty decent together.

They were a lot of actresses that tried out for Princess Leia. Some were okay, some were terrible, but a few stood out. As a Laverne and Shirley fan it was interesting to see Cindy Williams read for the part. Although she’s cute and I like her a lot, I don’t think she would have fit the role very well. Like many of the other actors who probably didn’t get all the weird sci-fi dialogue, she didn’t project the space setting well, although to be fair even Carrie Fisher was a little different in her read.

There are also more of the famous snippets of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher as seen on ET in the auditions as well, but how much you enjoy the rest of the disc depends on how curious you are and perhaps how many of the other actors and actresses you recognize. Either way, this disc is a significant piece of SW history, and a definite must have for any serious SW collection, but as entertainment it’s strictly for the hardcore.

-------

So if you're curious about these Star Wars oddities, maybe this'll help you decide if you wanna watch them or not. Thanks for making these available to the fans, Rik!

Post
#53686
Topic
Harry Potter 3
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/53686/action/topic#53686
Time
Hmmm... normally I would just ignore such a response, but maybe Jimbo could reply to Jimbo for me:

Jimbo:No, the Little Princess does not f*cking suck, it's f*cking awesome. Christopher Columbus f*cking sucks and couldn't direct his way out of a paper bag. This movie is great the way it is. Alphonso Cauron has directed a great movie. He is a great director. I have great respect him. I f*cking suck.

There you go, Jimbo on Jimbo.
Post
#53671
Topic
Harry Potter 3
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/53671/action/topic#53671
Time
Just caught HP3 last night, it was fantastic!

Cauron did an outstanding job and delivered one of the best films ever. The pacing, the atmoshere, the characters all worked wonderfully and created a 'real' world that just sucked me from beginning to end.

I haven't had this good a time in a long while. The first two were terribly dull, that chugged along from scene to scene with no narrative thrust, but this one just zipped by like a roller coaster. There were slow moments full of dread, comical quick bits of humour, and dramatic highs that took my breath away. It was an inspired choice, like getting Kershner to direct Empire and it paid off in spades. It almost made want to read the books, except that I have unfortunately. I wish Cauron directed more of these kinds of films. Certainly better than the LOTR. While HP3 is by no means perfect, as a whole it just works (like the original Star Wars trilogy) and that's what counts.

For other new fans of Cuaron, if you haven't seen the Little Princess, I highly recommend it. Again not just a kid's flick, but a terrific film filled with drama, pathos, humour, humanity and really takes you away. An all time favourite that I'm happy to add HP3 next to.
Post
#53549
Topic
Japanese Star Wars art
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/53549/action/topic#53549
Time
I loved the manga adaptations! They were spread over 4 books and kept the pacing of the films as well as most of the script unlike most crammed American movie comics.

All three were good, but the artist for ROTJ was just a little too stylized for my tastes. As usual the PM was the weakest despite some decent Asimiya art.
Post
#53490
Topic
Star Wars DVD Covers
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/53490/action/topic#53490
Time
Originally posted by: Obi-Wan Spicoli
I don't believe the 1989 LD has the 70mm sound mix. I think it's just the 35mm Dolby Stereo mix. I believe the original 70mm sound mix did not have C-3PO's line nor did it have "Close the blast doors." The original mono mix has both and I believe the Dolby Stereo mix has 3PO's line but not the blast door line. Tell me, do you have the '89 LD, and if so, does it have "Close the blast doors?" Scott


Where is the "close the blast door line supposed to be?"

Is it when the troopers are chasing Han and Chewie and the doors close and thats why they shout to open them up?
Post
#53464
Topic
Motti and dayv are missing
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/53464/action/topic#53464
Time
You haven't seen the Star Wars episode yet?! It's got a hilarious SW parody:

Hyde as Han: Luke, man! I don't mean to bum you out, but I just saw Princess Leia cruising around with Darth Vader and his Tie Fighter. Right Chewy?
Chewbacca: Unnnnn! (Chewbacca takes off his mask and we see that it's Kelso.) Man, this totally sucks. I should be Han.
Hyde as Han: Hey, quit whining! (He hits Kelso/Chewy.)
Kelso as Chewy: Unn!

Red as Obi: A Jedi's power lies within his own mi- are you even listening to me?
Eric as Luke: What? Yes. Um, you were saying, may the force be with me?
Red as Obi: No, I did not. Jedi knight. Jedi dumbass!

I love that episode (first season finale) even though it ended on a cliffahanger that didn't go anywhere.
Post
#53461
Topic
spider-man 2
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/53461/action/topic#53461
Time
Actually I was just kidding about the spoiler tag. I know the Spidey comics, I used to collect them a long time ago. Sadly, from the trailer it does looks like MJ gets thrown off a building (again). Geez, I'm sick of her damsel-in-distress routine. Can't they give her character something real to do?

I think they introduce Doc Connners in this movie to set up the Lizard for the next. Now who's up for a cinematic version of the clone wars saga?!
Post
#53459
Topic
Mark Hamill in Ireland Online Interview
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/53459/action/topic#53459
Time
Quote
Originally posted by: jimbo
Mark Hamil doesn't hate Lucas. Lucas created Star Wars. Why do I respect Lucas? because I love Star Wars. If it wasn't for Lucas there would be no Star Wars. He is a very creative individual. He is a man of great intellegence. He is a great filmmaker. Star Wars is such a great saga. Lucas and all those responsible for the Star Wars saga are great.

ROTFLMAO You are frickin' hilarious Jimbo!