*sigh* All the bands I love are now gone or irrelevant or terrible, with the exception of Alice in Chains. NIN, Nirvana, Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Fugazi, Chore, Death from Above 1979, Treble Charger... the list goes on and on. But it has been this way since the late 1990s. The late 90s were like Return of the Jedi - still good, but with signs of things to come.
Yes. Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi are my three favourite movies (in that order). I also consider Star Wars to also be one the greatest films ever made.
Zero said:
But if I were in George's shoes, I wouldn't have made the prequels at all. Maybe that's the most apt fatal flaw criticism. This whole prequel stuff started when he re-titled Star Wars as A New Hope. Calling that film "A New Hope" still feels weird in my mouth. Regular folks (non-fans) who are my age or older still call it "Star Wars". Oh, sure, I was all psyched up about there supposedly being nine episodes in all. But in hindsight, I would have just left it as a trilogy and gone on to make a beach party sequel to THX 1138. Or something.
Yes. It really was amazing that we got three very good to great films (yeah, yeah, some people don't like Jedi).
I kind of wish George had stuck with his original 12 film plan following The Adventures of Luke Skywalker - which were envisioned more as a kind of James Bond series in space, rather than proper sequels/prequels. Sure, we would never have gotten ESB, but then ESB is why we are in this mess in the first place...
Diego said:
Nah, he should just remake the OT, deep down that's what he wants.
But then all the good parts would be gone! That would be bad.
TheBoost said:
theprequelsrule said:
Until Jabba in Star Wars looks like the Jabba in Jedi George should be constantly improving them.
You have it backwards. He'll want to make the Jabba in ROTJ look like the Jabba in TPM.
I know it man, but a guy can dream can't he?
Sluggo said:
TheBoost said:
Somehow Lucas MADE Bill Moyers interview him and the Smithsonian display his stuff? Or could we look at it as Lucas graciously did those things since he already has the prestige as the director of two of the greatest most successful movies of all time, and the most successful independent filmmaker of all time, and a technological visionary?
And he somehow cleverly manipulated it so that a picture was taken of him and his peers (who he just presented an award with) when they were all together! Scandalous! Damn tricky apologists! This is unheard of!!!!!!
Fixed?
Star Wars is certainly on many a "greatest of all time" list. I'm not sure about how people feel about American Graffiti - in the 70s it was extremely well regarded. I personally think it just might be superior to Star Wars.
zombie84 said:
Han: "Kid, I've flown from one end of this galaxy to the other and...well, actually now that you mention it, I used to hang around the Jedi a lot. It was really impressive, especially since I was 13 and still easily wowed by things like telekinesis and magic and feats of inhuman strength."
Kenobi: "Wait, you knew the Jedi?"
Han: "Sure. Is Yoda still around? I used to personally give him intel during the wars. Chewie used to give him piggie back rides, no joke."
Kenobi: "Holy shit, you guys knew Yoda? He's hiding on Dagobah."
Han: "Hey, you know what? Why don't we stop by and say hi. He would probably be helpful with this whole bringing-down-the-empire thing you're involved with."
Luke: "What? You said the Jedi were all but extinct!"
Kenobi: "Yeah, all but extinct. All but Yoda."
Luke: "Why wouldn't you say anything? And why have you guys been sitting around so long? Is this Yoda any good?"
Han: "I'm pretty sure he was like the President of the Jedi."
Kenobi: "Yeah, he's the most powerful person in the universe actually, and he trained me so I'm pretty tight with him. I can't believe I never thought of that."
Han: "Wait, I don't remember him training anyone."
Kenobi: "Well...technically, I was trained by this Qui Gon guy."
Luke: "And then you trained that guy, Darth Vader? The guy who killed my father."
Han: "Woah, woah, woah. You trained Darth Vader??"
Luke: "You've heard of him too?"
Han: "How could you have not?! Do you even know what you are doing here?"
Luke: "All the cool kids on Tatooine were joining the rebellion, so..."
Han: "And if you were Darth Vader's master I want all of you guys off this ship!"
Kenobi: "Relax, this was before he was evil. In fact, I pretty much killed him once and that's why he's in the suit."
Luke: "I can't believe you didn't mention any of this to me. Was this after he killed my father, Anakin Skywalker?"
Han: "Wait, your father was Anakin Skywalker?"
Luke: "You've heard of him too?!"
Han: "Well, back then everyone did, he was kind of famous. Don't they have Google on Tatooine? Then he became the Emperor's right hand man and kind of disappeared after he got into a fight with his former master...."
Kenobi: "Heh heh. So anyway Luke, about this mission..."
Luke: "Ben, what the fuck!! Is anything you told me true?? Well, maybe this won't be so bad if I can bang that smoking hot princess."
Kenobi: "Yeah, about that..."
Plif Zombie, I think I love you.
I am serious about constantly improving the CGI shots in the SEs, and adding in the B-Wing sequences (which were only cut out due to green/blue screen issues caused by the shape of their design IIRC). Until Jabba in Star Wars looks like the Jabba in Jedi George should be constantly improving them. I would consider buying them (used of course) if he did this. I could put up with the changes if they at least looked good.
The scene where the Rancor picks up Luke always looked terrible. It always amazed me that he didn't try to alter that one.
Of course I'm serious. All the changes I put in the original post would be great! Imagine some stormtroopers getting ripped in half by giant ape creatures! And Luke has to have a different "no!" because it has to be like poetry and "rhyme".
@walking_carpet: having seen T2 and The Abyss recently I feel that the CGI does not really stand up. It looks phony. But here is the important part: it still fits the film. It does not take away from it, pull you out of the experience etc.
It's not about photorealism so much as it is about having a suitable artistic style. The gritty, lived in universe, was a part of Star Wars and clean looking CGI is an inappropriate technique to realize these films on screen.
*sighs* If we are going to be stuck with the SE then they might as well look good. So can we ask George to redo all the CGI sequences with the most modern state of the art technology? Jedi Rocks needs some serious updating! How about throwing in some B-wing sequences during the Battle of Endor? How about having the Ewoks morph into bad ass killer ape like creature when the go into battle? Can we get Mark Hammil to come in and redo his "No!" when Kenobi is killed so it sounds more like Vader (it's called foreshadowing people - look it up!)
Zero said:
Star Wars is a tribute to the cheesy sci-fi serials.
Not so much a tribute, as taking some of the good core ideas (capes and swords with ray-guns), but executing them well.
The prequels are actually far, far closer in tone to the old serials that the OT was.
walking_carpet said:
THERE IS NOTHING PHOTOREALISTIC about that two-headed pod-race announcer!! come to think of it, there is so much crap in the PT thats not photorealistic. Another garbage scene in TPM is the Naboo ground battle! pixar nowadays looks better - but you dont hear them saying any of the animated features are meant to be photorealistic.
the clone troopers in AOTC were obviously CGI to me even back in 2002. most likely what cost ILM the oscar that year.
if photorealism was truly the standard for using CGI in the PT, then one can easily argue that the PT had far worse effects from 1999-2005 than the OT did from 1977-1983. and its not even close.
+1000. For me personally, this is one of the more frustrating things about George's attitude. The special effects in the OT helped emmerse you in the universe, whereas the effects in the PT just remind you that you are only watching a movie.
Like the 2004 DVD, Star Wars seems to have far too much red boosting. The sand on tatooine and skin tones really look off. Hideous really.
walking_carpet said:
when obi-wan said "you were right about one thing master...the negotiations were short"
no one in the theatre even chuckled.
Ouch. Yeah, it was same thing in the theatre when I saw it.
SilverWook said:
theprequelsrule, there are better ways to make a point without using profanity and other offensive terms. Keep it clean?
Will do. My apologies.
none said:
The interest isn't that it's Star Wars. The interest is seeing how they take an old movie and convert it into ruin it with some new technology.
Fixed.
none said:
^ Much of that is handled here: http://originaltrilogy.com/fan-edits/
^ This is certainly helpful, but I was thinking of something a little more extensive, including screenshot comparisons with the 1995 'faces" VHS, 2004 DVD, and 2006 GOUT, quotes from satisfied fans etc. Something informative and fun!
none said:
theprequelsrule wrote: Do people on this forums really care about a 3-D TPM release?
Yes. Will be interesting to see how they handle the 3D.
Ahhhh, I see. If it works well, we can "look forward" to them releasing the OT in 3D.
EFU said:
If the OT never existed and we just had the prequels, i'd be indifferent.
But how things are, I hate them. I have to admit I saw TPM a 2nd time, on dvd at a friend's house, just to give it another chance, but nope. Still hate it. Can't bring myself to watch the other 2 a 2nd time.
I saw each prequel in theatres multiple times. I saw TPM 4 times in theatres! I will now go light myself on fire.
Can we get a pinned thread with perhaps one or two paragraph summaries of the main restorations/preservations and edits (what improvements were made etc.)? Let the creators perhaps make the descriptions themselves? Some of the discussion threads are now hundreds of pages long, so I think this would be a good idea, and especially helpful for new members. Thoughts?
I can't believe I spent time from 1999 through 2006 trying to convince myself that the prequels were good.
xhonzi said:
theprequelsrule said:
SilverWook said:
Hopefully, things will quiet down around here a bit now that the Blu Ray is finally out.
At least until the 3-D release of Phantom Menace. ;)
Do people on this forums really care about a 3-D TPM release?
No, but it will still stir up the usual fervor.
Nah. There are not enough TPM purists out there. Most people who like TPM are gushers who embrace Lucasism.
nightstalkerpoet said:
I used to still hate the R2/Buzz droid scene because it looked so out of place is really stupid and juvenile.
Fixed.
Xhonzi, I don't agree with the "ignore" category. I mean, that is more of an action rather than an opinion. I ignore the prequels, but I still hate them. Like my ex-girlfriend(s).
Perhaps change it to "indifferent"?