Star Wars: The Original Trilogy

He is shitifying the originals beyond a point where I'd ever want to see them again.

Well, at least the prequels have resulted in some hilarious YouTube reviews like the following multi-part gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI

RLM should review Lucas' life.

I guess I have a more honest view of the original films and their merits these days, but part of me wishes I could have the nostalgia intact. Lucas seems intent on demolishing any and all affection for his creation.

I hope to God those unaltered Original Trilogy DVD's are still available in stores. I'm stuck with the Hayden-ised '04 DVD's and I'd hate to think Monkey Orgasm Kenobi is all I'd be able to get in future.

I watched the Special Editions once in the theatre when they originally came out in the late 90s...never again have I subjected myself to an altered version of any of the original films, and I never will. That said, the original Empire is a perfect film imho and possibly my all time favorite.

Harmsway wrote:

I guess I have a more honest view of the original films and their merits these days, but part of me wishes I could have the nostalgia intact. Lucas seems intent on demolishing any and all affection for his creation.

I'm in the same boat. I don't hold these films up that much. I remember some article years back where they asked celebrities about seeing Star Wars. Faye Dunaway said something like, "I never saw it, but it ruined movies." I thought she was a bitch, but now I'm closer to her opinion. Though it sounds like she actually is a bitch.

CJB wrote:

I hope to God those unaltered Original Trilogy DVD's are still available in stores. I'm stuck with the Hayden-ised '04 DVD's and I'd hate to think Monkey Orgasm Kenobi is all I'd be able to get in future.

You can get 'em used easy.

At least for now...

The White Tuxedo wrote:

He is shitifying the originals beyond a point where I'd ever want to see them again.

It's like going from the gutter, down to the sewer, and then out to New Jersey.

Harmsway wrote:

I guess I have a more honest view of the original films and their merits these days, but part of me wishes I could have the nostalgia intact. Lucas seems intent on demolishing any and all affection for his creation.

Like BLADE RUNNER, I enjoy the STAR WARS films almost entirely on a visual level. Aside from a few moments in STAR WARS and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, the dramatic and emotional engagement on offer is close to zero.

However, even the prequels - absolutely excruciating though they are for the most part as pieces of storytelling - have more than their share of fascinating production, creature and costume design, as well as terrific FX, so the eye is at least pretty well ravished throughout (leaving aside some instances of somewhat dodgy CGI). And even at their very, very worst, the prequels are still much more tolerable than INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (although I know you'd disagree with that).

What I never understood is why Lucas didn't tailor the prequels to fit what he had created in the OT. Instead, he did whatever the hell he wanted with the prequels and now he's fucking with the OT to make it "fit" the mess he created with the prequels. Seems ass backwards to me.

I think Wickett blinking is the most heinous of all of them. I mean, seriously, does Lucas really think that making a little creature blink will make the film that much better? Damn, this shit is absolutely infuriating. Boy am I glad that I have the DVDs that contain both the Special Editions and the original cuts.

G section wrote:

Plus Jabba's door looks f***ing terrible.

Maybe it is his 'tribute' to the door Joseph K reaches up to go through in Welles' adaptation of Kafka's THE TRIAL. Then again, the image quality on that door makes me think it might be his tribute to late 80s visual effects being composited via analog video. Something quite wrong there.

Sharky wrote:

I wouldn't mind this change of the door being bigger, but the artificial zoom kills it. Artificial zoom ins are what really hurt AOTC and ROTS because they are so frequently used in those flicks that it gets annoying. Can't Lucas just keep in frame? Look at the Jedi/Palpatine meeting in AOTC after the assassination attempt, EVERY SHOT has artificial zoom ins.

Quote :

It's shit like this that baffles me. The new effects here are neither an improvement nor a decrement, it's just a different effect for no reason. Why do these people waste their time with such trivial crap?

Makeshift Python wrote:

Sharky wrote:

I wouldn't mind this change of the door being bigger, but the artificial zoom kills it. Artificial zoom ins are what really hurt AOTC and ROTS because they are so frequently used in those flicks that it gets annoying. Can't Lucas just keep in frame? Look at the Jedi/Palpatine meeting in AOTC after the assassination attempt, EVERY SHOT has artificial zoom ins.

Quote :

It's shit like this that baffles me. The new effects here are neither an improvement nor a decrement, it's just a different effect for no reason. Why do these people waste their time with such trivial crap?

RE: zoom. I knew there was something about it that looked Prequely.

It's a pet peeve of mine. Specifically zoom ins that happen at the edge of the screen.What's the purpose of the zoom in here? It's just Lucas fucking around because he can. It's another point I use as an example of why I find TPM to be the lesser evil of the prequels. It's got some nice beauty still shots to it at least.

Makeshift Python wrote:

It's a pet peeve of mine. Specifically zoom ins that happen at the edge of the screen.What's the purpose of the zoom in here? It's just Lucas fucking around because he can. It's another point I use as an example of why I find TPM to be the lesser evil of the prequels. It's got some nice beauty still shots to it at least.

It's the last one that was originated on film, and that's a huge difference for me. Even with what have been described to me as the shittiest anamorphic lenses in the world, the movie still looks like a SW epic in terms of the way the desert and sky are colored -- but by AOTC's trailer, you've got Anakin crusing on his motorbike and it looks like a BARNEY MILLER episode where somebody crannked the chroma way too high, very video-ish (which to me is a BadThing.)

I can understand that. It LOOKS like a movie. F/X wise it was also the superior of the prequels. I like that while they used CGI they still made use of traditional models and CGI would only used when necessary and for some strange reason it holds up much better than the next two. Is there a reason behind that? Even Jurassic Park made in 1993 for the most part holds up well.

Loomis wrote:

So Amazon UK is currently offering the six-film Blu-ray collection for £67.49.

It's also offering the six-film Blu-ray collection with a limited edition film cell for £57.37.

Let me get this straight: buy the collection without the limited edition extra thrown in and it'll cost you a tenner more than if you opt to receive the same box set accompanied by this film cell? Strange.

Must have been an error on their part, for they're now offering both versions - the one with the film cell and the one without the film cell - for £57.37.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Thanks. I remember that clip. Great stuff.

Never can I recall a movie producer or series creator so out of touch with his/her own fan-base. Lucas seems to almost hate his Star Wars fans. He's a horrible director, a below-average writer, and a tone-deaf producer. He makes structural changes to the series that no one asked for, refuses to give fans the option of owning the original theatrical trilogy, and comes across pretty much as shown in the MAD-TV clip: petulant, spoiled, and a brat.

The guy seems like he was in the right place at the right time with a decent idea for a swashbuckling space adventure and a bit of forward thinking on special effects and simply got lucky from there. If there was any doubt about his inadequate directing abilities, the prequel trilogy should have completely erased them.

The best part is that fans still buy the shit, though.

STAR WARS is as dead as childhood. Time to move on.

Makeshift Python wrote:

I can understand that. It LOOKS like a movie. F/X wise it was also the superior of the prequels. I like that while they used CGI they still made use of traditional models and CGI would only used when necessary and for some strange reason it holds up much better than the next two. Is there a reason behind that? Even Jurassic Park made in 1993 for the most part holds up well.

Part of the prob with AOTC and ROTS is that when they used models, they shot them with digital cameras. It is really tough to keep models from looking like models when shot on video (getting much better as of late, with the different sized chip in camera), just look at THE STARLOST if you don't believe me.

trevanian wrote:

Makeshift Python wrote:

I can understand that. It LOOKS like a movie. F/X wise it was also the superior of the prequels. I like that while they used CGI they still made use of traditional models and CGI would only used when necessary and for some strange reason it holds up much better than the next two. Is there a reason behind that? Even Jurassic Park made in 1993 for the most part holds up well.

Part of the prob with AOTC and ROTS is that when they used models, they shot them with digital cameras. It is really tough to keep models from looking like models when shot on video (getting much better as of late, with the different sized chip in camera), just look at THE STARLOST if you don't believe me.

I phrased it wrong, I was actually talking about the CGI looking poorer in the last. But I agree about the miniature work not looking to great either with the exception of a few bits on the lava planet in III.

Though a full-length remix with that hilariously stupid noise would be awesome.