Star Wars 7 shit talk

i mean, i know, it's easy to make fun of this type of anality, but if you're using STAR WARS to, say, teach the history of visual effects and sound design, it matters to actually have something that resembles the original release.

It was more of a fuck you than not including it IMO

― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Tuesday, December 15, 2015 7:33 PM (12 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

huh?

That Lucas deliberately 'caved' to OG fans by including the original cuts in less than desirable quality

Ie "ok you get it but I pissed all over it first"

oh, i see.

it occurs to me that the very perfectionism that led STAR WARS to become a landmark in visual effects (and it still really dazzles on that score) is what led lucas to constantly re-work the damn thing (albeit with much lower quality control).

i suspect that most of the parts of harmy's that don't include restored original fx are just from the se blu-rays-- iirc there is a visible change in the quality (used neutrally) of the image when it cuts to e.g. the landspeeder. could be wrong. those things are treasures tho.

tbh the landspeeder stuff is precisely what makes me think this doesn't really look like the 1977 release

in the print i saw, underneath the landspeeder there is a very conspicuous blur. in the "despecialized edition" there's a very well-defined shadow instead -- which is precisely what was done to "improve" the FX, if not for the 1997 edition then for earlier video releases. in other words, the FX seem to have vestiges of later re-toolings.

hell, all those Tatooine scenes looked murky for years, which fit the drabness of living on a desert planet without punk rock and bright clothes.

also i've always liked the searchers-quoting sequence where he returns home to find his aunt/uncle dead. i've always been a little shocked that they included those charred corpses in there--that's pretty intense stuff for kids. (and of course if it was a more thoroughgoing 'searchers' homage the horror would have been all displayed on obi-wan's face.)

and Snaggletooth's severed arm!

yeah! i don't object to any of this stuff. it's good to freak kids out. all the more reason to regret the relatively sanitized sequels.

I liked the pigeon droppings on Boba Fett's armor.

i suspect that most of the parts of harmy's that don't include restored original fx are just from the se blu-rays-- iirc there is a visible change in the quality (used neutrally) of the image when it cuts to e.g. the landspeeder. could be wrong. those things are treasures tho.

― denies the existence of dark matter (difficult listening hour), Wednesday, December 16, 2015 1:44 AM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there's some YouTube clips that show you what's being patched in from where

tbh tho the platonic Star Wars is one your mum taped off the telly two Christmases ago with an Argos advert and one for double deckers between yodas introduction and going back to cloud city

and Snaggletooth's severed arm!

Production photo shows they originally had something more hardcore in mind:

http://i.imgur.com/BjiJv.jpg

IIRC, the walrus guy in the cantina fight ("Ponda Baba" sez wookieepedia), I had his action figure, and his arm was frickin' detachable. Because 6 years olds need to be able realistically simulate the maiming that happens in bar fights that involve light sabers

Love the pipe in that photo

I knew him as Walrus Man, a frequent cross-brand character in my childhood, serving Megatron and Serpentor with grace and efficiency.

lol, his friend is named Dr. Cornelius Evazan

http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/galleries/2012/Review_DrEvazanTVC/Review_DrEvazanTVC_still.JPG

A doctor with the death sentence on 12 systems

gawd, I had a guy who i lived with in college who would walk up to people in bars and say HE DOESN'T LIKE YOU... I DON'T LIKE YOU EITHER

u_u

i prefer the names Richard Pryor calls them in his bar sketch

Not sure if this has been mentioned but there are some other versions around now, some enthusiasts have been buying up original prints, digitising the best reels with a 4k scanner and then going through and cleaning up dirt:

http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/team-negative1-star-wars-1977-35mm-theatrical-version-release-details-and-updates/id/14590/page/1
http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Team-Negative1-The-Empire-Strikes-Back-1980-35mm-Theatrical-Version-Release-Details-and-Updates/id/16108/page/1

Hate how good cinemas in London are screening this over the weekend just to get punters in.

Bastards.

Production photo shows they originally had something more hardcore in mind:

In the novelization, not only does Obi-Wan decapitate and, uh, de-arm-itate Walrus Man; he bisects Dr. Evazan from top to bottom. That may have been a little much for a PG movie in 1977.

I always thought Alec Guinness voiced, uh, Dr. Evazan. It sounds like one of his imitations.

Andrew O'Hehir leads the few, the proud:

http://www.salon.com/2015/12/16/star_wars_the_force_awakens_you_know_all_the_spoilers_in_j_j_abrams_obsessive_reboot_because_youve_seen_this_movie_before/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars_episode_vii_the_force_awakens/reviews/?sort=rotten

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is no more and no less than the movie that made us love it in the first place. In fact, it's basically the same thing. Isn't that what we all wanted anyway?

No. No, it isn't. Is that supposed to be a point in its favor?

My biggest apprehension about this is that it winds up being more of a nostalgic look back at why people love the original films rather than a thing that stands and earns love on its own terms. Something like The Muppets, which is more about the creator's fond memories than it is about moving on to the next chapter. Nostalgia. Legacy. Blechh.

I clearly have no issue with nostalgia on its own terms but fan service is kind of the worst. I don't need the Chris Farley Show retrospective.

Apparently the reaction is relentless, which was NOT the case in '77... and why I hate mersh action movies now.

did you mean action?

yes, f u

:D

I'm not interested in reading what other people think of the movie, I'm interested in what *I* think of it.

its jj abrams. he is crippled by both his own personal reverence of his childhood favourites (see star trek) and studios that no doubt do not want anyone messing around with a winning brand/franchise. i dont expect this to be anything more than satisfying on account of it simply not being a total diaster. i dont think his aim was to really come up with anything that pointed the way forward, just to make sure he gets the series back on track. but his films have never struck me as being particularly ambitious or having anything new to add to their histories, they are more just legacy place holders/extenders.

I remember almost nothing about any Abrams movie I've seen. Beastie Boys songs in the far future. That, I remember.

I feel like L'il Kirk listening to "Sabotage" four centuries from now was kinda the culmination of that Futurama joke where Leela refers to Sir Mix-A-Lot as "classical music."

tbh i dont even know if he was/is a star trek fan, but it all feels like someone with no real ideas of their own, but having faith that affection for the source material, good craft, and general care (cos thats what 80s movies had right) is enough. he makes me think of what (spielberg fan) dawson in dawsons creek would make if he got a job in hollywood. hes like someone who takes on board every idea offered on fan forums, for fear of offending those guys.

The forgotten/forgettable Super 8 was the perfect encapsulation of everything good(ish) about Abrams and everything terrible, general competence and a sort of appealing reverence for the heyday of mainstream Spielberg kid sic-fi and a complete lack of the instincts and conviction needed to pull the nostalgia trip off.

I'm seeing this with my kids ASAP, because that is what it is there for.

The AV Club review makes it sound like exactly the movie I was expecting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTLAx3VDX7g

xpost I respect that review for keeping the plot clouded while still being pretty thorough about pros and cons. Don't think I need to read any more reviews, since they'll likely give away what few surprises this apparently holds.

Man, is Fallon anything but him and celebrities goofing around?

Oh good, Fallon likes Star Wars.

Doesn't Fallon like literally everything?

alcohol most of all, iirc

Best thing I've read about this movie: Candyass Fallon asking H Ford if he got sentimental playing Han again; the reply: "No, I got paid."

Is Candyass Fallon something real or just a morbsism?

In other news, my kid just got sent home from school throwing up, so we might not be going to opening night after all.

Most people only start throwing up after they've seen the new Star Wars movie. </morbs>

Sorry to hear about your kid. That's a sucky double whammy.