That bitch Lucas announces Star wars on Blu Rayz

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Well, Paramount Pictures studio originally wanted to release a new Star Trek TV series back in the late 1970s but ultimately, decided to cancel it at the last minute. In by doing so, it angered many of the classic ST fans whom deluged the studio to reconsider doing so. With $42,000,000 already sunk into the lavish production sets and everything else, someone suggested how about releasing a ST movie instead. The studio wised up & thus, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was greenlit & finally released in 1979. It was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records 1980 version as the most expensive film ever made (at that current point in time).

Lucasfilm Ltd. has said that on February 10, 2012 (which falls on a Friday), the 3D film version of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace will be released nationally.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Udderdude]

Oh boy, Jar Jar's tounge coming at you in 3D.

I hope it fucking flops.

[greg]

Me too. 3D is a totally stupid gimmick. I hate this new trend towards 3D. It looks dumb and artistically, it's ruining the concept of framing shots by focusing on making stuff stick out rather than focusing on the rule of thirds of a flat image. Plus it ruins detail, it makes my eyes feel weird and it never looks natural.

[Skykid]

Lucasfilm Ltd. has said that on February 10, 2012 (which falls on a Friday), the 3D film version of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace will be released nationally.

For serious?

I'll be very curious about the box office takings for that.

[moozooh]

So, I've watched the original trilogy (on Blu-ray, but I also made sure to study all the alterations). It only took me what, some 20 odd years since it became available here. :D

I'd like to be fair here. Unfortunately, while A New Hope mostly lived up to my expectations, ESB and RotJ weren't too great. And by not too great I mean "still leaps and bounds better than the prequels, but not remotely close to ideal". I'll try to explain my point of view in an attempt to spark further discussion.

A New Hope is probably the only self-sufficient movie of the saga. It has a well-defined beginning, a good pace, and a climatic ending that happens on a major note important to all the featured characters. The only thing that bothers me there is that, barring the space combat scenes, nobody seems to get hit even once after Obi-Wan Kenobi thoughtfully expresses to Luke that "only imperial stormtroopers are so precise". Unfortunately, present reality speaks against Kenobi's outdated wisdom, as the same troopers become so dreadfully imprecise they are rendered completely unable to hit two almost immobile targets in that shaft during the escape sequence. "If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine" is also a surprisingly pompous line considering Vader himself had seemingly no problem of achieving the same feat in Episode VI after half a lifetime of brutal mayhem. But Kenobi not having a clue about things is forgivable because the rest is pretty much excellent.

Now, for a 8.8 IMBD rating movie, the Empire Strikes Back relies too much on its prequel's pacing and ultimately fails to keep up with it. It feels like nothing ever gets done in the movie because the characters are frantically moving around without actually finishing anything, as they seem to lack a clear understanding of what they should be doing in the first place; the only one who actually succeeds at all is Boba Fett, who finally nails a rogue smuggler with the help of a Sith lord. Again, the oh so precise stormtroopers are only able to hit C3PO, the clumsiest character, at point-blank range. The first and third movie end on some kind of accomplishment their plots have built up for, but nothing feels like one here; instead we're suggested that a wrap-up is coming at some point in the future. But unlike ANH, ESB is completely helpless without that wrap-up! It's also noteworthy that the unrealistic physics the prequels got lambasted for actually started here: Luke survives a kilometer-long fall on a ruffled surface without so much as tearing his suit, then repeats the feat by landing on some thin piping without crushing his joints (or the piping), before that the Falcon crew is seen walking (!) around with only rebreathers (!!) in what essentially is an asteroid cave in outer space, which later turns out to be a digestive tract of a living creature (!!!) that somehow got onto that asteroid in the first place—a genuine filler scene that serves no purpose in the plot. There was no Wikipedia back then to look up space exposure, I understand it, and Lucas surely was born adult, so he didn't know how to graze his skin after a fall, but come on! You don't have to hit my suspension of disbelief so hard just because you're filming a sci-fi story for children. Surely it is because of that you're so hesitant to use the word "kill", preferring to substitute it with less aggressive euphemisms, even when they sound completely out of place? Oh yes, the lack of long-term consequences—another criticism of the prequels—can also be seen here with Luke's hand being replaced by a fully functional prosthesis. At this point I stopped caring about whatever injuries any of the characters may sustain, because, as long as they're alive, it's seemingly going to be alright for them.

And Return of the Jedi is just that: a wrap-up. It definitely does a better job with the pacing (less empty moments, and things are actually getting done here, both of which is good for an adventure movie), but has a host of problems on its own. Again, the behind-the-scenes development that was heavily criticized in the prequels actually started here: Luke constructs a lightsaber, which is assumed to be a complex and forbidden technology, without any kind of reference—because the reference is all dead... except for Yoda and Vader, the only two remaining authorities on lightsabers by that point, neither of which were met since ESB. He also suggests to have spent the year training before/instead of going back to Dagobah to fulfill his promise to Yoda, but is suddenly worried that Yoda might pass away before completing his training. Well, maybe you should have done so in the first place, Luke? My next gripe with RotJ are the Ewoks. On one hand you have mature themes of seduction, treachery, moral conflict, generations conflict, loyalty, people dying all around, and already in five seconds you're looking at... some cartoonish children show escapees providing comedic relief while fending off storm troopers?.. Alright, so let's concentrate on that second death star. The whole "we'll just build another death star" thing reeks of laziness on the writers' part. The shield generator in particular wasn't guarded well at all, considering how powerful the Empire and how important the shield was. Why does it have another conveniently placed bottomless shaft in what appears to be the battle station's control room is a whole another question. Drum and Udderdude were right to note how sudden was Vader's "polarity change" (I'm sure it was the main inspiration behind Ikaruga) and how quick he was to boast about it. I would expect a reaction closer to what Anakin had when cutting off Windu's arm in Episode III: he is a hateful murderer, a destroyer of civilizations, perhaps the most evil entity the history has known; the realization of all the sins committed over the years should have crushed the emotionally unstable, weak-willed individual that he was supposed to be into submission. He was in doubt when seeing his son suffer, whether to go against his master to save Luke, or to stand by idly like he should have as a loyal pet that he was all these years. Yet didn't doubt at all that he wasn't that bad of a guy after all! Where have the personality traits that let him become seduced and corrupted suddenly go? Considering how generally well Han's and Luke's characters are written, this seems inexcusably cheesy.

As for the alterations, some of them were for the better, some for the worse, but, since I wasn't an avid fan and a stickler for original imagery, in total the good outweighed the bad for me. And the BD version is by far the best of all the altered ones up to this point.

[xbl0x180]

Have you read the book?

The part where handsome Dracula rolls into town and starts romancing Mina Harker before banging her in a bed of roses must have been missing from my copy.

I read the book in High School. I'm not claiming that it's 100% accurate. But I had the impression that most of the movie followed the book pretty close. I would probably need to re-read the book and then watch the movie again to spot more differences.

It's not even close to accurate. Let me summarise for you: Dracula is not Pride & Prejudice. Dracula is not a love story in any shape or form: it's pure gothic horror about an inhuman monster looking to relocate from the Carpathians to London so that he can feed on the population. He's not attractive, did not have a queen who was slain during his mortal years who happens to be the spitting image of Mina Harker.
He does feed on Mina, but only in an act of revenge against his pursuers - not because his cold heart turns to butter when he sees her visage. She at no point is ever attracted to a beast who is poisoning her with undead blood.

Presenting Dracula as a love story of any kind is a total misrepresentation of the novel, and calling it "Bram Stoker's" is very poor taste. It leads ignorant kids to think it's a romantic novel.
As the film is an interpretation of the book, it should be called 'Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula', and then everyone knows who to blame.

The same could be said of Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein

[TransatlanticFoe]

Oh yes, the lack of long-term consequences—another criticism of the prequels—can also be seen here with Luke's hand being replaced by a fully functional prosthesis. At this point I stopped caring about whatever injuries any of the characters may sustain, because, as long as they're alive, it's seemingly going to be alright for them.

This is an important plot point, set up in the encounter in the cave on Dagobah and followed through in the confrontation in the Death Star. If anything it serves to point out long-term consequences, that small indiscretions lead down the path of the dark side.

But anyway, there are starship and droids. Advanced healing was set up with the bacta tank scene on Hoth. So why is a prosthetic hand so unbelievable in the midst of all that?

[greg]

that the Falcon crew is seen walking (!) around with only rebreathers (!!) in what essentially is an asteroid cave in outer space, which later turns out to be a digestive tract of a living creature (!!!) that somehow got onto that asteroid in the first place—a genuine filler scene that serves no purpose in the plot.

Well, as you can see mist floating around the floor, it's obvious that there is some sort of atmosphere inside the slug's guts. They wouldn't have gone out with just those masks if that were so. Living creatures (mynocks) are also seen flying around inside. What you have here is some giant space slug that needs only to eat every thousand years or so, perhaps. How it can travel around in space is a mystery, but that's what makes the scene so cool.

You mention that nothing gets done in ESB. But that's why the movie is called "The Empire Strikes Back." The Rebel base is destroyed, and for the rest of the movie, it is a story of survival, not of victory. If the Rebels were to win every time, it might have made the story boring. The movie ends in tragedy, and this only makes the characters more endearing. You really don't get emotionally attached to any of the characters in the prequel trilogy.

My next gripe with RotJ are the Ewoks. On one hand you have mature themes of seduction, treachery, moral conflict, generations conflict, loyalty, people dying all around, and already in five seconds you're looking at... some cartoonish children show escapees providing comedic relief while fending off storm troopers?.. Alright, so let's concentrate on that second death star. The whole "we'll just build another death star" thing reeks of laziness on the writers' part.

This is why ROTJ is easily the weakest of the three movies. The whole "another Death Star" is such a rehash of the first movie. Yeah, they made flying into the superstructure real cool-looking and far more visually exciting than the simple trench run in the first movie. But it's still a recycled plot. You're completely right about the Ewoks too. This is why Gary Kurtz gave up and left after the first two movies. He saw Lucas putting more emphasis on marketing toys rather than developing a good story.

Advanced healing was set up with the bacta tank scene on Hoth. So why is a prosthetic hand so unbelievable in the midst of all that?

Right. It really isn't that far-fetched at all, since already we are getting close to this sort of functioning prosthesis in the real world.

[emphatic]

Look how sad Yoda looks.

[Udderdude]

No little kid and no Jar Jar? Nice try Lucas, you aren't fooling anyone.

We remember.

[Skykid]

Look how sad Yoda looks.

Lol, can't blame him.

So, I've watched the original trilogy (on Blu-ray, but I also made sure to study all the alterations). It only took me what, some 20 odd years since it became available here.

I'd like to be fair here. Unfortunately, while A New Hope mostly lived up to my expectations, ESB and RotJ weren't too great. And by not too great I mean "still leaps and bounds better than the prequels, but not remotely close to ideal". I'll try to explain my point of view in an attempt to spark further discussion.

A New Hope is probably the only self-sufficient movie of the saga. It has a well-defined beginning, a good pace, and a climatic ending that happens on a major note important to all the featured characters. The only thing that bothers me there is that, barring the space combat scenes, nobody seems to get hit even once after Obi-Wan Kenobi thoughtfully expresses to Luke that "only imperial stormtroopers are so precise". Unfortunately, present reality speaks against Kenobi's outdated wisdom, as the same troopers become so dreadfully imprecise they are rendered completely unable to hit two almost immobile targets in that shaft during the escape sequence. "If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine" is also a surprisingly pompous line considering Vader himself had seemingly no problem of achieving the same feat in Episode VI after half a lifetime of brutal mayhem. But Kenobi not having a clue about things is forgivable because the rest is pretty much excellent.

Now, for a 8.8 IMBD rating movie, the Empire Strikes Back relies too much on its prequel's pacing and ultimately fails to keep up with it. It feels like nothing ever gets done in the movie because the characters are frantically moving around without actually finishing anything, as they seem to lack a clear understanding of what they should be doing in the first place; the only one who actually succeeds at all is Boba Fett, who finally nails a rogue smuggler with the help of a Sith lord. Again, the oh so precise stormtroopers are only able to hit C3PO, the clumsiest character, at point-blank range. The first and third movie end on some kind of accomplishment their plots have built up for, but nothing feels like one here; instead we're suggested that a wrap-up is coming at some point in the future. But unlike ANH, ESB is completely helpless without that wrap-up! It's also noteworthy that the unrealistic physics the prequels got lambasted for actually started here: Luke survives a kilometer-long fall on a ruffled surface without so much as tearing his suit, then repeats the feat by landing on some thin piping without crushing his joints (or the piping), before that the Falcon crew is seen walking (!) around with only rebreathers (!!) in what essentially is an asteroid cave in outer space, which later turns out to be a digestive tract of a living creature (!!!) that somehow got onto that asteroid in the first place—a genuine filler scene that serves no purpose in the plot. There was no Wikipedia back then to look up space exposure, I understand it, and Lucas surely was born adult, so he didn't know how to graze his skin after a fall, but come on! You don't have to hit my suspension of disbelief so hard just because you're filming a sci-fi story for children. Surely it is because of that you're so hesitant to use the word "kill", preferring to substitute it with less aggressive euphemisms, even when they sound completely out of place? Oh yes, the lack of long-term consequences—another criticism of the prequels—can also be seen here with Luke's hand being replaced by a fully functional prosthesis. At this point I stopped caring about whatever injuries any of the characters may sustain, because, as long as they're alive, it's seemingly going to be alright for them.

And Return of the Jedi is just that: a wrap-up. It definitely does a better job with the pacing (less empty moments, and things are actually getting done here, both of which is good for an adventure movie), but has a host of problems on its own. Again, the behind-the-scenes development that was heavily criticized in the prequels actually started here: Luke constructs a lightsaber, which is assumed to be a complex and forbidden technology, without any kind of reference—because the reference is all dead... except for Yoda and Vader, the only two remaining authorities on lightsabers by that point, neither of which were met since ESB. He also suggests to have spent the year training before/instead of going back to Dagobah to fulfill his promise to Yoda, but is suddenly worried that Yoda might pass away before completing his training. Well, maybe you should have done so in the first place, Luke? My next gripe with RotJ are the Ewoks. On one hand you have mature themes of seduction, treachery, moral conflict, generations conflict, loyalty, people dying all around, and already in five seconds you're looking at... some cartoonish children show escapees providing comedic relief while fending off storm troopers?.. Alright, so let's concentrate on that second death star. The whole "we'll just build another death star" thing reeks of laziness on the writers' part. The shield generator in particular wasn't guarded well at all, considering how powerful the Empire and how important the shield was. Why does it have another conveniently placed bottomless shaft in what appears to be the battle station's control room is a whole another question. Drum and Udderdude were right to note how sudden was Vader's "polarity change" (I'm sure it was the main inspiration behind Ikaruga) and how quick he was to boast about it. I would expect a reaction closer to what Anakin had when cutting off Windu's arm in Episode III: he is a hateful murderer, a destroyer of civilizations, perhaps the most evil entity the history has known; the realization of all the sins committed over the years should have crushed the emotionally unstable, weak-willed individual that he was supposed to be into submission. He was in doubt when seeing his son suffer, whether to go against his master to save Luke, or to stand by idly like he should have as a loyal pet that he was all these years. Yet didn't doubt at all that he wasn't that bad of a guy after all! Where have the personality traits that let him become seduced and corrupted suddenly go? Considering how generally well Han's and Luke's characters are written, this seems inexcusably cheesy.

As for the alterations, some of them were for the better, some for the worse, but, since I wasn't an avid fan and a stickler for original imagery, in total the good outweighed the bad for me. And the BD version is by far the best of all the altered ones up to this point.

Okay, now go and watch Empire again.

[moozooh]

Well, as you can see mist floating around the floor, it's obvious that there is some sort of atmosphere inside the slug's guts. They wouldn't have gone out with just those masks if that were so. Living creatures (mynocks) are also seen flying around inside. What you have here is some giant space slug that needs only to eat every thousand years or so, perhaps. How it can travel around in space is a mystery, but that's what makes the scene so cool.

Well, I don't know. It may be not very obvious to children—and I assume most people watched SW films the first time as children—but not having any oxygen to breathe is probably the least concern to walking around in space unprotected, otherwise there would be no space suits: a simple rebreather would be enough. A fictional creature, or even a bunch thereof, is perfectly alright: there are many real-world creatures that I haven't seen or don't even know about their existence, so it's not bothering me. Mynocks, giant worms, why not. The thing that messes with my suspension of disbelief here is the fact that these creatures live in an environment one hundred percent incompatible with life. And I know it's incompatible because, unlike mynocks, I know what space is. It is, to put it simply and perfectly clear, vast nothingness. The fact that they can firmly stand on an asteroid already makes it unbelievable, because it surely wouldn't be able to hold them, or the creature, with its gravitational field. I know shortcuts have to be taken in sci-fi to make it more fun (fireless, soundless space explosions wouldn't be very exciting to watch, I agree), but that particular scene is where it rolled over firmly into the "completely unrealistic" territory. It's most unfortunate that it happened in a filler scene that didn't even have to be there to begin with.

You mention that nothing gets done in ESB. But that's why the movie is called "The Empire Strikes Back." The Rebel base is destroyed, and for the rest of the movie, it is a story of survival, not of victory. If the Rebels were to win every time, it might have made the story boring. The movie ends in tragedy, and this only makes the characters more endearing.

The way I see it, the movie starts with tragedy (people are being killed there, after all), but even at that the rebels don't perceive it as much more than an expected setback. But if you look at it carefully, the Empire's assault achieves very little, as most of the rebels, including the key figures, flee. Han is the only one captured (not even killed!), and from the Empire's point of view he isn't even a key figure; they never targeted him, it's Boba Fett who did. He's a key figure to us because we care about him. We know him to be one of the main protagonists, but to the Empire most rebels are nameless; Luke is probably the only person the Sith have targeted specifically. Luke has learned the truth about his family; it's harsh and devastating, but knowing is not a bad thing per se. Losing a hand evidently isn't either, because the total time he's spent without one amounts to a few minutes of screen time. The Empire doesn't so much strike back as it shows itself to be incompetent, letting a small, inferior force break through every time, even with Darth fucking Vader present on the scene.

As for rebels winning every time being boring, well, you're absolutely right. My criticism here is that the Empire didn't win anything here either—nobody did, we didn't even see the ramifications of the protagonists, or the entire rebel faction, getting weaker as a result of the titular "strike". Han will be saved in the first half hour of the next movie, and once again rebels are ready to take on a huge armored battle station. So what exactly did the Empire accomplish here? Vader getting to tell his son he was his father. But unless that was his plan from the beginning, it doesn't count. As I said, no long-term consequences.

Advanced healing was set up with the bacta tank scene on Hoth. So why is a prosthetic hand so unbelievable in the midst of all that?

Right. It really isn't that far-fetched at all, since already we are getting close to this sort of functioning prosthesis in the real world.

It's unbelievable because speeding up a natural healing process and attaching an artificial limb that works perfectly without causing any (even implied) discomfort is very different. Why wasn't Anakin healed the same way? They had FTL travel for hundreds of years by that point, and the technology to make one live without a silly-looking environmental suit only appeared a few years ago? I don't know, it's very hard for me not to notice these inconsistencies, it's like the writers purposefully put the antagonists at a disadvantage, making them weaker or stupider in whatever ways they can. :\ Ironically, the opposite was true for the prequels, where it's the protagonists who are the idiots, doing lots of flashy things only to achieve nothing.

Don't get me wrong, I don't criticize every sci-fi/adventure movie that way. It has to do with the fact that, while the prequels are being ragged on by everyone, the original trilogy doesn't get its fair share of spanking, even though I feel it also deserves it. There are adventure movies that have been handled more professionally.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

If you leaf through the original SW conceptual art books, you'll see some very cool ideas and sketches for many of the scenes in the original SW trilogy. Some of the early concept artwork were even used in the later prequel trilogy as well. I recall with some fond memories of leafing through ever single page and just blown away by what the SW conceptual artists came up with back in those days.

The Bacta bath technology (shown in SW:TESB) hadn't been concieved during the Clone Wars era, hence why the special pressurized suit needed for Anakin when the Emperor rescues him at the end of SW Episode 3: RoTS. Sure, the Empire could've used the later develooped Bacta bath technology for Vader in the original SW flicks to get rid of the scars incurred in RoTS. Vader is already at the ripe old age of 45 in the events that occur in ESB & is 46 in RoTJ.

Also with the FTL travel, aging has to be compensated for the pilot to age in sync with everybody else in the vastness of space/distant galaxies (hence some serious computing power is needed to pull it off successfully, otherwise the pilot would encounter some characters whom are too old or long since dead exiting from "lightspeed jump" senario).

As for constructing a second Death Star, it seems that the Galactic Empire wanted to show the galaxy it's might & power if it had been completed in time, there'd be nothing to stop it with it's numerous 1mm sized cooling vents (from the central reactor core all the way to the exterior surface) -- absolutely nothing could penatrate them at that small of a size. Then the Rebels would have to devise another way to destroy it, perhaps an "inside job?"

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[moozooh]

The Bacta bath technology (shown in SW:TESB) hadn't been concieved during the Clone Wars era, hence why the special pressurized suit needed for Anakin when the Emperor rescues him at the end of SW Episode 3: RoTS.

I can't really say I'm satisfied with this answer, but at least there is some kind of official (?) answer. Oh well.

[greg]

Why wasn't Anakin healed the same way?

Because unlike the rest of the stupid prequels, Anakin's hand looking robotic is the ONLY technology that looks inferior to the movies which occur 30 years later. All other technology looks superior to that as seen in the original trilogy, which is STUPID. Why couldn't they have not had any holograms? It would've been cool that holograms were not invented yet in the prequels. On top of that, the technology looks the SAME as in the older movies, so apparently that technology didn't make any improvments like the artificial limb technology did.

[Skykid]

And I know it's incompatible because, unlike mynocks, I know what space is. It is, to put it simply and perfectly clear, vast nothingness. The fact that they can firmly stand on an asteroid already makes it unbelievable, because it surely wouldn't be able to hold them, or the creature, with its gravitational field. I know shortcuts have to be taken in sci-fi to make it more fun (fireless, soundless space explosions wouldn't be very exciting to watch, I agree), but that particular scene is where it rolled over firmly into the "completely unrealistic" territory. It's most unfortunate that it happened in a filler scene that didn't even have to be there to begin with.

I'm pretty sure in a New Hope the Millenium Falcon is tractor beamed in through a gaping hole in the Death Star which can be seen in the background as dudes are walking around on the landing bay with no helmets and without being sucked into the vacuum of space.

Gotta just go with it I suppose.

[Udderdude]

Science fiction Vs. Science fantasy. >_>

[neorichieb1971]

None of you have healed since watching them.

[greg]

More interesting interviews with Gary Kurtz:
I think one of the problems that Lucas has now, in the Lucas Film empire, is the fact that he doesn’t have more people around him who really challenge him. We had lots of arguments and discussions; heated discussions about the way things were going.

He also says that it was not planned from the beginning that Luke and Leia were siblings, and that it was a convenient plot twist to resolve the romance triangle and not have Luke's heart broken. Lucas then continues this in the prequel trilogy where everyone seems to know each other and show up. That strikes me more like Charles Dickens's Great Expectations.

Here's another interview:
One of the arguments that I had with George about Empire was the fact that he felt in the end, he said, we could have made just as much money if the film hadn't been quite so good, and you hadn't spent so much time. And I said, "But it was worth it!"

This interview is very lengthy, and he speaks of the troubles they had in selling the Star Wars concept to the studio execs because it was such a visual concept and the script alone was confusing, and had people bail out on them at the last minute. On the third page of the interview he speaks about how George would have run-ins with the art department and the cameraman, and how they would push back.

The second interview is rather lengthy, and not all of it pertains to Star Wars. But after reading these two interviews, you gain more of an appreciation of Kurtz's sensibility and his ability to keep Lucas in check. ROTJ would have been more about Vader trying to persuade Luke into joining him to overthrow the Emperor, and that he believed the best way to do that was to use the Dark Side. Interestingly enough, Luke was originally supposed to finally defeat the Emperor in Episode 9!

He said that George Lucas was unhappy with Irvin Kershner being the director on ESB. He didn't want to be the director, but he was expecting to be able to phone Kershner up and tell him what to do and vicariously direct the film. Wow. That didn't happen, and many of the reasons why everyone loves ESB more than the other two movies was because Kershner was going to direct the film the way he wanted to, and have input from the actors as well. Richard Marquand, the director for ROTJ, was somebody Lucas could control more easily. Hmm...

[Skykid]

More interesting interviews with Gary Kurtz:
I think one of the problems that Lucas has now, in the Lucas Film empire, is the fact that he doesn’t have more people around him who really challenge him. We had lots of arguments and discussions; heated discussions about the way things were going.

He also says that it was not planned from the beginning that Luke and Leia were siblings, and that it was a convenient plot twist to resolve the romance triangle and not have Luke's heart broken. Lucas then continues this in the prequel trilogy where everyone seems to know each other and show up. That strikes me more like Charles Dickens's Great Expectations.

Here's another interview:
One of the arguments that I had with George about Empire was the fact that he felt in the end, he said, we could have made just as much money if the film hadn't been quite so good, and you hadn't spent so much time. And I said, "But it was worth it!"

This interview is very lengthy, and he speaks of the troubles they had in selling the Star Wars concept to the studio execs because it was such a visual concept and the script alone was confusing, and had people bail out on them at the last minute. On the third page of the interview he speaks about how George would have run-ins with the art department and the cameraman, and how they would push back.

The second interview is rather lengthy, and not all of it pertains to Star Wars. But after reading these two interviews, you gain more of an appreciation of Kurtz's sensibility and his ability to keep Lucas in check. ROTJ would have been more about Vader trying to persuade Luke into joining him to overthrow the Emperor, and that he believed the best way to do that was to use the Dark Side. Interestingly enough, Luke was originally supposed to finally defeat the Emperor in Episode 9!

He said that George Lucas was unhappy with Irvin Kershner being the director on ESB. He didn't want to be the directory, but he was expecting to be able to phone Kershner up and tell him what to do and vicariously direct the film. Wow. That didn't happen, and many of the reasons why everyone loves ESB more than the other two movies was because Kershner was going to direct the film the way he wanted to, and have input from the actors as well. Richard Marquand, the director for ROTJ, was somebody Lucas could control more easily. Hmm...

Interesting stuff. Sadly unsurprising.

[GaijinPunch]

I think this is worth putting in this thread.

[BryanM]

nobody seems to get hit even once after Obi-Wan Kenobi thoughtfully expresses to Luke that "only imperial stormtroopers are so precise".

Canonically, there is an explanation for this: they were ordered to allow them to escape, so they could track them back to the nest of the rebel scum. The troopers in the death star are intentionally missing.

Outside of that one sequence, yes it's ridiculous plot armor and Lucas hopped up on crazy pills.

[ewoks]

[Limbrooke]

Science fiction Vs. Science fantasy. >_>

Honestly, not to say thinking (see: using ones brain) about what you see when watching a movie is bad, but if you cannot take a movie for what it is, a fantasy story, then it's likely not your kind of movie. I wouldn't compare Star Wars to something like Alien on these technical grounds for example - they both happen in space and yet the execution of what happens in space couldn't be further from one another. And I happen to enjoy both for various reasons as movies.

Also, gtfo in saying "A New Hope", it's called Star Wars.

I think this is worth putting in this thread.

A strange twist.

[Marc]

So much wrongness above, but I can't be arsed to put myself through the torture of replying on an iPhone, maybe later. And this is still the best thread title ever.

[shmuppyLove]

Also, gtfo in saying "A New Hope", it's called Star Wars.

It does very clearly say at the beginning of the film:

EPISODE IV
A New Hope

In exactly the same fashion as all the other films. It's pretty common to refer to it that way.

Of course when the original trilogy first came out, it would have been very confusing to bill the first movie as "Episode IV", so the episode numbers were never referred to in any of the marketing materials like they were for the prequels.

It's similar to how "Star Trek: The Original Series" (or ST:TOS or whatever) is now used to refer to the original 1966 television series, even though at the time it was just "Star Trek". It makes it a little clearer when you're referring to a specific series/film as opposed to the entire franchise in general.

[Friendly]

It does very clearly say at the beginning of the film:

EPISODE IV
A New Hope

In exactly the same fashion as all the other films.

The original prints of Star Wars from 1977 did not feature the "Episode IV" and "A New Hope" subtitles; this was added when the movie was re-released in 1981. The movie was originally called Star Wars, and nothing else.

The more you know

[Limbrooke]

It does very clearly say at the beginning of the film:

EPISODE IV
A New Hope

In exactly the same fashion as all the other films.

The original prints of Star Wars from 1977 did not feature the "Episode IV" and "A New Hope" subtitles; this was added when the movie was re-released in 1981. The movie was originally called Star Wars, and nothing else.

The more you know

This guy is named Friendly for a reason. Good luck to you.
Empire started the strange "Episode V" convention and afterward the original had it's crawl modified to fit. It's quite possibly one of the earliest changes Lucas incorporated and as we all know it certainly wasn't the last.

Additional comparison clips
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K4c6oynOco
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8faBFPENMbg

[shmuppyLove]

It does very clearly say at the beginning of the film:

EPISODE IV
A New Hope

In exactly the same fashion as all the other films.

The original prints of Star Wars from 1977 did not feature the "Episode IV" and "A New Hope" subtitles; this was added when the movie was re-released in 1981. The movie was originally called Star Wars, and nothing else.

The more you know

Oh snap you're right.

Well I wasn't born until 1978, so I never saw the original release.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

And I know it's incompatible because, unlike mynocks, I know what space is. It is, to put it simply and perfectly clear, vast nothingness. The fact that they can firmly stand on an asteroid already makes it unbelievable, because it surely wouldn't be able to hold them, or the creature, with its gravitational field. I know shortcuts have to be taken in sci-fi to make it more fun (fireless, soundless space explosions wouldn't be very exciting to watch, I agree), but that particular scene is where it rolled over firmly into the "completely unrealistic" territory. It's most unfortunate that it happened in a filler scene that didn't even have to be there to begin with.

I'm pretty sure in a New Hope the Millenium Falcon is tractor beamed in through a gaping hole in the Death Star which can be seen in the background as dudes are walking around on the landing bay with no helmets and without being sucked into the vacuum of space.

Gotta just go with it I suppose.

Hmm. That was one giant asteroid though. How big does something have to be to have its own earth-like gravity well/atmosphere? Same goes for the death star.

[dan76]

Lucas gave an interview around the time of Jedi where he said he didn't want to deal with gravity and stuff like that as it would bog the story down, that he would then have to face lots of other problems ( like the fact that spaceships can't "bank" or swerve) and that would limit what he wanted to do.

He was right to ignore it, it's not that type of film. To get hung up on gravity whilst watching Star Wars means the film is not for you.

Good move about the property though.