FreedomsBullets

Thread for SW news.

Previous Thread: Holonews #8: It's better than real news

Carried over...

I'm pretty sure Poe's Law, by it's very definition, only applies to religion. But GL probably is hoping that if he says it enough we'll all start to believe him.

sum1

You mean you can't tell whether GL is serious or parodying himself?

You know he's gone on passionately about preserving the old films he saw as a child in their original form without altering/colorizing them or whatever and how he wants his children to be able to see them that way, in their original versions? Seemingly without any awareness of the irony considering his attitude to the original versions of the original trilogy and how little empathy he seems to have for those who treasure them. This is the guy who's talked with seeming satisfaction about how all tapes of the original star wars will wear out and all that's left will be the special edition. And said in an interview something like sorry you fell in love with a half-finished movie (re people's love of the originals). And yet here he is going on about the preservation of old movies in their original form. So extreme it could be self-parody.

BehrItAll

I love the thread title

And somewhat on topic:
YouTube - George Lucas Presents: Singin' In the Rain (Special Edition)

stilldreaming

I had to go Google that interview, and it's every bit as callous as you made it sound. I don't wish anyone ill, even GL... but is it horrible to hope that the originals manage to outlive him and that his children feel a bit more compassion for the fans who paid for all their expensive private schooling and whatnot?

I do kind of understand how he feels. I've written fanfic and posted it online, then decided it was horrible and deleted it... I know how it feels to be embarassed by something you used to be proud of BUT, there is a big difference between a fanfic that was only read by a handful of people who always had the ability to save it to disc if they wanted to　anyway, and something that was a big part of not only the individual childhoods of thousands of people (thousands of PAYING CUSTOMERS, that's the really nasty thing, isn't the customer always right?), not to mention a valuable piece of cinematic and cultural history. The Special Editions aren't representative of the state of Hollywood in 1977 OR... 1997? 2004? What version are we going with now?

I understand being not completely satisfied with something you did in the past, but I don't understand how that personal dissatisfaction outweighs (professional at least, if not personal) gratitude to the fans, respect for the other people who worked on the films (including many who have passed away, at least Irvin Kershner can talk about whether he likes the changes or not, who knows what Richard Marquand would have thought?), etc.

basenji

It also applies to any crackpot thinking, though. And I consider the idea that someone predicted the advance of technology and the available cast and every other tiny detail about the prequels almost 40 years ago crackpot.

FreedomsBullets

Steph, @ the vid.

I didn't know he said that. Crazy hypocrite.
Very true.

sum1

Lucas talking re the 2004 special edition dvds:

"There will only be one. And it won't be what I would call the 'rough cut,' it'll be the 'final cut.' The other one will be some sort of interesting artifact that people will look at and say, 'There was an earlier draft of this.' The same thing happens with plays and earlier drafts of books. In essence, films never get finished, they get abandoned. At some point, you're dragged off the picture kicking and screaming while somebody says, 'Okay, it's done.' That isn't really the way it should work. Occasionally, go back and get your cut of the video out there, which I did on both American Graffiti and THX-1138; that's the place where it will live forever. So what ends up being important in my mind is what the DVD version is going to look like, because that's what everybody is going to remember. The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won't last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version, and you'll be able to project it on a 20' by 40' screen with perfect quality. I think it's the director's prerogative, not the studio's to go back and reinvent a movie."

Is he incapable of realizing how hurtful that is?

stilldreaming

So it's Kershner's right to release a director's cut of ESB then, is it?

Interesting choice of words, considering Lucas is only "executive producer" on most of his projects.

FreedomsBullets

That's horrible. Does he even hear himself talk?

A lot of movies are perfect just the way they are, no "final cuts" necessary. And anyway, how is anyone supposed to go back and look at the originals if he refuses to put them in a new format?

stilldreaming

The only movies that really need to be remade or changed are those that had potential, but failed for whatever reason. Star Wars does not fall into that category! There's nothing wrong with something that was made in 1977 looking like it was (exceptionally well-) made in 1977. There's nothing wrong with admitting that other people contributed important things to what was (at least if we're talking about the OT) a group effort. There's nothing wrong with letting fate and the available technology play a role in the way a scene unfolds. So Jabba didn't make it into ANH because the technology and/or budget weren't there to make him look good... so what? I don't see how that's any different from the Wampa scene being written because of Mark Hamill's car accident, or Warwick Davis's Wicket becoming a more central character because Kenny Baker was sick... (Oh dear god don't let Lucas see this post or he'll go back and add CG Ewoks!!!) Sometimes external factors affect the way a movie turns out, and that's not always a bad thing. Or a good thing, I guess... just the way things are, and there's nothing wrong with just letting it BE!

BehrItAll

Not only that but that scene is soooo unnecessary!
It just repeats everything from the Cantina with Greedo. We know Han has a price on his head.
And I hate that with that scene added Han leaves with an extension on his debt.
Also, Jabba is not a human being, as Han calls him!

Happy accidents.

Juli, I love that video. Always cracks me up.

sum1

Jabba was so badly done in the cgi, both in 97 and 2004. Awful. Totally breaks the feel of the film. Doesn't belong. Both versions ae cartoonish.

BehrItAll

Yea, the CG was bad, but just there is no point to him in ANH.

FreedomsBullets

I am not impressed by GL's CG at all. If he's going to rely on it like he does he needs to find someone better to do it.

Exactly!

BehrItAll

It is so much better to ditch Tatooine with no extension.
Makes him more desperate to get paid, and to leave Yavin IV with his reward.