Who's gonna pony-up for the Star Wars originals??

Cafe Society
61

I hope I don’t get smacked for resurrecting this, but I recently did “pony-up” for the originals. Watched Star Wars tonight (I refuse to call it “A New Hope”) with my kids, who have grown up with the Star Wars movies and toys. I didn’t make a big deal out of it, just popped it in and let them do what they normally do (which, for the “enhanced” versions is wander off looking for Spongebob reruns) - they had my toy Millennium Falcon and TIE Fighter out and were repeating lines before the movie Falcon reached the Death Star. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about it.

I like some of the things in the newer versions, but I’m glad to have access to the real Star Wars, the one I stood in line to see all those years ago.

62

Editing is much, much more powerful than simply proof-reading.

For what it’s worth, I agree Lucas isn’t a very good writer. He’s got a great imagination, and a great visual sense, and I think he’d make a fantastic director of photography for somebody. He directs special effects as well as anybody does. As a case in point, there’s a shot in… I think it’s Episode 3, looking down upon the entrance ramp of the Opera House as Anakin runs in. It’s a very small corner of the shot where we see the movement, but it’s pictured and lit and colored so well that we can tell what the background is, and where the intended action is, without struggling to figure out what’s going on. The eye is drawn to the right quadrant of the screen. He’s very good at that when he tries.

What he doesn’t have is the ability to say “no.” He’s forever indulging his visual fantasies and bogging down the movie with visuals that do not serve the story.

As a case in point: there’s a scene in “Attack of the Clones” where a stormtrooper is given a command by the Emperor. The stormtrooper has a wrist-holo device, and we see a hologram of the Emperor delivering the order. “Execute executive order blah blah,” and so forth.

In “Star Wars,” a similar situation was handled without special effects. The regional governors and generals of the Death Star ask, “What about the Senate? How will the Emperor maintain control?” Tarkin answers, “I’ve just received word from the Emperor that…”

No hologram. No long-distance communication with the Emperor. An objection is raised, and dismissed, in two easy lines. Nothing extraneous. He did this because there was an artificial constraint upon his imagination: what can we do, with the budget? How can we make the shot work?

Now that he can put literally anything on screen that he wishes, George just can’t say no to a flashy visual when a competent script would accomplish the same thing with less waste and fat. He gets carried away by his own visual imagination and doesn’t (or can’t) restrain himself. If Lucas had a director telling him, “No, George, all I want is that one effect. Nothing more, nothing extra,” then he’d give us something much better.

63

How did it look/sound? I take it you have a “normal” TV and not a 16x9? Like Lemur Catta I have a plain ol’ TV and just two speakers, but like you I love the idea of being able to watch the original movie (Star Wars is the only one I care that much about; I’m happy enough with my Lucas-enhanced DVDs of Empire and Jedi). Was it at all disappointing?

64

Normal ratio bigscreen TV. Looked good, sounded good, some of the effects were obvious again (Luke’s speeder with the blur under it, for instance). My hearing isn’t all that great, don’t know if I’d notice the difference between THX and Dolby 2.1/5.1 stereo 70mm. Black bars on the screen don’t bother me, sound’s pumped out through the two built in TV speakers. The only thing I was looking for, and somehow missed was whether the TIE fighters would have the moving black boxes around them, like they did in at least two of the VHS copies (we were trying to get a GI Joe character to man the guns on the Falcon, you see). Authentic, but that’s one thing that he could “fix” without any complaint from me.

I now own 6 copies of that movie, all legal. I realize that admission may be used against me…

65

I just realized that I have no versions of the original trilogy in the house. I’ll probably get this version so my kids can watch them.

So are these the* real * original version or still edited? Is the kamikazee shot in ESB in there?

66

[QUOTE=Loach]
So are these the* real * original version or still edited?The real, original, unaltered theatrical versions.

No. Hate to break it to you, but though it might have appeared in the novelization, or the comic book, or the radio play, it was never in the movie.

67

I never cared for the revised versions, and since the only copies I had of the originals were a tape recorded off of some cable channel ~10-12 years ago, I bought the DVDs and watched all three straight through yesterday. Ordinary 24" TV, so they looked fine, and it was a nice, nostalgic afternoon’s fun.

As far as I can tell, they are the orginal originals. Although the box for the first movie does say “Episode IV: A New Hope,” the scroll at the beginning of the movie itself does not.

68

[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy]

Hate to break it to you but you are wrong (I think). I remember it clearly and one of our faithful Dopers backed me up in this thread . As Dooku mentioned earlier his family owned a movie theater and he has the original prints transferred to Beta. Argue with him if you want. I have no reason to think he is wrong.

The post I am refering to. I don’t believe I remembered it and actually found it.

69

I remember that thread, though my exchange with Dooku was never completely resolved. Needless to say, I’ve seen several original sources and have never run into this scene, nor seen any other physical evidence (usually just “memory”) to confirm that it exists. I remain extremely skeptical, but am completely willing to generously put my money where my mouth is, if Dooku wants to contact my private e-mail to facilitate an actual media copy that puts this debate to rest.