Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

IMO Lucas bit off more than he could chew, the story he wanted to convey was SO big and so sprawling that it simply couldn't be contained in three films...well, not in three films written by him, anyway.

For me it seems like every aspect of the prequels' storytelling was half-arsed because each strand simply didn't have enough time devoted to it. Lucas paints the prequels as the story of a family, on another day it's the story of how democracy becomes dictatorship, on another day it's about the fall of the Jedi etc etc. Sure, there's no reason why a skilfully written series of films couldn't properly integrate all of those aspects, but that's the point: Lucas' ideas are amazing but his ability to mold them into a narrative that successfully binds them together fell way, way short of doing them all justice.

I tend to agree. It seems as if Lucas needed more assistance relaying all of this in the prequels and they could have turned out better, but I got the impression he didn't want that - instead wanted "yes men". He would have been much better off having someone else direct them too.

[renegadeviking]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

IMO Lucas bit off more than he could chew, the story he wanted to convey was SO big and so sprawling that it simply couldn't be contained in three films...well, not in three films written by him, anyway.

For me it seems like every aspect of the prequels' storytelling was half-arsed because each strand simply didn't have enough time devoted to it. Lucas paints the prequels as the story of a family, on another day it's the story of how democracy becomes dictatorship, on another day it's about the fall of the Jedi etc etc. Sure, there's no reason why a skilfully written series of films couldn't properly integrate all of those aspects, but that's the point: Lucas' ideas are amazing but his ability to mold them into a narrative that successfully binds them together fell way, way short of doing them all justice.

I moan a lot about the extraneous action scenes (dat foundry chase!) but in some ways Lucas would've been better served by keeping the action to a minimum and telling the story from more of a drama angle, that way he could've really fleshed out the story that he wanted to tell. Yes, I know it's Star Wars and people expect that shit but it's not like Empire was chock full of action. Lucas recently moaned about "doing something different" with the prequels and getting pilloried for it, but he didn't do it differently enough IMO.

after all the anime and tv i watched, the prequels arent a total failure, just a 7/10

[RedSabbath]

Uh, maybe I can change the topic a tad....

Everybody knows that New Hope/ESB/Return all have had three separate, different times of Lucas changing/fiddling, but not many people know that Phantom Menace has been changed from it's theatrical version as well, replacing all the "puppet" Yoda's with current CGI one. That makes only Clones & Sith to be the only movies currently available that are the same as when they were originally released!

Thoughts?

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I very much wish they fixed the mattes. They are extremely distracting, and that falls under typical remastering cleanup IMO.

I never see the mattes...and I haven't ever since I learned how to calibrate my brightness and contrast way back in college. If you're seeing the matte boxes, your contrast and brightness are too hot. The blackness of space should almost match the blackness of the letterbox bars. If space is grey-ish, if space and the bars are easily discernible, you need to dial down your brightness and your contrast.

[Geoff D]

It's not as simple as that, Ernest. The gamma's wrong on the SW transfers and has been for years, by lowering the brightness enough so that the garbage mattes are crushed down you're also crushing a huge amount of shadow detail in the non-space scenes. Film's gamma response is non-linear so it can deal with these changes in brightness and gamma from scene to scene, but the stricter linearity of video has a lot more trouble with stuff like this because everything's set to a base level. Recent remasterings are much more nuanced in that respect, as the integration of what is essentially a DI suite into home video mastering has allowed for much defter handling of gamma from shot to shot.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by RedSabbath

Uh, maybe I can change the topic a tad....

Everybody knows that New Hope/ESB/Return all have had three separate, different times of Lucas changing/fiddling, but not many people know that Phantom Menace has been changed from it's theatrical version as well, replacing all the "puppet" Yoda's with current CGI one. That makes only Clones & Sith to be the only movies currently available that are the same as when they were originally released!

Thoughts?

Uh, that's incorrect, all the movies have been altered for video. For the Blu-ray of Clones it had some sequences re-ordered and the sound of Anakin's mother saying "help me" was added over his sweaty nightmare scene (see below). Sith also had some very minor changes for the DVD version.

http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=929191

[HeavyHitter]

It's so funny how Lucas could just not help himself with any six of the movies.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Arawn

No, they have bearing on the fact that Abrams directed Episode VII.

A movie which is increasingly looking like uninspired rehash of ANH in much the same way that STID pathetically ripped off TWOK.

Even if that is the case, it's going to feel damn refreshing compared to what was released for the last 16 years.

[imsounoriginal]

found used copeis of the Empire and Jedi Steelbooks at FYE for $16.99; with 30% off item and BOGO $1.99, total came to $14.72. The catch is the fronts of both are badly scratched but for that price I won't complain. Now just gotta wait for New Hope to go on sale, but at least now I have 2/3 of the OT on Blu-ray. (Held off buying em long enough.)

[steev210]

With all the hype for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I decided to do another set of covers for the Prequel Trilogy as well as the Original Trilogy. I used a similar title treatment for the front covers and a similar layout for the back covers of the recently released steelbooks. If anyone is interested in a set, PM me with your email address. The resolution in the images below is significantly reduced.

Cheers!
-steve

[Stinky-Dinkins]

Those look damn good, but Luke's lightsaber in Jedi is green.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Stinky-Dinkins

Those look damn good, but Luke's lightsaber in Jedi is green.

Not on the poster it's not.

[kamphausd1]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Since some accuse me of being a relentless George Lucas fanboy. Here is proof that I am not (once again):

I will never understand why he didn't go all the way and fix the things that everyone else considers to be distractions, but rather add things that didn't need to be added:

The lightsabers, the garbage mattes, some opticals, etc. should really have been taken care of properly for the BD release. It wouldn't have taken long to do so at all, so there is NO logical reason why they weren't addressed.

At the same time he changed stuff no one asked for:
The rocks in front of R2-D2 (which are inconsistent, as one moment they are there, the next they are gone),
The gate of Jabba The Hutt's palace (same thing)
The dragon scream

I find the re/disappearing rocks in front of R2-D2 the most distracting of the additions, because it's so inconsistent.
The gate certainly defies logic, but it's so short a scene, it hardly matters to me.

I like the blinking Ewoks, although it was not exactly necessary.
Regarding Vader's "Nos" at the end. I actually think it adds intensity to the scene.
Here is why --> (Thinking something is one thing, uttering the words is the next level, followed by action.)

Some of the SE visual effects could have been improved upon, such as the Sarlaac Pit, the dance number, well, a lot really.
Also, some of the old matte paintings could have been fixed:
The obviously painted Millenium Falcon in ROTJ, when Han, Leia, etc. leave in the imperial shuttle to go to Endor is a good example.

The ROTS Yoda and a CG Jabba The Hutt would be great in the OT as well.

Since I am aware that this would go too far for some, seamless branching between puppets/CG characters would perhaps be best to satisfy everyone.

However, I can live with the imperfection, both new and old.
It's just not THAT important to me.

Concerning the PT:

The deleted scene with Padme and her ...looking at Anakin and her father talking through the window should definitely have been reinstated, as it adds a lot to the believabilty of their love story.

Also, the previously deleted podrace scenes now put back into the movie proper should have been redone in 1080p (at least), as the lower resolution is quite distracting at times.

Furthermore, Yoda in AOTC should have been replaced by the ROTS model.

No DNR in TPM. This had the potential to look the best of the prequels, yet the DNR severly hinders it from achieving stellar marks in the PQ department.
So uncalled for.
(It's still a million times better than the DVD though.)<--This is a "slight" exaggeration, of course.

Overall, there are things that could have been done better, and he could have gone out with a bang, at least when it comes to finishing the Saga according to HIS vision, yet he didn't do it thoroughly, but rather tinkered with it here and there, and left them unfinished yet again.

Perhaps, for some this means the end of the universere as we know it, to me they are just movies. Incredibly good movies, but still movies, and they don't define my well-being......May the force be with you.

Now, that George Lucas is no longer in charge, I don't know if anyone is ever going to finish them. I guess he didn't expect it when he was working on the BD release. Correct me, if I am wrong.

As I've said before, the problem isn't that you have a certain opinion or belief, it's how you go about presenting them.

You constantly flaunt around this whole "if people don't like the prequels or SE's then they're narrow-minded haters and don't understand the brilliance of them" crap. It comes across as very sanctimonious and obnoxious.

Plus, people have tried to call you out on it several times, yet you continue to do it. That tells me you're either doing it on purpose because you get some kind of thrill out of stirring things up, or you just completely lack self-awareness on the matter.

[happydood]

Originally Posted by svenge

OK, we get it, you don't like STID or Abrams. Still doesn't mean you need to spam that picture every other day. Then again given your posting history, you don't add much value even when you're not doing that.

Regardless, Abrams' directorial choices have absolutely no bearing on the fact that Lucas utterly failed with the Prequels.

My gosh. I REALLY don't love the idea of getting into a dialogue here, but how you don't see the irony of what you just posted when you've essentially been saying the same thing over and over again in this thread as long as you've been in it is either tragic or hilarious and I can't figure out which. We get it. YOU don't like the prequels. Thank you for saying the same exact thing countless others have already said without adding anything even slightly new in the process. YOU don't get to devalue what people post unless you can actually say what YOU mean in a civil and reasonable way. And what you just said to that guy invalidates any reasonable points you've made because when you essentially say 'shut up' to a stranger on the internet everyone but you can totally see through the motive: you're on shaky ground and you're not sure what you believe. The louder you talk the clearer this becomes.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by happydood

My gosh. I REALLY don't love the idea of getting into a dialogue here, but how you don't see the irony of what you just posted when you've essentially been saying the same thing over and over again in this thread as long as you've been in it is either tragic or hilarious and I can't figure out which. We get it. YOU don't like the prequels. Thank you for saying the same exact thing countless others have already said without adding anything even slightly new in the process. YOU don't get to devalue what people post unless you can actually say what YOU mean in a civil and reasonable way. And what you just said to that guy invalidates any reasonable points you've made because when you essentially say 'shut up' to a stranger on the internet everyone but you can totally see through the motive: you're on shaky ground and you're not sure what you believe. The louder you talk the clearer this becomes.

You just have to know svenge, He has been suspended so many times because of this thread it is crazy

[CinemaBlu]

Originally Posted by kamphausd1

As I've said before, the problem isn't that you have a certain opinion or belief, it's how you go about presenting them.

You constantly flaunt around this whole "if people don't like the prequels or SE's then they're narrow-minded haters and don't understand the brilliance of them" crap. It comes across as very sanctimonious and obnoxious.

Plus, people have tried to call you out on it several times, yet you continue to do it. That tells me you're either doing it on purpose because you get some kind of thrill out of stirring things up, or you just completely lack self-awareness on the matter.

You're the one coming across as obnoxious in trying to abruptly dismiss someone else's defense of their opinions simply because you don't share them.

[kamphausd1]

Originally Posted by CinemaBlu

You're the one coming across as obnoxious in trying to abruptly dismiss someone else's defense of their opinions simply because you don't share them.

Maybe you should actually try and take a close look at what I was trying to say in my post. Reading is your friend.

[Stinky-Dinkins]

Originally Posted by geoff d

not on the poster it's not.

You just blew my mind.

[steev210]

Originally Posted by Stinky-Dinkins

Those look damn good, but Luke's lightsaber in Jedi is green.

I know, however, on the poster its blue. So I maintained the original integrity of the artwork as it was originally created.

[CinemaBlu]

Originally Posted by kamphausd1

Maybe you should actually try and take a close look at what I was trying to say in my post. Reading is your friend.

I see nothing wrong with how Bluyoda presented his opinion. He seems to be defending himself from posts like yours, attacking his credibility. Your post is hypocritical, accusing him of pigeonholing others for their opinions when you're the one doing that to him.