Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Yes, Coruscant and Mustafar don't look ANYTHING like that in real life.

My battle droid looks different too.

I believe that he is referring to the 'cartoony look' of the prequels. Specially the last two.

All that you need to do, is just watch 'ROTS' and then right after that watch 'A New Hope'. The difference in the OTs live sets and models is a gigantic breath of fresh air.


.

[kemcha]

I think the biggest problem with the Prequel trilogy is that Lucas kept the reigns in too tight on the prequel trilogy. Personally? I think it was a big mistake for Lucas to handle the writing and the director duties. The Prequel Trilogy is the best example of what happens when the creator of a blockbuster cultural icon takes too much control.

George Lucas has been neither the prolific writer nor a competent director. Those chores should have been passed onto someone else. I mean, imagine what we would have ended up with if someone like Christopher Nolan, Peter Jackson or John Favreau would have taken the writer/director reigns. The prequel films would have been so much better and more widely received by the fans.

The only reason why Lucas is such a force in the industry is that he took a concept and marketed it in such a way that not only revolutionized the movie industry but also redefined the way Hollywood made movies. Star Wars also gave science fiction a huge reboot as we saw many science fiction shows and movies come out after the first Star Wars film.

[phatrat1982]

People who complain the prequels look too cartoony must really hate Avatar.

[F-Man]

Originally Posted by phatrat1982

People who complain the prequels look too cartoony must really hate Avatar.

I think the big problem is when you have real actors over the cartoon. It never really looks as if they're really there.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

I believe that he is referring to the 'cartoony look' of the prequels. Specially the last two.

All that you need to do, is just watch 'ROTS' and then right after that watch 'A New Hope'. The difference in the OTs live sets and models is a gigantic breath of fresh air.

There are plenty of sets and models (more models than in the OT) in the prequels, especially the last 2.

Originally Posted by F-Man

I think the big problem is when you have real actors over the cartoon. It never really looks as if they're really there.

Watch it in HD (high bitrate AVC). The sense of depth is astounding in AOTC & ROTS.

If you grew up and studied VFX work you'd be flabbergasted at what ILM was able to accomplish with the prequels.

I watched ROTJ in HD (AVC), and it appears more work needs to be done, specifically recompositing. It appears they only did certain shots to fix the most obvious errors, but in HD more errors are more obvious.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Yes, Coruscant and Mustafar don't look ANYTHING like that in real life.

My battle droid looks different too.

One out of a million!!

Originally Posted by Johnothan Pedak

Waiting for Bluyoda's response in 5, 4, 3, 2...

1, 0. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Originally Posted by F-Man

Give me Leia and Solo kissing while slowly insulting each other in front of clunky Millennium Falcon hardware any day over unconvincing "romance" in front of a blue screen. They probably thought with that beautiful waterfall we wouldn't notice there's no acting going on.



It's not uncommon for lovers or haters to share the same reasons. Would you say people always love the Godfather for the same old tired reasons?



Sounds like you don't really like Star Wars then.

Good for you.

Originally Posted by Duffy12

I believe that he is referring to the 'cartoony look' of the prequels. Specially the last two.

All that you need to do, is just watch 'ROTS' and then right after that watch 'A New Hope'. The difference in the OTs live sets and models is a gigantic breath of fresh air.


.

I have done that several times now, watching the Saga back to back, and the only thing I am disappointed in is that the OT doesn't look as good as good as the PT. The PT doesn't look cartoonish to me. Show me real Geonosis first, then I can compare. It's a fantasy world, sand looks like sand, water looks like water, so no problem for me.

Originally Posted by kemcha

I think the biggest problem with the Prequel trilogy is that Lucas kept the reigns in too tight on the prequel trilogy. Personally? I think it was a big mistake for Lucas to handle the writing and the director duties. The Prequel Trilogy is the best example of what happens when the creator of a blockbuster cultural icon takes too much control.

George Lucas has been neither the prolific writer nor a competent director. Those chores should have been passed onto someone else. I mean, imagine what we would have ended up with if someone like Christopher Nolan, Peter Jackson or John Favreau would have taken the writer/director reigns. The prequel films would have been so much better and more widely received by the fans.

The only reason why Lucas is such a force in the industry is that he took a concept and marketed it in such a way that not only revolutionized the movie industry but also redefined the way Hollywood made movies. Star Wars also gave science fiction a huge reboot as we saw many science fiction shows and movies come out after the first Star Wars film.

I wouldn't even be interested in SW movies directed by any of them.

George Lucas does his own thing, and I like it exactly because it's different from what Hollywood does, over and over, and over again.

[ziggythecat]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

I will admit, Carrie looks really good here.

all i have to say about that is "AMEN"

[StereoMike]

I just got 2 new friends: BluYoda and PeterTHX. I like how we think alike...

[StereoMike]

And to any who think the Prequel Trilogy is a mistake:

[pcdawg]

So much talk about a release thats due next year.

Is this worth a blind buy?

[StereoMike]

Originally Posted by B.Hulk

Have you seen Episodes IV,V & VI in HD yet?
Has anyone?

Unfortunately I have not. So these Blu-Rays will be a total . I can't wait!

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Stereomike

Unfortunately I have not. So these Blu-Rays will be a total . I can't wait!

As I said in my last post, I've seen them in MPEG4 AVC, a step above the cablecasts. I'm hoping further processing is done before these are brought to Blu-ray, as they reveal some errors the DVDs in SD hide.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

I believe that he is referring to the 'cartoony look' of the prequels. Specially the last two.

All that you need to do, is just watch 'ROTS' and then right after that watch 'A New Hope'. The difference in the OTs live sets and models is a gigantic breath of fresh air.


.

It's interesting because Lucas fully admits he doesn't get this. In the commentary for RotJ, he says that he "doesn't understand why a guy in a rubber mask or a puppet is more 'real' to some people than a computer generated graphic".

To me, it is. Jabba the Hutt in RotJ was "real". If you had walked into the Throne Room set, you could have walked up to him, touched him, and "talked" to him. The Jabba in the prequels and the Spec Ed of ANH is clearly a cartoon.

Personally, I think it's largely a subconscious feeling/reaction - I can look at the "puppet" of Jabba and be totally immersed and believe it's real, but when I see a cartoon I can instantly tell. That's not to say some of the cartoon stuff isn't well done - like the Diner owner in AotC - but they make it so "lifelike" it's clear that it's not "real". It's tough to discuss because it's still a film, it's all trickery - but somehow I feel much more of a satisfaction in my gut by watching practical effects like puppets and "rubber masks", etc. versus the CG stuff.

Some of the CG is well done - for instance, the backgrounds don't bother me, because we've been using mattes since the days of Gone With The Wind (many people don't realize that much of Tara, including the interiors, were really just partial sets and they did the same thing Lucas did but with matte paintings instead of CG). I also don't mind the ships/space scenes. It's when they completely virtually create a character that I cringe a little inside.

It's just personal preference. I mostly prefer practical effects. I still like all the films, I love the first three, like the prequels, and will buy whatever mega-set comes out, but I'll take rubber and puppets over CG any day. It's like the Muppets - Kermit and Piggy are "real". They exist. They may be brought to life by puppeteers and trickery, but they aren't cartoons. If they made the Muppets CG, I'd feel the same way.

[al cos.]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

It's interesting because Lucas fully admits he doesn't get this. In the commentary for RotJ, he says that he "doesn't understand why a guy in a rubber mask or a puppet is more 'real' to some people than a computer generated graphic".

Actually, Lucas very recently seems to be shifting a bit on that. Listen to him here:


http://g4tv.com/videos/45623/Inside-...ywalker-Ranch/

[Jezza]

Originally Posted by F-Man

Give me Leia and Solo kissing while slowly insulting each other in front of clunky Millennium Falcon hardware any day over unconvincing "romance" in front of a blue screen. They probably thought with that beautiful waterfall we wouldn't notice there's no acting going on.



It's not uncommon for lovers or haters to share the same reasons. Would you say people always love the Godfather for the same old tired reasons?



Sounds like you don't really like Star Wars then.

I absolutely love Star Wars, I have done since I was 3, and I even remember a time before when the prequels. Yet it was the prequels that made such a huge impact on my childhood, in the same way the originals did on yours.

I say that many of the PT criticisms could be applied to the OT. Now naturally I don't mean blue/green screen or CGI, but areas such as bad acting and bad dialogue really spring to mind. Apart from the late Sir Alec Guiness and Peter Cushing, many of the actors in Episode IV were not exactly acting their socks off simply because they didn't believe the film would be a success and that it was just a child's film. If you actually watch the OT you will notice how similar the acting is to the PT, and I mean actually watch it.
The for dialgoue, here's a brilliant piece - Princess Leia: "Govener Takin, I was expecting you find you holding Vader's leash. I recognised your foul stench when I was brought on board." Now you cannot sit back and say that is a brilliant piece of writing.

Now you maybe saying that you were right in the first place where you said I hated Star Wars, but as I said near the top, I love it. All I'm doing to showing how similair the two trilogies are and that it really frustrates when 'fans' give all this PT hate and that it is very much like what also happened in the OT.

[Jezza]

Originally Posted by al cos.

Actually, Lucas very recently seems to be shifting a bit on that. Listen to him here:


http://g4tv.com/videos/45623/Inside-...ywalker-Ranch/

That's is a very interesting video, and I actually agree with. I think that the ships are alright , because the whole sequence is CGI, but as Lucas himself said, when you put a CG characterin a real enviroment, it can look out of place. I'm not sure what is take on the Special Editions and Prequel Trilogy is now then.

(BluYoda, I think you should watch this.)

This may mean that when the Live-Action TV Series comes we will have less CGI because it won't be shot in 3D. But it is also not an action-based series, so there won't be any need, but hopefully this will mean we will have real Stormtroopers.

[STARKILLER--1138]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I just wanted to add two key points:

1) Your nose never stops growing.

2) Your ears never stop growing.

...and...when it comes to Natalie...Mr. Happy never stops growing...

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by Stereomike

I just got 2 new friends: BluYoda and PeterTHX. I like how we think alike...

Thanks! I am glad to see that there are more like us!

Originally Posted by Stereomike

And to any who think the Prequel Trilogy is a mistake:

Originally Posted by pcdawg

So much talk about a release thats due next year.

Is this worth a blind buy?

Absolutely not! Stay away from these as far as humanly possible!

Originally Posted by al cos.

Actually, Lucas very recently seems to be shifting a bit on that. Listen to him here:


http://g4tv.com/videos/45623/Inside-...ywalker-Ranch/

Yeah, I thought so when I was watching Avatar in 3-D and 2-D. 3-D definitely helps to sell the effects better.

Avatar in 2-D looked much flatter, but 3-D also has an artificial dimension to it, so neither way is perfect.

I prefer 2-D, as I can see the CG characters just like the actors...

Originally Posted by Lil' Louie

...and...when it comes to Natalie...Mr. Happy never stops growing...

That's gross!

[rashbeep]

Originally Posted by Clone Trooper

I say that many of the PT criticisms could be applied to the OT. Now naturally I don't mean blue/green screen or CGI, but areas such as bad acting and bad dialogue really spring to mind. Apart from the late Sir Alec Guiness and Peter Cushing, many of the actors in Episode IV were not exactly acting their socks off simply because they didn't believe the film would be a success and that it was just a child's film. If you actually watch the OT you will notice how similar the acting is to the PT, and I mean actually watch it.
The for dialgoue, here's a brilliant piece - Princess Leia: "Govener Takin, I was expecting you find you holding Vader's leash. I recognised your foul stench when I was brought on board." Now you cannot sit back and say that is a brilliant piece of writing.

pretty sure genius lines like "in my point of view the jedi are evil!!11" are on a whole other level of cringe-worthy

[KubrickFan]

Originally Posted by rashbeep

pretty sure genius lines like "in my point of view the jedi are evil!!11" are on a whole other level of cringe-worthy

From a certain point of view. Many actors of the original trilogy make fun of the crummy dialog, so to criticize only the prequel trilogy for that is a bit odd, don't you think?