Unaltered Original Star Wars Trilogy on Blu Ray?

[joberg]

There's a line from U2's "The Fly" that has always resonated with me: "Every artist is a cannibal. Every poet is a thief. All kill their inspiration, then sing about their grief." And also this, from Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: "Hunger is the best sauce in the world."

While creative types remain creative all the way through, the angst of being young, whether the initial figuring-out-of-oneself as a teen, the anguish of the first time or twelve of having your heart broken, the frustration of not having enough money to survive, or even just the desperate need to convey something you've figured out to others -- all of that tends to sharpen one's artistic output. That drive tends to fade with success, unless one learns to channel the pressure of increased expectations, from themselves and others, into that creative space.

Certainly we've talked on here about how John Williams peaked in the late '70s to roughly the late '80s, how, while he's absolutely still a competent composer and totally an engaged conductor and musician, the spark of inspiration has been falling off since. Jurassic Park was probably the last original and stirring complete score I can think of from him. He's come up with some nice themes since -- although he repeated the one he came up with for Hook in Harry Potter and Attack of the Clones (you hopefully can tell those are separate films, but god -- now I want to see Harry Potter and the Attack of the Clones), which is less than original.

My personal favorite 20th century composer/musician is Vangelis. I have a sizable chunk of his discography, though not some of the absurdly-limited-foreign-release sets, and none of the frustrating number of his film scores that have never been released. He also seems to have had his period of the most creative need through the '70s and '80s. He'd see things and be inspired and BAM! another studio album. While also working on the score for his latest Frederic Rossif wildlife film and another studio album that inspired him to create. And maybe another film score besides all that. Now he's in his 70s and creating something every few years. It's still good... It's just definitely less.

And how many pop songs, in just about any genre/language/culture, can I point to for the last century and find a theme of, at essence, somebody pining after somebody else? Many. Many many. Or its close cousin, venting about someone they had previously been pining for. And then the ones that aren't tend to be about the pain of inventing/reinventing oneself as a person and/or the perceived expectations of others. There's not that many that are "Life is great. Everything's awesome. I just paid off my credit cards. My sweetie is wonderful. I know what my life is about, and I'm comfortable and happy." Because comfortable and happy people tend not to produce Great Art™.

Ironically, comfortable and happy writers tend to be in a better position to get to the Weird Writing Place™. Maybe that's why Empire worked so well. George was under pressure and creatively dissatisfied. Leigh and Larry were established screenwriters. One had the germ of the idea. The others knew intimately and comfortably the nuts and bolts of how to string those into an engaging narrative. Maybe that's where the path to greatness lies: Hungry and comfortable meeting and collaborating, the latter providing a means, channeling the energy of the former in ways they wouldn't have been able to avail themselves of on their own? Vangelis and Ridley Scott -- BAM! Blade Runner. John Williams and Dick Donner -- BAM! Superman. Tim Burton and Danny Elfman -- BAM! Anything (but especially Batman).

I see it in the writing arena all the time with established authors teaming up with new/newer ones to assist in fleshing out their idea into a book. Maybe that's the best of both worlds in any of this... One person's comfort zone shoring up the discomfort of the other, and vice versa. I feel like the "lone auteur" is as much of an outlier as the "true self-made man". 99% of us only get anywhere good as a result of the connections we make along the way.

What do you do when you've reached the top? The way down is the only way! No one can sustain success after success for their whole life...Artists have their up and down; it's the law...

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

There was no "final George edit" before the others went to work. There is no line of demarcation like that. It was an evolving, organic process. It wasn't a case of him finishing a cut and handing it over for fixing. Everything was happening at the same time.

Very interesting interview with Paul Hirsch:

As a surprising side note, one thing he dispels is the notion that the WWII fighter footage was chosen on a shot-by-shot basis to represent the FX shots that would be replacing them. He said they were simply placeholders with movement in them that were less distracting than "insert here" cards.

I just want to say that I've been listening to the backlog of this man and his interviews and what an undiscovered treasure! The conversation with Nilo Rodis-Jamero is so good! I recommend it whole-heartedly, especially to people on this site.

 

[Psab keel]

Here's the breakdown of future release plans for the Star Wars Saga Films in case anyone is interested.

 

[The Goon]

^ Well, he has only five days to accomplish that last one before the deadline.

 

[Halliwax]

Lol

 

[CessnaDriver]

Where are my 3D versions!!!! Better yet, VR versions! You are INSIDE the movie!!!

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

I am still seriously hacked off that we only ever got the 3D version of TPM released in theaters, AOTC got a tiny showing at... was it USC Film School, I think? And ROTS was in the works when the whole 3D thing got scrubbed. I have the 3D version of TFA, at least...

 

[batguy]

Meh. I've never been blown away by 3D. I'm not convinced that cinema needs it. They keep trying to introduce it every few decades but it never really goes mainstream.

Modern photography is technically 2D but it offers most of the cues of the 3rd dimension. It's not like the difference between silent movies and talkies.

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

I like how it's been done with Star Wars. It add some subtle depth to the action. A few times there are nice moments like when the Finalizer is pretty much popping off the screen and you feel like you can reach out and touch it. And it's a little thing, but I love how they have the subtitles float just above the screen.

The most effective use of 3D that I've seen was in Tron: Legacy. It was 2D until Sam went into the Digital World, then it switched to 3D. And, again, it was subtle. You didn't really notice the 3D was "missing" for the early stuff, and when it switched it was a subliminal "something's different" feeling, rather than an in-your-face "IN THREE-DEEEE!!!" moment. I am hopeful that the development of glassesless 3D tech makes it possible to make more in that subtler category. I have never liked the IN THREE-DEEEE!!! approach.

 

[Halliwax]

my friends were all wicked excited for 3d... i never got into it. hell my amc theater i think only has 1 3d screen now.. not very popular.. in my area at least

do you guys see 3d theaters full?

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Depends on the film. And, in thinking about that, it reminded me, Ant-Man and Doctor Strange definitely deserve to be seen in 3D.

 

[The Goon]

Meh. I've never been blown away by 3D. I'm not convinced that cinema needs it. They keep trying to introduce it every few decades but it never really goes mainstream.

3D is, and will always be, nothing more than a gimmick. A movie is either good, fair, or bad; 3D doesn't change that. Well, except for Avatar. Terrible movie, but people were so amazed by the visuals and 3D effects (which I have to admit were among the best I've seen) that they mistook that positive feeling as having seen a good movie.

 

[batguy]

3D is, and will always be, nothing more than a gimmick. A movie is either good, fair, or bad; 3D doesn't change that. Well, except for Avatar. Terrible movie, but people were so amazed by the visuals and 3D effects (which I have to admit were among the best I've seen) that they mistook that positive feeling as having seen a good movie.

I don't remember anybody ever thinking 'Avatar' was an amazing drama. Even at the time it was called out for being a 'Dances with Wolves' remake with blue Thundercats.

Like 'Waterworld', it holds up better than you remember if you re-watch it now. It just doesn't warrant all the attention it got.

 

[Psab keel]

I saw it in the theater twice and I was initially duped by the 3D visuals looking pretty cool. Though it wasn't until the second viewing that I could make out James Cameron standing on his soapbox. I couldn't believe I'd missed it the first time around. Unobtanium. Please!

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

I never had any interest in seeing Pocahontas in Space. I've always instinctively hated the "white messiah" story model and could smell that one from a mile away.

 

[Halliwax]

I never had any interest in seeing Pocahontas in Space. I've always instinctively hated the "white messiah" story model and could smell that one from a mile away.

I felt the same way

I never went to the theater to see it. I watched it one night at a friends house and he asked me what I thought when it was over

I felt like they totally ripped off ferngully, he snapped in amazement “holy crap your right!!”

 

[Psab keel]

That's got to be the best comparison I've ever heard! Ferngully did it better and at the least it had Robin Williams.

 

[Halliwax]

That's got to be the best comparison I've ever heard! Ferngully did it better and at the least it had Robin Williams.

honest to god man... thats how i felt lol

 

[Cephus]

I don't remember anybody ever thinking 'Avatar' was an amazing drama. Even at the time it was called out for being a 'Dances with Wolves' remake with blue Thundercats.

Like 'Waterworld', it holds up better than you remember if you re-watch it now. It just doesn't warrant all the attention it got.

No, it really doesn't. It was a dumb movie then, it's a dumb movie now.

 

[batguy]

No, it really doesn't. It was a dumb movie then, it's a dumb movie now.

A movie can be dumb and still be well-made. Most summer movies are dumb as hell.

The Avatar storyline wasn't really even dumb. The political commentary on resource wars & imperialism was valid enough. But the white savior plot was feeling worn out and culturally insensitive by the time Cameron finally got the movie done.

Look at Titanic. That one was no "smarter" than Avatar but the timing was better. It didn't feel overdone in the late 1990s. It felt downright fresh. Some reviewers were struggling to describe it to audiences because there had not been another movie like it in decades.