|
Post by impulse on Jan 15, 2016 14:27:18 GMT -5
If you own a legit copy of the Star Wars original trilogy to establish you have a license and your country permits it, check out Harmy's Despecialized Editions. A fan project of the highest quality, the original theatrical versions were recreated manually using bits of the recent HD and upscaled DVD versions. It's actually quite impressive if you can find it.
|
|
|
Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 15, 2016 15:29:15 GMT -5
Why Lucas got it in his mind that his original movies were "unfinished" is beyond me. I don't even mind that he created special editions, but there was no call for basically destroying the originals. Altering historical documents of any kind infuriates me.
|
|
|
Post by DE Sinclair on Jan 15, 2016 15:39:30 GMT -5
Hopefully it's the original original trilogy, before Lucas starting mucking around with it again. Things like showing that Han really didn't shoot first (he totally did) and a bad CGI Jabba the Hutt, are all things we didn't need. Unfortunately, chances are it won't be those original versions. All but one of the DVD releases so far only have the Special Edition versions on them. And the one version that doesn't (the 2-disc 2006 release, with the original cinematic versions as a bonus disc) has a really shitty quality transfer of the unaltered movies, sourced from a '90s laser disc of all things. A real shame. Fortunately I still have the original trilogy on VHS before he started "fixing" them.
|
|
|
Post by impulse on Jan 15, 2016 16:32:06 GMT -5
Han didn't just "shoot first." Han shot, period. The revision ruins the character arc of arguably the best character in the original trilogy. Lucas is one of the creators who has good ideas and potential, but MAN, does he need a filter.
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 15, 2016 20:11:40 GMT -5
Hopefully it's the original original trilogy, before Lucas starting mucking around with it again. Things like showing that Han really didn't shoot first (he totally did) and a bad CGI Jabba the Hutt, are all things we didn't need. Unfortunately, chances are it won't be those original versions. All but one of the DVD releases so far only have the Special Edition versions on them. And the one version that doesn't (the 2-disc 2006 release, with the original cinematic versions as a bonus disc) has a really shitty quality transfer of the unaltered movies, sourced from a '90s laser disc of all things. A real shame. That's why I treasure my VHS set of the original films! The only fault they have is that "episode IV" has been added to the first film's title. I really hope that the PTB will soon realize that there would be a non-negligible market for the original-original trilogy! *edit* my apologies to DE Sinclair for repeating what he already said!
|
|
|
Post by dupersuper on Jan 15, 2016 23:44:40 GMT -5
I'd love a special edition dvd/blue ray collection that has the original film with the added/altered scenes as optional features, allowing you to pick and choose.
|
|
|
Post by Mormel on Jan 16, 2016 5:01:15 GMT -5
Yeah, DE and Confessor, it's CGI Banthas and 'Jedi Rock', but thankfully it's still thoroughly enjoyable. You can't ruin the awesomeness that is Han Solo. If anything, the few CGI inserts serve to underscore how great for example the Rancor looked. It's like I've gotten so accustomed to CGI monsters in Hollywood films, it's easy to forget how convincing the effects were in many movies using 'just' animatronics, stop-motion, and masks.
Also, why am I not watching these movies every year?? They're better than I remember.
|
|
|
Post by Mormel on Jan 16, 2016 5:55:17 GMT -5
Ugh, it had Hayden Christensen in the final scene, though.
(I just finished Jedi now after having had to cut it off last night at the part where the Ewoks show up, because it was midnight and I was tired)
|
|
|
Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 16, 2016 8:35:46 GMT -5
If they ever get around to re-releasing the original, unaltered, trilogy on DVD I'll buy it. I have the special edition versions, but I haven't watched them in a few years.
|
|
|
Post by impulse on Jan 16, 2016 17:55:37 GMT -5
Rumor has it Disney is working on a restored unaltered version since buying Lucasfilm, but apparently it is quite the undertaking due to the rough condition of the original film. If anyone can do it to a professional standard, though, I expect it would be Disney. They certainly have the resources, in any case.
|
|
|
Post by BigPapaJoe on Jan 16, 2016 18:37:09 GMT -5
Rumor has it Disney is working on a restored unaltered version since buying Lucasfilm, but apparently it is quite the undertaking due to the rough condition of the original film. If anyone can do it to a professional standard, though, I expect it would be Disney. They certainly have the resources, in any case. I hear some people aren't buying the reason provided by Disney claiming the original footage is too rough to give an HD/Blu Ray rendition. Especially since it's believed that the original film was worked on in 1997 for the Special Editions. That and the people that worked on the De-Specialized edition did such a fantastic job. Perhaps it's just a PR reason from Disney that basically doesn't point the finger at Lucasfilm for them not being legally obligated to give the originals their due. Whatever. I hope they do get an official re-release. Although I am satisfied with the Despecialized Edition.
|
|
|
Post by Mormel on Jan 17, 2016 1:10:42 GMT -5
Whee, we've had our first snow of the year in my town today. It's only a thin layer, but it'll do for now, and I expect it's gonna get better. What timing, considering an acquaintance of mine who used to rent the house I live in now, is coming over to pick up his winter tyres. I got an outdoors walk planned in the afternoon in a small forest, so I hope a bit of snow will stick around to add to that wintery feeling.
|
|
|
Post by BigPapaJoe on Jan 17, 2016 5:25:13 GMT -5
I think there is something I need to get off my chest. I usually don't like sharing aspects of struggles in my life I may be having to people. I've always saw it as pathetic on my part. Which is strange, because I have no problem with people venting or sharing to me, and I don't think any less of them for doing so. But who am I to say how people should and should not act. Anyways, I've been thinking about this a while. Sharing that is. Thinking about typing what I would say, and if there was any point to it at all. The truth is, if I was to open up then I would feel more comfortable doing it here first. I've done it once before, and have always considered the community here pretty mature and insightful with it's commentary on pretty much everything.
So anyways I'm 28 and half of the time miserable. Probably more than half. Folks that look at my situation on the surface would probably think I shouldn't be. I have a lovely and caring wife, no student loans, I live in a house with no mortgage, I get to travel to parts of the world every year, I'm pretty well off financially, all I have to do for work right now is a dog watching gig and while doing so I get to focus on working toward my goal of being a comic book penicler/storyboard artist. So how can I complain right? Yet most days days I sit on my ass, and don't practice drawing consistently. There is also a language I'm learning. Or have been since college. My Mandarain Chinese which has gone nowhere. Probably could have learned the language twice over by now. My gym attendance is also lackluster at best. Three goals. All the time in the world to accomplish them in a methodical manner and the only thing stopping me is myself. I know what it is. A sinister combination of fear and laziness.
Something else. I've been married for four years now while having an overall relationship of seven years. But I haven't been a great husband. I love my wife, and she loves me. Sad to say, it might be more towards one side than the other. She's definitely more thoughtful than I am towards our relationship. We're planning to move overseas to Macau in around 6 months (which I'm guessing drags out longer) to be closer to her family. Which is fair. She longs to be around friends and family, but I could survive without at this point in my life and maybe even prefer my solitude. I've shunned what remaining family I have here (which was really just on my mother's side) so after thinking about what I'd miss in America that I couldn't come back and visit...I didn't really have an answer. I don't really hang out with anyone. One of my best friends works down the street from where I live and I've seen him twice in two years. Everyone else has pretty much moved away. And I don't really keep up with Facebook. My wife has dreams of starting a family soon. Which I can understand from her perspective. We've been together a while. She's already past the prime of when she should be having children. But I still feel apprehensive. I already feel annoyed/crowded with life's various responsibilities, and I can't keep up with them. There always seems to be an insurance bill or policy that needs to be looked over, a house maintenance issue, or I have to drive my wife somewhere because she hasn't learned how to drive. We have a room in our house that has been made into a work studio. Every hour or so my wife asks me to look at something funny on YouTube, or wants to talk about something else that needs to be addressed. Sadly I guess I'm more a passive aggressive person than I thought I was. I sut want to be left alone and work for 8+ hours without having to talk to anyone. I delivered my wife and her friend (who is staying with us for a couple of months) to the shopping mall the other day and they went shopping for 5 or so hours. It was the best day I've had in a while. I ate what I wanted when I wanted. Even junk food. There have been times when I've "gone to the gym" for an hour or so only to sit in my car and eat some fast food meal and listen to the radio. It's sad, but it's been a way of coping
Speaking of copping, I'll listen to music while working. Boxes me in my own world of sorts. Keane is probably my favorite band right now. Also, the lucid daydreaming when I'm alone in my parked car or taking a shower. It's like a drug for me. The self-fabricated delusions. The fantasies. Facades. The imagined prospect of an alternate road with alternate consequences. Being able to travel the world alone and on my own terms. Have different relationships. Yes, that includes women I've thought about. Women I've known. Which has also included sex in my head. But I still love my wife even if that sounds stupid. I guess you can call me an asshole at this point. Which is well warranted.
All I really wanted to do is draw since I was a boy. Draw well enough to be published. Sure I have other goals like getting in better shape or improving my Chinese, but drawing is #1. I want to follow in the footsteps of a Neal Adams, John Buscema, or Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. Even if isn't comics. Storyboarding. Concept art. Whatever. That's how this all started. I would trade essentially anything for a work ethic. Anything. I believe I may be the embodiment of never having to work for anything growing up. Having everything handed to me by my single mother. I've been to art school which didn't really work out for the best looking back. A result of my lazy attitude and unwillingness to put in the hard to work to get where I wanted to be. I've become more studious as the years have gone by, but there are days where I just can't apply the pencil to the paper even if I sit at my desk all day. I'm afraid of failure. So I don't even try some days that way I won't have the feeling of having failed because I didn't try in the first place. I've been encouraged by friends and family alike. I've witness my peers improve and go to places I'd like to be. I'll have periods where I work hard for a few days. But then I'll be inconsistent for a week and a half. And it's just demoralizing. Like taking 10 steps forward and 10 steps back. Sometimes I have this thought that maybe this is just karma and I deserve a fate akin to Sisyphus. Perhaps I'm just wired differently.
Just not certain where the narrative goes from here. The prospect of being a parent not too long from now is disturbing to me. I can't even take care of myself. How would I be able to take care of a child when I'm already so easily overwhelmed living in my house without one? Also, I remember my father was a deadbeat and never in my life. I don't want to be that same person by bailing out after having a kid. My wife keeps trying to tell me that if we did have children her parents are anxious to take care of them, because I guess Chinese culture is like that. And that our lives wouldn't be shackled down compared to most people because of our financial situation. I'm not sure how to take that, but at face value it sounds a little messed up. I would feel obligated to be around a child as much as possible.
Maybe I got married too soon? Did I really marry out of true love? Just typing that statement gives me a lot of anxiety. Yeah I don't know about it all. I guess I will go to sleep now. If you made it this far, thanks for listening. Civil or not, feel free to respond to my first world problems. Thanks.
|
|
|
Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 17, 2016 8:20:19 GMT -5
Well, PapaShogun, there is so much I could say here about my own experiences. I guess the first thing that struck me is your talk about laziness and procrastination. These are two major demons that I've been battling for years, and still do, though I finally made a concerted decision recently that I was going to dedicate myself to staying on track with my exercise routine and to educate myself through reading more literature, history and science. Things as ostensibly simple as getting 7-8 hours of sleep a day and going outside once in awhile on my off days, as opposed to spending countless hours playing video games, have been ridiculously difficult struggles for this 38 year old man.
I know it doesn't always help to hear about people in "worse" situations, but I can only tell you that I'm single, do have a student loan and live as close to a hermit's existence as is possible for someone not willing to give up the wonders of electricity. I work nights at job that grants moderately decent pay, but offers absolutely nothing in terms of creative stimulation. I can say that the house I live in has no mortgage attached to it, but this is only because it was originally my grandparents home and it was left to me in their will. I simply got lucky on this point.
I've wanted to be a writer for years, but never got nearly as far as you did as a artist. Still, I've kept fighting that part of me that wants to self-destruct and refuse to give in completely. I'm depressed, as many people are, but have refused any sort of professional help for various reasons; the drain on resources with no guarantee for success or true understanding being the primary reasons. I measured the situation and realized that my depression wasn't severe enough that I couldn't fight it on my own. My main enemy, once again, is "do-nothingism" and really is a simply choice of "do or do not." All self-analyzing aside, it really is that simple. I can hand-wring and bemoan all I want, but when I break it down rationally, there is nothing stopping me from exercising and getting the body that I want but my choice not to put in the effort. There is no mystical force-field keeping me from my bookshelf or from Microsoft Word but my choice to not do those things. It's a tough pill, I totally get it, but it really is that simple. I don't fully understand the nihilistic impulse either, but it's there, and it's something we simply have to fight.
Basically...I totally get where you're coming from.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2016 8:57:40 GMT -5
Wow. Since we're all sharing, here's my latest thing: My dad cancelled our traditional Sunday dinner for today because...HE IS GOING ON A DATE. My 74 year old, only-been-a-widow-for-a-year father is going on a date. He won't officially call it that, and I had to ask my brother who he was having dinner with because my father would not text me back an answer. Apparently, it's a woman he went to highschool with.
And, of course, because I am who I am, in my head, I already have the woman moved into my mother's house, and I was in tears last night. I cannot, and refuse to, deal with my dad going on dates right now. And it makes me a completely selfish a-hole. I know this. But I'm not handling this well.
|
|