Star Wars Ep. VII Megathread: The Force Awakens (1 Viewer)

[FoxyMulder]

Yes Malcolm, I agree. We must FORCE people to like films. Especially ones that WE like.

Maybe we can use Jedi mind tricks to get them all to watch a broader range of films.

I do get some of Dan's points and I'm sure Dan's intentions were good, i agree it would be nice to see people watching a greater range of films, i just don't think school classes is the answer, you just know the teachers will decide what is best and you will run into censorship issues and various political issues on what get's shown, nah, just let them find out for themselves if they so wish.

 

[joshEH]

Studied film in university rather extensively myself. Can explicate (for example) the major differences between mise-en-scène and montage, and have written papers on topics such as Godard's cinephile-period and the nouveau roman influence upon the Left Bank movement.

And I still enjoy at least two-and-a-half of the three SW prequels, too. They're of much greater value cinematically and artistically than some people are willing to give them credit for.

 

[DanH1972]

I enjoy all types of cinema, from classics dating back to the twenties to modern wham bang action flicks, i have seen Wings Of Desire, M, The Lives of Others and many more, i enjoy 3D films, i enjoy black and white films, i enjoy colour films, i enjoy silent films, i dislike when someone assumes that if you like Transformers that you cannot equally enjoy 8½, of course you can.

As a teenager you watch what is on at the cinema, you check out your Netflix account and if film interests you enough then you seek out other types of movie and visit forums like this and learn more about film, i see little point in forcing it down anyone's throat, let them find out if they wish and if they do not wish then that is fine too, it's their choice to expand their horizons or not.

A thought has just occurred to me, i have a great idea how we can make all this work, let's make them sit and we will force them to watch all these movies, you know like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange, they will LEARN to enjoy Fellini.

By that logic, why even have literature teachers pushing and forcing kids to read stories like Beowulf, Moby Dick, Tom Sawyer, and Romeo and Juliet? They're old and boring (though they've never read them) and make their heads hurt because they challenge their narrow perceptions, and they wouldn't read them willingly without the books being assigned. Heck, they might even like one or even all of them and expand their grasp of story telling (or they may like none of them)! Just let them seek out and read whatever strikes their fancy such as great literature like Twilight and The Hunger Games.

 

[FoxyMulder]

By that logic, why even have literature teachers pushing and forcing kids to read stories like Beowulf, Moby Dick, Tom Sawyer, and Romeo and Juliet? They're old and boring (though they've never read them) and make their heads hurt because they challenge their narrow perceptions, and they wouldn't read them willingly without the books being assigned. Heck, they might even like one or even all of them and expand their grasp of story telling (or they may like none of them)! Just let them seek out and read whatever strikes their fancy such as great literature like Twilight and The Hunger Games.

How about the Diary of Anne Frank that many USA schools have banned, yes i agree those schools know what they are doing.

I think you may have missed my point, read the later post i wrote and also bear in mind i sometimes write with humour in mind.

 

[DanH1972]

How about the Diary of Anne Frank that many USA schools have banned, yes i agree those schools know what they are doing.

I think you may have missed my point, read the later post i wrote and also bear in mind i sometimes write with humour in mind.

No, not every school or school board is doing things right. I agree 110% Luckily, I had a quality education and teachers who wanted to inspire and instill the love of learning new and different things... and even film appreciation.

One of the shows my English teacher in Junior High used as a tool was Jim Henson's The Storyteller. Fantastic! It was a shame it was cancelled.

 

[Simon Massey]

By that logic, why even have literature teachers pushing and forcing kids to read stories like Beowulf, Moby Dick, Tom Sawyer, and Romeo and Juliet? They're old and boring (though they've never read them) and make their heads hurt because they challenge their narrow perceptions, and they wouldn't read them willingly without the books being assigned. Heck, they might even like one or even all of them and expand their grasp of story telling (or they may like none of them)! Just let them seek out and read whatever strikes their fancy such as great literature like Twilight and The Hunger Games.

If you push and force kids to read stuff like that lots will definitely turn off so what's the point ? Most will read it when they are ready in my experience and will probably get far more from it too. Those kids reading The Hunger Games and Twilight will usually continue to read for enjoyment and expand their horizons as they read more. I for one never needed film classes to expand my horizon on film. It was a gradual shift from the big huge films of my youth like Batman (89) to more discerning fare and taking an interest as a hobby either reading about it discussing it with friends. I'm also glad that I can enjoy Revenge of the Sith or The Hunger Games as much as any other - though Transformers is awful

 

[joshEH]

Plus, kids are gonna go see Star Wars regardless of quality, good or bad. It's quite probably the biggest franchise in history.

My nephews, 8 and 10, are absolutely mental about Star Wars -- this shit is like crack to little boys. Disney Marketing's rocking like Nino Brown right now.

 

[Tim Glover]

Nostalgia is a weird thing. I seem to recall in 2008 that most critics gave very high review scores to Indiana Jones and the Whatever. I don't mean positive reviews...I mean raves.I hope the new Star Wars film is sincerely good. I hope the subsequent films are sincerely good as well, both the standalones and those sequenced from the OT. It won't change how I feel about the PT, or frankly how I feel about the SW universe as a whole, either way.As I saw the posts about Harry Potter today, and I think about IJ4 (or do I mean IJBore??) and Episode 7, and Die Hard 4.0, and The Expendables, and Disney making a live-action Dumbo...I recall how I moved around a lot when I was young, and I strongly imprinted on a few of the places I lived that really resonated at certain times in my life. When I visit them again, though, it is never the same. It can never be the same. Because fortunately, I'm not the same, and neither is anyone there. Which is why I want to go new places more now than before.I love the characters from the OT. Love them. But I'm happy to try and love new characters as well. More than happy. New characters probably offer more story opportunities. Star Wars is special in that you can keep the universe and play with genres, new characters, and new stories. I get the 7/8/9 decision. 4 billion is a large chunk of change.But man, let's go somewhere new. It is hard to be excited about Luke and Leia and even Han. Not because they couldn't be involved in a great new story...I hope for that. But more than likely (based on evidence elsewhere - including the IJ4 and imitators mentioned above), old characters tend to get caught in a do loop of callbacks and reheated stories.You can't go home again. I wish we weren't culturally obsessed with trying.

Best post in a long time. Wow. Good stuff Chuck.

 

[SilverWook]

I would think everyone involved would look at what didn't work in the past in bringing old characters back, and labor mightily to avoid those mistakes. There is simply too much riding on this. A mildly successful movie is going to be branded as a failure in many corners.

Star Wars is it's own thing, especially in terms of the cultural impact it's had. You can't really compare it to other franchises.

 

[andySu]

Star Wars 1080-HD =
Horrible
Disaster
Nooooooo

Star Wars Laserdisc =
Lovely
Adorable
Splendid
Excellent
Ravishing
Delightful
Indispensable
Spectacular
Classic
LASERDISC

 

[Carabimero]

Aren't the DVDs that came as extras in one of the sets made from the laser disc ports? I have those DVDs of the original versions of eps. 4-6 and love them.

 

[andySu]

Aren't the DVDs that came as extras in one of the sets made from the laser disc ports? I have those DVDs of the original versions of eps. 4-6 and love them.

Yep, they sure are. Even with soundtrack re-mixing. The laserdisc early Fox/CBS letterbox editions are the ones I reach for I can bear the Dolby Stereo matrix,

Dialogue pans on Return of the Jedi have been centred with THX CAV pressing that has remained all the way to the '97 THX LD AC-3 to DVD to Nooo-ray-disc.

Imperial guy at the start of the film "Inform the commander that lord Vader, shuttle has arrived". pan has been centred.

Princess talking to Ewok. "Well looks like I'm stuck here. Trouble is I don't know where here is?" That was a cool pan in the cinema to stage left, now its centred.

Han Solo no longer has his, voice panned to stage right. "Luke! Luke!"

Lucas, has got it for Han Solo? He doesn't want him shooting and doesn't what his voice panned to right to make it appear he is 40 or so feet away and hearing the voice in the centre like he is standing next to Luke, makes no "50% sound" sense at all?

 

[Carabimero]

Thanks for the expert notes. I can really appreciate your knowledge. Ben Burtt said there were three original theatrical mixes: a mono mix, a stereo mix and I think a quad mix (?), and I always assumed the lserdisc ports were the stereo mix.

 

[andySu]

Well I don't have to, force you to buy a laserdisc player but some good working Pioneer models out there with digital freeze memory so you can pause still CLV discs, with Dolby AC-3, for cheap going on ebay now and then? The Dolby stereo matrix sounds great if if set up smarty. You can hear a whizzing wining sound of the rebel blockade runner phantom-ed around the surrounds followed by the star destroyer.

Pressure door (hisses) opens on stage left as Darth Vader exits and his, footsteps sound to the left.

Uncle Owen, calls out to Luke on stage right "Luke I'm shutting the power down"

Alien voices pan around the LCR in the cantina some to stage left and right.
The dialouge echoes moves front to back across the chasm.

Tie-fighters, yawnnnn around as that what they sound like, lol around the Falcon when escaping the death star. Low end is satisfactory when they get blasted into cosmic atoms with a near to 30Hz.

Its a worthwhile buy,

STAR WARS
http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/36787/1130-85/Star-Wars:-A-New-Hope-(FOX)-(1977)

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/00873/1425-85/Star-Wars:-The-Empire-Strikes-Back-(1980)
RETURN OF THE JEDIhttp://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/00874/1478-85/Star-Wars:-Return-of-the-Jedi-(1983)

 

[SamT]

I kept my Star Wars LaserDiscs and throw out almost everything else as long as I remember including the LaserDisc player. So I can't play them but I have them for nostalgia! And I remember how expensive they were compared to boxsets we get today.

This set

 

[Tino]

I paid $225 in Feb 1993 for the deluxe CAV edition. This is why I never complain about blu ray prices. Edit: Hey it's my 5000th post. About Star Wars no less. Woo Hoo.

 

[Tino]

Star Wars 1080-HD =
Horrible
Disaster
Nooooooo

Star Wars Laserdisc =
Lovely
Adorable
Splendid
Excellent
Ravishing
Delightful
Indispensable
Spectacular
Classic
LASERDISC

I'm sorry but how are the Star Wars blu rays a horrible disaster??

 

[SamT]

I can't talk for others but Vader saying Noooooooooooo and ghost Hayden i-am-going-to-kill-you in Return of the Jedi is pretty bad. I never wanted or even felt the need to see the original trilogy on the current bluray.

 

[Tino]

I was referring to the transfers. There is no way on earth that the Lasers look or sound better than the blu's. And I own both.

 

[DanH1972]

I'm sorry but how are the Star Wars blu rays a horrible disaster??

The prequels are lousy and the "updates" to the original trilogy are a farce.

Han didn't shoot first... he shot ONLY.