Star Wars

[Stomski]

I only got 20 minutes in before I had to take care of some stuff. The dead eyes and mouths gave me the wibblies.

[The Doctor]

Stay on target.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

An old documentary about the making of The Empire Strikes Back

[Andy Turnbull]

[The Doctor]

Hooray for Peter Mayhew!

-Ralph

[The Doctor]

I've seen the Episode IX trailer twice in the cinema now and I'm still not feeling excitement. I'm not sure if it's the double whammy of Last Jedi/Solo being dull or it not feeling like an event anymore but I am surprisingly indifferent. It's Star Wars! I should be excited!

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

It got me unexpectedly. I was doing a music lesson and we were looking at how music can invoke emotion (specifically we were comparing major and minor key) but I wanted to start it off with something to grab the attention of the kids, so put the Ep 9 trailer on as being something current. I'd not watched it. The bit with C3P0 in the middle caught me totally unawares and I very nearly started crying, which was hugely ironic given the subject for the lesson and the fact I had to talk about exactly that straight afterwards. The kids noticed - they were really quiet and couldn't work out if I was doing it on purpose to make a point.

[Shockprowl]

You're a good teacher, Pins.

[Philip Ayres]

Tweaks made to the 4K version of Star Wars

thedigitalbits.com/featured/articles/sw-new-hope-disneyplus-4k-2019

[The Doctor]

FFS. Why can't they leave these films alone???

-Ralph

[Shockprowl]

Dec 5, 2019 9:35:53 GMT The Doctor said:

FFS. Why can't they leave these films alone???

-Ralph

Word.

[Stomski]

So in my preparations for Episode 9 next week, I've watched I, II, III, Solo, Rogue One and last night IV.

I noticed for the first time 2 new things...

1. Threepio says 'Shutting up sir' after Owen has queried whether he can talk to Bocce and concludes by saying 'Alright, shut up'. It's a little masked by other noise going on, so unsure if it's new. I checked my 1997 script printing and the 2004 DVD 'theatrical' bonus disc and it is indeed in there.

2. When Threepio is about to board the Falcon for the first time, he greets Han. Han responds by turning away and shaking his head dismissively.


The next choice is what next? Surely the Holiday Special before Empire, right??

[Stomski]

Dec 5, 2019 9:06:08 GMT Philip Ayres said:

Tweaks made to the 4K version of Star Wars

thedigitalbits.com/featured/articles/sw-new-hope-disneyplus-4k-2019

These fixes seem fine to me. They're largely cosmetic enhancements or replacing SFX goofs in specific frames rather than altering the story telling.

Which by the way I'm still mad about 'alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival'. Vader's silent brooding hinted at his frustration at losing Luke and the line doesn't carry any of this.

And what about Padme in EpIII? Did she ever say 'So this is how democracy dies...' or was it always 'Liberty'? Because I'm sure her delivery was different for the latter.

[The Doctor]

My memory is the line was 'democracy'.

-Ralph

[Stomski]

Deep into the Holiday Special. The stuff with the Empire's heavy handed controlling of the galaxy were the best bits about Solo, glad to see more of this type of stuff.

[The Doctor]

Sept 6, 2019 12:46:57 GMT Stomski said:

Caravan of Courage and Battle For Endor on Amazon Prime.

Wish me luck, I'm going in...

I had saved them for my watch list to watch at the Chrimbo period. I have just noticed they have been pulled from the service already. Fuck sakes.

-Ralph

[Stomski]

Also missed out on BfE and the end of Caravan of Courage. It's a ruddy pain, the cynic in me belives they put things on Prime and then remove them so people buy them once they get around to their watchlist.

[The Doctor]

That happens sometimes but in this case these titles are not commercially available hence why I was looking forward to being able to watch them again.

I imagine they will likely pop up on Disney's streaming service.

-Ralph

[Stomski]

Oh yeah, you can't even buy them on Amazon Video anymore. You could when they first left Prime.

[Andy Turnbull]

Imagine the rights have been pulled back for Disney Plus.

[Andy Turnbull]

Back from seeing The Rise of Skywalker.

I enjoyed it, still prefer The Last Jedi, but glad that TFA is really the only one of the new trilogy I didn't like.

[Bogatan]

Finished Clone Wars Season 7.

My first thought was, The Clone Wars has never looked better. But screw that. Im not sure Star Wars has ever looked better.

And the final arc just became my favourite Star Wars.

[The Doctor]

I have been given the Episodes 1-9 box set. I already had Rogue One. This then caused a metacrisis in my brain which said: 'You can't have 10 of the 11 main films' and so I was compelled to order Solo, even though it is rubbish.

You know how it is. I had no choice.

-Ralph

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Jun 1, 2020 18:59:31 GMT The Doctor said:

I have been given the Episodes 1-9 box set. I already had Rogue One. This then caused a metacrisis in my brain which said: 'You can't have 10 of the 11 main films' and so I was compelled to order Solo, even though it is rubbish.

It will be far from being the worst film in your complete set. I have shelf space for Solo but not for Eps 7-9.

Martin

[The Doctor]

At the moment, I rate Solo as by far the worst of the 11 films. We shall see if I change my mind on rewatching.

I thought Episode 8 was dull and boring the first time I saw it, but it has really grown on me.

-Ralph

[Jim]

I would recommend a rewatch! My daughter wanted to see it the other week, and I thought I might just leave her to it but I sat down and watched it with her, and it was an enjoyable couple of hours, moreso than I remembered. She's almost seen all the Star Wars films now*, and puts it in her top three:

1. The Last Jedi
2. Solo
3. The Empire Strikes Back

* only what are, in my opinion, the worst two remaining: III and IX

EDIT: oh, and Rogue One, but she doesn't fancy it because she remembers me saying all the good guys die at the end

[The Doctor]

Episode 1 watched. I had never fully realised how annoying Jar Jar is before until watched with subtitles.

-Ralph

[Jim]

Has the "Darth Jar Jar" theory ever had an airing here?

www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/3qvj6w/theory_jar_jar_binks_was_a_trained_force_user/

I don't really believe it, but it's an enjoyable bit of speculation

[Jim]

Thanks to Disney+ my daughter has been watching Rebels, and I've watched quite a few with her, and I'm genuinely taken aback by how good it is! Opening two parter was a little weak, and seemed to confirm my original expectations, but once it gets going it's absolutely brilliant.

I also had no idea Tom Baker had contributed voice acting to this, so that was a nice surprise!

[The Doctor]

Watched Episodes I-III on Blu-Ray. Episode I's virtual sets look fine. Being shot on film helps. It's when the Episodes II and III switch to new fangled digital video that the virtual sets fall down in being convincing. The rendering on them is very nice, but now the actors just don't look like they're there. Seeing the films in HD doesn't help either. IIRC Episode II was the first major feature film to be shot entirely on HD video. I recall there being a big fuss about it at the time as many cinemas weren't set up yet for showing films in digital formats.

What is troubling from a 2020 perspective is how Padme loses all her agency between films and becomes a token helpless female. Episode I: rules a planet, very capable. Episode II: politician, handy with a gun though starts to become less capable once she falls for Anakin the child killer. Episode III: does nothing but sit around and cry, can't do anything, has one good line.

-Ralph