SW: Episode 3

[James]

Well I think this will totally kick ass from the leaked behind the scenes footage from a couple of months back (Which I don't have anymore and cannot find, damn you Lucasfilm Lawyers!).
What I'm wondering is, does anyone here subscribe to Hyperspace, or have any way for me to "aquire" the recently released WebDocumentary #6 which is causing quite a stir? It has got everyone on the www.theforce.net forums buzzing at how great it is with all the footage. Anakin + Obi fighting Dooku, Padme looking shit scared, lots of Sidious, Sam "The Man" Jackson getting thrown against a wall...
I ain't paying $40 just to see it :)

[eyelleye]

I aint payin 40 bucks to see it either. And quite frankly, EP 1 & 2 looked beautiful but sucked big floppy donkey dick. Personally, Im rather pessimistic about EP3... actually, I suppose I view it in much the same way you view WoW... Of course, EP3 wont tank because it has the SW name on it... but, Lucas hasnt been able to write his way outta a paper bag thus far with the prequels. I know some folk will say he redemed himself with EP2, but personally I dont think it was all that good. It wandered around quite a bit... and asside from the FX shots... there wasnt much substance to it. The more I think about it, the more I would have rathered lucas just left the whole fucking thing a mystery and not made the prequels... or better yet, turned the reigns over to someone else who knows how to write a fucking story...

Ah, but then again, perhaps Im just grumpy.

[James]

Yer but you're always grumpy! (Not me, I just won £45 on the lottery, woooo!)
I'll never claim he is a good writer. For it to be decent Star Wars tho you can't have good writing, just like the OT :) It just needs some Retro X-Factor. And less CG, more animatronics. Jim Hensons Creature Shop can do amazing stuff nowdays and to me looks much better.

You know there are strong hints that a Star Wars tv show will be green-lit soon? Can't imagine that...


But back to it yeah it must be the writing. I mean, Ewan McGregor is one of the finest British Actors ever (Much like Sir Alec Guiness was) and he's done an incredible range of roles. He just comes off as flat to me. When Obi and Anakin talk in Ep 2 it sounds like a well rehearsed bore.
Well, at least good old Palpatine is always excellent. He could read the back off a cereal box and sound like the most evil, manipulative motherfucker out there :D

[eyelleye]

Ewan McGregor... hmm... if you havent seen Train Spotting... get the fuck off of my boards.. thats all I can say. Ewan is the shit, and by far and away one of my fav actors (not sayin you'd disagree with me there Mr James sir!)!!!

as far as the following:

You know there are strong hints that a Star Wars tv show will be green-lit soon? Can't imagine that...

Hmm... If they can do it as good as say... babylon 5 or some of the star trek spin offs.. Im all for it. I support a contination of the movies, as long as lucas doesnt author it. Quite frankly, the OT was by far and away better... but then thats either because he didnt write the script (ESB) or had help (RotJ)... his best solo work (ANH) was much better than his last 2... I expect he'll have help on EP3 much as he did on EP2 (dialogue co-author)... but, right now, I just dont hold out much hope. I suppose its prolly better that way, so I dont get disappointed. Yes, I loved EP2 when I saw it in the theater, but the story still didnt hold a candle to the OT...

Perhaps the prequels wont ever live up to the OT... its a daunting task. Still, I think the story could have been told, with the same events transpiring, in a much more... hmm... I dunno... I just coulda been done better. I think Lucas has been surrounded with so many "yes" men that he's lost touch. Everyone is so busy sayiong "its gunna be great" & nobody has the balls to say to him "this sucks man." I know I'd have a hard time saying that to him myself.. but after reading the script for EP1... Id certainly say it to his face. While I hope EP3 kicks the shit out of all the other flicks, secretly I know it wont... and its this knowledge that saddens me.

Take it for what its worth...

[James]

Good points all round. If you watch the behind the scenes stuff for Episode 2, you see the Yes Men in action. This guy has like 50 clay models he worked on, most likely 100+ hours work. In walks GL, going "Hmm...no, no, no, no. Oooh, I like this one." Then pisses off basically. He just went from department to department making seemingly whimsical decisions on stuff done by experts in their fields.
On the Babylon 5 note, JMS has been dropping hints a lot in the last few months, and the lates ones seem to indicate a big screen movie.

On the SW TV show... I suppose it depends on when they set it. Most likely I'd say either directly after Episode 3, or waaay after RoTJ. See being SW, they'll need to have Jedi in it. I was on the official site last night and apparently Obi and Yoda were not the only Jedi that managed to make it into hiding, so it would be possible to have a central Jedi character that won't be pre-destined to die.
Unfortunatley, Lucasfilm is so damned strict with their lisence that I doubt the show would be given enough creative freedom. Imagine having to green light everything with LF all the time! A better idea would be a 6 part mini-series or something.

[eyelleye]

Well Im sure they'll start out with a Mini-series (ala the battlestar galatica remake)... be interesting to see what happens, but I have to agree... it would suck having to get all that bloody clearance from LucasFilm...

I never did watch much babylon 5... a few episodes here and there, but I liked what I saw at least. Id say if they make a silver screen flick outta it, they're gonna hafta walk a rather fine line of making it for fans of the show & folks like me (who wont know what the hell is going on)... still, I'd probably go see it.

[Cray]

Babalon 5 movie huh. If its anything like the made for TV movie "In the Begining" it should kick ass. If you haven't seen that B5 movie go see it. you get it and the first episode of B5 for like 10 bucks, you can buy the cheaper beer for one night and afford it.
Best time period would be right after episode 3. If they went into the EU after RotJ you expect to see the old cast of OT in there at some point, and no one wants to see carrie fisher now. But even if they went into the new jedi Order timeline ( worst stories ever IMO. Not cause the writing was bad, some damn good authors did some great work. It just sucked cause it was in the Star Wars universe).
Go eight seasons or So then have Vader finaly track him down. If anyone watches the Cowboy Bebop anime, have the ending like that. Just Vader won't die with the so called 'Hero" of the series.

[eyelleye]

Ahh... finally someone has articulated my feelings on the SW Prequels... A terriffic read from our friends at MSNBC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4980465

[Jess-e]

WAITER: Here’s your green salad, sir.
ANAKIN: What? You fool, I told you NO CROUTONS! Aaaaaaargh!

Anakin puts on his black helmet and storms off to his local county clerk’s office and fills out the paperwork to have his name legally changed to “Darth Annie Vader.” (He later quietly drops the middle name, realizing it doesn’t help his macho image.) And then for the next two hours, it’s all special-effects spaceship battles, which is the real reason most of us will go to the theater anyway. Fade to black.


Hehehe, good article...

[James]

Hehe yeah read that the other day.
You seen the image on Aint It Cool News? It's the end scene from ROTJ with Ghost Anakin, Yoda and Obi, but they've replaced Sabastian Shaw with Hayden Christensen?
They say it's for the DVD release of the OT (Which I know Lucas is making some changes to)
I'll just say it'd better be a damned fake (Tho a good one if it is), but then again I souldn't put it past Lucas to fuck the fans in the ass that little bit harder.
GREEDO DID NOT SHOOT FIRST YOU BEARDED SENILE FUCKWIT! RELEASE THE DAMNED ORIGINAL CUTS WITH THE SPECIAL EDITION LIKE ANY DECENT DIRECTOR WOULD!

YOU GO ON ABOUT DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND YOU AREN'T EVEN USING IT FULLY! DVDS CAN STORE SHIT LOADS SO HAVE YOUR NEW SCENES BE OPTIONAL!!!


You may now return to the regular scheduling.

[eyelleye]

From TheForce.net:


SW on DVD: Special Edition Changes?
Wed, May 19, 04 01:02:08 AM EDT

There's been plenty of talk this week about just what will be on those Special Edition DVDs this September from Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox. Will they be the re-released versions of the original films or have there been even more changes?
Our sources tell us that there have been lots of changes to A New Hope, including some tinkering with the Han/Greedo scene. This is also the film with the most significant changes. The Emperor has been replaced with prequel actor Ian McDiarmid in ESB and Hayden Christensen does indeed appear in the final cut of Return of the Jedi. The explanation of his young appearance as a spirit is revealed in Episode III, as (spoiler) the years in the Dark Side don't age the Jedi's spirit form.

We caution you that these are rumors and even this report should be met with some skepticism and prayer that they'll just quit messing with these movies. According to these people though, THESE are the rumored Archival Editions fans were expecting in the future.

So our hope is that maybe the 2006/7 DVD version of the film will be the originals in all of their glory?

I've a feeling its probably NOT a fake...

[James]

It's impossible. THAT'S NOT TRUE!

[eyelleye]

LOL... suuuuurrrreee.... we are talking about mister monkey, err.. I mean Lucas.

[eyelleye]

Going back to the TV show news... Read this on theforce.net today. If its true, I might just watch a SW tv show (like Id NOT watch it anyways)...


New Star Wars TV Series Rumors
Thu, May 20, 04 09:24:13 AM EDT

AICN has new rumors regarding the upcoming Star Wars TV series set for some time after Episode 3:

Playing one of the series' villans we love to hate is none other than... wait for it... Boba Fett! Expect young Boba (but not nearly as young as in Ep. 2) to feature in the series significantly. And you wondered why Lucas spent so much time focusing on that kid in Attack of the Clones and made sure that you knew that he knew that the Jedi/Republic was responsible for his Dad's death.

This rumor is unconfirmed, but it would be cool if it were true. It allows the series to follow a character throughout the universe seeing different aliens, planets, and characters from both the Rebellion and the Empire. Stay tuned as we dig around!

[eyelleye]

This seems appropriate... we have this to look forward to:

http://www.milkandcookies.com/stuff/triumphvsw.asx

[James]

Man that was fucking hilarious!

As for the Boba Fett thing, they say he'll be a villain so he may only be in a handful of episodes. I'd rather him not be in there, and the cast and story completely unique and outside of the main events of the movies.
Boba Fett was lame anyway, the one cool thing about him was his ship, Slave One, and that he inherited from his Pa'.

[eyelleye]

And on another related note...

I signed up for the SW Fan club almost 48 hours ago (well, will be 48 hrs this afternoon). I've been buying the SW Insider mag at the store for the past... ohhh... 6 months. Well, I just so happened to goto the SW website to see that low and behold, they now have a deal where you get that hyperspace thing, the mag, and some other stuff. I figure, hey, thats a good deal, so I sign up. It says it takes 24-48 hours for them to send the code to you. Im thinking, standard disclaimer bullshit, right? I mean, this is the internet... where you can process the CC and send the email with code in a matter of 30 seconds.

Nope. They really really mean that 24-48hr (or longer) wait. I havent gotten so much as a whimper from them yet... no emails, nothing. Not even a "thanks for signing up, your 'code' email will be along in 24-48 hrs" pat on the back, bs email. Notta... zero, zip, jack shit, fuck all... you get the picture. Soo... today I figure I'll see if they billed my CC yet. Nope! Now Im thinkin, WTF?!! Head on over to their site again... dug around the forums... found out its taken some fellahs 3+ weeks to get their code. Whats more, the folks that have done the Insider Mag... well, lucas is taking it over yet again & handing it off to some games publisher... Im seriously hoping I didnt just piss away 40 bucks for the hell of it. This does not bode well.

Ohh... and Im not sure exactly WHAT my fav part of that video is... perhaps its when the mut says to vader: I am triumph, oh big scary nerd...

[eyelleye]

Update:

Almost 48 hours to the minute that I ordered the SW: Fan Club kit (with hyperspace) I got my email. Now I can see all that exclusive behind the scenes crap! WoooHOOOOO!

[James]

Hehe, I seem to remember a certain someone saying something along the lines of "Fuck that!" (In refference to the cost) when I asked if anyone had Hyperspace. It'd sure be nice if the video I asked about found it's way to me somehow... ;)

[eyelleye]

ROTFL...

well, I would not have done it had the whole fan club thing not been a part of it. But, the way I look at it now... I get a lot of shit for 40 bucks... and Im payin a fair bit at the store every month or two just for the mag... ends up being cheaper this way.

The vids Ive watched on the site are quicktime vids, so not quite sure that they can be saved n stuff... I dunno... what were you looking for anyways? At the least I can watch it n tell yah what it was about. =)

[James]

Webdocumentary 6 I do believe.
/me check for bugs planted by Lucasarts

[eyelleye]

Yeah, just looked today... its all quick time (for good reason Id bet).

Of course, I just watched that web-doc 6. Man, that was freaking cool! The man is surrounded by about 3 HUGE plasma displays. They have a tap directly into the digital cameras, and so on the green or blue screens, george can see somewhat what the end product is going to look like. Basically, they can use an animatic type back ground of what the completed digital set will look like... amazing stuff really. I didnt see much of what was going on, but it was pretty cool to see the process. Think I'll have to check out some of the other documentaries too. That was amazin tho.

[James]

A rumor from Aint It Cool News:
"During the attempt to save the badly-burned Anakin, he actually dies. Palpatine, frustrated after all the time and effort he?s put into recruiting and training Anakin so far, uses a dangerous Sith ritual to resurrect the fallen Jedi, and in the process, his own body is so ravaged by the Dark Side that it transforms him into the twisted, shriveled Emperor that we all remember from the Original Trilogy."

I actually really like that idea, perhaps more so than the one that the Emperor uses the Dark Side to change his appearance (To look younger) all the time.

[eyelleye]

Hmm... that is a pretty cool idea actually. Remains to be seen if that'll actually happen or not, but certainly its more imaginative (along the lines of the original trillogy) than other things lucas seems to have come up with of late. Overall... pretty cool I'd say... kinda hope it works out like that, but... no matter what, I think Im just going to be glad that when EP3 comes out, its all over... '-)

[Cray]

It would also make sence as to Anikans new younger (christan Hayden) spirit look in The RotJ DvD coming out in September. At first that gay shit about a jedis spirit never ages, thats why Hayden replaced Sebation Shaw I belive it was in the original release of RotJ. But if Anikan actualy died in Ep 3, then that crap would make sence. Maybe Lucas has really done it this time. But either way who isn't going to see it atleast 5 or 6 times the first week its out?

[James]

Damn never thought of that :) That would make sence!

[eyelleye]

I plan on going the first week, but... if it sucks, I'll probably only see it maybe twice. Personally, I wish that lucas would just stop screwing with the OT... The two things that piss me off the most are changing it so Greedo shot first (what a bunch of hippy crap) and then later when Han calls Jabba a "wonderful human being." Everything else was rather minor... and most of the changes were fairly cool, but damnit! Can't he leave it well enough alone? Wasn't Jar Jar enough?

[James]

Maybe he doesn't get laid enough, and he's bitter towards everyone else because of it so he invented Jar Jar as punishment to the world.

[eyelleye]

Aww come on... George Lucas? I'd bet there are a literal ton of women who'd want to fuck him... '-)

[James]

Yes, it's the Poly-bearded-chins that turn them on.

[Cray]

That or the Billions of dollars he has, but I think his wife would be upset if he started playing the field. Oh and come on everyone, Jar Jar was created when Georges wife was PMSing for longer then usual, so Lucas turned all his pain and missory into one character, aka Jar Jar.