The STAR WARS MONTHLY MONDAY Thread

[ljacone]

My wife and I have had this discussion with regards to the kids. My attitude is release order as well. But I guess it depends on what kind of property Star Wars is when they are old enough to start watching them. If the Clone era is still going strong it is going to be hard to explain how the Republic doesn't exist anymore and now they are the badguys, and the new good guy just so happens to have the last name Skywalker, etc.

I'd like the ability to take a full day with my wife and watch all 6 in narrative order, but that's not going to happen any time soon.

[Arthur Ratnik]

I vote release order.

[JonathanCrites]

[Bibliomike]

[NewFun#6]

I say release order as well, if for no other reason than the Empire spoiler (just in case there's a human being left on the planet that doesn't know what it is) would have zero impact if you watched them in chrono order.

Also, I was kinda half-joking about the Wookieepedia spoiler thing. The site, as you say, is in itself one giant spoiler. But I am having a problem not learning too much before I get to the later books. It is slow going, but I am committed to my project to read through the EU in chrono order. The problem is trying to stay in the dark about so many of the awesome reveals. Now I know where Jacen is headed (knew it before you said anything, so don't feel bad. You didn't spoil it for me, I already knew) and that will definitely affect the way I read him in the books leading up to that event. Dunno how I feel about that. But I'm sure there are plenty of gee-whiz moments I haven't heard yet, so that'll keep me reading.

[JonathanCrites]

[Bibliomike]

If a story is good enough, it's sole power won't depend on any given "reveal." Witness "the Empire spoiler." Even if you know The Secret before watching the film, the film still packs plenty of punch. If, once you know a secret, the story has nothing else going for it, then that's just a sign of bad storytelling. So you'll probably be fine, Scott -- in fact, you may even be in a better position (from a certain point of view, as someone once said...): you can look for clues the author planted that first-time readers at the time may have missed, etc.

[rd666]

It seems fairly unanimous -

'4 out of 5 Freaks Agree' if you will.

Order of release it is - it was my knee jerk reaction looking at all six files (my collector's OCD runs deep, so they are in a folder named by Year of Release then Episode Number - dunno why, it just looks 'right' to me).

I would like to and will do a 1-6 numerical run someday just to see how it feels.

The truly insane thing would be to somehow figure out Chronologically how to properly shoehorn Clone Wars between E2 & E3 - that way lies madness...

[Bibliomike]

[Joe Anthrax]

I would definitely be a completest if it required including the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars animated shorts. Those, IMO, were the most dramatic and effective ways of showing the powers of true Jedi in ways that couldn't be captured in live action or even the CGI Clone Wars.

Joe -- Mace Windu was never more of a bad-ass as he was in that one episode -- Anthrax

[JonathanCrites]

[rd666]

Quick question:

Watching Star Wars last nite with the wife and I gotta say, the 1080 resolution makes a shitload of difference -

I can see why Lucas was maybe a little reluctant - there are some things that are waaaay more noticeable - like the brush strokes in the gloss black lacquer on some of the Death Star doors n' shit and some of the consoles are clearly old cassette decks and soundboards mangled together - didn't bother me in the slightest (actually kinda liked it - made it seem more 'real' for some reason).

So, with that in mind -

What the shit is C3PO hiding behind in the garage when Luke clicks the Restraining Bolt Remote?

It's fairly dark and obscured, but it looks like a hood ornament and front end of some kind of vehicle.

I told my wife it was a '76 El Camino.

Any scholars of minutiae out there?

[ljacone]

@rd, great observations!

Reminds me tangentially of two seperate, similar threads.

1 -- Toho has been hesitant to release the Godzilla series and their other tokusatsu (read: live action special effects) films on Blu-Ray because the increased clarity makes wires and other tools of the trade all too visible, whereas DVD did allow some wires to be seen, but not nearly to this level.

2 -- When WWE was considering making the transition to HD telecast, Vince McMahon had several months of tests run, with the concern being that the higher definition would make it perfectly clear that the boys were working "light" (when you make extremely light contact on an attack) or otherwise selling. In the end it was determined that while the HD does make it easier to see whiffs, the WWE's top notch production team had been working to minimize such occurances anyway, so the HD did not negatively impact the product -- in fact, they look amazing in HD!

[Arthur Ratnik]

[NewFun#6]

[NewFun#6]

Okay, according to this --

http://www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/s ... stead.html

-- that is indeed the vehicle (or type of vehicle) that 3PO is hiding behind in the garage. You can see it off on the extreme righthand side of the page.

[NewFun#6]

The Lars family car, I guess?

[rd666]

[Bibliomike]

Y'know, I liked Han stepping on Jabba when I saw it in the theater in 1997 -- goes by quick, gets a laugh -- but yeah, it really does not hold up on multiple viewings.

I think "Empire" is the only movie that really benefitted from the Special Editions -- the extended view of Cloud City, mostly. And the retcon of Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor isn't too terrible. But all the rest of the changes I really could have lived without. (I still want Lapti Nek and Yub-Yub back in ROTJ, too!)

[NewFun#6]

I would totally buy another edition of Star Wars if they'd CG JFK into it!