TV/Movies Megathread

[celedhring]

Already the Star Wars spoilers are coming. I think I have to turn off the internet for a few days. I don't know how I'm gonna trade.

Yeah, I was just reading a random tech article, and the dudes in the comments section were talking about Star Wars, with mild spoilers. It's gonna be impossible.

[jimmy olsen]

I would be surprised if Disney wasn't working on a bluray release of the original theatrical versions (yeah, I know, Lucas supposedly destroyed the originals). They must know there's a lot of money in it for them.

I don't think he destroyed it.  But they said, in the DVD commentaries, that there was damage to the originals and they were such in a bad state that it was the last time they could do anything with it.

Anyway, there are only 3 problematic scenes: Han firing not firing 1st, Jabba the Hutt and "Nooo" in ep 6.  The Stromtroopers look a little ridiculous on the beasts, but it is acceptable.

But, if you change this, you totally ruin the best episode of Justified. 

Who cares about Jabba, I'd much rather get rid of that ghastly musical number they added to the beginning of Return of the Jedi.

[celedhring]

Re: Jabba in Ep 4. Besides how bad it looks in that scene, it destroys the reveal of the character in Return of the Jedi. What's the best place to finally see an infamous crime lord: in his luxurious secluded palace, or creeping around in a dirty spaceport hangar?

Also, a small change that always pissed me off is how they erased the "You're lucky you don't taste well" quip by Luke, in Empire Strikes Back, after the swamp monster spits R2-D2. What's the point of that?

[Syt]

Re: Jabba in Ep 4. Besides how bad it looks in that scene, it destroys the reveal of the character in Return of the Jedi. What's the best place to finally see an infamous crime lord: in his luxurious secluded palace, or creeping around in a dirty spaceport hangar?

Yeah, a redub of the scene and making the original Jabba stand in a henchman would have worked better.

And I liked Lapti Nek and Yub Nub better as songs in the movie.

Another line change I hated was in ESB, when after the duel Vader, seemingly steaming just says, "Bring my shuttle." You can tell that he's angry and exhausted. "Alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival" isn't nearly as poignant.

[celedhring]

Re: Jabba in Ep 4. Besides how bad it looks in that scene, it destroys the reveal of the character in Return of the Jedi. What's the best place to finally see an infamous crime lord: in his luxurious secluded palace, or creeping around in a dirty spaceport hangar?

Yeah, a redub of the scene and making the original Jabba stand in a henchman would have worked better.

And I liked Lapti Nek and Yub Nub better as songs in the movie.

Another line change I hated was in ESB, when after the duel Vader, seemingly steaming just says, "Bring my shuttle." You can tell that he's angry and exhausted. "Alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival" isn't nearly as poignant.

Yeah, Vader sounds so frustrated in the old version (which is natural, since Luke just slipped off his hands), while so business-like in the altered one. I mean, it's a small change, but it beggars belief how they seemed to fuck up everything they touched when they redid the old movies.

The only thing I sort of like is that the sound mix is improved in a lot of places.

[Duque de Bragança]

Well, I am not that desperate since I know someone who has the DVDs with some old laserdisc masters recycled and badly transferred on DVD (not anamorphically enhanced), offered by Lucas as a bonus.
These DVDs are expensive now on the second hand market. The best laserdisc editions are still expensive as well.

Enjoy watching VHS tapes on a huge flat-screen.

I'm planning to do my own transfers, with whatever signal processing and enhancement I can manage.

Well, in this case you should start from the best Laserdisc editions. 

[Liep]

I hadn't heard before that Disney rejected a Lucas written script for Episode VII. Thank God for that.

[Syt]

Btw, trailers before Ep. VII: Batman v Superman, Big Friendly Giant, Independence Day, and another one I forget (not Star Trek). Independence Day looked cooler on the big screen than on YouTube, BvS still looks shit.

[Josephus]

I find audio on VHS holds up really well.

[Eddie Teach]

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. It was ok.

[Duque de Bragança]

I find audio on Laserdiscs holds up really well.

Fixed!

[celedhring]

I would be surprised if Disney wasn't working on a bluray release of the original theatrical versions (yeah, I know, Lucas supposedly destroyed the originals). They must know there's a lot of money in it for them.

Does Disney have the distribution rights for the old flicks? Didn't Fox keep those?

[Syt]

I would be surprised if Disney wasn't working on a bluray release of the original theatrical versions (yeah, I know, Lucas supposedly destroyed the originals). They must know there's a lot of money in it for them.

Does Disney have the distribution rights for the old flicks? Didn't Fox keep those?

Good question.

It was weird, at any rate, to watch a Star Wars flick without 20th Century Fox fanfare.

[celedhring]

I would be surprised if Disney wasn't working on a bluray release of the original theatrical versions (yeah, I know, Lucas supposedly destroyed the originals). They must know there's a lot of money in it for them.

Does Disney have the distribution rights for the old flicks? Didn't Fox keep those?

Good question.

It was weird, at any rate, to watch a Star Wars flick without 20th Century Fox fanfare.

From wookieepedia

Despite The Walt Disney Company's 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the release rights to all future Star Wars films, Fox still retains original distribution rights to Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope "in perpetuity" in all media worldwide. Fox also retains theatrical, nontheatrical, and home video rights worldwide for the franchise's five subsequent films through May 2020, at which time ownership will transfer to Disney. This complex relationship between Fox and Disney, particularly in regards to Fox's perpetual rights to Episode IV, creates an obstacle for any future boxed set comprising all nine films.[1]

So looks like 2020 is the date where we might see a new edition, if they can get an agreement for Ep IV.

[Syt]

http://www.geek.com/news/paramount-hasbro-building-shared-universe-with-g-i-joe-m-a-s-k-and-more-1642233/

Hasbro and Paramount have big plans to bring the former's huge library of toy properties to the big screen, all in the same universe. Put out in partnership with Hasbro's Allspark Pictures, the new universe will revolve around the following five properties: GI Joe, MASK, Rom, Micronauts, and Visionairies.

Like Marvel Studios and Universal Monsters before it, the idea is to create a full universe with interconnecting stories and characters that will, in theory, make for a more robust movie-going experience. The toy company and the studio successfully worked together to make four Transformers movies and two GI Joe films that made mountains of money. Transformers is currently being developed into its own series of films.

If you're not familiar with these lesser known franchises, here are some basics. MASK features a group of experts wearing high-tech helmets driving transforming cars to fight the evil members of VENOM (basically making it a perfect synthesis of Transformers and GI Joe), Rom revolves around a spacefaring cyborg, the Microverse takes center stage in Micronauts, and Visionaries is a fantasy-based line revolving around hologram-adorned toys. How these disparate lines will come together remains to be seen.

This isn't the first time the idea of mixing these toy lines has come about. MASK leader Matt Trakker made his way into the GI Joe line of action figures back in 2008 and in 2011, Hasbro released a New York Comic Con exclusive called Hasbro Unite that featured quick hit new takes on a variety of properties including MASK, Micronauts and even featured a quick reference to GI Joe.

Well, good luck with that. A friend had all the MASK toys (GI Joe didn't exist in Germany, IIRC), and the ROM Space Knight comic was pretty good if Linkara's retrospective is to be believed.