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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

The Internet's Anticipation and Reaction to the Original Trilogy in the 80's

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by eclipseSD, Aug 20, 2003.

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  1. eclipseSD

    eclipseSD Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2002
    I thought this would be an interesting topic.

    Believe it or not, there was internet discussion of Star Wars in the early 80's. Granted, it was on a much smaller scale, but it existed.

    The first message, by the way, is the first thread about Episode 6 made on the internet.



    From: azure!randals (azure!randals)
    Subject: Re: Star Wars III ? -- it should be Star Wars VI
    Newsgroups: net.movies
    Date: 1982-06-08 22:53:31 PST

    "Revenge of the Jedi"... Episode 6 in the Star Wars saga, has
    just finished filming, according to some friends I have down in
    Arizona.

    The release date for us humans that want to see it is
    still the summer of 1983. I guess it takes that long to score
    all the music, do all the film-editing, prepare all the promo
    material, and all that junk.

    I wish Lucas & Co. would get the thing going a little faster.
    I can't really imagine waiting until 1997 to see all nine parts
    of the Star Wars series.

    Here's a trivia question for other fellow addicts of Star Wars:

    Most everyone knows that the original "Star Wars" was
    episode 4 in the series, and "The Empire Strikes Back"
    was episode 5.

    Who out there knows the new correct TITLE of Episode 4?

    Don't get me wrong -- the thing is still called Star Wars
    by millions of people, but there is a specific title that
    tells what episode 4 is about. That's what I'm looking
    for.

    Send replies to:

    ...!decvax!teklabs!tekmdp!randals
    -or-
    ...!ucbvax!teklabs!tekmdp!randals

    I'll publish the correct title in about a week.


    P.S. How many people have seen SW more than 22 times in the theatre,
    or at triple speed on video tape (boy, that's fun)?

    [hr]

    From: jack@trsvax.UUCP (jack@trsvax.UUCP)
    Subject: Re: An Alternative "Return of the J


    Date: 1989-08-09 09:05:00 PST

    *** WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS !!! ***



    The idea that the other hope Yoda spoke of in Empire was Leia certainly was
    reinforced in Jedi when the "other" Skywalker he spoke of was revealed to
    be Leia. But, there is no reason to assume that the "other hope" and the
    "other Skywalker" are the same "other". Think about it. When Luke leaves
    Yoda and they talk of him being the last hope, he really is the only chance
    they have of stopping the Emperor and Vader. If he doesn't stop them, he's
    either going to be dead or turned to the dark side. Who's left to do
    anything at this point? Sure, Leia could train to be a Jedi and have kids,
    etc., but not in time to stop the emperor, Vader, and Luke from bringing
    the Rebellion to its knees and the galaxy under imperial rule.

    So the "hope" in Empire rests in Luke or... this "other".
    Leia can't do it, it would take too much time. There is another hope.
    Anakin Skywalker. In the end, it really was Anakin that destroyed the
    emperor. Of course, if he hadn't, the explosion of the Death Star might
    have done him in anyway, but who knows.
    Most likely, the "other hope" and the "other Skywalker" are one and the
    the same. The use of that word "other" so much could very well have been
    meant to tie the two together. And that would make easy, common sense.
    But the way Yoda was so cryptic about it, and the fact that Ben didn't
    seem to think of her as a hope, leaves room to imagine that maybe Yoda had
    some more insight. Hey, the title "Return of the Jedi" certainly isn't
    talking about Leia.. It could be taken several ways, but the "Return" of
    Anakin Skywalker the Jedi is a glaring choice.

    Was the "other" really meant to be Leia, or Anakin?
    Perhaps only Lucas knows for sure.
    Anybody know his comments on the subject?

    [hr]
    From: MIT-MC@sri-unix (MIT-MC@sri-unix)
    Subject: Star Wars movies -- post-production is interminable, but not forever.
    Newsgroups: net.movies
    Date: 1982-06-09 01:22:23 PST

    From: David A. Levitt <LEVITT at MIT-MC>

    Lucasfilm has a little development lab for post-production facilities
    in Marin County, which is just getting up to speed with some advanced
    moviemaking tools. Some of the work on Revenge of the Jedi will be
    done there (e
     
  2. IKilledSifo-Dyas

    IKilledSifo-Dyas Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 6, 2003
    Revenge Of The Jedi is going to be so totally rad and narly,I can't wait.I think the title means that Luke will take revenge on Darth Vader for lieing to him about being his father (which was obviously not true.I mean,come on.Luke doesn't have a deep voice and he isn't that tall.How could Darth Vader be his father?).On a side note,I finally got the high score on that Pac-Man machine at the arcade today!!!I am totally stoak'in fure sure!!!

    ;)
     
  3. midthomp

    midthomp Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2003
    Ahhh memories.

    I waited in line for 2 hours for Pac Man for the Atari 2600 and it was still 30 or 40 dollars.
    Or the great Empire Strikes Back game where the AT-AT's changed color as you shot them or if you were lucky enough to kill them with one shot under their head.

    I didn't know newsgroups existed back then, good reading.
     
  4. Darth_MacDaddy

    Darth_MacDaddy Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 10, 2003
    Thats a pretty good find, and there's some mad theories which looking at them now, are outrageous - the 'other' is Lando [face_laugh]
     
  5. midthomp

    midthomp Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2003
    I liked the one where Han was the only one in the movie that was not a clone hence his name Han 'SOLO'!
     
  6. DamonD

    DamonD Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 2002
    Very good searching, eclipseSD :)
    I know there were early versions of the current Net around in the early eighties (even in the seventies, really) but I wouldn't have a clue how to find them.

    I like this one -
    As to the ``other'' -- Leia? No, too easy, to obvious!.

    I wish some of the "Palpatine is not Sidious" guys would bear this in mind ;)
     
  7. vw_jedi

    vw_jedi Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2002
    ahhh, the old usenet star wars posts. they surface from time to time. what you neglect to mention is that the one about revenge of the jedi by azure!randals is the first ever post about star wars on the internet. the first recorded text by an internet sw fanboy, pure history.
     
  8. AssassinDroid21

    AssassinDroid21 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 6, 2002
    There is roughly a generation of age
    between a person and his clone. Luke could be a clone.


    And with that post, the theories of the Luke clone would forever circle the internet..
     
  9. Ardens_Furore

    Ardens_Furore Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 14, 2001
    It may not be the first post ever, just the first one that anyone can find thus far.
     
  10. DarthMaul13

    DarthMaul13 Jedi Youngling star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 1998
    Amazing stuff. Little did they know, that they would have to wait 16 years for the next episode.
     
  11. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    [face_laugh] Oh my gosh, I am about to die laughing here. I bet all our Ep. III speculation will look this stupid soon, which is why it's so funny! Man, if you have more, do post :D

    Here's my favourite bit:

    and the 3rd set about Luke's kid (!! by
    who?!??! the princess? Luke has been competing with Hon for her all
    along! (remember on Hoth the grin he gets after she kisses him right in
    front of Hon??) I don't think they've had a brother-sister relationship
    by any means!


    -sj loves kevin spacey
     
  12. eclipseSD

    eclipseSD Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2002
    Relay-Version:version B 2.10 5/3/83; site harpo.UUCP
    Message-ID:<1569@sri-arpa.UUCP>
    Date:Tue, 24-May-83 23:43:00 EDT

    From: Lippard.DSOP at SYSTEM-M.PHOENIX.HONEYWELL (James J. Lippard)

    I saw a special premiere of this movie tonight, and I was disappointed.
    It seems with the success of E.T. they decided to make it as cute as
    they could, by introducing the furry little Ewoks. A lot of the special
    effects left a lot to be desired as well. The cycle speeders were sped
    up far too much to be realistic, and a lot of matte shots were too
    obviously phony (notably the desert sail barge scenes). There was an
    overabundance of muppets, and I was horrified at Jabba the Hutt's
    entertainment--an alien with a long snout (wearing lipstick) singing.
    Jabba's little pet, Sy Snootles (what kind of a stupid name is that?),
    reminded me of Wile E. Coyote. The ending of this trilogy does not make
    it worthwhile, this is by far the worst of the Star Wars films.

    _______________________

    From: Lippard.DSOP at SYSTEM-M.PHOENIX.HONEYWELL (James J. Lippard)

    One other thing I forgot to mention that was pretty bad was the way the
    Ewoks thought C-3PO was a god--reminiscent of "Gilligan's Island". "E.T.
    meets the muppets" describes this movie fairly well.




    From: FtG@sri-unix (FtG@sri-unix)
    Subject: SW/ESB Q&As
    Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
    Date: 1982-12-10 03:48:53 PST

    Last words (?) on Other/etc.-

    Flame on-
    It appears that the main reason that Leia is ignored/discounted as
    being even a serious candidate for the Other is because she's a SHE (gasp).
    SF has always been known to be the last refuge of MCPs, so what can
    you expect?
    Flame off-

    Re: "Goodness" of exit of BF's ship.
    Yes, it is tinged in positive/emotional colors and sound, and it
    indeed is "in honor" of someone on that ship, but we already know
    there is a good guy aboard.
    Think about-
    (Stumped, here's a hint- his initials are H.S.)

    Time to start a new discussion-

    Question: Who's in charge here?
    The SW movies so far seem to be extremely vague about the leadership
    of the rebels/Alliance. Why? Who is in charge, where are they, what is
    their future role in a post-empire government?
    Princess Leia appears to be the highest ranking royalty, assuming
    the Alliance is organized along those lines.
    Luke is said to be in charge of the rebel forces on Hoth though, despite
    the fact he is merely "Commander" while there is Leia and
    a general around. (Apparently even in the SW universe, no on ehas figured
    out that separation of services is a bad idea, the empire also
    suffers from the same problem.)
    If we knew who the true leaders of the rebels are, we could
    figure out whjo comes out ahead in RotJ.

    [hr]
    ------------------------------

    Date: 8 Dec 82 7:46:59-PST (Wed)
    From: hplabs!hao!seismo!rocheste!FtG at Ucb-C70
    Subject: SW/ESB Q&As

    Last words (?) on Other/etc.-

    Flame on-
    It appears that the main reason that Leia is ignored/discounted as
    being even a serious candidate for the Other is because she's a SHE
    (gasp). SF has always been known to be the last refuge of MCPs, so
    what can you expect?
    Flame off-

    Re: "Goodness" of exit of BF's ship.
    Yes, it is tinged in positive/emotional colors and sound, and it
    indeed is "in honor" of someone on that ship, but we already know
    there is a good guy aboard. Think about-
    (Stumped, here's a hint- his initials are H.S.)

    Time to start a new discussion-

    Question: Who's in charge here? The SW movies so far seem to be
    extremely vague about the leadership of the rebels/Alliance. Why? Who
    is in charge, where are they, what is their future role in a
    post-empire government? Princess Leia appears to be the highest
    ranking royalty, assuming the Alliance is organized along those lines.
    Luke is said to be in charge of the rebel forces on Hoth though,
    despite the fact he is merely "Commander" while there is Leia and a
    general around. (Apparently even in the SW universe, no on ehas
    figured out that separation of services is a bad idea, the empire also
    suffers from the
     
  13. guittarjedi

    guittarjedi Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 21, 2002
    This thread is great! Where in the world did you find those old posts?
     
  14. DamonD

    DamonD Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 2002
    It's cool to see when they get the solutions spot-on, without the benefit of all the information we have nowadays. Some very good thinking.

    Mixed in with that, of course, are some hilarious misses. It would be churlish to laugh at people making mistakes over 20 years ago. Right...? :p No, of course not, let's make fun! :D

    Interesting suggestion that OB1, Darth, the Emperor and Boba Fett
    might be clones of one another.


    And Chewie and Lando and Bib Fortuna and...

    WHY DID LEI TURN BACK/DOES THIS MEAN THAT SHE IS WITH THE FORCE? No, it
    simply shows that Luke is with the FORCE, and has the ability to control
    the thoughts (and, if necessary, actions) of other beings.


    So near, yet so far.

    OBI WON HAS A CHARACTER FLAW IN THAT HE DID NOT TELL LUKE ABOUT VADER
    BEING HIS FATHER. OK, let's presuppose for the moment that Vader is in
    fact Luke's father. Maybe Obi Won does not know. He only knows that
    one of his students gave in to the Dark Side.


    lol "Oh, one of my students turned, I don't know who. Hard to keep track of 'em all, y'know? Plus, I was drunk at the time." ;)

    Through some form of
    hocus pokus or whatever, Obi Wan is back in the flesh in RotJ.


    That original Revenge of the Jedi trailer really goofed with the un-edited shot of Alec, didn't they?

    I have finally discovered why I *much prefer* SW to TESB
    (contrary to popular opinion). In SW the characters are often
    impetuous and conceited, but in TESB, even with time to think they act
    *STUPIDLY*.


    They dare insult the Sacred Cow of ESB?? :eek:
    (Great examples, too!)

    The Star Wars flicks are fantasy and
    basically follow a generic good-guys vs. pirates "swashbuckler". The
    movies are (for the most part) aimed at the "young" (pre-teen to early
    teen) audience. Based on this, OB-1 can NOT have lied and Darth MUST
    have lied -- Darth is NOT Luke's dad. (I'll bend somewhat that Darth
    maybe a clone, but I doubt it)


    Bet this guy hated ROTJ, just because he was wrong about this.

    Poor confused Leia in episode's 4 & 5 has been balancing
    between Luke and Han. In RotJ, I think she'll realy pick one --Luke.


    Well, the odds were 50/50 :p

    2) OB-1 is definately called OB-1. It seems that the future
    has
    slurred the 1 to sound more like Wan, but the more cultured
    types (such as old Ben himself) speak clearly enough.
    3) Nobody mentionned that Luke's uncle's name was Owen (O-1).
    Ben
    also says this fairly clearly at least twice.


    This damn "Obi-Wan is a clone" thing just ran and ran for so many years...still pops up every now and then even today. But this is the first time I've seen the suggestion that Owen could also be a clone (the ridiculous "O-1"!)

    6) Leia is a little slut who obviously wants Luke, Han, and
    Chewie.


    A lady always keeps 'em guessing [face_mischief]

    Darth is standing there blocking the way with
    his light saber ignited, OB-1 turns his on (in one of the best effects
    parts of the movie) --then OB-1 makes the first lunge!!


    Shows how spoiled movie goers are these days. Back in '77, a lightsabre blade extending was a MAJOR EVENT!

    I think the fact that Darth's saber is red and Luke's and Ben's are
    blue/white is a VERY strong hint that the sabers ARE powered by the
    force. Hell, just because there's an on button doesn't mean it's not
    powered by the force. After all, if it was powered by the force and
    there were no button, it would be on ALL THE TIME! Now, I don't know
    about you, but I sure down want that thing on and bouncing up and down
    while I running (or even walking)! Nice way to amputate your own leg.
    What does this all mean? If the light saber is powered by the force,
    then Han sure has the force with him, leading to Han as the other.


    How a little mistake can lead to a whopping great mistake.

    For my
    part, I thought Vader's revelation to Luke provided the only genuine
    drama in either movie. I can only hope that Lucas doesn't fumble this
    opportunity away with some facile contriva
     
  15. eclipseSD

    eclipseSD Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2002
    Where in the world did you find those old posts?

    All you have to do is browse around Google Groups with the post dates limited to the 80's.


    From: CMU-CS-IUS@CMU-CS-A (CMU-CS-IUS@CMU-CS-A)
    Subject: Star wars minutiae & coming episodes
    Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
    Date: 1983-01-01 02:18:50 PST

    This stuff about stormtroopers' armor and lightsabers makes me think
    you all take SW too seriously. When I first saw SW4, I thought it
    was a lot of fun, but a poor movie full of stock lines and settings.
    (And I am not a frequent movie-goer.) On later reflection, however, I
    figured that Lucas was intentionally parodying westerns &c. Consider
    how C3PO and R2D2 shuffled and rolled (respectively) slowly across the
    corridor to get to the life pods, while storm troopers filled the air
    with blaster bullets. Intentionally implausible. Then there are
    spaceships maneuvering in space like airplanes, and on and on. If the armor
    seems ineffective, it is because they are the bad guys.

    The speculations on the other trilogies prompted me to get out my
    copy of Time magazine for May 19, 1980 -- the one with Darth Vader on
    the cover. From a box:

    ... The remaining movies, fore and aft, have not yet been laid out
    in detail, but Lucas has the framework, a kind of history of what
    happened in that galaxy long ago and far away. A preview:

    For years the universe was governed by a republic, which was regulated
    by the order of Jedi Knights... But eventually the citizens of the
    republic "didn't care enough to elect competent officials," says Lucas
    the historian, and so their government collapsed. A sorcerer, a bad
    counterpart of Yoda, blocked all opposition and declared himself
    emperor...

    The emperor subverts Darth Vader to his side, and together he and
    Vader betray the other Knights, nearly all of whom are killed in their
    trap. Ben Kenobi escapes, and after a fierce struggle he does such
    injury to Vader that forever after Vader must wear a mask and that
    noisy life-support system. The fall of the republic and the rise of
    the empire will form the first of Lucas' three trilogies.

    The second trilogy ... centers on Luke Skywalker, who will be seen as
    a child in Episode 3. The "Empire" continues the Skywalker story, and
    ... [RotJ] will end it, with either Luke or Darth Vader walking away
    from their final bout. The last three episodes involve the rebuilding
    of the republic.

    Only two of the main characters will appear in all nine films, and
    they are the robots, Artoo Detoo and Threepio. Says Lucas: "In
    effect, the story will be told through their eyes."

    EV Edit: Got rid of the annoying side scrolling
     
  16. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    Oh gosh these kill me. Where did you find these eclipse??? There were a few I just had to comment on:


    Also, all loose ends will
    be tied up.


    HAHA, oh that's a good one. We wish :p


    Some "other" thoughts: The Star Wars flicks are fantasy and
    basically follow a generic good-guys vs. pirates "swashbuckler". The
    movies are (for the most part) aimed at the "young" (pre-teen to early
    teen) audience. Based on this, OB-1 can NOT have lied and Darth MUST
    have lied -- Darth is NOT Luke's dad. (I'll bend somewhat that Darth
    maybe a clone, but I doubt it)


    *shakes head* Poor people back then, just couldn't accept that Sir Alec Guinness would be playing such a devious little man. It's much easier if you think of him as an old Ewan McGregor now. ;)

    One more thought on "the other" -- who or whatever it may be
    -- it doesn't HAVE to be Jedi. Remember, Yoda tells Luke that the
    future is "difficult to tell... clouded by emotions". I suspect that
    there really won't be any new characters (not major ones at least),
    but that the "other" hope will be Leia's love for Luke. Luke is
    obviously taken in by her from the first time Artoo projects her
    image. Poor confused Leia in episode's 4 & 5 has been balancing
    between Luke and Han. In RotJ, I think she'll realy pick one --Luke.
    Han will really turn out to be "Mr SOLO" --and not want to settle
    down. (that or else some other beauty will turn his head)


    This is just sick [face_plain]


    2) OB-1 is definately called OB-1. It seems that the future
    has
    slurred the 1 to sound more like Wan, but the more cultured
    types (such as old Ben himself) speak clearly enough.


    [face_laugh] I love how no one can spell Obi-Wan's name! Isn't it in the credits and/or on some official merchandise from back then? Sadly, people today still seem to have trouble with this one :p


    5) There is some resemblence between the emperor and Ben but
    the
    credits list them as different actors.


    You're right, let's have Obi-Wan be played by a woman with chimp eyes in Episode III for the sake of consistency :)


    OB-1's
    final words still haunt me tho-- "You can't win Darth. Even if you
    strike me down, I'll become more powerful than you can ever imagine"
    So far, all the transcended OB-1 has done is whisper into Luke's ear.
    Doesn't sound very powerful to me. I suspect OB-1 to have a bigger
    roll in RotJ.


    Again, some people just can't accept that Mr. Kenobi is full of BS [face_laugh]



    I checked up on the book of TESB, and discovered that no one
    could have recovered Luke's hand; it was a gas planet!


    Try telling this to Timothy Zahn.




    The emperor subverts Darth Vader to his side, and together he
    and
    Vader betray the other Knights, nearly all of whom are killed
    in their
    trap. Ben Kenobi escapes, and after a fierce struggle he does
    such
    injury to Vader that forever after Vader must wear a mask and
    that
    noisy life-support system.


    OmG Ep.III Sp0ill3rz!!11!




    And now re: DamonD:

    lol "Oh, one of my students turned, I don't know who. Hard to keep track of 'em all, y'know? Plus, I was drunk at the time."

    [face_laugh] I can just picture Obi-Wan passed out on the couch with 10 Padawans running around trashing his appartment :p

    This damn "Obi-Wan is a clone" thing just ran and ran for so many years...still pops up every now and then even today. But this is the first time I've seen the suggestion that Owen could also be a clone (the ridiculous "O-1"!)

    They are obviously both clones of 00M-9! :eek:

    -sj loves kevin spacey

















     
  17. eclipseSD

    eclipseSD Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2002


    From: ihuxj!suem (ihuxj!suem)
    Subject: 'Jedi' to conclude a 'Star Wars' era
    Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
    Date: 1982-10-29 22:59:53 PST

    This is copied directly from the Courier News, out of Bridgewater, N.J.
    with no permission at all:
    Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher might not know it yet
    but "Revenge of the Jedi," which undergoes release in May, is going to mark
    the end of their "Star Wars" careers.
    This is the word from Gary Kurtz, who produced the 1977 blockbuster and
    its 91980 "The Empire Strikes Back" sequel, and who reports that - save for
    R2D2 and C3PO - "Star Wars IV" will have an entire change of characters.
    Kurtz (...) reveals that George Lucas will be taking moviegoers
    backwards in time for "Star Wars IV" and "V" and more - to a time before Luke
    Skywalker and his buddies were born.
    Kurtz adds there will be a lengthy delay between "Wars III" and "IV,"
    that Lucas intends to get away from the filmmaking grind for a year or two,
    and that by the time he gears up for his next "Stars Wars" tale, it will
    be 1990, at least, before the production gets to screen.

    [hr]

    I just found the penultimate Star Wars Forum of the internet 80's.

    net.movies.sw: (copy/paste)

    http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&num=25&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=net.movies.sw&start=500

    I started it out at the beginning, right near the premiere of ROTJ.

    Enjoy! :D
     
  18. Lord_Hydronium

    Lord_Hydronium Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 11, 2002

    [blockquote]From: Mackey.PA@PARC-MAXC.ARPA (Mackey.PA@PARC-MAXC.ARPA)
    Subject: Re: Holy hologram!
    Newsgroups: net.movies.sw
    Date: 1983-12-27 14:41:28 PST

    From: Kevin <Mackey.PA@PARC-MAXC.ARPA>

    Reply to messages in V8 #133

    Holy hologram! Everybody's finding computer effects in movies! Even
    where they may not exist!

    "I found the movie a bit [ROTJ] dull, but spent lots of time looking
    at the rasters in the images." -- Dave Mason, U. Toronto CSRG

    ". . . seemed obviously computer-generated to me: Indiana Jones dropping
    the staff
    down into the buried room. . ." -- hplabs!hao!seismo!rochester!bukys @
    Ucb-Vax

    Anything that looks grainy or is just a poorly done special effect has
    the "computer look." Like the "ground effect" around the vehicle
    escaping from Jaba's barge (mentioned by Dave Mason above). And things
    that were *not* done by computer are mistaken for computer effects. For
    instance, the projection of Princess Leia (sic?) from R2D2 in SW. In the
    documentary about the movie they *say* they filmed a TV image of her,
    and that's what gave it the holographic quality. Yet I still hear
    several people referring to that as a computer generated image.

    I'm not a computer special effects expert, but I don't like people
    getting so obsessed by computer effects that they start finding them
    everywhere, ignoring the fact that the scene was poorly filmed, not
    giving credit to the ingenuity of doing it another way (the Leia image),
    not paying attention to the movie itself, and spreading a kind of
    computer illiteracy by attributing to computer technology what some
    creative people can do with stone knives and bear skins.

    As a side note, I was disappointed by the lack of better effects in
    ROTJ. It seemed like just more of the same, but just done better. I
    suppose when you use the same people you get the same look. I was also
    disappointed by the small number of computer effects. While it's true
    that they shouldn't just throw the effects in to have them, and the wire
    diagram fits the need of the scene, I was looking forward to seeing some
    new things, especially after hearing talks by some Lucasfilm people.
    Maybe they're still developing some effects. Maybe they'll give us
    something like "The Works" since it seems the New York Institute of
    Technology will complete "The Works" in 1995 if they can only finish a
    few (though from what I've seen from stills, excellent) minutes a year.
    It's going to take an organization like Lucasfilm, with the people,
    money, and name, to get a fully computer generated film to a theater
    near you.

    ~Kevin[/blockquote][hr]

    Wow. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I suppose...

    EDIT: Found this gem, too:
    [hr][blockquote]From: Pat M. Iurilli (pat@pyuxqq.UUCP)
    Subject: TESB and ROTJ on video cassettes?
    Newsgroups: net.movies.sw
    Date: 1984-01-16 09:21:42 PST

    Does anyone out there in netland know if/when TESB and ROTJ will be available
    on video cassette? I have heard that there is much more control over them,
    and may never be released in this way. Is this true? Are there bootleg
    copies available? Any info will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    Pat Iurilli CSO Piscataway, NJ {ihnp4, harpo}!pyuxqq!pat[/blockquote][hr]
     
  19. eclipseSD

    eclipseSD Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2002
    This one is still unanswered:




    From: JGA%MIT-MC@sri-unix.UUCP (JGA%MIT-MC@sri-unix.UUCP)
    Subject: 1138 in RotJ
    Newsgroups: net.movies.sw
    Date: 1983-06-09 19:09:00 PST

    From: John G. Aspinall <JGA @ MIT-MC>

    Did anyone notice references to Lucas' favorite number in RotJ?

    [hr]
     
  20. eclipseSD

    eclipseSD Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2002
    Many of the complaints in this post are still echoed in posts on these boards today about both the CT and PT.




    From: zz1sm@sdccsu3.UUCP (zz1sm@sdccsu3.UUCP)
    Subject: RotJ ***SPOILER*** & disappointed flame
    View: Original Format
    Newsgroups: net.movies.sw
    Date: 1983-06-17 08:41:59 PST

    Saw RotJ last night and have to admit I was *extremely* disappointed. Lots
    of good stuff, but too much silliness. This may sound strange, but I felt
    it to be much less 'real' than the first too. my credibility is willing to
    be stretched pretty far, but not that far. I'll flame away for a while and
    then get to the stuff I liked and a conclusion. Some examples...

    The creatures! Way too many FAKE-looking creatures. Especially in Jabba's
    den. That blue smurfy thing really bothered me. Also the 'orc-like' creatues
    that greeted visitors to Jabba-- big soft things with dull teeth and flab.
    The guy with the tail growing out of his head was good, though. I was also
    disappointed in Jabba, himself. Looked like an overgrown hefty bag with fake
    eyes. Nice job on the tongue, though. There were simply too many muppets and
    soft-looking creatures, especially for a den of villainy.

    Princess Leia sure took being chained to Jabba, the epitomy of slime, pretty
    well, casually sleeping against him when Luke walked in.

    Luke's New, Improved, Green Light Saber, and violence in general. When I saw the
    ad in the paper for this movie, it had a small subtitle that said something
    like 'May be too intense for young children'. When? Was I the only one that
    noticed when our gang was escaping from Jabba while suspended over the pit
    creature that Luke's light saber didn't cut ANYONE? Just knocked 'em overboard
    to let the pit swallow them. Is there a 'stun' setting on the handle? And when
    Leia strangled the air bag, well, I just expected something a little more
    like someone getting strangled, instead of just a couple of gasps and two
    Tablespoons of green slime. I'm not into gore, or anything like that, but
    this movie didn't even attempt the 'violent realism' of the first two. The
    only blood (of any color) in the entire movie was the small amount under
    Leia's bandage after she was shot with a blaster.

    Ewoks. Oh boy, now the rebel alliance has been saved by Teddy Bears. Give me
    a break. Oh, sure, their cute as can be, but what the hell are they doing
    fighting Imperial Stormtroopers? Ewoks are the kind of creatures that make us
    want the rebels to win because they get slaughtered or something; they are
    not the kind of creatures that beat Stormtroopers. And with what weapons did
    they beat a squadron of the Imperium's best? Sticks with little rocks on the
    end.

    The Rebel Alliance. We really rooted for these guys in SW and TESB. Boy was
    the Imperium evil then-- blowing up whole planets and stuff. Now it is the
    Rebels who are on the offensive. That's okay, but I found that I didn't really
    hate the Imperial forces as much this time. Sure, they did nasty things, but
    what was the Rebel's reaction when the Death Star II blasted the rebellion's
    two largest cruise ships out of existence? 'Oh no, the Death Star is oper-
    ational!' No mourning for the thousands who must have lost their lives
    instantaneously? Why didn't Luke feel the souls crying out, as Obi-Wan had
    when the planet was destroyed in SW. Sure, there were definately more people
    on the planet, but Obi-Wan was in another part of the galaxy, while Luke
    was within sight of this destruction. I guess I just didn't feel for the
    rebellion as strongly as I used to, but I don't think it is my fault as much
    as the director's.

    Now for the good stuff. My favorite scenes were all aboard the DS II. I really
    thought this stuff was good, and I wish the rest of the movie had been more
    like this. Luke's conflict with himself, Darth, and the Emperor was very well
    done. Also the scenes of the rebels flying through the innards of the DS II
    were fantastic. I liked most of Luke's scenes; I really felt for him more than
    anyone else. I thought that his conflict could have
     
  21. DamonD

    DamonD Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 2002
    I'd quite happily respond to 'Shane', but I guess I'm 20 years too late :p

    I'll just trawl around the Net and see if I can find a late-thirties SW fan that loves ESB and bemoans the direction of the films since ROTJ. Bet that'll be hard to do ;)
     
  22. DerthNader

    DerthNader Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2001
    I would have gladly disagreed with Mr. Shane back then (at the grand old age of nine/ten), and I would still disagree with him. His problem was that he was looking into the future and seeing TPM, he just didn't realize it. 8-}
     
  23. jedi_master_ousley

    jedi_master_ousley Manager Emeritus star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2002
    This definitely needs to go up.
     
  24. plutoneam

    plutoneam Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 21, 2003
    What date did the internet officially start?
     
  25. jedi_master_ousley

    jedi_master_ousley Manager Emeritus star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2002
    I dunno, ask Al Gore. :p
     
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