Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace is being re-released in theaters in 3D

[HappyGilmore]

^Hell I spent about a month trying to convince myself it was a good movie.   

Guess I'm the only one who likes Phantom Menace.

It's okay to like an unpopular movie. Hell, I liked The Boondock Saints and its sequel.

Aren't they fairly popular though?  Most everyone I know loves Boondock Saints. 

Fact, I never watched them but that's another story.  I should.

[Flick James]

^Hell I spent about a month trying to convince myself it was a good movie.   

Guess I'm the only one who likes Phantom Menace.

It's okay to like an unpopular movie. Hell, I liked The Boondock Saints and its sequel.

Aren't they fairly popular though?  Most everyone I know loves Boondock Saints. 

Fact, I never watched them but that's another story.  I should.

I know! People love Boondock Saints. I don't get it. I thought parts of it were mildly entertaining, but I've seen plenty of ultra-violent movies of it's ilk and it seems rather dime-a-dozen.

[Leah]

WHY????? Wouldn't the majority of the viewers be stoned out just to see the light sabers in action?

[66Crush]

I don't mind the 3D thing as much as the constant tinkering with these movies. It's not that any of the prequels are bad movies on they're own. It's just that they don't do it for me like the originals. I think it's unfair for filmmakers to reinvent the they're franchise or to do prequels and sequels twenty years later. It raises the expectations of the original audiences to such a degree that they can't be satisfied when the filmmaker goes another way than the audience likes. Sometimes a filmmaker will do this to attract a new audience. Other times the filmmaker does to symbolicaly reclaim his movie from the public, this is what I think the case is with George Lucas. The movies stopped being his the moment they were released into theaters.

[AndyC]

I don't mind seeing them released in 3-D. If it's done well, it could be fun. I'm starting to take the point of view that while other movies are being totally remade and f**ked up beyond recognition, Lucas is finding ways to upgrade the original. Whether this is ultimately better or worse than remaking it remains to be seen. Personally, I'm a little uneasy about it, for reasons of nostalgia, and because a remake would at least leave the original in its original form, while this could amount to distorting history. But I've decided to be open-minded about it. I admit I kind of like seeing a little more of Mos Eisley, Cloud City and glimpses of other parts of the empire, and I prefer the enhanced explosions of Alderaan and the Death Star, because I never found the originals convincing. I haven't seen the blinking Ewoks yet, but if that makes them look more like living creatures and less like stuffed toys, I'll probably like it. And if Lucas could make the pig guards in Jedi look more like real aliens and less like costumed theme park mascots, I'd support that.

What is inexcusable for me is messing with the story, the characters, the tone of the movies. I don't like the retconning that has been done in the prequels, or changing the original films to bring them in line. I don't like inserting actors into movies they weren't in, or removing actors who were there. Midichlorians were a stupid idea that diminished the mysterious and mystical nature of the force. Having Han shoot in self-defense diminishes his later heroism. Having Vader yell "Nooooooo" before killing the emperor diminishes the dramatic effect of that scene. And adding a whole expanded song and dance number to Jabba's palace takes one of the dumber aspects of the series and makes it downright idiotic.

And even accepting this updating, I am getting annoyed with the constant tinkering and new editions every couple of years. Let's figure out what can be done right now, give the series one major overhaul and then leave it alone for another 30 years, or whenever technology completely overtakes it again. Then convert it into a holodeck simulation or whatever the state of the art will be. This is a new way of handling older movies that has only really become possible in recent years - to refit instead of remake. In that sense, I suppose Lucas is once again a pioneer in filmmaking technology.  I can see obvious advantages and disadvantages, and that this is something we're going to see a lot more of as it gets easier. Might as well watch the whole experiment and see where it goes.

[tracy]

^Hell I spent about a month trying to convince myself it was a good movie.  

Guess I'm the only one who likes Phantom Menace.

I liked it as well....it was the last one that actually felt like a real Star Wars movie to me. The last two just seemed too "Blade Runner" for me....and I liked Blade Runner! But the combo just didn't work. And what is up with Lucas? I have never seen anyone spend so much time and money retooling his movies like him....move on,George! Try to make something original again,for goodness sakes!

[Jack]

I'll just stick to my old VHS tapes.  Did they ever release an unaltered version of the movies on DVD?  Meh, never mind;  I'm long past caring at this point.

[HappyGilmore]

^Hell I spent about a month trying to convince myself it was a good movie.  

Guess I'm the only one who likes Phantom Menace.

I liked it as well....it was the last one that actually felt like a real Star Wars movie to me. The last two just seemed too "Blade Runner" for me....and I liked Blade Runner! But the combo just didn't work. And what is up with Lucas? I have never seen anyone spend so much time and money retooling his movies like him....move on,George! Try to make something original again,for goodness sakes!

Agreed.  He should just stop.  I'm not even a huge fan, but it's dreadful.  But, he knows that a lot of fanboys will buy them, regardless how many times he 'fixes' them.  Which is why I like Howard the Duck.  He never 'fixes' that.

I had heard rumors at one point about Episodes 7-9, but Lucas has said that won't happen.  Apparently he finds the idea 'somewhat amusing' but can't see it happening.

In all honesty, I'd rather see that than him just up and changing what's already been released.

[SynapticBoomstick]

...what is there to say?

[66Crush]

You know now that I think about it, the best thing about the special editions were the Cloud City scenes in "The Empire Strikes Back." The Empire special edition was the one that benifited the most from the new effects, because they were subtle. The snow speeders ugly shadows were removed and the Wampa creature was more than just an arm and a face, and that was a real improvement. Unfortunatly "Return of the Jedi" was simply ruined by the Hayden cameo, and "Star Wars" (I refuse to call it A New Hope) had that useless restored Jabba the Hut sequence. On the other hand, I'm glad that the original prints were cleaned up so they look compatable to today's films. So there are pros and cons. I don't know what the 3D will look like, I hope it will be well done.

[Flick James]

You know now that I think about it, the best thing about the special editions were the Cloud City scenes in "The Empire Strikes Back." The Empire special edition was the one that benifited the most from the new effects, because they were subtle. The snow speeders ugly shadows were removed and the Wampa creature was more than just an arm and a face, and that was a real improvement. Unfortunatly "Return of the Jedi" was simply ruined by the Hayden cameo, and "Star Wars" (I refuse to call it A New Hope) had that useless restored Jabba the Hut sequence. On the other hand, I'm glad that the original prints were cleaned up so they look compatable to today's films. So there are pros and cons. I don't know what the 3D will look like, I hope it will be well done.

Well, while I won't agree that Empire "benefitted" at all, but I do say it was the least "f**ked with." Seeing more of the Wampa creature didn't destroy the movie, but it didn't enhance anything for me either. Just seeing an arm and a face was fine with me. I never even noticed anything about shadows on the snow speeders, so that kind of "cleaning up" doesn't bother me. If it were a matter of just making it look a little cleaner, then fine, but he can't stop there. He has to f**k with it. Like the cloud city. There's a shot of the outside of the quarters that they are staying at and he had to add a CGI ship (whatever those were called that they had at Cloud City) come speeding right by the window. First, it was such obvious CGI. Second, it made no sense because what reason would there be for a ship like that to be passing by at such close distance (i looked like it was practically 10 feet from the window). Third, it was compleley unnecessary. It did nothing to enhance anything. It was like all the added effects in A New Hope. All the CGI added vehicles and creature and hovering droids, and such were a distraction.

Like I said before in the thread. GL is like somebody who discovered plastic surgery and can't stop himself.

I wouldn't mind so much if he would just release an un-f**ked-with DVD of the originals for us fans of the originals.

But no.

[tracy]

^Hell I spent about a month trying to convince myself it was a good movie.  

Guess I'm the only one who likes Phantom Menace.

I liked it as well....it was the last one that actually felt like a real Star Wars movie to me. The last two just seemed too "Blade Runner" for me....and I liked Blade Runner! But the combo just didn't work. And what is up with Lucas? I have never seen anyone spend so much time and money retooling his movies like him....move on,George! Try to make something original again,for goodness sakes!

Agreed.  He should just stop.  I'm not even a huge fan, but it's dreadful.  But, he knows that a lot of fanboys will buy them, regardless how many times he 'fixes' them.  Which is why I like Howard the Duck.  He never 'fixes' that.

I had heard rumors at one point about Episodes 7-9, but Lucas has said that won't happen.  Apparently he finds the idea 'somewhat amusing' but can't see it happening.

In all honesty, I'd rather see that than him just up and changing what's already been released.

I think Star Wars time is now past and he needs to go on with something else....I kinda hope there aren't any more. And that comes from a big fan of the series....for the most part.

[Cthulhu]

What.






Seroiusly, stop. Just stop.

[HappyGilmore]

^Hell I spent about a month trying to convince myself it was a good movie.  

Guess I'm the only one who likes Phantom Menace.

I liked it as well....it was the last one that actually felt like a real Star Wars movie to me. The last two just seemed too "Blade Runner" for me....and I liked Blade Runner! But the combo just didn't work. And what is up with Lucas? I have never seen anyone spend so much time and money retooling his movies like him....move on,George! Try to make something original again,for goodness sakes!

Agreed.  He should just stop.  I'm not even a huge fan, but it's dreadful.  But, he knows that a lot of fanboys will buy them, regardless how many times he 'fixes' them.  Which is why I like Howard the Duck.  He never 'fixes' that.

I had heard rumors at one point about Episodes 7-9, but Lucas has said that won't happen.  Apparently he finds the idea 'somewhat amusing' but can't see it happening.

In all honesty, I'd rather see that than him just up and changing what's already been released.

I think Star Wars time is now past and he needs to go on with something else....I kinda hope there aren't any more. And that comes from a big fan of the series....for the most part.

If anything, he should just continue that cartoon series that's on tv now.  Focus on that, not "Fixing" the films as technology progresses.

[Trevor]

I have never seen any of the SW prequels at all. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, I don't know. 

It's a good thing. Very, very good. Please do us a favor, Trevor. Don't see them. We must round up all who have not seen these movies and have them tell their children, and their children's children not to see those prequels. You must make those movies fade from everyone's memories and erase it from time. Help us Trevor, you're our only hope.