May the force be with you

[Noa Put]

Anyone planning on seeing Star Wars? I saw A new hope in '77 in cinema when I was 12 and I am watching a remastered copy of it now but wtf, they have added digital effects like animals and it looks so fake it takes all the magic out of the original. What where they thinking??

I remember having a star wars book with behind the scenes material which showed a tremendous craftsmanship behind these first 3 movies that made them so iconic. Then came the following 3 which where the worst ones I ever seen.

What they have done now with the original '77 version is even much worse, the real magic of the original was with all handmade animals and that makes them look much more real then anything digital they added afterwards.

I only hope they didn't ruin the new star wars as they did with version 4 to 6.

[Robert Benda]

Don't worry, George Lucas isn't involved anymore. He's the one who kept going back and adding nonsense CGI to the originals (Han shot first, darn it). Return of the Jedi is the worst for all that. And Hayden Christensen's force ghost is only the 4th most awful thing about the new ending.

There is even a recent article over on this link where a guy painstakingly went back and removed all the computer add-ins. Not easy since there is not HD version of the original trilogy as it appeared in theaters.

Watch the Original Star Wars Trilogy As It Was Before George Lucas Screwed It Up

There is even a little information to lead you to a place you can download them.
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As for the new movie, I plan to see it Sunday. My son is now 5 and the perfect age. He just got to see the original trilogy this fall. We'll be taking my dad along, too, and my brother. All of us fans. My dad, though, needs an original trilogy refresher (which one is the water one?) so we may watch them again Friday/Saturday.

[David Barnett]

I plan on seeing it. I've thought about trying to rewatch the prequels, just for kicks. My brother said he watched the 1st one a year or two ago. I checked Netflix but they're not on there, & only seem available for purchase ($25) on my Roku. Not happening. I do have the originals on VHS from the 1995 release, fortunately it's the original, no digital effects. I set my camera up to my TV & shot it to DVD so now I have a fairly decent DVD copy.

Yeah, I plan on seeing it. I'm curious as to how sold out it'll be. Didn't think I'd see it for a week or two, but myb I'll try Sunday or next week after work sometime. I think it'll be good, I thought JJ Abrams Star Treks were great.

[David Barnett]

Anyone else see it? I thought it was amazing. Loved it. Sure we all can nitpick it apart, which ive seen elsewhere on the net. But not me, i thought it was great.

[Noa Put]

Planning to go in a week or so as things calm down, I don't like long waiting lines and overfull cinema's :)

[Tim Lewis]

Saw it once in 3D then again in 2D. NO SPOILERS!

[Noa Put]

How was the 3D experience? 3D always have given me a headache, especially when there is too much going on.

[Tim Lewis]

We saw it in 3D first as it is the only screen in the complex which has reserved seating. Personally I prefer 2D, so the second screening was better for me. I hate wearing 3D glasses over my normal glasses, which I must for the distance.

[David Barnett]

I also saw it in 3d. I cant really judge the experience as it was my first movie in 3d. My first movie in the theater in years tbh.

I felt it added to the experience, for me it wasn't headache inducing. I don't think they really went out of their way to make any scenes be "3D" which took away from the film. The effects were good of course. Ill see it again soon but prolly the regular version next time,.

[Noa Put]

I finally got to see it last night, I went at 22:30 and there where, including me, 3 people in the cinemaroom :D.

I liked it in general but not everything, I was pleased to see they went back to the real roots of star wars, they didn't go overboard with the effects like they did with part 4 to 6 which made it much easier to follow the action and some scenery was very beautiful like that part where Rey drives on her "scooter" and in the distance you see that hugh battleship buried in the sand, at that point I wished I should have gone for the 3D version.

BB 8 was hilarious at times, way better then the awe full Jar Jar Binks. I almost pissed my pants when it gave a thumbs up. :D

In the original 3 parts Darth Vader was a real evil presence, you didn't even have to see him, just hear him breath which would give you the chills, you never get to see his face until he actually dies, in the force awakens Kylo Ren takes his mask off at a certain point and that killed it for me, it makes you wonder why he had a mask on in the first place, Darth needed that mask to survive but Kylo needed it so people would take him seriously because who would take orders from such a babyface? :D

And then the story which was a rip of from the original, ah well, it won't get an award for originality, It's not nearly as good as the first one, a new hope, but it's ok for a fun night out.

[David Barnett]

Yeah, I read online someone called him 'Darth Emo' lol. I agree they should've botched the whole take the helmet off idea. On the other hand had they waited for the 2nd or 3rd film it would've copied the originals very much, so they might've just gotten it out of the way. I wonder tho if they could've just had him helmetless most of the films, and had him only use it for battle scenes or something (to differentiate him more from Vader).

Curious actor choice, most people don't seem to be a fan so I wonder what made them go that route. The girl Rey was great in it, I read where was just a local actress & didn't even have a wikipedia or imdb page when she was cast. Finn was great too. I wasn't a fan of Poe, didn't like the actor nor the character much. BB8 was great.

The story arc is verrrrrry similar to A New Hope. In fact the "You will drop your gun at the door & leave" manuever was almost verbatim of a scene Obi Wan did similarly.

[Noa Put]

I read online someone called him 'Darth Emo'

That's a good desription :) It's clear they didn't want a Darth Vader clone this time but a teenager with a temper that trashes the place up if he doesn't get what he wants, I also found that Rey's power developed a bit too quick, like when she and Ren where trying to take that lightsaber at the end and it flew to her, so she just found out she has "the force" and is already more powerful then Ren who is able to stop blasts from a lasergun and let people float trough the air yet he can't take a lightsaber from a girl. :)

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

That's a good desription :) It's clear they didn't want a Darth Vader clone this time but a teenager with a temper that trashes the place up if he doesn't get what he wants, I also found that Rey's power developed a bit too quick, like when she and Ren where trying to take that lightsaber at the end and it flew to her, so she just found out she has "the force" and is already more powerful then Ren who is able to stop blasts from a lasergun and let people float trough the air yet he can't take a lightsaber from a girl. :)

Yeah I agree with you on that. I'll give it a pass tho, as overall I really liked it and I think he made a splash with the film & story. But yeah some moments could've used better tweaking.

[David Barnett]

Anyone see Rogue One?

On a purely technical level I noticed alot of shallow DOF. I saw it in 3D, so it felt like a bit much, myb I'm a videophobe.

I liked it overall, was good. I didn't feel for the characters too much, felt it was light on development a little bit early on, as opposed to Ren & Finn in TFA. Didn't understand Forrest Whitakers part in it, I think alot of his scenes must have been put into the editing floor,

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

On a purely technical level I noticed alot of shallow DOF. I saw it in 3D, so it felt like a bit much, myb I'm a videophobe.

Shot on the Alexa 65, which has a sensor size similar to 65mm.