Commentaries on Star Wars trilogy
 

So have any of you lucky bastards listened to the commentaries yet? How are they? Anything exciting, new, etc.?




P.S. If you clicked on this thread just to bitch about the number of Star Wars threads (I estimate about 10-15 people will for whatever reason), please click "report this post to a moderator" below; I am attempting to get a Star Wars subforum created so you won't have to be bothered in the coming weeks. Thanks!

Hey Toad, I don't know about the commentaries, but I think the idea on a Star Wars forum might be a bit late. It would have been a great idea back in 1997, but after the 21st, there will be little to discuss anymore until HD-DVD releases or Ep. III.

After the 21st we'll be discussing the DVDs - not just the speculation of when they'll come out and their rumored then confirmed technical specs.

Thanks for your information regarding the commenataries.

I've only read other lucky bastards who've already listened to it. Like this one over here who got a copy of Empire early.

Nice attitude.

George Lucas discusses how the 1997 changes brought the films closer to his vision, there is still more that could "and should" be done. He cited the example that the theme played during ANH's medal ceremony is incomplete and needs more cowbell.

ha ha ha!!! Great SNL reference. That's my roommate's favorite sketch

rotfl

Love that skit too. And I'm not that big of a SNL fan.

Bruce Dickinson (aka Christopher Walkin): "I don't know fellas, it just needs more cowbell."

I already watched Empire Strikes Back with commentary and plan on watching the other two Wednesday. I find Lucas' commentaries quite entertaining. The only new stuff I really learned (and remembered) were the techinical how-to things they did in the movies.

rotfl

I love Will Ferrell as much as the next guy, but please stop threadcrapping and move Trebeck to the "Will Ferrell Vol. 2" thread.

swerving back on topic, Toad. You've probably already been here but there are several links to different site reviews that mention details on the commentaries. An excerpt from the IGN review:

Lucas acts as the big picture guy, talking on the high level, while Burtt and Muren talk more technical matters. Lucas discusses Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress as an influence on the film, which is always nice to hear. He repeats a few things that are in the big documentary (more later) but by and large, they are all good. He does explain the replacement of Sebastian Shaw with Hayden Christiensen in RotJ, so consider it a spoiler for Episode III.

All of them mention that the commentaries are well worth listening to and full of inside information. Whether or not any of this will be "new" to you I can't say.

Interesting that he explains the replacement.

I wonder if Carrie Fisher offers anything entertaining.

I hear she says something about being high during the Bespin shoots.

Carrie Fisher high? Say it isn't so....

She looks terrible on the making of doccumentary. She is pretty heavy and has lots of trouble talking. All she talks about is how she was battling with her weight throughout the whole shoot.

Well, Carrie Fisher was in one of those celebrity Poker matches and she's a pretty short and dumpy gal now. The ROTJ bikini babe, she not anymore is.

It's called aging.

I don't care how she looks - it's not a video commentary.

Who said you should care about how she looks?

It's obvious she is fried. As I said earlier, she's also having trouble speaking. She was stumbling over her words and thoughts. Last time I thought about it, that might be important in an AUDIO commentary.

actually its called anti-depressants.

she was diagnosed with somthing like manic depression not too long ago and the meds have made her gain weight.
she was on a sunday morning talk show not too long ago talking about it.
in an industry where vanity inspires paranoid over-emphasis, i have a lot of fond respect for her not being inhibited or so hung up about her weight or appearance now, that she would be disinclined to be on camera.

didn't look all that heavy in j&sbsb which was made 2 years ago.

Not to argue, but that was filmed 4 years ago.

post of the month.

check the sig.
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I'm missing your jump in logic. I don't have a right to an opinion until someone tells me I should or shouldn't?? :lol: That's just silly!

Regarding the AUDIO vs. VIDEO, the two posts before mine said she was fat, or dumpy, or looked bad. That has to do with video. I didn't say anything about her speech, so the audio doesn't concern me. She seemed lucid and engaging enough in the documentary - her "fatness" and "dumpiness" played no part in that.

It sounds like you are whining whenever someone says something you don't like. You've been coming off as an asshole ever since your first reply in this thread.

We were discussing how Carrie Fisher might be less than interesting and might even be slightly annoying in the commentary given her present state.

And just because I gave you my opinion on the Star Wars Forum that differed from yours you had to make a childish sarcastic remark.

I think he's just trying to stay on topic.

OK, here's a couple on topic questions:

-Are the commentary tracks scene specific?

-Does anyone know if the participants were recorded together, or separately and later edited together? (not a big fan of "patchwork" commentaries myself)

From what I've read online, yes.

Unfortunately for us, separately.

:up: Also I'm tired of people causing problems when there's no need to. I see no use in some peoples' posts and won't respond to them anymore. There's even some levels I won't sink to! ;)

I'm glad the tracks are scene-specific - I think the PT DVDs were scene-specific and it works out much better.

Sometimes it's not altogether bad if they record them separately - unless you have a big group of people, I've found them to be a bit boring sometimes. At least this way the editor got to choose from 4-5 people talking about the same scene and pick what was best; when 4-5 are together, only one can (coherently) talk at the same time - so you're left with little to no choice.

I would highly suggest that you refrain from addressing other members in this manner. If you don't like his posts, then report them to the moderators. If I see a comment like this again, you'll be looking at administrative action.

Why is Laurence Kasdan not present during Audio Commentary for Return of the Jedi? That actually pisses me off a bit.

Or on Empire actually since word has it he basically re-wrote every word Leigh Brackett did.

Actually, Brackett's script was dumped entirely. Few people know this, but Lucas wrote a rough draft of the script for ESB, and it's very close to the final film. He handed it off to Kasdan and Kasdan tightened it up and polished it off.

Then again, I've never read Brackett's script. But I have read Lucas' draft and Kasdan's final script. But according to Lucas, Kasdan, and others involved with the film, Brackett's script was not used.

I thought Kasdan was on the Empire track. :(

Yes, this is discussed in a few of the books (the Annotated Screenplay book, and others I believe). Actually, if I'm remembering it correctly, it wasn't even a completed script. More of a story treatment.

They didn't use it, but gave her screen credit anyway. Both as a tribute to her work and to avoid any potential legal issues.

So spoil away. What's the explanation for the switch in Jedi?

:up:

Please use spoiler tags!

I come into this thread to read about the SW trilogy DVDs not meanings behind the stories or spoilers for Episode III or the new SW editions.

Try a search for the thread about changes. A link to an audio file of this segment of the commentary was posted weeks ago.