Master Po's words of wisdom

I was thinking of a two-disc set per album, which would have required an extra disc and extra packaging. Certainly, not a whole lot of extra cost.

Still a bit bitter about that whole Star Wars thing, aren't you?

They could have released them as two-disc sets, but I meant that due to the brevity of the albums they could have easily included both versions on ONE disc.



The Lucas comment sprang to mind after reading his comments during the Blu-Ray announcement for the Star Wars films. While I want to see the original forms of the movies, my real problem is his blatantly false justifications for not releasing them. In the past, he supposedly did not have the original negatives any more (like a person who has been devoted to film preservation would simply burn them!) Now he is saying that it is too expensive to transfer the original elements. That may be his most insulting justification to date. The man is a billionaire, and those billions came from his faithul fans who ponied up endless streams of money to watch the films and buy the merchandise. To say that he cannot afford to do what many fans want him to is an insult -- especially when you consider that this is in the context of an annnouncement of the Blu-Ray editions that fans are going to give him even MORE money to buy. If he refuses to release the originals because he does not want them seen, then he should just be honest and come and and say that.

Given the income disparity in this country (1% of the population now accounts for 25% of all income, the largest disparity since just prior to the Great Depression) I am a trifle intolerant of excuses from billionaires!

I haven't been following the Star Wars stories, but that is a lousy excuse. I can understand if Lucas doesn't want the originals seen, but I cannot understand the cost argument. Very odd. Still, any Star Wars on Blu-ray is better than no Star Wars on Blu-ray.

Since it is only coming out in a boxed set, I may or may not end up buying it. At this point, I have no real desire to watch the prequel trilogy any more, even in HD. They just get worse with each viewing. I have decided to treat them as non-canon (which makes the Hayden Christensen alteration in Jedi all the more annoying.)

I did the same thing with the X-Men series. I simply dismissed the final, non-Bryan Singer directed film as non-canon, and dream of what the Dark Pheonix saga setup at the end of X2 could have led to.

Dare I ask your thoughts on Wolverine?

I have many issues with the prequel trilogy, but my biggest gripe is that it is one big arc of nonsense. If that is all the material Lucas had, he should have opted for one movie. I am no film editor, but I can see how all three films could be easily condensed into one, with no loss to the story. In fact, the many details that would be lost in such an edit job would help strengthen the story. Lucas tries to explain too much and does a poor job at it--it only weakens the mythology.

Still, even with all the flaws, I will buy the box set just so that I can have A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back on Blu-ray.

I have never seen Wolverine and probably never will. The trailers alone were off-putting, let alone the reviews. But even if I had seen it, I would probably still treat it as non-canon.

Just because studios pump out crappy sequels to movies that we love does not mean that we have to "accept" them as a continuation of the story. I try not to let bad sequels ruin my enjoyment of the originals!


As far as the "story" in the prequel trilogy goes, whole characters, races and even entire planets could be excised from the saga with no harm to the central narrative. (Forget Jar-Jar Binks -- did the rest of the Gungans serve any real purpose?) That is never a good sign!

I understand what you mean about bad sequels. As an example, I try not to let any of the Highlander sequels skew my appreciation of the original, which I know we both agree is a fine masterpiece.

As for Star Wars, there is much in the prequel trilogy that serves no purpose.

There was an "original" Highlander?


Actually, I can probably beat you on that one -- I saw the original during its "orginal" theatrical run. I have watched it a couple of times since to try to gain an appreciation of it. No luck.


And regarding the sequels ruining it, do you mean Highlander 2 or Highlander 2? Both versions of that film are radically different from each other, but equally goofy!

There were actually three versions of Highlander 2: the original, the renegade version and then the directors cut. All sucked.

Did you at least enjoy the soundtrack to the original?

There should be a fourth one: the renegade director's cut.


I honestly cannot remember the soundtrack. Did it have Queen songs?

No, you must be thinking of another movie.

Not sure if you are being ironic, so I looked it up:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091203/soundtrack

I thought you were pulling my plonker. Yes, it was all Queen. It is actually one of my favourite soundtracks.

Let me put it this way; the last time that I saw the movie was on VHS . . .




Regarding the Lucas deal, DVDTalk posted a review of the "Director's Cut" of THX-1138 that articulates my feelings about permanently modifying a movie that has entered the public conciousness quite well:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/43721/thx-1138/

Note in particular:

Lucas seems to think he is the sole owner-author of films he directed and even the Star Wars entries he did not. In the case of THX 1138, this claim is debatable. As far as I know, Warner Bros. owns the film outright. It was produced by Francis Ford Coppola and a co-production of his American Zoetrope company; contractually probably Coppola, not Lucas, had the right of final cut, as is standard in the industry.

And while there's no doubt Lucas is chiefly responsible for THX 1138 being what it is, What about the film's other key creative personnel? Co-writer and sound designer Walter Murch, music composer Lalo Schifrin, production designer Michael D. Haller, co-cinematographer David Myers, and actors like Robert Duvall? Did they sign off on Lucas's changes? Would they have made different choices given Lucas's changes?

But even if all that were possible - and it's not, because others who made major contributions died prior to 2004 - Lucas's proprietary attitude is still tragically misguided.

That's because movies are like children: a son or a daughter will always be your child, but once they reach a certain age or maturity they leave the nest and build lives of their own, lives that the parent can no longer - and should not - control. "Son, I know you've got a wife and kids but I want you to move back home so I can fix you up with someone else. You see, back in 1977 I wasn't making enough money down at the plant to be able to finish you off the way I would've liked." Once a movie goes into general release and becomes a shared experienced seen by millions of people, it's no longer the exclusive property of the filmmaker. Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Seven Samurai, A Matter of Life and Death: they belong to everyone.


That nails the two important points. The director/producer (assuming that they are the same person) or studio may hold the "rights" to the movie, and in a legal sense may have a "right" to do what they want with it, but what about the cinematographers, sound designers, composers, set designers, editors, actors and many others who are having their work modified or in some cases eliminated by one person? It takes a sea of people to make a movie, not one person, and they are all artists in their own rights.

And I do firmly believe that once a work of art (music, movie, book or whatever) has been out and entered the popular conciousness, the creators no longer "own" it in the strictest sense of the word. They have an obligation (yes, a moral one, not necessarily a legal one) to preserve the work as it has entered the culture. None of which means that the creator cannot play with it at will, but not without preserving the untouched original. A movie like Star Wars has literally become a part of history -- you should not permanently rewrite history!

Some people just want to play God!

Which would be fine, if he was any good at it!

No man is. Abolute power...

Absolute money is more like it.

Absolute garbage, as of late!

Absolutely Gungan.

drinking Absolute, way more fun

Who doesn't want some V.

Well, I will pass . . .

I'll have some V, and no mixing

I like Disneyland's kid friendly Mint Julip, ...although I'd never say no to any Mint Julip.

BTW, at Club 33 at DLR you can get a real one!!! I never really wanted to go to eat at Club 33, ...but now I kind of do, just a little.