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I watched Love Potion #9 for the first time in years the other day. It isn't nearly as good as I remember - what on earth was I thinking? I had to keep skipping parts that were annoying. The greatest memorable scene was the horribly embarassing scene in the beginning with the girl in the bar, and then her smackdown later.
Even thinking about it, the part with the gypsies was fun, and the memory isn't so bad. Watching the movie was terribly painful, however. *mourns over a beloved movie that has proved to be a sham*
What other movies don't live up to their memories?
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I remember enjoying This Island Earth as a kid, mostly because I recognized the Professor from Gilligan's Island . Then Mystery Science Theater spoofed it, and now it's just plain stupid.
But Forbidden Planet is still cool after all these years.
Posts: 2655 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Hmmm... I can't think of a movie offhand... but I do remember thinking this one anime show way back when was the bee's knees.
MIGHTY ORBOTS! Super cool show when I was little. It was about Transformer-like robots created by a young scientist as they go out defending the Galactic Alliance from the evil Umbra, a living computer, and his armies and other buddies.
Then I saw it again as an adult... ooooooh... the animation was still good but it was SO STUPID. It could have been cool. But they had this stupid narator/announcer basically dictating every action... "Oh NO! The bad guys have now shot a laser at our heroes!" No sh*t, we just saw it happen...
quote:I remember enjoying This Island Earth as a kid, mostly because I recognized the Professor from Gilligan's Island . Then Mystery Science Theater spoofed it, and now it's just plain stupid.
Skillery! There is hope!! MST3000 showed a horrible sliced and diced edited version of "This Island Earth". The real film is supposed to be at least an hour longer. Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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Star Wars We just watched the DVD and I noticed for the first time that Leia watches her planet get completely blown up and is upset for a few minutes, then forgets about it. And Luke sees his dead aunt and uncle and his response is, "yay, now I can do all the stuff I want to do!"
Has anyone else noticed that Anakin, who cares about and mourns his mother's death is the evil one; while Luke, who couldn't care less about his gaurdian's deaths is the good one?
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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"The Huggabunch Movie". If you have 99 cents and a free couple of hours and would like to see a movie that desperately *needs* to be spoofed by MST3000, this is the movie for you. Although, it's really more of a fantasy than SF.
I watched it with some girlfriends not long ago and it was the first time I'd seen it in over 15 years. It was terrible.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Shera and the secret of the sword.... of course I was 5 when I saw it over and over and over. Watched it a couple months ago... couldn't really even watch the whole thing.
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Luke? Luke is in the new DVDs. I heard from an unimpeachable source he had been replaced by a light-saber wielding six foot CG cat named Meow Skywalker. Thet is, after all, how George Lucas had "originally" intended it, but "the technology wasn't available at the time."
Posts: 894 | Registered: Apr 2000
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And when Han Solo shot Greedo that used to be the hottest scene in the movie.
*mourns*
Actually, in that one scene, Han Solo was the hottest guy ever to exist. (or not exist, as the case may be)
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote: And don't get me started on the butchery Lucas did with the Solo/Greedo gunfight. I refuse to watch any of the Star Wars films because of that.
Yes. A few frames that made Solo and Greedo fire at the same time instead of Solo shooting first in cold blood totally ruined the entire dramatic pull of the entire six film saga, including the films this change did not even occur in. That is completely logical.
quote: Yes. A few frames totally ruined the entire dramatic pull of the entire trilogy, including the films this change did not effect at all. That is completely logical. [Roll Eyes]
Just because it isn't logical doens't mean it isn't true.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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There was a time when The Neverending Story first came out when it was my favorite movie. It just blew my mind. I thought it was the greatest thing ever.
Now I think it's kind of cute, but parts of it are unbearably cheesy.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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No, the Han/Greedo scene IS important, to the Original Trilogy at least. Here is a guy who doesn't believe in luck, every being for itself, opportunistic scoundrel who, when pressed, has no qualms about shooting first when needed. By the end of his arc in Empire (in Jedi he was a prop) he had become a full blown romantic anti-hero who does the right thing because he should, though he always will pay for his past by having a price on his head.
Changing the one moment makes him a guy who is VERY lucky old softy who won't shoot unless shot at. It is a fairly important establishing shot for Han...though it is even more undercut by his lack of fearful return to Jabba in the formerly (and once wisely) deleted scene.
As for movies that aren't nearly as good years later? The original "Batman" movie blew me away when I first saw it but in later viewings, it pales partially because of the diminishing sequels but also because the material was handled so much better in the animated shows that followed.
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fil just neatly explained why I refuse to buy Star Wars on DVD.
I will, however, gladly pay someone money to burn some DVDs from existing laserdisc versions of the original films, if someone has 'em.
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Taal, I think the case can be convincingly made that George Lucas has never completely understood his own movies. Certainly, the films he made since RotJ (and arguably RotJ itself) suggest that he's not entirely sure why people like his movies, or why they were effective in the first place.
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One point of contention to an otherwise masterful summation - Solo does live by luck and is quite the gambler. In contrast, Obi-Wan Kenobi says "in my experience there is no such thing as luck."
Solo is an unrepentant rogue who believes in nothing more than the reach of his blaster and the confines of his ship, initially.
quote:So you're saying George Lucas doesn't understand his own movie.
No, I think he's saying that George Lucas is a sellout to the new PC hollywood ethic that began with all the soldiers jumping from tanks just before they exploded on G.I. Joe.
Edit because other posts have since appeared. I agree with Tom, Lucas is trying to hard to capitalize on his own genius and the result is narcissistic. He has fallen into the trap of realizing that he was cool and scrambling to get back there. Another example for me is all the booby dresses in Attack of the Clones. Being scantily clad was a mark of Leia's slavery in RoTJ.
quote:fil just neatly explained why I refuse to buy Star Wars on DVD.
I will, however, gladly pay someone money to burn some DVDs from existing laserdisc versions of the original films, if someone has 'em.
I, on the other hand, will be able to enjoy the films with superficial changes in dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound with gloriously and meticulously restored anamorphic video.
Your loss, guys.
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Seriosly, though. I'd love to have original cuts of the film on official DVD as well - but in ADDITION to whatever GL feels he wants to do to 'finish' them to fit in with the entire saga.
quote:Certainly, the films he made since RotJ (and arguably RotJ itself) suggest that he's not entirely sure why people like his movies, or why they were effective in the first place.
Hmm. You're assuming he cares. I've aways got the impression he's made these movies for himself, and as so, has every right to do whatever the hell he wants with them.
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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As I have a two-speaker setup at home and am perfectly happy with the video quality of a laserdisc, I'm not heartbroken. And while Lucas has the RIGHT to ruin his own movies, I have every right to not only complain about it but express my displeasure by not paying him money to do so.
Frankly, what you just said makes it easier to understand why you don't mind Lucas' rape of his own work; you're the kind of guy who kind of liked the pod races.
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I objected to the idea that Solo was a particularly nice guy who wouldn't take advantage of a situation to save his own skin.
Shooting a bounty hunter under the table by surprise is a wonderful way of demonstrating Solo's outlook on life.
As to his understanding of his films - I don't think he does either. Lucas is so enraptured in his own fame and delusional glory, he's chasing wildly down this path of his ideal film. Well, more power to him - it's a shame I don't enjoy his attempts at a perfect movie.
And judging by the criticisms of 1 and 2, I'm not the only one.
-Trevor
Edit: Taal - exactly. And Tom summed up my response in perfect clarity. He can do whatever the hell he wants with his movie, but I am under no obligation to enjoy, support or otherwise endorse his vision.
quote:There was a time when The Neverending Story first came out when it was my favorite movie. It just blew my mind. I thought it was the greatest thing ever.
Now I think it's kind of cute, but parts of it are unbearably cheesy.
No way man! Neverending Story is still cool and awesome! It's the reject sequels that are cheesy and stoopid.
Ahh... *hums the beautiful and soul piercing Ivory Tower theme*
Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:Frankly, what you just said makes it easier to understand why you don't mind Lucas' rape of his own work; you're the kind of guy who kind of liked the pod races.
First point: it's the fact that people actually call Lucas a rapist (generally in the context of "Luca$ raped my childhood!!!) just makes me shake my head.
And yeah. I did like the podrace. Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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I figured. See, Lucas has become the kind of guy who cares about digital sound and anamorphic video, and he makes movies now as if those two things matter. Whole scenes -- like the podrace -- seem to exist for no reason other than technology demos.
So if you're the kind of person who considers anamorphic video more important than character development, it probably seems like Lucas has become a deeper, richer, and more mature moviemaker in the last ten years. *grin*
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I think the only thing that's not right is the fact that the original cuts aren't available as well, a la Spielberg's E.T. - if they were available, in my opinion all the hootin' and hollerin' would be unfounded.
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Interestingly enough, every review I've read of the Special Edition of THX-1138 have been outstanding - changes and all. Appears it's okay to change a film as long as one isn't already incredibly emotionally invested in the original.
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Did you guys see on the Clone War cartoons, how Anakin's figher, while the cool blue and white paint job was fine, was not the standard Republican Fighter shape but had these huge too-similar-to-be-coincidence pod shaped engines added on... Ugh. Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:Whole scenes -- like the podrace -- seem to exist for no reason other than technology demos
Actually, he put in the pod race because he's been obsessed with cars and racing since he was a kid. Ever seen American Graffitti?
He always wanted to put a high speed race in a Star War movie (the Speeder Bike chase in Jedi was more of a gangland motorcycle chase instead of an organized race). And he did - and it worked within the plot, too. You may think it when on too long. That's arguable. But it still worked.
quote: I could make the case that butchery is worse than rape.
Please don't. Let's remember that we're talking about movies, which are rather frivolous additions to human existence. Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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"And he did - and it worked within the plot, too."
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one, Dave.
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BTW, I think the changes to THX were, for the most part, improvements -- and it helps that they were overwhelmingly cosmetic. You won't hear me complaining about Lucas' cosmetic changes to his story; it's the changing of thematic elements that bothers me.
"The Huggabunch Movie". If you have 99 cents and a free couple of hours and would like to see a movie that desperately *needs* to be spoofed by MST3000, this is the movie for you. Although, it's really more of a fantasy than SF.
O_O
That's the movie that I've been trying to think of the name of for like 5 years! Finally! Thank you! I remember watching it when I was little.
Posts: 104 | Registered: Jun 2004
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the animation was still good but it was SO STUPID. It could have been cool. But they had this stupid narator/announcer basically dictating every action... "Oh NO! The bad guys have now shot a laser at our heroes!" No sh*t, we just saw it happen... ![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
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Ah well...
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