If Music Could Talk

Got my brother The Rise of Skywalker dvd for Christmas, and immediately borrowed it from him.
Gonna watch it tonight for the first time since I saw it in the theatre.

To continue our discussion from the Tep thread, Doc, I recommend the Plastic Galaxy (2014) documentary if you haven't seen it. Pretty sure it's available on Amazon Prime Video. It's a little over an hour long. The first movie completely changed how toys were marketed around movies. Really interesting documentary.

Are you familiar with the Early Bird Special? No one anticipated the success of the original Star Wars movie, so there was nothing available toy-wise for Christmas 1977. Department stores just had a rack of cards to pre-order, and for Christmas you got a notice that the figures would arrive the following year. One of the early promo photos featured a Jawa made from an old brown sock, they were in such a rush to market them. The figures arrived in like May of 1978. I missed out on the Early Bird Special, and got my first SW figures for Christmas 1978, when I was 6.

I've read little bits about Star Wars and its effects on toys/merchandising, and recall the whole thing about pre-orders. Similar to all that, when Lucas showed an early cut to various Hollywood people, most of the FX weren't done, so he used clips from World War II movies for dogfights between X-Wings and Tie Fighters. The big wigs saw that as evidence that it would bomb, but Spielberg told Lucas that this movie was going to make a hundred million dollars.

Yeah, I recall something about the timing/movements of the fighter scenes being based on WWII aerial combat footage, but didn’t realize Lucas had shown such clips when shopping the movie around. The big wigs’ lack of foresight allowed Lucas to maintain merchandising rights, and he’s obviously made a killing off that alone since there’s Star Wars crap everywhere. I never had any interest in SW memorabilia beyond the first three movies, but at the time I loved the action figures, cards and comic books. Being 10 minutes from the Peace Bridge, I even had a pile of O-Pee-Chee SW cards in addition to Topps.

I read the paperback version of A New Hope many years ago, and god is it awful. Like Lucas just handed a VHS copy of the movie to a ghostwriter and told him to slap something together so they could get it on drugstore shelves. Uncle Owen was described as having a “wrestler-like physique.” I read it after a binge of Dune and LOTR reading, and it seemed incredibly lame by comparison. If the book had come before the movie, I doubt anyone would have been inspired to make a movie out of it.

I still have a couple of these in a box somewhere. The C3PO error card.

Kimmelweck wrote: ↑

26 Dec 2020, 2:59pm

I read the paperback version of A New Hope many years ago, and god is it awful. Like Lucas just handed a VHS copy of the movie to a ghostwriter and told him to slap something together so they could get it on drugstore shelves. Uncle Owen was described as having a “wrestler-like physique.” I read it after a binge of Dune and LOTR reading, and it seemed incredibly lame by comparison. If the book had come before the movie, I doubt anyone would have been inspired to make a movie out of it.

As a kid, I read the adaptations of the first three movies, plus Splinter of the Mind's Eye and three Han Solo novels. Great when you're ten, much less so when you're not. I re-read one of those Han Solo books maybe ten years ago and just winced at how clunky it was.

Kimmelweck wrote: ↑

26 Dec 2020, 3:07pm

I still have a couple of these in a box somewhere. The C3PO error card.

C3POerrorcard.jpg

Oh my. That's new to me. Apparently C3PO had a Wang computer built into him.

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

26 Dec 2020, 3:37pm

Oh my. That's new to me. Apparently C3PO had a Wang computer built into him.

Where the hell is R2 when you need him?

This is the greatest thing ever (for a person who is exactly me) https://www.google.com/amp/s/tattuinard ... -saga/amp/

Wolter wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 3:19pm

This is the greatest thing ever (for a person who is exactly me) https://www.google.com/amp/s/tattuinard ... -saga/amp/

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 3:34pm

Wolter wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 3:19pm

This is the greatest thing ever (for a person who is exactly me) https://www.google.com/amp/s/tattuinard ... -saga/amp/

IT MEANS IT GET RESULTS, YOU STUPID JARL!

So are people talking about the Mandalorian here?

My kid has bugging me to get it and I finally did. I wont say its bad. I just prefer the Clint Eastwood version I think.

revbob wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:23pm

So are people talking about the Mandalorian here?

My kid has bugging me to get it and I finally did. I wont say its bad. I just prefer the Clint Eastwood version I think.

I've mentioned it a few times. The Boss and I love it. I was skeptical of the premise when it was announced, but it ended up being most of what I love about Star Wars without any of the stuff I don't. Between The Mandalorian, Solo, and Rogue One, it shows that Star Wars can be really good if they push aside all the Skywalker Saga stuff—a premise that's proven to be a real drag on the fun.

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:38pm

revbob wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:23pm

So are people talking about the Mandalorian here?

My kid has bugging me to get it and I finally did. I wont say its bad. I just prefer the Clint Eastwood version I think.

I've mentioned it a few times. The Boss and I love it. I was skeptical of the premise when it was announced, but it ended up being most of what I love about Star Wars without any of the stuff I don't. Between The Mandalorian, Solo, and Rogue One, it shows that Star Wars can be really good if they push aside all the Skywalker Saga stuff—a premise that's proven to be a real drag on the fun.

Ive just watched the first 3 I think. His voice is so Clint Eastwood though is that intentional?

revbob wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:51pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:38pm

revbob wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:23pm

So are people talking about the Mandalorian here?

My kid has bugging me to get it and I finally did. I wont say its bad. I just prefer the Clint Eastwood version I think.

I've mentioned it a few times. The Boss and I love it. I was skeptical of the premise when it was announced, but it ended up being most of what I love about Star Wars without any of the stuff I don't. Between The Mandalorian, Solo, and Rogue One, it shows that Star Wars can be really good if they push aside all the Skywalker Saga stuff—a premise that's proven to be a real drag on the fun.

Ive just watched the first 3 I think. His voice is so Clint Eastwood though is that intentional?

Oh yeah, definitely. The series is basically an Eastwood western.

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:52pm

revbob wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:51pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:38pm

revbob wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:23pm

So are people talking about the Mandalorian here?

My kid has bugging me to get it and I finally did. I wont say its bad. I just prefer the Clint Eastwood version I think.

I've mentioned it a few times. The Boss and I love it. I was skeptical of the premise when it was announced, but it ended up being most of what I love about Star Wars without any of the stuff I don't. Between The Mandalorian, Solo, and Rogue One, it shows that Star Wars can be really good if they push aside all the Skywalker Saga stuff—a premise that's proven to be a real drag on the fun.

Ive just watched the first 3 I think. His voice is so Clint Eastwood though is that intentional?

Oh yeah, definitely. The series is basically an Eastwood western.

You’re both downplaying the Lone Wolf and Cub samurai aspect, which is similar but distinct from the western proper.

Wolter wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 8:59pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:52pm

revbob wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:51pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:38pm

revbob wrote: ↑

04 Jan 2021, 6:23pm

So are people talking about the Mandalorian here?

My kid has bugging me to get it and I finally did. I wont say its bad. I just prefer the Clint Eastwood version I think.

I've mentioned it a few times. The Boss and I love it. I was skeptical of the premise when it was announced, but it ended up being most of what I love about Star Wars without any of the stuff I don't. Between The Mandalorian, Solo, and Rogue One, it shows that Star Wars can be really good if they push aside all the Skywalker Saga stuff—a premise that's proven to be a real drag on the fun.

Ive just watched the first 3 I think. His voice is so Clint Eastwood though is that intentional?

Oh yeah, definitely. The series is basically an Eastwood western.

You’re both downplaying the Lone Wolf and Cub samurai aspect, which is similar but distinct from the western proper.

I don't know that archetype. I can guess at its contours from the name, but I'm not familiar with it.