sfrosa

Yeah, he's on the DVD documentary as well. His voice actually sounds eerily close to Rick Moranis in Spaceballs. It would have been nice for Prowse to return in the suit, but there's no reason for him to take shots at Haden Christensen. Two other actors played Vader in the OT, including stuntman Bob Anderson who handled the more difficult swordplay. When Lucas offered him the role of either the Villain or the Big Space Monkey, he should have realised he was not being hired for his acting abilities.

Well... Gary Kurtz has spent the better part of the last twenty years giving interviews about Star Wars, and not a great deal of time actually PRODUCING films. He parted with Lucas after Empire because he wasn't doing his job, which was not to be a creative consultant, but to keep control of the production and the budget. And as for things like killing off Han Solo, I agree that both Han and Leia's character's were pretty much abandoned in Jedi, but death isn't necessarily the answer. I know everyone (Ford, Kasdan, Kurtz, etc) but George wanted to do it, so naturally people think it was a good idea. While it might have ratcheted up the drama for that first viewing, you'd have to ask yourself after the movie; so what was the point? If the arc of Han Solo's character is that he goes from loner, to caring about other people, to dead, what is an eleven year old supposed to think about that? "Well, Timmy, it was just done for dramatic effect. Like in Lord of the Rings, when you thought Gandalf/Aragorn/Frodo/Faramir/Merry had died, but it turned out they actually were okay."

Can you be serious? Yes, the audio problems on "A New Hope" are inexcusable, and the color "enhancement" is a bit much, but the idea that these DVDs are crap, to the extent that someone who wants to see Star Wars should purchase the VHS versions, is ridiculous. These are the best presentations of the Star Wars films EVER. I understand that people have problems with the special editions, but my Definitive Edition Laserdiscs look awful in comparison. As far as the bonus disc, it's equal to or better than the Indiana Jones bonus material. I certainly wouldn't describe it as fluff. It spends most of its running time laying out how the movies, especially the first one, were on the brink of disaster throughout their productions. I've seen plenty of Star Wars documentaries that revolve around the special effects, so it was nice to see something that went a little deeper into the actual production. I hold John Williams in the highest regard, as, I'm sure, do most of the people on this board. I would love to see a good thirty minutes to an hour devoted to the music of Star Wars on one of these DVDs. It hasn't happened yet, but I think that's because there needs to be a strong concept for it first, where the music is the documentary's sole focus. On a related note, it seems to me that the absolute hatred of Lucas on these boards comes not only from his tinkering with the films, but from his perceived slights against John Williams. Lucas has made it clear in the past, as he does again on the DVD bonus disc, that working with John Williams was the best part of Star Wars. Whenever he talks about "Johnny", he gushes with praise. Lucas has made some choices that, from a musical perspective, are boneheaded. A lot of these are directly related to the other most hated man in Williams fandom; sound editor Ben Burtt. Spoiler for the poster who hasn't seen the films yet - (He wanted the final confrontation between Vader and Luke to be sound effects only!) In the end, however, they're all collaborating to make the film as good as it can be. John Williams would not be working with Lucas if he felt his scores were being butchered.

That's the one. I guess I'll just wait for a re-issue of the album.

I'm looking at the Japanese CD club release of SPACECAMP on EBAY. Does anyone know what this is going for these days? I'd like to pick it up, but the bids are getting up there. Thanks, SFRosa