STAR WARS NEWSLETTER Vol.1 #3
Mikefjedi2
STAR WARS NEWSLETTER
Volume 1 Number 3
July 7th, 1996
"The road to the Special Editions and the prequels"
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**ID4 & Star Wars**
Many Star Wars fans tuned in July 2nd, 1996 hoping to see the SWSE movie
trailer that has recently been airing at Sci-Fi Conventions across the
United States.
Few people will get the chance to view the INCREDIBLE trailer to the long-
awaited theatrical return of the Galaxys most treasured film trilogy.
For,
according to CNN news, only 11 theatres across the U.S. are showing the
trailer, and most of these theatres are Lucas' own THX equipped theatres.
The movie event? Independance Day (ID4), the most anticipated movie of
the
year. Now the Star Wars Newsletter would like to quickly review ID4 in
relation to SW as well as to the whole film genre. (Note, the thoughts
expressed in this review are the opinions and ideas expressed by
Kbusby2256,
excuse me if I'm biased).
Independance Day is without a doubt, the BEST Sci-Fi film since SW. It
does not, however excel SW but in a sense, makes it all the more
interesting
and what it does do, is give insight to what George might be planning for
the prequels.
Fans who showed up to see the SWSE trailer alone, were not dissapointed in
ID4. In my theatre alone, people gave ID4 a standing ovation, not to
leave
in a hurry but to praise a wonderful, exciting, thrill-ride of a movie.
You also get to see the "Star Trek: First Contact" trailer which is, in my
opinion a very GOOD trailer (and thats saying alot folks) When asked for
comments on ID4, after the movie, they replied with "The best since Star
Wars.", "Awesome", and "Visually stunning".
Independance Day is NOT the end-all cataclismic, destruction of all, end
of
the world movie but a breathtaking, reminissiant Star Wars film. Contrary
to popular belief, ID4 does have its dramatic and serene moments. And
unlike
some movies,"T2", "Eraser", and others, ID4 does have a direct point and
"message". Our universe is BIG, and whether it be Star Wars, Star Trek,
ID4, or any other Sci-Fi movie, man's vision of extra-terrestrial life,
and
Alien lifeforms and higher technology all comes to about the same thing.
And isn't that what Star Wars does for everyone?
Gives us a glimpse into the future?
Moments of ID4 were so like SW, it was unreal. From the mothership,
similar
to the Death Star docking bay 327 (not to reveal anything), to the air
battles similar to the battle of Hoth, Endor, and Yavin. ID4 is the
supreme
Star Warsesque film since ROTJ nearly 15 years ago.
Independance Day is absolutely the best SINCE Star Wars, and it also
proves
1 point: George Lucas plans on spending "only" 70-74 million on each of
the
SW prequels. Id4 only spent 71 million.
It proves in a day with 180 million dollar movies ("Waste of" Waterworld)
The best movies can still be done by spending relatively low budgets. And
from the same studio as Star Wars, ID4 is a definite winner!!!
To quote the Holocron's line of rating:
10 Lightsabers out of 10.
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Word from Ryan Silva (Tkyt...@znet.com) indicates that there is another
SWSE trailer besides the one previously been showing at Conventions by
Steve (Sansweet).
Here is his direct email concerning the NEW SE trailer:
"Just got back from seeing ID4 at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, CA
(apparently the ONLY theater in L.A. to be showing the SWSE trailer -- and
ONLY until this Sunday) and not only did they show the SWSE trailer, it
was a NEW one with at least TWO NEW shots not in the previous SWSE trailer
Steve Sansweet has been showing at SF cons.
The new trailer opens with the Fox and Lucasfilm logos and includes a new
shot of Jabba (full body surrounded by his gang -- looks much better than
the cheesy previously-released close-up shots) and a new space battle shot
-- but if you blink, you might miss this one. Don't blink.
Needless to say, the ID4 audience went nuts as soon as the Lucasfilm logo
hit the screen. Seriously, people were jumping out of their seats and I
even saw two people fall to their knees in the aisle next to me and begin
bowing in worship. I kid you not.
If you're in the L.A. area, you might want to make your way to the Village
before Sunday. They're also showing the trailer for Star Trek: First
Contact, if you care."
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Heres a partial list of where the trailer is showing or will have shown.
LOS ANGELES:
- The Mann Village in Westwood.
(Have also had conflicting reports about the ABC Center theatre in Century
City.)
NEW YORK:
- The Sony Theatre at 68th and B'way.
DALLAS:
- Unconfirmed report that it's showing at the Grand.
HOUSTON:
- The AMC 24 at Dearbrook Mall.
SAN FRANCISCO:
- The Coronet.
CHICAGO:
- McClurg Court.
WASHINGTON DC:
- The Uptown.
** a FULL LISTING will be available in the next Star Wars newsletter
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Here is a review and explanation of the SWSE, ID4 and other elements
combined
in the new film IMAX: SPECIAL EFFECTS, ANY THING CAN HAPPEN, released
July
3rd, 1996 on Imax screens and released by Nova/Imax, WGBH BOSTON. Not
many
viewers will get to see this either but we thank John S. Hyun for a
glimpse
at what sounds like a remarkable film.
There is an IMAX film called "Special Effects" that goes behind the
scenes on the making of the effects for Independence Day, Jumanji, Kazzam,
and, of course, Star Wars: Special Edition.
The beginning of the film (3-5 min) starts off with a re-done King Kong
scene set in San Francisco and then the narrator (John Lithgow) goes
through a short (2-3 min) history of special effects in general.
Then he says, "but the breakthrough for special effects came with George
Lucas's Star Wars." We then see a couple clips of the original film in
cropped IMAX format (i.e. it doesn't fill the whole screen).
"Here's where the fun begins" - Han Solo
We then see a pair of dune-buggies driving through the desert where
they are filming the Dewback scene minus the dewback. There us a guy
holding
a pole with a paper Stormtrooper helmet marking where the Dewback-rider
would be. And a guy with a Dewback "foot" to leave tracks on the ground.
We also see the actors (soldiers) in the Stormtroopers costumes.
We next see ILM in San Francisco where they are compositing the scenes
and then we see the COMPLETED shot! Dewback, soldiers, drop ship and all!
We see less of the clip than what has been shown at conventions but it
had the full rendering.
Then comes a scene that hasn't been shown before. A model maker prepares
two sets of Mos Eisley cities which are composited together for a
"tree-top" view of a street. We then see ILM staff and their children
(those lucky bastards!!!) dressed up as aliens and jawas walking around
an empty lot covered with sand. When we see the whole scene composited,
the actors seems like they are walking the streets of Mos Eisley
with two of those "dinasaurs" (The ones the Jawas fall off of I think)
"parked" off the side of the "road" (everything is dirt) where you
can make out Luke's landspeeder cruising into the city!
The narrator then talks about how the motion control cameras simulate
movement by moving around the models rather than the models moving around
the camera. We see Dennis Muren talking with someone about a Star
Destroyer
fly-by shot next to the actual models. We then are treated to a re-done
Blockade-runner/Star-destroyer chase in FULL IMAX! I think there has
been a shot of this floating around already where there was a complaint
that the explosion didn't look real... someone claimed it was cover-art
for a LucasArts game... I think it came from this. When actually
running, that explosion is only a fraction of a second... it is NOT
the blockade runner as it is hidden by the bow of the star destroyer.
It DOES look good - if the still is from this scene, it is a bad example
of the scene!
There is no Jabba scene or revised Yavin battle scenes shown. I wished
the whole thing was about Star Wars but then they went on to Independence
Day (now playing) where they showed buildings getting blown up, "Kazaam"
(starts in 2 weeks) where they showed Shaq flying on a bicycle, and
"Jumanji"
(now on home video) where they showed elephants walking over cars.
All-in-all GO SEE IT FOR STAR WARS!!!! At least you will know where it
is playing at it won't disappear in the next week only to re-appear
at Thanksgiving!
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Next issue: July 9th, 1996
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