Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi
I think Return of the Jedi released in theatres in 1983 or 1985? The hairstyles seem almost odd. I can't put my finger on it, but maybe it is a reflection of the mid or late 1980's.
Compared to Star Wars (Episode4), Luke and Han have aged considerably. Princess Leia has stayed youthful though. (How did this happen? Medical bo-tox had not been invented yet.)
Some changes made for Episode 6 compared to the original release are as follows. Were a few Jabba the Hutt castle scenes were deleted? Wasn't there a scene where a slave who didn't capture the favor of Jabba ended up being swallowed by Jabba? The dungeon monster sequence, where the giant monster was crushed by the portcullis, I think they deleted the dialog where the grieving keeper/tamer indicated he had raised the monster since it was a baby.
At the end of the movie, the destruction of the 2nd death-star is celebrated by fireworks among several worlds. We see cutaway shots of Tatooine, Coruscant, etc. The awful part is when Naboo is shown and we hear Jar Jar Binks' voice in the crowd. Shortly after, Luke sees the spirits of the three Jedi: Obi-Wan, Yoda, and youthful Anakin. The original movie however, showed a gregarious old Anakin. Although the youthful (Hayden Christensen) Anakin is very handsome, the other two Jedi spirits take the form of old Yoda and old Obi-Wan. I'm just saying they should have left this part alone.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
097 - Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope (year 2004?)
When this movie originally was released in the 1970's (1976?) it was called Star Wars. Now it has become known as Star Wars Episode 4. Star Wars is strong enough to stand on its own and does not require re-editing/tweaking. That being said, Episode 4 brought changes I didn't mind or notice and some changes that I did notice.
. At Mos Eisley, a "wretched hive" to some of the most villianous scum of the galaxy, and to the Cantina bar, the exterior shots seem to have been enhanced with extra traffic and lifeforms. eg., There are numerous (too many) reptiles and flying objects that I don't remember seeing in Star Wars. This is distracting.
. Han Solo speaking face to face with Jabba the Hutt seemed un-necessary.
. The DeathStar explosion pattern is different. However, I don't mind it. (There was nothing wrong with the old explosion either.)
There's an error that probably happened in the original cut. I wouldn't have caught this error unless I so nerdily watched StarWars so many times. In the climactic Rebel fighters attack scene on the Death Star, pilot Porkins is killed in action. Poor Porkins! His radio "call sign" is Red6. He is either destroyed by a tie fighter or a cannon that blasts his ship to pieces. Shortly after, (within 5-10 minutes?) we hear Porkins (Red6) on the Rebel radio announcing his call sign in some communication. Like I said, only a person who watched Star Wars too many times would notice this blooper.
When this movie originally was released in the 1970's (1976?) it was called Star Wars. Now it has become known as Star Wars Episode 4. Star Wars is strong enough to stand on its own and does not require re-editing/tweaking. That being said, Episode 4 brought changes I didn't mind or notice and some changes that I did notice.
. At Mos Eisley, a "wretched hive" to some of the most villianous scum of the galaxy, and to the Cantina bar, the exterior shots seem to have been enhanced with extra traffic and lifeforms. eg., There are numerous (too many) reptiles and flying objects that I don't remember seeing in Star Wars. This is distracting.
. Han Solo speaking face to face with Jabba the Hutt seemed un-necessary.
. The DeathStar explosion pattern is different. However, I don't mind it. (There was nothing wrong with the old explosion either.)
There's an error that probably happened in the original cut. I wouldn't have caught this error unless I so nerdily watched StarWars so many times. In the climactic Rebel fighters attack scene on the Death Star, pilot Porkins is killed in action. Poor Porkins! His radio "call sign" is Red6. He is either destroyed by a tie fighter or a cannon that blasts his ship to pieces. Shortly after, (within 5-10 minutes?) we hear Porkins (Red6) on the Rebel radio announcing his call sign in some communication. Like I said, only a person who watched Star Wars too many times would notice this blooper.
096 - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (year2002?)
Recently I watched again, The Phantom Menace. It was ok. But if I could, there would be several items I would alter.
I would have Jar Jar Binks play his role with a serious personality, instead of the current clown and slapstick character.
The Anakin pod-racing sequence would be shortened.
Darth Maul would be creating more havoc throughout the movie, perhaps even kill many jedi's! As it is, Maul's presence is short and frivolous. His absence from the movie would hardly be noticable.
Anakin's father would be some cool guy, instead of having no literal father (ie, immaculate conception).
Throughout the show, there are comedic characatures. It almost seems if the movie was targeted to kids who watch Saturday morning cartoons! Less comedy please!
Recently I watched again, The Phantom Menace. It was ok. But if I could, there would be several items I would alter.
I would have Jar Jar Binks play his role with a serious personality, instead of the current clown and slapstick character.
The Anakin pod-racing sequence would be shortened.
Darth Maul would be creating more havoc throughout the movie, perhaps even kill many jedi's! As it is, Maul's presence is short and frivolous. His absence from the movie would hardly be noticable.
Anakin's father would be some cool guy, instead of having no literal father (ie, immaculate conception).
Throughout the show, there are comedic characatures. It almost seems if the movie was targeted to kids who watch Saturday morning cartoons! Less comedy please!
095 - Mai the Psychic Girl
Mai the Psychic Girl -- Feb2011. written by JCPMA
In the late 1980's/early 1990's I've read at random some of the (few) manga titles available in NorthAmerica and translated into English. The manga at (comic) book stores at this time were all in traditional North American "comic book sizes", approximately 8 x 10", perhaps 50 to 80 pages (ie., similar to the size of a NorthAmerican comic book like DC or Marvel etc titles like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Archie & Jughead ... well you get the idea). The common manga format that I see nowadays, are in compact digest compilation sizes. They are approximately 6 x 8". They contain 4 or more issues/chapters of the story per volume, and each digest (volume) may have 300 or more pages! It is common for translated manga to be "flipped", that is, read from the right to left direction. Rumiko Takahashi's work is cute. Other authors' work was somewhat interesting.
I even purchased a few titles of Chinese manga (translated into English); One is a story around a martial arts theme set in ancient China. I can't recall the name of the title (I think the work "Sword" is in the title) but it is somewhere stowed away in my "stuff" storage area. This manga is absolutely terrible. The art is good and acceptable with perhaps an average (subjective) rating. The storytelling however is very bad. It is boring to read. There is no real heavy suspense, and I don't really "care" about the characters. It seems much of the story is based on action/fighting sequences.
Back to present times. I don't get out much, but it seems to me Chinese manga never caught on in North America. Am I wrong? (Does this mean all Chinese manga is this bad? There must be some quality work out there, somewhere.) Ironically, I have noticed that there are Japanese Manga titles translated into Chinese! I guess quality is accepted universally.
Mai the Psychic Girl is the series, decades ago, that got me hooked onto manga. It was one of the few titles which was compelling and captivating at the time. This is one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, manga series. Fortunately, the retailer carried back-issues and I was able to collect the entire (28 issues) series! (I understand that Viz recently republished the entire series as a 3 volume manga called "Mai the Psychic Girl, Perfect Collection".)
The writer is Kazuya Kudo. The art is more realistic than in most manga in that the eyes are less "cartoonish". Ryoichi Ikegami is the artist; He also illustrated the adult manga series Crying Freeman. This is from Wikipedia. In Japan, Mai the Psychic girl is titled "Mai"; the Kanji for Mai is " 舞 "
BigFive BB52
EACC 21543D
GB12345 4672
GB2312 4672
Unicode 821E
CCCII 21543D
The original NorthAmerican comic book format of this series was published bi-weekly by Eclipse Comics and Viz Comics.
Plot: Extra-Sensory abilities are seen as a curse as they hinder a young girl's life and freedom. The heroine has to remain strong to do all she can to avoid using her powers and to try to live a normal teenage life. This series is a super-page-turner. A fun roller-coaster ride. One of my favorite supporting characters is "Ron" the dog.
If Tim Burton does direct the movie, I hope it DOESN'T contain an Edward Scissorhands, or Batman type cinematic flavor.
Links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai,_the_Psychic_Girl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryoichi_Ikegami
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_Comics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viz_Media
http://www.comicvine.com/mai-the-psychic-girl/49-26428/
http://www.viz.com/product?id=3976
http://www.amazon.com/Mai-Psychic-Girl-Perfect-Collection/product-reviews/156931070X/
http://www.screenrant.com/tim-burton-mai-psychic-girl-ross-60405/
5star Manga
In the late 1980's/early 1990's I've read at random some of the (few) manga titles available in NorthAmerica and translated into English. The manga at (comic) book stores at this time were all in traditional North American "comic book sizes", approximately 8 x 10", perhaps 50 to 80 pages (ie., similar to the size of a NorthAmerican comic book like DC or Marvel etc titles like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Archie & Jughead ... well you get the idea). The common manga format that I see nowadays, are in compact digest compilation sizes. They are approximately 6 x 8". They contain 4 or more issues/chapters of the story per volume, and each digest (volume) may have 300 or more pages! It is common for translated manga to be "flipped", that is, read from the right to left direction. Rumiko Takahashi's work is cute. Other authors' work was somewhat interesting.
I even purchased a few titles of Chinese manga (translated into English); One is a story around a martial arts theme set in ancient China. I can't recall the name of the title (I think the work "Sword" is in the title) but it is somewhere stowed away in my "stuff" storage area. This manga is absolutely terrible. The art is good and acceptable with perhaps an average (subjective) rating. The storytelling however is very bad. It is boring to read. There is no real heavy suspense, and I don't really "care" about the characters. It seems much of the story is based on action/fighting sequences.
Back to present times. I don't get out much, but it seems to me Chinese manga never caught on in North America. Am I wrong? (Does this mean all Chinese manga is this bad? There must be some quality work out there, somewhere.) Ironically, I have noticed that there are Japanese Manga titles translated into Chinese! I guess quality is accepted universally.
Mai the Psychic Girl is the series, decades ago, that got me hooked onto manga. It was one of the few titles which was compelling and captivating at the time. This is one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, manga series. Fortunately, the retailer carried back-issues and I was able to collect the entire (28 issues) series! (I understand that Viz recently republished the entire series as a 3 volume manga called "Mai the Psychic Girl, Perfect Collection".)
The writer is Kazuya Kudo. The art is more realistic than in most manga in that the eyes are less "cartoonish". Ryoichi Ikegami is the artist; He also illustrated the adult manga series Crying Freeman. This is from Wikipedia. In Japan, Mai the Psychic girl is titled "Mai"; the Kanji for Mai is " 舞 "
BigFive BB52
EACC 21543D
GB12345 4672
GB2312 4672
Unicode 821E
CCCII 21543D
The original NorthAmerican comic book format of this series was published bi-weekly by Eclipse Comics and Viz Comics.
Plot: Extra-Sensory abilities are seen as a curse as they hinder a young girl's life and freedom. The heroine has to remain strong to do all she can to avoid using her powers and to try to live a normal teenage life. This series is a super-page-turner. A fun roller-coaster ride. One of my favorite supporting characters is "Ron" the dog.
If Tim Burton does direct the movie, I hope it DOESN'T contain an Edward Scissorhands, or Batman type cinematic flavor.
Links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai,_the_Psychic_Girl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryoichi_Ikegami
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_Comics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viz_Media
http://www.comicvine.com/mai-the-psychic-girl/49-26428/
http://www.viz.com/product?id=3976
http://www.amazon.com/Mai-Psychic-Girl-Perfect-Collection/product-reviews/156931070X/
http://www.screenrant.com/tim-burton-mai-psychic-girl-ross-60405/
5star Manga
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