Battle Damage - Unofficial Star Wars Hype Thread

[Draco1962]

...and THAT is the reaction I was expecting!

[hansolo77]

If I had the money I would DEFINITELY buy that too.  I already have the soundtrack on CD (and digital FLAC for that matter).  But I'd get it just for that 3D hologram.  That's just freaking awesome.  It was really neat what they did with the Special Edition soundtracks too.  Plus, I think I read somewhere that there is previously unreleased music on those vinyls.

[tthurman]

 

 

[tthurman]

 

Would be cool to have something a little more intimidating and menacing than the mid-evil type outfit in 7. 

[tthurman]

Splinter of the Mind's Eye

[hansolo77]

I used to have an autographed copy of that book before the fire, though it was on the shelf with other "to read eventually" books that never made it.  I'll be getting it again someday.  Plan on rebuilding my entire collection.

[tthurman]

 

 

[hansolo77]

Yeah, George Lucas must be pissed by now.

[RIP-Felix]

looks good...I want to see it!

[tthurman]

  On 8/13/2016 at 1:44 AM, RIP-Felix said:

looks good...I want to see it!

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I agree!!

Still early, but this looks to have the potential to easily best the last four, IMO.

[hansolo77]

Did you double dip?  I did, and I don't mind.  It's Star Wars crying out loud.  I'm a bit upset they didn't include the commentary on the first release, but oh well...

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=19607

[tthurman]

Nope, didn't even single dip

I don't have anything to watch it on that supports 3D, and figured the first release will come down a bit around the holidays, which is when I plan to grab it.

 

[hansolo77]

I went to pre-order it, but can't.  Amazon says it's for Prime Members only.  Such nonsense.

[tthurman]

Star Wars in 4K

 

BTW, Best Buy has the Steelbook releases from last holiday season for $9.99 TODAY ONLY!

I thought about double dipping to update my original DVD releases (the original trilogy anyway), but figure 4K releases are right around the corner.  Hey I'm pretty much TV less currently, may as well hold out for a while longer, who knows......perhaps we'll get the unaltered versions via seamless branching.  If you're gonna dream, dream big!

[hansolo77]

I'm probably going to be getting a new TV when I move out.  I feel like I want something a little bigger (36in is great for a bedroom, but in my own place I'm gonna want something bigger for the Living Room...).  I'm probably going to get something that is 3D, but 4k is probably going to catch on soon too.  So I'm stuck right now.  Is 3D/4k in a relationship yet, or are they bitter rivals?  And what about curved?  Technology is starting to move faster than me, and I'm only 36!

In other news... has anybody watched any of these (fake?) YouTube videos where people are trying to say the script has been leaked for Episode 8 and they talk about Rey's parents being revealed and the Luke/Snoke relationships?  I don't want any spoilers so I'm purposely trying my best to ignore them.  I'm just curious if anybody's watched them and wonder how hokey they sound.  They're always fun to make your mind wander, but a true fan won't speculate and will just wait and see.  I just want official teasers/trailers.

[tthurman]

I believe 3D an d 4K will eventually become the standard.  3D as it originally was launched seem to be a bit on the fad side, and interest has seemed to wane.  I believe as VR technology matures you'll see it make a comeback, and 4K, heck even 8K, will only serve to make the entire experience more realistic.  

Curved screens already seem to have lost some momentum, at least to me.  With one of the inherent problems of flat screen technology being viewing from an angle (IPS screens being an exception) then it's hard to see curved screens very appealing to areas where numerous viewers would be present.  Seems a better fit for single viewer environments, like your PC, IMO.

 

[RIP-Felix]

If the resolutions keep increasing, the cartrige may make a return. This time in HDD, or Volatile memory form. But, I think it'll more likely be in subscription based streaming. Pay a monthly fee for the 10K streaming library of movie classics, or a one time $20 fee to "buy" lifetime access to that movie, lifetime being defined by the lifetime of that streaming provider.Once they're out of business, you're SOL. Great for the industry though, it means repeat business, less overhead in distribution, and the predictable income of a subscription model plus in app purchases. This is the end of personal ownership I'm talking about.

[hansolo77]

Nah, they'll just come out with another form of optical media.  The next media has already been announced by Sony/Panasonic.  It's called "Archival Disc" and can hold 300gb of data, as compared to BluRay's dual layer 50gb.  The problem is that this media is still in a compressed format.  The VIDEO stream alone for a 1080p scanned film is in the 2-3TB file size range.  But now that 4k is making a push, those things are 4-6TB relatively.  And that's just the video stream.  Truly uncompressed AUDIO streams can be 2-3TB per channel.  So if you're looking at a fully uncompressed 4k scan of a film, say 6TB, and truly uncompressed audio of 5.1 (even though Atmos gets up to the 8+ range) channels makes 15TB, altogether you're looking at 21TB for 1 film.  So everything is getting compressed down to fit on a disc that will play at home.  DVD's have their resolution cut to 640x480, and an extremely low bitrate.  BluRay's at a higher 1920x1080 resolution but only a slightly better bitrate.  4k Ultra BluRay's use a lower bitrate to allow for the larger resolution.  So while you get the resolution, the actual bitrate suffers causing more motion blur and pixelation in high action frames.  Also, you don't benefit from seeing a 4k video unless you're blasting the video out through 80+ inch TV's anyway.  Most homes might top out at 60 inches, and 4k looks just as good as 1080p.  In fact, when I'm watching stuff I've downloaded, I don't notice any difference between 1080p and 720p on my 42inch TV.  So I really don't see the point in getting 4k at all.  Yea the resolution looks good, and it sounds good on paper (bigger is better) but the increased bitrate compression required to make the data fit in the same media makes it worthless.  Uncompressed data is going to need to be the next major jump, and at (the above calculated) 21TB per film, there's just no easily foreseeable advancement coming in a long time.  At least not until larger capacity mediums become available.  Even the next "Archival Disc" format is going to have compressed data.  It'll look better, but it's not the best.  And there's no way in hell I'm buying Star Wars again just to have it in 4k, especially if I won't notice any difference unless I'm in a room with a 100+ inch screen.

[RIP-Felix]

That's why I say the most likly way of delivering 4K+ will be in streaming format. Optical media is a physical/analog recording media, subject to the laws of physics. They are getting into the high energy laser wavlengths already, BluRay. Unless they're willing to potentially expose people to dangerous radiation in the X-ray and Gamma-Ray spectrum, then they will hit a capacity limit. And lets be clear, no one is going to buy Record size Ultra High Definition Video Discs, especially when as you say there is no real benefit unless you're projecting it on a wall.

Which bring me to the actual area it will come in handy. Projectors are getting smaller and less expensive. While 1080p output projectors are still somewhat expensive ($300 ish last I checked), 4K is around the next corner. They'll be affordable in the next 5 years. At 130" you'll be able to appreciate the extra resolution, if the recording media is able to deliver it. Hence the need for cheap TLC NAND memory in the TB ranges. While the reliability is lower and access time increase with additional layers, TLC and Quad Layer NAND is around the corner and may very well be able to bring back the Cartridge. How would that be for irony? The only viable alternative would be over an increasingly broader band internet through a streaming service.

  On 9/2/2016 at 10:11 PM, tthurman said:

Star Wars in 4K

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I want the completed version, how would we ever be able to get it? Wouldn't Disney have a problem with it if he ever released it for free? Is it more likely he would sell his edits to a production company/or licensed distributor with Disney's permission to release the restored 4K version?

[tthurman]

  On 9/2/2016 at 11:07 PM, hansolo77 said:

In other news... has anybody watched any of these (fake?) YouTube videos where people are trying to say the script has been leaked for Episode 8 and they talk about Rey's parents being revealed and the Luke/Snoke relationships?  I don't want any spoilers so I'm purposely trying my best to ignore them.  I'm just curious if anybody's watched them and wonder how hokey they sound.  They're always fun to make your mind wander, but a true fan won't speculate and will just wait and see.  I just want official teasers/trailers.

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Some perhaps more trustworthy spoilers are starting to surface.  

  Reveal hidden contents

So don't click this if you're uninterested

Of course who knows if they're accurate.

[RIP-Felix]

Interesting.. I agree they may be foreshadowing that "potential reveal." Alternatively, they could be backdoor leaking an idea they arn't sure they want to include. By rumoring it, they get to see what the scuttlebutt is before making a final decision to include it or not.

  Reveal hidden contents

I personally don't like the clear Cain and Abel ripoff nor the reincarnated matrix like "chosen one" story-line. I know that Anakin was supposed to be the "chosen one," but they never revealed the chosen one was to be a reincarnation. This mixes and matches too many well known creation myths to appeal to me. I want something more original, unexpected. I say drop the reincarnation myth and add a force vision prophecy instead. A force vision could foretell the "chosen one" story-line and would fit into what we've already learned about the force, as opposed to opening Pandora's box of reincarnated horrors.

However, if they do go down that road, there is potential for a really unexpected story-line; one that almost convinces me they should do it. Anakin's converter (chancellor Palpatine) convinced him that the force could prevent someone from dying, something we assumed was a lie. But what if it wasn't? It's not a far stretch from there that someone could be resurrected! So, maybe Snoke is the botched reincarnation of Darth Vader, Kylo's attempt at force resurrection that backfired. While that would be fracking cool, it may be a little much. It would, however, keep things in the family (so to speak). Instead of Snoke being this outside corrupting influence sowing seeds of doubt at what should have been a tightly nit family, he would be a credible corrupting influence from within. It adequately explains why Kylo chose not to honor Vader's redemption in death as recounted to him from birth by his family.

Vader comes back to life in a malformed body, the result of an unsanctioned perversion of the force. Instead of confirming Luke's account of what happened on the death star, Snoke seemingly gives Kylo proof of a Jedi Lie (That Darth Vader turned on the emperor and killed him, fatally wounding Vader but redeeming him in the process). Kylo could thus have been convinced by the reincarnated Vader (Snoke) that Luke murdered both the emperor and his grandfather. So enraged at Luke's deception, Kylo became a committed follower of his reincarnated Grandfather, who is the embodiment of Luke's failure as a son, uncle, and teacher; Luke, in Kylo's mind, instead of bringing stability to the force and Galaxy, brought chaos. Therefore Luke was a Jedi only in self proclamation, but in practice he was a duped agent of the dark side, too stupid to realize he was being used by the Jedi for their secret plans at Galactic Rule and too stubborn to listen to his own father (Vader) who tried to tell him that the real heroins of the Galaxy were those labeled by the Jedi to be agents of the dark side. You can see, how it could have been spun into a cogent argument for Kylo, one persuasive enough for him to kill his own father in much the way he believes Luke had killed his! I actually wouldn't mind being right about this. It fits perfectly and is way dark, exactly where J.J seems to be going with this.

The return of Darth Vader under the pseudonym Snoke is completely in the realm of possibility. We didn't find out that Darth Vader was the pseudonym for Anikin Syywalker until the middle movie of the first trilogy, and it too involved a critical change - a betrayal of the character's former life (as seen in the prequel trilogy). This would involve a betrayal of Vader's redemption in death, with a perversion of the force in Vader's resurrection by Kylo, which as the seed of this idea comes to fruition in Kylo's mind, began Kylo's conversion to the dark side. This is something Anakin Skywalker would not be a part of, which is why he did not accompany Darth Vader into the body of Snoke, evidently setting off the events that seal Kylo's conversion to the dark side and Fate as a committed villain. Moreover, it may explain why Luke has been in exile.

Luke would not only have to kill his own nephew, but his own father again. The emotions of failing Leia and Han (who trusted him the responsibility of Guiding Kylo), and kylo his own nephew, must have given way to despair. In this state he knew he (and by extension everyone else) would be vulnerable. So he self imposed exile to recover and seek ancient Jedi knowledge. This would setup a scene where Luke is reminded that Snoke, like Vader is not his father (perhaps a force apparition of Yoda, Obi-wan, and Anakin), thus dispelling that self-defeating notion and giving him the courage to face Snoke for a chance to redeem Kylo. Moreover it would give him time to become the most powerful Jedi since Yoda, to train Rei, and fulfill his role as Rei's Obi-wan - Perhaps culminating in his own Obi-wan like self sacrifice. That would also mirror the plot of the original trilogy, without being the same.

Mind blown?

 

[hansolo77]

Thanks for using the spoiler/hidden flags guys.  I really don't want to ruin this movie.  Star Wars is my all-time favorite genre.  Heh, Star Wars as a genre.  I'm really excited about all the news for upcoming movies, but I don't want any plot spoilers or story ideas other than "Episode 7 is about what happened after Return of the Jedi" or "Rogue One shows HOW the Rebellion got the Death Star Plans".  Even THAT bit is potentially too much because you already know now what the basic plot and outcome of the movie will be.  But still... 3 more months and counting!   WOOOOOOO!!!

[RIP-Felix]

  On 9/7/2016 at 11:42 PM, hansolo77 said:

...Star Wars is my all-time favorite genre.  Heh, Star Wars as a genre. ...

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It's my favorite Science Fiction universe too. The characters are atypical and asymetric, Vader goes from an evil child murder to redemption and beloved character (hard to do from a writing stanpoint...HE'S A KID KILLER) Something pushed Kylo to betray his entire family and kill his own father! He is emulating Darth Vader even though he must know of Anakin's redemption, because Han, Leia, and Luke would have told him throughout his life. I'm so damn interested to find out what could have been cogent enough to persuaded him to the Dark Side! And all the while there is the force, the empire and rebellion, aliens and nefarious characters, droids in an early stage of android development having not yet reached convincing human analogs...there is so much going for Star Wars that is unique.

Too bad you're not into speculation, cause I think you would really enjoy my purposed story-line (in the spoiler). It's extrapolated form the potential spoiler @tthurman posted, but taken WAY further. It would explain why Kylo chose to ignore Anakin Skywalker's redemption and instead emulate Vader...and Luke's exile...and Hans death...and Luke's role as Rei's Obi-wan...and who Snoke is...and man it works...and is WAY dark...

You can't resist can you?

I think half the fun during this waiting time between films is the speculation, it allows me to re-watch the previous films looking for potential story-lines and plots. Small leaks and rumors spill out that tantalize us, but who knows if they are real or not. It adds intrigue and makes me enjoy the whole experience more. That's just my opinion though. I mean, if the actual movie plot isn't as good as what I can dream up in complete speculation, then I could be disappointed with episode 8. Or maybe I'll be right. Then I can say "I knew it". Either way, I'm having fun in the mean time and keeping interest in the franchise. So, when it does finally come out I'll be that much more invested and locked in. Regardless of my feeling on the direction they took, I'll be having fun.

Besides, I want to hear if you guys think my plot holds any water or is complete hogwash. Let the speculation commence (in spoiler masks of course).

 

[hansolo77]

The problem with speculation is the let down when the movie is released, and you find out that THEIR idea sucks compared to yours.  Like "Rei is Obi-Wan's grand child" or "Snoke is Darth Plagueis".  We can come up with way better ideas than what the writing staff will probably come up with.  So I don't like the let down.

As for the downfall of Kylo... do they explain that in the "new-canon" books?  I've not read them yet.  I'm going to read one as soon as I finish A Dance With Dragons.  Though I also wanna read Ready Player One.  There's also a bunch of juvenile books that deal with the earlier lives of Rey, Poe, and Kylo so maybe there's something there?  I doubt it since to have Kylo be so f*ed up, the story would have to be pretty dark and not something for kids to read.

[tthurman]

Building 'Star Wars' in Unreal Engine 4