Bootleg Star Wars AotC Debuts on Internet 575
Arctic Fox writes "Matt Drudge is reporting that bootleg copies of the new Star Wars movie have been appearing on the internet one week before the movie's big screeen debut. The article says that they have used a tripod mounted camera at a pre-screening to tape it. Not known is if anyone is seen walking in front of the camera."
I gotta admit, I find this amusing, although I'd never bother downloading it:
I've had 12:01 tickets ready to go and there is no way I'm gonna spoil it watching
a low quality divx.
hmm (Score:2, Interesting)
what's next? "new movie, blah is to be released in 8 weeks. the first copies of it on divx are already appearing on the internet. this release beats the old record by 3 and a half hours."?
Bootlegs are a Way of Life in Asia (Score:5, Interesting)
Somebody sneaks into a screaning with a camcorder and films the movie. It's always fun to see whether the guy will use a tripod (most don't for fear of getting caught), who's going to stand up during the movie, whether the dude will be eating popcorn (always a little hard to hear the dialogue), and what the audience finds funny.
These bootlegs are almost always sold as VCDs instead of DVDs and they are so low quality that if you have a prayer of seeing the movie at the theater, you don't touch them. Sometimes you get the ultimate surprise of watching "It's a Bug's Life" instead of "Jurrasic Park III", but it's all part of the experience.
P.S. to the MPAA - if you actually sold movies in China that were legal, this sort of thing would never fly with the public.
This is not necessarily a bad thing... (Score:2, Interesting)
When it was released, I went and saw it at our local cinema, and it was obvious that a huge number of the people queuing to get in had also seen the film early, and yet we were all still lining up to pay money to see it again (I copied the AVIs from the CDs to my laptop and had watched it lots of times.) Sure, it made the cinema trip less of an occasion, I pretty much knew the film line for line, but the bootleg film, for me, was a huge part of the whole Phantom Menace experience, and I'd do it again (and probably will as soon as I find a copy online.)
This time though, I won't follow it up by going to the cinema as well. I felt that the fact that the sound was kind of ropey for the first half hour or so, and the picture was washed out and less than perfect added to the story - it was supposed to be set decades before ANH and the copy I had actually looked like some kind of archive footage.
Coding Films? (Score:5, Interesting)
Other news, more digital theaters, [yahoo.com] unfortunately shy on details, but there's a listing of some on DLP. [dlp.com]
The problem is also the solution (Score:5, Interesting)
"Damn this digital copying technology!" cries the MPAA. "It makes it really easy for a single copy to be rapidly distributed to many sites!"
Which is true, but these early copies are all taken from pre-release showings of celluloid. Given that the studios clearly can't keep control of the celluloid, it's no longer giving them any benefit. In fact, they're a bloody liability, as it takes time to make many celluloid copies and to distribute them, worldwide in this case. Consider the problems of trying to make and ship thousands of celluloid copies all around the world, weeks before the first screenings, while trying to keep an eye on them and stop reviewers filming the showings (or people in the distribution chain just pocketing copies).
Hey, here's a solution that I can think of. Give up on it. Keep a single digital master, say "FUCK the reviewers" ('cause half of them don't watch the damn film anyway before writing their review, and some of those who do are filming it!), transmit digital copies the day before showing start, and only start your celluloid printing there and then. Digital copying technology makes it really easy for a single copy to be rapidly distributed to many sites, remember? Hey, we can figure that out.
George wants to encourage more digital screens, right? Great, do something about it. (Assuming Episode 2 doesn't suck), then consider if Episode 3 screen times were:
Get the point? The digital genie is out of the bottle, and it can't be put back. Celluloid is a security liability. Distributors might as well get with the 21st century and start using digital technology rather than weeping over how much it's costing them.
When Will The Movie Industry Catch On... (Score:5, Interesting)
In any business, you think about what you're offering that's UNIQUE, whether it be price, quality, features, or convenience. What do theaters have that's unique? Certainly not the movies, since they're freely available via the Internet, or cheaply available via rental several months later. It's the theaters themselves (and the associated trip-to-the-movies-with-friends experience) that are unique. Now, this experience SUCKS in some ways (lines, rude employees, partially-chewed Goobers under your feet in the theater) but that's all the more reason to improve it.
Theaters ARE starting to catch on, with features like comfy stadium seating. I'd like to see them take it a little further. A lot of art-house movie theaters have nice interiors and lounges, with food that's nicer than the usual horrid crap at large theaters, and it often costs less. It would be nice to see slightly more upscale mainstream theaters. Also, they should sell beer.
Sure, lots of people are gonna download this flick off the net, but I really don't think many of those people were gonna PAY to see the movie in the first place.
Re:MPAA and RIAA don't want money (Score:3, Interesting)
Using this same logic can I rape a woman I am on a date with and then in my defense say that she told me she wasn't ready yet but did say she was interested in me but would like to wait just a little longer? This happens and guys go free with the right defense team and many women get hurt and sometimes emotionally damaged for life. Naturally this is a lot worse than pirating a movie or CD but the point I am making is when you start along that path of justifying crimes you make it easier to overlook some of the more serious evils out there.
Let the copyright holders control their content. When it comes to the point of them controlling how you view or use your legitimate copy of that content within your domain (and I ain't talking about no internet domains. *grin*) then you can cry foul and scream fair use.
"Information doesn't necessarily want to be free. I just can't afford all that I want right now." -Me
Re:Coding Films? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Prove it ... Where is it ... (Score:4, Interesting)
I wish they would. Ever since I first had a cellphone or pager (10 years ago) I would always turn it off when I went to the movies so as not to disturb my fellow viewers. Nowdays not only do people not turn their phones off, but they let them ring for a minute or more and then they answer them and proceed to have a conversation during the movie. I was about ready to choke this one bitch to death because her phone rang, her husband answered it, passed it to her, she argued with someone on the other end, and then they passed it back and forth for close to 10 minutes.
I have lost any sense of civility when it comes to that anymore. Usually I yell out something like "Would whichever fuckbrain has the ringing phone turn it off or get the hell out?" Or "What kind of shit-for-brains parent brings a crying baby to a 9PM movie? Get that whining kid outta here!"
Documentation (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I downloaded LOTR, what a mistake (Score:1, Interesting)
But what did you think of the animation interacting with live actors?
Re:Prove it ... Where is it ... (Score:1, Interesting)
What is the deal with misnaming movie files? I wanted to see if a good copy of Spiderman was out yet and, sure enough, there were *MANY* fake files. One popular file is a copy of Changing Lanes named Spiderman. Do these idiots *WANT* their bandwidth sucked dry?
BTW, there is a Chinese subtitled Spiderman rip that is damn near DVD rip quality. I watched a few seconds of it and decided I *HAVE* to see it in a theater.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, MPAA!
I am the MPAA's worst nightmare (Score:4, Interesting)
But the MPAA doesn't want you to know about people like me.
good screening preview (Score:2, Interesting)
Certainly the special effects will be lacking on the divx, but one has to ask the question: Are you paying $8 to see special effects, or are you paying $8 for a good story?
If the story is good on the divx, then it may be worth seeing again on the big screen with the good sound and great video.
Personally, I completely expect Lucas to do quite well with video and sound. But the story, is where he fell apart in Phantom.
Re:hmm (Score:1, Interesting)
FTF-SWEP2a.cue
FTF-SWEP2a.bin
FTF-SWEP2b.cue
As crappy as the last, or worse? (Score:2, Interesting)
The last one was so horrible, so poorly constructed, so poorly written, so self-important, Jar Jar so flabbergastingly offensive... I half expected that it would be the end of the series. But tell people "it's the biggest movie event of the decade" and they line up to see it. Fortunately for the economy, people are morons.
A review I read not too long ago gave the best praise possible to this movie "Spielberg is too good a director to release two horrible movies in a row."
Well, some reviewers disagree; I'll definitely be taking my time thanks to this review [nytimes.com] (reg. required, blah blah).
Of course if it was legal to check out a crappy preview on-line at some fan's expense and the review turned out to be wrong, I'd be in line on opening day. I guess that epitomizes the MPAA's fears: we might see the crap for the hype before they get their cash... better put those pirates in jail - they're threatening the whole economy!
Re:No Harm, No Foul (Score:3, Interesting)
Just thought of a solution for that: have a headphone jack installed in every armrest.
For the fancier theatres, they can even provide headphones (rental, most likely, to avoid damage/theft).
And (to be on-topic) this has the side benefit of giving tapers a way to avoid sneezes/laughter/that hollow sound. ;-)
The jacks would be a somewhat large expense, however; perhaps they could simply install a couple wireless headset broadcasters (different channels for adjacent theatres, of course). Then rent either headphones or a receiver with a headphone plug if the viewer wants to bring their own.
Re:I am the MPAA's worst nightmare (Score:2, Interesting)