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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies

Star Wars Ahead of Schedule 81

Posted by CmdrTaco from the for-the-impatient-people dept.
ABC wrote in to say that Matt Drudge has article saying that 60 Minutes will have a sneak preview for Star Wars, the Phantom Menace on Sunday with some new clips. Not nearly as scary as the rumors floating around that some company in Amsterdam has a bootleg 5 1/2 hour unedited cut of the flick and will be airing it soon. Anyone have info that isn't in dutch?
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Star Wars Ahead of Schedule More

Star Wars Ahead of Schedule

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  • The only way you can steal movies is if you take someone else's VHS tape. Then you're really stealing the tape, not the movie.

    The terms "stolen" and "theft" should not be used when discussing intellectual property. In the immortal words of Richard M. Stallman:

    ---
    Copyright apologists often use words like ''stolen'' and ``theft'' to describe copyright infringement. At the same time, they ask us to treat the legal system as an authority on ethics: if copying is forbidden, it must be wrong.

    So it is pertinent to mention that the legal system--at least in the US--rejects the idea that copyright infringement is ``theft''. Copyright advocates who use terms like ``stolen'' are misrepresenting the authority that they appeal to.

    The idea that laws decide what is right or wrong is mistaken in general. Laws are, at their best, an attempt to achieve justice; to say that laws define justice or ethical conduct is turning things upside down.
    ---

  • From the Read The Fine FAQ Department: registered users' comments receive a one by default.

  • Not just you. The only addition I didn't like in all three movies was the sarlack (sp?) pit. The worm sucked and was a direct ripoff of Dune. Other than that, all the additions were great!

    BTW, what ewok song? I don't remember one. Mind you, it's been 10+ years since I saw the original ROTJ.

  • I won't be watching it. I've made every effort to avoid the hype and see as little footage as possible (I did break down and watch the trailers however). I don't want anything given away until its time to watch it on the big screen. Mmmm...we're almost there.

    Hmmm...think I convince the boss to give me the day off on the grounds that its a religious holiday?
  • Posted by Aelfgifu:

    I know this is a rumor, but come on! Lucas has been pretty nice about not being a bastard about fan sites, etc., but you had better believe he would descend with all the Fury of Hell on anyone who was trying to show a bootleg copy of PM. If we have heard it, so has he and his lawyers.

    If this even exists (which I, for one, seriously doubt) then no one will ever see it.

    Heather
  • Posted by The Incredible Mr. Limpett:

    Just the fact that Keanu Reeves is in it pretty much says it has not plot...

    Dude! Alright! Wow/Whoa! --his acting range.
    ----
    "Wars, conflict, it's all business. One murder makes a
    villain. Millions a hero. Numbers sanctify."
  • Subject says it all.
  • True. But if we bring in Matt, shall we bring in American Politics Journal, Foxnews or Salon Magazine? How about a slashbox to Lindatripp.com? I thought /. was News For Nerds...not a Portal Site that has links to other portal sites. Since the Impeachment ended nine days out of ten all Drudge has had are links to other news stories.

  • BS (Score:1)

    by Jeff Knox ( 1093 )
    That is ridiculous. You are severely confused about intellectual property. The property you are talking about is concrete. If someone stills your video game you are working on, that is concrete theft, just like stealing your car. If someone steals a video tape of movie, thats concrete theft. If someone steals your itellectual property they are stealing your idea, and creating or using your idea to make a product or for other use. They are not stealing your physical product.
  • I looked and looked, and found 2 comments posted by Even Vetere, both in the same thread [slashdot.org]. Neither of which referred to Matt Drudge. A search on /. for "drudge" turned up 2 articles: this one, and another [slashdot.org], which doesnt say much. Could you find the one you were looking for?

    yes, I think we are a bit off topic :)

    -----
    If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed...
  • I never said that that his comments were unjustified - I merely asked why (hence, the astericks around the word. maybe I should have used HTML tags instead?). I admittedly do not "know anything about the subject at hand," and I therefore requested him to justify. If it is justifiable, then I will agree with Lotek. Otherwise, no.

    In answer to your question of why I am posting: so that I may be informed. I abhor unjustified flaming, as it shows no respect.
    -Nate

    -----
    If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed...

  • I could sit through a film version of "Fly Fishing" by JR Hartley, but even I didn't sleep through "The Empire Strikes Back"!!!!!!!! Yes, you probably are the only one who has done this!!!! You might want to talk to my dad- without fail he seems to fall asleep when "Dr Strangelove" is on telly. He even fell asleep when he went to see it in the cinema (Twice!!!!!!!!!) when it was first out!!!!!!!
    ===
    Old Fart!!! Of tha SENIOR DADS!!!!!
  • In high school, I got to see a 9 hours version of 2001.

    The scene where Dave is in the Pod trying to come back into the space ship lasted 1 1/2 hour, where all you would hear were Bips, Bleeps, Dzoinks and breathing. Something within that cool hour, you'd end up breathing at the same rate as Dave. That was the coolest movie experience ever.
  • Why would anyone want to watch 5 and a half hours of...ok, stupid question. But still, would you rather see the edited version, in all its glory? Or some extremely long video with tons of outtakes and such?
  • Well, on the nature of the city in The Truman Show, wasn't it revealed pretty early on in the film that it was all a set? I only saw it once, I'm afraid so I could be wrong. (although I live a couple hours away from Seaside, Florida, where it was filmed - it really looks exactly like it does in the movie, minus the island aspect.)

    Now what really got me was The Fifth Element. In all of the ads for that, they kept hyping the mysterious 'Fifth Element' even though it was revealed right away. That and the nightmare dystopic future in which everyone wears brightly colored french clothing turned me off to it. Hopefully The Matrix won't be as bad, though I fear it will be.

  • Yeah, for someone raised on The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, a stage light falling from out of the sky is nothing.

    Would've been cool if it turned out to be one really big coincidence and Truman dies at sea. On a related note, does anyone else think that the Mission: Impossible movie would have been better if Tom Cruise had actually been a traitor (it would have only required a small amount of the film to be changed, and the girl could be the heroine in the end).

  • While I agree 100% that people should support the movie by seeing it in the theaters, I for one would love to see this uncut "bootleg". I will be right there in the theaters May 19th (and probably several more times during the next couple weeks :-) but I would love to see an uncut version and would pay to see one. Since Lucas won't release this version, I don't see any problem in getting the bootleg as long as the movie is supported with your $$$ in theaters.
  • it's suposed to air at april 1st
    in other words, ignore the rumour
  • Im quite thrilled. I'm sick as shit of all these "hahahaha. first post" idiots.

    I'm glad something is finally being done
  • I was a kid when my Aunt Bibi took me to see "The Empire Strikes Back" and I fall asleep, too.
    Have seen the movies when I grew up, and I find them a bit boring also.
    I will go to see "The Phantom Menace", just because I like seeing those special effects, but I don't bet the plot will get any more interesting.

    I DON'T have any interest in a 5-1/2 hour uncut version, though.

    Now, a fair comparison will be if we take Robotech, for example. That's the greatest space epic I've ever watched, with a very good plot.
    Since it was the merge of three different japanese animation series, the story and dialogues had to be rewritten in the US.

    I was sure happy as hell when I got to see some of the uncut (uncensored) episodes in the Japanese version with english subtitles.
  • Well not entirely. But it proves that the moderators aren't reading their guidelines - such as a score of 0 is for off-topic but not insulting etc posts.

    A score of >1 is for posts that are on topic - how did this entire thread then score 1's when it plainly states that it is off-topic

    However, I think as a whole, the moderators are doing a fine job.

  • Okay, my own sarcasm turns around and bites me on my arse. Hmmm, doesn't taste so good eating it a second time :)
  • That always bothered me about Terminator 2. It wasn't until Arnold actually pushed John out of harms way that you had any idea that he was "good." But, in all the trailers, and the interviews, you find out that Arnold is the good guy.

    It didn't really spoil the movie, but it would have been very cool to be surprised.
  • I couldn't agree more about Greedo... I was very disappointed with that change. I do understand the political motivation for it though. When ANH was released, that was all of StarWars. The original opening is proof enough of that. Then, after Chapters 5 and 6 were completed, Han was a hero, and no longer the scoundrel he was original depicted to be. This prompted George to make a "subtle" change in the Cantina scene. Let's get real here, unless you grew up on StarWars, you wouldn't know the difference. The change wasn't done for you or I, so we would enjoy the movie better, it was done so that a younger generation of StarWars fans would have fewer discontinuities, when watching the films, one after the other.
    Time flies like an arrow;
  • Funny idea, that 5 hour version. Now how long is the actual movie going to be, 3 hours at most? Would they have done all the CGI (light sabers for instance) and sound (kosh... kosh...) for two extra hours of film knowing they will throw it away? Imagine the cost! Better yet, imagine seeing all those actors with only Blue Screen behind. Worse than death, it would kill the illusion.

    Joke of the day :)

  • Just wanted to say that Heather you are so right..I have spent most of my life in attorneys offices and I can tell you if there is a bootleg copy it will never see the light of day...that movie is worth upwords up 200-300 million dollars...my than enough money to get all the attorneys drooling..
  • maybe, ask cmdrtaco, he probably knows the comments.pl by heart now
  • Actually, that appears to be a bug in the system. Where there are no comments, one appears on the front page; where there are two, '3' appears. Flip to Uncut/Raw mode and view the number of entries, then compare that to the frontpage.

    Sliding back on topic now...
  • It's about time he got mentioned on this site; he often has stuff that we'd be interested in, as socially responsible geeks and nerds of many colors...

    Which reminds me: Whatever happened to my suggestion for the Matt Drudge Slashbox? I even sent Rob a perlscript that summarized his headlines to plaintext...

    Anyone who wants to see 'Sludge' (as he's affectionately known within the White House) as a Slashbox, bother Taco.
  • It ain't as if you can't turn it off - in fact, turning it on in the first place is voluntary.

  • Stolen Movies and Other Intellectual Property (Score:3)

    by Evan Vetere ( 9154 ) on Thursday March 25, 1999 @02:55PM (#1962360)

    It's really reassuring to know that some slashdotters do indeed appreciate intellectual property, and aren't hell-bent on tearing down the system by which productive work is rewarded - the system upon which our society runs.

    I, for one, will be in that theatre on May 19, cheering along as the camera pans down from a starscape onto Naboo... or whatever fabulous world Lucas chooses to throw our way this time.

    It's going to be one hell of a ride. Pay for it! Talk about bang for the buck...

  • Just to note,

    some or even many scenes in SciFi movies with lots and lots of special effects do require an actor to be filmed in front of totally white background to enable easier special effects.
    So what do you expect to see in unedited PM? All you may get is rough plot and dialogs. While that might sound cool (sound, not look!) for some, it is not for me.

    I agree with those who say that knowing the plot in advanve will ruin all fun and coolness of one of true Masters such as Lucas.

    p.s. I wish subject line allowed more words to type in.

    AtW,
    http://www.investigatio.com [investigatio.com]
  • This is what's in their TV guide/magazine (translated Dutch):

    STAR WARS COUNTDOWN

    Still 183 days to go till Episode One? What do you think of: 6 days to go till Episode one? Yeah, you're reading it right: 6. (six). Thanks to a major administrative error at 20th Century Fox, when we asked for a trailer of The Phantom Menace, we got the whole movie in our postbox. Or rather, the uncut, first version. Many scenes will be shortened and edited before screening, because this version lasts for about 5 and a half hour. As a premiere we will put this unique version of Phantom Menace on our own homepage. In live streaming video. Unfortunately resolution will not be perfect, but we don't want to keep it away for the fans. According to our lawers we're fully in our right, but for, at least a little bit, making sure we're not getting sued by George Lucas, we will only show the movie at one day (the night of wednesday to tuesday from 1:00 am) at: www.veronica.nl. From there you'll be linked to the movie



    that's 31st of march and the 1st of april... hmmmm....
    --
  • Why can't it be both?

    Why does Slashdot have to only be what you want it to be?

    The slashboxes are configurable. I say, the more the merrier. I won't use a Drudge one either, but if that floats somebody else's boat then more freakin' power to him.
  • Nice how they keep avoiding mentioning the fact that this broadcast will take place on April 1. That's hint #1.

    Hint #2 is that the tape isn't coming from 20CFox. Of course not, whatever they'll be broadcasting will be their own invention probably.

    It will still be fun to watch what they want the Dutch (and many others) to stay awake for.

  • Apparently phantom menace is more of the same special edtion stuff - a bunch of squishy looking computer generated aliens that make cute noises. Oh well, I guess when the target audience is 10 year old kids ...

    Nothing could be worse than that blue muppet thing that played piano in return of the jedi.
    --
  • Wouldn't it really suck to work as an animator for Lucas? You spend months getting a little robot to whiz around, and then someone decides it interrupts continuity and throws it away? Just a thought. I hope they do better with this movie than they did with SWSE and the extra jabba scene. The things they added were horrible - and I heard that it took a whole year to do that one scene with the animated jabba! Only good thing they did was take out that annoying ewok song...

    sigh. good heavens, i'm bored. :)
    -lx
  • Some of the muppets were cool tho - like the little rat-like thing in jabba's lair. :)
    It had such a cute cackle.
    -lx
  • Sorry for being so snipey - it was unjustified flaming. I shouldn't have read that damn zdnet RMS article, it got me all pissed off about everything. :)

    Anyhoo:
    Lotek's followup was pretty much accurate. Matt Drudge is sensationalist, doesn't check his sources, and basically runs the sleaziest news site on the net. Sadly, many people eat that kind of stuff up, as many people watch Jerry Springer, listen to Rush Limbaugh, and buy the Enquirer. He also has a huge following among Limbaugh-ites, and a lot of his news caters to that crowd.

    That's why I don't like him.
    And that's more what my response should have been like.
    -lx
  • I guess the stage light falling from the top of the dome roughly 10 minutes into it wouldn't give things away then....

    --
  • all i need to know i learnt from /.

    check out the story [slashdot.org]
  • About this alledged unedited version of pm, I wouldn't want to see it, I have seen unedited versions of films before, and pre editing, they can be well, not very good, also if the effects aren't finished it could look bad.
  • Yeah, I noticed that too. /. just gets better and better.
  • In case you didn't know. Alan Smithee is a pseudonym that directors use when they don't want their name associated with the final product.

  • yub yub! (Score:1)

    by pal ( 16076 )
    yub yub! the celebratory dance at the conclusion of return of the jedi! the lyrics consisted mostly of the phrase "yub yub!"

    it's a wonderful song. i was very disappointed with the special edition for having removed it.
  • Does it really make sense that there are 5 1/2 HOURS of "unedited" movie? Heck, I'd be surprised if there was 5 1/2 of footage shot! Of course, days and days of _tape_ has been shot... but 5 1/2 hours of real movie? And even if there is that much, editors exist for a reason. Fanatic or no, even if it was available, who in their right mind would want to see it? It would ruin the finely polished final product... and it's got to be dull...
  • I have yet to see anyone explain how the "score" actually works. Anyone wanna fill me in?

  • I for one would like to see it, but not until I've seen the actual movie 20 times. As a big SW fan, I can say that anything he's shot, I'd like to see. It would be interesting to see stuff he cuts, and to try to figure out why it was cut.. Time/space, didn't look good, didn't fit, etc, etc.

    Anyway, noone has a bootleg copy. Lucas is WAY too tight on these types of things right now.

  • No, actually, if you didn't know from the previews, the Truman Show didn't reveal it was staged until about an hour into the movie. But the previews ruined that movie. It is still in my top 5 all-time movie list.

    The fifth element was good, but the previews made it seem better than it was. If you take it a face value, and watch it for what it is, i.e. a movie made from a comic book type setting, then it's not bad.

    The Matrix looks to be a special effects specatular, and not much more. I think the fact that they won't reveal any plot in the previews is that the movie actually has no plot, and is just 2 hours of special effects. :-)

  • You forgot - a new X-Files, too.
  • Lucas IS StarWars; whatever he edits out, doesn't need to be seen

    Well, almost. There were a couple of scenes that never made it into the final cut of A New Hope, partly for financial reasons (it was the first, nobody knew if it'd make money) because they weren't completely filmed. (Luke watching the space battle from the ground, talking to Biggs in town, and the skyhopper race at Beggars Canyon -- and it looks like the latter will (in modified form) finally see the screen in Phantom Menace).

    While not critical to the plot, they do explain some later scenes (where he knows Biggs from, that Luke really is a hot pilot, etc). (And the scenes do appear in the radio drama version).

    HOwever, I agree about the 5-1/2 hours of roughcut. After I'd seen the finished product a couple of times I might be interested, but definitely not before.
  • Has anyone else heard rumors about the third prequel being recorded and edited completely digitally? (Maybe even presented digitally; they'd skip the whole convert-to-film stage and find theatres that have digital projectors, which probably won't be unheard of in another 5-6 years.)

    Despite my initial disgust at moving away from film as a medium, I realized that it makes lots of sense. With a DVcam, you can do anything you can do with a film camera, with less expense and slightly more versatility. They'd be able to pull shots in the day they record them and start compositing them with the effects right away.

    With good preproduction work, the whole movie could be finished in weeks instead of months. It would cost significantly less. And, it would look even better. :)

    So, anyone else heard anything?

    -Chris
  • >You forgot - a new X-Files, too.

    And if you live in Minneapolis you get an extra hour of the X-Files (reruns), and then two episodes of Red Dwarf after that. Woohoo!
  • >Not just you. The only addition I didn't like in all three movies was the sarlack (sp?) pit.

    I didn't mind that as much as the end of the Jabba scene in ANH when Boba Fett stops, turns and looks at the camera. The only reason for that was to satisfy the Boba fans, which is not movie making IMHO. They could have accomplished the same thing by just having him walk off the screen instead of stop. And it would have been much more tasteful.
  • the "first post" was actually deleted?

    when I viewed this message, I only see 2 messages...
    so I changed the view so I'd see all -1 posts...

    and still only 2 messages?

    not that I really want to.. but what if some weirdo actually wants to *see* the "me first" messages! :)))
  • By the time I saw Men In Black (not to say it was any good at all), I had seen the whole movie through trailers. I've seen the two carefully crafted trailers, and no more. I actually want to be _surprised_ when I see the movie! Trailers also tend to grab clips that give away entire movies, like the nature of Truman Burbank's city.
  • Nobody's mentioned the travesty where GREEDO SHOOTS FIRST. That had me STEAMED when I saw it. Lucas has gone on record saying tha he didn't want Han to have shot Greedo in cold blood, but that coldness was one of the best parts of Han's character. I was VERY disappointed.

    And I couldn't figure out why Greed had a crystal on the end of his gun that apparently refracted the beam 30 degrees off the boresight of the barrel. Seems like a lousy way to win a gunfight to me...
  • Man, first star wars on 60 minutes, and then a brand new Simpsons episode followed by the premier of Futurama. It doesn't get any better!

  • Can we dump this anal-retentive idiot who
    can't link stories propertly on his own website?

    Actually I'd prefer to just stick him in the same
    room as a hungry jackal, Linda Tripp, and The Monica.
  • Hi
    They also claim it never came from 20th Century Fox and that they won't be distributing copies in any format.
    Mail me if any more tranlation is required, for this topic. This is not a charitable offer of tranlation services for all and sundry
  • Want first post? I'm sorting by score.

    Write good comments to get first post.

  • Hey, I was going to say that! Give it back! :-)
  • I can't think of one Unedited film available, (not directors cuts), that I have liked more than the theatre release.
    The Sci-Fi channel just showed the Alan Smithee version of Dune, and it just wasn't the same.

    And the 5 1/2 hour bootleg? from LucasFilm??? I wouldn't want to see it, not even curiousity based.
    Lucas IS StarWars whatever he edits out, doesn't need to be seen.
  • Jeeze, look what I did.. In retrospect, I really did flame on.. My bad.

    If you have managed for this long to not know who Matt Drudge is, then I salute you.. He runs a website, known as the Drudge Report. (http://www.drudgereport.com) There, he basically prints any scandal, innuendo, and rumor that people send him. Somehow, he managed to weasel his way into the national consciousness over the last year or so...

    He is, IMNSHO, the net equivalent of The National Enquirer. No rumor or scandal is too sleazy for him to post, with practically no real verification as to how accurate the story really is. People feed him stories all the time which are then reported on his site like they were handed down from the lord above, engraved upon granite plates.

    Basically, he embodies everything that is bad about net journalism. To link a great place like slashdot to a sleazemonger like Drudge would be really sad.

    That and I'm basically Jealous. The dude has a pretty easy gig, if you think about it. :)

    Lotek---

  • Stolen Movies and Other Intellectual Property (Score:3)

    by andrewchen ( 30185 ) on Thursday March 25, 1999 @02:32PM (#1962398)
    Just like everything else, the carefully crafted ideas in a movie belong to someone, in this case George Lucas (and his legions of employees). The fact that there might be a 4+ hour uncut version of the Phantom Menace really shouldn't make you want to go find it-- it seems to me that the proper response would be for you to be appalled.

    I know as someone who works in the computer industry, intellectual property is extremely important to me (especially in software, where it's all ideas). If someone were to somehow come in here (especially a "fan") and steal the alpha version of our flagship product, I'd be extremely annoyed.

    I think that we all owe it to George Lucas to all convene in some movie theater on May 19th and see his film (and shell out the money), because frankly, he deserves it. Let's show the film industry that we appreciate quality movies so they'll stop releasing crappy ones like "Wing Commander."

    Andrew
  • Hey man, I always liked the ewok song :)And I think SWSE had some cool stuff in it too, like the added storm troopers on the death start when han was chasing em, and the improved explosions... Ahh well, maybe it's just me :P
  • Was anybody really upset with the new ending to ROTJ? When I saw celebrating on Coruscant, I was shocked. I always thought it was a planet really content with the Empire's rule, being the home planet and stuff. That, and I really did miss the yub yub song :P
  • > require an actor to be filmed in front of
    > totally white background to enable easier
    > special effects.

    They can use whatever color is most convenient and not on the actors. Usually you would not use white because it is a complex color. Traditionally the background is green. In older times, they would use blue (the original "blue screen" term before Windows co-opted it to mean a different kind of "special effect").

    Lighting is key. Essentially they have as uniform a background as possible so they can digitally composite scenes onto a particular background color.

  • Well, if I understand it correctly, Dutch tv/radio broadcaster Veronica will broadcast an uncut 5.5 hours long version of TPM on their website (www.veronica.nl) using RealVideo.

    They claim they requested a trailer-tape, but were very surprised to find a full, uncut version. Now, for some reason, they decided to air it, even though they acknowledge they're not about the legality of it all.

    A PR stunt? A hoax? I guess we'll have to see. According to their website they'll probably air it next wednesday night.

    And then it hits you.... Next wednesday night is the night between March 31 and ......

    April Fools Day!

    Scipius
  • Oh no. Stop. Not another one of you. I guess if you're hyped up enough you don't need a trailer, but you say "I really hope i'm not dissapointed" which means you're not one of the people who has a right to say they don't want to see the trailer to stay pure bla bla bla :)

    -SLImonkey
  • the running time of the movie is published to be 2 hours and 10 minutes...F.Y.I.
  • I think im the only one who fell asleep during The empire strikes back, i take alot of heat because im not afraid to say that i think star wars is average. Now a good movie would be a uncut screen adaptation of Adam Smith's masterpiece "The wealth of nations" now i could sit through that one i tell you.

    cheers

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