I was amazed to find out that after throwing a steam train off a cliff for the previous film, almost the entire thing was replaced digitally. The live action footage was used for reference. Don’t get me wrong, if I’d never seen the vfx breakdown, I’d probably never know. It’s some amazing work by ILM.
This reminds me of a podcast I listened to recently where they revealed someone tried to make a film of The Far Side cartoons. From the sounds of it, it was literally the cartoons realised in live action. There was even a test shoot and you can find a couple of photos online. Obviously the project was canned.
I finally cracked and went to Amazon Spain to purchase the bootleg, legally grey edition of True Lies but since the release of the 4K, only very expensive second hand copies are now available.
While searching eBay, I found a guy selling bootlegs of the bootleg, quite cheaply, so I nabbed one of those.
Yes it’s an older transfer of just under 25gb but I think it looks a lot more natural than that that new 4k edition.
The only problem is that I have now discovered PlayStation 3, 4 and 5 don’t recognise BDRs. Luckily I have a way around it.
In terms of Star Wars, I think you’ll have to be happy with the 4K(YEAR) editions.
George has always maintained that the original negative was destroyed in creating the Special Editions but it’s known that, I can’t remember which museum, holds a copy of the original negative.
I first saw this film when I was way too young with my Dad. I made it through the chestburster scene, but the tension with Brett in the wet/chains room put me over the edge. I had to stop watching and left the room. My Dad found it funny and asked what am I afraid of, “it’s all rubber and slime”.
I feel sorry for these poor kids from 1979. The parents are bonkers. Taking them to R rated films because they love horror and the other excuse about “it could be all true”! Okaaay.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire — Here’s my Letterboxd review. I enjoyed it, not quite as much as the original, but it is really a set-up for the next film.
If you goto Open Fodder, you can download an open source port of Cannon Fodder. It contains all the demo and special versions that were released. If you want to play Cannon Fodder the full game, you need to supply the PC or Amiga data files.
Great game, although I had to be content with the Atari ST version. I also remember a special edition for an Amiga cover disc which featured the Cannon Fodder guys invading a sensible soccer pitch.
I watched more films, but I don’t review every one I watch. So far in May, I have reviewed:
Titan A.E. — A Don Bluth (Space Ace, Dragon’s Lair, The Secret of Nimh) animated space adventure. Unfortunately, it’s just meh.
Rebel Moon: The Scargiver — I know these films get a lot of bashing and hate, but I’ve really enjoyed them. Looking forward to the R rated extended cuts too.
Beowulf & Grendel — Gerard Butler in an adaptation of the classic poem. Not a bad film, but the ‘making of’ documentary was more interesting than the film itself.
Terminator Salvation - I love the Terminator franchise but after Judgement Day, the quality starts to fluctuate. I decided to give this another watch and see how I felt about it. Probably haven’t seen it since I bought it on Blu-ray over a deade ago.