DARTH STEVIOUS
Senior Member
ON HAND ACCOUNT OF THE PRESENTATION -
Quint, Harry, Moriarty and Crew,
I see you ran a piece on the Fox presentation at ShoWest. You really should have been there. It was absolutely amazing. I thought I'd elaborate just a tad. Don't worry. No spoilers. Apparently, what we saw has been shown to some people but only a select few. It was the first seven minutes (or thereabouts) of the film. We're talking the Fox logo, The Lucasfilm logo, the "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away" title card, and the opening crawl which is immediately followed by one hell of a space battle. You talk to any fan and they'll tell you one of the most discouraging things about the first two prequels is the lack of kick ass space battles. This opening more than makes up for it. And the colors--good lord, the colors! This sequence is so incredibly vibrant. Simply stunning. But the Star Wars excitement didn't end with this presentation, and that's what I really wanted to bring up.
Shortly after the big Fox bash, there was an amazing 3-D digital presentation featuring a panel that I still can't believe I was witness to. I'm still shaking from it. GEORGE LUCAS, JAMES CAMERON, ROBERT ZEMECKIS, AND ROBERT RODRIGUEZ all on the same stage and only a few feet away from me (Randal Kleiser of Disneyland’s "Honey I Blew Up the Audience" fame was also on hand). I write for an entertainment site (not nearly as cool as yours--but still cool nonetheless) so I was fortunate enough to stick around for an exclusive press conference immediately following the amazing presentation, but I'll get to that in a minute. As everyone is already well aware, George Lucas has always been about pushing forward when it comes to technology. In addition to creating the beloved Star Wars series, Lucas has always been heavily involved in making sure that his movies are presented in the best possible way. So along with James Cameron and the previously mentioned film making heavy weights, Lucas is on a crusade to bring 3-D to theaters everywhere, and not just in a "Comin' At Ya" novelty sort of way. We're talking quality movies presented in 3-D through digital projection. Now this could be a tricky proposition as the theater industry is perfectly content with the way things are, and there are plenty out there who aren't too fond of the whole 3-D gimmick. Hell, even Roger Ebert has said in the past that he isn't really into the 3-D thing (although he did give a very favorable review to James Cameron's recent Ghosts of the Abyss). If Ebert were able to see what we saw at this presentation, I guarantee his opinion would be greatly altered.
Not only is Lucas interested in the future of this technology, but he's also hoping to tinker with pre-existing films such as Star Wars. And this is where the highlight of ShoWest 2005 came into play. Lucas and Cameron presented a couple of promo reels demonstrating digital 3-D. Included--the first eight minutes of A New Hope transferred into the 3-D format. What can I tell you? No words can describe it. The quality of what we saw was staggering. In many ways, it looked better than the standard 2-D print. In addition, we were treated to numerous 3-D transferred scenes including Attack of the Clones, Lilo and Stitch, and a couple of quick scenes from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. It was absolute breathtaking, and I'm still sort of reeling from it.
What's more, George Lucas let the audience in on his big master plan. This isn't official, but Lucas did say what he hopes to do is re-release Star Wars in theaters yet again. He would do so in the year 2007 for the 30th anniversary, but this time, the film will be in 3-D. Then he'll re-release one installment each year starting the following year, until we've seen the entire series in 3-D. WOW! This guy is a madman. But a brilliant mad man. After this presentation was over, I was completely sold on the entire idea. Listening to these icons talk about the process and their pure love for movies and the future of film presentation, was incredibly infectious, and after the press conference was over, I was even more excited about the idea.
What made the press conference so amazing was the intimacy aspect of it. There were only about twenty-five of us. It was a small scale affair to be sure. I was able to get a couple of questions in. Nothing major, but still worth mentioning. I asked about the status of Indiana Jones even though I'm sure Lucas is tired of being asked that question. Not surprisingly, he was vague and would only say that they're still working on the script. I also asked if there was any chance that we might get trilogy screenings in theaters when Episode III opens this May (like New Line did with Lord of the Rings series), and unfortunately, it doesn't look like it. Cameron was asked about Battle Angel, and while he appeared very excited about the project, he wouldn't release very many details. He just mentioned it was a futuristic sci-fi flick in 3-D with tons of effects. Pretty much stuff we already know. Rodriguez was delighted to see Spy Kids 3 footage in the polarized 3-D style as opposed to that colored lens style that audiences saw it in when it was first released. He also joked that it would be fun to go back and change the vampire portion of From Dusk to Dawn to 3-D. That received a huge round of applause. I suggested a possible Sin City 3-D upgrade and he was quick to point out how cool that would be, especially given that it's based on a graphic novel.
There was just so much to take in and I really haven't even scratched the surface in terms of what was covered, but you all get the basic idea. Lucas, Cameron, Rodriguez, and Zemeckis are clearly interested in changing the way we view films in a theater. With the growing popularity of home theaters, it's clear they want to keep things fresh and exciting, and with Imax starting to take off, and the possibility of this 3-D process, things are finally looking to change. It's all really exciting even if the purist in me is a little nervous. After what I saw though, I'm more exhilarated than anything else.
At the end of the press conference, I slipped Rodriguez a business card and told him that my sight isn't as cool as Harry's but it's still pretty sweet. He laughed and said thanks for the support. As for Lucas, he was very gracious and even took a couple of pictures with the fans.
There was a lot of great stuff at ShoWest this year. I hit screenings of the amazingly creative Kung Fu Hustle, as well as Paul Haggis' new film Crash (which at this point is clearly my favorite picture of the year). I also saw an hour of the new summer film Stealth and dozens of trailers, but the 3-D presentation was clearly my favorite event. If anyone cares, we're working on a big ShoWest story for Zboneman.com. Feel free to check it out.
On a final Star Wars note, I did see Lucas again later on at an Awards Banquet press conference (he's the recipient of the ShoWest Galactic Achievement Award). While answering questions, he did mention that he's pretty confident Episode III will get a PG-13 rating, and he's also been telling crowds that this final installment is quite the tear- jerker. He told us that the people close to him who have seen it, actually cried. Interesting