A Spirited Valentine ...

Princess Leia

Princess Leia

Well-Known Member
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
HauntedPirate said:
R1 was terribly 'meh' to me. We knew what the outcome was going to be. It felt like a bunch of made-up filler, with some admittedly cool visuals, to justify a movie. It wasn't like we needed to know the backstory of how the Rebels obtained the Death Star plans. Now, with the prequels, there was a backstory there worth fleshing out, even though Lucas screwed the pooch on most of the three movies (Episode I was a gigantic manure pile, although I admittedly will still watch it). Personally, I think:
  • The first prequel should have started with Anakin being discovered as a Force-sensitive teen and his training by Obi-Wan
  • The second should have covered the Clone Wars and ending with Anakin and Obi-Wan's battle (along with Luke and Leia's birth). Anakin should have been in his late 20's or early 30's in this one.
  • The third movie should have covered Darth Vader (and possibly other Sith) hunting the Jedi, with the Emperor's machinations going on as a side-story, and Obi-Wan and Yoda going into hiding along with Luke and Leia. The ending could have been set around the start of the Death Star's construction.
That would have been a bit more dark than what we got, for sure, but EpIII was rather dark and it turned out pretty well, I thought (except for the WAY-overly-drawn-out climatic light saber battle).
Click to expand...

If they had to make Star Wars prequels, it would have been better for the story to focus on an entirely different set of characters altogether. You would still be able to focus on the "big picture" events of the fictional world and its history without damaging the arcs played out in the existing chapters. Sticking with the same people, or their parents just makes that whole universe seem so much smaller.
Tolkien understood this.
 
DDLand

DDLand

Well-Known Member
Thoughts on Disney's Animal Kingdom.

1) Pandora: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...ents-and-questions.927205/page-4#post-7765529

2) The land seems to be helping attendance. The park was more crowded. The park seems more alive. That's great.

3) Rivers of Light was awesome.

4) Pandora is not enough. The park is still emptying out in the evening. Safari, Everest, and Dinosaur were walk ons or near walk ons late in the evening. That is still not where the park needs to be. To retain people, the park needs more content. It may seem counterintuitive to prescribe more content when we just are celebrating a massive new area, but new content it needs. Customer retention remains its number one barrier to success. Dark rides and new guest experiences are needed. Attractions that are impervious to weather conditions remain crucial. Everest, walking trails, Dino-Roma, and Kali are all susceptible to weather. It's difficult to leave a world leading Park with only 4 rides and a couple shows to carry the weight of operations when lightening strikes.

5) Dinosaur just got good. Really good. I always thought Dinosaur got a bad rap. People whined about it all the time. I did understand it was worse than Indy, but I still thought it was a decent ride.

Then came the refurb.

The refurb helped with a few things.
1) Lighting
2) Vehicle movement
3) Fixing broken effects
4) Adding new effects

I had no idea such seemingly small items could so fundamentally transform the experience. You can now see lush environments. You can hear the Dinosaurs chasing you. You can feel the car lose traction.

Everything is so much more clear and awesome.

Honestly it used to be a ride where you would occasionally see Dinos in the dark. Now it's an awesome journey that is one of the highlights of DAK. It's better than Indy now. Indy is not nearly as cool as this ride is. It's so good.

It moved from B/B+ to an A/A+. It was transformational in a way the recent PotC refurb was.

One of my new favorite Disney attractions... Only 19 years old!

5) Food is great. DAK is the new Epcot.

6) DHS (not scientific) seemed emptier. DAK seems to have stolen guests from DHS. Who can blame them?

It's a great park. Really one of the best in the world. My top 3 globally are Disneyland Park, Tokyo Disney Sea, and DAK. DAK is Walt Disney World's crown jewel. I hope it gets much more.
 
U

UpAllNight

Well-Known Member
Completely agree DDland. Dinosaur is absolutely immense and so underrated. This year was actually the first time I have ever seen the Dino chase the vehicle and it took me by surprise so much. There's literally 1 thing I'd Impove and that's the pterodactyl not swooping down. I love the new screens, and I never fail to smile throughout the whole ride.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
ford91exploder said:
The problem is disney's definition of 'Temporary', It's on the order of the quonset huts on miltary bases which were installed in WW II for 'temporary space' and in many cases are STILL THERE and in use, Temporary is 6-9 months not 5-7 years like Launch Bay.
Click to expand...
Launch Bay opened in November 2015. Star Wars Land should be open by the end of 2019 (unless you still think it won't open;)) so it's a 4 year place holder. It's intent was to fill a void left by closing about 1/3 of the park for construction. They used Frozen for a distraction for a year in 2015 and then switched everything to temporary SW stuff. It's not supposed to be a 6-9 month temporary thing but rather a placeholder until the new land opens. I don't see it surviving much past the initial opening crowds for the land.

I fully agree that DHS today is in rough shape. It's almost a crime they are still charging full price for it. Once SWL opens the park will be in better shape but still in need of some more stuff. I would hope that the opening of SWL will lead to the closing of Launch Bay, the Indy stunt show and some other lesser attractions/shows and they will use that space for another addition.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
HauntedPirate said:
R1 was terribly 'meh' to me. We knew what the outcome was going to be. It felt like a bunch of made-up filler, with some admittedly cool visuals, to justify a movie. It wasn't like we needed to know the backstory of how the Rebels obtained the Death Star plans. Now, with the prequels, there was a backstory there worth fleshing out, even though Lucas screwed the pooch on most of the three movies (Episode I was a gigantic manure pile, although I admittedly will still watch it). Personally, I think:
  • The first prequel should have started with Anakin being discovered as a Force-sensitive teen and his training by Obi-Wan
  • The second should have covered the Clone Wars and ending with Anakin and Obi-Wan's battle (along with Luke and Leia's birth). Anakin should have been in his late 20's or early 30's in this one.
  • The third movie should have covered Darth Vader (and possibly other Sith) hunting the Jedi, with the Emperor's machinations going on as a side-story, and Obi-Wan and Yoda going into hiding along with Luke and Leia. The ending could have been set around the start of the Death Star's construction.
That would have been a bit more dark than what we got, for sure, but EpIII was rather dark and it turned out pretty well, I thought (except for the WAY-overly-drawn-out climatic light saber battle).
Click to expand...
I won't comment on the armchair Star Warseneering. I do agree with your assesment of R:1.

Star Wars never needed to have all it's blanks filled in. They made the same mistake with the prequels. As a fan, at first I love seeing any mystery solved but then eventually I regret that Star Wars becomes demystified.

EP I is a manure pile indeed, not a good movie. But quite a few of its constituting elements are among the best in the entire saga: the music, the art direction, the costumes, the world designs, Darth Maul (a bit under used). It is not un watchable once you accept its flaws and shortcomings.
 
BlindChow

BlindChow

Well-Known Member
HMF said:
That is not dialouge from the movie. Also The "Sacred" original Trilogy has some of the shoddiest pieces of dialouge in cinematic history.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the original films had some clunkers.

Seriously, have you ever been on a road trip, crested a hill and, seeing your destination before you, said "Omaha: there's never been a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."? It's impossible to make it sound like a natural thing a real living human being would say. I live in awe of Alec Guinness.
 
BlindChow

BlindChow

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
Appollo 13, The Paper, and Frost/Nixon are all excellent.
Click to expand...
I think he's definitely a journeyman (*Oscar-winning, for what that's worth), but he's made some excellent films. Nothing like [whatever "safe" director made the Hunger Games movies] or [whatever "safe" director did the last several Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts movies].
 
Q

Quinnmac000

Well-Known Member
BlindChow said:
I think he's definitely a journeyman (*Oscar-winning, for what that's worth), but he's made some excellent films. Nothing like [whatever "safe" director made the Hunger Games movies] or [whatever "safe" director did the last several Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts movies].
Click to expand...

Yea but he also directed Cowboys Vs Aliens and those awful Da Vinci Code films. He is good with non tentpole films, his tentpoles have gone sour.
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
GoofGoof said:
Launch Bay opened in November 2015. Star Wars Land should be open by the end of 2019 (unless you still think it won't open;)) so it's a 4 year place holder. It's intent was to fill a void left by closing about 1/3 of the park for construction. They used Frozen for a distraction for a year in 2015 and then switched everything to temporary SW stuff. It's not supposed to be a 6-9 month temporary thing but rather a placeholder until the new land opens. I don't see it surviving much past the initial opening crowds for the land.

I fully agree that DHS today is in rough shape. It's almost a crime they are still charging full price for it. Once SWL opens the park will be in better shape but still in need of some more stuff. I would hope that the opening of SWL will lead to the closing of Launch Bay, the Indy stunt show and some other lesser attractions/shows and they will use that space for another addition.
Click to expand...

I've NEVER said that SWL would not open, What I've said is Wall St will not ALLOW TWDC to open TWO of them simultaneously, We as Disney fans know they are a license to print money but the reality is Wall St HATES theme parks and would much prefer that TWDC not build them at all. I would not be surprised if SWL in WDW opening in 2021-22.

There is no way in HELL that DL SWL is not opening on time in 2019, WDW OTOH ???
 

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