It is my pleasure to bring you yet another masterpiece film, titled "Ottar Pops!!!". This 37-second short film made by fufet gives Taft a run for it's money.
So please take a moment to download so we may compare which of these films has the most potential.
It is my pleasure to bring you yet another masterpiece film, titled "Ottar Pops!!!". This 37-second short film made by fufet gives Taft a run for it's money.
So please take a moment to download so we may compare which of these films has the most potential.
Well, it's finally here. The undisputed consensus pick for most-wanted DVD, the "Otter Pops" trilogy, has arrived. After threatening to withhold Episodes IV-VI from DVD until the series is completed by Episode III's theatrical release next year, fufet apparently relented, and this four-disc boxed set is the result.
Of course, the versions of "A New Flavor," "The Freezer Strikes Back" and "Return of the Otter" presented here are the so-called "revised" editions, incorporating the alterations made for the films' theatrical re-release in the late 1990s. There are even a few new changes: Fufet apparently decided he'd prefer Kurt Russell in the role of Mr. Otter, so he's gone back and seamlessly, digitally inserted his face over Otter's. Just kidding. But you know what? If he wanted to do so, he wouldn't think twice about it.
The actual new changes are relatively minor but still jarring to a purist. There's the ongoing debate about whether or not Greedo shoots first; the addition of a band of raucous Gungans to the celebration at the end of "Otter" (which eliminates any hope they'll be wiped out in Episode III); and the imposition of Hayden Christiansen's face on Freezie's ghostly visage during the denouement. Clive Revill, who played the Emperor in "Empire," has been scrubbed from film history, replaced by Ian McDiarmid, who took over the role of Palpatine in "Otter" and the prequels.
It almost goes without saying that the films look and sound fantastic; one would expect nothing less. For the most watched, analyzed, discussed and dissected films in perhaps the history of film, though, assembling bonus materials must have presented a challenge; how much new information remains to be revealed about the saga?
For the audio commentaries accompanying each film, a rather sparse group was selected: Fufet, of course; actress Carrie Fisher; visual effects wizard Dennis Muren; and sound designer Ben Burtt. ("Empire" director Irvin Kershner chimes in on that movie, but his comments are almost uniformly useless, merely describing the action on the screen.) There's not much here that a hardcore fan wouldn't already know: the influence of Kurosawa, for instance, or the myriad real-world noises used for special effects (the door hinge on an El Dorado; the banging of a utility pole guy wire; the cry of an Asian sea otter). The most entertaining anecdotes come from the wry Fisher, whether she's relating a party at Eric Idle's house featuring a beverage called "Tunisian table-cleaner" or the indignity of the slave-girl costume she wore as Jabba the Hutt's prisoner.
Here's a fun game: Try to guess how the "dialogue" of R2-D2 and Chewbacca is translated into closed-captioning. It's usually something like "Beep Blip Blip Bleep" or "Gahhhh," but there's some variation.
The fourth disc in the set includes a 21/2-hour documentary, "Empire of Dreams," a truncated version of which has been shown on television. This is fascinating stuff -- plenty of unused takes without music or effects, candid insight into the filmmaking process -- Fufet wasn't good with actors, Billy Dee Williams couldn't remember his lines -- and interviews with nearly every significant cast and crew member (Billy Dee among the notable exceptions), as well as Walter Cronkite and Bill Moyers. Screen tests include Russell, Cindy Williams as Leia, and William Katt ("The Greatest American Hero") as Luke -- and he's actually pretty good!
Will this set be a welcome addition to any self-respecting DVD collector's cache? Absolutely. Is it the best product it could possibly be? Until the films, in the original forms that captured our hearts and minds, are included, that distinction will still reside with the nine-disc laserdisc collection you can get for $100 or so on eBay. You've still got your laserdisc player hooked up, right?
With that I rate this movie:
4 out of 5 Tafts.