What they were saying on the Internet 1983

[UGCThorn]

I found this link a few months ago and wanted to share it with all of you. As you know, the internet was extremely limited back in 1983, and there certainly was no site like this for all of us to go off on Star Wars.

This is a link to a user group that discussed ROTJ at the time it came out in 1983. I think you will enjoy reading the immediate reactions of those who just saw ROTJ. I especially liked the post where the guy talked about going all the way to Atlanta because that was the only 70mm theatre around, not unlike our efforts to see this movie in digital.

In sum, I think you'll agree that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And that this is a worthy read the night before/day of the opening of ROTS.

And, yes the internet was around. Only it wasn't widely accessible until 10 years ago or so.

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/net.movies.sw/threads?start=270&order=recent

Just thought this part was funny:

[hr]
Jul 15 1985, 12:08 pm

net.movies.sw
-------------

This group was originally created when "The Empire Strikes Back" was
released (I believe), and was intended to keep all the discussions
out of net.movies. Nothing has been posted to net.movies.sw in
many, many months that was not also posted to net.movies. There
seems little reason to support this group until a new Star Wars
epic comes out (years), and we can recreate the group at that time,
should the net last so long.

[hr]

So uhhh ... did they recreate the grp for TPM? LOL

[Zéyann]

I never realised the Inet was around twenty years ago.

[ElPaw]

In the big scene -- the scene with the Emperor -- the Wrath of the Emperor
is badly handled. He jumps up and gets VERY physical, throwing sparks
all over the place to zap Luke. Why? He does these things with his mind.
It would have been far better if he sat with his eye closed as the sparks
engulfed Luke -- and as Luke resisted by clearing his mind of hatred.
And, just as the Emperor is about to overcome Luke, just as all his
energy and conciousness are focused on Luke's destruction, Vader smites
the Emperor with Luke's light sabre and they both are engulfed in a
blaze of glorious purple (not blue, please) sparks. A horrible scream
is heard, and the Emperor's body disappears. Then he appears in
``holographic'' form, and, with a look of panic and terror, fades
thinner and thinner until only a shadow is left. Finally the shadow
fades as well. That is how it COULD have been.

I never knew nitpickers were around before TPM

[The3lanK]

I saw the movie last Friday, and I must admit, although I liked it a great
deal, the ending left a great deal to be desired. I thought it was just
*too* happy and too predictable, with the good guys winning (with little
or no harm done - except for a few Ewoks) and the bad guys all dying.
Be serious, George! At least some of the stars should have lost their
lives in the battle to save the rebels.

Allyn Fratkin
UC San Diego

--- or -----

If every "good" person who died appeared in holograms, Luke's aunt and
uncle, not to mention all those Rebellion fighters, would have appeared
with Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin. If it were the case that one must be a
Jedi knight in order to die and turn into a hologram, Luke would've had
to deal with a horde of dead Jedi holograms. Therefore, the only ones
who could appear as holograms would have to be people Luke knew during
his lifetime who were Jedis and died "good." This would explain why the
Emperor wouldn't show up in Luke's holograms.

--Lynn

P.S.--In spite of its flaws, I enjoyed the movie.

[dcbar10der]

And why didn't Anaken Skywalker, after his salvation from The Dark Side
of the Force, disappear immediately upon dying?

A question that I still haven't had answered to my satisfaction, 22 years later.

[Der Graf]

The idea of Vanakin slicing Palpatine with Luke's green lightsaber isn't too bad IMO - nice symbolism (and then Palpatine falling down the MOAH, Darth Maul style).

Boba visibly trying to escape the Carcoon Pit with his jetpack?

[Bandersnatch]

I think the answer to that can be found in a line from Hamlet:

"...doomed for a certain term to walk the night, until the sins of my flesh are burned and purged away..."

The Ghost of Hamlet's father says that, and to me this little piece of liturature/mythology is good enough. It doesn't really need to be specifically explained, imo.

[MStrike]

Lucas once claimed that the only characters present in all nine episodes
would be the droids; in fact, the movies can largely be viewed as a
story told by C3PO, which makes his synopsis in RotJ particularly
amusing.

9 episodes...Lucas claimed?

[Bandersnatch]

I think it's funny that people still get all riled up about the possibility of 9 episodes.

The guy probably DID have a 6 to 9-part sketch or outline early on, which then got widdled down to 3 or 6 parts as he began making the movies and seeing how much time it takes. That doesn't mean there are 3 other "lost" parts, it just means it turned out this way.

[Detour]

Since we're all reminiscing about old school Star Wars, I thought some one of you would love to check this out:


http://web.archive.org/web/*sa_/http://starwars.com


Relive days long forgotten, before Lucas got greedy and created the ultimate weapon to destroy your wallet.. "HYPERSPACE."

[Indiana]

It's amazing how closely this reflects the postings of today.
Read this one: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/net.movies.sw/ now in new non-side scrolling link format lol

It goes to show that initial reactions tend to dwell on certain criticisms and that those criticisms are lost over time.

[Bandersnatch]

The glimpse after Luke destroys the Jabba's monster where some of Jabba's folk mourn for it is not realistic. In a place such as Jabba's hall
where fear and pleasure alternate, it seems unlikely that the guards,
who might at any moment be terminated, would have had either the time
(high turnover in a place like that) or the inclination to gain
affection for the beast when they stood a chance of being a meal
for it sooner or later.

Amazing how some fans had no sense of humor back then, and still not today.

[MStrike]

Since we're all reminiscing about old school Star Wars, I thought some one of you would love to check this out:


http://web.archive.org/web/*sa_/http://starwars.com


Relive days long forgotten, before Lucas got greedy and created the ultimate weapon to destroy your wallet.. "HYPERSPACE."

Man i remember that site in 1996. Haven't seen that in years

[UGCThorn]

Just goes to show that ppl read too much into these movies. They are great entertainment with an awesome backstory. Turns me off to find someone complaining that the guards didnt have the time to have affection for the beast. Who freakin cares! Enjoy the movie and be glad you are living in the time of movies instead of watching a juggling act while eating bad meat in a castle somewhere.

[dianoga]

i love those google posts, there's some great stuff in there. i can't remember if this has been posted anywhere recently, but here's some great speculation from 1980 on what the clone wars and the rest of the star wars saga had in store for us...

http://dianoga.com/clone.html

[MStrike]

1969 Arpanet...

[Damion]

contrary to other folks who have said that Mark Hamill can't act, I feel that he had the only believably written part in the story. The dramatic pace of the show was very badly handled, and many important scenes weren't believable

Haha, does this sound familiar??

Sounds like you could replace "Mark Hamill" with "Hayden Christensen"...

And I love this gem...

When Leia was releasing Han, she said she was ``Someone who loves you ... a lot.'' This was not all that realistic. Think about it -- she is
trying to get him out of there. The greeting card schamltz would have
waited. And we would have seen Leia PROVE her love by enduring Jabba's abuse. How many women would allow themselves to be raped by another species (submitting to bestiality) in order to pull off an impossible rescue of a man who might not love them? This should have been brought into sharper focus. Even a remark from Han would do it.

[Alkemist]

This is so good has got to be fattening, just goes to show you....you cant get everyone to like star wars. Even back then there were people nitpicking about.

And another thing, just how old are these fans today? lol

[cantina_patron]

What, not Ewoks bashing?

[dylan]

- I like the single-post thread simply titled "jedi is garbage"

But this is so generic, it could be 1983 or 2005:

Winner. Perhaps not quite as crafty an ending as I had hoped,
but a reasonably satisfying ending. I felt very good leaving
the theater (not because I was leaving, but because the movie
was so good).

I am afraid that the movie is possibly not suitable for very
young children; parents may wish to check it out ahead of time.
There are some scenes which are a little violent and possibly
scary for young children.

General consensus of 12 of us: 10 out of 10, possibly the
best of the three. We are all going to go see it again
before making any critical analysis of plot or effects.
The overall feeling was good, however. The crowd for the first
showing at Atlanta's Phipps theater (the only Atlanta 70mm
print) applauded and cheered many scenes throughout the movie,
and gave a standing ovation at the end. Of course, some of
these folks were die-hards who camped out all night to be
first in line.

Bottom line: the film could have been a tremendous let-down
after the first 2 and all the attendant speculation. It was
not a let-down -- it was a very pleasant experience. I would
easily rate this a $6 or even $8 movie -- even the second
time around!

Gene Spafford

... and last edit - I swear - a couple of gems:

Newsgroups: net.movies.sw
From: b...@cbosgd.UUCP
Date: Tue, 31-May-83 15:38:13 EDT
Local: Tues,May 31 1983 3:38 pm
Subject: Re: Of course DV can be Lukes father.

I've heard that Ben Kenobie (or whatever) and good old DV
fought many years ago and DV was thrown into a volcano.
Well, somehow DV survived (Lucky, huh?) and the result
is his UGLY head. Well, That's my favorite ( it might
even be true!) story on how it happened (The head I mean.)
Therefore, DV could be Luke's Dad.

Ben Walls
...cbosgd!bsw

Newsgroups: net.movies.sw
From: g...@fortune.UUCP
Date: Wed, 1-Jun-83 19:18:11 EDT
Local: Wed,Jun 1 1983 7:18 pm
Subject: Re: Of course DV can be Lukes father.

I thought everybody knew that Darth was a cute guy until he
was thrown into a volcano. Just in case some of you didn't, that
is indeed how he got so ugly.

Oh, that Darth. Whatta cutie!

[Iblis]

Thanks for sharing, LMFAO at some of the bickering.

This thread however had me laughing to tears:
Obi-Wan's Brother?

[Alkemist]

I LOVE this one. They bash the cgi in this era. But then i bash the puppets as well in the OT back then. Just read this guys review, you won't be dissapointed.

Saw RotJ last night and have to admit I was *extremely* disappointed. Lots
of good stuff, but too much silliness. This may sound strange, but I felt
it to be much less 'real' than the first too. my credibility is willing to
be stretched pretty far, but not that far. I'll flame away for a while and
then get to the stuff I liked and a conclusion. Some examples...

The creatures! Way too many FAKE-looking creatures. Especially in Jabba's
den. That blue smurfy thing really bothered me. Also the 'orc-like' creatues
that greeted visitors to Jabba-- big soft things with dull teeth and flab.
The guy with the tail growing out of his head was good, though. I was also
disappointed in Jabba, himself. Looked like an overgrown hefty bag with fake
eyes. Nice job on the tongue, though. There were simply too many muppets and
soft-looking creatures, especially for a den of villainy.

Princess Leia sure took being chained to Jabba, the epitomy of slime, pretty
well, casually sleeping against him when Luke walked in.

Luke's New, Improved, Green Light Saber, and violence in general. When I saw the
ad in the paper for this movie, it had a small subtitle that said something
like 'May be too intense for young children'. When? Was I the only one that
noticed when our gang was escaping from Jabba while suspended over the pit
creature that Luke's light saber didn't cut ANYONE? Just knocked 'em overboard
to let the pit swallow them. Is there a 'stun' setting on the handle? And when
Leia strangled the air bag, well, I just expected something a little more
like someone getting strangled, instead of just a couple of gasps and two
Tablespoons of green slime. I'm not into gore, or anything like that, but
this movie didn't even attempt the 'violent realism' of the first two. The
only blood (of any color) in the entire movie was the small amount under
Leia's bandage after she was shot with a blaster.

Ewoks. Oh boy, now the rebel alliance has been saved by Teddy Bears. Give me
a break. Oh, sure, their cute as can be, but what the hell are they doing
fighting Imperial Stormtroopers? Ewoks are the kind of creatures that make us
want the rebels to win because they get slaughtered or something; they are
not the kind of creatures that beat Stormtroopers. And with what weapons did
they beat a squadron of the Imperium's best? Sticks with little rocks on the
end.

The Rebel Alliance. We really rooted for these guys in SW and TESB. Boy was
the Imperium evil then-- blowing up whole planets and stuff. Now it is the
Rebels who are on the offensive. That's okay, but I found that I didn't really
hate the Imperial forces as much this time. Sure, they did nasty things, but
what was the Rebel's reaction when the Death Star II blasted the rebellion's
two largest cruise ships out of existence? 'Oh no, the Death Star is oper-
ational!' No mourning for the thousands who must have lost their lives
instantaneously? Why didn't Luke feel the souls crying out, as Obi-Wan had
when the planet was destroyed in SW. Sure, there were definately more people
on the planet, but Obi-Wan was in another part of the galaxy, while Luke
was within sight of this destruction. I guess I just didn't feel for the
rebellion as strongly as I used to, but I don't think it is my fault as much
as the director's.

Now for the good stuff. My favorite scenes were all aboard the DS II. I really
thought this stuff was good, and I wish the rest of the movie had been more
like this. Luke's conflict with himself, Darth, and the Emperor was very well
done. Also the scenes of the rebels flying through the innards of the DS II
were fantastic. I liked most of Luke's scenes; I really felt for him more than
anyone else. I thought that his conflict could have been a more major part of
the movie, and I wouldn't have minded if he had not survived it, as long as he
won his inner conflict first. I also really enjoyed the sky cycle scenes. I wish
I had one of them to truck around on. I think I'd stay away from forests,
though. I think that the acting in this movie was the best of the three, at
least on the parts of Luke, Leia, and Han.

Conclusion. It may sound from my flames above that I didn't like RotJ. This
is not true. I truly enjoyed it, but I was disappointed because it left the
spirit of episodes IV and V. It was simply TOO CUTE to 'be believed'. I am
afraid that I will not pay to see this movie again, as I did SW (17 times)
and TESB(12 times), at least not in the near future. Oh, well. I hope that
Episodes I-III and VII-IX (if they are made) return to the spirit of adven-
ture that was in SW and TESB, but seems to be lacking in RotJ.

Flame away!

Shane
sdcsvax!shane
sdcsvax!sdccsu3!zz1sm

[dylan]

Well, considering that the 'net didn't get 1000 hosts until 1984, they didn't worry. The only ones really using it were profs and students. It was still very much an academic network at that point. You did note the old-school bang addresses, right (eg !duke!mcnc!msdc!gatech!spaf)?

BTW, mcdermd is a legit last+first username for me.

The biggest laugh I've found so far is this:

From: s...@gatech.UUCP
Date: Thu, 9-Jun-83 13:00:21 EDT
Local: Thurs,Jun 9 1983 1:00 pm
Subject: Darth played by... (possible spolier?)

Based on careful observation and an interview on NPR, we believe
that the person in the Darth costume (when Luke removes his
helmet just before he dies) is James Earl Jones. Note the
voice and check out the eyes.
--
"The soapbox of Gene Spafford"

Spaf @ GATech (CS Net)
Spaf.GATech @ UDel-Relay (ARPA) School of ICS
...!{sb1, allegra}!gatech!spaf (uucp) Georgia Tech
...!duke!mcnc!msdc!gatech!spaf Atlanta, GA 30332

[mverta]

Also, you guys notice that a lot of them sign their real name, and where they work or attend university?

Here we post anonymously and have shitty names like "WASR-10"

Not all of us.

[Chainsaw_Ash]

My favorite:

In my first viewing of the original Star Wars movie, Biggs appeared in an
early scene

. This scene has been omitted in subsequent releases which I
have seen.
-- David Smith

This is the first that I have heard that there might be different versions
of SW films around. Does anyone have any other evidence on the topic?

Different versions? No! Who ever gave you that idea?

[DarkSeer]

My Fav:

bytebug Jul 26 1984, 2:36 am show options
Newsgroups: net.movies.sw
From: byte...@pertec.UUCP - Find messages by this author
Date: Thu, 26-Jul-84 02:36:37 EDT
Local: Thurs,Jul 26 1984 2:36 am
Subject: Re: Rumors wanted
Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show original | Report Abuse

> In the August SFC, Kay Anderson repeats a rumor that Star Wars IV is
> in pre-production. Would anyone in netland like to contribute to
> this rumor?

It would be difficult for Star Wars IV to be in pre-production, since
SW-IV was the first one out! The rumors I hears are that they are doing
principle-shooting involving the stars from the existing films, to insure
continutity between the middle trilogy and the other films

That's gotta be the daddy of some of the retardoes we have on the boards these days.

And the precrusor to the DVD age and fans asking when the DVDs would be out:

Jerry Boyajian Jul 6 1984, 3:15 am show options
Newsgroups: net.movies.sw, net.movies, net.sf-lovers, net.video
From: boyaj...@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) - Find messages by this author
Date: Fri, 6-Jul-84 03:15:33 EDT
Local: Fri,Jul 6 1984 3:15 am
Subject: Legitimate STAR WARS tapes
Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show original | Report Abuse

The original posting appeared only in net.movies.sw. I took it upon myself to
post this reply to net.movies, net.video, and net.sf-lovers as well. If this
upsets any of you, c'est la vie.

From: !fluke!ron

> Before we shut down this newsgroup for a while, does
> anyone know anything about the *official*, *legal*
> release of TESB or even ROTJ?...
> ...there was a syndicated story in
> the local newspaper last winter to the effect that
> Lucasfilms (or Lucas?) has decided to *never*
> release TESB or ROTJ to the disk, video cassette,
> or cable markets.
> So does anyone have reliable information on what the
> status of these 2 films is?

For the record, I had also heard (many years ago) that Lucas did not want to let
the SW movies go to disk/tape/cable, and was upset with 20th Century Fox for
doing so with A NEW HOPE (They had distribution control over that film --- not
so with TESB and ROTJ).
HOWEVER, the other day, while returning rental tapes to a video store, I
noticed a sign listing THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK as being available in October. I
asked the man at the counter if it'd be only available for rental or for both
rental and sale. He said both. I didn't bother to ask what disk formats it would
be available in, since I haven't a disk player, but I'd assume that it would be
at least on laserdisk. We'll see in October, I guess.

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard, MA)

UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian
ARPA: boyajian%akov68....@DECWRL.ARPA

[Detour]

Star Wars fans back in '83 wore parachute pants and Members Only jackets.

Very scary.

[Olympiakos]

That is very interesting reading...man!!!! What a freak out!!

Thx for posting this one guys!!

[TheGenius]

I actually had to go vomit after reading the posts about the physics of the death star 2 reactor not being able the sustain the gravitation pull from the moons of Endor.

[Faid]

i love those google posts, there's some great stuff in there. i can't remember if this has been posted anywhere recently, but here's some great speculation from 1980 on what the clone wars and the rest of the star wars saga had in store for us...

http://dianoga.com/clone.html

Vader betrayed and murdered the pilot Skywalker - or so everyone believed. Actually, Skywalker escaped Vader's trap, leaving behind a charred body, and donned a disguise. For 20 years, he has moved among the Imperial troops, waiting for his chance. He has hidden Jedis and falsely reported their deaths to Vader, slowly working his way into the Dark Lord's confidence.

Where is Skywalker? Obviously, he hides his face, and tries to fade into the background, but if you look closely, he's there.

When Luke entered Cloud City, he saw Han being carried away. Suddenly a blaster bolt struck the wall in front of him, warning him of Vader's trap. How could Boba Fett, the deadliest bounty hunter in the galaxy, miss such an easy target? More important, why did R2D2 bump Luke's arm?

Because Luke's real father is hiding behind Boba Fett's scarred battle armor. Only a fully trained Jedi Knight will defeat Vader. "There is another, and there has been for a long time." Ben really thinks Skywalker is dead, but he didn't know about Yoda's "other" either.

And what about the Emperor? Will he survive the next episode, and come back in the third trilogy set another 20 years in the future? For the record, although his voice in Empire was done by Clive Revill, the face belonged to Alec Guinness. My guess is that Guinness will portray the Emperor in Jedi as a clone of Obi-wan, making the Clone War a struggle between the evil Emperor and his good clone. Skywalker and Vader are just pawns in a much larger struggle.

Alec Guinness developed serious eye problems in his left eye about eight months before Empire started filming. Specialists warned him he could go blind if he didn't stay out of bright lights. He stopped making films, except for a one-day appearance for his Empire duties, and requested that his name not appear in the ads to keep from dissapointing the fans who might have come to see him.

Did you notice the Emperor's funny eyes beneath that cloak? Guinness was wearing special sunglasses to shield him from the bright studio lights. I think he will portray the Emperor as a blind man, his eyes burned out to keep him from seeing "visions," who turned to the Dark Side to avenge their loss.

[Dr Bass]

It appears this proves that star wars fans have always been completely retarded.

[Mike_Droideka]

Thanks for posting this stuff guys, I had no idea there were fans talking about SW on the internet in 1983.
A real eye opener....

[Damion]

Did you notice the Emperor's funny eyes beneath that cloak? Guinness was wearing special sunglasses to shield him from the bright studio lights. I think he will portray the Emperor as a blind man, his eyes burned out to keep him from seeing "visions," who turned to the Dark Side to avenge their loss.

This just plain not true.

Alec Guiness did develop eye problems, but the Emperor's eyes in ESB are *not* special sunglasses lol

[Exmortem]

omg morons.

Didn't you ever wonder why the Falcon is the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy? Because she was desinged by Jedi scientists as Skywalker's private warship, to protect his cover identity as a smuggler. In Star Wars, Luke said, "My father didn't fight in the Clone Wars. He was no knight-just a navigator on a space freighter."

[Zlaster]

Actually, episodes 4, 5, and 6 were NOT shown on cable nor sold on videotape for years after the theatrical run ended. Back in 1977, you didn't even have HBO nor a VCR, so if you liked a movie, you went and saw it in threaters again and again, which is what happened with Star Wars. If I recall correctly, ESB first trickled to HBO in 1989 or so - 9 years after its run ended. People had not seen ESB in 9 YEARS. HBO played the ESB back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back all the time for a while because everyone wanted to see it again. Just nonstop ESB. Then a year or so later, they did the same with ROTJ. Then they went to video.

Also, parachute pants weren't popular until MC Hammer hit it big in the late 80s. members only jackets yeah around 1983 is correct.

[SHarris84]

I had parachute pants in 1983/84.

And Empire was on HBO by late 1986--I watched it there the morning my aunt got into a near fatal car accident. Jedi wasn't much further behind it, either. Hell, I taped Jedi off its first network television premiere (NBC) in 89.

They did some interesting trims to it for the network time slot. No droid torture room/no putting Chewie in the cell/one less Sarlacc victim/no Han and Lando talking about taking the Falcon/no Biker Scout Encounter with Leia and Wicket (that was the weirdest edit because they left half the scene in) Still have the VHS tape somewhere...

[SHarris84]

Funny, the one I was most bummed about was the Sarlacc pit death (4th to go in, the guy that flips over head) Always loved shot.

Ironically, my truncated tv version beat my uncut bootlegged copy out. Fucking tape on SP only had two hours to hold, so it would always ended with the death star blowing up, 3PO going "they did it!" and Chewy growling.

Then STOP...REWIND...doh!

[Zlaster]

I had parachute pants in 1983/84.

And Empire was on HBO by late 1986--I watched it there the morning my aunt got into a near fatal car accident. Jedi wasn't much further behind it, either. Hell, I taped Jedi off its first network television premiere (NBC) in 89.

They did some interesting trims to it for the network time slot. No droid torture room/no putting Chewie in the cell/one less Sarlacc victim/no Han and Lando talking about taking the Falcon/no Biker Scout Encounter with Leia and Wicket (that was the weirdest edit because they left half the scene in) Still have the VHS tape somewhere...

Heh, I just googled this. I thought parachute pants meant that ballooned out and looked like a parachute (i.e. MC hammer pants). I didn't know they were actually pants people who parachute wear. Never even knew that was a style. I'm only 32, tho, I guess I can't remember style back in 1983/4.

Yeah might have been 1986. Still, that is 6 years of waiting before seeing it again. Nowadays, movies get released in months.

[Donut]

Actually, episodes 4, 5, and 6 were NOT shown on cable nor sold on videotape for years after the theatrical run ended. Back in 1977, you didn't even have HBO nor a VCR, so if you liked a movie, you went and saw it in threaters again and again, which is what happened with Star Wars.

And now, 25 years later, a workprint version of the movie leaks the day before the movie opens in theaters and is available for everyone to download....how the times change

[SHarris84]

" I'm only 32, tho, I guess I can't remember style back in 1983/4. "

Shit you're older than I am--I'm only 28!

But I remember 1983, even at age 7. Def Leppard's Pyromania all over the radio, Return of the Jedi in theaters...Dragon's Lair in arcades...ah. And those fucking pants. Made out of the same shit parchutes are.

[Mentasm]

The thread entitled 'Possible physics bug in RotJ' contains some of the most ridiculously over-the-top analysis of a fantasy film that I've ever read. It causes me pain to admit this, but it appears that the average Star Wars fan back in '83 was actually more retarded than today!

[POTA]

haha, that really is one of the most re-fucking-diculous threads I've ever read.

[ikelleigh]

Remember, these people in the original "Net" were probably professors at Universities or some ITT folks dinking around.

Probably a lot smarter than the average Net user today... I mean how often do you ever hear the phrase "geosynchronus orbit about that moon"?

Today it would be more like "WTF! HOW DID TEH THING STAY ABOVE THE MOON!? WOULDN'T IT FALL DOWN?"

[POTA]

Haha, read this and see this guy get flamed for asking for a VHS of the movies.

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/net.movies.sw/ NOW IN NON-SIDE SCROLLING LINK FORMAT

Shit, we have threads dedicated to illegaly getting copies of SW now. These guys act like they are gonna get the pollice on the original posters ass for just asking. haha.

[Swedish Chef]

Haha, read this and see this guy get flamed for asking for a VHS of the movies.

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/net.movies.sw/ NOW IN NON-SIDE SCROLLING LINK FORMAT

Shit, we have threads dedicating to illegaly getting copies of SW now. These guys act like they are gonna get the pollice on the original posters ass for just asking. haha.

That was great. You can easily see a parellel here between how heated people got over VHS back then, and direct net d/ling that we have now. And remember just how commonplace VHS would become? The movie industry better wake up and smell the coffee.

[MTH]

I always found this quite amusing.

http://www.starwars.com/episode-v/bts/a ... 10401/401/

[AgentPendergast]

That reminded me of the hilarious selections from the history of the First Prequel leaks (although those are, naturally, funnier - the "best" ones are of course the "expert" voices - "I am a copyright attorney and I can authoritatively tell you that those names are false"). I am still waiting for Dark Jedi Panaka.

Too bad there are no discussions - at least, no archived ones - from the period shortly before "Empire...", when the fake news that "Obi-Wan killed your father", etc., were leaked... It would be funny to read the shocked screams and arguments over that issue...

[Mentasm]

This made me wet myself (as did most of the site):

"..considering what great lengths he went to with ET and the previous Star Wars movies (he wanted everyone to think it was a different movie, to the point that he had all the crew wear jackets with the movie's title, and produced miltiple versions of scripts for actors with small enough parts), I doubt that he would honestly register the names of any characters almost 2 YEARS before the movies come out..." [Anonymous.]

[aBa]

The rumors concerning the prequel on the net are starting to get absurd. I have been working on the CGI elements for the prequel for over a year and never once have I heard silly names for characters like Darth Maul, Sebulba, Jar Jar, etc.

[King of Comedy]

For some reason I find all this ancient fan speculation extraordinarilay entertaining. It's amazing how stuff like this takes on new life with hindsight. Someday, people will be sifting through comments being made in the buildup to Episode III and kill themselves laughing at how people thought we'd see Obi-Wan flee the Tantaive in an escape pod, clutching baby Luke.