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In one of 2020's great ironies, one of the all-time greatest movies has been put back into wide theatrical release, but you can't attend without risking your or someone else's life! ‘Empire Strikes Back’ rules box office in 2020 “The Empire Strikes Back” indeed. Not so long ago in a galaxy not so far away, what is widely considered to be the best "Star Wars" sequel was released, introducing audiences to the Mandalorian bounty hunter named Boba Fett, a scoundrel-turned-Rebel ally named Lando Calrissian and -- spoiler alert -- the revelation that Darth Vader is actually the father of Luke Skywalker. The "Star Wars" sequel, first released in 1980, was the top-grossing re-release last weekend, finishing fourth behind a trifecta of first-run films "Tenet," "The New Mutants" and "Unhinged." "Empire" was re-released into more than 2,000 theaters for the film's 40th anniversary, earning $908,000 at the box office. https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/e2-80-98empire-strikes-back-e2-80-99-rules-box-office-in-2020/ar-BB19whYO Oddly, the above article doesn't mention the impressive feat that 'Empire' had actually topped the box office back in July (there admittedly wasn't a lot of competition but hey!) ‘Empire Strikes Back’ Leads At The Weekend Box Office With $644K, 23 Years After Sequel’s Special Edition
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# ? Oct 1, 2020 11:32 |
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# ? Mar 29, 2024 10:28 |
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Alright, I took my chances and made a trip to this wearing both a mask and a plastic face shield (I could've worn a Darth Vader mask but I didn't want to look like some kind of WEIRDO or anything). I'd seen the film in theaters a few times over the years and the last thing I was expecting was any surprises but this was apparently a new remaster I'd never seen before and I must say it looked spectacular. It was like looking through a window into 1980, it was that good. It was a bright and colorful image but not in a way like they just turned the saturation up or anything like that. I swear it was also free of modern color timing, it did not have that minty tint to it that the blu-ray had. There's always been this debate about "how blue/white is Hoth supposed to look anyway" and this really seemed to nail exactly the right shades in those scenes. I reckoned this must have been the remaster done for the 4K release which I hadn't seen yet, but looking up screencaps that image looks much murkier and "minty" in comparison, nothing like what I saw in the theater. The real test would be to get this thing on an actual 35mm reel, it was evident that it was being projected digitally (which I presume to be the norm in mainstream cinemas by now). I remember the huge deal they made about the intense remastering that went into the Special Editions, and they did indeed looked great on TV, but in the theater on film it still looked ancient to me. Oh, and this screening of Empire had phenomenal sound, too, easily the most I'd been impressed whenever I've watched it. On a completely unrelated note, I seem to have lost my sense of taste here in the last few, but I'm sure that's neither here nor there...
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# ? Oct 1, 2020 12:05 |
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I had completely missed this, it looks like today is the last screening at my local theatre too. Thanks!
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# ? Oct 1, 2020 13:58 |
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No prob! Seems the only marketing for this that I'm aware of has been social media, and considering both that and the enforced distancing there was a surprisingly good turn out at the screening I went to. Just stay safe, everybody!
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# ? Oct 1, 2020 14:33 |
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It says a lot about how good that movie is that after a while I stopped noticing all the things you'd never see on the small screen and just got wrapped up in the movie. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention.
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# ? Oct 2, 2020 03:13 |
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Thanks for this, I had no idea I saw it and besides the tacky special edition changes in cloud city, it looked real good Except for this shot. I don't know when they "fixed" Black R2D2 but it looked like absolute garbage in this theatrical release. They way overdid the blueness compared to every other shot and it looked awful
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# ? Oct 2, 2020 04:12 |
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Feels good to know I made some people's day! The local theaters here look to be keeping it around for at least the next week so a lot of folks probably still have a good chance to catch this if you all are so inclined.
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# ? Oct 2, 2020 05:03 |
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taco_fox posted:Thanks for this, I had no idea That fix has been there since the '97 special edition I'm pretty sure. The one that bothers me most Is that somewhere along the line when Luke first meets Vader and ignites his saber, they added the little "scream" (as I call it) to the sound that Luke's self-made green light saber im ROTJ made whenever it ignited. I'd always liked that little detail in the latter film because it implied that, being the first sabre Luke made himself, it wasn't 100% perfect, but doesn't really make any sense when applied to the original blue saber. SidneyIsTheKiller fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Oct 3, 2020 |
# ? Oct 3, 2020 02:14 |
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For those that can't make a screening or don't want to chance it, grab some headphones and have yourself a virtual theater experience with this 1980 audio recording of Empire with a theater audience! Links through: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/esb-70mm-soundtrack-1980-in-theatre-recording-released/id/12501 Highlights on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HMGnKhxhTWg
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# ? Oct 6, 2020 14:45 |
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I wonder if anyone will end up dying of rona acquired at ESB. Honestly, worth it. I kinda wish I went.
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# ? Oct 7, 2020 20:49 |
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Don’t be going to movies, people. There’s a pandemic going on.
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# ? Oct 8, 2020 10:14 |
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I was the only person in the theater. It ruled
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# ? Oct 8, 2020 14:06 |
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taco_fox posted:I was the only person in the theater. It ruled It’s good that they actually showed it, I’ve been at theaters where there were so few people in there that they just declined to run the show and refunded our money. Not sure how the deal was structured to make that the better choice for the theater, but it happens.
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# ? Oct 10, 2020 06:25 |
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Midjack posted:It’s good that they actually showed it, I’ve been at theaters where there were so few people in there that they just declined to run the show and refunded our money. Not sure how the deal was structured to make that the better choice for the theater, but it happens. I imagine the employees just wanted to go home early that day, haha.
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# ? Oct 10, 2020 16:07 |
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I saw Blade Runner 2049 in 3D in a completely empty theater on a wednesday afternoon, I had to call into the back of the concession stand to get someone to give me some 3D glasses. noone ever checked that i had actually bought the ticket only. It was a great experience
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# ? Oct 11, 2020 02:27 |
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Midjack posted:It’s good that they actually showed it, I’ve been at theaters where there were so few people in there that they just declined to run the show and refunded our money. Not sure how the deal was structured to make that the better choice for the theater, but it happens. My best guess is that they were under budget on attendance, and had to cut staff hours. Edit - Not just for that particular showing, as in the whole day.
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# ? Oct 11, 2020 05:29 |
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Roth posted:My best guess is that they were under budget on attendance, and had to cut staff hours. Maybe so, it was just before dinner time so I left and I don’t know if they just closed the rest of the day or what.
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# ? Oct 11, 2020 05:33 |
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That person above talking about the light saber "scream..." Every jedi likes to.have a distinctive looking saber... But one should install a droid AI in one and then it talks trash to your opponent while fighting. THAT would be distinctive. I just thought of.that.
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# ? Oct 12, 2020 23:21 |
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# ? Mar 29, 2024 10:28 |
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:Honestly, worth it. This is probably untrue, though?
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# ? Oct 21, 2020 18:55 |