TBF, Mags, you have been doing a lot of the heavylifting for the quest, so this will be in good hands.
To be clear to everyone, this is just me burning out on imagination of the quest, since my muse has been hitting me over the head a lot with so many different ideas that I just can't find myself too interested in this.
I'll still hang out here, though, since this still does have a sepcial place in my heart.
I'd like to thank you all for making this a wonderful experience while it lasted.
I'd also like to thank @Magoose, @Fluffy_serpent, and @Martin Noctis for doing so much to help prepare and write this quest. I couldn't have done it without you all.
Changing the subject, it's 1978, and I'd like to suggest buying the intellectual rights to Gamera, if only to avoid them making that godawful Gamera: Super Monster movie that basically made the franchise go with a burp rather than a bang. Plus, as i've mentioned, we could do so much with the Kaiju that's the friend of all children.
Damn right it was! Unless Lucasfilms gives its blessing and full backing, that movie is and will forever remain the unauthorized version and unable to be played outside the United States.
THX 1138 (Director's Cut) Directed by: George Lucas
Produced by: Lawrence Sturhahn, Francis Ford Coppola, Bruce O'Brian, George Lucas
Distribution: Lucasfilms Unlimited
Starring: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleaseance, Don Pedro Colley, Maggie McOmie, Ian Wolfe
Film Quality: D100 + 60 => 158
Audience: D100 + 100 => 192
Critic: D100 + 100 => 146 Domestic Profit: $27,186,062 International Profit: $36,203,010
Total Profit: $63,389,072 Bruce profit: $4,527,790
There were about six events which you would say defined your life. Your upbringing in Ireland, moving to Hollywood, training under Bruce Lee, getting casted into MASH, falling in love with Carrie, and THX 1138. In a way THX above all else defined your film career as it was through THX that you met George and funded his movie to completion, from there produced and starred in American Graffiti, co-founded Lucasfilms, made Star Wars together, and the rest as they say is history.
It was all thanks to a film festival in USC in the fall of 1970. It was an event organized to bolster the department's ranks through enticing high school hopefuls to join the department as well as to get funding from affluent Hollywood. You attended to try and get a sense of what kind of films to audition for and what to make if you were to one day ever be a director. At 11:30 A.M, you sat in the film auditorium and watched Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138 by George Lucas. It was an experience that deeply moved you like few films ever had before. You saw some of the most beautiful cinematography you had ever seen, filmmaking that was in some respects equal to the visual style of Star Wars. It was so unconventional and strange, but that was part of the wonderful charm of a terrifying reality that felt so close and real from an intensely creative mind, everything that Science Fiction was meant to be and more. After the film ended, you sought out the Dean and asked about this wonderful short film and its creator George Lucas. The man had been astonished, thinking that George would never amount to anything and almost not putting THX in the festival lineup. But he pointed you in the right direction, you got George's contact, sent him his first fan letter, and from there the greatest partnership in film history was forged.
THX was a damn good film, and while you didn't do more than just hand George a check, it was one of your proudest investments for helping it to push across the finish line, and give the world Bruce O'Brian's directorial debut with the mastery of Hallway Scene #11! The people saw George in his greatness and knew that a legend was born, but unfortunately the first release was a disaster with critics being out of touch snobs and even worse, Warner Bros fucked George over and pulled everything out after a month as some peverse punishment for going beyond the budget and schedule even though he was making a profit. Were it not for Warner Bros going under, you honestly believed THX would never see the light of day besides private showings at George's home. Now the first child and prodigal son was back with the family, and while you could have been content with that small victory, there was one more injustice you had to right. Before Star Wars George was known as a man with one great movie and one "bad" movie. After Star Wars he was known as the creator of the greatest film, the classic cruising film that saved Elvis' soul, who just so happened to make a directorial debut that was "Horrible". It was all complete bullshit, and you were going to make damn sure that George got the redemption he deserved and from now on would be known as a perfect filmmaker with total success!
Ironically the biggest obstacle to a rerelease was from George himself. The man was deathly afraid of his public image doing a 180 with THX being rereleased and tarnishing his reputation. With it being a long time before George was back in the Director's chair, he didn't want to be stained as a one-trick pony, a man who lucked his way into making Star Wars while THX would suffer slander. With Mike and Marcia, you used a majority push to vote for a THX rerelease, and while George was hurt at first, your unwavering faith in THX and Marcia's love for her husband pushed George to accept it, and as the five year anniversary drew nearer he was eager for his firstborn film to get the release it deserved.
Marketing for the film was a really fun affair. Mike got the brilliant idea of playing on Warner Bros. sabotage of THX by filming a series of promotional shorts where two drones rebelled against the underground city and fought to make sure a VHS copy of THX-1138 was transmitted on the holobrodcasts to inspire an uprising. The shorts would be narrated by James Earl Jones who made coy comments of how WRN-1976 had tried to destroy all copies of the tale of THX but this December of 1977, the world would once more know his story. The shorts were directed by George in a brief return to the chair who while at first was against the idea, found himself having fun with it as a nostalgic return to his roots and a very artistic middle finger to Warner's grave and Universal. The campaign went wildly popular with most movie audiences falling in love with the satirical story and you heard tales of people purchasing a movie ticket just to see the next part of the storyline. America was hyped for another George Lucas film, and the lucky few who saw THX in its initial run were happy to finally see it once again and share with their friends and family one of the best films they ever saw.
Instead of going to the theaters you opted for a small trip to George and Marcia's with Carrie thanks to him having a personal reel which he showed in his home movie system. It was a very lovely time with Carrie finally experiencing the first Lucas-O'Brian collab which she had missed out on due to settling into New York at the time, and George and Marcia gave you a creator's commentary, sharing war stories of the production and pointing out all the little neat changes that they did for the cut. There was about 15 minutes of extra runtime from a combination of scenes that were cut due to Warner Bros' mandates as well as a few extra "Atmosphere" minutes which George had filmed with the set and actors who were part of the promo shorts to help fulfill his full vision in an exploration of the THX world. The extra stuff while not super critical, really helped to add to the immersion and appreciation of the setting and Marcia's crisp editing helped to enhance its existing strengths of storytelling, cinematography and set design with the actors shining through. Most impressively was that George managed to "Remaster" the film with Pixar's computers, making a crisp and clear High-Definition presentation which was simply drop dead gorgeous, like turning Miss America into Carrie's twin. Most importantly, you were very happy with the fun time spent with friends, and were very grateful that your kid was going to have Uncle George and Aunt Marcia as their Godparents.
As for how the general public reacted? It was a pretty great success and what should have happened had Warner Bros given THX the proper light of day. The box office performance wasn't anywhere close to Star Wars and it was no American Graffiti, but on its own it was a damn good performance for a rerelease with THX together with its original run managing to just cross 100 million on a global gross, spurred on in large part to huge turnout in Japan with Toho's help. The people were hyped to see George Lucas' first movie the year after Star Wars, pushed to the theaters by the campaign. Were it not for the R-rating and the rather bizarre plot from first glance, you were sure THX could have been in the top 10 highest grossing films as the audience reaction was near universal acclaim and praise. It was similar to the positive reception of the original run but more widespread and intense with the general agreement that it was just as good as American Graffiti, to some even better, and a worthy predecessor to Star Wars. Some critics like Ebert stubbornly tried to stand their ground and say that it was still a meh movie, but after five years of weirder shit being released and the context that this was a George Lucas movie, most critics let go of their prejudices and gave it an earnest revaluation, finding all the little things they missed the first time around and admitting that THX 1138 was indeed a great movie. The public was unanimous, George Lucas was three for three in making masterpieces.
Since Mike had gotten the initial rights during Star Wars pre-production, you had been eagerly anticipating the release of The Hidden Fortress, or you suppose re-re-re-release since it had been released twice before in the United States. While George's favorite film was Seven Samurai, it was The Hidden Fortress which along with Dune he took the most direct creative inspiration in writing the story for Star Wars. What you got was an interesting experience to say the least.
Basically Hidden Fortress was if a prescient Akira Kurosawa asked "What if Star Wars was a Samurai film and Luke, Han Solo and Chewbacca didn't exist, and a cowardly and greedy Threepio and Artoo were the stars?". You could easily see why George made the original choices he did because if Hidden Fortress was somehow adapted into a space opera then it would have been shit, but as it was originally it was truly another Kurosawa masterpiece.
To further explain the plot, the Threepio and Artoo of the story, Tahei and Matashichi were two down on their luck peasants who tried to seek fame and fortune in Japan's feudal wars but ended up betrayed and abused by their masters and forced to work as slaves. Escaping, they run into the legendary General Rukorata, the Obi-wan of the film played by Toshiro Mifune himself who was escorting the fair and noble Princess Yuki, determined to somehow see her restored to the throne and the evil Yamana clan overthrown so that the Akizuki's may return. Hidden Fortress had all the hallmarks of a Kurosawa film. The Samurai action was perfection with excellent choreography. Cinematography was artistic from start to finish with every shot having purpose. Great acting from the entire cast. Majestic music to accompany. All while being told from a plot that truly deserved its place as the inspiration for Star Wars. You can easily see why George was so adamant that Toshiro be Obi-wan. Watching his performance as Rukorata is literally like looking at a young Obi-wan without the Force. Hell, the fight scene between Rukorata and his rival Takodoro was almost like watching Obi-wan vs Vader, it was that good. The comedy of Tahei and Matashichi's misadventures and their self-centered natures were off-putting at first, but overtime they grew on you and provided much needed levity. It was a really good film and you were heavily grateful to Kurosawa for making it so George could get the sparks of inspiration from Star Wars.
The film's release alongside THX for the Christmas season was a massive success with the two dominating the box office. For families and your average moviegoer turned off by THX's setting and plot, they instead purchases a ticket to Hidden Fortress to see a "Obi-wan movie" and see another Japanese classic that supposedly was Samurai Star Wars. Despite the massive success that was financially equal to Last Dinosaur, you were surprised by how...subdued general audience reaction was. Oh they had a good time and the general sentiment was that Hidden Fortress was a good movie. But you had a strong feeling that few really fell in love like with Star Wars. In fact, while you were shopping for groceries, you overheard a couple of people in-line talk about how while they enjoyed it, they were disappointed it wasn't completely like Star Wars and wished there was a Luke and Han expy instead of "Japanese Threepio and Artoo" being the protagonists. You guess people went in hoping for an exact replica of Star Wars and left disappointed, understandable.
What you absolutely did not expect was how fucking crazy critics went for the film. The outpouring of love, or more accurately worship of the film made their praise of Seven Samurai and the Lone Wolf and Cub series look like they lynched those films. You enjoyed the movie and thought it was a Kurosawa classic, but almost every critic you read or watched praised it as absolute perfection, the peak of Japanese cinema, if not a contender for the greatest movie ever made before Star Wars came along. Todd even shared a tale of how in his film class, one of the students said that they didn't like Hidden Fortress and the professor got absolutely livid and kicked the student out of his classroom, cussing him out for being an illiterate bum. If Star Wars didn't exist then you were sure that the Critics would proclaim it as the GOAT. Film critics even said that it was leagues better than the likes of Some Nights or The Godfather. Good lord, if Akira Kurosawa ever found himself frustrated with Toho he should just pull a Tomino and move to America, the critics would probably orgasm if he made a two hour paint drying film.
Aside from the massive financial success and Akira Kurosawa accidentally creating a cult of American film critics, you were very grateful for the success of Hidden Fortress to offset the disaster of The War in Space and apologize to Toho for not showing any of their films for months. The critical worship of both the old and new of Hidden Fortress and War in Space respectively made Toho pretty happy that both their classics and current releases would be mainstream successes in America and they could directly compete with the establishment's best and come out a winner. The 50 million gained over the winter also helped to quiet the pro-Disney faction who had been slowly gaining ground again with Lucasfilms once again showing they were the best and metaphorically shooing their critics back into the den. One things for sure, next Kurosawa film that was made you had to get an instant release in the states.
If there's anything that comes from a potential Batman trilogy, and that's over the course of the three films he learns to forgive Joe Chill on the basis that it should be a powerful scene.
If there's anything that comes from a potential Batman trilogy, and that's over the course of the three films he learns to forgive Joe Chill on the basis that it should be a powerful scene.
[]Horror is Booming (Horror in the 80's will be a booming genre)
[]I fear that Something is going to happen. (Meanwhile at 20th century Fox... In space, no one can hear you scream)
[]Just for the record, the idea is brilliant (Unknown Effect)
Fuck it. As much as I want to choose the first, I'm gonna live on the wild side here. I pick [X]Just for the record, the idea is brilliant (Unknown Effect)
Fuck it. As much as I want to choose the first, I'm gonna live on the wild side here. I pick [X]Just for the record, the idea is brilliant (Unknown Effect)
When that does happen I really hope we can get Jamie Lee Curtis to join in on the fun. The woman is a legit gamer who plays World of Warcraft, one of her favorite fictional works is One Piece and she regularly attends Comic Con as a fan, playing DnD with her would be pretty fun. I can imagine she might have become friends with Carrie off-screen since as the star of Disney's big horror project, her and Carrie might have crossed paths and they'd have a shit ton in common as two women with famous actor parents and Dads who were complete pieces of shit and abandoned them. Plus it'd be cool to see some of Carrie's friends outside of Bruce.
That's a shame. 1978 is the 50th Anniversary of the Oscars so it'd be cool to win some major awards for that. Also Debbie OTL did a pretty grand opening musical act for the Oscars, though I guess becoming a grandmother and neither Bruce nor Carrie being nominated might not make her enthusiastic about taking the part.
That's a shame. 1978 is the 50th Anniversary of the Oscars so it'd be cool to win some major awards for that. Also Debbie OTL did a pretty grand opening musical act for the Oscars, though I guess becoming a grandmother and neither Bruce nor Carrie being nominated might not make her enthusiastic about taking the part
Long term I'm actually planning to have Bruce join Robin in being a Warhammer player, and eventually get Travolta and Stallone into it.
Jamie Lee Curtis getting involved in that too could be fun. WHF she could be a Vampire Counts player (horror theme of course) and then Dark Eldar player in 40K.
Robin played Orks and Orcs. Bruce could play Bretonnia and Dark Angels (Bretonnia is closest to the mythic adventurer trope of Conan and DA are catholic coded knight adventurers). Stallone would play Imperial Guard and Dwarves (Rambo and Manly bearded men). Travolta would play Lizardmen and Tau (Lizardmen are the closest to Sci-Fi and he's a fan of that, and Tau are also the most techno faction)
