2015-08-27

Revisiting Anthony Daniels being an asshole

The Empire Strikes Back is about to get an upgrade: Star Wars Revisited is working on their enhanced version of the film for release sometime in 2015.

1.New 20th Century Fox opening (based on the post-Avatar logo)
2.New recreated opening crawl
3.Fixed juddering starfield as camera pans as probes fly away from the belly of stardestroyer
4.Added flames as probe enters atmosphere
5.Replaced pinks streak with flames for when probe crashes
6.Removed footprints in snow when probe crashes
7.Added crater debris when probe emerges to match previous close-up shot
8.Smoothed Taun-taun stop motion animation.
17.Changed Falcons turret gun in all studio set shots to match the studio model
18.Swapped hair colour or rebels when Leia is watching Han as he enters command centre to help fix issue with flipped shot
19.Covering Anthony Daniel’s neck which is visible while Han calls over the Deck Officer.
20.Re-edited the Wampa cave scene to closer match the original theatrical version, eliminating all SE additions (apart from one shot)
21.Altered position of lightsaber in the snow so it is more covered to match the way it is buried in other shots
22.Luke’s legs position changed from open to closed when hanging form ceiling of cave to match their position as he tries to break free
23.Luke’s sabre now retracts as he runs out of cave
24.Expanding the size of the hangar interior when seen from outside the hangar doors in the shot where R2 is using his scanner and added more troops/pilots
25.Altered scenery slightly when Han walks away from Taun Taun
62.Altered distant view of Hoth battlefield to fix continuity issue as original was heavily mist covered , yet not when we see the At-At’s
63.Original shield generator mattes replaced with miniature model in all shots
64.New hangar entrance shot where trooper is viewing battlefield
65.Enhanced displays in command centre as they prepare to fire Ion Canon
66.Enhanced Ion Canon with new background and added troops
67.Moved “First Catch” Imperial officers to the front window of their Star Destroyer to fix continuity error as they would not see the planet from the side window.
68.Added more stardestroyers orbiting Hoth
Purists who hate the Special Editions are oddly quiet about the Star Wars Revisited project. Regardless, reading this reminded me of something not every Star Wars fan fully appreciates: unlike Darth Vader [or R2-D2! -ed], C-3PO is played in costume by the same actor who dubbed in his voice.

Which always reminds me of the other thing about Anthony Daniels: he and R2-D2's stuntman hated each other. It also doesn't help than Daniels' relationship with Star Wars fandom in particular, and sci-fi in general, is...well, less than stellar.

For one thing, Anthony Daniels incurred the wrath of sci-fi fans by walking about of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and you aren't supposed to say bad things about the Kubrick classis despite the fact that by any objective standard the movie is fucking horrible. You literally do spend the first ten minutes watching monkeys go crazy in front of a black obelisk, then suddenly cut to the year 1999 where a completely uninteresting and unanimated character slowly flies to the moon to interact with other uninteresting and unanimated characters. Then 18 months later we see yet totally different characters on a mission to Jupiter where, for a brief while, the movie gets interesting as we deal with our hero (who is sorta interesting but mostly unanimated as well) fighting a killer computer who goes all manner of homicidal crazy. Then, after a relatively exciting climax is resolved, we watch coloured lights for half an hour, see confusing vignettes in a hotel, and then a space baby. Seriously, try to stay awake when watching the last half hour of the film anytime after 11pm. So I don't begrudge Daniels much for that issue.

Another thing of note is that many including Kenny Baker have noted that Daniels is just an asshole in general who doesn't get along with anybody.
Baker said he once approached Daniels about touring as their characters to make money and "he looked down his nose at me like I was a piece of sh*t. He said: 'I don't do many of these conventions—go away little man.' He really degraded me and made me feel small."
I'm not sure how many of those midget puns are deliberate provocations by Daniels and how much is "expressing how Daniels is a jerk" by Baker. There's also these comments on the article:
I worked with Anthony Daniels once at one of those conventions or events he claims to have hated so much. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, he was the worst, most mean-spirited, incredibly demanding, generally unpleasant public person I've ever interacted with. He was a serious pain in the ass to deal with and the less than three hours he was there seemed like an eternity in hell. Just about ruined any fond childhood memories of Star Wars I once had. I've always wanted to say this in public and now I get to do it: C-3PO is a total dick.
Daniels is an adjunct professor at that program where I received my graduate degree. He comes by once or twice a year for a week and rips everybody's projects to shreds all while having a holier-than-thou attitude. He's an awful person and I completely agree, C3PO is a major dick.