Rocket Surgeon said:Graffiti owes a LOT to the soundtrack...its virtually wall to wall music which carries the film in a few places.
NY Times said:With Mr. Lucas retired, what might Steve and Curt from ?American Graffiti? be doing now?
?They?re actually retired, too,? he said. ?They sort of fulfilled their stories in a way you would expect because some of those people were friends of mine. Some of them got to be kind of successful in business. Some of them are still working in car services and building cars. Some of them are dead. They either got killed in the war or in a car accident. It?s pretty much the way the movie happened.?
George Lucas... At this point he was coming off of a huge hit with American Graffiti and had a few ideas bouncing around. One of them was a crazy space opera, but he hadn't written his first draft of Star Wars yet (which he would take to Universal and it wouldn't go anywhere at that studio). He had another idea for a movie that he was hot on directing called Radioland Murders. He'd eventually produce this film 20 years later for another director, but this image promises a Radioland Murders directed by Lucas, produced by Gary Kurtz and written by his Graffiti team of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz (who would later pen Temple of Doom). If he had made this film odds are he would have been distracted away from pursuing Star Wars, which would have changed cinema in massive ways that we can't even comprehend at this point. It's a really cool image, too. Makes it seem way more sinister than the movie we eventually got.
What is the general consensus of it here? I think it's pure brilliant. Not only because it's proof that the man is more than just Star Wars, but it also happens to be one of the most innovative movies of all time. It has multiple story-lines, which was actually completely unheard of in it's time. Now? That's very common story-narrative. Sitcoms such as Seinfeld and Friends would probably never had gotten made without it.
Ending it on an Indy note, the opening to KOTCS was clearly inspired by American Graffiti. A very nice nod to one of Lucas' first films.
Other people's thoughts?
The 4 lead actors and Ford are alive though, and should at least do something for the HD rerelease. Charles Martin Smith could comment how offscreen deaths at Lucasfilm aren't always fatal...Unfortunately the recent passings of Bo Hopkins and Cindy Williams probably has tainted any reunion.
Awesome that something like this exists! I had no idea, and it's basically right in my back yard. If I would have known earlier I would have definitely checked it out.The yearly “American Graffiti Festival”, hosted in George’s hometown, Modesto, is scheduled to happen next month. Candy Clark is scheduled to appear. https://americangraffitifestival.com/nmk/general-information/
In my headcanon, this was also Mutt's fate: Faking his own death and going AWOL.The 4 lead actors and Ford are alive though, and should at least do something for the HD rerelease. Charles Martin Smith could comment how offscreen deaths at Lucasfilm aren't always fatal...
Saw it on the big screen! After the showing they played screen tests! They then had an still advertising the 4K release, which comes out 11/7!
Also did searching and found this cool steelbook they’ll sell at Best Buy!
It was. There are people with much more expertise in film preservation than I, so I feel ill-equipped to talk details(maybe Moedred caught a screening?). What I can say is having seen the film a number of times, this is easily the best I’ve seen it look.How was the picture quality in the cinema? I assume it was the new 4K master?
I'm really no expert beyond spotting wrong aspect ratios, and rely on reviewers and commenters here.(maybe Moedred caught a screening?)
Today Suzanne Sommers, who played the small but memorable part of “Blond In A T-Bird” passes away a day before her 77th birthday.Unfortunately the recent passings of Bo Hopkins and Cindy Williams probably has tainted any reunion.
Good Word!anemoia