MovieChat Forums > Æon Flux (1991) Discussion > stupid dvd release...

stupid dvd release...

posted 18 years ago by vandwedge
21 replies | jump to latest

As most of you probably heard, the new DVD release includes slightly modified episodes rather than the episodes as they originally aired. One of the changes they made is that they added some lighting effects. Certain things look unusually shiny and neon. There are also some shadow effects added.

Is anyone like me in that they think the lighting effects completely suck? Æon Flux had a very particular look to it -- a very unified look -- and this ridiculous neon lighting does a considerable amount of damage to it. The show now looks like an unspeakable blend of two completely incompatible art styles.

The opening theme in particular looks awful. The sky is a neon yellow for some reason! It's supposed to be the background, yet it draws more attention than the foreground! Peter Chung explains that he made these changes to restore the show to its original intention, rather than how it originally appeared. Well, I refuse to believe that he -- or anyone, for that matter -- could have really intended it to look like this. It's simply awful.

To summarize: my old VHS tapes of this show look better than the new DVD release. I consider it pathetic that I have the opportunity to even say that.

[–] Bitter_Almonds 18 years ago

I haven't seen this show in ages. I mainly bought the box set for the third disc because I love the animated shorts. There was one part in the pilot episode where a Breen soldier is looking at a thermos and starts to hallucinate. I thought that in the original there were more of those little "hexagon glares" (I don't know what that effect is called), but in this one it looks more like a weird "haze" with less of those hexagons. I used to have this pilot taped from back in early 90s, but have lost that video cassette long ago, so I can't compare.

I intensely dislike it when changes are made to the originals. Another case in point is the "director" edition of The Warriors. They pretty much destroyed the look of the movie by going back and adding unneeded crap to an already-great movie.

I wasn't as big a fan of this television series. Like I said, I bought this because of the Liquid TV episodes, but I get what you're sayin.

Do The Mussolini! Headkick!

[–] arch091101 18 years ago

Hilarious.

Man, technically EVERYTHING in this show sucks. The animation is crap, the colors are ugly and the designs are not better. As for the "enhancements", crap could not be better then crap. Complaining about this is a bit futile in my own opinion.

I'm an animation student and if I came up with something looking like Aeon Flux I would surely get low scores.

This show is ugly, weird, absurd, caricatural, technicaly deficient, backward, unbelievably dated... and that's why I find it attractive. Man, who gives a *beep* about lightning effects?

Those DVDs will last far more longer than *beep* VHS, wich detoriate everytime you use them. Oh well...

[–] vandwedge 18 years ago

>I'm an animation student and if I came up with something looking like Aeon Flux I would surely get low scores.

Well then you have a poor teacher. Anyone who would give Aeon Flux's style a poor grade is probably grading based on realism alone. This show isn't realistic looking. But, it is beautiful. It's good animation, even though it's not "good" animation. It has a unified look, and a style which matches the mood. Those things are far more important than realism, and a good animation teacher should know that. In fact, so should a student.

>Man, who gives a *beep* about lightning effects?

I do, and you certainly should too, if you're really an animation student. Imagine someone dug up one of your old works and traced over the outlines with a yellow highlighter. Wouldn't you give a *beep* about that? My point is that (good) artists choose colors and lighting very carefully and very purposefully, and to tinker with an already fully-realized vision is in my opinion a line which should usually not be crossed.

[–] arch091101 18 years ago

I see you don't understand how it works in the industry... I don't blame you for that though.

My teachers aren't poor teachers, they are there to help you get a job in the animation industry, so that, technically, you can prove that you can do every kind of job. And they don't show us to make "realism", just to make convincing and technically decent stuff. In AF they just didn't bother with that at all, so sometimes it looks stylish and crazy, sometimes it's just awkward and weird, it's not constant. It's not good animation at all and that's the point of the show. The whole idea behind it can be refered as a work of art, but on the technical side you can't say that, that is not important at all.

Now the point of complaining about new lightning effects is futile, it would be done that way back in 1995 and now you wouldn't complain, believe me. Oh sure I would care about that... if it was important, but it's not in Aeon Flux. I found the both versions to be outdated anyway. It was never meant to be beautiful in the first place and it's still not.

AF is not YOUR creation and is not mine, but Peter Chung's. He wanted those enhancements to be done because AF was supposed to look like that in the first place. Too bad if you don't like it, but not believing him as if it was some sort of conspiration... man, it's just ridiculous.

[–] vandwedge 18 years ago

Oh I don't believe there was any conspiracy. It's clear that the Peter Chung of 2005 wanted to make the changes. What I'm saying is the Peter Chung of 1995 would not have wanted the changes, and I think something happened to him over those ten years that affected his judgment. Our tastes and values change as we age, and his happened to have changed for the worse, that's all. You're right that these changes were made by the same person who created the show, but he's in some ways not the same person at all.

[–] arch091101 18 years ago

He clearly said in an interview (included in the friggin DVDs) that he wanted the show to look like that from the beginning. What's so complicated about that? What's the point in not believing him? And why complaining about such minor issues!? It's just unbelievable... geez..

[–] nalegun 18 years ago

sorry, but the poster is correct. the neon green glow that's been added to certain scenes does clash with the overall look of the show. i watched the interview and i understand he may have wanted to have had that effect all along, but that doesn't make it any less gaudy looking.

and the redubbed episodes that i've watched so far don't jive very well, either. one in particular is actually more confusing with the new dialiouge.

i'm curious arch091101 (and i'm not attacking you here, but since you're a student of animation you clearly would know more about the fundamentals than me), what about the colors in do you find ugly? do you just prefer a brighter palette?

[–] arch091101 18 years ago

I don't remember noticing the neon green glow, why? Because it wasn't important.

I could rewatch all the episodes and write down every single flaws, and they would be a lot of them. More you study animation, more you become aware of flaws and mistakes, sometimes you can't watch a show without checking out if the animation is correctly done and thinking about how making it better. But sometimes, it's better to forget about those things to be able to enjoy the show. Aeon Flux is that kind of show.

The colors... those are not beautiful, those are weird. This show aired in 1995... but hey, this looks like it was done 10 years earlier! The overall product was meant to be "disturbing"... and they succeed... and now I own those friggin DVDs. Complaining over green neon glow seems totally pointless knowing what the show was all about.

Animated TV shows tend to be quite imperfect due to limited budgets and dead lines, this is something we must consider. I won't ask a TV show to look perfect like animation films can be, but when it's poorly done we must admit it and not search for excuses. There's more than looks in a TV show, it's okay to appreciate below average animation if the ideas behind it are appealing.

Technically, the best animated TV show I've seen yet is Cowboy Bebop. While not having a very high frame rate (that would have been too much to ask for a TV show... and especialy for a japanese TV show), everything is masterfully executed. Aeon Flux just looks like crap beside it, that's why I don't bother with green neons.

[–] vandwedge 18 years ago

So let me see if I have this right.

What you're saying is, if a show starts out as ugly, there's no harm in making it look uglier?

Would you have objected if Peter Chung had erased all the colors completely and then had a 4-year old redo them with brown and red crayons? Using your logic, it wouldn't matter, since the show was ugly to begin with.

If I'm misinterpreting your words, please let me know, but it seems like that's what you're saying.

[–] arch091101 18 years ago

It is YOU that think it's uglier, not me. I just think that those "enhancements", knowing the true intentions of the show, are not important enough to complain that much about it. You overreact.

[–] thefantompenace 18 years ago

what school are you a student of animation at? just wondering

why does some idiot always have to post "THIS MOVIE IS RACIST!" for every other title on this site?

[–] arch091101 18 years ago

It's a public school in Montreal.

[–] thefantompenace 18 years ago

and what works have you produced that top the ones you are criticizing online?

why does some idiot always have to post "THIS MOVIE IS RACIST!" for every other title on this site?

[–] arch091101 18 years ago

That's a poor argument to make someone shut up. If you have to top anything yourself before passing a judgement, than there wouldn't be such things as film critics since, at best, they would be too busy producing their own stuff and at worst, would be forced to shut up because they don't have any talent.

Since it's in human nature to observe and to judge, I don't feel any guilt to express myself, especialy when I have the legitimate right to do so.

[–] thefantompenace 18 years ago

"That's a poor argument to make someone shut up"

whoa, easy there arch. it wasn't an attack on your "legitimate right," it was just a question. I could care less about making "someone shut up."

"than there wouldn't be such things as film critics since, at best, they would be too busy producing their own stuff"

what, that's a bad thing? and at what point did I say anything about anyone being "forced" to do anything?

while reading your posts, I had simply assumed that based on the fact that you were taking the time to write all this stuff about someone else's work, as well as declare that being an animation student makes you more informed to judge, that you had produced some student work that was in some way better that what you are criticizing. that way, if someone were to question whether or not to take you seriously, you would at least have something of your own to hold up.

I understand where you're coming from, as I too am an animation student (3D modeling to be specific). When I first started, I had no qualms about attacking other people's work openly without any work of my own to back it up. Then I began to notice other students (as well as a few teachers) in the same situation doing the same thing, and they looked pretty damn stupid. so I decided that every time I felt like criticizing, I would keep my mouth shut until I had made something better. and you know what? I've found that you're way more likely to earn someone's respect as an artist by impressing them with your own stuff than by tearing apart someone else's. and consequently, if someone does ask for your constructive criticism on their own work, they are more likely to take you seriously as a result.

Again, not an attack, just something to think about.

why does some idiot always have to post "THIS MOVIE IS RACIST!" for every other title on this site?

[–] arch091101 18 years ago

Than you failed in your "pacific" approach, since this kind of question is often used as a way to reject criticism: "you can't do better then you have nothing to say". It's something I heard a lot.

Now tell me, would you blame someone who praise another's work even if he doesn't master the subject? Most of the time (internet is another thing) no one is blamed for appreciating something even if they don't now much about it. But when it comes to negative comments, now you have to back yourself.

That doesn't work. There's a difference between bitching and criticizing or having opinions based on knowledge and observations. Criticism should always be welcomed, even from someone who doesn't master the subject. How many people go watch movies and actually have little knowledge about it? How much respect does their opinions have?

Not everyone have the skills and knowledge to produce movies or comics, but everyone can observe, everyone has feelings.

Anyway, what did I say to deserve this little lesson? I just stated that Aeon Flux was ugly and that I liked it like that. I've done some traditionnal animation and, even if it was bad (mostly because I didn't like that and this is not what I want to do as a career) I saw plenty of it so I know how good animation looks and basically how it is done. Every animation student could tell that Aeon Flux is somewhat poorly animated... and most of them still like the show.

I'm actually in 3D animation class and my movie is still in production, so I still don't have a "final product" to show you if I'm worthy of speaking about animation. I'm a student so I'm still learning and there's lot of things to learn, I'm aware that my skills aren't impressive yet. Still, I'll continue to criticize if I feel like expressing myself on some subjects... and I'm not a total ignorant so...

I don't think I'm better than Peter Chung and his staff, but I'll let you judge, since you seems so curious. There's a gallery of some of my illustrations http://dead-arch.deviantart.com/gallery/ mostly experimentations on various mediums, nothing I'm too proud of but I have to start somewhere. And there's a gallery of doodles and linearts http://dead-arch.deviantart.com/scraps/ mostly half-finished, unfinished stuff and crappy stuff.

[–] thefantompenace 18 years ago

well, best of luck to you, arch (sincere, no sarcasm).

I've stated my principals, and I'm not going to back down or repeat myself. I know they're not popular, but they are the ones I find that work. I could go on and on about this, but at the end of the day, we both have better things to do than argue over the internet, so the best we can do is agree to disagree.

I checked out your links, your illustrations were impressive. As for praising "another's work even if he doesn't master the subject?" I'll state up front that I'm not an expert on illustration, my domain is more 3D, so feel free to accept praise or disregard it.

you might want to add them to your posts so that others can see them.

I've decided to sign up for that particular site as well (I don't have anything posted there at the moment, as I just signed up a few minutes ago) though mine will probably have more 3D stuff than illustrations. if you want to check it out in a few days as I sort through my portfolio (aka hard drive) for stuff to post, my username is RobBla1981.

ok, gotta get back to my projects

later

why does some idiot always have to post "THIS MOVIE IS RACIST!" for every other title on this site?

[–] arch091101 18 years ago

Then you have a better opinion of my "work" then me.

My website address is included in my "imdb profile" but I'm not enough show-off to put it in my post.

DeviantArt.com is actually a good site to get your stuff uploaded on the net for free and plus you can benefit from the community... but like every community, especialy large ones, only a few get popular. Not that the main goal is to be famous, but sometimes you can use some more comments and critics, wich are not coming in great numbers when you're not very popular.

I'll go check it out eventually.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] arch091101 18 years ago

I'm not the one you should tell this to... ;)

[–] 18 years ago

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