I'm not disappointed that they didn't originally get to do this scene while the movie was in production - well, I am in the sense that I think it was a scene that would have been beneficial to the movie as a whole ... but if events conspired to prevent them doing it then so be it.

And I'm not disappointed that they haven't gone back and "finished" this scene since 2005. Seriously, how often does that happen? (Oh, hang on, all the time with this fucking saga). But no, not disappointed by that, realistically speaking.

What I am disappointed by is that this constitutes being billed as a "deleted scene" in the first place. I mean, okay, movie-making has moved on since the possibilities of DVD extras first presented themselves. Back then it was simple - actors do things in front of cameras. Not all of those things end up in the movie. Here are those things, for your enjoyment. We call them deleted scenes.

Nowadays, so much is previsualised and sketched out on hard drives, or the whole final product is generated in what would in the past have technically been considered "post-production" (but is more and more becoming the most important part of the actual production for this sort of movie) - that is just the way these things are made now.

However, this scene wasn't deleted. It was never done in the first place. It wasn't even started, it was sketched out maybe. If they are going to share animatics, then that is very nice - they must have thousands of them. But call them animatics, don't take the piss. Christ, I thought all that Obi-Wan and Anakin on the Invisible Hand stuff from the ROTS DVD was pushing it, but this just takes the biscuit.

That is where my disappointment lies, in the misleading way this has been sold. They may as well just show us the page from the script - which we have already seen anyway. That is the beauty of deleted scenes - that you can see how it looked, how it was acted, what the feel of the scene was, in ways that you can't from just looking at the words on the page.

As somebody pointed out above, it would be useful and interesting to see animatics of big action scenes or something, but to get an animatic of what is essentially a dialogue scene - with no contribution from either of the actors involved - well, what is the value in that? Weird.

You nerds need to chill the fuck out. Neeson's motorcycle accident was in 2000, and Natasha's accident was in 2009, you knee-jerk douches.

Neither of these things are contiguous with being asked in 2003, or 04, or 05 to reprise his role as a less than one minute VO, which could have been recorded anywhere, including from his own home. Face it, the guy was simply not interested. Why? Well, he has said that after the experience he had shooting TPM he was seriously thinking about giving up acting altogether.

I dunno, maybe Liam really meant it was just so damn awesome that he couldn't imagine ever topping it! OR you know, back in the real world, maybe like others involved in that show (I'm just off the top of my head thinking Terrence Stamp and whatever useless sack of crap was Ric Olie here) Neeson found the bluescreen, lack of focused or even finished story and script, and lazy-ass direction so disorienting and disheartening that he wanted nothing to do with the craft for a bit.

I'm thinking it may have something to do with this. You may begin the appology process now.

Out! Out! Get out of my mind!

Thank you for succinctly stating my problem with this set as well.

Who's being the dork here? He had another motorcycle accident around 2004/05. Rick McCallum confirmed it on the official forums at the time. That's why he couldn't record.

What he said was never related to his experience on TPM (which he was proud of), and was later confirmed by himself that he was kidding.

Regarding the bluescreen, I never understood why actors complain so much. It's like theatre. Even Sir Christopher Lee has a hard time understanding the 'complains'. It's like the case of Ewan McGregor. He only said it was difficult to act against blue/greenscreen, and the media turned that into 'McGregor hated being on Star Wars'...

Apology? I don't need to apologize anybody, and specially not you.

Per Neeson, he wasn’t serious about quitting. He was just frustrated about the cumbersome shooting process for TPM and the Haunting. Also, he didn’t like being away from his family.

Here are the source texts:

[align=center]NEESON SAYS RETIRING FROM ACTING[/align]
[spoil]
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Liam Neeson has told the June issue of Redbook magazine that he will retire from acting in movies next year.

And USA Today columnist Jeannie Williams writes today (Thursday) that, when she asked Neeson about his published remarks, he replied, "It's confirmed. I'm retired. However, the theater calls."

Neeson, who appears as Qui-Gon Jinn in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), says in the Redbook interview:

"Film is a director's medium. We are basically puppets. Producers earn all the money, and you get the sense that they hate actors. The crews are treated like slaves. ... I don't think I can live with the inauthenticity of movies anymore. I don't like watching them, especially my own stuff."
[/align]
[/spoil]
[align=center]LIAM NEESON: "Only Kidding About Quitting"[/align]
[spoil]
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Liam Neeson said Sunday that he really wasn't serious when he told Redbook magazine that he has had enough of Hollywood and plans to retire from film acting.

"It's not true, " he told reporters in New York on Sunday.

"I just was venting a bit of anger. I just was missing my family. And missing being on a trout stream."
[/align]
[/spoil]
[align=center]LIAM NEESON NOT QUITTING ACTING (now in The Haunting)[/align]
[spoil]
[align=left]
To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of Liam Neeson's retirement are greatly exaggerated.

And yet Neeson may hang out the "Gone Fishin' " sign at least for now.

"There's a 20-inch brown trout waiting in a river up in Canada, I'm told, with my name stamped all over it," he says. "He's going, 'Come on. I dare you!'

"I've designed my own dry fly, because, you know, I make my own flies. It's called Qui-Gon (after his Phantom Menace character). It's the absolute Jedi Force of dry flies."

Talk of retirement by the 47-year-old Oscar-and Tony-nominated actor came about because the actor can't suppress his dry Irish wit. Here it comes again:

"I want to be a sheep farmer in Tibet," he says. "After doing this film (Phantom Menace), I want to get in tune with myself again."

Why?

"Because I love sheep," he deadpans.

"It's not true," he says, turning serious, about his reported retirement. "It was something said in jest and, in other words, got mangled in some way," Neeson said.

Neeson's retirement was reported in the June issue of Redbook magazine. Also, columnist Jeannie Williams reported that Neeson confirmed that his retirement to her at a Premiere magazine party in May. The headline "Neeson Quits Film Career" ran on Williams' May 6 column in USA Today, which later printed Neeson's denial.

Whild Neeson may be chasing trout in Canada this summer, his image also will be on the big screen in Jan De Bont's The Haunting which opened last month, opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lili Taylor, and in Gun Shy, costarring Sandra Bullock, set for release later this month.

Regarding Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace, in which he stars as Jedi knigtht Qui-Gon Jinn, Neeson feels little career pressure.

"If I was Kevin Costner in (a starring and producing movie role), I might feel a little pressure. It's George Lucas' Star Wars, so I'm an actor for hire and I did my job and I take pride in doing it."

No need for Lucas to worry, either. The Phantom Menace, which has earned $402.9 million since its May 19 release, is already the No. 3 highest-grossing movie.

Neeson explains why Phantom Menace is a mega-hit despite less than glowing reviews: "(It's) a film (that's ) very much word-of-mouth--the way most films are, actually. Critics have their place--it's very low on the ladder of the species, I think, sometimes."

Star Wars writer-director Lucas has described Neeson as a natural for the part of Qui-Gon: "Liam's very quiet. He's very big. He's very powerful, but he's very contemplative."

Neeson is reluctant to admit seeing himself as a Jedi knight. "There are some parts that appeal to actors more than others. I felt I could bring a quality to that that was right," he says, then quips, "I mean, I did want to be Jar-Jar."

Few actors have successfully displayed such a wide range on film (30 in all, since 1979), from sensitive if emotionally cauterized men (Ethan Frome, Nell) to forceful, courageous and dashing heroes (Excalibur, Rob Roy).

Then there's Nesson's Oscar-nominated portrayal of Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, and his Tony-nominated Broadway debut in 1993 in the Roundabout Theatre's revival of Anna Christie, co starring his wife, Natasha Richardson.

In The Phantom Menace, Neeson looked to those who went before to play Qui-Gon.

"I just wanted to be absolutely as simple as possible." he says.

"It was something I remembered from the first Star Wars film, which was Episode IV. Here were these wonderful actors, actual, Mark Hamill, Harrison (Ford), Sir Alec Guinness, Carrie Fisher--I absolutely believed that world. You see Mark Hamill jump into a speedster--it's like he's climbing into a taxi. It's an everyday activity."

Neeson found Guinness "very inspiring. He was the first Jedi knight we've ever seen, and an older one. So he did suggest a history. Because he is a consummate actor, he invested the part in the film with his wonderful grace and dignity, this samurai-esque spiritualist aesthetic. So that was the guiding light, the guiding force, if you want to say."

Neeson thinks his children will enjoy his Star Wars legacy. "I hope so, as they get into Star Wars. They're babies now.

"Star Wars is based on ancient myths and legends," he says. "I think they're great sagas. Every culture has those myths and legends, and they're basically the same story, be it the story of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, or a prophet.

"You go way back, pre-Christian times, it's the same. There is a virgin birth in every culture. The goddess gives birth to a young hero and he will go through a trial and ordeal and come out the other end of it having learned something."

Neeson says people want to be reminded of these archetypes and values that are embodied in Star Wars.

"Certainly the Jedis stand for in integrity and truth and the pursuit of justice. It's nice to be reminded of those pillars of ethics.

"They (the Jedis) have spiritual aesthetic, too, like Buddhist monks," he continues. "They're of that universe, but they're kind of not, as well. But they're kind of like Wild West sheriffs of regulators."

Neeson likes the fact that audiences don't know much about his character Qui-Gon.

"You have to bear in mind, this is Episode I of a saga," he says. "It's a piece of a puzzle. It's kind of like Shane, the Alan Ladd character. I like that kind of mystery, the mystique of somebody who rides in on a horse--you don't know where he came from--then he rides out again."

The mystery surrounds Star Wars gizmos, too.

"One time I remember Anakin (Jake Lloyd) was trying to start up his pod in his backyard and I suddenly come up with this thing and I say, 'Here's a power source. Try that.' Suddenly, it starts," he says.

"I say, George, where have I got this from?' He says, 'Believe me, thousands of Star Wars fans will be analyzing this for years to come. Don't worry about it. Just bring it out from below your cloak. You're a Jedi.'"

Nesson didn't get to keep his costume. "But they gave me my light saber. I have it mounted on a plaque--in a vault."

Neeson says that when he first saw Star Wars in a Belfast movie theatre, "not in my wildest dreams" did he ever imagine that he'd one day be in a Star Wars film.

"In those days, all I wanted to do was be Iago in Othello or be with the Royal Shakespeare Company.....Yeah, it's an interesting journey of 22 years."

So, will Neeson be back as Qui-Gon Jinn in Episode II?

"It's Star Wars; you never know," he says in a conspiratorial tone.

About that, Liam Neeson isn't kidding.
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[/spoil]

Okay, deep breath here for a long fucking post...

It's only like theater if you allow actors time to rehearse and find their way through a story - not if you just throw them to the digital wolves with a half-assed, half-finished script and go "here, talk to this board - great, good enough". I firmly belive that there is no reason on Earth that the bluescreen process itself is the problem.

However - if you are going to have the balls to compare it to The Empty Space, then you have to allow time and energy to be spent experimenting and preparing - it's NOT just a cost cutting exercise when you don't feel like building sets. That's NOT the way the PT was made. Apart from a table read, and fight-rehearsal, there doesn't seem to have been much time spent on preparing the actors.

Honestly, I do not know of this mythical 04/05 accident, outside of SW fans desperate to think that Qui Gon hasn't given them the finger. I can't find a single reference to it. However there is pleanty of references to the 2000 accident which was very serious.

If you can produce ANYTHING besides your claim that one time your friend's cousin's nephew saw that Rick fucking McCallum (and there's a bastion of truth if there ever was one) posted it in a blog, I'll happily eat my words. Happily!

Until I see something about any serious accident in around the same time as he would have been asked to record (and, let's be clear, that could have been ANY time over a three year period, it's not like they came to him May 1st 2005 and said "LIAM, YOU GOTTA SAY THIS POO-POO!!! PUT DOWN THAT BOTTLE OF BUSHMILLS AND GET OFF THAT DAMN STRETCHER, YOU LAZY DRUNKEN IRISH GIT!!!!!"

I'll bite my thumb at you all for implying that an accident which occurred 5 years EARLIER, and the tragic death of his wife 4 years AFTER (yeah, fuck you very much for suggesting that what I was saying is that he should put that aside and record dialogue. Really, you ignorant piece of shit, learn to read a calendar, and then EAT. A. DICK.)

The time we're talking about had anything to do with him not participating. Three. Years. All I am saying is that Neeson could of, if he'd wanted to, found time in there somewhere. Even with recovery from a minor accident somewhere in there, if he actually had any interest, he could have done it.

As for the quotes, I think they support what I was saying a little more actually. Ewan McGreggor actually was quoted in a pub saying in essence "the script sucks, but what are you going to do? Say 'George your dialogue is shit?'".

As far as Liam Neeson, an actor who's work I dearly love, and a guy who geniunely just seems to love working, he was pissed and frustrated, then time went by and he cooled off a bit and retracted what he said. The important part of this being that being in TPM was frustrating and pissed him off.

NO ONE knows for sure (yeah not even you belive it or not) what happened, but if I'm going to make a guess based on avaialble evidence, I've got to go with "didn't want to go down that road again - gave George the brush-off".

Again, source? All you do is making baseless assumptions, even after I pointed out an article where he states he had a positive experience from TPM.

what's got people upset is his involvement in the cartoon recently. If he was cool to do that, then why couldn't he record 3 lines for ROTS?

Personally, I don't really see the comparison between Neeson being hired, as a gigging actor, to record some voiceover work for a new, upcoming cartoon show, and signing him up to record some dialogue for a scene that doesn't exist from a six-year-old film, simply so they can sling it on as a Blu-Ray extra.

Like I said before, the problem with this is not that Neeson has never done this, or has never been approached to do this - the problem stems from the fact that this was ever described as a deleted scene in the first place.

There is no "hiring Neeson to record a couple of lines to finish the scene", there is only creating a scene that was in the script, but never realised, from scratch, just for the sake of a DVD extra. You know, if Lucasfilm had said: "Look, here is an animatic of that scripted scene with Qui-Gon and Yoda on Polis Massa that was never shot for whatever reason. And here's a bunch of other animatics among the extras..." there would have been none of this uproar.

It is just some stuff from the production that we have never seen before - and they would have been giving us that. That is what bonus features are. IMHO, the uproar should be directed towards the fact that they have included this among the deleted scenes section of the extras (if my understanding is correct - that is how it is being sold, yes?)

If that is the case, that is just pure misdirection. They may as well include EVERY single moment that was never shot or finished from all six shooting scripts and plonk those in the DELETED SCENES playlist... only to present a series of production sketches when you click on the button.

I think getting pissed off about the fact that this scene never happened in the first place, and getting pissed that Lucasfilm and Neeson have not made this scene happen six years after the movie was released is a bit unrealistic. Sneaking an animatic of this scene in among the Deleted Scenes section of the extras, however, is pretty sneaky shit, and deserves to make people pissed off.

Just my two cents.

So do these deleted scenes have intros like the dvd deleted scenes had where Ben Burtt justifies why he should be stabbed in his eyeballs with needles full of AIDS aka explanations for their deletion?

Nope. Just thrown on the disc with no intro, no explanation, nothing. Just diembodied bluescreen with no context or reason behind their exclusion. ENJOY!

"Again, source? All you do is making baseless assumptions, even after I pointed out an article where he states he had a positive experience from TPM."


I'll say it ssssllllllooooowwwwwlllyyy for you. WHICH. WAS. A. RETRACTION. OF. WHAT. HE. INITIALLY. SAID. The fucking article you "cite" is a fucking retraction and follow up to the article where he as much as said how much he fucking hated the process. How can I be any plainer than that? The source is HE FUCKING SAID IT.

I know this is an internet board, but, please, PLEASE try to keep up.

His initial reaction being asked about having just completed TPM was 'FUCK! That was so awfull I don't want to be a goddamn actor anymore because directors SUCK!". Have you ever heard him pop off like that about any other film? No, this is unique to his experience with Lucas on TPM. Then, questioned much, much later about that statement he said "well, I was frustrated with the process, and I guess I didn't really mean that I was actually retiring.".

Then he didn't accept (for whatever reason, I'm still waiting for SOME, ANY, evidence of this mythical 2004 accident, by the way) a gig voicing Qui Gon for Lucas which would have cost him, what, a day at most? Part of a day? And netted a nice big bag of cash. I'm honestly curious; do you have to exert a great deal of your life force to not understanding this?

The experience was frustrating enough that he blew off steam by saying what he did. Neeson is a very smart guy, I really doubt the thought just randomly popped into his head and he expounded upon it. It's a thought that, if he felt it needed to be voiced, had been gestating with him for a while.

He never said he was tired because of TPM. That's your assumption, only.



Again, your typical baseless assumption. When has he ever stated that his tiredness was because of TPM? Or that he was talking about Lucas?

Hey Inv8r, the guys and I got together and bought you a gift basket of Midol. We just need your address to ship it to you. Let us know. Thanks.

I remember he said something like that too. But it was more like "FUCK Blue Screen! And fuck directors that put me in Blue Screen situations! Boy, do I look stupid in TPM - running around and not knowing what's going on around me."

I also have an interview he's done for the release of TPM where he says he never really liked OT and he agreed to do the movie because Spielberg praised Lucas as a great entrepreneur filmmaker. He emphasizes that he starred in TPM because of Lucas and not because it was a Star Wars film. So the way I understand it, later interviews show that he was disappointed with Lucas - George didn't live to the image Spielberg painted of him.

To be clear, I'm not buying into any crazy theories about him being too frustrated to work with Lucas again and his accident being a mystification.

Or maybe everything he ever said about TPM was a lie and we'll never know the truth!

My take is that while the process of making the film was not fun, Neeson is satisfied with the final film. I think you can probably say that about all the SW actors - OT or PT. In the end, they all seem to respect the legacy of the franchise and are glad to be a part of it.

Hitchcock (“Did He Really Treat Actors Like Cattle?”), Kubrick (”Kubrick was 'actor's enemy'”), and several other directors were strict formalists when it came to filming. It's not like Lucas invited this approach and that significant films can't result from a regimented filming process.

Not Bai Ling!

Only because she got smacked for the lightsaber in playboy.