CarlZog
Explorer
I've never been able to get into Star Wars. I always thought the first movie was a lot of fun, but that was pretty much it.
I've always asserted that the first movie was nothing more than a great take-off/update of the old 1930s Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials. My folks grew up on the serials and passed them on to me. By the time Star Wars was first released, I had enough late-night UHF reruns under belt to know a duck when it quacked.
For a long time, I've avoided expressing this opinion among the Star Wars faithful, because it generally annoys them. I've met so many fans who adhere to the belief that Lucas is some kind of sci-fi Tolkien, who had this expansive world and its structures already planned out in detail from the get-go.
"No wonder you're always disappointed when you've got those kind of expectations from a simple serial director," I think to myself. But except for strongly recommending that fans learn who Buster Crabbe is, I don't argue.
Then I read this excerpt from an article about Lucas at a big SW con:
Asked which idea came first... Anakin or Luke, Lucas explained the genesis of the series, "There was originally to be one film, I wanted it to be Episode IV of a serial (maybe out of 12 or something) that you would never see the first or last episodes of. That's what happened in the '30s, you had trailers, and a short cartoon, and then a cliffhanger. That serial-style is what Star Wars is based on."
"I started with Anakin Starkiller and his two kids, then I got to a draft that's kind of what we know now, but it was 200 pages. Then that became three films. I never thought I'd go back and do the original stories, regardless of what the press says or what's out there. But then the necessary film technology came along and I came to grips with being known forever as George 'Star Wars' Lucas."
Getting back to the point, Lucas summed up, "To answer your question, I started with the space battle. I thought that would be great."
Well, whaddya know? It was really just about the space battle after all.
Now before I start getting flamed, let me just say: If you really like the setting that sprung up around the Star Wars movies, more power to you. Discuss it, add to it, have fun with it. Enjoy all the material (games, books, TV, whatever) made for it. I do the same thing with far more obscure franchises.
But please stop treating it like biblical scripture. There is no "canon." It's just a simple movie that ended up way more successful than even its creator ever imagined.
When you realize that, you'll be able to drop all the angst and disappointment and "suffering" I keep hearing about, and you'll be able to just have some fun.
OK. That ends my rant on false gods. Thanks.
Carl
I've always asserted that the first movie was nothing more than a great take-off/update of the old 1930s Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials. My folks grew up on the serials and passed them on to me. By the time Star Wars was first released, I had enough late-night UHF reruns under belt to know a duck when it quacked.
For a long time, I've avoided expressing this opinion among the Star Wars faithful, because it generally annoys them. I've met so many fans who adhere to the belief that Lucas is some kind of sci-fi Tolkien, who had this expansive world and its structures already planned out in detail from the get-go.
"No wonder you're always disappointed when you've got those kind of expectations from a simple serial director," I think to myself. But except for strongly recommending that fans learn who Buster Crabbe is, I don't argue.
Then I read this excerpt from an article about Lucas at a big SW con:
Asked which idea came first... Anakin or Luke, Lucas explained the genesis of the series, "There was originally to be one film, I wanted it to be Episode IV of a serial (maybe out of 12 or something) that you would never see the first or last episodes of. That's what happened in the '30s, you had trailers, and a short cartoon, and then a cliffhanger. That serial-style is what Star Wars is based on."
"I started with Anakin Starkiller and his two kids, then I got to a draft that's kind of what we know now, but it was 200 pages. Then that became three films. I never thought I'd go back and do the original stories, regardless of what the press says or what's out there. But then the necessary film technology came along and I came to grips with being known forever as George 'Star Wars' Lucas."
Getting back to the point, Lucas summed up, "To answer your question, I started with the space battle. I thought that would be great."
Well, whaddya know? It was really just about the space battle after all.
Now before I start getting flamed, let me just say: If you really like the setting that sprung up around the Star Wars movies, more power to you. Discuss it, add to it, have fun with it. Enjoy all the material (games, books, TV, whatever) made for it. I do the same thing with far more obscure franchises.
But please stop treating it like biblical scripture. There is no "canon." It's just a simple movie that ended up way more successful than even its creator ever imagined.
When you realize that, you'll be able to drop all the angst and disappointment and "suffering" I keep hearing about, and you'll be able to just have some fun.
OK. That ends my rant on false gods. Thanks.
Carl
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
