The Problem with Star Wars

[Henry]

Star Wars was the unexpected 30 year detour for him, and now he says he can afford to fail financially making whatever the hell he wants.

If anything, this will be to me the greatest legacy of the Star Wars films. Lucas, when making something for the heck of it, can turn out some movies that have no cultural worth, but are some genuinely fun movies to watch. Dammit, I LIKED HOWARD THE DUCK! When Lucas is not trying hard, is when he's at his best.

As for AotC and Phantom Menace, I enjoyed them - not as much as the originals mind you, but I still enjoyed them for the spectacle of it. I often said, and still do, that Phantom Menace was worth it for the 20 minutes of lightsaber battles alone. On a psychological level, yes I suppose Menace and Clones DID fail to be "the greatest story ever told to Star Wars Fans", but then, that's not why I watched it. My wife knew nothing of Star Wars, but was curious, so I watched the three original movies with her. I didn't ask her to watch Episode 1 or 2; they weren't what was the best of the series, she didn't care to see them, and I didn't care if she didn't. She saw the best of them, IMO, so why bother? I watch all six because I am a SW geek, plain and simple, and whether Luke is struggling with his heritage, or whether Jar Jar is nabbing fruit with his tongue, I'm watching because it's fun.

Whatever happened to people "vegging out" with Star Wars they way they do with other action films?

 

[Ishamael]

I love Starwars...at least...I did...before the internet killed it...

 

[mojo1701]

I love Starwars...at least...I did...before the internet killed it...

You and me both.

 

[barsoomcore]

The Internet killed the video star...
The Internet killed the video star...

 

[Crothian]

I love Starwars...at least...I did...before the internet killed it...

The internet didn't kill it, it was the "fans"

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

The internet didn't kill it, it was the "fans"

Stupid fans are supposed to keep places cool and comfortable, too...whatever happened to that, eh?

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

For what it's worth, I saw him briefly somewhere the other night (ET, maybe?) and he said that after Sith he wants to go back and make small movies of a completely different kind. Star Wars was the unexpected 30 year detour for him, and now he says he can afford to fail financially making whatever the hell he wants.

Yeah, I saw that on 60 minutes... really, if you judge him by his pre-Star Wars work, it looked as if Lucas was going to be an arteur director of a rather Kubrick-esque stripe... it seems like he's decided that's what he wants to do with his golden years. I look forward to what he comes up with...

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Cut the creepy love story and the resultlant idealistic politico pillow talk, and it's a really good movie.

It's a real pity that the IMAX cut didn't make it to the DVD. That cut out most of the "Stalker Anakin" stuff from AotC so it could be under two hours.

Hrm...I wonder if Ep3 will make it to IMAX? That'd rock.

Brad

 

[Empress]

For what it's worth, I saw him briefly somewhere the other night (ET, maybe?) and he said that after Sith he wants to go back and make small movies of a completely different kind. Star Wars was the unexpected 30 year detour for him, and now he says he can afford to fail financially making whatever the hell he wants.

But that's the point, isn't it? Why doesn't he make a big special effects art movie extravaganza. He'd be the one director who could do it.

Why not make a Star Wars movie about what it means to be a hero, what it means to fail as a hero, and whether failure may be something a hero should be prepared to do in order to succeed? Give us Anakin as a young Jedi blossoming into a hero in part 1 (destroying the trade ship on purpose). Then have him be under pressure of delivering more and more acts of greatness - he's the Chosen One, after all, and maybe the strongest Jedi that ever lived - and confide in Padme. Let him be tired, subdued by his masters's expectations. And the only way to fulfill their expectations, the only way to become the greatest Jedi, the only way to make his dead mother proud, is to learn powers other Jedi are afraid of. To learn the powers of the Dark Side. Anakin is the Chosen One. He might be able to control its corrupting influence. He might be able to unite the Dark Side and the Light side. That is what he was chosen to do.

And then he fails.

I would have wanted Lucas to do something equally aspiring. I don't particularly dislike the movies he made, I'm just pining for what could have been.

 

[Aris Dragonborn]

Quote: "Why do I get the feeling that someday you're going to be the death of me?" - Obi Wan to Anakin as they enter the cantina while chasing the changeling.

For me, TPM was a let-down - initially. Repeated viewings seemed to improve the experience, but it still seemed as if something was wrong.....

And then, one day, I realized that I had been watching the movies from the perspective of the original trilogy, and that wasn't going to work. The original trilogy was set in a "dark time for the galaxy", where the Emperor ruled absolutely, the Jedi were non-existent, and no one had the courage or the strength to rise up against the Empire. No one, that is, until that fateful day when a Corellian smuggler took on a charter consisting of an old man, a farmboy, and their two droids....

The Prequels, on the other hand, depict a universe that, while on the decline, is still a much happier place than it would be in the future. Slavery is virtually non-existent (except in the Outer Rim territories), and non-humans had as much freedom. The Jedi were a force (no pun intended) for peace and justice throughout the galaxy, and were generally held in high regard (unless you were a criminal, that is). Sadly, the corruption of the government only hastened the Republic's decline. Things were looking up when a greatly respected senator form Naboo was elected Chancellor.........Looking up, that is, until a headstrong Jedi Master and his Padawan found a young boy who seemed to possess tremendous force-potential, and took him to be tested and eventually trained at the Jedi Temple.

It's not so much the movies, I think, as it is how we're viewing them. To expect them to be the same type of movies as the origianl trilogy is a mistake. The plot of the origianal trilogy was swashbuckling/pulp in nature, where good and evil were clearly defined; the prequels are more intrigue/noir, where nothing is as it seems.

Just enjoy the Prequels for what they are: Star Wars movies.