Will anyone stand up to George Lucas?

[Storminator]

Ep 1 made me sad. I loved Star Wars so much, and I really wanted to like it. But it just didn't do the old flicks justice. There were a couple of stills in it that I thought we absolutely gorgeous, but that's not enough for a movie.

The weakness of the films was driven home for me on a long drive. We listened to the book-on-tape novelization of Ep 1, and it was much, much better. That's a sad commentary on a film.

PS

 

[Zaukrie]

I don't know how old any of you are, but my 6 and 7 year old sons can't watch the Star Wars movies, any of the 5, often enough. Lucas once said, and I think we all need to remember this, that Ep1 was not made for adults, but for kids.

Do I have issues with both (Ep1 and 2) movies? Yes, they both look like they were made with turning them into video games in mind. Yes, his dialogue is brutal. But, you know what, the dialogue was brutal in the first 3 movies too! The acting wasn't any better either. I find both movies fairly entertaining, not great stuff, but entertaining. I can't imagine that most of us, in looking at them as adults, really find the Ewoks all that entertaining, or well done. Now, that's my opinion, some of you probably disagree with me.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Well, Henry and JC said it better than I could.

Part of the problem with the Prequels, is that it IS a different story. The TONE is different...and people go to the theater still expecting the OLD story. I, for one, am GLAD we get to see a different side of the story...however, you have to take everything with it. Bad dialogue? Part of the genre AND time period. Bad acting? Same. Bad directing? Matter of opinion. Bad story? Still, opinion again. Too childish? Look at the Originals objectively.

Obviously, enough people liked it, or it wouldn't have done nearly as well as it has. I think its foolish to run around saying how much better Star Wars would be if SOMEONE ELSE did it. Because you know what? Someone else ISN'T doing it. This is Lucas' story. As an artist myself, I may not LIKE a lot of classic paintings and works, but I don't go around telling the world how much better I could do. Good or bad, ALL art has strong merits.

 

[TiQuinn]

If I had to sum up the reason the new trilogy doesn't appeal to fans of the original, it'd be it's missing two key people:

Han Solo and Darth Vader.

Harrison Ford carried a lot of the original trilogy. And Vader was an imposing villain that everyone could really get behind hating.

To me, nobody has filled those voids in the new trilogy.

 

[Numion]

2) The two prequel films aren't nearly as bad as some people make them out to be. The proof is self-evident: The movies are grossing hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide, children are pretending to be Jango Fett and Jar Jar, and merchandise is selling like crazy.

Is it always "big earnings = it must be good"? Is 'NSync the best music then, because it's most sold?

Earnings of a film or whatever might mean to studios that it's a good film. There's more to it, though - LotR had both; financial success and critical acclaim. It think those are better films than EPI and EPII that had only financial success.

 

[Numion]

Part of the problem with the Prequels, is that it IS a different story. The TONE is different...and people go to the theater still expecting the OLD story. I, for one, am GLAD we get to see a different side of the story...however, you have to take everything with it. Bad dialogue? Part of the genre AND time period. Bad acting? Same.

I just don't buy that "It was supposed to be bad, so it really isn't!" excuses when it comes to filmmaking. Crap in your pants is still crap in your pants, even if you did it on purpose.

 

[buzzard]

Since opinions are like you-know-what and they all stink I won't bother debating the (lack of IMHO of course) quality of Eps I&II. The rationalizations in their favor have been amusing.

Though to get to the issue at hand, it's a shame nobody will try to beat some sense into Lucas' head. It's also a shame that due to this I certainly won't bother to go see Ep III in the theater. Maybe I'll rent it, or maybe I'll just wait till it hits a form of TV I don't have to pay for. I refuse to kick in any more money for what I perceive as dreck.

I can't argue that it isn't his movie to do what he wills with. I certainly can avoid pitching any more money into that black hole of trash.

buzzard

 

[Henry]

Is it always "big earnings = it must be good"? Is 'NSync the best music then, because it's most sold?

I will say this: N*Sync was not great music, but it wasn't terrible, either. From an objective standpoint, it has enough quality to be popular. Note I never said the two prequels were "best," only that they aren't this terrible cess-pit that so many detractors make them out to be: They are, in fact, entertaining - to me, to millions of people worldwide, and MOST entertaining to their target audience - kids. Does it have a ton of storyline? No, but then neither did the earlier trilogy. All we have are what secondary authors have built up over the years to give meaning to those throwaway lines from the original trilogy, and the fans were blessed with some pretty good authors to carry the torch from the late 1980's till now.

To me, Ewan MacGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, and even Sam L. Jackson don't have either the acting ability or the comfort level in their characters that Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher did; of the cast, maybe MacGregor does the best job; Jackson has done some awesome roles in the past, but he just doesn't look comfortable in his role.

 

[Wombat]

I still stick to my blasphemous theory that the thing that went "wrong" with Star Wars was The Empire Strikes Back, which elevated our hopes to an unattainable level, never to be matched again.

Yeah, I loathed both prequels. OTOH, I know lots of kids who love them.

As a kid I liked watching Disney's Mary Poppins -- can't stand it now.

Lesson to be learned? Probably not.

 

[Berandor]

I don't like the prequels; they simply don't work for me. I don't know why cheezy dialogue in the OT and, for example, LotR doesn't bother me that much; in fact, many of the OTs cheeziest lines are memorable quotes (and Gimli's

Spoiler

"That still counts as one!"

is as well).
In the prequels, it all falls flat. It's overdone. Joda doesn't need to jump around like a BBEG in "Jedi Knight" - it's funny, but too funny to retain respect for the little guy.
The love story in the OT isn't that well done, either. I think the difference is the prequels try to be a great, epic story, a politically intense and emotionally satisfying journey when the OT simply was a fun ride, and nothing more (but nothing less, either). It's a different way to tell a story, and to me it doesn't work. The new films try to be "serious", and neglect the pulp origin (or at least I feel that way).
That doesn't mean I don't get childlike grins on my face when lightswords battle - but I'll cringe at midichlorians as well.

And, as you all know: Greedo shot first!