I think I would like to see more Clone Wars action, and Jengo was kinda cool, but there is no suspence for me. Part of the problem is I am tired of seeing lavish CGIfests(see my diatribe in a certain John Carpenter thread), but mostly it is a lack of compelling storytelling and annoying(CGI, of course) supporting characters. Ewen and Samuel J. are giving us the type of performances one would expect from top shelf, but this alone cannot compel the way the origional trilogy could. I agree, Greedo’s premature emmission, not a biggie. Did make for a funny Afflek reference once…
I don’t care what Episode II says, R2-D2 can not fly.
I wouldn’t say that the prequels have ruined the originals for me, I’d say that they’ve helped me view them without the thick veneer of nostalgia that had always made me oblvious to mayn of their flaws. I still like SW and Empire, still think they’re great movies, but now they’re just movies to me, not High Art or a lifestyle choice or anything like that.
I have to say, they’re enhanced it for me. But then to me, SW is as essential as oxygen.
They haven’t ruined the OT for me. However, Lucas should have swallowed his pride and asked for help with the writing. I basically agree with vibrotronica’s assessment of the story-line flaws. Anakin should have been older in Episode 1, and they should have made Darth Maul one of the main recurring villains instead of killing him off in the first movie. (And maybe they could have given him an identifiable personality while they were at it.)
Yeah, the “prequels” used to bother me. They used to. People would bring them up to rant about force germs or Jar-Jar or whatever, and I’d get all cranky and depressed and lapse into fugue states and experience migraine-induced phosphene hallucinations.
Then one day I was at Steak 'n Shake and someone quoted Anakin’s whine about sand, the one he used as an excuse to fondle the Princess, and I thought to myself, “That’s Darth Vader’s pickup line!!!” and I accidentally inhaled a maraschino cherry and was clinically dead for 3 1/2 minutes. And when I awoke I had the answer! [spoiler]
The prequels? They’re not really prequels.
Think about it. When did the SW franchise really acquire that first hint of suck? It was Jedi, wasn’t it, with that heavy emphasis on muppets, recycled plot and creepy undertones of incest? And what happened just before Jedi? What happened at the end of Empire?
That’s right! Han Solo was frozen in carbonite. The last point where the story made sense.
Jedi, Menace, Clones… all these movies are weird hibernation dreams going through Han’s mind. What’s practically the first thing we see in Jedi? Why, it’s Leia in a slave bikini! Not damn likely…unless you’re a sleeping Han Solo! Oh, Luke and Leia are actually siblings? How very convenient! No more troublesome competition!
DO YOU NOT SEE HOW IT ALL FITS TOGETHER?!
These new movies…they’re even less coherent. Again, this makes sense if you consider them as the products of an oxygen-starved, sensory-deprived brain. Han’s unconscious mind is confabulating a reality in which his enemies are ineffective buffoons. Hence, Darth Vader is portrayed as a whiny prepubescent, later a whiny adolescent. Likewise, Boba Fett, revealed in Jedi as a hopeless clown fit only for a comedy relief death, is further downsized by making him the clone of the Galaxy’s stupidest man. Han isn’t particularly fond of C-3P0, either, so he imagines him as a witless annoyance constantly spouting one-liners. And built by Vader! How much more evil can you get?
The final nail in the coffin is the complete absence of Governor Tarkin in the prequels; remember, in Wars he and Darth Vader were “old friends.” Han never met Tarkin, therefore he doesn’t dream about him.
Jar Jar… Hell, I don’t know, maybe there’s an old Corellian myth about a lizard demon who appears and makes you hate life.
Lucas has crafted a bold, unprecedented cinematic device: a dream sequence that spans several movies. I feel certain that when the last film comes out, we’ll thrill as Han is really rescued from the carbonite, and the cast from the original trilogy defeats the Empire in some original and really cool Ewok-free manner. And everyone will say, “How could we ever have doubted George Lucas?”
Everything’s going to be okay. You just wait and see if it isn’t.[/spoiler]
Empire forever.
[sub]Yay, my 100th post. So do I get a cake, or…?[/sub]
No, the prequels aren’t ruining SW for me. Though I think that is because I realized the original 3 weren’t the be all and end all of filmmaking. They are simply mindless entertainment, and that is what the prequels are.
Terrifel! That’s inspired!
I you had asked me in '97 or so what my favorite movie was, Star Wars would have been the immediate answer. I watched the original trilogy at every possible opportunity, usually five times a year or so. Nowadays none of the movies would even crack my top twenty-five list. How much of that is due to the prequels and how much of it is just me growing up? I don’t really know. But unless the critics assure me that Lucas has realised that spiffy CGI rocks are not as entertaining as good dialogue and acting, I won’t ever bother seeing III.
Oh, come on, you gotta see III! Anakin turns to Darth! It doesn’t matter how much it blows, seeing the change and then Darth and Obi-Won fighting is well worth the price of admission.
Of course the prequels are ruining it for me!
I mean, here they are, cruising around the Alpha Quadrant at Warp 5, despite the fact that “Balance of Terror” clearly established that the Romulans hadn’t developed warp drive even a century later – and, worse, they’re talking over subspace radio, which “A Piece of the Action” made absolutely clear is at least 17 years in the future, maybe more – and –
… Oh, wait, you said Star WARS.
I read an interview with Lawrnce Kasdan where he claimed that Lucas asked him to do a rewrite of Ep. I, but LK didn’t have time.
IIRC, that’s been proven to be BS. Lucas and Kasdan supposedly had a falling out years ago. I, personally find it hard to believe that Kasdan would have turned Lucas down. Would anyone here turn down such an offer? I think not. Hell, there’s actors who’ve appeared in Star Trek, even though they hate the program because they know that it’ll impress their kids! Why would anyone turn down the opportunity to work with Lucas on the most talked about movie of the year?
Terrifel–if that were in fact true, that would be the most incredible thing ever. George Lucas would have to disappear. Like Salman Rushdie or something. There would be mass suicides. Merchandise burnings.
Great post.
Naw, the best ending for Terrifel’s potulation is this:
Han wakes up to find the Empire has reached immense proportions. He gets back to the Rebellion just as they are making their last ditch effort. The Rebels fail, Darth kills Luke, and Evil wins… Mwahaha
The “prequels” as such don’t really offer much story anyway…what “background” and “history” that is there is right on the level of pimply-faced fan fiction as far as depth, plot, and entertainment go.
So no. They don’t ruin the old movies for me.
Though I do get a sort of “car-accident” enjoyment out of watching the prequels; they are so fascinatingly off-key and wooden that it provokes a feeling of sadistic glee to watch these people embarrass themselves so completely.
Terrifel, I love you and I want to have your baby.
Yes, the prequels are ruining Star Wars for me. I loved the original trilogy (and didn’t even mind the Ewoks all that much), but now, when thinking about Star Wars I shrug. I used to be such a Star Wars freak, and look at what I’ve become. I don’t even own Phantom Menace.
So many things wrong. Qui-Gon’s existence, midi-chlorians, R2-D2, C3P0…
And could someone tell me why in the blue blazes of heaven Obi-Wan would hide infant Luke on Darth Vader’s home planet, with people Vader knows?
You cannot ruin Star Wars for me. It is one of those movies… if I walk through a room and it is playing, I will look for a place to sit. Empire and Return are less so, but still they are tempting. I guess it depends on what else I have to do.
I am indifferent to I and II in most points. To me they are just movies set in the Star Wars galaxy. Not real Star Wars movies. And normally I have been quite opposed to the Imperial position of extermination of non-human races. But after I and II I happen to agree: the Gungans can go!
On the other hand, not to slander A New Hope, but this is how Jedi fight! The Jedi fights in I & II are awesome!
Annother round of applause for Terrifel’s wonderful post. We could call the last movie…
“An Occurance at Tatoine Barge”
As for the OP, nope, they don’t ruin the original trilogy at all. However, my enjoyment of the originals will be hurt a bit if Lucas makes good on his threat and I don’t get the opportunity to view the originals in all of their surround sound, widescreen, DVD glory.