Speaking of George Lucas the pimp (or whore), did anyone besides me see the enormous amount of bizarre Star Wars products that have come into stores? There are Star Wars pillows, SW dishes, SW towels, SW books, SW paper dolls, SW action figures, SW fashion dolls, I AM A DROID by C3P0, Queen Amidala’s diary, and SW LOTION(!?!?) What the hell is going on with movies? Movies like Citizen Kane and Moby Dick NEVER sunk so low.
What? No Rosebud brand sleds or Ahab pegleg polish?
Actually, I’m no real Boba Fett fan myself. My point was that whereas Fett was (at least to a lot of people) intreguing and interesting, the Ewoks, and even more so the Gunguns, were obvious, boring, and annoying. The fact that we don’t know much about Fett is OK precicely because he wasn’t an important character at all. Darth Maul, however, is the main villian in PM, and is nowhwere near as threatening or compelling as Darth Vader, or even Jaba the Hutt, the real villians of the first movies.
I think the fact we don’t know so much about Darth Maul is why he is that much more menacing and scary. We know little more about the character then the Jedi in the movie do. Which makes it more exciting.
Also, kind of goes along with the title of the movie.
on another unrelated note - oh, everyone is buying the Citizen Kane Brand snowglobes. 
pat
Lucas said he doesn’t plan on making the final trilogy (7-9)… how many people here believe that one?
“[He] beat his fist down upon the table and hurt his hand and became so
further enraged… that he beat his fist down upon the table even harder and
hurt his hand some more.” – Joseph Heller’s Catch-22
Thats a good question. Lucas does seem to change his story regarding the 9 movie idea.
In fact, the former Star Wars Producer Garry Kurtz came out with a outline he claims was what Lucas planned on doing with the movies originally. In my opinion, the story arc that his outline showed wasn’t as good as the one we seem to be getting. But, that outline did include 9 movies.
There are a couple of things that make me think he might not do 7-9.
First, there is the fact that Harrison Ford has gone on the record saying that he will never ever do another star wars movie. The next set of sequels would have the original heros in the future, I can’t imagine Lucas deciding to cast someone else as Han Solo.
Second, Lucas has said quite a few times that the story is about Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker and his rise fall and redemption. So, making another set of sequels seems to take away from that.
On, the other hand Mark Hamil has said that Lucas told him that the would be making another round of sequels with Luke Skywalker being a Obi Wan type character.
So, really who knows.
pat
Hasn’t the post-Episode VI era pretty well been layed out in the novels? Although I think some of them would make good movies, they certainly wouldn’t garner the same kind of anticipation that the last 3 movies have.
The last I heard Lucas claimed that he would not do the final 3, because he had “other movies (he) wants to make”.
Oh yeah, George? Is that right! Like what?!
“Radioland Murders II”?
“Howard the Duck II”?
Wait, those were pretty bad, but he was involved in some good stuff other than star wars. such as: The Indian Jones trilogy, and Labyrinth.
To just bring up the movies that weren’t totally successful is a bit unfair.
I actually enjoyed the Radioland Murders, by the way, I thought it was a fun movie that worked with an interesting entertainment form from the past.
People that enjoy old time radio would enjoy that movie.
pat
{{/ Hey, it’s “Star Wars,” /
Well, no, it isn’t. That’s the problem.}} Crimson HD
Funny, that’s how it’s being billed.
{{ In fact, it appears to be a lavishly produced episode of Battlestar Galactica. }}
And how is that so much different from Star Wars?
{{/ OK – a big budget production created with the
primary intent to make a lot of money./
You know, like most interesting art.}}
Big budget? I think not, nor is it really true that most “intersting art” is created with the primary intent to make “a lot of money.” Most art is for sale, that is true, but it does not follow that the product is created to maximize money.
{{/ We ain’t talking art with a
capital “A” here – it’s not like he’s mucking up “Citizen Kane” or
“Moby Dick.” /
Yeah, I think it is like he’s mucking up “Citizen Kane.” He’s created a diluting prequel to an acknowledged movie classic.}}
Well, it’s “classic” in the sense of being very popular, but that’s all. I guess we just have different ideas about what makes a good film.
{{ You might actually argue that Star Wars is more of a classic than Kane, even if not as technically influential or self consciously arty.}}
I wouldn’t want to be seen trying, though.
{{ SW certainly has a greater generational defining quality to it, like the Beatles, or something. Woodstock, what have you.}}
Oh, no, we’re back to “The Breakfast Club” as a classic! <g>
Anyway, Woodstock was a classic event, but it does not seem to have been a classic concert from a musical perspective.
{{So an awful lot of people were like “huh?” on the 19th. Really kids, it stinks on ice, does PM. }}
I’ll take your word for it – most SW fans I’ve talked to had the same reaction.
Think we can get RheeRhee over here to argue that nobody could possibly see any racial connotations in JarJar Binks?
I don’t think so. The movie is called “The Phantom Menace,” not “Darth Maul.” If anything, Darth Sidious or Senator (soon to be Emperor) Palpatine is the “main villain.”
Big Iron:
Huh. Most I’ve talked to have felt exactly the opposite.
I won’t argue “couldn’t possibly,” but I will argue “Anybody who does is pretty foolish.” (See my comments in the “Bloodless Star Wars” thread under General Questions.)
As far as the fact that Darth Maul wasn’t given and lines and wasn’t developed as a character, no kidding. None of the characters were developed. They were all walking stereotypes. In addition to that, the scenes wern’t even developed properly, and the continuity of the movie sucked. Furthermore, the way they reexplained
the force, was bs. It was obviously a product of a society that needs a quantifyable answer to everything.
I have to disagree on the action part though, I thought the fight scenes were good. Sure, some things were a bit “dancy” but most fightscenes where skill is the emphasis are like that. Also, the pace of the fight and the way it was fought were realistic. Take for example, the fact that when the Jedi outnumbered Darth Maul, they actually attacked at the same time, and Darth Maul was defensive. When Darth seperated the two, he got alot more aggressive. It made sence.
Overall, it was an entertainin movie, but it had so much potential that it fell very, very short on.
Larsy
This, “The Phantom Menace didn’t have enough character development” is starting to drive me crazy. I would agree that no character development took place in the movie. I would also go as far to say that no character development has taken place in any of the star wars movies. They have all had wooden dialogue. Cheesy surprise (Did “I am your Father” strike you as anything but cheese?)
I can understand why people didn’t like it, but the underdeveloped character issue is sort of silly, I believe.
I am not knocking the original movies, just saying these aren’t pieces of fine art, they are fun fun movies.
Most of the people I have talked to (myself included, I often talk to myself) have liked The Phantom Menace alot. A few had some reservations about the kiddy stuff in it, but I mark that up as not remembering what it was like to be 11.
pat
Well; by that argument, if it’s authentic and heartfelt, then the story is gonna be great. Lucas certainly has to identify with Anakin to write him credibly plunging to the Dark Side, so if he feels a modicum of guilt over the way the SW franchise has taken off, we’re headed towards kick-ass episodes II and III.
All I know about the movie is what I’ve seen on TV - it’s sort of hard to avoid - and I’m not likely to see PM anytime soon. Lucas lost me at movie 3, episode whatever with those damn Ewoks and the cutesy pie ending. But I’d like to ask a question, if I may.
Am I the only one who thinks this Jar Jar Binks character is just Roger Rabbit in 3D?
No.
The movie should be called Star Whores to reflect it’s commercialization.
Melin writes:
I suppose one could argue that this was a generous move, Melin, but just how kind was it really to use one of the worst films ever made to help charity? I wonder how many people, on their way out of the movie, thought about asking for their money back?
PapaBear writes:
[quote]
STAR WARS (that is what the 1977 movie was called when it was first released) … absolutely DID NOT have Episode IV on it though. … I’m positive about the absence of “Episode IV”, though, because everybody in the theater would have gone, “Huh? Say what?”
[quote]
Funny, Papa: that’s exactly what me and my friends did say when we saw the subtitle “Episode IV” back then during its first release! It was there, alright, Papa… No question.
Let me try that again… PapaBear writes:
Funny, Papa: that’s exactly what me and my friends did say when we saw the subtitle “Episode IV” way back then during its first release!
It was there, alright, Papa… No question.