# Lucas calls SWIII "a tearjerker" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214 "2005-03-18T22:07:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/1 "2005-03-18T22:07:17Z")
From [http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/18/film.starwars.ap/index.html:](http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/18/film.starwars.ap/index.html:) > [@](#): > > "It’s not like the old ‘Star Wars,’ " Lucas told theater owners at the ShoWest convention. “This one’s a little bit more emotional. We like to describe it as ‘Titanic’ in space. It’s a tearjerker.” > > Opening May 19, “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” brings full circle the mammoth sci-fi saga Lucas began in 1977 with the original “Star Wars,” which shattered box-office records and remains one of the top-grossing movies ever. > > Reaction was mixed on “Episode I – The Phantom Menace” and “Episode II – Attack of the Clones,” many fans grousing that the first one was too much a kiddie flick and the second one too sappy a love story. Calling the latest movie a Faustian tragedy, Lucas said he is unconcerned about whether “Revenge of the Sith” draws more barbs from “Star Wars” fans. I’m sure we all expected the “Faustian tragedy” part, but calling it a “tearjerker” implies at least one character we’ve come to care about dies. [letitbejarjarletitbejarjarletitbejarjar] ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/2 "2005-03-18T22:13:32Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I’m sure we all expected the “Faustian tragedy” part, but calling it a “tearjerker” implies at least one character we’ve come to care about dies. > > [letitbejarjarletitbejarjarletitbejarjar] Can’t be JarJar. You said it was someone we’ve come to care about. ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/3 "2005-03-18T22:24:25Z")
Ooh let me guess… Amidala dies! ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/4 "2005-03-18T22:25:17Z")
How about “every fricking Jedi over 2 feet tall”? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/5 "2005-03-18T22:33:11Z")
Are we going to cry becuase the movie is so bad? a Titantic in space comparison bodes ill. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/6 "2005-03-18T22:52:59Z")
> [@treis](#): > > …a Titantic in space comparison bodes ill. Whaddya mean? That was my favourite episode of _Futurama_, and also one of Douglas Adams’ best efforts. 😉 Seriously, looking at the overall arc of the stories, of _course_ this one’s going to be “more emotional” and even a “tearjerker.” It’ll be closest in tone to _The Empire Strikes Back_, which, in my opinion, is promising. This is the one in which everything goes for shit, leaving Obi Wan in his “I alone am escaped to tell thee” posture. It _has_ to end on a downbeat, and it has to feel more like Irvin Kershner’s hands are on it – still _Star Wars_, but more grown-up, with a little depth blown into the characters, and more of a dark tragedy than a fluffy adventure. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/7 "2005-03-18T23:05:01Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > How about “every fricking Jedi over 2 feet tall”? Obi-Wan is only 2 feet tall? I guess the camera really does add pounds. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/8 "2005-03-18T23:05:44Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > How about “every fricking Jedi over 2 feet tall”? Or named “Obi-Wan.” ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/9 "2005-03-18T23:10:50Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [letitbejarjarletitbejarjarletitbejarjar] I don’t think he means tears of joy. The sad thing is, I don’t anticipate even a bit of visceral delight at watching these stiffs get cut down…because…well, they’re stiffs. I just can’t get worked-up over animatrons any more, whether they be flesh-and-blood or CG. I’ve over the stage when watching my little green toy soldiers get melted was entertaining. I had fun blowing up my SW action figures with M-80’s, but now I rather regret it, as they would have been worth a lot on eBay. Wanna guess what a ten dollar Princes Padme (or whatever the fuck she’s called) action figure will fetch twenty-five years from now? I’m guessing ten dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/10 "2005-03-18T23:14:39Z")
They say this one will probably be rated PG13. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/11 "2005-03-18T23:18:51Z")
> [@Corii](#): > > Ooh let me guess… > > Amidala dies! Well, duh! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/12 "2005-03-18T23:20:51Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > They say this one will probably be rated PG13. What were the others rated? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/13 "2005-03-18T23:21:50Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What were the others rated? PG ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/14 "2005-03-18T23:23:01Z")
PG They caught some flack for the last one, I think. I personally don’t know what the fucking problem was. Any kid would pick up his father’s severed head if given half the chance. It’s not like they showed tits or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/15 "2005-03-18T23:23:58Z")
Don’t forget who he was talking to when delivering that quote: theater owners. Businessmen who don’t give a shit if movies are good or bad as long as they’re profitable and bring in the warm bodies. Businessmen who have been listening to Lucas for the last year saying the third installment would be dark and depressing and probably not as big moneywise as the first two. Businessmen who are nervous at the prospect of a movie that is (1) equally as crappy as the first two prequels but (2) lacking even the rudimentary sense of triumph that brought so much repeat business. Businessmen whose perceived lack of imagination is supposedly such that a half-assed reference to the most successful movie of all time is intended to assuage them of all their foregoing concerns. Make more sense now? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/16 "2005-03-18T23:24:55Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > Obi-Wan is only 2 feet tall? I guess the camera really does add pounds. 😃 :smack: A tiny oversight…anyone could have forgotten such a minor character… Thanks for covering my ass there, **Tangent**. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/17 "2005-03-18T23:26:13Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Businessmen whose perceived lack of imagination is supposedly such that a half-assed reference to the most successful movie of all time is intended to assuage them of all their foregoing concerns. > > Make more sense now? Yes, but it raises the question: Is that judgment of the businessmens’ imagination accurate or not? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/18 "2005-03-18T23:26:55Z")
The pain of the last one almost made me cry! Seriously, folks, I’m just going to ignore whatever the man says. I’ll see the movie and just maybe it’ll be good… I’m really not optimistic. But given his judgments on the last two, I don’t think the fact that he thinks it’ll be a tearjerker means it will actually be one. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/19 "2005-03-18T23:30:24Z")
I’ll probably go. And I hate myself for it. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214/20 "2005-03-19T00:18:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, duh! I’m not so sure, if Lucas decides to follow what was said in the Original Trilogy. Leia said she remembers her mother as beautiful, but sad. Unless this movie ends with the kids being old enough to keep memories, that means she lives. Of course, that hasn’t stopped Lucas yet, so … [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-calls-swiii-a-tearjerker/295214.md?page=2)