# What made the original Star Wars trilogy great? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2012, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116 "2012-01-20T07:31:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/81 "2012-01-23T20:11:02Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > You know Lucas and his team pretty much came up with the way to make those models look real. > Pretty danged amazing for 1977. Especially seeing as how crappy some of the models look IRL. There was a touring exhibit of Star Wars props, including models, costumes, etc. The Star Destroyer model they had was glued together foam core board. All the little pieces were poorly cut and rough-shaped. Of course on film, all that came out as exciting texture that just made it feel more real. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/82 "2012-01-23T20:22:01Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Fanwanking, but my guess is she was just throwing any kind of defiance at her captors she could. Insulting the stormtrooper who came to get her would fall in that. > > And it’s not so much that the uniform didn’t fit, but I’m pretty sure Luke was confused at being called a stormtrooper, not short. I understood Luke’s confusion, but not Leia’s insult. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/83 "2012-01-23T20:31:41Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > I understood Luke’s confusion, but not Leia’s insult. Yet another good part of the first movies: A sarcastic princess! ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/84 "2012-01-23T20:43:59Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Opening scene. Be honest, the first time you saw the movie how many people in the audience were unconciously looking up or scrunching down in their seats. The movie grabbed you by the balls in the first few seconds and never let go. _Before_ the opening scene: the 20th Century Fox fanfare, A long time ago in a galaxy far, far way. . . ., and the scroll. All this prepared you to be grabbed by the balls in the first few seconds of the opening scene. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/85 "2012-01-23T21:06:27Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Luke’s reply was “What? Ohhh, the uniform…” > > The uniform fit. Apparently, they did indeed have short stormtroopers. So what the heck is Leia talking about? Leia’s insulting one of her guards, not making some sort of deductive insight. The implication isn’t, “Because of your height, you can’t really be a Stormtrooper,” the implication is, “Because of your height, you must not be a very good Stormtrooper.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/86 "2012-01-23T21:11:03Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The whole prequel trilogy managed to seem too childish _and_ too serious _at the same time_, a pretty remarkable feat. “I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is _soft_ and _smooth_.” _\_ ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/87 "2012-01-23T21:16:32Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > You know Lucas and his team pretty much came up with the way to make those models look real. [2001: A Space Odyssey](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_f4G3TFLiAQ4/S8iyQc6Jv1I/AAAAAAAAA2E/hm1v6wxpqEM/s1600/SO.earth.station.jpg) disagrees/ ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/88 "2012-01-23T21:50:57Z")
What made the series great was the fact that I was ten years old. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/89 "2012-01-23T22:05:19Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Leia’s insulting one of her guards, not making some sort of deductive insight. The implication isn’t, “Because of your height, you can’t really be a Stormtrooper,” the implication is, “Because of your height, you must not be a very good Stormtrooper.” Right. I git it now. I just needed y’all to explain it to me. And I have been waiting for 35 years. 🙂 Of course, if all these dudes are clones, should they be the same height, or are they recruiting “natural born” humans by now? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/90 "2012-01-23T22:30:46Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Right. I git it now. I just needed y’all to explain it to me. And I have been waiting for 35 years. 🙂 > > Of course, if all these dudes are clones, should they be the same height, or are they recruiting “natural born” humans by now? Couple different ways you can take it. If they are all clones, “Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?” becomes an observant question, pointing out that he’s not regulation height. It’s an attractive fanwank if you want to believe Lucas had everything planned out from the start. But the general accepted continuity is that, between the loss of clones during the Clone Wars and the Empire’s need to expand its powerbase, they started taking in conscripts and volunteers from the worlds under its control (which conveniently explains why the stormtroopers are various heights and the ship crew all look different). Leia is just snarking. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/91 "2012-01-23T23:05:18Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Couple different ways you can take it. > > If they are all clones, “Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?” becomes an observant question, pointing out that he’s not regulation height. It’s an attractive fanwank if you want to believe Lucas had everything planned out from the start. Or it could just be a more pointed insult - she’s not just calling him short, she’s saying he’s a defective clone. > [@](#): > > But the general accepted continuity is that, between the loss of clones during the Clone Wars and the Empire’s need to expand its powerbase, they started taking in conscripts and volunteers from the worlds under its control (which conveniently explains why the stormtroopers are various heights and the ship crew all look different). Leia is just snarking. Did the prequels establish that the capital ship crews were also clones? I thought they were shown as normal, non-identical humans, but I could be mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/92 "2012-01-23T23:51:45Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Or it could just be a more pointed insult - she’s not just calling him short, she’s saying he’s a defective clone. That works too. Either way, she’s snarking. > [@](#): > > Did the prequels establish that the capital ship crews were also clones? I thought they were shown as normal, non-identical humans, but I could be mistaken. I have no idea, honestly. I don’t think we ever saw ship crews in the prequels at all except for Separatists, though I haven’t watched any in years and when I did watch them last I skipped quite a few scenes. It was all just field units. I think even the gunship pilots at the Episode 2 climax were all clones. So call that an assumption, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/93 "2012-01-23T23:55:48Z")
All I know is this thread is really making me want to watch the original 3 again. Haven’t seen them in FAR too long! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/94 "2012-01-24T04:26:45Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > I’ve just skimmed, and it seems my point has been made, but I’ll sum up: > > What made the original Star Wars trilogy great? Being nine. > [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > Even if you were twenty-five when you first watched it. I was 26 when I saw the first one, and in grad school. I had been a reader of science fiction since I was 12, and had seen lots of SF movies. I was blown away by it, as were lots of my fellow students. I knew several that saw it dozens of times. So being nine really has nothing to do with thinking the originals were great. I agree with what others have said: the originals were straightforward, with clear plots and archetypal heroes and villains. The prequels had muddy plots that were further confused by throwing in all kinds of extraneous crap. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/95 "2012-01-24T04:28:51Z")
The whole “stormtroopers are clones” thing is so idiotic…I wish Lucas had never introduced the concept of clones to the series. Clones are PLAYED OUT in science fiction. They’re fucking PLAYED OUT, and that’s all there is to it. It’s such a lame, cliched cop-out to have the Empire’s troops all just be manufactured clones. It’s so much more interesting (and realistic) to think that every single identical white Stormtrooper, underneath his armor and faceless mask, is actually an individual and unique person who, by whatever means - conscription or volunteering - wound up in the Empire’s ranks. Why are they there? Did they really support the Empire’s mission? Or was joining the Empire their only way off of some desolate and boring planet? Remember, early in the first film, Luke keeps talking about going to “The Academy.” Realize that he’s talking about the Empire’s military academy here. Luke could easily have wound up flying a TIE Fighter. It’s concepts like that which make the series interesting. Fuck clones. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/96 "2012-01-24T05:34:34Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > It’s such a lame, cliched cop-out to have the Empire’s troops all just be manufactured clones. Well, it does help explain why all of them are such lousy shots. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/97 "2012-01-24T06:00:44Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The whole “stormtroopers are clones” thing is so idiotic…I wish Lucas had never introduced the concept of clones to the series. Clones are PLAYED OUT in science fiction. They’re fucking PLAYED OUT, and that’s all there is to it. It’s such a lame, cliched cop-out to have the Empire’s troops all just be manufactured clones. It’s so much more interesting (and realistic) to think that every single identical white Stormtrooper, underneath his armor and faceless mask, is actually an individual and unique person who, by whatever means - conscription or volunteering - wound up in the Empire’s ranks. Why are they there? Did they really support the Empire’s mission? Or was joining the Empire their only way off of some desolate and boring planet? > > Remember, early in the first film, Luke keeps talking about going to “The Academy.” Realize that he’s talking about the Empire’s military academy here. Luke could easily have wound up flying a TIE Fighter. > > It’s concepts like that which make the series interesting. Fuck clones. I completely agree with this. I hate, hate, hate the idea of clone Stormtroopers for the all the reasons you give. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/98 "2012-01-24T07:31:42Z")
**To add:** A lot of the model ships and structures were made by “kit bashing”. Taking model kits of trains, battleships, jets, etc. and using these little, vague, mechanical bits and pieces to construct some pretty convincing “future” vehicles and structures in a fast and crafty way. It’s been around for a while, but it was really its use in 2001 and Star Wars IV that popularized the practice in miniatures and visual effects. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/99 "2012-01-24T14:03:45Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The whole “stormtroopers are clones” thing is so idiotic… > > _:snip:_ > > Fuck clones. Not that I disagree, but then, what would the Clone Wars be about? Maybe Lucas should have paid the royalties to BOC and instead had the Psychic Wars. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116/100 "2012-01-24T14:07:08Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Not that I disagree, but then, what would the Clone Wars be about? Cloning jedis. After all, how else are you going to kill original jedis? (And why else is OB-1 Kenobi hiding out in the desert twenty years later? ;)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-the-original-star-wars-trilogy-great/610116.md?page=6)