George Lucas tinkering with Star Wars films (page 2)

LoveUniHateExams

@MMM - The Last Jedi is the only SW film I haven't seen.

It seems you rate this movie much, much worse that the SW prequel movies.

Have I got that right?

@neat blue dog - interesting points of view that I find hard to agree with.

Here's just one of many articles that doesn't resort to the lame "Jar Jar sucks" trope - re TPM, it isn't just JarJar. Although there are some great moments and ideas in that film, there are so many flaws, JarJar being one small one.

First, what possessed George Lucas to have someone as annoying as JarJar as a main character? Toy sales is the only decent answer I can think of.

Second, yes we know Anakin Skywalker eventually becomes Darth Vader but a 10-year-old boy with no known father, conceived by the midichlorians (aka the force)?? Prophesied to bring balance to the force??

A prophesy in a space epic is seriously corny! ... Imagine a prophesy in Star Trek about Captain Kirk or Spock. Ridiculous.

Nice action in the third act including the light sabre fight between Darth Maul and Kenobi/Qui-Gon Jinn, until you realise that it's so carefully choreographed it's totally unrealistic. When Luke and Vader duel in Empire, it seems real. You actually get a sense of a greenhorn with potential being outclassed by an old master. The dialog between the thrust and parry of light sabres is good, too. In TPM, Lucas clearly thought bigger is better - more action and special effects = better film. Clearly, this doesn't always work out that way.

And lastly, 10-year-old Anakin Skywalker blows up the droid command ship by accident. He's dicking around, checking out the controls of a Naboo starfighter, working out what buttons do what and releases the proton torpedoes that just happen to hit some kind of reactor in just the right place.

WTF ...

MeanMrMustard

@LoveUniHateExams:

Yes, The Last Jedi shat all over everything that was good about Star Wars. I mean Lucas also shat over it - the midichlorians comes to mind. But that was tiny compared to the problems in TLJ.

You will like the movie if you are into plot holes, logical contradictions, social justice bullshit, and watching your favorite movie character rewritten into a coward.

If you want to see Luke drink blue milk from the ball sack tits of some large sea porpoise, then this is your movie.

edit: don’t want to spoil the movie for you... so stop me if I get too descriptive...

edit again: nevermind, I can’t spoil this movie. That is like me saying “I don’t want to spoil Battlefield Earth for you.”

_Morpheus

Let me first say im also a fan of the original two movies. Greatness.

There are a ton of problems with the prequals but heres the biggest, imho: the original two (new hope and empire) followed a common thread, had a common plot. You can distill it in whatever way suits you but it was essentially a space soap opera set to the themes of meiji era japan. That is the era tha saw the end of the samurai and the shogun rule and all the entire system of governance commerce etc etc it was entire cultural revolution.

The jedi were simply “samurai” and the force was “ki” or whatever other eastern religious energy force you want to substitute. He wove in themes of master/student (obi wan/luke) from eastern martial arts tradition, the lost student (vader) seeking to kill his former “good” master, the redemption of the master by training a new “good” apprentice (remember in a new hope there was no emperor) on on it goes, but you get the point.

the problem with the everything done after empire was that it lost that thread. He didnt progress the story and lost any hope of continuity with his own themes. The prequels did NOTHING to show us the good student turning evil and gave no sense of the students true strength as he slid toward evil. It was all so poorly written and had lost sight of the the prequel story, the student/teacher souring relationship. We got dog shit filled with special effects and we were supposed to be so enthralled that we overlooked the stench.

Redoing the special effects in new hope wasnt offensive... until he had han shoot first. That altered the story and character FOR NO REASON!!! Greedo threatened to take the falcon. Han shot without remorse. Its who he was. A smuggler trying to make a living under a domineering empire. Fuckin greedo shot first my ass. And it looks so awful. The original scene was magic. He leans forwad and “boom”! Greedo dead under the table. Greatness.

neat blue dog

LoveUniHateExams:

First point:

Have you even SEEN Empire Strikes Back recently. Yoda's opening scene is one of the most cringe-worthy moments in cinema I've ever seen. All that non-essential slapstick was just plain weird and out of place, obviously meant to amuse kids. It was out of character and tarnished the whole thing. Jar Jar's clownishness had a purpose. On the positive side, it showed he was effective in his own way and part of the great symbiotic relationship all living things have, which was one of the main themes of the movie. He also showed Qui Gonn's compassion and attentiveness to the "living force" as opposed to the Jedi Council. Later, Jar Jar was also Palpatine's Patsy to help him get emergency powers.

Second point:

Midichlorians aren't the force; the force is still very much a mystery. They're a symbiant that is a mediator with the force. As for the chosen one prophecy, that was never fully clarified, and Yoda said it may have been misread in Episode III.

One thing you have to understand is that the prequels took place in a more 'civilized' time, as Obi Wan said in the original film. Ever noticed how he's more eloquent and still wears his costume, amidst his sordid surroundings in A New Hope?

The prequels were NEVER going to be a wise-cracking western, that would've been lazy storytelling.

Here's a quote about the prequels from Lucas in 1981:

"The first trilogy will not be as much of an action adventure kind of thing. Maybe we'll make it have some humor, but right now it's much more humorless than this one. This one is where all the excitement is, which is why I started with it. The other ones (sic) a little more Machiavellian -- it's all plotting -- more of a mystery"

neat blue dog

Also -

While The Force Awakens was alot of fun, it has very little rewatch value compared to the others, which I'm still discovering new things about after all these years.

It was done from a fans perspective, not an artist with a real story to tell.

That's why I really enjoyed The Last Jedi. It was outside the box to say the least.

_Morpheus

Out of place??? He was the wise old master feeling out the potential student. Remember lukes words: he was seeking out a great warrior. naive and foolish. As yoda had to quickly remind him, wars do not make one great. It was zen teachings all over the place.

Fucking jar jar binks had NO reason or purpose in the plot. He was bumbling idiot that served no purpose beyond lame comedy.

ttdtt

What he did with the original 3 was MOSTLY BAD!!!!

Interior of Cloud City was good, and the Falcon coming out of Mos Eilsley. The rest horrible. The Jabba and Han scene was silly. Dont get me on the Greedo shot first.

By the way - if you were going to tinker, why not improve the Atari Like computers screens on the X-Wings and in the Falcons Gun Turrets!!!!!

George Lucas tinkering with Star Wars films

Share this