[jxw]

It's a sign there's a new Star Wars film coming out. The German channel ProSieben has just shown "Krieg der Sterne" or "Star Wars". I hope they didn't pay George Lucas too much for this two hour long advert for his latest offering. They included a trailer in one of the advert breaks and, oh hell, it looks awful. But we'll wait and see...

This was the first time I've seen the "enhanced" version of Star Wars and Chefelf's criticisms are spot on. Why there need to be all these extra creatures and gimmicks all over the place is a mystery. I will say though, that the "Greedo shoots first" bit is so fast that if you blink, you'll miss it. I don't understand why people get so upset about it. Then again, why change it in the first place? These changes make the film more like the new films - this would be great, except that the new films are terrible.

A couple of things struck me while watching this. It's the first time I've seen SW for over a year now, and the first time I've seen it in German - I reckon I could write the whole English script from memory, so hearing it in another language makes some things more noticeable. I was delighted with "Ich finde Ihren Mangel an Glauben beklakenswert" (I find your lack of faith disturbing) - it's actually word for word, and yet it captures exactly the feeling of the original. I missed most of another of my favourites, "Do not be so proud of this technological terror that you have constructed", but even so, it made me realise just how memorable the lines in the original were. It's notable that there's a thread on this board on how many bad lines there are in the prequels, when there are probably an equal number of good lines in the first film alone. More on this later.

The other thing which I really noticed was the scene in the garbage collector. This is one that I often fast-forward. It's just a bit too clicheed. Having to watch it on TV though, it's a demonstration of how Lucas has lost his skills as a director. "It's worse," they say. "Something just brushed past my leg." We then see something moving among the floating polystyrene bits. An eye pops up and looks around. This is not something that would trouble Hitchcock, but it does actually build some tension. It makes you care about what's happening.

There is nothing, nothing at all, in Episodes I or II that contain even these simple tricks. Maybe I've missed them - I've seen Star Wars at least 200 times (conservative estimate) and Episode I only about 10 times, while I've seen Episode II three times - a comment itself on the quality of the films. It's not much - rocks falling down a crevice as Artoo makes his/its way through the desert as another example - but it makes all the difference.

At the end of the garbage collector scene, when Artoo has switched off the crushers, they all scream with relief. C3PO say, "Listen to them, Artoo. They're dying!" Not the best joke ever, but pretty good in context, and a good break to the tension. Compare this to "I'm quite beside myself" etc that C3PO comes up with nowadays.

Where did it all go wrong? Star Wars was George Lucas' work alone, as are the new films. The prequels are just a conveyor belt of cliches and special effects. Sure, a lot of the lines in Star Wars are pretty bad, but so many are memorable. The only lines I can think of in the two prequels are "Wipe them out, all of them", which has the same kind of feeling as those in the OT, and "Why do I get the feeling you'll be the death of me", which strikes me as not being written by Lucas.

Anyway, I'll be watching "Das Imperium Schlaegt Zurueck" on Thursday. No doubt I'll see even greater contrasts as to how awful the new films are.

Incidentally, I often wondered whether "Return of the Jedi" was plural, or whether it just referred to Luke. The German name, "Rueckkehr der Jedi-Ritter" makes it clear that it is plural. I don't know if this was officially confirmed by Lucasfilm, but I would guess that it was. Just in case anybody else wondered...

[Despondent]

They could have used the German word for "revenge" and I don't believe GL would have noticed.

Good post.

[xenduck]

yes, a good post. its nice to be reminded why im acctually doing all this writing. as for tension building scenes in the PT, how about when padme and anakin are walking down the corridor on geonosis and the walls start moving. or when we see darth maul's probe flutter innocently past qui-gon in mos espa. i had always wondered if it was correct to say jedi or jedis... but assuming it was always meant as plural, then maybe the title refers to yoda's, obi-wan's, and anakin's 'return' at the end of the film. maybe a double-meaning. id never thought of that.

[Just another wretched fan]

yes, a good post. its nice to be reminded why im acctually doing all this writing. as for tension building scenes in the PT, how about when padme and anakin are walking down the corridor on geonosis and the walls start moving. or when we see darth maul's probe flutter innocently past qui-gon in mos espa. i had always wondered if it was correct to say jedi or jedis... but assuming it was always meant as plural, then maybe the title refers to yoda's, obi-wan's, and anakin's 'return' at the end of the film. maybe a double-meaning. id never thought of that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i'd say it refers to the idea that Luke will found the New Jedi Order.

no there was no tension in the PT ever, except for the 2 seconds where Maul and the Jedi size each other up. And that's not really tension. B/c its a difference sort of excitement the audience feels.

This post has been edited by Just another wretched fan: 30 April 2005 - 07:42 PM

[xenduck]

i'd say it refers to the idea that Luke will found the New Jedi Order.

no there was no tension in the PT ever, except for the 2 seconds where Maul and the Jedi size each other up. And that's not really tension. B/c its a difference sort of excitement the audience feels.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i agree about the new jedi order and all, i was only thinking out loud that the title could be versatile. and say what you will about the PT, the excitment was the same for me!

This post has been edited by xenduck: 30 April 2005 - 09:00 PM

[Lord Aquaman]

That was a good post.

Originaltrilogy.com would benefit greatly from posts like this.

[StarWarsIsUs]

Your article covers a few matters, all pointing them towards the fact that the Original Trilogy of Star Wars, is the true classic of all sci-fi. No other story could outlast it, and be as popular and more well-known than SW. That is my belief, anyway.

[jxw]

Your article covers a few matters, all pointing them towards the fact that the Original Trilogy of Star Wars, is the true classic of all sci-fi. No other story could outlast it, and be as popular and more well-known than SW. That is my belief, anyway.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

None? That's provocative!

The truth is though, that Star Wars is not really sci-fi. What we have is a handsome young knight and an old wizard going on a quest to rescue a beautiful young princess from the clutches of an evil lord. The story is hundreds of years old and has been done so many times that nobody should really try doing it again.

The genius of George Lucas - and genius is not too strong a word - is to take this tired old story and set it in space! None of the science really makes any sense, and none of it is really examined in any way. Also, the story is not at all dependent on the science. This is why everybody likes Star Wars, and it's not the preserve of spoddy Dr Who types (or Trekkies, take your pick).

It spawned a mass of copies - The Black Hole anybody? - that were all rubbish, because nobody realised that Star Wars is a fairy tale that just happens to be set in space. The sad thing is that George Lucas doesn't realise this anymore either.

[StarWarsIsUs]

I apologize for calling it science fiction... ?

This post has been edited by StarWarsIsUs: 01 May 2005 - 03:58 PM

[Despondent]

SF isn't the point? I'm watching it now. And I remember as a boy the movie lagged in some parts but the Best parts were always the outer space scenes. Grassy gungan meadows and the dirt-dauber collesiums do not thrill me. If anything the Hurricane planet held my attention.

Think those flying whales would find our amphibian friend tasty?

--

had a weird moment missing the biggs/luke scene just now. Watched the last hour on tv last week and was half-expecting it on the OOT. Revisionist history shows its affect.

[Just another wretched fan]

fantasy or not i'll agree. the best part is the millenium falcon and the x-wings.

the force is secondary, for me.

[Failureboy2]

Where did it all go wrong? Star Wars was George Lucas' work alone, as are the new films. The prequels are just a conveyor belt of cliches and special effects. Sure, a lot of the lines in Star Wars are pretty bad, but so many are memorable. The only lines I can think of in the two prequels are "Wipe them out, all of them", which has the same kind of feeling as those in the OT, and "Why do I get the feeling you'll be the death of me", which strikes me as not being written by Lucas.

Star Wars was not George's work alone (and neither was ESB or ROTJ) and I think that if today's technology had been available, A New Hope would have been just as cluttered with CGI as the prequels are - and there would have been less overall tension in the story. There are all these quotes about how Lucas looked at the whole story arch and said "episodes 4-6 are the only ones that can be done with the technology available so thats what I'll do." Does anyone else think that sounds off? It's never sounded right to me - and the fact that he keeps going back and changing things suggests I'm right.

The original trilogy was a collaborative effort, and more than one creator was passionate about getting it right. Did you know that the producer and director of ESB had conversations about how to make Han and Leia's scenes better? Did you know that Harrison Ford was supposed to say "I love you too" before he got frozen in carbonite, but Ford thought that was stupid so he came up with the new line? (Lucas screened both versions and "I know" was clearly the favorite, so Lucas caved) Did you know that the producer, Gary Kurtz, wanted the last scene of ESB improved and that Lucas said it was "good enough" (Kurtz eventually got his way). Search the web for "Gary Kurtz" to see what I'm talking about - there are more stories like this.

You get the impression that there used to be people involved with Star Wars who "got it" more than Lucas does - people who cared more about doing the story justice than Lucas did. Kurtz left after ESB and I think you could make the argument that things went downhill from there (thank god ROTJ had a seperate director because who knows how bad it could have been with Lucas back at the helm). I also suspect Lucas resents that he didn't have complete control over the original trilogy - and he's doing everything he can to nurse that resentment (directing all 3 prequels, surrounding himself with yes men, making pointless, never ending changes to the OT).

[StarWarsIsUs]

"Did you know that Harrison Ford was supposed to say "I love you too" before he got frozen in carbonite, but Ford thought that was stupid so he came up with the new line? "

Yes, I did know that. Found that on a etertainment documentary on Star Wars, a while back ago.

[Despondent]

In the ESB FX article posted under Countdown Calendar, just noticed how it said camera operators would take the ball and run with it, that they were hired for creative abilities and so on.
Reckon that still happens?

[jxw]

SF isn't the point? I'm watching it now. And I remember as a boy the movie lagged in some parts but the Best parts were always the outer space scenes. Grassy gungan meadows and the dirt-dauber collesiums do not thrill me. If anything the Hurricane planet held my attention.

I'm not sure that I said that sci-fi isn't the point. The point is that it's a great fairy tale, one that everybody knows, but it's set in space, which puts a whole new spin on the story. That's why we all like the story, even though it's been told so many times before.

If sci-fi were the point, then AOTC would be a masterpiece. It's a great film from a sci-fi point ofview, what with the clone factory and everything. Shame that there's no story (and that the minimal story is toldso badly).

I maintain that Star Wars is not really sci-fi, because none of the space stuff actually makes sense in a scientific way. It looks great, but knights on horses would work just as well - without any major difficulties in the story. It looks a hell of a lot better with spaceships though...