A star wars film written around a glorified NASCAR race
#31
Posted 18 January 2006 - 06:43 PM
For me, Star Wars has been a huge part of my life. I'm nineteen, and the phenomena has been with me for just about ever. For years I've argued with friends, family, anyone really, who denied that Star Wars was not the greatest set of films and three of the greatest films of all time. I have seen many excellent films over the years, and many could be argued to be better, but none could have possibly ever been better. There was such a granduer about them that nothing else could compare. They changed the ways movies were made. They were to movies what the Beatles and Elvis were to Rock n' Roll, what the any of the great things in literature were to literature, what Picasso, DaVinci, and others were to art, etc etc. They held the essance of being classics no matter what. No matter what anyone says about ROTJ, it holds the culmination of it all. Darth Vader, the ultimate supervillain, who has never been there for his son, who as his enemy and as his father has inflicted great pain pain Luke both physical and mental, finally does what is right by saving his son's life and losing his own. Not only is that powerful, but it gives hope as well. The hope that people can change for the better and do the right thing.
Now, many years later, it is announced that a new trilogy will come out to show how it all began. Of couse I had high expectations, we all did. I hoped that it could have been even better, figured it would probably be just as good as, was not afraid at all that it could even possibly be bad. These films were going to open everybody's eyes as to why Star Wars was so great if they did not realize that the first time. Honestly, Star Wars is the main reason why I aspire to be involved in the movie making process including acting and screen writing among other things. I expect that with all that time and the technology that is out now, that I will be absolutely blown away. George Lucas was my god in the realm of movies. Then TPM comes out and not only am I not even blown away, I am severly disappointed. I would have easily accepted as good as, but this, this was heresay to me. Still, there were two more films, and I was sure that everything would be alright. The same thing happened with the second film. Again, I was let down, but there was still hope. The third film could tie it all together and enrich the experience of the previous two. Although it was much better, the third did not make up for the other two, much less itself. To top it off, even the OT has been messed with, and a poor job was done to improve it (Although I greatly enjoy the batter sound and picture quality).
Now, in my mind George Lucas has not only given to me one of the best things ever, but summarily destroyed it. He went from being to me the god of movie making to an object of my hatred. Jariten, you say that we don't judge the two trilogies on the same level. Let me tell you, the very few things that I can find that are bad within the OT are more than made up for by the rest of the film. I recognize the bad things, but I am generally not troubled by them. Throughout the PT there is only one piece to make up for anything, and that is the wonderful music. Some of the songs I even like much better than nearly all of the ones in the OT. Sadly, the music cannot do it alone. Do you really think that I enjoy hating something that is a part of something that I greatly cherish no matter what anyone says? I had more to say, but I think I'll just leave it at that.
"And the Evil that was vanquished shall rise anew. Wrapped in the guise of man shall he walk amongst the innocent and Terror shall consume they that dwell upon the Earth. The skies will rain fire. The seas shall become as blood. The righteous shall fall before the wicked! And all creation shall tremble before the burning standards of Hell!" - Mephisto
Kurgan X showed me this web comic done with Legos. It pokes fun at all six Star Wars films and I found it to be extremely entertaining.
<a href="http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/cast/starwars.html" target="_blank">http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/cast/starwars.html</a>
#32
Posted 18 January 2006 - 09:31 PM
I just wanted to stick with comparing the podrace to the end battle of ANH to show how what people consider to be PT flaws have actually been part and parcel of SW since the very beginning.
I’m not trying to convince you to like the PT, or show you reasons why it’s “good”.
I’m mostly reacting to (well paid) critics. While some good, solid criticisms of the new films have been brought up, it seems to me to be mostly a case of them sticking their fingers in their ears and going “la la la”.
But when the original SW generation is dead and buried and ’77 nostalgia is out of the way, then maybe we’ll be able to get a clearer assessment of all the films in the press and elsewhere.
For me personally, there still hasn’t been anything to replace that particular part of my brain that loves popcorn movies and where SW lives.
Not LOTR, and certainly not the bloody Matrix.
#34
Posted 18 January 2006 - 09:45 PM
"And the Evil that was vanquished shall rise anew. Wrapped in the guise of man shall he walk amongst the innocent and Terror shall consume they that dwell upon the Earth. The skies will rain fire. The seas shall become as blood. The righteous shall fall before the wicked! And all creation shall tremble before the burning standards of Hell!" - Mephisto
Kurgan X showed me this web comic done with Legos. It pokes fun at all six Star Wars films and I found it to be extremely entertaining.
<a href="http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/cast/starwars.html" target="_blank">http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/cast/starwars.html</a>
#35
Posted 18 January 2006 - 10:00 PM
I like this much, Jariten...
For me personally, there still hasn’t been anything to replace that particular part of my brain that loves popcorn movies and where SW lives.
Battle for the Galaxy--read the "other Star Wars"
All I know is I haven't seen the real prequels yet.
#36
Posted 18 January 2006 - 11:37 PM
#37
Posted 19 January 2006 - 12:05 AM
If he could've delivered those sequences to an excellent writer (under instruction to follow canon) for inspiration (animatics, if you will), we could really have had something. At least we had hope.
#38
Posted 19 January 2006 - 12:42 AM
If he could've delivered those sequences to an excellent writer (under instruction to follow canon) for inspiration (animatics, if you will), we could really have had something. At least we had hope.
Delegating authority like that is another of GL's weaknesses, along with keeping the direction concise or communicating with the actors who want said direction. Too bad he managed to alienate almost everyone from the OT. Lawrence Kasdan could have delivered a kick ass PT.
#39
Posted 19 January 2006 - 03:17 AM
Yeah, The Bodyguard was a classic.
#40
Posted 19 January 2006 - 02:07 PM
So was Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Bodyguard was originally written for Steve McQueen to star in and there had to be something to the script in that it was still picked up and produced decades later.
Why do i get the feeling that if George Lucas decided to make an "art house" film of him taking a massive dump on a silver serving plate with an accompanying John Williams score that the gushers would defend THAT over the OT. Wait, he did do that with clever CGI camoflage here and there like Kubrick did in Eyes Wide Shut during the orgy scene, and called it the PT....
#43
Posted 19 January 2006 - 03:22 PM
Amen.
I watched the "Story of Star Wars" bonus thingie that's included in the OT DVD Boxed Set and he says he wanted to go with Harrison Ford's idea of killing off Han as a martyr to the Relel Alliance's cause or another major character (rumors abounded that at the end Lando would get it in an unsuccessful attempt to escape the Death Star aboard the Millennium Falcon as I'm sure you all know). This was deemed necessary becuase it would put the other characters fates in question, adding an element of suspense for the film. But Lucas had to have a big temper tanturm and he quit the Director's Guild, Writer's Guild, and a few others after paying the fine for not adding credits to the beginning of 5 and 6, instead of working out a solution. He couldn't hire Steven Speilberg, and the rest as we say is history. He surrponded himself with yes men at ILM and thought he could do it all himself with this team, whereas the documentary proves his ideas are best delegated to other people to come to fruition and make a film worth viewing and one that would remain for the ages. Kasdan knew what Lucas meant in the rough story outlines and delivered a kick ass treatment after Leigh brackett passed away. Lucas once knew how to pool the top talent and get a result that was art, and for some reason, he lost that ability during ROTJ's production.
#44
Posted 19 January 2006 - 03:40 PM
Battle for the Galaxy--read the "other Star Wars"
All I know is I haven't seen the real prequels yet.
#45
Posted 19 January 2006 - 04:55 PM
I mentioned this on IMDB, and someone said that empire and ROTJ are lucas' scripts, kasdan did only minor re-writes. they mentioned Leigh Brackett's scrip was discarded, i thought it was expanded on by Kasdan (he provided links to quotes about how apparantly kasdan said lucas wrote the films but i didn't read them)? I've read GL's biography, where kasdan labelled some of george's drafts as "terrible" and was susprised that GL wrote them. it might just be gusher fantasy though.
This post has been edited by Prequel dialogue coach: 19 January 2006 - 05:10 PM