Anyone on this board dislike Star Wars?
- Thread starter heavylids
- Start date
No, I have both and this was the cover of that boxed set.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SWOTB.jpg
Yes I do, there's the 2004 release of the original SEs and there's a 2006 release of two discs of the OT with the originals on the second disc, the first disc contains the updated SEs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope#DVD_releases
I know that. Both of those contain the 2004 version of the SEs, not the 1997 version. You don't have the 1997 version on DVD, because it was never officially released on DVD. The 2004 release is the 2004 version. That's why we call it the 2004 version. We wouldn't call it the 2004 version if it didn't come out until 2006.
Part of the issue, I think, is that SW in many respects ushered in the era of the pop culture franchise, with its merchandising, extended universe and combination of mainstream appeal with devoted fandom. Once something sets the standard, it gets harder and harder to see what made it special in the first place.
Personally, I was like six or seven when I saw RotJ in the theater. Too young to really make anything of it. I saw all three films growing up and certainly enjoyed them, though that was pretty much the end of it. And of course I despise the PT. So, I wouldn't say I have that much innate reverence for the films or the universe.
That said, the first film is one of the greats. Empire is of course also very good, but the general fan consensus that Empire is the best film in the franchise strikes me as misguided. That's because, as fans, we can take the existence and popularity of the universe for granted. But it's the first movie that had that spark, made that connection with its audience, made them believe in this universe, want to be a part of it, want to see more of it, love the characters, etc., the way few fictional universes every really have. Tolkien's books are certainly a major reference for that (though that happened more slowly over time for a variety of reasons). Maybe Harry Potter in its early stages could be compared to it. Maybe a few other things, I guess. But not many.
To me the greatest sequences in the entire trilogy are the opening sequences of Star Wars: from Vader's entrance to the Millenium Falcon's escape from Mos Eisley.
Personally, I was like six or seven when I saw RotJ in the theater. Too young to really make anything of it. I saw all three films growing up and certainly enjoyed them, though that was pretty much the end of it. And of course I despise the PT. So, I wouldn't say I have that much innate reverence for the films or the universe.
That said, the first film is one of the greats. Empire is of course also very good, but the general fan consensus that Empire is the best film in the franchise strikes me as misguided. That's because, as fans, we can take the existence and popularity of the universe for granted. But it's the first movie that had that spark, made that connection with its audience, made them believe in this universe, want to be a part of it, want to see more of it, love the characters, etc., the way few fictional universes every really have. Tolkien's books are certainly a major reference for that (though that happened more slowly over time for a variety of reasons). Maybe Harry Potter in its early stages could be compared to it. Maybe a few other things, I guess. But not many.
To me the greatest sequences in the entire trilogy are the opening sequences of Star Wars: from Vader's entrance to the Millenium Falcon's escape from Mos Eisley.
Yeah, this is probably part of my thing as well. I was just too young. The original trilogy was done and over with before I was even born. I had grown up seeing Star Wars on TV, with commercial breaks, on a tiny screen.
I did eventually see them all when they were re-released in theaters in the 90s, but by then the magic was gone.
Question: "Anyone on this board dislike Star Wars?"
Answer: "Open up a RLM thread and watch the Wookie/Ewok fur fly."
Seriously, though ... I like the Star Wars franchise, even the PT. And considering it's 2011 already, I just don't get the endless amount of vitriol directed at Star Wars -- particularly PT. The cinematic run of the Star Wars Saga ended in 2005. Get over it already!
What's that?
There was Star Wars film in 2008?
And now there's a TV show?
And they're re-releasing the films in 3D theaters starting next year?
Ah hell ... nevermind ...
Answer: "Open up a RLM thread and watch the Wookie/Ewok fur fly."
Seriously, though ... I like the Star Wars franchise, even the PT. And considering it's 2011 already, I just don't get the endless amount of vitriol directed at Star Wars -- particularly PT. The cinematic run of the Star Wars Saga ended in 2005. Get over it already!
What's that?
There was Star Wars film in 2008?
And now there's a TV show?
And they're re-releasing the films in 3D theaters starting next year?
Ah hell ... nevermind ...
The thing about the original trilogy is that I can u derstand why people find them boring. They are slower paced. And cinema has lost it's magic.
See, take the scene whe Luke is in the ice cave, hanging upside down, and uses the Force to get his saber back.. Sure he used the force to get the torpedoes in the exhaust port, but he still hadn't masters the ability.
This moment seems slow today because of all the new films, and countless outside references to the Force. But this moment was, as it originally played, one of the most exciting moments in all of cinema. What a shame that moments like this have lost their impact.
See, take the scene whe Luke is in the ice cave, hanging upside down, and uses the Force to get his saber back.. Sure he used the force to get the torpedoes in the exhaust port, but he still hadn't masters the ability.
This moment seems slow today because of all the new films, and countless outside references to the Force. But this moment was, as it originally played, one of the most exciting moments in all of cinema. What a shame that moments like this have lost their impact.
I don't dislike SW; I'm just indifferent to it. I've tried to like it (if it's possible to try to like something). I've watched all the movies at least once and tried to have no preconceptions whatever beforehand, but at the end of the day SW is - to me - no more than half-baked fairy tales set in space, with some of the most one-dimensional and uninteresting characters I've ever seen. To each their own. 
I enjoy the original trilogy. Fun popcorn films, but the prequels are rather average. But trek will always be better.
Video killed the cinema star ...
Yeah, you younguns will never know what it was like to see the opening of ANH, with a BIG ASS ship coming from "behind" you (and people in the theater turning around to look where it was coming from). Or the early scenes in ESB, with the pilot searching the icy wastelands for Luke, and the camera is seeing the pilot's view, giving the audience the feeling of motion, like they are in the cockpit.
Those things were new enough when they happened that they had a stunning effect on the audience. Movies didn't have that kind of physical impact before. Now it's expected and therefore nobody pays any attention. You have to jump up a few levels to something like Avatar in 3D before anyone will register it now.
The potential of Star Trek has been fulfilled to a much greater degree than Star Wars, but Star Wars has probably as much potential. Star Wars has never had its DS9 - something that took the concept to a new level without getting outside the bounds of the concept.
The Clone Wars shows glimmers of doing this every so often, such as with the Mortis Arc, which delved a lot more into the mythos of Star Wars, but mostly it's just action episodes that have very little impact on the story as a whole. As long as TCW has to be targetted to kids, and is forced to hew pretty much to the PT plotline as a whole, it can never really break free to a new level. A post-ROTJ series might be able to do that, though.
I would argue that the New Jedi Order books sort of took the Star Wars concept to a different level (Featuring a *very* different sort of enemy other than the Empire/Seperatists, new perspectives on the force, and the death of movie and established book characters) but then again they're just novels and lately, comics.
However it shook up the status quo a bit too much in some fan's eyes, and the last few book storylines after the NJO have mainly been retreads of the films. Even the upcoming MMO The Old Republic is largely based on a mix between the OT and PT stories.
However it shook up the status quo a bit too much in some fan's eyes, and the last few book storylines after the NJO have mainly been retreads of the films. Even the upcoming MMO The Old Republic is largely based on a mix between the OT and PT stories.
Last edited:
Ditto! The opening of Star Wars (1977) and the Trench Run were of course ground breaking. Everyone knew it and was totally blown away.
I remember the sound of people crying out in the theater when it felt like Rogue Two was going to crash into the snow covered mountain.
This is quite true. This moment represented a major expansion of the series, within the first few minutes of the first sequel, signaling unambiguously that it would not be playing it safe.
I agree so much with what you say, Flying Spaghetti Monster, that I thought I'd post these youtube videos to the trailers I saw when I was 13. I never forgot the first image of Luke's lightsaber, instantly recognizable, jumping out of the snow, that I first saw in the first trailer.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6bvuhPyq8Q[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH9z8se3Aho[/yt]
My ranking:
4 5 ; 3 6 1 2
The semicolon expresses a wide gap.
sounds like Harrison Ford doing the voice over.
Thanks for the comment. Part of the magic of cinema is restraint, that you only see so much. Sure, viewers say a lot in the first trilogy, but even more was hinted at, making the universe seem even bigger than it was. Take Cloud city, which to that point, was arguably the most amazing fantastical city ever put on film, even topping the Emerald City.. but what made it interesting is that it represented a gas mining operation that was too small for the empire to be concerned about it (under normal circumstances) and too small even for the mining guilds. It piqued the imagination: what else is out there?
Also take the carbon freezing chamber, a wonderful set, complex, with a great color scheme, and yet the Vader calls the facility "crude". These original films felt huge, like nothing else in cinema, and the story's pace was not slow and it was not fast. It was perfect.
Similar threads
