Style of the Star Wars Live Action series...

[The Old Mixer]

BTW, Star Wars was NOT a kids movie, it never was. It was intended to be enjoyed by a general audience.

Riiiight.

Got a source for that?

How about my own memory? Theaters full of adults audibly responding to the movies. Adults that I knew at the time raving about it--including ones without children.

My dad took me out of school to see TESB on the first show of its opening day. We waited in line for two hours to get in the theater. As far as I can recall, I was the only one in that line who was playing hookey from school.

but lets not get into revisionist history when it comes to the original film.

Yes, let's not. Somebody's remembering things as they weren't. Though given your location, who knows? Maybe it played to different audiences in different countries. We'd be foolish to ignore cultural differences. All I can tell you is that from my own experience as somebody who was 7 when Star Wars came out, 10 when TESB came out, and 13 when ROTJ came out, they were very popular films among adults in the U.S., thank you.

Jesus, why do you think Bill Murray was singing a lounge song about Star Wars on SNL? For an audience that wasn't staying up late enough to watch the show? Who made Hardware Wars, a bunch of 10-year-olds? Why were they selling adult-size Star Wars clothing at the time?

Yes. And there were LOTS of adults there. Many of them without kids.

What he said.

 

[biotech]

And yet we have yet to hear from anyone in this thread who was an adult when star wars came out.

And its not really proving that star wars wasn't for kids by saying adults went to see it too, thats like saying the exorcist was a kids film because some parents took their kids to see it.

 

[Harvey]

And yet we have yet to hear from anyone in this thread who was an adult when star wars came out.

Is that really surprising? Star Wars came out in 1977, so that puts anyone who was at least 18 that year as being born in 1959. There are no doubt a few people from that generation here, but no doubt the demographics skew far younger, no?

 

[Venardhi]

I really hope that 'Dark Times' (or whatever they call this thing) goes in the exact opposite direction of the PT. More sets, more practical effects, fewer cgi characters. Characters with a say in their destiny, rather than just being swept up in the wake of Palpatine's unfaltering plot. A little humor that doesn't involve bodily functions for the sake of all that is good and holy. There is so much potential here for an 'all ages' primetime series. You don't have to start using bad language and adult themes to make something appeal to the more discerning viewers (or the fans), just don't make it childish and so broad that any 9 year old can see every plot point coming from a mile away.

As someone who was apparently in the target age group for Lucas when TPM came out(13), I can say quite plainly that the problems I have with the PT have nothing to do with age-specificity or the fog of 20 year old childhood memories. I loved the OT as a kid and love it still (original cut) even though I only had a few more years between seeing it and the PT as there was between each movie. The argument is just another excuse from a man who lost whatever it was that made those first few movies so good. And mind you, I never stepped into a sci-fi forum until around the time that AotC came out(which I was happier with on first viewing, but the feeling faded quickly along with the rush of the midnight showing.)

 

[Immolatus]

Some have speculated that Clone Wars was specifically aimed at the kids, while the live action TV series was to be aimed at the more adult audience. As much as I might wrinkle my nose at Lucas aiming anything at the rugrats, that sort of one-two punch does have a marketing savvy to it.

Hook the rugrats. As they get older, there's the more mature stuff in the live action show and completed movies for them to get into.

Have to agree there. My kids love the clone wars toons

 

[Venardhi]

Two different series of toons, and I expect most kids will like both, but after the bad reviews of this pilot/movie that came out last I can't see my fondness for the Tartakovsky toon translating to this new 3d one. Guess I'll find out when it comes to the small screen.

 

[stonester1]

And its not really proving that star wars wasn't for kids by saying adults went to see it too, thats like saying the exorcist was a kids film because some parents took their kids to see it.

Adults don't generally go to see things aimed specifically at children. They certainly don't go en masse, even more sing it's praises.

Want proof? The Clone Wars.

 

[MarianLH]

Marian

 

[The Old Mixer]

And yet we have yet to hear from anyone in this thread who was an adult when star wars came out.

And its not really proving that star wars wasn't for kids by saying adults went to see it too, thats like saying the exorcist was a kids film because some parents took their kids to see it.

Adults went to see it in record-breaking numbers. They lined up around the block to see it.

*Sigh.* I tried to reason with you, but I guess that's pointless.

 

[DWF]

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.05/lucasqa.html?pg=2&topic=lucasqa&topic_set=

Life and death.
Life and death, or "I really want to kill my father and have sex with my mother." It's hard to talk about that kind of thing in a family situation without somebody getting upset. But in art, you can deal with those issues. You begin to realize that other people have had the same experience or go down those same paths deep in their minds. Most stories are really told for adolescents, which is why Star Wars was aimed at adolescents. Societies have a whole series of stories to bring adolescents into adulthood by saying, "Don't worry, everybody thinks that way. You're just part of the community. We don't quite talk about it, but if you act on some of your notions, here's what will happen: Zeus will reach down and smash you flat like a bug or the entire Greek army will come and crush your city and burn everybody inside of it, including your heroes." These lessons are continually handed down from generation to generation. I love history, so I create an environment -- in the past, present, or future -- that allows me to tell the story, but in a way that's not incendiary.

I do think he made the movies more for adolescents than anybody else. As for the style of the live action show I think they were talking about putting it on Showtime or HBO so that they might have alittle more control over what they put on the air, so it'd have to be alittle bit more adult and darker than the movies had been.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

BTW, Star Wars was NOT a kids movie, it never was. It was intended to be enjoyed by a general audience.

Riiiight.

Got a source for that?

I look forward to the grittier TV show, but lets not get into revisionist history when it comes to the original film.

There's a difference between being "accessible to all ages" and being "targeted at a specific age group."

the original Star Wars films were an example of the first... they were ACCESSIBLE to kids, but there was meat in there that adults could (and did!) enjoy.

By contrast... and this is an extreme example obviously... look at "teletubbies" or so forth. TOTALLY targeted towards the tots.

I think that's the point which was being made there. Not that the original triology was specifically targeted AWAY from kids... make sense?

 

[Cary L. Brown]

And yet we have yet to hear from anyone in this thread who was an adult when star wars came out.

And its not really proving that star wars wasn't for kids by saying adults went to see it too, thats like saying the exorcist was a kids film because some parents took their kids to see it.

Adults went to see it in record-breaking numbers. They lined up around the block to see it.

*Sigh.* I tried to reason with you, but I guess that's pointless.

Let's not get tetchy here, boys and girls...

I wasn't an "adult" in 1977... I was in grade-school, still. But I certainly couldn't afford to go to a movie on my own... and when I DID go to the theater, it was filled with adults... most of whom were there without kids in tow. Claiming that the movie was a "kid movie" is simply bullshit. Of course, claiming it was an "adolescent movie" is also bullshit. As is claiming it was an "adult movie." (umm... we need a better term for that one, don't we?)

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

the OT Star Wars are like the Spider-Man movies (err well at least the first one). Kids loved it, adults also loved it. I'd consider them all-ages movies.

In fact, the later movies are too schizo, at times trying to be all kiddie and insulting/alienating the adults, or getting too adult and boring the kids with all the political and romance stuff. We're talking in the span of the same movie, going from one extreme to the other. Sometimes from scene to scene.

Back to the original topic though, I'd like to see a SW live action series in the style of Farscape, ie more frenetic, exotic aliens, swashbuckling adventure, blaster fights while running down the halls, etc. And enough with the senate meetings and trade routes and the holo-meetings and all that. I felt out of all the sci-fi tv shows, Farscape was the closest in TONE (not plot, but tone and sensibility) to the original star wars trilogy. Not surprising since 'Scape also seems to get some inspiration from the Flash Gordon style of sci-fi crackerjack action of the past.

 

[DWF]

And yet we have yet to hear from anyone in this thread who was an adult when star wars came out.

And its not really proving that star wars wasn't for kids by saying adults went to see it too, thats like saying the exorcist was a kids film because some parents took their kids to see it.

Adults went to see it in record-breaking numbers. They lined up around the block to see it.

*Sigh.* I tried to reason with you, but I guess that's pointless.

Let's not get tetchy here, boys and girls...

I wasn't an "adult" in 1977... I was in grade-school, still. But I certainly couldn't afford to go to a movie on my own... and when I DID go to the theater, it was filled with adults... most of whom were there without kids in tow. Claiming that the movie was a "kid movie" is simply bullshit. Of course, claiming it was an "adolescent movie" is also bullshit. As is claiming it was an "adult movie." (umm... we need a better term for that one, don't we?)

It hardly matters who watches the movies Ice Age and Cars attract many adults as well it matters who the director, writer and producers mean for the movies to be aimed at and there's plenty of proof of who Lucas aimed the movies at.

Of course it's funny what kinds end up seeing anyway TV shows like The Wild Wild West and Dallas somehow end up being shown in syndication in the afternoon. In fact all adult shows somehow end up being seeing at a time that teenagers can watch them in syndication.

And yes there's alittle violence in the Star Wars movies but then there's alot of violence in the cartoons that kids watch and the fairy tales that kids grew up on for hundreds of years.

 

[The Old Mixer]

It hardly matters who watches the movies Ice Age and Cars attract many adults as well it matters who the director, writer and producers mean for the movies to be aimed at and there's plenty of proof of who Lucas aimed the movies at.

I would say the exact opposite. It hardly matters who the people making the movies intend it to be seen by--that's purely hypothetical. What matters in the movies is putting butts in seats. The original Star Wars put record-breaking numbers of butts in seats, and it was those butts who green-lighted the sequels and allowed Lucas the creative freedom to make the movies that he wanted to make in the future. To that end, it doesn't matter what type of butts he intended to put in those seats, what does matter are the ones that actually filled them.

I go for all-ages...or you could say, "the kid/adolescent in all of us". There's an important distinction there, because adults aren't going to go and enjoy it if it's something they're embarassed to watch. It has to play to the adults as well as the kids.

Another important distinction is adolescents vs. the kiddies...there's a massive difference between those age groups. One watches Sesame Street, the other doesn't.

 

[DWF]

It hardly matters who watches the movies Ice Age and Cars attract many adults as well it matters who the director, writer and producers mean for the movies to be aimed at and there's plenty of proof of who Lucas aimed the movies at.

I would say the exact opposite. It hardly matters who the people making the movies intend it to be seen by--that's purely hypothetical. What matters in the movies is putting butts in seats. The original Star Wars put record-breaking numbers of butts in seats, and it was those butts who green-lighted the sequels and allowed Lucas the creative freedom to make the movies that he wanted to make in the future. To that end, it doesn't matter what type of butts he intended to put in those seats, what does matter are the ones that actually filled them.

I go for all-ages...or you could say, "the kid/adolescent in all of us". There's an important distinction there, because adults aren't going to go and enjoy it if it's something they're embarassed to watch. It has to play to the adults as well as the kids.

Another important distinction is adolescents vs. the kiddies...there's a massive difference between those age groups. One watches Sesame Street, the other doesn't.

And kid's tickets cost less than the adult tickets and it was the kids who saw the first movie sometimes over 200 times and in a local theater it played year round. I'm sure that Titanic and The Dark Knight weren't meant for teenagers but teenagers flocked to them none the less, heck for that matter there were hundreds of kids at theater where I saw Ep. III for the first time at the midnight showing.

And I can't quite call them adult films, there's little in the way of curse words, one beheading(In the only one rated "PG-13"), little in the waqy of blood, little in the way of kissing, little in the way of skin and they are fairy tales in their own ways, sure adults like them but the same can said for Dr. Who the producers and the stars of the show have called it a kid's show yet it attacts adults.

But getting back to the topic, the show will be about the dark times between Ep. III and IV and he likes Rome and Deadwood, so this is his chance to make a Star Wars series darker and dirter than he could in the theaters.

http://www.tvguide.com/news/lucas-wars-TV/070920-01

TV Guide: Lost or Heroes, those kinds of things people might think of as George Lucas kinda shows?
Lucas: I've watched those. The kind of continuing shows, I have a tendency to wait until they're all over and then watch them on DVD, because those are the kinds of shows where you miss an episode and you're kind of lost, literally. So it's just too bothersome for me. But I have loved some things in the past that are kind of like that that sort of have forced me to be there every Sunday night, like Rome and Deadwood. I loved those shows.

TV Guide: I'm still pissed off at HBO over ending Deadwood.
Lucas: Well that's the way I feel about Rome. [Laughs] I mean, I love Deadwood, but Rome! I mean, for god's sake, they just were starting to get going! Augustus was the greatest emperor of all time, and nobody's ever told his story. Oh, they'll say, "Well, he's a bad guy," which I don't.... Well, let's not get into reviewing it. But I think they short-circuited themselves by changing actors for Augustus halfway through that thing because he was only 19 when he took over. He wasn't the big evil guy that they made him out to be. And the 50 years he was on the throne were the greatest 50 years in Roman history in terms of civilization, and that was when the empire actually existed. It was building up to that moment, up until Caesar, and then after Augustus died, it went downhill.

TV Guide: Rome and Deadwood were hugely expensive shows for them. Deadwood was partially owned by Paramount.
Lucas: I know, but they're so good. [Laughs] They made money! Part of the problem I have is that I own pretty much 100 percent of everything I do, so that makes it less attractive to studios, to networks. But they can still make a lot of money out of it because their primary business is selling ads. [The first] Indiana Jones got turned down everywhere — by every single studio in Hollywood — because the deal was too rich [and] they weren't going to make any money on it at the time. And you know, Paramount's made a fortune, an absolute fortune on it.

 

[The Old Mixer]

And kid's tickets cost less than the adult tickets and it was the kids who saw the first movie sometimes over 200 times and in a local theater it played year round.

But at what age do kids have to start paying full adult price? I'm sure that those who were old enough to see the movie so many times were old enough to pay full price. In news reports, you'd see teenagers and college-age kids bragging about seeing the film 16, 25 times...not 7-year-olds.

And I can't quite call them adult films

Nor would I. That term has its own set of connotations, and it would suggest that the Star Wars films weren't meant for kids at all, which is clearly not the case, and I wouldn't expect to see anyone in their right mind argue that. They were family films, for all ages, for the kid in all of us; but they were not kiddie films, and they certainly weren't "adult films" (boom-chicka, boom-chicka BOW-WOW!).

 

[DWF]

But at what age do kids have to start paying full adult price? I'm sure that those who were old enough to see the movie so many times were old enough to pay full price. In news reports, you'd see teenagers and college-age kids bragging about seeing the film 16, 25 times...not 7-year-olds.

Generally that would depend on the theater but I think normally the break off point is 12 or 13. And of course students get discounts as well. The last two times I saw the first movie in it's original theater run I dragged my Dad to see it and we went in at the setting of the double suns and they let us see the next showing for free, that was in Oct. and the movie had come out in May.

Nor would I. That term has its own set of connotations, and it would suggest that the Star Wars films weren't meant for kids at all, which is clearly not the case, and I wouldn't expect to see anyone in their right mind argue that. They were family films, for all ages, for the kid in all of us; but they were not kiddie films, and they certainly weren't "adult films" (boom-chicka, boom-chicka BOW-WOW!).

LOL! No clearly they weren't XXX movies, but I think the kids understood it better than the adults did so did the teenagers at the time.