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All things Star Wars.

#1
I'm hugely surprised we don't have a main Star Wars thread!!!! Josh you love SW and we all know it, so this omission seemed.....disturbing.

I recently watched the quite awesome "The people vs George Lucas" film, and i know we have to be careful here (a geek subject that can bring tempers to the boil, so please all keep that in mind), but i am happy to put it down in writing that i absolutely hated the prequel films (all of them) and can find no redeeming qualities in any of them compared to the original trilogy.

You should check out that film i mentioned and i found this rant rather nailed many of my issues with the prequels also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxWgyMpQjr8
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Re: All things Star Wars.

#5
The prequels.. hrmm.. if they weren't supposed to tie-in to the originals and were just movies set in the same universe.. they were ok.. however trying to make them tie-in to the originals just didn't do it for me.. a good backstory is just that, a backstory.. we don't need to necessarily see it told in detail.

My main gripe with the prequels has nothing to do with Jar-jar Binks.. or any of the other myriad of complaints I usually hear.. it was the choice of actors for Anakin Skywalker.. not so much the first prequel with the little kid.. but the teenager and young adult actor....... truly one of the most dreadful teen/young-adult actors I've seen in my entire life.

What I would have preferred to have seen was a SINGLE movie that encompassed the entire 3 prequels.
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Re: All things Star Wars.

#7
I'm a Star Wars fan and was introduced to Star Wars at a young age. Like many of you I watched the original Star Wars trilogy when it was on VHS tape. My loyalty lies with the original films and the Expanded Universe. I do have my gripes about the cartoon series and I understand people not liking the Gungans who never show up in the EU.

Let's talk about what we love about Star Wars instead of all the negative things we can say. I personally love the fact that Star Wars has depth. Everyone has a unique history that shaped them into the characters they are. There's crime, corrupt leaders, smugglers, information brokers and so much more.

Why are you a Star Wars fan?
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Re: All things Star Wars.

#8
BFett wrote:Let's talk about what we love about Star Wars instead of all the negative things we can say. I personally love the fact that Star Wars has depth. Everyone has a unique history that shaped them into the characters they are. There's crime, corrupt leaders, smugglers, information brokers and so much more.

Why are you a Star Wars fan?
Nicely put :)

Why am I a star wars fan? Well i was too young to see the first movie at the cinema, so i first caught it on tv at christmas when i was about 7 years old. It was really that first film, in particular my identification with Luke as that 'far away from everything' young man. I lived in the middle of no-where myself, so much of the cinematography in the early part of the film just clicked for me, i got it.

Then the story unfolded and he suddenly found even he, remote as he was, was actually not that far away from a repressive evil that was blighting the whole galaxy, the Empire. They came and killed the only family he had ever known, and everything changed.

That struggle against injustice was just the main back thread to a whole lot of amazing stuff that was not just a film for kids. These films (the originals) didn't patronize me just because i was a kid (which the prequels do from the start), they didn't protect me from 'life', they allowed me to grow with the adventures of the main characters (OMG - Darth IS Lukes father! etc). They were 'true' stories, or more real and believable stories than the 'specifically aimed at what we think kids are' movies like the prequels.

When ever i look back at the first Star Wars and then Empire Strikes Back, the last thing i ever think is 'yeah these are kids movies'. They were obviously marketed at kids, all the merchandise etc, but i don't ever feel that Lucas, in those first 2 films in particular, was doing anything other than making the really cool sci-fi/fantasy films he had imagined in his mind, and i think that is very much why those two films in particular stand up the strongest. The huge success of the first film, once word started to spread about it, caught pretty much everyone by surprise, Lucas as well.

So yeah the whole reason i'm such a huge Star Wars nerd was because of the honesty and non-patronizing tone of those first two films and the pretty cool but traumatic adventure they allowed me to take part in, and the imagination that sparked in my young mind. It is entirely down to Star Wars that i became interested in other things like astronomy, space, science and sci-fi. Those two films in particular had just a huge impact on my life, my moral code, my desire to be like Luke and see justice and good prevail over evil etc.

And despite the...i just don't really have a polite word for it, 'mistake' that was pretty much most of the prequels, that awesomeness those first films gave me, the actual positive effect on my life and person, can never be taken away, no matter how hard it feels like Lucas tried to later with the prequels and then the 'special edition' remakes of the original films. Just remember that Han did, and should, shoot first.

May the force be with you.
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Re: All things Star Wars.

#9
I have watched all the star wars movies, and read many books (as you can tell by my Pic) and I think If I was to introduce someone to star wars that had never seen the movies, I would show them in order from 1-6. not 4-6 then 1-3. that way they get the whole story without being confused.

on another note, what is the reason why they did not start with episode 1 back in the 70s-80s instead of going to episode 4? Is it because they knew they didn't have the technology to make all the droid armies and such without extreme amounts of production costs? Heck it was state of the art tech that made the terminator robot in 84, doubt they could have had entire armies like that in the late 70s when the first star wars was made.
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Re: All things Star Wars.

#10
The original trilogy was highly successful for a number of reason. Taken down to its most basic elements it is a futuristic fairy tale. In Star Wars (the original entry in the franchise) the plot itself is fast-paced, relatively straightforward, and largely free of complexity and nuance. Combining the above with Lucas' groundbreaking production values and a cast of (mostly) very good actors led to a unique, cutting-edge, movie that, much like swashbuckling classics of yore, welded mythopoeia to escapist fun.

With The Empire Strikes back Lucas raised the bar both in terms of spectacle and in rapidly expanding the breadth and depth of his universe while moving the plot along briskly. It is no surprise to me that, to many fans, The Empire Strikes Back is the apex of the series.

Though a reasonably satisfying conclusion to the original saga, Return of the Jedi, hints at problems to come. Even while the plot moves along smartly, and matters build toward the epic confrontation at the end well enough, Lucas' penchant for bathos does, at times, come to the fore. At its conclusion the movie's happily ever after washes away any hint of the grittiness that was so evident in its predecessors and precious little room is left for introspection amidst the feel good sentimentality.

As a footnote, I would be remiss if I failed to note that, presenting cuddly teddy bears in the guise of the noble savage archetype was not only a notable failure that stank of rank commercialism but also presaged Lucas' missteps in the prequel trilogy.
I know not what life is, nor death.
Year in year out-all but a dream.
Both Heaven and Hell are left behind;
I stand in the moonlit dawn,
Free from clouds of attachment.
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Re: All things Star Wars.

#11
Kvallning wrote:For the tabletop gamers amongst us, Fantasy Flight Games released a new Star Wars publication, Edge of the Empire, which I've been itching to try.
I played it with friends over Fantasy Grounds/Teamspeak for several months. It was a very good experience. We've never tested FFGs dice-systems and I must say it gives the game a whole new perspective in comparing it with the old D20 (or even D6) versions. Very dynamic! Setting the game (the first of three FFG are planning to publish) about fringers and such was really a plus point. I'd recommend a try hands down! :thumbup:
I have been - and always shall be - your friend.
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Re: All things Star Wars.

#12
Nothing beats the trench run in IV and the core run in VI on a theater screen. Keep in mind, these movies DEFINED THX audio standard in theaters.

There's a good reason for that too. :thumbup:
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Early Spring - 1055: Well, I made it to Boatmurdered, and my initial impressions can be set forth in three words: What. The. F*ck.
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#15
MrPerson wrote:I have watched all the star wars movies, and read many books (as you can tell by my Pic) and I think If I was to introduce someone to star wars that had never seen the movies, I would show them in order from 1-6. not 4-6 then 1-3. that way they get the whole story without being confused.
I don't reckon the viewing order will confuse anybody! Watching the prequels first ruins the entire mythos and the sense of mystery and wonder we love so much about star wars. We all watched the OT and possibly even the PT as children, right? our brains couldn't comprehend the world in its entirety, we ignored 'midichlorians' and the like and focused primarily on the magic. We all wanted to be jedi and master the force, heck, even to this day I want to!

Furthermore, This also ruins the most important revelation of the saga. Remember the gasps and screams at the big unveiling of Luke's parentage! Moreover watching it in chronological order makes Ben Kenobi and Leia seem like liars.
How does Leia remember her mother? Why doesn't Ben tell Luke that Leia's his sister? Ben doesn't even know about Leia! Why would Ben feel nostalgic about the "Good old days" with Anakin, when Anakin was nothing but a prick to him?

Also why would you ever want to have people believe that Boba fett is nothing more than a mere clone trooper?
If you've read the novel that touches on his origin story (Which is awesome btw) letting people believe this does the character a woeful injustice.

PS - I hope I've managed to convey my opinion clearly, it's late and I'm half asleep :monkey:

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