Dessadence wrote:

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

I got your opinion, and I respect it, but to me its like reading books out of order. It wont make any sense to someone who has no idea about star wars. if there is any mention of the characters not in episode 4-6 you have to stop and explain who they are and what they did. its just.... I dunno its hard to explain, in a way it would be like since Halo 1-3 is considered a story trilogy and 4-6 will be a different story entirely, it would be like if you played halo 4-6 before 1-3. without any knowledge of halo's universe you would be totally lost

HowSerendipitous wrote:Someone sent me this last week, about Episode One and how it could've been better. I was pleasantly surprised by the guys logic. The Episode Two one is good too. Sadly nothing about Episode Three yet!

This is epic.

I came across those videos a couple of weeks ago, absolutely by chance. They're really good and the guy that rare sense for nailing a lot of new info in a way you could comprehend it fast and seamless and that despite the astounding speed he's firing it.

Have to say I was never a massive fan of Star Wars. I enjoyed the original trilogy, I bought them on DVD, I bought them again on blu-ray because they are great and timeless classic movies.. however, I was never one to consider myself a fan even though I love the movies.

I'm more of a Star Trek fan...

Fantastic, you're right, it's really a shame that we didn't have a thread on SW already

It remains my favorite of all sci-fi. For me, it is the atmosphere that simply cannot be beaten. When I think of a vibrant, sci-fi universe, I think of Star Wars.

Personally, I am a die-hard fan of the films, but have no knowledge outside of them. I love each and every one, and have watched all at least 10+ times I'll admit that Episode I is notably lacking in comparison to the rest, but, other than that, I will absolutely not concede that the prequels are inferior, and will in fact argue to the last with anyone who wants to do so

I'm a huge fan of the "flashback" viewing sequence...I've never done it any other way ever since I learned about it!

Interesting fact: if you end up enjoying Limit Theory, you'll need to thank the prequel series It was only after watching Episode III that I decided I had to become a graphics programmer. Truthfully, I've no idea what I'd be doing today if someone hadn't shown me the potential beauty of a universe like that (III was just...above and beyond any other sci-fi film I had ever seen at the time in terms of atmosphere).

SW forever!!!

(That being said I am still a hardcore BSG, Firefly, TNG, and Voyager fan...in that order)

JoshParnell wrote:Fantastic, you're right, it's really a shame that we didn't have a thread on SW already

It remains my favorite of all sci-fi. For me, it is the atmosphere that simply cannot be beaten. When I think of a vibrant, sci-fi universe, I think of Star Wars.

Personally, I am a die-hard fan of the films, but have no knowledge outside of them. I love each and every one, and have watched all at least 10+ times I'll admit that Episode I is notably lacking in comparison to the rest, but, other than that, I will absolutely not concede that the prequels are inferior, and will in fact argue to the last with anyone who wants to do so

I'm a huge fan of the "flashback" viewing sequence...I've never done it any other way ever since I learned about it!

Interesting fact: if you end up enjoying Limit Theory, you'll need to thank the prequel series It was only after watching Episode III that I decided I had to become a graphics programmer. Truthfully, I've no idea what I'd be doing today if someone hadn't shown me the potential beauty of a universe like that (III was just...above and beyond any other sci-fi film I had ever seen at the time in terms of atmosphere).

SW forever!!!

(That being said I am still a hardcore BSG, Firefly, TNG, and Voyager fan...in that order)

Yay the dev is on the side that the prequels weren't horrible!
but not knowing anything star wars outside the movies, you dont know my Icon? you should read the Thrawn series of books sometimes. they take place after the imperial Civil war, its very interesting.

MrPerson wrote: Yay the dev is on the side that the prequels weren't horrible!
but not knowing anything star wars outside the movies, you don't know my Icon? you should read the Thrawn series of books sometimes. they take place after the imperial Civil war, its very interesting.

Thrawn was written incredibly well in that trilogy of novels. Thrawn's personality put him equal to Palpatine in terms of planning, but he was very unique in other ways.

DWMagus wrote:

HowSerendipitous wrote:Someone sent me this last week, about Episode One and how it could've been better. I was pleasantly surprised by the guys logic. The Episode Two one is good too. Sadly nothing about Episode Three yet!

This is epic.

I'd be fine with the Episode 1 remake as long as Maul wasn't cut in half. The Episode 2 remake would be alright although I would include the Jango VS Obi-Wan fight and a chase through the asteroids.

I can't really start talking about Star Wars; I'll get even more longwinded than usual.

But I will say that seeing the original movie on the big screen in 1977, with crowds who had never seen anything like it, changed everything.

In terms of story, it gave us heroes and said it was OK to root for the good guys (and they were good) when the previous decade had been one of anti-heroes drawn shades of miserable gray.

In terms of atmosphere, there is no better moment than Luke standing outside his home on Tatooine, staring past the dust into the distance as the two suns set to John Williams's incredible, swelling, heroic score. All the science fiction was awesome... but that moment made the movie for me.

In terms of excitement, where to start? The TIE fighter attack, the escape from the Death Star... and that trench run. Not to go old codger, but there really had never been anything like that before, where motion controlled cameras put you in the seat of a small fighter zipping into cover to attack a monstrous enemy. It was a roller coaster ride Every Single Time.

And for all the talk about George Lucas being an idiot, with Ewoks and Jar-Jar (whom I don't care for, either), go watch his previous movie, THX-1138. Watch any movie today that uses the motion-controlled camera technology that he brought John Dykstra and his team on to invent. Listen to phenomenal positional sound whose quality was pushed by Lucas's THX system. Enjoy absolutely crisp films thanks to the digital distribution technology that Lucas attracted brilliant people to develop.

Joss Whedon made a boatload of money with his recent superhero movie. But he and all of Hollywood owe a debt to George Lucas that they'll never be able to pay back... and that you get to enjoy today.

Star Wars was, and is, bloody wonderful.

Flatfingers wrote: ...

I had tears in my eyes

Bravo, bravo!!

Star Wars is pretty much the only franchise that still means anything (nay, everything) to me.
Binary Sunset still brings [blam]ing tears to my eyes. The original trilogy are always on my harddrive wherever I go, just in case.
I remember spending weeks on Wookieepedia reading up on as much obscure trivia as I could, just for the hell of it.
About 80% of my childhood had something to do with Star Wars, whether it was playing Dark Forces and its relatives (Mysteries of the Sith et al) or reading novels and comics, watching the films, or even practicing the lightsaber forms for a while. Even the prequels, the first two of which I'm still fairly bitter about, have a lot of merits, and like Josh I refuse to put any of the films on a higher or lower tier than each other. Episode III particularly had some amazing lightsaber combat and effects for the time.

In sort-of-short, Star Wars has impacted me like nothing else ever has, and I doubt ever will.

I may be a youngster on these forums, but my dad and grandparents loved the original trilogy, and passed that love on to me. When the prequels came out, I was too young to find anything wrong with them and continue to feel (more or less) the same about them today! My name is the name of a clone trooper from the game SW: Republic Commandos, because he was always my favorite character.

Love the extended universe books, from the Darth Bane books all the way up to Legacy of the Force and pretty much everything in between.

I've gone through many childhood fads: dinosaurs, pirates, dinosaurs, little plastic army guys, and even Hot Wheels! But Star Wars will always be the one thing I will never outgrow!

Yup.. as before.. my gripes with the prequels aren't really anything to do with any potential inaccuracies of the universe etc etc.. just that I felt the casting was horrible and the love-story stuff was way over the top.. almost a "days of our lives" vibe to it.. it just didn't fit with the vibe of the original movies.

Flatfingers wrote:And for all the talk about George Lucas being an idiot...

Umm, who said that Lucas was (is) an idiot?

George Lucas would qualify as a great filmmaker even without Star Wars to his credit. As you rightfully point out, his contributions to filmmaking go far beyond Star Wars even if his legacy will always be seen through the prism of that epic series. Star Wars (as a movie and a trilogy) was actually even more of a phenomenon than you suggest. It was nothing short of groundbreaking on a number of levels and became the new standard for Hollywood blockbusters.

Lucas gets stick for the prequels not because he is an "idiot" but because as movies they are woefully short of the standard that he set in the first trilogy. I am not talking about technical standards or his ability to direct and set up a scene, but rather in his choice of script and actors. As I have stated before, at its core, the original trilogy is a swashbuckler that largely eschews narrative complexity and nuance relying on character archetypes in a battle, against all odds, of good versus evil. Lucas couldn't, or wouldn't, go back to that well. Stripped of its action sequences, The Phantom Menace is a political thriller without chops. It is wonderful eye candy mounted on a wobbly script and glued together with questionable acting. Jar Jar Binks is merely the most visible symptom of a movie suffering from a great many ailments.

It's getting late here, so I will only add that Lucas did not address the prequel trilogy's writing or acting failings in either Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith. As such, no matter how grand some of the scenes were, the movies were never in a position to excel even if they stood out on technical merit.

I think that Lucas was a little too much of a perfectionist and was, as is his right (well it was before he sold it off to Disney), able to go back and change things to his liking. I think really this is the crux of the matter why people call him an idiot. He's not an idiot... however, there are reasons why you don't go back and make changes to art.. it'd be like Leonardo da Vinci going back and fixing the smile on the Mona Lisa after it was hugely popular all over the world and established as a classic, timeless work of art etc

You just don't do it.... Lucas did because he could... and that's why he's seen as an idiot.

Tom wrote:

Flatfingers wrote:And for all the talk about George Lucas being an idiot...

Umm, who said that Lucas was (is) an idiot?

Well, a cursory search reveals this, among others.

But that was simply a succinct way of describing today's general attitude about Lucas -- that he's a hack, that he doesn't know how to make a good movie, that he sold out, and so on. I certainly have my own gripes about some of his choices and comments. But people today live in a time when all six movies exist and can be watched by anyone at any time. People today live in a time when a general dismissal of someone goes viral, and the next generation reads and hears that conventional wisdom and assumes it must be true.

My comments were specifically to point out that, for those who lived through the time when there was no Star Wars, and through the time when each movie came out individually and was something to look forward to, the body of Lucas's work has a more complete historical context. And in that fuller context, the picture of George Lucas looks considerably more positive.

If that didn't come through in my earlier comments, thanks for giving me the chance to clarify.