Star Wars Virgin Takes the Plunge 397
Entertainment Weekly is running a short account of one Star Wars virgin who recently sat down to watch all six Star Wars movies in their originally intended order while recording his thoughts. From the article: "So after watching the sun set on all six of the Star Wars (or sun rise, in my case), what do these movies mean to me? I have to be careful where I tread here, because people's love of these movies is passionate to say the least. (Personal note: My friends had a Star Wars-themed wedding.) The cynical and tired side of me wants to say that George wanted Episode I to be shown first because after watching 14 straight hours of Star Wars, my memories of young Anakin and Jar Jar are almost long forgotten. I've tossed them aside along with my package of caffeine pills and bottle of Coke."
There are only three Star Wars movies... (Score:3, Interesting)
When can I get the unfudged up version of THX-1138?
These movies mean to me... (Score:1, Interesting)
order of the films. next generation (Score:5, Interesting)
He'd seen some of the orginal trilogy before, but I don't think the story stuck with him. Anyway, we watched I-III, the Clone War Cartoons, and then IV-VI over about two weeks. When Anakin died in Return of the Jedi, he cried. It was a much different experience in chronological order.
Re:Correct order? (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually- we've got something similar in our own cells- Mitochondria [wikipedia.org]- a symbiotic sub-cellular life form that produces energy (chloroplasts in plants are a competing symbiotic life form that is similar). All he did was twist the word around somewhat and made them more powerful than normal.
Re:we all know (Score:5, Interesting)
But he didn't make the movies in such a way that they lend themselves to watching in episodic order, either. So his wanting them watched in order is misguided.
For example, watched in episode order, the first coherent explanation of what the Force is occurs in Episode IV. The Midichlorian explanation in Ep. I would be confusing as hell since he's describing how you measure Jedi-ness assuming both the characters and the audience are fully aware of what that is, and then midichlorians are never mentioned again. The knowledge that Darth Vader is Luke and Leia's father is given away at the end of III, but revealed as plot twists in V and VI. I can only imagine how confusing Ben Kenobi's behavior must have seemed.
From the article:
"For me, the biggest problem with seeing these films in their intended order is that Episodes IV-VI offered little surprises. I know who Luke's father is; I know that the little creature is Yoda. I have to sit through that uncomfortable kiss between Luke and Leia knowing that they are indeed brother and sister. Most of the mysteries and questions that drive the plots of the later episodes are nullified by having seen the first three. I almost envied those who saw them in original order, so I too could have enjoyed the shock and surprise of some of the plot's twists and turns. Luckily I was never a fan of bellbottoms, so I will indeed stick with the intended order."
"Intended order" my ass. It's a broken order.
Of course, the real reason you need to watch them IV-VI then I-III is so that you like Star Wars enough to make it through the prequels.
Lucas's Intended Natural Order (Score:2, Interesting)
1) the trilogy is an epic in and of itself, it stands alone. had george finished his career in 1990, he still would have been considered one of the greatests writers/directors/producers of all time. had his name been only attached to the prequilogy, it would have not been accepted as forthwrite by the public.
2) the technolgy to have pod races and full on realistic battles against non-human enemies was not available in the 1980's.
To truely appreciate every aspect of the story, the order is IV-VI,I-III, Clone wars... There is little entertainment in having questions asked (who is darth vader, why is there this connection between luke and leia, who is obi-wan kanobi, who is this great yoda, why is he the only one left?) after their stories and answers have been told.
Re:Speaking of long movies... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:we all know (Score:5, Interesting)
Ok, I'm going to geek out here for a second, but I think the most unfortunate thing about all this is that they could have made the prequals to preserve a lot of those mysteries. Episode 3 could have been written so you're lead to believe that Anakin died at the end, and Padme could have been left pregnant. In RotJ, Leia says she remembers her real mother a little, and yet in Episode 3 she dies in childbirth. It isn't even coherent.
Also, Yoda could have been spoken of and referenced in the prequals, but never seen, which would have only built up suspense for the Degoba scene in ESB. And when ObiWan lies about Vadar killing Anakin in A New Hope, the audience would naturally assume that he's lying because it would be tought thing to explain, that it was he who killed Anakin. So you'd be left to think the big secret coming in ESB was that ObiWan killed Anakin, which would make the real plot twist that much more twisty.
So Lucas could have made it sensible to watch them in order, 1=>6, without destroying the plots of the original trilogy. The fact is, he simply chose not to, which is just baffling. As it is, there is absolutely no good order to watch the trilogy in, because Episode 3 ruins the surprises of 5 and 6, whereas watching the original trilogy basically lays out the story for the prequals, meaning there's no possiblity of Anakin's fall being interesting.
Han didn't shoot first, even when he shot first (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:we all know (Score:5, Interesting)
Also, Yoda could have been spoken of and referenced in the prequals, but never seen, which would have only built up suspense for the Degoba scene in ESB.
True, plus it makes no sense for yoda to go from being 880 years and fit as a fiddle to 900 and dying, though I've always told myself this was just because Yoda felt bad for fucking up so bad and decided he was done after helping Luke to fix Yoda's mess. Mostly though he was a pretty ludicrous character to have serving as a general -- it didn't fit his V/VI persona at all.
So you'd be left to think the big secret coming in ESB was that ObiWan killed Anakin, which would make the real plot twist that much more twisty.
It would be tough to make this work for the viewers while still having the prequels be about Anakin's fall. The easiest way would be to completely refrain from mentioning Vader in Ep. III, so he just looked like a random new Sith Lord in IV, though it would make Ben's blaming Vader for Anakin's death seem weird lie or not.
Re:Anyone... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I Too Was A Virgin (Score:2, Interesting)
When Star Wars (IV) came out in the theaters, I was about 7 years old. It was a really cool movie for a kid that age. The plot was understandable, and the special effects (for the time) were great. There were a few key things about that movie - this first one of them I didn't realize until someone else pointed it out, in a posting about Star Wars on Slashdot a few months ago.
On the big screen, the opening for Star Wars was just incredible. After all the words etc., disappear, you see the biggest spaceship ever.
Which is immediately shot at, overtaken by, and swallowed whole by The Biggest SpaceShip Ever. Really cool opening. Of course, by the end of the film the good guy blows up THE BIGGEST SPACESHIP EVER with just one shot.
On the TV at home it doesn't quite come across.
The movie had no overwhelming gore and blood, language or open sexuality to keep the young kids away - it was a grown up movie that the kids really could see with their parents, and I think that was a part of the love people have with it. Most of the other kid's movies that I recall from the time were Disney cartoons. Not a lot of comparison.
Considering this was the 70's , it had spaceships and robots that looked like they had been used - dirty, dinged up, and not too impractical looking.
For a kid who had grown up in the shadow of 'we just came back from the Moon - where next, guys?', and whose family never had a car with less than 10% rust, Skywalker's landspeeder was a possible flying car. It had the missing panels and scratches that I could relate to. And the idea that we'd have a moon base by 1990 was not yet disproven. Heck, I think I expected to at least have an R2D2 type robot in my house by now (2006).
Star Trek always had the 'perfectly clean' thing going - same with a lot of the sci fi of the day. It was so antiseptic, that it didn't seem like it was around the corner.
And it was easy to identify with the human characters - the girls didn't mind being Leia cuz she was cool, and both Luke and Han were fine choices for play acting. (Remember, 7-8 years old, and the toys from Hasbro were well done).
It didn't have all the technobabble that can turn people off, and the idea of the Force was portrayed in a likable way (it's everywhere, and in everyone, it's just how much you want to accept it). So in short I think it managed to hit a lot of the positives without any of the negatives.
I remember when they re-released ep IV in the theaters - they re-released a lot of the toys then too. I was in a toy store with my sister, in my 20's, and saw the pile of toys. I actually said to her, 'you know what's cool? I could actually afford to buy all of this now.' Kind of a neat throwback to being 8 and saving up for three weeks (seemed like forever) to buy just one X wing fighter.
That's one of the areas for me that was a disappointment. Episode I didn't have really relatable characters, and negotiating a trade agreement is a snoozer for a lot of adults - what kid can relate to that? Ep I-III, to me, was all written for the adults to explain the backstory that I think was cooler when I didn't know what had happened. And I felt that a lot of the movie was written to make you want to buy the toys, not where the toys let you re-live the movie.
I didn't feel like Ep I was a really great movie to take a kid to.