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The Day the Jedi Died
For many Star Wars geeks, the world ended 25 years ago with Return of the Jedi — and realizing that George Lucas cares more about merchandising than the purity of his own grand vision.
It was 25 years ago this week, with the release of Return of the Jedi, that my love affair with George Lucas ended.
I had been a Star Wars fan from the first moment I saw that destroyer inch its way onto the screen after the opening crawl in Star Wars. My jaw dropped. I was hooked. Three years later, Empire Strikes Back hit me just as hard, maybe even harder. I loved the dark undertones of the film, and the bleak ending.
I waited patiently for the next installment, wondering where Lucas would take us next, what wondrous characters and places he would create, how the story would play out.
Return of the Jedi opened on May 25, 1983 and nothing was ever the same between Lucas and I again.
As Ewoks danced merrily on the screen before me and the whole space world seemed to celebrate in unison, I cringed at what I was seeing. Ewoks? Cute, furry little animals? I watched in horror as it dawned on me that George Lucas had completed his saga with the intent of making a killing in merchandising. To think that this movie was nothing more than a marketing ploy to sell the Star Wars name to kids was to admit to myself that Lucas was no more than another Hollywood shill out to make a buck, and not the storytelling, brilliant hero I had made him out to be in my mind. I had been so enamored with Lucas and his vision and now I just felt betrayed and hurt.
My hatred of Ewoks and Lucas grew as the years went on. I thought it unfair of him to end the trilogy in such a crass manner so as to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I decided to ignore Jedi as if it never existed and vowed to only watch Star Wars and Empire when they appeared on tv (and later, on laser disc and VHS and DVD). When the trilogy was re-released in the movie theaters in 1997, I took my four year old son -whom I was raising as a Star Wars geek – to see the first two, but refused to take him to see Jedi, as I was afraid his young age would leave him vulnerable to the cuteness of the Ewoks.
Years later, Lucas had the chance to redeem himself. He was filming a new trilogy, one that would tie up story lines and complete the saga for us. Here was a chance to wash the bad taste of Jedi out of my mouth and renew my faith in Lucas. Surely, he would use this opportunity to make amends and redeem himself in the eyes of all the Star Wars geeks who felt cheated by Return of the Jedi.
Well, we all know what happened with that. Need I say more than Jar Jar Binks? Whatever disdain I felt for Lucas that had faded over the years came back tenfold and I ranted and railed against the film, the man, the absolute disrespect he had for fans of the saga to foist such a piece of garbage on us and expect us to eat it up. Yes, we went to the movie theater in droves, but we had been expecting so much more. In a way, this letdown was worse than Jedi. Jar Jar was a far greater crime against my sensibilities than Ewoks.
A few years later, Lucas did somewhat redeem himself with Revenge of the Sith. I loved that movie for the closure it gave me. It wasn’t a great piece of cinema (don’t get me started on the love scenes between Anakin and Padme), but there was that one wondrous moment when Anakin was being fitted with the Vader parts and helmet; he takes a breath and then you hear the voice of James Earl Jones for the first time. There was almost a clanking sound in my head, like two train cars hooking together and suddenly everything made sense and the films flowed one into the other. It was over. It was all complete. And it was both satisfying and sad.
But it didn’t quite erase the bad feelings toward Lucas. Not just for Jedi, but for all the changes; for Han shot first, for his greedy manipulation of the films, for everything he did to just suck more and more money out of the loyal fans, without caring about continuity or even the sanctity of the original films. Apparently, he’s not just guilty of this when it comes to Star Wars, as emphasized in this review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: “Like a petulant high school senior ripping down an old boy band poster that reminds her of the kid stuff she is sure she has way outgrown, director Spielberg and producer George Lucas, who gets a story credit, seem to think they’re too good to revisit the original trilogy so they mock it instead.” And that is where the crux of my disdain for Lucas lies; in the fact that he mocks his fans, by virtue of the mockery he makes of his own beloved works.
My father has this saying: One “ah, crap” wipes out 20 “attaboys.” Lucas is far too behind on the count to catch up.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Jedi, I think instead of watching the movie, I’ll play some Star Wars Battlefront and go on an Ewok killing spree.
Michele Catalano lives, writes, and takes photographs on Long Island.
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47 Comments
1. Tony:I would agree with that. I was never a Star Wars geek myself but I suspect I could have become one if Jedi had come remotely close to the greatness of Empire (I was 12 when Empire first came out and even at that age the absence of a “Happily Ever After” ending was a wonder to behold).
Kind of reminds me of the Alien films…..if only they had left it after the 2nd film, Aliens, instead of hammering the story into the ground to make rich guys yet another sack of cash. Shame.
May 29, 2008 - 1:20 am 2. Andis Kaulins:The urge to want a Star Wars movie a second time disappeared as soon as I saw Return of the Jedi.
May 29, 2008 - 2:24 am 3. Jenn:What a dreadful old man George Lucas has become.
May 29, 2008 - 3:13 am 4. Kirk:Lucas was an excellent manager. His triumph with Star War Episode IV was collecting the best in the special effects business under one roof and raising the bar three notches at once, and taking credit for all their work. “Skywalker Sound” is really the logical evolution of his talent : organizing a business and pushing sound and optical technology forward. Star Wars and Empire were his working platforms. You can’t begrudge a man as “selling out” when he was never “in” to begin with. It was always about the money.
May 29, 2008 - 3:17 am 5. J.J. Sefton:Having worked in show biz in script development (I have several script writing credits though this is my nom de blog) I can tell you that the most incredible special effect of all is a good story, well told. Everything else is a distant second.
I think Lucas managed to capture lightning in a bottle with the first 2, and Ewoks aside, about 2 thirds of “Return.” I always wondered why he never directed anything else until the abysmal pre-quels 20 odd years later but then again he put all his efforts into the effects end of the business. No crime in that but again, I’m a wirter. The writing, acting and direction come first. When you make the explosions and the hardware the stars of the show, then you get what American film has become for the last 15-20 years.
Paul Schrader recalls a conversation with Lucas asking him why he lives up in Marin County and Lucas answers that “he’s not part of Hollywood,” to which Schrader replies, with a chuckle “…I hate to break this to you George, but you ARE Hollywood.”
May 29, 2008 - 3:58 am 6. Locomotive Breath:What ruined ROTJ for me was an interview with Lucas where he said the battle with the Ewoks was a parable about Vietnam where this technologically unsophisticated society defeats the overwhelming force of a technologically advanced invader. He forgot to have some OTHER technologically advanced society provide the EWOKs with surface to air missiles. Or maybe that makes the Rebel Alliance equivalent to the Soviets?
Watch again the scene after the speeder bike crash. The two storm troopers are talking exactly like badly stereotyped U.S. soldiers. Especially after being given an order one of them barks “Yes Sir”. All that was missing was an “ooo rah”.
May 29, 2008 - 4:30 am 7. Dave in Texas:Stood in line for an hour to watch Star Wars. What a great date that was IYKWIMAITYD.
Been kinda downhill ever since.
May 29, 2008 - 4:43 am 8. Steve:Locomotive Breath:
Wow I felt like I was reading my own post. You hit it right on the head. I was watching a making of Jedi back in 1982 and Lucas casually mentioned the Vietnam symbolism with the Ewoks. It was the first red flag from something that had been a large part of my life until that point. Of course if I thought that was hamfisted symbolism well 20 twenty years later Lucas would resort to a sledgehammer. What it is even more screwed up is I’m not sure Lucas knows what the heck he’s talking about, the as the Old Republic slides into corruption the only people to save democracy are a teenage elected queen elected and a bunch of hippie samurai that you have to born as or you don’t get into the club…WTF?
A friend of mine summed it up all very well “It’s our own fault, during the last 40 minutes of Jedi we should have seen this coming.”
May 29, 2008 - 5:40 am 9. Geoff:I loved the first three but after seeing phantom menace I really couln’t be bothered with the others. Maybe I grew out of them maybe it just wasn’t so good?
May 29, 2008 - 5:47 am 10. Kevin:Take a deep breath, Michele. The magic of Star Wars lies in its all-inclusiveness. It is the movie that you can truly enjoy while taking your four-year-old kid. In fact, I recently introduced my 4 and 6 year olds to Star Wars and they LOVE them all. BUT, I do not feel that episode III is appropriate – too much un-Star Wars-like excessive violence (the image of Anakin burning with his legs lopped off is a bit much for young kids). Its a shame Lucas caved in to fans like you who couldn’t be content with a more wholesome Star Wars experience as in episodes I,II,IV,V, and VI. I was eight when I saw IV in the theaters and it hooked a whole generation of kids to a movie where good prevails; where you could be thoroughly and completely entertained without profanity or gratuitous violence and sex. If a few minutes of Jar-Jar helps hook a new generation, so be it.
May 29, 2008 - 6:02 am 11. Slublog:The problem I had with the ‘new’ trilogy is that it condescends to the young in the audience. I was a kid when I saw Star Wars and it appealed to me without poo humor, wacky sidekicks or clumsy symbolism. It was a straight-up good versus evil story and I loved every second of it.
May 29, 2008 - 6:31 am 12. DoesNotMatter:I just reinstalled TIE Fighter and X-Wing.
X-Wing was the flight-sim shooter of it’s time. In space. In Star Wars. It was great.
And then came TIE-Fighter. And it was better. If it wasn’t for the problems trying to get a Dos game to run on XP (Which demands an joystick or won’t start, I have the Re-Relase for Win98) I would play it far more often.
Oh, and LucasArts screwing fans ?
LucasArts was for a long time a top game producer with great titles.
Monkey Island, Sam & Max, TIE Fighter & X-Wing, Indy, etc.
They killed all that. They even had a sequel to Sam & Max in development and canceled it. The latest Indy title was an uninspired Tomb Raider Clone.
KotOR 1 to KotOR 2 was a massive drop in quality because it was rushed.
The Star Wars Galaxy debacle(s) are pretty much the course material for “How not to maintain an MMORPG”
The expansion to Empire at War had a month long wait time to get some very annoying bugs fixed (Then I stopped caring, so there maybe a patch by now)
They have “Screw over the fans” as a business philosophy. And seem to include that in Star Wars licenses.
May 29, 2008 - 7:40 am 13. Blanche:Ha! My Battlefront name is EwokKiller. Seriously though, after Eps 1 and 2, we refused to pay for Sith and on opening weekend went to a friends house and watched a pirated copy. I got the laser discs of the original trilogy off of EBay years ago and only watched those until the last release of the “updated” trilogy came with the originals as bonus features. When my husband turns on one of the movies on cable, the added crap jumps out at me and I can’t help complaining about it. All that aside, Lego Star Wars is one of the best video games ever. The animated scenes are pure awseome.
May 29, 2008 - 9:01 am 14. gus3:Ewoks are wonderful.
With ketchup.
May 29, 2008 - 9:04 am 15. Bugs:I think a lot of people who loved Star Wars and were impressed by Lucas’ Joseph Campbell references mistook him for some kind of guru. Ultimately, however, George Lucas is just a guy who makes movies. He seems to fit the image of a successful Hollywood flake, combining Donald Trump business skills with Jane Fonda politics and Tom Cruise religion. He’s a shallow thinker, a bad writer, and a spiritual sophomore.
What he has is a great visual imagination and the drive and management ability to get the products of that imagination up on the screen for us to see. That’s the Lucas we want to remember: the magical storyteller who fought the evil forces of Hollywood to share his amazing worlds with us. When he used these assets primarily to create and entertain, he was one of the best in his field. But when he tried to think deep thoughts of his own and stick them in his movies, he invariably broke the spell. Ewoks were the first example. The last three movies contained too many to list.
I’ll always be grateful for Star Wars. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in a movie theater up to that time. I also wish Lucas had quit while he was ahead.
May 29, 2008 - 9:28 am 16. shrike:Here’s a link to a Star Wars fan film I quite liked. “Revelations” is set between #s 3 & 4. While its not as polished, the cast and crew were all volunteers, and their enthusiasm for what they were doing really shone through, IMO.
http://panicstruckpro.com/revelations/
May 29, 2008 - 9:35 am 17. Fat Jolly Penguin:I first saw Episode I in the movie theater when I was 8, and Episode II when I was 11. I liked them both at the time, but as I got older I decided they were nowhere near as good as the original trilogy, which I had been watching since I was four years old. The acting was pretty terrible, and I found myself wishing more and more that they had refrained from the CG until they had developed it to a more realistic level.
Then Episode III came out. My sister and I waited in line at the theater for at least six hours waiting to see the midnight premiere, and aside from a couple of little quirks (why precisely did Jar-Jar have to be in there, even for 2 seconds?!), I was very happy with it. It filled in a lot of the plot holes, and the best part is that a lot of the scenery on Mustafar was not computer animated (watch the DVD documentary to see how they did it).
I agree that Lucas went too far with the merchandising aspect, but he had to finish the story he started somehow. I’m disappointed that he didn’t do it well, but I have learned of a respite: the novels, expanding the story beyond the movies. I know they’re more of the merchandising, but as long as you stay away from the comic books and the kids’ versions, they’re actually quite engrossing. A group of 3 veteran Star Wars authors actually got together a couple of years back to write a 9-book series about Han and Leia’s kids (yes, they got married); I just finished the final book yesterday, and it’s excellent. (No shameless plugging here; I like the books and I’m proud of it.)
May 29, 2008 - 9:54 am 18. Hazel Stone:Troll. Or do you really have mind-reading powers? Nah, thought not.
Michele: They made MORE Star Wars movies??? Dammit, up until now I had managed to ignore that. Isn’t it neat how the Wachowskis avoided the money-hoor path and only made the one Matrix movie? *has a houseboat on the river Denial*
May 29, 2008 - 10:47 am 19. Pundit Joe:Imagine: On the Death Star, a young man fights for his very soul and the soul of his father while outside the rebel fleet is fighting and dying in an attempt to restore freedom and liberty to the cosmos.
But, look out kids! Yuk-yuk-yuk! Lucas will kill the mood and any suspense with some zany antics! Watch and laugh as the silly little ewok accidentally knocks himself out with a sling! BONK! Waka-waka-waka! Honk honk!
Honestly, I cannot imagine what he was thinking. I won’t even go into Jar-jar except to say that I have never before experienced such physical pain from a movie.
May 29, 2008 - 10:56 am 20. John the Libertarian:Ah, yes. Revenge of the Teddy Bears. I too recall my deep disappointment, nay, the coarsening of my heart when those blasted ewoks stunk up the screen.
But the first half when they’re taking out Jabba was great, yes?
May 29, 2008 - 11:51 am 21. sean sarto:Thanks..fer a while it was gettin’ ta feel like Mao’s China here if you voiced any desent from the party line…those Star Wars films were cultural nervepoints fer a generation of Americans…maybye that explains some of the dysfunction..Sometimes I think George Lucas was like the guy in the film American Beauty an’ Star Wars was the plate of spaghetti…Ya know..”I’m sick of all this bull that’s bein’ dumped on me..So i’m jest gonna throw this plate of noodles at the wall..an’ whatever sticks, sticks…I got better stuff to do” Maybe the worst thing out of all of this is that a bunch of human beings were duped into having these kinda phony simulcrum of experiences to serve as developmental models…I mean movies are real “something for nothing” transactions….which is a swindle when it comes to the real elemental forces at work in the world.Them bright shiny beads…fer a good fertile stretch of land….Get the picture?
May 29, 2008 - 11:54 am 22. Jeff:I remember reading somewhere that since George Lucas was practically untested as a filmmaker (THX1138 and American Graffiti were it) he had a lot of people over him on Star Wars, courtesy of the money people. As a result it had something like 6 forced major rewrites before it became the version that hit the screen (and the hints I barely remember indicated version 1-5 were really, really bad).
By the time RotJ came out, he could write his own ticket without the oversight.
And he did, and we see the results. Then he did it again in Eps. 1-3 (haven’t actually seen 3 yet).
May 29, 2008 - 11:58 am 23. DoesNotMatter:The best part is, that in Empire at War you can built a DeathStar. And with a little prodding it suddenly finds itself over Naboo… and then, oops, Endor.
May 29, 2008 - 12:00 pm 24. Koblog:In 1977 (Episode IV) there were real men (or actors as humanoids, anyway) inside the armor. Getting shot meant something–even if there was no blood (self-cauterizing laser wounds for a PG rating?)
Then Star Wars became animated toy teddy bears vs. bad flesh-and-blood humanoids.
Then it was computer generated Jar-Jar jackasses vs. computer generated clone robots.
We now officially had no one to cheer for or against. I didn’t care if the Jar Jars or the Clone robots “killed” each other.
As Patton said, “War is about making the other SOB die for his country.” Something real has to die for the story to mean something.
With political correctness now reigning, all the heart left Star Wars.
May 29, 2008 - 12:15 pm 25. miker:I liked Star Wars a lot when it was first released, but I really loved The Empire Strikes Back. It was so much more nuanced and realistically darker – it seemed like we had such great things to look forward to in the series. Then Return of the Jedi came out, and there was just nothing there. I remember hoping that it was just an aberration. It might not have seemed quite so bad if TESB hadn’t been so good.
Then after so many years had gone by, and Lucas had piled up more money than any human could possibly spend in a lifetime, he gives us the dual crapfests of Episode I & II. Maybe it’s contempt for the audience, maybe the guy really did try and his artistic sensibilities are just that bad, I don’t know. Episode II was so awful, I still haven’t seen III.
I used to think it would be really cool when they finally got around to making Episodes VII – IX. I still hold out a slender thread of hope that they might get made someday, but only if Lucas has no creative involvement whatsoever.
May 29, 2008 - 12:16 pm 26. michele:I do, and always will, appreciate the Star Wars movies. They (the good ones at least) were magical and gave me plenty of enjoyment, especially when I became obsessed with them all over again as my kids became enchanted with the movies (and, of course, all the toys). And I also appreciate everything Lucas did in the industry as far as sound and lighting and special effect. But I will always feel like he turned away from the fans who made the original trilogy the phenomena it was – the people who went back to the theater again and again, who bought all the figures and went to Burger King day after day to get the whole set of glasses, who bought every edition of every movie on every available media. I don’t begrudge him any money he made – I’m not one to take a swipe at people for getting rich and famous. I just feel like he had a legacy to follow up on and he ignored that legacy and changed the entire tone of the series. He also forsook his storytelling ability – one of the best things about him – and opted for thinly veiled social commentary instead – to the point of it looking and sounding forced.
The ewoks were just the beginning. It was the Han/Greedo thing that really pissed me off.
Well, I’m certainly glad to see I’m not in the minority. I really excepted a lot more people to take an opposing viewpoint. You have warmed my heart.
And yes, Star Wars Lego rules.
May 29, 2008 - 1:10 pm 27. Whitehall:What’s the problem with better explosions? The explosions in the original Star Wars were gratingly unrealistic.
I did a bit of consulting with ILM for “The Empire Strikes Back” and the depictions of explosions and directed energy weapons are on a much better scientific basis. I brought in some Defense Nuclear Agency films of explosions like Starfish Prime and showed them to the special effects guy. Also had some contacts with the real “Star Wars” researchers so had some photos from the labs. The ILM guys did a good job, I thought.
I agree Star Wars and ESB were good stories, well done. The rest were just B-movies to exploit the brand and move the collateral products.
May 29, 2008 - 1:20 pm 28. DoesNotMatter:That reminds me: Somewhere on the ‘net there is screencap of a forum thread where a Scout Speeder veteran recounts his horrid experience in the forests of Endor with the “furry little monsters”. Redeems much.
May 29, 2008 - 2:03 pm 29. B. G.:I need a question answered that has plagued me since the very last Star Wars movie (I can’t even remember the name of it). If Padme dies in childbirth, then how come Leia tells Luke (in “Return of the Jedi”) that she remembers her mother being very beautiful but also very sad? Apparently George Lucas never needed any continuity regarding this storyline, but I do!
May 29, 2008 - 2:22 pm 30. michele:B.G., don’t even get me started on things like that or I will go into a lengthy discourse on the underwhelming reaction of Leia when her home planet was blown to smithereens.
May 29, 2008 - 2:31 pm 31. P. Ami:As a kid I was a little too spellbound by the brand to get the willies from Ewoks, although now I see the line from teddy-bear to Jar-Jar. The real issue I have with the latest episodes is that the plausible tension created by a boy genius, raised by a society of geniuses, to have been turned to “the dark-side” was a task for much better script writers then Lucas.
We are all aware of the common bond forged between soldiers who have fought and killed together. We are well aware of the tight bonds between apprentices and their masters. We should assume that the thought tools being passed from Jedi to Paduan would be as sophisticated as those we gleam within the Bene Gesserit society. All things considered I didn’t buy Anakin’s disloyalty to the Jedi. As a follow up to the comparison between the created universes of two men even more stark, think of CHOAM in the Dune series as compared to the trading guild in the Star Wars universe. Think of the levels in political intrigue between the Imperial line of the Padisha Emperor as opposed to Emperor Palpatine’s machinations. Someone, please compare and contrast midichlorins to the Spice.
Anikin ends as he began, a whiny kid with an angry squint in his eyes. It took that character some 13 years or so to get from point A to point A. Even a parrot changes more then that in 13 years. Its not much of a surprise seeing as Lucas’ character development ability hasn’t grown in 30 odd years. Take all the shallowness of Lucas’ political ideology (assuming that his films reflect his actual thinking) one wonders why people forgive him the shallowness of his character and plot creation. The fact is that Lucas lowered the bar with the first two episodes so low that fans were practically raving over the darkness of the third episode (it occurs to me now that the term episode is perfect, as in “My bi-polar brother is in the middle of one of his episodes”). Its enough to set a man on fire and have him scream with pubescently broken voice, “I hate you Obi-Wan, I hate you”.
Sean Sarto, You introduce cynicism of such depth that it seems you are almost defending Lucas and his drivel. Of course we were drawn in by a simple story and special effects, Lights and Magic, as you will. I understand that some people want to pass Star Wars on as the new American Myth with societal and personal lessons embedded in the script. I don’t expect every film to be meaningful and poetic but if I’m paying to be entertained then I don’t think I can forgive the director for breaking the spell, again and again, in an effort to get kids to buy merchandise. Lets be honest, my $7-$9 bucks ain’t exactly Manhattan.
Dune is an example of a novel which is what the Star Wars films could have been and even the Lynch film wasn’t too bad. Would I take my kid to watch Sting get a knife wedged into his brain, no. But, one day my boy might read Herbert’s book and get a sense of what dynastic politics are all about. In Star Wars, not so much.
May 29, 2008 - 2:36 pm 32. Michael McNeil:I remember when it came out one of those TV reviewing duos called Dune the “worst movie of the last ten years” — a pretty ridiculous judgment I always thought. They also asserted that even folks who’d read the book couldn’t follow the movie — which is absolutely not the case.
May 29, 2008 - 3:14 pm 33. seePea:ok, deep breath now -
I loved IV & V , the original releases. Stood in the line for 5 hours to see V on its initial weekend. The moment when the line “I am your father” is declared is one of the sharpest memories I have – an over capacity crowd in one of the largest movie theaters in NY all gasped out loud at that second.
VI I thought was fine when there were no ew-oks on screen and I try to forget them as much as possible. As others have noted, to many it felt like marketing placement. I still think NOT killing off Hans was the correct choice.
I was one of the few who liked TPM – with the major exception of the mini-chromosomes. It still leaves me with the shudders of WTFH was that done. Jar-Jar again seemed that a marketing gimmick more than anything else.
The Clone movie did not impress me one or the other. The story was ok, the chemistry between Natalie Portman (who I find very attractive) and
Whats-His-Name was poor, and the direction given to Whats-His-Name was evidently also poor. There should have been much more internal rage showing and the actor has shown he could have done it.
As a reader of Zahn’s Thrace(?) Trilogy, the scene when the clone factory was shown was spectacular – the whole clone factory world was actually pretty good to me.
Then we come to the Sith Revenge movie. I actually enjoyed quite a lot while watching it (I had seen the cartoons so knew the backstory), but 2 minutes after it was over I realized that it really ruins the moment in EMPIRE, it left a lot of holes in the story, had some major points that made no sense and had ruined continuity. Even while watching it struck me how lame the Anakin coversion was.
Worse, and this is to the major point of the OP, the I,II,III seem to be more about marketing than doing the story justice. I feel this way because as it played out, there was no reason for II as a stand alone movie. It could have easily had its first part stuck on to TPM, the middle could have been merged with the story line of the first 2/3 of the cartoon, and then there could have been a potential epic of the last 1/3 of the cartoon and III. But it seems that marketing triumphed over story telling
ok, end of rant. sorry for being so long.
(now if only a talented group would fill the gap between VI and the Admiral Thrace trilogy … )
May 29, 2008 - 6:45 pm 34. Waller:I actually liked ROTJ, EWOKs aside. I had always wondered why Darth Vader would defer to a mere Emperor. ROTJ explained why the Empire was so unbeatable and why Vader didn’t run the galaxy. It just wrapped up so many things on a rational level. I was a teenager and I was dismayed that SW took a turn for the kids. I always cheer when the Ewok dies as a protest to Lucas’ kid-pandering.
Episode I started downhill with the pod race. But what killed the whole Star Wars thing for me was when the Force became Midichlorans that lived symbiotically with the Jedi, Sith, etc. and gave them their powers.
I always thought that Lucas brought out this gimmick to rid himself of the Christian groupies who used Star Wars as a Christian parable. The Force was too much like the Holy Spirit and he was sick of too many New Testament analogies. In other words, he did it just to p*** them off. I bet in 1977, the Force was just a force.
May 29, 2008 - 6:51 pm 35. Darleen:I was 22 when the first Star Wars came out. I was suspicious before I saw it because Star Trek had been my fave visual media of sci fi and a smattering of other sci-fi films (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet).
I was blown away by the opening scene. I ended up seeing it 14 times in the theater that first summer.
I hold onto that magic, regardless of Jedi (much of it I liked but the Ewoks were just WRONG) or JarJar or … The Church of Jediism
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1808595,00.html
heh.
May 29, 2008 - 8:40 pm 36. Darlene:When Star Wars first came out my husband and I saw it maybe six times …. The Empire Strikes Back was like a gift. Its hard to think of other films I’ve seen that actually created another world you could almost see. Then as has been said so many times, the Ewoks struck. Fonzie and the Bears with Guns – that’s how it should have been titled. The next three have some great scenes (I bought a copy of the CD just so I could watch the “pod races,” for instances). But I think it was inevitable, its a for money enterprise, after all.
May 30, 2008 - 7:19 am 37. Bobbywickham:B. G. wrote :
I need a question answered If Padme dies in childbirth, then how come Leia tells Luke (in “Return of the Jedi”) that she remembers her mother being very beautiful but also very sad?
If the Emperor knew it was a lie, he told it to Anakin to complete his conversion to the dark side. If the Emperor thought it was true, it was part of Obi Wan’s plan to hide Padme and her children from Anakin and the Emperor.
May 30, 2008 - 7:31 am 38. Heather:I was 8 when “Jedi” came out, so I kinda liked the Ewoks (and subsequent made-for-TV movies) at the time. It wasn’t until years later that I realized it was just a big toy commercial, like the pod races in “Clones.”
But Padme boinking a kid she used to babysit creeped me out immediately, and still does.
May 30, 2008 - 8:37 am 39. sean.sarto:To P. Ami,
May 30, 2008 - 1:15 pm 40. seePea:No, I actually I feel a little sympathy fer George, in that I think the movie industry then was a a different kind of mess..I think why you have that Italian gangster archtype of today that bears so much influence (ie.e “Godfather” DeNiro, Pacino, even cross market-wise Springsteen)is because the industry needed cash an’ probably a lot of rackerteerin’ agencies saw their inroads there to wash it…an’ in a spirit of lookin’ out fer it’s own,(not nesecarily the Italians but Jewish) somebody said, “This George kid, wants ta make pictures, He’s a good kid give ‘em his break”…Lucas probably didn’t now what he was gettin’ into.But “American Graffetti”(that blonde in the corvette) an’ Star Wars are full of innocence an’ innovation an’ that hungry passion of gettin’ the big break, (a transcendent moment) that it’s a very universal human touchstone.
E’rybody else:
Otherwise I agree you about workin’ hard fer my 10 bucks jest ta see it suckered away, (”humbugged” in the tradition of PT Barnum), is some sourin’ doo-doo.
An’ I think it’s gettin’ worse…especially in terms of the Iraq War…an’ Hollywood’s inexplicable, instantaneous capacity to exploit it. Like it was worked out in advance, who was gonna get what opportunities in terms of the entertainment markets. It’s big commodity these days. A Friday Box-office is guarented, no matter what kinda noodle you flick…”Prom Night” the original..was unheard of as box office draw when it was first released…People were ashamed about it…Movies were’nt really an honorable professions, they were bout bein’ had, an’ trickin’ people….. Not so much these days…look at me here writin’ you on the internet…What has all the great technological progress of the century been so far fielded in? Distributing Movies, Music,..communications…makin’ the speed of the transaction quicker…because people are fanatical about about bein’bored I guess. I don’t know? I know in the end, I can only speak fer myself.I’m gettin’ more an’ more satisified with bein’ bored…instead of bein’ had.
I thought I, II, & III should have started when Annakin was about Luke’s age..an’ already had his evil intent. No need to explain it. The force is jest some magical wand he’s been given..an’ he aims to use it fer his own pleasure..he hustles the jedi, (maybe even the emporer)out fer the main chance..gettin’ things in order to his needs….but he never sees Luke an’ Leia in the mix…He gets duped. I knida thought of the prequels on those terms. They needed a better script that had some of that “this is my big break” passion, not “Fat cat” disposition. I hated seein’ the films so reliant on IV, V, & VI (and so obsessed with Boba Fett)…an’ it was downright perverse how they addressed the current political landscape, while it was progressing…that’s a red flag me that say’s sumethin’s not right here to me.
Another point in spending that $10…
I can’t see how shooting film in front of a green screen has become more costly then having to locate and purchase specifc model sets from all those available, so you can have jest that certain piece to explode…much less trying to concieve and create an actual prototype of say an’ X-wing fighter that somehow looks right and believable. especially when if you goof, that part is no longer available….I can’t see how Hollywood justifies such elaborate expense these days..when the need to build sets and effects has been so drastically reduced…and that the spectacle of such things has become more and more the central focus. The material costs are jest not there.
To Heather:
sshhh, no one is supposed to remember that Padme was very much senior to Anakin
To Bobbywickham:
May 30, 2008 - 3:23 pm 41. michele:You seem to be claiming that the burial of Padme was fake. This would only make a modicum of sense if Emperor thought she was dead. The big, huge problem is the cavalier way the Emperor tells DarthVader about the rebel being a Skywalker. (btw: DV’s reaction (or rather lack of) to this is one of the major minuses I attach to SithRevenge. It is like Lucas is embarrassed about the original trilogy.
It is like Lucas is embarrassed about the original trilogy. So much so that at times it seems like he is pretending they don’t exist. The lack continuity, which was always a problem with Lucas – is almost mind blowing in the latter three movies.
May 30, 2008 - 3:36 pm 42. Steamboat Jack:George Lucas makes movies to make money. If you like what he makes, fine. If you don’t, then don’t spend your money. George will get the message.
George made the movie he wanted to make. I can understand your being disappointed; I am also disappointed. The first action movies he made were full of life, as though the entire production crew was having a good time. Now, they seem to be just going through the paces. But, it was George’s movie and he had the right to do with is as he would.
I wish George well, but I think that I will keep my money in my pocket.
Jun 1, 2008 - 3:33 pm 43. Heather Cook:So… you wrote this article for free because it is part of your pure “grand vision”, right?
Jun 2, 2008 - 7:09 am 44. SPDudley:Lucas’ vision is inconsistent within itself. As one commenter said, he caught lightning in a bottle – twice (SW, ESB), then ran aground when his original ideas bottomed out (hence ROTJ is part re-make of SW and part his very original concept with the Wookie rebellion).
If the rest of the films had been like Empire, we’d all be saying SW was this generations Lord of the Rings. Instead, we have to filter out the kiddified crap with the too-few intercetions of decent plot and action.
The problem with StarWars itself is that, in the films, Lucas preaches an anti-capitalistic, anti-technology message while hawking as much SW crap as possible and pushing every means of tech available to produce them. The message of the overall saga, and espeically Eps I, II and III gets convoluted with the need make a profit from the films themselves (and thereby proving the films’ philsophy wrong). There’s a lot less to the saga than we’d all like to think, actually.
I find the same problem with Star Trek, actually. Roddenberry was a neo-Marxist who had a personal vision for an idealized future (TNG is probably closest to what he wanted). But to pay the bills and get fans to watch, Paramount had to make movies like Wrath of Khan, which is nowhere near that worldview.
This sort of thing is why so many SciFi fans are turned off from the major media. SW and ST both pale in comparison to the works of giants like Robert Heinein and Larry Niven, or even some of the stuff we see from Japan. I’m still waiting for a true SciFi epic. We won’t get it in this generation.
Jun 2, 2008 - 11:03 am 45. seePea:SPUudley: I still think that Star Wars The New Hope and Empire Strikes Back are more than worth the time to view, especially the ones based on the actual versions (ie: Han shoots first, Luke screams, etc). I bought one of the Trilogy Sets and have yet to view TRJ again
As for the Star Trek arena, I thought Deep Space Nine was pretty darned good.
Jun 2, 2008 - 5:20 pm 46. SPDudley:seePea – I agree completely that IV and V are the best of the lot, and that V is right up there as one of the best genre films of all time (not to mention perhaps one of cinema’s best ever plot twists). It all went downhill from there, I’m afraid.
I liked DS9 because it had a sweeping storyline and wasn’t as judgemental as TNG when it came to it’s characters – there was grey everywhere, including the idealistic Federation. DS9 wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty if it needed to. Of course, Babylon 5 would be a step up from that. The creator of Babylon 5 originally pitched Paramount with his idea, Paramount liked the concept but didn’t like him, and then JM Straczynski went to Warner Brothers and got them to do it. When both DS9 and B5 were on the air it was probably the high point of SciFi on TV, IMHO.
Jun 4, 2008 - 2:40 pm 47. Lileks:Lucas’ creative shortcomings were conclusively revealed the moment he decided that the second trilogy would be a prequel. That’s like following up “The Longest Day” with a movie about Chamberlain’s trip to Munich. WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, George. You told us this part already.
(I did like Ep 2 more than 6, to be honest. And DS9 was the best Trek ever.)
Jun 4, 2008 - 6:41 pm