6.22.2005
STILL MORE BULLSITH
A good friend wrote to discuss my take on Revenge of the Sith. Mostly to say he was at first surprised, but then wound up agreeing with a lot of what I said. He also poised certain possibilities as to why we had become so disenchanted. Were these three films so much worse than the first three, or did we simply remember them as better due to where we were in life (young) when we first viewed them?
I had to stop and really consider this a goodly amount to try and come to a clear conclusion.
Ultimately, I think my take on the first three is that they peaked with Empire Strikes Back, and a good hard look at Return of the Jedi should leave us not the least surprised at how the "prequels" went. Star Wars (EP IV) was a fluke. A joyful, incredible, dazzling fluke. That's not to say it was a bad film, but it makes no sense that it achieved the success it did. Now Empire had George in a position where he still had to proove he had the goods. He wrote the treatment, and did some work on the final draft of the shooting script, but wrote very little of it in between. Pay attention to the dialouge of that film and tell me it isn't head and shoulders above the others. Empire also had Irvin Kershner as Director - that's right, George was not behind the lense the whole time. Notice how Empire fed our desire for those spectacular battle scenes (and the Hoth Battle is something I could probably watch over and over and never tire of), while still keeping the intimacy of smaller sets for many of the interpersonal scenes. Think of how basic Daghoba was - the area of that planet they showed us is only slightly larger than the average schoolyard playground. The clautrophobia of the rebel base (corridors, low ceiling control rooms) even the final saber fight between Luke and Vader was mostly indoors and in a relatively small space. The focus was on the charachters - they just happend to live in a galaxy far far away. Jedi is where Lucas seems to realize that this baby is his legacy and pulls in a little more control for himself, The result? Ewoks, some of Lukes hokiest lines to date, and surprise! Death Staer Mark II! Except with a gazillion more spaceships and explosions. Cute cloying characters, stiff grade school dialouge and visual overload would be the formula that Lucas kept on simmer for 20 years, and then unloaded it on us as no one could have imagined. They stand as some of the most visually stunning bad movies ever made. I'll keep the original trilogy, but I hold no illusions of the creators abilities as a storyteller. Fair to middling.
go and tell me all about it
I had to stop and really consider this a goodly amount to try and come to a clear conclusion.
Ultimately, I think my take on the first three is that they peaked with Empire Strikes Back, and a good hard look at Return of the Jedi should leave us not the least surprised at how the "prequels" went. Star Wars (EP IV) was a fluke. A joyful, incredible, dazzling fluke. That's not to say it was a bad film, but it makes no sense that it achieved the success it did. Now Empire had George in a position where he still had to proove he had the goods. He wrote the treatment, and did some work on the final draft of the shooting script, but wrote very little of it in between. Pay attention to the dialouge of that film and tell me it isn't head and shoulders above the others. Empire also had Irvin Kershner as Director - that's right, George was not behind the lense the whole time. Notice how Empire fed our desire for those spectacular battle scenes (and the Hoth Battle is something I could probably watch over and over and never tire of), while still keeping the intimacy of smaller sets for many of the interpersonal scenes. Think of how basic Daghoba was - the area of that planet they showed us is only slightly larger than the average schoolyard playground. The clautrophobia of the rebel base (corridors, low ceiling control rooms) even the final saber fight between Luke and Vader was mostly indoors and in a relatively small space. The focus was on the charachters - they just happend to live in a galaxy far far away. Jedi is where Lucas seems to realize that this baby is his legacy and pulls in a little more control for himself, The result? Ewoks, some of Lukes hokiest lines to date, and surprise! Death Staer Mark II! Except with a gazillion more spaceships and explosions. Cute cloying characters, stiff grade school dialouge and visual overload would be the formula that Lucas kept on simmer for 20 years, and then unloaded it on us as no one could have imagined. They stand as some of the most visually stunning bad movies ever made. I'll keep the original trilogy, but I hold no illusions of the creators abilities as a storyteller. Fair to middling.
go and tell me all about it
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