Since the film first appeared in theatres in May, people have become more and more detached from their initial reactions. At first, the critics and public alike thought it was pretty good (for the most part) and now that it's been released on video and dvd, it seems as though people are pretending it wasn't all that great the first time...like Lucas tricked you into saying it was cool. Now, I want to specify some things before I proceed with my rant, I am not a Star Wars geek, I just love the films. I don't know any of the trivia, and I've never read any of the novels. I did however, have alot of the toys when I was a kid, but so did everybody.
Okay, the reason I'm a little upset, is because it's a growing trend now-a-days to like a film, then after you've nit-picked the hell out of it in multiple viewings and found every single flaw the filmmakers could've possibly made, you say that it wasn't that great a movie and that it, well, sucks. Well, how come some of the best movies ever made and some of my personal favorites are full of flaws? I think that it's the ability to look past the flaws that counts, and I think with this series in particular, people focus on the flaws more than they should. Ask any Star Wars geek and they'll tell you that these movies are supposed to be spagetti-westerns/ cheesy sci-fi serials, but with intricate detail and epic-scale added in.
I thought that everybody was aware of Mark Hammil's terrible acting abilities, so why does it come as such a surprise that the actor portraying his father isn't all that great an actor either. Now I'm not sure how many of you guys saw Life As a House, but Hayden Christensen was good in it, and got a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a supporting role. Natalie Portman is also a very, very good actress, and Ewan MacGregor is one of the best young actors out there (I can't believe that between Moulin Rouge! and Trainspotting he hasn't earned some nomination in the Academy). But in Star Wars it's supposed to be the way it is... it's not supposed to be 'great' acting. I find it hard to believe that Ewan MacGregor got to the set and before he opened his mouth, George Lucas sucked his acting ability away. He wouldn't have had to try to get a good performance, but to tone down his acting ability...hmmmm...
When going back and watching the originals (IV, V, & VI) didn't you notice that the characters are a little flat. That the dialoque is to the point, not much else. People can play it off as 'well, it's because they're older films, they're gonna look like that' all they want, but the truth is it's SUPPOSED TO BE CAMPY! it's supposed to play out like a cheesy sci-fi serial from the 50's.
Now, when it comes to the CG (term used for computer generated imagery, or digital effects) we have a whole other issue. I'll agree that Yoda doesn't look the same as he did in the originals. I'll agree that the CG still looks kinda fake when it comes to computer generated characters. But I don't agree with those who think that the whole reason for the new series is so George can dazzle us with new digital images. I don't agree that ALL the effects look fake, and I don't agree with some people who say Yoda should still be a puppet. Did you know that Ewan MacGregor and Christopher Lee and Jenga Fett and a whole bunch of others were partly CG in most of the key scenes? I didn't, until I watched one of the "Making of" things on the dvd. For those of you who complain about the CG looking fake all the time, it doesn't, not all the time. Some of the time it looks really damn good. Also, just because some of the characters do look CG, why does that make them look 'bad'?
What's the difference in being able to tell a character or backdrop is CG, and being able to tell a character is a puppet or a backdrop is a painting. Effects have always been used, even in the earliest of films, and though some looked really good, most you can tell are special effects. How come it wasn't until the digital age, when we can finally do things never possible before, that instead of giving praise for what they were able to do, we instead get pissed that it doesn't look real enough for our standards. On the dvd I learned that they began working on the digital effects in 1999, that's back when Episode I came out. That's crazy, that they spent like three to four years non-stop on this, pushing boundaries of what they thought they could do, and when it's done the public goes, "Still doesn't look right." Anyone who says that should get in there and do it themselves. And those who think they should give up the CG and go back to the puppets, it wouldn't work. Yoda was a puppet in Episode I and he still looked fake, and by utilizing the latest in puppeteering technology all they did was make him look different. At least the CG Yoda in Episode II looked like Yoda, even if he was a computerized cartoon.
I just don't understand the hatred for these movies. Lucas is contsructing a story that he's already had in his head for years, and he's changing it ONLY TO MAKE THE PUBLIC HAPPY, and when he does, they still hate him. I think Attack of the Clones is one of the best in the series. Anyone who has a reason to hate it, I can come up with a reason of either why the movie did it that way or why you would feel that way, and I'll still like it. For example, when talking to one of my friends, he brought up the point that in Episode II there was a scene in a 50's style diner. Yet in the other films there's nothing similar, so why would Lucas bring in this little bit of pop culture.
Okay, well, my answer to that is that this series is based before the fall of the Republic, and before things went bad for the Jedi, before the Clone Wars, before the rise of Vader and the Emporer. Things would be a little more normal, people would be doing things that everyday people do. The characters that we met on Tatooine in Episode I were living regular lives, so a 'big race' at a race-track is conceivable. In the original series, the main characters were in hiding, and when we met other characters throughout the series they were either in hiding, too, or living in fear that Vader would shut 'em down. In those times, people were war-ravaged and scared. No wonder Luke never went to a 50's style diner, the closest thing to a city Luke ever even went to was a hoving ship in the clouds.
I just wish people would watch these movies for the right reasons. Stop trying to pick through stuff, and when you hear some horrible bit of dialogue just shake you head and move on. It's no worse now than it was before, and you loved it before. Ten years from now, people won't remember why they hated it, and it'll be considered one of the best series ever. Except for Jar Jar, I still agree that Jar Jar sucks. --Garth Simmons.
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