In defense of STAR WARS 1-3

POSTED BY: reginaroadie
UPDATED: Thursday, March 17, 2005 15:09
VIEWED: 10884
PAGE 2 of 4

PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE

REGINAROADIE

Sunday, March 13, 2005 3:55 AM

After what I read about the whole killing the Tusken raiders bit, I did a little digging online, and I actually found this old article written by filmmaker and gigantic STAR WARS geek Kevin Smith. It was his interpretiation of ATTACK OF THE CLONES written for FILM COMMENT, and he brings up some valid observations about that scene as well as the whole movie.

"...From the get-go, Lucas captures my limited imagination with one simple proposition. Darth Vader was once a teenager. How pedestrian,yet how profound! Evil's gotta start somewhere, right? Why not show why Johnny can't read - or in this case, can't play well with others, and insists on using the Force to choke underlings who don't live up to his expectations? From the hit-or-miss origin of Phantom Menace's take on baby Anakin as the galactic Hitler in short pants, Clones ups the ante by presenting us with the heart of darkness right where everyone's always known it lies: in the passions of a volatile high schooler.

Right off the bat, Anakin is portrayed as a kid who thinks he knows more than he does, and insists on proving to everybody that he's as good as them, if not better. I went to high school with his guy. Granted, he didn't grow up to carbon-freeze anybody (in truth, I believe he works at a Shell station now), but had he been given a lightsaber and taught how to pull the Jedi Mind Trick on folks, he might've.

In Clones, Anakin is a twelfth grader with a license and parents who want him home by eight: he's a disaster waiting to happen. Who else but a tortured teen leaps out of a sky-speeder to capture a bounty hunter who's talked smack about his girl (or, in the case of Clones, set loose killer centipedes in her bedroom)? With little-to-no concern for his own well-being, based largely on his assumption that he's immortal (that worst of teenage attributes), young Skywalker forces Zam Wessel's craft (how sad is it that I'm 31 and I know the name of a character who's never really identified and appears only fleetingly in the film?) to crash-land in a densely populated city, and then pursues her (it) into a bar only to watch his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, make the final collar. And how does the Force-ful whelp wrap it all up with the wide-eyed cantina bystanders? He tosses them a condescending "This is Jedi business." The balls on this kid! ...

There's something bittersweet about the fall of Darth Vader now, that hadn't existed before Clones: had his mother simply died of old age, the guy might never have developed that extreme case of asthma he seems to suffer from in Star Wars, Empire, and Return of the Jedi.

Which leads to the most haunting moment of Clones for me: when Anakin breaks down to his puppy love, Amidala, and confesses that he butchered that no-good bunch of sand-eating bandage wearers with his hi-tech Zippo. This scene really resonated with me, because Amidala wears this expression that very quietly says "Holy Christ I'm in love with a human time-bomb." The sad, hopeless look on her face upon learning of his murder spree brought to mind that moment in Jedi when Luke asked Leia if she rememered what her (and his) mother was like. Leia (in what may be Carrie Fisher's finest hour in the original trilogy) reminisced that her mother always seemed sad. Here, nearly 20 years later, we get to see what Leia was talking about.

And that's what worked best for me about the Anakin arc in Clones: the doomed love affair of Anakin and Amidala. Most of the critics dismissed this as the flick's most ham-fistedly handled aspect, but I thought it played out tragically and beautifully. High marks to both Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman, because I completely bought their relationship. He wants her desperately without really even know! ing why, as do all teenage boys when they find who they assume is their one-true in high school. And even though she knows this guy is poison, she can't help but fall for him - the little slave-boy that grew up to be a conflicted, impetuous hat tank who insists everyone's giving him a raw deal. In high school, the rea

BARRY

Sunday, March 13, 2005 4:29 AM

Quote:
I'm gonna assume that you're not going to change your mind after reading this, but I'm just wondering if you at least can agree with the points Kevin makes.

I actually have read Smith's review of the movie before, it's a good review and he makes some good points. I enjoyed The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones (most of it anyway). I'm not approaching this subject from a cynical position where I think Lucas is a has-been. I just can't shake my gut reaction to the slaughter and it's after effects.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Sunday, March 13, 2005 4:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by reginaroadie:
Also, to the dude that said the bit about Anakin leaving his mom to live it up on Coruscant, in case if you hadn't noticed, both of the were slaves that were owned by Watto. In exchange for the parts they needed from him, Qui-Gon wanted to free both Anakin and his mom. Watto compromised by rolling a dice to see which one would go. Qui used the Force to make it that Anakin goes free, which leads to a tearful separation which oddly enough isn't ruined by the kid's horrid acting ability.

So I saw. Still doesn’t make sense to me that they wouldn’t have gone back for her.

And I think yours and Kevin Smith’s analysis of that scene makes a lot of sense. I see the point of the scene. I’m just not sure that I see the point of the dialogue as it existed.

GWEK

Sunday, March 13, 2005 6:26 AM

Myself, I love Eps 1-2 as much as 4-6 but in different ways (4-6 has much better characters, but 1-2 has a richer WORLD, in my opinion), but one of the things that rings totally false is that no one thought to get Shmi out of slavery.

Now, I can see that the Jedi Council might not be able to do it (because, clearly, any money they have goes to maintaining their fancy giant temple and top of the line experimental starfighters rather than helping poor folks), but what about Palpatine? Isn't he all buddy-buddy with Anankin, as well as something of a mentor? I mean, in a decade, Anakin never once whined about his mom to Palpatine? I don't see it.

Even more, how about the government of Naboo? I would guess that purchasing a slave on Tatooine probably costs less than one of the Queen's dresses, so how about something like "Oh, hey, Anakin Skywalker saved our whole PLANET by destroying the droid control ship. Why don't we get his mom out of slavery and give her a decent middle-management government job?"

Obviously, the story needs Anakin to be separate from his mom, but I don't think it would've suffered if she'd been set free, chosen to stay on Tatooine so as not to interfere with his "destiny" and simply MET Clieg Lars rather than being purchased by him.

Way it is now, it's just sloppy writing.

But, hey, by the Mace Windu says "This party is over," I forget about all that stuff and grin like a seven-year old until the end of the movie...

CALHOUN

Sunday, March 13, 2005 1:37 PM

... what about C3P0's lines... "I was programmed for ettiquette not destruction!" , "what a drag", etc , ect,.... I cringe at lines like these, way to corny for me.

As an aside, I was rewatching the originals the other day and got to the cantina scene where Obi One cut that dudes arm off and I had the thought why did he do that? He is an all powerful Jedi! and Jedi are supposed to value life and be peaceful until they have no choice but to use force. Surely Obi One could have force pulled the gun away from the badguy or force pushed him away or used force suggestion to resolve to situation without bloodshed!

Or do I just have to much free time on my hands?

GWEK

Sunday, March 13, 2005 4:12 PM

The etiquette line doesn't bother me, but I have to admit that "What a drag" and "I'm quite beside myself" turn the grin rictus.

As for Obi-Wan, clearly, he's cuts the arm off because he's just had a drink. In Episode II, we see that he enjoys doing that. "Give me a shot, luv, I'm about to hack someone's arm clean off."

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Sunday, March 13, 2005 4:40 PM

Obiwan didn’t kill him.

Frankly, I think when no-good rotten aliens with the death sentence on 12 systems pull a gun on you in a cantina, they should loose an arm. Go Obiwan! He values life and peace. He’s just not a pussy.

CYBERSNARK

Sunday, March 13, 2005 4:41 PM

Well, there's the whole Kung Fu "intimidate before you hurt, hurt before you injure, injure before you maim, maim before you kill" kinda idea. Ultimately, losing an arm is a fairly minor thing in the technologically advanced GFFA.

What most irritates me about the Prequels is the shoddy writing and the reliance on CGI.

I'm a firm believer that a script should work in a dead read-through, with no audio-visual effects. TPM & AotC just don't, IMHO.

The story is great, no argument at all on that front, but Lucas really should've hired a script doctor or ghostwriter, rather than pouring his entire budget into the special effects and marketing, and trusting them to carry the film.

Let's face it, without the LucasEmpire behind it, these scripts would never have been made as is. Both movies sound like the rough drafts of good scripts that I'd really like to have seen realized.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

AURAPTOR

Monday, March 14, 2005 5:09 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chronicthehedgehog:
Quote:

It was directly marketed at the children of those of us who were raised on SW some 25 yrs ago

I'm not sure if this comment was supposed to be a criticism or not, but personally I don't think GL should have made films for the original viewers. They're all designed to be family films, or more accurately, children's stories that adults can enjoy. They weren't made with us in mind, they're fantasy stories to put your kids to bed to. You may see it as betraying the fans to do that, I'd say it'd be betraying the Star Wars legacy to do anything different.

Quote:

Cudos for Peter Jackson for bringing to life a much more well known story to the big screen. I believe PJ did what Lucas now only dreams of doing.

Completely disagree, PJ directed a good story, but in no way did he bring to life the books. Too much was changed, 'loosely based on' would be a more accurate way of describing it.

First of all, my criticism about Lucas is more about how he's lost his ability to tell a story, and not for who the movies are made. I happen to think that the 'fun for the whole family' feel of the 1st three movies has been replaced w/ visions of theme park rides and cheap souvenirs instead of telling a good story.

Second, anyone who defends GL while criticizing PJ is simply not going to see eye to eye w/ me on this issue. Sure, there were variations in LOTR which I viamently disagree, but still... as a whole, the LOTR trilogy was a far better effort than what GL has put forth in the last 20 yrs, if not ever.

Further still, I feel that anyone who comes to the defense of GL in regards to eps 1,2 and 3 is fooling themselves. Sure, there might be some fans out there who genuinely enjoy these films on their own, but I think it's more honest to suggest that a majority are simplly projecting their strongly held feelings for the past works, and are too loyal to admit this latest collection for what it really is... a fiasco.

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG

Monday, March 14, 2005 9:41 PM

It wasn't really meant to be a criticism of Peter Jackson, I love the LoTR movies and hold PJ in incredibly high esteem as a filmmaker, but my point was that the movies are not in any way a translation of the books (okay, I guess there's a small case to be made for fellowship but the others?).

I get the feeling that people who complain about the new trilogy are just pissed that the films weren't just a remake of the originals. Yes, Jar-Jar is annoying for adults but kids love him, yes Jake Lloyd is the worst child actor today, but can you honestly say anything different about Mark Hamill? Especially in ANH. Yes the dialogue is awful, but if you can't say the same about the originals you've watched them to much to care.

I really don't see how people don't enjoy the story. The fall to the dark side not as some epic struggle between light and dark but human problems, a bad childhood, a difficult romance, the desire for a father-figure. Real things people go through. Palpatine's scheming and plotting are all hugely interesting (to me at least), and make Darth Vader a completely different (and in my opinion more interesting) character in retrospect. The lightsaber fights, the way of life, the beauty of the old republic all make me care about how crappy the situation has got by Episode 4, and in my opinion, make the originals better films.

PREV PAGE 1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE