I love the OLD Star Wars movies

[JonM]

+1 to what my fellow "Jon M" said. ;-)

At some point I'm going to transfer my original series VHS to DVD...

Han shot first.

Darn right! For years I kept my old VHS tapes and finally got the original 1977/82, etc. theatrical releases on DVD.

 

[brewmcq]

Darn right! For years I kept my old VHS tapes and finally got the original 1977/82, etc. theatrical releases on DVD.

:rockin:

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

scrambledegg,
Thanks! I'm drooling like Jabba.

jsweet,
Couldn't remember the name but that friggin Jar-Jar almost made me turn it off right there. Almost unwatchable. Agree about Annakin, have they not seen how the American public loves to throw the good-guy-turned-bad in front of the bus (see Tiger Woods, Michael Vick et al). I know the timeline is reversed but still.

 

[jsweet]

Agree about Annakin, have they not seen how the American public loves to throw the good-guy-turned-bad in front of the bus (see Tiger Woods, Michael Vick et al). I know the timeline is reversed but still.

I think Lucas had every intention of making it a good-guy-turned-bad story, I think he just utterly failed at it. The scripts for the prequels are universally awful from start to finish.

Not that the original movies were exactly Citizen Kane, but they relied on tried-and-true tropes and basic storytelling devices that make them effective. We didn't need Annakin to display some kind of very deep and profound and insightful character development that would fit right in at Cannes -- we just needed him to be a basically likable character who eventually gives into the temptation to wield ultimate power. Is that so much to ask? Instead, he's a sniveling whiny backstabbing little cretin from the opening scenes of Episode II, and shows that he has no problem with wanton murder even before his "journey to the Dark Side" begins in earnest. (The little kid Annakin in Episode I might have been likable, but the poor kid they cast was just a bad actor, no bones about it. It's not his fault, he's just a kid, but it was a very poor casting choice. The poor kid just can't act -- and it's not like a high level of acting is demanded by Star Wars movies, either, but this kid was just total amateur hour)

I'm sure Lucas WANTED to tell that kind of story. He just screwed it up, and since he had total control over every aspect of the project and nobody wanted to challenge him, it never got fixed. What needed to happen was a co-writer needed to say, "George, look, this scene where Annakin is complaining about Obiwan behind his back, it's just too early for that. They are supposed to be best friends right now. We should cut this scene out, or at least tone it down, and instead play up how much Annakin admires and respects Obiwan." Simple changes, but they just weren't done.

There are other huge problems with the movies that would not have been so simple to fix, but the lack of any character development whatsoever in a trilogy that is supposed to tell the story of Annakin's fall to the Dark Side is both inexcusable, and yet something that could have been fixed by just reworking some freaking dialog, without having to totally rework the sad excuse for a plot.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Best argument against Lucas' unhealthy obsession with CGI over script/plot/acting/etc: JAWS

JAWS felt real even though there's this extremely fake-looking shark because the characters and their emotions felt real. Lucas should re-watch JAWS about a thousand times before he even thinks about making another movie.

It didn't hurt that Spielberg was literally going nuts making JAWS...

 

[ChshreCat]

Star Wars was never really much good. There, I said it.

Well, what do you know, ya damned sweede.

 

[ChshreCat]

Lucas should re-watch JAWS about a thousand times before he even thinks about making another movie.

You want George Lucas to make Jaws II?

 

[barrooze]

I had no idea that so many people discount Star Wars so easily. Are they people that say, "eh, Star Wars sucks. That one with the Emperor was ok" not realizing that modern Sci Fi would be crap without A New Hope? If you think it sucks, try watching some pre-ANH sci fi movie. This stuff was what MST3k was made for.

Sorry... I was a huge SW fan, in total agreement with Empire being the best of all six, Han shot first, and Jabba sucks as a humanoid. Episode 1 was a travesty. Ep2 showed a kid in teen-angst, not one who's feeling the affects of the Dark Side. Ep3 was by far and long the best prequel, but due to the complete lack of character development, I didn't give a sh** about any of the characters except R2 and C3PO, so I couldn't appreciate it for what Lucas tried portraying.

Anyways, sorry for the rant. I get tired of people completely discarding how important that movie was to our world's culture, imho, of course. I had yet to watch those reviews, but now know what I'll be doing tomorrow. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[barrooze]

Carrie Ann & stunt double...you're welcome. :rockin:

How on earth did you find this gem?

 

[ChshreCat]

btw... as I keep telling my daughter... it's not called "Episode IV" or "A New Hope". The movie was called Star Wars. Period. All else are sequels or prequels. The other names were tacked on later.

 

[JohnnyO]

How on earth did you find this gem?

Couldn't agree more. And are they freakin' sunbathing on the skiff from which Boba Fett ate it? Err, got eaten?

My 13 year old self just "went off".

 

[the_bird]

I'm of the belief that the "new" prequels suck so bad because George Lucas forgot how great of a character Han Solo was.

Episodes I and II (I never could bring myself to watch III) sucked balls in no small part because there were absolutely no compelling characters, and very little real humor. Han Solo is a classic gunslinger, he's not necessarily the most original character that's ever been written but he's phenomenal. Carrie Fisher was pretty damn good, too.

If you removed Han Solo from the original trilogy, and replaced Chewbacca with Jar Jar Binks, those movies would have sucked balls, too.

Lucas just seemed to think that the movies didn't NEED good actors and good dialogue and interesting characters. He thought it was all about his special effects and convoluted plots, when in the end the beauty of the original triology was that the basic story was so simple. I mean, change the Empire to a bunch of Mexican bandits and it's basically a western.

 

[barrooze]

I may give Ewan too much credit, but I love Trainspotting (fabulous book!). Han truly made a great character and that's purely due to Ford being a great actor. The rest of the ensemble does carry their own weight, though. Character development occurred. In fact, we loved the characters so much, a slew of books popped up and were pretty dang good. This couldn't have happened if the original characters were as flat as the new ones. ***I'm probably wrong since Clone Wars is pretty popular among the kiddies.…

Regarding the crawl of the 1977 release, yes, it didn't not have an episode number nor a secondary title, but to keep it clear what movie we're talking about, shouldn't we call it Ep4 or ANH? 

 

[barrooze]

Couldn't agree more. And are they freakin' sunbathing on the skiff from which Boba Fett ate it? Err, got eaten?

That's what it looked like to me! "Just tannin in Tunisia on the Execution skiff. No biggie..." ;D

 

[MeatyPortion]

You want George Lucas to make Jaws II?

He couldn't do any worse than Jaws IV.

 

[ChshreCat]

Regarding the crawl of the 1977 release, yes, it didn't not have an episode number nor a secondary title, but to keep it clear what movie we're talking about, shouldn't we call it Ep4 or ANH? 

Nope. No need. It's STAR WARS.

 

[Erroneous]

I have IV through VI on laser disk. Digital format, before lucas redid it. Now, if only I could find a working laser disk player...

 

[jsweet]

He couldn't do any worse than Jaws IV.

Lucas had nothing to do with Jaws IV, IIRC. It was just a studio cash-in made by a different team entirely.

Unlike the Star Wars prequels, which were a studio cash-in made by the same people...

 

[ChshreCat]

Lucas had nothing to do with Jaws IV, IIRC. It was just a studio cash-in made by a different team entirely.

Unlike the Star Wars prequels, which were a studio cash-in made by the same people...

IIRC, Lucas didn't have anything to do with any of the Jaws movies.

 

[jsweet]

IIRC, Lucas didn't have anything to do with any of the Jaws movies.

Heh, sometimes I get those two guys mixed up in my head. Now I feel like a ******.

 

[Firebat138]

for a minute there, I was confused.

Speaking of Jaws... Yeah, the shark was HUGE and of course fake, but you didnt really see it until the end of the movie, which is what made it so scary. I remember an interview with Bill Murray or Harold Ramis, he said a movie is iconic in the way that, every time you swim in the ocean, you think about Jaws, the same way every time you are on the putting green, you are saying in your head.... wawawawawawa.... nananananana. And since i joined this forum, I cant look at Yoda without thinking about a good homebrew.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Went to see Jaws III IN 3D!!!!! when it first came out. We had peeled a couple bananas before and were just laughing because it was so bad.

 

[ChshreCat]

Oh, scariest part of jaws was just seeing the barrels popping up and moving around and disappearing under the water again... KNOWING the shark was DOWN THERE!

 

[TomStew]

haha that video review just made my day, thank you so much

 

[passedpawn]

Empire was best. I'd say SW: A New Hope 2nd; I'd put Phantom Menace in this spot, but I can't stand Jar Jar Binks.

Return of the Jedi was worst. Wookies. It had good parts, though: here are some of them:

 

[Homercidal]

Went to see Jaws III IN 3D!!!!! when it first came out. We had peeled a couple bananas before and were just laughing because it was so bad.

I remember seeing JAWS 3D at the drive in. Not very scary. I am pretty sure I fell asleep in the back of the pickup.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

passedpawn,
thread got a little long but did you see the gem scrambledegg posted at bottom of page 2 itt?

 

[jsweet]

Given that we're hating on Jar-Jar, it seemed fortuitous that I came across this today:

http://www.cracked.com/article_19269_the-16-most-baffling-pieces-official-merchandise-ever.html

(scroll down to #14)
(edit: Probably ****, at least at some workplaces, even though it merely depicts candy aimed at children. But if a co-worker just glances at your screen out of the corner of his or her eye, uh, it looks bad...)

 

[TxBrew]

What are you talking about? There are only three Star Wars movies. Repeat. THERE ARE ONLY THREE STAR WARS MOVIES.

And yeah, Empire :rockin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6lzEhoXads

One of my favorite movies talking about another of my favorite movies.

I like most everything Star Wars.

 

[the_bird]

Given that we're hating on Jar-Jar, it seemed fortuitous that I came across this today:

http://www.cracked.com/article_19269_the-16-most-baffling-pieces-official-merchandise-ever.html

(scroll down to #14)
(edit: Probably ****, at least at some workplaces, even though it merely depicts candy aimed at children. But if a co-worker just glances at your screen out of the corner of his or her eye, uh, it looks bad...)

Oh my ****ing Lord, how did you not post THIS?

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