Star Wars Saga (OT/PT/ST) Discussion Thread

[Sachiel]

I have to point out again just how unique and original STAR WARS was to audiences in 1977.

Imagine trying to create a world that would last for 50 years and more... so those original audiences were really seeing "the future" laid out before them.

Even the very first frame -- the star field -- up to 1977, most sci-fi had mostly empty black space with a few twinkles here and there. Even 2001 had mostly black space. But with Star Wars, the sky was full of stars -- and endless realm of worlds sparkling! Even just that simple thing was a marvel to see...

"My god, it's full of stars!"

 

[Wor-Gar]

"My god, it's full of stars!"

Finally...

 

[Otomofan]

Oh yeah.....we also drank the official "blue milk" during our SW marathon.

I thought it was good. I want some more. We didn't have Aunt Beru's space-tupperware though....that would have been even better.

 

[abake]

"My god, it's full of stars!"

View attachment 701288

Isn't the quote from 2010 though?

 

[Johnny Utah]

Ewan popped into a Phantom Menace screening in Atlanta yesterday.

Did a Q&A and stayed for pics and autographs. What a gent.

 

[Mondragon]

Isn't the quote from 2010 though?

Was first used in the 1968 Arthur C. Clarke novelization of 2001.
As far as the film, clearly he was in a space-time warp, so he said it, yet it didn't arrive until 2010
RetrActive Nerdsplaining.

,

Ewan popped into a Phantom Menace screening in Atlanta yesterday.

Did a Q&A and stayed for pics and autographs. What a gent.
View attachment 701389

That's awesome.

 

[Prime Clone]

Imagine if you were born on May 25th 77

I wish that on no-one as you'd never be able to experience the original release (and all the SW-inspired cinema & TV that followed).

Imagine thinking Can't Stop the Music was the best movie ever made. That was me for about two months until ESB's local release (somehow I'd forgot ANH).

 

[Prime Clone]

I attended both OT and PT marathons over the weekend. Probably shouldn't be surprised but the PT crowd was slightly larger and much more vocal, for both the bad bits (AOTC dialogue) and good bits (ROTS).

In fact the opening crawl of ROTS elicited a cheer, as did Obi-Wan's "hello there" line.

Yes, the trilogies are tonally different, but that's kinda the point - they're set in different eras. Plus Lucas, like Miller, doesn't like doing the same thing twice.

And enough time has passed now that they can all be considered classics.

 

[a-dev]

I attended both OT and PT marathons over the weekend. Probably shouldn't be surprised but the PT crowd was slightly larger and much more vocal, for both the bad bits (AOTC dialogue) and good bits (ROTS).

In fact the opening crawl of ROTS elicited a cheer, as did Obi-Wan's "hello there" line.

Yes, the trilogies are tonally different, but that's kinda the point - they're set in different eras.

I maintain that considering the darker trajectory of the story, the PT should have had less kiddie humour than the OT and not more. Together with the political stuff and the taxation of trade routes talk it made for a bizarre juxtaposition of elements but

Plus Lucas, like Miller, doesn't like doing the same thing twice.

I will give respect for this, where - before the absolutely worthless ST - I might not have done.

And enough time has passed now that they can all be considered classics.

 

[Felinx]

The problem with the May 4th OT screenings is that they are all the SE versions. Just really spoils a lot of it for me, to a point where I don't want to go - the goofy Mos Eisley spaceport stuff and terrible CGI Jabba in ANH, the meh Wampa in ESB (face always looks like a scary version of a white fluffy yap dog), the terrible Jabba dance number and blinking ewoks in ROTJ. If only the Harmy or 77/80/83 versions could be in theaters on May 4th.

 

[Asta]

"Use the force, Bruce."

 

[Mondragon]

"Use the force, Bruce."

View attachment 701836

LOL fantastic! Only missing a yahooo! from Superman,
And maybe a cut back to the "Princess" monitoring the battle at the base...

 

[Johnny Utah]

Spotted on Reddit

 

[MeatHookGekko]

I maintain that considering the darker trajectory of the story, the PT should have had less kiddie humour than the OT and not more. Together with the political stuff and the taxation of trade routes talk it made for a bizarre juxtaposition of elements but

Shortchanging Terence Stamp in The Phantom Menace is plainly unforgivable. He was, hands down, the best overall raw acting talent in that entire cast, and Lucas just wasted him.

TPM could have easily had Liam Neeson as middle aged General Anakin and dropped us right into the Clone Wars, with the pod race / Jake Lloyd / Watto/ Shmi as a 10 minute flashback, and just got everyone invested so much faster.

What's the most economical storytelling convention to generate conflict between Anakin and Obi Wan? Have them fight over a woman. Instead of paying homage to the US blockade of Japan, the practical path was doing something derivative of Camelot. Having older Anakin and Obi Wan in a mid life crisis while dropping loads all over Tatooine would mean all kinds of potential new Jedi down the road in future stories.

A New Hope was made by a relatively young guy with somewhat of a pulse on what younger people like. The Phantom Menace was the angry stepchild of a wealthy soon to be geriatric with limited scope on what makes young people tick anymore.

The best way to reach a wide ranging audience is not to infuse demographic appeal like someone was spraying shotgun rounds. It's just making your story very simple and relying on the complexity to come from your characters instead. Lucas took the simple and intentionally made it way harder than it had to be.