Star Wars - Classic or Dud?

Ugh, that Fanboys poster. Parody or not, the 40 Year Old Virgin-style poster thing is PLAYED THE FUCK OUT.

http://wildammo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/3576703162_c2c1c59585_b-675x450.jpg
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from here http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/sets/72157616350171741/

I raved to my dad abt the bar full o'aliens and the mutant jazz, shortly after SW came out ? to prove to him that it was the BEST FILM EVER MADE (as I slightly inexplicably tht: I RAN all the way home after first saw it, so hyped wuz I, abt two-three miles ? I had not, admittedly, seen many films at that age). My dad demurred: and sed (re bar-of-aliens and jazz), "This is a very old idea."
But is he right or was he on crack? I can think of no occurrence of EITHER idea in SF prior to this, and these days I sometimes KNOW WHAT I'M'TALKING ABOUT!!

"Lucas dreaded returning to the writing process, which he has described as painful and tedious. For Star Wars II, he turned to Leigh Brackett. Brackett was a legendary writer of pulp science fiction in the 1940's and 50's, a writer of crime novels, and screenwriter for Howard Hawks-- their pairing seemed like a natural formula for success. In fact, her husband was Edmond Hamilton, also a noted science fiction author, whose story "Kaldar, Planet of Antares," published in Weird Tales magazine in 1933 and reprinted in paperback in 1965, has been thought to have been an influence in the development of the lightsaber since it features one-- Hamilton's version was called a "lightsword." Brackett was brought to Lucas' attention by a friend, who handed him an old science fiction novel and said, "Here is someone who wrote the cantina scene in Star Wars better than you did."

--Michael Kaminski, The Secret History of Star Wars

I raved to my dad abt the bar full o'aliens and the mutant jazz, shortly after SW came out ? to prove to him that it was the BEST FILM EVER MADE (as I slightly inexplicably tht: I RAN all the way home after first saw it, so hyped wuz I, abt two-three miles ? I had not, admittedly, seen many films at that age). My dad demurred: and sed (re bar-of-aliens and jazz), "This is a very old idea."

The bar-of-aliens idea was also used in the French sci-fi comic Valérian and Laureline before Star Wars came out, can't remember in which book though. Considering that the Millennium Falcon looks very similar to the spaceship Valérian and Laureline have in the comic, it seems quite likely that it might've served as an inspiration to Star Wars. The Wiki page for Valérian and Laureline has this to say about the similarities between V&L and SW:

Several commentators, such as Kim Thompson of The Comics Journal,[28] film critic Jean-Philippe Guerand[29] and the newspaper Libération,[30] have noted certain similarities between the Valérian albums and the Star Wars film series. Both series are noted for the “lived-in” look given to their various settings and for the diverse alien creatures they feature. Particular instances of similarities between the two series, which the above have cited, include:

* The design of Valérian and Laureline's XB982 astroship and the Millennium Falcon spaceship that appears in Episodes IV-VI of Star Wars.
* A scene in Empire of a Thousand Planets (L'Empire des Mille Planètes) where Valérian is encased in a liquid plastic and a scene in The Empire Strikes Back where the character Han Solo is encased in a substance called carbonite.
* The slave-girl costume worn by Laureline in World Without Stars and the costume worn by the character Leia Organa in the scenes where she is enslaved by Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi
* A scene in Empire of a Thousand Planets where one of the Authorities removes his helmet to reveal his burned and scarred face underneath and a scene in Return of the Jedi where the character Darth Vader removes his helmet to reveal the burned face of Anakin Skywalker.
* The alien Shingouz and the character Watto seen in The Phantom Menace.

Mézières' response upon seeing Star Wars was that he was “dazzled, jealous... and furious!”.[31] As a riposte, Mézières produced an illustration for Pilote magazine in 1983 depicting the Star Wars characters Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa meeting Valérian and Laureline in a bar surrounded by a bestiary of alien creatures typical of that seen in both series. “Fancy meeting you here!” says Leia. “Oh, we've been hanging around here for a long time!” retorts Laureline.[32] Mézières has since been informed that Doug Chiang, design director on The Phantom Menace, kept a set of Valérian albums in his library.[14]

lol i might be going to this http://www.starwarsinconcert.com/

i went to see this with my brother this summer in the UK, kind of reluctantly, but i have to say it was unalloyed GOOD TIMES

Haha, I AM going to that.

Damn, thought this was the epic thread with the Shakey Mo "utility data" C&P error and all the attendent hilarity. THAT was an afternoon well wasted!

Never say I don't do anything for you etc.:

the crimes of george lucas ('90s on)

lol i might be going to this http://www.starwarsinconcert.com/

I saw an ad for that on a bus yesterday and boggled. Guess you can always find new ways to bilk fanboys.

I saw an ad for that on a bus yesterday and boggled.

I seriously thought you said 'blogged' at first.

he was going to but he sneezed

re Star Wars In Concert, I actually wish I'd got to this when it was playing in the UK. About the only thing that has not been sullied by the prequels and Lucas's revisionism is the music from the originals, and the music composed for the prequels was great in parts too. I'd imagine hearing it played by a full orchestra with suitable visual accompaniment would be pretty spectacular (oh yeah, as stevie confirms a few x-posts back).

/lol i might be going to this http://www.starwarsinconcert.com//

I saw an ad for that on a bus yesterday and boggled. Guess you can always find new ways to bilk fanboys.
--Nuyorican oatmeal (jaymc)

Yeah because who likes to go see a full symphony orchestra play awesome movie scores with a giant movie screen?

you can always find new ways to trick people into doing things they enjoy!

was totally tricked into eating a cheeseburger tonight.

ROBBLE ROBBLE TRICK ROBBLE ROBBLE

http://behnnie.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/hamburglar.jpeg

xxxxxxxxpost - There it is, thank you Ned! Let me express my gratitude by sending you some Bob Seger MP3s...

About the only thing that has not been sullied by the prequels and Lucas's revisionism is the music from the originals,

Except that he changed the Ewok song in the end of RotJ to some generic soundtrack music! That was one of the worst changes in the "special editions", the Ewok song kicked ass! If this "Star Wars in Concert" has a choir performing that song, I'd totally pay for the ticket.

totally.

cannot remember whether or not the 'jub jub' song was performed.

lucas should've left 'lap ti nek' in rtj too.

oh dear, Tuomas, you are right of course. iirc the padded out "new" ending song for rotj allowed for more scenes of celebrations on other cgi planets? so bland I cannot bring it to mind, whereas I have been humming that ewok song since reading yr post.

Yeah, I got it stuck in my head too after I mentioned it, whereas I can barely remember what the new ending was like. I think you're right that there was some bland scenes about celebration on other planets. I can't imagine why Lucas wanted to change such a catchy song, and a scene every kid who ever saw it remembers.

Btw, what's "Lap Ti Nek"?

the song sung by the group in jabba's palace

Was that what the Max Rebo Band played before it got replaced by that horrific ersatz "soul" number? Man, Lucas sure knew how to fuck up the music in Jedi in a way that my faulty memory must have blanked out. Poor Max Rebo.

When I introduced my kid to ROTJ last year, he ate the Special Edition musical number up. I'm pretty sure that that scene is entirely responsible for me teaching him how to press Rewind on the remote.

Monte Williams has a nice write-up about the Star Wars series in popmatters. He makes a good point for the Phantom Menace actually being the best of the prequels, and points out flaws in the remaining two that show just how much Lucas mangled the overarching mythology.

Palpatine is a cunning conniver, and some of his speeches to the malleable Anakin Skywalker are creepy in their cold persuasiveness. But while the first stirrings of Anakin‘s turn to the dark side are convincing, things escalate too quickly; he essentially kills “younglings” as his opening chore for Palpatine.

Admittedly, it’s a powerful scene. When the young child Jedi asks Anakin, “What are we going to do?” and then steps backward, eyes widening in horrible understanding, it‘s easily the most chilling and terrible moment in the six-film saga. But does it ring true? Darth Vader later attempts to bring Luke to the dark side in Return of the Jedi; had he succeeded, would Luke have so quickly killed kids, just because it was asked of him? I do not believe that he would have. For that matter, I do not believe that Anakin would have; his turn to the dark side, the axis on which all six films tilt, feels false.

Now that we know that Vader murdered children, it’s clear that his redemption in Return of the Jedi comes too easily; he killed kids and oversaw the destruction of the Jedi, and yet Luke and the ghosts of Yoda and Obi-Wan are so quickly chummy with him. I am reminded of an amusing recap of The Rock‘s long-ago Wrestlemania feud with Hulk Hogan, in which Scott Keith provided imaginary dialogue for the wrestlers when they suddenly became buddies after their match: “Hogan and Rock make nice-nice, as presumably Hogan is all ‘Sorry about the attempted murder, brother’ and Rock is all, ‘It‘s cool, I didn‘t sell the injury anyway.’”

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/116083-what-if-were-all-mythtaken-about-star-wars/

An alternative cut should have for Force ghosts of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon beating Anakin with sticks. That's some Lucas CGI editing dickery that I could get behind.

for = the

i cannot help but read that stupid article in simpsons comic book guy voice in my head

"Consider Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, pretty much unanimously held aloft as the most triumphant entry in the entire Star Wars series. Here you have a movie which admittedly boasts wildly imaginative creatures, vehicles and set designs, but which offers not a single memorable line of dialogue."

wow

but which offers not a single memorable line of dialogue

BULLSHIT.

"I love you."
"I know."

that's two lines for you

"ROWR"

Vader: "Obi Wan never told you what happened to your <SPOILER>"
Luke: "He told me enough! He told me <SPOILER>"
Vader: "No. <MASSIVE SPOILER>"

Adventure? Excitement? Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless!

L: I'm not afraid
Y: You will be!

"That boy is our last hope"

"What about Leia you fucking tard?"

LOL, Fuzzball

L: I'm not afraid
Y: You will be!

This is the best part of any of these movies.

I thought they smelled bad on the outside.

best bits of the film where no-one is talking

- AT-AT tumble
- Yoda moving the X-Wing out of and across the swamp
- shot of the bald dude with those coms devices on his ears staring towards camera
- Vader's silent rage as the MF jumps to hyperspace at the end

-Luke looks out at twin suns
-lights going over Yoda after he says "There is another"

with with Star Wars and strangulation anyway?

what's with

Trouble with your droid?

Lando has so many cool lines...

Lando: "I'm sorry, but I've got problems of my own."
Han: "Oh, you're a real hero..."

Also some of the worst pick up lines...

Lando (to Leia): "you truly belong with us here above the clouds"

...I guess that they don't have Colt 45 in the SW universe.

Lando's not a system he's a man.