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Star Wars is better than everything


Jay

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It's weird. He's been seemingly into the whole Star Wars thing lately and really out of character. I just remember him being a monotone grump for years, at least whenever I'd see him on TV or in an interview about Star Wars or Indiana Jones. I could be remembering wrong.

Never saw this awkward interview before:

Mark Hamill talks about his car crash about 4 minutes in.

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I don't think it comes down to a superior performance. I mean, the performances aren't bad, but no one in Star Wars (1977) gave a particularly strong performance. Dare I say even Guinness and Cushing were going through the motions a bit there. Everyone got better after that one, even James Earl Jones, who was a bit hammier in the first one.

You really have to watch these with 1970's era glasses on. For example, I was a huge fan of the original twilight zone and Star Trek from the 60s. If I try to explain to someone who's not seen them why they're so great, they'll have a hard time being convinced unless you put your self in that time and place. In those you get terrible Shatnerisms, low budget effects with strings visible, hyper-melodrama, hilariously mismatched stunt doubles, cheesiness galore, babes in space bikinis, etc. When watching these now, they seem so silly but over a few episodes, the vocabulary of that universe becomes established. Star Wars 77 came out of nowhere in a pretty cynical time and yes there is nostalgia too. Music in all of these kicked ass though. For those of us who grew up with these when the mythology was new and unknown, it was very exciting and its hard to retroactively capture that. Seeing SW is probably mostly a Pavlovian reminder of what it was like when it first came out and was very fresh and thrilling.

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I don't have any issues with the performances or the characters in the original Star Wars. ;)

Although I do have a problem with this:

Han_Solo_on_The_Force.jpg

Greeon_Kashyyyk.png
"ARGGRHHHAGGRRRHHHAHRAAARR!"

Translation:
"It's true. All of it. The Force. The Jedi They're real."

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I think he has a problem with Han being skeptical about the Force when his co-pilot actually met one of the greatest Jedi masters just twenty years earlier. Apparently, Chewie isn't keen on arguing with Han about the matter.

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Chewie strikes me as a man of very few words. Why would he try to argue Jedi philosophy with his co-pilot, the man who saved him from slavery? He probably just kept that bit to himself.

Criticizing Chewbacca for not making Han a Jedi friend is also criticizing Artoo Detoo for not telling Luke SKYWALKER who Anakin SKYWALKER actually ended up being. Prequel logic explodes.

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That's a very minor issue. Chewie is a reliable rogue for hire because of his experience losing to the empire during his youth. Hence he is a perfect partner for a schum bucket like Han Solo a generation later...a carpet who is loyal but sore about past losses to the empire. What's the big deal?

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I don't think it comes down to a superior performance. I mean, the performances aren't bad, but no one in Star Wars (1977) gave a particularly strong performance. Dare I say even Guinness and Cushing were going through the motions a bit there. Everyone got better after that one, even James Earl Jones, who was a bit hammier in the first one.

You really have to watch these with 1970's era glasses on. For example, I was a huge fan of the original twilight zone and Star Trek from the 60s. If I try to explain to someone who's not seen them why they're so great, they'll have a hard time being convinced unless you put your self in that time and place. In those you get terrible Shatnerisms, low budget effects with strings visible, hyper-melodrama, hilariously mismatched stunt doubles, cheesiness galore, babes in space bikinis, etc. When watching these now, they seem so silly but over a few episodes, the vocabulary of that universe becomes established. Star Wars 77 came out of nowhere in a pretty cynical time and yes there is nostalgia too. Music in all of these kicked ass though. For those of us who grew up with these when the mythology was new and unknown, it was very exciting and its hard to retroactively capture that. Seeing SW is probably mostly a Pavlovian reminder of what it was like when it first came out and was very fresh and thrilling.

I agree with this. But I'd also argue, on the other hand, that The Empire Strikes Back managed to achieve a timeless quality in all of its characteristics, from the camera angles, to the cinematography, from the hairstyles to the dialogue, making it a movie I don't think will ever feel dated. I don't know of many movies who are so seamlessly timeless. Whereas in Star Wars, the 70's do creep in here and there

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Yup. Yet Jabba needs a translator for people to understand him, and so he can understand his visitors like Boushh. And only Threepio understands Ewokese,other than the "that's guy's wise" duo.

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I don't think it comes down to a superior performance. I mean, the performances aren't bad, but no one in Star Wars (1977) gave a particularly strong performance. Dare I say even Guinness and Cushing were going through the motions a bit there. Everyone got better after that one, even James Earl Jones, who was a bit hammier in the first one.

You really have to watch these with 1970's era glasses on. For example, I was a huge fan of the original twilight zone and Star Trek from the 60s. If I try to explain to someone who's not seen them why they're so great, they'll have a hard time being convinced unless you put your self in that time and place. In those you get terrible Shatnerisms, low budget effects with strings visible, hyper-melodrama, hilariously mismatched stunt doubles, cheesiness galore, babes in space bikinis, etc. When watching these now, they seem so silly but over a few episodes, the vocabulary of that universe becomes established. Star Wars 77 came out of nowhere in a pretty cynical time and yes there is nostalgia too. Music in all of these kicked ass though. For those of us who grew up with these when the mythology was new and unknown, it was very exciting and its hard to retroactively capture that. Seeing SW is probably mostly a Pavlovian reminder of what it was like when it first came out and was very fresh and thrilling.

I agree with this. But I'd also argue, on the other hand, that The Empire Strikes Back managed to achieve a timeless quality in all of its characteristics, from the camera angles, to the cinematography, from the hairstyles to the dialogue, making it a movie I don't think will ever feel dated. I don't know of many movies who are so seamlessly timeless. Whereas in Star Wars, the 70's do creep in here and there

I cannot deny this.

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Star Wars and Empire are perfect films, although I have no desire to ever watch them again. For what they were, you know, Saturday matinee space operas for kids, they excelled. They had pioneering special effects, incredible symphonic scores by John Williams and had an indelible impact on pop culture.

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I agree with this. But I'd also argue, on the other hand, that The Empire Strikes Back managed to achieve a timeless quality in all of its characteristics, from the camera angles, to the cinematography, from the hairstyles to the dialogue, making it a movie I don't think will ever feel dated.

Let's wait for SUH's opinion on the film before making such bold statements.

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I don't have any issues with the performances or the characters in the original Star Wars. ;)

Although I do have a problem with this:

Han_Solo_on_The_Force.jpg

Greeon_Kashyyyk.png

"ARGGRHHHAGGRRRHHHAHRAAARR!"

Translation:

"It's true. All of it. The Force. The Jedi They're real."

So much geek anxiety over sweet FA.

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I agree with this. But I'd also argue, on the other hand, that The Empire Strikes Back managed to achieve a timeless quality in all of its characteristics, from the camera angles, to the cinematography, from the hairstyles to the dialogue, making it a movie I don't think will ever feel dated.

Let's wait for SUH's opinion on the film before making such bold statements.

5-things-you-might-not-know-about-empire

star-wars-episode-v-the-empire-strikes-b

Looks pretty dated to me

There you go!

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This was terrific. Thank you!

I'm glad they got how terrific the Jo Duffy issues were. At the time many of my friends thought the comic had gone over a cliff. I thought it was wonderful.

I just started reading the Marvel run again a couple of weeks ago. I'm 4 issues in. Fascinating to see what changed and what didn't in the adaptation of Star Wars.

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For social acceptance, you should adore the old Star Wars Trilogy (especially The Empire Strikes Back, which is "The Greatest Film of All Time" ( :rolleyes: )) and J.J. Abrams, you should be looking forward to The Force Awakens (which you already also adore) more than anything else in your life, and you should absolutely despise the Prequels. They're, like, the worst thing ever!

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For social acceptance, you should adore the old Star Wars Trilogy (especially The Empire Strikes Back, which is "The Greatest Film of All Time" ( :rolleyes: )) and J.J. Abrams, you should be looking forward to The Force Awakens (which you already also adore) more than anything else in your life, and you should absolutely despise the Prequels. They're, like, the worst thing ever!

Agreed. Same with the people always complaining about Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

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Don't you have anything better to do than complain about people complaining about complainers?

Don't you have anything better to do than complain about people complaining about people complaining about people complaining about complainers?

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Maybe I'm just remembering things wrong, but 10 years ago, the masses were stroking off to Episode III. They were all there opening weekend, even after supposedly enduring the previous allegedly God awful abominations. What happened?

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Another prequel-bashing article? It seems there isn't anything posted about Star Wars that doesn't bash the prequels somehow. Will that ever get old?

Doesn't seem to be an issue for your own postings on the subject.

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