Did Lucas really 'ruin' Star Wars?

Pigman II

Ever since the prequels came out Lucas has been accused of 'ruining the saga' with his 2d characters, insipid characterisation, bad acting and stories that stretch the realm of logical progression.

However it seems to me that from the begining that his own personal mandate back in '73-'74 was to create 'Flash Gordon' for a mondern generation and in that regard I think all 4 films that he directed fulfilled that vision perfectly.

Some people accuse Lucas's 4 efforts of smacking of directoral/writing incompetance because the dialogue is clunky and the emotional depth isn't there but if you watch those old Flash serials you'll that is exactly what they were like! He got it spot on.

If anything Marquand and esp. Kershner deviated from the original premise of SW with their own efforts.

So what I'm asking here is is it time for us to stop berating Lucas for 'raping our childhood' as one online user famously put it? Is it time to accept that eps 1,2,3 are not the result of some directorial disaster and that if anything they are CLOSER to what StarWars was meant to be than ep4,5,6?

Is it time to reading into the 'spiritual importance' of these filmes and revise our opinions on what we think Star Wars is 'supposed' to be (esp wrt the prequels) and stop worrying about things like ridiculous cg characters, bad acting etc and instead embrace them for what they were (imho) deliberately meant to be i.e. merely a bit of mindless fun to watch on a rainy Saturday arvo.

It's taken me a while but I am starting to believe so anyway.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Episodes 4, 5 and 6 were shíte anyway.

The_Goose

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

Episodes 4, 5 and 6 were shíte anyway.

:eek: :eek: :eek:
Bantha Fodder

If you ask me there is only one person responsible for the poor result of episodes 2 and three

Hayden Christensen

The chap cant act for ****, he s portrail of the termoil anakin faced choosen between Sidius and Mace Windu was laughable, he look like he was spueezing out a crap for god sake. Crap.

Other than him they were pretty good i thought.

The question is will he make 7, 8 and 9??????

TerrorFirmer

Definately not. The new trilogy certainly features alot of wood and cheese in combination, but we forget when looking through our rose tinted glasses at our beloved original trilogy that they contain more or less the same quality control with regards crap acting and poor dialogue. But did we care?

You don't love Star Wars because of the acting and characters. Star Wars is about epic battles, fantasty locations and breath taking visuals. And with that, comes a natural love of the characters and attachment to them regardless of their acting ability as you follow them through an involving tale that all leads to an ultimate finale in both trilogies.

Star Wars is more of a strange way of life then just another film, much like Lord Of the Rings, you can only truly appreciate it having seen all of them, especially if growing up with them. Children nowadays unfortunately for the most part do not appreciate the original trilogy at all...

The_Goose

in any case i dont think the creator could ruin it. It s his vision and always has been. Just because the fans dont agree doesnt mean it s ruined just not to they re expectations. God i cant wait to have Episode III on dvd.

Roar

MobileInfantry wrote:

Children nowadays unfortunately for the most part do not appreciate the original trilogy at all...

i dunno bout that, i had my 6 year old brother hooked on star wars from an early age, which stems from my own mini obsession (i even have a tattoo of the rebel alliance symbol on my arm)

in fact I'm the one responsible for naming him luke, whining and complaining till everyone else in the family gave in..

his favourite episode is empire, and he doesnt like attack of the clones at all, but said that revenge was "cool"..

anyway, back on topic, i dont think Lucas "ruined" star wars.. he created that universe, and he's well entitled to do whatever he wanted with them.

I see a lot of people complaining about the prequels, but very few suggestions as to what people would have actually done differently..

So guys, what would you have done different?

Almarsáre

The_Goose wrote:

:eek: :eek: :eek:
Bantha Fodder

If you ask me there is only one person responsible for the poor result of episodes 2 and three

Hayden Christensen

The chap cant act for ****, he s portrail of the termoil anakin faced choosen between Sidius and Mace Windu was laughable, he look like he was spueezing out a crap for god sake. Crap.

Other than him they were pretty good i thought.

The question is will he make 7, 8 and 9??????

I don't think that is quite fair. Have you seen Shattered Glass or Life as a House. He was in both of those and very good in each. He most definately can act.

The Bollox

well personally I think that if Jar Jar was left out of The Phantom Menace it would have been the best of the prequels, what really turned me off the oterh two was the droids, they talked, not like droids, but like humans, and it makes them laughable, and NOT in the good way. in The Phantom Menace they talked like the stormtroopers, they just gave and took orders with "yessir" and things like that, not making a joke about the whole thing. also the Obi-Wan + Quai Gonn VS. Darth Maul was probably the best fight in the prequels, Maul pwned!

mewso

It's a difficult question but I think as a 7 year old watching the original movie it was about the fantasy and wanting to be Luke or Han Solo. Similar to my long time dream of being Spiderman but hey we can't have everything. There was very little like Star Wars when it came out so the impact was huge. Kids watching these movies (new and old) now will enjoy them but I doubt they will be as obsessive as I or other fans were. They have their playstation, Harry Potter etc.
I think Lucas fell into a few traps but as has been said it was his world to do with as he pleased but it is beyond doubt that he is not a good director imo. The easiest thing for me to sum up is to point you to the excellent podcast on theforce.net. The guy (his name escapes me) who does this podcast is excellent and I generally agree with his views. So have a listen:-

The Podcast (main page)
Episode I Review
Episode II Review
Episode III Review
Episode IV Review
Episode V & VI Review

Pigman II

The Podcast (main page)
Episode I Review
Episode II Review
Episode III Review
Episode IV Review
Episode V & VI Review

Thanks for posting it but MAN I can't listen to that guy! He's far too much of a fanboy and worse sounds like the guy from the Mr.Bergis clips http://media.ebaumsworld.com/bergis-mags.mp3

mewso

Hmm I find his criticisms very good and not fanboyish at all. Anyway just watched Ep. 3 and it's still good (in shops since yesterday). I'm starting to be reminded of those annoyances yet again though. Obi Wan talking about the "Emperor" when they would hardly know thats what he was calling himself.
My overriding feeling of these prequels will be of missed opportunity.