If i'm not mistaken, American Graffiti is still the most profitable film ever made; recouping $50 for every $1 spent on production. Which is i suppose something to be proud of.
Yes it's a mystery how he could make 3 great films and then produce turds. I think he's bought into his own legend a little too much. If you read some books about his early work he wasn't afraid to give his actors a little licence with his characters but nowadays after reading some stories from the production of the prequels, (and hearing a tale direct; a friend of mine was an extra in Tunisia when they were filming AOTC), Georges direction has one command, "my way or the highway".
And even quantity is no criterium for a filmmaker. Terence Malick only made three in almost 30 years. Kubrick made nowhere near as many films as Spielberg, and yet they are all considered great filmmakers, just like George until he made TPM... (or Howard the Duck for that matter ).
Registered: Aug 2003
Location: The Wonderful Land of Oz
I agree with Sith; I like the PT more. That's not to say I don't love the OT films because I do, I think they're incredible.
There are just different things in the PT that appeal to me. I, like JP, love the idea of being told the back story and meeting all these characters we'd only heard briefly about. I know that some of the acting is horrible and the directing isn't the best and sometimes the CGI stuff features a little too strongly but that doesn't make me cringe when I watch the films. I love them.
My points aren't stong enough to be valid really because I don't have single reasons on why these films mean so much to me. They just do.
I can't understand why anyone could prefer the prequels over the OT.
The OT are timeless classics.
Where are the catchphrases apart from the re-hashed ones)? Where are the plot twists? Where's the brilliant subtelty in the designs of the ships and universe? Where's the inter-weaving, deep, intriguing and yet completely comprehensive plot? Where's the charming banter between characters? Why are the Expanded Universe books better?
Actually, there is "wipe them out, all of them", which i'll admit is pretty cool. But that's IT! They even used it in the trailers, so it's hardly along the lines of "I am your father". There are no DEFINING lines that add an "oomph" to the story.
No dialogue seems to have any impact. It's just exposition (in a Star Wars movie of all things - midichlorians, Sith Lord explantions etc etc and in ROTS we'll have exposition about the ghosts) and really rubbish dialogue.
And why is it always the Emperor that has to save the day with his catchphrases?
By the end of ROTS we'll have "Wipe them out" and "Lord Vader......riiise". Which are pretty cool, but it's a shame when Obi-Wan and Yoda are reduced to spitting out old catchphrases in an almost caracatured manner, ESPECIALLY Yoda.
I mostly blame the crappy scripts ("I truly deeply, love you" - blurgh!), the reliance on CGI to tell the story, and the wasted potential in the brilliant actors that are cast.
Revenge Of The Sith looks brilliant, but it's still a good 1/3 of a Trilogy that's mostly suck-ass.
Did you ever see him in Jingle All the Way ? Not a great film, but his acting stands out by far in comparison to TPM. And tahtw as even shot BEFORE TPM... So the boy can do it...
I only like the prequels cause Ewan McGregor is in them----
and I suppose each prequel that comes out I keep hoping it will be SUPER- AOTC was way way better than P. Menace - Hayden Christensen did a good job at whinning and showing good emotion..
I have to be honest. The ONLY reason I watched Jingle All The way was for Phil Hartman. until you guys said that I had no idea Jake Llyod was even IN that movie.
i dont love the prequeals but i dont hate them either....i liked AOTC the story was better than TPM and so was the acting but didnt like TPM darth maul kicked ass but the story sucked ass....but if your asking me to compare the prequeals to OT i cant..there is no comparison...OT takes the cake but ROTS has the potential to turn the corner for the prequals but it would have to be just as good as ESB and thats asking alot
Hey, it wasn't super but a lot better than TPM. He was allright in the small part he had. It made me seriously doubt GL's directing capacities when it comes to actors. Or children at least.
As for Osmond... hmmm.... young Anakin with droopy eyes... I dunno.
I'd forgotten about that one. Strike the sandstorms line from the number one spot. We have a new champion.
Anyway, back on track. I don't think that TPM would have been any better with HJO as Annakin instead of Jake Lloyd. Like i've said before i think the big issue lies with George Lucas' inability to inspire and direct his cast properly. Can you honestly look at the other actors in the prequels and tell me, truthfully, that they are giving top rate perfomaces?
Here's an artists rendition of Haley Joel Osment as Annakin
(please log in to view the image)
Last edited by Prozak on Nov 10th, 2004 at 01:44 PM
Thats a great reason to like them but at the same time a contributing factor as to why a good deal of people dislike them. Being a huge fan of the original trilogy, my expectations were much higher than Lucas was capable of delivering. I think thats partly to do with the fact that i, along with however many millions of other fans, had 20+ years to envision our own version of the history of Annakin/Vader; theres nothing more powerful than imaginaton after all so George had some pretty stiff competition in that respect.
The point you made was more than valid
Last edited by Prozak on Nov 10th, 2004 at 02:11 PM
Nov 4th, 2004 04:34 PM
).
Howard the Duck...now he just HAS to admit that was a stinker.
until you guys said that I had no idea Jake Llyod was even IN that movie.
