Hamlet is hardly a mythology. True mythologies are added to all the time- like King Arthur and so on.
Hmm, ANOTHER person who thinks that GL is just market dreiven. This is arrant nonsense; how do you explain all the things he has done that has HARMED his profit figures in favour of storyline?
In any case, I think your conclusions are hasty.
Well, I'm not going to debate the definition of "mythology"--this isn't a semiotics website--but "Lucas takes chances with storylines"?!! Lucas always claims that these are stories that've been told a thousand times for thousands of years and that he got this idea from Joseph Campbell and Jung so, no, he definately doesn't take chances with storylines but that's sort of the point.
Actually, the one surprisong thing he's doing with ep2 is casting an unknown like Christenson over jailbait Tiger Beat pinups like Ryan Phillipe and Leonardo DiCAprio who tried out for the role, so I'll give him that. Then he invites NSYNC into the movie. But, because of the fan's reaction and the threat of mass projectile vomitting in the theater he--thank god--drops the idea. But the fact that he wanted them in there in the first place is pretty scary--if that decision wasn't market driven then I'm the pope.
Sigh... you're not making yourself look any better, you know.
There is noe vidence that GL invited NSYNC into the movie- it appears to have been Rick McCallum's doing. And they are NOT out the movie yet, that was a false story. And if theyt DO go out, it will be NOTHING to do with the fans! If GL follwed what the fans said like that, Jar-Jar would be dead as a doornail and the film would be wall-to-wall sith and Boba Fett (who, incidentally, was not the man in the trailer).
And who said anything about him taking chances with storylines? What I said was that George Lucas takes decisions that harm potential profit. GL simply is NOT acting like a man ddriven solely by profit motive. You can think he has become soft, skewed or rubbish in the years between trilogies, but there is simply NO backing that I can see that says he is just in it for the money.
IF he was in it for the money, he would have made the tv series and continuous film franchise that all the execs were after him to make. He'd give his movies cool names and stop using characters that people find irritating- like an 8 year old Anakin, or Jar-Jar.
I could go on for ages- but in short, if he was only doing it for the moeny, he would ONLY make that which people wanted to see!
But he doesn't. Time and time again he has proven that GL has an obsession with HIS storyline, and knackers to what everyone else thinks- for good or ill it is HIS and no-one is going to mess with it.
Now, it is possible that this meas there will be a crap story. I have no problem with you raising that probability, as many have before.
But I honestly urge you to think again on the market-driven thing. Just because a man is rich does not mean he is money obsessed. Please, take a closer look; hate the man if you have to but saying that he places the money above the story is a terrible thing to say about a creative person like him.
hmm, I hadn't realized that NSYNC is still in the movie. I think it would be great if, when the band is shown, the camera moves into slow motion closeups of their faces for a full minute and then maybe a musical number: "the force is in me...the force is in you..ooobaby" --that should definately attract the preteen girl set that usually stays away from SW movies. Sheer genius on GL's part....
Seriously, I love GL.
Going back to the trailer; I think that Lucas showed the romantic side of the film for the fans who were bitching that too much happened in TPM (I'm one of them). He is showing that II will slow down at points, and be more like the OT.
I really didn't like Episode I that much, but I'm absalutly sure that "II" will be better, and will make "I" better at the same time.
I've been out of it for a couple of days, but I wanted to say :
1. Lucas is definitely nor market driven and he does not have the commercial thing in mind when making a Star Wars movie - he will tell HIS story HIS way with the attitude - those of you liked it and spent a happy 2.5 hours transported into another universe you found so interesting you would like to visit that place again and again, thank you ... those who found the whole thing sucked and whose expectations were dissapointed - sorry I wasted your time.
I don't think characters like Jar Jar were born out of commercial motive. Personally I liked JarJar a lot - sorry but count me with one of the woosees.
2. A lot of people may have loved the trailer and an equal number of people may have found it boring and unhappening - and its gonna be the same for the movie - a lot of people will like and praise it - a lot of people will hate and pan it, because not everybody's looking for the same thing in a movie, and especially a Star Wars movie - so lets not worry about this - For myself, I'm looking forward to seeing the subtle stuff ( the romantic thing, internal conflicts of the characters etc.) - somehow a continuous package of slam-bam, thank you Mr.Sith, your'e not as fast with your lightsabre as Mr.Jedi, but in any case Jango will kick all your asses, and my, how well you pilot that speeder Anakin, would be shallow and superficial. But that's just me.
Ultimately, if you liked the movie, and it moved you and got you in your gut, ( and I think thats going to be the case with the majority on this forum ), then that's all there is to it - even if the most highly respected movie critic in the world tells you that this movie sucks, HIS considered opinion doesn't make him right that the movie sucked - because YOU were blown by it, and therefore as far as you are concerned it's a great movie - in matters of art, no ONE opinion is totally right - there are too many people with different perspectives - one of my best friends hated TPM - I loved it - neither of us is wrong - we both are right from our individual perspectives ( with apologies to Einstein ). For that matter, a lot of my favourite movies have been panned by critics and/or haven't become great commercial successes - that doesn't matter to me because from my point of view it IS a great movie.
So as far as AOTC is concerned some will love it some won't - both will be right and both will be wrong - it will be a GREAT movie and at the same time it will be a BAD movie simultaneously ( with apologies to all quantum physicists and zen masters ).
So lets stop fighting ( with apologies to John Lennon and John Coltrane ); the movie opens on the 16th of May; a lot of folks ( like me )await with breathless anticipation ; a lot of people, disillusioned by the trailers and spoilers expect the worst;
it's cool; this is just the natural order of things; the way of the force.
P.S. : this is just my personal subjective opinion - out of 5, I think this will turn out to be one of the two best Star Wars films; and Ep.3, approx. 3 years from now, will probably be the best out of 6; it's gonna be really dark, deep and profound, and all that without apologies.
Personally I was blown away by the trailers, more so with each successive one.
That said, and despite everything I know about this movie, its plot and how it has been made, I will still decline to judge the final movie until I have seen it.
To do anything else would be to be making an extremely uninformed and arrogant assumption. That is something I can not do....