Don't get me wrong, ESB was monumental and EPIC. The reason I like ROTS was because of both the action and general theme. The OT was all about hope and bringing the light out to destroy the darkness. The PT represented that same darkness that engulfed the galaxy and reversed a thousand generations of progress. The tragedy of the destruction of the Jedi Order was heart-gripping. I guess I like a good drama. OT had some of that, but was centered more around Luke and his papa, which was still EPIC.
Disclaimer: At heart, I am still more of an OT fan overall than PT.
Luckily I am just old enough to have seen the OT (at the movie theater!) before the PT even came out. The year was 1996. George Lucas had re-released the digital remastered versions of the Original Trilogy in movie theaters nationwide (ANH, a month or two later, ESB, and then ROTJ). I was an adolescent then and had never seen all three movies in their entirety before.
Needless to say, the experience was incredible. This was 1977 for my generation, as we would be able to see the opening scene of ANH with an impossibly enormous Star Destroyer pass overhead on a massive cinema screen, as our parents did.
Then 1999 came, and the PT arrived. To this day, I still don't know why so many fans mock or just outright dislike the PT movies. Yes, there are inconsistencies, and Jar Jar was a TERRIBLE parallel to Chewbacca. But that didn't ruin the experience or enjoyment of the PT at all. You got to see the history of events that brought you to ANH. You got to see Obi-wan's Old Republic, the Jedi Order at their finest and actually see real Jedi in action, and the coolest Jedi Master of them all, Yoda, fight! What could be better?
Last edited by SWFan4Life on Jul 13th, 2010 at 04:04 PM
That's just it, the lightsaber obviously meant business in the OT, he only whips it out when he's going to kick ass, but in this, the light-saber is in every scene.
I mean, it's cool and all, but it's kinda like lucas was trying to distract the audience with something shiny while he neglected to write a good script. It's in every scene. It gets old and it kind of loses its magic, kind of like how a chocolate chip cookie is amazing for the chocolote chips, but put more chocolate chip in than cookie, and you've got a big pile of shit.
The lightsaber became, in the pt, something you'd have in your walet to help you get into your car, when in the OT, it was a symbol of the last jedi and it was only really used as a symbol to externalize internal conflict. It's a supreme bit of writing and directing the chilling way anakin shouts "NEVER" and lashes out at vader. You dont get this anywhere in the OT, instead of a wicked cool magic sword, you get another weapon.
Without a doubt, the acting in the OT was much better than PT. I think it's testimony to the actors, because Lucas was never known for writing good screenplay dialogue, or even good directing for that matter (had Spielberg on the Indy films, and Kirswhin (spelling) as the director of ESB, heralded as one of the greatest, if not the greatest SW movie.
Yea that Luke v. Vader scene in ROTJ aboard the Death Star II, coupled with the music, was indeed epic, and consequently, one of my favorite scenes in the entire saga.
But when it comes to tech, graphics, and sound, I am a special effects whore , which plays a factor in why I liked the PT so much. The tech did help GL realize his vision of what he wanted the SW galaxy to look like (much like James Cameron waiting to produce Avatar until the tech was available).
Last edited by SWFan4Life on Jul 13th, 2010 at 07:57 PM
that's the thing, at 13 years of age, i was just like you, watching star wars (my favorite one was the latest one, whichever it was) and being distracted by all the shiny objects.
Now that I'm a flim major though, i understand the necessity of acting/directing/writing over special effects.
But the OT always was about that. They needed story to make the entertainment. They had relatively few effects shots then compared to an average action film now. Story had to run these movies, the effects they could pull off where to enhance the story.
In one of Lucas' earlier drafts he had a silver shiny spaceship. It never returned: instead we got crappy spaceships that were original and dashing (in the PT we get the boring shiny ship when Lucas can afford it). We got 3PO looking very un-shiny (and therefore realistically used) to avoid refelctions from the camera and lights... it al gave this very original look which was abandoned in the PT. Too bad... it seems Lucas needs major limitations to excell.
Didn't Lucas say at one point that this distinction was a deliberate difference between the OT and PT? In one of the special features on one the DVDs, can't remember which, he had said something along the lines that the PT was meant to show the splendor of the Old Republic, the so-called golden age, the gaudiness, and the affluence.
His words could all just be a pretext to the fact that he just didn't have the technology to make the OT with super special effects, but there you have it.
Personally, I liked the PT stories, I enjoyed seeing the politics behind the fall of the Republic, and the ramp-up of the Empire. I just had a big problem with the acting. Like the ROTS scene with Anakin and Padme expressing their love to each other....geeeeeez. Hayden was a mistake. Natalie Portman, she was just hot.
There are many flaws in the PT. Story is one. characterisation is another. I doubt Hayden was a mistake, the character design of Anakin certainly was. He never was the hero we could cheer for, he was an arrogant, stuck up little brat... no more no less...
^ Agreed on flawed character design for Ani. However, Hayden was definitely a mistake. Have you seen him in other movies? Terrible, just as bad as he was in the PT!
I think the PT captured the "used future" effect well. The Naboo ships are supposed to be immaculate because they are for the queen. When the PT comes out on Blu ray it will be easier to tell, look at the battle droids and clone troopers, they are not in perfect shape even before the battles. Refer to a PT visual dictionary to see what I mean. It is a given overall the PT items are still shinier than the OT items because we can assume the Imperials consumed a lot of the resources. But the used future effect is still there.
KMC Community Forums
Jul 9th, 2010 04:24 PM
FER TEA!!
, which plays a factor in why I liked the PT so much. The tech did help GL realize his vision of what he wanted the SW galaxy to look like (much like James Cameron waiting to produce Avatar until the tech was available).
