Something familiar...
Yeah, we'll do something biiiig for the 1000th post. It'll take us a while to get there, but we'll have plenty of time to plan.
I've got nothing important to say, but feast your eyes on this. It's the Episode III teaser poster. After watching the A New Hope DVD, this new poster seems especially potent.
7 comments:
I have to admit, that's a pretty cool poster. I also have to be honest, I could never really get into the whole Star Wars thing. It just never appealled to me.
Don't get me wrong, its not like I think they're horrible. Hey, I saw the midnight shows of I & II. But more to accomodate friends then for my own enjoyment.
What's the fascination? I don't know how old you are, so I'm not sure if you saw the originals in the theater or not. I imagine that has something to do with it for a lot of fans; that memory of being a kid in the theater and this was the greatest thing you'd ever seen. I primarily consider myself a 90s child, and as such this holds little appeal.
To each his own.
Jeremy, did you see Star Wars as a kid? I think the majority of today's fans have never seen it in a theater (originally), but they did see it at a young age. I think that's where the appeal establishes itself.
I've always enjoyed them greatly. However, I'm able to stand back objectively and look at them as stand-alone movies. When I do, I realize that they're not great movies at all, in terms of cinematic quality. Especially the latest ones. But, I guess it's those childhood memories of seeing Star Wars that enables me to look past that and enjoy it for what it is.
Yeah, I think I must have been too old when I originally saw them. The emotional connection is missing.
See, that’s where I agree and ( and also disagree with Gabe).
Fundamentally, he’s absolutely right. It’s an emotional connection the films established with people when they were young. That’s exactly why so many people love the films (and at the same time are so disenchanted with the new ones).
However, I also think that separately, the films do have a relevant cinematic quality. I can’t stand by the new ones too strongly, because cinematically, they are poorly constructed films. But the originals, especially A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, are a cinematic reflection of the social conditions prevailing at the time. Around that time people were lost and discouraged. A film of the late 60’s and 70’s presented a very grim view of reality. When Star Wars was released (the original one), it was a reflection of the stagnant social views. People were sick of feeling hopeless, and Star Wars provided this storyline that wasn’t grim and foreboding, it was a story that connected to a younger audience.
I think that gives the first film (and probably Empire Strikes Back) a cinematic quality. But hey, that’s just my opinion.
The more recent films however are a disgrace. I think they’re fun to watch, and when you connect them to the other movies they’re kinda neat. But otherwise, I’m not sure Lucas knew what he was doing.
On a side note – I think my fascination with it Jeremy is that these were the films that convinced me to get into filmmaking. That’s a lengthy story, but basically, when I was very young, I didn’t want to be a filmmaker (actually, I wanted to be a pilot).
I thought that being a director or a screenwriter was kind of a hokey job. And then I sat down one night and watched The Empire Strikes Back all the way through, and I thought to myself, “I could do this”.
My mother was pregnant with me when she first saw A New Hope. That aside, I don't think I saw these movies particularly young. Probably only really seriously saw them about eight years, as it seemed everyone in my hall was a Star Wars nut and some nice pre-special edition remastered VHS tapes were released around that time.
I like the movies a great deal. The characters are all very lovable. Yes, they have conflict with each other, but you love them for it. Culturally, they are relevant, cinematically, perhaps not as much. They had good special effects for the day. Kubrick did outer space much better ten years prior, but not outer space action sequences and battles.
Lucas, like Spielberg, has a tried and true storytelling style that works most of the time, but does so by pushing certain predictable emotional buttons. This is true of almost all of their work. I think the only great movies these guys made were their earliest, before the acclaim, before the expectations, before the formulas set in. For Lucas THX-1138 stands out and as having elements of Star Wars in raw form and with far too much paranoia for mainstream success. For Spielberg, it's Jaws and, perhaps, Close Encounters.
On the subject of THX-1138, I have been meaning to post about more thoroughly about that for a long time. I'll get to that.
I actually haven't seen THX.
Few have. Those that have are either entranced or repulsed. I must post about this, I will soon.
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