I really want to like the new Star Wars films. And I do, but not near as much as I’d like to like them. The second of the new films was, in fact, much better than the first, but the flaws in the films are all too obvious to me. (The flaws in the original trilogy are also obvious.)
One major flaw in the current trilogy is that there is no equivalent to Han Solo. Han was an irreverent, skeptical, selfish smart-aleck whose presence helped keep the first trilogy from bogging down with everybody on screen taking the Jedi so seriously and going around acting so grave and noble. Subtract a Han figure from the first trilogy and everybody ends up taking themselves waaay too seriously.
Lucas has said that the new trilogy is much more like what he envisioned the first trilogy, but he didn’t have the tech (or the money) to make it the way he saw it.
Not everything Lucas says in this regard is true. He makes it sound as if the story of all six movies was clear in his mind when he made the first, and that patently isn’t true–at least if you read the original scripts (also available in an easier-to-use book form). Lucas had all kinds of stuff in the originals that indicate his vision of the story changed in midstream–repeatedly. Yet the original series ended up clicking in a way no previous movie trilogy had.
Despite the alterations to the plot, I think that Lucas is telling the truth when he says he originally imagined a much more lush, detail-rich universe for the original trilogy, yet for budgetary (and non-budgetary) reasons, he ended up cutting it way back.
As the years have passed, he has now begun adding back the missing detail, in the "Special Edition" of the original films that was released in theaters, in the Extra-Special Super Chocolate Fudgy Edition that has now been released on DVD, and most notably in the films of the current trilogy.
As he’s added more detail, fans of the original series have been complaining, and loudly.
There are some circumstances in which adding detail hurts a work of art, situations in which less is more.
That’s the message fans of the original Star Wars movies have been sending to Lucas, but he doesn’t seem to have gotten the message.
HERE’S ONE OF THE MOST INSIGHTFUL ANALYSES OF THE PROBLEM THAT I’VE READ.
I remember reading this (or something mumch like it) when AotC came out, and my reaction is much the same as it was then: I think there’s a difference between those who experienced ANH as a new, stand-alone film when it first came out, and those of us who have grown up with the Original Trilogy as a unit.
What Rilstone is talking about here applies primarily to Episode IV–the universe is a very sketchy, archetypal place. Episodes V and VI expanded it considerably, and the process has continued apace since then for those of us who don’t reject everything but the original films. 🙂 I believe one of his other essays on the topic even notes that similar complaints were made about ESB at its release. However, for those of us who were only aware of the trilogy as a whole–I was born in 1979 and wasn’t even aware of Star Wars until RotJ had already hit theatres–those complaints don’t register much because the details are so much part of our mental associations with the films.
I think both preferences are valid–there is value to the vague and archetypal approach of ANH, and to the detail-rich, sweeping approach of the Saga as a whole. Tolkien noted something like this in his Letters, where he commented on how much of the depth in LotR comes from the allusions and barely-detailed notes, and how revealing those could take away from the story even as it adds to it. Yet he still wanted the Silmarillion published. (I have always seen the Prequels as the Silmarillion to the Classic Trilogy’s LotR, so the ‘everyone taking themselves too seriously’ bit, though I recognize it, doesn’t impact my enjoyment much at all–it’s part of the grand, operatic style that I see the Prequels as having.)
But then, I’m a heretic among Star Wars fandom for liking almost all of it–the Classic films, the Special Editions, the Prequels, and even the Expanded Universe. I await the coming of the Tatooine Inquisition. 🙂
Your compliance with imperial edict is duly noted, citizen. Please wait in your dwelling until stormtroopers arrive.
G.M.T.
Imperial Governor
Outland Regions
Has anyone read the original movie’s novelization?
In it, the scene where Obi-Wan tells Luke that his father was betrayed and murdered is told from Obi-Wan’s POV. And we are explicitly told that he could not take refuge behind a comfortable lie.
But what I said *wasn’t* a lie. It was true . . . from a certain point of view.
I’m with Matthew Martin above. All the Star Wars films are good. I think the problem for most of us is that we watched the original films as kids, or at least as neophytes. But we watch the new ones as adults and as critics. I think that kids today are every bit as enthralled with the new films as anybody ever was by the originals. As Jimmmy posted, there’re flaws in the old and the new films if you’re looking to find them … but what kind of kid watches a film searching for the flaws? They’re kids’s films after all. If you can just forget about being analytic (is that possible for Jimmy Akin?) and watch the films like an uncritical ten-year-old, then the new films are awesome.
I’m told many people loathed the ewoks when Return of the Jedi came out. Give the new films a couple decades and I bet even Jar Jar will seem kind of cute.
Sorry I like the Super-Duper Special edition over the originals period.
“One major flaw in the current trilogy is that there is no equivalent to Han Solo. Han was an irreverent, skeptical, selfish smart-aleck whose presence helped keep the first trilogy from bogging down with everybody on screen taking the Jedi so seriously and going around acting so grave and noble. Subtract a Han figure from the first trilogy and everybody ends up taking themselves waaay too seriously.”
A lot of authors would say that there isn’t one of “those figures” in the new films because there wasn’t one of “those figures” around where they were being filmed. They might say their characters are not placed there by the author like ingredients in a soup, they simply portray the story as it exists in their head. Luke n’ em’ ran into Han at the point in time that they did, cause they did. Obi wan and Anakin didn’t run into one of those, so we didn’t see them do it.
They aren’t made-to-order circumstances, and companies. So, perhaps they might be reasons that you don’t enjoy them as much, but they would agrue that you can’t really call them flaws in the story. I am sure there are some people who were annoyed by Han, and would even argue to Lucas that he was a distraction. To them he would also reply…” He annoyed the characters too, but I can’t remove him. How could I? He was there!”
Yes, but this is a work of fiction and presumably Lucas could have Obi-Wan and Anakin run into whomever he wanted. Heck, they “ran into” C-3PO and R2-D2 through totally contrived plot devices; why not Han Solo?
Personally, I felt that Attack of the Clones was superior to Return of the Jedi, but I probably don’t have a lot of company in that opinion.
Yes, it is fiction. But my point is: to the author (some of them), the world creates itself in their heads. They don’t really “choose” those things.
“The prequel trilogy, on the other hand, is specific and crowded; and therefore, it will colonize the day dreams of no-one at all. We can internalize the simple structure of Star Wars and therefore feel that we are inside it: Attack of the Clones overwhelms us with specific detail. However exhilarated we may be, we are only ever on the outside looking in. The prequel trilogy is supposed to provide a backstory for the originals. But the original films had their own back story, and it was a good one.”
I couldn’t agree more. My impression was that George was so completely engrossed with the (mostly computer-generated) special effects now at his disposal that he let the script and storyline suffer.
There are semblances of a good story in Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, but I think they got lost in the onslaught of special effects, painful dialogue, really terrible acting and trivial details.
“Adding detail hurts a work of art” — To illustrate Jimmy’s point, like many fans, I was comfortable with “the force” remaining mysterious, and had a really difficult time with Lucas’ attempts to boil down the whole thing to biology with midicholorians.
Empire remains my favorite due to the strengths of Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan as screenwriters. If Kasdan contributed to writing Revenge of the Sith he might be able to salvage it . . . but that’s just my opinion.
“If Kasdan contributed to writing Revenge of the Sith he might be able to salvage it . . . but that’s just my opinion.”
From what I saw, we are in no such luck, but it would be nice. It is so funny to hear Fisher and the others complain about the writing. “Who talks like this?”
HELLO????
There could not possibly have been a “Han Solo” equivalent just as Jon points out. If there had been such a character Lucas would have written him in. You see Lucas is just channeling this stuff.
No seriously, the reason that there is no Han is because Han is the true Byronic Hero. He may have kept the story light and exciting, but he also kept it from spinning out of control. Had there been a Han-like character in the New Trilogy days, it would have completely altered the space-time continuum that lead to the events in the Old Trilogy. Had there been such a character, he would have shut down C-3PO back on Tatooine before he got his goldenrod shell freed anakin and left him there untroubled with his mother, and eventually would have married Padme himself.
My biggest problem with the prequels is that they seem less like telling a single story and more of a disjointed series of plot points necessary to connect the Old Republic of legend to the Empire as it exists in New Hope.
Many of the additional scenes Lucas put into the prequels (the pod-race, or the Geonosan factory) do nothing to advance the story – they merely exist to be a video game. Less of those scenes and more scenes presending a coherent story would be nice.
I also think that Lucas missed an element that would have worked out well in the story and enhanced the mythos. The point of the prequels is that Jedi are hunting down a clandestine conspiracy to destroy the Republic (they think it’s the separatists, but in reality it’s the Sith). Obviously they need to work with law enforcement to do so. Boba Fett should be an ally of the Jedi as he hunts down Dooku and other traitors. Boba Fett would be the equivalent of the Han Solo character. It would make his appearance in Empire and Jedi all the more mysterious and menacing. It would also be logical as Boba Fett is simply working with the established govt. Too bad AotC ruined it.
Writing any prequel, let alone a prequel trilogy, must be extremely difficult. To some extent, the artistic license is limited by what we know must happen and the way we know things must turn out by the beginning of the original Trilogy.
I think Eps I and II have done a pretty good job of explaining the ascendency of the Emperor and the degeneration of the Old Republic into the Empire. The development of the Anakin/Darth Vader character has been so-so, in my opinion (although that opinion may be colored by the choice of actors).
What I really don’t understand is some of the new dialogue Lucas added to EPV between the Emperor and Vader, in which the Emporer appears to reveal to Vader that Luke is “the son of Skywalker”. Earlier in EPV, when the probe droid self-destructs on Hoth, Vader already says something to the effect of “that’s the planet, Skywalker is there.”
I think they all have their merits and flaws – with the possible exception of Episode 4 A New Hope which is nigh perfect, if one overlooks Luke Skywalkers’ constant whining and less than perfect acting.
The Empire Strikes Back is still my least favorite film – even with Boba Fett, a Lightsaber Battle, and the discovery that Vader was Luke’s father they couldn’t make Bespin tolerable. It was my dear hope that they were going to digitally remove Bespin from the Special Edition Versions – or at least the Cloud Car which is by far and away the uglies transport ever to grace a Sci-Fi movie screen.
Many people dislike the Ewoks and Endor, but anytime you put an ATAT or ATST in a scene I am sold so I love most of Endor. I don’t really mind the Ewoks as a whole either. Do I wish that it would have taken place on the Wookie home planet, sure but Endor still is good. I used to dream about owning a Speeder Bike – I still do.
Episode 1 had it difficulties to be sure, but I still enjoy the film and watch it often. Episode II was really good in my humble opinion. It was the first movie I have ever been to that generated spontaneous applause by the entire audience, other than die hard Star Wars Fans like me who will applaud in glee when a Storm Trooper says, “Look sir Droids.” Come on… the Yoda scene was incredible.
Episode II was really good in my humble opinion. It was the first movie I have ever been to that generated spontaneous applause by the entire audience, other than die hard Star Wars Fans like me who will applaud in glee when a Storm Trooper says, “Look sir Droids.” Come on… the Yoda scene was incredible.
Agreed.
Episode 1 had it difficulties to be sure, but I still enjoy the film and watch it often.
I though it was simply awful. Jar-Jar, Jar-Jar, and more Jar-Jar :::shudders:::. If Lucas were to make Anakin’s transition to the dark side completed by graphically hacking Jar-Jar to bits, I guarantee that there would be spontaneous applause in the theatres, though that would hardly be morally edifying.
Episode two was good because it had a minimum of Binks and what it did have showed him being duped into helping the most evil man in the universe gain dictatorial powers.
Although Jar Jar is a horrible annoyance he is not totally without his worth in the movie. One thing that Lucas has always been keen to representing is that in this universe of uber powerful individuals, it is often the seemingly lesser creatures with pure intent that often turn the tide of evil.
The Ewoks were testament to this and so were the Jar Jar race – I forget their name.
The Ewoks were testament to this and so were the Jar Jar race – I forget their name.
But the Ewoks are cute. The Gungans are annoying in general, but Jar Jar is horrific. Six months or so ago I rewatched Phantom Menace and it was agony, mostly because of the accursed Binks.
I would like to add that you know you are in a theater with a bunch of Lutherans when someone on the movie screen says’ “may the force be with you” —- and the people in the audience reply “and also with you.”
This joke may well be lost on this group.