A problem I have with A New Hope.

I have just returned from a watching of A New Hope. And, just like I did with all my other watchings, I enjoyed it. I did notice two things that bugged me, however.

1. The design of the droids, with the exception of the "main" droids (ones who play some part in the plot.) Take a look on the Jawa's sandcrawler: The worst offenders would be the garbage-can looking droid, which hops around on two chubby little legs. Later on, when the Jawas arrive at Owen's ranch, you can see some more rather makeshift droids. One that struck me as being an obvious prop, as opposed to an "actual" droid, would be the one to the left of R2D2 (right from R2's perspective.) It has a rather flat design, and its "arms" dangle rather loosely and unconvincingly: I couldn't imagine them being utilized.

2. A second problem, similar to the first, is with the designs of the aliens. The movie is surprisingly free of aliens outside of Mos Eisely spaceport. In the cantina, however, you can see some decent and not-so-decent designs. Even with prominent aliens, like Greedo, we can tell that they are customs.

On the whole, I still enjoy the movie a great deal, but it's not without its flaws.

 

I think that kinda adds to the enjoyment of STAR WARS being like the old-time Saturday mantinee serials it's based on, where not everything was 100% perfect, but was still entertaining.

 

Yeah, I'm not thrilled with the Mos Eisley aliens myself. Uggh.

I like the droids though. Remember, they're not the most expensive droids around... they're built for working, not for looks. And they've probably been beaten up.




Rick McCallum loves you!

 

I Cant Believe you have a problem with the GONK Droid... Why would a mobile powerstation need arms anyway? It's Basicly a walking battery. Plus theese Droids were created by aliens for alien purposes in alien architechtures... They are not neccesarilly suposed to make sense to human sensibillities.

 

Also, the Tuskens looked lame, wrapped up in dirty bed sheets.


And the Jawas were just little kids and midgets dressed in robes.


Greedo was just a guy in a rubber mask.


And you know what?


'Star Wars' became one of the successful films of all time. Lucas did something right.

 

"Take a look on the Jawa's sandcrawler: The worst offenders would be the garbage-can looking droid, which hops around on two chubby little legs. "

Man the Gonk droid rocks.

 

The gonk droid rules!

 

When no one had ever seen a 'Star Wars' film before, these images defined the style and atmosphere of the SW universe.


I agree. 'Gonk' droid RULES!

 

stop bieng a cry baby. i dont think GL cares that you dont like props from '77.

 

love_slave: Don´t get FT wrong. He didn´t say there was anything wrong with the rest of the movie. In fact, he said he enjoys it a great deal.

I don´t care that much about droid designs. They can look however they want. Aliens, on the other hand, should look more alive than some(not all) of them do.

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to bash FT. I'm just pointing out that originally, it was the 'look' of the film that defined that world where the story took place.



You can't say that you like 'The Muppet Show' but complain that the characters all look like they're made out of felt.



Well, you could...but it wouldn't make a lot of sense.

 

Gentlemen,

There is a lot about Star Wars that looks old and outdated, everyone knows this, even us fans. While the "imperfections" may bother us now and then, the movies are still fun and they take us to a world far, far away, even for a little while, which is what George wanted. Just enjoy the place the movies take you and be thankful they were made

 

Greedo was just a guy in a rubber mask.

i thought it was a girl??

 

Do remember that what was in SW in '77 was the best technology of the day. Well, for the most part anyways. There really was not a whole lot Lucas could do about the creatures, though that can easily change now.

As for the aliens, I do agree it would've been nice to see more aliens in the Rebellion. Very nice indeed.

 

I think of it being like when you're reading a comic book. Each artist has a distinctive style. That's the beauty of it: each artist has a unique look. The same is true for 'imagined' worlds in different films.


The 'Star Wars' world isn't supposed to look like all the other sci-fi/fantasy films that have been made since.


'Star Wars' has it's own special 'look', and I wouldn't want to see it changed.

 

just have to keep in mind that it was made in the 70s. the same things that look lame now were revolutionary for their time period.

 

This 70's technology argument about the props has no merit.

Surely there are better droids in the Star Wars Universe at the time of ANH... But we aren't talking about GOOD Droids here... we are talking about Droids that end up in a Mobile Junkyard on a Backwater and Inhospittable Planet... These are probably some of the Worst Droids you could possibly buy in the entire Galaxy.

 

Plus you know moisture farmers are cheap as hell. Owen buys that piece of crap R4 unit instead of R2 and it blows up like 2 seconds later.

Lucas himself has never been 100% happy with the cantina aliens. The ones in the SE are a bit better, but they still are what they are. But I think they're cool, anyways.

EV Edit: For future reference please use crap or "c" instead of the other word/"s'.

 

The fact that someone raises a criticism against the films doesn't make them a Lucas-hating heretic who needs to be burned at the stake, guys.

As for the Gonk droid not being able to walk so well: I admit it seems kind of pointless to give that droid legs at all if all it can do is waddle around. But remember if it were an expensive, well-made droid, it would probably have jets like Artoo did. I like to think a lot of those droids had been repaired extensively (after all, I assume Jawas mostly pulled them out of junk heaps and stuff), so their parts might not work well anymore.

Also, from Lucas's point of view as a filmmaker, it was important to show some crappy droids because he wanted it to be clear that this technology had been around for a long, long time, and not only was it not cutting-edge anymore, it was available to the working class and was often downright seedy.

 

"it would probably have jets like Artoo did."

Ugh. Don't remind me of that scene.

BTW, DLM, would you please help E_U edit his title.

Errant_Venture
Title: Manager: CT and Lit. fora

 

Dark Lady Mara, I don't think anybody's beating up on the original poster.


He expressed the opinion that he has a "problem" with the look of some of the droids and aliens in the cantina. We're just responding to his post.



The first time you go into a theater to watch ANH, you're fed one strange image after another; robots, stormtroopers, Vader, Jawas, Tuskens, lightsabers, the sandcrawler, etc.


I think your reaction is intended to be something like "Wow, that's weird." not "The robots in this movie are not very practical, compared to the robots in the movie I watched last week."


I don't look at a Frazetta painting and wish that he painted like Boris Valejo.

 

But you are critizising his opinion. That´s not how you should do it. Instead, tell him what you think, without saying why he shouldn´t think what he thinks.

Anyway: I think GL has all the right in the world to improve the looks of his aliens. His intent was never to make it look corny. If he leaves it as it is, though, that´s funny too.
That´s my opinion.

 

You're right.



TF has the right to express his opinion, even if he's wrong.

 

Not all the droids in the Universe are flashy new models!

You are on a backward planet, your going to get some old droids.

Some of the aliens don't look too good.

 

When no one had ever seen a 'Star Wars' film before, these images defined the style and atmosphere of the SW universe.

Absolutely. These images are a definition of STAR WARS.

You can't say that you like 'The Muppet Show' but complain that the characters all look like they're made out of felt.

Well, you could...but it wouldn't make a lot of sense.

It does happen with STAR WARS on these boards.

The STAR WARS galaxy is supposed to have a used and lived in look. That's part of it's believability.