Cinemassacre on The Classic Trilogy.

Cinemassacre is doing a 2 part bit on the Star Wars movies.

The first part is about the Classic Trilogy, and there will be a part 2 about the prequels.

Here is PART 1

It goes over a lot of familiar things about Star Wars, but it ties it all together in a way that blew my mind.

What do you guys think of it?

 

Yup, a very heartfelt and genuinely insightful--if not obvious--look at the pop-cultural construction of the films. Looking forward to part 2.

 

It seems to be done by the Angry Video Game Nerd, so I'm sure his next one about the SE and Prequels will be especially good.

He already touches upon the idea that Midichlorians took away from the mystical side of the Force, but then again, he brings up references from the whole saga with insightful comparisons to what likely inspired them, so I have a feeling that even if he does rip the SE and Prequels to shreds, he will do so intelligently.

 

He coulda at least mentioned Joseph Campbell's work when discussing character archetypes.

 

Yep, but overall it was a well put together presentation.

 

All the stuff that mr. Rolfe does != AVGN He does movie reviews in general, not only the "in character" AVGN episodes

I found the part 1 entertaining and am looking forward for the second part.

 

Here it is, PART 2.

I have yet to see it, but I hear he didn't like the SE's and Prequels as much.

 

He likes ROTS!

I can sort of relate. When I saw it in theaters I liked it. These days I like the second half of the film at least.

 

Pretty much spot on there Go-Mer....but as you mentioned earlier, at least he criticized the SE/PT with a quota of intelligence & apart from the tiresome and cliche Jar-Jar/EP1 comments none of it felt hostile in the "OMG!!!LUCAZZZR@PEDMYCHILDHOOD!!!" tradition. What came across most of all was a real love & affection for SW.

 

I was finally able to watch it, and I have to say I am really impressed with the way he explained himself.

It has given me a new appreciation of how the other side felt about the new Star Wars. He makes valid points an puts it in a way that is obviously well thought out.

He is mature enough to separate his experience from "what everyone thinks", and offers the concession that it could be his huge expectations that led to his point of view, noting that future generations may even like the prequels without the built up hype and anticipation.

I am an angry video game nerd believer.

Or whatever his real name is.

 

The reviews were worth watching, though I find most of his disappointment for the Prequels can only be blamed on himself. The fact he didn't get the same nostalgia he got from the OT, which he experienced as a kid seems to be a common syndrome among people who dislike the Prequels.

He also should have gone into Anakin and Padmé's relationship being purposefully awkward at times, but he just didn't seem to grasp it.

It's funny how several of his movie reviews manage to go into a deeper analysis yet completely miss out on key issues.

 

To be fair, he is framing this as his own point of view.

I think he explained where he is coming from fairly well. I think a lot of people see Padme and Anakin's awkwardness as "bad acting" because they are expecting chemistry that isn't meant to be there, especially in ROTS as Anakin teeters on the edge of the abyss.

The whole "no it's because I'm -so- in love with you" scene seems like the worst acting and dialogue ever to them because they are expecting traditional romantic dialogue intended to show a high comfort level between the romantic leads.

He makes a good point about the way the prequels sound more like a history lesson, because really that's what the prequels are.

Nobody wants to think about how a democratic government can turn into a dictatorship.

We just want to see how the good guys prevail.

Unfortunately it doesn't always work out like that.

The way he sees the first 2 movies as strikes and ROTS as a home run, that is indicative of a storyteller that knows how to set up an audience for the win. ROTS was able to knock it out of the park, because TPM and AOTC pitched it the perfect opportunity.

It almost makes one wonder if Lucas meant to make Jar-Jar as over the top as he could, in the hopes he could burst the unrealistic expectation bubble that was hanging over the prequels like the alien ship from Independance Day.

Like Mr. Miagi honking the bad karate teacher's nose instead of killing him in the Karate Kid.

Here you go guys, hate this! Are we good? Got it all out? Now lets get on with the win.

 

I remember reading some quote of Lucas saying giving a percentage of relevance to the overall set-up for the Prequel Trilogy.
It was something like TPM: 25%, AOTC: 25% and ROTS: 50%, which I find a very bold move of his.

Getting back on topic, I thought the Cinemassacre review would completely trash the Prequels, so I'm glad to see the review did put more thought into this, stated several times it was only one person's point of view and managed to take a few steps back to take a look at the grander picture from time to time.

 

Pretty well done. Glad to see it rose above the irrational and usual, as mentioned before, "OMG HE RAPED MY CHILDHOOD" stuff you usually see.

 

I don't think the criticism veers into irrationality as often as you suggest. Brainless criticism is certainly no more 'usual' than brainless praise.

 

Not with rational people, of course, but there is a bit too much of it. Luckily, there isn't that much of it on TF.N.

 

I dunno. In my experience the overwhelming majority of people who use "George Lucas raped my childhood" are very frank about it merely being a cute bit of hyperbole.

What I find much more troubling are the individuals who seriously seem to be unable to cope with the notion that not everyone recognizes the PT as a work of genius and who dismiss any and every criticism of Lucas's skills or his films as part of a vast global media conspiracy of people who are out to 'get' him. Usually the reason given for this conspiracy is the fact that Lucas dissed the DGA over twenty years ago, and somehow no one in Hollywood has ever forgiven him.

And unfortunately, there IS a fair bit of that here.

 

The whole point of having a guild is to exclude non members.

It's not a conspiracy, it's business as usual.

 

please just use the "angry nerd" title we all know him by