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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Discussion Feel of NOW (ST) compared to Then (PT)

Discussion in 'Archive: Disney Era Films' started by yggdrasil311, Jan 30, 2013.

  1. Blur

    Blur Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 1999
    Things are completely different now - you can't really compare the mid-late '90s to the early-mid 201X decade since so much has changed (sorry, I'm not sure what this decade we're in is actually called...)

    One one hand, yes, EP1 was the first new SW film in 16 years, and was hugely anticipated by many people. There was definitely more media hype & fan anticipation for this film than for any other movie, ever - period. And, with the then-new (though generally slow, and I'll get to that soon) Internet that was around in the mid-late '90's, fans were able to get online and post, speculate, etc. Additionally, there were numerous online articles, newpaper articles, reviews, etc. about the film so that even if you weren't a fan & had no plans to see it, you would have to be living under a rock to not be aware of TPM in Spring/Summer '99.

    However (and going along with the above post), one of the main differences I see between the late '90's & now re: SW fandom is that there appear to be a lot more SW fans out there than there were before. Note that I'm using the term "fan" loosely - going along with another post I made on this site, when I say "fan" I mean both the older fans like me who were kids when the OOT was out, the kids who are now growing up with the CW cartoon & who may have gotten into the Saga re: their parents, and everyone in between. So, it's possible that more people are around these days that will be interested in seeing the film in the theatre than there were in '99 re: Episode I, just by looking at the law of averages, i.e., a larger population.

    Now, specifically re: the hype (both current and forthcoming) for Episode VII, IMHO a huge difference is the level of technology people had access to then as opposed to now. I believe that most people (myself included) only had dial-up Internet in the mid-late '90's, and so when you were getting info. and/or making posts online, it could at times be a somewhat laborious process, especially if you had an especially slow connection (those of us who are old enough to remember the "dial-up" phone noises the Internet server made when it was logging on know what I'm talking about :D). Now, with high-speed Internet, streaming news/movie trailers/etc., & 24-hour hour news access/cable channels, etc., fans (casual & hardcore) are able to find out information instantaneously: When the news broke on 10/30/12 about Disney buying Lflm. & the huge announcement of Episode 7, it was all over the place - shortly after, I was able to watch an interview online with Lucas & K. Kennedy discussing this. And, when the news about JJ Abrams being the new director broke last Thursday, there were also numerous articles about this simultanously. Conversely, I remember it taking 1.5 - 2 hours to load the Episode 1 trailer in Spring '99 using my dial-up Internet connection...

    So, yeah, things have definitely changed. Does this mean there will be more hype for Episode VII than there was for Episode I? Well, it depends. Yes, I believe there will be more articles/info./coverage just because of the increase in technology/cable channels, etc. (as I mentioned above).

    Anticipation? That's something else. Probably not, but that will also depend on whether the kids/young adults now will be looking forward to seeing the films as much as us then-20-somethings were back in '99. Speaking as an child of the OOT, I personally am not looking forward to these films nearly as much as I was to Episode 1, though I will go see them in the theatre....
     
  2. I_Died_Once

    I_Died_Once Jedi Master

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2005
    I'm probably more excited than anyone, but whats really bringing me down is all the trolls on this forum, and they date to back when the PT was coming out. No matter what they announce, people are going to comment here in droves about "Oh no, this will ruin Star Wars!" and "What a horrible decision!"

    The prequel trilogy, I thought, was awesome. After seeing it, then re-watching the original trilogy, I realize what a narrow scope and view the originals truly are, and they left me wanting much, much more. The special editions of the OT did them much, much justice. Of course, they didn't have the technology and vision when the originals were first made, and they're still an integral part of my childhood , forever being cherished as the best movies of all time... the prequels still did them all much justice. But I've been on the internet since the beginning, I know how people and trolls are, and what truly is a minority gets a stronger foothold and become the perceiving majority behind the anonymity of message boards like these. Its just gets old after a while, all the negativity. No matter what they did, no matter who they get to direct, what story they use, which actors - theres going to be name after name chiming in with "Oh nooo! I'm not going to see the new movies now because of THAT!" I try not to let it get me down, but it gets old after a while. Some of you folk need to lighten up and just be happy theres a new Star Wars movie coming out.

    You'd think most of the posters here would rather there just NOT be a sequel trilogy be made.
     
  3. KevinM1

    KevinM1 Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 15, 2012
    I have to laugh at people being weary due to the ST being a 'cash grab'. How many versions of the OT did Lucas release in various forms over the years? How much tie-in media did the various Lucas holdings produce? The EU, games, and all the rest weren't created out of some noble artistic vision.

    Anyhoo, I'd say that there isn't quite as much excitement for a few reasons:

    1. Most people view the PT as an utter train wreck, and many are concerned that the ST will continue to miss the mark. The brand is irreversibly tarnished to them.
    2. There's new people in charge, so some are concerned that the films won't feel like Star Wars.
    3. General, vague fears surrounding Star Wars' place in our culture, and whether it will continue to be a thing across generations.

    The pre-TPM hype was off the scale. First new Star Wars in almost a generation, with modern effects. It was during the infancy of the internet, so the signal-to-noise ratio was a bit better in terms of intelligent speculation and real scoops. In general, there seemed to be a general feeling of excitement and goodwill towards it, and none of the "But what if it fails?" gnashing we see here today.

    I visited theforce.net every day during that, what, year or more? At home, in computer lab when I should have been programming, and just about anywhere else I could connect. Stupid, inconsequential bits of 'news' ("BREAKING: The first word in the opening crawl is 'The'") seemed important. Seeing the teaser trailer for the first time gave me legit chills.

    But yeah, the overall hype, in a cultural sense, was staggering. "Duel of the Fates" had regular rotation on MTV back when they used to play music videos. I can't think of any other piece of purely instrumental music doing that. The only other movie themes I can think of that had similar popularity are Celine Dion's Titanic song, Whitney Houston's Bodyguard song, and Bryan Adams' Robin Hood song.
     
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  4. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    I think I'm more interested in seeing fan reaction to the film than the actual film.
     
  5. KilroyMcFadden

    KilroyMcFadden Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2012
    I think that I agree.
     
  6. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    The Tens? (Nineties, Noughties, Twenties ...)
     
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  7. chris hayes

    chris hayes Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2012
    There was great shock to learn that Anakin was going to be a 9yo boy !

    There was even greater shock when we learned the title - most poeple were saying the Phantom WHAT "WTF"
     
  8. yggdrasil311

    yggdrasil311 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 7, 2004
    I'm suprised by some of the responses in here, but not really.

    I notice a "hesitation" now, and not 100% excitement. It's a shame that the "burn" is still there for some, being that the PT was ultimately a big letdown from what it could have been, from some perspectives.

    I am also one that is REALLY ecstatic about it, but there is this doubt that is bringing me back to the midnight showing of Episode 1, seeing people fall asleep around me (only to awaken about the Darth Maul battle). Same with no sounds being made during AOTC.

    I'm feeling incredibly confident with the writer(s) and director aboard now. The news coming out is systematic, seems very well thought out, and planned. This excites me, as I felt there was a ship running wild with the PT, and a pilot who was flipping through a manual to right that that ship.
     
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  9. aguywithabiggun

    aguywithabiggun Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 1999
    It was pure chaos around here and hijinks did ensue. Once it was rumored that NSYNC was going to star in the prequels. Atrocity. People spent quite a LOT of time and debated on Sidious being the same person as Palpatine. Or if he was a clone. Or a cross dresser or something. Huge essay type post. I still have some of them saved on my hardrive because they are just crazy amazing. Fans around here, are some creative dudes and sometimes I wish they were directing!

    Its pretty early. Just wait. I suspect this summer or fall for things to heat up around here.

    But I loved the prequels and am quite as excited as before but really half the fun for me is this place, watching as its being made and seeing peoples varied reactions and ideas.:cool:
     
  10. Figrin D'aniel

    Figrin D'aniel Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 12, 2013
    I think right now there is not nearly as much hype as there was with any of the prequels because of the combination of 2015 still feeling kinda far away and people being skeptical of Disney, J.J. Abrams, whether or not the big 3 will return, etc. A lot of people I know either don't know about it or just aren't that excited about it yet. I think once the first trailer is released though that everyone will really start to get excited and the hype will be huge!
     
  11. TheManFromMortis

    TheManFromMortis Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 19, 2012
    _ _ _ _

    I remember that experience, too. I must say that I never thought anything - SW-related - could surpass the fever that surrounded the build-up to the release of Episode I but, thinking about it now, I am more excited about Episode VII simply because we are totally in the dark when it comes to the plot, whether the original three will return, who the villains will be etc. I am bloody excited.
     
  12. Blur

    Blur Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 1999
    I was always puzzled by this confusion, since IMHO it was obvious that Sideous was Palapatine from Day 1 - though, it seems a lot of people didn't realize this until "the big reveal" in EP III.

    I knew this from the beginning since in either the ANH (1976) and/or the ROTJ (1983) novelization(s), Senator Palpatine was specifically referred to as the Emperor. Not sure if it was in any other books/EU prior to TPM, but I just thought it should have been extremely obvious to everyone. I mean, they used the same actor (Ian McDiarmid) in both ROTJ & TPM for the role, and when you first saw Sideous in TPM he even sounded similar to Senator Palpatine (obviously, since it was the same actor) - I would have thought that was a dead give-away...
     
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  13. aguywithabiggun

    aguywithabiggun Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 1999
    Of course. I was blown away by it too. People were REALLY pissed off at each other about it!
     
  14. DowClimber

    DowClimber Jedi Padawan

    Registered:
    Jan 26, 2013
    I thought about this too. I don't think you'll see nearly as much of that this time around. I feel like it will just be a mad-grab for tickets online.
     
  15. yggdrasil311

    yggdrasil311 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 7, 2004
    I agree. I reckon there will be some type of new or earlier roll out for tickets for the movies, as the rush will be incredible. This will be something of epic proportions. I don't think a sequel will have this much hype and excitement in ever.
     
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  16. Bobatron

    Bobatron Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    Yes you will see people camping out. This is an age when people camp out for Black Friday sales, and a lot of that can be traced back to the media coverage of fans camping out to be the first to see EPISODE ONE in 1999.
    Another thing about TPM is that a lot of the stuff in the movie was new and we were more open to it. We were open to this classical period of STAR WARS and I'm not an Expanded Universe expert but from what I understand that whole period was largely off-limits prior to the prequels. There were just a few brief descriptions, like what was in the beginning of the 1976 novelization. We were seeing Jedi being day-to-day Jedi, surprised to see lightsabers being used to cut through doors, learning of the Trade Federation and the Republic politics, and so on. With the upcoming Sequel Trilogy, there are many people with embedded ideas of what post-Return of the Jedi STAR WARS is along with the cynicism of all SW movies after 1983, and they might just be less receptive to anything new. That happened with the rest of the prequels and the new Indiana Jones. A large segment that apparently hadn't seen an Indy movie since 1989 somehow told itself Indiana Jones was supposed to only deal with Nazis and Christian artifacts, and while people could accept cups that made people rot and cult leaders who could rip out beating hearts, they couldn't accept or (appreciate the clever humor of) Indiana Jones surviving a nuclear explosion in a refrigerator.
     
  17. Narutakikun

    Narutakikun Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2012
    Less excitement. Nobody under about 35 can ever really understand the anticipation there was for the prequels - they were literally the most anticipated movies of all time, and I don't think anything else ever can or ever will come close.
     
  18. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    I still remember late summer of '04 there were rumors that there was going to be a scene in ROTS where Yoda would be farting. 3SA exploded that week.
     
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  19. darthYENIK

    darthYENIK Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    "It moved" when I saw the Episode 1 teaser trailer (Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, back then that was enough to give a heart attack). There was so much promise. George Lucas directing was not a problem. Seeing the origin of Vader was very exciting. The hype and excitement for Episode 1 was so great that there was no way it was going to live up to it. Nothing would. I expect the same will happen with this movie. Fortunately it might actually be a good movie.
     
  20. BigAl6ft6

    BigAl6ft6 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Nov 12, 2012
    I will admit to being one of the "Boo! hiss!" people when the title was released. However, looking back, it's an absolutely genius title, and easily the most inventive of the PT. There's a lot of layers to it - Sidious is a literal "phantom menace" since he's just a hologram, the Trade Federation is the "phantom menace" because they really aren't the bad guys behind it all, and Anakin is a "phantom menace" because he's going to grow up to be freakin' Darth Vader and this is his first steps towards that tragedy. It's all in the background. Solid title. Works great. Contrasts rather nicely with the fairly happy-go-lucky vibe of the film itself.
     
  21. TtheForceHurts

    TtheForceHurts Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2010
    In retrospect, the teaser for Episode I was the better then the movie itself. I am not a PT hater, in fact I really liked the politcs and schemes, they simply failed for me because of the dialogue, comedy and CGI overuse.

    As most have said, the announcement came out of nowhere and I my expectations are as high as back then. I know that I will not be dissapointed by them and am stoked even higher because:
    a: I like Abrams previous work and ability to get good performances out of his actors (could care less about lens flares), plus he is an OT generation fan
    b: GL (who I am eterally thankfull for his conception of this wonderfull universe) is passing the reigns to others, Rick "Yessir" McCallum gone
    c: The prospect of getting the Big 3 back, these are the adventures I wanted to see back then when I played witzh my vintage Kenner toys
    d: Disney handling the franchise, they did amazing with Marvel
    e: being able to experience them with my kid (having finally an alibi to buy those toys murharhar)
    f: the prospect of stand alone films
    g: they ae smart enough to have learnt from the fan fan's reception of the PT
     
  22. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    It was both. Luke even addresses him as "Palpatine" once in the RoTJ novel.
     
  23. Original Oatmeal

    Original Oatmeal Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 22, 2013
    why do people hate the prequels?
     
  24. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Unfulfilled expectations, maybe?

    I wonder how strong the "PT is bad" view is, among those whose first ever experience of Star Wars was them?
     
  25. Darth_Articulate

    Darth_Articulate Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2012
    I thought it was "Turmoil" [/troll]
     
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