Polled some kids on what they thought of all SW movies

I can only say what I know. My first conscious memories are of ANH at age 4. And, yes, I loved it. The SW movies were the ones I watched over and over as a kid.

My Dad, who was in his late 30's then, loved it also. He was a sci-fi nut. I don't think the target audience is kids, or adults. I think it's fans of sci-fi and fantasy. Which encompasses a very broad age group.

The difference is, kids will love it because it's a visual extravaganza and a pretty good story. Children are willing to believe more than adults are. We're bogged down in reality. Kids play out some kind of fantasy most of the time when they're young, so it's not surprising that kids love it, hands down. Some adults will hate some of it for various reasons listed so far..... but that doesn't mean it's not intended for adults either. We've just got a world of experience that allows us to judge things instead of enjoying them, no questions asked.

The Picnic

 

1bat4u:
What a wonderful saga for children, what with the impalement and dismemberment and decapitations and child endangerment and cursing and shooting

I do not remember any cursing in any SW movie.


But I agree BLUEJEDI13. Wife's nephew is only 4 but he loves all the speeders and ships. Knows them by name even. Even plays Rogue Squadron. Not really good but he tries at least.

 

Most of y'all are gonna think I'm crazy for saying this, but I think that 1bat4u makes the most sense in this debate.

Yes, Lucas can say whatever he likes about his films being made for young kids, but there's more to the Star Wars Trilogy (OT, not PT) than just eye candy for little kids. Lucas took elements of myths and history and even biblical stuff when he made Star Wars. Some of these elements bled through into ESB and ROTJ, while some did not.

I had an English teacher in High School who taught a class on mythology, and a quarter of the semester was spent on analyzing Star Wars: A New Hope. Within the film there are elements of medieval myth and legend (Aurthurian type stuff), psychological archetypes (like Jung and Adler examined), and historical things like the Samurai. Lucas was influenced heavily by the works of Akira Kurisowa (forgive me if I butchered the name).

The beauty of the Star Wars saga is that as we grow, so do our appreciations, and we also grow more able to pick up on subtle elements and nuances. George Lucas put A LOT of these thing into the original trilogy. As my friends and I grew older, we all began noticing new things about the movie that we liked. When we were 8, all we cared about were the blasters and lightsabers, but as we grew up we noticed the details (i.e.- in the end, Darth Vader, who had been viewed as a powerful lord of darkness for the entire trilogy turned out to be nothing but a broken man, much like the 6 billion people on earth, not just in a galaxy far, far away).

The newer films are immensely popular amongst kids, there's no doubt about that. But, while I am able to slip into that kid frame of mind to enjoy all the neat action scenes, when I try to look for the deeper aspects that existed in the original trilogy, my thirst goes unquenched. They say Lucas had these stories written a long time ago. This has to be false. He has merely had the IDEAS running through his head. If in fact I am wrong, and Lucas intentionall "wrote" his stories with a gradual increase in substance, then the third trilogy would be the most intellectually stimulating.

Since Lucas has decided to reurn to such child-like aspects, I don't feel as if he would be up for the challenge of making such films even if he had 1000 generations in which to accomplish it.

The new films aren't as good because they lack the ability for increased appreciation as the years unfold. This topic was started in reference to a sample poll of children. Well here's the hard truth:

I have a 6 year old cousin. He began watching the Star Wars films when he was 4. At first he only had the original trilogy but now he has both existing prequels. He's watched all five films dozens of times, and when he and I get together and talk Star Wars (as he idolizes me for being an adult Star Wars geek), he grows more involved with the movies each time he watches them. When he first watched ESB, he was bored out of his mind with the Yoda scenes, but now he's into it. He says he likes the OT more because "it's better." He's not quite sure why, but one time I asked him to seriously think about why he likes the OT more, and here's what he said: "um, it's better because...there's more in it. more stuff to think about."

"Truly amazing, the mind of a child."

There's your proof- a six year old has seen more in the OT than the PT in only 2 years of watching the movies. Now maybe in another 20 years a new generation of fans may be able to point things out to us "old-timers" and maybe not. We'll just have to see what lasts the tests of time. All of the inaccuracies between the trilogies aside, the determining factor in enjoyment of a Star Wars film is the ability continue to find more in it.

"Remember, the Force will be with you. Always."

 

That is not really proof at all except your 6 yr old cousin likes the OT better. My wife's 4 yr old nephew likes the PT better. So I guess that is your proof there. He still likes the OT, the ships and everything. Of course he can not give me any other reason he likes these movies except for the ships. He is only 4 yrs old. But I have seen my own proof that other kids like the PT as well. And I think it is up to the parents if they want their kids to see these movies.