The evolving taste of a Sci-Fi fan

Opening the perverebial can.

Have you noticed that there seems to be a new evolution in sci-fi storytelling? There seems to be a trend that the science fiction fan is looking to go towards... Special Effects are not enough.

I remember that night on May 22nd, when I was in a line made of 400 fans waiting to see the revelation that came to awe us with it's viuals and disapoint us with it's story. While in the front of the line around 10pm, two hours 'til showtime, I notice a group of forty people in a line for a different movie. These people were of the same multifaceted background that the 400+ starwars fans were. I asked one of these people what they were going to see. They said 'The Matrix.' Ah yes, that movie that came out two weeks before star wars, I thought.

Well after seeing Episode I 10 times in theaters I was pretty much tuckered out on the idea. So I went and saw the Matrix and suddenly I was as energized as the day I saw ANH for the first time.

Here was a story of a man(Neo) discovering his own powers and learning how to put faith in himself and his abilities. The story was well crafted and the visuals enhanced that story into a masterpiece. And the story has literary themes! The Matrix was like watching all three of the star wars films at the same time.

Evolution proves that groovy special effects are not enough to keep the science fiction fan satisfied. Even in the second week, Rush Hour 2 beat planet of the apes in weekend box office sales. We like to think! We like to see things blow up! And we like to feel empathy with the characters.

We want to see Han and Leia argue and then make up.(that's what made ESB so great; luke's story was only 1/4 of what was going on in that movie. Could you imagine Empire with the story as: Luke escapes Hoth; Luke goes into Training; Luke gets his butt kicked by the Darkside? No Han and Leia story? You could have titled the movie TPM if it didn't have Han and Leia.

Speaking of TPM: I still watch it. I fast forward through every scene with Jake Lloyd. Heck! To be honest I usually only watch the lightsaber duel at the end of the video. But when I stick in the Matrix and I can't miss a single scene. The story captures me.

George Lucas can direct, he can produce, he's an amazing editor. As a writer he's not that great. It took him four drafts to get ANH sold to a Studio. He didn't even come up with the force until that fourth draft. Could you imagine if the force had been replaced with Kyber-Crystals? The problem Lucas is having with the prequels is that he's only writing one draft per film! He doesn't have to answer to anyone to tell him to make the story better, anymore. Except for maybe the fans come box office time.

As a producer and story author he's made some wonderful movies...For example: Willow. Willow was a story he wrote and then he turned it over to a gifted screenwriter. I can tell you now George did not write the diaolgue and inuendo filled situations that made the chemistry between Sorsha and Madmartigan come alive.

"A special effect without a story is a very boring thing - George Lucas" well let's hope the rest of the prequel movies are 'stories' rather than 'special effects.'

I'll see AOTC once. Heck, I'll see it opening night. But if the story is lame then I'm not going to it twice. Or ten times for that matter. I'm in it for the story. Not for my fanatic convictions that say: it is star wars therfore it's good.

I own the Matrix on video, but I don't own TPM.

So who wants to respond with praise or scourn? Do you worst.

Opening the perverebial can.

So opened...

Have you noticed that there seems to be a new evolution in sci-fi storytelling? There seems to be a trend that the science fiction fan is looking to go towards... Special Effects are not enough.[.i]

True enough.

I remember that night on May 22nd, when I was in a line made of 400 fans waiting to see the revelation that came to awe us with it's viuals and disapoint us with it's story.

On May 22nd, I was in bed sleeping comfortably, having already seen TPM since it was released three days earlier.

While in the front of the line around 10pm, two hours 'til showtime, I notice a group of forty people in a line for a different movie. These people were of the same multifaceted background that the 400+ starwars fans were. I asked one of these people what they were going to see. They said 'The Matrix.' Ah yes, that movie that came out two weeks before star wars, I thought.

You thought wrong, dude. Matrix came out two months before TPM. It was released on March 31. Anyhoo, I'm sure those guys were either a)jerking with you or b)jerking with you.

Well after seeing Episode I 10 times in theaters I was pretty much tuckered out on the idea. So I went and saw the Matrix and suddenly I was as energized as the day I saw ANH for the first time.

LOL! So it took you 10 viewings to determine you didn't like TPM? Could it be that you simply got "tuckered out" on TPM because of your excessive screenings?

Here was a story of a man(Neo) discovering his own powers and learning how to put faith in himself and his abilities. The story was well crafted and the visuals enhanced that story into a masterpiece. And the story has literary themes! The Matrix was like watching all three of the star wars films at the same time.

Bah! Sacriligious propoganda!

Evolution proves that groovy special effects are not enough to keep the science fiction fan satisfied. Even in the second week, Rush Hour 2 beat planet of the apes in weekend box office sales. We like to think! We like to see things blow up! And we like to feel empathy with the characters.

Evolution proves that, eh?

Speaking of TPM: I still watch it. I fast forward through every scene with Jake Lloyd. Heck! To be honest I usually only watch the lightsaber duel at the end of the video.

Now wait a minute, I thought you were talking about the story? You're trying to blame TPM for not having a story, then you admit to fastforwarding through the whole thing to get to the lightsabers. What's the deal, bub?

George Lucas can direct, he can produce, he's an amazing editor. As a writer he's not that great. It took him four drafts to get ANH sold to a Studio. He didn't even come up with the force until that fourth draft. Could you imagine if the force had been replaced with Kyber-Crystals? The problem Lucas is having with the prequels is that he's only writing one draft per film!

Completely untrue. There were other drafts to TPM and AotC. Right now, I'm sure he's already working on a ROUGH draft for Episode III. He admits he's not the best writer in the world, but he knows better than to just write one draft. He's not that incompetent with a pen.

"A special effect without a story is a very boring thing - George Lucas" well let's hope the rest of the prequel movies are 'stories' rather than 'special effects.'

TPM had a story. Sorry you missed it, it was a pretty good one.

I'll see AOTC once.

Hah! Yeah right...

Heck, I'll see it opening night. But if the story is lame then I'm not going to it twice. Or ten times for that matter.

Nobody's asking you to. Not even Lucas. It's your own fault if you see it multiple times before deciding you don't like it.

I'm in it for the story. Not for my fanatic convictions that say: it is star wars therfore it's good.

Good. I agree with you here.

I own the Matrix on video, but I don't own TPM.

I own TPM on video, but I don't own the Matrix.

[

...oh yeah, I liked "The Matrix" too. It was good and I'm looking forward to the next one.

The biggest difference between the SW movies and sci-fi films like "The Matrix" is that SW is geared for viewers of all ages, and as such must cater to that broad audience in terms of thematic material and content. The R-rated "Matrix" is targeted for young adults, and of course have license to be much more intense and graphic than anything Lucas can do with his PG-rated saga.

I don't think evolution in society or psychology has anything to do with it. It's all about who the filmmakers are targeting their movies for.

I saw The Matrix on opening night and went initially out of the FX hype because I didn't think the movie was going to be good for much else. I don't care for Keanu Reeves as an actor and still don't, even after The Matrix, the best thing they did was limit his dialog. Anyway, the story was great and was balanced by the FX instead of overpowering like they could have easily done. I bought the DVD and I watch it occasionally but I just don't get the same feeling as I get with SW or other epic films. Maybe it is the comic book hero overtones or the obvious John Woo rips but I just don't see the movie going past "that was a good film" over time. I think the religious overtones and subplots were brillant though.
I mean you could sit here and say the same thing about the SW concepts. GL borrowed heavily from Isaac Asimov's Foudation Trilogy, Flash Gordon, and Kurosowa's Seven Samurai(and others) for his story but he put it together in mythical proportions that has stayed strong for 25 years with no signs of letting up. If you had to compare TPM & The Matrix strictly as single films I would say The Matrix hands down..but...TPM is part of a trilogy in which that is part of an epic so it has to adhere to a specific writing structure. I would have liked to have seen some things different in TPM but I am sure it will all make sense in EPIII...we can all hope.