Saga What's your favourite SW Movie Pairing?

I know it's a bit of a redundant question, but what's your Favourite Movie Pairing?

There are multiple discussions about one's favourite trilogies, favourite movies etc. but I recently discovered how well ROTS and ANH work in tandem.

Both movies have a certain "pureness" and a pretty stringet focus that the other films miss, which tend to have a lof more plot (e.g. AOTC) or distracting elements (e.g. ROTJ). ROTS, on the other hand, focuses heavily on Anakin, whereas the galaxy's fate and the birth of the Empire is more a background thing. ANH is similar, with a clear focus on Luke. The Empire, its oppression and the galaxy are backdrop (there is just one line about resolving the Senate etc.). There is also the contrast of ROTS being this grand and operatic finale with ANH being quite spartan and small, even remote. Morever, the second half or ROTS really delves into dark colors and images, whereas the first half of ANH is very bright, signifying a new dawn. Later, ANH turns a lot darker - which makes it a bit like a circle - only to end with a big bang. There is also the connecting line that ROTS opens with a rather large action scene that contains lots of little cliffhangers, very much like ANH ends.

Ultimately, I'd even say one could only watch ROTS and ANH and still get a lot the Star Wars story and mythology and .... essence. One would start in the middle of something (very much like ANH started originally, just with less exposition), witness the fall of individuals and society, restart with Luke and finish with the (in this case definite) destruction of the Empire and return of freedom.

Once you consider that said person woulod essentially miss 8 hours and four films, it's extraordinary how well it could still work.

What are your thoughts? Is there another tandem of films that could stand on their own or just complement each other extremly well?
I just now started thinking about TPM/ROTJ ....

 

Absolutely agree about ROTS and ANH. Sith builds to such a huge, operatic climax that ANH almost leaves you taken aback by how comparatively small it is. It almost feels like gritty, more grounded reboot to the franchise, a "Batman Begins" to Sith's "Batman and Robin" (not in terms of quality, but in terms of shift in style and focus). But that's not to say the story threads from ROTS don't flow wonderfully into ANH, because they do. The events of the clone wars, quite appropriately, become a distant mythological memory, and the little mentions of the senate and the greater political motions happening abroad do a lot to remind you that this world is very much a continuation of where we left off in the prequels. I think my favorite little thing about the pairing is the implied evolution of Darth Vader. When we leave Vader in Episode 3, his villainy is a tragic thing, his allying with the Empire born out of the loss of everything else he ever knew. One would desire, especially if you're watching these films for the first time, to be able to get some emotional connection with Vader again, to see if there's any traces of Anakin left inside there. Of course, ANH shuts down those expectations immediately. Darth Vader strolls in, cold and uncaring, and the film depicts him with fearful awe. The scene, though unintentional at the time, now communicates a clear, chilling message to the saga viewer: Anakin is gone.

If I had to center on another pairing, I think the one that resonates for me is the pairing that has become known as one of the quintessential "original/sequel" pairings of all time: ANH and ESB. In the context of Luke's journey, these are such vastly, brilliantly contradictory films. ANH is an overall uplifting film that sells you on its mix of plucky, Flash Gordon charm and fairy tale mysticism. ESB takes the same elements and uses them for what is essentially a two hour character piece/meditation on moral relativism. The difference in cinematography is in many ways what sells it. ANH is shot like classic George Lucas; documentarian with a lean towards deep-focus wide shots echoing the pulp serials of old. Peter Schulitziy's work on ESB at once embraces pure Hollywood gloss and introspective, quiet emotionality. The result is a combination of movies that, as you said, show two significantly different views of the Star Wars universe, and for the saga viewer, keeps the franchise on its toes even 5 films in.

 

This is a very difficult question to answer and I suspect that it may frequently change depending on my mood, but as of right now, I'm saying ROTS and ROTJ

As the titles of the eps themselves imply, the two are the same, yet different. They simply highlight how both Skywalkers go through very similar events, but the son succeeds where the father failed. That simple

 

ROTS & ROTJ. Anakin's fall and Anakin's redemption. The fall of the Republic and the return of the Republic. The other four films, among their other aspects are building up to those events.

 

TPM and ANH. While they are both epics (like the rest of the saga), there's a purity and a sense of adventure/escapism that isn't replicated in the remaining four episodes. In my opinion, they represent Star Wars in its purest form.

 

Excellent thread.

Love all the pairings that have been mentioned so far...

I kinda dig TPM-AOTC as a colourful, confused, discursive "backstory" / "build-up": hidden cities, water symbolism, Watto, Jar Jar, full-flesh Anakin, the still-just-about-human Palpatine...

I also dig AOTC-ROTS as the "Clone War", epic-romance, digi-cinema pairing -- bye-bye droids, hello cloooooones. Those implacable jazz riffs...

And also AOTC-ROTJ for their "exploitation" elements (bikini Leia, ripped-midriff Padme) and just the fact that they otherwise seem to clash and contrast with each other so much...

In fact, putting AOTC on after ROTJ, is kinda shocking. AOTC is so rich, having something of the texture and inviting obscurity of a great novel, while ROTJ is markedly more brash and clear-cut. Well, from a certain POV...

I definitely hear the brilliance of ANH-TESB, but I would also raise you the brilliance of TESB-ROTJ, which are the more-obviously dark-light, or complication-resolution courtship/wedding...

An underrated one is TPM-TESB, which Frank Darabont might have first outlined in 2000, in an interview in which he said that he'd put TPM right up there with TESB, stating that TESB was "the darkest and most adult of the original trilogy", allowing the reader to draw whatever inference they may. I like that because the connections between these two movies -- superficially so dissimilar -- haven't really been gone over yet. "How feel you?"; "Cold, sir." / "I feel cold..." Yoda, stop bugging those Skywalkers. You're making them... cold.

Our resident TFN-er HevyDevy has become fond of expounding the many links between TPM and ROTS: the saga's ultimate oscillation between "heaven" and "hell". Gotta say I like the explosive call-and-response between the two. The decline of Jar Jar, the mechanization of the galaxy, the rending of innocence; Lucas' first and last blast of epic space opera razzmatazz...

One more to throw into the thread is AOTC-TESB. Mainly, I guess, because people are fond of proclaiming the brilliance of TESB and the supposed turgidity of AOTC. What I'm struck by is how dark, narrow, and claustrophobic (poetically speaking) TESB feels, while AOTC is courtyards and colonnades and arenas and young love...identity crises in gloom and sunlight...

Don't leave GL's other movies out of it. "THX" and "American Graffiti" whole-heartedly deserve to get in on the action. Many intriguing resonances between them all. More pairings cry out for attention and adumbration.

And looking beyond merely the movies of The Maker himself, I might also go with TPM and "Lost In Translation". The Sofia factor...

Or I could just pair off TPM with itself. "Always two there are."

Might as well come out and say it: this saga is made for pairing!

 

Those two are the most "painterly" of the Saga IMO. An eye-feasting Romanticist visual poetry slam. Definitely the pair that most gives me Stendhal syndrome. The rich, intense colour of Gaguin or Van Gogh combined with the compositional drama of Delacroix and the multi-layered-ness of Velazquez...it's enough to make you giddy.

 

Great thread idea, this is a difficult question. Particularly when with the tie-off of ROTS's completion, the six movies of the (current) saga were all intertwined so extensively. (btw interesting stuff Cryo, lots to think about!)

I'm gonna go with ROTS/ROTJ for now. It's the first pairing I really noticed extensively, and to me holds some of the strongest links in the series.
The paralleled nature of Luke's and Anakin's journeys is pretty obvious even without analysing it all that much, but there is a lot to it. Anakin and Luke are, of course, 23 at the end of each trilogy respectively. I think the karmic balance between each trilogy satisfyingly rewards a lot of repeated viewings. Return of the Jedi was made to conclude and answer Revenge of the Sith. Anakin's/Vader's arc make more sense when the saga is watched as a whole, and I think if you dismiss the movies as not a coherent whole you're really missing out.

One of my favourite aspects of the ROTS/ROTJ pairing is added context and fleshing out of the nature of Vader's subserviance to The Emperor in ROTJ. Vader abandons his old persona on realisation he was responsible for Padme's death (even though technically he wasn't), despite severing his link to his Jedi family and betraying his conscience specifically to save her. The broken man that has lost everything, while being hinted at in ANH and ESB, really comes to the surface in ROTJ. Lines such as "It is too late for me son", "You don't know the power of the dark side. I must obey my Master", and "Obi-Wan has taught you well" have a sad resonance that wasn't as prominently there before.


Some of the biggest mirrors...

1) "Throne rooms" (Anakin vs Dooku rematch / Luke vs Vader rematch). Copying and pasting this one, so it may be familiar:

- The settings; Invisible Hand / Deathstar II
- Obi-Wan: "Well have you noticed the shields are still up?" / The Deathstar shields are still up on arrival.
- Both duels happen at the top of a spire, that elevators are taken to reach the tops of.
- The last space battle of each trilogy rages outside our duel setting, visible through the window. Where the Seperatists are attempting to flee with Palpatine hostage, and are blocked by Star Destroyer equivalents, the Rebels are trapped by similar ships.
- Sidious watches the duel from a chair in both scenes. He gloats as both Dooku and Vader are overpowered by the younger duelist.
- Anakin removes Palpatine's cuffs with the force after the duel / Sidious removes Luke's cuffs using the force on Luke's arrival.
- After coaxing from the current Sith apprentice, both Anakin and Luke tap into the darkside as they go all out on Dooku and Vader, the camera panning right to left as they attack. Luke requires far more antagonism before he snaps.
- At Dooku's defeat, Anakin holds sabers at his throat / At Vader's defeat, Luke holds his saber at Vader's throat. Sidious encourages them to finish the Sith apprentices off.
- Luke looks at his robotic hand and sees a similarity between himself and Vader / Anakin has nothing but hate for Dooku, and never makes a similar revelation.
- Anakin symbolically takes the blue saber in his robot hand, perhaps symbolising he is leaving his good side behind. He takes the red saber in his flesh hand, possibly an omen. Also, there is symbolism in the two colours representing the dual path he must choose between.
- Where Luke lets go of his hate and defiantly throws away his saber, Anakin takes a Sith saber from Dooku and decapitates him with it. The contrast in colours should be noted; green for Luke, red and blue for Anakin.
- Lastly, the scenes end with Anakin carrying an unconscious brother/father figure Obi-Wan, and Luke carrying a dying father.


2) "Turns" - Anakin's turn to the Sith and return to the Jedi are inverted in each film:

- Anakin turns on Jedi Master Mace / Vader turns on Sith Master Palpatine.
- He is influenced by and ultimately joins the last Sith alive, Palpatine / He is influenced by and ultimately joins the last Jedi alive, Luke.
- Palpatine is an implied father, Luke is his son.
- Palpatine gives himself up to Anakin, who lights his saber at Palpatine's back / Luke gives himself up to Vader, who lights Luke's own saber at Luke's back.
- Palpatine is turned over to the Jedi Masters / Luke is turned over to The Emperor.
- During an intense confrontation, as Anakin watches on, Palpatine is fried by his own lightning deflected back at him by Mace / As Anakin watches on, Palpatine fries Luke with lightning.
- Unable to let go of Palpatine, and by extension Padme, Anakin intervenes and saves Palpatine, helping kill Mace and joining the Sith / Vader lets go of his hate, intervenes and kills Palpatine (and himself) to save Luke, returning as a Jedi.


3) "Masking/Unmasking" - There is a neat reversal between Anakin/Vader getting put in the suit vs Vader/Anakin taking off his mask:

- Anakin is immolated after Obi-Wan dismembers him and screams about their lost bond and Anakin's failure / Anakin is cremated on rejoining Luke, with a kind exchange and dying in Luke's arms.
- Anakin is abandoned by Obi-Wan / Luke doesn't give up on Anakin.
- Luke takes Anakin from the Deathstar II to his Endor funeral in an Imperial shuttle / Sidious takes Vader from Mustafar in a similar ship.
- Vader is coldly constructed (without anasthetic) and masked / Anakin is warmly unmasked by Luke at Anakin's request to see Luke with his own eyes.

 

Well, you sir... you are making me giddy with those citations, that's all I know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome

The description from there...

I'm reminded of those weird celestial orbs on each of the prequel-movie posters by Drew Struzan -- two on each.

And Delacroix...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugène_Delacroix

The guy behind that famous "Liberty" painting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Leading_the_People

"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause."


BTW, while this says very little about artistic discernment, I took a colour test recently and came out with a perfect score.

I don't know if it's a symptom or a cause of watching the prequels so much. Love its colour palettes regardless.

Here's the test if you're interested:

http://www.xrite.com/online-color-test-challenge

Thanks, HD.

Wonderful post of your own.

I very much agree with this. The sadness of Yoda's death is also heightened considerably after the completion of the PT and ROTS -- in my opinion.

In fact, if you skip from ROTS straight then to ROTJ, you discover where Yoda has "exiled" himself, without all the hoo-har of TESB and Luke's impatience, taking you right to the tragedy of Yoda himself.

The Han-Leia scene on the Ewok bridge is more resonant after the love scenes of ROTS, too. Particularly the sealing of Anakin and Padme's fates. In simply saying "I'm sorry", Han shows a maturity alien to the increasingly dark and desperate Anakin that emerges as ROTS thunders to its denouement.

Your categorized links really do go some way to emphasizing the elaborate cross-stitching at work in the Star Wars saga. I know you've posted them before, but great going again.

 

My favourite pairing is ROTS/ROTJ for all the reasons (awesomely) stated by others before me. I'd like to talk a bit about ANH/ROTJ because there are some contrasts and similarities that I enjoy:

-the sequence on Tatooine in ANH introduces an inexperienced, naive Luke (dressed in white) ; ROTJ re-introduces a more mature Luke (dressed in black)
-Obi-Wan subtly tries to guilt Luke into doing what he wants (going with him to Alderaan, confronting Vader): You must do what you feel is right, of course vs Then the Emperor has already won.
-Luke is the key element in the attack on the first Death Star (outside the DS) ; in ROTJ, he is totally removed from that battle (inside the DS2)
-the difference in scale between the two most important moments in each movie: the Death Star explosion in ANH (accompanied by a big bang) and Luke throwing his lightsaber away (accompanied by a clank)
-Leia insults Chewie (big walking carpet); Leia is kind towards Wicket (jittery little thing)
-Leia loses her home ; Leia regains family
-Han putting others first: coming back to assist Luke ; being willing to let Leia go
-Luke, at the beginning of his journey, looking at the binary sunset, yearning for more ; Luke, at the end of his journey, staring into the flames of his father's funeral pyre, reflecting on what he's learned.

I also like how ANH feels fresh and is really charming and a lot of fun, while ROTJ feels more tired, but has a solid emotional core. All in all, I think they kinda work well together

 

Did the Republic infact return or was Palpatine just eliminated?? As far as pairings go, i always like to make a trilogy of the 6 George produced grouping episodes 1n2 3n4 and 5n6. Of those 3 pairs the 3n4 pairing is the best as both films feature conflict between Anakin Vader and Obi-Wan. Then 1n2 which focus on Padme n Anakins relationship and Palpatines political moves.

 

Awesome post.

Those contrasts you picked out are brilliant.

How you noticed that one in bold I'll never know. Fantastic.

You've really put across what is special about that whole pairing -- and what makes ROTJ (and the OT) click (in part) as an epic reckoning.

I think I might agree with your general assessment of the two pictures at the end, too. Just an all-round super contribution. Thanks for that.

 

Yes the Rebellion won the war and formed the "New Republic."

 

Cryogenic Thanks ^^

Another ROTS/ROTJ contrast: Obi-Wan saying I will do what I must and igniting his lightsaber (he's able to look past his relationship with Anakin and recognize that he's become a threat that must be dealt with) ; Luke turning his lightsaber off and saying I will not fight you, father (the fact that Vader is his father is what allows Luke to stop himself).

There's also Vader's Obi-Wan has taught you well remark that might work as a bridge between these two sequences (that are also linked through the placing of Obi-Wan and Luke at the top of stairs with Anakin at the bottom). Dunno, I'm kinda shaky here.

 

I believe it's the fact that he saw what he was becoming when he slashed Vader's hand. The fact that Vader was his father didn't stop his decision to confront him.

 

I'd probably go with ROTS/ROTJ. I dig the way Sith gives us faint glimpses of hope and beauty amidst the more constant surface of ruin, while ROTJ hides moments of darkness in an otherwise brighter atmosphere. And both films pack some of the biggest emotional punches of the series.

 

What I love about ROTS and ANH is that ROTS is very action heavy. Everything is happening at such a frenzied pace, its like being in a roller-coaster ride but instead of having that awesome after effect its quite gloomy. By ANH rolling in it gives us time to breathe and take in what happens, introduce the new characters and reintroducing the old (seeing Vader for the first time in his most coldest for example). Plus I love exposition... The discussion at the death star about the rebels stealing the lost data tapes is one of my favourite conversations in the saga, and resonates with real life situations in how the public wake up from a cruel deception.

 

Are you sure about that?

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/New_Republic

 

That's EU Legends.

 

Wow great point, now tell me whats that big wooden thing I open everyday to get out of my house

 

Hmm... my favorite Star Wars film pairing. I hadn't really thought about that one before, but I think mine would have to be TESB/RotJ. It's pretty much impossible for me to just watch one without watching the other too. They flow into one another very well, I think, whereas with ANH/TESB, there's a certain 'jolt' that I get whenever I watch both films back-to-back. But I think that was the intent of TESB, because it's the film where the villains emerge victorious. You wouldn't expect the sequel of ANH to start off with the villains kicking the heroes' asses and then proceed to keep on doing that for the entirety of the film.

 

We can probably do without sniping at one another.

Just to recap: at this point, EU/Legends material is considered relevant but not definitive as far as the Saga forum is concerned. It's fine to bring up, but it's also fine for someone else to not consider it 'binding.'

I would also just point out that the people making the new films have said they won't be following the EU/Legends storyline, but it's unknown if that means that there will or won't be a New Republic in the new films.

 

What Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn said.
Will there be a Rebellion led gov't in the ST? Most likely. Will it be called the New Republic? Far too early to tell. Thought you had something concrete on that front The Supreme Chancellor that the rest of us did not know. At this point its all speculation. Just curious.

 

Inspired thread topic. I'm getting this image of Samnz snapping upright from a deep sleep at three in the morning: "Eureka! Sith and A New Hope!" (furniture store security guard runs up shining his flashlight: "Who are you, and how did you get in here?")

I'm going for the big swing with The Phantom Menace and Return of the Jedi. Okay, so, there's the obvious fact that they bookend the saga. Probe deeper, however, for all the delightful bits of contrasting, complementing and defiant crisscrossing:

Two exceptionally stoic and cooled Jedi Knights en route to settle a seemingly humdrum trade dispute.
Two infamously bumbling droids dispatched (half)unknowingly as bait into the lion's den.

Qui-Gon lubricating immediate plot logistics fairly easily with some Jedi mind trickery over the corpulent, goodhearted Boss Nass—soon followed by planet core 'big fish' monster encounter.
Luke attempting a similar approach with the Oriental-like rotund, Jabba the Hutt, only to be answered with a laugh of mockery—soon followed by Rancor monster encounter.

Padme slight-of-hand introduction.
Leia slight-of-hand introduction.

Ani's podracing chariot duel with Sebulba.
Luke's speeder bike ramming contest with scout trooper.

Qui-Gon saber deflecting an oncoming droid speeder bike.
Luke saber deflecting an oncoming scout srooper speeder bike.

Gungans and their hidden underwater city—serving, in part, Palpatine's grand scheme.
Ewoks and their hidden treetop village—wryly, unexpectedly thwarting Palpatine's grand scheme.

Slapstick Jar Jar sling-shot backfire.
Slapstick Wicket bola backfire.

Formalism, chivalry, cosmopolitan settings, towering monastic orders, bureaucratic narrative.
Pirates, jailbreaks, swampy mystic hermits, WWII-style "dam busting" and straight-up, seat-of-the-pants, hotdogging.

Dismantling droid army signal from orbit.
Dismantling Death Star shield from the ground.

Destroying droid control ship from within.
Destroying Death Star from within.

Jedi vs. Sith without backstory.
Jedi vs. Sith with entire backstory.

Darth Maul down the shaft.
The Emperor down the shaft.

Qui-Gon funeral pyre.
Anakin funeral pyre.

I'm sure there's more that escapes me at the moment.