Why doesn't anybody "get" the acting style?

A lot of people don't really seem to "get" the acting style of the prequels. As Lucas said, it's supposed to be like how the actors acted in the movies of the thirties and fourties. And if you watch movies made in those eras, you'll see that the actors really do act and talk similar (I'm actually thinking of watching the prequels in black in white to see if they have that old feel). However, some people who do get it, or think they do, go off and say "it's just Lucas' excuse for bad acting!" Although I really disagree. It seems way too intentional.

Strilo edit: Threads based strongly on overt generalizations like this rarely go well.

 

Verrrrry dangerous, this path is. Any thread about the acting in the PT is sorta like popping your head out of your foxhole during a mortar barrage.

You answered your own question when you said it's like movies from the 30's and 40's. Your average Star Wars watcher is probably not a big fan of old black and white movies (I know some are, though, so please hold the flames). It's not just movies that old either. War movies from the 60s and 70s have dialogue that reminds me of Star Wars. Watch The Battle of the Bulge, IMO, they are similar. Even last year's Troy had the same sort of "describing the action" dialogue.

 

I get it, and I think Lucas and his cast hit that style dead on.

I can understand some people preffering a more "realistic" acting style, but I can't for the life of me figure out the people who act like the classic trilogy was any different in that regard.

I couldn't have asked for better performances in a Star Wars film. It might not be right for other kinds of movies, but it's part of what makes Star Wars special in it's own right.

 

It is true that all throughout the saga, the dialogue, acting, and story had a comfortable corny-ness to it. To be fair though, the PT has a distinct style from the OT, as the dialogue is far more formal than the OT's was. This difference in style may not work well with some people, which is fair, but others choose to see it as a failure on the part of the actor/director/writer/editor/etc...

In the end though, it really doesn't matter what was intended, what does matter is whether the films work. For some they do not, and for others, like myself, they do.

 

A lot of people are used to the dumbed down movies of today, so they don't understand a movie where every frame has purpose. And a lot of people today are just too ignorant to understand that last statement.

 

i definitely think lucas' writing was intentionally lame. i just wish the prequels had cooler dialogue like in the ot

 

I would not use a word as harsh as "lame", but it wasn't meant to be perfect acting.

 

Imagine how great Star Wars would be if Lucas went the route of GOOD acting and dialogue!

 

I understood perfectly what Lucas attempted to do with the acting and dialogue of the PT. Just a shame that soo many people consider it as "corny" dialogue and "bad" acting. Lucas wanted the style to be similar to the 30s and 40s. We're just not used to this kind of formal acting, and corny dialogue.

Fantastic Four: Women - "You're hot."
Fire Guy - "So are you."

 

^^I agree. It's the same with the "corny" balcony / love scenes. I think they're intentionally shown the way they are. They are supposed to create a contrast between the "real life" situation in AOTC and ROTS, and a dream world Anakin and Padme are dreaming up and would like to live their love in. They are shown this way to show how unrealistic this dreamworld is.

 

/\/\/\/\

Most modern films try to be (or are) 'cool' (whatever that may be... )
The PT (or SW) isn't trying to be cool, or isn't trying to live up to that trendy (and a lot of times 'dumb is ok smart is stupid'-what's up with that anyway?!) kinda thing which has nothing to do with the GFFA, or in a more general sense with the artist's intent. GL clearly doens't walk that way which upsets some parties, I guess mostly the media cause they are suckers for the cool factor anyways...

I have much respect for people who walk their own way.

 

Some might say that Star Wars is mindblowingly great already, without having to imagine, whatever that means.
From my POV the acting style is the perfect synergy of epic intergalactic tragedy & comic book action, and given the super-exotic places, characters and events that it portrays, it functions perfectly well. Any other style would feel un-Star Wars, so kudos to GL for doing it his way.

 

Yeah Star Was -is- great in part because of it's unique style.

 

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight, the acting was bad on purpose... keep telling yourselves that

 

No it's not bad in the first place.

 

I don't think you really disagree with me, I think you just don't "get" my posting style

 

Since when is bad acting a "style"?

 

It's not bad acting, it's stylized. It's meant to pay homage to the serials these movies were based on.

And it's been this way since the first Star Wars movie was released.

 

Since when is bad acting a "style"?

the acting isn't bad, the acting itself is a style, or is stylized in a way which differs greatly from the styles put into practice today.

Bad is a point of view.