Is the CT dragging down the overall quality of the saga?

There is no saga. There is the OT and then there is the less important backstory. Just like LOTR and Silvermerrilion- You can enjoy and understand LOTR without reading the Silmerrilion (sp but forget that !), Silmerrilion will give you some great backstory and insight (the PT won't even give you that, just contradictions and silly in jokes that don't truely work or have any emotional resonence UNLESS you've seen the OT first !), but you don't need the Silmerrilion to enjoy LOTR.


There is a Saga, but I think we're kidding ourselves if we actually see it as 6 movies straight through. It's more like 2 three-part stories.

No matter how much time passes, whether it's 20-50 years, Star Wars will always be looked at as two trilogies. There is a very distinct point between the two, and Lucas has deliberately placed "rhymes," or incidents that coincide with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd parts respectively between the two trilogies. So, it's clear that in A New Hope, we have entered a new cycle and, thus, a new story.

There is, of course, one consistent story throughout the whole thing about how tyranny rises and is brought down by people working together, but it's clear that one half is the "rise" and the other is the "fall." So, it will always be two parts of a whole and not necessarily one big 12-hour movie as McCallum has stated in the past.

We may not end up calling one the "Original Trilogy" and the other the "Prequel Trilogy," though. Maybe the "Republic Trilogy" and the "Empire Trilogy."

I think it will be clear at the end of Episode III that it's the end of one story, and the beginning of another.

 

There is a Saga, but I think we're kidding ourselves if we actually see it as 6 movies straight through. It's more like 2 three-part stories.

I don't think so. I think in time, it will all be lumped together. Though that might take a long time for die-hard fans of both to accept. But give us 3 years with every movie at home - watching them in order once a month - and it will sink in.

By the time, he does the 2007 30-year anniversary run in theatres - I'd bet the masses will accept it as a whole.

And, it's not even really two 3-part series. It has more a 1-2-3 punch. TPM is a stand alone. AOTC and EpIII will be viewed as complements. And then the Classic Trilogy to tell the 'heart' of the story.

And that is just what PT fans have to realize, the MEAT of the story doesn't happen until 4, 5 and 6. That doesn't make the PT bad, but they are still set-up.

 

I could say the same thing in reverse. That the prequels are the real meat of the story, and the classic trilogy is just the resolution.

 

You could say it - and I wouldn't be the least bit shocked that you would say it; but that would be wrong by all academic standards of story-telling and literature across spoken, written and cinematic media.

 

See, here's where the dividing of the Saga into two 3-film chunks just doesn't sit well with me...I don't buy that 1-2-3 are the set up and 4-5-6 the actual meat of the story. You could just as well say that ROTJ is the true meat of the story, all the other 5 films are the set-up.

 

If we really want to get technical about that statement - which was the least important comment in my post, OK. Then let's give it a shot at dissecting it -

The set up - Phantom Menace and probably the first half of Clones.

The heart - Last half of Clones to end of ESB

The resolution - ROTJ.

Are we all happy? Commonly, the majority of the conflict, set-up, emotion and etc. come in the latter part of Act 2 and Act 3. That is true for SW as well - IMO
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The main point I wanted to make, which was misdirected by a statement meant to do nothing but misdirect, was that I think the SW Saga is a "1-2-3-rilogy".

 

Hudnall : " SHB - Actually, while I applaud 90% of your post.

"There is no saga." Just isn't true anymore. Lucas intends it as a whole, and the complete Saga has the full arc.

The life of Anakin Skywalker - fall and the redemption.


That's the story, and I embrace it. "

To quote from the mud half of the golden saga, in the same sad tones that Qui Gon used :
" I wish that were so."

The story of Anakin Skywalker has been ruined, is so full of contradictions between the OT and the PT (story as well as qualitively and perception wise by the public it was created for), that like the Republic in the PT, ' it no longer functions.'

The quality gap alone between the two is so vast it cannot work as a unified saga. It's like two totally different filmakers created it.

I would love to embrace the 'unified saga'- as a SW fan for 27 years it was my default position. SW=good.
But I can't. I wish I could just wish my feelings away-( but thankfully the writer of *my* story gave me better dialogue ) but I can't.

The truth is that the OT is such a shining example of popular cinema and modern myth making, that for me to totally link it with the far lesser PT- to embrace the 'saga' idea- would mean I could start to lose my love and respect for the OT.
I understand GL's intention to create a saga- but the road to Gehenna is paved with good intentions.
I feel he's failed in his intention to create a unified saga.
I want a SW saga, but what he's made are two seperate groups of films.

It's what happens when you create two groups of films 20+ years apart, based upon rough outlines. The time in the middle creates a different person who creates a different story. Some things get better with time like wine. Others go bad. The pretty bottle can't disguise the fact that the new batch is vingar.

I accept the PT as a vague backstory to the OT- long as I don't focus on the detail it's ok. So I can't embrace the saga idea at the moment.

Maybe EP3 will be good enough to join the OT- here's hoping.

SHB JR

 

I don't think the PT can be considered the real "meat" of the story. At least, not yet. If Episode III ends with a seemingly definitive ending (The Republic is the Empire, all hope is lost because of the arrogance of society), then maybe it can stand alone as a separate story. But, I think things will be a bit more open-ended and there will be many things unresolved with the survival of the two Jedi and the birth of the twins. We'll see.

If it is open-ended, then the PT not only can't stand alone, but it can't be considered the meat of the whole thing because it stands to set up conflicts in the OT instead of finish the story.

There will always be a dividing line between the PT and the OT. In terms of focus (Obi/Anakin/Padme:Luke/Han/Leia), the shape of the Galaxy (Republic:Empire), the direction of the story (falling apart:rebuilding), and the two cyclical events that repeat themselves in the two trilogies.

 

Anybody notice the 1-2-3rilogy thing going on? Anybody? Anyone? Bueller?

 

Is there some signifigance I am missing?

 

After reviewing the thread and speaking with it's author, it has come to my intention that this is not a legimate OT bashing thread. A legimate OT bashing thread takes the stance the OT are worthy of bashing. The author feels the OT are just fine as they are.

Mock-debates for the purpose of making points and/or mocking other users debating styles are justifable in being called a bait, regardless of intention.

If there is someone who feels the OT is worthy of bashing and wants such a thread to bash the OT, contact the CT Forum mods and discuss it.