Saga Point of view - George Lucas was right not to listen to the embittered fans

I agreed with everything except your dislike of the 2003 clone wars series.

 

No no - don't worry, I love it as well, I was just pointing out how a lot of people liked it despite hating the prequels. They had to have it presented to them in some kind of cult Anime form before they could admit to being cool about some things I thought were always good. There was a lot of "it's better than the films" at the time which I thought a bit odd - it is the films essentially.

 

It seems that nearly all of the SW films have faced these complaints regarding acting and dialogue. It's interesting that the media never acknowledges this.

 

Disney owns the PT. The PT are Disney/Lucasfilm movies featuring Disney/Lucasfilm characters. I've noticed prequel content being incorporated more & more into the new material being released. Shattered Empire for one example. The part of the story set on Naboo was great.

 

If you read the reviews when each original trilogy films came out, you will see they were labelled with the same criticisms as the first two prequel films. Doesn't mean I agree with the criticisms, but it's just a funny comparison I noticed. My mother, uncle, and grandfather have all told me a lot of people were thrown off with TESB and ROTJ when they both first released. TESB for it's cliffhanger ending and ROTJ for it being a lot more kid friendly (Ewoks), plus having a finale too similar to ANH (Death Star attack). None of the Star Wars films have ever been immune from criticism, but now in days critics tend to be more of a herd that jumps on a bandwagon when it comes to reviewing films. There are a very few I trust because of this, even if some of them don't share my views on all films.

 

Except ANH was widely praised & received 12 Oscar nominations (including Best Screenplay & Best Picture) & won 7. So there's that.

 

I know. I'm just saying the original films received a lot of the same criticism as the prequels did from some critics back in the day that are. I definitely don't agree with those critics. I'm just making an observation based on the original reviews I've read over the years and three witnesses who saw the films from back in the day.

 

Fair enough. It's true that in a few cases they received some of the same criticism given they were also old fashioned adventure films. However even on the same topics the criticism was nowhere near as severe as with Eps 1 & 2. Also one thing that was universally praised was the special effects of the OT. Everyone was blown away by them & they each won the Oscar for visual effects. The special effects of the PT were a common criticism, whether that was fair or not.

 

All very true, but again, I don't agree with those criticisms either. I will add that my mom doesn't like the prequels so I know they weren't as well received by others, even though my uncle and grandfather both like the prequels. Each film has it's faults, but I love them all to the point where the faults have no bearing on my personal enjoyment of the saga.

 

I think some of it was because when the first two OT, films came out they were something new and different, f/x spectacles. By the time of the PT, F/X spectacles were common place and stood out less.

 

True but films like TLOTR were praised for their effects, not criticised. They won a host of awards. The prequels were only nominated for 2 visual effects Oscars & lost both.

 

This article has completely made my day!

 

Having a lots of money made is because original saga is much more commercial,than Prequel.
Revenge of the Sith is a masterpiece, like ancient greek theater tragedies,but a lot of people do not understand it.
See for example when Anakin,after killing separatists on Mustafar,stays and look at the lava and cries.

Another thing,while becoming evil,Anakin is loosing his face,he is behind a mask,he is loosing his voice and so on.
So we are seeing a transformation of Anakin into Darth Vader.
I think the message is very clear,human beings are changing.
Anakin becomes Darth Vader,because what he wishes and thinks which leads to what he do.
But also Anakin is deceived to do what he is doing. Anakin is deceived by Darth Sidious .

 

Alot of PT characters and references are appearing in "New EU" materials. In Aftermath, we see Mr Bones.... a modified B1 Battledroid. There are direct references to the Clone Wars. In The Comics, we get Naboo... in the Lando Comics, we get Mas Amedda (one of my favorite mysterious PT characters), and of course, Rebels has very strong ties to the TCW. Disney is not ignoring the legacy of the PT.

 

Like or Loath the PT it allowed Star Wars to reach a whole new generation of fans. Similarly there are kids now who love the OT because they're growing up on TCW and Rebels. It doesn't matter to them that the effects seem dated, or some of the fight sequences arnt as crazy because there a recurring characters throughout the saga, they like so many of us love the star wars universe. How many other films from 1977 do you think a 10 year old would think to go back and watch? But they do with star wars because it has relevance to one of their favorite shows now. If they stop making star wars stuff, or only make it accessible to fans of the OT then it will become a lost relic from a different era of film making and it will die with those who first loved it. I love the fact that outside of classwork i can talk to my kids about star wars, it doesnt matter that they think Commander Cody is way cooler than Boba Fett.

 

Are you saying that this is an example of why the OT was more highly regarded when it was released than when the PT was released?

 

As I see it, the basic fact of the matter is that, had Lucas simply given what the supposed majority of the fans wanted, or had simply handed the whole thing off to 20th Century Fox back in 1978, we would have gotten 6 or 7 movies within five years, instead of two trilogies separated by 16 years. And they all would've been pretty much the same story over and over again. I'm not saying they would've been bad, but they would've been much less complex and interesting. So, I'm glad Lucas stuck to his guns on both the OT and the PT. They're not perfect, but they're not cookie-cutter, either.

 

ROTS was the best reviewed SW movie since ANH. ESB and especially ROTJ got mixed reviews just like TPM and AOTC.
If Internet was around 1980 and 1983 in the similar form to 1999, you'd see a lot of adult fans complaining about similar issues (maybe less about acting or dialogue, but certainly about things not being the way they wanted them to be).
There's a reason why most die hard fans came from kids who watched Star Wars with a lot less critical eyes.

 

Again,this is a Science Fiction movie.
If some people are saying "computers are bad,digital effects are bad",
they should see this is not George Lucas idea.
Luke Skywalker is having a robotic arm,we have R2-D2 and C3PO,
which are robots and are positive characters.
So,no offense,if someone is not liking George Lucas ideeas she or he can
write her or his own version of Star Wars.

 

There are some old 83 intranet posts where fans complained about the emperor and his lightning and why Vader isn't the boss of the Empire. So even in the net's most basic beginnings, there were people bitching about Star Wars on it.

 

If the internet would have been around during the run of the OT you better believe that they would be facing some very harsh criticism! No movie franchise is immune to the disgusting, well mostly disgusting whining and criticism that is found on the internet. Videos, blogs, forums etc make up a lot of the places where most of the trash is seen or heard.

The internet just gives any clown with a pulse a soapbox in which to stand on while they spew some nasty verbal diarrhea about what's "kewl" and what isn't. And the internet is accessible to loads of people that can see all this junk for themselves. But yes, if the internet was around back then they would have came down hard on the OT too. It really makes me long for those good ol' days when there was no internet and everything revolved around "word of mouth". I do realize I am on the internet right now while stating that, and it does seem a little hypocritical of me. But I never said I was perfect, right?

 

Hey Andy, been listening to much The Donald lately? Need a I get you, I do, but you seem a bit agitated today in comparison to some of your other posts .

 

No I am all good. Thanks for the support though. It seems as of late there are more people creeping around the PT boards trying to "prove" that the PT was a failure and all that nonsense. If people don't like the PT, my advice is stop whining about it! It gets old and it disrupts the fun for people that do enjoy it.

I don't care if someone hates it, that is their business. But when others try to make a case and prove that the PT is hated by this imaginary "majority of fans" that they dream up and try to pass off as proof is beyond ridiculous. Like I said I don't mind someone saying "I don't really like the PT" I can respect that, even though I don't agree. But when they are trying to make their opinion mean more than it does by coming up with some kind of "stats" or whatever junk they use to back up their opinion, NO! That stuff needs to go. Just state an opinion and stand by what you say. That is the way I see it.

 

Anyone who would belittle someone else over something as silly as a movie is utterly ridiculous, disliking the PT is fine, discussing what you dislike about the PT is fine but going after people's taste in movies, and saying stuff like "it's garbage", doesn't just belittle fans and George Lucas, it insults every single person who worked on that movie and did the best they could possibly do with what they had on it. Constantly being belittled over these movies is why ST haters in the Pro-PT camp feel vindicated for bashing TFA and the ST.

I'm sorry, but when it comes to LOTR and AOTC, LOTR TT won no contest in the visual effects department. Especially if you look at all the special features for both movies, LOTR TT won because it looked better, and believe me, I love both movies.

 

I understand why some folks will want to trash TFA and what not. Me personally I had my issues with the marketing. Now I don't care over that no more. But I do hope these movies do well and are enjoyable. At the end of the day, the ST just like the OT and PT are all SW. And I never want to see SW fail.

I do get annoyed with some fans attitudes that think the ST is some sort of do over for the "failure" of the PT. That annoys me. Because it is in no way shape or form making up for anything. It is a sequel trilogy to an already existing saga.