[bubba966]

Here's a good laugh.

http://www.onetusk.com/otjournal/2005/05/22/notes-taken-while-viewing-star-wars-3/

Sure, it's pretty harsh (I didn't think it was that bad). But it's damn funny reading...

[Johng316]

Bubba, that's great.

Here, check this out for Star Wars fans:  http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html

Very creative.  My favorite:  Thai fighters.  LOL

John

[Jon L]

What's absolutely incredible is how much $$$ Episodes I-VI have/will make around the world.  

So in fact, George Lucas is a genius of previously unimagined proportions b/c he's the one laughing all the way to the bank while we "shitheads" complain and still watch them!!

[Mathew_M]

I haven't seen the latest one yet however I don't think George Lucas should feel any pride in the junk food that the prequels have been.  Here you have what is supposed to be this tragic tale of love, betrayel, good vs. evil yet I can't shake the image of Darth Vader on the front of a box of Cheezits.  Lucas seems to be an intelligent man so I have to think he's pulling some crass joke on the rest of the modernized world.

[powerbench]

Well having seen all the films since the original in 77or78 when i was 10 and growing up  with the star wars sage being part of my life.My brothers and (I have one who is building a full scale Vader  uniform) we grew up with all the toys and figures.I surely can identify with the  films.I have since been a fan of star wars and scifi.when i watched the earlier films your imagination took you to that place  whether it was Tatoine or Hoth without alot of flash.The special effects may have been cutting edge not perfect but your imagination made for the difference.

I think as technology  increased Lucas has lost the mystique and wonder of the first films. He has substituted technology for imagination trying to tie up loose ends of the plots between each film.Anyone who has  vaguely followed the movies knows what to expect.so the plots are no longer a suprise.I just didnt feel challenged in using my imagination  there was a  lack of wonderment when watching the last film.

[nathanm]

Very well put. powerbench.

The fact that they can do anything they want with CGI seems to have led towards an overload of "stuff".  It's like, 'well we have the computer power to put 20,000 spaceships in this shot instead of 1000 like last year so let's do it.'      The density of the new movies is just an order of magnitude greater.  Every battle has ten times the amount of ships in it.  But it doesn't necessarily make for more excitement, just more clutter IMO. They introduce so many cool environments\species but there's no time to pay any of them off.  Like the wookie planet for instance, or that cool place with the rainbow colored plants.   There's so many throw-away characters which the movie spends little time on.  

And look at all the amazing new powers they gave to R2D2 fer cripes sakes.  This droid was kicking ass; he could electrocute enemies, jump out of ships, survive massive impacts, fly with rocket powered feet, catch objects thrown to him and this is the same droid who got beaten up by Jawas and forced to be a waiter of Jabba's barge?  Give me a break!  

Modern movie technology just created this huge rift in look\feel between the two trilogies.  If I had to make a gross simplification I'd say that the original movies are more qualitative whereas the new movies are quantitative.   The scale increased dramatically, but it's not necessarily better for it.

[nathanm]

I haven't seen the first 3 movies in many years but I bitorrented New Hope and Empire recently and watched them again.  They're the CGI-modified ones but they weren't too objectionable.  Except of course for CG Jabba, which was 100% pure crap and a totally unnecessary scene.  Ugh.  The extra abominable snowman scenes also killed the tension of the original.  Offscreen horror is often better than onscreen horror.

Anyway, I thought I was perhaps romanticizing the past and that since I was young at the time I thought the original movies were cooler than they were.  Maybe the original movies were as cheesy and lame as I thought the the new ones were???

Nope, not really.  The originals are FAR better movies in nearly every conceivable way.  Better writing, better acting, better pacing, the effects are still good even if they haven't been mucked with, the muppet Yoda is way cooler than the CG Yoda,  the characters are all more likeable and believable, the humor is better, and at no time did I roll my eyes and groan over unrealistic stupidity.  They're just flat out superior movies regardless of what year they were made.

[scottielee]

sorry, more complaints in general:

1. the opening flight sequence was actually pretty awesome. i felt anakin has grown to be a more interesting character, powerful, mature, but somehow suppressed. i was anxious to see how he would finally fall to the darkside.

2. portman is so beautiful. but i am sure she can act much better. i have seen her done it when she was tiny (in "the professional"). is the screenplay that bad? i'm afraid yes...

3. the writer knows nothing of motherhood to make padme loose the will to live when she has 2 babies to give birth to, to nurture, to love, not to mention to help her sick husband regain his conscience...that is so unlike the intelligent and brave queen in episode i & ii. plus why was a very pregnant padme wearing a skimpy miniskirt and running and bouncing like a deer (towards anakin)?

4. how could obi-wan be so cruel to watch his "brother"/apprentice suffer in pain with his leggs chopped off and catching fire?! i guess he was jealous

5. i have never been so suckered into watching bad movies (ii+iii) even though i kind of knew they were going to be bad. lucas is cruel to create some of the most likeable characters of all time (anakin, obi-wan, yoda), and make them robboticly read bad lines. i will most likely buy the stupid, overpriced i+ii+iii dvd box set and never watch them...