Quote:

---

Originally posted by jrnyfan:
There were prequels? Who authorized that? The George Lucas I know would never do such a thing, sounds like a cash grab to me and any good Star Wars fan knows that he would never, EVER do that. He would be more apt to release the original trilogy on a defunct media platform like Laser Disc just to get people to buy the entire system and then on VHS and then clean them up and re-release them on VHS again and then on DVD and then in a box set with added commentary so that in the end you have 5 different sets of the same damns movies BEFORE he would ever think of doing prequels.

*shakes head* I'm a sucker for the Original Trilogy...

---

Quote:

---

Suckers. Aren't we all.

---

Quote:

---

For those wondering why I rewrote most of RotS (aside from the fact that I just didn't like it), it's because of Lucas' main failure in his script, the one that proves he has no idea what makes the OT work, and even manages to retroactively ruin the three good SW movies (leaving the Ewok movies as the filmic high point of the franchise ).

See, the original movies draw all of their emotional force from three revelations, each of which has to hit the audience like a giant spear through the chest (to paraphrase a certain other movie). To wit:

(1) Darth Vader was Obi-Wan's apprentice, and is responsible for the death of Luke's father.
(2) Vader is Luke's father.
(3) Leia is Luke's sister.

There's a reason why That Scene in ESB is one of the most famous scenes in all of film-making, and it isn't the acting or effects. Vader's revelation has to both come completely out of left-field, and yet be utterly obvious in hindsight.

Lucas' [prequel] script spells out that Anakin Skywalker is now Darth Vader, and that he has two children, Luke, and Leia (Organa). You can't watch all 6 movies chronologically, or the originals will degenerate into a showcase of bad acting and merely half-decent writing.

---

Select to view spoiler:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by jrnyfan:
There were prequels? Who authorized that?

---

Quote:

---

ByteMite wrote:

Episode three was the better of the three new ones because it at least had some interesting, if heavy-handed commentary about government corruption, and if I can say one positive thing about the first three movies, it's that Palpatine's overtaking the Republic was masterful in it's execution. Unfortunately, it's the only believable part about the whole damn thing, and probably only because it wasn't laid out before you.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Cybersnark:

After more than ten years of struggle finding his place, establishing a new family, coming to accept his responsibilities. . . Anakin simply changes his mind.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Cybersnark:
"I'll learn the ways of the Sith in order to save the woman I love" and "I'm willing to murder a room full of schoolchildren."

---

Quote:

---

But seriously - how would that be something Vader would never do? Did you expect him to just pat them on the heads and send them along?

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Zeek:

I wanted to see a clever motivation for Anakin to turn into Vader. That was a massive fail.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:
Storymark: I dunno man, I mean...




Yeah, whut?

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:
Well, okay, it's in the EU, so I admit that doesn't give it that much credibility.

Funny as hell though. XD

Anyway, if the EU can be considered canon, which is maybe a stretch since Lucas tromped all over it for the first episodes, so I guess Lucas canon takes precedence... But this still kind of establishes that when Anakin was turned to the darkside, Vader sometimes would visit (evil sithspawn practically demonic) children to have TEA. Or something.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Storymark:
Vader going from evil to good in Jedi struck me more as a light switch change than his turn from good to evil.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by chrisisall:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Zeek:

I wanted to see a clever motivation for Anakin to turn into Vader. That was a massive fail.

---

But that fail in no way should affect your enjoyment of the original trilogy IMO.

---

Quote:

---

(I had a similar problem with the Force Lightning suddenly causing Palpatine to "age" [an effect it has been shown to have on no one else ever] --meaning that he doesn't age for 25 years [meanwhile, the ten year gap between TPM and AotC had been shown to do a number on him --there was also a noticeable difference between AotC Palpatine and RotS Palpatine, but it was more subtle]).

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:
(Is it 25? I thought Luke and Leia were 18 in A New Hope).

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:
This also bothered me. That and the whole strange "immaculate conception by The Force" and "the chosen one" subplot for Anakin.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by OPPYH:


?

Seriously?

Vader watching his son get electrocuted...

---

Quote:

---

Anakin thinks his wife might be in trouble...OK time to kill hundreds of innocents, and become an agent of evil. Weak man, seriously.

---

Quote:

---

Storymark,
I see your points with the prequels but if you're suggesting that Vader's switch to the Dark side is more thematically powerful than his redemption, then I can't argue with you. It's your opinion, but seriously?

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Cybersnark:
I'm not saying Anakin/Vader's rationalizations were remotely correct (that's what "rationalizations" are, in fact; lies that we tell ourselves). I'm saying that Anakin could lie to himself that the Tuskens were sub-human things (especially given that he'd grown up on Tattooine, under constant threat of the Tuskens' well-established Reaver-like behaviour). He would not have been able to so easily lie to himself about the younglings (who could well have been turned to the Dark Side, as dozens of Jedi already had been, including Anakin himself). He never even made that suggestion.

---

Quote:

---

Hell, even a shot of Anakin crying as he killed them would've been something --a show of remorse or self-loathing in the face of his helplessness. Perhaps quick, almost-subliminal glimpses of Padme, as he reflects on his own child-to-be (and how he will never be able to look that child in the eye, even if this all works out).

---

Quote:

---

Also, you're seeing Good/Evil as static, unchanging extremes. Vader on "Day One" of his Dark Side career is not the same as Vader 25 years later.

---

Quote:

---

Put it this way:
-A high school student can drive a car.
-On my first day of grade nine, I could not drive a car. (How can this be? Am I not a high school student?)

---

Quote:

---

My problem is that Anakin of RotS suddenly became Darth Vader from RotJ (blindly following the Emperor's commands with no remorse, hesitation, question, or free will of his own) within the span of one dramatic music sting. Dark-Anakin should have showed some remorse, even if Vader (from years later) would not have.

---

Quote:

---

(I had a similar problem with the Force Lightning suddenly causing Palpatine to "age" [an effect it has been shown to have on no one else ever] --meaning that he doesn't age for 25 years [meanwhile, the ten year gap between TPM and AotC had been shown to do a number on him --there was also a noticeable difference between AotC Palpatine and RotS Palpatine, but it was more subtle]).

Lucas tried to show everything, which is a mistake in film (despite everything novice writers are told about "show, don't tell" --"telling" is often more effective). Imagine how much impact the Reavers would have had if the first scene of "Serenity" (the pilot, not the movie) had involved a full-fledged Reaver being brought out under a spotlight and carefully analyzed for our viewing pleasure. Lucas basically set up circumstances in RotS that must now stand almost completely unchanged for 20 years.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Jongsstraw:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:
This also bothered me. That and the whole strange "immaculate conception by The Force" and "the chosen one" subplot for Anakin.

---

"Chosen One"...yeah that was just silly. And then the handy catchphrase "he will bring balance to the Force"...WTF?? It was out of balance? Ooops, how'd that happen? If anything, I'd say the Sith Lord, just the one little ole Sith Lord, was sure able to "balance out" the entire Jedi force. Every Star Wars fan knew the basic story of events before New Hope. Lucas had 16+ years to figure out how he was going to tell it, and tell it in a way that would be interesting and a bit un-expected. He failed miserably. And don't even get me started on how he cheapened and whored-out The Force in the prequels.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Cybersnark:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:
(Is it 25? I thought Luke and Leia were 18 in A New Hope).

---

Going by the novelization, IIRC Luke was 20, Leia was 19 (Tatooine years and Alderaanian years are clearly different). ESB was about four years after Yavin, RotJ was about one year after that. 25-ish years between Anakin's fall and redemption.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:
But I do at least give props here for the fact that the prophecy was misinterpretted and the whole chosen one thing was actually kind of not so good instead of the saviour they were expecting.

---

Quote:

---

Another thing I have never understood. Ankain wanted to have a happily married life...fine. Give up being a Jedi and get a job as the best starpilot in the galaxy. No big deal. Why does he try to hold on to the Jedi order when he knows he's in viloation of their code?

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by OPPYH:
I guess the motto of ROTS could be "don't lead a double life".


Another thing I have never understood. Ankain wanted to have a happily married life...fine. Give up being a Jedi and get a job as the best starpilot in the galaxy. No big deal. Why does he try to hold on to the Jedi order when he knows he's in viloation of their code?

What up with the live action tv series Lucas promised us back in 2004? An hour long drama that chronicles the handful of surviving Jedi after ROTS? considering it was said to be out in 2009 at the latest, seems it is now just an empty promise.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:


'Cause back in those days if you were found to be in violation of the Jedi Order, you had to either go into hiding, or they mind-wiped your memories.

They were VERY concerned about Jedi being influenced, or Rogue Jedi or Sith using the powers of The Force in abusive or unacceptable ways. In that way, the Jedi ended up being somewhat draconian and running off a lot of potential allies.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:

Quote:

---

Another thing I have never understood. Ankain wanted to have a happily married life...fine. Give up being a Jedi and get a job as the best starpilot in the galaxy. No big deal. Why does he try to hold on to the Jedi order when he knows he's in viloation of their code?

---

'Cause back in those days if you were found to be in violation of the Jedi Order, you had to either go into hiding, or they mind-wiped your memories.

They were VERY concerned about Jedi being influenced, or Rogue Jedi or Sith using the powers of The Force in abusive or unacceptable ways. In that way, the Jedi ended up being somewhat draconian and running off a lot of potential allies.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Storymark:


As for the TV series - it's always been slated as coming along around 2010-2011, 2-3 years after the launch of the Clone Wars series. they hired their writing staff earlier this year, and are going to write at least the first full season before filming. I believe they are working on casting now. No one has been mentioned, other than a recent re-iteration that the kid who played Boba Fett in II might reprise his role (he'll be around 20 when they start filming).

---

Quote:

---

I take it that's EU stuff?

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Storymark:
As for the TV series - it's always been slated as coming along around 2010-2011, 2-3 years after the launch of the Clone Wars series.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by chrisisall:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Storymark:
As for the TV series - it's always been slated as coming along around 2010-2011, 2-3 years after the launch of the Clone Wars series.

---

Eff that. I'm gorram sick of that era. If it's not set after ROTJ, I'm out.
I'd rather watch the Ewok movies.


The laughing Chrisisall

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Bytemite:

Quote:

---

I take it that's EU stuff?

---

Yeah, though most of what we know about the old Jedi is from the EU. The Jedi definitely sent parties out to hunt down possible Sith enclaves. Technically, they're probably more likely to kill you when they come to confront you if you refuse to modify your un-Jedi-like ways. The mind-wiping is usually only if they still need you for something and they manage to incapacitate you without killing you.

A lot of people, when the Jedi killed their spouses for reasons like this actually ended up TURNING to Sith teachings, instead of the extermination halting the spread of it.

Knights of the Old Republic probably best demonstrates this "exile or wiped/exterminated" idea.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by chrisisall:
I'm gorram sick of that era. If it's not set after ROTJ, I'm out.
I'd rather watch the Ewok movies.

---