Do you remember how you felt the first time you saw a lightsaber?
As an unapologetic fanboy, I am disturbed at Giantbomb's continued and deliberate dismissal of the wonderful franchise that is Star Wars.
I'll admit that I'm not much of a science fiction fan. Star Trek is nearly unwatchable to me because of the insistence on the "realistic technology", the ridiculous idea of a Utopian society, the length political and philosophical discussions, and the completely unheroic naval battles.
I've always been more a fan of the fantasy genre. One of my favorite hobbies is reading terribly derivative fantasy novels, because for some reason I still get a huge kick out of them. There is just something that clicks in my brain with the sword and sorcery genre. I think that's why I like Star Wars so much. After all, are lightsabers and the Force really that distinguishable from sword and sorcery?
I liked the fact that the original Star Wars films were dirty and that there seemed to be a seedy underbelly to every planet they came across. I feel like the prequels tried too hard to emulate Star Trek with the lengthy political discussions, huge space battles, and overly-clean looking settings. Star Wars is supposed to be sandy, dirty, and ugly!
I liked the fact that the main battles in Star Wars don't take place in huge, impersonal weapons of mass destruction; but on the ground, face-to-face, saber to saber. Personal. Heroic. Like the classic sword-fight at the end of a fantasy novel! There is nothing more unappealing to me that seeing two guys stand on the bridge of a ship, yelling at each other through screens. It feels like I'm watching two old men play video games. It's like they decided, hey gun-fighting is already less personal than sword-fighting, but we really need to make these battles as sterile as possible. Hey, let's emulate naval combat! I'm surprised they didn't just have Picard picking dots like a game of battleship. That way we would have never even had to see the enemy's face!
I like the fact that technology in Star Wars makes no damn sense. I like how silly the concept of droids are. I like the completely unrealistic fauna and planetary settings. I like the unexplained magical abilities or the random, unnamed alien species in poorly-designed masks. All of these things serve no purpose other than to make the actual story more interesting. Lucas wasn't interested in coming up with complex histories and backstories for alien species #3. He just threw a werewolf mask on an extra and told them to growl menacingly into the screen. Why? Because it's not important. Star Wars is all about the characters. It's all about a universe ruled by black and white morality, heroes and villians, cowboys and bandits. It wasn't interested in reflecting the issues of modern day America, or shedding a light on racism, tolerance, or peace. It was just telling a story. A goofy, wonderful space opera.
Star Wars wasn't concerned with subtlety or "shades of gray". The villains in Star Wars woke up every morning, with the express intention of being as unbelievably evil as humanly possible. They destroyed planets for giggles. They dressed like Dracula and shot lightning out of their fingertips. They weren't misguided idealists or disillusioned political leaders. They were born out of an evil vagina, went to evil Academy, got a doctorate in evil actions, and woke up every morning to a cup of evil coffee.
You want to know why the prequels were so terrible and the new Star Trek film was so good? Because the prequels tried to be more like Star Trek, and Star Trek tried to be more like Star Wars. Period.
Do you remember the first time you saw a lightsaber?
Hell yes, I remember. I thought lightsabers were the coolest shit in the world!
People who lose their shit over Star Wars baffles me. That and Star Trek have to be the most over-hyped, over-adored, over-beaten dead horses in history. The best way to lose my interest in ANYTHING is to say it has something to do with either of those things. Seriously, of all the fantastic movies out there to lose your shit over (which I don't really get in the first place), why Star Wars? Unless you watched it for the first time in 1977 when the world was different and it totally blew your fucking mind.
It's a mediocre story with decent special effects. I saw it once, when I was twenty (in the late 90s) and never felt compelled to see it again. The world would be a much better place if they took all the energy into making more bullshit Star Wars and Star Trek shows, movies, cartoons, books, comics, toys, clothing, posters, accessories, board games, video games, and so on -- and redirected it toward new things.
I mentioned somewhere else, recently, that I was pretty blown away by The Matrix when it came out. And Equilibrium is one of the greatest movies of all time. However, neither one made me crave endless streams of more of the same content or shirts, toys, games, and every other marketed product under the sun about them. They were fine movies and I moved the fuck on with my life.
Sorry if I sound a bit dickish.... but for fuck's sake people, it has been nearly 35 years!
The prequels were bad because they were poorly written piles of steaming shit, filled with nothing but sterile cgi and 1 dimensional characters. Overall the entire trilogy was an abomination of film making and in insult to every Star Wars fan to ever walk the planet.
Mr Plunket explained and summarized this better than anyone else ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI
You know so many years afterwards and I still don't get it why people hate on the prequels, I thought theyre were good movies just like the originals, people got their knickers in a twist over medichlorians and Jar Jar was an awesome character.
@Lazyaza said:
Mr Plunket explained and summarized this better than anyone else ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrIMr Plunket is a tard that twists facts to suit his own beliefs and spouts fallacies and baseless assumptions every five minutes.
"
" People who lose their shit over Star Wars baffles me. That and Star Trek have to be the most over-hyped, over-adored, over-beaten dead horses in history. The best way to lose my interest in ANYTHING is to say it has something to do with either of those things. Seriously, of all the fantastic movies out there to lose your shit over (which I don't really get in the first place), why Star Wars? Unless you watched it for the first time in 1977 when the world was different and it totally blew your fucking mind. It's a mediocre story with decent special effects. I saw it once, when I was twenty (in the late 90s) and never felt compelled to see it again. The world would be a much better place if they took all the energy into making more bullshit Star Wars and Star Trek shows, movies, cartoons, books, comics, toys, clothing, posters, accessories, board games, video games, and so on -- and redirected it toward new things. I mentioned somewhere else, recently, that I was pretty blown away by The Matrix when it came out. And Equilibrium is one of the greatest movies of all time. However, neither one made me crave endless streams of more of the same content or shirts, toys, games, and every other marketed product under the sun about them. They were fine movies and I moved the fuck on with my life. Sorry if I sound a bit dickish.... but for fuck's sake people, it has been nearly 35 years! "It's called a legacy, my friend. That, and cult following. If people like it enough, they'll pass it down generation-by-generation to share, securing its value throughout the ages. It's not about moving on, but rather watching a good fucking movie trilogy. Hell, there are other movies that receive the same treatment (and some are even older), but Star Wars has been accepted into popular culture (as we know it) nowadays; live with it.
TL;DR past the first paragraph or two, but man, fuck anyone who says "I hate it how this person doesn't like this thing that I really, really like." Someone gives a game you like a poor score? Fucking deal with it. Someone doesn't agree with your opinion about a film? Deal with it. Somebody liked the original Star Wars films enough back in the day, and some of the later content too, but was put off by the prequel films and never got into the EU stuff so now they've dismissed the series in its current incarnation? FUCKING DEAL WITH IT.
I, for one, being nineteen years old, enjoyed the prequel films, especially Episode One. Yeah, I'm a fucking heathen, deal with it. I was eight when the film was released, and I was way into it at the time, like most eight-year-olds. I now understand that it's "not as good as the original trilogy," as far as long-time fans of the series are concerned, but you know what? I don't give a fuck. I enjoyed the film when it was eight, and watching it recently made me realize that yeah, it's not the best movie, but it's alright, and just because I didn't have any expectations as to how it was supposed to live up to the Original Trilogy going into it (being eight), it's alright for me to have enjoyed it then and enjoy it now.
TL;DR your opinions are your own, stop caring what others think. If you need someone to agree with your opinions on something to justify said opinions, you are an idiot and should die in a fire.
" @Branthog said:There is no other movie or series of movies that receive the same absurd level of adoration and dead-horse-beating. The only thing that could even come close is RHPS, which is a true cult film. And even then, it's one film. It's not nine films, three cartoons, four dozen animated movies, thousands of books and comics, so on and so on. And as you carry on to say, it's not a cult following movie. It's a widely accepted piece of popular culture. It's mainstream." People who lose their shit over Star Wars baffles me. That and Star Trek have to be the most over-hyped, over-adored, over-beaten dead horses in history. The best way to lose my interest in ANYTHING is to say it has something to do with either of those things. Seriously, of all the fantastic movies out there to lose your shit over (which I don't really get in the first place), why Star Wars? Unless you watched it for the first time in 1977 when the world was different and it totally blew your fucking mind. It's a mediocre story with decent special effects. I saw it once, when I was twenty (in the late 90s) and never felt compelled to see it again. The world would be a much better place if they took all the energy into making more bullshit Star Wars and Star Trek shows, movies, cartoons, books, comics, toys, clothing, posters, accessories, board games, video games, and so on -- and redirected it toward new things. I mentioned somewhere else, recently, that I was pretty blown away by The Matrix when it came out. And Equilibrium is one of the greatest movies of all time. However, neither one made me crave endless streams of more of the same content or shirts, toys, games, and every other marketed product under the sun about them. They were fine movies and I moved the fuck on with my life. Sorry if I sound a bit dickish.... but for fuck's sake people, it has been nearly 35 years! "It's called a legacy, my friend. That, and cult following. If people like it enough, they'll pass it down generation-by-generation to share, securing its value throughout the ages. It's not about moving on, but rather watching a good fucking movie trilogy. Hell, there are other movies that receive the same treatment (and some are even older), but Star Wars has been accepted into popular culture (as we know it) nowadays; live with it. "
However, it is not that god damn exceptional. At all. There is absolutely no reason for it to have the unending attention that it has, other than the fact that my fellow geeks like to pick something and obsess over it from birth to death without giving it much thought. The best even you could offer was "it's a good fucking trilogy" and "it has been accepted into popular culture". About a thousand things easily fall into that category, and yet aren't obsessed over and beaten to death like Star Wars (and Star Trek). Indiana Jones is a great trilogy that has a popular culture acceptance, too, but people don't lose their shit over it.
I'm not trying to be contrary, either. People can like what they like. I just can't grasp it, in this instance. I react to "there's a new star wars game omfg!" kind of the same way I react to "hey, everybody, let's have a discussion about religion or abortion or immigration!".
I guess the only explanation can be that of the hundreds of thousands of films that have been released in the last century, none is as revolutionary and deep and amazing and meaningful as Star Wars. It's clearly the greatest piece of film and story telling that has existed or ever will exist. How else could it still occupy 90% of an individual's existence in 2010 -- almost 35 years later? Either it's that fucking astonishingly good compared to every other film on the planet, or there is something wrong with people in general.
one thing, is that the OP said Star Wars is about the characters. To counter that point, I give you....The prequel trilogy, which lets be honest here, was way more about the OTT CGI that any character in it.
Having said that, I did enjoy 2 and 3, just not phantom Menace. I have to agree with m2cks, these franchises hold an important legacy and gives credance to a theory of mine that if you create a cool enough universe and shit for people to learn, the overall quality of a movie or TV show can be poorer, but people will still watch...
I wasn't alive when the original films were in theaters. In fact, it was the EU that eventually got me into the films, not the other way around. I think the majority of the novels and comics coming out today are garbage, but in high school I was very much into them. I know this is contrary to my original point about the backstory not being important, but I love how fleshed out the Star Wars setting has become. I've been known to spend hours just trolling Wookieepedia articles, as sad as that sounds." TL;DR past the first paragraph or two, but man, fuck anyone who says "I hate it how this person doesn't like this thing that I really, really like." Someone gives a game you like a poor score? Fucking deal with it. Someone doesn't agree with your opinion about a film? Deal with it. Somebody liked the original Star Wars films enough back in the day, and some of the later content too, but was put off by the prequel films and never got into the EU stuff so now they've dismissed the series in its current incarnation? FUCKING DEAL WITH IT.
I, for one, being nineteen years old, enjoyed the prequel films, especially Episode One. Yeah, I'm a fucking heathen, deal with it. I was eight when the film was released, and I was way into it at the time, like most eight-year-olds. I now understand that it's "not as good as the original trilogy," as far as long-time fans of the series are concerned, but you know what? I don't give a fuck. I enjoyed the film when it was eight, and watching it recently made me realize that yeah, it's not the best movie, but it's alright, and just because I didn't have any expectations as to how it was supposed to live up to the Original Trilogy going into it (being eight), it's alright for me to have enjoyed it then and enjoy it now. TL;DR your opinions are your own, stop caring what others think. If you need someone to agree with your opinions on something to justify said opinions, you are an idiot and should die in a fire. "
Good fun.
" @takua108 said:That's fine; I just hate it when people demand justification for their opinions, like when every English-speaking Zelda fan on the whole Goddamn planet freaked out about Jeff giving Twilight Princess an 8.8. The idea that the modern psychology of people has been warped due to the Internet to the point where someone vocally opposing their adamant opinions on a topic is a cause for virtual rioting is simply ridiculous. Like, if you tell me that the Golden Sun games suck, I know that I will feel an instinctual pang of insult, but I'm levelheaded enough about it to not really care too much. That's a franchise that I similarly adore, and my anticipation for the latest entry in the series is like those Zelda fans who waited so long for Twilight Princess; I've been waiting about five years for this game to be released, and I'm hoping it's good. If Giant Bomb reviews the latest Golden Sun game when it comes out in a month, and gives it a low score, I won't protest or boycott Giant Bomb or do something absolutely retarded like try and ask for a review to be appealed, because the reviewer's opinion is their own, just as mine is my own." TL;DR past the first paragraph or two, but man, fuck anyone who says "I hate it how this person doesn't like this thing that I really, really like." Someone gives a game you like a poor score? Fucking deal with it. Someone doesn't agree with your opinion about a film? Deal with it. Somebody liked the original Star Wars films enough back in the day, and some of the later content too, but was put off by the prequel films and never got into the EU stuff so now they've dismissed the series in its current incarnation? FUCKING DEAL WITH IT.I wasn't alive when the original films were in theaters. In fact, it was the EU that eventually got me into the films, not the other way around. I think the majority of the novels and comics coming out today are garbage, but in high school I was very much into them. "
I, for one, being nineteen years old, enjoyed the prequel films, especially Episode One. Yeah, I'm a fucking heathen, deal with it. I was eight when the film was released, and I was way into it at the time, like most eight-year-olds. I now understand that it's "not as good as the original trilogy," as far as long-time fans of the series are concerned, but you know what? I don't give a fuck. I enjoyed the film when it was eight, and watching it recently made me realize that yeah, it's not the best movie, but it's alright, and just because I didn't have any expectations as to how it was supposed to live up to the Original Trilogy going into it (being eight), it's alright for me to have enjoyed it then and enjoy it now. TL;DR your opinions are your own, stop caring what others think. If you need someone to agree with your opinions on something to justify said opinions, you are an idiot and should die in a fire. "
Damn, I think I might write a paper on this topic or something.
Anyways, yes, Star Wars is fairly awesome, but not awesome enough to devote my life to.
I kinda do,I remember thinking it was a giant glowstick.
Indeed I do, was for the very first Star Wars movie.
The lightsaber duels in the original trilogy were horrible. I think they should remake the original trilogy using modern technology. That would be something I'd look forward too. Also, Vader could use some face lifting. Oh yeah, and they should also change the ending to a good one: Luke dies, Vader kills the Emperor and rolls on with Starkiller, as The Rule of Two recommends.
I don't really remember when exactly, but it was in the 80s on TV and I remember playing Star Wars with some other kids after watching it.. we used sticks and made lightsaber sounds - good times. :)
I wonder if kids today enjoy the new movies more than IV-VI. For me Episode I was not enjoyable at all, the other 2 were pretty good popcorn movies. I don't like the fact that the new movies need all the speciel effects and crazy lightsaber fights to exist.
IV-VI were character driven and I do prefer that.
" The lightsaber duels in the original trilogy were horrible. I think they should remake the original trilogy using modern technology. That would be something I'd look forward too. Also, Vader could use some face lifting. Oh yeah, and they should also change the ending to a good one: Luke dies, Vader kills the Emperor and rolls on with Starkiller, as The Rule of Two recommends. "Bitchin.
I approve of this idea!
The prequels are actually more entertaining than the original movies if you watch them with RiffTrax commentary or the Chinese bootleg version ( Backstroke of the West).
Actually, RHPS was two movies (the sequel being Shock Treatment [1981]), and even then it was a stage production before it was a movie. But, as far as franchises go, Star Wars changed things through its saturation of merchandising. Heavy merchandising and product tie-ins weren't a new concept. Look back to the 30's and 40's and icons like Little Orphan Annie and The Lone Ranger were on every toy, apparel, accessory and kid-centric food item sold. In addition to being in the newspaper comics, on bookshelves and a weekly radio drama, there were movie serials made and later TV shows. However, Star Wars struck a generation at a perfect point in history. The economy was in the dumps, Vietnam and Watergate were still very fresh in the American consciousness, and people just wanted to escape (hence Disco), so when Star Wars came along it took everyone to a more fantastic place. It ignited the imagination of kids and they, in turn, passed it along to their children. The Beatles are kind of the same thing. They landed in America not long after the death JFK, the start of Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the stagnancy of pop music due to the "teen idol" craze. If the Beatles had shown up a few years earlier or a few years later, then they wouldn't have been the persistent sensation that they are 40 years after they broke up.
There is no other movie or series of movies that receive the same absurd level of adoration and dead-horse-beating. The only thing that could even come close is RHPS, which is a true cult film. And even then, it's one film. It's not nine films, three cartoons, four dozen animated movies, thousands of books and comics, so on and so on. "
If you really want to see a franchise that surpasses Star Wars, take a look at Mickey Mouse. That cartoon character has been around since the 20's and is still going strong with a new game coming out for the Wii soon. He's old so we forget that he's no different than Star Wars from a licensing perspective. Fans are just as rabid over him and his collectibles as they can be over Star Wars stuff. Mickey Mouse watches, action-figures, books, tee-shirts, video games, board games, TV shows, feature-length movies, lunch boxes, etc... And if you're still going to dismiss that, then there is the James Bond franchise. It has dozens of movies, a TV show, cartoons, video games, and so forth. Hell, they still write James Bond novels and the author has been dead for decades. The Harry Potter franchise is approaching Star Wars like status. Just like Star Wars movies, I remember hearing about how kids (and adults) lined up to buy the latest novels. And, even a case where the police arrested some folks for stealing an early manuscript. That's fandom gone crazy, too. Star Wars isn't the first nor will it be the last to inspire such devotion.
I can't remember the first time I saw a lightsaber actually. I've always held a certain respect for what Star Wars does but at the same time I would say I've probably enjoyed it much less than most. I understand why it's popular but I'm a neurotic crazy person and I love it when the science behind my sci-fi makes sense, and I also find it hard to believe the pure light and dark characters of Star Wars, the black and whiteness of the Star Wars world is just something I don't find interesting. I suppose I've also seen Star Wars beaten to death in pop culture and I do mean beaten to death, I've probably spent more time watching idiots dressed up as Darth Vader than I have watching the actual Darth Vader in the movies.
I wasn't alive when the original trilogy was released, and while I'm not fanatical about it, I still have very fond memories for Star Wars because I'm pretty sure it's the very first space opera I experienced. ET and Back to the Future were all great sci-fi films, but I don't think any of those sci-fi films comes close to the scale of Star Wars. And as a young kid, I wasn't allowed to watch Alien and Blade Runner didn't make any sense to me. Even in 1987 I wasn't able to fully appreciate Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Wars was really, really, really accessible. And then... Wing Commander! And then Wing Commander 3 with Mark Hammil... and Tom Wilson. Star Wars was pretty awesome.
@Gamer_152: I also love it when the science behind my sci-fi is legit. I got chills down my spine when I learned that "quantum entanglement" mentioned in Mass Effect 2 is real.
hell yea, i almost cut myself.
The main focus, at least for me, was of Luke and Vader. I think we can agree that Vader was sort of on the grey side of morality - the whole epic tragedy trope. The rest of the characters were still cool to me, but maybe it's because I enjoyed Star Wars for its classic Western sort of style. Of course, when they started going into emo-talk and such in the prequel...
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