This weekend, the girlfriend and I embarked on a journey to a long time ago, in a galaxy far away. Me being insistent on being different than everyone, I decided that, on the weekend that the new new Star Wars cuts were being released on Blu Ray, I was gonna watch the original cut on DVD.
I was able to cherish and enjoy the movies, as they were at their best. It's hardly what I would call a grand scale revelation, as George Lucas has clearly been a little senile since 1999, but wow, these movies work so well without CG effects. I sound like a broken record on this, but the tangibility of everything is amazing.
It had been several years since I watched them all, but it never occurred to me until this viewing that the prequels really add nothing to the series at all. I've been something of an Episode 3 apologist for a long time now. I acknowledge dialogue so bad that it made the Silent Hill film, seem like Glengarry Glen Ross. Even now, I acknowledge that Episode 3 is a fun movie with some great action, but it still isn't needed. It's pretty sad when the prequels can't even stand on their own. They just cling to the greatness that is the original trilogy.
Why were the originals so good? I have a few theories. It's sci fi/fantasy done right. It feels like the world is just there and we are watching. Never does it take time to explain how bizarre technologies work, they just do. It helps it feel natural instead of a "this is my jetspeeder" line that doesn't sound natural at all. In fact, it's amazing how Un-George-Lucas-like this series was. I think it was a perfect storm though, in that everyone is trying their hardest, and filled with so much life. George still took his audience seriously and wasn't so arrogant that he wouldn't step aside for better writers and directors. Back then he was climbing a mountain, and maybe he got to the top a little too soon, leading to hoards of yes men and undeveloped skill. Then there is Harrison Ford. I have really grown not to like him over the years. Every movie you see him in he looks like he's just there for a paycheck and can't wait for filming to be over, but not in Star Wars, where he is charming, energetic and clearly giving his all. A shame to see him turn into what he has.
It needs to be said that our leading man in the two trilogies are supposed to be similar, at least that's the feeling I've got, but Luke was nothing like Anakin. Anakin was acted terribly, and everyone knows that, but let's also look at what Lucas was trying to do. Anakin was supposed to be someone you cared about, who fell into darkness and became one of the greatest villains of all time, but right away George made us resent him by talking down to us with Episode 1, thinking we were all 8 years old, and in episode 2 and 3 we have Anakin talking to Padme in what I presume George Lucas thinks is how you should talk to girls. Throw in random crying and people telling us that he's dark and unstable (back to that whole show and don't tell thing) and then he has a hissy fit and goes evil. Vader deserved better. Luke was the opposite. When something bad happened he just looked on sadly, clearly taking it in. He kept trying to be good and occasionally slipped up, usually catching himself and stopping again. This felt like a struggle that was actually believable.
The way I see it, Star Wars was awesome, because it was made to be timeless, but the more recent ones seem to be almost resentful to those who loved the originals. I would go as far as to say that the Star Wars series, with both trilogies and the various updates, are actually the story of a young man who became powerful in a great force, but eventually was tempted by the dark side. It's the story of a rise and fall, but not of Darth Vader, who in the end is redeemed, but of George Lucas, in the force called Hollywood. Will he ever be redeemed? Only time will tell.
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