Winston: LOL, Han totally shot first! I was explaining that to my daughter just this weekend. In your not yet produced prequels, can Lucas just go ahead and hand the reigns to Peter Jackson? Because that would be awesome and a half.

Jaced: I LOVE your perspective on this and I HAVE to make time to go read your full post. Hopefully tonight.

Rob O: I 90% agree with you here, especially about the models vs. the CGI. However, Lucas has never been a great director; he’s been a visionary producer with a remarkable eye for set design. Spielberg on the other hand, is as good as they get, even though he too has fumbled more than a few times. The latest Indiana was weak sauce for sure, but I don’t lay that on Spielberg at all. There were 15 years worth of scripts that Spielberg wanted and Lucas passed on, including an outstanding one written by Frank Darabont. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls was pretty much the final shot. Lucas owns the character; it was Kingdom or nothing. And don’t forget, his two films immediately prior to Kingdom were Munich and War of the Worlds, and he has a biopic on Lincoln coming up next. Spielberg I would argue, is still growing as a director. Lucas was done a long time ago.

Friar: Yeah, I also like how he has two expressions during the entire scene. My kids love the pod race, but if it wasn’t for them it would be uber easy to skip through. Of course if it wasn’t for them I would probably never watch Episode One ever again!

The term younglings kind of detracted from the otherwise sheer horror of the act, I feel.

Jeezus, in real life, we barely trust 16-year-olds to drive a normal car. Yet here’s this KID scooting around a jet-sled at 200 mph.

The LAST thing we adults want to see is Hollywood pander (yet once again) to the little-rug-rats, and perpetuate the myth that a 9-year old is smarter and more agile than all the grownups combined.

At that point, it turned into a kid’s Disney movie, and I lost interest.

Though, in the 3rd movie, the adult Anakin SLAYS a bunch of children.

Whoa. Harsh, dude.

(But at least it wasn’t dummied down to the lowest common denominator)

Lucas became far too enamored with his own handiwork – the 2nd trilogy was just a big masturbatory mess!

When CGI was expensive, George & Co. used it sparingly and did so when it was justified to move the story along. In Ep. 1, he started using CGI fluff to fill in gaps where he couldn’t be bothered to think plotlines through. Lucas’ movies have become mired down in the sdame “all (CGI) fluff, no substance” problem that plagues so many other, lesser directors’ movies these days.

George squandered both the Darth Maul and Qui-Gon characters and made Anakin too precocious & prodigious. Then he piddled all over the mysticism of the 1st trilogy with his whole “let science explain away religion” nonsense of the midiclorians.

And perhaps worst of all, George has infected his pal Spielberg with the same fervor for fluff! The latest Indiana Jones movie wasn’t just bad – it was a travesty! It raped and pillaged my hero – and for that, I cannot forgive these two once-great directors who used to understand that quality story is most important.

But the real problem was far more fundamental than the political smoke and mirrors and silly characters. Namely, the glaring absence of evil in what has always been just a good Western:

http://jaced.com/2005/05/29/revenge-of-the-sith/

Thanks for reviving this one.

Somewhere, on a different timeline, in a parallel galaxy far, far away, a smarter George Lucas is still planning to make the 3 prequels, will fulfill the original vision of a darker storyline about the corruption and collapse of the Republic through the stratagem of the power-hungy Senator/Evil Emperor, will not pander to small children, and will not be designed to sell related merchandise.

In those yet-to-be-produced prequels, Lucas will delegate writing and directing responsibilities to others more suited, CGI will not overwhelm story, Jar-Jars will only contain food, elected Queens will not become appointed Senators, midi-chlorians will be cleansers, and actors will actually be able to act.

When those episodes somehow become available in the future, I will treasure them.

BTW: Han Shot First!

“Are you an angel?”

Right.

Candy: LOL, yep! Totally unwatchable. Worst line in the entire series, I believe, is when Anakin is complaining about the feel of sand between his toes. It makes me want to find a nice pile to bury my head in.

David: So true, every word. And what’s funny is that before the prequels came out, I was dying to see what Lucas would do with all the new technology. I had full faith that it would be something interesting and never before seen. It may have been never before seen, but FAR less interesting than I would have imagined. I try not to let my biases creep in when I’m talking Star Wars with my kids though. I’m curious to see what conclusions they form on their own.

Beth: Hi Beth! Thesis is awesome! So, so pliable. Did you get it for BethPartin.com or something new and exciting?

John: John! You’ve gotta see the original Star Wars at the very least. Yes, some of the dialogue is clunky as an old El Camino, but it’s also a total game changer. I’m not 100% positive on this, but it might actually be a crime to not have seen Star Wars, at least in a few of the states. : > )

PJ: I’ve not seen Episode III since it was originally in theaters. I agree, it was by far the best of the prequels. From what I understand, Spielberg helped his old buddy out quite a bit in story boarding the film and even spent a little bit of time on set during the shoot. Can you imagine how cool the film could have been if he had just handed him the reigns right then?

Robin: Thanks, Robin! Yeah, the lightsaber battles have already begun. A friend of ours dropped by a couple of weeks ago and brought each of my children a lightsaber. Daily battles have ensued. I have to confess, playing lightsabers as a grown man is immeasurably more fun than I would have expected. : > ) They NEVER made toys with sounds that cool when we were little.

Marc: The Jedi have worms. LOL. That was my favorite comment of the day yesterday, Marc. 18 hours later and I’m STILL laughing. Thanks.

Laurie: Yeah, I think there is a cutoff in between the latest you could have been born to still enjoy Episode I and not have it taint the memory of Episodes IV-VI. I was too small to see the original Star Wars in the theater, but I did see Empire three times and remember it clearly. I have a hard time remembering seeing Episode II just a few years back.

Eric: Yeah, Darth Maul was all set up to be the most awesomest thing ever, but ended up being the mayor of Lame City. Not cool.

Kim: There’s no excuse, really. There isn’t a director alive who wouldn’t have jumped at the opportunity, and Spielberg and Jackson both offered. You’re right, we could have had something that eclipsed the original instead of, well, you know.

Roy: Thanks, Roy! I appreciate the comment.

SingleParentDad: I had to look up the word “naff” but now I’m all happy because I have a cool new word. Thanks! Yep, as a dad, I LOVE their affection for Star Wars. It makes me feel like I’m five again in all the best ways.

Janice: Yeah, Anakin isn’t quite as bad as Jar Jar, but he’s close. It’s easier to feel sorry for the actor as he is just a kid, but on the other hand, we’re looking at one of the most iconic characters in cinematic history, reduced to a cheap cousin Oliver in a bad sitcom spinoff. No bueno.