I feel the need to post a bit of a disclaimer about this review. You see, while I was in fact born before the original trilogy came to cinemas, I didn't get around to seeing them (for no particular reason) until I was well into college. Thus I wasn't "captured by the magic" as some might have been while watching those movies as kids. This background no doubt colors my opinions, so I thought I'd throw that out there first thing.
As part of family game and/or movie night at our house (weekly event), we've been watching the Star Wars movies in sequence, starting with Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, through to the end. We have yet to watch Return of the Jedi, but that's next up and I'll add a subsequent addition to this review.
Star Wars purists don't tend to think too highly of the newer episodes, and this time through, I tried to keep an open mind...rate them on their own merits...see how they REALLY compared. Let's start at the beginning shall we?
The Phantom Menace
I'm not willing to dismiss the series out-of-hand just because of Jar-Jar. That said, wow is he annoying if you're an adult. My kids...the age I myself would've been when the first ones were coming out...thought he was funny. Is he really any worse than Ewoks? I found the movie annoying for other reasons though...primarily the acting. For this, I hold the director at fault. The actors are generally good in their own right, but the director MUST get the requisite performance from them. In this case, Lucas did not, and the movie suffers. The dialog is hokey and poorly presented (and sadly I think this is what Lucas was going for at the time). Oh...also, midi-chlorians...WTF? This one's at the bottom of my list for the series as a whole.
Attack of the Clones
Less Jar-Jar was nice. Same cheezy dialog and stale performances. Marginally better than the first one.
Revenge of the Sith
The best of the first 3 in my opinion. I'll take this time to note one other big problem I had with the first 3, and that is the casting of Samuel L. Jackson. I love the guy...he does his thing well...but, he just does NOT belong in Star Wars. Perhaps if they had worked in a scene where he was giving Padme a foot massage (cause he IS the foot f*kin' master), and was then sliced in half and thrown off a balcony by Annakin, that might've been cool. He's just not jedi material, and his miscasting distracted from the movies.
A New Hope
Luke Skywalker is a whiner. He is, for me anyway, the biggest detractor to this film. In the grand scheme of things, I think this was intentional...young whining teenager type grows to be a warrior, etc. This film DOES introduce the one thing the first three just didn't have. Han Solo. This was just a character Harrison Ford was built to play, and it really does make the movie. He has the facial expressions and personality to make the second 3 movies engaging and fun, something that was often lacking in the first 3.
The Empire Strikes Back
This one's often cited as "the best one ever" and "the only one Lucas didn't direct" yada yada. This could very well be the case, as this one does seem to take a more serious edge whereas the 6th tends to get into the more cartoonish Ewoks (the shorter and harrier Jar-Jars of the future). This one is a pretty solid movie, and one of my favorites in the series.
The Return of the Jedi
September 8th update: Finally re-watched this, and yeah. It was still pretty good. I don't find the ewoks nearly as offensive as Jar-Jar, and I read or heard something to the effect that they were originally intended to be more wookies, but due to budgetary or time constraints they went with ewoks instead. This alone only added to my enjoyment, as now I found the ewoks amusing...not for what they were, but for what they weren't. Now, I would imagine Chewy would love to pick them up and de-limb them for fun. At any rate, the good guys still won, Luke stopped lusting after his sister, and everybody was happy...except for the bad guys who mostly died.
One overarching issue I have with the series as a whole is this. For reasons dealing with technology, and CGI effects, Lucas made 4-6 first, then, when the technology had advanced sufficiently, he made 1-3. Fine. They're his movies, he could've just made the odds first if he'd wanted. I'm fine with that. Where I take issue is, he set a standard in 4-6 of the type of "technology" available to the characters in those movies, then, in 1-3, instead of giving THOSE characters clunkier "older" versions of this stuff (they're earlier in time remember), they have weaponry and ships that take on a much more polished and refined appearance. It's a big continuity problem if ya ask me!
As part of family game and/or movie night at our house (weekly event), we've been watching the Star Wars movies in sequence, starting with Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, through to the end. We have yet to watch Return of the Jedi, but that's next up and I'll add a subsequent addition to this review.
Star Wars purists don't tend to think too highly of the newer episodes, and this time through, I tried to keep an open mind...rate them on their own merits...see how they REALLY compared. Let's start at the beginning shall we?
The Phantom Menace
I'm not willing to dismiss the series out-of-hand just because of Jar-Jar. That said, wow is he annoying if you're an adult. My kids...the age I myself would've been when the first ones were coming out...thought he was funny. Is he really any worse than Ewoks? I found the movie annoying for other reasons though...primarily the acting. For this, I hold the director at fault. The actors are generally good in their own right, but the director MUST get the requisite performance from them. In this case, Lucas did not, and the movie suffers. The dialog is hokey and poorly presented (and sadly I think this is what Lucas was going for at the time). Oh...also, midi-chlorians...WTF? This one's at the bottom of my list for the series as a whole.
Attack of the Clones
Less Jar-Jar was nice. Same cheezy dialog and stale performances. Marginally better than the first one.
Revenge of the Sith
The best of the first 3 in my opinion. I'll take this time to note one other big problem I had with the first 3, and that is the casting of Samuel L. Jackson. I love the guy...he does his thing well...but, he just does NOT belong in Star Wars. Perhaps if they had worked in a scene where he was giving Padme a foot massage (cause he IS the foot f*kin' master), and was then sliced in half and thrown off a balcony by Annakin, that might've been cool. He's just not jedi material, and his miscasting distracted from the movies.
A New Hope
Luke Skywalker is a whiner. He is, for me anyway, the biggest detractor to this film. In the grand scheme of things, I think this was intentional...young whining teenager type grows to be a warrior, etc. This film DOES introduce the one thing the first three just didn't have. Han Solo. This was just a character Harrison Ford was built to play, and it really does make the movie. He has the facial expressions and personality to make the second 3 movies engaging and fun, something that was often lacking in the first 3.
The Empire Strikes Back
This one's often cited as "the best one ever" and "the only one Lucas didn't direct" yada yada. This could very well be the case, as this one does seem to take a more serious edge whereas the 6th tends to get into the more cartoonish Ewoks (the shorter and harrier Jar-Jars of the future). This one is a pretty solid movie, and one of my favorites in the series.
The Return of the Jedi
September 8th update: Finally re-watched this, and yeah. It was still pretty good. I don't find the ewoks nearly as offensive as Jar-Jar, and I read or heard something to the effect that they were originally intended to be more wookies, but due to budgetary or time constraints they went with ewoks instead. This alone only added to my enjoyment, as now I found the ewoks amusing...not for what they were, but for what they weren't. Now, I would imagine Chewy would love to pick them up and de-limb them for fun. At any rate, the good guys still won, Luke stopped lusting after his sister, and everybody was happy...except for the bad guys who mostly died.
One overarching issue I have with the series as a whole is this. For reasons dealing with technology, and CGI effects, Lucas made 4-6 first, then, when the technology had advanced sufficiently, he made 1-3. Fine. They're his movies, he could've just made the odds first if he'd wanted. I'm fine with that. Where I take issue is, he set a standard in 4-6 of the type of "technology" available to the characters in those movies, then, in 1-3, instead of giving THOSE characters clunkier "older" versions of this stuff (they're earlier in time remember), they have weaponry and ships that take on a much more polished and refined appearance. It's a big continuity problem if ya ask me!
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