Recently, I was rummaging around Digg.com when I saw that George Lucas Announces Two More Star Wars Films. The first posted comment was "For the love of God, no." The link where George Lucas says Empire Strikes Back was the worst Star Wars movie was even more disturbing.
Return Balance to the Force
All the prequel episodes are done. How do we salvage the franchise for ourselves? Moving forward, we can return balance to the force by following some simple guidelines.
#1. Ignore Lucas.
For years, if a writer or game-maker wanted to do anything Star Wars, they had to follow an approval process. Everything with the Star Wars/Lucas Arts brand was part of the Lore. So, as a fan, if you read a book or played a game you were learning Star Wars history. It's unfortunate that Lucas didn't have the same oversight for himself. We can't change history (even if Lucas can edit the films.) We can, however, ignore everything that Lucas says or does from this time forward.
#2. Revision History
By the same token we can rewrite Star War in our minds. For centuries Christians have perfected the art of selected reading and interpretation of the of the bible. Why can't we apply the same rules to the Star Wars franchise? Ex: Medicloriens can be treated not as a cause, but an effect. OR we can ignore them all together.
#3. How to enjoy a complete Star Wars experience.
I want to enjoy Star Wars in it's entirety. How do I do it? Well, that's not easy. But you shouldn't have to trim back down to the original 3 movies. There's more out there. Here's my basic list (in chronological order.)
The Short Version:
The number in front is my rankings from best to worst. I couldn't rank Phantom Menace any lower!
(10) Episode #1: Phantom Menace: Read a synopsis and fast forward to the Battle for Naboo.
(9) Episode #2: Attack of the Clones: Yeah, you'll need to watch it or miss out on so many little things.
(4) Star Wars: Clone Wars: Animated series that SAVED the prequels for me!
(7) Episode #3: Revenge of the Sith: Anakin throws a tantrum.
(8) Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (audio book version) Great epilogue to Revenge.
(3) Episode #4: A New Hope: My love of SciFi starts here
(1) Episode #5: Empire Strikes Back: "Luke, I am your father!"
(2) Episode #6: Return of the Jedi: The Skywalkers bring balance to the force.
(6) The Thrawn Trilogy: (Books) The early years of the New Republic
(5) Dark Empire: (Graphic Novel) Luke joins the Dark Side
The Long Version
(10) Episode #1: Phantom Menace
I personally think there's no reason to watch 3/4 of this movie. There are a lot of little nuggets of the Star Wars universe here, but not worth 2 hours of your time.
Phantom Menace really hurts the franchise until the Battle of Naboo. The fight scene with Darth Maul is both exhilarating and a great glimpse into the life of Obi-Wan. The ending makes you excited for the next one. Conclusion: Pop it in the DvD-player and have it on while you fold laundry or play on the computer.
(9) Episode #2: Attack of the Clones.
I really wanted to smack Lucas for this title. There's so much of this film that is just bad. Yet I find myself sucked in by a lot of the little details: Obi-Wan as a detective. The scene with Yoda teaching the "Younglings." The fight with Yoda vs Count Dooku was a theatrical moment for me. Anakin's outburst at the death of his mother is the single-most important moment of this film. Ignore everything else he does!
(4) Star Wars: The Clone Wars
On my list of best Star Wars stuff, this animated series for Cartoon Network is a close 4th behind the original movie. I learned to like Anakin Skywalker here. General Greivous came to life here. The opening sequence in Episode #3 rocks because of this series.
(7) Episode #3: Revenge of the Sith
In spite of Lucas' repeated efforts to ruin this movie, it was saved by animate series. Palpatine is a bad-ass. Special Order 66 was perfect. I thought that Anakin's conversion wasn't well-scripted and the Frankenstein homage at the end sucked ass, but otherwise this movie found it's way into my required Star Wars list.
(8) Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (audio book version)
Yes, I said audio book! Want to know how the clean-up happened? Want to know more about Vader's transformation into the bad-ass you meet in A New Hope. The audio book version of this book written by James Luceno really adds something of an epilogue to the prequel movies.
(3) Episode #4: A New Hope
I was 4 years old. We were camping. It was raining. We went to the movies. I sat on my father's lap. Life-altering event? Hell yeah. Sometimes I think my dad regrets it.
(1) Episode #5: Empire Strikes Back
"Luke, I am your father." 'Nuff said!
(2) Episode #6: Return of the Jedi
While Empire was the best and New Hope was my first, Jedi was my favorite. The opening sequence with Luke going Jedi all over the place was awsome. The huge space battle at the end rocked! The moment when the Emperor shows Luke that the whole thing has been an elaborate trap still sends shivers down my spine.
(6) The Thrawn Trilogy
Timothy Zahn wrote these gems back in the early 90's and a huge collection of pretenders followed. This series has been a fan pick for the plot for follow-up movies since then. Here we watch as Luke & Leia begin the work of building the New Republic. More info
(5) Dark Empire
Graphic Novel series produced by Dark Horse comics. The Emperor is back and it looks like he's turned Luke to the dark side. Or has he? More info
1 comment:
"Empire had the better ending. I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader's his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that's what life is, a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets."
- DANTE (Brian O'Halloran) in Clerks (1994)
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