Why I Can Love Star Wars Again by Mike D
I have been a Star fan for over 30 years. I loved watching SW, talking about SW, even
wrote a five page paper about the connection between Judaism and Star
Wars. George Lucas was the center of my
entire entertainment world for giving me such a gift.
Then a funny thing happened; he started tinkering with
it. He released the THX edition. Within months of that he released the Special
Edition. Then came the Collector’s
Edition. This is all on VHS mind you, we
haven’t even gotten to his DVD shenanigans yet!
My main question is why George? Why milk the people who made you a
billionaire? You already got our money
from repeated viewings of the films and all of the merchandising. You KNOW we are a rabid fan base and will eat
up whatever you serve so why not just wait and put out an edition you were
happy with to help us save some cash? I
think that was tremendously inconsiderate of you. If you want to tinker with your creation,
fine, but does it have to come out of our bank accounts?
The same principle applies to the DVDs as well, this
edition, that edition, this set that set, blah blah blah. The fact is with the new medium Lucas figured
out a way to milk us out of more cash.
Again, why? Why not just wait a
while, let it simmer, take a look at it and when you are ready THEN release THE
edition you want people to see. I get it
George, according to you the original movie was only 25-30% of what you thought
it should be but why do I have to pay for that?
You are a greedy bastard who is soaking up billions and taking advantage
of your core audience. In 2005 there was
a “Limited Edition” original trilogy DVD set released which was simply a
repackaged version of the 2004 set with no changes AND no original versions of
the films. He was charging us for stuff
he had already sold us and he was censoring the versions we would have access
to.
Now let’s talk about content. Some of the changes I liked, some I didn’t
mind and some I probably didn’t even notice.
Adding “A New hope” to the title line?
Knock yourself out George. You
want to make some blue Screening look better or make explosions look
better? Fantastic! Adding a horrible looking CGI Jabba the
Hutt? Come on George, it looked
awful. There was a version of Empire
Strikes Back where he added a whole dialogue between the Emperor and Vader
which spells out the entire story of Luke and Leia and how things are going to
go down. This completely changed the
dynamic of the story of Vader and his obsession with his kids. Replacing Sebastian Shaw (original hologram
Annakin) with Hayden Christensen for the end seen of Return of the Jedi was
simply blasphemous. The most egregious offense, the most difficult change to
swallow was having Greedo shoot first in order to make it look like Han was
acting in self defense. Let me be as
clear as I can be, HAN SHOT FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!
I know what some of you may say, he created it, he owns
(owned) it and he can do whatever he pleases with it and owes us fans
nothing. Others (me) would argue that
Star Wars became such a phenomenon that it in effect became a public entity and
we fans deserve to at least have some sort of ownership of it
acknowledged.
Despite all of this, I still loved Star Wars. Admittedly not as much as I used to as my
hatred of Lucas dampened my love for his creation but I still loved it.
Then the information I had been waiting years for was
delivered and I thought all of my problems would be solved. He was doing the prequels!!! Finally we would get to see how Darth Vader’s
story began and how we got to episode IV.
The teaser trailer still send chills up my spine. I can still picture it, a strange creature
walking through a foggy marsh and the words coming on the screen:” Every
generation has a legend. Every Journey
has a first step. Every saga has a
beginning.” I didn’t even need the
visuals of the trailer, Episode I was coming and I could not wait!
Of course I had to wait a year but it was so going to be
worth it, it had to be, how could it not be? In that year I had gotten a glimpse of Darth
Maul and his double headed light saber and was giddy with seeing a more
physical badass Sith than Vader. The
poster with Annakin’s shadow looking like Darth Vader was epic.
Then the movie came out and it sucked ass. Jake Lloyd was a terrible choice for young
Skywalker. Darth Maul was barely in it
and died so ridiculously I can’t even stand talking about it. Lucas explains the force as being tiny micro
organisms inside people and don’t even get me started on Jar Jar.
Episode II was barely better. There were two main issues I had with Episode
II and one was the casting of Hayden Christensen who couldn’t act his way out
of a paper bag. I’d say he was a one
trick pony with no tricks. He couldn’t
properly express any emotion if his life depended on it. His chemistry with Natalie Portman was
painful to watch. Their love story was
sickening to witness. Lucas had given
them some truly abysmal dialogue.
Episode III was actually decent but by then the damage was
too late. I had officially hated Star
Wars. The main reason was George
Lucas. He proved he didn’t care about me
by putting out cash grab product after cash grab product and by putting out the
prequel films he did, he proved that he didn’t care about me anymore. No self
respecting original trilogy fan could defend what Lucas did in the
prequels. He shat on the beautiful thing
he created. I will say that the
prequels were for the kids, Lucas has ALWAYS been consistent about that and I
wasn’t a kid anymore. Daddy had a new
family. I just wish he wouldn’t have
forgotten about his old family.
There is a spectacular DVD called “The People VS George
Lucas.” It came out in 2010 and it
covers the spectrum of all things Star Wars, everything discussed in this
article and more. It is done through a
series of interviews with fans and industry professionals alike. It really captures the love/hate relationship
that the fans have with George Lucas.
Hate is not good. As
we know it comes from fear and anger and leads to suffering. I have suffered as have millions of other
fans. But then late last year the rain
stopped, the clouds parted, rays of sunshine poked through and if I looked
closely enough I could even see a rainbow.
Disney was buying Lucasfilm, Disney was going to own Star Wars. Ding dong the witch was dead, the thorn
removed from the lion’s paw, my impediment to loving Star Wars was
gone!!!!!!!!!!
The euphoria came and went and worry set back in. What was Disney going to do with my beloved
Star Wars. I saw what they did with
“Tron: Legacy” and worried Star Wars would suffer a similar fate. It would be “Disnified” meaning it would be
all sizzle and no steak, marketed to the hilt but no substance. They announced there would be a long
anticipated Episode VII. An eerie
feeling started sinking into my gut, like I had been there before and could
not, would not go through that pain again.
I honestly wasn’t sure I would even go see it.
I worried for naught because it turns out Disney was taking
this seriously. They chose J.J. Abrams
to direct the film. Problem solved. Abrams did a miraculous job with Star Trek
2009. He took a much beloved franchise
with a vocal and passionate fan base and he delivered a product that appealed
to them and appeased them by staying true to its roots yet also blazing a trail
for new Trekkies. If anyone can save my
Star Wars relationship it is the wunderkind himself.
With Lucas NOT involved and the project firmly in the hands
of the master himself, I am actually hopeful that I can once again have a hate
free love affair with Star Wars. There
are no guarantees in life and I am still a little nervous, but thanks to
Disney’s billions and Abrams’ genius and vision, I do indeed love Star Wars
again.
J.J., may the force be with you sir!
This article, along with news, reviews, give-a-ways and free movie passes can be found at http://filmobsession.com/.
No comments:
Post a Comment