Star Wars Episode IV - Overhyped ?

[Kindly Old Man]

 I actually get where the OP is coming from. There's really no replacement for nostalgia. For those of us who experienced this movie when we were like 7-years-old it was a formative experience. I don't think there's any reasonable way to mitigate that experience. It becomes one of those generational things that just tends to separate people. "You kids just don't understand."  

I've thought about this, and here's the thing - when I was a little kid, I liked ROTJ the best (I liked the creatures and whatnot in Jabba's palace). But now, ROTJ seems like clearly the worst of the three, and the parts I liked back then are some of the worst, draggiest parts of the film. IV, on the other hand, is still great. So why would I be able to reevaluate VI with clear eyes but not IV? 

[ab aeterno]

Luke's reaction to his Aunt and Uncle's death is pretty understandable when you consider the fact that he orchestrated the whole thing so that he would be free to go and join his friends at the Academy.

Consider the evidence:

• He knows that removing the restraining bolt from R2 will allow the droid to run away, but he does it anyway on the pretence that R2 is too small to run away on his own. But if that was the case, why would R2 units need restraining bolts at all?
• Knowing that R2 will run away gives him the perfect cover to be away from the homestead while his plan is set into motion. He declines to go after R2 until the next morning, knowing that this will give R2 time to get further away, but also giving him time to contact a group of mercenaries to destroy the homestead and kill his Aunt and Uncle, leaving him with no impediments to leaving.
• He also knows that the Jawas would be the loose end in his plan, because they know that the droid had a restraining bolt, meaning it would be unable to run away, so he also contracts the mercenaries to destroy the sandcrawler and kill the Jawas.
•  Luke has lived on Tatooine all his life, so he would know that Sand People travel single file. We also know that Stormtroopers aren't actually precise shots, so they couldn't be the ones who attacked the sandcrawler, despite what Ben says.
• Finally, Stormtroopers are well drilled, to the extent that they'll display good discipline even while being shot to pieces - would such well disciplined soldiers make such a sloppy mistake as riding side-by-side while trying to frame sandpeople? No. But mercenaries would.

As an end result, Luke now has a speeder that he can sell for 17,000 credits, the insurance money from the homestead and his Aunt and Uncle's deaths, the sympathy of the local people, and the freedom to go and pursue the life he wants, the life that his Uncle tried to prevent him from living by trapping him on the farm.

[Swordofmorning]

@Swordofmorning

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that Minions and Bane sound similar to Jawas and Vader than the other way around?

And if they do sound similar that would be because Star Wars have been so influential in popular culture they are copied all these years later.

Yes, you're right. Of course, Star Wars is the original.

I was saying that from my perspective, as I have seen the other movies first. It wasn't meant as a criticism, just something I wanted to add.

 

SotM,

Exactly.  I own the original trilogy on VHS letterboxed edition.  These versions contain absolutely zero "CGI".  The CGI was added in by Lucas when he re-released the original trilogy prior to starting the prequels.  Get your facts right before you start criticizing.

As I didn't watch the original one, how the hell am I supposed to know if there is any difference?

BTW, I wasn't criticizing the film, just wanted to say that IMO, it is not as good as everyone makes it to be. 

 I actually get where the OP is coming from. There's really no replacement for nostalgia. For those of us who experienced this movie when we were like 7-years-old it was a formative experience. I don't think there's any reasonable way to mitigate that experience. It becomes one of those generational things that just tends to separate people. "You kids just don't understand."  

Yes, thank you. 

[Kalbear]

At the same time star wars holds up real well. I now have had basically three generations of star wars fans in my household, and all of them loved it as kids. The 9 year old went as Chad Vader for halloween. They played the hell out of battlefront. They were giggly after seeing tfa, at 19 and 16.

The 6 and 4 year old hum the imperial March and run around doing lightsaber duels. Despite being raised on movies with far better fx they watch intently when it's on. Some movies really don't hold up well despite nostalgia, but a new hope does pretty good.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

Yeah, I'll second that. I'm taking my kids and stepson to see it tomorrow, and they are all fans. My stepson especially. He went to that big Star Wars Celebration con down in Anaheim last April. He is an absolute fanatic. I gave him the vast majority of my merch a few years back as a sort of passing of the torch. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

Luke's reaction to his Aunt and Uncle's death is pretty understandable when you consider the fact that he orchestrated the whole thing so that he would be free to go and join his friends at the Academy.

Consider the evidence:

• He knows that removing the restraining bolt from R2 will allow the droid to run away, but he does it anyway on the pretence that R2 is too small to run away on his own. But if that was the case, why would R2 units need restraining bolts at all?
• Knowing that R2 will run away gives him the perfect cover to be away from the homestead while his plan is set into motion. He declines to go after R2 until the next morning, knowing that this will give R2 time to get further away, but also giving him time to contact a group of mercenaries to destroy the homestead and kill his Aunt and Uncle, leaving him with no impediments to leaving.
• He also knows that the Jawas would be the loose end in his plan, because they know that the droid had a restraining bolt, meaning it would be unable to run away, so he also contracts the mercenaries to destroy the sandcrawler and kill the Jawas.
•  Luke has lived on Tatooine all his life, so he would know that Sand People travel single file. We also know that Stormtroopers aren't actually precise shots, so they couldn't be the ones who attacked the sandcrawler, despite what Ben says.
• Finally, Stormtroopers are well drilled, to the extent that they'll display good discipline even while being shot to pieces - would such well disciplined soldiers make such a sloppy mistake as riding side-by-side while trying to frame sandpeople? No. But mercenaries would.

As an end result, Luke now has a speeder that he can sell for 17,000 credits, the insurance money from the homestead and his Aunt and Uncle's deaths, the sympathy of the local people, and the freedom to go and pursue the life he wants, the life that his Uncle tried to prevent him from living by trapping him on the farm.

Brilliant!

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

SoM,

 

As I didn't watch the original one, how the hell am I supposed to know if there is any difference?

 

Gosh, the first Star Wars film came out in 1977 five years prior to the first major use of Computer Graphics in a major film (that was the "Genesis Planet" sequence in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (now you can explain why Star Trek Into Darkness is a better film)).  Given the whine you are offering about "pureists" like me and others I'm surprised you didn't know Lucas had significantly altered the films to include major CGI sequences that don't exist in the originals.  Have you never heard the wail "HAN SHOT FIRST!!"?

:P

[Jon AS]

 

As I didn't watch the original one, how the hell am I supposed to know if there is any difference?

Well, you could have looked it up, it's not like it's an obscure subject.;)

I linked to it in another thread, but this video is really well worth watching to understand just how much the special editions deviate from the originial movie on a technical level (and that it's not limited to the visuals, even the sound mixing was messed with).

[Red Tiger]

 

As I didn't watch the original one, how the hell am I supposed to know if there is any difference?

.....Dude

[felice]

Well, you could have looked it up, it's not like it's an obscure subject.;)

This is someone who's never cared enough to even watch Star Wars before, not someone who's been a fan for decades; why would they know they'd need to look up anything? That Lucas ruined the original trilogy and has refused to allow a decent quality release of the unruined version is a niche interest, albeit a big niche in geek circles, not something the general public should be expected to pay attention to.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

As someone who grew up being obsessed and loving Star Wars, I'm not sure I even watched any of those movies properly till much later, when the special editions came out. Its funny how you can have a love for something and everything involved within that thing.. yet never having actually watched it. I think it was the toys and all the accompanying tv shows and movies associated with it that were out at the time that made me love it that much.


I think the thing to remember looking back at Star Wars now, is that there was literally NOTHING like it at the time. Go watch any similar sci fi movies and they were generally either slow paced, adult and hi brow affairs like 2001 or extreme camp like Flash Gordon or Barberella or just complete dross. 

Star Wars in comparison was a work of utter genius and stands head and shoulders above anything out back then. For at least 20-30 years it simply couldn't be beaten in terms of high budget entertainment or as a blockbuster, nothing really came close for a long time. 

As a kid you'd be searching for years hoping for something fantastical and well made to be on in the cinemas or on tv. Sci Fi or fantasy at that time was terrible on the whole and was treated with disrespect. You had to cling onto anything good you were given.

These days everything is different and I don't know what I'd do if I'd grown up now. There are hundreds of superhero movies or tv shows around, sci fi is everywhere and mostly decent, you have Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. I'd be thanking my lucky stars.

And so of course Star Wars doesn't seem quite so amazing these days. Its a bit clunky. its not as mindblowing as before, its not as epic or as jaw dropping. Its still got a great story in there, but its quite basic. Empire Strikes back is still a classic, but even that jerks around a bit and parts don't work... and Jedi is a tale of 2 movies, one good one bad. 

Its always hard to compare movies now to back then, I've tried watching Citizen Kane a few times and not really even enjoyed it!

[First of My Name]

I watched this afternoon and while it's hard to deny that not all of it holds up well I have to agree with those defending it here (no point in repeating their arguments).

[Jon AS]

This is someone who's never cared enough to even watch Star Wars before, not someone who's been a fan for decades; why would they know they'd need to look up anything? That Lucas ruined the original trilogy and has refused to allow a decent quality release of the unruined version is a niche interest, albeit a big niche in geek circles, not something the general public should be expected to pay attention to.

Dunno, I usually do a bit of research when I go out of my way to track down a classic movie to watch, but then I also usually only watch movies in the company of other people (contrary to TV shows, which I seem to prefer to watch alone). Maybe I'm just weird.

[Buckwheat]

Dunno, I usually do a bit of research when I go out of my way to track down a classic movie to watch, but then I also usually only watch movies in the company of other people (contrary to TV shows, which I seem to prefer to watch alone). Maybe I'm just weird.

I started watching both Star Wars and Casablanca knowing almost nothing about them, except that (SW)

Darth Vader is Luke's father.

[Buckwheat]

Dunno, I usually do a bit of research when I go out of my way to track down a classic movie to watch, but then I also usually only watch movies in the company of other people (contrary to TV shows, which I seem to prefer to watch alone). Maybe I'm just weird.

I started watching both Star Wars and Casablanca knowing almost nothing about them, except that (SW)

Darth Vader is Luke's father.

I definitely did not know that there were two different editions, because that is not how it is usually made with films and I did not think of looking it up at all. I do not think anybody could be expected to do that.

OP, I like Star Wars despite the fact that I saw them as an adult for the first time and that I saw the prequels before the original trilogy.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

OP, I like Star Wars despite the fact that I saw them as an adult for the first time and that I saw the prequels before the original trilogy.

Surprised you'd continue if the prequels were the first ones you saw. I'd quit right there and then. 

[David Selig]

Well, duh. It's a decent movie with such a hype around it that nothing could live up to it, least of all something written by a hack like Lucas.

[Swordofmorning]

Finished episode VI. Have added things in the OP to give my view on the trilogy as a whole.

As a trilogy, Star Wars is very good but IMO, not as great as people make it to be.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

Good work on getting through them. I do recommend you watch the prequels, just to observe quite how badly wrong someone can go. They are appalling on almost all levels, and in some ways make you appreciate the OT more (in other ways completely spoiling what was good about the OT ) 

But if I could erase them from history I would.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

PS - Many friends have said that the prequels aren't good enough and I shouldn't watch with them. So, should I bother with them?

I honestly can't think of a good enough reason to watch these films.