On May 25, 1977, Star Wars introduced a generation to an epic space opera that would unite a generation.
On May 26, 2012, Colleen Kiphart finally joined the party.
So, that’s Star Wars? I can see why there are people out there who like it.
This weekend I checked a box too-long empty on my geek-cred card: I saw Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (A title that has more punctuation in it than those of some research papers I’ve seen).
Before this weekend I knew who this was, but not why she was so cool. Image courtesy of Karen Hallion
It was nice. The last portion was quite entertaining. I don’t think I’ll see it again. Once was enough. Sorry.
I’m not trying to troll you, but I just don’t really see what all the fuss is about.
I wanted to like it. I already knew the characters, the quotes, and the general story line. I love big space operas. I adore ‘splosions. Your film has a young Harrison Ford being cocky? I’m in! (Though this is again, in theory since I haven’t seen any of the original three Indiana Jones movies. They’re on the list.)
What caused my lukewarm reaction and my fear of your reaction to my reaction? People pipe up and almost proudly proclaim a dislike for Citizen Kane or bookmark Ulysses halfway through never to pick it back up (Though people who slog that far should get a medal). And yet, the geek who thinks Star Wars is only fine hides in the windmill like Frankenstein’s creature. (Let me know if you see any mobs coming, I’m highly flammable.)
I want to live, so I won’t list what I perceived as shortcomings in the movie. Suffice it to say, Mike kept assuring me that this movie is, in fact, pretty good, and but isn’t because of the dialogue.
I’ll cut you off right there. I saw the original theatrical release version, so it was free of George Lucas’ latter day meddling.
Here’s what rocked. The special effects rocked, and the leads sold the crap out of an out-there concept. (Just an fyi: I totally bought in. I can suspend disbelief with the best of them. It was the blend of mysticism and sci-fi that I think made it a little out there. No, I haven’t seen Dune. What have I seen? Stuff! Lots of stuff. Not all of us were able to go to the movies a lot growing up.)Strong female lead, sweet score, dogfights in space!
As I’m listing off all the great things I’m almost convincing myself that I really liked it. And, honestly, the last half hour straight ruled.
But, I just didn’t feel that strongly about it.
I get this joke now, so that's something positive. Image courtesy of Very Demotivational.
Is it even possible for a person to come to Star Wars fresh anymore? I know I didn’t. I felt I’d seen the best parts through the cultural touchstones that permeate all communities. (I recently walked in on my parents watching the last five minutes of Star Wars. When I mentioned that I hadn’t seen it my mother exclaimed, “How’s the possible? This is a great movie!” The next movie on was the first Indiana Jones movie. After I made a similar confession, I thought I was going to be disowned.) Freshness is necessary for wonder. And it seems that wonder is a major selling point for Star Wars.
And maybe that was the drop that caused the dam to break. Maybe that was why I wasn’t wowed by Star Wars.
Or, maybe I’m just a person who didn’t get it. It’s possible that I’m just too familiar with the series to enjoy any of the surprises.
Like I said, next month Mike and I are watching Empire, and then Return of the Jedi in July. I was warned that that latter was a blatant toy grab.
But that’s really the only one I’m going/have gone into cynical.
What do you think? Have you ever seen something that just fell short of the hype? What can I do to shore up my Star Wars viewing experience?
Honestly, I don’t think you said anything too out there. Honestly, Star Wars is much better when viewed with a sense of nostalgia.
Honestly, I think I am who I am creatively because of Star Wars, but I also realized that I’ve probably outgrown it. I still think it’s a great story, but it isn’t really on my list of favorite films anymore. I still like it. I can’t what to share it with my son and daughter. Hopefully they can see it with the wonder that I saw it with.
IMO, Empire Strikes Back is MUCH better than Star Wars and Jedi. Different director. And I think all the actors are more comfortable in their characters.
Star Wars is great for what it did to re-energize the Science Fiction genre and build the idea of the space opera. That said, I tend to think of it like Star Trek. It casts a long shadow for the pioneering it did in its area, but it doesn’t stand that well against years and years of people perfecting the craft.
Personally, I think Empire Strikes Back is leagues above New Hope (which was originally just released as “Star Wars” until Lucas and Co realized they could make more) due to the perfecting that Lucas himself did.
You can FUCKING watch DUNE!
Forget starwars and watch DUNE!
Patrick Stewart is in DUNE.
DUNE was arguably the best single sci-fi book of all time. Even fans of starwars know the book series was so-so at best.
WATCH DUNE!!!!
I second Norman. Watch Dune! I love Star Wars in ways that words will never be able to describe. However, Dune is the best. I prefer the newer SciFi series over the old one, but either will blow your mind.
P.S. Stick with Star Wars, too. The cuteness/badassery of the Ewoks in the 6th movie will make you change your definition of awesome.
I prefer Dune in its book form, but the Sci-Fi Miniseries wasn’t bad.
Ok, consider Dune in both my Netflix and Kindle queues. Who can say no to that kind of passion?
I think what we have here is a case of the Olde Expectation Train being derailed. We’ve all been there, usually it’s with arcane films/books that we go into wanting to really like because it’s cool to like shit no one else likes and our compadre sold us on this one. For instance I recently saw von Trier’s Melancholia. From the sterling recommendation I expected Dogville to be trumped three times over. Afterward I was, of course, disappointed; my unreasonable expectations were not filled. Once I got the first inkling of “that could have been better” I become extra-critical and found myself unable to enjoy it. It’s actually a very good, painfully slow, thoughtful foray into depression and Charlotte Gainsbourg is extremely attractive. With something as iconic as Star Wars if you weren’t entranced as a supple-minded youth you won’t be interested in it as critic-of-arts-adult.
As far as Star Wars goes it should have been Ewok Wars and the humans can pissed off.
What’s dune?
When you say that, I want to kick you in the face.
Maybe there’s just an ideal window when people should see Star Wars and I missed it.
I’m looking forward to Empire. The praise I’ve heard about it has been about specific things – the direction, the cast’s focus, etc. – rather than the general adoration that I’ve seen in fans of the fourth film.
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