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His name is revealed as Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. In Empire Strikes Back there were still doubts about Vader's claim that he was Luke's father and that Vader was trying to deceive him. No redemption I can turn him back from the darkside nonsense in Empire. He was rotten evil Darth Vader, Sith Lord and Ben Kenobi slayer, during that film. Boo! Hiss!
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Don't forget that Lucas had collaborator help on Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.
Star Wars was written with Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck.
The Empire Strikes Backwas written with Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasden, who collaborated with Lucas on Raiders of the Lost Ark which if I remember correctly this screen play was finished before work on the Empire script started. Lucas also didn't direct this picture, the director was Irvin Kershner.
Return of the Jedi was written with Lawrence Kasden again. The film was directed by the late Richard Marquand who got the job becaus of his suspenseful adaption of Ken Follett's Eye of the Needle.
Phantom Menace was written and directed entirely by George Lucas. There were no creative checks and balances this time, and it shows. There was no one around who could rein George in when he ran with really wild ideas.
Attack of the Clones was written with Jonathan Hales who gave us the story for that gem The Scorpion King. George assumed the directorial chores on this film as well.
Or may be the big problem is that Harrison Ford is a much bigger movie star than we originally thought. His portrayal of the space pirate Han Solo, with his modern skepticism and cynicism, allowed the first trilogy to work.
I for one couldn't care less about Episode III. There is an old saying I think that applies to the prequel trilogy:
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
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I have no problem with his plot (witch has actually be fairly good in a simplistic way that's easy to follw for new viewers-kids) but his scripting is the fucking worst. Anikin actually exclaims "Yipee!" and kick up his heels in Ep I. I have not seen anything so awe-inspiringly stupid outside of an Archee comic in my entire life. There were moments in Ep. I where I was actually embarrased to be in the theatre (and I attend EVERY Trek movie on opening day!), particularly the obvious racial steroyping of "Sambo Jar-Jar" and "Jewish-Watto". What the HELL was he thinking?!?
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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quote:Originally posted by Triton: His name is revealed as Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. In Empire Strikes Back there were still doubts about Vader's claim that he was Luke's father and that Vader was trying to deceive him. No redemption I can turn him back from the darkside nonsense in Empire. He was rotten evil Darth Vader, Sith Lord and Ben Kenobi slayer, during that film. Boo! Hiss!
well, if Kenobi hadn't been jealous and held him back in his training... oh well.
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quote:Originally posted by Triton: I for one couldn't care less about Episode III. There is an old saying I think that applies to the prequel trilogy:
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
So did you see Episode II then?
And if Vadar had turned out NOT to be Luke's father in Jedi, then surely that would have pissed off an even greater portion of the audience who would have, essentially, been lied to?
And Watto was easily the best character in TPM. Easily. There shall be no "dissing" of him, or I will get medieval on your arses. However that works.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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Except it was. And it wasn't. Hence, confusion.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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Who was George Lucas before Star Wars? While directing the original Star Wars, Lucas was just this guy who had directed fucking "Diner", "THX1138" and a buch of demi-abstract student art-films. He fervently believed that this was going to be something more than schlock, but it was apparent to just about everyone that he needed some help to make that happen. And fortunately he got it. He was a visionary and the concept behind the entire Star Wars saga is really very VERY cool. He benefitted from excellent production designers, art designers, costume people, and actors. Alec Guiness didn't think this film was going anywhere. Carrie Fischer was embarassed to go to the premiere. And then it paid off and everyone got rich and lazy.
No, but Lucas still has one of the best (if not the best) production teams anyone could ask for. And technologically he's still pushing the envelope more than anyone else (more than anyone else can probably). But I suspect that now that he is George Lucas� that maybe things have changed at the Ranch. Now when he wants something, it isn't questioned like it would be if he were still fresh-faced from making "Diner". And I'm saying that things ought to be questioned. I'm a admittedly small-time writer and director myself, and I've got to tell you that getting good feedback is a critical part of good storytelling. If people aren't willing or able to look at his story or his post-production whim on that particular day and say, "I don't think that's a good idea" or "That's not going to work, because..." or "Maybe a human being should be involved in writing the love scenes, droid-George", then it tends to become mastubatory. It's very solitary and self-interested and the possibility of making a real connection becomes horribly muddied. Someone should have told him at some point that those love scenes were just awful. Someone should have told him that rather than charming and humorous Jar-Jar was distracting and time-consuming. Someone should have told him that quantifying The Force with midichlorians pretty much ruined the whole supernatural (and therefore compelling) concept of it.
It seems to me like a lot of Episodes I and II have been written in the editting room, like that's where the emphasis has been placed (They say you write a movie three times, once as a screenplay, once while you're shooting, and again while you're editting) And I think the concept of the stories is terrific, I just think a little more polish at the beginning would really go a LONG way towards making the sort of films that we've come to expect from Star Wars.
Which isn't to say that I didn't enjoy Episodes I and II. I did. I think the light-saber battle at the end of Ep I is probably the coolest sword fight I've ever seen. And the arrival of the clone army in Ep II is just spectacular. Still good films, but not great films like they could or arguably should have been.
-------------------- "Nah. The 9th chevron is for changing the ringtone from "grindy-grindy chonk-chonk" to the theme tune to dallas." -Reverend42
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but look at his neck!!! it's huuuuge!!
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That's the most right you've ever been, ever.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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Barry Levinson wrote and directed Diner in 1982. George Lucas directed American Graffiti in 1973 from a screenplay he wrote with Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, the rumored collaborators who helped George with Star Wars: A New Hope.
PsyLiam:
I did see Episode II, and I enjoyed it less than Episode I. That's the point of the shame on me and the reason I used the expression. I actually believed some of the reviews that said that Episode II was better than Episode I.
At least in Episode I we had Liam Neeson and Rick Park as Darth Maul. The saber duel at the end of Episode I is the coolest thing, but the rest of the film is pretty wretched.
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The duel was nothing more than a well-choreographed dance. Yeah, it had an abundance of style, but it struck no emotional chords... contrast that to Luke going ballistic at the end of ROTJ, hammering Vader into submission with all his pent-up rage and hatred, stylistic considerations be damned... no ultra-slick moves, no fifty-feet jumps, no double-sided lightsabers, and yet that single scene conveyed more power than the TPM fight ever did.
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![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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