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Post by Nalkarj on May 29, 2018 0:44:15 GMT
This one’s for coldenhaulfield, @forceghostackbar, President Ackbar™, Tristan's Journal, and BATouttaheck. So here I am, probably the last person in the universe who hasn’t seen Star Wars, and after waiting for an eternity, I get to watch the first movie. I suppose this is the best place for me to record my thoughts? Very first impressions: *As I was watching that famous opening title-crawl, my first thought is—“did I start with the right movie?” It seemed to start mid-story, as if the audience already knew Leia and Darth Vader. My second thought? “Dear God, all John Williams scores sound the same.” *I found the opening surprisingly dull, and the dialogue sequence between Leia and DV definitely needed another take. The robots are more annoying than entertaining. *Happy I stuck with it, though, as everything since we met Mark Hamill has been fun. Alec Guinness is as great as ever. Will let you know more thoughts as I go along.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 29, 2018 1:15:39 GMT
*Peter Cushing! Peter Cushing is excellent—actually at his best here, the equal of the Baron in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed or his Van Helsing. He even gets to use the patented Peter Cushing finger. And he’s a much better villain than DV.
*I like Mark Hamill’s performance here, but I’m kinda wishing the movie were about Harrison Ford.
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Post by BATouttaheck on May 29, 2018 2:20:09 GMT
Stick with it …. even non genre devotees have liked this one (actually three) … the later "earlier" ones not so much. Fun reading the Nalkarj log almost live and in person.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2018 3:30:58 GMT
Salzmank, my friend. You MUST immediately watch the sequel! Then, of course, you must watch Return of the Jedi... Because that's the one with ADMIRAL ACKBAR!
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2018 3:40:45 GMT
Also, I don't know if you know the "BIG TWIST" in the sequel...
But in case you don't: DO NOT READ ANYTHING ABOUT STAR WARS ONLINE OR ASK ANYONE ANYTHING ABOUT THESE MOVIES!!!!!!1!!!!2!!!!3!!?
Seriously. Do not let anyone ruin the twist for you! Watch Empire Strikes Back ASAP!
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Post by BATouttaheck on May 29, 2018 3:45:13 GMT
@forceghostackbar by the time I saw V and VI I knew the twists and I agree 100% it's better not to BUT if you already do (which by now is almost certain) it's OK but I promise not to tell Nalkarj even if he asks and offers bribes like & …. =
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Post by President Ackbar™ on May 29, 2018 5:03:15 GMT
Also, I don't know if you know the "BIG TWIST" Seriously. Do not let anyone ruin the twist for you! Watch Empire Strikes Back ASAP!
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Post by Tristan's Journal on May 29, 2018 12:27:57 GMT
*Peter Cushing! Peter Cushing is wonderful and actually at his best here, the equal of the Baron in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed or his Van Helsing. He even gets to use the patented Peter Cushing finger. And he’s a much better villain than DV. *I like Mark Hamill’s performance here, but I’m kinda wishing the movie were about Harrison Ford. You are in luck (kind of), after 40 + years they have just finally released a SOLO film last week, but there is no Ford in there.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 29, 2018 14:30:29 GMT
Thanks, fellas. I feel like I’m always on the run, just checking in when I can. @forceghostackbar, I do know the big “I am your father” twist; as Bat said, it has so seeped into pop culture that one almost has to know it! I don’t know any others, though, if there are any. Sorry for pausing the “live thoughts,” but I can chime in with some thoughts tonight. Thanks again, guys.
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Post by BATouttaheck on May 29, 2018 15:11:26 GMT
I don’t know any others, though, if there are any
there's a couple of and neither one is about a puppy and that's all I am gunna say, Nalkarj
paused live thoughts are better than no thoughts at all ~~~ we see enough of those, eh ?
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2018 16:35:29 GMT
Just make sure you watch the two sequels! As much as I love the first one I do enjoy ESB more, so even if you're not completely blown away by the original there is a good chance that ESB will win you over...
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Post by BATouttaheck on May 29, 2018 17:30:46 GMT
and, Nalkarj, if you don't make it to Parts "I, II and III" don't worry about it (too much). They are a whole different ball game from the Original Triumph-er-ate and not as much FUN!
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2018 18:41:16 GMT
and, Nalkarj , if you don't make it to Parts "I, II and III" don't worry about it (too much). They are a whole different ball game from the Original Triumph-er-ate and not as much FUN! Agreed. I pretty much only watch the original three.
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Post by Nalkarj on Jun 1, 2018 1:31:55 GMT
My apologies for stopping the live log, folks, but I got caught up in some other ‘real world’ stuff in the middle of the movie. Looking forward to The Empire Strikes Back (and Return of the Jedi), @forceghostackbar; I’ll try to take a look as soon as I can. If no one minds, I jotted down some general comments… Basically I enjoyed it but didn’t think it was flawless. As I wrote, I was surprised that Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin was more imposing a villain than Darth Vader, though I was delighted just to see Cushing here. The two robots annoyed me, and the picture doesn’t really get going until we first meet Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker. I really enjoyed the scene in the bar where we first meet Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, and (like you, BATouttaheck) I loved Alec Guinness’s sage Obi-Wan. (His early death is a definite disappointment.) Chewbacca was a lot less annoying than I expected when we first meet him. The dialogue is (probably intentionally) simplistic, but I have to disagree with you on one point, Tristan's Journal: I found the plot less simple than archetypal, and on that basis it works amazingly well. I thought the special effects were fine, but I thought the final chase/explosion disappointing, too drawn out but, at the end, too neat. Tristan, it didn’t really come off to me as a “cheap kiddy movie,” though I can tell why Lucas decided to give up the director’s chair; his direction is only adequate, and he’s better with inventing a story than telling one. As always, Harrison Ford is a lot of fun. My biggest problem is that I think Star Wars is decent without ascending to greatness, or even attempting it; Hawks said that a great movie is three good scenes and no bad ones. Star Wars definitely has good scenes, but it also has bad ones (Leia and Vader’s dialogue in the beginning, for example, or the classroom scene near the climax). As I wrote, I’m looking forward to The Empire Strikes Back, as I do feel that these characters could easily be in a really great movie. Oh, and one more little point: I’m sure I could look this up, but if Leia is leading this group of rebels against the Empire, how is she a princess? Was she a princess of the Empire who then rebelled against it? If so, why does everyone call her “princess”? Is there an older monarchist group that opposes the new Imperial monarchy? (Speaking of Leia, Carrie Fisher doesn’t appear at her best in the early scenes, but she’s very cute and lovely towards the end. My apologies if that seems a bit disrespectful to the late Miss Fisher, but I intend it complimentarily.)
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Jun 1, 2018 1:49:26 GMT
You're remarks on Cushing are interesting because I think at the time of release he was a well known fixture of a lot of sci-fi and horror so to include him in what was his first major studio film since John Paul Jones in 1959 was clearly meant as an extra marketing hook for genre fans---but supposedly he was to be Obi Wan Kenobi originally. Once Guinness was involved, the film added the David Lean veneer.
Funny thing too is that the Death Star command has a number of Cushing co-stars from other films--one of them was his son in the Ghoul, and the other (David Prowse) is the monster in Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell.
Cushing is the main villain in the story--essentially the stand in for the Emperor. He bosses Vader around and even threatens him! "I am taking an awful risk Vader-this had better work."
I think Lucas dropped the ball by not arranging some kind of meeting between Kenobi and Tarkin when the former is looking for the tractor beam.
Looking forward to your remarks on the sequels but I hope you watch the non SE versions!
"You said it Chewie, where'd ya dig up that old fossil?"
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Post by Nalkarj on Jun 1, 2018 1:58:44 GMT
Interesting comments of your own, Primemovermithrax Pejorative; thanks! That’s this “ Han shot first” stuff? I think I saw the 2004 re-do, which makes it a pretty confusing scene. I can understand Lucas’s motivations, at least as quoted in the Wikipedia article, but I have a prejudice against additional re-cuts and major movie changes in general (I even tend to dislike directors’ cuts unless there’s a compelling reason why it had to be re-cut).
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Jun 1, 2018 2:07:11 GMT
I think I saw the 2004 re-do, which makes it a pretty confusing scene. I can understand Lucas’s motivations, at least as quoted in the Wikipedia article, but I have a prejudice against additional re-cuts and major movie changes in general (I even tend to dislike directors’ cuts unless there’s a compelling reason why it had to be re-cut). I definitely think you should watch the non SE Empire Strikes Back because the Emperor is voiced by someone different from the ROTJ and as you zeroed in on Cushing instead of Vader you may zero in on the voice and I am curious how you react to it (especially once you know who does the voice). Do not want to spoil it but there is a shift in the character of the Emperor between the two films and I think the original interpretation makes Cushing's involvement more logical. The big loss with the SE Star Wars is no werewolf alien in the cantina! I think that is the most iconic shot, suggesting the wild alien qualities of the environment. Lucas replaced him with an irritating slurpee drinking character.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jun 1, 2018 2:39:14 GMT
I obviously don't watch movies the way everyone else seems to. I am lucky if I can remember the names of the main characters and figure out who is related to who (whom?, but I digress) and rarely notice the "subtle stuff" from which controversies and debates are born. It is interesting seeing the minutia that can be (and is) discussed. "Werewolf alien / slurpee drinker" OK than !
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Jun 1, 2018 3:19:31 GMT
Haha well I was a member of the Lucasfilm fan club back in the 80s and used to watch the movies regularly although these days I can hardly stand to once every few years. Watching the non SE in low quality is intolerable--but fortunately there are fan edits that have high enough quality elements.
I think their strength was the innovations in FX and visual design and comic book imagination given A budget treatment, and for most new viewers, I am not sure that it would have anything close to the same appeal since there are so many similar kinds of films.
The simplicity of the story is now its biggest weakness.
Another thing from the non-SE version which is sorely missing in the newer versions is the Clint Eastwood-ish voice for Boba Fett. I cannot fathom them changing something like that.
When Star Wars and ESB came out, Darth Vader was a menacing figure-but he ultimately became something of a weakling.
PS For me the absence of the werewolf alien is a bigger crime than changing who shot who in the cantina.
I also think the film worked a lot better without the Jabba scene. Building up the character without showing him until the third film was more suspenseful IMO.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jun 1, 2018 3:26:30 GMT
Part of the fun of seeing IV - before the hype and the discussions and any of the sequels and pre-quells was knowing that it was an homage to the weekly serials which were simple and exciting and just plain FUN ! Even a non-fan(atic) ( )of the genre could enjoy it and then looked forward to seeing V and VI when they came out.. just because IV had "worked".
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