Subject:
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Re: "Star Wars is silly"
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.fun
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Date:
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Thu, 30 May 2002 16:43:59 GMT
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Viewed:
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537 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Richard Marchetti writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Dave Schuler writes:
> > Good God, that was awful. I actually laughed out loud at that scene. It's
> > great that scenes intended to be moving, such as the sand:rough poetry, are
> > invariably farcically comical, while George's flaccid attempts at humor,
> > such as the entirety of Jar Jar or the C3PO/Battle Droid idiocy, are
> > astonishingly unfunny.
>
> Right. During my viewing, I was by no means alone in laughing
> inappropriately at serious scenes and not laughing at all at the C3PO stuff
> -- some people seemed just generally stunned by the end of the film. During
> the movie people snickered about the Jedi "sixth sense" which is apparently
> unable to sense anything of importance. I even heard a few people say things
> like "What?!" and "This is SO wrong!" when the normally doddering Yoda
> started flipping ninja tricks with his lightsaber. In fact, there was a
> surprising amount of murmuring throughout the whole two hours or whatever.
What a bunch of fuddy-duddies you went with. Everyone cheered at that scene
when I went (it helps to tag along with my eleven year old to get me through
scenes with Jar-Jar or Hayden Christensen). Moreover, that is probably the
best liked sequence in the entire movie (note how it is now the spotlight of
the current TV ads - you REALLY went with fuddy-duddies!). The utterly
unconvincing romance is the thing that got to me - but this is a movie for
kids my son's age. He liked it, I enjoyed the visuals, and didn't have high
expectations other than that. I could have wished for better acting (okay,
directing - I KNOW Samuel L. Jackson is a great actor, Lucas wasted him,
though at least my favorite came through, Christopher Lee). But for heaven
sake's, it's only a popcorn movie - though I must confess that my most
scathing movie comments are reserved for the truly abysmal Armageddon, which
I am sure some feel is only a popcorn movie (though I hurled my popcorn at
the screen it was so bad, and I don't mean with my fist). ;-)
> The Yoda as bad-ass thing points up the widening rift between sycophantic SW
> fans and the rest of the world. It is my understanding that SW fans love
> this Yoda thing while it is my general feeling that everyone else is either
> merely tolerant of it, or more likely -- openly disapproving.
You are the *only* person I have heard that has said this, so forgive me if
I reserve judgment on your conclusions. Now, if you want to complain about
Hayden Christensen, I'll lead the charge!
And yet I
> realize that Yoda as bad-ass is first developed in the "classic" SW series,
> Yoda must now be shown to have had the past that preceded him to episode V
> (hoping I have this right). So maybe I should be more forgiving about the
> ways that Lucas may have ham-strung himself in doing this prequel stuff, but
> then again -- why should I be?
>
> And while we are talking about episode V, I recall a lesson from the "Empire
> Strikes Back" that it doesn't matter how big or heavy a thing is when you
> are moving it with your mind, and yet this very thing becomes a pivotal
> issue at the end of the current movie: one moment Yoda is forestalling the
> collapse of the cave roof itself, and the next letting the bad guy get away
> from him because he is mentally wrestling with some large piece of
> machinery. Uh huh.
I don't think you quite understand the sequence from episode V (two, sir!).
Yoda moves the X-wing, but it wasn't easy and it was clearly draining. Yoda
was speaking about a state of mind, not about there being no limit: You can
achieve more than you think if you don't let yourself be held back by
preconceived notions.
As to "letting" the bad guy get away, I thought they had just proved that
those two could neutralize the force directed at each other.
>
> It's not my unwillingness to suspend disbelief long enough to enjoy a movie
> that makes me dislike the SW thing -- it's the excessive internal
> inconsistencies, the breaking of the fourth wall with bad humor (both
> intentional and unintentional!), the appallingly insipid storyline, the
> terrible dialogue, and the bad acting (which may be driven by a director who
> doesn't know how to honor the available talent).
I'm unwilling to suspend my disbelief that you were not unwilling to suspend
disbelief. My brain hurts just writing that, but the reason I say it is
because with all the valid areas of criticism, the one you seem to fixate on
is actually the least incredulous. See Tolkien's depiction of Gandalf as
the old man veiling his true strength as a direct parallel to Yoda.
>
> > I was wondering what happened, since you'd voiced your desire not to see
> > that cinematic jewel.
>
> It was the old "It'll be fun on the big screen" argument. I should have
> known better.
The scale of the visuals is truly awesome, the best Lucas has come up with
yet. Had to see them on the big screen with a crowd (unless you just hate
Star Wars).
Bruce
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: "Star Wars is silly"
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| (...) I was referring to strangers in the theater. Pleasanton, CA if it matters. The person I went with liked the movie a lot more than I did -- she chose the film on a regular screen over my preference for seeing Spider-Man on an IMAX screen. O (...) (22 years ago, 30-May-02, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: "Star Wars is racist"
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| (...) Right. During my viewing, I was by no means alone in laughing inappropriately at serious scenes and not laughing at all at the C3PO stuff -- some people seemed just generally stunned by the end of the film. During the movie people snickered (...) (22 years ago, 29-May-02, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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