The Gilroy 08.13.08: The Star Wars Saga

Posted by Ben Quick on 08.13.2008

Are these movies really any good?

I'm not a real controversial kind of writer. I never post anything for shock value, and most of the time I pen articles about what I like rather than dislike. So, with the new Star Wars cartoon coming out this week, I thought I might change things up. This column is obviously not about shock value, but rather simply, I'm not a big fan of Star Wars. I've always found the movies nerdy and too child friendly for my tastes. Still, there's no denying that they are among the most popular movies of all time. When you look at the all time domestic gross list the six Star Wars films all rank in the top 35. No other film franchise can even come close to that. So, I decided that this week I would throw out some thoughts on all of the six films. So, as I remind you, I'm not a huge fan or anything. If I make a mistake don't take it out on me.

Just take it out on the comments section...



Episode I: The Phantom Menace

I guess I picked the perfect way to start off. I figured that it would be best to go chronologically, at least as far as the story is concerned. I have to say that the first technical installment of the Star Wars series is the worst one. There are a few good moments with Liam Neeson and Darth Maul. The three-way light saber duel at the end is probably the best fight scene in the entire Star Wars series. Of course, there are the obvious draw backs of Jar Jar Binks and Jake Lloyd, but they're not even what I dislike about this movie the most. When I think about the saga of Star Wars I don't see this movie as being really necessary. The whole idea behind George Lucas going back to do first three installments like he did was to show people how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. All The Phantom Menace really does is introduce the characters. If you really think about it, Lucas could've basically started with Attack of the Clones and nothing would've been missing. Considering the "second trilogy" was all about character development, wasting an installment doesn't sit very well.



Episode II: Attack of the Clones

This always seems to be everyone's least favorite Star Wars movie. My least favorite is obviously the focus in the paragraph above, but I suppose I can understand why a lot of people dislike this one. Count Dooku was a major letdown after Darth Maul, as I think everyone can agree. I've heard many people say for a long time that killing off Darth Maul was a big mistake. I fully and whole hearted agree with that statement. There was no reason why Darth Maul couldn't have been the apprentice for Palpatine until Anakin became Darth Vader. Take the actual plot line for the three movies, take out Dooku, replace him with Darth Maul and you've got a better series. Most people complain about the acting and dialogue for Attack of the Clones, and I suppose that's not an entirely invalid complaint. George Lucas has always been a much better visual creator than a director of actors. The strength of Attack of the Clones lies in its character development. There are plenty of strong seeds sown for what would lead up to the only Star Wars movie I ever saw in a theater.



Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Not only did I go see this in the theater, but I went twice. I remember the hype for this film was off the charts. For as much love as The Dark Knight has gotten recently, I thought people were just as hyped to go see this movie. The problem is Revenge of the Sith wasn't near as good as The Dark Knight. This leaves me to explain why I went to see this twice. I remember that I couldn't wait, so I went to the showing my local theater had at ten in the morning. I had already agreed to go with some friends that following Monday, and so I decided to go twice. It's the true test of a movie to see if you can go see it twice in a relatively small time span and not be bored the second time around. The Dark Knight passed that test with flying colors for me, but Revenge of the Sith was not so lucky. Revenge of the Sith kind of sums up the newest batch of Star Wars movies for me. There were some awesome moments, but the awkward acting and flawed storytelling kind of brought down everything else. Oh well, at least the rest of the column is about the "better" installments!



Episode IV: A New Hope

This is the one that started it all, right? Well, this film nerd might give a little credit to Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress(far superior film, by the way), but this film still sits at the #2 spot of all time domestic money makers, behind Titanic. While I don't think A New Hope is the best Star Wars film, there's a charm to this movie that none of the other films had. There wasn't that drive to top the previous film or a story to continue. This was the first movie. Everything that went down in this installment had nothing else to play to. This was the invention of the Star Wars universe. This was the film in which the rules were written. It was a film legend in Alec Guinness playing opposite a bunch of no name actors with a story about intergalactic war. It sounds really cheesy and weird, but it worked.



Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

I'm going for the full cliché! The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the Star Wars franchise. It's the purest film of the bunch. The last four films(Jedi, Phantom, Clones and Sith) all felt like you were watching something that was less than. The first film was the original, but Empire was the rare find in that the sequel was better than the first. From "I know" to "Luke, I am your father", it's the one Star Wars film that I honestly really enjoy. Not many endings are cooler than when the bad guy wins. Most movies don't have the guts to let the audience go out on a down note. The Empire Strikes Back had those guts. I would still call this an overrated movie. It's not one of the all time greats, but it is the best in a very flawed series.



Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Return of the Jedi, the least of the best? If you consider "the best" to be the original trilogy, than yes. Return of the Jedi jumped a little too far ahead in the story after Empire and brought too many muppets along for the ride. In The Empire Strikes Back Luke Skywalker is a young apprentice and then in the very next film he's basically a Jedi Master? It might have been a little nice to see some progression there, but what the hell. I've always felt the Star Wars series was kind of like Back to the Future. In Back to the Future you had the original film that was awesome because it was the start. The second followed and it was better, not to mention darker. Finally, in the third film it started to feel like the series was starting to trail off and it was time to end it. Return of the Jedi lies very much with Back to the Future III. The originality was gone and it just felt like another Star Wars movie, rather than an interesting popcorn flick ala the first two.

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Looking back on the Star Wars series the one thing that jumps out to me the most is just how flawed all of the films are. For these being some of the most popular films ever made, the storylines are jumbled, the acting is often overly flat and many sections of the films are just plain bad. That goes for all six of the films. Many people criticize the new trilogy for being bad, but I say that the quality didn't fall that far from the original three.