The Original Star Wars Trilogy (1977-83)

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CringeFest's Avatar
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8/10


I know this is 3 movies, but watched from beginning to end it feels like the same movie, it's dramatically different from the later prequels...


overall the cinematography, aesthetics, acting are just great. I wonder if there were any alien bar scenes that were as entertaining in previous sci-fi. Even though the whole thing feels really fun to watch, i overall think the plot is way under-developed. Why are the rebels rebelling, what exactly is darth vader trying to accomplish? I mean, i guess it has some wierd socio-political element to it, the captains in vaders fleet had british accents, "the empire" have a resemblence to nazis or something, "the force" is wierd occult knowledge...idk, i get the feeling this is a trick to keep you wanting more.


It's interesting watching this as an adult, where's i probably watched it 5 times as a child without really understanding what they were talking about throughout the whole series. Anything less than an 8 in my mind is under-rated! My analysis of plot vs. aethetics pretty much mirrors my take on american horror story, feels contrived but everything else makes up for it.



I feel like i just started some embarrassing drama...



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
I work with a bunch of people that have only ever seen the special edition versions....yuck.
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A system of cells interlinked
8/10

Why are the rebels rebelling, what exactly is darth vader trying to accomplish?
Before I answer this, it it necessary to point out the framework upon which this saga is based, which is Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey concept. Lucas combined concepts and themes from Campbell along with inspiration from old Saturday pulp serials like Flash Gordan and directorial and thematic inspiration from the likes of Kurosawa. With that said, he also clearly had things to say about previous world events of the century, such as World War 2.

The rebels were rebelling against a totalitarian empire that was in the process of consolidating total power and domination after the defeat of the Jedi and dissolution of the Republic by Emperor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious). While the Empire had pretty much defeated the free society that preceded it, there remained a pretty resilient faction of freedom fighters that were spread around the galaxy in various places. I get the idea that with their current armaments and tactics, The Empire was unable to completely eradicate the rebels. Hence Palpatine's plan to construct the Death Star as the ultimate doomsday device, which would be used to destroy entire planets that were home to the remaining rebel strongholds.

We are dropped into the story mere minutes after a desperate, last-ditch mission to obtain the plans for the death star, during which much of what was left of the rebellion's forces were destroyed, including the entire team of heroes that obtained the plans. The events of this mission play out in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which dovetails perfectly into the opening minutes of Star Wars: A New Hope.

As for Vader, he is clearly the right-hand man and heavy for the emperor, but his main goal in the films are to find and convert his son to his path in life, which is the dark side, and to ultimately overthrow the emperor, taking his place as the ultimate ruler in the galaxy, with his son at his side. There is quite bit to unpack here, with familial themes pulled from classic myth and Campbell's works, and I would posit that these themes are what end up being the central thrust of the entire trilogy. I won't spool out multiple paragraphs on this stuff, but it is worth digging deeper into if you so desire.

I mean, I guess it has some wierd socio-political element to it, the captains in vaders fleet had british accents, "the empire" have a resemblence to nazis or something, "the force" is wierd occult knowledge...idk, i get the feeling this is a trick to keep you wanting more.
I don't think it's a trick. I think Lucas genuinely had something to say with this stuff, and I think he did a pretty good job of it. The empire clearly resembles Nazis: the troops are called stormtroopers, and the commanders uniforms and mannerisms resemble Nazi officers etc. All that stuff is fairly obvious I think, to the point of being a bit on the nose.

As for the force, I would focus on Yoda and the wisdom he doles out for what the themes of the force are. I don't see it as occult, but more a philosophy and approach to both how one lives one's live and how one approaches epistemology in general, as well as how one deals with emotions. The Light side philosophy strikes me as a sort of spiritual stoicism, with its adherents compartmentalizing their emotions, never letting their actions be ruled by emotional outbursts, perhaps at the expense of true passion. The dark side embraces emotions, channeling rage, hatred, and exhilaration, perhaps feeling greater passion, but ultimately becoming a pawn of their whims and emotional outbursts. Also pay close attention to Obi-Wan's speech about the force in The Empire Strike Back, when he talks about considering events from various points of view, which highlights how events can appear different depending on one's perspective.

This post is getting fairly long. That's about all, for now.
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A system of cells interlinked
I work with a bunch of people that have only ever seen the special edition versions....yuck.
Yea. They need to track down the Star Wars: Despecialized editions...



I believe I own copies of the editions released right before the Specialized editions (maybe '95), and yeah it's a much better experience



CringeFest's Avatar
Duplicate Account (locked)
Before I answer this, it it necessary to point out the framework upon which this saga is based, which is Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey concept. Lucas combined concepts and themes from Campbell along with inspiration from old Saturday pulp serials like Flash Gordan and directorial and thematic inspiration from the likes of Kurosawa. With that said, he also clearly had things to say about previous world events of the century, such as World War 2.

The rebels were rebelling against a totalitarian empire that was in the process of consolidating total power and domination after the defeat of the Jedi and dissolution of the Republic by Emperor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious). While the Empire had pretty much defeated the free society that preceded it, there remained a pretty resilient faction of freedom fighters that were spread around the galaxy in various places. I get the idea that with their current armaments and tactics, The Empire was unable to completely eradicate the rebels. Hence Palpatine's plan to construct the Death Star as the ultimate doomsday device, which would be used to destroy entire planets that were home to the remaining rebel strongholds.

We are dropped into the story mere minutes after a desperate, last-ditch mission to obtain the plans for the death star, during which much of what was left of the rebellion's forces were destroyed, including the entire team of heroes that obtained the plans. The events of this mission play out in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which dovetails perfectly into the opening minutes of Star Wars: A New Hope.

As for Vader, he is clearly the right-hand man and heavy for the emperor, but his main goal in the films are to find and convert his son to his path in life, which is the dark side, and to ultimately overthrow the emperor, taking his place as the ultimate ruler in the galaxy, with his son at his side. There is quite bit to unpack here, with familial themes pulled from classic myth and Campbell's works, and I would posit that these themes are what end up being the central thrust of the entire trilogy. I won't spool out multiple paragraphs on this stuff, but it is worth digging deeper into if you so desire.



I don't think it's a trick. I think Lucas genuinely had something to say with this stuff, and I think he did a pretty good job of it. The empire clearly resembles Nazis: the troops are called stormtroopers, and the commanders uniforms and mannerisms resemble Nazi officers etc. All that stuff is fairly obvious I think, to the point of being a bit on the nose.

As for the force, I would focus on Yoda and the wisdom he doles out for what the themes of the force are. I don't see it as occult, but more a philosophy and approach to both how one lives one's live and how one approaches epistemology in general, as well as how one deals with emotions. The Light side philosophy strikes me as a sort of spiritual stoicism, with its adherents compartmentalizing their emotions, never letting their actions be ruled by emotional outbursts, perhaps at the expense of true passion. The dark side embraces emotions, channeling rage, hatred, and exhilaration, perhaps feeling greater passion, but ultimately becoming a pawn of their whims and emotional outbursts. Also pay close attention to Obi-Wan's speech about the force in The Empire Strike Back, when he talks about considering events from various points of view, which highlights how events can appear different depending on one's perspective.

This post is getting fairly long. That's about all, for now.
yeah the whole "take over everything" was the nazi ideal for sure, i was thinking about this today and maybe i was a little harsh on the plot, i guess because of the "luke i am your father" thing which is the part that pop culture mocks and drills into your brain i felt like it was a little cheesy.

but yeah the plot is very rich, especially when you bring jabba the hut/han solo into it, as a genre its an action movie. I guess my main problem is that its scifi yet theres nothing about their resource extraction, and how the hell can vader build that giant thing out of nowhere? The resources were what dune was alll about...



A system of cells interlinked
yeah the whole "take over everything" was the nazi ideal for sure, i was thinking about this today and maybe i was a little harsh on the plot, i guess because of the "luke i am your father" thing which is the part that pop culture mocks and drills into your brain i felt like it was a little cheesy.

but yeah the plot is very rich, especially when you bring jabba the hut/han solo into it, as a genre its an action movie. I guess my main problem is that its scifi yet theres nothing about their resource extraction, and how the hell can vader build that giant thing out of nowhere? The resources were what dune was all about...
Dune is proper science fiction. I see Star Wars as more fantasy, with all the fantastical creatures and the force etc., which is almost magical.

Dune was brilliant in how it extrapolated human society out to a period in time 8000+ years in the future, where our societal, technological, and spiritual paths at the time were brought to their logical conclusions. Computer technology eventually got out of hand, and was subsequently eradicated and banned, and a substance was discovered on another planet that turned out to be a mutagen that imparted special abilities on those that ingested it over a long period of time, including mind control, ESP, and even the knowledge on how to fold space, traveling vast distances instantaneously.

There are no fantastic aliens or dogfights in space, no mystical magical force that turns farm boys into clairvoyant swashbuckling acrobats. Instead, as you mentioned, we get a saga focused on resource management and domination by various factions in the galaxy. That said, There is a great deal about a prophecy, characters that are basically witches, and a Christ-like messiah. In this way, Dune fits into more mythological trappings along with its hard science fiction framework, while Star Wars also borrows heavily from myth, but is painted with a thick coating of fantasy lacquer. Star Wars is decidedly more fun, but also much more juvenile.

The two sagas clearly have a different target audience, which is why Lucas decided to steer his ship into the sea of excitement and fantasy, while Herbert's work navigates the channels of economic and political subterfuge.



You ready? You look ready.
I work with a bunch of people that have only ever seen the special edition versions....yuck.
Some Lucas changes weren’t wrong.



That last one is so much better.



Harrison Ford's face looks somewhat pudgy in the Star Wars movies. Has anyone else noticed this?

Well, yes. But he was younger.



I give it three 10s like I did LotR.

The second trilogy isn't as good but continues that same atmosphere. That's as far as I will go. Anything other than those first 6 movies is out of the question, I don't want to see 'em.



I learn the most from making my own mistakes
what can I say The original Star Wars trilogy is a classic.

also this is my ranking of the original Star Wars trilogy

1. the emperor strikes back
2. the new hope
3. the return of the jedi