Lori and I have been watching all of the Star Wars movies from Episode I throug VI in that order to see if the whole thing actually works now. It does, by the way. There are some minor incosistencies. But my advice to anyone in episodes VII through IX if they ever materialize, stick with R2D2. He is the kingmaker of the series.
Some impressions from this time around. Episode I was as bad as i remember. The acting is tremendously bad. The story is dull. Yoda looks awful. And then there is Jar Jar, who continues to this day to be a mystery for Sci-Fi fans. How is it that nobody at Lucasfilm had the balls to say anything to Lucas about how Jar Jar would viewed as an obvious racial stereotype.
Episodes II and III were actually a little better with this viewing. I think viewing them back to back actually does lend some continuity and interest.
Episode IV, the original Star Wars, now looks really bad. And that's with the 2004 cleanup! The acting is horrible. Leia is made up like a two dollar whore. The lighting is bad. The editing is bad. The pacing drags. The only really good part of the movie is the last 15 minutes.
Episode V, where we finished last night, is really the bright spot in the whole thing. In comparison to Episode IV it's a dream. The cinematography is light years better. The pacing is really good. The acting is so, so much better. I heard that Mark Hamil took acting lessons after IV and it really shows. And the dialog and story are just far, far better than the previous film. Normally sequels are worse or nearly as good as the original, in this case Empire is just a completely different level of movie. It makes the original look like it was shot in a garage.
Ah well, wrap it up with Jedi tonight. Ewok a yub, yub!
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