Star Wars Reconsidered: Return of the Jedi

I’m not sure I’d be so out of line if I called Star Wars the most popular pop culture creation ever. I can’t think of another property that has been so widely adored for so long. While mainstream movies these days habitually make a ton of money, none of them will ever have the cultural impact of the Star Wars films. What began as a weird little passion project for George Lucas eventually spawned five more live-action movies, an animated movie, a television series, a million video games, and a fanbase that remains as passionate today as they were back in the ’70s and ’80s. Even the ones who are vocal in their dislike for the prequels do so because they so love the first three films. This was the first true nerd phenomenon, and it has shaped the way movies are made and marketed to this very day. Things like Comic-Con would not exist in their present form without Star Wars and George Lucas.

Star Wars Reconsidered: The Empire Strikes Back

It’s easy for people like me to write thousands of words complaining about the abundance of sequels and retreads in theaters, but there’s little denying that the overall quality of sequels and franchises has improved dramatically in the last couple decades. There may be a whole lot more of them, but in most cases the filmmakers and studios are working to create something reasonably entertaining and worthwhile. In the days before The Empire Strikes Back, sequels were often thrown together with very little thought. Rare was the sequel that attempted to expand the mythology in any way, and movies like The Godfather: Part II were the exception rather than the rule. One can argue that perhaps modern filmmakers are obsessed with franchises to a fault—meaning that they can spend an entire movie doing little more than setting up the next one (see: Thor)—but at least they seem to be trying. Not long ago, making a sequel was a simple repackaging job. With his sequel to Star Wars, Lucas decided to challenge that.

Star Wars Reconsidered: A New Hope

I knew going into this whole ordeal that A New Hope would be the hardest of all the Star Wars films to write about, simply because at this point it’s incredibly difficult to look at it as a piece of filmmaking. While most do not claim it is the best of the Star Wars films (that will come next week) it is A New Hope that kicked off a cinematic phenomenon unlike anything in history. It is this film that introduced all the characters that became Happy Meal toys and PEZ dispensers. It is this film that inspired a generation of kids to make their own sci-fi movies, books, and so much more. Also, it is this film that created a legion of fans large enough to start up the geekiest and most ridiculously thorough website in existence: Wookieepedia. (Seriously, check out some pages. It’s insane.) The release of A New Hope back in 1977 is one of the most important turning points in movie history, and there’s little I can say about it that hasn’t been said before. So, here goes.

Star Wars Reconsidered: Revenge of the Sith

The greatest tragedy of the Star Wars prequels is perhaps something that is only indirectly the fault of George Lucas: it’s that so many have grouped the third installment Revenge of the Sith along with the first two and dismissed it as another of humanity’s great atrocities. Going into this film, fans were already so disillusioned that they felt they were watching this last one just for the sake of finality. It wasn’t enjoying a movie as much as it was homework, and they left convinced that they had just seen George Lucas ruin their childhoods once more. However, these people are making the fatal error of dismissing a mostly terrific film. That’s right. I said “terrific.” Any bad in Revenge of the Sith is disposed of early, and what’s left is a brave, visually exciting and heartbreaking finale that ties up all the series’ loose ends in an incredibly satisfying way. If the first two prequels were an uneven mixture of the good George Lucas and the bad George Lucas, this film leans decidedly on the “good” side of the equation.

Star Wars Reconsidered: Attack of the Clones

If there’s one thing to admire about the Star Wars series as a whole—including the prequels—it’s that the story being told is always fascinating. The execution may not always be the most impressive, but it’d be wrong to dismiss just how convincing and well thought-out the entire journey is. I would argue there’s not a precipitous drop-off in storytelling between the original trilogy and the prequels, but that most of the flaws come from other factors. Specifically, the evil of computers. There are few things more dangerous than telling George Lucas he can do whatever he wants, and for much of Attack of the Clones that completely hampers the proceedings. His desire to turn his Star Wars universe into a world of weightless CGI was apparent in The Phantom Menace, but Attack of the Clones frequently falters because any real humanity is lost beneath the layers and layers of effects.

Star Wars Reconsidered: The Phantom Menace

If there is one thing the Internet was created for, it’s argument. Take a trip through Twitter or any message board, and you will find an endless stream of negativity, cynicism and confrontation for the sake of confrontation. However, there seems to be one thing that everyone on the Internet agrees on: George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels are among the most horrible atrocities ever to be committed by mankind. People on message boards can crack endless jokes about 9/11 or the Holocaust, but if you were to post something like “Hey, I kinda like Jar Jar Binks” then a rain of endless fire is likely to fall down upon you, for you are a heretic. The prequels are terrible, because that is what the Internet says. It is consensus, therefore it is law.