I was five years old when I saw Empire for the first time and hearing Darth Vader say those words to Luke... the impact that had on me cannot even be put into words. The relation that I felt in conjunction to my own relationship with my father (notice the lower case "f") was VERY powerful. And there it is again. It is a personal choice how one sees these films and for anyone to say that anyone else's decision to watch them front to back or sideways and out of order is wrong is just silly and bull headed. I know my fair share of purists who will argue until they are blue in the face in order to try and sway a prequel lover's opinion. And that door swings both ways as far as Lucas boosters who don't understand HOW anyone could not see the films the way that George sees them (at any given moment).
I think the best way to settle it (and this works out for those who want us all to love the films as George sees them as well) is to go at the films the way that George does. Let your indecision regarding either saga flow in whatever direction it needs to at any given moment. It is perfectly fine to love the prequels one moment and hate them the next. I bet Lucas feels the same way about these films at this point. As much as he loves them, there is that bug that will eat at him until the day he dies that he didn't get every little bit of it just the way that he wanted. And he changes his mind about how he sees things every day. I listen to the film commentaries of every DVD I purchase. And I don't know how many times I have heard film makers talk about how if they could go back and change this or that in their film, they would. Some of these changes are things that they wanted to do at the time they were making the film and budgets or producers wouldn't let them. And others are changes that the passage of time have brought to their creative eye. The only difference between those film makers and George Lucas is that he OWNS these films. He can change any thing he wants any time he wants for as long as he wants. McCallum was even joking about this at CIII. How he has a re-accuring nightmare that he gets a phone call in the middle of the night when he is 80 and it's George's daughter saying that George is looking for sound elements from one of the episodes so that he can make another change. So I say we should all just roll with it. The guy is going to tinker with these flicks until he becomes one with the Force anyway. So why not let our opinions on them change with time as well?
These movies are so close to most of our hearts that I would equate them to being a member of our families. And Lord knows... I bicker with my siblings ALL the time. It's OK. I guess that means that Episode I is my brother who refuses to listen and leaves his crap all over the house and that Episode II would be the brother that tries so damn hard to be liked, but in the end just comes off looking like a kiss ass all the time. Episode III is my sister who started out looking as if she was going to be a HUGE success, but kind of slipped in her journey and now has settled into a comfortable life as a Mother and wife. Not too shabby, but what could have been will always loom like a shadow. Now, Episode IV would be my sister who ....
GOD THIS IS FRIGHTENING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
