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The Chronology of How My love for Lucas has fallen — Page 2

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Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
Well, coming from that angle, a warrior who gets his ass handed to him and then has to retreat to a hermit-like existence for a generation and become a pacifist... I can buy that as character development. It happens all the time in stories. I just don't like the way it was handled. It was obvious it wasn't done for character development, only to be "cool." And I'm against Yoda using a lightsaber to begin with. Like I've said before, it seemed beneath him. Besides, as a kid, I always pictured the Jedi (or Force users in general) as being more diverse with their powers. There were some, like Ben, who channeled their powers into being able to duel with laser swords. Some, like Palpatine, channeled their power into using flesh-eating lightning. Others, like Yoda, used the Force to focus their wisdom and patience to a fine point. They all had different jobs. The prequels just turned them all into a bunch of spinning, lightsaber-wielding maniacs. And to make up for the homologous take on the Jedi? They made up a whole bunch of different lightsaber fighting styles to go along with the type of Jedi. Like the ambassador fighting style. Ambassador fighting style?! WTF, mate!


True, but the character development happens of screen. We only get the line "Failed I have into exile I must go" in ROTS and the next time we see him, he is a hermit. He makes a big decision that he will not become involved with the possible rebellion or with the fight against the emperor and he really doesn't say why. Only that he has failed. The PT shows him as this powerhouse of the GFFA and he turns his back against the people in the empire just so he can go and meditate. Had he not been a warrior the choise would have been easier to understand. Just compare the PT Yoda with the OT Yoda and there is a signifficant change . The idea here that the warrior becomes a pacifist is a great one but like so many other ideas in the PT, it is undeveloped. It's thrown in there and not explored. Instead more attention is being put into developing the Ambassador fighting style. I mean I love the Ambassador fighting style as much as the next guy, but it sure would have been nice to see Yoda react to the utter desctruction of the Jedi order. Maybe even ponder about the Jedi orders mistakes (wich ofcourse will not include the famous ambassador fighting style). Or how about a few words from Qui-Gon as to why Obi and Yoda must now hide and trust in the force? The whole Galaxy around Yoda is burning and what does he do? Goes into Dagobah to meditate and to become immortal. "Yes OBi. Fight I will not. Hear voices from Qui-Gon I do. Into swamp I must go. Ambassador fighting style do not forsake Obi.. In the desert voices you will hear too. Insane you will be. Like me:" The Galaxy sure could use a little ambassador fighting style and the rebellion too. But the heroes decide to call it a day and meditate.



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Yeah, I agree. I said in my last post that I didn't think it was done for character development by showing a young blood-lusting Yoda who became a pacifist, but only because it looked cool to have a CG Yoda jumping around like Sonic. All the things that needed explaining went by the wayside, and, instead, they just introduced a whole bunch of new plot elements... that weren't explained either.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Gary Kurtz = Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back
Howard G. Kazanjian = Return of the Jedi
Rick McCallum = Special Editions of above, Episodes I, II, and III (not worth the space to mention by name).

Strange coincidence it seems.

If you've watched any interviews with McCallum, I think you'd find he is the one who is terminally obsessed with CG. When he's not talking about CG, or how he was used as the model for nearly every CG character (this stormtrooper, that X-wing pilot, etc.) he's using GL to brown his nose, or going on and on for hours repeating "this is f--king grim... this is f--king grim".

Of course it doesn't relieve Lucas of responsibility, but I can't help but believe McCallum is largely responsible for the catastrophe that has come to Star Wars. I also have to wonder what things would have been like if Gary Kurtz had remained the producer, or if he at least had a producer that would tell him when he had a bad idea, instead of constantly proclaiming him as a genius no matter what.
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I think the original poster got it right on. George Lucas didn't do anything past '77, except give the finger to his fans. Lawrence Kasdan is a great screenwriter, and it was him that made ESB, along with the brilliant directing talents of Irvin Kershner, the best film in the Star Wars saga. George Lucas did work on the script of ROTJ, and we all know that that movie, though still great, was inferior to the first two. I don't know if the rest of you agree, but I thought that AOTC was the best of the PT, and I did a little research and found out way. Lawrence Kasdan worked on the script for AOTC! That's what made it better than the other two. (Still not a great movie.)

I saw others on this thread discussing the Yoda fight scenes. I thought this was the stupidest thing about the PT's, and its what pushed me to hating the movies. Yoda is an old, dying man in ESB and ROTJ. He's obviously been old and handicapped for years and years. How did he get so old in the twenty year gap between 3 and 4? If I were making the PT, Yoda would still be in them, but he'd only really be seen in the Jedi council room, and he sure as hell would never wield a lightsaber. (Too powerful to use a simple weapon like that.) Seriously, the timeline in the PT screws everything up. Yoda is old. Very old. And he should have acted just as old in the PT. I would have still had him confront Sidious in ROTS, but not with lightsabers. Both of them were too powerful for lightsabers.
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Yeah, I hate how they seem to forget that characters with longevity would most likely age proportionately. Yoda looked like a young... er, man, in TPM when there really shouldn't have been that much change to him. And I hated in the Sith documentaries how George would give his stupid chuckle and say that Chewbacca was the junior league. He was 200 years old in the original movies! Nineteen years for a lifespan like that wouldn't make that much of a difference! It just shows how little thought George puts into his own characters.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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I can't STAND Rick McCallum. Whenever I see one of those documentaries where he tries to justify the changes made for the Special Edition, I get furious. He is the biggest brown-nosing yes-man who has ever walked the face of the earth.