Originally posted by: JediRandy
Are you preserving history for the “youth of tomorrow” or are you preserving your own youth?
This idea that the PT/SE/Holiday Special is going to distort and ruin the impact the original SW made on movie history is a gross overreaction. The original movies have stood for 30 years now and they’ll stand long after people are done complaining about Jake Lloyd.
Godfather 3 didn’t ruin the Godfather just like Jaws 3D didn’t ruin Jaws. ANH has and will “stand the test of time”… film students will still read about the impact of the flicks 100 years from now even with Jar Jar Binks. (They might even read film books that site the beloved SW and evil Luca$ as creating the blockbuster that killed small films)
(Now go ahead and start in on how the OOT isn’t available in High-Def therefore the “children” will like The Phantom Menace more than Empire.)
Are you preserving history for the “youth of tomorrow” or are you preserving your own youth?
This idea that the PT/SE/Holiday Special is going to distort and ruin the impact the original SW made on movie history is a gross overreaction. The original movies have stood for 30 years now and they’ll stand long after people are done complaining about Jake Lloyd.
Godfather 3 didn’t ruin the Godfather just like Jaws 3D didn’t ruin Jaws. ANH has and will “stand the test of time”… film students will still read about the impact of the flicks 100 years from now even with Jar Jar Binks. (They might even read film books that site the beloved SW and evil Luca$ as creating the blockbuster that killed small films)
(Now go ahead and start in on how the OOT isn’t available in High-Def therefore the “children” will like The Phantom Menace more than Empire.)
I agree that Godfather 3 didn't ruin Godfather, and Rocky 6 won't ruin Rocky, but the difference is they are FIRST movie always watched by a new fan, so there is a frame of reference to how the story starts.
SW '77 as the first episode of the OT is WAYYY different in context then as seen as Part 4 of a 6 part saga AFTER watching the PT.
Til the PT, ANH was always watched first by every new fan, so they weren't jadded by a different context of the story, the totally different special effects, the totally different CG locations, etc.
ANH will never be seen by any new fan 1-6 of just that great scifi movie that it was in 1977 and as first part of the OT til 1999. Any new fan who saw ANH first didn't know what the grander story was after watching the other movies, so they just watched it as this space adventure of good vs evil, that is all the movie really is, it is very basic in its themes, and that is its greatest strength.
When watching it as part 4 after the PT, you are expecting the continuation of Anakins story, the continuation of the jedi vs sith that was so prominent in the PT, you are wondering where the hell The Emperor and Yoda are, and you are probably wondering why the lightsaber battle is so slow compared the over-indulged PT lightsaber duels.
It is not the same movie after watching the PT, cause all of the stuff I named in the paragraph above didn't exist when the movie was made, so the frame of reference wasn't there. The Emperor was only named in the movie, so the viewer had no idea that he is the MAIN badguy in the saga. Yoda wasn't invented yet, and only invented for ESB cause Lucas killed off Kenobi. Kenobi vs Vader duel is slower because it was more a plot point, and it is the only movie of the 6 that doesn't feature a lightsaber duel at the END of the movie. And most of all, it wasn't about Anakins story in 1977 nor 1983 either, and that is the biggest change of reference. This viewer will sit there and want to know more about this Vader guy who was so fleshed out for three movies before it, and he is only in it for a measley 12 minutes.
Jedirandy, I strongly disagree with ya about ANH standing the test of time, because there is a whole generation of new SW fans who will watch it in a totally different context then the previous generation, and sadly, they will be watching it in the wrong context. No other original movie has ever gone from being seen first to fourth in a movie series, so everyone of your examples doesn't work.