logo Sign In

What were your original expectations for the PT? — Page 3

Author
Time
No kidding! It is so bad... I really cannot think of anything to compare it to. I think it actually has its own category of bad. And it makes no sense either. There are so many "what the hell?" moments in that show and it just goes on like nothing happened. Like Chewies dad watching the sort of porn video, or the instructional video for the thing Lumpy got in the mail. Ever since I first heard about this thing I wanted to see it so badly. I actually could not stand having a Star Wars "movie" that I had not seen. My dad had seen it when it first aired and he always told me it was so worthless and terrible it was not worth seeing at all. He even told me the basic plot of it, and it just made me want to see it more. I always figured that since my dad was not much of a Star Wars fan that is why he didn't like it, I figured any true SW fan would appreciate anything SW. Years and years later I got my hands on a bootleg, and I just stared at my TV with my mouth gaping open the whole time. It was bad. No words to describe it. No words could do it justice. There is no exageration when saying that the HS is absolutly, terrible bad. The PT is a very describable type of bad, the PT has nothing, nothing on the HS.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

Author
Time
I have seen some pretty bad things in my life so far, terrible things that I do not care to explain. But none of them compare to the HS.
Author
Time
I disagree, ferris. If you're posting on this board, you're obviously a Star Wars fan in some capacity. As such, you HAVE to watch it at least once just to know exactly why Lucas once denied it ever existed. I watched it at a Christmas party once. I think we let the tape run all the way through, but as soon as Carrie Fisher started singing, we all left the room.

My Projects:
[Holiday Special Hybrid DVD v2]
[X0 Project]
[Backstroke of the West DVD]
[ROTS Theatrical DVD]

Author
Time
Originally posted by: ferris209
Originally posted by: generalfrevious
So, what is being said is that the Holiday special is worse than the PT. This holiday special must be very bad if the PT is unwatchable.


It is absolutely god awful. I know what you're thinking, "eh, those guys are just being sarcastic, I think I'll go ahead and watch it." Please, for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT WATCH IT!!!

I haven't seen it and I promise I'll never watch it.

Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
Hyde: Fezzy, man, it's Star Wars.
Author
Time
Sometimes, something is so bad that it's good.

That is NOT the Holiday Special. It's so bad, it's truly awful.

That said, I think it's a rite of passage that every Star Wars fan should endure.

You know of the rebellion against the Empire?

Author
Time
Anyways, back to a question I posted earlier: Was it implied in ROTJ that the emperor was a sith lord? Maybe, because he emits lightning from his hand, or is it because of wathing the PT that I have this idea?
Author
Time
Am I wrong in thinking there are no references to the Sith in the OT at all?Just that vader is the emperor's apprentice.Correct me if I am wrong.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

<span style=“font-size:14pt;line-height:100%”></span>

http://www.bigbaddaddyvader.com

Original Star Wars Props and Production Material

Author
Time
I think there were possibly references to "Sith pirates" in the original treatment and drafts for Star Wars.None on screen though,right?

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

<span style=“font-size:14pt;line-height:100%”></span>

http://www.bigbaddaddyvader.com

Original Star Wars Props and Production Material

Author
Time
No, there was this in the original novelisation:

"Two meters tall. Bipedal. Flowing black robes trailing from the figure and a face masked by a functional if bizarre black metal breath screen--a Dark Lord of the Sith was an awesome, threatening shape as it strode through the corridors of the rebel ship."

So, yeah, it was mentioned in print but not until the PT was "Sith" ever mentioned on screen.
Author
Time
I just realized that the description of Darth Vader makes it sound like those characteristics are common to all Sith. Interesting...

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.

Author
Time
Yeah, that's the impression I get, too.
Author
Time
Some of the 'Power of the Force' line of Kenner action figures from the 80s came with special collectors coins. The one for Darth Vader had the words "Dark Lord of the Sith" written on it. So the idea of the Sith was out there and known to people long before the PT, and even before the "Tales of the Jedi" comics popularized the name "Sith".

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

Author
Time
Originally posted by: Zion
If you're posting on this board, you're obviously a Star Wars fan in some capacity. As such, you HAVE to watch it at least once...


I saw it when it originally aired on TV. That was my once.

God, I still can't get some of those images out of my head.

It's vile.
Forum Moderator
Author
Time
I have come so close so many times to watching the Holiday Special (notice how any Star Wars with the word "special" in it is bad? Wink-wink), and after repeated warnings from others, I've stopped myself. Damn, but my curiosity is through the roof!
Author
Time
Originally posted by: Dug
I have come so close so many times to watching the Holiday Special (notice how any Star Wars with the word "special" in it is bad? Wink-wink), and after repeated warnings from others, I've stopped myself. Damn, but my curiosity is through the roof!



Do it! You know you want to! Just bear in mind, once you do you can NEVER go back.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

Author
Time
I have thought about watching the Holiday Special also. But I am afraid to watch it from the comments I have heard about it.


Author
Time
You know, I had watched about fifteen minutes of the special on Youtube (somewhere in the middle with the Imperial troopers invading the house) and I was thinking to myself, "Well, this must be the new 'in' thing, everyone's hating on the Special because it was made in the 70's." It couldn't be that bad, right?

Then I saw the special.

My hopes and dreams came crashing down around me in a brilliant display of bad pyrotechnics.

I will never be the same.

EDIT: To be honest, though, I always get this giddy thrill at the end when the thing is finally over and the main theme music from SW kicks in over footage from the first film.
Author
Time
Originally posted by: Marvolo
I have thought about watching the Holiday Special also.


It is the first-ever appearance of Boba Fett in the Star Wars universe, though. You should watch it just because of that.














Yeah, that's right - I'm trying to trick him into watching it. So what? I watched it on TV in 1978 and my mind has been contaminated with it ever since. It's time for some other fans to pay their dues.
MWWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.





Forum Moderator
Author
Time
dude, we need to have all talk about the holiday special on another thread!
Author
Time
I watched TPM the other day and I have to say it's still my favorite prequel. I think it's mainly because of Duel of the Fates and the Qui-Gon/Obi/Maul battle. I don't love this move like the OT, but it has it's moments.

Looking back, I think my main expectation was that it just not suck. When I left the theater, I thought it was pretty good, and I think I went back 5 more times.

My Projects:
[Holiday Special Hybrid DVD v2]
[X0 Project]
[Backstroke of the West DVD]
[ROTS Theatrical DVD]

Author
Time
I have to agree, although I thought TPM was great...until about five years ago. I just didn't know it was that bad.
Author
Time
Originally posted by: Dug
I have come so close so many times to watching the Holiday Special (notice how any Star Wars with the word "special" in it is bad? Wink-wink), and after repeated warnings from others, I've stopped myself. Damn, but my curiosity is through the roof!


That's the spirit. You'll be celebrating Life Day before you know it...
Why hello there
Author
Time
Not sure if we're still on the original topic here... I've skimmed through the thread and the discussion seems to have meandered a bit (as discussions tend to do), but I thought I'd put in my 2 cents worth regarding what I was hoping for before the PT came out.

Like I imagine most SW fans were, I was totally jazzed after I downloaded and watched the trailer for TPM. Without knowing the storyline (I'd only find out about spoilers on the net around the time of AOTC), I was captivated by the visuals: a shiny ship in the desert; Obi-Wan meeting his eventual killer, Anakin; some mysterious red-faced guy with a DOUBLE lightsaber; a plethora of strange-looking aliens... my imagination was racing.

Overall, I expected the PT to fit seemlessly with the OT in terms of tone, special effects, cheesy-yet-authentically-delivered dialogue, strong relationships between the main characters, the overall visual look (i.e., a used universe look), and lots of cowboyish blaster fights like in the OT (with, of course, more lightsaber fighting as there were Jedi still around).

I was expecting the Jedi to be represented on screen as secretive, monk-like figures whom the rest of the galaxy feared, and who lived a simple, boudhist-like existence, with little use or need of technology.

I thought we'd see more primitive versions of some of the technology we'd seen in the OT (e.g., the precursor to the X-wing and Tie Fighter, older-looking droids... or even some of the beat-up droids from the OT looking new).

I expected the story to focus heavily on Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship, with their friendship being established by the end of the first film or the beginning of the second.

I thought we'd see ALL Jedi disappear and turn into force ghosts when they died (in keeping with what seemed to be the case in the OT).

I thought we'd see the Clone Wars in full swing and ongoing throughout the PT , with a focus on specific battles in the different films (like the Galactic Civil War was ongoing in the OT, with a focus on the Battle of Yavin, Hoth, and Endor).

I thought we'd see Vader emerge by the end of Ep II, with Ep III focussing on him actually hunting down the Jedi (i.e., across the galaxy) as Obi-Wan mentioned in ANH.

I thought/hoped we'd see Leia and Luke being born, and I expected Leia alone would go off to live with her mom at the end of Ep III (hence why she remembers her a little while Luke doesn't).

I thought we'd see a more solemn, quiet, and sad Padme... someone who had been resigned for some time to the fact that she was losing her husband... the kind of woman who'd fit Leia's description of a woman who was "kind, but sad."

I thought we'd see a whole bunch of weathered-looking ships and major space battles.

I thought the planets we'd see would be like those in the OT: isolated, sparsely inhabited, and full of dangerous creatures.

--------------------

Looking back, I guess the PT delivered on some of these things, but overall the very FEEL of the films was different from the OT. I admire the overall story arc that's carried over all six films (i.e., the fall and ressurrection of the Republic; the fall and redemption of Anakin; the mirroring of themes and characters between the PT and OT), and despite some of my gripes with it ROTS was an excellent tragedy. However, in the end they are two very different trilogies, and I must say that were it not for the OT, I doubt the PT would stand on its own merits.

The PT simply lacks the same... I wouldn't say "serious".... maybe "mature".... tone as the OT. As a kid, I remember my father being able to watch and enjoy the OT alongside me; it truly was a multi-generational epic. The PT, however, is scattered; we have TPM which is targeting a 10-year old audience, while ROTS is aimed very much at adults. Part of what made me love SW as a kid was the idea that I was watching grown ups do grown up things, dealing with grown up problems with serious consequences. I can't help but feel the PT lacks that quality; it doesn't feel like we're watching adults interact in realistic ways. Rather, it feels like watching adults as they might act on a children's TV show, and by doing that the films lose a lot of credibility.

“It’s a lot of fun… it’s a lot of fun to watch Star Wars.” – Bill Moyers