Originally posted by: Mielr
I don't think it's been totally lost- SW '77 is still the only film in the AFI's top 100 movies of all time (it even moved up a few spots in the most recent list) and SW is still the only one of the films to have been nominated for best picture, although I've always felt that ESB got cheated because it was a sequel, to me it was good enough on it's own to have been nominated for best pic. Times have changed though, I think if Empire were made today, it would have been nominated and may have even won. The academy seems to look differently upon sequels now, with one of the LOTR movies winning best pic a few years back, and I think the OOT did a lot to change those perceptions about sequels.
I do think the PT has brought down the franchise to an extent, but I think it only has limited power to damage the OOT and SW '77 in particular. The OOT is just too damn good.
I don't think it's been totally lost- SW '77 is still the only film in the AFI's top 100 movies of all time (it even moved up a few spots in the most recent list) and SW is still the only one of the films to have been nominated for best picture, although I've always felt that ESB got cheated because it was a sequel, to me it was good enough on it's own to have been nominated for best pic. Times have changed though, I think if Empire were made today, it would have been nominated and may have even won. The academy seems to look differently upon sequels now, with one of the LOTR movies winning best pic a few years back, and I think the OOT did a lot to change those perceptions about sequels.
I do think the PT has brought down the franchise to an extent, but I think it only has limited power to damage the OOT and SW '77 in particular. The OOT is just too damn good.
Yes, but you have to look at future generations watching SW, and they just aren't going to see that movie the same way we did after the PT. It has Episode IV on it, and the newer generation is going to watch it as the middle film, and not look at as either a standalone film, or a beginning film like it was before the PT.
Many will see it as the continuing story of the PT, or Anakin's story, and won't even watch it as that fairy tale movie that all OT fans saw it as growing up. You will watch the PT, then go to the Episode IV and see a drastic change in special effects and many young fans can't help but like one or the other.
I agree the movie has stayed a classic, despite Lucas changes to the SW saga, but I know all my nephews just call it Episode IV, as they don't even care what the names of the movies are, they just call it by its #. Only time will tell.