msycamore said:
Even though I understand what you mean, when you're describing Star Wars, it starting to sound like a serious heavy drama, quite much overkill IMO. This is pulp and fantasy material afterall. Don't try to pretend it's something different than it is, it's a very well made fantasy film for kids, and when I say kids, I mean 7-18 year olds, (yes, a kid can be 18) don't be ashamed for liking a good film primarily directed towards kids. Just because it showed burned bodies in one scene doesn't directly make the film only made for mature audiences. Good fairytales have always had dark material embedded in their stories throughout history, it should have.
I understand what you are saying, but I think one of the hardest things in movies is to make a movie like Star Wars actually come off as a movie that appeals to adults. Now if you are comparing Star Wars to The Godfather, of course The Godfather is going to come off as more serious, more adult, and more realistic.
Movies like Star Wars, Back to the Future and Superman (movies I grew up with as a kid) all have elements of drama that have to compete with unrealistic things that you would never see in a movie like The Godfather or Lawrence of Arabia. If you are watching Star Wars, you are watching different planets, spaceships, lightsabers and people with special powers, so right there you are compromising the drama that a movie like The Godfather can captialize on because we could believe whatever happens in that CAN really happen.
What is amazing about movies like Star Wars and Empire is that they are able to pull off dramatic moments especially with characters like a puppet (whose speech to Luke before he lifts the X-Wing fighter is one of the most poignant in the whole saga. If Brando gives a speech in The Godfather, you know it will be great, if Yoda the puppet gives a speech, you don't know how audiences will react.
Again, I agree with what you're saying, but how many SciFi/Action movies can really pull off something dramatic? I can maybe count a handful of truly great SciFi/Action movies that are truly moving. Most accomplish their goal if giving the audience good action, good effects, etc, but not many can really compete with some of the great dramatic movies. So in that sense, Star Wars to me is on the same level of The Godfather, as long as you keep them both in context of reality.