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Originally posted by: jimbo
You seriously like Return of the Jedi more then A New Hope. A New Hope is a classic masterpeice. Its excellently acted, writen, and directed. Its a classic and it always will be. Return of the Jedi features huge plot holes, walkthrough acting, and its just plain weak in comparison.
Yes, I seriously do. I like Empire far more than either, though. ANH is a classic, and will always be a classic. But I don't think that it was as good as it could have been. It was saved by a few very fortunate occurances. Those occurances were Alec Guiness and Peter Cushing. Without them, that movie would have been flatter than 12 day old soda. Alec Guiness brought some credibility to the role of Obi-Wan, and certainly saved the movie. He gave the movie depth. He played the wizend old man very well. He made parts serious that needed to be serious, and he helped in the creation of the journey of the lone hero. He allowed you to suspend your disbelief in the movie, because he was that good at what he did. Put almost anyone else in that role, and the movie would not have been the same. In the same manner, Peter Cushing provided that little bit of evil, sinister touch to latch onto and realize that the Empire was a cruel, evil threat. He created the Darth Vader screen presence. He was good enough at what he did that he allowed the Vader costume (and David Prowse and JEJ)to shine.
In a similar manner, Liam Neeson saved TPM. Without him, that movie would be nigh unwatchable. There is nothing else in it. He and his character advance the plot, give the movie credibility, and allow you to suspend your disbelief enough to enjoy it. Without him, you've got nothing in the movie besides effects shots and stand-ins. His acting ability allowed you to take the movie seriously.
In a similar manner, Christopher Lee anchors AOTC. There is no impending sense of danger or evil or even conflict in the movie. Its a horrible, horrible production. It is fun, it is flashy, but its got no life. The only exception is when Anakin finds his mother, and kills the Sandpeople. But if that was all that was in there, the movie would have sucked beyond sucking. However, when Obi-Wan is imprisoned, and Count Dooku comes in and interrogates him, well, that scene is monumentous. The pacing of Dooku, the questioning, the appealing, the very menace that he portrays under his illusion of goodwill and honesty. It is classic, and something that Lee worked very well in. It gave credibility to the threat. Otherwise the entire plot of the movie just looks like a lameass political stunt by Palpatine that everyone in the galaxy should see through. Lee gives the Seperatists credibility. Dooku is the embodyment of old school literature demons/devils. He's smooth, calm, charming. He's charismatic. He tells you truths so you will believe him, even as he leads you towards evil and damnation. He is a temptor. He's very much in control of the situation, and the scenes he's in. The battle with Yoda is another example, but it doesn't work quite as well. He's still very much in control of the situation, harrassing the good, doing enough to get away and fight again from the shadows later.
GL has lucked out repeatedly in his movies. Lee saved AOTC. Neeson saved TPM. Guiness saved ANH. And I'm convinced, without Guiness and Cushing in ANH, no other Star Wars movies would have ever been made. They allowed the audience to connect on a more viseral level with the film. Those actors made GL. And they did it in spite of GL. Because as you've seen, GL really can't direct for shit.
Even the best part in ANH is Luke looking into the twin sunset on Tatooine, and that scene is only memorable and has the emotional impact that it does because of John Williams' score.
And quite honestly, ANH has more plot holes than either of the other two OT movies put together. But that is beside the point.