The New Generation of Star Wars Fans — Page 3

KilroyMcFadden said:

The original hut reminds me of the dwellings you would find in spaghetti westerns of the 60's and is in every respect the dwelling in which I would expect to find a desert hermit. 

Indeed Tatooine is an analogy to the Old West as seen in Western movies.

Mos Eisley is a Western town. Chalmun's Cantina is a Western-style saloon. "Cantina" is also a Spanish word. Phil Tippet called it a "Western Town" in interviews.

Sand people = "Indians". Back in '02 there was someone who identified that a particular shot from Anakin's ambush on the Sand People village was composed just like a particular shot in some old Western movie showing an ambush of an "indian" village. Their dwellings also look like a cross between a wigwam and a tepee. Shmi is a squaw.

The Spaghetti Western/Cowboy movie influence is part of why the Jedi seem to fit into the Galaxy so well, too--look at how many Old Westerns were inspired by samurai movies, lol. Throwing in some laser sword-fighters in the old Space West feels perfectly natural.

I wonder if the lack of 'Old West' spirit in the PT has something to do with why it was ultimately so poorly received. The TPM visit to Tatooine kind of demonstrates that it was something other than just 'lol desert planet' that made us enjoy SW in the first place. 

Sadako said:

I wonder if the lack of 'Old West' spirit in the PT has something to do with why it was ultimately so poorly received.

It's just one of countless reasons why it -- and the rest of the PT -- fails.

I'm 24 and from what I'm seeing now, most kids like the OT but tend to gravitate more towards the PT due to the TCW cartoon series, as well as the idolization of the character Revan due to the KOTOR games. Revan is more or less deified for younger fans ranging from 13 to onward, and there are even SW vs. videos saying he could fight Luke.

My parents were the first generation to have seen the movie, and I grew up watching VHS copies of the OT. While I've just recently gotten into the EU and appreciate its elaboration on further aspects of the SW universe, nothing I've seen compares to the characters such as Vader, Yoda, and Luke. If anything in watching documentaries and seeing kids dressed up as clone troopers/Darth Maul for Halloween, I'm glad to see the series having lived on. 

Ya know, I've really come to dislike KOTOR. The prequelization of eras outside of the PT began in earnest with this damn video game.

Drew Karpyshyn's a shitty writer, though, who like screwing established continuity over just so he can paint things the way he wants to paint them, so why should I be surprised?

DuracellEnergizer said:

Ya know, I've really come to dislike KOTOR. The prequelization of eras outside of the PT began in earnest with this damn video game.

Drew Karpyshyn's a shitty writer, though, so it's really no surprise that he likes painting things with a PT brush.

My feelings exactly. The different eras aren't distinguisable anymore.

I'd love if Exar killed Maul and said, "I was wielding a double saber before there were Darths!"

imperialscum said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

Ya know, I've really come to dislike KOTOR. The prequelization of eras outside of the PT began in earnest with this damn video game.

Drew Karpyshyn's a shitty writer, though, who like screwing established continuity over just so he can paint things the way he wants to paint them, so why should I be surprised?

I will be honest here. What KOTOR did was take the decent stuff from PT and made something great out of it. For example, Revan's fall to the dark side is exactly what Anakin's fall should have been.

The story could have worked just as well if Revan and Malak hadn't been Darths, hadn't even been Sith, or weilded red lightsabers.

And JFTR, it isn't the general storyline of the game I take issue with (I haven't played the game, but from what I've read about it, it doesn't sound bad), it's the unnecessary prequelisms I've already mentioned.

If the established continuity is not too good, I am actually happy that someone takes it and paint it in a better way. I had never particularly liked stuff like TOTJ until KOTOR and SWTOR presented it in a better way.

Tomato, tomahto. I still say that if you want to write about PT-styled Sith, stick them in the PT era where they belong.

imperialscum said:

m_s0 said:

You're missing the point. Making the environment unpleasant to look at conveys its harshness. It doesn't matter whether it was an intentional decision or an accident resulting from the limitations during the actual shoot, or budget restrictions, or whatever else. Tatooine isn't set up as a magical place. Quite the contrary: it's a dump.

No, I am not missing the point. I just don't agree with that point. Most should easily recognise a harsh environment even if it visually nice. I believe these films aren't specifically made for mentally challenged people and there is no need to make everything plain obvious.

 I disagree with your (quite bizarre, the way I see it) logic. You're creating a standalone world for the purpose of the movie. Any preconceptions the audience might have going into the movie shouldn't matter one way or the other. If you make a place that is set up as uninviting visually "magical" you create a dissonance that works to the detriment of the process of worldbuilding, works against the narrative of the movie and ultimately undermines the viewer's suspension of disbelief. What you (choose to) show and don't show is of vital importance.

To illustrate my point of view: let's say you're photographer and you're working on an exhibition about poverty and/or hunger in Africa. You go there, you do your thing, you bring back a truckload of photographs of gorgeous vistas, beautiful nature, animals etc. and nothing more. Somebody asks you: where's the poverty and why are all of the photos so nice and pretty? Your reponse (according to your logic): people aren't mentally challenged, they know all about Africa, so there's no need for that nasty stuff. Instead, here's some pretty pictures. Enjoy.

I guess Dagobah comes the closest to what you'd call "magical", but even that is due to Yoda and the Force more than to Dagobah itself. Hoth, on the other hand, is diametrically opposed to anything I'd view as "magical".

tl;dr: I completely disagree with almost everything you've written :P

Truth be told, I also prefer Ben's SE home over his original. I just wish it -- along with virtually 95+% of the other SE changes -- had been made to visually mesh better with the original film stock and effects.

^ The Ben's SE home scene just looks too busy.....is it on the edge of a canyon....if so did Luke drive it up that steep side?....or did he reverse it into that parking space....if so....why?.....is there a busy road near there?

The original just establishes that the speeder is parked at someones home,....no questions

J

Jaitea said:

^ The Ben's SE home scene just looks too busy.....is it on the edge of a canyon....if so did Luke drive it up that steep side?....or did he reverse it into that parking space....if so....why?.....is there a busy road near there?

The original just establishes that the speeder is parked at someones home,....no questions

J

 I never thought about that.  How _does_ the landspeeder end up in that spot? Did Luke have to push it sideways around the side of the house? 

LexX said:

Is he a moisture farmer too with the vaporator?

Maybe he'd rather harvest his own water instead of paying for someone else's? This isn't exactly an unanswerable mystery of the universe, you know.

It would have made sense if his hovel was recessed into a cave rather than being out in the open dessert.

Natural shielding from the elements, temperature control, moisture capture through wind-traps, stealth living.

Ben should be a caveman or at least read Dune.