When did you sense a disturbance in the Force?

When did you feel George Lucas was turned to the Dark Side? 

First of all like many of you I'm not a fan of the current official versions of Star Wars or the prequels. However, there was a time I was actually exited about the prospect of Special Editions. Who didn't want to see the movies restored in the movie theatre? Who didn't want to see an extended cut? Jurassic Park was a sensation, and CGI seemed to have a bright future. Reviews for the Special Editions were also generally very favourable. I couldn't wait to get them on video, at the time. So what happened?

For me things changed with the prequels or actually after the second prequel. I didn't hate TPM, but didn't love it either. For me the love scenes in AOTC were rock bottom. These scenes rank to me with the worst scenes in movie history. Then the OT came out on DVD, and things started to take a turn for the worse. Prequel characters and voices in the movies I loved. Now I could not even enjoy the OT, without the stink of the prequels. That's when I got a very bad feeling. How about you guys? 

Yes the SE was a mixed bag, and yes TPM was lame, and yes the romance subplot of AOTC was cringeworthy, but the actual shark-jumping moment for me was the one-two punch towards the end of that movie of C-3PO getting his head switched with a battle droid and spouting schticky one-liners for the rest of the movie, followed by that God awful Yoda fight. That was when I resigned myself to the idea that Star Wars was stupid now and would be as long as George had the keys.

Granted, I was a child/teenager when all of this was actually coming out, so I hadn't really thought it all through to the extent I have by now and my changing feelings were more gradual than it might sound like here, but looking back that was definitely the tipping point, even if I was only equipped to identify it as such years later.

I began to suspect something wasn't going quite right when I first watched AOTC on video in 2003; the overuse of CGI, Hayden's poor acting, the stilted love dialogue, Boba Fett being a clone, how the clones in general were presented, Dooku's flat characterization, the lacklustre lightsaber duels, how Anakin lost his hand -- it all just rubbed me the wrong way.

I was still too young to realize just how bad the PT was shaping up to be, though; I wasn't ready to accept the truth even after seeing Hayden in ROTJ on TV and the garbage that was ROTS on DVD in 2006. I only really saw the light, so to speak, after I began reading on-line opinions of the PT/SEs in 2008.

When Jar Jar opened his mouth and said "Mooie mooie, I love you."

imperialscum said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

lacklustre lightsaber

Inconsistency. :)

Being Canadian, I've been exposed to both British and American spelling, so I like using a combination of the two, okay? =P 

The day Lucas stopped listening to his fans, whenever that was

When I started watching the special edition of A New Hope and witnessed the horror... It was so sickening that I never ever watched the special edition in full of any of the original trilogy except for New Hope and I don't believe I ever watched it in full. I just could not stomach it.

Return Of The Jedi's music scene in Jabba's palace has to be the most embarrassing change Lucas did to the original trilogy. Damn, that is so bad!

When Episode I came out, I loved it, I was only a kid then. I saw it twice in theaters. God, how those prequels make me cringe now... I've never watched but a handful of scenes from Episode II and III. The scenes I did watch was merely to sicken myself on purpose, believe me.

CatBus said:

TV's Frink said:

When Jar Jar opened his mouth and said "Mooie mooie, I love you."

Yes, but when? When did you have that dream?

 We were talking about the movie.  When we had the dream, it was a beautiful moment.

Team Olie

Never. The Special Editions brought back interest in Star Wars, which was dying off. The prequels retained the popularity, and the Clone Wars and further shows have solidified them.

We look forward to preserving all the Special Editions and Prequels on film in the future. If it weren't for them, most people would not have retained their interest in the originals.

Team Negative1

I don't believe this is true. I think degrading the originals is too hefty a price for popularity. The image of Star Wars and the image of it's creator took a huge dent, because of the prequels, and the constant tinkering with the OT. I would never trade quality for popularity. I would rather have a great film in obscurity than a popular mediocre one.  

If it weren't for the Special Editions and the Prequels resurrecting the franchise, none of us would be here.

There would be no OT forums, there would be no projects, there would be no discussions. There would be a few bootleg DVD's, and probably some laserdisc transfers being traded on ebay or some science fiction forums, but that would be about it.

Star Wars was dead. Period. Yes, there were some books, and comics and maybe a few games. However, compared to the financial success it has become now, it would have languished away in obscurity.

You are probably too young to remember the impact that Star Wars originally had, but after it's initial success, and subsequent decline after the other two movies, it needed to be brought back. By the way, if you were around then, Star Wars fell into that popular, but mediocre category for many people.

It's fine if you wished the movie had remained an obscure, but well received film. But if it weren't for the brilliance of George Lucas and Lucasfilm, we would not have such a rich universe and so much material to enjoy. It's selfish to want to have something this creative, and artistic all to yourself or a small group to enjoy. 

Trying to retroactively change history or the past is futile. Better to move onto the future, enjoy what we have, and preserve the rest. Complaining about the quality or success of the franchises doesn't change anything. People will flock to the movies regardless of what you think.

We look forward to all future releases, and enjoying all the versions that have been released.

Team Negative1

We dare you to make just one post using "I" instead of "we."  Especially when you're spouting an opinion that clearly is yours and not a team opinion, and double especially when that opinion is crazy talk.

Team Olie

Many of us share the same opinions. Hence the use of 'Team'.

Team Negative1

Actually I'm not that young. I lived through the original Star Wars craze. I remember a time when George Lucas was seen as a visionary. The prequels turned him into a punch line. Like I said, success is hardly a measure for quality. 

The fact is that Heir to the Empire and Shadows of the Empire were bestsellers in the mid 90s, and the home video releases sold like crazy, so Star Wars was hardly in obscurity. I'm pretty sure it would have had a healthy following even if there would have been no prequels. It would not have been the media circus it is now, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Lord of the Rings did fine with only a handful of books for more than fifty years, before Peter Jackson made his magnum opus. 

I don't consider the prequels enrichments to the universe, but rather dilutions. The Star Wars mythos became blurred and inconsistent. The Clone Wars were a big step in the right direction, getting the saga back on track. 

^^Hahahahahahahahaahahaha. (@-1)

I'm starting to believe that -1 is actually just one guy with multiple personalities.  That is why the entire team is always in agreement.

team_negative1 said:

Many of us share the same opinions. Hence the use of 'Team'.

Team Negative1

We are ALLOLing.

Team Olie