May 24th, 2007
"The Last Guy in the World to See Star Wars"
Here’s a fun commentary piece just published on the Wired website: nearly thirty years to the day after Star Wars was first released, this guy finally saw it.
He points out up front that he didn’t go into the viewing totally clueless. It’s impossible to have lived in our society for the past three decades without being exposed (heavily!) to what he calls “the fallout from this pop-culture phenomenon.”
In the end, he’s unimpressed–and rightly so. This is an entertaining film but by no means great art. George Lucas’s ability to write decent dialogue is nonexistent and, amazingly, somehow manages to get even worse over the course of the rest of the series, culminating in the gut-wrenching (for anyone who saw the film) palaver of the courtship scene in episode 2.
His final verdict? “I should have waited for the 50th anniversary.” Heh.
5 Responses to “"The Last Guy in the World to See Star Wars"”
I totally agree that the newer ones suck. And, the Ewoks were too fluffy. But the original! Oh, goodness. Han Solo. Adventure in the high vacuum. The Force.
It was the beginning of an era. Who cares about dialogue. It’s show, don’t tell, anyway, right?
Right?
(PS: Bloglines doesn’t seem to be picking up your postings. They say it’s something the blog owner needs to take up with the provider. FYI)
I hate the Ewoks almost as much as I hate Wesley Crusher. Almost.
Thanks for the heads-up on the feed. I’ve been having trouble with Blogger, including the fact that the feed gets published in the wrong place. I’ll be switching to WordPress in the next week or so, complete with fanfare in the old location announcing the new url and feed information.
I’m a big Star Wars fan, but I agree that it was not the best crafted movie. George Lucas is great at coming up with stories, but not writing scripts. Also, the best George Lucas movies are those not directed by him either.
Aw, I do hope it’s not Wil Wheaton that you hate, it’s just Wesley! :) Well, okay, I don’t know him in anything beyond Stand By Me, but that is one of my all-time favorite movies. But, from what I hear about SW:TNG (I’ve never actually seen it), it is completely understandable that you are far from a fan of his character there. From what I’ve read, Wheaton wasn’t a big fan of the character, himself. Isn’t that right? :)
Arianna, you are right: I loathe Wesley Crusher, not Wil Wheaton. Wheaton actually seems like a decent guy. He’s got his own geek-heavy blog, so that’s a good sign!