Is Star Wars passé?
“Why are you still writing about that movie? That’s the question my wife posed to me recently and the more I thought about it, the more the question bothered me. Why am I still writing about this movie?
Star Wars, now known also as Episode IV, debuted in 1977, which makes this movie over 30 years old! Three decades - enough time for a Star War fan to grow up, have children and in turn have those children have kids of their own. To say that the original film is long in the tooth is not an exaggeration. A 10-year kid probably looks at me talking about Star Wars like I looked at someone really old talk about the old Flash Gordon serials that were broadcast on the radio back in the day.
While this movie I so loved was the defining science fiction story of my generation, I have to face the fact that the younger generation doesn’t look at this film with the same perspective. What they may see is a franchise that released three really mediocre movies five to 10 years ago. Mediocre films that had annoying CGI characters, wooden acting and stories that were really neither good or original.
Nowadays, it’s series like the re-imaged Battlestar Galatica that captures the imagination of younger minds. Battlestar is a great series. The special effects are comparable to the stuff used in the latest Star Wars films, the cast is full of talented actors and best yet, the story lines are compelling. Sexy cylon sleeper agents, betrayals and deep lingering questions about a universal creator make this a far more three dimensional story than one set in a galaxy far, far away.
And yet Star Wars just seems to have something that Battlestar Galactica does not. Battlestar is gritty, as dramatic as any soap opera. You sometimes forget you’re watching a science fiction show because you see people fight, have sex, bleed, cry and get angry. Star Wars is pure fantasy. It’s really a sword and sorcery epic set in a world where there are blasters and robots. While that makes the Star Wars setting seem more flat, it also lends it a sense of romance and scale missing from the Battlestar series.
Obi Won Kenobi isn’t just fighting for his own survival, but for the redemption of the entire Jedi order as well as the survival for the forces of good in the known galaxy. As campy as that sounds, that’s exactly what’s going on in the last of the Star Wars prequels. In terms of the scale of the struggle, Star Wars characters make epic choices, deciding the fate of millions instead of what happens to the remnants of a rag tag fugitive fleet.
So bottom line, I guess I prefer the fantastic over the realistic and gritty. My heroes are the type who by the skill of their lightsaber can change the destiny for many. I’ll still watch Battlestar (I’m currently catching up on the last season on DVD), but I’ll dream about the Jedi or making the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs.
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star wars (orginal trilogy) is more than just a movie series, it’s an icon. most sci-fi movies come and go but star wars is forever! what make the original trilogy so appealing in my opinion are the characters plus good dialogues.
It’s amazing how much of that Star Wars dialogue I can remember. Unfortunately, anyone younger than say 18 just doesn’t see the movie the same way. They tend to associate Star Wars with the three mediocre prequels not the magic of the first three. I made a joke one time with a group of 11 years olds that their school was couldn’t be the “wretched hive of scum and villainy” they made it out to be, and their only comment back to me was that I talked old fashioned.