The Legacy of Star Wars

Starting today, Orlando Florida becomes Lando Florida for the multitudes of Star Wars fans flocking to Celebration V. When it comes to Geek History, the Star Wars franchise represents a formative element of popular science fiction in theaters, and helped to define the modern blockbuster movie. 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, and even three decades on, the series gains a considerable amount of face recognition from the general public. Often, when I have suited up in Storm Trooper or Clone Trooper armor, I've found that people might not know what character I am, what film I'm from, but undeniably, they know that I'm from the Star Wars films. With its release, Star Wars has changed both popular culture and the film industry that created it.

When the first Star Wars film was released in 1977 by director George Lucas, most expectations from the production companies was that the film would not do very well, but within the first three months of its release, Star Wars reined in over $100 million, becoming one of the highest grossing films ever. Subsequent releases in 1980 (The Empire Strikes Back) and 1983 (The Return of the Jedi) continued the series, bringing in new fans to the series by expanding the story and pushing the boundaries when it came to special effects. When Lucasfilm Ltd. returned to the franchise in 1997 with a re-release of the original trilogy with updated special effects, and in 1999 with The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005), it became clear that the franchise had endured in public memory and financially, were highly successful, even it was widely felt that the Original Trilogy were superior films.

In 1977, the first Star Wars film was filmed in a period of time when special effects were still in their infancy. The largest special effects film previously had been Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968, almost ten years earlier, a period of time which saw many special effects experts who had pioneered effects for that film retired. Thus, Lucas and his crew were forced to pioneer their own effects in motion capture on their own while they filmed the film, utilizing models and cameras together in very new ways. The Empire Strikes Back utilized its own advances in motion capture for several of the battles, and puppetry, as did Return of the Jedi when it came out. These advances helped to lay the groundwork for future films, and in the 1980s, a number of special-effects driven science fiction films were released, capitalizing on the successes of Lucas' trilogy, providing fans with more visual spectacles in the years since.

The Star Wars franchise is a notable one for retaining such a strong core group of fans throughout the years. Much of this success can be attributed to the branching out from the films as the single source of canon story. Marvel comics created their own Star Wars line, while the original Han Solo and Lando Calrissian book series have attained a sort of cult status. The introduction of Hugo award winner Timothy Zahn to pen a trilogy in the early 1990s launched an enormous series of books, many of which have been best sellers, continuing the story with new characters and transformations of the universe. This is after the huge numbers of toys, action figures and other collectables. In addition to pioneering special effects, Star Wars and Lucas pioneered the marketing of a film to a diverse and receptive audience, which keeps them in touch with the films long after they have left the theaters, whether its children reenacting their favorite scenes or readers wanting more stories after the credits have rolled.

The recent release of the prequel trilogy and the ongoing Clone Wars television series is another element to this continued marketing for the larger franchise as a whole. While the prequels don't match up with the originals for fans that grew up with them, it's irrefutable that they have been extremely popular, especially with younger generations. Their creation not only continues (or in this case, adds to) the story, but it works to revitalize the original films by introducing new fans who have yet to watch a series of films that most younger viewers will find outdated compared to what they will be used to with other, current films.

The notable element that this all leads to for Star Wars is the incredible fanbase that has been created as a result. Each Star Wars Celebration pulls in tens of thousands of people from across the world, while millions of others watch the films, read the books and listen to the soundtracks. Entire fan groups have come to life, from Theforce.net's FanForce, to the New York Jedi to the 501st Legion, which has just had its 5,000th member join. While numerous films and franchises look to create a comparable group of fanatics, the Star Wars franchise is the only one that comes to mind that regularly sees groups acting on their own in public, in costume to various charitable causes or fan gatherings. Personally, I'm a member of the 501st Legion, from behind my own helmet, it's very clear to see that the franchise remains because of the efforts that have been made to keep the fans happy with new content and stories.

The original Star Wars film that started all of this represented a number of changes in the way that films were marketed to fans, how the movies were filmed. George Lucas' creation alone is likely responsible for much of the current film industry that most science fiction fans (those who like the movies, anyway), which in turns helps to inform much of the public consciousness when it comes to science fiction in all genres.

Review for Revenge of the Sith

Warning: Spoilers

Summary: As the Clone Wars come to a climax with the capture of Chancellor Palpatine, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi go to the rescue, killing Count Dooku. The Jedi are heroes. Chancellor Palpatine appoints Anakin to the Jedi Council, much to the distaste of the other members of the council, who see this as the Chancellor's attempt to take control of the Jedi Council. They fear that he's prepared to continue to hold onto power. While this is happening, the Chancellor starts to sow mistrust of the Jedi into Anakin. Obi-Wan goes off to hunt down General Grievous, finding and killing him. Anakin finds that Palpatine is the second Sith, and the Mace Windu and three other Jedi move in to kill him. When this fails, due to Anakin's intervention, Anakin pledges himself to Palpatine and becomes Darth Vader. His first assignment is to destroy all the Jedi at the Jedi Temple, which he does with a garrison of Clone Troopers. Palpatine issues an order to all of the Clone Troopers, who turn on their Jedi commanders, killing them. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda are the only two to survive the purge. They are rescued by Senator Bail Organa, who returns them to Coruscant to find out what happened. While they're there, Obi-Wan finds that it was Anakin who was the one who led the attack on the Jedi Temple. He and Yoda split up to try and destroy the Sith, with Yoda going to fight Palpatine. Obi-Wan approached Padme, telling her that Anakin led the attack on the Jedi and she couldn't believe it. She took out her ship to find her husband, with Obi-Wan stowing away. Yoda confronted Palpatine, and the two dueled in the Senate chamber. Padme confronted Anakin, who told her that he didn't lead the attack on the Temple, and that he would overthrow the Emperor, with her at his side. She grew frightened, and when Anakin caught sight of Obi-Wan, he force choked her, and the former master and apprentice duel over the lava flows of Mustafar. Meanwhile, Yoda was beaten back by Palpatine. He runs, and escapes once again with Bail Organa, who leads him off planet. Anakin and Obi-Wan's duel grows fierce and at the end, Obi-Wan slices off Anakin's remaining arm and both legs, sending him sliding close to a lava flow. As he catches on fire, he screams "I HATE YOU" to Obi-Wan, who picks up his lightsaber and leaves. Anakin is rescued by Palpatine shortly thereafter, and is fixed to become Darth Vader. Padme gives birth, but dies during childbirth, leaving the two Jedi to split up the twins. Leia goes to Alderaan with Bail Organa and Luke goes to Tatooine with Obi-Wan.

What worked: This movie was fantastic. It completely met my expectations with most things and exceeded them with others. While it isn't perfect, it was by far the strongest of all the prequel movies. Several things stick out in my mind. First, the movie is well edited, and on a technical level, is probably one of the strongest movies that I've seen in terms of Special Effects. It's amazing how far technology will go in such a short period of time, and everything is a step up for Revenge of the Sith. The space battles, the lightsaber fights, the background scenery, all of it looks completely outstanding. While there are times when things are obviously CGI, overall, it's the most seamless that I've seen. I mentioned Editing a second ago, and this film really stands out from the other movies, with a much different feel for most of the movie, similar in some ways to Empire Strikes Back. Here, the editors cut a lot of scenes together, with much intercutting between important parts of the movie. Two of these scenes really stand out. The cuts between Padme and Vader taking their last and first breaths respectively was a very well done moment. The second, and almost as powerful, the montage of scenes shortly after Palpatine issues his famous Order 66. Following that, we see several well known Jedi cut down by the Clone Troopers under their command, with a wonderful editing and sound behind it that almost brought tears to my eyes.
Storywise, there is no question that this is the best of the Prequels, and the perfect lead-in to the Original Trilogy. Over the past years, I've written a number of essays detailing how I thought this might play out a bit, and I was pleased to see that some of my ideas were correct. We have the final chapter of the story, with the fall of a hero and the rise of the Empire. While we all had a vauge idea of how this would happen, the presentation on the big screen was fantastic, in every regard. The battles, lightsaber and space, the interference of Palpatine/Sideous and the destruction of the Jedi. In some ways, the story, combined with the editing, is almost able to be broken into two parts, the first and second halves. Between the two, there is a very different feel. The first half feels the most like the other five Star Wars movies, with the action, pacing and editing. The second half, however, feels very, very different from the other movies, in an almost artistic way. The colorings and film angles of the shots, but also the storyline, which just carries itself with the momentum from the prior half and other two movies. It's much more fluid and much more depressing than anything else that we've seen. This is not a happy movie, by any stretch.
Acting and Dialogwise, this movie is also the strongest of the prequels. Both Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman have improved greatly with their acting skills, and while neither performs a perfect job, it's much much better than the two that come before it. I was very happy to hear no more lines that were on the level of Agressive Niegotiations from Attack of the Clones, which I still cringe at every time that I watch.
I was thrilled with the movie, and at everything that happened in it. There are some moments there that I just had chills going down my spine, seeing things that were completely outstanding. Things like seeing Alderaan on the screen, the fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan and Anakin's last moments together, Order 66 and the Jedi Purge, the opening Space Battle, Palpatine's transformation and so much more.

What didn't work: There are several things that I noted that I wasn't pleased with. First, the speed at which some things happend. Anakin's turn to Darth Vader after the fight with Mace Windu, I felt happened too quickly, and much more should have happened there. Anakin essentially goes from What have I done, to I pledge myself to you, in a matter of seconds. There should have been more there. Grievous, I was not very thrilled with at all. He was built up too much in the Expanded Universe and his character fails as a result of that. He felt that he was just there for show, and while some of the fights that he had were spectacular, they were also too short.

Overall: You cannot possibly think to call yourself a Star Wars fan if you do not stop reading this review right now and go out to see it if you haven't yet. Actually, what are you waiting for?!?

Rating: 9.5/10

Revenge of the Sith

So I saw Revenge of the Sith early this morning, at 1215. I haven't written a review yet, although I'm hoping to review it by this weekend.

BUT, the bottom like is that I thought that it was outstanding, and it completely met my expectations. The action, visuals, story and even acting was even better than the other prequel movies. It's just good. Very good.

And I was on the front page of the major newspaper for Vermont, as well as two TV news reports. That was pretty cool, although I'm really not sure I'm used to that type of attention, and a ton of people have IMed me or e-mailed me about it.

Fun and my review will be up and around this weekend. Now, sleep, for I spend an entire day in the field and the same for tomorrow. I need more sleep.