Vader Was Seduced (11)
Last Updated (Sunday, 25 September 2011 21:11) Written by Administrator Friday, 05 November 2010 00:00
Watch it with that thing!
I told you he shouldn't have let him have that lightsaber. He nearly slices Ben's ear off in the bottom-left.
(Nerdy) Film Notes
Whilst I wouldn't like to over-analyse a fictional story that was meant to just be a piece of popular entertainment and end up looking like a total fan-boy - do any of you REALLY think that George had decided on Vader being Luke's (SPOILER: see bottom of page) when he made this? It seems pretty clear that Vader killed Luke's dad. Doesn't it? Ben really seems to be saying that Vader was a separate p...(SPOILER). So then, during the third not very good film Old G...(SPOILER) Ben sits down with Luke and tries to explain it all away "in EFFECT he did kill your father Luke." I know I said in the previous page that it was almost sinister the way Kenobi seems uneasy about the version of events that he relates to Luke. He seems to be manipulating the youngster. But I think I'm not alone in thinking that Vader's soap-opera-esque revelation to Luke feels bit like a later add-on. Lucas claims now that he'd intended this to be the case allllll along.
Having said all that - it's a pretty clever - if an improbable twist. Well, not clever so much as - more interesting - than just some evil villain who killed your dad so now you really hate him and all you can think of is getting trained-up (a bit) and facing him in the ultimate showdown in order to exact vengeance. Big hooray from the audience. Everyone goes home feeling entertained. But no real depth.
An idea as old as the hills. Spaghetti Western stuff.
But you know, George made all sorts of pronouncements on the story back in 1977. If you read 'The Making of Star Wars' book you can even read little back-stories that he wrote for each character. Han was an orphan - trained at the Academy etc. Fair enough, it's good to have something that's more than 1-dimensional to work with. Great for the actors too. And the characters in SW were fantastic, especially for a Space adventure action movie. But I bet George can't even remember half of what he's said about this stuff. I'm guessing that he employs people full-time to maintain a enormous expanded-universe (EU) knowledgebase; like librarians - historians even. I bet when someone comes up with a new SW story or comic or what have you - these people have to be consulted.
It's turned into a sort of behemoth that perhaps no one person could ever keep a handle on. Least of all George who I'm sure has more important things to worry about. The same as William Shatner.
To be honest - as I've little interest in the SW's EU I'll just stick to what was originally intended back in the 70s before it mutated into a vast, bloated monster with all of it's disappointing off-shoots. Diminishing returns. "Oh... it's just not as good as the original... B-but, maybe the next one will be!"
Aren't Trekkies just the saddest people ever?
| Quality | Cringe | Comedy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
Artwork Notes
More SFTPaS-SFX - tm © here - some of it looking pretty grubby too! Oh, I learnt the tm and © stuff from George as a 9 year old.
SPOILERS!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with this rarely seen little arthouse film. I really recommend you hunt down a copy - possibly on Betamax - before you read the following:
1. "do any of you REALLY think that George had decided on VADER being Luke's FATHER when he made this?"
2. "Ben really seems to be saying that Vader was a separate PERSON."
3. "So then, during the third not very good film Old GHOST Ben sits down with Luke..."
Comments
As for George knowing all along - bless his cotton socks, but that's bollocks. I love him an' all - but this little flick snowballed faster than a clumsy wampa.
Yeah, I love what George did. Why not just admit that it was in flux all the time. Casablanca was being rescripted constantly as they were SHOOTING it. Pretty sure Apocalypse Now was a similar chaotic process (George's concept!). And history has judged those wee films quite well.
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