Rosencrantz
Is Dead
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2002
- Messages
- 363
I agree with Thanz. In the original trilogy, C-3P0 and R2-D2 were the Fools, the narrator characters who were in a sense telling the story, because almost everything happened from their point of view. They were usually present, in each divergent thread. This was brilliant. Their characters didn't develop, but they didn't need to because they were droids. Their purpose was comic relief, yes, but also to give the audience an ally, a position of simple ignorance in which to place themselves in this unfamiliar universe and safely get to know the other characters.
In the prequels, this is rarely the case. They don't come into the story until most of the way through the first movie, and then seem to ride along with the characters for no good reason, even in ways that are detrimental to the story (why would Anakin and Padme bring an engineering droid with them when posing as a traveling couple?) Does this possibly mean Lucas actually didn't intend the droids to serve that role in the first movies, that he has inexplicably decided to remove this clever story device from the later movies, or that it wasn't his idea in the first place but that someone convinced him to do it and was unable to convince him again?
Or perhaps Lucas now believes that all of his audience is already familiar with his universe, so they want familiar characters to ride on rather than any sort of neutral chorus characters. I still think it causes major damage to the story, though. C-3P0 and R2-D2 are not common, everymen characters any more. In the first few minutes of Star Wars, when Darth Vader's star destroyer attacks Leia's ship, the two insignificant droids she entrusts with her desperate mission to Obi-Wan Kenobi cannot be coincidental.
I find all this very depressing. As a kid, I remember feeling like in Star Wars that anyone could become a hero. Now it seems like you can only be a hero if your father was the hero, or you somehow knew the hero's father. Think The Force is with you? Want to be a Jedi? Too bad kid, you just don't have the midichlorions. Why don't you try being a Musician instead?
When are they going to tie Han Solo and Lando Calrissian back into the story? So far they seem like the only major characters who haven't been foreshadowed in the prequels. Let me guess: Han Solo's father was an important general in the climactic "Attack of the Clones," and in Episode 3, Lando's father buys the cloning facility and turns it into a mining colony called Cloud City.
If they're bringing in Chewbacca, what about Chewbacca's father Itchy? And could they bring back Art Carney to reprise his role as the junk dealer who smuggles information to their home planet on Lifeday? And what about Jefferson Starship?
I think I better end this rant. I could go on about Star Wars prequels for far too long.
I have to say that the most disappointing movie, in my memory, was Neverending Story 2. I don't know what everyone's talking about regarding the first one (I haven't gotten around to slogging my way through the thread that won't die), but it only covered half the story of the book, and I had hoped the second one would start on the second half, all the incredibly good stuff they cut. But no, it was really horrible, and I think it's one of the only movies I ever got up and walked out of.
In the prequels, this is rarely the case. They don't come into the story until most of the way through the first movie, and then seem to ride along with the characters for no good reason, even in ways that are detrimental to the story (why would Anakin and Padme bring an engineering droid with them when posing as a traveling couple?) Does this possibly mean Lucas actually didn't intend the droids to serve that role in the first movies, that he has inexplicably decided to remove this clever story device from the later movies, or that it wasn't his idea in the first place but that someone convinced him to do it and was unable to convince him again?
Or perhaps Lucas now believes that all of his audience is already familiar with his universe, so they want familiar characters to ride on rather than any sort of neutral chorus characters. I still think it causes major damage to the story, though. C-3P0 and R2-D2 are not common, everymen characters any more. In the first few minutes of Star Wars, when Darth Vader's star destroyer attacks Leia's ship, the two insignificant droids she entrusts with her desperate mission to Obi-Wan Kenobi cannot be coincidental.
I find all this very depressing. As a kid, I remember feeling like in Star Wars that anyone could become a hero. Now it seems like you can only be a hero if your father was the hero, or you somehow knew the hero's father. Think The Force is with you? Want to be a Jedi? Too bad kid, you just don't have the midichlorions. Why don't you try being a Musician instead?
When are they going to tie Han Solo and Lando Calrissian back into the story? So far they seem like the only major characters who haven't been foreshadowed in the prequels. Let me guess: Han Solo's father was an important general in the climactic "Attack of the Clones," and in Episode 3, Lando's father buys the cloning facility and turns it into a mining colony called Cloud City.
If they're bringing in Chewbacca, what about Chewbacca's father Itchy? And could they bring back Art Carney to reprise his role as the junk dealer who smuggles information to their home planet on Lifeday? And what about Jefferson Starship?
I think I better end this rant. I could go on about Star Wars prequels for far too long.
I have to say that the most disappointing movie, in my memory, was Neverending Story 2. I don't know what everyone's talking about regarding the first one (I haven't gotten around to slogging my way through the thread that won't die), but it only covered half the story of the book, and I had hoped the second one would start on the second half, all the incredibly good stuff they cut. But no, it was really horrible, and I think it's one of the only movies I ever got up and walked out of.
