Let's be honest here: Star Wars, in its day, was groundbreaking in that it upped the ante on what the Sci Fi genre could deliver. It took all the standard concepts you'd find in pulp westerns (and WWI and II films) and refitted them into something that was NEW for its time (well to Western audiences anyway). The 'prequel' movies did a piss-poor job of innovating in any way. The characters were weaker and more cardboard than their predecessors, the writing is stiffer and MORE contrived by comparison. NOT A SINGLE PERSON I'VE EVER TALKED TO felt Anakin was a character you gave a rat's ass about in ANY of the 'new' films, and he basically did the entire series to show off spiffy effects shots and the actors seemed tacked in there as an afterthought.

Granted we're not talking Shakespeare here to begin with, but OMFG the inner child in me wants to wring Lucas' neck (assuming I could find it) for basically screwing up his own universe (repeatedly) for the sake of appeasing his own over-inflated ego. I LOVED eps 4-6, and not even obsessively like many 'fans', and to me it's appalling that I couldn't find a reason to give a damn about ANYONE in eps 1-3. And it's not the actors that I have a problem with (even HC, who it should be noted was told 'this is how you'll play Anakin' and he did exactly what he was paid to do, so any reference to how awful the character is should be directed at Lucas since that was what HE wanted), it's the uneven storytelling, the dialog that makes the dialog in eps 4-6 look like Hemingway by comparison, the bloody AWFUL character 'development' (when they remember to actually DO any), the retarded attempts at 'humor' (we won't even GO into Jar Jar), the "ZOMG LOOK WE HAVE SPFX on COMPUUUUUTERS" CG effect overload, and in general the ham-handedness with which the whole thing was put together.

Nope, can't lay the blame of 'the whiniest jedi' on HC people, that's pure Lucas magic there. :P

Furiursa

coolfelix

Carrie Fisher was pretty embarrassing as an actress all around, considering the advantages she started with. Liza Minnelli she ain't

Natalie Portman is doing real well too. But my real point was that Star Wars was not about acting at all. It was about archetypes, machinery, and settings. Real typical 1930's SF. That also suffered from cardboard characters, stilted dialogue and ridiculous plots.

What it had was sensawonder, strong conflict and lots of kaboomium.

codydog

But Lucas did manage to produce the myth of the decade, so i dunno.

When i think of Star Wars, i see static shots like the two robots on the sand dune, the death star, or action shots of machinery. That first sequence in IV with the huge ship followed by the huger ship blows the mind and sets up the suspension of disbelief for the rest of the movie.

So that's cool. But acting? Forget it.

codydog

Hammill's voice acting career is pretty well-known (and his turn as the Joker from Batman considered by many as the best take on the character). Fisher is a best-selling author and a well-known Hollywood script doctor. Both have done broadway. 30 years after Star Wars and they both still have active careers in Hollywood. That's a hell of a lot more successful than most actiors out there.

I also notice some selectivity there: several actors in Star Wars were already stars from day one, so you convienently ignore them. Or do you think that Peter Cushing, James Earl Jones, Sir Alec Guiness, Frank Oz, or Ian McDiarmid. And even minor character actors like Warwick Davis and Caroline Blakiston are still actively working actors.

The idea that no one from Star Wars ever went on to be successful is just plain silly. Unless your only definition of success is that of being Harrison Ford, I suppose.

WizarDru

AgtShadow

I'm not going to mention Star Wars or Hayden, because I don't feel like smashing something. I shall watch THX 1138 and all shall be forgiven, once again. He's so loveable now with his big fat Jabba neck.

Bal-Cleric

Ford wasn't a big fan either, memory serves. He was the one that uttered that oh-so famous "You can write that **** (can't remember if language is a no-no here) but you can't say it) and made a point to take a monsterous number of jobs afterward to avoid being typecast.

Come to think of it, most of Lucas' creative team hated him too. I think most people do hate him.

I really can't blame them. Every time he issues a statement he comes off like an insufferable prick. But I think lowly of anyone who blames the community that likes his stuff for 'not getting' what he's trying to put forward. His constant blamings of fans for the bad reception of the new films--no, no, it couldn't have been his fault!

Evdor

codydog

codydog

codydog

SeeingI

The reason most people say that has everything to do with the fact that nearly every actor who's worked with Lucas has said that. And the extremely publicized hatred several actors have of him. (Carrie Fisher absolutely hates his guts).

Evdor

AmericanHector

So there were definitely times when what Lucas wanted didn't make it to the screen, but since it was usually for the better, he never complained about his vision being altered lest he look like the hack he is.

Also worth noting is an NPR interview with Kershner where I recall he mentioned that his plan was to have a total of six movies with the emperor only being revealed in the final, climactic installment.

Discrete-Daniel

I mean how much worse can you get?

Seraphos1250

PhilipFry

skwidspawn

And, yes, Lucas is a hack when it comes to directing actors. And, yes, Hayden is a hack when it comes to acting. I think I read that the voice-overs for the new series and movie are the same as the original Clone Wars series? Whoever it was that did Anakin actually made me wish for Hayden, though...he was terrible. He does Anakin's voice in the "Revenge of the Sith" game (had that on the PS2) and his little one-liners made me play the game with the sound off.

AZTriGuy

Good actors take what's not on the page and use those blank spaces to put something memorable on the screen. That's their job.

Rus

Garrison Dean, Mr. Privilege

JesusDeSaad

tetracycloide

tetracycloide

Pwnieboy was BOCultist was Epaminondas

extracrispy

92BuickLeSabre