Star Wars
What’s Good: Episodes VI: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Why: As many people my age, the Star Wars saga made an indelible impression on me. Never before had I seen such… spectacle. It was (thankfully) not the Disney tripe that the studios attempted to force feed children of my age (in 1977 I was 5). And while I do not think this was the first movie I had gone to see, it is the first one that I remember seeing, and seeing multiple times. This movie had everything: cool characters, spaceships, laser guns and laser swords. What was not to like? When Star Wars ended I was shocked, amazed and a little puzzled. The good guys won, but I was left wanting more. Sure the Death Star was gone, but what about Darth Vader? He just spun off into space; was he still alive? It was a great ride, and while I was left wanting more, I figured that was it. Then, one day while playing in front of the TV, I was greeted by the trailer for The Empire Strikes Back. I was ecstatic, knowing I would be able to experience the further adventures of Luke, Han and Vader. The end of that picture brought nearly killed me. “What the heck is this?!", I thought. "The bad guy got away, Han is frozen, why are the credits rolling? THIS STORY ISN’T FINISHED!!!”. By this time, I was familiar with the concept of a sequel, so I just knew that I had to wait. Sure enough, Return of the Jedi showed its face, and except for the horror of the Ewoks, I was pleased with the movie. All of the story lines that needed resolving were resolved, and when I left the movie, I was a little sad knowing that there would be no more Star Wars films. Little did I know...
What's Wrong: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Why: After years of silence, George Lucas went back to the world that made him billions. The reason was to finish the story, by finally putting to film Episodes I – III. Star Wars fans the world over were excited to near stroke inducing levels. A year or two after the announcement, the teaser was released, and the only really cool thing to come from that was Darth Maul. But still hopes were high, fans looking to recapture the magic of that first Star Wars film way back…
But the magic would not be recaptured. The prequels boasted great special effects, and the light saber duels were nothing short of amazing, but that's as close as it got to being magical. While I was excited to see the three chapters that chronicled the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker, stories that should have been fantastic… just weren’t. The actors looked bored and let’s face it, George Lucas just can’t direct. He’s not good at it; someone should have told him “Hey, you suck. Let someone else do it.” But no one stepped up, so we got…what we got. The annoying Jar Jar Binks, the even more annoying (and talent less) of Jake Lloyd in Episode I and Titanic with a Star Wars backdrop in Episode II. Ugh…
The Lord of the Rings
What’s good: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King
Why: Simply put, this is what a good director, a crew and a cast that cares can accomplish. The acting has “weight” to it, so it was easier to believe in these characters and want them to succeed, to survive. The special effects were wonderful, and they actually filmed on locations that were real, not a series of computer generated backdrops and that alone was refreshing.
For any who don’t know, this was a story about good versus evil, friendship and obsession. This breaks the movie down to its simplest components. If you want more, rent it. It is one of the very few movies that classify as a must see, and if you are not familiar with the story, you are in for a really good time. If you were a fan of the Star Wars movies, I highly recommend seeing these films this. Mainly because these were better. But also, you can see where Lucas got some of his ideas from. The Extended Versions of the films are even better than the theatrical cuts, but may be more movie than most people can handle, coming in at about 4 hours each.
The Lord of the Rings books were for a long time considered “unfilmable”. There was the Ralph Bakshi animated version released in 1978 that ended at the battle of Helm’s Deep. There was never a sequel to it, so the story went unfinished. Other producers wanted to tackle the books, but they wanted to cram all 3 books into one movie. A two hour movie. While I don’t think that this would be impossible, I think that too much would be left out, and the public would wind up feeling cheated, as there may be too many holes in the story. It wasn’t until Peter Jackson stepped up, somehow convinced New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. to give him a few hundred million and allow him to do all 3 movies. But In a stroke of genius, he filmed all movies as one film then cut into the 3 books. It was a massive risk, and there were not many people who thought he could pull it off. But he did, and even got an Oscar or two for his efforts. There was another director who took a lot of flack for making a movie, who was being told that his endeavor was going to be a colossal failure. Turned out those people were wrong too, and the film went on to become the highest grossing movie of all time. He also won an Oscar or two. The director was James Cameron, and the movie was Titanic.
What’s Wrong: Nothing. All of the films, from first to last, were all brilliant.
Why: See the praise above.
