Hi. My evil alter ego promised that I would write a second monthly
CT article, so here it is. The first in a series: My Ten Favorite
Movies of All Time. Ten is a popular, round number; and, at one per
month, I'll be done at the end of the year! Keep in mind that I am
reviewing my own personal favorite movies. There are probably better
quality movies out there, and maybe I have even seen them, but they
just didn't appeal to me on some level; I just couldn't find it in my
heart to love them. And yes, I am aware that Erik beat me to this kind
of article by a month, with his favorite movies of 1998 (sixteen, not
ten). But I really didn't steal the idea; I even mentioned starting a
second article series last month! It's like the two roommates who
independantly came up with Man-Thing and Swamp Thing at the same time.
Except Erik and I are better looking than they are.
In a few months, everyone is going to be writing something about
Star Wars. I'll just beat the traffic and get it all out of my system
now. Though, I admit, I have been toying with some ideas for a really
original review of the new prequel; nothing yet, though. I'm not
nearly as excited about Star Wars 1 as most average fans are, and I'm
more concerned about the quality than the average moviegoers. No matter
what, I suspect the original Star Wars (which will always just be Star
Wars to me) will remain my favorite.
I'm going to dispense with the plot summary just this once, and
skip straight to why Star Wars is one of my favorites. It is very
basic, but has broad appeal. It's never stupid, nor does it insult the
audience's intelligence. Plus, the special effects (such as they are)
work with the movie's other elements, and never replaces them.
First, the characters. I would take great characterization and no
plot over a great plot with shoddy characters every time (that is
probably why I like General Hospital). And the characters in Star Wars
are colorful, interesting, complex, and ALL of them are important to
the plot. No pointless female, minority, or cute kid quotas here. Most
importantly, these characters are memorable: no cardboard cutouts.
To a slightly lesser degree, there are the wonderful settings. I
haven't seen too many science fiction movies (or any movies) recently,
but visiting different worlds and cultures seems a rarity nowadays.
Each new location is just as vivid as the characters that inhabit it,
and would be a wonderful place to visit. Tatooine, Yavin IV, and even
the Death Star and the Falcon looked like wonderful environments that
I would love to explore.
My absolute favorite thing about Star Wars, though, is the plot.
It's got that epic structure that is easy to latch on to. It starts
fast and exciting, laying out the condition of the universe. Then it
slows down, and gives solid introductions and development for most of
the characters and the universe they live in. But, the entire time,
they keep the suspense in the background. The stakes are high, and
the audience is subtly reminded to keep this in mind. Then there's a
steady increase in action until the final showdown! And the movie is
sprinkled with just the right amount of "Oh crap, now what?" moments.
Oh, and they weren't afraid to kill characters, either; and when they
did, it meant something. Plus, there's no "Oh crap, now what?" moment
quite like one in which the most powerful hero is killed.
The other movies in the series are also worth mentioning. THE
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is a lot of people's favorite, and from a whole
trilogy standpoint, I can see it as the strongest chapter. It's like
the first episode of a two part story on TV, which I often like a lot,
because of the great setup, the promises, the potential. ESB is much
the same way. Plus they weren't afraid to beat on the heroes, who
barely stumble to a hopeful ending. Setting and characterization are
still strong, and character flaws are responsible for most of the
beating that the characters take. RETURN OF THE JEDI was my favorite
when I was younger. Now it seems flashy and merchandising-driven.
I'd really love to read one of the older drafts of the script, to see
what could have been. About half my dread towards the new prequel
comes from RotJ. It's also a good reason for a sequel movie: who wants
to end the Star Wars saga on such a sour note? And we need a good
explanation why the Empire was beaten so soundly and so quickly...if
they actually were beaten, that is.
With great movies comes great amounts of merchandising, and Star
Wars is no exception: toys, books, comics, magazines, lunchboxes,
games, and so forth. Not all of it is bad, but there is very little of
it that I can recommend to everyone without hesitation. If you have a
favorite character, you should look into getting an action figure.
They are overpriced, but I have a Ben, C3PO and Dash Rendar, and I'm
really happy with them. Also, the Classic Star Wars (but NOT The Early
Adventures) comics from Dark Horse are a real treat: twenty issues,
reprinting the old Star Wars newspaper strips, written by the late
Archie Goodwin. Finally, Timothy Zahn's trilogy of novels, set five
years after Return of the Jedi, stand out amongs an avlanche of really
pathetic Star Wars novels.
I guess I better mention the Star Wars Special Edition. It's not
bad (though one of the changes is really, REALLY bad), but it doesn't
seem to add anything to the experience. While one added scene near the
end is worthwhile, and one change (adding a lot of robots to Mos
Eisley) helped the plot along, most of the changes are annoying, or
not even noticable. Plus, they didn't fix the lightsabers! Ten million
dollars, and they didn't fix the lightsabers! I wouldn't recommend
people avoid Special Edition, but I would recommend you see the
classic edition first.
I recommend Star Wars to everyone (which won't happen every time),
especially people who like strong science fiction tales and don't mind
dated special effects (I just can't imagine the kind of person who
sees or judges a movie just for special effects). To read more about
Star Wars check out for a
much funnier review than mine, and
for an extremely clever
use of Star Wars quotes and pants.
As usual, I welcome all feedback and opinions, and thanks to the
Robertseses for posting this on their otherwise fine website. And, be
sure to check out my EVIL alter ego's article,
here and also my slightly
less EVIL brother's article here.