One of the reasons I haven’t been writing much these days is because a friend of mine gave me the boxed set of Star Wars and I’ve been watching them all, and then again with the commentary.
I liked them the second time best. Two things are clear to me. One, George Lucas wrote a little story based on the comparative religion that many of us get into in college. He thought he’d film it in the genre of Saturday afternoon serials. “Light-hearted” is his term for it. He never thought he’d spend thirty years of his life on that story. It was never intended to be a serious movie--it was never intended to even be remembered.
Secondly, George Lucas understands the theory of story-telling, of myths, and of visual communication. But the movies are just crap. The actors are awful. Most of the writing is awful. One of the best lines in the entire series happens just before Han Solo is frozen. Leia declares her love for the first time, and Harrison says “I know." We find from the commentary that Han improvised that line!
I can’t wait for the DVDs of “episodes I, II, and III.” More crap, more great commentary.
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