I couldn't agree more... although I'll definitely be watching that Clone Wars computer animated show; it actually looks pretty good. I think the content of the prequels might be more suited to a cartoon than to a bunch of feature films...
I'm certainly not the first person to reflect on the fact that 30 years after the fateful day of May 25, 1977, Star Wars is still a cultural force to be reckoned with. I won't bore you with the same reflections and nostalgic waxings that other sites are undoubtedly wallowing in...instead I'm going to note that if one of my friends hadn't have made a comment on this site, I probably wouldn't have thought to write anything at all about the goings on a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
And that's the real story, at least for me. Time was when Star Wars was an all-consuming passion for me, second only to Doctor Who in my nerdy heart. Part of the reason I got into television (and many many others got into film) was the Holy Trilogy.
But it would appear age and maturity has caught up with me After a trio of dismal prequels (well, Sith wasn't too bad, but...) and a shifting in priorities, I'm no longer the Star Wars maniac I once was. I still enjoy the films, but they aren't the all-consuming obsession they once were. And I don't think I'm alone. I've heard many people my age say that once they stepped out of the theatre after Revenge of the Sith, they felt like they'd finally left their childhood behind.
So, happy birthday, Star Wars...but now on to new and better things.
I couldn't agree more... although I'll definitely be watching that Clone Wars computer animated show; it actually looks pretty good. I think the content of the prequels might be more suited to a cartoon than to a bunch of feature films...
I played some Lego Star Wars II to celebrate the occasion, and I have my Lego Sail Barge set permanently entrenched on my computer desk. So, really, if it wasn't for my all consuming passion for Lego, would the same hold true for Star Wars? No, probably not.
Lucasfilm would like for you all to remember these anniversaries, though. Expect some more manufactured hoopla next year (25th anniversary of "ROTJ"), 2010 (30th anniversary of "TESB"), and so forth.
Star Wars a nice piece of Sci-Fi for its day but it was also the death of Hard Sci-Fi movies because people then startedt o expect that there be a lot of Flash and Bang for it to be worth watching. I for one would like to forget the last 3 movies that came out.
As for the computer animated Clone Wars, it just looks like a remake of the ones that were showing on TV a few years back, so I don't really see a need for me to watch them over again.
The death of hard sci fi movies? I think I'd have to disagree there. Alien (1979) was pretty hard without being flashy... Blade Runner (1982), as much as I utterly loathe the movie, would also disprove that statement. I'm having issues thinking of other genre stuff in the years following Star Wars, but there must be others to prove hard sci fi didn't die in 1977.
You could make the argument that Contact was hard sci-fi, and there are plenty of crap B-list films that nonetheless qualify for the genre. Star Trek films, whether you like them or not, are straight ahead sci-fi too. Hell, so was Batlestar Galactica, old and new.
Alien is a Sci-Fi horror Film, and Blade Runner is a part of what was called the New wave Sci-Fi that was slowly emerging at that time called CyberPunk. Nether of which can be classified as Hard Sci-Fi.
As for Warrens mentioning of Contact, I wouldn't say that that movie is Hard Sci-Fi though I will call it the Exception to the rule. As for ST and BSG they are not Hard Sci-Fi There up there with Star Wars Space Operas with little to no Real Science in them.
So what is hard sci-fi then? Starship Troopers? If you're looking for a hardcore sci-fi experience, the movies are the last place you should go. By their nature, movies skim over and superficialize stuff, and deal with Big Themes over lots of ideas. hat's not bad, that's just the way visual media is. Books give you a lot more leeway to express ideas and build worlds. And Contact is a movie that has a lot of ideas and more than a little science in it, compared to most, so I still think it qualifies.
Note: Your browser must have Javascript enabled to submit comments.