Monday, February 25, 2013

Star Wars Prequel Discontent?

IGN recently interviewed Lawrence Kasdan about his involvement in the new Star Wars trilogy. I'm excited that he's going to be a part of it, so I gladly read the interview. Over the course of the discussion, Mr. Kasdan had this to say:

I was pleased that there would be new ones, that there was a chance to capture some of the spirit of the original trilogy that I’d worked on. I thought there’s an audience out there -- my grandchildren, lots of original Star Wars people -- and there always will be. It’s only good that we try to do some more great ones.

Am I reading into things too much, or does it sound like Mr. Kasdan didn't like the prequels all that much?

A few days ago, Mark Hamill was being interviewed about his involvement with the new films. Among other things, he said this:

 "I said to George that I wanted to go back to the way it was, in the sense that ours was much more carefree and lighthearted and humorous – in my opinion, anyway....hope they find the right balance of CGI with practical effects. I love props, I love models, miniatures, matte paintings -- I'm sort of old school. I think if you go too far in the direction of CGI it winds up looking like just a giant a video game, and that's unfortunate. … If they listen to me at all, it'll be, 'Lighten up and go retro with the way it looks.'"

Now, I agree with his assessment about the differing tone of the two trilogies. But, now I can't help but wonder if the unstated part was, "and the tone of the originals was better."


Come on famous people who were heavily involved in the first Star Wars trilogy! Don't be haters!

What say y'all?

 - Nic


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1 comment:

  1. They were both directly involved with the OT, so I wouldn't be surprised that they would favor those movies more. And I don't know if they're necessarily "haters", but do they share the larger opinion that the OT was superior to the PT? It seems that way. I know you guys enjoy the PT more than the OT and the general belief that the OT was he higher quality of the two trilogies gets a little annoying, I'm sure. I suppose all I can really say for Mark and Larry is that they didn't tear the prequels down so much as give their opinion about the superiority of the OT.

    Personally, I think that the ST will likely have a tone of its own and it wouldn't surprise me if they do resemble the PT more if only for the fact that that's how blockbuster movies tend to look these days. CG is certainly getting better and when done well get ever closer to appearing practical. Plus, I think blockbusters of the last decade, like Lord of the Rings or the Dark Knight trilogy show that practical effects can still be used effectively with CGI. I am hoping that the ST is very much its own thing, though, and that they don't saddle themselves in an attempt to recreate either of the past two trilogies. At the same time, don't make it so different that it's nearly unrecognizable, which I think some fans felt was one of the problems with the new Star Trek film. It should still be immediately recognizable as Star Wars.

    See you out there,

    Mr. X

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