Originally Posted 11/21/19
The Star Wars saga has been around for more than 44 freakin' years. And as crazy as it sounds there are still some moviegoers and cable-watchers who haven't seen a single episode. So far, there are 11 films with more on the way at some point, including a planned Kevin Feige-produced film and another trilogy planned for release sometime in the future. So it seemed like a good time to celebrate the best of what we've already got before we're hit with another five. Here's the best of the best:
4. Star Wars
Star Wars pioneered the tangible, worn look of spacecraft and sci-fi equipment that would inspire future projects such as: the Alien films; Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone; The Ice Pirates; and Guardians of the Galaxy. Up to that point, sci-fi entertainment tended to feature exceedingly clean, glossy, boring-looking spaceships and cockpits.
Star Wars' influence didn't stop at science fiction either. Replace the galaxy far, far away with London and you've got Harry Potter. Think about it: When the story begins, Harry is a young, nerdy orphan (Luke) who's barely tolerated by his aunt and uncle (Beru and Owen). A wizard (Obi-Wan Kenobi) convinces him to leave home in order to cultivate his heretofore unknown magical abilities (Force powers). Along the way he meets a guy (Han Solo) and a girl Hermione (Princess Leia) who will eventually become his closest friends and fall in love with each other. His magical mentor (Kenobi) is killed but continues to communicate with him throughout the series. The villain is a powerful and disfigured wizard (Darth Vader) who murdered Harry's parents (Kenobi tells Luke that Vader murdered his father; it's eventually revealed that he was responsible for the death of Luke's mother) and is referred to as a "Dark Lord". Said villain has also undergone a name change -- from Tom Marvolo Riddle (Anakin Skywalker) to Lord Voldemort (Lord Vader). Harry's, and every wizard's, weapon of choice is a wand (lightsaber).
Conceived out of necessity when Lucas was denied the rights to Flash Gordon (which ironically received a big-screen adaptation as a result of Star Wars' success), his idea for what he called a "space fairy tale" was rejected by United Artists, Universal and Disney before 20th Century Fox finally agreed to back him.
The original idea underwent a myriad of changes before becoming the final product that debuted in the late 70s. Reportedly, Han Solo was initially intended to be green and Billy Dee Williams, who would portray Lando Calrissian in the 2nd and 3rd installments of the trilogy, originally auditioned for the role of Luke Skywalker. Lucas' insistence on filling most of the parts with relatively unknown actors resulted in Broadway veteran James Earl Jones voicing the iconic Darth Vader, who wouldn't be nearly as menacing had he opted to go with any of the other choices he'd considered.
Something to think about given the information that's eventually revealed in the final movie of the trilogy, Return of the Jedi: Princess Leia gives Luke the first of three kisses (the second and third are in The Empire Strikes Back) in the series in Star Wars.
The original, unmolested, non-Special Edition Star Wars is deceptively entertaining. I've been told more than once that it "changed the world" forty years ago, but when I think about watching it it feels like work. I guess you had to be there. The thing is, it manages to draw you in not long after it starts. And by the end it's GREAT. When I was a kid, I saw it countless times on HBO but I'd never watched it chronologically, from beginning to end. I'd always see it in parts, which was fine with me. I experienced it more as viewing the events of whatever galaxy it takes place in, as opposed to a linear story. I think I prefer it that way, to tell you the truth.
3. Return of the Jedi
The would-be conclusion to the Star Wars saga has not held up well in some respects. While it garnered critical praise when it debuted, it's now the lowest rated entry in the original trilogy. The ewoks were always a bad idea, the "Special Edition" updates are anything but improvements, Harrison Ford is noticeably fatter despite being in suspended animation since The Empire Strikes Back (c'mon it was only three years -- Carrie Fisher's wearing a bikini for fuck's sake) and Boba Fett's death is just lazy.
That said, there is a lot to admire. The space scenes were, and still are, outstanding. The Death Star run at the end of the movie is phenomenal. There is nothing like it anywhere else in cinema. Speaking of which, the Death Star itself looks incredible. As redundant as it is, the unfinished Death Star 2.0 looks so much better than the final product -- seen in Star Wars. Better still, the dogfight in space was the absolute best of any movie of any era (until Rogue One came along). The fact that it was done without the benefit of CGI is astounding.
Darth Vader fulfills the prophecy that he'd bring balance to the Force -- for the second time (the first was 20 years earlier in Revenge of the Sith) -- and in spectacular fashion as he allows his son to beat him in a fight (which is really the only way Luke had any chance at all, given that Vader had not one, but two Force mentors and had been a Force practitioner for about 30 years before Luke ever even saw a lightsaber) and ultimately behaves like any real father of any galaxy. Think about the revelations regarding Vader's progeny and consider the ramifications in context of the suffering he willfully inflicted on the heroes during the first two films. If the movie isn't complicated, the man certainly is (at least he is until his actions defy all logic, common sense and even the slightest semblance of actual human behavior in the prequels).
Jabba the Hutt is stupendous as the absurdly overweight drug kingpin. He shows that you don't have to carry a gun, wear an expensive suit or even be human to be a gangster. He also introduces sex into the Star Wars universe. It's impossible to ignore the strippers and sex slaves (wearing collars attached to chains, no less) roaming around his palace. When you see the hate in Princess Leia's eyes it's clear that she'd felt more than Jabba's gaze.
The Emperor is at his best and the stoicism of his silent, red-clad Imperial Guard is a nice, ominous touch.
Lando Calrissian becomes the hero and quite possibly proves that Han Solo is not the best pilot to have manned the controls of the Millenium Falcon. And the fact that Return of the Jedi is the first -- and still only -- film in which the Black guy saves the galaxy makes it worth sitting through all the Ewok nonsense.
It's also nice to see what Luke has become -- and a little chilling to see what he may be becoming. Take note of his clothing color of choice, for example. The apple doesn't seem to fall very far from the tree in the Skywalker family. For better or worse (or perhaps, for better and worse), his past has taken quite a toll on him. The excitable kid that couldn't wait to leave the farm in Star Wars is gone forever. There's a moment in the Emperor's throne room when Luke realizes just how much he has in common with his father. And you have to wonder how many of their similarities are genetic and how many stem from the fact that they were both guided -- and misled -- by Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
For a time, the movie was officially titled, Revenge of the Jedi. There are plenty of posters with that title still floating around eBay. Supposedly, the title was changed because the thinking was that vengeance is out of character for jedi. The fact is, vengeance seems to be exactly what Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda have in mind. According to a Los Angeles Times interview with Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back producer Gary Kurtz, certain script ideas, such as Han Solo being killed in the middle of the movie and ending the film with Luke Skywalker walking off "like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns," were abandoned because the happier ending was thought to be more conducive to increased toy sales. Just think -- this popcorn movie could have been art. Oh, well.
2. Rogue One
The movie was marketed as a "stand-alone Star Wars story". But that's not really true. In reality, Rogue is a prequel and is key to the events that follow. There is also a small acknowledgement of what came before. But fortunately, it's nothing like those pre-Empire movies. Rogue has more in common with The Empire Strikes Back than those things.
To be honest, it's more like Empire than any other Star Wars movie. Vader is in beast-mode, the good guys aren't angels, there's no teddy-bear army and the "heroes" take extremely heavy losses.
In fact, this movie makes up for the wack stuff in Return of the Jedi. For instance, you get a battle that alternates between land and space -- but without the Care Bears.
Rogue One makes me never wanna watch the prequel trilogy, The Last Jedi or Solo ever again. Yeah, I said it. I definitely don't give a sh*t what happens to Kylo Ren, Rey and Poe Dameron in the future. At this point all the Star Wars saga needs is the original trilogy, and Rogue One. There's your new saga right there.
Darth Vader is back too. Not a lame, groupie grandkid trying hard to be live up to the family name and not George Lucas' rewritten version of history -- this time the actual, choke-the-sh*t-out-you-quick, murder-my-own-officers-without-breaking-a-sweat Darth Vader. Not once does he break outta character and yell, "Nooooo!" like he did in Revenge of the Sith and the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi (Smh).
If we're lucky and if Lucasfilm is smart, this is a sign of things to come and not a stand-alone great story.
Rogue One isn't just good. It's so well done that it's ALL the prequel that the Star Wars saga needs. It renders Episodes I, II and III completely unnecessary.
1. The Empire Strikes Back
The sequel that's far superior to the groundbreaking, revolutionary, blockbuster original. The adventure story that dared to combine substance and integrity with incomparable style. The film that had the gall to let you hear one of it's heroes scream in agony. And to let another of it's heroes fail. And go toe-to-toe with evil and not only lose decisively but to run away. Where an ally reveals himself to be a traitor, but not for reasons as cliche' or superficial as the promise of riches. Where a puppet looked more realistic, had more personality and remains more beloved than any computer-generated character even 35 years later, including The Lord of the Rings' Gollum. Where not one, but two of the hero's mentors display dubious morals -- at best. This is also the film in which the villain takes center stage and gets revenge. It's also the film that visited the most locations in space (the ice planet, the swamp planet, the cloud city, the asteroid and a Super Star Destroyer). It has textured, dirty, used, so real-looking-you-swear-you-could-reach-out-and-touch-them spacecraft. It has science (sort of) and sorcery, existentialism and non-cheesy romance. The Empire Strike Back's Special Edition even contains the least drastic changes of the trilogy (George Lucas' so-called "improvements" to the films made 20 years after Star Wars' debut), though the Emperor's appearance was thankfully boosted to the caliber of the rest of the visuals. Empire proves that when a film is great, without qualification, it's alright to have a tragic ending. And if you decide to make a sequel, people will show up in droves because they don't just want to know, they want to see, what happens next.
Whether Lucas recognized his limitations or simply found that he was too busy as a newly-independent producer, passing the respective writing and directing reins over to Lawrence Kasdan and his old film school professor, Irvin Kershner, was his wisest decision since bringing his saga to the screen in the first place. Like The Winter Soldier 34 years later, Empire is completely different from its predecessor. The emphasis was re-focused onto character while doubling up on the visuals and excitement. Everything was honed to perfection.
Darth Vader was never better (the same holds true for Boba Fett). He no longer boasts or shouts angrily as he did in Star Wars. His short temper has been replaced by the imperturbable, matter-of-fact malice witnessed in one too-brief scene in Star Wars (where he calmly, telekinetically strangles one of his cohorts at a meeting). He's no longer a caricature with distinctive heavy breathing, he's a so-hardened-he's-irredeemable, barely-human warrior who's seen it all and lost the capacity to be moved or impressed. He's the template for The Terminator's T-800 and No Country for Old Men's Anton Chigurh. He's so villainous that he murders his own officers for failing, severs his only son's hand and casually plots to overthrow and murder his mentor. This film reveals the true nature of the galaxy's power structure -- Vader allows the Emperor to sit on the imperial throne -- for now -- but he's really the one calling the shots (a la Dick Cheney or Tony Soprano when Uncle Junior was the New Jersey don). Even his helmet is shinier. This is the king of bad guys at his finest.
The "space opera" takes cues from no less than Shakespeare and Greek tragedy, with a touch of Hamlet and Oedipus Rex. Life was hard for Luke in Star Wars (he was an orphan who found the corpses of his murdered aunt and uncle, watched his mentor die and lost a childhood friend on a suicide mission), but things get worse a mere three years later and he does not make it out in one piece. While he overcame his self-doubts in Star Wars, even more of his personal flaws are revealed here and the villain's restraint and ulterior motives are the only reasons that they don't become fatal. Both Yoda and Kenobi use Luke in order to satisfy their desire for revenge. They conceal from him the true nature of the suicide mission for which they are preparing him -- to unwittingly murder his own father. It's worth noting that both chose to live in hiding for decades instead of undertaking said mission themselves. How's that for complexity?
The distinctive score debuted in Star Wars is enhanced, most notably with the addition of the "Imperial March", which netted composer John Williams both a Golden Globe for best soundtrack and a Grammy.
Empire is one of the greatest films of any genre ever made and it's the Michael Jordan of adventure and fantasy films. It's much better than anyone could have ever expected or imagined it to be. Critics that likened Guardians of the Galaxy to Star Wars films could not have been referring to this one. They must have had Attack of the Clones in mind. The Empire Strikes Back is so good that it's not merely the best fantasy film. It should be referred to as the fantasy film.
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