NEWS: Chris Gore's Footage Fetishes: No More Star Wars

CULTURE: Chris Gore's Footage Fetishes: No More Star Wars

On Wednesday, May 25th, 1977, in only a handful of movie theaters across the country, the original Star Wars was released. Most of you already know that the film reached the top of the box-office and was a cultural phenomenon. The impact that Star Wars had from both a technical and business standpoint cannot be underestimated. This film and the episodes that followed changed Hollywood and the movies forever.

Is there any doubt that a band featuring Chewbacca on drums would not rock it?

Star Wars quickly rewrote the rules of filmmaking and the film business when it came to things like—
Special effects. ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) invented new effects techniques and continues to innovate today.
Genre films. Hollywood never really took science fiction seriously; this was considered B-movie territory, until the box-office broke records.
The summer blockbuster. The summer movie season was officially invented and perfected the release of the original.
Movie merchandising. Films prior to 1977 rarely had spin-off merchandise. Lucas actually took a smaller fee as director to hold onto the merchandise rights and built his empire on those sales.
Sequels. Well, how to make a successful one anyway. The Empire Strikes Back proved that dramatically straying from audience expectations of more of the same can be a risk worth taking.
The modern video game. Aside from all the video game incarnations spawned from the films, there are countless games that borrowed ideas or were inspired by sequences from Star Wars.

This group of George Lucas' made a stir at the most recent Star Wars Celebration.

An army of fans.

Star Wars creator George Lucas remains one of the most important figures in film history for these innovations, not to mention so many others such as the first non-linear editing software.

The original not only changed the film industry, it touched a nerve in a generation in a way that we will never see again. And this group was inspired to make their own movies. There are plenty of filmmakers who point to Star Wars as their epiphany movie—the film that changed them and made them want to become filmmakers.

Now, if you’ve been reading or, like me, writing about Star Wars for as long as I have, (which, I’m embarrassed to say, is from the very beginning), then you already know all of this. Now that all six episodes from the Star Wars series are complete and all of our questions have been answered, what do fans have to look forward to? Well, if you happen to be in Los Angeles this weekend, you can join fellow fans in a communal geek-gasm. To mark the 30th anniversary of this event, fans are gathering this weekend at the for what will be the fourth Star Wars Celebration.

Star Wars truly knows no bounds.

Fans will be treated to rumored big announcements from the celebration with details about the following—
The HD-DVD release of Star Wars. There’s a new DVD boxed set coming out (when is there not?) of all six films and this time on HD-DVD. Details are sketchy, but an announcement is forthcoming.
StarWarsTube. The Star Wars web site is getting an overhaul and will become a place for fans to upload their fan films. In addition, users can take advantage of Lucas-approved movie clips, sounds and music to create mash-ups to share with friends… which then become owned entirely by Lucas. (I’m guessing that this content will eventually be used for a Star Wars Channel which can be viewed online or on demand.)
The IMAX 3-D version of Star Wars. Fans may be treated to footage from this as Lucas plans to re-release each movie a few years apart in this new format.
The Clone Wars CG Cartoon. There has been a computer animated cartoon about the Clone Wars for some time and early word is that the look is amazing. Where or when this series will debut is still not clear.
The highly-anticipated title of the fourth Indiana Jones movie. This announcement will take place tonight, though I’m not sure what this has to do with Star Wars. Frankly, I don’t care.
Plus… Slave Leia belly-dancing. Yes, you read that right. Women (presumably) dressed as Slave Leia… and they’re belly-dancing!
And, don’t forget, more and more Star Wars merchandise. You can count on learning about a slew of new Star Wars stuff of to buy. On that, I would quote from the Jedi code as spoken by Anakin from Episode II: Attack of the Clones “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden.” Heed these words debt-ridden fans.

This action figure will not be for sale at the Star Wars Celebration. However, custom-painted topless Padme action figures can easily be found on eBay.

Of course, like all events of this type, there will be a dealers room and panels and screenings and bad greasy convention center food.

But, back to the question at hand, what are fans celebrating? The movies are done, even though Lucas famously announced that there would be nine films, yes folks, nine, from three trilogies back in a 1980 cover story from Time magazine. Lucas, always the revisionist when it comes to writing his own history, decided the six movies was enough to tell his story.

Fans showing off their Star Wars tattoos at a recent Celebration. After attending so many conventions, one thing is consistent, Star Wars fans are hotter than Star Trek fans.

William Shatner sang at an AFI Tribute to George Lucas which devolved into a Star Wars roast.

To my delight, and shame, I’ll admit that I’ve attended all three previous Star Wars Celebrations. The first took place in a rainy museum outside of Denver, Colorado and the last two were held at the convention center in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was there for all three and I have to admit, the best part was drinking with fellow geeks and, well, talking to girls… might I remind you, girls who loved Star Wars! Anyway, this may be the first one that I sit out. Because honestly, I don’t care much about any of the things that are going on, well, except perhaps for the belly-dancing, but that’s just not enough. I already have all of the films on HD archived on my Tivo, and learning the details of more and more things to buy and more ways to give Lucas money does not interest me.

I want to see more Star Wars movies.

Period.

I don’t care about anything else.

Nothing else interests me except for that. Show me another Star Wars movie on the horizon, and I’m back.

As far as I’m concerned, when the credits rolled during Revenge of the Sith, I was done. I felt a huge weight was lifted and a chapter from my own life, my obsession with this series of movies, was complete.

I once had the opportunity to talk to the producer of the original Star Wars and Empire Gary Kurtz who told me the plans for the third trilogy. In an interview I did on FilmThreat.com, the third trilogy would take Luke on a quest to find his long lost sister and the origins of the Jedi. There was none of this Luke-Leia/brother-sister thing going on. Here’s an excerpt from that interview:

One thing some may not understand is that the enjoyment of Star Wars is not from watching the movies in your living room, but from the communal experience of seeing it in the theater and, yes, waiting in line. Some of the most memorable and bizarre and geeky conversations I’ve had waiting in line for these movies. I’d like to see new films and learn the fate of an aged Luke Skywalker as he attempts to rebuild the galaxy.

Before George Lucas embarked on making the prequels, 20th Century Fox conducted a survey. This survey asked fans if they would like to see Star Wars sequels with the continuing adventures of Luke, Han and Leia. Or, would they prefer to see Star Wars prequels with the adventures of a young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. Overwhelmingly fans answered that they would prefer to see sequels not prequels.

Yes, this is the last shot from Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and the last we'll see of Star Wars at the movies. Unless, of course, it's in IMAX 3-D.

So George, you’ve done it. You made your prequels. And you made them on your terms, exactly the way you wanted to make them. Isn’t it time you gave back to the fans? The fans who have supported you and the films all these years? Fans don’t want another exclusive action figure or another boxed set on DVD… we want new movies.

Without new films on the horizon, Star Wars fandom is doomed to fade out like every final shot in all six films.

Gore gone... to a galaxy far, far away... for the last time.

Chris_Gore is an author, a filmmaker and the creator of Film Threat. One of Chris' unfulfilled goals in life is to have an intimate encounter with a woman dressed in a Slave Leia outfit.

"The one story thread that got totally tossed out the window, which was really pretty important I think, was the one of Vader trying to convince Luke to join him to overthrow the Emperor. That together they had enough power that they could do that, and it wasn't him saying I want to take over the world and be the evil leader, it was that transition. It was Vader saying, 'I'm looking again at what I've done and where my life has gone and who I've served and, very much in the Samurai tradition, and saying if I can join forces with my son, who is just as strong as I am, that maybe we can make some amends.' So there was all of that going on in Jedi as well, that was supposed to go on. So the story was quite a bit more poignant and the ending was the coronation of Leia as the queen of what was left of her people, to take over the royal symbol. That meant she was then isolated from all of the rest and Luke went off then by himself. It was basically a kind of bittersweet ending. She's not his sister that dropped in to wrap up everything neatly. His sister was someone else way over on the other side of the galaxy and she wasn't going to show up until the next episode."

Now see , this movie ( or series ) I would like to see . If Lucas isn't the screen writer .

Fans of one of the following three (I haven't decided which) are hotter than both ST and SW: Doctor Who, Blade Runner, Dune

I think the inherant problem of the prequels was that they were stories we already knew the ending to. No matter how much work and polish Lucas put into them, everyone knew that they would end with Anakin turning to the dark side and baby Luke being sent to Tatooine to wait for his destiny. There was no excitement of something unexpected happening, no possibility that everything we thought we knew could be suddenly turned on its head, as it was in Empire. It makes me sad that we may never experience that feeling again.

It may have also had something to do with them being inferior to the first 3 movies . Just maybe ...

Seriously. GOOD CHRIST GEORGE LUCAS! If you don't want to make that last trilogy, let someone else? Fuck, even if you DO want to make them, let someone else, because those prequels were pretty sucky. But nonetheless, I need to see these movies. You whore.

Yeah... a woman in a stillsuit from Dune. I never thought of that. Very fetish in look.

I don't buy that. The Festival of Dionysus was one of the most important events in ancient Greece, the centerpiece of which was the performance of tragedies. These tragedies were culled from the well-known myths. Everyone knew how Oedipus Tyrannos, Medea, and Phaedra were going to end, but it didn't make them any less of masterpieces. The same goes for Hamlet, Death of a Salesman, and Superman. I don't buy that knowing the ending ruins a great story. It was entirely the fault of George Lucas's shitty writing and directing.

Oh, please god, no.

No mention of the upcoming television series anywhere?

As for the upcoming Clone Wars CGI fest, Tartakovsky isn't involved and it was his stylization that made the first two series of Clone Wars good.

You are mostly correct, but their is some truth to AdamJ's comments. Think of some of the real jaw dropping Kaiser Soze shit in the original trilogy. The main antagonist was the main protagonist's father. Luke and Leah were twin siblings. A two foot tall green muppet was a master Jedi. The enigmatic elements of the original trilogy kept us enthralled. Those elements weren't as prevalent in the prequels thus diminishing a large amount of the fun factor.

I disagree.

The story that ended up being told in the prequels is an amazing story. Everybody forget what you actually saw in the theaters and just think about the story. There's the death of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's reluctant decision to train Anakin, which contributes heavily to Anakin's downfall and adds a huge dramatic element to their final encounter. There's Anakin's love for his wife, and his desire to keep her alive despite his prophetic vision that she's going to die - this is what leads him to the dark side when the Emperor offers him the ability to do just that. Then there's the scene when Anakin awakes as Darth Vader, still deeply in love with his wife, still completely interested in saving her, and the Emperor's betrayal of his pupil when he says that Anakin has killed her - this seal's Anakin's fate, breaks his spirit, and the Emperor steps in to fill this void with anger and hate, and turns Anakin into his slave.

That story is incredible. Everybody always knew that Anakin turned into Darth Vader and blah blah, but nobody knew that. Nobody knew the horrible turn of events that led Anakin to turn to the dark side, and it wasn't simply a weakness of character like the original movies said it was. It wasn't that Anakin was weak and he was seduced - it was the love for his wife that caused him to do what he believed was the right thing, and once he gave himself to this pursuit he was betrayed by the Emperor and turned into the cold, calculating, emotionless Darth Vader we all grew up with.

The problem wasn't in the story - that story is incredible. The problem was in the execution. Bad writing, bad acting, bad reliance on CG effects to sell a movie that had bad acting and bad writing, bad everything. The prequels were mediocre at best, horrible at worst, but the story wasn't bad. They just needed some talented people behind them to make it work. Any really good story can be ruined by bad execution, and that's what the prequels were.

That being said, the story that Gore mentioned sounds awesome. Anyone who's read or looked into the Star Wars timeline after Jedi has a general idea of what Luke goes through in the aftermath of the rebellion, and it's a great story. One of the big things he has to deal with is reforming the Jedi order and re-establishing the Jedi code, and throughout the course of these events he re-designs the code and abolishes the "no possessions, no attachments" rule, largely due to the anguish his father had to deal with when he fell in love with Luke's mother - he had the Jedi code on the one hand, and his emotions on the other. The conflict between these two, and the resentment toward the Jedi that sprung from that conflict, helped lead Anakin down the path he took.

What an awesome story!

I would be absolutely in favor of more Star Wars movies, but if and only if they have some real talent behind them. My only sticking point would be the original characters - I'm sorry, but I don't want to see Mark Hammill or Carrie Fischer reprise their roles, it would just be awkward. If they can get a good, convincing cast, a good script written, good actors, good direction, etc. I'll be the first to buy a ticket.

Oh, and by the way. Dune needs to be made into a proper (read: not made for TV on the Sci-Fi channel) movie, because that story is even more epic than Star Wars. I. Love. Dune.

If you say so, dude, but the story I saw didn't make a whole lot of sense.

I don't think the last three movies will be made until after George Lucas Dies.
That could be like, 50 years.

George Lucas died to me about 15 minutes into Phantom Menace.

But more Star Wars...more good Star Wars, that would be a wonderful thing.

-TTm

I remember being there opening night of the first film in line with my parents.
I looked forward to each new installment. I was always under the assumption that there were 9 films in total. and that one day I would find out what happened to Luke and how he rebuilt the Jedi. I'm with you Chris I really want to see more movies, not more merchandise.

Well, what would be the base for the next 3? Chances are its gonna make episode 1 look solid gold.

UH oh... another sith

Uh oh, Lukes son is the new savior

Uh oh, CHewbacca is still alive and doing nothing

*shoots self*

Yeah, maybe you should read the OP a little more closely, jerk.

i think there are just too many "yes sir's" surrounding george lucas..he has BECOME the empire..which he was totally against when he started making these films, and he admits and knows this. The problem was there was basically no magic moments like the many that can be found in "empire strikes back." The movie just became a quantified and calculated sequences of action and non-action..love scenes and conflicts. The Jedis seemed to be stuck up (not rootsy or down to earth) and held other creatures to be lesser beings..including anakin during his training..i never get that feeling when Guinness played obi-wan and interacting with luke..talking about sand people and blah blah..so i hope george doesn't make more star wars because he isn't good at doing so anymore..and i think he just wants to be known as a digital guru..and not a phenomenal storyteller like he has said in so many interviews. "i just use CG because it enables me to do whatever i want to make the STORY work better" ..wow ..you are WRONG because your films were better before the CG became the emphasis of the projects.

i send george lucas 10 $ monthly

i dont want more movies. tim zahn wrote the thrawn trilogy, set five years after return of the jedi. that was my third trilogy. theres a mountain of great expanded universe work thats been done which is relatively free of george lucas' influence. im happy with what i have.

I'm not as enamoured of the story as he seems to be, but in skilled hands it's not half bad. Read the prequel novels to see what I mean. Or at any rate, read the one for Revenge of the Sith...I haven't read the other two and don't especially care to because nothing about those movies clicked for me. Revenge of the Sith had elements that could have been great and weren't.

Mmm... I love a good online Star Wars debate! I attended the opening ceremonies for Celebration IV (I had to as I was part of a special on G4), anyway, the computer animated show is going to blow everyone away. As for the live-action TV series, no news. We'll see...

But the Hottest fans of all are those of Stargate. Stargate also has an AMAZING story to tell, much in the same way that the Foundation books and Star Wars (which have alot in common IMO- curse you lucas) movies do. More so than either I would say. Too bad Sci-Fi is cancelling one of 3 good shows that they have going for them- Stargate SG-1: Canned. Stargate Atlantis: Kinda mediocre, but...no nevermind...Sci-Fi only had 2 good shows: SG-1 and Eureka.

There's no Padme action figures like THAT for sale on eBay. I feel so cheated!!