I do not class myself as a Star Wars fan by choice, it happened whilst under duress. You see when I married my husband, I also had to accept I was also marrying George fricking Lucas because my husband is a massive Star Wars fan. The strange thing is he doesn't consider himself a geek; yet we have a loft full of books, board games, computer games, toys, AT-AT's, Storm troopers plus we have a large statue of Boba Fett that sits in our office. He has an intimate knowledge of solar systems, can speak Mandalorian and knows the background stories for characters you only glimpse in the film, because of the amount of literature he reads regarding the Star Wars universe. And so after 16 years together his unwavering passion for Star Wars has inevitably rubbed off on me. I've had to listen to Star Wars inter galactic politics over dinner for so long, I could apply to become a senator myself. I can't go a single day without my ears bleeding Star Wars trivia. So imagine my outrage when my husband heard that Lucas was releasing the original trilogy on Blue-Ray format and decided to tamper with the original footage – AGAIN.
Now before I begin my rant I have to pay homage to Lucas for his innovation and ability to entertain. He unknowingly created a universe within a film that would capture the imaginations of children and adults for generations. He created timeless cinema and used cutting edge technology and special effects which lead the way to a new frontier of film making. And then he went and screwed it all up by making the worst prequel trilogy ever.
Now I don't care what the films, (that shall not be named) grossed. Because it's financial success does not equate to the poor quality of movie that we endured under the Star Wars Logo. If the Phantom Menace was released on it's own without the strength of the original trilogy behind it. It would have flopped in the first week of opening. It was utter tripe, the actors were wooden mainly due to the appalling script; good lord don't get me started on that, the bad guys had no presence or character and the ones that were cool weren't utilised enough, The romantic interest between Padame and Anakin was unbelievable and I couldn't care less if they all died horrible, horrible deaths.
Most of the people who went to see these film's were the original fans who had grown up loving a New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back; and so they took their children, with the HOPE that their kids could experience the magic of the Star Wars universe as they once did as children. And they were faced with Jar Jar Binks, the most annoying character ever created, glorified special effects and a film with characterless characters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUkCJDkG3fg
What made the originals so great was the interaction with all the actors. The script was well written and the actors delivered believable performances and was then coupled with great special effects. CGI should never carry a movie, grand landscapes do not tell a story, it should be invisible to the eye and used to allow the film to progress the narrative in the correct setting according to the plot. But Lucas went overboard with the CGI and neglected the fundamentals of movie making which was to deliver a captivating story with believable characters. And if that wasn't disappointing enough then came the whoring of Star Wars.
I have no problems with the Lucas making tons money from his creation, it's his right. But I feel that all them years ago in 1976 when Star Wars was in production, Lucas was in it for his love of movie making, he was a true creative artist, and his ambition allowed him to create a film that has stood the test of time. However somewhere along the line it became all about the dollar sign. He has become Hollywood's most notorious movie pimp. I can't count how many times he has whored Star Wars to make a quick buck, especially with all the multiple DVD releases with added features and bonuses and blah blah blah.
Currently his latest endeavour to cash in on the classic trilogy is just a step to far in my opinion. His Blue-Ray release with altered scenes of Vader yelling, 'Noooooo' when the Emperor is killing Luke with his force lightening shows how little he thinks of his fans. We were very aware that Darth Vader made the good choice when he decided to throw the Emperor over the railings. It doesn't need explained further with dialogue. The added enlarge door and the Ewoks blinking isn't really gonna make a big difference to our viewing experiance so why do it? And what's worse is that the world is full of stupid, stupid people who will rant and rave about the injustice of him tampering yet again with the originals; then the same morons will run out and buy it, perpetuating the cycle of being pocket raped by George Lucas. It makes me very angry.
If he was just re-releasing the originals on Blu-Ray as an upgrade then fair enough, technology moves on and the films will move along with these advances too, but WHY does he feel the need to aggravate the fans by altering them. I'll tell you why! Because he's playing you. You see he will release this new tampered version and make a fortune despite the outrage because as I said people are stupid and will still buy it anyway. And then he will release the original again without the new additions and he will cash in twice which will then start the prequel trilogy revamps and it's a never ending loop of 'Ch Ching.'
Currently his latest endeavour to cash in on the classic trilogy is just a step to far in my opinion. His Blue-Ray release with altered scenes of Vader yelling, 'Noooooo' when the Emperor is killing Luke with his force lightening shows how little he thinks of his fans. We were very aware that Darth Vader made the good choice when he decided to throw the Emperor over the railings. It doesn't need explained further with dialogue. The added enlarge door and the Ewoks blinking isn't really gonna make a big difference to our viewing experiance so why do it? And what's worse is that the world is full of stupid, stupid people who will rant and rave about the injustice of him tampering yet again with the originals; then the same morons will run out and buy it, perpetuating the cycle of being pocket raped by George Lucas. It makes me very angry.
If he was just re-releasing the originals on Blu-Ray as an upgrade then fair enough, technology moves on and the films will move along with these advances too, but WHY does he feel the need to aggravate the fans by altering them. I'll tell you why! Because he's playing you. You see he will release this new tampered version and make a fortune despite the outrage because as I said people are stupid and will still buy it anyway. And then he will release the original again without the new additions and he will cash in twice which will then start the prequel trilogy revamps and it's a never ending loop of 'Ch Ching.'
Lucas needs stopped. He needs to let go and leave it alone. Instead of constantly altering his originals, why doesn't he create something NEW! He's like a one trick pony flogging the same success over and over again. Star Wars has become a profitable industry that supports itself on it's own brand name. But it has become a parody of itself, with the Star Wars Corporation as the Galactic Empire with Lucas sitting firmly in his seat of power as the Emperor raping us for our pennies.
To sum up it is only us, the geeks, nerds, fans and self proclaimed Jedi's that can over throw the evil Emperor Lucas by hitting him with your plastic lightsabers right where it hurts. In his pocket. I know I won't be buying the new releases and even my husband who has been a devoted fan since he was five has refused to jump on this bandwagon. We have to take a stand and say 'Noooooo!' We won't be giving our hard earned money to Lucas because it's the only way to break the cycle.
May the force be with you.
Thanks for reading this months rant.
@lushworldtweets
