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Is the Original Trilogy Overrated?

Discussion in 'Original Trilogy' started by CTrent29, Jul 16, 2018.

  1. Pernicious-Jawa

    Pernicious-Jawa Rebel General

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    I grew up in the prequel era, but ANH was the first Star Wars I watched. I couldn't get enough. It touched on some primal need for storytelling within me, later I was to understand that would be rooted in George's affinity with Campbell. Look at all the things it does so well - immense worldbuilding, implementation of the monomyth, a realistic portrayal of romance (Han and Leia in ESB), cast chemistry, mysticism, groundbreaking special effects, exhilarating battle scenes.

    Does it have its flaws? Sure, nothing is perfect. However, every superlative you've heard about the OT is true...all of it. Gamechanger.
     
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  2. Angelman

    Angelman Servant of the Whills -- Slave to the Muses
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    No, I think the OT's masterpiece-with-weird-flaws rating is pretty accurate. The dialogue can be down-right odd at times, some of the background creatures/costumes doesn't stand up to close inspection today, and a few mistakes had to be CGIed out in later releases, but overall the OT is a marvelous pieces of cinema & storytelling with an impact unlike anything else I can think of coming out of 20th century pop culture (with the very possible exception of the blues genre from the American Deep South).

    Nope, the OT is pretty great!
     
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  3. MandoChip

    MandoChip Hate me later. Work now.
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    Not overrated but held in too high a regard by many, I don't think the gap in overall quality between the OT and PT is as big as a lot of people seem to think. But that's just my opinion.
     
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  4. Jaimz the Jedi

    Jaimz the Jedi Rebel General

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    I not a big PT guy, but I agree. George is a phenomenal story teller, but he himself says he doesn’t enjoy the nitty gritty of writing/directing. I always wonder what the PT would have been like had Kasdan just wrote the scripts based on George’s treatments and Señor Spielbergo directed them.

    The core story would have been the same, but Kasdan would have rained some of George’s crazier ideas in and tightened up the script (Especially the dialogue!). In his own words after watching the first cut of TPM, George even said he “may have gone too far in some places”.

    Liam Neeson, Sam Jackson, Christopher Lee and Natalie Portman are all really good actors (hell, even Hayden showed he has some chops in Shattered Glass). Their performances in the PT are so flat though! I think Spielberg would have got more out of them.

    Had they also toned down the over-reliance on CGI and matched the aesthetic up to the original trilogy, then I think the reception (and perception now) would have been a lot closer to the OT.

    The PT’s problem was never story, it was just execution.
     
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  5. Jayson

    Jayson Resident Lucasian

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    Basically something like TFA.
    Treatment was originated by Lucas, Written by Kasdan a lot, and directed by Abrams (who is basically Spielberg Jr.).
    The only real left field thing that happened (in regards to getting what you're after) was Arndt kind of ended up like what would have happened if Lucas had been away on emergency and Marquand took over.

    So...if it wouldn't've been for Arndt, you would've gotten nearly exactly this, and TLJ wouldn't exist because the core backbone of TLJ was Lucas' TFA idea.

    Cheers,
    Jayson
     
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  6. Jaimz the Jedi

    Jaimz the Jedi Rebel General

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    Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. The general reception to TFA was probably the closest any Star Wars film has got replicating the reception of an OT film. Had the prequels used the same formula (only with George having a more active role with story by and producer credits), the core story wouldn’t have been vastly different but the reception then (and the perception now) would probably be a lot more positive. I’m sure in the ROTS documentary, it even shows Spielberg “backseat” directed elements of the Obi-Wan/Anakin fight...which is arguably the best part of the prequels. Imagine 3 movies of that level of quality.
     
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  7. Lukestarbucker

    Lukestarbucker Force Sensitive

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    The OT’s, in my opinion, are the best, but they are not overrated. With new Star Wars lore and movies, the OT’s just seem to fall further in the past. AND BY ALL MEANS, I am NOT saying that nobody like the OT’s, but I don’t think they are as popular or favorited as the prequels.
     
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  8. Jayson

    Jayson Resident Lucasian

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    Eh...I would more say the popularity of the Prequels is improving with time.
    I don't think you can jump to saying they're the most popular Star Wars just yet.

    Cheers,
    Jayson
     
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  9. eeprom

    eeprom Prince of Bebers

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    Wow, three whole movies that are just as interminable and bloated as that lava river nonsense? Hard pass.

    We already know what a modern Lucas/Spielberg joint looks like.
    [​IMG]
    No thanks :D
     
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  10. Jaimz the Jedi

    Jaimz the Jedi Rebel General

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    I’d still rather watch this 100 times back-to-back, than watch Attack of the Clones once :p
     
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  11. Lukestarbucker

    Lukestarbucker Force Sensitive

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    You are right! The prequels just need more time be the most popular. No mater what, I love the OTs!
     
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  12. Messi

    Messi G.O.A.T.

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    The prequels are popular among the people (children) who grew up watching these movies, so the effect nostalgia has a big important role in this. The fans a little bit older back in 99 until 2005 didn't recieved these movies very well.
     
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  13. Olivia Kenobi

    Olivia Kenobi Rebel General

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    I wouldn't go so far as to say it's overrated, but I do like the sequel trilogy more so that might be influencing my opionion...
     
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  14. Jayson

    Jayson Resident Lucasian

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    What's fun about Star Wars, in part, is watching it click along like generational opinions.


    ...Da## kids.

    Cheers,
    Jayson
     
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  15. LadyMusashi

    LadyMusashi Archwizard Woo-Woo-in-Chief
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    Without original trilogy as it is meaning as good as it is, you wouldn't have the prequel trilogy, no Clone Wars, no old books, no new books, no sequel trilogy, no Rebels, no Resistance, no games... NOTHING in Star Wars galaxy. But, you also wouldn't have today's film industry, not in this form. The way the stories are told, the technology, everything would be different. There will be no Alien franchise, no Star Trek movies, no digital characters in this form... I could go on and on.

    Having flaws does not equal overrated. Having historical impact on the entire culture, not just film alone weights more than any flaw.

    SO, NO, IT'S NOT OVERRATED.
     
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  16. Angelman

    Angelman Servant of the Whills -- Slave to the Muses
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    We're talking about two things here, really:

    1) Is the OT objectively overrated (from a technical and story telling point of view); which they CLEARLY are not. The OT are among the most important and ground breaking movies made through all of film history; they're up there with, Idunno, Metropolis, Citizen X, Taxi Driver, and the Matrix, or whatever; really boundary pushing* movies.

    ...and...

    2) Is the OT subjectively not "my"/someone's favorite SW (from a personal taste point of view); which can clearly be the case, for whatever reason.


    *Interestingly, for all negativity that people like me lay on the PT, that trilogy DEFINITELLY was as boundary pushing as the OT on a technical level. CGI, which had been evolving with baby-steps through the 80s and 90s took some HUGE steps forward with the PT. One could, for instance, argue that the ST did not much push boundarys, except with animatronics, compared to the OT & PT, and that it is The Mandalorian which really pushes technical boundries in the Disney Era SW :)
     
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  17. Olivia Kenobi

    Olivia Kenobi Rebel General

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    sorry, I meant prequels... I like the OT much more than the ST... No offense to all the ST fans out there
     
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  18. Embo and His Pet Anooba

    Embo and His Pet Anooba Jedi Commander

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    NAY the ot is not overrated. It stands as the archetype for many films and that alone should put it up there. First two films of PT are stupid but I love the politics and clone wars builds on it so much. For ST force awakens was successful because it relied on nostalgia from OT and it stuck to the same plot. The other two went off the usual formula and they paid for it with a gaggle of angry fanboys.
     
  19. Jayson

    Jayson Resident Lucasian

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    Yes. The OT is overrated.

    So is Monet, Jimi Hendrix, Vertigo, and MASH.

    Anything that radically shifts a field of art is going to be overtly granted ace quality and glorification that quite honestly ends up glossed over and severly looked at with bias lenses that overlook an integral part of what made them such great works of art.
    They're rough and flawed.

    If you have a copy of the original film, it's rough by today's standards. Really, really rough.

    And yeah, it's full of faults and it's not glossy and perfect, just like Hindrix, who remarked that he had to practice a lot because he wasn't technically very good and always made mistakes when he played.

    But...that's kind of the point.

    We say it's perfect because of what it did, and does. It's not the perfect movie, but it perfectly movied.

    It touched us and moved us in the best way that a movie can, regardless of faults. Hell, those rough faults make it human and that makes it something we can feel connected to better. It's not some flawlessly sterile work of perfection.

    Nope. It's a raw punk counterculture rebellion on celluloid that feels as rough as the rebellion in the film.
    Like all of the great works, it looks like it took every bit of effort to achieve itself, and barely made it because it was something violently new.

    And we can feel that, and it's exciting!

    Now it is an old picture of a great breakthrough.
    Like watching Hindrix footage at Woodstock. It's not great quality, but we'll take it and call it perfect because no matter how rough it is, it captured and shows us raw human endeavor pushing itself to do the impossible; to do better.

    And that is true perfection.

    Cheers,
    Jayson
     
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  20. Cheryl Regan

    Cheryl Regan Rebel Trooper

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    Personally, I wouldn't use 'overrated' but I understand where you're coming from. I think because it is the first trilogy it is kind of put on a pedestal. It won a large number of awards and was at the time groundbreaking in certain film production aspects. Everything that came after was naturally going to be compared to it. Yes, I agree with it wasn't perfect (I have yet to see a film that is) but to be fair, it's only as I got older that those imperfections are spotted. As a child, I didn't see anything wrong.
     
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