OK, before I start this post, I should probably explain that I was reeeeally into Star Wars when I was a kid. Like, read the sequel-novels, had the poster hanging over my bed, built a model of the Millennium Falcon (and I'd never built a model before!). You didn't know I was a geek, did you.
Anyway, HBO's been playing the original Star Wars movies for the past few weeks and I keep catching bits and pieces of them here and there. So I just settled in to watch the end of Return of the Jedi, which has been my favorite since I was a little girl, b/c ewoks rule, and DUDE!!!! They edited the ending! In the scene where Luke sees ghost-Obi Wan, ghost-Yoda, and ghost-Vader, they edited out old Vader and put in Hayden Christensen! Can I get a big ol' "What the fuck?!" I just don't get it--I mean, they left in Sir Alec Guiness, so why can't whatshisname who played old Vader get to have a few extra seconds of screen time? He gets like two lines in the whole trilogy. Also, I don't want to be reminded of Hayden Christensen and the prequels, b/c the prequels sucked (except for Ewan MacGregor).
I'm the sort of girl who's a purist--and that shit just don't fly with me.
5 comments:
Purist or no, it's just incredibly tacky! The guy who played Vader has as much if not more right to be there than Hayden Christiansen. The revisionist nature of the Star Wars re-releases was such bullshit.
Stef--I totally agree. I think "tacky" is the perfect description.
Mike--I hate those too! I actually saw the first one (it was a date, I was pretty well out of the Star Wars phase by then) and was like, wtf, now Jabba is even LESS intimidating-looking. Lame.
i've been watching to nonstop reruns of the star wars series on hbo, too--much to my girlfriend's chagrin--and i have to say i've elevated my opinion of the newest trilogy and mitigated my love of the original three. there's actually some interesting political maneuvering going on in the prequel movies, with the power struggle between the chancellor and the senate. while i think jar jar's fellow citizens (i forget their names) are silly-looking, i like the subplot of their reluctance to play a part in the clone wars. also, the whole dynamic between the shadowy emperor and the viceroy of the trade federation is a story that extends over all three movies; if i remember correctly, the viceroy is in the first scene of "phantom menace," and in one of the last scenes of "revenge of the sith," where he gets betrayed by the emperor and gets slaughtered by annakin. a plot thread like that is not for those with attention-deficit.
so while some of the graphics are goofy and the acting is almost universally wooden (does darth vader actually scream "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"?), i think some of the plot elements are refreshingly complex.
good topic! thanks for reminding me that i need to blog about this myself.
You make a good case for the politics in the movie--actually, the transformation of the democracy or whatever it is into what it becomes in the original movies is one of the only parts that interested me. However, I really can't get past the bad acting and the melodrama. I actually never saw the third movie, except for the last ten minutes, so maybe I'm judging it too harshly. I jsut didn't want to watch more scenes of goth-looking Hayden Christensen whining about whatever and poor Natalie Portman pretending to care about her badly written role.
god, don't remind me. at his worst, hayden christensen is so fucking whiny. but i actually see what lucas saw when he cast him. he does have this gloomy countenance about him. i remember one of the names floating for annakin was james van der beek. can you imagine?
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