Movies Talk! Talkin' about movies!

[Sload Soap]

^ fun fact if you haven't seen the nerds rental review. Lucas wanted to make a flash gordon film, but couldn't get the rights so star wars was made. He borrows some of the same ideas from the old flash gordon films..

Probably for the best really. We got some sweet Star Wars films and a decent Queen album out of it.

[Ack]

^ fun fact if you haven't seen the nerds rental review. Lucas wanted to make a flash gordon film, but couldn't get the rights so star wars was made. He borrows some of the same ideas from the old flash gordon films..

Probably for the best really. We got some sweet Star Wars films and a decent Queen album out of it.

Word.

[RCBH928]

^ fun fact if you haven't seen the nerds rental review. Lucas wanted to make a flash gordon film, but couldn't get the rights so star wars was made. He borrows some of the same ideas from the old flash gordon films..

Is that where he gets the sword fights in space idea? I never got that part, why sword fight when there are laser guns. I looked at Flash Gordon trailer and things seem too similar. A little digging deeper and it says Flash Gordon was supposed to compete with another comic called Buck Rogers which had images like this and this .... hmmmm

Honestly, the entire Star Wars franchise is supported by the very first film. A New Hope isn’t my favorite film (it is my second favorite), but it uniquely melded together so many elements from different genres with an incredible and distinct Williams score and honestly ground-breaking visual and audio effects, and on a relatively modest budget no less. Star Wars basically did so many new things and broke so many barriers, while combining so many familiar tropes and elements at the same time. When it first came out it was quite literally a film-making revolution in a single package. Was it flawed? Incredibly so. In some ways it’s more like a B-movie than a typical action film of the time. But in the context of when it was released it was revelatory in so many way. Lucas’s strength at the time was not so much making new stuff from whole cloth (or even his directing skills) as it was remixing what already exists in bizarre and new ways. And as he got older, his skills in that area distinctly waned.

I figured so, he doesn't seem to be known for anything other than Star Wars but he has struck gold. Is he supposed to be the creator of Indiana Jones? Or just on the writing team? This is another movie that does not seem to be a new idea (adventures trying to uncover historic artifacts) but done well too.

[o.pwuaioc]

I figured so, he doesn't seem to be known for anything other than Star Wars but he has struck gold. Is he supposed to be the creator of Indiana Jones? Or just on the writing team? This is another movie that does not seem to be a new idea (adventures trying to uncover historic artifacts) but done well too.

This stuff is easily checkable on Wikipedia:

With director Steven Spielberg, he created, produced, and co-wrote the Indiana Jones films Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Temple of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989) and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). He also produced and wrote a variety of films and television series through Lucasfilm between the 1970s and the 2010s.

[Ziggy]

Is that where he gets the sword fights in space idea? I never got that part, why sword fight when there are laser guns.

I think it's explained well in the movies. And not just as an excuse to have sword fighting, it makes sense. It is the weapon of the Jedi, not as clumsy or random as a blaster, an elegant weapon for a more civilized age (to quote A New Hope). A light saber can block the shot from a "laser gun," among other benefits, so why wouldn't a force user carry one over a blaster?

Also, light sabers are one of the coolest things and it's a movie. They have planet destroying space stations, sentient androids, the ability to manipulate things with your mind (the force) among many other fantastical things, but it's the saber fighting that you never got?

[Sload Soap]

Sword fights are better at expressing emotion during a fight than gunfire as it's usually 1 on 1 and they can more visibly show who is more capable. In the Star Wars universe the lightsabre is also used as visual shorthand that the jedi were mythical and honourable.

The prequels ruined all this of course giving lightsabres to people who didn't need them (Palps and Yoda) and toddlers. The visual shorthand here was that George Lucas had given up.

[prfsnl_gmr]

The prequels ruined all this of course giving lightsabres to people who didn't need them (Palps and Yoda) and toddlers. The visual shorthand here was that George Lucas had given up.

True. Although, I kind of like the part where General Grievous uses them.

My kid loved Revenge of the Sith, BTW, and I think they like the prequel trilogy as much as the original, if not more. I attribute this to: (1) a lack of nostalgia for the original trilogy; (2) bad parenting; and (3) the fact they’ve seen every episode of The Clone Wars, which they loved. I think the series (which o haven’t seen) added a lot of weight to the movie, and they were appalled that “Cody” was so nonchalant about trying to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi.

[RCBH928]

Also, light sabers are one of the coolest things and it's a movie. They have planet destroying space stations, sentient androids, the ability to manipulate things with your mind (the force) among many other fantastical things, but it's the saber fighting that you never got?

Its because its the only part where things go backwards and not forwards in technological advancement, its like seeing a future film where people drive flying cars and the elite still ride a bicycle. Sure its a "magic" sword, but a sword none the less.

[Ziggy]

Its because its the only part where things go backwards and not forwards in technological advancement, its like seeing a future film where people drive flying cars and the elite still ride a bicycle. Sure its a "magic" sword, but a sword none the less.

But they aren't just swords, and they make sense with the context of the movies. It is not the same as flying cars and bicycles.

[Ack]

Also, Lucas was heavily inspired by the likes of Akira Kurosawa and the chambara movies he had been exposed to. He almost couldn't NOT have a sword fight in the film after watching things like Yojimbo and Seven Samurai.