I've never watched Star Wars.

[red marley]

The special effects in 2001, made 10 years earlier, were pretty convincing even if there were fewer biplane dog fights in space and noisy lasers.

I do have a soft spot for existential science fiction (2001, Solaris, Silent Running, Moon, Gravity etc.) and have never been particularly drawn to Westerns, so perhaps not a surprise that I don't grok Star Wars.

[clarion]

What you young people won't appreciate is that Star Wars was absolutely ground-breaking amazing eye candy when it came out.

Prior that, special-effects, particularly in space, consisted of wobbly cardboard on string. Star Wars was holy-mother-fucking-amazing. People who didn't give a shit about sci-fi, spacecraft or any of that crap queued round the block to see it.

The story is a straight poor ripoff of arthurian legends, with Obi-wan kenobi as Merlin. Luke even sticks his light sabre through stone and pulls it out fer pete's sakes.

Quite.  I went to see it at the cinema as a kid.  When the Destroyer appears overhead (sorry! Spoiler Alert!!!!), it was like nothing seen before.

That said, I prefer Dark Star, Silent Running, Solaris (up to a point. I have a quibble with the Director which takes a long time to explain).

And Original Star Trek is the ne plus ultra of Sci Fi.

[Ian H]

Special effects quickly become tedious unless there's an interesting plot/storyline attached.

[citoyen]

The Stars Wars special effects (the models anyway) still look fantastic despite all the years that have passed.

Yes, it does still look great. It's just a shame they have diminished some scenes by layering on gratuitous CGI. It's really not an improvement.

[Kim]

The Stars Wars special effects (the models anyway) still look fantastic despite all the years that have passed.

Yes, it does still look great. It's just a shame they have diminished some scenes by layering on gratuitous CGI. It's really not an improvement.

The CGI space battles are fine.  Space battles are exactly the sort of thing that CGI does well^[1].

The gratuitous pooing dinosaurs, not so much.



_{[1] I have a soft-spot for the Amiga-era CGI in the early seasons of Babylon 5.  It's obviously CGI, but the attempt to get the physics right was, at the time, remarkable.}

[clarion]

Special effects quickly become tedious unless there's an interesting plot/storyline attached.

There's a lot of CGI in the yawnworthy racing interlude of Episode 1: Escape from Jar-Jar.

[ian]

The Stars Wars special effects (the models anyway) still look fantastic despite all the years that have passed.

Yes, it does still look great. It's just a shame they have diminished some scenes by layering on gratuitous CGI. It's really not an improvement.

You do have to wonder who sat the production meeting where they looked at those new special effects and thought 'yes, that's an improvement.'

[Vince]

In 1988 we had a tour of the Paramount studios and got to see the models used in the original Star Wars (whatever number that was). As I recall they are surprisingly crude, not having the detail that most model makers strive for.

I've only seen the original when it was released. I very much enjoyed it.

[Exit Stage Left]

Much use was made of bits of old Rolls Royce Derwent engines from Gloster Meteors.
http://www.starwars.com/news/from-world-war-to-star-wars-the-meteor

[Mr Larrington]

Well yes, but all the good stuff in later DS9 was just a pale imitation of Babylon 5.

Babylon 5's a big pile of shit!

Get out!

HOORAY!!

[Jakob]

As I recall they are surprisingly crude, not having the detail that most model makers strive for.

It highly depends on what they were used for. Most of the higher quality models were used at ILM and many of them are still at either the Skywalker Ranch or at our head office in Presidio. (And many of them on display around the hallways).
The ones used on the soundstages were most likely pretty crude compared to the one used for close-ups in the motion control rigs.

[madcow]

I didn't start this thread to prove anything  and I have been on this forum for long enough to realise that many of you are on a far higher intellectual level than yours truly.
But there seems to be some moral superiority emanating from those who do like Star Wars. The promotional blurb seems to consider that those who don't get SW are just plain daft and missing something , so if anything it was just to check that there are others who feel the opposite.

[nicknack]

there seems to be some moral superiority emanating from those who do like Star Wars.

Don't you mean the opposite?

[madcow]

No , the emphasis is on it being the biggest selling, most loved , most enduring (number of episodes) of any film franchise. (I don't get that idea either. A theme maybe but a franchise?)
The implication is that those who are on the outside are in the minority.
According to one bit of Beeb blurb , the programme presenter will be the envy of us all as he interviews cast members and goes behind the scenes.
Not just Star wars fans but all of us .

[Kim]

The implication is that those who are on the outside are in the minority.
According to one bit of Beeb blurb , the programme presenter will be the envy of us all as he interviews cast members and goes behind the scenes.
Not just Star wars fans but all of us .

Yeah, but that's the sort of overhyped rubbish marketing people come out with all the time.  By no means Star Wars specific.  You wouldn't bat an eyelid if they made that sort of comment about interviewing sportsballers or professional celebrities.


That said, Star Wars does fill the slightly bizarre role of being a token piece of nerd culture that non-nerds are expected to relate to.  Which is why nerds in mainstream fiction tend to be obsessed with it.

[T42]

We took our 7-year-old son to The Empire Strikes Back when it first came out.  It was his birthday. Afterwards he ate too much chocolate mousse, drank too much Pepsi and did a volcanic puke on the restaurant floor. Cost me 50,- fr. to pacify the waiter.

Wouldn't mind seeing them now, minus the puke.

Sad about the Meteors.  Hope there are still a few in museums round the country.  Too many lovely old planes were scrapped into extinction.

[clarion]

No , the emphasis is on it being the biggest selling, most loved , most enduring (number of episodes) of any film franchise. (I don't get that idea either. A theme maybe but a franchise?)
The implication is that those who are on the outside are in the minority.
According to one bit of Beeb blurb , the programme presenter will be the envy of us all as he interviews cast members and goes behind the scenes.
Not just Star wars fans but all of us .

cf James Bond

[T42]

Most loved = best marketed.

Heard yest that Lego were in a nose-dive in the 80s or 90s until they tied up with Lucas & C° and produced SW-related kits.

[Exit Stage Left]

If we had to lose either Star Wars or Wallace and Gromit, I'd happily wave Skywalker et al goodbye.

In terms of a space film my favourite is 'The Right Stuff', still topical today, especially today.

Gordon Cooper: You boys know what makes this bird go up? FUNDING makes this bird go up.
Gus Grissom: He's right. No bucks, no Buck Rogers.

[citoyen]

cf James Bond

Fuck yeah.

I used to love James Bond films when I was a kid but as I've got older I've grown to realise how very truly cringingly awful most of them are - especially the Roger Moore era. From Russia With Love, Dr No and You Only Live Twice are good. OHMSS is under-rated, and The Living Daylights has the cello case chase. I quite liked the recent version of Casino Royale but Skyfall was woefully tedious.

Anyway, I suspect the main reason Star Wars gets so much hype is that the current generation of Media Big Cheeses are exactly the right age to have been fans first time around. It's a massive nostalgia trip.

That and the saturation marketing.

The release of the new film is a significant cultural/media event and there's no getting away from that, but I suspect that for the majority of people in the real world it's just not that big a deal. There's been very little talk in my office about it. I know one of my colleagues is keen to see it but he's a fantasy geek. And it's certainly not a hot topic at home - the 17yo is only half-interested at best.

[ian]

I'm looking forward to seeing it. I will tell anyone if they ask me what I'm doing on the 28th, otherwise I'm not doing their publicity for them. It's just a movie. Yeah, I'm curious whether it will be an entertaining space romp, a toe-curling disaster like the last trio, or just meh. It'll make a break from the Marvel movies (how fucking rich must Stan Lee be by now?) I'm eventually hoping that the film everything they have and are forced to buy the movie rights for Alice and Jess vs. Zombies.

I don't think I'm a proper nerd, I'd take Star Wars over 2001 any day.

[geraldc]

I'm seeing Episode 7 at 3.00am on the 17th at the IMAX.

I love Star Wars. That being said, I love the memory, not the reality.

I tried to watch Return of the Jedi last night and couldn't, as it was appalling.

[T42]

A year or two after SW appeared I watched one of the big NASA launches - first shuttle flight I think - on TV with the kids. Having grown up with during the progression from Mercury to the first Moon flights I was fascinated, and in suspense in case something went wrong, but their reaction was "yeah, so what?"  No aliens, no shoot-em-ups.  "It's dull."

Damn George Lucas.

[Mr Larrington]

I didn't start this thread to prove anything  and I have been on this forum for long enough to realise that many of you are on a far higher intellectual level than yours truly.
But there seems to be some moral superiority emanating from those who do like Star Wars. The promotional blurb seems to consider that those who don't get SW are just plain daft and missing something , so if anything it was just to check that there are others who feel the opposite.

You are so blind! You so do not understand! You weren't there at the beginning! You don't know how good it was, how important! This is it for you! This jumped-up firework display of a toy advert! People like you make me sick! What's wrong with you? Now, I don't care if you've saved up all your 50p's, take your pocket money and get out!

[geraldc]

In many ways Star Wars is like audax. For those who like it, we forget all the dull boring bits, and just relive the good memories. For those who don't like it, they've either never tried it, or tried it once and then gone WTF is this sh!t and then spent their time doing something else instead.