alpharaposa | A few things about Star Wars

The next movie in the Star Wars franchise is almost upon us! I'm not likely to see it in the theaters unless some kindly person babysits the kids for an afternoon. Le sigh. I'm usually not so torn up about missing things on the "big screen" anymore. Modern widescreen TVs have really come a long way.

I see some anti-fans around, and that's always a bit discouraging. If you aren't excited, you don't have to go around throwing wet blankets on everybody else. Don't be like the people who sneeringly call football "sportsball" at Thanksgiving.

In rewatching the original recently, I noticed some things that I hadn't before.

First off, compared to modern action whiz-bang Michael Bay stuff, the pacing is slow. I've watched some of the old Buck Rodgers serials on Hulu now, and the storytelling method is so spot-on that I can mentally throw in the "to be continued" at various scene changes. It really gave me new perspective on it. It also helps explain why they're long- it's like binge watching an entire arc of a serial at once.

Second, I had not realized Leia was supposed to be a General, not just a Princess. Once you see her character as an experienced commander who's been under fire before, so much of what she does makes a LOT more sense. Leia comforting Luke after Obi-Wan dies (when she just lost her whole planet) becomes the combat vet gently easing the new kid into the realities of war.

Third, I've generally accepted the changes from the "special editions". The final update where Han and Greedo shoot at the same time feels... acceptable. I still miss when it was just the Ewoks singing. (I've never understood the anger over that. Oral cultures often have set tunes that they sing and dance to on different occasions. I'd assume they just picked one suitable for a victory dance.) The CGI Jabba in A New Hope still seems a little too slick and skinny, though.