Friday, May 20, 2005

Star Wars Again

Sorry to any of you who could care less about the whole Star Wars thing. I figure if Mike Cope can blog about it for two days, I can too! I have a time crunch so forgive the spelling and the lack of thought provoked creativeness of this post.

Ok, I really am a Star Wars geek! It has taken time to admit it, but I am what I am. Yesterday between my yawns and longings for a nap (see yesterday) my mind was processing Episode III all day. My cousin and I talked about it on the phone for almost an hour. My sister came over and Rob and I finished telling her what happened. (She was at the midnight showing, but got really motion sick and almost ralphed in the theater so she left about the time Mace Windue went to confront chancellor Palpetine) My last words to Rob last night before I drifted off to sleep were about the few inconsistencies we caught and some other things I am not sure I understand. Isn't it amazing how much a movie can impact your thinking?

Star Wars is not the typical movie though. It is a story that has spanned 28 years of my 35 years of life. Luke and Leia and I go way back. I feel I have vested interest in this story line for some reason. AND it is complex, quirky, fun, dark, deep, cutting edge, creative and artful. How many movies can you say that about?

If you haven't seen the movie DO NOT READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPHS because there are some big spoilers. I want to see how many other Star Wars geeks there are out there.

As to the few inconsistencies in the saga, here are the ones that bothered me a bit. In ROTJ or episode 6, Luke asks Leia what she remembers of her mother. She says she died when she was very young but she remembers mostly images, and that she was very beautiful and very sad. How could she remember that if her mother died at her birth? Or was she talking about her adoptive mother? Or did she know she was adopted?

Why weren't Pademes parents considered when placing the twins?

Obi Wan tells Luke in Episode 4 that Vader was a Jedi that turned to the dark side then hunted down all the other Jedi and killed them. Not exactly true. The clone armies helped with that.

Did any of you catch Obi-Wan picking up Anikin's Light Saber as he left him for the last time? When Ben gives the Saber to Luke he says that "Your father wanted you to have this when you came of age." Well that was a bit of a stretch since his father doesn't even know he exists.

So do we think that the prophecy was interpreted wrong and Anikin was not the chosen one? Or do you think balance was eventually brought to the force by Luke or by Vader/Anikin before he died so it was right?

Lastly, when the chancellor tells Anikin about the Sith, he says that the great Sith Lord (whose name I can not remember) was so great that he knew how to manipulate metaclorians to produce life on their own. Is that what happened to Anikins mother? She said there was no father, he was just born. We know Anikin had the highest metachlorian count in his blood of anyone ever. So was Anikin born of a Siths manipulation?

After all this contemplation, I have to say that I think I need to see this movie again and I really wish there would be an episode 3.5! Or better yet I wish they would pick up after Return of the Jedi and make episodes 7- 9. If they hurry they could start 30 years after Return of the Jedi and use Mark Hamil, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford again. That would be so cool! Ok, I will stop now.

Did anyone else pick up on story tweaks and quirks? I welcome the discussion. OH, I REALLY AM A STAR WARS GEEK!
But as the picture of my husband and cousin below prove, I am far from alone! The rest of you can just gawk at our Star Wars geeky-ness!

Beaner I expect to hear from you on this one!


Jenga Fett and the Tuscan Raider

11 comments:

Beaner said...

OK Steph - here goes!

Leia - I believe she is talking about her adoptive mother - she never knew she was adopted & is even refered to as Princess Leia Organa, therefore I believe Luke thinks she's talking about her real mom, but she isn't. Leia only mentions her father on Alderaan, so her step-mom could be dead.

We never saw Padme's parents in the first 2 movies, so maybe they were dead already? I can't remember if she mentioned them in the first 2.

Vader hunted down & killed MOST of them - I think that's close enough.

The lightsaber thing bothered me too - I wonder if ObWan was trying to make him think well of his father - pretend like Anakin was a good guy killed by Vader. How nice to hand down your weapon (if you're a GOOD guy), but since Obi-Wan didn't want to tell Luke the truth, but wanted him to have the saber anyway, he could have given him ANY one & added it to the "lie".

The prophecy was about Luke AND Leia - 2 children = balance. Anakin was necessary to get to Luke & Leia.

Yes, I think that Great Sith Lord manipulated the midichlorions to produce Anakin. Shows that an evil deed can eventually lead to good because of Luke & Leia.

I liked how they explained away the fact that Obi-Wan & Yoda come back to the grave to talk to Luke, but QuiGon Jin never did.

There's my 2 cents worth! I am still bothered that Obi-Wan tells Luke that Yoda trained him (in #4) when it was really Qui-Gon Jin. Oh well, those things are gonna happen when you do the movies out of order, but if they were done in order, then it would be no big deal when Vader reveals to Luke that HE is Luke's father. And isn't that the BEST movie scene EVER????

Whew! I can't wait to see it again & find more stuff that I might have missed!

Clarissa said...

Oh, I thought the balance came when Vader turned back to the good side at the very end of episode VI and killed the emperor. So he did, indeed, fulfill the prophecy, just far later than the Jedi council expected.

Technically I did go see this on opening day, after all, Steph. We got there for the 10 PM Thursday night show, which was surprisingly empty. I guess the real fans had gotten there 22 hours earlier ...

Brandon Scott Thomas said...

can I just say how much I love you for this post?!! AWESOME! I loved the movie. My only regret is that my cousins couldn't be here to see it with me. We watched The Emprire Strikes back 27 times one Christmas holiday. Now--that's geeky.

elizabeth said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
SG said...

My dear beaner, the late nite movie has given you Star Wars memeory a jar! We were introduced to Padme's parents in episode II when she returns home with Anikin as her body guard. Their names were Ruwee(dad) and Jobal(mom) Amadala. She had a sister named Sola, who informed Anikin that he was the first boyfriend she had ever brought home. Wonder what ever happened to the Amadala's? Of course they weren't considered for the twins because it would mess the story up!

I also think they could have come up with a better death for Padme. EB said it best. No woman/mother would give up the will to live after delivering twins..but George Lucas is a man and wouldn't know that. It is after all his story to tell!:)

Beaner said...

This story, in ALL 6 Episodes reminds me of.......the BIBLE!!! We're introduced to characters & then we never hear from them or about them again. You know that little known character of Joseph, Jesus' adopted father? Yeah...what happened to HIM???? I guess it's possible for Padme's parents to have died & we just don't know about it. I'm gonna have to rewatch that scene in Episode II - I STILL don't remember it! (Maybe I tuned out because of the HORRIBLE acting in that one!)

Deana Nall said...

Actually, I just might give up the will to live after having twins. I can only handle one baby at a time.

Do you know about Patrick Partin's SW obsession? Have you seen the Star Wars room in their house? Have you seen the stuffed Chewbacca he's had since he was a kid? You two definitely need to talk!

We saw the 9:30 A.M. showing Sat. morning. That's the time to go -- not crowded at all. It was weird heading out to a movie right after breakfast, though. I was wondering what Padme was trying to say right before she died. Did you catch that?

Beaner said...

Elizabeth - I think Padme's last words were something like "There's still good in him." refering to Anakin. And she was right when he eventually killed the Emperor to save his son.

Beaner said...

OOPS! I meant Deana! Sorry!

SG said...

Padme's last words actually almost made me cry because she said "I know that there is still good in him" Which is exactly what Luke said and exactly what Vader/Anikin said as he died" Tell your sister that there was still good in me."

Wonder if that made up for the torture he put her through in episode 4?

SG said...

Apologies Beaner...Today I just discovered the scene with Padme's parents was one of the deleted scenes that made it onto the DVD but not into the movie. I actualy like all the scenes that were deleted. Yes I am a geek that I watched all the deleted scenes! :)