Harry Knowles explains why I am so eagerly awaiting Revenge of the Sith:
The imagery in REVENGE OF THE SITH -- The turning of Anakin, the annihilation of the Jedi, the expulsion of Yoda, Obi-Wan vs Anakin, Palpatine revealed, the birth of the twins, Alderran, the adoption of Luke, what became of the droids… These are all near religious iconography in the minds of children raised in the ways of the Force. I’ve spent a quarter of a century discussing these things, speculating on what it’d look like, how it’d play out… I’ve seen it in countless dreams, but never with my eyes open. Never George’s dream of what it was. Till now.
Like Knowles mentions later on, it's about closure. It's about making the connection between III and IV, about tying everything together, about making the stories complete. To some people, the worlds and characters of Star Wars are just fiction but, to some of us, they have become more - they've become part of our lives. In the same way Narnia or the world of Lyra Belacqua really do exist in my mind, so do Hoth and Tatooine.
When I finish a wonderful book, I find myself thinking days and weeks and sometimes even months later what happens to the characters after the last page is turned. I think about their lives after the book, after the author has put the pen down and closed the chapter on those people, so to speak.
With the Star Wars world, I alway wanted to know what happened before the stories I knew. Not so much the stories of episodes I and II, but this new one in particular; the final actions that led us to the opening scene of Episode IV, where the title scroll ends and that huge ship enters the screen and then gets bigger and bigger and the first time you see it you think, geez that thing is awesome, and by the time the last scene of Jedi plays out, and it's all over, well, I didn't want to know what became of them after that. I wanted to know what happened previously. I wanted to see all the things Knowles mentions above.
And now, I finally get my chance. It's like putting the last piece in a puzzle twenty-eight years after you started it. (just a note - I wrote that before I read through the whole Knowles review, not knowing he made the same analogy)
Article comments
1 - Jon Bulette
i was raised on the force, too. however, the last two star wars movies were so abominable that i've completely lost interest in this rediculous franchise.
2 - P . Calmitta
I agree - Lucas has trashed a perfectly good story with rotten acting, terrible script and no engaging plots.
Sorry I saw the first three - starting when I was 14. The last two films were horrible.
Lucas blew it and established a new level of mediocrity - and even that's an exaggerated compliment.
3 - Dustin
I think the latest Star Wars movies contained all of the epic themes that the earlier "sequels" had. What has changed is our expectations, the fact that many of the original viewers have grown up over the last 30 years, and we have been desensitized to the grandness of Star Wars due to the adoption of film making technologies that the first Star Wars films made popular. I love all of the Star Wars films, including the most recent, for their ability to spark the imagination and hit on themes that we can all relate to. The first 3 films focused on a good vs. evil dynamic which struck a chord during the cold war era, and now the theme is about child development, focusing on Anakin's character.
4 - pdizzy
To this day i don't understand the Prequel bashing that has occured for the past years. Yes, they were not as good as the 1st trilogy but they were still Star Wars movies and they were still entertaining! Yes, I skip over the 9 minute pod-race in Phantom and 9 minute speeder chase scene in Clones, but seeing Qui-Gon fight Darth Maul and Yoda pull out his lightsaber, or multipule jedi fight on Geonosis!?!? Come on yall, it was amazing to see! Stop hating, Revenge of the Sith might even top some of the originals!
5 - the swimmer
Shock and suprise, the movies you saw at 14 were "awesome" but the movies you see at 34...not so much. What a jerk. These are movies that inspire children Sorry it didn't have enough t&A and cursing for you Mr. Grown-Up man!! I laugh at your patheticness.
6 - Best one come in 14 days
Ah, I see old age has taken away the imagination of the Force. For you who happened to see the 3 originals in the theatre and dismiss the spectacle of the Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones - do not understand the entire story.
You want to bash the new movies with bad acting and screenplay - but there wasn't any. It is that simple.
RotS is going to be amazing - probably the most liked by myself. So in order of liking it will go: 3, 5, 2, 6, 4, 1 - and yes I know that the third will be the best.
Retrace your Force history and recapture the brilliance of the first trilogy by going to the best of the series - Revenge of the Sith.
7 - Matt
I cannot believe the koolaid drinking Lucas devotees. If Clones had been just Lucas taking a shit for 2 hours, you guy would still be slobbing his knob. The last 2 movies were the most over-computerized movies, and they looked like shit.
And Lucas is a fricking retard for fucking with the first three movies.
I'll think of him always as an opportunistic whore first, and a filmmaker second.
8 - Temple Stark
Jeez, Matt, here's how it works.
It's a film - OK series of films. People either enjoy it or they don't.
9 - Matt
Temple--so should we blow up film criticism/music reviews/book reviews etc because people either "like it or the don't"? Isn't that what the comments are for? Someone says the last 2 movies suck, and then someone says, "No they don't, they rule". And then someone else (me) says they do, in fact, suck, and so does Lucas.
I thought that's how it worked.
10 - Temple Stark
Well how about starting with not calling people kool-aid drinking nob-gobblers. That'll go a long way.
(Although if you had put that together as "kool-aid drinking nob-gobblers" I may have laughed because that phrase is just funny.)
I don't know (m)any "retarded" people - to use your word - who are as rich or as imaginative as Lucas. Yep, the plots are fairly weak - but they do touch on the big keystones of literary tradition and thought.
And there's a big up side - they're enjoyable films.
11 - michele
Yea, but you were just a little strident, don't ya think?
Fact is, I hate George Lucas. There's a reason my blog is number one on Google for "George Lucas is a fuckwad." I hated I and II.
But I also know that this movie is going to be good FOR ME, despite Lucas, simply because it's going to make the story finally come full circle.
And I've read over a dozen reviews already and not a single one of them was negative.
12 - michele
Oh, and if Lucas pulls this off and RotS is as awesome as I hope, I will gladly gobble his nob while drinking his Kool Aid.
13 - Matt
I don't recall saying anything about ROTS. I am looking forward to seeing it, for the exact reasons you say, Michele. I am pleased to hear that initial reviews have been almost universally positive. I just cannot stand people dismissing someone who was disappointed with the last 2 movies ala comment 5. Sometimes you need to be a little strident.
And George Lucas is a self-hating retard for fucking with the first 3 movies. Perhaps the rest of his life is normal, but there is something clearly wrong with someone who cannot leave well enough alone. He should be psycho analyzed, and them lobotomized. You need only listen to that abhorrent song inserted into the end of Jedi, plus the insertion of Hayden Christiansen into the vision Luke sees.
14 - stickrust
Just thought I'd add my two cents... I was able to block out what I did not like with Episode I. But not so with II. He just lost me. The acting was SO bad. The romance so unbearable. And...then... the thing they did with Yoda. Oh god. It was a nightmare.
I suppose I will see the new movie, sometime, maybe on video. Or something. I don't know.