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In the original advertising campaign for the first Star Wars movie,
now Episode IV - A New Hope, there was a sentence of voice-over I only
remember the last three words of, but it must've gone something like this:
"Never before have so many put so much time and work into a movie -
"... just for fun." People complain about what George Lucas has done to his own property since 1998 or whenever the theatrical "special editions" of IV, V, and VI were released. They complain that Christian Hayden doesn't belong next to Alec Guinness and Frank Oz in place of Sebastian Shaw, or that Greedo shouldn'ta hadn'ta oughtn'ta shot first, or just that change is bad, mmkay, because this was special to me when I was a kid, mmkay. Well, in 1978, my friends' and my most important conclusion about Star Wars was that it's best to be Luke because Luke gets to use a lightsaber and man a Millenium Falcon weapons port and pilot an X-wing. We were high school seniors. When you watch Episode VI next, don't count the shots in the cantina - rescue the girl and destroy the Death Star. When you watch Episode I next, don't gripe at Jar-Jar and the midichlorians - win the race and avenge your master. When you go see Episode III at midnight tonight, screw the performances! Screw the plot! Screw George, for that matter, if necessary. (Note, though, it's not my argument here that he's the one who's lost the Vision.) Rescue the children! Pilot the newest superfast flying shooting pilotable thing! Maim the bad guy for life! Have fun! That's what it's for. |
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