Author: Luca Rescigno
Date: 8/1/01
Rating: multiple
Movie Rating: PG
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(Original Trilogy)
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(Episode 1)
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I used to be a huge Star Wars fan. I'm sure that if you're interested in Escape Velocity then you've seen Star Wars at least once. Nowadays it's not my big thing (amateur astronomy and telescopes is), but I still enjoy a good viewing once in a while.
I chose to review these movies because I've seen them more than any other movies. I also think it's time to make up for that terrible car rant I posted a year or so ago. I've grown up a bit since then :). So without further ado, here are my reviews of the movies, in order of when they came out.
This is probably the simplest and easiest to understand movie of the four. It has classic space opera style and a fun, simple "Good vs. Evil" battle. It's the underdog Rebels versus the evil Empire.
The Empire is an evil form of totalitarian government set up in place of the Republic, which had previously ruled for 20,000 years. Unlike the democratic but buearocratic Republic, the Empire has no representatives, no elections, and no freedom. Because of this, a large underground of rebels has formed. This movie shows their first major victory against the Empire.
Technically, it's an amazing movie, when you consider when it was made. The special effects are not the greatest, but when you consider that no computers were used to put scenes together (it was all optically done), it's excellent. In fact, it approaches the level of some lower budget science fiction TV shows today. The Special Edition version makes it much more eye-popping and interesting, with more ships, creatures, vehicles, and movement. As far as special effects, this movie, along with the other three, are visual stunners. Nine out of ten, because I'm giving it leeway for when it was released and because I've seen more original ones (in the Matrix especially).
As far as the story, the first one has the simplest. Because of its simplicity, it's also less interesting for those who have seen all three of the movies. There are fewer plot twists, and it's quite predictable. They get into trouble, they get out of trouble, they get into trouble... you get the picture. It's like a Star Trek episode, but more fun. Six out of ten for the story and plotline. This sounds low but it's above average (five). That's pretty good for a science fiction movie. The only other sci-fi I'd rate over five for story would be The Matrix. As far as Independence Day, Jurassic Park, and tons of other movies, they get twos or less.
This is my favorite of the four, as most Star Wars fans will point out. Non-Star Wars fans will usually like A New Hope or Return of the Jedi more, mainly because our heroes the Rebels do well in them. The Empire Strikes Back (ESB) is not like that. Han is frozen in carbonite and given to a sinister bounty hunter, Luke is nearly killed by Darth Vader, and Lando aids the Empire against his will.
This movie is very fun because, for once, you get to see the bad guys win, if only temporarily. Everyone knew that there would be a sequel to this one, so they added to the suspense by putting the Rebels into a sticky situation. It's like a cliffhanger episode. Sure, you can just put the Return of the Jedi (ROJ) tape in as soon as you're done with ESB, but remember that when if first came out everyone had to wait THREE YEARS! If you ask a die-hard fan, they will tell you that ROJ took place only one year after ESB, but it took a lot longer to make than that.
Anyway, graphics, like in all of them, scores a nine. Storyline is excellent. You learn a lot more about the Force and why Darth Vader is evil. The Force and the Jedi give a lot to the story. They make it more than another Star Trek episode. ESB is particularly unpredictable. You always know that the good guys will get out of their situation, but in the case of ESB, they spend the entire movie getting into it. There are numerous shockers and plot twists. It seems hopeless at times. But it's exciting, and much less predictable than A New Hope. I give it a seven and a half.
This is not as good as ESB, but some say it's better than A New Hope. I don't know. I think it's tied.
This one, being the last in the series, shows the end of the Empire as we know it. Technically, it still goes on, but this is as far as the movies go.
Return of the Jedi is aimed at younger audiences like A New Hope, and it has some sickeningly cute cuddly animals. The plot is similar to A New Hope: Good vs. Evil. Really, all of them are, but this one is more traditional, with a big epic battle at the end that determines the fate of the galaxy. You already know the good guys will win, before you even see the movie, but it's fun to see how they manage to pull it off.
Again, it seems hopeless for the Rebels to win, but they do anyway. The story, again, is predictable, but not as much as in A New Hope. I'd classify this movie as being in the middle ground, more developed than A New Hope but not as interesting or unpredictable as ESB. I think a story rating of 6.5 would be about right.
Oy vey. This movie was terrible. I don't care how much you liked it. It was BAD, because it did exactly what Star Wars had avoided until now - offering good special effects but poor acting/writing/storyline/plot.
If you've seen Independence Day or Jurassic Park, you know what I mean. Eventually it gets to the point where you don't know who all the "heroes" are, and you don't know what they're doing. They just come across all these tasks that stand in the way of their goal (which you also don't know) and complete them, until you see the credits rolling across the screen. "Look, they're in a battle, how did they get there? Well, if they win, they WIN, right? I suppose so." This is how I felt when watching Independence Day and Jurassic Park. Both are terrible, terrible movies.
This movie has the worst of both worlds. It's aimed towards kids, so it adds stupid, silly characters like Jar Jar Binks. Jar Jar is the most hopelessly stupid character I've ever seen in any movie, period. This audience, however, won't understand the story.
Now for the other main shortcoming. The story. It's weak, and complicated, and few people I've talked to actually know what is going on. It took me a long discussion with half a dozen people who had each seen the movie twice to understand somewhat how the story went, and I still didn't fully understand it. It had too much political maneuvering and complicated things like that in it to be a fun movie for kids, even though Jar Jar was there.
The original Star Wars movies were better in every single respect except two. The special effects are better in this one, and there are more Jedi Masters in this one. I like the Jedi.
But even there, it falls short. I found myself looking at the Jedi Council like they're a bunch of snobs, Yoda especially. Yoda is one of my favorite characters from the originals, but in this movie he's terrible, a different creature. I can't exactly describe it, but he seems a bit snooty, or snobby, or something like that, in the new one.
Overall, this movie gets a nine for special effects and a three for plotline. The plot is better than Jurassic Park or Independence Day, but not by much. Let's hope that George Lucas learns from this failure and does a much better job for Episode II.
-- End of reviews --
I wanted to let you know that the numbers I list as the rating for plot and storyline, etc. are about the same as the final scores I'm giving to each of the movies. Here are the actual final scores for each one:
These ratings seem low, but in fact they are a compliment to the movie. I think that a lot of people rate things too high. I read the review of Scary Movie by Nobody, and I agreed with it. I didn't like the movie, and neither did he. But he gave it an 8.2. I'd give it a 3.5. I though it was quite a ways below average, but not absolutely terrible. I just want to make sure no one takes these reviews the wrong way. I'm leaving room for improvement. If I see a movie that I think is absolutely stunning and wonderful and perfect, I can give it somewhere between a 9.5 and 10. But I don't want a big cluster of movies in the 8-10 range. This way, when I really do see a wonderful, amazing movie, an extraordinary rating for it will really stand out.