JIMMY

Don’t we all sometimes? I’m enjoying this. A blog debate where no one is angry. What a great idea.

I remember Lucas saying that when I was a kid on my bike. That’s why he started with episode IV. I also remember (as a kid) Lucas saying that he wanted to wait on doing them because FX weren’t able to do the things he had in mind yet. He’s crazy, but I still believe that he’s an artist. Just because he likes to make money, it doesn’t mean he’s in it just for the money.

I suppose you’re correct … but I think the spin doctoring gets me steamed … that Lucas would even bother with it, instead of just saying “we decided to do prequels instead of sequels.” And that some Lucas fans so slavishly lap it up … Ultimately, though, I suppose the movies stand or fall on their own, and everyone is gonna have their favorites.

Although, I am glad to hear that RAIDERS has the Indiana Jones jag added only to the packaging.

Can you be more specific about what makes them week?

“Each of them have their moments, certainly, but Jar-jar is so annoying I can’t watch Phantom Menace again.”

I don’t mind him, but I can see how others wouldn’t like the voice they used for him. Other then that, he’s no more or less annoying then any other person or alien in that film.

“And in Revenge of the Sith, Anniken goes dark awfully fast, even to quickly moving on the butchering children.”

But that was not the first time he had butchered children. He said he killed all the women and children of the sand people (who he also killed) in episode II. Anniken had gone to the dark side long before anyone, even himself, had realized it.

Regarding the Star Wars films, I really disliked Return of the Jedi and the prequels aren’t any better than that, weak scripts and too many special effects meant to distract you from the weak script. Each of them have their moments, certainly, but Jar-jar is so annoying I can’t watch Phantom Menace again. And in Revenge of the Sith, Anniken goes dark awfully fast, even to quickly moving on the butchering children.

Raiders is still the best of the 4. I noticed that it was on a Spanish language channel recently so I watched the open and there’s so little dialogue in those first few minutes that nothing is lost even watching it in another language.

Raiders has been digitally cleaned up, though, as I still remember when it was originally released you could see the cobra’s relection in the pane of glass separating it from Harrison Ford, but that reflection has been digitally removed.

In the end, the only thing that matters is whether or not the story holds up as one coherent whole. And as flawed as the story may be, I think that it does hold up quite well.

As far as adding “Indiana Jones and the” to the “Raiders” title, I don’t think there’s any argument that that was for commercial purposes. It simply makes it easier for retailers and others to catalog the series together.

Well, he deserves credit for creating a lucrative franchise. I don’t think audacity had anything to do with. He created a series, did three movies, and then wondered, “Where do I go from here?” *SNAP of fingers* “I got it! Let’s do three prequels!!”

Lucas claims that he decided to begin the series with part four and then go backwards — that’s just something designed to sound creative instead of commercial. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, for instance, only recently had the obligatory “Indiana Jones and the ___” added to the title. And Jabba the hut was originally a human, thus the costume worn by the actor in the deleted scene — but Lucas claims the “technology” wasn’t ready for that character, who later became a blob-like beast. A little spin-doctoring of his company’s history goes a long way, since the fans eat it up.