By George, My Childhood’s Disappearing!
I’m super excited today to introduce my first guest writer from Down Under! My Aussie pal Christian is one of the guys I’ve known longer than anyone around the blogosphere. He posts over at Adventures and Insights. Click that link and it’ll be the fastest trip to Australia you’ll ever take. You can also sometimes find him on Twitter.
We share a love of music, movies, and the TV show Chuck. Okay, okay, we may also both be completely enamored with that show’s costar Yvonne Strahovski. We are also bonded from one side of this planet to the other by a certain legend of the 80s named Indiana Jones. In general, Christian and I can talk pop culture all day, and he’s put his knowledge to good use today for a launch by an icon who’s messing with his childhood. Take it away mate.
~*~*~*
My friends, we are facing uncertain times. The days to come have been darkened with news which I fear is being mistaken for good. Beneath the surface reverie, however, lurks a terror which chills me to my very core. If you are by some strange coincidence unaware of what I am referring to, I shall begin with two words: George Lucas.
September 16th, 2011 has been hailed as a monumental day for Star Wars fans. On this day, the complete Star Wars Saga will be released on Blu-ray and I know that I was excited to hear this news – at first. However, I’ve since read that George Lucas has made use of modern technology to “perfect and correct” parts of the movies in his desire to evolve them into the vision he saw in his mind’s eye when initially creating these masterpieces. It’s that last sentence that has me worried.
Of course I’m not against modern technology in the cinema. I can take or leave 3D but I absolutely agree that CGI is a magnificent tool and can make movies spectacular by providing the ability to add or animate scenes or people/creatures to create an immersive storyline or action sequence. However, I have a few reservations about re-tooling movies – especially classics.
I grew up with Star Wars. Like the generation that recently saw closure with the latest Harry Potter film, I was a child that had the initial Star Wars saga as one of the cornerstones of my formative years. The original three movies were created with the technology of the time and THEY. WERE. BRILLIANT. Like vinyl records, they possessed a flawed quality that (in this viewer’s eyes) made them so much better than what was produced two decades later with “modern technology.”
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The prequels definitely were quality films, please don’t misunderstand me. But you know I’m going to say three words and you’re all going to sigh right along with me. Are you ready? Jar Jar Binks.
CGI made the fight scenes, pod race, starships and special effects all magical. The creatures that were brought to life were nothing short of spectacular. Yet CGI also created problems for me in that there seemed to be some unnecessary use. I was distracted from the story by the dazzling flashes of light, the detail of the cities and the annoying personality of a character who just seemed to be there to spite the whole series.
The re-release of these movies on DVD included “unseen footage” that began the dissolution of my childhood association with Star Wars. The thrice edited bar-room shootout between Han and Greedo, the addition of the conversation between Han and Jabba and numerous other odds and ends confused my memory and left me wondering why someone would do such a thing to my life.
The news I hear now is that George Lucas intends to completely replace Yoda with CGI – at least in “The Phantom Menace”, amongst other things. CGI to replace the matte painting of a door to Jabba’s palace in “Return of the Jedi”? Will anyone even notice that?
Of course we need to progress. We absolutely must develop our tools and make use of new technology to create masterpieces. But George – you’re messing with my mind here! Do you realise how many childhoods you’re shaking up with your tinkering? These movies are already drifting away from the classics I remember; I fear that before long they will be movies I’ve never seen before. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
May the Force be with you.
Do you think they should “improve”/mess with Star Wars?
Has anyone ever messed with some entertainment from your past and made it worse?
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Life. Culture. Education.
Life as Pop Culture Professor Clay Morgan
In The Matrix, Morpheus tells Neo he can take the blue pill and go on believing whatever he wants to believe. Or he can take the red pill to stay in Wonderland and find out how deep the rabbit hole goes.
This is a red pill type site that provides information in an entertaining way. It’s about clear thinking and good writing. It’s about finding meaning amidst the absurd. It’s about humor and truth.
I’m a writer / speaker who teaches history and political courses at a couple of local colleges. Where is local, you say? Well, that would be Wonderland of course.
On topics ranging from pop culture to the meaning of life, my brain’s always poppin’. Take the red pill and unplug.
Good point, Chrisitan. I have mixed feelings about this, as well. What the three original films lacked in technological splendor they more than made up for with compelling story telling. Some of the computer-generated glitter is impressive, but I feel that it’s made Hollywood lazy in terms of really telling stories.
I’m with you Chase, I thought that the prequels were very visually exciting but to me lacked a lot of the story that I really felt with the originals. With the number of remakes and reboots being released it’s easy to see that there’s a fair bit of originality lacking in Hollywood at the moment.
Just yesterday, I was showing a group of ninth graders the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird. Several students bemoaned the fact that it is in black and white. “Why don’t they add colour?” they asked. What followed was an interesting film study (and debate) on lighting and symbolism. It may have fallen on deaf ears, but no matter.
Your vinyl analogy makes sense. To me, going back and adding/fixing things is also like air brushing. Ultimately people (maybe even your Yvonne) and maybe some films too are far more interesting with the odd flaw, or at least rawness.
Good to see you here, Christian.
Also, here’s a fun graphic to go with the Star Wars revisioning DVD thingie: http://graphjam.memebase.com/2011/09/10/funny-graphs-give-me-a-break-george/funny-graphs-come-on/
Hahaha, that is a fantastic depiction of how it goes! I’m pretty sure I’ll follow that exact same progression…
Oh Leanne, I certainly don’t envy what you endure as a teacher! You are absolutely right too; people (and movies at times) are much more interesting because of their flaws. As far as Yvonne goes, there is much discussion about her teeth not being perfect – if you’re interested. I know that Clay will back me up when I say that even with her flaws, she’s one gorgeous lady.
It’s a real honour to be a guest poster, thanks for the support!
I have an appreciation for Star Wars, though I wouldn’t say I’m a devoted fan. However, I do find it disturbing that Lucas would mess with the films. Keep them as they are. Feel free to put any tinkering into the DVD’s Bonus section- in fact, that’s a perfect place for deleted scenes and for a little mini-film on Lucas’s vision where he could compare and contrast the old and new.
You’ve really nailed it I think Leigh. Another extras disc with all the compared old version vs new version scenes would be perfect! Although I suppose we then enter the debate about how to make the new changes available in the movie for those who prefer them over the old stuff.
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Thanks for the great post Christian. I was out of town and ended up having no computer!
My pleasure mate, I hope you had a great weekend! I look forward to reciprocating the honour too whenever you’re up for it.
I couldn’t agree with you more! While I can understand Lucas’s desire to “perfect” his project, it’s ruining the charm of the films. At least for me. And for everyone else, apparently. Lucas seems to be the only one who does not see it that way. It’s kind of like making revisions to the Mona Lisa – “well, I always envisioned her with a bigger smile, I just didn’t have enough paint to do the job right the first time”. Some things you just shouldn’t mess with.
You have a great point. I always wondered whether George has reached the point where he doesn’t really care so much about whether the fans will like it or not and is just doing it for himself. Which is fair enough I guess, but still…
Great point! I didn’t realize they were doing that. I am all for improving the quality of the film, but this seems like an extreme makeover! I am sure that there are those that feel colorizing old blacks and white film ruined them and I would agree. The value of the clothing, sets etc,, played a part in the cinematography, not whether one person wore green or blue. I do think in some of these films the colors are unrealistic and distract from the film’s original intent.
Great post!
I am wondering why this didn’t get posted in my email since I follow Clay? Computer glitch perhaps???
I seem to have experienced the same glitch, Susie.
To me, even with all the technical faults, the classic Star Wars movies will always be brilliant just as they are; err, were – umm!
Good points, Christian. Spielberg said the other day he regrets digitally altering E.T. “because I was disappointed in myself … I realized what I had done was I had robbed people who loved E.T. of their memories of E.T.” I wonder whether Lucas has any idea what Spielberg is talking about.
It would be nice if he did know that, I watched the saga on DVD the weekend before this was posted and even then I picked up quite a few things that were different from the way I remembered. I didn’t know that Spielberg felt that way about E.T., I haven’t watched that one for a long while. Thanks for the support Todd.
I won’t watch the remastered versions. As far as I’m concerned, they simply don’t exist. I have VHS copies of the originals and a VCR to play them on, so I’m all set.
I mean, jeez! Should we go add more of a tan to Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia? Do we need to add more realistic blood on everyone who was shot in a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western? How can we screw with Casablanca to make it flashier?
For the love of fred, just leave it alone, Lucas! Just step away from the bloomin’ computer!
Exactly, Linguist! It reminds me of how difficult it is to get c opy of the original cut of Blade Runner these days.
The movies worked brilliantly and as Leanne and others have mentioned, the flaws have only made them even greater. Maybe if George wants to do so much work in the Star Wars universe, maybe he should look into creating a TV series.
That’s exactly what Joss Whedon did with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The movie wasn’t anything what he wanted it to be but I just left it to wander off into obscurity. Then he created his vision in the tv series.
Aaaaand, I’ve just outed myself as a fangirl
Haha, there’s absolutely no shame in being a fan of Joss Whedon I say!
[...] I understand that my Australian mate Christian is going to say that he saw Yvonne first and has nationality dibs or something. Well, she’s [...]