Take Chris Carter for instance... Sure the X-Files were good and interesting. But man, was I pissed when the whole thing ended with practically no answers to the multitude of mysteries.
Remember when Mr Carter used to tell us that in certain upcomming episodes, secrets would be revealed, there would be answers to our questions, etc... But by the time said episode passed, it just lead to more questions. I always wondered if mr Carter just invented as he went along, not knowing himself what the whole government conspiracy was. Will I go see the next X-Files movie when it comes out next year? Sure. Anything to see Scully again. lol.
Then take J.J.Abrams when he took us on that rollercoaster called lost. A TON of mysteries and questions at the beginning... That's what hooked us to the show. But by now, with the fourth season nearing its climax, we ha been explained a lot. Sure, there are some mysteries remaining, but we get a sense that the story is getting somewhere and that the writers are leading us to a final goal, and that things WILL be explained sometime in the future.
You need mystery to get your audience interested, but you also need to explain at some point. Or you risk leaving your audience a little frustrated, like the X-Files left me.
Ultradan
George Lucas... seems to have decided (in his later years at least) that its better to reveal a secret than to let your audience live with the mystery...
I agree.
His storytelling has, with time, become increasingly shallow and one-dimensional. He's abandoned complex, compelling human personalities and struggles in favor of movies with fairy-tale simplicity.
If a five-year-old can't follow the character and plot development, he simplifies it.
And mysteries demand more thought and imagination than he wants his audience to have to apply.
IMHO
These are some well-thought-out theories.
By simplifying the script, they made it easy for me to focus on smaller things.
Why did Indy say "she had a sword...a rapier of some kind"? Good God! he's Jonesey...he would know the particular swordsmith/mineral breakdown/and teacher that tought Blanchett how to fight!
How did a 70-year-old fight a big Russian/"Nazi" dude (who looked like he rolled a crit when swinging a massive chain at his calf/ankle) and take 5 shots to the face/head?
Why didnt the Ark burn the US intel insignia off its container like in Raiders?
Could the "puzzle" in the jailcell been any easier to figure out?
Werent the Ray Park-trained ninjas in the first gravesite supposed to be "Living dead Guards" according to legend? What happened to them? Why were they afraid of Jonesey's gun?
Im not even going to go into Tarzan or SuperRefrigerator! (Though imdb has an informal poll for how many people think that fridge should be nominated for an academy award!)
Another thing...why is it funny/acceptable for Mutt to get racked a half dozen times while fighting Blanchett? And speaking of that, why was that particular stretch of trackless jungle paved so that he could balance perfectly whilst "Ho! Haha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin!"-ing about.
Why does it "drop three times"? And how did they all get back into the vehicle so friggin easily?
Most of the story points were telegraphed way early, as well. Who is the traitor dropping the blinking red lights?!??! Is Mutt Indy's son?!?!!?
Im going to start rambling here if I dont shut down. I realize there were crazy over-the-top things in the other movies...but it seems like there were a few stretched between amazing set pieces and funny or cool dialog. This one just had too many goofy things strung together with baaaad dialog. And, the Burger King toy my nephew got doesnt have ANYTHING to do with the movie! Indy on top of a pyramid. Press down on the figure and sand falls away revealing THE crystal skull. WHAT?
**EDIT: Oh yeah. The traps/puzzles seemed to be written for a videogame based on the movie. The retractable stairs especially felt like level 7.2 where you have to pause for a split second before jumping up and to the right to get the bonus life.
And- "Space between spaces" "Knowledge was their treasure". You remember that Alan Quartermain movie from the 80's trying to cash in on the Indy craze? They said in that one "The diamonds belong to the mountain". HA! Thats mostly what IJATKOTCS feels like, a copycat-movie...just happened to hire a couple of the original actors. meh
I guess I wasnt the target audience for this movie, but I should've been.
If a five-year-old can't follow the character and plot development, he simplifies it.
And mysteries demand more thought and imagination than he wants his audience to have to apply.
IMHO
Not that surprising, when most of his income over the last 25-30 years has been from licensing and merchandise. Couple that with not having directed a movie for those same 30 years while people worship at his feet...
I mean, I still like the Star Wars franchise (maybe because I've seen maybe 2/3rds of one of the prequels and left it at that?) and I absolutely agree that Leia mentioning that Obi Wan "...served my father in the Clone Wars" did more to spark my imagination and sense of wonder than, you know, actually seeing these clones in that 2/3s of Attack of the Clones. But we also shouldn't forget that (in my opinion) the best epsiode, The Empire Strikes Back, was written and directed by someone else and that Return of the Jedi was also directed by someone else. I think that Lucas comes up with some great premises and flashes of inspiration, but he's much more interested in the toys. If he had handed a competent screenwriter and director a list of ideas and a plot outline, he would have been better off.
In my opinion, of course.
Not that surprising, when most of his income over the last 25-30 years has been from licensing and merchandise. Couple that with not having directed a movie for those same 30 years while people worship at his feet...I mean, I still like the Star Wars franchise (maybe because I've seen maybe 2/3rds of one of the prequels and left it at that?) and I absolutely agree that Leia mentioning that Obi Wan "...served my father in the Clone Wars" did more to spark my imagination and sense of wonder than, you know, actually seeing these clones in that 2/3s of Attack of the Clones. But we also shouldn't forget that (in my opinion) the best epsiode, The Empire Strikes Back, was written and directed by someone else and that Return of the Jedi was also directed by someone else. I think that Lucas comes up with some great premises and flashes of inspiration, but he's much more interested in the toys. If he had handed a competent screenwriter and director a list of ideas and a plot outline, he would have been better off.
In my opinion, of course.
I could not agree more.
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I agree that telling us about the force was a mistake but I do not think the bounty hunter was a mistake I liked that bit of continuity. What I think was ridiculus was having R2 and C3PO join us again and for Darth Vader not to know the droid he built as a child and a droid that was with him and his woman up until the end of his life as Manikin makes no sense. R2 maybe - the way it played out but 3PO not the way they did it. I would rather they were never explained and just were owned by the Pricess in eplisode 4.
<Weeps.>
He has failed us.
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I used to bash Ep I; then my boy Miles splained it to me:
there's really two movies there, one is about this annoying little kid and Jar Jar, the other is about this lightsaber fight with Darth Maul.
It's really about the best damn lightsaber fight there ever was. It's about the best damn lightsaber fight there ever will be. You gotta, like, accent the positive, man.
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I used to bash Ep I; then my boy Miles splained it to me:
there's really two movies there, one is about this annoying little kid and Jar Jar, the other is about this lightsaber fight with Darth Maul.
It's really about the best damn lightsaber fight there ever was. It's about the best damn lightsaber fight there ever will be. You gotta, like, accent the positive, man.
If you ask my 4 year old daughter to tell you what happens in Episode I, she remembers R2D2 repairing the ship during the Queen's escape (because she thinks he's cute, and she has a thing for robots), the giant sea monster (because she has a thing for sea monsters), and the lightsaber battle at the end (probably because I think it's so cool). She has to be reminded about Jar Jar, who she calls 'silly,' and then she wants to talk about R2D2 some more.
So, to my mind she has grasped the positives--robots, monsters, and sword fights.
It's about the best damn lightsaber fight there ever
will be. You gotta, like, accent the positive, man.
As a martial arts aficionado I have to say that this was one of the best staff and sword fights I've ever seen. And they were lightsabers. I'm totally with the wolfman on this. This fight WAS the movie for me.
Ray Park's Kung Fu is beautiful.
I can't say it enough.
I actually wish they hadn't killed him off.
If they did a prequel featuring him I'd be all over it... just for the awesome kung fu.
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I was bummed about the first one, because I heard 2 rumors that didn't pan:
1)the Millenium Falcon was Qi Gon's ship
2) army of Mandalorian Anti-Jedi fighters. A freakin army of Boba Fetts, in jet packs and mandalorian armor. I know that's what the clones were in effect, but it would've been tighter.
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I actually wish they hadn't killed him off.
If they did a prequel featuring him I'd be all over it... just for the awesome kung fu.
Right on... I got a comic where he came back with a cybernetic bottom half and tried to kill baby Luke and Obi Wan and Uncle Owen fought him off...I think a lot more people than you had the same wish.
They brought Boba Fett back in the books and comics,...
Iron Fist starring Ray Park, 2008.
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I wish they would do that movie totally 70's style, with Power Man with the big yellow shirt, and Misty Knight, and Iron Fist in the green spandex gi with the black dragon tat on his chest and everything.
I mean, toatlly retro; none of this "this s$!* just went down in the Marvel Universe in 2007, man. They don't dress like that no more's."
Contributor
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I haven't seen the new Indy movie yet.
The only thing I remember from Episode I is Palpatine's suppressed smirk at the end when he sees that everything has fallen into place for him to become the emperor. That facial expression made the movie worth all the Jar-Jar in the world.
I long ago realized that Lucas lost faith in his initial visions. He no longer believes in what he believed back when he made Star Wars. This is why we ended up with Greedo shooting first and medichlorians and no episodes 7-9.
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So, to my mind she has grasped the positives--robots, monsters, and sword fights.
Seriously, the three SW prequels aren't bad if you pay no attention to the dialogue and filter out the parts where Hayden Christensen tries to act. Of course, that only leaves robots, monsters and sword fights... And Christopher Lee!
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So, to my mind she has grasped the positives--robots, monsters, and sword fights.Seriously, the three SW prequels aren't bad if you pay no attention to the dialogue and filter out the parts where Hayden Christensen tries to act. Of course, that only leaves robots, monsters and sword fights... And Christopher Lee!
Christopher Lee could say all his lines backwards and yell "Gackk!!' at the end of every sentence, and he would still be the greatest.
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But we also shouldn't forget that (in my opinion) the best epsiode, The Empire Strikes Back, was written and directed by someone else and that Return of the Jedi was also directed by someone else. I think that Lucas comes up with some great premises and flashes of inspiration, but he's much more interested in the toys.
, the screenplay was written by someone else but Lucas was still credited with the story. That can mean a lot of different things, but I'll bet that most of the plot elements, set pieces, characters, etc. were birthed from Lucas's imagination. The screenwriter just made sure that the script didn't suck...
Honestly, while Empire is the best, and the story is amazing, I don't think the script is all that great. In fact, to me, none of the SW scripts are really very good, but the story as a single piece is what carries it.
Oh, frak! DRADIS--contact!
So, to my mind she has grasped the positives--robots, monsters, and sword fights.Seriously, the three SW prequels aren't bad if you pay no attention to the dialogue and filter out the parts where Hayden Christensen tries to act. Of course, that only leaves robots, monsters and sword fights... And Christopher Lee!
Anyone seen Jumper with, ahem, everyone's least favorite actor?
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The whole first 1/2 hour of Ep III was the coolest buncha stuff ever.I will admit, I enjoyed the two minutes at the end when all the Clone Troopers 'switched on.'
Sadly, I enjoyed the 12 minute Clone Wars cartoons more than the newest movies.
I agree wholeheartedly, and Lucas is spawning yet ANOTHER Clone Wars cartoon which goes to show their popularity. What's amazing is the CW are cooler than the movies despite everyone knows how the Wars turn out and the Jedi get shafted in the end.
Anyone seen Jumper with, ahem, everyone's least favorite actor?
Yeah I have. It was actually pretty darn cool.
Christopher Lee could say all his lines backwards and yell "Gackk!!' at the end of every sentence, and he would still be the greatest.
Truer words about Star Wars have never been spoken, in this or any other universe.