Hey Non-Star Wars fans: WHAT IS your favorite? (1 Viewer)

[Scott Rogers]

I was reading the post below "Am I the only one not buying the Phantom Menace" and several of you followed up your "no's" with "I am mystified by the whole Star Wars phenomena" and "I don't even like the Indiana Jones series"
Which got me wondering: What is it you don't like about the Star Wars series? As someone who saw it when it first came out, it had an immense impact on me as both a kid and an eventual film fan. I admit, I was disappointed in TPM and very nervous about "Attack of the Clones" but still love Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.
Does your dislike of Star Wars come from a) Sick of the hype/fans/merchandising of the series b) Think the films are just glorified B movies/Bad Sci-Fi or c) Was too young to catch the original films in the theater and don't understand what all the fuss is about?
I also want to know, since you don't like the Star Wars series (which many people count as some of their favorite films) WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE?
Just curious.

 

[MikeF]

Does your dislike of Star Wars come from a) Sick of the hype/fans/merchandising of the series b) Think the films are just glorified B movies/Bad Sci-Fi or c) Was too young to catch the original films in the theater and don't understand what all the fuss is about?
I also want to know, since you don't like the Star Wars series (which many people count as some of their favorite films) WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE?

I think the films are a) grossly overhyped b) glorified B-movies.
My favorite film? Probably Schindler's List, Scarface, or Citizen Kane. My favorite series? Probably the Godfather or the Decalogue.
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[James D S]

I think the films are a) grossly overhyped b) glorified B-movies.

Can you explain how these two traits are bad? For 'a)' what does it matter what other people think of the movie? and for 'b)', can you not think of any B movies you like? I'm sure that there are some low-budget movies that you do like, so it can't its 'B movie' appearance. Was it dialogue?
Could you elaborate because I'm not following the critique.
Peace.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Just face it. There are people on this Earth who hate the Star Wars movies. It's not too hard to comprehend these people sometimes. What's more puzzling is when people say, "Oh yeah, I love it, but it's not a great movie."
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[Jason Whyte]

I love the original trilogy, I just didn't care for Episode One. Don't make me get into the reasons again.
Btw, my favorite films are Apocalypse Now, Rear Window and 2001.
Jason
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[Elbert Lee]

It's just typical for people to "get sick and tired" of something that gets a lot of press and hype. Songs, actors (Leonardo DiCaprio, anyone?), political elections, and yes - movies.
I admit that I do get sick of some things, but will never go out and say that it doesn't deserve the hype. i.e - never thought DiCaprio was talentless like many people claim. He didn't get an oscar nomination because he can't act.
While I'm not as caught up in the Star Wars hype, (I saw Return of the Jedi before I watched Episode 4 and 5), I did appreciate the fact that each Episode really stood out as great pieces of cinema and storytelling and can easily see why so many people love it.
I didn't care for TPM at all and was fairly disappointed at the lack of storytelling "progress" in the actual content of the film since Lucas last worked on the saga. I think it deserves its DUE CRITICISM from the original audiences of the original trilogy and those who followed it over the years. I thought it was a mistake for Lucas to concentrate on attracting a newer, younger generation Star Wars fans and not cater to the original fan base by writing something more progressive (philosophically deeper and more complex). Furthermore, by making a more fantasy-driven children's-type story, Lucase miscalculated the fact that today's younger generation of viewers are more sophisticated than the audience 20 years ago. Instead of making a film that challenged the imagination, he patronized the audience and TPM, which resulted in TPM feeling more like a Granny Goose store next to THE MATRIX.

 

[andrew markworthy]

I'm a Star Wars 'agnostic' rather than total unbeliever. I like some aspects of the films: special effects, costumes, the richly-thought out universes, Darth Vader, Carrie Fisher in that bikini...
But there are definite weaknesses which for me personally mar my enjoyment:
(a) the significant number of actors from Planet Ham
(b) Ewoks
(c) Yoda
(d) plots you can predict from the start of the movie (I am utterly amazed that people made such a big thing about who Luke's father was - could none of you guys see that one coming?)
(e) Yoda
(f) R2D2 and C3PO
(g) Yoda
Yes, I'll buy all the SWs DVDs because overall I still like the movies, but I just don't think they are worth the *veneration* surrounding them. Maybe I was just slightly too old and cynical when they first appeared to be captured by the magic of them, and had I been ten when the first movie appeared, maybe I'd have been one of those sad people queuing for days to see the The Empire Strikes Back.
Incidentally, I think the best movie in the series is TPM.

 

[Brian_Hitchlock]

Personally I grew up on Star Wars. The first film hit theaters when I was 7, I was Luke Skywalker for Halloween, etc... I still have my radio controlled R2D2 proudly displayed in my home theater room.
TPM for me, just didn't have the same feel. So its hard to get excited about it. Maybe if I was 10. I consider the original trilogy to be the favourite films of my childhood, but now that I am older I have moved onto other things. As a child they had a great impact on me, but as an adult they are light popcorn entertainment.
I just wish people would stop calling them science-fiction, and use the term originally used by Lucas of "space opera".

 

[BrianKM]

I grew up with Star Wars as well and remember watching Jedi in the theater, but I was never hooked on the culture or product tie-ins like my friends and classmates - save for the X-Wing and Tie-Fighter computer games. I can certainly understand why so many people are captivated by the original series - amazing visual effects, epic scope, etc. - but I feel that overall, the movies lack depth and its characters are charicatures. TPM was pretty bad, but you already knew that. I wouldn't mind watching TPM: The Phantom Edit just to see if re-editing Jar-Jar would make for a better film.
Personally, the sci-fi flick that defined my childhood was Aliens.
My vote for best trilogies would be Indiana Jones and Die Hard - although I didn't really enjoy Temple or Vengeance, so maybe I should be voting on sequels instead.

 

[Paul_D]

Although I personnally like the original trilogy (I have fond memories of seeing them, as a kid) - I don't share the hysterical adoration that many fans (maniacs) share. For all the reasons others ahve already stated, I cannot really understand why they are so revered. They are really good - but no where near as good as hundreds of other classics. However, I can undertand why so many people hate the series: principally because of what Star Wars did to modern American cinema. Whatever you say in its defence, it DID bring Hollywood out of its golden-years (auteur, director controlled, artistically-minded movies), and into the age of special-effects driven hollow popcorn flicks. Don't get me wrong. I don't think the films themselves are hollow. But their success was explained by the spectacle - the awe that the special-effects created, and that aspect of the movies alone, changed studio policy on making money from their releases. They saw how much money could be made with the right films, and proceeded to completely change their attitude towards which kinda films to make, and how to make them - i.e. concentrating on effects and neglecting narrtaive, charater, etc. While the Star Wars Trilogy is a great, important series of films, it is also the reason that films like Godzilla, ID4 and Lost in Space exist. For that at least, they deserve some scorn!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Paul: I am I wrong, or is cinema meant to entertain it's audience? I like plot driven dramas, mysteries, horror, etc. as much as the next guy, but I (and apparently a good portion of the rest of the movie-goers) like to see movies that take me to places than I've never seen before. While may not like the direction SW took Hollywood, many others obviously do, other wise we wouldn't be getting FX flicks any more. To say that these movies are bad just because they feature paper-thin plots is misguided... Cinema is a audio-visual medium... FX films maximize what can be seen and heard. And still today, FX films far outgross story-driven films, so Hollywood (being the over-glamorized business that it is) must being doing something right, even if those films aren't your cup-of-tea. I certainly don't think Star Wars should be scorned for showing the world a whole new type and style of movies, wonderful in their own, different way.

 

[Julie K]

(d) None of the above.
I enjoyed the first three SW movies when they came out, as I did the Raiders movies. But time moves on and tastes change. I am simply no longer interested in them.
Some of my favorites: Bad Taste, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, In the Mouth of Madness, The Thing, Dellamorte Dellamore. You get the picture
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[Inspector Hammer!]

I really enjoy the 'SW' films, and i'll say this as well, either the original unaltered versions OR the SE's. Greedo fires first, so what. And I absolutly loved 'Episode 1'.
I don't understand why it's so hard to comprehend that the "DIE HARD" 'SW' lovers have heaped so much expectation on the 'TPM' that it could never have possibly been acceptable as being worthy of being part of, what they consider to be the greatest things since the creation of life on earth. They are blinded by they're love of these films, and that very same love has rendered them unable to enjoy 'TPM' and that's really a shame to me.
I am sorry, but I look upon the "DIE HARD" 'SW' fans, the ones who stood in line weeks before to get their first look at 'TPM', the same way I look upon those that attend 'Star Trek' conventions dressed as klingons, and walk around in their daily life dressed as a starfleet officer, and that is sick. I am all for being a fan of something, but these individuals are suffering a sickness, pure and simple, and that sickness is starting to get downright dangerous.
I read somewhere about the time 'TPM' came out, that a town somewhere was ACTUALLY CONSIDERING making "the force" an official religeon!!

That's dangerous behavior IMO, not to mention INCREDBLY ridiculous!!
Everything i've said above is directly related into why 'TPM' wasn't accepted as being a true part of the original trilogy. Simply put, nothing, and I mean NOTHING Lucas came up with could have possibly been good enough to satisfy a demographic(SW fans) that has come to expect waaaay too much of a movie that dares to call itself a Star Wars movie. Whereas smeone like myself, who is just a casual fan, not blinded by all this baggage, can see oh so clearly, that 'TPM' is a great addition to the series.
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[Paul_D]

To say that these movies are bad just because they feature paper-thin plots is misguided...

I agree! I didn't say they are bad... if you'd read my post. I said that I really liked the movies, but that I can understand why SOME people don't like them, for what they did to Hollywood. Let me reiterate: SW Trilogy: not bad - a lot of what was created purely to make bucketloads of money as a result of the SW Trilogy - bad!
Ultimately my point is this: No one on earth can say that Godzilla is good! And films like Godzilla (Emmerich's version) are an indirect result of Star Wars! Point made!

 

[andrew markworthy]

I honestly don't understand why everyone hates Godzilla so much. To me, it's standard brain stem fodder; why it got the flak it did is beyond me (yes, the plot is lame and some of the acting is wooden, but so do a lot of other no-brain holiday movies, and it's got a big monster and lots of explosions - what more do you want?). Personally speaking, I vastly preferred it to the over-testosteroned Die Hard series.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Andrew, you prefer 'Godzilla' over the 'Die Hard' films!?! Please tell me your not serious!
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[James D S]

Andrew! Now why did you have to go and do a thing like that!? Just when I was starting to appreciate your opinions...

 

[andrew markworthy]

James - which bit: liking Godzilla or dislking Die Hard?

 

[Mike Broadman]

Count me in as someone who just got sick of all the attention to the Star Wars movies. I like them as a kid, and got into it again in college, but then it just ridiculous, with all the different versions of the same movies, and then finally the joke that was episode 1.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

quote: I am utterly amazed that people made such a big thing about who Luke's father was - could none of you guys see that one coming?[/quote]
I totally didn't see it coming. I can even recall rejecting the idea as some kind of sick ploy on Vader's behalf after first seeing The Empire Strikes Back. I waited until Return of the Jedi to receive confirmation from both Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi that it was, indeed, true. Even then it was tough to accept. Then, of course, I was blindsided by the revelation that Leia was Luke's sister.
Now, of course, these once "shocking" plot elements are now wafting freely through the air of popular culture, much like "Rosebud" is. The now-classic "I'm your father" line is even parodied in movies like The Spy Who Shagged Me. But back in 1980, when we all waited on the edge of our seats to find out what would happen to Han Solo and the rest, it was a fun and astonishing ride.
Now, I can't believe that Darth Vader is C-3P0's father.
[Edited last by Jonathan Perregaux on October 09, 2001 at 10:13 AM]