Definition of Star Wars canon.

Mar 7 17:44 UTC 1995

to me, solo, by email or posting a response here.  As far as a list of canon
novels, I'm working on it, so keep on meditating for the Return of the Jedi.

response 2 of 50:

May 30 16:24 UTC 1995

And make sure you type the WHOLE intro to an item :{

response 4 of 50:

Jun 1 16:33 UTC 1995

Yes.

response 6 of 50:

Jan 30 18:12 UTC 1997

So what do you'all think about the reissued Star War movie (movies?) coming
out?  I've just seen the ads this last week...

response 8 of 50:

Feb 2 02:03 UTC 1997

_Star Wars_ is of historical importance. This is the movie that made
interest in space transportation socially acceptable, even Cool, and no
longer so geeky. It was the breakthrough in popular entertainment.

But it's already been done, and it's 20 years old already. Time to go on to
something new, or at least finish up the other 6 movies. There is plenty of
excellent SF literature out there, every bit as exciting as the _Wars_
movies were when they came out, and it's much more intelligently written.

I *might* go see _Star Wars_, when it gets to the cheap theatres.

response 10 of 50:

Feb 23 19:26 UTC 1997

Well, I saw "Star Wars" a few weeks ago,  but I loved it!  Why does it
have to be time to go on to something new?  Can't we take a moment
out of our time to remember the past?  Does everything have to be about
forgetting what happened and just moving forward?

As far as I have heard, the first one will be released in 1999, and then
two and three sometime after that.  I haven't heard whether or not he will
be making seven, eight, and nine.

response 12 of 50:

Mar 4 14:59 UTC 1997

I've said it before, I'll probably say it again. Yes you can go and get
numerous video tape copies of these movies. Unless you have a huge screen tv
and an incredible sound system you don't get the same experience, IMO. This
may not be for everyone, I understand. For many people thiugh it is well worth
it to pay a few dollars and re-experience it on the big screen. Also, these
new versions are not out on video yet.

response 14 of 50:

Mar 26 00:58 UTC 1997

        Okay, now tht must of us have seen the re-release, What do 
you like?  What did you notice?  Did you like the changes?  Did
it Matter.

        As I got to watching Empire & Jedi I got into watching
Yoda carefully.  I can dare say Yoda did better face acting 
than Mark Hammil did.  More expression on his face for the emotion
to be conveyed.

        Did anyone but me notice that the Mean Green Mother
From Outer Space's mother was that thing in the pit near the
beginning of Jedi?

response 16 of 50:

Mar 29 17:41 UTC 1997

        I thought I heard it say "Feed Me".

response 18 of 50:

Apr 27 01:37 UTC 2001

I'm reviving this old Star Wars item because recently, for no good reason,
I've gotten fascinated with Star Wars.  Largely I just noticed that the Lego
Star Wars models are cool, and now that I'm a grown up I can afford to buy
all the toys I want.  But also the movies themselves are interesting under
their varnish of cheap commercialism.

Episode I is an interesting case in point.  Before it was made, I'd been
wondering how Lucas was going to handle the first trilogy.  After all, the
hero has to be Anakin Skywalker, and we already know that he's going to become
a traitor to all his friends and ideals, and turn into a murderous monster.
Hardly the kind of uplifting story of dewy-eyed heros bravely beating back
the forces of evil that made the original Star Wars movie such a popular
success.  The question in my mind is, how is Lucas going to tell such a dark
nasty story while maintaining the popularity that is necessary to finance the
project and win it the attention it needs to stand out from the the crowd?

So on first viewing, I was disappointed in Episode I.  Nothing much happens.
The good guys win and have a big celebration in the end, just like the first
movie.  Lucas had dodged the problem of convincingly showing a hero turn evil
without losing his popular audience by postponing the whole issue.  There's
no sign yet of the decent into evil that will turn Anakin into Vader and the
Republic in to the Empire.

But on second viewing, I belatedly noticed that the good guys didn't win. 
They think they did, and most casual viewers of the film would think so, but
in fact, the forces of evil take a whomping.  Probably all real fans (not me)
noticed that the Senator from Naboo, who get elected to be the new leader of
the Republic as a result of the Naboo/Trade Federation war has the same name
as the future Emperor.  It's obvious that he manipulated the Trade Federation
into attacking his home planet so that he could embarrass the current leaders
and create enough sympathy for him to win him control of the Republic.  The
scheme came off perfectly, and the fact that the Naboo won the war only fed
into his plans.  All the bravery of the heros really only ends up advancing
the plans of the future emperor.

In other words, Lucas found a way to have it both ways.  He depicted the
Emperor's rise to power, while making it look to the casual viewer as if
they were watching an ordinary, victory-of-the-good-guys kind of movie.
Rather a clever bit of cinematic sneakiness.  Make big box office money
with a movie parents happily bring their kids to, that depicts evil conquering
good.

Can Lucas play this double game with the next two movies?  It's hard to see
how.  You can't exactly turn Anakin into Vader without people noticing.  But
can you cast it as noble self-sacrifice?

This seems improbable.  But recall the scene where Yoda tells Luke that if
he goes to rescue Han & Leia than he is taking a step down the path to the
dark side.  Evidentally you can go a long ways toward the dark side by acting
heroically.  (Obviously Anakin's mom has been set up as the victim who needs
rescuing or avenging and draws him closer to the dark side.)

Curiously, there seems to be more information around about what happens in
the last trilogy than in the rest of first trilogy.  (If you don't want to
hear official Lucasfilm spoilers for films that probably won't be out for a
decade, stop here.)  Leia marries Han and becomes the leader of the New
Republic, built from the ashes of the Empire.  Luke marries someone (R2D2 is
his best man) and starts a Jedi school.  The Emperor, however, is not dead
and gets himself resurrected in a cloned body.  He draws Luke to him, and
Luke pledges himself to serve the Emperor, embracing the Dark Side of the
force in hopes that by pretending to server the Emperor he can find an
opportunity to destroy him.  He finds, however, that he has underestimated
the power of the Dark Side, and that once in its clutches he can't escape
and he begins to serve it in truth.  Eventually Leia manages to break him
loose, much as Luke got Anakin out, just in time to save Luke's kids from
continuing the cycle.

So not only does Lucas want to make a popular film about a hero decending into
evil, he wants to do it twice.  The plot summary above pretty clearly shows
that most of the decent into evil will involve good motives, so he'll be able
to depict most of the trip as an act of rousing heroism, with the good guy
appearing to win all sorts of battles while quietly losing his soul.

So the heros, in guise of good deads are actually doing evil, and the movies
in guise of family entertainmnet are actually rather nasty.

So the Star Wars films are interestingly attractive and repulsive.  Even the
comic relief characters (Ewoks, Jar Jar) whom everyone thinks are put in to
improve marketability to kids are actually rather repulsive upon nearer
inspection (the Ewoks are vicious when they aren't being cute, and Jar Jar
is a moronic step-and-fetch-it sterotype).  Everything likable is dispicable
and everything dispicable is likable.

Well, not everything.  Leia and R2D2 seem to be perfect beings.  Han Solo was
supposed to be a good/bad guy in the original movie, but Lucas seems to have
later shifted him to the small pile of purely good guys - note that when he
remade the original Star Wars, the only actual telling change was that Han
Solo no longer shoots first when he kills the bounty hunter in the Cantina,
changing an act of pre-emptive murder into self-defense.