Star Wars

What with school starting and all I haven't been able to post.

Now that I find myself with SOME free time, and now that I'm not feeling so lazy, I think it's time to post a little about something I really do feel strongly about:

Star Wars.

Cool Poster

Last week saw the release of one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year. Episode III, the conclusion of George Lucas' brilliant saga, opened to throngs of crowds and left box office records shattered in its wake. It drew heaps of praise from star wars fans and non fans alike, many of them recanting their derisive statements about the prequel trilogy.

So overall, it would be an understatement to call it a success.

But is it, as some critics have claimed, an epic to rival The Lord of the Rings?

I'd say...

Yes and no.

Obviously, Episode III has its share of problems, ("Anakin! You're breaking my heart!" and "NOOOooooooOOOOOOooooOOOO!!!!" spring to mind), but so do a lot of movies. Yes, Lord of the Rings had them too. Maybe not as obvious, but honestly, who else was disappointed by the end of the battle at pellinor fields? All that build up of the army of the dead, all that expectation of seeing the already epic battle become even more epic, and we get... that. Apparently, the army of the dead is an army of ants.

But I digress.

So, yes, Episode III, and the entire prequel trilogy, as movies, had many problems. As movies, I will categorically, flat out, say that LOTR is a better trilogy than Eps I to III. Although Episode III had the better effects and music, LOTR had the bette directing, dialogue, casting, and pacing were all better in LOTR.

Now, as to the story, it is unfair to compare the two series without including episodes 4 to 6 in the mix as well. The Star Wars saga is not composed of two seperate trilogies. Not anymore. Star wars is a saga from episode 1 to 6, and should be judged as such.

In that sense, and I think I might get flamed for this, Star Wars is the superior story.

Leaving behind the senseless fan boy arguments of "Oh, my stormtrooper has a bigger gun than your Orc", the Star Wars saga boasts one of the richest stories ever conceived of, brilliantly utilizing the theories set down in Joseph Campbell's "Hero of a Thousand Faces."

More on this later...

I can't write when I'm hungry.