WampusCat wrote:
Alas, it's not a joke, at least not if by "joke" you mean a fan creation.
Not a fan creation (although if I'd just seen the clip, I'd have thought that ), I thought it must be a joke in the sense of a parody - like a Pantomime or so.
I guess I just don't know what sort of things would be seen on US-TV holiday specials in the late 70s (luckily, from what Prim said ). But I still think it's a bit odd that it should have been serious, because if you take an epic tale and add a pop-concert and some OOC characters (like the old guy who visited the Wookies) and things like that, to make it "a variety show" - what else can you get but parody?
but being a cheerful hobbit he had not needed hope, as long as despair could be postponed.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
I have banished it from my memory. Nothing shall break the seal I have placed upon the tomb within my mind where it resides. That link shall remain forever unclicked by MY mouse.
I have banished it from my memory. Nothing shall break the seal I have placed upon the tomb within my mind where it resides. That link shall remain forever unclicked by MY mouse.
Ah, but someday, you will think to yourself "What was really so bad about it?" You will have an urge for self flagellation that can't be satisfied until you view it. And then...
hobby, it's a self-parody, all right, but not at all deliberate. It's genuinely witless. And you're right that they could not have expected anything better than they got, with that mix of genres and the inept writing.
But they didn't care. They were simply cashing in on a movie that, by then, was clearly a cultural phenomenon. They knew people would watch, no matter how awful it was.
It's probably only justice. When Lucas signed the papers to direct Star Wars, he probably thought there was no way the movie would succeed so well that anyone would want to make a television special about it. And in return the studio certainly thought the merchandising rights they signed over to Lucas were going to be worthless—they probably thought he was a genuine sucker for taking a pay cut in exchange.
I've never seen the whole thing. Rumor has it that a copy has found its way into the hands of Whistler. . . . But if so, I'm sure he uses its powers only for good.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Prim wrote:And in return the studio certainly thought the merchandising rights they signed over to Lucas were going to be worthless—they probably thought he was a genuine sucker for taking a pay cut in exchange.
That's the one thing for which I truly do admire George Lucas. He's always been willing to bet on himself.
He also gave the principal actors each something like 0.25% of the gross. I remember reading that this struck them as a cute little gesture at the time, but they all ended up set for life. Star Wars made Alec Guinness rich from acting for the first time in his life.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
I hope you won't judge the original three films, anyway, based on these clips, Mahima!
They're worth seeing. At least the first one for sure ("Episode 4: A NEW HOPE," retitled from the original STAR WARS—not Episode 1, as you value your life).
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
A new hope is great, but the problem with the old ones is the Light Saber fights are all very boring, whereas in the new ones they're sleek and fast, like Jedi should be...
You've never had the experience of seeing the first three when they first came out, Crucifer. Believe me, the light saber fights had a huge impact on people. The one in Return of the Jedi was thrilling to me and still is.
In the prequels they took it to the next level, but some of it was a little over the top for me. But I found them thrilling as well. Any time Lucas characters stop talking is a good time.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
My son the fencer has taken a class in stage fighting, and he says the preposterousness is necessary to provide any drama at all. Maybe not the jumping fifty feet bits, but some of the spectacular swings and misses and the sustained whacking on each other's swords. He says real sword fights tended to be over very fast, clang clang thunk. Not a lot of drama there.
That said, he thinks the somersaults and whirling around in the Star Wars fights are entirely silly; you don't turn your back on your opponent for a split instant during a fight. But he thinks they're still kewl.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Those fights were good, but it was still stage fighting. And even the actual duels of the time were constrained by rules of honor that tended to extend the fight and slow down the killing. But on the battlefield in war, if two people with swords really wanted to kill each other, one of them usually succeeded almost at once.
Lightsabers are absurd in a lot of ways, but one is that they are so dang dangerous—they'll cut right through you with no applied force at all. All the blade twirling and such seems as dangerous to the twirler as to his foe. Running with your saber on—you could trip on a rug and cut yourself in half.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
