My cat sitting stint is almost through. Today I'm watching my Star Wars movies on the big tv.
I haven't watched them in years. You know... if you could only fix one element to make episodes 1-3 better, you would only have to fix the dialogue. I mean, the midichlorians could go, and there's all those weird cultural appropriations (that is to say, the racism). But the main problem is the stilted dialogue. Even the Jar Jar problem would be fixed by dialogue--he just talks too damn much. Fixing the dialogue wouldn't even be that hard, it's just stiff. It just needs a few words dropped or replaced to make it flow better.
The action scenes are still fantastic. In movie 1 -- the initial Trade Federation fight scene, the pod race, and the final battle are all great. I'm now on movie 2 and the entire ending of the movie, from Shmi's death onward is riveting. The effects are great, the creatures, the costumes, the music, the ships, the worlds--they're all awesome. If only someone could have snuck a script doctor in behind Lucas' back.
Which is funny, because Harrison Ford famously mocked* the crappy dialogue in the original Star Wars. But at least Lucas was small fry enough that other people were probably able to change the dialogue on him... and he didn't write the screenplays for Empire and Return. God knows why he took up the pen again for 1-3.
Little Suzy just jumped up beside me, and she rarely does cause she's a big scaredy. Means it's "feeeed me sooofties!!!" time. Then I'll start movie 3...
And by the time we reach movies 4-6 it should be dark outside and we'll be at Top Movie Watching Experience time.
*"You can write this stuff but you can't make me say it."
(Art by Katie Cookie.]
