Contrasting Episodes 1-3 with Episode 4-6 of the Stars Wars universe

[tempestuously]

Where's Loveless 8, bitches? And Loveless bitches need to stop snarking on Arin's translations. Suck makes BIG mistakes too. Snobs.

Thanks to quebelly, I ended up watching all of the new trilogy (episodes 1-3) again. Then I borrowed 4-6 so I could conclude my marathon at home, where my father joined in. It was a fun experience because besides pointing out nitpicky things like which were the added scenes, why the light sabers weren't really dimensional, and how they did fights/monsters without a whole lot of CG there were also great opportunities to nail the plot indescrepancies. Though I miss the one about Leia speaking about knowing her mother and remembering her as sad, I think I got the others. So any brave defenders of the new trilogy wish to take these on? ^_^


1. Why the hell did they let Luke keep the high profile name of Skywalker if they were trying to protect him from his father? Vader figures out who Luke is as soon as they start plastering information about the heroic young Luke Skywalker all over the galaxy. Smart move, Kenobi.

2. Notice how early Vader mentions that the Emperor disolved the Senate. Since all we see in the new trilogy is the Senate, I found this a powerful line.

3. Should practically all the of old guard know C-3PO and R2D2? I understand that 3PO wouldn't know them, but half of them seem damn near senile and it's only been about 20 years.

4. Kenobi says that Anakin wanted Luke to have his lightsaber. I guess he must have been making a few assumptions. He did at least pick up the lightsaber from the last time he saw Anakin. I was wondering why they kept Anakin's lightsaber blue throughout Sith, even when he turned to the Dark Side. It was to fit this moment in "A New Hope." Lucas also did a nice job of working in the "Your father was a great pilot long before I knew him" and "I took it upon myself to train him." Clever with the pod racing and the promise to Qui Gon.

5. Notice that when Luke loses his "parents," *he* doesn't go on a mad killing spree. These are the times that I'm glad Luke is a bit wimpy. Though, he does resolve to do something about it by helping the Rebellion.

6. How come Kenobi required training to learn to commune with Qui Gon but was able to reach Luke without Luke having any clue of how to speak with the dead? Speaking on that, the first time Kenobi used this abiity was when Luke was shooting through the tunnels of the Death Star. By all reason, the boy should have freaked out at the sound of the voice and crashed into the sides of the space station. No way would Luke ever be able to accept that sort of supernatural business so easily.

7. The fight between Kenobi and Vader seems so much more gay now. It's like Kenobi didn't want to be killed by anyone but his old apprentice. How touching.

8. Kenobi tells Luke in "Empire" that Yoda trained him. Sorry, can't really get much justification at all for this from the new trilogy, and Lucas should have watched that error more carefully. I think it would have been wiser to just make Kenobi and Qui Gon partners, where at the end Kenobi would accept Anakin in the name of his old friend. The part just makes me scream out "LIAR!" at Kenobi every time he mentions it.

9. I thought Darth Vader grew out of his bitchiness, but we always seem him flipping out and killing people whenever questioned so his temper is just as short as ever. At least he no longer thinks he's superior to everyone.

10. The greatest difference between the male Skywalkers: Anakin's train of thought is "I CAN do anything," while Luke's train of thought is "I CAN'T do anything."

11. I love how Kenobi and Yoda argue about how Luke is too old to train. Damn, if 9-yr-old Anakin was too old to train, 20-year-old Luke must be screwed.

12. I think Yoda went senile from hanging in the swamp too long. His laugh is creepy. I'll accept that he doesn't remember R2D2. Though it's also possible he might have not had any interaction with him.

13. You think Yoda would have learned by now that you can't tell Skywalkers to just accept the future and the loss of their loved ones. It just causes badness for everyone. You have to chain those boys to the ground! And beat them with sticks.

14. Yoda's "There is another" comment to Kenobi's "That boy is our last hope" now seems completely worthless since Kenobi knows. He was there. Another thing Lucas should have looked into being careful with. Possibly not have Kenobi at the birth. And have Yoda only tell Kenobi of one baby. I don't know.

15. I've noticed Vader is still as protective of his family as ever. As soon as he learns Luke is his son, he's a whole lot less eager to kill him. He's still under the whip of the Emperor, but he questions it more. I found this really sweet. His "He's just a boy" and "He could be a powerful ally." I also think that his fear of the carbon freezing possibly killing its host was less of a matter of injuring the Emperor's prize and more of endangering his son.

16. On this note, Luke's cornball "You won't turn me over to the Emperor. There's good in you" rambles seem much more emotional, as well as do Vader's reactions. That's one thing the new trilogy did give me. Luke is still a doofus, but now I know he gets that arrogance and refusal to back down from his daddy. He also gets his short temper from his Dad as he freaks out when emotionally riled.

17. The scene where Vader must decide between his son and the Emperor is a perfect allusion to Anakin's decision between the Jedi (Mace Windu) and the Emperor. It's like Vader sees this as a chance to make the right choice this time. Though how in the hell did he pick of the Emperor with only one hand? Oh and Vader looks *really* good, considering what happened to his face at the end of "Sith."

18. Sorry the addition of Hayden's version of Anakin to the end of "Jedi" makes no sense since Guiness' Kenobi is still there. Why keep old Kenobi but toss in young Anakin? If they wanted to do that, they should have tossed in McGregor as well. It just irks me.

19. I still say that Luke and Leia have more chemistry than Amidala and Anakin. By the way, why didn't he ever call her by her real name when they were alone? He always called her Padme. That pissed me off. Back on Leia, her "Hold me" line to Han after she learns Luke is her brother seemed appropriate, while Amidala's "Hold me" to Anakin after he's shown her that he's going quite insane seemed suicidal. For the life of me, I don't know where Leia got her brains. I know she got her temper/bitchitude from daddy dearest. To tell the truth, Leia is more Anakin than Luke. That amuses me. Luke is very trusting, like his dumbass mother.

20. I don't believe Luke is the last Jedi and has to wait around to find a woman or until Han and Leia get busy before he can perpetuate the line. There's no way the Empire and Anakin wiped out everyone. There are always stragglers. I think the Star Wars books deal with this idea and it makes more sense since you have to have a certain latent power to have Jedi potential in the first place. I think Luke's got to get off his ass and go look for some. I do love how he runs around calling himself a "Jedi Knight" to Jabba when he's technically still a Padawan. And if Luke's the last, does that also mean he's an automatic Master? Ooooh, Daddy would have been pissed.

*Star Wars theme plays*

Saw a bunch of scary zombie movies. "Dawn of the Dead" will give me nightmares for days probably. Oh and Dana started up her Dark Shadows on me again. I was more interested than usual. I think I'm coming down with something. =P

Is it bad that I consider people who support the notion of Kishimoto killing off Gaara the same angst-lovers who were POSITIVE Naruto was dead at the end of the Sasuke fight. -_- Why do people think it's such a bold move of a writer to kill off a major character? I think it's the easy way out sometimes. It's more challenging to find a way to save them and then find a way to make their survivial matter. I really see no way how Gaara's death would advance the storyline, besides pissing off Naruto, and he's already pissed enough about his boyfriend.

Got books too. "Vampire Hunter D" and "The Count of Monte Cristo." Yay, Nayami might read again.

Oh and because I feel like being an ass, Anakin/Amidala supporting icons disturb me because that is not a healthy relationship. Anakin is unstable and Amidala is an enabler. I pity them, and damn if I'm going to proclaim the beauty of their love in icon form.

Comments

[crowphoenix.livejournal.com]

6) Luke actually hears Ben once before that I believe, when the dead man commands Luke to get the hell on the Falcon and get out of that ship. He kinda jumps at that, but he's probably willing to accept that Ben can do weird shit, especially after watching him mind control people.

Now onto the Jedi line thing, at least in the Old Republic, it was considered Illegal for Jedi's to mate because it made their offspring much more powerful then they should be making them more temptable by the dark side. If this is the case in the New Republic, then what anakin did with Padme was against the Jedi code. It is also this way, because the force simply springs up in people and will be fine after the force heals itself.

It's been a while since I watched the second two, by that I mean Empire and Return, and I haven't fully seen Clones and it's been awhile since Phantom and Kotor one, so i may be a little off, but that's what I remember.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Good point on #6. I forgot that he does first hear Kenobi when he's telling him to stop freaking out and get on the Falcon. That would explain him being a little less weirded out with hearing it while flying. I still think it was way risky. I know I would have smashed into the Death Star.

See, that no mating rule sounds retarded to me because how else are you going to perpetuate the line. Do they have to just wait around for some force-sensitive person to pop up? I get it, but it sounds dodgy.

[rackhamrose.livejournal.com]

On #6: Maybe through learning to commune with the dead, Obi-Wan learned how to do it from both sides. I sort of assumed that after, you know, the massive carnage that was going on, Obi-Wan was pretty damn aware of his own mortality, and wanted to be prepared for anything.

On #12: Did Yoda ever say he didn't remember R2? I don't recall him ever being like "whee, new droid of model I have not seen!", but. Again, I'm assuming that R2's memory was also wiped/fried/mailbombed sometime during those twenty years between OldSchool!Trilogy and NewSchool!Trilogy.

On #14: Maybe Obi-Wan was jumping to conclusions and going "well, see, Leia was raised to be a diplomat, and the situation with Vader is going to require much more of a warrior". Not so much "but she's a girl" as "but she was raised by hippie pacifists from Alderaan". But then I guess he wasn't monitoring Leia as closely as he was Luke, or he would have known that Leia can be one hell of a spitfire.

On #19: Wasn't Amidala her queen-type title, and Padme her real name? I think I remember reading that somewhere, but I could be wrong, since I'm not the world's biggest fan of the novels anymore.

In general: Anakin/Amidala could have been this fantastic, tragic OTP, and Lucas totally missed the boat on letting it live up to its full potential in about a dozen ways. I'm kind of curious as to how the novelisations portray them, but at the same time I'm a little hesitant to get involved, since the Star Wars books... I have issues with them and that's really as far into that can of worms as I want to go.

But I totally agree about the addition of Christiansen to the end of "Jedi". I mean, WTF? HE WASN'T 20 FOREVER, DUDE.

[crowphoenix.livejournal.com]

14) Maybe he was thinking that since Leia was more emotionally angry then Luke, then she might go the way of Vader and go all Sith on everyone. And since Luke, though being a doof and a little angry at times, is mostly emotionally subdued and not prone to thoughts of granduer, which is more fitting with a Jedi's training.

[winter]

I don't think R2 ever saw Yoda, and even if so, what would he do? Go "beep, beep" in a different way? Though one can take his reaction at the Jedi training to mean familiarity with it - I bet Anakin levitated him out of tight spots often.

As for the ROTS novelization, it shows Anakin and Padmé growing apart bigtime, with her basically choosing the Republic over him (via establishing the Rebellion) and him alternating between psychotic obsession and psychotic jealousy. Not terribly OTPish, but then I always saw that pairing as being Anakin-works-out-his-issues versus Padme-falls-for-hot-blond anyway...

[nayami.livejournal.com]

That makes sense for #6 but I still don't get how it was able to reach Luke so easily. People say that Luke was an extremely force-sensitive guy but you still have to know how to tap into that power to use it. I continue to see it as a boo-boo on Lucas' part.

Your answer for #14 makes sense. I always interpreted it as Kenobi didn't know of Leia's existance and I still think it was intended that way. But the thought that he just may not have held much faith in Leia's abilities is a neat way of fitting it into the current continuum.

Thank you for explaining #19 to me. I never thought about it that way. I guess I wasn't used to the whole separate name thing and always thought that Padme was just her secret name when she was posing as a servant.

I used to read the Star Wars books, but I fell out of it. I hear they aren't going very well lately. I can't remember much just Mara Jade and one of Han's children losing a limb in a training exercise.

[lespionage.livejournal.com]

that neighourhood at the beginning of dawn of the dead, I used to live there.
they do the birdseye view and you see the old fleamarket I used to go to as a kid.

[catystorm.livejournal.com]

These answers are hazy, I haven't watched the original movies in over a year. :/

1. Well, for the first 18-20 years (however old Luke was when he got off that rock), Skywalker wasn't a low profile name, and really ... only after blowing the Death Star would his name have been anywhere. At that point he's already begun his training and he's underground with the Rebellion, so it's rather a moot point.

2. I always thought that was a powerful line, but Episode IV has always been my favorite.

3. There really aren't many of the "old guard" left ... do you remember Vader encountering the droids in the movie? Obi-wan only said "I don't remember ever owning a droid, and both R2 units and protocol droids are very common.

4. That was some nice wrapping up in that bit, save for the being a pilot on a spice freightor. Whoops.

5. Also, at that point, Luke doesn't have any power to corrupt him. Although, I'm sure he does go with Obi-wan with the thought of vengence in mind... he knew Stormtroopers did the deed, and joining the Rebellion would mean he'd get to blow some up.

6. Well, if Qui-gon was able to talk to Obi-wan, why wouldn't he be able to teach Obi-wan how to do it himself? Luke is a very powerful Jedi, so being able to communicate with the dead really isn't that much of a leap. Obi-wan started him on "hearing astral voices" almost right away. XD

7. Yeah, that fight was very... pathetic, in retrospect. *sigh*

8. Yoda did train Obi-wan... Yoda trained the younglings. Remember, I think it was in Episode II? There was a scene where he was instructing younglings. So Yoda probably trained Obi-wan when young, and when he became a padawan he was partnered with Qui-gon.

11. Amen. The whole "having to take them away from their families when they're uber-young" bit really pissed me off, but hey. :/

12. Well, try living in solitude for 20 years. *shudders* Senile, or just batshit insane?

13. You can't blame him for trying, though. "Maybe this one will be differ---well shit."

14. Not necessarily ... Kenobi does know that there is another, but he didn't necessarily know that Leia would be Force-sensitive as well. Of course, he could only be focused on Luke and thought maybe that Leia was on Alderaan when it blew up? *is grasping at straws now XD*

17. Twenty years to heal, though. Dude, he totally used to Force to pick up the Emperor. You're just not seeing it. ^_~ I really, really liked the parallel between the first fight at the beginning of Sith and Luke and Vader's duel. That was really really REALLY frikkin cool.

18. Honestly! That pissed me off when I heard about it the FIRST time! Poor Sebastian Shaw, getting cut out like that. *waves fist in the air* This is why I will ALWAYS treasure my pre-Special Edition videotapes. Before Lucas could gussy it up. *is cross*

19. I thought Padme was her real name, and Amidala was the name she used as a politician? *honestly has no idea*

As for 20, that is where the books come into play. Force-sensitive people are everywhere, but they don't often know they are Force-sensitive and need training. Luke's really rather busy during the movies, but afterwards he does go looking for others. Establishes a Jedi Academy, too. :D I really rather like the post-movies universe, it's a lot of fun. Up until that recent arc in the books that killed off way too many characters. :/

*sighs nostalgically* SW was my first true fandom. Man, I read "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" waaaay back in the sixth grade. *feels old, now*

[nayami.livejournal.com]

You make a point with #1, but it was still a bad move. You know just in case Luke ever wanted to do anything with his life.

I thought about the way Kenobi phrased his unfamiliarity with R2 in "A New Hope." I'm leaning toward deceit on his part. I also considered the mass productions of the R2 units, but I think R2D2 would be fairly specific. I was more referring to mean old Yoda swatting R2 in the swamps when R2 tries to keep Luke's stuff from him. Crazy old Yoda. You know, I also think R2 treated Anakin with more respect than Luke. I think him and Anakin had more of a connection. R2 likes to tease Luke a lot more. Or as my brother put it, R2 might just have had his fill of Jedis, considering how they tend to go crazy on him. XD

Good point for #5. I just like to pick on Anakin for being a nut.

I know Luke is powerful but he's not as tuned into his powers so I still have trouble seeing how Kenobi would reach him. Then again, Kenobi is a very powerful Jedi at this point himself.

17. Twenty years to heal. LOL. You're killing me.^^ I didn't think of the parallel between Luke and Vader and Anakin and Dooku, seeing as both times the dumbass was protecting the Emperor. Nice catch!

I remember reading about his cute, little Jedi Academy. But I'm not fancying what I'm hearing about offing so many characters. I just hope it doesn't off my Han. ;_;

[fluffymaru.livejournal.com]

18. Sorry the addition of Hayden's version of Anakin to the end of "Jedi" makes no sense since Guiness' Kenobi is still there. Why keep old Kenobi but toss in young Anakin? If they wanted to do that, they should have tossed in McGregor as well. It just irks me.

I *think* the point was that he was returning to a time when he was a JEDI, not a Sith. Of course, he went good again at the end, so you could claim that he was no longer sith at that point, as well.

Not that I'm trying to defend Lucas or anything...God knows...

[nayami.livejournal.com]

You know Lucas was just being an ass. XD

[http://users.livejournal.com/_argustar/]

Fascinating list of contrasts with the Original and New Star Wars Trilogies . . . ditto your Naruto musings.

Now get your cute little self onto AIM so we can talk about this "in person," eh? ^_^

[crowphoenix.livejournal.com]

agreed. ^_^

[fiore777.livejournal.com]

James absolutely loves zombie-related things, they scare the crap out of me. Though Shawn of the Dead was funny, I recommend that XD