Tag: Prequels

Analysis6 Comments

Practical and CGI … what does that even mean?

Rogue 47

A discussion that rages through the fan community since the early days after the premiere of The Phantom Menace is that about the use of practical vs. cgi effects. Often these are discussions about whether one has been used too much in the prequels or the other too little before they descent into counting ‘numbers of practical vs cgi effects. Or they are arguments about why practical effects are ‘real’ and cgi is ‘fake’. In all practicality of course this distinction is not as straightforward as it seems and as a result the discussion are often riddled with inconsistent argumentation and barely disguised ‘taste’ being represented as ‘fact’. So I want to look at a slightly different question! Practical vs CGI: what does that even mean? Continue reading “Practical and CGI … what does that even mean?”

Analysis12 Comments

Lloyd & Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker

Rogue 47

I want to share my thoughts with you on the acting in the prequel trilogy, in particular that of Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen in their roles as Anakin Skywalker. This is a controversial issue and the media have been, and still are, full with statements that start with ‘wooden acting’ and end with ‘horrible dialogue’ or in reverse order. Some blame it on the actors, some blame it squarely on the director. Many, friendlier, voices can be heard saying that the acting in the Original Trilogy was similar and that this is simply ‘Star Wars’. I want to shed a different light on this, focussing on the portrayal of Anakin. Continue reading “Lloyd & Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker”

Discussion3 Comments

Boba Fett, the motherless orphan.

Rogue 47

For ‘a generation of Star Wars fans’ Boba Fett was the archetypal bounty hunter, except of course for the fact that he wasn’t. Just like Anakin Skywalker did not turn out to be the stereotype bad-ass that some original trilogy fans were expecting, also Boba Fett turned out to have a much more complicated back story. In view of the fact that we may very well be getting a Boba Fett anthology film, let us take a slightly closer look at this character. Continue reading “Boba Fett, the motherless orphan.”

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Starwars and VE-Day: Some Thoughts

Rogue 47

tumblr_m4ry8rLKgZ1rprxkro1_1280The WW2 narrative and Star Wars

From the very first instalment of Star Wars in A New Hope there has always been a clear link between its narrative and the history of Twentieth Century Europe. On the one hand there was Lucas’ deliberate use of Leni Riefenstahl‘s cinematography, as exemplified in her Nazi-propaganda film ‘Triumpf des Willens’, in depicting the Imperial menace. The shots of Imperial Shuttles landing in areas with large numbers of perfectly aligned storm troopers conveyed the sense of total control that the Empire sought to exert on its subjects. The mere facts that Imperial Officers were dressed pretty much like Nazi-officers and that Imperial soldiers were called ‘storm troopers’, a word that in the Anglo-Saxon world is almost exclusively connected with the Third Reich, already provided enough reason to consider the connections. But what stood out for me was that my parents, WW2 survivors, immediately recognised the Empire as a reference to the forces of oppression that had created such havoc in their lives and throughout Europe. The 70th anniversary of VE-Day seems an excellent moment to reflect upon this.

Continue reading “Starwars and VE-Day: Some Thoughts”

Analysis6 Comments
Ahmed Best and Jake Lloyd

Parallel Lives: Jar Jar and Anakin

Rogue 47

When George Lucas made the choice to start the Prequel Trilogy with Anakin Skywalker as a kid and to include Jar Jar Binks as a character he must have had an inkling of what was coming. But he must have made this choice deliberately because of its story-telling value. In this post I want to have a look at how intimately the stories of these two great characters are entangled and how they mirror each other. Unwittingly, in their joint rejection of these two, the prequel-bashing community not only misses out on a vital element of the story Lucas tried to convey. But above all they confirm the message that is in Jar Jar and Anakin’s story for those who did make the effort to recognize it.

Continue reading “Parallel Lives: Jar Jar and Anakin”