I have a new tradition on nights when my wife is on call: grade assignments and watch shows/movies she would never, ever watch. This is actually just a slight variant on my pre-teaching tradition where I would do the same thing sans grading papers, but whatever.
Last weeks viewing was one that had been on my list for a while: Fanboys. At the core, it’s a fairly typical dude road trip story. But the endearing twist comes with the fact that the main characters are huge Star Wars fans who are journeying to Skywalker Ranch to break in and watch Episode I: The Phantom Menace before it is released in theaters. So yeah. That movie was clearly going to shoot straight to the top of my “Must See” list.
I probably liked the movie more than most people. It was funny. It was dorky. It had tons of great Star Wars references. The portrayal of the Star Wars v. Star Trek rivalry was hilarious. There were a handful of cameos that added a lot to the film. I had my own personal giggle-fest throughout the evening.
And yet, it’s not a film I’ll be adding to my library. As much as I enjoyed most of it, I was really put off by a strand of gay jokes that ran through the film (and one egregious scene, in particular). The whole thing was just very American Pie-esque and seemed like a cheap ploy to garner a few extra viewers by appealing to the lowest common denominator. But ultimately, the film was so wrapped up in Star Wars geekdom that it was never going to appeal to a mass audience. It was always going to be a film for Star Wars Fans. That’s not necicarily a bad thing in that there are a lot of Star Wars fans out there, and we are enthusiastic about the culture. In the end, those jokes and that one scene just dumbed the movie down and took away from the smart vibe it had going on.
So when the movie ends the characters are about to watch Episode I for the first time, and they essentially fade to black as one of the characters asks what they will do if the movie really [stinks]. It gave me a chuckle, because I’ve been filled with quite a bit of Episode I hate as of late.
But then I fire up my phone to check the Twitter and, lo and behold, what awaits me? A bunch of tweets about how George Lucas announced the release of all six Star Wars films in 3D starting in 2012. With Episode I. And apparently this announcement dropped as I was watching Fanboys.
Creepy. But coincidence? I think not. In fact, I think it was providentially ordained to give me the opportunity to flow this post into a soapbox about how I feel about the issue. And that liberty I shall take…
The last few weeks have been a microcosm of conflicting emotion regarding George Lucas and the Star Wars saga. He’s releasing all six films on Blu-ray, but only the special editions of the original Trilogy. Adding insult to injury, we don’t even have a proper version of the non-special editions released on DVD. And now we have to wait until 2014 to see special edition Episode IV in 3D. The whole thing is just kinda “meh”. Will I go see the films? Well, duh. And probably at midnight, because that’s how I roll. And while it will be exhilarating to see the giant yellow type floating upward into the deepest reaches of space, it will also be frustrating that hardcore fans can’t see the films we really want to see in the way we want to see them.
But you know what? George made the movies so George can do whatever he wants with them. For better or for worse, that’s his right. Unfortunately, he seems to be compounding worse.
Renew and Restore
