Star Wars
I was very reluctant to see Star Wars: Special Edition mainly because I was in protest. I really hated all the publicity that the movie was getting, while other movies were just ignored. I know Independence Day had a lot of publicity, but not as much as Star Wars, which now has toys almost everywhere, at almost all fast food restaurants. For me, I would rather see the publicity and hype spent on a really good, Oscar winning motion picture. I realize that Star Wars is excellent and superior to most movies these days, but since it came out in 1977, give other movies a chance.
Now that I have said that, I shall put that aside to talk just about this movie. Star Wars is one of the best series that has ever been made. The first of the series, Star Wars, begins the series with a bang. For me, the Special Edition was my chance to see it in theaters... somewhere I thought I would never see it again. Not only that, but I saw a lot of better effects and new scenes. A lot of people complained that some of the effects, like the light saber, should have been updated. But I think that they are fine the way they are, and shouldn't be improved. Some people also wonder why the scene with Jabba was in there. The answer is simple: it was originally supposed to be in the movie, but it was cut because of lack of special effect capabilities back then.
With the new technology these days, they were able to do a lot of the things that they had always wanted, but never were able to do. With all that aside, Star Wars is not just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill science fiction movie. I must admit that there are many terrific ideas that are ruined from bad judgment (one of which is the last two-thirds of ID4, although it was still a good movie). In fact, I'm going to pick on ID4 a little here. I really wonder what they were thinking for the last two-thirds of that movie. The beginning was some of the best sci-fi movie making ever, building with suspense and tension, and then exploding with the terrific destruction scene. Then they ruined it by letting humanity win. Should've let the aliens just destroy us instead of using the stupid plot twist of planting a virus into the mother ship.
Star Wars, on the other hand, is a very smart movie. The action is incredible, the characters is fully developed, and the special effects are terrific. Star Wars begins with a summary of what has happened with the Empire (from the first three episodes, which will be filmed ongoing into the next century). We then see Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) trying to escape from a looming, giant ship. On board with her are two mechanical beings, C3-PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker (I)). The Princess records a message and puts it in R2-D2, along with the plans of the Empire's newest weapon, the Death Star. The Death Star is a gigantic ship that can destroy a single planet with one blast of its powerful weapon.
C3-PO and R2-D2 escape through an escape pod and land on the planet below. There, they wander off in different directions and happen upon Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). I really don't want to discuss the entire plot in detail, and you probably don't want to hear about it again, so I won't. I'm just going to say that it ends up as Skywalker and the rest of the Rebel Forces have to fight and destroy the Death Star before it destroys the planet which houses the rest of the Rebel Army. I, nor anyone else, can give the experience of Star Wars in words. It's a wonderfully visual movie with lots of things to please the eye, especially now after the renewing.
But for a good sci-fi movie to work, it has to have good actors (ID4 suffered from this). Mark Hamill is terrific as the young, but brave Luke Skywalker. However, I wonder what has happened to him since this movie (is he the same guy as in Summer School? I think I'll find out after I write this review). Now, Harrison Ford on the other hand, is seen every these days. Harrison Ford plays Han Solo, the greedy pilot who, with his friend Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew (II)), helps Luke Skywalker along his way. Carrie Fisher is partly the essence of Star Wars. Her character is one of the most entertaining that I have seen. She doesn't have as big a part as Luke or Han, but it's a very good performance. I can't really say about Darth Vader. His voice is none other than James Earl Jones, but his body was David Prowse. I must say that Darth Vader is possibly the best villain ever created. If you ask someone to name a famous villain in movies, you'll probably get Darth Vader. But with all these great and almost over-the-top performances, one remains down-to-earth (if that is the right phrase) and played out powerfully by NOT going over the top. And that is Alec Guinness, who got an Oscar nomination for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi. His performance was the best of all the performances.
Star Wars is rated PG. Nothing really offensive, except for some violence, and a tiny bit of brief language (you don't see that these days anymore). You think that with a movie like this, the visual effects and originality is the best thing about it. But the performances are the highlight and the characters they play are truly inspiring (inspiring many spoofs in MANY future movies). I've said it a hundred times, and I'll say it again: You just can't find sci-fi movies like this anymore.