Thoughts on the ‘Star Wars’ prequels, occasioned by the intergalactic success of the latest film in the franchise.
The hate for the latter-day Star Wars movies understood I never have. That the force was beginning to weaken in George Lucas was evident right from The Return of the Jedi, whose Ewoks, those toy-store-ready furballs, hinted at a creator who’d forsaken filmmaking for the dark side of merchandising. And The Phantom Menace was a bookish bore, overestimating the audience’s interest in the history of galactic lightsabre-rattling… and Jar Jar Binks. And yet, even in the much-maligned prequels, there was always something for Jedi-hard fans. Like this line: So this how liberty dies… With thunderous applause. Even Hayden Christensen’s adolescent petulance has grown on me. I still don’t care much for the performance, but the character was right to be in a perpetual sulk, pulled this way and that by his high midichlorian count the way a teenager might be tortured by hormones. And which fan could resist the operatic rapture of Anakin Skywalker’s death as his twins were born, even as the prequels’ demise took us right back to the birth of the franchise, to the very first Star Wars movie?
Say what you want about the prequels, they’re not lazy cash-in attempts. Of course, Lucas was still making films with an eye on the box office – and beyond. The Yoda costumes for Halloween. The videogames for Christmas. The quote-emblazoned T-shirts for the rest of the year. Forget the now-legendary John Williams score; the real music in the Star Wars series is the ticket counters going ka-ching. But had money been the only concern, Lucas could have done what the directors of the Bond adventures keep doing. He could have kept making the same movie all over again. The Stormtrooper Who Loved Me… Or, On The Emperor’s Secret Service. Instead, Lucas decided to fashion an origin story long before origin stories became fashionable. Only, this wasn’t about a single character, a superhero. It was an origin story for a galaxy.
If Star Wars, in 1977, felt like nothing anyone had seen before, the prequels were equally unique. The first three films were essentially good-versus-evil stories, the narrative stakes clearly set up by the opening crawl. In A New Hope, “It is a period of civil war… Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR… Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people…” In The Empire Strikes Back, “It is a dark time for the Rebellion… A group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth…” In The Return of the Jedi, “Luke Skywalker has returned to Tatooine to rescue Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt… Little does Luke know that the GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly begun construction on a new armored space station…” Simple expositions that lay out the problem and make us sit up for the solution.
In contrast, this is what The Phantom Menace offered up in its opening crawl: “Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo. While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights to settle the conflict….” It was like reaching for the comics section in the newspaper and discovering an editorial on Syria. No popular filmmaker had attempted anything like this. But, in a tragedy that rivals the fate of Anakin Skywalker, Lucas’s storytelling skills did not equal his imagination. The prequels were cold, disconnected, filled with CGI characters no one cared about – Lucas became the architect who designed dazzling structures no human could inhabit. As with Darth Vader, we had to peer through the machine-like exteriors to catch glimpses of humanity.
The Force Awakens doesn’t make that mistake. It is exactly what the prequels weren’t – low on imagination but the storytelling is rock-solid. All Star Wars films stick to a template – from start (opening crawl, stars, planet, glimpse of spaceship) to finish (battle sequences that keep cutting between various places and people) – but director JJ Abrams goes further. The plot is essentially A New Hope shaken and stirred – so indebted to Luke Skywalker’s trajectory is the film that it could be called From Tatooine With Love. Plus, there are cultish nods to the Vader-like figure, the daddy issues, even the gladiatorial chessboard on the Millennium Falcon. Abrams, who is 49, knows the mind of his generation, the first generation of Star Wars fans. He knows that they crave not galactic politics but familiar faces – he brings back Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill. For now, that proves to be enough. The final scene in The Force Awakens centres on a cloak, a hand, a face – there are no lines, none are needed. The real narrative is the one playing out in the memories of the viewers who grew up with these movies.
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2016 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Vanya
January 2, 2016
“Even Hayden Christensen’s adolescent petulance has grown on me. I still don’t care much for the performance, but the character was right to be in a perpetual sulk, pulled this way and that by his high midichlorian count the way a teenager might be tortured by hormones.”
I think Adam Driver’s interpretation of his role illustrates everything that was wrong with Christensen’s portrayal of Anakin. It didn’t help that they made child-Anakin just as whiny and annoying in TPM, which made it seem as though the character himself was deeply flawed as opposed to his disturbing life experiences throwing him off-balance. Sidebar: let us please never again speak of the M word.
Another massive problem with the prequels is what they did to Padme’s character in Revenge of the Sith. If you insist on having only one major female character per trilogy, at least do justice to her personality and history. TFA, for all its flaws, seems to be a massive step in the right direction on that front. crosses fingers
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M_Raghavan
January 2, 2016
I am 51, and was a wide eyed teenager and a naive padawan during the Han Solo days. Star Wars IV, V, VI were defining moments in my life which would later lead to Joseph Campbell, the Power of Myth, and a search for meaning and my own hero’s journey. It is that Star Wars my generation remembers.
Jar Jar Binks be damned.
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Prakash Ram
January 2, 2016
I understand that prequels were awful, but the new one was essentially a remake of New Hope, it really did not take the story in any other direction, like Lucas said “It was too retro” …
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Anu Warrier
January 3, 2016
Please let’s not talk about the prequel. Wasn’t it Attack of the Clones where they had Padme Amidala running through hills and vales with Anakin Skywalker? All it needed was a host of background dancers and a duet for it to be a Hindi movie. (Let’s stipulate that Hollywood really doesn’t know how to do song-and-dance.)
But the original three – which are Episodes IV, V and VI now – in the Star Wars saga were fabulous. And while, yes, they did recycle the plot and even some of the fight scenes, I loved The Force Awakens. It was entertaining; I found myself invested in the fate of Rey and Finn and the Resistance, and I did not approve at all of them killing off Hans Solo. So I think I will be looking forward to the next episode in this epic. 🙂
Glad to have you back, brangan.
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tonks
January 3, 2016
I agree with Vanya about the token female. They get better with each generation : perhaps paralleling women’s emancipation? Princess Leia was better than Padme and Rey was absolutely fantastic (fingers crossed). The best moment for me in the movie was where she discovers her powers and the light sabre comes zooming into her hands after flicking off Kylo Ren’s hand. Another favourite moment was the unexpected entry of Han Solo (damn shame what finally happened to him : he was, for me, one of the best bits of the series) and Chewie into the Falcon.
The first six movies were such a complete story in themselves but now we seem to be left with more questions than answers. An orphan abandoned in a desert land who is a brilliant pilot and strong with the force just simply has to be a Skywalker but if she indeed is Luke’s daughter, why was she left there? Will Finn survive? What made Kylo Ren turn over to the dark side? What re- activated R2D2? Who made the map to find Luke and why? How did Luke’s light sabre get into Maz’s trunk? I guess we will have to see the next movie for the answers. Sigh. Wait for it, we will have to.
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tonks
January 3, 2016
The first seven points, I read about in a post. The rest I thought up on my own 🙂 .
Similarities between Star wars and Harry Potter :
1) Luke Skywalker (Harry Potter) is an orphan living with his uncle and aunt.
2) He is removed from there by bearded Ben Kanobi (Hagrid) and he turns out to be a Jedi knight (wizard)
3) It is revealed to Luke (Harry) that Luke’s (Harry’s) father was a Jedi knight (wizard) too and one of the best Jedis (quidditch player) anyone had ever seen
4) Luke (Harry) is trained to become a Jedi (wizard) using a light sabre (wand)
5) He has many adventures in the galaxy (Hogwarts) after he becomes best friends with Han (Ron) and Leia (Hermionie)
6) He is a gifted pilot (seeker) and makes the direct hit (catch) that secures the Rebel (Griffindor) victory against the dark forces (Slytherin).
7) Luke (Harry) sees off the threat of Darth Vader (Voldemort)
8) Jedis (wizards) have both the dark and the light in them and to some extent can choose what they want to be (the sorting hat wanted to put Harry in Slytherin but Harry resisted)
9) Luke (Harry) and Darth Vader (Voldemort) are connected to each other and can sense each other’s prescence.
10) Luke’s (Harry’s) best friends fall in love with each other.
11) For a brief period, Han (Ron) has the misconception that Leia ( Hermionie) is in love with Luke (Harry)
12) In both stories, the arrival of a ‘chosen one’ is prophesied
13) Both stories have Legilimency (the art of looking into someones mind) that can be shielded with Occlumency.
The scene between Rey and Kylo Ren in SW7 was reminiscent of the scene between Harry and Snape where Snape tries to get into Harry’s mind but Harry instead gets into Snape’s. Kylo Ren even looks like a slightly effeminate Snape :p
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tonks
January 3, 2016
14) And perhaps the Jedis do not actually say “Accio light sabre” (like Harry did to his firebolt during the task with the dragon in the Triwizard tournament), but the light sabre often does behave like it has been summoned.
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venky
January 3, 2016
Minor point of digression on grammar matters: “The hate for the latter-day Star Wars movies understood I never have.”
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tonks
January 3, 2016
Venky : Its obvious that noticed Yoda speak, you never have.
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Vanya
January 3, 2016
@Tonks: The best moment for me was the “I know how to run without you holding my hand” scene. 😀 Btw, I remember seeing an interview where Abrams said that R2 powered on because of BB-8’s presence; he was old and needed time to come back and hence the delay. Not sure if he’s deliberately trying to steer people away from the Rey-as-Luke’s-offspring theories though.
@Tonks, Anu Warrier: years ago, Harrison Ford said in interviews that he had been eager for Solo to be killed off in RotJ. Guess he finally convinced the writers on this one!
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NRJ
January 3, 2016
Though they could have redone the deathstar like climax in more interesting ways, still lovable characters win our hearts.
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KP
January 4, 2016
I am going to say Rey is twin sister of Kylo. It makes sense after father against Son a sibling rivalry.
-KP
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KayKay
January 4, 2016
Eeeeks! Of the Prequel Trilogy, your defence, flabbergasted, it leaves me!
The real tragedy of that debacle was, that it was a rare instance where a mega-budget franchise had ZERO Studio Interference, financed as it was entirely by Lucasfilm , meaning Lucas could craft it exactly the way he intended, without a Kevin Feige or Harvey Weinstein like shadow hovering over his shoulder. Pity then, that old George is a dreadful writer and only a marginally adequate director.
Take the introduction of the justly-reviled midihlorians
So, The Force isn’t just a Higher Awareness State a chosen few can aspire to, but is purely dependent on a certain number of mythical substances found in certain blood types. Which brings it within spitting distance of the “Blood Purity” concept so beloved of Genocidal Regimes everywhere. Couple that with a certain Gungan’s “mesa this” and “mesa that” Ethnic Stereotyping and you can see why being holed up in the Skywalker Ranch and surrounded by Billions in cash and an army of sycophants didn’t do old George’s Racial Sensitivities a whole lot of good.
Then the writing.
Gems like:
Anakin Skywalker: You are so… beautiful.
Padmé: It’s only because I’m so in love.
Anakin Skywalker: No, it’s because I’m so in love with you.
Make me wish I was watching a parody (Revenge of the Shit?) instead of the real thing.
All of which, pales in comparison to Lucas’ biggest misstep: The casting
Who does Lucas choose to portray the complex (by Star Wars standards, that is) role of an idealistic Jedi seduced into the Dark Side to become one of Cinema’s most Iconic Villains, ?
Jake Lloyd, who, because there’s still some semblance of justice in the world, hasn’t had a career since and the terminally whiny Hayden Christiansen, whose evolution into the ultimate Bad Ass Jedi is as difficult to swallow as accepting his barely-broken voice morphing into James Earl Jones’ majestic baritone.
Everything of substance in the Prequel Trilogy could be comfortable squeezed into the last 60mins of Episode 3.
George couldn’t even desist from fucking with the trilogies best scene, which you so rightfully love. After the Operatic birth of Vader, after the first husky wheeze from the helmet, after you get goose pimples from hearing Jones’ Vader say “Yes Master”, what does George have him do? Let out a girly “nooooooooooooo” upon hearing of Padme’s death.
Mission Accomplished, George. Vader Emasculated, Childhood raped. Compared to this, Greedo shooting first is a flea bite.
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venkatesh
January 4, 2016
I have never understood the love for this franchise, pre- , post-, future-quels. The whole mythology is one-step away from The Bold and The Beautiful.
Making this much money, how this thing is, i shall never know.
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KayKay
January 4, 2016
And…. my 2 cents on Episode 7:
Soooo……… how did JJ Abrams, handed the reins to the latest installment of The Most Lucrative Franchise in Cinema History and The Cinematic Event of 2015, presided over by a Corporate Behemoth not known for it’s risk-taking and armed with a Mission Statement to sell a billion more dollars worth of merchandise, with an obsessive,formidable and demanding Fan Base circling around it’s fringes,waiting to pounce at the slightest hint of perceived desecration to their sacred totem, helm this 500 pound Gorilla of Box-Office Juggernauts?
Thankfully, with the same Fanboy reverence, style, verve, flair (and this time, minus the OTHER “flare” he’s equally well known for) and emotion he brought to the excellent Star Trek reboot (yes, I’m well aware there are people who hate it but frankly, they can all Beam the fuck off somewhere far for all I care).
Star Wars: TFA is paced like a rocket, uses a potent mix of practical effects and CGI to deliver thrilling aerial battles, exciting chases and at least 2 sweaty-palmed Light Saber duels while introducing a host of new characters it’s easy to care for while riding the crest of a gigantic Nostalgia Wave in it’s revisiting of old and familiar cast members and props.
The nicest twist Abrams gives his iteration of a familiar Universe is in the depiction of heroes and villains who are essentially, works in progress.
Daisy Ridley’s (a phenomenal debut) Scavenger Rey and John Boyega’s (another standout performance after his amazing debut in the marvelous Attack The Block) turncoat Stormtrooper Finn are nowhere near as cocky or feisty as the young Luke or Leia in Episode 4, 38 years ago, but they’re both possessed of an innate resilience and decency that hints of greatness.
And Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, this series’ villain, forever laboring in the shadows of Darth Vader, is a chilling and menacing presence but is conflicted and often prone to frightening outbursts of rage. It’s a great character.
But as interesting as they are especially to newcomers to this Space Opera, for long time fans it’s the giddy thrill of seeing familiar sights like Chewbacca (still played by Peter Mayhew), C3PO (still voiced by Anthony Daniels), R2D2 and the Millenium Falcon not to mention Carrie Fisher returning as General Leia Organa, her feistiness tempered by age and muted by decades of shouldering the heavy burdens of Command and Leadership. All of which allows Harrison Ford’s Hans Solo to effortlessly steal the movie and walk away with a cocky swagger.
I’ve been annoyed with Ford’s ceaseless regurgitation of his Cranky Curmudgeon in numerous films in the last decade, but he finally cuts loose and inhabits the first of his 2 Iconic Screen Roles with ease. His Solo is older and greyer but still intrepid, daring and frequently irascible and only Ford could imbue this character with the wry cheekiness we’ve grown to love. His scenes with Fisher provide some of the movie’s emotional heft.
As for Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker…. oh, see the damn movie already!
If I have a complaint, it’s that Abrams has crafted a Mega Budget Fan Fiction that hews a little too closely to Episode 4 in some of it’s plot and character beats.
But I really shouldn’t gripe.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the nicest, sweetest apology I could have received for the execrable Phantom Menace, the spurious Attack Of The Clones and the dreary Revenge of The Shit…sorry Sith.
All is forgiven.
The Force is Back.
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KayKay
January 4, 2016
“The whole mythology is one-step away from The Bold and The Beautiful”
Ah, but forget, you must not, that The Bold And The Beautiful has been running for 27 years!
Star Wars arrived at the dawn of the Block Buster Era, rode the cusp of burgeoning advances in special effects and delivered a Space Opera with instantly iconic characters and an irresistible emotional hook: a Father given over to the Dark Side, who is finally redeemed by the selfless actions of his noble Son. C’mon dude! If they were called Hiranyakashippu and Prahlad, you wouldn’t gripe 🙂
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Ravi K
January 5, 2016
Is the Star Wars franchise popular in India? Are there SW fanatics there like there are in the US and other countries? Did those of you who grew up in India see the SW films as kids?
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praneshp
January 5, 2016
Ravi K: I’m 25, and around the time I was 10 or 12 there was a show called Aryamaan (that starred the hero from another popular show called Shaktimaan, also Bheeshma from Mahabharat). When I first watched Star Wars, I realized what a blatant rip-off it was (lightsaber, flying vehicles through space, council, etc).
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Arun
January 5, 2016
@Ravi K I guess I can proudly say I am one of the few that saw the original Star wars trilogy in theatres here in Chennai when it re-released before the prequels. So yeah pretty rabid fan here.
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Abcd Efgh
January 5, 2016
“That the force was beginning to weaken in George Lucas was evident right from The Return of the Jedi, whose Ewoks, those toy-store-ready furballs, hinted at a creator who’d forsaken filmmaking for the dark side of merchandising.”
Many American critics of the 80s felt so but I do not think merchandising has the power to shape storytelling.
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Madan
January 5, 2016
I haven’t even seen the earlier Star Wars films and I didn’t need to, to know that this was the reboot of a 70s franchise. Wasn’t even much of a reboot. Minus 3D, just about everything in the film felt 70s ish. Not too many a new note in John Williams’s score either – could well have been a bot working out algorithms from his vast body of work. Oddly enough, this was part of the reason it worked for me because it was so easy to get into. The Hans Solo-Chewey duo was also the one that worked out best characterisation wise for me though Kylo wasn’t half bad either. So this must be the reason why it’s steamrolling past box office records. A film that I can imagine would be a perfect nostalgia trip for lots of fans of the original series while also not too intimidating for newbs. Not an overwhelming effort but a fairly entertaining one and, as Kay Kay mentioned, very racily narrated so that it keeps one engrossed for its running length.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 5, 2016
KayKay : Is that your 2 cents or a full blown review ? (wish I had the applause whatsapp smiley here :))) Great job !
Ravi K : I saw the first Star wars at Safire theatre when it was first released in 1980. I was 11 years old – the right age to see Star wars for the first time :)) Am I the oldest Star wars fan here or what ? Any contenders ?
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 5, 2016
Oops ! I didnt see M_raghavan here before me. My apologies sir.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 5, 2016
BR – Brilliant, Insightful and Entertaining review of SWTFA. This line was the ultimate “It was like reaching for the comics section in the newspaper and discovering an editorial on Syria.”. Just like watching the original trilogy again, the review stirred me into reading your reviews of the originals. Te saluto !
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tonks
January 5, 2016
Sharing two of my Weird Al favourites here, both with Star wars based lyrics.
The first is the entire story of ‘The Phantom menace’ set to the tune of “American Pie”. Apparently Don McLean once jokingly said that the parody was played so frequently in his house by his children, that he sometimes mixed up its lyrics with the original during concerts.
And the second, called “Yoda”, is a parody of “Lola” (by The Kinks) :
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Prasad
January 6, 2016
On a different topic.
Had a chance to see some of them this year’s golden globe nominees (Maybe oscar nominees also)
The Revenant
Room
Sicario
The Hateful eight
The Martian
Yet to see Carol though!
Somehow feel none of them are in the league of movies of last year like “Whiplash” or ” “Birdman” or even “The Grand Budapest”
Saw Hateful Eight. Even though premise is good I felt it is not QR’s best like “Inglorious…” ” “Django…”
Any comments on this from anybody?
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MANK
January 6, 2016
Prasad, i have seen both the revenant and Hateful eight. reg. Hateful eight, i would say it offers bounties for a new viewer who is not familiar with QT’s work. It is an extremely well written and constructed agatha christie western. But for me – a die hard QT aficionado who has seen all his films multiple times – this doesnt offer much. it is very predictable. Reservoir dogs in the west wit a 3rd act twist straight out of pulp fiction, with characters taken from every qt movie. But still i enjoyed it. i found it very entertaining in the usual QT style. One standout is the fantastic 70 mm photography by robert richardson. super stuff
As for Revenant, i would say its visually astonishing. the digital photography done in natural light is something never seen before and all done in lengthy takes. But for me it was all surface. underneath it was just a routine revenge story. nothing much to chew on. Tom hardy gives an extraordinary performance though.
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Prasad
January 7, 2016
@MANK
Agreed. In “Hateful Eight “When the Last chapter “Four Passengers” was shown anybody would’ve guessed who are they and the movie almost continued for another 30 mins showing the obvious. Now that back to back 2 western from QR time to see new genre next time.
When I saw Revenant, I got the same feeling as I saw “Tree of Life” visual spectacle. But yaah very simplistic revenge drama who has given movies like Babel and Birdman. Poor Di Caprio is maybe has taken this role for Oscar I think.
Are you into TV? Recently finished seeing “Breaking Bad” for the 2nd time. We rave about so many movies, this TV series is just amazing! It looks like any mainstream Hollywood movie with amazing acting and drama. It’s a tour de force from Gilligan and Bryan Cranston.
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Mambazha Manidhan
January 8, 2016
Did anybody say Star Wars?
Mani did it! Way back in 1990
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 8, 2016
Mambazha Manidhan – Thanks. The source was from a book on Goerge Lucas’ company ILM’s (Industrial Light & Magic) work on Special effects. Good attempt but after seeing the original work its like watching a plasticine model floating in slow motion – not very exciting. In fact the book – ILM is also featured in the movie in the scene in which Raghuvaran reads a bedtime scary story to his children.
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Ravi K
January 9, 2016
“Staar Vaars!”
“Arima Arima” from Enthiran has a bit where Rajini uses a lightsaber to take down a bunch of Stormtrooper-like people.
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tonks
January 9, 2016
Great links. I remember absolutely loving that song with Star wars imagery from Anjaly when I saw it in the theater way back when it was released (even though the special effects do seem a little tacky now.)
If we are sharing Star wars references, let me post here the hilarious episode of Friends featuring Ross’s “Princess Leia gold bikini fantasy” :
(Still posting incognito, Venkatesh)
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tonks
January 9, 2016
Its not just the light sabre, all those robots in Enthiran are very like the clones shown in ‘Star Wars : Attack of the Clones’.
I watched Enthiran in a theatre, the only adult shepherding six children because we had been told they would enjoy the special effects. The youngest was my then four- year- old nephew who was on his first outing without his mother. He started crying for her during the interval because the movie scared him and had to be pacified with ice cream so we could continue watching.
It was my first Rajini movie in a long, long time so I was quite unprepared for the sexism that made me want to shield my companions’ impressionable ears. I wish I could show them all “The force awakens” to compensate.
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Ravi K
January 10, 2016
Tonks wrote: “It was my first Rajini movie in a long, long time so I was quite unprepared for the sexism that made me want to shield my companions’ impressionable ears.”
That’s Shankar for you. Same old regressive ideas in modern CGI-laden packaging.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 10, 2016
Friends – Here’s an account of what it felt like to see STAR WARS the very FIRST time it was let loose in Madras on an unsuspecting public in 1979.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 17, 2016
Alas ! Had to Miss this one in the theatre. Would never do to tempt the offspring into watching movies when 12th board model exams are on….. 😦
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