Red Five

Kottke asks, "which order will you show him/her the six Star Wars movies?"

I think there was a thread on this very subject on TheForce.net a while back. The conventional wisdom is to show them in the order of original release: 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3.

Though most of Kottke's commenters prefer: 4, 5, 6, without showing 1, 2, 3. :)

If I recall from the TF.N debate, Star Wars fandom was pretty evenly divided (between 123456 and 456123). However, there were a few unconventional suggestions that I really liked, one of which was spotted on Kottke's post: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6.

You have to preserve Vader's reveal to Luke in "Empire". I think you should end with Anakin's redemption in "Jedi." Plus, as much as I like "Sith," it's a downer way to end the series.

So, I too have been feverishly debating this with myself as our kids get closer to Star Wars-viewing age. For now, my plan is 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6, but I can see good arguments for the alternatives. What do you think?

Posted by Roger at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Star Wars duo voted top 'love duds'

Star Wars duo Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen have been voted the movie couple with the most unconvincing on-screen chemistry.

It's a pretty remarkable achievement, beating out Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman and Ben Affleck/anyone.

Posted by Roger at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are the changes I would have made to C-3PO's story in the PT:

1. When we first meet him, he is just an anonymous protocol droid serving in the Senate delegation from Naboo (under Palpatine). This would be a nice parallel to R2's origins, and it would allow us to see him "in action."
2. As a corollary to #1, give him something to do! In the OT, he's translating and interfacing between people. And in doing so, there is the natural chance for some comic relief. In the PT, he doesn't have anything "to do," so attempts at comic relief are forced upon him.
3. Also, if he is the translator for Naboo senators, that would allow for his friendship with R2 to mature organically, since R2 is Padme's (then Anakin's) droid.
4. No head-swapping-battle-droid crap.

I also wish there were a way around the whole "memory erase" thing, but I'm afraid there is not. I really like the idea of R2 and 3PO meeting on Coruscant for the first time (after Queen Amidala flees Naboo), and then remaining friends until the end. But, I can't think of anyway to have him actively participate in the PT and keep any measure of plausibility and character in the OT unless he gets "rebooted."

Posted by Roger at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I wish that R2's "hero" scene in Attack of the Clones was better. Really, the only thing he did in the whole movie was save Padme from molten steel in the droid foundry, and that felt really tacked-on. It was like, "whoops, we forgot the R2-saves-the-day moment, better come up with one quick." Plus the fact that it was our introduction to his (controversial) rocket boosters made it all the more suspect.

I have an idea for how to make it better, but I think that post will need to wait for another day.

Posted by Roger at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)