Who is the most overrated character in all of Star Wars?

[pickard]

Of course the physicality is limited-- it's an old man versus a bodybuilder who can't see correctly in a mask (& suit for that matter) that's very restrictive!

I wish people in this Michael Bay/MTV infused world would stop asking that every movie have Matrix-like special effects or Nicholas Cage with his free flowing mullet blowing in the breeze as he escapes from the massive fireball---

The ANH fight is iconic--- poetic--- and incredily moving. That big black &$## just killed Ben! Shoot the door, kid! He's advancing ominously--- after stomping on the old dirt encrusted robe first... Why do we need Vader to flip over Obi-Wan's head to which the old hermit does the splits and slices his lightsaber in a 180 before leaping up and going all karate kid?

This is why movies are no longer released with two characters seated somewhere talking with no camera cuts or flashbacks mixed in--- our attention spans couldn't handle it!!!

Every lightsaber fight is great for who is involved and what it is, but to downgrade the first and greatest simply because the two adversaries weren't hopped up on acid or rejects from a Jet-Li film is wrong (in my opinion)...

It was awesome when I sat in a darkened theatre 30 years ago and it's awesome every time I watch it now--- even though movie making techniques have gone futuristic to the extreme. Why is the OT better than the PT (and by the way, I love the PT)? Too many computers/fake people and not enough stuffy English actors walking down actual corridors with model parts glued to them to make them look spacey... That's real SW. And it always will be--- no matter how visually stunning the PT is and future projects will be.

Editorial--- over.

Your opinion is valid, DN.

No one can discount the dialogue, the performance by Guinness, the sacrifice by Kenobi, or its importance as a story point. And I don't think anyone was trying to.

In my opinion, the fight is tame, physically. We can come up with story reasons for it, but ultimately it comes down to real-world physical constraints. By Empire, it had already been surpassed physically, and I was merely pointing out that it's not the PT that did that.

As to all your other points about movies nowadays, I think you're painting with a pretty broad brush and overgeneralizing both today's filmmakers and today's audiences. There's truth in what you say, but it's not 100% to the level you say.

 

[DarthNeil]

Your opinion is valid, DN.

No one can discount the dialogue, the performance by Guinness, the sacrifice by Kenobi, or its importance as a story point. And I don't think anyone was trying to.

In my opinion, the fight is tame, physically. We can come up with story reasons for it, but ultimately it comes down to real-world physical constraints. By Empire, it had already been surpassed physically, and I was merely pointing out that it's not the PT that did that.

As to all your other points about movies nowadays, I think you're painting with a pretty broad brush and overgeneralizing both today's filmmakers and today's audiences. There's truth in what you say, but it's not 100% to the level you say.

What movies are shown in the multi-cinemas?
How are movies targeted to their desired audience?
Who is their desired audience?
How has the nature of stroytelling evolved (or rather de-evolved)?

These are the questions that when answered show the movement that films have made since the glory days of the 70's (and unfortunately some point to SW & Jaws as the moment when filmaking and storytelling were irrevocably changed forever).

Of course there are exceptions--- there are in everything; however, for a movie to reach the masses it is packaged and created to fit a need/form... The majority of films are bang bang with little to no content. A movie with thought provoking discussion and questions receives an R for language and yet a mindless romp with excessive violence gets a PG-13--- why? It's because the target audience has disposable income and is in the teenage bracket. Check out what's playing at the multi-cinemas and what's being offered (and I'm not talking about art houses or out of the way one screen theatres--- although those for the most part are dying off as well)--- popcorn fare, just as SW was in '77... but even fluffier with cut out scripts and even more wooden acting. Dialogue? Pathos? Heart and soul? The majority of movies (spurned by the almighty dollar wanted by production companies) are a pale comparison to those thought-provoking and timeless ones of the past. I'd like to hope that we'll have another golden age where storytelling went before bang and boom---- but with every 300 (and I haven't seen it yet to truly endorse it) there are more than a basketful of The Island.

 

[pixletwin]

I dunno, DarthNeil. I think you'll find that Hollywood puts out relatively just as much crap sprinkled with gold as they ever did. I think perhaps your memory is tad rosey.

Bottom line is this: Ben vs. Vader is a tame fight and not what it should've been nor what it could be.:chew

 

[IrishJedi]

As a fellow original fan from '77 and Star Wars Purist, I respect your opinion on the ANH duel.

HOWEVER... I do have to side with the opposition here. That duel, now in the context of being in the middle of one 6-part story, is beyond weak. It's actually laughable how Anakin and Obi-Wan go from all-out in EP3 and then the rematch is two guys basically standing still whacking little sticks together. And the "it's an old man and a cyborg" excuse? Throw those out the window and see: Dooku, Palpatine, Grievous, etc.

Let's face it, if Lucas ever truly wants all 6 films to form any sort of cohesive whole there are some things he unfortunately HAS to revisit... and the duel from ANH is at or near the top of that list, imho.

That said, we'll always have the untouched OT anyway. I have no problems with the two (untouched Classic Trilogy vs the PT with uber-enhanced OT) coexisting.

Oh, and Lando IS overrated.

 

[LOTRFan]

Re: Who is the most ove character in all of Star Wars?

As a fellow original fan from '77 and Star Wars Purist, I respect your opinion on the ANH duel.

HOWEVER... I do have to side with the opposition here. That duel, now in the context of being in the middle of one 6-part story, is beyond weak. It's actually laughable how Anakin and Obi-Wan go from all-out in EP3 and then the rematch is two guys basically standing still whacking little sticks together. And the "it's an old man and a cyborg" excuse? Throw those out the window and see: Dooku, Palpatine, Grievous, etc.

Let's face it, if Lucas ever truly wants all 6 films to form any sort of cohesive whole there are some things he unfortunately HAS to revisit... and the duel from ANH is at or near the top of that list, imho.

Would you have felt that way if we hadn't seen a geriatric Dooku or Palpatine flipping and dueling (or at least their real heads on CG bodies)? I am not trying to provoke you, I am honestly wondering.

It is funny though, that more often than not the PT created continuity problems for the OT - which I suppose was the total antithesis of what it set out to do.

 

[pixletwin]

Re: Who is the most ove character in all of Star Wars?

Would you have felt that way if we hadn't seen a geriatric Dooku or Palpatine flipping and dueling (or at least their real heads on CG bodies)? I am not trying to provoke you, I am honestly wondering.

I'll answer for Irish.. YES. We see Luke flipping and dueling and poor old yoda able to hang on tight while he is doing it.

Like it was said before, this is not just a PT vs OT issue... It is ANH vs. all 5 other films.

 

[DarthNeil]

Oh, and Lando IS overrated.

It's on... like Donkey Kong.

 

[LOTRFan]

Re: Who is the most ove character in all of Star Wars?

I'll answer for Irish.. YES. We see Luke flipping and dueling and poor old yoda able to hang on tight while he is doing it.

Nah, Luke just had him jammed in that backpack really well.



*Edit* Concen----traaaaaaaaaaate! He didn't force levitate on the way down!

 

[pixletwin]

It's on... like Donkey Kong.

This time I'm on your side. me Irish

 

[Customikey]

I'd go for a CGI ANH duel. What the hell.


Bo Shek gets my vote for most over-rated. Remember when we couldn't get enough of him, and the huge ruckus there was when the figure was made?

Also over-rated: Gen. Greivous, and as much as I hate to say it- Count Dooku. Over-qualified canon fodder, the both of them.

 

[Thera]

Boba Fett.

 

[pixletwin]

Boba Fett.

Have you told him that yet?

 

[Agent0028]

Part of me would love to see a new CGI ANH duel. Part of me is just fine to take the movies as they are without needing them to flow visually.

One thing that does bug me from OT to PT is that in TPM the astromech droids are able to enter the starfighters from underneath, in the OT they need this big vaccuum to put them in place. That was a dumb move.

 

[DarthNeil]

I'd go for a CGI ANH duel. What the hell.


Bo Shek gets my vote for most over-rated. Remember when we couldn't get enough of him, and the huge ruckus there was when the figure was made?

Also over-rated: Gen. Greivous, and as much as I hate to say it- Count Dooku. Over-qualified canon fodder, the both of them.

Count Dooku?... Christopher Lee?... OK, hand in your official SW decoder ring-- you're out of the club.

 

[badgumbo]

I don't know if you guys are still talking about Most Overrated Character anymore or dissecting Star Wars fandom into various factions.... PT vs OT vs EU or whatever. If you are talking films...General Grievous has been the most overrated, over hyped waste of a character. I have always thought the design looked contrived and clichéd and he ended up dying like a punk at the hands of the Master, Obi Wan. For you EU fans out there- who else thinks Mara Jade has outlived her welcome in the SW mythos? They took a potentially interesting character from a great series of books and watered her down to a 1 dimensional waste. When I see her name pop up, I think, "Who cares?"

Just my two cents.

 

[Darth Loki]

Also over-rated: Gen. Greivous, and as much as I hate to say it- Count Dooku. Over-qualified canon fodder, the both of them.

I've killed for less. :emperor

 

[Ish]

boba fett.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Black Hole Stormtrooper.

 

[Booyah!]

Ice Cream Maker Guy.

 

[pickard]

Part of me would love to see a new CGI ANH duel. Part of me is just fine to take the movies as they are without needing them to flow visually.

Noooo!

I'm all for updating the OT where appropriate. But not there!

The duel is physically "tame", but it's not so out-of-place that I want the original performances overwritten.