I could never get into Star Wars (lets forget the last 3 as those movies ain't much good anyway). I even saw them re-issued in the cinema so I at least have had some experience of the saga on the big screen, but its just not that good, particually compared to "LOTR" trilogy.


Seriously, LOTR must be my fav film(s) of all time. Peter Jackson got everything perfect. The casting, special effects (not too many and still used some real locations), dialogue (Star Wars dialogue makes "cobra" read like "Pulp fiction"), the pace of the films (Star wars is kinda slow in comparison), even the music is great (no knock on John Williams, as he is a legend)

I just cant believe how pefect LOTR is? Particually those new expanded editions. I think some people think the original Star Wars is perfect, but I just dont see it.

LOTR or Star Wars?

marry me.

They're different.

LOTR is based on on of the great book series of all time. And the films are near seamless because they were all done at the same time.

Star Wars was more groundbreaking, and probably more influential on filmmaking. But the story suffered because it seemed to change as it went on, and the death star story got repeated.

evenstar said:

What the hell happened to your username?

2the9s said:

the 3 went to tahiti for vacation.

evenstar said:

If you're not using that account anymore, can I have it?!

2the9s said:

NEVER.

i can scarcely imagine the horrors that would ensue

evenstar said:

Has anyone seen Clerks 2????


Randal Graves: All right, look, there's only one "Return," okay, and it ain't "of the King," it's "of the Jedi."
Hobbit Lover: Oh, Star Wars geek.
Randal Graves: Oh, I'm the geek? Look at you two whipping out your preciouses.
Elias: You'll have to excuse him, he's not "down" with the trilogy.
Randal Graves: Oh, what the fuck happened to this world? There's only one trilogy, you fucking morons.
Hobbit Lover: You know what, maybe we should start calling your friend Padme, 'cause he loves Manakin Skywalker so much, right?
[in robot voice]
Hobbit Lover: Danger danger, my name is Anakin. My shitty acting is ruining saga.
Elias: [chucking] Yeah, you're crazy Jar-Jar.
Randal Graves: Oh, I'm crazy? Those fuckin' hobbit movies were boring as hell. All it was, was a bunch of people walking, three movies of people walking to a fucking volcano.

evenstar said:

Hey Evenstar.

I just got through with those expanded editions (yeah Iam late), and its even better then it was before.

They left shitloads out of the book, but to me, the movies are faultless and I enjoy them more then the book actually (yep, i do). About the only major thing they skipped over was at the beginning of the quest, they go through some mines or something? At least I think I remember it like that? Did I dream that?

I cant believe how good the cast is. Star wars had who, Harrison Ford? That was it. He makes those movies watchable. Alec Guinness was OK, but his voice cracks me up too much. "use to force" sounds like a prayer to me LOL. The bloke who played Sam was overlooked aswell. He had alot more to do then Frodo really. And this was the same bloke who was the ringleader in the goonies? Talk about inspired and obscure casting. Ian Mckellen doesn't ham it up either (which he probably would of done if given half the chance), he took the role seriously and played it spot on.



I know its silly to compare them, but its like us 20 somethings and under have a set of films that shit all over the nostalgia filled Star Wars and thank God those LOTR films exist.

jecica said:

I have yet to see Clerks 2 (Kevin smith can be great, but also can be shit), but those last couple of lines are kinda funny. As for "return of the jedi"? That movie is boring as hell most the time.

thesexofit said:

Although I think you're wrong about "Lord of the Rings" shitting all over "Star Wars," I forgive you because

a. A 20-something geek such as yourself couldn't possibly understand the influence of "Star Wars" on about every aspect of popular culture. In alot of ways, you had to be there.

b. Your avatar rocks. I just watched "Seven Samurai" the other night.

Xagain said:

Hey, u got my av LOL.

I know the inpact Star Wars had on popular culture, but that should not cloud your judgment over how good the actual film it. I mean, "citizin kane" is so influential its insane, but its not my fav film of all time. Infact, its "merely" a good film, not a fantastic one. After the hype has settled, like it has on Star Wars and now has on LOTR, you really think Star Wars, narrative wise, acting wise, plot wise, diologue wise, emotion wise etc..., can hold a candle to LOTR? Its not even the special effects that make LOTR, but I can just escape into it, so much more deeply then "star wars".

I do understand how its hard to see the inpact without directly witnessing it, as "Star wars" pretty much invented the blockbuster blah blah blah. I know how important it is, and I cant blame how cliche some of Star Wars seems now, because it came first, but its just not that good. I think LOTR is just a better experience.

I enjoyed LOTR more....but I do like the Star Wars movies.

Lord of The Rings




The only good Star Wars movie is The Empire Strikes Back and it isn't as good as any of the LOTR movies.



Though I admit, I'll never understand how anyone can say the Origina Star Wars (episode 4 if you will) is a good movie at all. I've said it a million times, but it's the worst of the Star Wars movies, slightly edging out the atrocious Phantom Menace.

Lord of the Rings.

In my humble opinion: Peter Jackson's trilogy's stylistics will age badly, because it has such over the top moments that border on parody (a choir coming in or majestic music sweep over a cheesy camera move, slow motion)... they played well upon first viewings, and there are moments of genius, but there are parts that will age badly so very very quickly and be seen as uber 2000's movie cliche cheese

The only perfect Star Wars movie in my opinion is Star Wars (1977)

the others slowly started being so silly and wacky (the force turned into flips and levitating shit, obi wan appears a s a visible ghost????, muppets, giant fake monsters, no sense of danger), Return of the Jedi being unwatchable in my opinion... the worst of all 6.

I haven't seen any of the LOTR movies, although I've read the books. And I've only seen the first three Star Wars movies (SW, TESB, ROTJ)... and I loved those things. I walked out on 'The Phantom Menace' because I couldn't stomach Jar Jar Binks... just caught me on a bad night, I guess...

ufoclub said:

Good point about LOTR maybe also becoming dated in some aspects (well some aspects must date, its par for the course with any movie ever made). I said earlier on enough time has passed to evaluate LOTR without the hype, but I think I was wrong that in sense. Your right in that maybe in a decade, some of it may look horrible, just as some of Star Wars has. Narrative wise, I just cant find much in Star Wars, The robots are irritating as hell, but then, maybe Gollum, who is still quite a technical marvel today, will become annoying in years to come aswell?

Jacksons "vision" is over the top, but he is a better director than Lucas. Lucas and his annoying and pointless swipes and even worse, never getting any good performances from anyone (and static, lifeless dialogue), really should not happen considering how influential he actually is. Its basic stuff that you ask for more then one take on a dialogue scene LOL, but Lucas must never do that on the films he directed as the acting very often comes across as lifless and dull. (Natalie Portman is a great actress, but she was terrible in the last film-proving how a bad director can bring down a good actor and vice versa).

I mean, with good actors, performances and dialogue, then maybe Star Wars would still look good. Infact, if someone like James Cameron or even one of the Scotts woulda done the new trilogy, it wouldn't of sucked half as bad as it actually did.

i'm sure LOTR is unimaginably brilliant in ways i've never even considered, but the shit bores me. sorry. i'm more of a star wars freak. it's just what i like.

Anxiety said:

Agreed. I am seriously amazed at how successful the films were. I seriously cannot sit through an entire LOTR movie.

Anxiety said:

Fair enough. I dont hate on Star Wars, just find them lacking in alot of important areas, and feel, as triolgy's go, LOTR pretty much has it beat in every aspect bar culteral placment. But whilst Iam gratful for what Star Wars has done for the industry (cant imaging the movie industry without Star Wars really), I find the films lacking and rather goofy. I dont see the appeal as much anymore. And whilst I dont hate on the new films half as much as the Star wars geeks do, they could of benefited from a better director, amongst other things.

thesexofit said:

to be honest, i've been programmed to love LOTR as long as i can remember, so for me star wars never really had a chance. i still love star wars tons, but between the two i could never think they were better- EXCEPT for the soundtrack. howard shore's score was beautiful, but not quite in the same way as john williams. i mean, seeing the re-release of episode IV as a kid made me want to be in an orchestra when i grew up.

personally, i think the BASKET CASE trilogy has them both beat.

sexofit, there are few wrong opinions about movies. You either love them or you hate them. But I couldn't help but notice that you weren't even born when the original trilogy ended its run. Which, understandably affects your perspective.

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy is wonderful. I have all 3 special versions. It's a three-part masterpiece of technology, storytelling and performances. It transports you to another world, while at the same time fashioning characters that you can relate to, for good reasons and bad. I love those movies, they are a massive achievement.

But for children of the 70's, like me, Star Wars did the exact same thing. And it broke new filmmaking ground that many who did not grow up at that time sometimes take for granted. Star Wars was never meant to be a prestige movie, so to speak. It was meant to be a popcorn movie akin to the serials of George Lucas' childhood. But the story and the universe (though they were derived from a ton of sources) had a freshness and resonance that took on a life of its own. It takes a creative mind to give birth to a Darth Vader, a Yoda, a Boba Fett, Darth Maul or Han Solo.

And, I might add, were there no Star Wars blockbusters, there's no way New Line would have bankrolled LOTR. And but for the pioneering technologies introduced by Lucas, LOTR wouldn't have looked the way it did.

Parts of the original trilogy don't age well (save for ESB) and the prequels for the most part were poorly executed (though Eps I and II had their moments and Ep III was pretty good on the whole). Their primary benefit is they add context to the original story. (By the way, The Clone Wars animated series is better than ANY of the 3 prequels, IMHO. Which is the genius of the Star Wars universe. It's self-perpetuating.)

Trust me, in 20 years, somebody's going to talk the same trash about your beloved LOTR. And you'll rightly defend it.

I'll leave you with this. Here's a quote about the legacy of Star Wars:



-- Peter Jackson http://www.bigscreen.com/...php?id=661

Anxiety said:

Like you knew there was a basket case trilogy . Personally I love the back to the future trilogy. I love how light those movies are and how you can watch them anytime.

Anyway.

namepeace said:

I know, like ufoclub raised, of course LOTR will date, every movie has to, and I cant understand how revolutionary Star Wars was, but thats like people saying to you "you dont know how revolutionary "snow white and the 7 dwarfs" was". You'd be like "who gives a fuck, its a shit film, who cares about its history?", and thats how I feel about "star wars". No I was around at the time. I know the impact and respect that immensely, but as enjoyment factor goes, Star Wars is lacking in so many departmants compared to LOTR or many other action flicks. Like "snow white", its been superseded, and in this thread, I think its been outdone by LOTR.

thesexofit said:

George Lucas of the 70's was rings around anything Peter Jackson has done, have you seen Amercian Graffiti, or THX 1138? It's kind of like Peter Jackson is only capable of thick velvet elvis paintings, but George Lucas used to do everything from modern geometric design to chinese watercolor

ufoclub said:

I love "american graffiti" and even "THX 1138" (havn't seen either for many years though), but that does not escuse the shoddy acting Star wars often has. Ditto for the dialogue, The fact he could do so much better, as evidenced on "american graffiti" shows he may of deliberately did not see it as a top priority to get decent dialogue or actors half the time. Why does he feel the need to write screenplays for "star wars" is beyond me. Did he write them on his own? Other conptemporaries like Speilberg and Zemenkis have adapted to different genres well. Pre Star Wars, Lucas could to, but he stumbles on some basic fundemental film making when making the Star Wars movies.

He set up Industrial light and magic, which is fantastic, but movies since "star wars"? I cant believe how sad he is, that if you supposedly mention" howard the duck" to him in an interview, he will sue you LOL

thesexofit said:

actually, i *DID* know there was a basket case trilogy, and i sat through the whole damn thing because i heard that casey (the sassy black lady from the first movie with the smiley face fetish) made cameo appearances in the other two movies, and i love her.

so yeah. i knew about the basket case trilogy. all too well.

and i think belial could whup gollum's ass with a belt buckle!