Hey, Mark Altman! I've Got "Star Wars" For Ya, Right Here!!!
Emperor Leto II
copy of "The Phantom Menace," and I have to say that I am looking forward to
buying the video and, by proxy, rubbing this into the faces of self-styled
media elitists such as "Sci-Fi Universe"'s/"Cinescape"'s/"EON Magazine"'s Mark
A. Altman and trendy, pretentious, sneering hacks like Reel.com's own critic
Marc Fortier, who has relentlessly dished out verbal abuse for all of STAR
WARS, and George Lucas, in particular (regarding the videocassette):
>The merchandising philosophy behind the TPM video reflects a distinct shift in
>Lucasfilm's corporate culture, which has devolved from a fan-catering one
(like
>"Star Trek"'s Paramount, who even accepts script submissions from the public)
>to an organization driven by capital (like Disney, who releases, then
re-releases >the same video under the guise of "masterpiece collection"). Even
now, Lucas is >rumored to be preparing yet another release of the original
"Star Wars" trilogy on >video cassette, with a new set of inconsequential bells
and whistles.
>Now, the question people are asking has nothing to do with VHS or DVD, but
>simply, "What's going on at Skywalker Ranch?" From a fan's perspective,
>George Lucas may be indeed dabbling in the same dark methods he's spent four
>movies warning us against. Trading the devotion of one of the most dedicated
>fanbases in history for a monetary windfall is no small betrayal, and is
eerily >similar to the turncoat techniques which gave rise to the evil Empire
he's >portrayed in the Star Wars saga.
>What does all of this mean to the average movie watcher? Perhaps nothing. But
>for anyone who was disappointed with TPM, this is yet another nail in the
coffin >for the slowly-perishing Star Wars mystique. What was largely regarded
as the >single most influential pop-culture phenomenon of our time is
dangerously close >to becoming the most colossal, capitalistic dupe in history.
And if that doesn't >mean anything to you, then just enjoy The Phantom Menace
video for what it is >— fast, mindless, and expendable entertainment.
>That's the most we can hope to get out of it.
(And, regarding Lucas's directing and other slams against the movie:)
>The Phantom Director
>Long before he brought "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" to
>fruition, George Lucas had been voicing his enthusiasm over the use of
>computer-generated characters in movies. He spoke emphatically of a day when
>living models could be scanned into a computer program and animated like
>digital puppets, leading to the eventual replacement of human actors. Well,
his >first crack at it — the CG alien Jar Jar Binks — came with disastrous
results. It >was a prime example of how stellar F/X can be put to waste by bad
writing, and >was criticized as one of the most annoying characters in movie
history.
>And as for the whole of "Menace," Lucas' efforts in perfecting the technical
>components of his film resulted in a cast of characters left alone to direct
>themselves. It's no wonder Ewan McGregor labled the director's style as
>ambiguous and uninspiring.
I'm telling you, purchasing this movie is going to feel *good*; in addition to
defeating their snobbist-wannabe pretenses by supporting the film, I hope that
the net sales of this picture make them blink again like the grosses last
summer did.
Stick it to 'em, everyone.