Have the new Star Wars films aged badly?

Nitefly

Nitefly

Nitefly

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Just went and watched a bit of 'Attack of the Clones' on Sky Movies, and was truly appalled at how bad it looked. I refer in particular to a scene where Anakin , Queeny, R2D2 and C3P0 were in a robot contruction factory area. There was so much CGI it just looked like the actors were in front of a blue screen - which obviously is not how a film like this is not supposed to be viewed.

Do you think these films look bad, or is it just me? Do they represent to you how reliance on CGI can cripple films?

I'm not after comments on any other aspects of these films, it is just that I could not get immersed in the universe because it looked so fake.
 
I got annoyed by the scenes when there were 3, maybe 4 Clone troopers, all of whom were CGI, for god's sake, why not stick a few men in suits? how can anything possibly look more realistic than that? :confused:
 
Yep they look bad, the area fight in clones where anakin rides the creature. Or the bit in the meadow with Padame. Woefull.

I wish i'd never seen them :D

Lucas shouldve given the outline of the stories to someone decent and let them make it.
 
Ah, I wasn't alone. I don't understand why they didn't just make everything much smaller scale and used less cgi, it would have been so much better. Its a great shame.
 
Nitefly said:
Ah, I wasn't alone. I don't understand why they didn't just make everything much smaller scale and used less cgi, it would have been so much better. Its a great shame.
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I was thinking the same thing

Apparently Steven Spielberg asked to direct one of the films. I wish he had been allowed to direct the Phantom Menace. CGI does not make a good film.
 
Tax Evader said:
Yet the original Star Wars film from the 70's still looks great, IMO :cool: (ignoring the stupid add-in bits like Jabba)
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The added CGI bits have aged worse than the original bits ever have.
 
I don't think they looked all that great when they came out in the cinema. In fact, I thought they looked very cartoony and just really tacky. CGI is being used far too much in films today and it's starting to detract from the quality of them. SW I, II and III being prime examples. And I agree with Tax Evader, the originals have aged quite well. The only part of them I think looks poor now is the speeder chase on Endor in Return of the Jedi.
 
Mr_L said:
I don't think they looked all that great when they came out in the cinema. In fact, I thought they looked very cartoony and just really tacky. CGI is being used far too much in films today and it's starting to detract from the quality of them. SW I, II and III being prime examples. And I agree with Tax Evader, the originals have aged quite well. The only part of them I think looks poor now is the speeder chase on Endor in Return of the Jedi.
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I agree in part, however the line is now being blurred a little, two stand out films (as far as special effects go) in recent years are War of The Worlds and Transformers, I do think that the industry is nearly there in terms of blending CGI with real live action.
 
CG still have a fair way to go before it's truely photo-realistic.

I watched The Phantom Menance recently. It's actually quite a good film, unfortunately marred by the massive expectation placed upon it back in '99.
 
Wang Computer said:
I watched The Phantom Menance recently. It's actually quite a good film, unfortunately marred by the massive expectation placed upon it back in '99.
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I think us grown ups expected too much from it. Lucas made a kids film again and my son loved it, most of us missed the point with that one, it wasn't really made with old Star Wars fans in mind.
 
Sweetloaf said:
I think us grown ups expected too much from it. Lucas made a kids film again and my son loved it, most of us missed the point with that one, it wasn't really made with old Star Wars fans in mind.
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But do/will the kids who watched the three new films revere them in the same way us saddo's ;) do with parts IV, V and even VI?

Lucas is great at pushing the technology of the day, but gets caught up in it, and doesn't seem to understand what makes a good watchable film. The obvious example is the difference between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
 
Lunatic Dreyfus said:
But do/will the kids who watched the three new films revere them in the same way us saddo's ;) do with parts IV, V and even VI?

Lucas is great at pushing the technology of the day, but gets caught up in it, and doesn't seem to understand what makes a good watchable film. The obvious example is the difference between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
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I thought they were both good, and Empire is directed by someone else anyway.
 
I dont mind CGI being used well in films (transformers and others) the problem i have is that when CGI is heavily used, you very very often see a total drop off in every other area of the film, from scripting to scoring. The simple fact is that without CGI, a director is FORCED to ensure he has a good script to work with to replace the impossible action sequences. With CGI, the director is hoping the audience will forgo such lyric treats in place of flash lights and eye candy.

Keeping all 6 films in mind, which have all the classic performances, lines and sounds that you remember? I guarantee you its IV and V
 
Anyone seen Son of the Mask? Remember seeing the teaser trailer for that and the CGI on the baby was dire!!!
 
Raymond Lin said:
I thought they were both good, and Empire is directed by someone else anyway.
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I think thats what he was getting at, the ones lucas didnt do are better than the ones he did. Anyone who has read any of the follow on novels has written a better story than Lucas.

Any time Lucas has stuck his oar into the follow up books he's ****** it up.
 
I thought the CGI in the movies was brilliant in certain scenes, yet pretty poor in others. The fight scene at the beginning of Episode 3 with all the battle ships was amazing, I thought. You can see the CGI improving from Episode 1, to Episode 3.

Episode 1 was terrible, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a fan of the other two movies(ep2/3). I didn't like the fact that Hayden Christensen got the part of Anakin. Or, that little boy Jake Lloyd!
 
Strangely, I think Phantom Menace has aged well. The fact the CGI looks shoddy almost gives it some character - a bit like the truly shocking latex puppets in the originals.....I'm thinking Max Rebo (the blue elephant :) ) which everybody seems willing to forgive.

Of course, knowing Lucas, he'll probably release special editions in a few years with completely re-done CGI.
 
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