Star Wars poll at Medved site - given its politics, will you see the new movie?

Michael Medved ^ | May 18, 2005

[Arioch7]

LOL! That sounds cool.

It would explain why old Ben was lurking on Tatooine.

I think it would wreck the endings of the last two movies from the first series though.

I don't hate the new series as much as some old time fans do but I don't think they are as good. Lucas's remakes are horrible, and all the new special effects in the world can't make his latest work into Star Wars.

On a related note, after the first Star Wars, Lucas created some of the first computer 3-D modeling. I think he actually shared it with some government agencies. Just an interesting side note.

Arioch7 out.

[af_vet_rr]

I heard some moron actually say that Lucas came up with the characters of Palpatine, etc., as well as the plotline, based on George Bush.

I pointed out that well over twenty years ago, when Palpatine's character was written and first filmed, the only George Bush anybody had ever heard of outside of one or two counties in Texas, was Vice President George Bush. I also pointed out that Episode III was pretty much written back in the '70s as well, seeing as how you know how it ended with the beginning of Episode IV.

Of course, I should have totally ignored this person, because before their rant about everything being based on George Bush, they were babbling about how Star Wars has come to glorify violence. I'm thinking they probably don't want the Military or History channels.

[EveningStar]

I read several years ago that Emperor Palpatine was based on Nixon.

[af_vet_rr]

I read several years ago that Emperor Palpatine was based on Nixon.

But that doesn't make for a sexy soundbite! Better to imply it was Bush and try to ride the coattails of a popular movie, than to talk about old politicians that are long gone.

I've read a few places over the years that some of it (the rise to power, dismantling of the Republic through popular elections, etc.) were based on WWII, specifically Hitler (as well as the combat scenes being reminiscent of WWII bombing runs/dogfights).

I do notice that many of the people trying to give this movie more meaning than its worth, were probably in diapers when the first Star Wars came out, if they were even born.

[monkeybrau]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/19/movies/19star.html

Selected quotes, read it all:

Alluding to Michael Moore's remarks about "Fahrenheit 9/11" at Cannes a year earlier, Mr. Lucas joked, "Maybe the film will waken people to the situation."

...Mr. Lucas ... told a Cannes audience that he had not realized in plotting the film years ago that fact might so closely track his fiction.

Yes he later says he was 'inspired' by Vietnam, but his jokes are calculated to draw interest and modern relevance to boost his product.

Anakin Skywalker, on his way to becoming the evil Darth Vader, warns, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," in an echo of Mr. Bush's post-9/11 ultimatum, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

I thought this was going a little far in interpretation until seeing Lucas' other comments for context.

I don't care about his tilt really, i've always loved Star Wars. I will just be directing my dollars elsewhere. I'm sure the .vcd will be out in just a few short days.

:(|)

[rmlew]

Any other New Yorkers interested in seeing Episode III this weekend?

[Scarchin]

The media has outflanked the right by giving the spotlight to conservatives who have politicized this film. It just makes conservatives look like wingnuts.

I'll be comfortably seated next to my son, popcorn in hand, tomorrow at 7 pm EST.

I'll be the guy cheering when the opening music starts1

[DTogo]

Yes, screw the politics.

[Preech1]

Anakin Skywalker, on his way to becoming the evil Darth Vader, warns, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," in an echo of Mr. Bush's post-9/11 ultimatum, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

This line is not original for Bush, it goes all the way back to the Bible with Jesus Christ saying "Whoever is not with me is against me" Don't take this as a personal attack on Bush, it's just a line.

[Kenny Bunkport]

Are we sure O'Reilly's site isn't a rip-off of Medved's?

[Captain Peter Blood]

This reminds me of the so called slam on Bush in the last two Matrix movies.
I am almost of the opinion that people like Medved and others are reading into these movies things that just are not there.
I still plan to see the movie and decide for myself, might have to wait a little for the rush to subside as I refuse to wait in line for movie.

[af_vet_rr]

I thought this was going a little far in interpretation until seeing Lucas' other comments for context.

Neither George Bush, nor his speechwriters, came up with the ""Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."" bit - one of his speechwriters was probably watching an old Western some night, or was reading some Louis L'Amour or Zane Grey book. More than one of their books features somebody telling somebody else (usually a large group of people telling a lone person) "your either with us or against us".

George Bush's speechwriters simply took that and added/changed a few words. George Lucas did the same.

While Lucas made some good movies (American Grafitti), he is not the most original of writers, and the same can be said of George Bush's speechwriters. Anybody who thinks that either of those came up with the "your eitehr with us or against us" them is an idiot, or rather, not very well read.

[af_vet_rr]

This line is not original for Bush, it goes all the way back to the Bible with Jesus Christ saying "Whoever is not with me is against me" Don't take this as a personal attack on Bush, it's just a line.

You beat me to it, and I had forgotten it went all the way back to the Bible. Way too many people are getting uptight about this line in the movie. These people maybe the types that have to find fault with everything, but still. Thanks for the clarification though - I knew this went back a long way, and was popular in western books, I had just forgotten how far.

[EveningStar]

It's not who came up with the line first but rather whether Lucas inserted it as a way to mock Bush. He may well have. Movie and TV folks frequently insert political shots in their shows.

However, I'm not going to let one line ruin the film for me. I'm still going to see it.

[monkeybrau]

All that is true. And one came before the other.