I can't remember if I had watched the original Star Wars when it
premiered in 1977. I would have been 1 year old then. And even if I
did, I wouldn't be surprised, given that I was brought up with
extremely frequent trips to the movies.
But I remember Darth Vader, in his menacing voice, fist in the air,
blaring "No, Luke, I AM YOUR FATHER" before a young teenage boy
plunged into the abyss below. I was 4 years old when I watched
Empire Strikes Back at the now defunct Odeon Theatre (where Odeon
Towers now stand at North Bridge Road), and my, was I awed by the
robots (stormtroopers), the fights (TIE fighters chasing the
Millennium Falcon), man vs machine (rebel alliance vs AT-AT
Walkers), the spaceships, and yes, the lightsabre battles.
After that movie, my toys were Star Wars - action figures (I had
countless Luke Skywalkers - in X-Wing uniform, Hoth getup, Luke in
Empire Strikes Back with the blaster featured in Bespin), 12" C3PO,
Han Solo and Boba Fett, a big Yoda puppet, a huge X-Wing fighter
jet that changes to battle mode when you depress R2D2, a
battle-weary snowfighter, and a life sized red lightsabre. Not the
replicas that you see in the market these days (would wanna own
one), but something made of plastic which made the humming sound as
you swing it about. And boy, did I swing that lightsabre!
Contrary to popular belief, my favourite Star Wars character back
then was not Luke Skywalker, but Han Solo. To a young boy, I liked
his devil-may-care attitude, the flamboyance, the arrogance, and
hey, he owned the greatest kick-ass spaceship of the all - the
Millennium Falcon, has a great "pet".. err.. pal - a Wookiee, and
wins the girl - a princess at that!
With Return of the Jedi, I celebrated with the Ewoks when the Rebel
Alliance triumphed against the evil Galactic Empire - Hey I was
only 7 years old! I jumped with joy as the Ewoks creatively kicked
Stormtroopers' rear, and wept as they sustained losses. I gripped
the edge of my seat as Luke Skywalker went up against his father
Darth Vader in the Emperor's throne room. I watched as helpless as
Vader was when Luke got zapped by the Emperor's Force Lightning,
and I cringed when Luke finally removed Vader's mask. My eyebrows
were raised when Princess Leia was held captive by the fat slob
Jabba the Hut, and made to wear the now infamous bikini
outfit.
Was this the end of Star Wars? No, as I was old enough to know that
perhaps I've missed the very first episode - A New Hope. VCRs were
becoming common place, and soon enough, I was watching Star Wars
again on the small screen, with a sense of deja-vu that perhaps
I've seen this film before, sometime, somewhere.
And it was then I realized the movie showcased one of the greatest
Jedi knights of them all - Obi-wan Kenobi, who only appeared as a
ghostly shadow in the later 2 movies. He introduced me and Luke to
the Force, and to the lightsabre - an elegant weapon in a more
civilised age. Suddenly Star Wars was reinvented for me - What is
this Force they were talking about? Obi-wan hypnotizing Storm
Troopers? Now that was new, and cool!
The quest to know more about the Force continued as I watched
Empire Strikes Back on VHS - the little green man started to make
more sense as he imparted his words of wisdom to Luke - anger,
fear, aggression leads one to the Dark Side, and adventure is what
a Jedi craves not. He demonstrated that even a little one, a master
of the Force, can do great things - like lift an X-Wing fighter out
of the swamps of Dagobath.
But what is this Dark Side? I've learnt more in a re-run of Return
of the Jedi - that you have 2 sides to the Force, and Vader and the
Emperor tried to seduce Luke to their side - the dark side, so that
together they can rule the galaxy, or so the Emperor thought,
unknowing of Vader wanting to rule it together as Father and Son
with Luke.
The Force, and the lightsabres, defined what Star Wars is to the
kid I was. I was thrilled when Luke started to use a green coloured
Sabre in Return of the Jedi, as the movies so far showed evil
(Vader) using Red, and the good guys (Obi-wan and Luke) using blue.
Perhaps there was a reason to the colouring of the sabre?
The quest to answer all the "whys" and "hows" led me to read
countless literature (read: pop fiction, comic books, role playing
games, etc), and watched numerous re-runs on VHS (Bless the
invention of the VCR!). I watched it so many times that I could
literally quote dialogue from start to end. I discovered new things
each time I watched, and found new meaning in sagely dialogue from
Yoda. And identify with the soundtrack I can - John Williams did a
fantastic job in signature tunes like the Imperial March.
The Star Wars crave in me eventually settled down as I grew older.
Some might say I outgrew Star Wars. As time went on, the Special
Editions were released, with new unseen footage being showned for
the first time. I became a boy again, relishing each opportunity to
spot something new (hey, I didn't see that driod there before!),
and soaking in the editions in THX ready movie theatres - the sound
is now awesome, the images, crisp.
But the boy in me truly rejoiced when George Lucas announced that
he would be doing the prequels. For now we can truly see the vision
George had when he spoke of a more civilized age.
We're shown the planet Naboo, which opens The Phantom Menace.
Somehow many fans around the world didn't really enjoy this one.
Many found the idiosyncracies of Jar Jar Binks unfunny and plain
idiotic. Many also found the "YIPPEE" that Anakin exclaimes
irritating. Is this the Star Wars that we've grown up with?
Suddenly skeptics were all out in force slamming the movie for
being un-star-wars. But hey, this is the vision that George Lucas
had. Naboo, and Coruscant, were indeed, civilized planets. But I
felt many fans were slamming the movie in uncivilized
manners.
The number of years in between actually helped in bringing out the
new worlds that George unveiled. Technology had improved, and this
assisted in fleshing out new characters and civilizations. We had
the Trade Federation, the Jedi Temple, Darth Maul with his twin
blades, the gleaming shuttle of Queen Amidala, and wonderful,
graceful Jedi moves from Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-wan Kenobi, now only
a Padawan.
Skeptics might have called Pod-Racing an obscene attempt in making
money from toys and video arcade, but I enjoyed the scene
nonetheless. The only flaw, if I find in the movie's narrative, was
that perhaps it moved too far back in Star Wars history - showing
Anakin as a boy, a mysterious one at that, being conceived by the
Midichlorians - the organisms behind the mystical Force. Suudenly
fans around the world had to deal with a new word, and an attempt
in making the Force a bit more scientific rather than mystical.
Some were, of course, unhappy with change.
But bear in mind that this is still George's vision, and like it or
not, it stays canon. Don't forget the little things that mattered,
like Ewan McGregor nailing Alec Guiness' Obi-wan to a T (although a
younger version), and the beautiful Natalie Portman as Queen
Amidala / Padme. Even Keira Knightley was in this one, as one of
Padme's handmaidens. Not to forget we also saw the debut of our
favourite driods R2D2 and C3PO!
The Clone Wars were the highlight of Episode 2: Attack of the
Clones, and my, what a war it was - where the predecessors of the
Stormtroopers were shown, and the backstory of how they came about.
Fan favourite Boba Fett made an appearance, though as a kid, and it
was his father who donned the now famous looking armour.
Christopher Lee gave an impressive performance as the Jedi turned
Sith apprentice, and fans around the world probably jumped with
glee when glimpses of the Death Star plans were seen!
Omnimous as it was, we see Anakin slowly slip into the Dark Side,
unable to control his feelings and anger, when he went on a rampage
to massacre a sandpeople tribe. However, some fans still came out
of the theatre with guns ablazing - lamenting how they hated the
romantic dialogue, the romantic setting of Attack of the Clones.
But I wonder if they had forgotten - Luke and Leia were the
children of Anakin Skywalker. Already we have a mysterious birth
(Anakin's), surely we would expect the more normal way the twins
were conceived, no? In my opinion, this film managed to strike a
balance between romance and action.
And the action again was at its best - clonetroopers in their first
ever Clone Wars engagement, Obi-wan Kenobi fighting alongside his
padawan Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, for the first time, whipping out
his minute lightsabre to do battle with Darth Tyrannus, and little
do we actually realize how agile this Jedi Master was! I enjoy
lightsabre battles, and Attack of the Clones made up for whatever
shortcomings it had.
As I sit in the darkened theatre tomorrow evening, I would have
mixed feelings when the 20th Century Fox fanfare blares through the
speakers. Here I am, watching probably the greatest episode since
Empire Strikes Back, my "first" Star Wars movie (the one I remember
as a kid), watching Obi-wan and Anakin do battle with each other
with intense, watching Anakin Skywalker turn into a Sith machine,
watching a film that held a lot of potential - the one that fans
around the world had been waiting for, and given the positive vibes
for the sneaks in trailer clips, I just can't wait.
It took 28 years to complete the saga (no, there would not be
episodes 7 to 9), and I'm 29 this year. It feels as if I've been
with Star Wars all my life, and vice versa, that Star Wars has been
part of my life, accompanying a third of my mortal lifespan. George
has already made public that there will be no more movies, though
the franchise will live on, in various series - books, animation,
probably live-action.
To George, live long and prosper. (Oops, wrong movie! And you're
already prosperous!)
To the legions of Star Wars fans out there, the Force be with you,
always.