In a galaxy far away...

At one time I loved all things Star Wars.

Super loved. The movies were amazing, great art existed for them, cool video games were made, the toys had an air of awesome... it was massive.

Then the prequels happened... and it was all bad. At first, you tried to trick yourself into thinking the first one was good. Once that bubble popped, all you saw was awfulness. Bad stories, acting, direction. So many racial stereotype aliens... this is unique to the prequels and is not present in the originals. To make matters worse, Lucas went in and tampered with the originals in terrible ways. He also said the original films as they were would never be seen again.

Furious anger. Bad cartoons, movies, and games. Messing up the original masterpieces. I took a long, long break from all things Star Wars.

Recently, I rewatched the entire trilogy in their original forms. ORIGINAL original. No A NEW HOPE. No Greedo shoots first. No cleaned up effects. No lame Hayden Christensen at the end of it all. No anything, other than what played for audiences 30 or so years ago.

Man, those movies still have it and are incredible. They are very timeless. They are helped tremendously by the fact that they are fantasy and are given a large leash to play with. Roguish romance. Dynamic friendships and relationships. Memorable characters. A "chosen one" story line. Technology busting special effects. A score for the ages. One of the top villains of all times. SCRUFFY NERF HERDERS!

So, yeah. I love the futuristic vibe mixed with old school film making. The wipes between shots are fantastic. I love being more schooled in film these days and seeing things that Lucas picked up from lots of old classics.

Watch the original Star Wars. Not any changed versions. The original effects are still awesome and I feel it is a huge slap in the face to people who broke down boundaries giving their all if you change their work or act like it wasn't good enough.

Star Wars... I love you. But only the you before George Lucas went crazy and stained you by association.

PS - Check out the ORIGINAL trailer that is so wrong in tone... fascinating.