The first SW (as in episode IV) was different enough to make everyone sit up and take notice. Thanks to excellent key cast choices, stellar cinematography, outstanding music, and judicious editing it made for a very good movie. The second (episode V) was my personal favorite for the darker undertones, and overall grittier and more compelling storyline. The third (episode VI) was still good, just not as good, in my opinion, as Empire. Too much "soft and cuddly" with the Ewoks, which ripped me right out of the picture every time they were on screen in a one-on-one sense.
As for the prequels, I can't stand them. Lucas may be a heckuva visionary and darned good producer, but he stinks as a writer and director, and even worse as an editor. The dialogue was awful, the acting wooden, the sequences too choppy, and there is a penchant for trying to put too much into each scene. They could have pared the whole thing back by a third, putting in more action and less dialogue, then cut about ten minutes out of each movie (not to mention each and every scene with Jar-Jar Binks).
Plus, re-edit the whole dang thing. And when I say re-edit I mean completel and totally s**tcan the whole thing as start over. The pod race in Phantom Menace could have been incredible, but they kept hopping back to other characters sitting around watching screens and making put-on "concern faces" as well as interspersing the race with horrendous Coselle-like dialogue from a screamingly fake two-headed thing that seems to wave it's heads around just because it could. I dunno, maybe Lucas got a two-for-one deal on the CG and didn't want to throw the bit away. Whatever it was, it ruined the entire race for me. I would just be getting into the action scene when they would cut to the character. A kick in the head would not have jarred me out of the movie harder. It was so bad I stopped watching the movie and just started noticing every incident of stupid editing. Two and three were no better.
Lucky that I picked up the old versions in the remastered laser disc editions before Lucas had a go at "fixing" them. Sorry, but no. His pal Spielberg may be pretty okay at Director's cuts, but they could both take lessons from James Cameron (ever seen his directors editions of T1, T2, The Abyss, or Titanic? The man flat-out knows how to re-edit a movie).
My suggestion would be to really watch the original trilogy - good movies, even with the Ewoks. The prequels? Well.. you might as well watch them just to say you did but be advised that the only thing worth seeing in any of them is Natalie Portman in a shredded skin-tight costume. If you see Hayden Christensen coming on screen go ahead and fast forward until you can't see him any more to spare yourself the misery. I guess he's trying to come off as menacing, but all he does is end up looking like a life-sized statue being moved around the set. IMHO the only real acting in the whole movie is Ewan McGregor, who absolutely nails Alec Guiness's character from the original right down to the mannerisms and tonal qualities in his voice.
Brad
