Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site petrus.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!bellcore!petrus!dje From: dje@petrus.UUCP Newsgroups: net.movies,net.movies.sw,net.flame Subject: Re: _Star_Wars_ (spoiler) Message-ID: <384@petrus.UUCP> Date: Fri, 28-Jun-85 14:03:40 EDT Article-I.D.: petrus.384 Posted: Fri Jun 28 14:03:40 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 29-Jun-85 04:15:52 EDT References: <2202@ut-sally.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: Bell Communications Research, Inc Lines: 81 Xref: watmath net.movies:6792 net.movies.sw:544 net.flame:10865 FLAME ON!!! > > > _Star_Wars_ > > by Kelvin Thompson > > _Star_Wars_, yet another entry in the recent spate of "Space Operas," is > a bad, morally empty movie. Look, quick!! It has lights!! It has > zooming spaceships!! It has laser flashes!! It has explosions!! Look > closer, and it has nothing. Oh no! Not you again! Who are you? Why do you write these movies reviews that don't make sense? Okay, okay, Star Wars isn't a great movie, but it did great at the boxoffice (must have been seen by everbody). It's fantasy. It's action. It entertains (most people I know at least). Now...what do you mean by recent spate of "Space Operas"? Star Wars came out in 1977! Where have you been for the last 8 years? > > The plot of _Star_Wars_ is certainly nothing new: a bunch of good guys > try to overthrow an evil space empire. Ruling the evil space empire > are an evil count, James Earl Jones (a Negro), and an evil spaceship Thank you very much for telling me JEJ is black. What does this have to do with your movie review? He doesn't play the part anyway, he just did the voice. > From its opening scene, where two spaceships chase each other around a > planet while trying to blow one another to smithereens, the movie loses > any semblance of realism. The spaceships make swishing and humming > noises as they maneuver about, and their lasers make zapping noises as > they fire -- all despite the fact that it has been scientifically proven > that there are absolutely no sounds in space. > > In another gaffe later in the movie, a robot supposedly manages to go up > and down a staircase, even though it is quite obvious that it is > structurally impossible for the robot to do so. The camera cuts away > just as the robot gets to the staircase, but the viewer is again jolted > by the obvious impossiblity. Jolted???? I didn't even notice that! I don't think too many other people did either. This is entertainment. You don't try to examine a movie for its techincal flaws when its supposed to be fantasy! Why didn't you just sit down and enjoy it? > > More important than any scientific error, however, is the glaring lack of > any moral statement. In a time of mass starvation in central Africa, > terrible human-wave battles in the Middle East, repression of civil > rights in the USSR, legalized racism in South Africa, and rampant > terrorism everywhere, this movie just hums merrily along in its > rose-colored glasses. Once again, Sta Wars was made in 1977. Anyway, your view on its moral value has no place in a review. If what you say is applied to most movies these days (even the good ones) then all are guilty of not addressing what is going on in the world today. Is Prizzi's Honor a bad movie because it doesn't address present happenings in the world? > _Star_Wars_ contains a lot of action sequences, so it will no doubt have > a strong draw on today's young people. Nonetheless, parents should make > every effort to keep their children away from this morally bankrupt movie > and direct them toward a film which takes a useful stand on some of the > issues facing our world. And, naturally, all ethical adults should stay > well away from it themselves. You're a little too late. Most everbody has seen it already. Perhaps you should stay away from movies. If this article is supposed to be a joke (perhaps like your 1984 review?) than I lower my flame. If not, please stop reviewing movies. Let's see some more real reviews on the net instead of this garbage. Danny J. Espinoza ...!bellcore!dje FLAME OFF!!!