It's a phenomenal movie, it really is.
but I think it really drags in the middle, and lets be honest the Yoda/Luke training scenes tend to be a bit boring.
just my opinion.
I agree 100%
shareThe twist at the end that Vader is Luke's father gives this film a lot of substance.
RIP
Ronnie James Dio
1942-2010
The funny thing is if the technology allowed and they shoot Episode one first, Vadar is Luke's father is sort of a given.
shareThe twist at the end that Vader is Luke's father gives this film a lot of substance.The popularity of Star Wars made it inevitable that this huge spoiler is revealed to me before I watch the movie. I was waiting Darth Vadar to utter along the lines of "I AM YOUR FATHER!" during the supposedly intense fight scene, and for some reason I did not find the character of Darth Vadar intimidating or interesting at all. share
The middle part in Dagobah isn't exactly action packed but still pretty dramatic (and interspersed with the Falcon being chased by the imperials), but I really dig the first third of this movie (hoth battle & asteroid chase especially), which is probably the most exciting in the saga for me. The end duel and escape from cloud city is also equally fun.
I find all three original star wars movies pretty much equally exciting and have their boring parts. In the first Star Wars, many of the scenes on Tatooine are slow, and in Jedi, Jabba's Palace and Endor drag as well.
The cheese is old and moldy. Where is the bathroom?
I dont really think the Dagobah scenes are boring at all; granted compared to some of the other moments in the film its relatively slow, but I really liked the atmosphere that Dagobah conveyed (it crafted a really thick, dark and moody tone), and also the scene where Luke fights the vision of Darth Vader and it turns out to have Luke's face beneath the mask is very symbolic in nature (Luke will be tempted to follow a similar path, just like his father).
Little moments like this make the scenes on Dagobah really worth it.
History is written by the victor. History is full of liars.
The training is the best part!
Without it, it'd be just a typical space-action flick (except the Vader scenes, of course).
The training bits are the core essence of why this movie is the best, it gives the movie a real substance, great exposition in a natural, flowing way, an interesting location and some magical mystery to everything (if you forget 'midi-chloridians' <- I despise this crap so much that I am not going to check its spelling, and I am 62% convinced I wrote it wrong).
I think the "Hoth" scenes, however, are the boring, useless, nonsensical, illogical, pointless and almost 'artificially lengthened' bits. Why would the Empire land some heavy and slow ground walkers, especially SO far away from the base, when they could just have bombed it from orbit or even further away (or exploded the whole planet)?
Of course, you could explain -some- of it clumsily by Vader's obsession with Luke, but why would he even be so obsessed with Luke, without knowing that he's his son? Where did he suddenly obtain this knowledge? And if he didn't know, why such an obsession? Just because 'force was strong' with him, and he was the one that got the final shot right that destroyed the 'Death Star'?
Why didn't Vader stop Millennium Falcon from leaving with "The Force(tm)"? (I keep thinking how underused "The Force(tm)" is - with proper usage, how different these movies would be! Why would Vader let Luke fall, for example, when he could just keep him floating in the air? Why not just disarm (no pun intended) him with the force, instead of light saber?
Anyway, the training scenes are the brightly lit, shining core of this whole movie, that makes it all so good. We're treated to Yoda's power, learn about 'The Force(tm)', see that the 'dead' can come back as ghosts if they know how, see the symbolic "confronting of yourself and your darkest fears", "what happens, when you give in to the hatred", and so on. You end up killing yourself, in a way - of course this is just a point of view.
You also see the coolest levitation scenes of any of these movies, and Luke performing some quite demanding acrobatics while doing it!
This truly shows the rise towards 'Jedi Mastery', from just a whiny teenager, who simply 'felt something' earlier. And of course, we see the great 'spaceship rising from the swamp' scene, which is only diminished by Vader's claim that the ability to destroy a planet is nothing compared to what can be done with "The Force(tm)".
(Why don't they use "The Force(tm)" to destroy planets, then, instead of very expensively built 'Death Stars'? Because Vader / Emperor doesn't feel like it? Why doesn't the Emperor, by the way, encourage his troops to learn about Jedi Mastery and 'The Force(tm)', when he is clearly a master of sorts? Wouldn't that give a great advantage to the Empire, against pretty much any enemy?)
Ok, I have to stop now, because the more I think about these movies, the less sense seem to make, and the more questions I have.
In any case, to me, the training bits are the most interesting parts. Without them, this movie wouldn't be as special, and it would be a step closer to a more mundane, everyday movie. It's those very scenes that make elevate this movie above mediocrity in such a magnificent way, that only rarely have other movies reached the same plateau.
The action bits are pretty boring - things blow up and people die, yawn. You see that a lot in movies. But training sequences like this, with spiritual side, talking about we being beings of light instead of 'crude matter' - - how often do you truly see that in movies?
Why would the Empire land some heavy and slow ground walkers, especially SO far away from the base, when they could just have bombed it from orbit or even further away (or exploded the whole planet)?
Of course, you could explain -some- of it clumsily by Vader's obsession with Luke, but why would he even be so obsessed with Luke, without knowing that he's his son?
I remember when I was younger I loved 4 and 6, but I couldn't understand why my family and everyone loved TESB--it bored me to tears!
But now as I'm older, I actually really like the Yoda/Luke training scenes. You're probably right about some pacing issues, but I don't mind because I love the cave scene.
I also really appreciate that this seems to be the only film of the franchise that shows the grueling training that goes into harnessing the Force. No offense to other Star Wars films, but sometimes I feel like the characters have plot armor and use the force too easily.
I actually think the first 45 minutes or so of A New Hope are boring and tend to drag. Also after rewatching it I realize A New Hope also has really corny dialogue.
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