How would the OT be received today?

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-05-01 02:58am

Imagine that ANH is released today, just as it was originally but with good effects, no SE crap, just better effects.

How do you think it will be received?

avatarxprime · Post by **avatarxprime** » 2003-05-01 03:06am

This might be a stupid question, but ANH is released as the beginning of the trilogy and no SW film has ever been released before or ANH is just released again?

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-05-01 04:03am

avatarxprime wrote:This might be a stupid question, but ANH is released as the beginning of the trilogy and no SW film has ever been released before or ANH is just released again?

Sorry, I meant SW has never existed before, and this is our first taste of it.

meNNis · Post by **meNNis** » 2003-05-01 12:24pm

Impossible to tell, because SW has IMHO shaped our ideas of what sci-fi is and should be, it has changed out expectations and without it, many other sci-fi's would not have been produced and who knows, the entire genre could have changed significantly since the 70's

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-05-07 02:35am

With all the 80's hairstyles and hippie philosophical stuff it would probably be recieved as a "retro" movie and might be quite popular, actually.

Other than that, impossible to tell. It has a lot of spirit compared to some recent sci fi, and with updated effects... probably would make money.

But he's right, it has shaped our expectations, so it wouldn't quite be the revolution it was when it was released.

Seeing the SW trilogy again in theaters when it was re-released in 1997, and seeing the Wizard of Oz were both experiences that were surreal to say the least. They didn't have the same "feel" as more modern movies, but perhaps that is because I've seen them so often on the small screen prior. They're different in a good way, a timeless way....

Post by **AdmiralKanos** » 2003-05-07 08:45pm

The problem is that SW changed the whole movie industry, and without it, we might not actually have the "summer popcorn movie" standard. Before SW came out, we had what the critics called the "golden age of personal filmmaking" (read: "boring, pompous, introspective, snobby, art-house bullshit"). It redefined the whole business: the way films were financed and marketed and merchandised, etc.

It's kind of an alternate-timeline situation: without SW, who knows what the movie business would be like? Not just sci-fi, but the whole movie business.

If we assume that pop culture is pretty much the way it is now despite this historical change, it would probably not do as well. Kids today like shit like Eminem and think that "The Matrix" is profound. There's been a dumbing-down process.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-05-07 10:45pm

AdmiralKanos wrote:If we assume that pop culture is pretty much the way it is now despite this historical change, it would probably not do as well. Kids today like shit like Eminem and think that "The Matrix" is profound. There's been a dumbing-down process.

I remember having the "What if our lives were like in the Matrix?" conversations after the movie came out, I was not a happy man.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2003-05-07 11:28pm

Yeah. I like the Matrix and think its fun to think about.. but its a very old idea, done before (though not as slickly and with such a high profile), and some people treat it like it's "new and revolutionary" which is kind of annoying.

In a way, its very much like Highlander (and Star Wars)... fascinating philosophical concept(s) (that is an old idea, put into new packaging) that is the backdrop for a popcorn action movie.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-05-08 01:53am

Kurgan wrote:Yeah. I like the Matrix and think its fun to think about.. but its a very old idea, done before (though not as slickly and with such a high profile), and some people treat it like it's "new and revolutionary" which is kind of annoying.

In a way, its very much like Highlander (and Star Wars)... fascinating philosophical concept(s) (that is an old idea, put into new packaging) that is the backdrop for a popcorn action movie.

Highlander had a philosophical aspect?

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-05-08 10:02am

Gandalf wrote:
Kurgan wrote:Yeah. I like the Matrix and think its fun to think about.. but its a very old idea, done before (though not as slickly and with such a high profile), and some people treat it like it's "new and revolutionary" which is kind of annoying.

In a way, its very much like Highlander (and Star Wars)... fascinating philosophical concept(s) (that is an old idea, put into new packaging) that is the backdrop for a popcorn action movie.
Highlander had a philosophical aspect?

The whole immortality thing.

AdmiralKanos wrote: Before SW came out, we had what the critics called the "golden age of personal filmmaking" (read: "boring, pompous, introspective, snobby, art-house bullshit").

But I like really weird movies!!

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2003-05-10 07:40am

Lets say, for arguments, sake that Aliens takes the place of the OT in the groundbrealing role. By now the OT would be one of many good/average films it would not stand out as it actually has.
The thing with the OT, in 1977, was it had never happned before, and it set the standard, for an entire generation, as a result.