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| quote: | Originally posted by halo20
Darth Vader <- the best villain ever written? So much so he made three movies explaining his past!
Luke Skywalker
Han Solo
Yoda
Chewbacca
Kenobi
BRILLIANT BRILLIANT Characters! |
I love star wars. I've been a fan for as long as I've been alive. But the characters he writes while they serve a purpose in the movie are never fleshed out to the point where they are believeable.
Vader, Solo, and Luke are all characters well written to serve their purpose, but apart from the typical evil, renegade with a heart of gold or hero mold, what is unique about them? Give me a character trait that makes them human? One might argue that in a fantasy film is just that 'fantasy', but without a grounding of the characters by showing they are fallable, or subject to the same whims that we as people are, they just can't qualify as 'great' characters. Yes, Lucas has a powerfully imaginative mind creating memorable characters due to unique physical appearance or stage presence, but don't mistake memorable characters for good characters. A good character should undertake some type of change due to the storyline around him or her. The only two characters in all of star wars who undergo such changes, even in limited forms are Anakin and Luke. And Luke only goes through the limited range of finding out Anakin is his father as a necessary plot development. With this new trilogy, Lucas really had a chance to create a great storyline, one where he had the chance to mold Anakin into a great character with all kinds of issues and traits and change him dramatically through plotline into the evil character that is Vader. But like I said before, it seems as though the first two episodes were merely filler for the story of the third film. And quite frankly, without going into spoilers, I think the dramatic jump from tormented hero to villian was too big a jump in one scene.
Compare the characters of any star wars film to another now huge fansasy film known as Lord of the Rings.
Sauroman, Sauron and Gandalf - one dimensional support characters. Archtype evil characters and the wise eldar one.
Aragorn - undergoes character development in the understanding that good intentions are worthless unless one takes action to put them into motion with the means at their disposal.
The hobbits - undergo character development in the realization that they themselves are not irrelevant in the grand scheme of the world, discover the nature of courage, and nobility, and recognise in a better sense the scope of the world and that the shire is not an isolated plase beyond the reaches of what happens elsewhere in middle earth.
gimli and legolas - limited characters, but they still undergo character development in a sense that they learn to put aside mistrust and prejudice for a common good.
Other characters undergoing changes of note are the kings of Rohan and Gondor, as well as Boromir and Fahramir [sp?].
Tell me, what kind of change does Han Solo undergo?
Maybe in episode 4 in a very weak way he may turn from and consequence free character to one with a consience when he shoots down Vader's Tie fighter in the attack on the Death Star. But where did that change come from? It was too sudden and too absolute, lacking an in-depth look as to why he did it.
And what, apart from stage presence makes chewbacca a great character? Memorable yes, but a great character, no.
But it's tough to have a great character if the lines written for them is very static and devoid of personality. 'from my point of view, the jedi are evil' - anakin skywalker. I mean come on! I charge anyone for coming up with a more dispassionate line during the climax of the film than that.
What made the original star wars movies great was a fast moving, exciting plotline, coupled with a moral overtone, and what was unbelieveable special effects for the time period.
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Last edited by Sly_Guy on May-20-2005 at 18:11
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No more Star Wars...at least so Luca$ says.
