<\/p>\n
Spoilers! \u00a0If you haven’t seen any of the movies, there may be spoilers in here.<\/em><\/p>\n Here goes: \u00a0It started with \u201cHey, bro, what do you say to watching Episode 6 this Saturday\u2026 with a brand new surround sound system?\u201d \u00a0When I checked in the morning it had become \u201cJoin us in watching the Complete Star Wars saga, episodes 1 through 6 \u2013 in THAT order.\u201d \u00a0It had already been pointed out to me that this<\/em> marathon would be longer than the Lord of the Rings Trilogy marathon \u2013 even with the extended cuts \u2013 but I thought if Shawn\u2019s good for it, then I am too!\u00a0 (There\u2019s no way I\u2019d agree to the LOTR extended cut marathon).<\/p>\n Going into the films, these were my favorite Star Wars flicks in order:<\/p>\n Episodes 4, 6, 1, 3, 5, 2.<\/p>\n Note how of the original<\/em> trilogy, episode 5 was dead last.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Dead last.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you why.<\/p>\n Nothing happens in Episode 5.<\/p>\n Nothing memorable that is.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen Episode 4, 6, and 1 at least a dozen times each.\u00a0 After re-watching Episodes 2 and 3 a few years ago, I realized how much fun Episode 3 was, and how little I hated Anakin in it.\u00a0 I still thought Episode 2 was really lacking, possibly because I hated the whiny little bitch Anakin \u2013 even though I understood what George Lucas was saying with that character choice. \u00a0\u00a0Plus, I was shocked how Padme could spend an entire movie in gorgeous outfits, and I barely remembered it \u2013 probably because the sexiest outfit (the white skin-tight one) was in the least motivated action piece of the series.<\/p>\n So when I finished Episode 2 & 3 a few years ago, I couldn\u2019t help but compare it to Episode 5.\u00a0 In fact, I could barely remember Episode 5.\u00a0 I started to think back.\u00a0 What happened?\u00a0 Darth Vader tells Luke he\u2019s his father.\u00a0 Um\u2026. Yoda\u2019s in it.\u00a0 Um\u2026 Cloud City\u2026..\u00a0 Oh, and Hoth.<\/p>\n So I rewatched Episode 5, too.\u00a0 And I was shocked to find that was I bored to hell through most of it.\u00a0 Then it ended.\u00a0 That\u2019s what shocked me.\u00a0 Luke is hanging from an antenna;\u00a0 he\u2019s saved by the crew who turns back because Leia can sense Luke\u2019s peril, and saves him.\u00a0 Then they\u2019re looking out at the window for some reason (and I forget where), and it cuts to credits.\u00a0 — Worst ending ever!!!<\/p>\n I was so shocked by that crappy ending I had to call my brother and compare it to Lords of the Rings \u2013 Fellowship of the Rings, which just\u2026 you know, ended.\u00a0 Nobody had told me there was going to be two other 3 hour movies in the LOTR series, so when Sam and Frodo\u00a0finally get to see the eye of Mordor, I\u2019m thinking \u201cthis is it.\u00a0 This is the quiet before the storm.\u201d I’m mounting up for a big battle. \u00a0Then it ends.\u00a0 But Episode 5 was worse.\u00a0 There was no anticipation; no direction as to what was next; maybe an off-the-cuff comment that Luke\u2019s going back to degobah? Then it ends.\u00a0 And I sat back and said to myself \u201cGood god.\u00a0 Nothing happened.\u201d\u00a0 And the truth is not that nothing happened, but that nothing was accomplished<\/em>.\u00a0 And the heroes were left worse off than they began, with more questions than purpose.<\/p>\n So that\u2019s what I remembered going into the mararthon.<\/p>\n What I remember leaving the marathon was \u2026. Strangeness.\u00a0 By episode 6, I was pretty tired and my contacts dried out, so I had to rewet them.<\/p>\n But overall, here goes.<\/p>\n Episode 1-3 were so dense and difficult to follow that I spent a ton of energy trying to keep track of all the characters and planet names, just to figure out the characters motivations, so I could string together a semblance of story.\u00a0 By the time I was at Episode 4-6, they flew by as if they were only an hour long.\u00a0 Not only because I had seen them many times before but because they were easier to follow, probably because less happens in them \u2013 especially Episode 5.\u00a0 The other thing I realized was that Episode 1-3 follows the story of Obi Wan, Anakin, and Padme (this was more clear in episodes 2 and 3), where Episode 4-6 followed the story of Luke, Han, and Leia.<\/p>\n Episode 1-3 had the dilemma of having a lead who you wound up hating for much of the series, who would start as a hero and because he couldn\u2019t control his feelings would become a villain. \u00a0Obi-Wan was a Jedi and had to be rather minimally emotive\u00a0by design (and yet he was the most endearing).\u00a0 And Padme, who was strong but had no range in emotion, making the romance in Episode 2 less believable.<\/p>\n Episode 4-6 instead followed an angsty but eager-to-help kid who steps up to the plate and becomes a hero fast, then develops his heroism as the series moves forward (with the help of Yoda in Episode 5, and his belief in his father in Episode 6).\u00a0 It also had at its core a love triangle, since the first film (Episode 4).\u00a0 They just milked the whole \u201ctwo guys vying for one girl\u201d joke \u2013 hard-core in Episode 5, until the reveal in Episode 6.\u00a0 It was that love triangle dynamic that kept it light and made you fall in love with the leads.\u00a0 Rewatching Episode 4-6 back to back, you see how chipper and witty the three leads are and how they all sort of love each other like family \u2013 but are all too macho to admit it.\u00a0 For example, Han Solo starts as this no-good smuggler but quickly turns out to be a really nice guy.\u00a0 He\u2019s not tough to deal with at all, in fact, he\u2019s rather charming, and he even puts his life and livelihood (the Millennium Falcon) on the line for Luke when he saves the day at the end.\u00a0 Then the first (boring) 45 minutes of the next movie is just to prove that Han isn\u2019t a bad guy because he braves the cold to find Luke (after a bunch of will-they-won\u2019t-they moments with Leia).\u00a0 And then in Episode 6, he\u2019s just a nice guy, hero type.\u00a0 It really makes you wonder\u2026 what was he doing in Mos Eisley in the first place?<\/p>\n After you compare the characters in each trilogy, the next talking point becomes the plot.\u00a0 In both trilogies, the plot is based around the political events in the Republic (or Empire) that drives the military actions that motivate and inform nearly every scene in every movie.<\/p>\n Episode 4-6 was simple.<\/p>\n Episode 4: The Rebels versus the Empire, embodied by Darth Vader and the Death Star.<\/p>\n Episode 5:\u00a0 The Rebels versus the Empire, embodied by Darth Vader and the Emperor.<\/p>\n Episode 6:\u00a0 The Rebels versus the Empire, embodied by Darth Vader, the Emperor, and the Death Star.<\/p>\n Episodes 1-3 seemed to be satisfied with leaving us asking \u201cwhat\u2019s going on?\u201d because for any given scene, even the Jedi themselves were uncertain of who the bad guy was.\u00a0 There was this Phantom Menace that nobody could identify.\u00a0 There was clearly a Sith lord, but who he was and how much influence he had in any given scene was unknown to us and the Jedi.\u00a0 While there were identified villians (Darth Maul, Dooku, and Grievous),<\/p>\n Lucas broke one of the (Duenas) rules of a great hero story:<\/p>\n \u201cThere must be a clear villain.\u201d<\/p>\n So let\u2019s try the A versus B method:<\/p>\n Episode 1:\u00a0 Um\u2026. The Naboo versus the trade federation Droid Army?\u00a0 But half the movie, the Jedi spend with Anakin, trying to get their ship repaired to get to Coruscant.\u00a0 At least the finale was clear and triumphant: The Gungans (and Naboo) versus the Droid Army (and Trade Federation).\u00a0 The good guys win.<\/p>\n Episode 2:\u00a0 Um\u2026. There really is no \u201cversus\u201d plot until maybe the end, when it becomes clear(er) that it would be the Separatists versus the Republic \u2013 but even then, I had to try really hard to figure out whose army is whose.\u00a0 That really muddled the whole Coliseum battles.\u00a0 So I guess it became the Separatists\u2019 Droid Army and Count Dooku (who is rebelling against the Sith Lord \u2013 or working with the Sith Lord?), versus the Republic with their Clone Army, led by the Jedi (who did or didn\u2019t commission the damn thing) at the behest of Chancellor Palpatine.\u00a0 But half the movie, they spend finding out about the droid army.<\/p>\n Episode 3:\u00a0 The Republic versus the Separatists.\u00a0\u00a0 After figuring it out in Episode 2, this became clearer.\u00a0 It starts with the death of Episode 2\u2019s villain, Dooku.\u00a0 So they killed the Sith lord, right?\u00a0 But there\u2019s still war as long as there\u2019s General Grievous.\u00a0 Surely, they figure out that there\u2019s another Sith?\u00a0 I guess we didn\u2019t have to wait too long because Palpatine comes right out and tells Anikin.\u00a0 But he\u2019s real clever because he plays on Anakin\u2019s fear of losing Padme to make him betray the Jedi council, justify the murder, and take the right hand of the true Sith Master.\u00a0 So\u2026 politically, the battles were confusing.\u00a0 Still I liked the movie.<\/p>\n Why did I like Episode 3 so much?\u00a0 Probably because that\u2019s when Palpatine shows all his cards.\u00a0 He\u2019s so good in every scene he\u2019s in.\u00a0 And when you think back to every action he takes \u2013 even in other films \u2013 he always places himself in win-win scenarios. Plus, we\u2019ve established the relationship between Anakin and Padme, so we\u2019re not shocked or trying to justify it anymore.\u00a0 Plus the movie moves like a Michael Bay film.\u00a0 No joke.\u00a0 It is relentless. \u00a0And the few scenes where there is no battles going on, the dialogue is crazy good (maybe I\u2019m just thinking of the scene where Anakin and Palpatine are watching some show, and it ends with Palpatine saying \u201cNot from a Jedi\u201d).\u00a0 Plus, all the tragedy.\u00a0 The tragedy of Obi-Wan having to kill Anakin (or leave him for dead).\u00a0 The tragedy of all the Jedi being knocked off with \u201cCode 66\u201d.\u00a0 The tragedy of Padme dying giving birth because of her loss of love due to the grim actions of Anakin<\/em> trying to become all-powerful to keep her from dying.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s irony!\u00a0 And it opens up well.\u00a0 The fun thing about Episode 4-6 is all the comic bickering between characters.\u00a0 Episode 3 (or was it 2) had great rapport between Anakin and Obi-Wan.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember all of Episode 3, but I remember enjoying it all.<\/p>\n So leaving the Marathon, my rankings are:<\/p>\n Episodes 4, 1, 6, 3, 5, 2.<\/p>\n Episode 4- Because the music is great, the fight scenes are amazing, the characters are lovable, and the ending is triumphant. and the following musical cues:\u00a0 Ben-Kenobi\u2019s Death and Tie Fighter Chase, Battle of Yavin 4, Throne Room and End Credits.<\/p>\n Episode 1- Because it holds a special place in my young boy heart.\u00a0 It\u2019s about a kid with magical powers who saves the day.\u00a0 Plus, the pod race, Darth Maul (and finale battle), and the following musical cues:\u00a0 Fanfare, Duel of the Fates, Battle Droids, Parade and End Credits.<\/p>\n Episode 6- Because even when I was young, I was a little irked by the whole kill-the death-star-again plot point, but only irked because overall it was just a fun movie! (save for the scenes on Tatooine with Jabba the Hutt which I tend to forget exist). And the music to the Forrest Battle, and Ewok Celebration.<\/p>\n Episode 3- Because of all the action, Palpatine laying out his cards, all the tragedy and twists.<\/p>\n Episode 5- Because it introduced the \u201cImperial March\u201d and Yoda, and the cool fight where Vader reveals he\u2019s his daddy.\u00a0 Everything else about it was just flat.\u00a0 Hoth was boring, except for the five minutes of AT-AT walkers which was cool for just a moment when they tied the cable around the feet. \u00a0Cloud City was like\u2026 what\u2019s this all about? And then they get captured there.\u00a0 Yoda put me to sleep.\u00a0 Everyone of those scenes.\u00a0 Luke\u2019s vision of Vader confused me as a child and still seems out-of-place.\u00a0 And it was the shortest of all the films.\u00a0 And it ended like \u201cwhat the hell\u201d?<\/p>\n Episode 2- Because there were some really good scenes, Padme\u2019s pretty hot in it, but I can\u2019t remember most of it.\u00a0 And the fact that I couldn\u2019t care less about the battles and chase scenes in last hour where they\u2019re in the Coliseum because I couldn\u2019t follow the plot, made it almost a waste of time.<\/p>\n Before: \u00a0\u00a0Episodes 4, 6, 1, 3, 5, 2.<\/p>\n After: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Episodes 4, 1, 6, 3, 5, 2.<\/p>\n