Unlike those poor folk a few decades ago, I didn't have to wait 3 years between movie releases. After watching Star Wars (Episode IV), I only had to wait about 10 days before Episode V. There are benefits of being the last person in the world to watch a series.
Again, I'm assuming everyone who might read this has either seen the movie, or at least knows the basics thanks to pop culture references. I was a little underwhelmed with the big revelation of this episode. Not the revelation itself (although it wasn't a surprise - thank you, The Simpsons), but its delivery. Something so huge delivered so simply. Although I guess it could have been totally overblown and then lost its import, so knowing hardly anything about making movies, I guess I'll leave that one alone. There were quite a few questions after Episode IV. These included things like, when are we going to find out all those things I already know but have to pretend I don't already know? And when are we going to meet those characters I'm pretty sure are Star Wars characters but haven't appeared just yet?
The plot had that good old adventure theme, with a spot of damsel-in-distress - which sounds like it could be so outdated, but so not. Who doesn't like a good adventure?! Good versus bad. Personal journey. Looking past your past and living your own life regardless of expectations. All those universal themes, really, it's just that they happen to be set in an alternate, space-y universe.
The stand-out feature of this movie, though, was the music. Amazing. From the beginning it hit me - this is stunning! Not just ripping themes, but used operatically. Sometimes movie music is so subtle you can't notice it - and sometimes that's what you want, a soundtrack that doesn't overpower the movie. Sometimes the music is so annoying it detracts from everything else, or is so derivative that I spend my time thinking "oh that's from movie X... ooh quote from movie Y" etc. So satisfying here, though, that I had thoughts like "Oh, nice leitmotif usage there... BASS!!" Even better - having the urge to listen to Prokofiev symphonies a couple of days later, and thinking for a moment that I was listening to the Star Wars soundtrack (about 12 minutes into the 1st movement of Symphony 2, if you're interested).
Having to wait a bit for Episode VI... I'm so impatient! But now I just want to get them all seen, have the series complete. Yeah, you know what I'm like.
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