Overall Problems With Star Wars

Overall Problems With Star Wars

I think that the root problem with Star Wars is that Lucas made the first one, and it did so phenominally well (right place right time and all that); and he said, hey you like that? I got a whole whack more of the same, really cool stuff, and he's been making it up as he went ever since. I say that because the story of how the story came together has changed over the years.

Overall, the problem with the first trillogy (Episodes 1, 2, and 3) is that they diminish the character that Lucas worked so hard to build up. The Darth Vader of Episodes 5 and 6 is one of cool competance; someone who is trained in the Jedi arts but yet retains a certain amount of dignity. His actions are ballanced -- his punnishment of Captain Needa for failure is balanced by his rewarding of Captain Piet's competance. The fact that Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith had to await General Veer's permission before landing on Hoth shows that Vader tries to put competant people in the right place and then respects the successful jobs they do.

The Darth Vader of Episode 4 is a bit cartoonish, but that is understandable given that Lucas was really coming to grips with his writing and character. It is excusable. Even so, this Darth Vader leads his troops from the front, putting himself at risk in a combat situation to defend the Death Star.

Anakin is never portrayed as a particularly honorable character. He is weak, he whines, he complains that the universe in general is out to get him. The result is that we see that Vader never was the character we wanted him to be, and we are left with General Thrawn from Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire series as the villian we wanted Darth Vader to be.