Faster and More Intense

The directions "faster" and "more intense" don't necessarily go together. In fact they can work against each other. But the direction itself has been attributed to George Lucas as his most common - if not only - direction to actors on Star Wars, "Faster and more intense." The Original Star Wars trilogy (1977 - 1983) is generally fast and intense. I expect that this over the years got through to Lucas as Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill have related anecdotes from filming. Unfortunately the result may have been that the prequels released between 1999 and 2005 are neither fast nor intense, from scene to scene. Scenes generally just happen and there is little or no momentum, but most of all decisions are not made under fire and with the machine-gun delivery that had school kids like myself reciting, "It'll take a few moments to get coordinates from the nava-computer." On paper or as text, that looks pretty flat, but correctly acted with conviction it is gold. I don't know if delivery alone could have saved the prequels. The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are especially constipated and less open to the emotional participation of the audience, as if the story will resume after these messages. They are a world populated by robots, monks and politicians for the most part. This makes anyone who is not speaking in a prescribed or a regulated tone stand out in sharp relief as begging for laughs or reaction. Anakin's mother was a fine actress, but even she could only do so much with what was written, and Lucas himself has stated that more emotional takes were done but he didn't want them to upset the balance of the movie in which he had flattened pretty much all emotion. Both versions of the animated Clone Wars are such a change in tone that they recall the original trilogy. I remember Yoda taking a moment with some clone troopers and asking to see their faces and making it clear that though they are clones they are all distinct persons within the Force and then speaking to each one by name. Such depth is lacking in the prequels. These new series are clearly made by old-school Star Wars fans and not as a grind by Lucas who might think that his terrible first drafts of outlines must be vacuum sealed (in other words they suck). Even though he stays involved, mostly to make sure the grasshopper-like battle droids have comical exit lines as they die, like "Whyyyyyy?" or "But I just got promoted." Very forgivable considering that the Clone Wars are generally faster and more intense than the prequels despite being from the same era (and errors). It is May the Fourth, Star Wars day, so I had to get in my two cents on this unfortunate watering down of something that was quite great most of my life. May the Fourth Be with you. . . .