Jar Jar Binks

When Lucas released the "revised" original Star Wars, the external scenes in Mos Eisley were suddenly filled with CGI features that - although supposed to be in the background - kept pushing themselves to the foreground and distracting from the actual story. It was unnecessary and annoying.

And that's pretty much how Jar Jar Binks felt - an annoying and unnecessary CGI feature that kept pushing itself to the foreground, to distract from the story.

There are various complaints I could make about the prequels - but to be fair, if I'd watched them as a child I bet I would have loved them. Conversely, if I'd have watched the original trilogy when I was 35 years old, I'd probably have been far less forgiving of them as well.
 
Narkalui said:
I'd like to apologise for branding those who like the prequels as not true fans. Conversations about the prequels make me angry and I posted out of turn.
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I hope I didn't come across as pointing at you, Narkalui, and you're certainly in your rights to voice your disgust at JJB :) I just meant it's a pattern I've seen since the PT came out. FTR, my 6th birthday present was to take my schoolfriends to the local cinema to see SW when it first screened. (I still have a problem calling it A New Hope, but I'm getting better) ;)

I think Brian makes a good point - It's like Lucas got infected with the CGI bug when cleaning up the OT for the SE, but no one was there to vaccinate him before he started on the PT. You know those people who have just got a new Word Processor when everything you get from them is a hot muddle of fonts and effects? Just as when someone joins instagram and every foto is heavily filtered etc. I think Lucas was like a child with a new toy.

The sad thing is, Jar Jar's role is a very important one; forging the Alliance with the Naboo for the final battle of Naboo, and then pushing the motion for the Army of the Republic. In that regard he needed to be a naïve idealist. What he didn't need to be was so goofy. However... there is that scene on board the Royal Starship which is worth Jar Jar's annoyances... Hello Boyos! :D

pH
 
One day I shall rewrite the prequels as I believe they should have been done (watch The Seven Samurai then the Michael York Oliver Reed Three and Four Musketeers for clues) and I'll post links here for them.
 
Brian Turner said:
When Lucas released the "revised" original Star Wars, the external scenes in Mos Eisley were suddenly filled with CGI features that - although supposed to be in the background - kept pushing themselves to the foreground and distracting from the actual story. It was unnecessary and annoying.

And that's pretty much how Jar Jar Binks felt - an annoying and unnecessary CGI feature that kept pushing itself to the foreground, to distract from the story.

There are various complaints I could make about the prequels - but to be fair, if I'd watched them as a child I bet I would have loved them. Conversely, if I'd have watched the original trilogy when I was 35 years old, I'd probably have been far less forgiving of them as well.
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Curious!!! I has a similar feeling. Pretty much identical! And I never thought myself as a yes man!
 
Phyrebrat said:
You know those people who have just got a new Word Processor when everything you get from them is a hot muddle of fonts and effects? Just as when someone joins instagram and every foto is heavily filtered etc. I think Lucas was like a child with a new toy.
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Exactly! George is an odd fellow who can't seem to decide which aspect of film making he enjoys more -- the story or playing with the tech toys.

I'm of a certain age where I can clearly recall when the first Star Wars film came out in the 70s. I was in high school and I had such a crush on Han Solo, i cannot tell you. Also, I lived in Marin County (Northern California) about 1 mile from the freeway exit that takes you up the road to Skywalker Ranch. I could feel the vibes in the air. I used to look at the hills and oak trees and think, just over there... that's the job for me. But I'm primarily a writer. I never got up the guts to go apply for a job at ILM because I didn't have the tech skills, and I could feel that's what they really wanted.

When we see the CGI effects in the digitally re-mastered versions and the prequels, it's sometimes easy to forget that in the 70s when the original films came out, those were the state-of-the-art FX of the time! Up until then, there was nothing like it. Go look at 2001: A Space Odyssey and the slow-moving spaceships. Go look at the 3-D rotating hologram of Michael York's head in Logan's Run. Green screen (blue screen) and robotics and prosthetic masks were all cutting edge. For Chewbacca to move his jaw was incredible! This is at the tail end of the Planet of the Apes movies and compare the natural movements of Chewie's mouth to Cornelius. Also, nobody owned a personal computer at home, so those schematics of the Death Star on a video screen for Princess Leia to stare at... or, the missile guidance screen in Luke's X-wing fighter... those were visually amazing. I still remember feeling chills the first time I saw a digitally rendered 3-D schematic of where Obi-Wan should go to shut down the force fields. of course George Lucas plays with toys. It's what he has always done.

P.S. I love Jar Jar!! Maybe because I don't take Star Wars all that seriously, and I enjoyed a character who made me laugh as opposed to the uptight, wooden performances of everyone else.
 
There are a few things I like about Jar Jar. Mostly that he brings untold suffering and misery to people. And... that's about it really. Indeed, not only is he a massive pain in every conceivable bodily orifice, but he's also a terrible person. He spends most of the early part of Phantom Menace whinging and moaning at Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor (the people who saved his life twice). Perhaps that explains where Hayden Christensen got his whininess from. He also tires to steal from that poor shop keeper in Mos Espa who probably needed the money to pay for his space tadpoles (And that was just after Ewan McGregor mentioned that they had plenty of supplies on the ship. Jar Jar just hates the poor I guess).

However, on the surface this may look like really bad, inconsistent writing catered to the under two's but its not. It's genius. After all, before he steals from the shop Jar Jar's cutesy bumbler acts slips as he surveys his surroundings with a callous, self amused smirk. Earlier he seems oddly calm when the swamp creatures are rampaging around him yet starts 'panicking' when he notices Liam Neeson. A layman might argue this is merely really, really lazy writing but I contend that it is instead ingenious foreshadowing.

After all, how does he stay in the senate when his clumsiness, ineptitude and moral bankruptcy and should have gotten him sacked years ago? (Insert Blair/Bush/Obama/Nixon/Jimmy Carter joke here) Clearly someone is doing him favours at the very heart of the power structure. Why does Palpatine slouch behind him like a lackey after his rescue from Matthew Wood? The answer lies in an old Star Wars Tales issue where Jar Jar spends his childhood stranded on a desert island. Yet this takes place during a time of sailing ships. How could Jar Jar live for hundreds, if not thousands of years? To cheat death is a power only one has mastered. Darth Plagieus.

That's right. Jar Jar is the true evil force behind the Star Wars saga. Sidious, Maul, Christopher Lee and Rick McCallum were nothing but pawns. While the Empire and Rebels battled he lurked in the shadows, weaving malignant designs too subtle for mere mortals to comprehend. His kiddy-comic relief gig was the perfect cover, the Jedi would never suspect that anyone, let alone a Sith Lord could degrade himself so much just to stay hidden. It seems Anakin really did live up to the prophecy. The force is balanced. One Jedi. And One sith. No doubt the New films will follow the thematic trajectory to its logical conclusion; a titanic final battle between Jar Jar and Luke amidst the ruins of Skywalker ranch.

This is why Jar Jar deserves to be ranked with the likes of Nurse Ratched, Harry Lime, Big Brother and Ms Havisham. He held the galaxy by its throat with nothing but a goofy accent and a couple of prat falls.
 
Calum said:
There are a few things I like about Jar Jar. Mostly that he brings untold suffering and misery to people. And... that's about it really. Indeed, not only is he a massive pain in every conceivable bodily orifice, but he's also a terrible person. He spends most of the early part of Phantom Menace whinging and moaning at Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor (the people who saved his life twice). Perhaps that explains where Hayden Christensen got his whininess from. He also tires to steal from that poor shop keeper in Mos Espa who probably needed the money to pay for his space tadpoles (And that was just after Ewan McGregor mentioned that they had plenty of supplies on the ship. Jar Jar just hates the poor I guess).

However, on the surface this may look like really bad, inconsistent writing catered to the under two's but its not. It's genius. After all, before he steals from the shop Jar Jar's cutesy bumbler acts slips as he surveys his surroundings with a callous, self amused smirk. Earlier he seems oddly calm when the swamp creatures are rampaging around him yet starts 'panicking' when he notices Liam Neeson. A layman might argue this is merely really, really lazy writing but I contend that it is instead ingenious foreshadowing.

After all, how does he stay in the senate when his clumsiness, ineptitude and moral bankruptcy and should have gotten him sacked years ago? (Insert Blair/Bush/Obama/Nixon/Jimmy Carter joke here) Clearly someone is doing him favours at the very heart of the power structure. Why does Palpatine slouch behind him like a lackey after his rescue from Matthew Wood? The answer lies in an old Star Wars Tales issue where Jar Jar spends his childhood stranded on a desert island. Yet this takes place during a time of sailing ships. How could Jar Jar live for hundreds, if not thousands of years? To cheat death is a power only one has mastered. Darth Plagieus.

That's right. Jar Jar is the true evil force behind the Star Wars saga. Sidious, Maul, Christopher Lee and Rick McCallum were nothing but pawns. While the Empire and Rebels battled he lurked in the shadows, weaving malignant designs too subtle for mere mortals to comprehend. His kiddy-comic relief gig was the perfect cover, the Jedi would never suspect that anyone, let alone a Sith Lord could degrade himself so much just to stay hidden. It seems Anakin really did live up to the prophecy. The force is balanced. One Jedi. And One sith. No doubt the New films will follow the thematic trajectory to its logical conclusion; a titanic final battle between Jar Jar and Luke amidst the ruins of Skywalker ranch.

This is why Jar Jar deserves to be ranked with the likes of Nurse Ratched, Harry Lime, Big Brother and Ms Havisham. He held the galaxy by its throat with nothing but a goofy accent and a couple of prat falls.
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Did you ever see the Robot Chicken episode with Vader and Jar Jar ?
 
It's seems since the new Star Wars movie has come out I've read a lot about how people really didn't like Jar Jar Binks. I'm just wondering am I the only person who loved him? I thought he was genuinely funny and wish he would have had more parts in episode 2 and 3, not a major role but still.
 
I never liked Jar Jar, but I will say this: he was the only character in the prequel trilogy that inspired any emotion. Almost everybody hates Jar Jar, but nobody feels a lick of anything about any of the other characters. Hatred is better than nothing, I think.

Therefore, I think it's possible that Jar Jar is the best character in the prequel trilogy.
 
Jar Jar Binks is one of the most talked about characters in the Star Wars universe, to be sure. Many hate him, and it seems few like him.

I first saw The Phantom Menace in May 1999 at a special screening of the film for Lucasfilm employees. A friend of mine worked for George Lucas at Lucas Learning and had invited me to the special screening in San Rafael, CA. A lifelong Star Wars fan, I was thrilled by this opportunity and came to the special screening with my friend. I was so excited to see the first of the new prequels.

However, soon into the film I was really upset by the introduction of the character of Jar Jar Binks. I just didn't like his voice and behavior. Moreover, I was not impressed by the young Anakin Skywalker played by Jake Lloyd. Not at all what I had imagined Anakin would be like since I was a young Star Wars fan back in the early 80's. I was disappointed in the childishness of young Anakin Skywalker and the fact that Jake Lloyd was too young to be able to do what he could do feasibly, realistically (create C-3PO and fly a pod racer so well)--why didn't they pick a young teenager for this role at least? Still, I was impressed by the special effects in the film despite the plot changes and discrepancies that were also there. I didn't like the divine birth of Anakin, conceived by midichlorians. I felt as though the original story of the first trilogy had been compromised too much, and I couldn't quite put my finger on everything that was wrong with The Phantom Menace. It just didn't feel right, or at least, it was not enough in sync with the original trilogy, despite taking place partially on Tatooine with some of the same characters. However, as a film on its own, without seeing the original trilogy, The Phantom Menace wasn't bad at all, I suppose, except for the insufferable Jar Jar Binks. I did enjoy much of the film--it was wonderful seeing Obi-wan Kenobi played by Ewan McGregor. And I liked Qui-Gon Jinn as well. It was just that most of the disappointment in the first prequel film seemed to focus around the introduction of the character Jar Jar Binks and his antics. He was an easy reason to dislike the prequels.

Recently, I re-watched the entire 6 films of the original trilogy and the prequels. I found that I actually disliked Jar Jar Binks far less than I initially had, to my very great surprise. I suppose I had finally come to tolerate him, as I realized that there was a lot more wrong with the prequels than just Jar Jar Binks...
 
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