From: jsavard@ecn.ab.ca   
      
   George Lucas did indeed create the original Star Wars movie - and thus the   
   entire franchise.   
      
   And this new movie can't compare to that.   
      
   And the prequels weren't all that bad. Jar Jar Binks didn't ruin the first   
   movie,   
   though he came close. At the end of the second movie, he painted himself into a   
   corner... but the third movie was the best anyone could do to escape from that   
   corner.   
      
   The problem was that Darth Vader should never have been Luke's father. That may   
   have made for a dramatic moment in the second movie, but it made disaster   
   inevitable for the prequels - George Lucas deserves credit for preventing the   
   disaster from becoming much worse.   
      
   The problem was that for the first two movies, he had the restraining influence   
   of his wife, Marcia (nee Griffin) which is how they achieved greatness. Without   
   her, while he still had his creative genius, the discipline needed to avoid   
   self-indulgence and create a true masterwork was absent.   
      
   Yes, without Lucas, the new movies won't be works of genius, but they will be   
   competent fan-pleasers.   
      
   Which is better? I wish I didn't have to choose. But George Lucas made his   
   choice, and because of that, we can't have both.   
      
   John Savard   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)