Star Wars on Trial: Science Fiction And Fantasy Writers Debate the Most Popular Science Fiction Films of All Time (Smart Pop)

p.40 Brin uses the philosophical conundrum, ”would you go back in time and kill Hitler as a boy, if given a chance?”

p.40 Brin uses the philosophical conundrum, ”would you go back in time and kill Hitler as a boy, if given a chance?”

p.131 Brin: …willing to admit... that Luke winds up defying his Jedi Masters, questioning their authority. Overcoming their mistakes and helping to bring a new Order that might—one can hope—rise above the flaming lunacy that both sides of the old Force represent.

p.147 Anders: The public has no problem with distinguishing the good stuff.

p.193 Hemry: Yes, A New Hope resulted in lots of rotten SF movies hitting the screens, but it also inspired some good stuff and it taught a generation of moviegoers that SF and good movies are not incompatible things.
Now Hollywood 'knows' … that lousy SF movies with great special effects of can also make good money.

p.228 Huff: Star Wars was the grandpappy of media tie-ins and has become a shorthand definition of science fiction for an entire generation. It isn't just that Star Wars—simple, sparkly and not exactly cohesive under critical analysis—has wiped out any literary merit science fiction has gained in the minds of the general public; it's worse: there are adults, with children of their own, who have never lived in a world where science fiction wasn't reeling under the weight of Star Wars. There are adults who have never known the science fiction section of bookstores when they weren't dominated by media tie-ins.

Cavelos: [Leia] remains on the sidelines during ep.IV... a cheerleader. At the awards ceremony, she is in the position of a commander, but she does not wield the power of one.

Cavelos: The most serious blow to the coherence of Leia's character comes with the revelation that she is Darth Vader's daughter. From the beginning of the trilogy, we have seen Leia's loyalty to the man she believes is her father, Bail Organa. She goes to Tatooine at her father's bidding, and she shares with her father a love of their home planet and their people, and a hatred for the Empire. Thus the news that Bail is not her father and that Vader is should be a huge blow to her. Yet Leia reacts as if she's on Prozac, saying she's “always known.” This is not convincing on any level.

p.326 Cavelos: On the Ewok moon, a strong intuition would again provide more motivation for Leia to act. If she has a sense that the Ewoks are key to the Rebel victory, then she should be much more proactive in gathering intelligence... Standing around saying you're lost and eating a granola bar aren't really effective... Similarly, she fails to work toward an alliance once she gets the Ewok village, instead giving herself another makeover. 3PO does more to gain their help—and that's about the biggest insult I can give to any character.

p.330 Spangler: Although there have been some definite missteps along the way, strong female characters like Leia have appeared in the Star Wars prequel and in the EU. In addition, she has made an impact on pop fiction as a whole.

p.330 Spangler: Now, almost 30 years after A New Hope, seeing a strong woman in an action-adventure film doesn't produce the same surprise that it used to.

p.339 Brin: In Empire... Yoda and Obi-Wan look woefully at the departing Luke, both of them certain that his rebellious action will result in disaster. (It doesn't.)
“No,” answers the oven mitt. “There is another.”
That statement—so filled with dramatic portent—promised a big payoff. When we learned that the “other” was Leia, that was just fine! Our appetites were whetted for her to do something marvelous! Only then...
… Do you feel that there was a payoff worthy of this clue?
Spangler: I don't think that Leia could've suddenly manifested powers in Return... equal to a or greater than Luke's. That would've been a deus ex machina. And I don't think she could've confronted Vader directly.