Star Wars research

[Olympic Fan]

Over at Five-Thirty Eight -- which used to be a purely political site, but has now branched out into sports and entertainment -- they sponsored a poll to find out what people know and think about the Star Wars series.

Not surprisingly, Empire was the favorite film, while Luke Skywalker is the most popular character (Jar Jar Binks is not surprisingly the LEAST favorite character).

But, appallingly, more people have seen The Phantom Menace than the original Star Wars film (The New Hope)! And a majority of Star Wars fans think Luke shot first!

Check it out:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/a...te-characters/

[Blue in the Face]

Interesting that while few rank The Phantom Menace as their favorite, more rank it as their favorite than either of the following 2. It's been awhile since I've watched any of them, but Phantom was a clear least favorite for me. (Maybe some people started with that one and didn't like it enough to continue, making it their favorite by default. Or some kids really thought Jar Jar was funny). Also, there seems to be a pretty sizable group of people who saw Empire but not the original Star Wars. I don't think you have to be a stickler for natural progression to consider that really strange.

[hurleyfor3]

Maybe people don't know what the hell "A New Hope" is. What was the old hope, anyway?

Again, the only acceptable name of the 1977 movie is Star Wars. I will use my moderator powers to enforce this.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

And a majority of Star Wars fans think Luke shot first!

Check it out:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/a...te-characters/

Han, not Luke! But we know that was just a typo on your part. And I agree, Han shot first - he lived, Greedo didn't!

[brevity]

But, appallingly, more people have seen The Phantom Menace than the original Star Wars film (The New Hope)!

Maybe people don't know what the hell "A New Hope" is. What was the old hope, anyway?

Again, the only acceptable name of the 1977 movie is Star Wars. I will use my moderator powers to enforce this.

Beat me to it. The poll is flawed. If you look at the data, the order of the questions probably confused the respondents.

3. Which of the following Star Wars films have you seen? Please select all that apply.
4. Please rank the Star Wars films in order of preference with 1 being your favorite film in the franchise and 6 being your least favorite film.

This kind of interactivity tells us that the poll was conducted online, probably one question per page. I imagine enough respondents who have seen Star Wars but don't think of it as Episode IV or A New Hope left it unselected in Question 3 but then had to think about it by Question 4.

[FerryFor50]

My favorite Star Wars movie?

Spaceballs.

[rasputin]

Maybe people don't know what the hell "A New Hope" is. What was the old hope, anyway?

Again, the only acceptable name of the 1977 movie is Star Wars. I will use my moderator powers to enforce this.

The only appropriate enforcement power would be the Force itself.

[Wander]

Contrary to what I thought was popular opinion, I've always felt that Episode 2 was by far the worst movie (and to me, the only bad one), so it's nice to see that reflected here.

I wish there was a better way to ask the character question - as it's phrased right now it's a mix of "what characters do you like" and "what characters are morally good." And R2-D2 is by far the best character.

[hurleyfor3]

And R2-D2 is by far the best character.

Except somehow he's the only droid in the whole Star Wars universe who can't speak English -- even though he can understand it. This bothered me as a six-year-old and apparently no one else ever.

[Duvall]

Except somehow he's the only droid in the whole Star Wars universe who can't speak English -- even though he can understand it. This bothered me as a six-year-old and apparently no one else ever.

Can't speak Galactic Basic Standard, or chooses not to? What are they going to do, fire him?

[CameronBornAndBred]

As pointed out by DukeUsul on facebook, 10% of those people polled are idiots. I'd say a full 20%. I'm assuming that those 10%(or even 20%) never saw the original movies.

[77devil]

As pointed out by DukeUsul on facebook, 10% of those people polled are idiots. I'd say a full 20%. I'm assuming that those 10%(or even 20%) never saw the original movies.

Only 20%? That's better than typical.

[snowdenscold]

For some reason, I more than half-expected this thread to discuss laser-based missile defense. I guess the "research" part of the title really threw me off.


Anyway, I rank them as follows: V, IV, VI,.... III, II, I - though I reserve the right to change the last 2. It's been a long time since I've seen either (and probably only twice each ever).


Random fact: Darth Vader's theme music, the Imperial March, doesn't appear until TESB. Many assume it started with the original movie.

[bjornolf]

Han, not Luke! But we know that was just a typo on your part. And I agree, Han shot first - he lived, Greedo didn't!

I HATE the remake of that scene. Greedo looks even worse for missing a straight shot from across a table (what a loser of a bounty hunter!). I thought the whole point was that Han knew from the dialogue that Greedo was going to kill him, so he shot first. Finally, Han was a scoundrel who was redeemed through his relationship with Luke and Leia. OF COURSE he shot first. That was one of my favorite scenes, and they BUTCHERED it. Ugh.

[moonpie23]

they pretty much butchered I, II & III as well...

[wavedukefan70s]

Every time a Star Wars poll is created .i think of clerks 2 argument of the real trilogy.yes Star Wars is it.f

[moonpie23]

I've stated this in other threads before, but i'll throw this in again just for repetition...If they don't take care of these 3 important elements, it will be I, II and III all over again....

1. Swashbuckling (can NOT stress this too strongly)

swash·buck·le
ˈswôSHˌbəkəl,ˈswäSH-/
verb
gerund or present participle: swashbuckling
engage in daring and romantic adventures with ostentatious bravado or flamboyance.
"a crew of swashbuckling buccaneers"
synonyms: daring, heroic, daredevil, dashing, adventurous, bold, valiant, valorous, fearless, lionhearted, dauntless, devil-may-care;

2. a REAL, believable romance (Heyden Christensen? really?)

3. a villain that you truly fear...someone that scares you...(you're never scared of anyone in I, II or III till the end when you hear that breathing coming through the mask)

just my $.25 worth

[Tom B.]

Except somehow he's the only droid in the whole Star Wars universe who can't speak English -- even though he can understand it. This bothered me as a six-year-old and apparently no one else ever.

Here's what bugged me. In the original Star Wars -- or A New Hope, or Episode IV, or whatever -- when Obi-Wan Kenobi confronts Darth Vader, Kenobi addresses Vader as "Darth." Just..."Darth." Like it's his first name, not a title. Also, earlier in the film, Kenobi referred to Vader as "a pupil of mine named Darth Vader."

So, it's always seemed pretty clear to me that "Darth" was originally meant to be Vader's first name, not a title. It's only in later movies that "Darth" is used as a title for all Sith lords.

It's not a big point in the grand scheme of things -- but to me, it's always underscored the fact that Lucas was really making a lot of this stuff up as he went along.

[OldPhiKap]

First Disney absorption of the SW franchise:

http://disneychannel.disney.com/phin...ferb/star-wars

Although I must admit -- Perry the Rebel-pus translates to any genre.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Here's what bugged me. In the original Star Wars -- or A New Hope, or Episode IV, or whatever -- when Obi-Wan Kenobi confronts Darth Vader, Kenobi addresses Vader as "Darth." Just..."Darth." Like it's his first name, not a title. Also, earlier in the film, Kenobi referred to Vader as "a pupil of mine named Darth Vader."

So, it's always seemed pretty clear to me that "Darth" was originally meant to be Vader's first name, not a title. It's only in later movies that "Darth" is used as a title for all Sith lords.

It's not a big point in the grand scheme of things -- but to me, it's always underscored the fact that Lucas was really making a lot of this stuff up as he went along.

Maybe, maybe not. Look at it like addressing a politician. You can greet a senator as Senator Blowhard, or merely Senator. (Although you would not say "so and so is named Senator Blowhard".)