Star Wars vs. LotR vs. Matrix

3 Comments

A year and a half ago, I pointed to 50 Reasons Lord of the Rings "Sucks"; now I'm pleased to see that the author, Dr. Oxford, has a new essay in which he compares Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, and Star Wars and determines, with scientific objectivity, which of the three is best. He uses five main criteria: Source Material, Characters, Story Themes and Symbolism, Visual Effects, and Ghost Swordfighting Scene.

A few of my favorite bits:

George Lucas' epic is based on the Akira Kurosawa film The Seven Samurai, a 1954 Japanese masterpiece wherein a team of 19th Century Samurai free a princess by attacking a space station.

And:

In the new trilogy, Anakin Skywalker portrays a damning indictment of technology's modern dehumanization of mankind through Hayden Christensen's lifeless, almost inhuman performance. There is a river of tragedy in every robotic line he utters, a horrific monotonal indication of his cyborgal fate.

And:

A sci-fantasy epic's narrative is only as strong as its ghost/human swordfighting sequence. These, of all the scenes, require the most skillful storytelling hand lest the audience notice the sheer magnitude of the premise's ridiculousness.

Be sure to read the bibliography at the end.

Okay, now I think I can face the day.

3 Responses to “Star Wars vs. LotR vs. Matrix”

  1. Arthur D. Hlavaty

    Reminds me of the theory that the protagonist of Blade Runner was himself a replicant, and some of us thought that the best evidence was the robotic quality of the voiceovers.

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  2. Kristian

    Ok your “50 reasons why lotr sucks” have no fact at all. Stop pointing out this which is not true.

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  3. Jed

    I can’t figure out whether I’m getting a lot more trolls than I used to, or whether I’m getting a lot more people who don’t read very carefully than I used to.

    If it’s trolls–and especially if it’s just one troll–please stop; I really don’t enjoy it. I imagine you’re having fun, but could you have fun either somewhere else or in a less annoying way?

    If it’s not reading carefully, then I suspect it doesn’t matter what I say here, since I can’t imagine anyone will come back to read my responses.

    At some point maybe I’ll track down some of the IP numbers and see if they’re the same; also look at referrers and see what’s leading people to old postings of mine.

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