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Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of
the
Sith | |
Like it or not, modern cinema can be divided into
pre-Star Wars and post-Star Wars, so pivotal
is the space epic that enters
its final orbit on Sunday.
As the curtain falls on possibly the most
successful film series ever, the industry is divided over whether George
Lucas's galactic clash between
good and evil was the film industry's champion or its nemesis
.
Some argue it turned Hollywood into a commercial beast with no regard
for artistic merit. Star Wars, it is said, used technology that undermined
fundamental principles of acting.
Others contest that the six-part movie marathon
brought millions of new viewers to theaters the world over, recognized the
power of a film's score and wowed
audiences in a fresh way.
"Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" is
the final chapter and brings viewers full
circle
, back to the first Star Wars film of 1977.
It will be shown in 10 U.S. cinemas on Thursday to raise money for charity
and gets a world premiere in Cannes on Sunday.
Already people are talking of box office records for the finale of a
franchise that has already amassed well over $3.5 billion at the box
office and $9 billion in merchandise sales.
A casual surf of the Internet shows how many moviegoers speak of Star
Wars not as a film, but a religion.
People tend to remember where they saw the first Star Wars film, so
revolutionary were the special effects it produced.
"To a very real degree, he (Lucas) invented the special effects film,"
said Leonard Maltin, U.S.-based film critic for Entertainment Tonight.
"That is a generalisation, as there have been effects since the silents
in 1900. But there was no special effects industry and effects-driven
movies were rare."
The storyline is often complicated, come say too
complex, but it boils down to
the forces of good against evil, Luke Skywalker against Darth
Vader, a concept audiences seem to like.
But for film historian Peter Biskind, that may not be such a good
thing. In a recent interview with France's Le Monde newspaper, he said
Star Wars and its good-against-evil storyline has become a simplistic
prototype for today's blockbuster.
"Unfortunately, we will be living in the shadow of Star Wars for a long
time."
Director Paul Schrader said the series "ate the heart and soul
of Hollywood."
(Agencies) |
不管你是否喜歡《星球大戰(zhàn)》，這部電影都將成為當(dāng)代電影發(fā)展的分水嶺，當(dāng)代電影的發(fā)展歷程被分成“星戰(zhàn)前”和“星戰(zhàn)后”兩個(gè)階段。而上周日，這部偉大的星際史詩(shī)將最后一次駛?cè)胲壍馈?
而正當(dāng)這部可能成為電影史上最成功的系列影片的最后一部揭開(kāi)面紗之際，業(yè)內(nèi)關(guān)于星戰(zhàn)系列的評(píng)價(jià)也出現(xiàn)了兩種聲音：?jiǎn)讨巍けR卡斯的銀河善惡戰(zhàn)究竟是電影業(yè)的救世英雄，還是災(zāi)禍之源。
有人指責(zé)它將好萊塢變成了一個(gè)不尊重藝術(shù)價(jià)值的商業(yè)怪獸，星戰(zhàn)中使用的高科技技術(shù)破壞了最基本的表演原則。
其他人則反駁說(shuō)星戰(zhàn)系列六部馬拉松似的影片把世界各地?cái)?shù)百萬(wàn)觀(guān)眾帶進(jìn)電影院，充分體現(xiàn)了電影的力量，也給觀(guān)眾帶來(lái)了全新的感受。
《星戰(zhàn)前傳Ⅲ——西斯的復(fù)仇》是星戰(zhàn)系列的最后一部，將給觀(guān)眾一個(gè)完整的交代，并帶人們重溫1977年的第一部星戰(zhàn)。上周四，它首先在美國(guó)的10家影院上映，在此期間的影片收入將被用于慈善事業(yè)。上周日，它在法國(guó)戛納電影節(jié)上舉行了盛大的全球首映式。
人們現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)開(kāi)始談?wù)撨@部驚世巨作最后一集的票房收入了。到現(xiàn)在星球大戰(zhàn)系列票房累計(jì)收入已達(dá)35億美元，而相關(guān)產(chǎn)品的銷(xiāo)售額更是高達(dá)90億美元。
到網(wǎng)上隨便搜索一下，你就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)星戰(zhàn)在許多電影迷心中已遠(yuǎn)不是一部電影那么簡(jiǎn)單了，它已成為了一種信仰。
人們應(yīng)該都還記得看第一部星球大戰(zhàn)的經(jīng)歷，因?yàn)樗o觀(guān)眾帶來(lái)了革命性的特技效果。
總部設(shè)在美國(guó)的《晚間娛樂(lè)》的評(píng)論家倫納德·馬爾丁說(shuō)，“在很大程度上是他（盧卡斯）發(fā)明了電影特技效果。”
“那只是一種大概的說(shuō)法，因?yàn)樵缭?900年，還是無(wú)聲電影時(shí)代時(shí)就有特技了。但那時(shí)沒(méi)有特技效果工業(yè)，而且使用特技的電影還很少。”
星戰(zhàn)系列的故事情節(jié)通常很復(fù)雜，或者說(shuō)太過(guò)復(fù)雜，但它將正邪對(duì)戰(zhàn)的力量發(fā)揮到了極致，像天行者阿納金與達(dá)斯·維達(dá)的對(duì)決，而這正是觀(guān)眾喜歡的概念。
但是在電影史學(xué)家彼得·貝斯肯德看來(lái)，這并不是什么好現(xiàn)象。貝斯肯德在最近接受法國(guó)《世界報(bào)》采訪(fǎng)時(shí)說(shuō)，星球大戰(zhàn)和它正邪對(duì)抗的故事情節(jié)已經(jīng)成為了一種過(guò)分簡(jiǎn)化的模型，被今天的大片廣泛采用。
“不幸的是，我們還要在星戰(zhàn)的影子里生活很久。”
導(dǎo)演保羅·施哈德說(shuō)，星戰(zhàn)系列吞噬了好萊塢的心靈和精神。
（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2005-05-17 10:07
