29th March 2004, 1:40 PM
Quote:The Oddysey is basically about one man and his adventure. His character (and to a small extent, that of his wife) does experience some growth in depth. No, it's not a complex story. It would actually make a decent linear console RPG with some tweaks. But the difference is the character development. The Oddysey has less room for complexity because it focuses almost entirely on Oddyseus' adventures in getting home. The plot is singular and straightforward.The characters aren't developed?? Sure not every single character gets an enormous amount of development, but the main character of the saga does, much like Odysseus.
Star Wars, on the other hand, features more characters, and does not really develop any of them. Had the series focused exclusively on one or two characters, perhaps. The most the OT had to offer is the love story between Han and Leia, and who didn't see that coming anyway? The NT tries harder to deepen the characters, and they made an attempt with Anakin, but even with him, it didn't go far enough. It of course doesn't help that everyone knows what happens to him. The plot isn't complex, and the characters are not deep. Now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing.
But, for instance, Xenogears' story is very complex and it's main characters are very well developed, so to compare the two on that criteria is simply wrong.
Anakin goes from being an innocent young boy who is seen as a savior of sorts, a "chosen one" of the Jedi, and is taken away from his mother at a very vulnerable age in order to fulfill his potential and be freed from slavery. He grows up to become a cocky young Jedi, knowing very well of his own power, but still there's that young innocent boy in him who was yanked away from his mother that he constantly worries about. He goes to find his mother, finds her dying, and ignores his Jedi training for a moment and lashes out on the ones responsible for her death. He's ashamed of what he's done, but could not help but give into his emotions. He then falls in love with a woman and marries her, again giving into his emotions and ignoring the Jedi code. He has little control over his emotions and gives into fear, anger, and lust. Without giving too much away, in Episode III he grows further, still believing that his place in too low considering his power, and again gives into his lower emotions. He's manipulated, but still makes his own choices, and in the very end sees the most tragic results of his actions and seeks ultimate darkness and power as his only escape (I won't give anything away, but you will see why Obi and Yoda believe that there is absolutely no good in him in the OT). Fast forward to the OT and you see him as an evil conqueror, apparently completely fallen to the dark side without even the smallest amount of good inside him. It takes his son near death to free the last bit of good inside him and release himself from his prison of pain and torment (his actions at the end of RotJ will have far greater meaning once you see the end of Episode III), eventually fulfilling his destiny by bringing balance to the force.
None of the other characters have the same amount of depth as Anakin's, but Luke's journey parallel's his father's and shows in many ways how different people under similar circumstances can have vastly different outcomes depending on the choices they make.
Quote:It's not? The heavy focus on technology and special effects are for what then?It is fantasy/myth in a sci-fi setting. It has much more in common with LotR or The Odyssey than it does with Star Trek or 2001. I suppose you could call it sci-fi because of the technology in the movies, but the story is very much fantasy and myth.
Quote:I agree totally. Most fantasy out there now is based on LOTR, but there is quite a bit that features more character depth and story complexity. Wheel of Time immediately springs to mind.I haven't read that.