NUKE THE FRIDGE: a colloquialism used to delineate the precise moment at which a cinematic franchise has crossed over from remote plausibility to self parodying absurdity, usually indicating a low point in the series from which it is unlikely to recover. A reference to one of the opening scenes of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which the titular hero manages to avoid death by nuclear explosion by hiding inside a kitchen refrigerator.
This morning, Luis Lecca of Nuke the Fridge called to let me know that the first of my two-part exclusive interview with him is now up on their website:
He also promptly reminded me that today marks the 10th Anniversary of the official release of The Phantom Menace in theaters across the US (I don’t even celebrate May the Fourth, so I’m glad someone told me). Happy birthday, Jar Jar! Happy birthday, Midichlorians! So much has happened since then, and perhaps we should all take a moment to reflect on what the past 10 years have meant to the STAR WARS fan community. Or perhaps we should all get really drunk and force three fingers down our throats..! Okay, okay, TIME OUT! I can hear the conflicting Gollum-like voices in my head–probably the result of sorting through hundreds of hours of footage, of equally passionate arguments for the defense and the prosecution.
Here's to the man who gave us the green-skinned munchkin, the blue elephant, the orange Gungan, and clone troopers in every color of the rainbow!
I always say that the great George Lucas debate doesn’t begin or end with The Phantom Menace. It’s an important component, but in the grand scheme of things, the heart of the growing fan dissatisfaction is about more, much more than simple distaste for some of his latest films. The thing that amazes me the most, in our travels of late, is that it’s really very hard to find anyone willing to step up and tell me that millions of fans can be wrong, and that Episode One is, in fact, a masterpiece. Anyone, that is, except for kids and French scholars. We went to Paris last year to interview Pierre Berthomieu (author of STAR WARS: LE REBELLE ET L’EMPEREUR) and several well-known intellectuals and film critics. With the exception of one, all seemed to agree on one thing: the prequels are far more accomplished films than STAR WARS, EMPIRE or JEDI. I mean, I’ve talked to a small minority of people out there who claim that they like the prequels better (they haven’t really thought about it much–they just like them better, and that’s cool), but these French scholars really tell you why they’re better films, and make a fascinating intellectual argument in their defense!
When you live in a fan culture that almost universally condemns or adores certain films, it’s hard sometimes to take a step back and ask yourself objectively: could so many people be wrong? Could I be wrong? After all, can anyone objectively claim that the prequel episodes are indeed the abominations that my generation of fans (the STAR WARS generation) continually claims they are? I mean, I believe they’re not very good films; and in my heart, I think I know they’re bad films. But for George Lucas, they’re not. And for some of his fans, they’re better than the originals. Operating on the premise that George Lucas is a visionary filmmaker and that he has the ability to release the films he wants to release, surely, Episode One was the film he wanted us to watch ten years ago, and surely, he must be proud of it. So, now that ten whole years have passed, the right question to ask isn’t does The Phantom Menace suck or not, but is George Lucas the artist, the filmmaker, misunderstood? If that’s the case, we’re talking a perception shift the likes of which we’ll probably never see again in the world of entertainment. Through ROTJ, I think it’s safe to say that George could literally do no wrong. Nowadays, it has become a sport to criticize him. So let’s put our feelings aside for a moment here, and reflect on what the world might be like without George Lucas, and, yes, without Episode One.
And you know what? I don’t really believe that any of us truly hates Jar Jar. I think we love to hate him, because it’s fun; and I suppose we could argue that this, along with Han Solo, Jedi and lightsabers, is also very much part of George’s legacy.
Happy birthday, George!
AOP
Rob wrote
Strange to think that TPM was 10 years ago, but actually, that’s right. And for all the faults of Phantom Menace, one of the genuine treats for me of this film was hearing John Williams’ remarkable music again on the big screen (of course, this musical experience would be completely ruined with Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, as Lucas and crew resorted to reusing and cut-n-pasting Williams music from other films, including extensive reusage of TPM music in AOTC, much to my sheer annoyance while listening in the theater.)
Anyhow… yes, TPM had JarJar, an awful child incarnation of Anakin and a ridiculous “menace”, but Williams’ score stands out to me from that film (and yes, they even reused some of his TPM music WITHIN TPM itself, but I’ll forgive that since so much of the music is just so good.
Bob wrote
Go fuck your mother. These movies are shit and you should die for appreciating the taste of shit.
ben wrote
Wow! I wrote that definition of nuke the fridge. Cool to see it gettin’ some play.
Robogeek wrote
For the record…
I hate Jar-Jar.
Truly.
And it’s (still) not fun.
Robert wrote
I don’t like the prequels, either, but my children do. This is their Star Wars experience and it is exactly like my own!
Star Wars was derided by everyone but the fans back in it’s day. Take it from a kid whose life was made miserable by teasing uncles and cousins and classmates making fun of my favorite movie.
Anyone remember the Kupcinet “interview” of the three stars? Carrie, Mark and Harrison appeared on his morning talk show and he spent the entire interview litertally insulting the movie and it’s popularity! I don’t know how they kept their fists out of his face.
Hmmmm. Maybe that means my kids will have a SW experience that last 30 some years, too.
Dude wrote
Phantom Menace was the worst SW film, but it still is better than most crap put out. I’ll explain…
We learned Anakin was a slave to a single mom slave owned by a crap alien(Watto was sweet) on a crap planet in a crap part of the universe. A slave, not a Prince. That’s cool Beavis. The connection back to Tatooine was nice also.
Darth Maul, enough said.
A high/drunk Jabba at the pod race.
Sand people taking shots at the pods. And the quick Jawa appearance.
Anakin built 3CP0.
Anakin and Amidala meeting and Anakin instantly getting hard for her.
We see what R2D2 was built for. And he saved the day.
Palpatine manipulating Amidala in the senate.
The E.T.’s and Wookies in the senate.
The final Lightsabre battle. Obi-wons master(QGJ) killed in front of him, and then getting his revenge by cutting him in half. Obi-wons master had the dying wish for him to train Anakin.
Windu and Yoda realizing the Sith are back.
The movie ending with Palpatine in charge, with his eye on Anakin.
By the way, the people have spoken. George is a billionaire, and money is the bottom line. Period. Go watch Battlefield:Earth if you don’t like SW. And go F yourself too. I hope your movie tanks!
Mike wrote
Lucasfilm must be loving all this free publicity.
What is amazing about the OT ending in the early 80′s, is that Star Wars died a very quick death.
Once JEDI was done, the whole thing faded into obscurity.
Not even a Saturday morning cartoon (DROIDS) or those Ewok TV movies could help sustain that franchise.
Retailers, the media and the public dropped Star Wars like a red hot coal.
Merchandise could still be found in bargain bins as late as 1989 – they couldn’t give that shit away.
Fast forward to 2009 and it’s the exact opposite.
It’s been four years since SITH ended its theatrical run and the Star Wars franchise is stronger than ever.
With not one, but two successful CLONE WARS TV shows, next gen video game and countless other media under its belt, Star Wars has proven that it has staying power and can remain just as popular, even in non movie years.
Every week a brand new blockbuster is released and it is instantly compared to Star Wars, by the fickle public who are salivating at the mouth to jump on any bandwagon that suits them that week.
This is happening right now, with JJ Abrams’ version of Star Trek, which is basically Star Wars: A New Hope’s plot with George Lucas’ ILM providing the visuals and Lucasfilm veteran Foley master, Ben Burtt.
And the fickle public scream “Ahh, it’s better than Star Wars”
Yes you fools, that’s because it IS Star Wars, only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.
In regards to your movie Alexandro, I’ll wait ’til someone gives me a bootleg copy.
I refuse to give you one cent of my money, but I will watch it simply because I enjoy the medium and try and watch everything that’s out there.
But I do want to thank you, for helping promote the greatest Space Fantasy Saga in history, in the lead up to the Live Action TV series.
I’ll be there, front row centre, to watch and absorb, then laugh at the cretins who argue endlessly over things they fail to understand.
Star Wars is forever.
Dave wrote
“could so many people be wrong? Could I be wrong?”
mmmmm – George Lucas who has done nothing but make movies, T.V shows, develop cutting edge film techniques, invest philanthropically in theatre, and work with the cream of designers and artists all his life is likely to be the one who is wrong…?
It is such a shame that nowhere on this site, or in the documentay are we likely to hear a proper evaluation of his consumate art as a cinematographer.
These films are packed full of great stuff – I’m still watching them 10 years later like I did the originals and am agahst at the continued revealing of sublties.
Well you know what they say, books are like mirrors – when a monkey looks in no philosopher looks out.
I dont see why I need to send in a video suppoting my views any more than I would need to try to convince anyone that Wagner was the worlds greatest artistic genius – in the face of the popular opinion that its just fat women screeching in German.