Star Wars fans will be arguing over the merits of the prequels for as long as there are Star Wars fans. No matter how you feel about Jar Jar Binks and the coarseness of sand, one fact about George Lucas’ return to the galaxy far, far away is indisputable: the films stand as some of the most important in visual effects history. From entire battles rendered in CGI, to whole characters created with computers, to never-before-seen techniques used to bring it all to life, Lucasfilm created movies that didn’t look like anything anyone had ever seen before. But do those special effects hold up two decades later?
Did the cutting edge technology around the turn of the century stand the test of time? That’s the question the VFX artists at the YouTube channel Corridor Crew set out to answer in a new video (which we first saw at io9), when they sat down to watch the Star Wars prequels. From breaking down sequences that look like they were just made today (that really is what you call podracing), to surprise mistakes that pop up during one of the best lightsaber fights in franchise history, to why Jar Jar was at least awesome in one respect, this is a fascinating look at how the Star Wars sausage gets made, thanks to a trio of professionals who can see things we didn’t even know to look for.
After this, we will always, always see that boulder blowing up before impact. Although, even though we know those waterfalls are just salt (uh-may-zing) they will always still look like water.
And Jar Jar will always look awesome… when he keeps his mouth shut with his tongue inside. The VFX of the Star Wars might have (mostly) held up, but not everything else has.
Featured Image: Lucasfilm