Waxing Scientifically Nostalgic

I caught the "SW" exhibit at the SMM the other night and boy howdy did it inspire my inner geek. Mega cool, it was, to see the land speeder (which I wanted to sit in) and the other various props/models from the original trilogy. Then we were over to the Omni (always a good time) to watch "Special Effects" which proved to be a grand spectacle.


But here's where I'm gonna raise my flag as one of the few detractor's of the exhibit and the SMM in general since they've moved. (My ma, who was my date, pointed out one that my old man brought up)

1- The lady at the ticket booth said "Allow for at least 90 minutes for the exhibit" and I was all like "Yeah! They've gotta have a TON of s#it!". When in all actuality it was probably closer to half to 1/3 of the exhibit was dedicated to the actual films and the rest was interactive games for kids and adults ( hint hint...kids) to play with mechanical devices inspired by the movies! ("Make the robot walk! Build YOUR own robot from these unrelated scraps! SHOOT the ping pong ball with forced air! LOOK at this beam of light with dust in it!" I assume that last one was to emulate the lightsaber effect. And is it really such a chore to get an adult sized compressed-air hover chair? Height restrictions my Aunt Tilly...) I'm just sayin' more Star Wars, less gimmick.

2- I missed the 2000 exhibit at MIA when it first came 'round (A tragic day to be sure. It was a rainy day, sold out, and forced my big brother and I to partake in beers from Chili's and the movie "MI: 2". Not a good substitute.) point being, they only were probably able to dredge up a minute amount of dreck from the prequels (Eps 2 & 3 having not been released) Anyway, it had some great propage, yeah, but would it have killed them to have Luke's Ep 6 costume? An X-Wing Pilot suit? Obi-Wan's distressed Ep 4 costume? Heck, Darth Maul woulda been all right...

3- More. Lightsabers. From. Original. Trilogy. No Luke. No Darth Vader. No Obi-Wan. No Luke 2. They had frickin Shaak Ti or someone...f#ck. I don't know. I'm betting dollars to tacos that the prop storage at the ranch has a hell of a lot more coolness to show than just the prequels.

4- I think I caught a goof. If I'm not mistaken, Luke had the top of his hand shot in "Jedi" and they said it was from "Empire". Oooooooo...Geek.

5- The Toy Store at the end was...a little much. There were sc-REAMING pampies that were being dragged out by their heels, by their folks (Clutching at action figures and demanding purchase immediately) It seemed to be the pinnacle of make-a-buckmanship and left a bad taste in my mouth. Moreso because the decided to toss more toys in the Imagination store. C'mon...

6- Instead of a stupid photo-shop your face on your favorite SW character scene that you can find at the State Fair or WI Dells, why not have "Get a Photo" in a replica Millennium Falcon cockpit or Landspeeder. Everything related to the actual films was so hands off that it felt like I'd have been better off watching the movies at home with a toy lightsaber. I'm pretty sure that the ILM can build a decent practical prop on the cheap.

7- Boba Fett? Where's Boba Fett? You coulda rebuilt or just re-dyed Jango and we'd be none the wiser.

8- The Omni film. Yeah. It was okay. I just thought a film with that title would have had more recent information than just 1997. Seriously. It was a 10 year old film. It woulda been cool-ER in 1998...but still. We've had s#it like "The Matrix" since then.

9- General Gripe-vous with the new SMM in general...

Do y'all remember the old (Well, according to the SMM History room "Old since 1978") SMM? It was more...museum-y. And this is where my previous comment via my dad comes in- It's now more of a kids museum. And while I understand the need to stimulate and bring in new audiences, the old museum fit that bill just fine. They had the mock-ups of a Mayan Village complete with stone for grinding corn that you could play with. The Egyptian section was treated with reverie instead of being relegated to the "History of the SMM" walk-through where it's displayed as an anachronistic icon of the "Old" SMM. There were pins you could stick your hands into to make shapes. Robot arms to pick up pieces of foam (AND THE BIG ARM!)

I mean...is it so wrong to want a museum that blends science and history together that doesn't pander? Chicago has one...they're close...

10- Get rid of those musical stairs. Headache. Central. And the m@sturb@tory pump-action golf ball game that attracts 13-15 year old boys to pump-pump-pump FIRE accompanied by "YEEEEAHS!!!" and high fives...well, great game to put in the cafeteria.


Anyway.


I liked the history of the SMM section, seeing the real "Vader" costume (Dang. He was a big dude in real life) the Millennium Falcon prop (The details, you know?) and the dinosaurs. ( I coulda lived without the beetles that clean the bones of dead animals exhibit) And the next Omni film is "Mystery of the Great Lakes" which looked hecka cool. (I can has date?)

End. Rant.