Short Round is the prototype of Jar Jar Binks.

What do you do when you create one of the best films in history? Jettison everything people loved about your film and replace it with an emotionally retarded love story, comical chase sequences, with everything topped off with a scene of a guy getting his heart torn out.

That last point is what makes this one of the more important movies in cinematic history. Its not because it shows George Lucas' inclination to utterly decimate every positive thing he has ever done, but rather the reaction to the violent imagery in this film. The violence in this film (along with that in Red Dawn) lead to a great deal of concern among parents and eventually the government. To stave off any governmental intrusion into the workings of Hollywood, the MPAA released the PG-13 Rating. This was meant to be a middle ground between PG (family friendly) and Rated-R (adults only) movies. The result of this rating has been a blurring of the lines between what is for adults and what children should see. This is known as "ratings creep", which means filmmakers have been able to, over time, push content that was once allowed in Rated-R movies into movies that can be seen by kids. And we wonder why the culture has gotten so coarse so quickly.

Back to the movie - it stinks, it stunk when it was released, it still stinks today. Don't believe me, check out the trailer, it stinks too.