Star Wars: EPISODE III Thread

[Sylpher]

I think the entire Star Wars story has had way too much time and money (and thought. I have heard lengthy discussion about the deep 'philosophy' in SW and that is just sad.) put into it. I will see it. I WILL enjoy it. just because I have no reason not to. Anyone who forms an opinion in the likes of "This movie is super rad, Tim!" or "This movie totally blows lets do heroine!" Is already taking it a bit seriouslly and needs to go hang out somewhere.. not.. here.

It isn't great Science Fiction it is an atmosphere paraded around with lots of fire works and make-up. Enjoy it as no more and you will not be disappointed.

* Sylpher deposits two pennies

[Ozwalled]

I personally believe that the biggest difference between the prequels and the originals that sets them apart is the characters and how they were portrayed. The charcaters in the originals were just way better, somehow.

Han was awsome. The princess was great. Lando was interesting. Chewbacca was cool. Obi-Wan and Yoda had some great moments. Boba Fett was WAY cool. Jaba was nifty. And Vader was unbelievable! Heck, even Tarkin and Greedo were noteworthy!! (and yeah, Luke was okay)

On the other hand, the prequels don't offer up that kind of greatness. Obi-Wan, Anakin and Qui-Gon (I'm SO sorry if I'm getting any spellings wrong, btw) are okay. The queen and her many costumes is kinda' interesting (but very easy to look at, mind you). Yoda somehow became a bit of a farce. Windu is alright. Jango Fett was sorta' boring. Darth Maul, though VERY cool was too short-lived and didn't get enough screen time. Jar Jar is annoying.

I could go on with each of these, but I believe that the characters are the biggest thing that seperate the trilogies so far (even though there is a lot of other stuff, too).

Anyway, I like this new title okay enough. ANYthing is an improvemnet over "Attack of the Clones", if you ask me.

That's all I got for now.

[DGMacphee]

My problem isn't that the prequels don't stack up to the originals.

My problem is that the prequels don't even work as stand-alone movies. They are so ludicrously cobbled together, I'm surprised 20th Century Fox released them. But hey, they're part of Star Wars, so of course the die hard fans are going to see them (Thus, $$$ for Fox).

To prove my point, look at the Razzie awards. Not many people give the Oscars much credit ("They're too conservative", "They're sooo Hollywood", "They're rigged!", etc) but I do give the Razzies a mountainload of credit at pointing out the worst films of the year. I'll never be able to dream pleasantly again after seeing Swept Away. But both the first two prequel episodes of Star Wars scored several nominations each, including Worst Screenplay, Director, and Picture for Lucas (and that's for each film).Ã,  Lucas "won" the Worst Screenplay award for Episode II. When a large group of casual movie-goers (that's basically what the Razzies are, since membership is open to anyone) say that the worst five films for two separate years include both Star Wars prequels, then I'm guessing it's not just me who thinks this way.

But, hey, all art (if you want to call Star Wars "art") is subjective right? So, I can't really discourage people from liking it. If it rocks your boat, then fine, sweet, awesome. No probs from me.

But what I'm most surprised at is the large fanbase, especially the hardcore Star Wars geeks who dress-up as a Jedi Knight or a Wookie and line up for days at the cinemas before the films are released. These same people want Jedi classed as a religion on the next census. I place people like that in the same category as fursuiters or anime cosplayers. (Though fursuiters get way more sex than either the other two subcultures).

Not only that, if you log on to a Star Wars forum and tell them the prequels are shit, they're go apeshit just cause you insulted their favourite movie. They'll call you things like "brainless" and "foolish" and "buffoon". I know this because it's happened to me (though not a Star Wars forum, but the forum at RottenTomatoes) and pissed-off many a geek that day.

I guess I can't talk though. I mean, I was the guy who bleached his hair and went to his 21st birthday party as Leonard from Memento.



Hmmm, actually, I look like a loveable spunkbubble! Hello ladies!

Anyway, my point is, yes, I have dressed up as a character from a movie, same as Star Wars nutcases. But what separates me is that I'm not consumed by Memento. Keep in mind, I dressed this way because it was for a fancy dress party. And keep in mind also that it was held at a private room in a bar that I hired for the night, not a public movie theatre. And keep in mind there were others there dressed as Doris Day, Peter Allen, and one girl as the Yellow Brick Road from the Wizard of Oz while her hubby was Dorothy -- We all didn't just dress like characters from Memento. And keep in mind that I don't devote my life to a Memento. I don't resort to name calling when someone says "Memento was a shitty movie. It's so damn confusing." And I definitely don't believe there should be a religion called 'Leonardism'. Hmm, actually, maybe there should. I'd like to see a religion based around having a short-term memory.

It'd come in handy for when I see a Star Wars prequel. HO HO HO!

P.S. Layabout (aka Pirate Jack) also went to my 21st as James Bond. And he was dressed very sharply in a sweet-ass tux. And I don't see people lining-up to put "Bondism" on the next census either, even though there are more Bond films than Star Wars films. Not only that, Bond has the ladies swooning left, right and centrefield. Right on, Layabout!

[Meowster]

Hmmm, actually, I look like a loveable spunkbubble! Hello ladies!

Hello, DG!

Anyway, I think Star Wars is HORRIBLY overhyped. And the new movies are crap. And the old movies aren't as good as everybody says they are. Send all hate mail to ryam_baco@yahoo.com.

[edmundito]

So the rumors were true after all.

Blackthorne knows his star wars nerd trivia. Revenge of the Jedi was the original title for Return of the Jedi, but they ended up changing the name. Rumors are that someone sent a letter saying that a Jedi could not get revenge, or that because the Star Trek ||: The Wrath of Kahn came out around the same year and the original title was The Revenge of Kahn, I believe.

here's an original poster:

[Blackthorne]

I believe it was "RETURN of the Jedi". I am not really expecting much from this movie though. I will probably watch it for the sake of the other movies. For a sense of completion. I mean, it has the Hayden guy as Anakin

Ah, it WAS RETURN OF THE JEDI, but early promotional posters had the title "REVENGE OF THE JEDI" on them.

I guess I just assumed everyone had the nerdy knowledge of Star Wars I possess.  I mean, I even know the fake tag line for "Blue Harvest: Horror beyond Imagination".  But I'm a Star Wars Freak.

I'll see the movie.  If you don't wanna, don't spend your 6 bucks.(or whatever monitary unit you use!)  Go see something else!  Me, I'll watch some bad acting, bunch of CGI, and be entertained.

Bt


Bt

[Sutebi]

Dg, first, I saw the picture before reading the text and I thought it was a photo of Tom Cruise, so take that for what it is worth, and second, Memento was an awesome movie.

Anyway, about Star Wars. My theory as to why the Episodes I and II are not as good as episodes IV thru VI is because they seem to have lost their focus. Episodes IV thru VI were emotional, they had brilliant actors, and it created a universe that people could believe in because the characters within it were believable.

Now, some of the actors in episodes I and II were good. Ewan McGregor made his Obi Wan seem like a young Alec Guinness. I feel that Hayden Christiansen has the emotional range of an ice cube, and Natalie Portman isn't much more than screen eye candy, but that's just my opinion. The real loss of focus was the desire for great combat.

Sure, the lightsaber duels are cool in the prequels, but I always felt that jedi found the lightsabers to be a weaker form of combat. Yoda and the Emperor never touched them in the original trilogy. It was because Jedi believed a mastery of the force was the ultimate weapon one could have. In the prequels, it's more about intense action packed scenes. They just do not have the intelligence or maturity the original trilogy had.

This, of course is just my theory and opinion.

[LGM]

Well said. This is the meaning I tried to convey, but I'm an idiot.

[Anarcho]

The worst thing about the first two movies is the dialogue, and direction.  They make Natalie Portman enunciate every work to the point of ridiculousness.  So instead of saying "I'm" she says "I am"  and instead of "don't" it's "do not."  Yeah, Yeah, she was a queen and all that...but coming from an American it just sounds idiotic.  They should have cast someone british who could get away with that kind of thing...(that reminds me, notice how princess leia in the original uses a faux british accent on and off throughout the first movie?  what's up with that carrie fisher?!?)

And our boy who plays Anakin...god awful! He overacts to point of sheer and utter melodrama .  Plus, he's such a pretty boy.  I just want to punch him. 

No, i'm not bitter,  I swear.

And the other thing...why did George Lucas go nuts with the CGI?  Every little thing has to be a cartoon (or at least that's what it looks like.)  I'm sorry, but i like the look of the battleship models turned imperial destroyers...the graphics were better in the Clones movie...but still.  It reminds me of the remake of Episode IV, and the scene with Jabba...i watched a little documentary on it, and they said they spent a year doing that Jabba.  I felt utterly awful for them, because it really didn't pay off.

Woh.  Ok.  I'm going to stop.  I'm sure this has all been said before, and that i'm coming across as a psycho star wars dork...but I just grew up loving the trilogy, so I just wanted the new ones to be at least decent.

[Sutebi]

You want to know about going overboard with the digital editing, well I found this little tidbit on www.imdb.com:

"In a scene in the Skywalker home, George Lucas digitally altered Jake Lloyd's eyes to look in a different direction momentarily."

That's right, instead of George Lucas helping the kid ACT (which a director should do), he merely changed his acting with computers later one. That's just kind of silly. That's definately my favorite trivia I read. Well, that and:

"During filming Ewan McGregor made lightsaber noises as he dueled. It was noted and corrected during post production."

That one is just really freakin' cool.


Also, I think it was Lucas and Carrie Fischer who decided together in the first movie that she would do a faux british accent as her "government official" voice.

[Anarcho]

Also, I think it was Lucas and Carrie Fischer who decided together in the first movie that she would do a faux british accent as her "government official" voice.

oh, i guess that makes sense.Ã,  still a little strange though...given her normal vocal inflections are rather gruff.

"During filming Ewan McGregor made lightsaber noises as he dueled. It was noted and corrected during post production."

That is awesome.Ã,  Ewan McGregor is awesome.Ã,  He's the only saving grace to those movies...besides maybe yoda, samuel l jackson and the light saber fights.Ã,  But seriously, Ewan McGregor is a great actor.

[shawno, the terrible]

Also, I think it was Lucas and Carrie Fischer who decided together in the first movie that she would do a faux british accent as her "government official" voice.

I think she was coked up and didn't know where she was half the time.

[Pumaman]

Geez, hasn't part 3 been released yet? I wish they'd just get on with it and get it over with.

As somebody said, who really cares what a film's title is?

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

The stupid names Lucas comes up with are a testament to his loss of any talent he ever had.  Look out, I've got a bad case of Sith's Revenge (goes to the crapper).

I read about a radio interview George Lucas did, and the interviewer was a hardcore OLD star wars fan and started ragging on the stupid midichlorions.  He asked him something like "Hey George, what the fuck with the midichlorions, really?  Did we need the force to go from a belief system to a parasitical entity?" and George grunted and hung up.  Priceless.

[Kinoko]

I wish they'd just get on with it and get it over with.

That's all I've been saying about this ever since I heard the OT dvds weren't gonna be released until this new crap was all out. Thankfully, my wish has been granted ahead of time... in a way, so I care even less about the third movie now (if that's possible). I -do- still have the original LD box set anyway ^_^ *dances around like a Scottish pixie!*

[MrColossal]

I just hope that when this movie comes out LucasArts can move onto something else somewhere in the future...

maybe in 10 years they'll stop making Star Wars games a plenty.

[Darth Mandarb]

I -do- still have the original LD box set anyway ^_^ *dances around like a Scottish pixie!*

I have that too!Ã,  I must say, that it's one of my prized possesions.Ã,  I love the Special Editions (well ... almost all of it) but nothing beats their original versions on LD!!Ã,  I still have an LD player as well.

Good stuff!

I too think they should just get on with it.Ã,  But George likes to take his time.Ã,  I suppose if I had the power and money that he does I'd do it my way too.

[shbaz]

Whatever happens, I want fewer rat-tail mullets on the Jedi knights. WTF does the Jedi flag look like? I don't know because I'm also not a die-hard fan, but here's my guess:

[Ali]

REVENGE of THE SITH

I suspect...

REVENGE of the SCRIPT

...will prove a more accurate title.

No amount of special effects can save us from it:

Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, LUCAS
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Ã, Ã,  Ã, You killed my film!

Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, SCRIPT
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã,  Ã,  I am your film.

Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, LUCAS
Ã,  Ã, Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Ã, Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Nooooooooooooooo!

[Haddas]

But there are things today that would not be if it were not for Starwars. Lightsabers are just a few years away. They're based on plasma technology and are said to have the same qualities as the ones seen in SW. The only problem is finding an energy source that fits iinto a palm and can produce the power needed for it to run. Scifi films are the biggest contributors to modern-science imo. Read really old scifi books, and you'll find gadgets we use today.

The third movie will rock my sideburn!