Star Wars: EPISODE III Thread

[Einoo]

Well, I think it was a bit better than mediocre. I don't know about episodes I-II, since I was too young to know the difference between a good film and a lousy one, but III still feels like the best out of the new three.

PLOT/STORY

It has a great tragic story about a boy who is tempted by the Dark Side through his naivety and greed, and even though some of the plot points were stupid (A ROBOT general? Puh-leeze! And what the hell does Count Dooku have anything to do with the story anyway? He's a completely unneccesary character!) but overall the story is pretty deep and made you think a bit about how we live life.

They even gave people a good reason to choose dark over light: Yoda says that death is part of life and that a jedi has to let go of attachments to loved ones and not be sad if/when they pass away. Grief leads to the dark side.Ã,  Sounded like a crap philosophy to me.

"Crap philosophy," eh? Although I admit that "grief leads to the dark side" is a BIT too much, who are we really crying for when someone dies, the person who died or yourself? It's kind of selfish, really. I also liked some of the quotes: "So this is how democracy ends... to tumultous applause." ANAKIN/VADER: If you are not with me, you are my enemy! OBI-WAN: Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
Those are by far the best quotes in Star Wars history. And about the dialogue: I can't detect cheesy dialogue very well, so I won't talk about that. But at least Jar Jar is almost completely absent from the film! And the end... that was nice. The end was actually a very iconic moment for me. I can't think of a better way out than Uncle and Aunt staring off into the sunset like Luke does in V. It's like there's still a very small glimmer of hope just over the horizon, that maybe it WILL all turn out OK in the end. Plus, all the plot holes are covered perfectly. The plot has no holes whatsoever. Really.

ACTING

I'm not sure why everyone thought the acting sucked. I admit, the Anakin/Padme moments were a bit cheesy, and when Emperor Palpatine was dying, the evil was a bit over-the-top, but all in all, it didn't suck as bad as the acting in Manos: Hands of Fate (the worst movie in history according to IMDB, check it out as long as it's the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version as the untouched version may be too painful to watch).

MUSIC

Great as ever. No question. The reprise of the fight chant thing from Episode I was awesome.

SFX

Awesome. But it's true that the fight scenes don't make you feel anything, they're a little "plastic".

I still maintain that the third one will tie everything together and that the series, as a whole, will be a great, FULL, story!

You were right, DM. The series as a whole would have been so-so, but the third almost redeems the other two and makes for a really great story. But there's still one burning question that bugs me.

WHY THE HELL DOES MACE WINDU HAVE A PURPLE LIGHTSABER???!!

[Las Naranjas]

Hey dude, don't judge like that, it goes with his eyes.

[Redwall]

Mace Windu has a purple lightsaber because Samuel L. Jackson's favorite color is purple.

[mlsq42]

And because he's Mace Fricking Windu.

*remembers rules*

Also remember that unless you think George can tell the future 20 years in advance, you can't claim that he meant to portray Dubya, since the Republic had to be turned into the Empire somehow, and that was kinda fixed...

[Adamski]

Hello. The story arc of the prequals were concieved 20/30/whatever years ago but not actually written until recently. It's pretty obvious that Georgie has been inspired by recent political shenanigans... well, obvious if you aren't looking in the other direction.

[Darth Mandarb]

Hello. The story arc of the prequals were concieved 20/30/whatever years ago but not actually written until recently. It's pretty obvious that Georgie has been inspired by recent political shenanigans... well, obvious if you aren't looking in the other direction.

Sorry Stalky, I just don't buy it.

As I said in my last post:

"If you're not with me you're my enemy" is NOT a statement coined by George Bush.

It has been said throughout history countless times.

It has been used in several movies in Hollywood's history as well.

Revenge of the Sith is not a political statement about the current administration nor is it anti-Bush.

George Lucas doesn't have to make statements this way.  If he has something to say, he'd simply say it.

Anakin had gone over to the darkside.  He was saying, "support me or oppose me ... make your choice" it had NOTHING to do with George Bush. 

Can parallels be drawn?  Sure.  But I could also draw parallels to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, etc.

Lucas himself said that he didn't write it about Bush (or the current administration) in the article I linked to many posts ago.  He admits that it can be related to recent events, but wasn't conceived and/or written about them.

If he had written it about Bush why would he say he didn't?  I'm not looking the other direction   I'm just relaying what Lucas himself said about the "anti-Bush" claims.

I think the more appropriate thing to talk about here would be how George Bush is doing things to America that allow for parallels to what happened to the Star Wars' Republic.  (Which Lucas envisioned 30 years ago with the troubles in Vietnam, not present day Viet ... er ... Iraq.)

Edit - Oh ... and Mace Windu's purple lightsabre is the one shining turd that I absolutely HATE about the prequels.  It's dumb looking, out of place, and shouldn't have been allowed.  I can't believe Lucas allowed that.

[Las Naranjas]

It looks out of place because he didn't steal it from somewhere else, it's 100% original.

[MillsJROSS]

Just wanted to point out the irony of the quote "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." Is Obi-One absolutely sure?

As far as Bush is concerned. I don't believe that SW Ep. III is a poltical statement about Bush at all. That isn't to say that there might not be elements that concievably Lucas put in from the real world, but if he did, I think it only strenghtens the story and makes it more tangible.

One thing I'd like to know, is...aren't there detailed books on all the Star Wars episodes (even 7-9 ). I've never read any of the books, so I don't know, but if there are, and they are similar enough, it might clear some things up.

I don't believe Lucas had every detail written out when he had the story planned, but that doesn't mean squat. I've held a story in my head for several years, and when I began to write it down I might come up with different ideas that may tie in better with the story. Like I don't honestly believe that Lucas had Boba Fett's character concieved for the first three episodes thirty years ago, until he realised that there was a huge fan base on such a minimal character in Ep V and VI. And if that's the case, I don't give a rats ass. If he made it 30 years ago, or made it five minutes before shooting. What does it matter? What's done is done. And while there may be a few loose ends here and there, that's to be expected for moves made thirty years apart. 

-MillsJROSS

[jetxl]

I like the purple lightsaber, and I wished all the jedi had a different color. In dark forced: jedi knight: You could chose different lightsaber colors. The jedi in eps I-III look like clones to me (remember that shot in the arena in eps II?). They could have focused on few special ones. In that case you would feel more greef when they die.
They overdo it with the deathgods in Bleach, though. Every squadleader is heavely designed, wich makes them harder to remember and distracts you from the main characters.
EDIT:


I forgot to add something positive to mr. Lucas. There is one thing that George Lucas does best. Making good villians. The Emperer, Vader, Maul, Grevious, Boba fett, stormtroopers, Jabba the Hut, they are all so evil that they're good.
Grevious was cool as an ill robot that fights with lightsabers he stole from jedi. It would be even cooler if Dokoo was transformed into Grevious after he battled with Anikin. Because both Grevious and Dokoo are not long enough in the movie to show their potencial.

Is starwars a political statement? No. There might be some ovious parallels, though. But starwars is most of all a fairytail.

Last. Remakes are bad if the originals were good. The end of Apocolypse Now Redux sucked. Flight of the Phoenix shows how hollywood films have changed into cloned, political correct storylines (we better add a girl and a colored person in it or people might call us racists/sexists. and because of the bubblegum acting, we better put in a black vs. white, us vs. them, evil villian). The original film became a classic, never the remake.

[Darth Mandarb]

It looks out of place because he didn't steal it from somewhere else, it's 100% original.

I wouldn't mind the purple lightsaber if, as jetxl said, there were lots of different colored lightsabers throughout the Jedi ranks.

But ....

Awhile back, before Episode II came out, the StarWars.com databank specifically said that lightsabers were blue or green for Jedi and that Sith used red sabers because the crystals they used for their sabers required the darkside to be channeled into them and that made them red.

This made sense to me.  I liked the concept.

So when Mace had his silly looking purple blade (in AotC) my thoughts turned to some clever plot twist that Mace was actually a bad guy.  That his blade was actually blue but because of his use of the darkside some red snuck in there thus making it purple ...  I strengthened this theory as a plausible way that the Emperor, a Dark Sith Lord, could hide in plain site in front of the Jedi IF a high ranking member of the Jedi Council was in league with him.

I don't think it's unreasonable that all Jedi have either blue or green blades.  The explanation sw.com used to give made sense and he should have stuck with it in my opinion.

[2ma2]

Mace IS evil. He's a not a goodie goodie, he's balancing inbetween light and darkside. Anyone with such an eager and will to fight will claiming to be the a guardian of light is one step into the abyss

..plus, did you see him trying to KILL a POOR DEFENSELESS old MAN?! The notion of Mace being in league with the Sith is nice, but sadly ruined with that scene. Damn..

Nah, what bothers me the most, or rather tickles me, is that Jedi and Sith are alike in methods and way. The real issue comes to old philosphical values, you may even call them esotheric contra "carnal". The way of the Sith is equalent to the way of LaVeyists: Putting yourself first, then your loved ones, and finally everyone else. Any action beneficial to your loved ones without benefitting yourself is a bad action. Yea, that makes sense. But then there's the fascist ideals, where strength and power is the key to everything. I mean, there can only be one sith lord. And then some uptight apprentice comes and beats the living sh*t out of you. Pleasant. Sure, it is meant to be a constant strife for more and more power, and teh best is the master, nothing less. But I loathe the Jedi ideal aswell. The notion of reducing yourself only to a tool of tranquility is to flee, or hide. It is life reduced to a vegetable, since conflict is the key to development and evolution. No conflict - no life.

The real question starts with what happens AFTER lord Vader rises. Why is Sidious next goal? Building a Death Star? For what purpose? Only to be a military supremacy and thus conquest the entire galaxy? And then what? Peace I guess. A dictatorship but peace non the less. Galaxy police? Now we're getting closer to American foreign politics. Why havn't the first movies been accused of this?

[Paper Carnival]

I went to see it last night. There are people who only go to hate the movie or spot mistakes, but I just went to enjoy it.. And I really did.

[evenwolf]

Commander Cody: "Wait. So which one is code 66?"

Trooper Dan: "Kill all wookies?""

Commander Cody: "No no, that's code 48. And code 49 is 'Braid all wookies.'"

Trooper Dan: "Right. Hmm code 66. You got me."

Senator Palpatine: "Idiots, I gave you this simple acronym, remember? KAJAMSOWAYNEWASP!"

Commander Cody: "Sorry sir, it doesn't ring a bell."

Senator Palpatine: "Kill All Jedis And Make Sure Obi Wan And Yoda Never Escape With Anakin Skywalker's Progeny!"

Commander Cody: "Sir, are you sure you want them dead?  They hang out with Jimmy Smits."

[evenwolf]

Oh yeah, and my opinion is that the movie looked amazing and got me really involved.  I've been talking about it ever since I saw it.  My concerns are the dialogue.

Not only were the lines and the delivery bad, there should have been way less.

Grievous should have been more of a Darth Maul character and kept his mouth shut.  Clone Wars presented Grievous as a quiet badass as well.  It really worked.

In Ep 3, he was intimidating in appearance, but sounded like a distant cousin of Jar Jar Binks.  Gary Oldman was reportedly asked to voice the part but it didnt work out.  This would have improved Grievous tremendously.


The establishing shots were gorgeous.  I watched the movie on a DLP projector so I'm not sure how different this is from film.   But it looked great.  The first sequence was so busy and beautiful. 

Jimmy Smits' swinging by to pick up Yoda was hilarious.

Yoda:  "In exile I must now go."

Smits:  "Cool bro.  I know this quaint swamp where you can check yourself in peace."

[Darth Mandarb]

I watched it again last night ...

I, grugingly, must agree that the dialog does get a bit stiff at parts.  I kept finding myself saying things like, "it would have been better if he had said this instead" or something like that. I think GL should have had Kevin Smith write the dialog for him.  Smith (with a few exceptions) writes some of the best dialog in Hollywood.

I really enjoyed what George has done, BUT I think there are things I would have done very differently.  I have started completely re-writing the prequels as I envison them.  Just for fun.  Below is my thoughts on Episode III

My thoughts on how episode III should have gone down. - it's a long read, but worth it if you're a Star Wars fan. Edit Link removed ... I'm revising.

(this is still early version ... might change a bit)

[Babar]

Hahaha... I want a black lightsaber. That way I can suck up the light from all the other sabers, and RULE THE GALAXY!
Why aren't there Light bombs in Star Wars? There are blasters and sabers (which I'll assume work on a somewhat similar principal), but then instead of light bombs, there are only thermal detonators!
Let the guy be...perhaps he used an amethyst to make his lightsaber. It is not like the Star Wars Databank doesn't change it's information every few months

[TheYak]

I imagine they don't have light-bombs because they wouldn't have any explosive power.  They'd merely wipe out everything in a certain radius.  Even a thermal detonator probably has a very small explosive radius but a much larger concussive wave, meaning more splash damage.  They'd probably also be expensive to make.  Light sabers take a length of time, effort, and special crystals from remote locations.  The blasters probably have a focusing crystal of some sort but use charges of energy for ammunition.  So, I'd say it's impractical to have a theoretically minor explosion for the expense.  A light-bomb meant for blinding (with perhaps a certain damage radius) now that's an idea. 

Don't know why I found that post so damn interesting.  I'm going for more coffee.

[Phemar]

Like a flashbang ... which is equally as effective, and cheaper to make.

[Babar]

Don't know why I found that post so damn interesting. I'm going for more coffee.

Heheheh...Watch out, it's called the inner-geek. It's what happens when you start discussing the impossible science of an imaginary universe.

A light bomb would actually be very powerful. I mean, if they have an energy source that can make a lightsaber go for how long it goes, for one time use, that should be a lot of power for a bomb. I mean, even if you just disintegrated a few cubic metres of building, you've probably assured that the whole building will fall. Sure, it would be really expensive to do it all for 1 time only, but perhaps it could have multiple uses if the owner could retrieve it? Or perhaps it could be used in those planet-destroying, deathstar-like weapons, where cost doesn't matter. And since the crystals can be manufactured, no problem there.

Heheh.....I am really bothering too much about this. But I want Light bombs!

[Haddas]

I made one of those once. It had something to do with open fire and flautalence. The rest is history