Star Wars: EPISODE III Thread

[Blackthorne]

So where did Lucas go shit house with the new trilogy?

How could it be improved?


Bt

[Kinoko]

Not being made? Seriously, it wasn't necessary.

If you want specifics:

1) BO-ring. God, I got sick of hearing about the f*cking trade federation and all of the god damned politics. Not only that, but all those soap operish moments between Padme and Anakin - *snore* There was something exciting and fiery about watching the romance between Hahn and Leia blossom, but those two... blech. (Not to mention that weird age thing)

2) EXTREME!!! Look, I'm using a double-sided saber! Now I'm using two! Now I'm a CG yoda fighting! Now we're SURFING ON A F*CKING VOLCANO, MAN!

3) Acting - shithouse. You can say all you like about the original trilogy, but does anyone argue that it worked at the time? If you're going to make a new trilogy with better FX to match what we have available now, how about some decent actors? In that spoof trailer that went around, I remember thinking "God, what's with that guy playing Anakin? He's just acting like a retard, that isn't funny at ALL". Then, I saw episode 2. I was open-mouthed shocked to see that the 'retard' was actually being quite accurate! He really talked like that!

4) The 'Darths'. There was always something super cool about Darth Vader. Let's face it, he's one of, if not the best bad guy of all time. This may not be a movie thing, it might be a book thing, but why do the rest of them have such f*cking stupid names? Maul?? I remember hearing that and nearly choking on whatever I was eating because it was so stupid. Then it gets worse. Sideous?! God, please, why don't we just call one, Darth Kill-a-Lot, or Darth Bad-Guy. You could argue that 'Darth Vader' is short for 'ivader' but lets face, that never occured to anyone before all these other ridiculous names showed up.

5) The fact that we have to have a perfectly good trilogy tainted with this crap. Everything has to be explained, and it's boring, and stupid. As stat4ed before, there's nothing wrong with starting the trilogy in a somewhat mysterious way, letting it unfold, and letting people come up with their own ideas on what might have happened if they so desire. Now we know the truth, that Darth Vader isn't the super cool badass we thought - he's a stupid, annoying, whinging pussy.

6) Cameos, cameos, cameos. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

7) Jar Jar Binks. It was bad enough he was in the first movie, but ALL THREE?! I know, I know, it's all been said before, but it never becomes 'okay'.

I could go on for ages, but my lunch is going cold.

[Ozwalled]

The "Vader" part means "father". It's old English. I'm not sure, but I think Lucas even went on record with that before (I could be wrong, though).

[Kinoko]

Really? Well, that just makes his name even cooler, and way less stupid than the others ^_^

[DCillusion]

After watching "III" does anyone feel like we're missing a movie?

The wookie battle feels completely summarized

-There's one scene in the movie where Anakin does some fancy flying, (so as to lay some validity to Obi-wan saying how great he was in "IV").

-Anakin tells Obi-wan "no more loose-wire jokes" even though there has never been 1 loose wire joke in the entire trilogy.

To be fair, this is the best prequel by far.  I don't think people would have judged this one as harshly if the first 2 didn't exist.  It was the only prequel that felt like Star Wars to me.  I really liked how Anakin & Obi-wan were, basically, flying a cross-breed of a TIE fighter & the Millenium Falcon; finally good reverse thinking.  The beast Obi-wan chased Grevious with was totally Star Wars.  Grevious is a very Sci-Fi monster, & a scentient robot/cyborg explains why the droids talk to each other.  When C-3PO states, "I'm sure Anakin's all right, he went to the temple," while Padme sees the temple is, in fact, ON FIRE!!! - That's vintage 3PO!

It's just "Too little, Too late"  There's too much tainted material.  You can never explain how Han & Luke get past anyone dressed as Storm Troopers; as they all sound exactly alike.  I know people say anyone can join the troopers, but what about when Leia says, "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper,"  She, practically, spells it out that they're, somewhat universal, but identical? Or why Owen Lars doesn't remember C-3PO.  & Don't even get me started on how stupid it would be for Obi-Wan to hide Vader's son at his brother's house, on his home planet, disguised, in full dress-robes as One of the last Jedi Knights in the entire galaxy!!!!


- P.S. - I wish the Sith used purple lightsabers.  That would seem right.  The Jedi's Blue/Green combo seems to work well; having three colours to the Sith's one red colour doesn't seem fair.  Aren't the Sith supposed to be the "flashy" ones.  While we're at it, why don't we see more double bladed lightsabers, or other weapons?  Why can't we have a "House of Flying Daggers" jedi that throws a bunch of returning lightsaber daggers?  I think it would have made the movie more fun, & I don't want to hear that George Lucas is above that "Matrix" crap!!!

[Raider]

I used to do this in movies. Find flaws and mistakes, I found it comical, my friends did not.
While we are picking Star Wars to death, I saw a mistake in ep 2. After Obi-wan fights jango-fett on the water planet on the platform, Jango returns to his ship and bangs his head on the top of the door.  : (kinda off topic but next time you watch it look out for it)

[Nacho]

A mistake I saw in the original trilogy yesterday! Remember that Han Solo is tied (Hands in the back) when he is put into carbonite in ep- V? Well... the famous Carbonited Han that Habba has have both hands risen up.

How out of topic! 

[Andail]

I like the new movie.
While I'm a big fan of the original trilogy, I have to admit that there were plenty of flaws in those movies that you overlooked with just because...well, they were old and sort of culty. I mean, in episode 6, how good is that ewook-battle really? Teddy-bears fighting storm-troppers with sticks and stones? And sure, there are annoying childish moments in the prequels, but the original trilogy are absolutely littered with small muppet-creatures with strange comical sounds and whatnot.

I think episode 3 stands pretty strong in comparison. The scenery alone makes it worth the money, in my opinion. I've never seen so breath-taking scenes before, and I was extremely impressed. I can actually even cope with Anakin. Is he that bad an actor really, or is it that he looks like some baywatch brat that most people get annoyed with him? I'm a fan of the ugly-culture, which hasn't reached Hollywood yet, but in the meantime, I can accept Anakin and Padmé being so overly cute and loveable all the time!

Ok, some negative things then:
* Anakin's turning to the dark side. A bit quick and easy, right? I thought they would show that great inner conflict that Luke had in the third movie. Now it's more like an intellectual decision, which isn't very realistic.
* Small robots that scream excitedly when they are tossed around. Robots aren't guinnea-pigs, they don't have to behave like them. It's clearly only for the comical value.
* Obi-wan's attitude. Going from the solemn and calm Jedi in the previous movie, he turns a bit too bold and arrogant. Over-all, there is less and less differing Jedis from normal people, in terms of personality and attitude.
* The constant escalation in awesomeness. A two-bladed lightsabre is ok, having four of them - which of two are rotating - is just ridiculous. It switches from the concept of a knight, to some sort of fencing-machine.

And some really good things:
* Again, the settings.
* The melancholic demise of the jedis. Spread around the galaxy, alone with traitors. Quite sad.
* Padmés giving birth to the twins, giving them their names, and then dying.
* The helmet being lowered over Anakin's face. I think this will remain a great moment in film history.

So, definitely a good movie. I don't really understand what people who found this so terrible actually expected.

[PaulSC]

Finally saw this the other day, and I thought it was actually pretty excellent, for the most part.

Anakin's turn does seem fast, but I think they explained it well enough. Its a different situation to Return of the Jedi; an intellectual rather then emotional decision, like Andail says. I like the suggestion that he wasn't truly 'evil' at the point when he joins with Palpatine, but that he was conciously buying into the deal to serve his own purposes, wrongly thinking he'd be able to turn back and sort things out after he'd saved his wife. My main problem there is that I think having him kill the kids was just too much too soon.

Also, I'd have to say this one definately works better as a 'sequel set in the past' then a real preceding episode. Dramatically, I really don't think it makes much sense to reveal things like Leia's Skywalker status at this point in the story, if only because it makes the whole incest thing even more obvious and awkward for people watching in order.

Niggles:

- There's quite a bit of superfluous action, and the Chewbacca/Wookie stuff in particular was entirely pointless and unsatisfactory.
- Obi Wan's dragon thing looked more then a bit duff.
- While I can just about buy into the idea that Leia could remember her mother 'through the force', or whatever, having Obi-Wan suddenly forget all about his old droid chums in IV always going to come across as a bit weird.

There are probably more niggles I've forgotten, but that doesn't bother me because on the whole I enjoyed the hell out of it. For the first time in a long time, Lucas really seemed confident and competent as a director, and even some of the performances were enjoyable this time around.

Don't even get me started on how stupid it would be for Obi-Wan to hide Vader's son at his brother's house, on his home planet, disguised, in full dress-robes as One of the last Jedi Knights in the entire galaxy!!!!

To be fair, that problem's been there since Return of the Jedi at least.

[Raider]

- Obi Wan's dragon thing looked more then a bit duff.

What do you mean? What Dragon thing?

[PaulSC]

You know: that big stupid lizard thing he rides around on for half the film.

[Dowland]

I read in a magazine that the starwars series was supose to hawe 8 titels. But then when the third was complete they desided to make only 6. Can you imagine what a crappy film the 8th film would be. Considering the episode 1 and 2 were total crap (especialy 2)

I didn't skim through the horrible 9 pages of convo (especially considering the quality of the 1st), but I'm not sure this was answered.

George Lucas originally planned to make 9 movies. He had planned to shoot 4, 5, 6 (which he did), and then 1, 2, 3, and then ultimately 7, 8, 9.

Ultimately though, when he saw how much time it “took him” to get the first episode out, and considering the mounting costs of production, and his age (he's not immortal, physically speaking), he decided a few years back, before launching “The Phantom Menace”, that he would only go on with prequels and not the sequels.

At this time, he claims he never intended to make 7, 8, 9, most likely not have fans urge him to go on with his original intention (ie. the guy wants to retire).

His love of this saga is obvious in the way he touches up the old movies to make them match perfectly with the story (if he were just in it for the money, he'd let the fans happily buy the collectors' editions over and over, without spending money going back through it).


Story-wise, I think it's commendable to have followed through with a multi-layered story for so long ... even though I agree, ep 1 was BAAAAD.


A reason to watch ep. 3? Hayden Christensen!! He's pretty hot (in an Canadian kind of wayâ€"and though long hair doesn't quite agree with him).

[Raider]

You know: that big stupid lizard thing he rides around on for half the film.

Yep I see now.

[PaulSC]

Oh, something else that rubbed me the wrong way: that bit about Qui-Gon at the very end. I gather in the script this was dealt with in some detail, and the character actually makes an appearence, but clearly they cut in all out, making the whole thing seem like a tacked on, half-hearted throwaway explanation for the whole ghost thing. Missed opportunity, there.

[Raider]

This part confussed me... Are the ghosts at the end of return of the jedi Obi, Yoda and Anakin? If so wheres Qui-Gon?

[Kinoko]

He didn't really spend enough time with Anakin to be caught up in the whole ordeal. Perhaps he was busy appearing in front of someone else more important from his past at that time.

[mlsq42]

A mistake I saw in the original trilogy yesterday! Remember that Han Solo is tied (Hands in the back) when he is put into carbonite in ep- V? Well... the famous Carbonited Han that Habba has have both hands risen up.

How out of topic!Ã, 

For a reply also out of topic, you could argue that whatever had tied Han's hands up must have had a low freezing point, and that perhaps that the inital blast of Carbonite shattered them, allowing Han to move them in some futile attempt to escape out before the rest got him.

That's probably not the 'offical' explantion, but just one off the cuff.

[PaulSC]

Qui-Gon probably wanted to stay out of the way due to the social awkwardness of joining a reunion between his two former students who have a long history of chopping chunks off each other. Maybe the others had special force powers for dealing with uncomfortable silences? "Go Go Force Anecdote!".

[MillsJROSS]

Just want to comment that the acting isn't really that bad at all. These are quality actors (the main ones), and if you've seen some of their other work, maybe you agree. I think it's just difficult to act like these characters, where the dialog isn't necessarily realistic. That said, a lot of dialog is used to move the plot, more than anything else, as the SW movies are mostly plot driven (Most movies have a plot, but the SW movies seem to follow the plot more closely).

-MillsJROSS

[Darth Mandarb]

While we are picking Star Wars to death, I saw a mistake in ep 2. After Obi-wan fights jango-fett on the water planet on the platform, Jango returns to his ship and bangs his head on the top of the door.  : (kinda off topic but next time you watch it look out for it)

This is not a mistake.  For 1 reason, that scene is completely CG so there's really no way something that obvious would make it into the final cut.  But the main reason is because it's a tribute to the Stormtrooper in epIV that bangs his head on the door while entering the room (in the Death Star) where 3P0 and R2 are hiding.

After watching "III" does anyone feel like we're missing a movie?

The cartoon series, "Clone Wars" explains a lot of the missing details.  Although to be honest I like it when movies mention things you've not seen.  It adds depth and background.  Between epI and epII was 10 years, and it was like 3 years between epII and epIII ... it stands to reason there'd be a lot of stuff that happened in those gaps of time!

Or why Owen Lars doesn't remember C-3PO. & Don't even get me started on how stupid it would be for Obi-Wan to hide Vader's son at his brother's house, on his home planet, disguised, in full dress-robes as One of the last Jedi Knights in the entire galaxy!!!!

Owen Lars not remembering 3P0 doesn't really bother me ... They weren't together (on Tatooine) for very long before 3P0 left w/ Anakin and Padme (in ep2).  Would you remember a computer you had 20 years ago if it suddenly turned back up?  Especially considering all the other computers out there that look just like it?  Probably not

Now Obi-Wan 'hiding' on Tatooine ...

I do have a bit of a problem with that.  The only reasoning I can think of is that Anakin 1) believes he killed Padme (and the baby) so he doesn't even suspect he has a child 2) hates Tatooine so much (which Obi-Wan knows) and won't ever go back (too many bad memories).

BUT ...

Anakin watched Obi-Wan walk off after defeating him.  So Anakin knows Obi-Wan is still alive ... it seems to me he'd scour the galaxy trying to find him.  While he might not assume Ben is dumb enough to hide on a planet so well known to Anakin, keeping the name Kenobi??!?  It's just absurd!

Another question I have is this:  Why, also, keep the child's name as Luke Skywalker?  Luke sure, but keeping that famous last name?  Seems to me like that would also be an attention magnet ... Leia changed her last name.  Why didn't Luke?  Did Obi-Wan tell Owen and Beru that Anakin was dead?  Even so, keeping Luke's name as Skywalker just seems a little ... silly?

There's supposedly a television show coming out which is supposed to bridge the gap between ep3 and ep4 ... so maybe some of this'll be explained there.