Star Wars III

Well, I saw Episode III today. I'm about 50 / 50 on the film. I really liked the Anakin and Palpatine relationship (until the scene with Mace Windu, then Anakin's actions seemed a little out of place). And I really like the Anakin / Obi-Wan relationship.

I'm going to have to see it a couple of more times to sort out my thoughts but the big hang up for me right now has to be General Grevious. I mean come on! Was there any point to him being there other than to waste a half hour of the movie? He wasn't menacing. He wasn't a threat. He wasn't even cool. Four lightsabers? You've got to be kidding me. I can just imagine the logic that Lucas used "Ok, well in Phantom, Darth Maul had a double-bladed lightsaber and everyone thought that was cool. Then in Clones Anakin fought with a lightsaber in each hand and everyone thought that was cool. So in Sith I'll make a character that uses four lightsabers! That's brilliant!" Oh please. I'm just glad this is the last Star Wars film otherwise I'd have to see someone wielding six lightsabers, then eight. Then they'd probably increase exponentially and someone would wield sixty-four lightsabers. OK, I'll stop now. :)

Yoda was spot-on in this film. Loved every scene that he was in.

Sith is definitely the best of the prequel trilogy, but I'm still not convinced that it was good.

Chris
 
I thought grevious was awesome!

My friend told me that he is important to the pre-story for this film, in the cartoon series 'the clone wars'... I haven't seen it but it sets up characters and takes place right before the movie starts.

So yes, I do agree there should have been more of an introduction to him, but I really liked the character. He was modeled very well, and the 4 lightsaber thing was just awesome.
 
Jack_Felis said:
Darth Sidious= Sedistic
Darth Maul= Maul
Darth Plagus= Plague (Us)
Darth Grievous= Grieve (Us)

Then there's the funky ones:

Darth Vader= Vindicate? Violate?
Darth Dooku= Destroy? Do Kill? Decoy?

I'm pretty sure "Sidious" comes from "insidious."

Grievous was not a Sith, so he had no "Darth."

"Darth Vader" is patterned after the Dutch for "Dark Father."
 
Did anyone else notice in the first conversation between Anakin and Padme how odd Natalie Portman's face looked? I don't know if they were using a wide angle lens on the close up or what, but she almost looked like a different person.
 
Re: Just bad stuff. And half the damn film is being CGI'd. Get off the Bluescreen stage George and build a real set.

This IS the ENTIRE PROBLEM!............... You cant mix fake loking animation with real life people..
 
I havent seen it yet but one thing I have noticed is the CGI backgrounds. Star Wars was really cool with its sense of putting you into the world; even the Hoth base was real but these new ones just have that fake plate going on. It just looks bad and really fails to draw one into the world. What is George doing?

Build a set man!
 
Go watch it already, John! Last 15-20 min is worth it all... Jar-Jar, midichlorians, CGI overuse, corny dialogue, everything that you hated for the past 6 years.
 
i just saw it today. there is definitly some retarded dialogue, but i did like the movie anyways. im happy with it and think if GL was going to end this thing at least it was better than the previous 2.

anyway, its kinda sad to know its the end of such an inspirational/influential piece of movie history....but at the same time im glad its all over with.

i cant wait for whatever the next truly interesting epic film/films to come around...
 
LOL! I've seen a lot of these cartoons around the net, mostly on MSN. Where did they get the time to draw all of these? The movie only came out a few days ago! ^_^ Train wrecks indeed, lol!

Also, I don't entirely agree with the whole building sets thing. The problem with a lot of movies is that their sets are so elaborate that they would cost almost $200 million for the set alone. That's probably why a lot of great epic sci-fi movies don't get made. I think in George's POV some things could have been built, like Padme's apartment, but to build the entire Jedi Temple or the senate council room would be nuts! Star Wars isn't like Lord of the Rings where a nice looking open field would do well for an Orc and Rohirrim fight. That would be pretty funny to see George actually filming this thing in space, but he'll be able to do that when he's 200, right now some things aren't possible without some innovation thanks to computers (aka compoopers).

I wonder if he may be saving his money to buid sets for Indiana Jones 4 though...
 
First the Sets are deemed unnecessary, then the Actors.

If we let them get away it it (by seeing the films), how long will it be before everything is dreck...um...I mean Shrek?

Dan
 
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

I think this can be said for people's opinions on the new Star Wars movies. Personally, I loved Episode 3. But if you hate the KIND of movie it is, the large amount of green screen work, the traditionally cheesey "Star Wars" dialogue, and the like - then why did we all line up to see it before even the opening weekend is through? We all knew that it would be very similar, visually, to Episodes 1 and 2 - I don't think everybody's negative opinion can be felt TOO strongly. Otherwise, nobody would have watched it in the first place ;)
 
The core problem with the movie is simple. The movie is about Anakin's switch to the dark side. And in order for us to buy into that, we have to buy into the reasons he is switching. Lucas's reasons (as far as I can tell) are that A. He felt slighted by not becoming a master on the council. (Which he should've understood) B. He was worried about padme dying, and he loved her so much. C. He had a -slight- hint of suspicion about the relationship between ObiWan and Padme. (this wasn't handled well at all, and was easy to miss) D. He thought the Jedi were trying to overtake the council and run things for themselves. E. He had reason to trust and believe Palpatine.

Every single one of those things was handled ineptly. For this movie to work for me, -honestly-, I have to side with Anakin. And when I say honestly, I mean I have to feel like Anakin is my guy, and I am sympathizing with his view of the way things are unfolding, because it makes sense. Not because of 28 years of Star Wars, and appreciation for the mythology and the icons, that is just a knee-jerk reflex, and while it's good enough for some people (based on the reviews) I just don't work that way. I have to really have felt the way that Anakin felt through the movie because of the movie itself. I would've had to really feel the love between him and Padme. I would've really had to think "****, why -aren't- the Jedi letting him on the council?" Or "Wow, the Jedi are acting really shady..." or "I could totally see him thinking that Obi-Wan and Padme are hooking up." or "Man, I've never seen two kids in love as much as he and Padme" Or whatever.

The problem is that as Lucas was writing it, he knew in his heart where all of these things were going to lead, and what they were all supposed to mean, so he never spent any time making it seem as if they were true roadblocks, or things that he had to make believable. He knew he could just run through those scenes because his audience would forgive him of anything because "it's star wars." If it was some basic drama, about a guy who turned to the dark side of the law, because his original firm was trusting him, and because he thought he needed the money to take care of his wife, no one would've believed it, if it was shot and written like EP3.

Here's my theory: G.Lucas forgot how to direct films. If you look at his filmography, the LAST movie he directed before Star Wars Episode 1, was Star Wars Episode FOUR. He didn't do Empire. He didn't do RotJ. He directed one movie, 20 years ago, and then expected to be able to get back in the saddle after 20 years. In addition he was trying to direct in an environment (all CGI) which even the most established directors would have problems. (There were two scenes that felt strangely like a REAL Star wars movie to me. When Obi-Wan plunges into the water, and emerges on to the side of the cave or whatever. And then when Yoda/Organa walk down the hallway. Those were both real sets, and there is a palpable difference.)

Similarly, he also forgot how to write films, the only two scripts he's written worth mentioning are Star Wars and Rotj. (Again, someone else did the screenplay for Empire). After '81 he's just made stories and characters. Yes he is a master story-thinker (well, master is strong, but he's good) and yes he's made some memorable characters (indiana jones). But I, personally, don't go to the movies to see a good idea. I go to see a well executed, good idea.
 
wish they had done the 3 prequels like the last 10 minutes of "revenge if the sith."

Rather than the visual diarrhea of a million different environments, too many annoying characters to count, corn ball dialogue, and overdone action sequences, the movie ended by a simple return to enhance original environments and storylines. loved seeing the Lea's ship that started Star Wars (retro interior and all), the Emperial Cruisers, tattoine with 2 sunsets, Vadar's transformation.

ahhh, what could have been...
 
"Rather than the visual diarrhea of a million different environments, too many annoying characters to count, corn ball dialogue, and overdone action sequences"

I'd argue that Star Wars always was like this - and minus the negative edge to those words, that's why I love it!
 
i also loved the first 3 because of Lucas' imagination, brilliant visuals and environments and the modern day fairy tale that he created. no exaggeration, must have seen Star Wars 100 times.

just thought that the prequels were about showing off and playing with toys and got away from storytelling.

2 words. No Magic.
 
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