OT: Star Wars Episode III

[Neon_Chaos]

Spoiler....










Maybe I was disappointed because I expected the saga to go off in a big BANG.

The movie began with the potential to be great, but it was like a reverse snowball that saw the characters devolve into the horrible ending sequence.

I expected Anakin's journey to becoming Darth Vader to be a much more harrowing experience. Even more so, I expected his transformation from human Vader to the half-machine Vader to be the coolest shit in the world.

But no. It stunk to high-hell. heh.

[sabotai]

Just saw it and it was kind of disappointing. In almost every way, it is better than the previous 2 prequals....but also has some of the dumbest, chessiest things in the entire saga (all 6).

SPOILER: (Is stating this really needed in this thread anymore? )








Vader screaming "NNOOOOOOOO!!!" was HORRIBLE. Palpatine, when on the floor after getting beat by Mace Windu going "No! No! No!" in that voice was just comical. I'm sure it was supposed to be sinister, but it was just comical. Padme dying because "she's lost the will to live" was just....incredibly lame.

And getting back to that scene with Palpatine and Windu. Did Mace take 3 total n00bs with him? I know Lucas was trying to show that both Mace Windu and Sidious were so much better than the other 3. That Sidious was so strong and powerful that he could pwn most Jedi easily. But that didn't happen. What I saw was 3 Jedi standing with their dicks in their hands and not doing anything to avoid Sidious' slow saber attacks. Sidious did not come off as powerful there, the Jedi came off as a joke. The kid that wasted a dozen clones was better with a lightsaber than those 3 Jedi Masters were.

Anyway, I'm going to bed. It probably sounds like I hated the movie but I didn't. It was pretty well done, but there are a few parts of the movie that just completely take you out of it.

[Neuqua]

Just saw it.

I loved it.

Goodnight.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Spoiler Alert.







Once again Chems Theory about Anakin's Paternal lineage is correct.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Spoiler Alert Again: Gripes..............................













Dola: The story really didnt answer anything for me..... The only connection with 4,5,6 were the droids and 2 babies. The end should have tied more loose ends ie....Yoda going off to Degobah, Rebellion starting, or at least implied, bounty hunters being ordered by vader to hunt down Jedi's, Wookies being enslaved, a young 10 year old street urchin in a cameo appearance,

[Vince]

Saw it. Loved it. I think it is a terrible movie, however.

[TazFTW]

Originally Posted by sabotai

And getting back to that scene with Palpatine and Windu. Did Mace take 3 total n00bs with him?

So Kit Fisto goes out like a bitch? That is worth the price of admission alone. I've always hated that guy.

[Sun Tzu]

I saw a midnight showing as well. Free tickets for being a business partner with Intel

Good flick. Definetely does a good job with continuation. I would see it again.

[cthomer5000]

****spoilers*******

Originally Posted by sabotai

Palpatine, when on the floor after getting beat by Mace Windu going "No! No! No!" in that voice was just comical. I'm sure it was supposed to be sinister, but it was just comical. Padme dying because "she's lost the will to live" was just....incredibly lame.

I also laughed out loud at that Palpatine moment.

Another dumb-ass moment for me was the line Anakin had when talking to Amidala soon after she'd arrived at the lava-place. It was someting to the effect of "The Jedi can't save you now.... only my new powers can!" It just sounded ridiculous.

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

****spoilers*******






I also laughed out loud at that Palpatine moment.

Another dumb-ass moment for me was the line Anakin had when talking to Amidala soon after she'd arrived at the lava-place. It was someting to the effect of "The Jedi can't save you now.... only my new powers can!" It just sounded ridiculous.

And maybe that gets to the crux of my disappointment. To me, Anakin never truly became evil. He did evil things, yes, but only to reach what most would consider a noble goal (saving those we love). At some point I guess you could say his selfishness overpowers even that love, but selfishness isn't evil.

Like others have said, it's a good movie. Easily the best of the three prequels. But I'm still trying to figure out how such a badass in the OT came from a guy who was really just an immature, selfish guy.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

It's only 8:15 Eastern... guess you're expecting a line...

If you see any chicks dressed up as Stormtroopers, take pix...

actually, I wasn't going right to the theater - there was about 10-12 of us going, and one guy picked up the tickets for all of us. We all met at the theater at 11 and got right in - it was mostly full by then and the crowd was 90% high school kids, many of whom were holding lightsaber duels on the front stage before the movie started. No stormtrooper chicks - there were several chicks with Leia hair, a few dorks with Vader masks, and one lifetime virgin who had made a Jar Jar headpiece out of construction paper.

as for the movie, I personally was surprised. As I've stated recently, I didn't really like Menace very much, and I LOATHED Clones, so I had some pretty low expectations, but I ended up loving a movie I was ready to dislike - which seems to be putting me in the minority here.

To me, the action stuff worked really, really well - much better than the sloppy CGI stuff from Ep II. There still were some eye rolling parts - R2 again using powers that he doesn't have in IV-VI, the silly Tarzan yell from the wookies, and some amazingly corny reaction shots they use from Palpatine in the early going - but in most cases the silly stuff was more on par with the earlier movies, not the over-the-top goofiness of I and II. Again, from a purely action level, this movie blows away I and II and, to me, is right on par with the originals.

I guess most of your enjoyment is going to hinge on the Anakin to Vader thing. In my opinion, this worked for me (yes, even the Frankenstein thing). While he did turn faster than you'd probably expect, I think they did a pretty good job of giving some good excuses for him to turn - the turning scene itself was kind of awkward, but overall the reasons behind his choices worked for me. And I thought they did a surprisingly good job of tying up loose ends from the other two prequels - it all seemed to kind of come together rather nicely (and unexpectedly) in III.

Most surprising at all to me was the directing. I have been a big critic of Lucas being sole writer and director on I and II - I think his best work is to write the story and produce it, and have a different director / screenwriter, a la Empire and Jedi. I think I and II would have been MUCH better movies if he'd used another screenwriter and director. But the direction and writing were rock-solid here - the cinematography in many places was stunning, and there were actually a few good dialogue scenes (Anakin and Palpatine at the opera thing, for example). Christianson was still not great, but he (and most everyone) had much better dialogue to work with than the last 2. Like I said above, the action scenes were simply terrific (and I disliked much of the cheesy digital battles in Clones).

so, I liked it. it "worked" for me when I was expecting it to fail. I'm pleasantly surprised that I liked it (and a little surprised that less of you all did).

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

but selfishness isn't evil.

It is in bed.

[Warhammer]

I saw it and loved it. It was not on par with ANH or ESB, but it was a good movie. The parts that hacked me off were the cheesy love scenes and Palpatine's voice after the transformation. That said, there were several parts I loved.

[timmynausea]

It certainly had flaws, but I thought it was a good movie. I wasn't disappointed in it as a whole at all, although I can understand why some people felt that the lame parts drug it down some.

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

Spoiler Alert Again: Gripes..............................













Dola: The story really didnt answer anything for me..... The only connection with 4,5,6 were the droids and 2 babies. The end should have tied more loose ends ie....Yoda going off to Degobah, Rebellion starting, or at least implied, bounty hunters being ordered by vader to hunt down Jedi's, Wookies being enslaved, a young 10 year old street urchin in a cameo appearance,

Yoda did say he had to go into seclusion or hiding or something as he had failed when fighting the emperor. Also I guess there were originally some scenes that had Padme essentially starting the rebellion that were cut, as well as a sub-plot about wookiees that was also cut entirely.

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

Spoiler Alert Again: Gripes..............................













Dola: The story really didnt answer anything for me..... The only connection with 4,5,6 were the droids and 2 babies. The end should have tied more loose ends ie....Yoda going off to Degobah, Rebellion starting, or at least implied, bounty hunters being ordered by vader to hunt down Jedi's, Wookies being enslaved, a young 10 year old street urchin in a cameo appearance,

and so begins the live action star wars tv show...

[kingfc22]

I enjoyed the movie and will probably go see it again as the theater was so freaking HOT that it was almost distracting at times.

I just wish that the movie had given more time to Anakin as Vader instead of just a quick scene or two. Would have been cool to see Vader get more and more powerful.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

I enjoyed the movie and will probably go see it again as the theater was so freaking HOT that it was almost distracting at times.

I just wish that the movie had given more time to Anakin as Vader instead of just a quick scene or two. Would have been cool to see Vader get more and more powerful.

Bingo!

[ISiddiqui]

LOVED IT!

What a fabulous movie! As I was saying, all the prequals were leading up to this and it sure did not dissapoint. The CGI which looked somewhat cheesy back in TPM is jaw dropping here. This is the best looking movie I've ever seen. It blows LOTR trilogy out of the water. The action is non stop and the dialogue isn't bad (as good as the original trilogy). McGregor is perfect as Obi-Wan, Christensen plays Anakin well, and McDiamid is excellent as Palpatine.

I would have liked to have seen Anakin's fall more streached out, but the movie was over 2 hours as it was! That said, I was satisfied that keeping Padme alive turned him.

And I like the visual touches at the end. Padme's burial procession shows that they faked the twins dying when Padme did.

And how much fun to see a proto-Death Star?

I'd have to say this is perhaps the best Star Wars movie aside from ESB.

I give it an A!

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

To me, Anakin never truly became evil. He did evil things, yes, but only to reach what most would consider a noble goal (saving those we love). At some point I guess you could say his selfishness overpowers even that love, but selfishness isn't evil.

What do they say? "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions"? He may have had a noble goal, but at what cost? Do the ends justify the means? I don't think so. In the theater I was in, people gasped when the younglins asked Anakin for help and the lightsaber went on. I think most people would consider that ultimate evil.


And didn't you here the dialog when they were at the water ballet? Selfishness is a part of the Sith... Selflessness is part of the Jedi. So yes, in this context selfishness is evil, and I think most people outside of utterly looney Randists would say being THAT selfish is evil.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

And maybe that gets to the crux of my disappointment. To me, Anakin never truly became evil. He did evil things, yes, but only to reach what most would consider a noble goal (saving those we love). At some point I guess you could say his selfishness overpowers even that love, but selfishness isn't evil.

I think he did truly become evil. Slaughtering all of the kids and the Trade Federation was quite evil. In the end, he really fell in love with his own power. What started him on the dark path, protecting the Chancellor, was quickly thrown out when he decided that he could kill the Chancellor and rule the galaxy on his own. At that point he was totally gone.

The part that they didn't show in the movie is the fact that losing Padme turned Vader totally cold. It is quite easy to presume that this was the point where he lost the ability to feel and became just a cold evil machine.

The fall was a little too quick, but given the time constraints, it was decently done.

[ShaqFu]

SPOILERS!!! SPOLIERS!!!

I thought this is the best since ESB. Very dark, lots of action, and really nice to finally see the background of the story. I tell you what, even though Lucas says he isn't doing it, I'm thirsting for 7-8-9.

Yoda going off to Degobah

Yoda went into exile there. Obi-Wan into exile on Tantonine.

Rebellion starting

I believe that is what you were seeing when Leia was show with the Organa's at the rebel base.

You also got the Death Star being built. Chewie's background. And, they mentioned how the Jedi's learned to communicate with the dead. Obi-Wan was supposed to learn from Qui-Gon.

I thought it all tied together beautifully.

[ShaqFu]

As to more time on Vader, keep in mind the forthcoming television series is supposed to focus on the period between Eps. 3 and 4. There are plenty of storylines.

[ice4277]

I thought it was incredible, great movie.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I wonder how FOX News would have covered the attack on the Jedi Academy?

[Pyser]

just to chime in, i wanted to add that i thought this was easily better than RotJ, and crept towards the top 2 (though didnt beat them). i found it incredibly entertaining.

[Neon_Chaos]

"Oh Ani... hold me... hold me like you did beside the lake on Naboo..."

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

"Oh Ani... hold me... hold me like you did beside the lake on Naboo..."

Does anyone working on his movies ever have the balls to tell Lucas that his writing abilities are shit?

[gstelmack]

SPOILERS!




Enjoyed it. Thought it was an interesting Greek Tragedy, with Anakin as the tragic hero: classic hubris leading to his downfall, including being the cause of Padme's death.

But I do think Lucas needs to spend as much time on the writing and dialogue as he does on all the visuals. I mean, Padme gives up the will to live, EVEN THOUGH SHE KNOWS THERE IS STILL GOOD IN ANAKIN? She still gives up? I thought that line would have been better said by Obi-Wan when talking with Yoda and Bail Organa. Would have made the same point, and not completely contradicted the cause of death for Padme.

Agreed on the Windu / Palpatine fight. Could not believe the other Jedi just stood there, and Palpatine's "acting" was a bit much.

But, the key to enjoying these three (which I figured out 30 minutes into the Phantom Menace and has kept me in good stead since) is to remember it's all about telling the backstory. The action scenes are a bonus (well, they weren't in Menace), and you have to gloss over details, but if you just pay attention to the broad story issues they come out all right.

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

SPOILERS!




But I do think Lucas needs to spend as much time on the writing and dialogue as he does on all the visuals. I mean, Padme gives up the will to live, EVEN THOUGH SHE KNOWS THERE IS STILL GOOD IN ANAKIN? She still gives up?

Also, when a mother has a child, let alone two...thats usually a reason to stick around for a while. but oh well.

[TargetPractice6]

Originally Posted by Pyser

Also, when a mother has a child, let alone two...thats usually a reason to stick around for a while. but oh well.

Yeah, that was the one of the most perplexing things about it I thought. I highly enjoyed the movie though. Reading this thread I kind of agree about some of the cheesey parts, but they really didn't both me much at all.

[Dr. Sak]

I didnt read through this thread because I am not going to see Episode III till tomorrow night but I still wanted to post this. A group of fans made an Independent film that is suppose to take place between Ep III and IV, it costed around $30,000 to make. You can find it at http://www.panicstruckpro.com/revelations/ . Also there is a set of cartoons you can buy on the internet that takes place between Episodes II and III. I'll try to get that link too if anyone is interested.

[Joe]

did Boba Fett make an appearance in Ep. III? or any mention of him?

[TargetPractice6]

Originally Posted by George W Bush

did Boba Fett make an appearance in Ep. III? or any mention of him?

No.

[Joe]

weak, he should be slicing up motherfuckers.

[Suicane75]

Some thoughts, **SPOILERS***






















1) Fight scenes were off the hook.

2) Evil Anakin kicked ass.

3) How Anakin got there was a total letdown, from "What have I done!" to "Yeah, i guess i'll join the dark side" in under 2.5 seconds.

4) The acting was every bit as wooden as the first 2. Jackson was stone and I cringed every time Portman had lines.

5) Christiansen was better, but I wondered if the lack of transition in the story was because of a lack of faith in his ability to pull it off.

6) The Vader scream ranks right up with the greatest UIC movie moments of all time.

7) The entire Senate applauds the announcement that the Jedi are evil and Palpatine is reforming the galaxy out of nowhere? WTF.

8) The wrapping up of plot points in the last 5 minutes did not feel special, they felt tacked on.

9) The reason for Annakins turn, not wanting Padme to die because he had a dream she would, felt as dumb as the midiclorines explanation in EP 1, it just made no logical sense. Make Obi Wan the choosen one, have him get a little close to Padme and boom, theres your reason for Annakin to go nuts



Good movie, but still too much avoidable cheese to call it anywhere near the level of the first 3 (final 3).

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

But I do think Lucas needs to spend as much time on the writing and dialogue as he does on all the visuals. I mean, Padme gives up the will to live, EVEN THOUGH SHE KNOWS THERE IS STILL GOOD IN ANAKIN? She still gives up? I thought that line would have been better said by Obi-Wan when talking with Yoda and Bail Organa. Would have made the same point, and not completely contradicted the cause of death for Padme.

I thought the writing and dialogue was on par with the original movies, which weren't exactly Shakespeare, you know.

I can see Padme giving up the will to live even if she believed there was still some good in Anakin. I mean when Obi-Wan came back, didn't he think that Anakin was dead at the side of the lava pit? I don't remember, but did Obi-Wan tell Padme that Anakin was still alive in his charred body at the side of the lava flows? It seemed that Obi-Wan didn't think that Anakin would be able to do anything else in that state, and definetly wouldn't have become Vader (oops!).

Originally Posted by George W. Bush

did Boba Fett make an appearance in Ep. III? or any mention of him?

Well, wouldn't he be like 14 when the movie took place?

[Joe]

he looked to be 8 or 9 in Ep. 2, and I thought there was like an 8-10 year gap between movies.

[bosshogg23]

My wife and I are going to see the movie tomorrow. I havent read many blockbuster reviews in a long time where so many critics enjoyed the movie and so many fans hated it. I expect to enjoy it, I am one of the few people who has enjoyed all 5 of the previous films so far.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

3) How Anakin got there was a total letdown, from "What have I done!" to "Yeah, i guess i'll join the dark side" in under 2.5 seconds.

Well "What have I done!" is easily transposed as Oh Shit, I can't go back now.

4) The acting was every bit as wooden as the first 5.

Fixed it for you .

8) The wrapping up of plot points in the last 5 minutes did not feel special, they felt tacked on.

I dunno.. how'd you have done it? It seemed very well done to me. Much better than, say, LOTR's ending scenes. They did it quick, without much dialog, and conveyed enough info as needed.

9) The reason for Annakins turn, not wanting Padme to die because he had a dream she would, felt as dumb as the midiclorines explanation in EP 1, it just made no logical sense. Make Obi Wan the choosen one, have him get a little close to Padme and boom, theres your reason for Annakin to go nuts

Remember Jedi can see the future to a limited degree. Yoda seemed to take it seriously. And the dream actually did come to pass.

[Anthony]

i liked it. Palpatine graduated from the Academy of Over The Top Acting. this is where having a good director would have helped, a better director would have reigned Palpatine in and not made him overact. the movie is still good, definitely better than the 1st two prequels. i couldn't get enough of Yoda.

[ISiddiqui]

According to this timeline:

http://www.jedinet.com/timeline/index.asp

It seems RotS happened 3-4 years after AotC. Though it isn't official.

This one:

http://www.timelineuniverse.net/Riseoftheempire.htm

Also says 3 years between movies.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by bsak16

I didnt read through this thread because I am not going to see Episode III till tomorrow night but I still wanted to post this. A group of fans made an Independent film that is suppose to take place between Ep III and IV, it costed around $30,000 to make. You can find it at http://www.panicstruckpro.com/revelations/ .

It's been asked recently how we could make fun of them (the Star Wars geeks) since we ourselves fall into that same label.

This is proof they are far worse than we are.

[cthomer5000]

I can't see this being more than 4 years after the last one, although it felt like about 2 to me. And there's now an 18 year gap between episodes III and IV.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

I can't see this being more than 4 years after the last one, although it felt like about 2 to me. And there's now an 18 year gap between episodes III and IV.

Thats funny, I always thought of it being more like a 15-16 year gap, but I guess it would be hard being a Senator at the age of 15. 18 does seem more appropriate.

[PilotMan]

I saw the movie tonight, and I have to say that for a while, I considered that it might be the best of the entire double trilogy. But in the end I was dissapointed with a few things. I enjoyed the movie a great deal but there were some things that bothered me.

1) This was the movie that I was expecting to be for Episode 5. I would have liked to see the development of the characters go a little farther than it did here.

2) Becoming Vader scene. It was way too Frankenstien. I just sat there and rolled my eyes. It sucked.

3) The wussifying of Vader screaming "NOOOO!"

4) I wanted Obi to kick Anakins ass, and leave him for dead. The fight seemed to even, I really wanted to end more lopsided. That would have made the need for the dual in IV to be more significant.

5) Why does R2 do shit here that he can't do in 4-6? For instance, why can he get out of the ship on his own, but in 4 he needs a big crane?

6) I hate when "older" technology looks better than the stuff in 4-6.

7) Vader's helmet looks wrong. There's something about it that just isn't right.

8) I thought that some of the scenes were too graphic. Dookoo, and Vader come to mind. The movie seemed to be trying to make up for what was missing in 1 & 2, but it will make it hard for me to have on when there are any kids around. My 10 yr old saw it, but I will have to think about when to let my other kids on to it. I hate having to do that, especially since the other 5 movies were mostly harmless.

Ah, well, I loved the lightsaber duals. They are always my favorite part and they were particularly good here. The opening sequence was good. The story moved along quickly and filled the gaps here and there. I did really like it, but a part of me feels pretty let down.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

8) I thought that some of the scenes were too graphic. Dookoo, and Vader come to mind. The movie seemed to be trying to make up for what was missing in 1 & 2, but it will make it hard for me to have on when there are any kids around. My 10 yr old saw it, but I will have to think about when to let my other kids on to it. I hate having to do that, especially since the other 5 movies were mostly harmless.

the one that sticks out to me is the one with the Jedi younglings. Even though it wasn't graphic, it seemed unecessary and gratuitous...and not something I'd want my youngster to see

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

the one that sticks out to me is the one with the Jedi younglings. Even though it wasn't graphic, it seemed unecessary and gratuitous...and not something I'd want my youngster to see

Hence PG-13. I think it was absolutely warranted - that was the point, afterwards, where my wife and I both said we lost the sympathy for Anakin. Of his series of decisions - that, to me, was the irrevocable one.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Thats funny, I always thought of it being more like a 15-16 year gap, but I guess it would be hard being a Senator at the age of 15. 18 does seem more appropriate.

Well, my gut feeling is that Luke is in the 17-19 range in "A New Hope." But beyond that I recall (i think) reading at some point that Luke and Leia were supposed to be 18 in that movie, with Han being more like late 20s.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Pilotman

4) I wanted Obi to kick Anikins ass, and leave him for dead. The fight seemed to even, I really wanted to end more lopsided. That would have made the need for the dual in IV to be more significant.

The problem with that is then people wonder why people spoke so highly of Anakin in the first place if he got his ass beat, even after he turned to the Dark Side.

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

Even though it wasn't graphic, it seemed unecessary and gratuitous...and not something I'd want my youngster to see

I think it was necessary... to show the evil and twistedness of the Dark Side. That way you won't have people writing articles saying that the Dark Side just isn't that bad.

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

Dola: The story really didnt answer anything for me..... The only connection with 4,5,6 were the droids and 2 babies. The end should have tied more loose ends ie....Yoda going off to Degobah, Rebellion starting, or at least implied, bounty hunters being ordered by vader to hunt down Jedi's, Wookies being enslaved, a young 10 year old street urchin in a cameo appearance,

Well, as far as the movies (not the books, haven't read them, don't really care to at the moment) go, the Jedi are all dead save Yoda and Kenobi (so no bounty hunters necessary), and Yoda is heading off somewhere - unnamed - into exile.

I'm guessing Han's background and the whole Wookie thing is from the books, but bear in mind - Yoda left the Wookie homeworld on his own, with the help of Chewbacca and the other guy. The troopers were left behind, so it leaves that door open.

The stilited writing, for me, was expected - I went in expecting a decent movie and got a 3.5/5 star one, so I'm happy. Some very, very good parts - some bad parts, mostly due to dialog. Jar Jar Binks was used perfectly, by which I mean hardly at all. The voices of the trade federation were toned down to where they should have been in Ep1.

Biggest gripe - Padme died. So much for "Leia, what do you remember about your mother - your real mother?" in Jedi.