Starwars Episode 3

Off Topic
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Mage - That’s the good thing about seeing the movie at midnight. Everyone there is a big fan, and so everyone shuts the f*ck up. I’ve seen Ep II & III, and all of the LOTR at midnight and I’ve heard conversation only twice in all five films. That’s pretty good when you’ve got 300+ people in there at once.

As for the acting, well I expected it to be , well, not good. No Star Wars film has ever been nominated for an acting award, and I doubt that will ever change. I did think the beginning of the movie was kind of slow (not the very beginning, the first half) but again I kind of expected it, I knew backstory and such would need to be layed out, and to show the relationship between Anakin and Palpatine and Anaki and Padme.

SPOILERS

I enjoyed the irony of the situation with Anakin’s vision. He turns to the Dark Side in order to save Padme from what he saw. But (to me) it seems that she would not have died if he had not attacked her and broken her heart. SO in trying to save her, he killed her. Sucks to be him!!

After seeing Yoda with his lightsaber, I wondered why he did not have it on Dagoba. Now I know! I wonder if someone picked it up or not? It always surprises me how much of a bad ass the little guy can be, too. I loved when he threw his saber at a droid and climbs over him to yank it out. Cool stuff.

I also enjoyed seeing the similarities between the different starships and the ones we see in the original trilogy. You can see proto X-wings and Star Destroyers and you can certainly hear proto-TIE fighters!

Question: In the “opera” box where Anakin speaks to Palpatine, who is that bald chick? See seems really familiar, like I’ve seen her elsewhere in the series. I recognize the guy with the horns, but not her.

SPOILERS OFF

I defintely enjoyed it. See it. You’ll be pleased.

Oh, and a quote from Ep III:
“So this is how liberty dies, to the sound of thunderous applause.”

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Straight from SW.com –

Never far from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine’s side was his hauntingly pallid aide, Sly Moore. Laconic, with a piercing gaze, Moore occupied a position similar to Sei Taria’s role in Supreme Chancellor Valorum’s administration.

43

[quote]KBCThird wrote:

Gotta say I agree with what conan’s saying, to an extent. The special effects were great, especially the light saber duels, they set the bar high with the ones in ep II, these were even better. The plot was OKAY, I just felt like they were rushing everything “ok, we HAVE to explain how they got from here to there, quickquickquick” but definitely very dark. The acting was adequate as well, not terrible but definitely not great.

Here’s the problem: to me, this should have been a character study. Personally, for me, this movie was all about motivation, how did anakin become darth vader. it woulda been stupid had it just been a “love of power” thing. It’s weird, they conveyed the conflict anikin felt but did it in such a poor way SPOILER, DONT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVENT SEEN IT i thought it was a great idea that the whole reason he turns to the darkside is that he loves padme so much he wants to save her from death, but honestly, in return of the jedi, theres more conflict shown with Vaders looking back and forth from his son to the emperor to his son to the emperor - AND HE WAS WEARING A FREAKING MASK.

Here they have the whole movie to elaborate on the conflict -the damn near schizophrenia -that must be bubbling inside this young man who had been told for almost two decades that he is the chosen one and is now receiving conflicting advice from two sides he trusts. Had they done this, they could have really played up the whole bullcrap explanation that was given in Return of the Jedi, about vader “betraying and murdering anikin” instead of making it lucas’ way of covering his tracks when he decided to change a few things. It was all there, I guess I woulda just appreciated a little more focus.
[/quote]

I agree with basically everything you said, although I thought Anakin’s choice to follow the path of the Dark Side wasn’t as clear as it should have been. Was it because of fear of losing Padme, or was it because of jealousy (Ben and Padme)? This isn’t clear in the movie.

I think Lucas should have started in Phantom Menace showing Anakin’s conflict between the Jedi way and the Dark Side. Instead, in RoTS we get Anakin frustrated in one scene about what to do and the next scene he’s killing younglings (I believe that is what the children were called).

As you said, everything just seemed rushed.

The acting was indeed shoddy. Portman was almost emberrassing. Jackson was not much better, nor was Smitts. One would think with a cast like that this wouldn’t have been a problem. McDirmond (sp?) was excellent, however, as Obi Wan.

I was entertained by the movie, but I guess I expected more.

I felt that Menace, Clones, and Sith all lacked the character development and coherence of plot that A New Hope, Empire, and Jedi had.

Battle scenes and action were great.

Dustin

44

[quote]Sxio wrote:

And why did he feel the need to tie every loose end so tight? How long did it take to complete the death star, 30years?

[/quote]

I kind of wondered that too. Was it necessary to have Padme name Luke and Leauh (SP?) as she was spitting em out of her womb? No discussion earlier with Anakin on a baby name, she just names them as she’s having them? My only question at the end was where does Leauh come from if her and Luke are siblings. The robot doctor said Padme is having twins. That is all that needed to be said. The naming of the babies was lame as she’s dying.

I thought the same thing about the Death Star. In the orginal trilogy it didn’t take that long to rebuild the second one did it?

Dustin

45

[quote]Dustin wrote:
Sxio wrote:

And why did he feel the need to tie every loose end so tight? How long did it take to complete the death star, 30years?

I thought the same thing about the Death Star. In the orginal trilogy it didn’t take that long to rebuild the second one did it?

Dustin

[/quote]

Well, how old was Luke in Ep IV? About 16, 17 or 18? So we can assume that’s about how long it took for the Death Star to be built. For the second one, if you’ll recall, it was not completely finished. Or, I suppose I should say it did not look like it was (even though it was a “fully armed and operational battle station”) finished.

I figure by the time of the second Death Star Palpatine was able to allocate more resources to its construction, due to the urgency of the situation. That combined with less materials used should have allowed it to be rebuilt faster than the first. Or maybe he started on it before the first was destroyed?? Hmmm…

I swear, I’m not a nerd. Really. I’m serious.

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[quote]Optimus wrote:
I just saw the film. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! See you must.

Hayden Christensen got SWOLE! Huge chest, delts, bi’s. Is it all the Light Saber training, or roids?[/quote]

My God, son, the kid just put on 10 pounds of muslce on that scrawny frame and you want to know if he’s juiced. I’m beginning to think that roids are as big a whippin’ boy as “genetics” anymore. ANY human being doing what they should for 4-6 weeks can do what “Anakin” did. If that blows your mind, then you really needed a reality check, partner.

Not busting your stones here as much as picking my lower jaw off of the floor. Perhaps you’re young or a newbie… yeah that’s it…

DH

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[quote]ToShinDo wrote:

I figure by the time of the second Death Star Palpatine was able to allocate more resources to its construction, due to the urgency of the situation. That combined with less materials used should have allowed it to be rebuilt faster than the first. Or maybe he started on it before the first was destroyed?? Hmmm…

I swear, I’m not a nerd. Really. I’m serious.[/quote]

LOL!

Your theory sounds valid, plus by the time the second one is built technological advancements were probably made. Also, since this was the second time to build a Death Star the engineers hired buy the Empire would have more experience, which would equal more efficiency.

This discussion reminds me of the movie Clerks were the video store worker feels bad for all the construction workers that died while trying to build the second Death Star. :slight_smile:

Dustin

48

The hell was with darth vader? He reminded me of Frankenstein when he got off the medic table. That drawn out nooooooo! was really really lame.

I don’t think it was so much the bad acting as it was the horrible lines. I don’t care how good your actors are, you won’t win oscars with that garbage.

49

Hayden’s acting licked balls in my opinion. The only sign of inner turmoil that I really got from him was the tear that occasionally ran down his cheek (which I’m sure was put there). I was pretty dissapointed with the movie which sucks because I am a big fan of the originals.
-Matt

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[quote]Dustin wrote:
KBCThird wrote:

McDirmond (sp?) was excellent, however, as Obi Wan.
Dustin[/quote]

I haven’t seen the movie yet…they don’t have in in this city! DAMN!

But…Obi Wan was Ewan McGreggor, and Palpatine was McDermond. Right?

TB

51

HA HA HA
After the movie I kept shouting Noooooo! at my friend.
And how about that lovely scene between Padme and Anakin talking about how love is blind? If some English playwright really did help with the dialogue . . . then that man needs to be punished.
But seriously, I think the movie did an effective job of making the audience feel bad for Vader. Imagine going through all that then waking up and being told you killed Padme? Ouch.

[quote]Soco wrote:
The hell was with darth vader? He reminded me of Frankenstein when he got off the medic table. That drawn out nooooooo! was really really lame.

I don’t think it was so much the bad acting as it was the horrible lines. I don’t care how good your actors are, you won’t win oscars with that garbage. [/quote]

52

alright, I just watched it this evening, just got home as a matter of fact, and I was really surprised to see that yoda and OB1 lived… totally threw me off.

53

Saw it last night and if I had time would have turned right around and watched it again. I really enjoyed the way that they made the transition of the sets from super technological to the kind of cardboard cut-out type sets of episode 4.

Haven’t had that feeling since “Master and Commander”

My only regret is that they didn’t start out with episode 1 to begin with. But now, on a rainy saturday when nothing is going on, I will totally be down with watching all six in a row. Except for Jar Jar.

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[quote]elevationgain wrote:
Saw it last night and if I had time would have turned right around and watched it again. I really enjoyed the way that they made the transition of the sets from super technological to the kind of cardboard cut-out type sets of episode 4.

Haven’t had that feeling since “Master and Commander”

My only regret is that they didn’t start out with episode 1 to begin with. But now, on a rainy saturday when nothing is going on, I will totally be down with watching all six in a row. Except for Jar Jar.[/quote]

I think this last one could have done away with episode one completely. I guess in the whole scheme of things, it is a great story line that I really can’t complain about. I wanted to hear James Earl Jones more than that but I guess I am more than happy that he was still alive to do the part he did. Episode one just lost me though, as well as the drawn out love story in episode two. It wasn’t The Lord of The Rings, but in the grand scheme, he tied Ep 3 in nicely. This had to be the best installment and made Yoda the baddest green bastard in the universe.

If things had been done like this over two movies, it would have been legendary. Chewbacca’s cameo was a nice touch as well. A baby Han Solo would have been over the top.

55

[quote]NateN wrote:
Imagine going through all that then waking up and being told you killed Padme? Ouch.

[/quote]

Yeah well, that is what you get for killing a bunch of little jedi’s.

The movie reminded me way too much of Oedipus Rex. Then again I didn’t make $50 million in one day so who am I to talk.

56

Man, you’re right. When that adolescent padawan came onto the landing pad to defend the ship my mind went racing, like “Holy shit I wonder if that’s Han Solo and he went all renegade runaway then hooked up with Chewy and they’ll develop the beginnings of their relationship and the construction of the Millenium Falcon… Sweet!”

Then he got greased by the clones, dammit.

Still a really good movie.

GAINER

57

Great movie in fact.

And as far as critical analysis of the acting goes, the first 3 movies sucked with acting too. Its just as lifeless then. Personally I think people’s love affair with the classics get in the way of seeing it through the right eyes. Its like I used to love the Crow movie. Then I watched it again years later and I thought “what an awful movie…what was I thinking?” I think its just how Lucas wrote the scripts… I thought Padme was good but wish I could have seen the internal conflict with Ani better.

My only disappointment with the new movie was the Emperor. What a joke. I mean seriously, Sam L. Jackson is laughable enough to get in every movie like Kevin Bacon (cripes is he in enough movies yet?)…but to get whipped up on by Mace Windu and then hold your own against Yoda? Cmon. And what’s the deal with the gross mutation of the Emperor? His lightning was about as effective rubbing your feet on the floor and touching em. Someone want to fill me in why he grossly aged at one point? The makeup there just seemed laughable to me. Overall he was about as menancing as a piece of toast.

Great movie though. I just can’t get those movie visuals outta my head. I think it was well done.

58

[quote]elevationgain wrote:

If things had been done like this over two movies, it would have been legendary. Chewbacca’s cameo was a nice touch as well. A baby Han Solo would have been over the top.

Man, you’re right. When that adolescent padawan came onto the landing pad to defend the ship my mind went racing, like “Holy shit I wonder if that’s Han Solo and he went all renegade runaway then hooked up with Chewy and they’ll develop the beginnings of their relationship and the construction of the Millenium Falcon… Sweet!”

Then he got greased by the clones, dammit.

Still a really good movie.

GAINER

[/quote]

Actually Han Solo grew up as an orphan on Corellia, a planet not talked about in the movies much, and actually served in the imperial military for a time before becoming a smuggler. He later saved Chewie from slavers (I think). Chewie then had a life debt to Solo which is why they’re inseparable in the later movies.

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[quote]Tank53 wrote:
My only disappointment with the new movie was the Emperor. What a joke. I mean seriously, Sam L. Jackson is laughable enough to get in every movie like Kevin Bacon (cripes is he in enough movies yet?)…but to get whipped up on by Mace Windu and then hold your own against Yoda? Cmon. And what’s the deal with the gross mutation of the Emperor? His lightning was about as effective rubbing your feet on the floor and touching em. Someone want to fill me in why he grossly aged at one point? The makeup there just seemed laughable to me. Overall he was about as menancing as a piece of toast.[/quote]

Well, not sure about the face change. My take on the weakness was to give Anakin a chance to further betray the jedi and pave the road to the darkside. After Anakin nailed Mace the Emperor then blasted his ass about 200 feet out the window. Just a theory on my part though.

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[quote]usaffirefighter wrote:
Well, not sure about the face change. My take on the weakness was to give Anakin a chance to further betray the jedi and pave the road to the darkside. After Anakin nailed Mace the Emperor then blasted his ass about 200 feet out the window. Just a theory on my part though.
[/quote]

I had that take too, but wondered. Still I wanna know about that face stuff…