Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,077
|
Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Jun 24, 2010 0:29:58 GMT -5
Is SW Episode III really any better?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
|
|
Triple Kelly
Vegeta
Not once, twice, but three times a Kelly
Posts: 9,470
|
Post by Triple Kelly on Jun 24, 2010 0:38:42 GMT -5
My only big problem in III was that they showed Vader. When he first appears in IV, that should be the reveal. It has a 'holy crap' feeling no matter how many times you see it. They could have showed them working on Anakin from all different angles, showing how much effort went in, but DON'T BLOW ONE OF THE BEST BITS OF THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY! It sucks the life out of IV. As usual, your unfailing logic shines through. That scene where the smoke clears and he walks through and observes the dead bodies strewn along the corridor is one of those moments in cinematic history. And him being turned into the Frankenstein monster the last few minutes of Episode 3 sorta disappointed me....quite a bit. Even after the movie ended, I felt like I'd been duped. "......that was it??! that's how he turns into 'Badass' Darth Vader?" Cannot wait til Red Letter Media has their way with this one. That dude has the worst voice ever i couldn't get through three minutes of that review can you imagine if i actually sat through the whole damn thing? Not to mention that The Distressed Watcher already ripped off his review posted a series of videos at TGWTG.com I have no problem with his voice (I usually don't when it comes to internet reviewers) but that's just me. I usually pay more attention to content and sometimes that vocal delivery enhances the points he's trying to get across.
|
|
|
Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Jun 24, 2010 0:42:42 GMT -5
For all the crap Lucas gets, and a lot of it is deserved, for his film-making style, the scene of Anakin and the kids in the Jedi Temple ("Master Skywalker, what's going.." *lightsaber turns on*) was the definition of how not showing something can make it so much worse than actually depicting it on screen. Maybe it's just because I'm such a huge Star Wars fan, but to me that is one of the most disturbing scenes in any movie to me. It's just seems so dark, and when you really start to think about what's going on it's just chilling. I love/hate that scene
|
|
|
Post by HMARK Center on Jun 24, 2010 0:46:49 GMT -5
It's really marginally better, and none of the prequels stack up at all with the originals.
It has less of some of the issues that plagued the first two prequels, namely that the first one was Lucas' hamfisted attempt at a childrens' film, and the second one was Lucas' hamfisted attempt at a romance film. The third actually seemed to be Lucas' attempt to tell a narrative, even if it wasn't done really deftly.
Still, it's filled with a lot of the same stilted dialog and poor directing, the overbearing CGI, and characters who, by and large, come off more as moving commercials for action figures and less as characters intended to go through a development arc for storytelling purposes.
While it's true that the original trilogy's lightsaber battles were likely more subdued because of the era of film making they were made in, just go back and watch them all and see how they still stand strongly today. Why is that? Because you actually give a damn about Obi Wan, Luke, and Vader, in one way or another.
The prequel duels are fun, but how much of a damn do you really give beyond "Damn, that looks awesome!"? Hell, I cheered a bit when Yoda pulled out a lightsaber in Episode 2, but it didn't serve much of a purpose or anything.
Characters drive a story, and Lucas completely forgot that once 1999 rolled around.
|
|
|
Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jun 24, 2010 0:57:25 GMT -5
But, but I made that point about the duels on the last page. Ya coat-tail rider!
Jusss kiddin.
|
|
|
Post by Free Hat on Jun 24, 2010 1:27:09 GMT -5
Even after the movie ended, I felt like I'd been duped. "......that was it??! that's how he turns into 'Badass' Darth Vader?" Cannot wait til Red Letter Media has their way with this one. That dude has the worst voice ever i couldn't get through three minutes of that review can you imagine if i actually sat through the whole damn thing? Not to mention that The Distressed Watcher already ripped off his review posted a series of videos at TGWTG.com The voice is a defining part of his character (a dangerously psychotic old man), which adds a lot to what makes his reviews so entertaining. What people who only watch a few minutes of his videos often fail to understand is that they aren't just standard reviews, they're mini-movies unto themselves. The man has been crafting a character arc for well over a year (beginning with his review of Star Trek Generations) and it's absolutely brilliant.
|
|
|
Post by corndog on Jun 24, 2010 2:15:27 GMT -5
Yes, it is easily the best movie of the three and I finally got to see what I wanted in the other three some backstory, the Emperor's rise to power, Anakin being a jedi and turning to the dark side, the fall of the Jedi, and the fight between Anakin and Obi Wan, which I thought was very well done. By the way the whole fight scene in ep. III used mainly models, so if you complaining about CGI, this is the wrong movie to nitpick. The main flaw in this movie was Lucas should have had someone else do alot of the dialogue, like he did in episodes V and VI. If he had I think movie could have easily stood with those movies. As far as the other, ep.I was just awful and useless, II was better but still alot of Jar Jar, Anakin annoyed me as a whiny teenager and not a real intriguing story.
|
|
Triple Kelly
Vegeta
Not once, twice, but three times a Kelly
Posts: 9,470
|
Post by Triple Kelly on Jun 24, 2010 2:24:22 GMT -5
For all the crap Lucas gets, and a lot of it is deserved, for his film-making style, the scene of Anakin and the kids in the Jedi Temple ("Master Skywalker, what's going.." *lightsaber turns on*) was the definition of how not showing something can make it so much worse than actually depicting it on screen. Maybe it's just because I'm such a huge Star Wars fan, but to me that is one of the most disturbing scenes in any movie to me. It's just seems so dark, and when you really start to think about what's going on it's just chilling. I love/hate that scene Only through the magic of George Lucas logic can a person who slaughters defenseless children who are trapped "still have good in him".
|
|
Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,077
|
Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Jun 24, 2010 3:14:14 GMT -5
To be honest, it's the only one of the 3 that fans needed. The other 2 films were basically setup for the third, you don't need to see the others for anything other than the beginnings of the Padme/Anakin romance.
Qui Gonn, Mace Windu, Jango Fett, Darth Maul and Tyrannus (I thought there were onlysupposed to be 2 at a time) Jar Jar, The Trade Federation, General Grievous none of these characters mattered at all and could all be cut out without losing anything.
Keep the focus on Anakin, Padme, Obi Wan, Yoda and Palpatine. 5 Characters, the originals had a small ensemble cast so they all got time for us to care about them. The Jedi Council should have been like the Rebel Alliance, a bunch of faceless background characters, maybe even Yoda in that role, he was only a small part of the originals and it didn't hurt.
|
|
|
Post by Perpetual Nirvana on Jun 24, 2010 3:15:51 GMT -5
I actually think the best scene in Episode III is where Anakin is agonising what to do after giving Palpatine up to the Jedi and it intercuts between him and Padme.
Sad that the best scene between Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman is one where they have no dialogue and are in seperate buildings.
|
|
Professor Chaos
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Bringer of Destruction and Maker of Doom
Posts: 16,332
|
Post by Professor Chaos on Jun 24, 2010 3:44:47 GMT -5
I loved it and in fact definitely like it better than ANH, and it's close up their with Jedi as number 2 to Empire for me.
|
|
|
Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Jun 24, 2010 6:36:43 GMT -5
They should have had a scene where the younglings just kicked his ass.
The other thing that always bugged me:
1) he becomes Vader WAY too fast. He walks in on Mace, kills him, then it's like 'welp, time to be Vader and go kill some little kids!'
2) The only real reason that he becomes Vader is because he believed Palpatine could help save Padme. Once Padme was dead (dying of a 'broken heart' despite having two kids to raise), he has what reason to be the Emperor's apprentice anymore? He should have either struck down Palpatine or left him completely.
|
|
|
Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Jun 24, 2010 6:38:50 GMT -5
And why can there be hundreds of Jedi but only two Sith at any one time?
That's just stupid.
|
|
|
Post by Bob Schlapowitz on Jun 24, 2010 7:25:47 GMT -5
To be honest, it's the only one of the 3 that fans needed. The other 2 films were basically setup for the third, you don't need to see the others for anything other than the beginnings of the Padme/Anakin romance. This I can agree with. Episodes I and II literally add nearly nothing to the "saga".
|
|
|
Post by Slingshot Suplay on Jun 24, 2010 7:43:03 GMT -5
That's very true, Portman is usually at least decent in anything she's in, but damned if the dialogue in the three prequels didn't make her look terrible. Seriously, if the three prequels were the only things I'd seen Portman in, I'd be convinced she was a horrible actress. What killed me was that she was supposed to be pregnant with twins, yet she can run off of her ship to meet anakin like she was in a 100 yard dash.
|
|
hollywood
King Koopa
the bullet dodger
The Green Arrow has approved this post.
Posts: 11,122
|
Post by hollywood on Jun 24, 2010 7:51:25 GMT -5
It's certainly the best of the prequels, but that's not exactly high praise.
|
|
|
Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Jun 24, 2010 10:33:19 GMT -5
I don't get the dislike for Return of the Jedi. Each one of the original movies has something great in its own way. Return of the Jedi has Luke finally as a full Jedi, the entire Jabba's Palace sequence is great, the speeder bike chase, we finally get to see the Emperor, the best light-saber fight in the series. Even the Ewoks are fun - I truly don't understand why some people have a problem with them.
|
|
erisi236
Fry's dog Seymour
... enjoys the rich, smooth taste of Camels.
Not good! Not good! Not good!
Posts: 21,904
|
Post by erisi236 on Jun 24, 2010 10:59:34 GMT -5
To be honest, it's the only one of the 3 that fans needed. The other 2 films were basically setup for the third, you don't need to see the others for anything other than the beginnings of the Padme/Anakin romance. This I can agree with. Episodes I and II literally add nearly nothing to the "saga". You literally could not watch the first one and not miss a thing story wise, which is pretty stupid if you think about it. The whole trilogy was so poorly thought out. I guess that's what happens when you write the script on a note pad the day before filming.
|
|
|
Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Jun 24, 2010 12:00:21 GMT -5
There is a huge problem with prequels anyway. What tension is there for an audience when you know exactly what the outcome is?
|
|
|
Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Jun 24, 2010 12:32:09 GMT -5
You can build tension when an outcome is known. See: Valkyrie. You know *SPOILER ALERT* Hitler is not assassinated *SPOILER ALERT*, but the tension comes from when and how things will go to hell.
Such a concept is probably beyond the ken of George Lucas as a director, however.
|
|