Oh God what I geek I am, Goobye all..
 

May 25th 1977 - Opening day. I was there. I still have the special oversized program that was ONLY sold the first day.

The Empire Strikes Back - Opening day I was there.

Return of the Jedi, Phantom Menace, Attack of the clones: All on opening day.

And tomorrow it ends with the final premier and I'm a nervous wreck. Ever since that day in 1980 while standing in line for hours to be the first into the theater only to have some clod behind me READING THE NOVEL shout out, "Oh my god! Darth is Luke’s father" I've been obsessed with NOT knowing anything about the movie.

Is was challenging back in the day, but now with the Internet it's just too much. From headlines on CNN to avatars on chat boards potential spoilers are everywhere! Bags of chips, radio, TV, Arrgh!!

So as soon as I finish this post I'm unplugging everything for the next 24 hours. No Internet, no TV, no shopping for food. No human interaction at all. For the theater line I will come equipped with my MP3 player, several sets of extra batteries and the best high-volume songs I can come up with. I might be def by the time I enter the theater but it's a small price to pay.

I am pathetic. Please remember me with pity. Goodbye.

I always do.

Who was that?

Gone from us like the cold wind across a Tatooine night

Fare well and may the Force be with you

So it's technically a "goodbye... for now" until he watches the movie, no?

I hope all this is worth it.

A Space-Yage.








Q: Who is the Commodore's favorite Star Wars character?

A: R-toot-D-toot!




Q: What is the Commodore's favorite Star Wars planet?

A: Tootooine, of course.


Maple floors befit you.

Moonliner, it will all be worth it! I admire you for your world-blackout until you see the movie. I fear that I may have already been given a few spoilers yesterday just by watching the news and over-hearing conversations at the mall. Load some previous "Star Wars" soundtracks into your MP3 player to set the mood. One more day to go... only one more day... :D

Love it! Wait, wrong thread. :snap:

I have read the shooting script, and read the cue names, and heard the music. I'm StarWarsScrewed.

I'm not a fan of spoilers usually, but I'm not quite a hard-to-the-core Star Wars fan, so I really don't mind. I do want to watch is of course, but we're not planning to fight the crowds on Thursday - Sunday.

Hehe.

May the Schwartz be with you

Moonliner out-geeks us all! Ok, except maybe iSm and Lizziebith. Speaking of them, I never did find out what they ended up doing about the line-up controversy.

That is one of the things I'm enjoying now - no more having to hide from stuff. You're right, trying not to find out everything is really hard. You never know in what weird places spoilers will arise. (Did you get caught in the Episode 1 soundtrack track title spoiler debacle? I did. :mad: )

So now, I've got 6 years of Star Wars Insider, Starlog and Premiere to read...

I looked at that German (?) page Joseph "Burnt Toast" Chang mentioned in his LiveJournal, so I know the whole thing and have seen a couple of the fights. I'll still love it, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna see it til my dad comes home from Asia; it's a tradition that we always see new SW films together. I thought it quite nice of Lucas to refrain from making any new ones whilst we lived on different continents. Yes, it's all my fault. Thank me later.

As for the "spoiled" thing: I learned from HM/NBC that sometimes it's nice to be surprised. I tend to avoid the HP groups til I've read the newest book. Danged bookstore employees!

Haaa, I know EXACTLY which cue you're referring to! I think they were mindful of that for the past 2 soundtrack releases (e.g., "So-and-so's Destiny") instead of that Qui-Gonn debacle.

Wait - Qui Gon DIES??? :eek:

;)

Yeah, I got hit by that one.

I saw a line-up, complete with tents, in front of the Vista (further East on Hollywood Blvd.) today. Their sign had Graumann's Chinese crossed out, and Vista Theatre written in. 'Sup with that?

My God how I envy them ...

My local theater has 4 showings at 12:01am, and there were several dozen people lined up already at 11:15am today, for each showing.

Some looked like they had been there just a little too long. I wouldn't want to sit next to them and have to smell them the whole 2 1/2 hours....UGH! I can wait until 4:45pm tomorrow...thank you very much.

I am with you there, Tref.

I'm holding out hope for this one. I've heard early reviews from people whose Star Wars opinion I respect (Kevin Smith, for one) and everything I've heard so far is positive. I'll certainly be surprised if I like it, but I'm going to try to go in with no preconceptions.

I liked the movie a lot. I think it's a good combination of action film and character study. I'll put the rest in spoiler tags.

So, has Geekliner come up for air yet?

Dood! We can use my farmer's market tent and sell ThinKrisps© to make popcorn money! Dood!

He has to see the movie first, and it premieres at midnight tonight...he's on the east coast, so just say it starts at 9pm our time, so the soonest he'll be back to reality would be 11pm Pacific time (how long is the movie?)

And then I'm sure we won't see him until the following morning.

Anybody have his cell phone number?

Okay, we need to start a poll or place some bets on what character he's dressed as. Anyone who goes for 24 hours incommunicado for a movie is going to go for Geek Gold.

I think......Obi Wan Kenobi.

My friend in NYC just text-msg'ed me from inside the theatre a few minutes ago....

IT'S STARTING!!!!!!!! MY LIFE IS COMPLETE.

I think Geek Gold would actually be that bounty hunter guy that doesn't talk much, you know, the mysterious one, the one that turned out to be, like, a Hawaiian clone or something?



This guy.

I'm back. It's 3:00am on the dot here.

I won't go into much detail tonight except to say.

Oh my god Mr. Lucas what have you done?

More to follow...

Ominous words you speak!

I'll be seeing it in the early afternoon. Of course my boy already has the movie book so I know most of the plot but it will be interesting to see it on the screen.

OK, first things first...

Oh yea.

I actually loaded a select set of loud songs (Old time rock and roll, some Matallica, etc..) to drown out any unwanted sounds.


Ahh I always knew you were strong with the good side of the force.

And I will be waiting to read your review/comments. They should be... Interesting.

:)

I'd sooner kiss a Wookie than give out my cell phone to anyone here. :D

Please I'm a fan but I don't go there. However, if I was to dress up I'm a strong believer in dressing to body type. For example someone who is five foot two does not a good Vader make. I would have to go dressed as a Wookie.

Ahh you know me to well. I defiantly have an affinity for the silent killer type, but see the previous answer. I’m too tall for a storm trooper, who coincidently, are the same size as Boba.


Oh and as a PS, on Good Morning America this morning they had a live shot from "My" theater. It's listed as "Connecticut ave" in DC. A very kick ass theater.

And now for my comments on the movie. Respect the use of the spoiler tag. However parents with young ones planning to attend the show might want to continue.

:sincericasm off: I really appreciate the culture of "spoiler respect" we've developed here on the LoT, thanks. :sincericasm on:

How can you be 5 foot two and be a Wookie? I'm thinking Ewok, maybe. Or Jawa.

The "Five foot two" was just an illustrative example. I'm a tad over 6'3".

I'm a little nervous about taking my boy after hearing that but we have tickets and it is the last episode. Looks like we will be having a long talk before and after the film!

It's going to be a long movie, good thing we will have our star wars M&M's, a bucket of popcorn and lots of soda. We'll all be hopped up on sugar, wheeee!

Movies feel like they are getting longer and longer, maybe they want you to feel like you got your moneys' worth!

For a more explicit "parents guide" surf on over to: "What might scare the pooo out of the kids"

Um, yeah. Wookie.

Hellooooo up there!

(and after re-reading your post, con cafe, I realize you did say "tall")

Maybe I'll go see this after my farmer's market today. I'm heartened by the fact that you don't say not to go. Anyone in H'wood and environs want to do "Thursday at the Movies with the Commodore?"

My husband and I have already made the decision to not let the kids see the new SW movie until after we have seen it. I am tempted to read the spoiler you posted, but I would like to be surprised. Thank you for the heads up though. :)

And as an aside, if you quote a post that includes a spoiler tag, the spoiler tag does not hide the text when you are responding to the post. (Just in case some of you want to stay away from spoiler.)

I'm waiting to screen it first, too. Lucas had said early on that this was not a kids' movie. In fact, I don't think my son has even seen episode 2 yet.

For myself though, I'm really excited! I'm still contemplating leaving work early today...

Some thoughts and reactions to "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" that will NOT spoil anything for anyone, after watching it last night:

--The film serves its purpose very well as the bridge and final prequel leading up to Episode IV, the original "Star Wars." When you re-watch either Episodes I and II again or the original trilogy after seeing Episode III, a lot more plotlines and characters will make more sense in the big picture as a six-part series.

--The movie's title "Revenge of the Sith" says it all, hinting at what to expect.

--The flow of the story, special effects, character development and acting are much stronger in Episode III when compared to Episodes I and II--not that there was anything wrong with the previous two films, which I loved.

--If you have kids, then you may want to watch this PG-13 film first to see if you want to take your kids. If you do take your kids, I hope good parenting means will you discuss good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, and reality vs. fantasy with them after watching it together. This is not necessarily a bad film for kids, it's just that Episode III is much darker than the other "Star Wars" films and some kids might be disturbed by both what is seen or inferred at certain parts. Plotwise, however, the darkness of some scenes does serve a purpose for the entire fim series.

--As always, the special effects, battle scenes and light-saber fights are top notch.

--I would and will see this film over and over at the theater--where it's meant to be watched on the big screen.

Re: Moonliner's comments about the film's appropriateness for kids:



So taking off your dad hat for the moment, what did you think about the film?

Moonliner- thanks for the link, it helped quite a bit!

Really?

Because I was witness--twice-- to a brilliant and pleasing spectacle of pilgrimage. It was better than any quasi-homoerotic Heston epic. <sing>When Obi-Wan in Graumann's line... let my Jedi go!</sing>

I was driving past Hollywood and Vine on my way to pick up Tom when I spotted them. Blocks of them, wandering in the concrete desert. Aliens holding hands with Jedi! Hipsters and Siths marching together! And a little Storm Trooper shall lead them. I noticed that many who were sans-costume sported sporting shirts that said "liningup.org"-- the official charity sponsor of the line at the Chinese.

Too tickled at having seen the latter-day Israelites in their full robes and regalia, I spun back in that direction once I had Tom in the passenger seat, and we caught them just as they arrived at the Arclight, where they would await their midnight manna.

OK, I think I can keep this reply free of major spoilers. I really did avoid almost ALL press on this, no reviews, interviews etc.. All I had seen were the unavoidable "This one is darker" headlines. The Empire Strikes Back was also labeled "Darker" and I guess that's more what I was thinking. My bad.

My issue with this is that Lucas made the first two episodes overtly kid friendly only to turn around and change all that for the third. It leaves parents in a bit of a sticky wicket. In my case, my wife and I took the time to discuss the movie and decide together what we are going to do. We decided to take them but I'm talking to them before hand about what they are going to see. So to summarize what am I really saying is that if you plan to take a kid be sure you know what you are getting into before you go.

As for your question, I am finding it surprisingly difficulty to "take off my dad hat" and I know that has adversely effected my view of the film. However, as I said (in the spoiler bit) before I had movie aged kids I think I would have liked it much better.

Thanks for your heads up. I know I"m not taking Shawn after reading your spoiler but I feel okay taking Kyler. Can't wait!!

Just came from the theater, my quick review of the film is in the spoiler tags below:

damn, dup post

I took my 11-year-old who was fine with it; all the violence was suggested, really, not shown. It wasn't a perfect movie, but I really enjoyed it. Yes, it was dark, but also a lot funnier than the first two in this trilogy. The special effects were beyond imagining...I'm still amazed at the first 7 minutes: holy cow!!!

As to the line, both Steve and I gave up on it fairly quickly, wishing for a true line for Star Wars. I spent under 40 hours there, and he was probably around that, though he stopped signing in as well. We both ended up at the Dome at the Arclight, on the standby list, but with pretty good seats I believe.

I'll let Steve post his response (which was negative over on our other board) and I'll post my reaction to that later....

you always brighten me day:D

That's me, the Futura floor wax of the internet. :D

My short review (no real spoilers, but in case anyone's avoiding any opinion, it's in spoiler tags):



So there ya have it. I'll go into detail eventually.

Just walked in from seeing it with Cassidy. My husband went to a midnight show last night. I couldn't go, since Chloe started barfing about 9 p.m., just minutes before we were walking out the door! Kids! My sister and her fiance were going to spend the night with the kids, but instead her fiance got to go to the movie in my place.

I really loved it.....I've been a bit ambivalent about it, not really looking forward to it, and now I understand why. I guess I just didn't really want it all to be done. Really done. Ugh.

I was thrilled to be able to see it for the first time sitting next to Cassidy, who was clutching a Darth Vader action figure in one hand and a light saber in the other. On the other side of her was a woman who sobbed the last 45 minutes of the movie. She and her husband came in decked out in old school Star Wars shirts, and talked with Cass for about an hour before the movie (we saw it at a plex that had SW playing on 6 screens). It was kind of cool to be seated near them. Also, a little creepy. ;) They were WAY into it.

Okay......things I liked:



Stuff I thought was just eh:



But that was it.....I really loved it. It wasn't the best movie in the world, but as Cassidy said, "It was the most important episode!" I totally agree.

I learned tonight that I'm going to see it. Sure. But, it better be a good film on it's own because I'm not going back and watching those last 2 horrors again. Padme are you OK? Ugh.

It isn’t societal, it's genetic.

After the movie:

My daughter (9) - Cried FOR Anakin. Walked out of the movie actually cursing "the guy that made that movie" for doing that to kids.

My son (12) - Said "I've waited my entire life for this, finally the bad guys win! Awesome!"

Made for some interesting discussions on the way home...

Okay, I have to mention this because it was so bad.

A response to GD's RotJ continuity problem...

OK, enough will all the spoiler tags. The movie is out and if you don't want to know, well you know my position on that... So here we go lot's of details without the spoiler tags...


















"The force is strong in my family. I have it, my father has it, and my sister has it", Luke Skywalker. Though completely untrained Leia is "seeing" her mother through the force, just like Anakin and Luke see things. She just has no idea what the visions are and so thinks it's a memory.

Chewbaca MIGHT have heard of one "Obi-Won Kanobie" master and Jedi knight, but some guy named Ben from the back woods (so to speak) of Tatooine? I think not.

I don't buy that for a second. And neither did Lucas. I know this technically doesn't count, but in an earlier draft of the Jedi script, Obi-wan actually says that Leia is taken away and hidden with her mother. Yes it was cut, but it shows that was the intent, and the "she communicated in the womb" crap is nothing more than a lame justification for poorly thought out plot points. Besides, Leia doesn't know about her powers, so wouldn't she be just a BIT weirded out about having memories of someone she never knew? And yet she tells Luke about her mother completely matter-of-factly. Bah.

The way I see it, it's too ambiguous, and completely avoidable by simply removing one throw-away line from the movie. But he couldn't resist the urge to pander (and the fans who eat up that kind of pandering with a spoon share some responsibility). Totally unnecessary and just another in a long list of pointless feel-good tie ins that raise too many cointinuity questions.

Yeah, no more spoiler tags. You have been warned!






I liked watching it. I know that the more I think about it the less I'll like it. There were some GREAT moments in there though. The "You were supposed to be the chosen one!" scene went way better than I thought it would. Anakin saying "I HATE YOU!" to Obi-Wan was incredible, right up there with Luke's "I'll never join you" moment in ESB. I admit it, I cried a bunch.

There were some very bothersome moments....the stuff that GD mentioned....Yoda saying "Not if anything to say about it, I have"??? Ugh. Padme naming the kids really hit me wrong - they should have had her mention it to Anakin before - "If it's a girl, Leia, if it's a boy, Luke" or something would have been way better than the way they did it.

Sorry Claire - I was annoyed that there was all this hype about Chewbacca being in the movie, and when he shows up, it's like hey, here's Chewbacca. He stands there and makes noise, not integral to the plot at all. Lucas put Mayhew back in costume, wow, what an achievement. :rolleyes:

I disagree with GD on Christensen's acting - I think he was way better this time and I found him believable. Palpatine/Emperor was awesome all the way though. I thought Portman was better but definitely the weakest in the movie.

More later....

I wasn't all that hyped up about it, but for some reason I played hookie yesterday and saw it yesterday morning at 9:30.

My thoughts -

The Anakin/Padme thing just doesn't do it for me. Every scene between them - except maybe the last - was really, really bad. Bad dialogue, bad acting. I think Portman was worse then Christensen.

Lots of plot holes and stupid things, like GD mentioned. Actually, the one that bugged me the most was when Yoda told Obi-Wan that he had learned to commune with Qui-gon. Well, if that's the case, why doesn't qui-gon ever appear with Yoda and Obi-wan later in Jedi? If it has to be learned, how does Anakin do it right after his death in Jedi? Anyway.....

I liked the special effects. I liked the slide of Anakin to the dark side - I thought that was done reasonable well, mostly because of the Chancellor.

General Grievous just didn't do it for me. Wasn't impressed.

Liked Obi-Wan vs. Anakin, liked Yoda vs. Sidious.

The movie didn't grab my attention until about an hour through. Unlike GD, who thought the first two hours were a waste, I only felt that way about the first hour. The last half hour was the only part of the movie I would call "great", though.

But it did what it had to do - showed how Anakin went to the dark side, how he became Vader (referring to the suit), how Yoda and Obi-Wan became the last two Jedi and were in hiding (although I did think many of the Jedi got their butts kicked too easily, specifically the three so easily dispatched by the Chancellor when it was 4 on 1, for goodness sake), how Luke and Leia got separated. Some of the things, like Chewbacca and Yoda being buddies but that not being apparent in the other episodes, or Leia having a remembrance of her mom, I could look past.

Worth seeing, because you have to see it. But nothing to see over and over.

Oh, that's an easy one. You only get the ghost thing if you die in front of Luke. That's actully the ultimate goal of Jedi training, to die in front of Luke. Just look at Obi-wan. Happily trading blows with Vader until, "Oh good, Luke's here, I get to die in front of him and get the cool ghost body!" and he puts away his saber. :D

Agreed about the Padme/Annie scenes. Nothing good about them.

And agreed about Jedi dying too easily. Why was Yoda the only one who sensed the ambush? The ones they showed getting ambushed were all masters and all on the council, there were powerful Jedi. And a couple freaking Storm Troopers got them from behind? Storm Troopers!!!! Lame.

Chewbacca sees Obi-Wan training Luke on the Falcon, he KNOWS he's a Jedi, and Chewie didn't even give a, "Hey, do you know what happened to that Yoda dude?" Lame.

Oh, and freaking midichlorians! I thought we were done with those. Grrr.

So your issue is really with having Chewie in the movie at all, or for that matter any of the wookies given the totally non-involved way it was done.

I'm with you on that. All the wookie scenes just seemed out of place and forced. They should have been pivotal to the plot or Chewie should have had a cameo as a senator or some such.

Christensen does "angry eyes" well. That's about all that what was called for in this movie so he came off well :)

That's brought up in Timothy Zahn's "Heir to the Empire" trilogy, and as much as I love them, I'm one of those who believes in strict canon - if it's not in the movies, it doesn't count. And even if you want to include those in the story, Leia is force sensitive, so you get the impression that she can communicate with her twins because of her tapping into the force, not because of the babies. Padme is not force sensitive, so she wouldn't be able to reach out to her babies in the same way. I forgot to look for the eyes open/eyes closed thing when I saw it again last night - I'll have to try to remember next time. (But I did see the Falcon this time!) But, Leia doesn't show any Jedi abilities at all until very much later, so it's not believable to think that as a newborn or younger, she could communicate with her mother.

I think it works much better for the story for Padme to die. It's the line from Jedi that needed not to exist.


ETA: re: Anakin's "angry eyes" thing:

I noticed that they used the technique of making him mostly looking up at people, even if it meant tilting his head down. That way, you see lots more of the whites of his eyes, making him look scarier.

Obi-Won was in no shape to face Vader and he knew it. As soon as he felt Vaders presence he admitted defeat to himself. His goal was to get Luke off the Death Star. All he had to do was keep Vadar talking long enough to distract everyone and let Luke get on the ship. But dumbass farm boy decides to take on the entire imperial army in an attempt to save Ben. Ben then gives up the fight so that Luke will run away. After all if you give an entire room full of stormtroops enough time eventually even they will be able to hit something the size of a person.

In Sith, we learn that Obi-Won has spent the last 20 years or so studying how to be a ghost. That's why he is able to go from corporal to ghost on the spot and talk to Luke seconds later. All the rest of the Jedi at least left a body behind.

Was it just GD and I, or was did it feel weird to have them talk about pregnancy and babies in Star Wars? I think it's just because they've never faced that kind of stuff before. Padme being visibly pregnant without a visible husband - was that taboo in Naboo? (Heh.) Did Obi-Wan always realize that Ani was the father? If he did, how come he didn't kick Ani's ass for falling in love etc? If he didn't figure it out, he's a sucky Jedi.

I LOVED that Anakin kills children. LOVED IT! No sarcasm here. That was wonderfully heavy, awesome stuff. Claire, was Cassidy ok with that? That part where a young Jedi goes out fighting is awesome.

The cutting down of the Jedi was rather moving but I really wish that they had shown them fighting for their lives. Or at least, had like 50 guys ambush each of them instead of just 3. They made the Jedi look too vulnerable for my taste. I would have dug it if they cut the opening battle in half and spent that time showing individual Jedi battles.

I loved the idea that Anakin thinks he's fighting for freedom and justice. That he's the one that causes Padme's death. And then he's stuck with the darkside. That moment when he's roboticized and first thing he says "how is Padme"....freaked me out. I could have done with some masked Vader stuff - I was hoping we'd see more of him in that state.

In the end I'm annoyed that these movies exist, as they undermine the originals no matter what you do. Even though they did a great job of blending the technologies - I am a SW vehicle fan, so seeing them develop was cool - at the end when you see Vader's Star Destroyer bridge with red and white lights and black buttons, it just doesn't make sense (think of the controls of all the ships we've seen)....although I admit it was awesome to see anyway. ;)

:eek: Blasphemy!

:p Seriously, though, the original trilogy IS the story. There is no "works better", it's what it is. It's pure laziness that Lucas couldn't write a backstory that actually matched up with the story he originally wrote.

She does say the queen will fire her for having a baby. It's your guess as to why: Apparently out of wedlock, married a Jedi, not following correct breading lines (ie arranged marriages), senators (like priests) are not allowed to have kids, it was the wrong month for a senator to be pregnant?

I think he said it as soon as he figured it out. Based her on comments like "I cannot believe that". With stress on the word "cannot"

I'm trying to think what it will be like for future kids that watch these in order one through six. Knowing that Darth is torturing his own daughter, Luke keeps hitting on his sister (plus the kiss), no real mystery as to who "the other" is. I think it would have been better NOT to have specifically named the two kids but I suppose it was to blatantly obvious to anyone who they would become.

I know one thing, MY kids will be watching it in the correct order (original trilogy first).

Speaking as a man with a sister.....ick! I have always been grossed out by the Luke/Leia kiss ever since we learned they were twins.

:confused: Does this have to do with Qui-Gon figuring out the ghost thing? In any case, I don't think I buy it.

I was annoyed we didn't get to see Qui-Gon as a ghost. I can almost hear Yoda telling Obi-Wan, "Wait for the DVD release, you must." They must have shot that, right?

See, but this is lame. Anakin is supposed to be practically glowing with the Force - shouldn't his children be obvious to any Jedi Master? Never mind that his feelings are so focused on her. It's more "The dark side clouds everything" BS. Look, either you feel things with the Force, or you don't!

I'm with GD on the Leia line in Jedi. For God's sake, those movies exist, he should have watched them again before writing these. :rolleyes:

All the continuity problems are avoidable and unnecessary!

Only a Sith talks in absolutes.

Can we just tell them Ep.1-3 are not part of our belief system, kind of like the New Testament? :evil:

Hehe....definitely one of the better lines.

"So this is how liberty dies....to thunderous applause."

I actually thought that was a pretty stupid line. Jedi are pretty absolute, aren't they? The whole "dark side is evil" thing? Pretty absolute.

"Do or do not. There is no try" - Yoda.

Heh, I guess you're right. Especially since the line itself is an absolute!

I'm not sure how much of it Cassidy got, really. None of it seemed to faze her, so she clearly missed a lot. Um, I hope, anyway. Unless she's just a cold-hearted little demon child. :evil:

We're going to see it again Sunday, so I'm guessing she'll catch a lot more then. Right now she's cuddled up on the couch reading and absorbing the RotS picture dictionary. She made me hide it for the last month. If she didn't understand that Anakin killed the kids last night, she'll read it in the book in a few minutes......and probably get it on Sunday.

As much as she wants the story to be real (I can't even tell you how many times she's wished on a star for a REAL lightsaber), she's entirely aware that it's just fiction. Mentions it all the time to her dad. Kelly will be taking something too seriously, and she'll remind him that it doesn't actually matter since "it's just make-believe."

Ohh for lost oppertunity...

How does this sound:

Palpatine: Anakin the dark side of the force has the power to create life. Search your feelings Anakin, you know this to be true. I have created life, Anakin I am your father.


Now that would have been fun.

Any competent parent will know that the films need to be watched 4-5-6, 1-2-3. :p

I think of you more as Shimmer. It's a floor wax AND a dessert topping!

and of course to watch it properly, you'll have to get the vcr out(to watch the original, untampered versions).....watch the kids scratch their heads in wonder about that......

Holy cow, in movie news, ep III grossed 50 million on thursday.......WOW.....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050520/...ars_box_office

The last of the "Star Wars" movies has done what no movie in history has ever accomplished — sold $50 million worth of tickets in a single day.

Nah...if you're me, you just have to fire up the old laser disc player :D

(BTW I read a review somewhere recently that said the laser disc editions of 4-5-6 were the best and still original versions out there.)

LETTERBOXED. None of this panned-and-scanned crap.

Sorry Moony, but that's even lamer than the ambiguity they put in where they infer that Palpatine created Anakin. Why all the links, the virgin birth, blah blah? It's like he couldn't come up with new characters so he just made everything far too linked. I'm still pissed about 3po and R2....it's as if Lucas loves too dearly, that he'd do anything to see his favorite characters again, that he's too controlling to let go...

Sounds familiar, eh?

BTW, was thinking about how Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were talking after the end of this movie....if you were Obi-Wan, what would you say?

"Master, it's good to see you again, but DAMN if you didn't force me into the most sucktastic situation ever. I had to give you a promise on your deathbed, for crying out loud, and because of you I've unleashed the Sith onto the entire galaxy. Yeah, I'm just a little bit miffed."

Doesn't Obi-Wan seem like he should have blamed himself more for the total enslavement of the galaxy? Don't tell me he's so down with the Force that he doesn't feel guilty. :rolleyes:

Yeah, there is always that way too.(damn, shoulda bought the laser disc player)

but of course, only go the pan-and-scan route for the regular watching though, for those special viewings I get out the letterbox set(don't want to wear them out too fast. maybe one day I will get around to getting a video capture card and making a backup of my treasured star wars movies that I have on VHS).

I have the OT on VHS....but it's pan and scan! :( Was a cheap-o purchase from a friend back when the SE's came out. I can't even watch it, really.

Just came back from RotS... had to wait to see it on a local digi screen.
I'll keep it brief for now:
Enjoyed it, flaws and all. I caught the "Emperor" continuity error, too. It bugged me for about 5 minutes, but I wrote it off as just a gaffe - some of the greatest films have 'em.

I got ready for this flick by watching all the OT (original letterboxed version, thank you), EP I & II, and the Clone Wars cartoon series - in that order.

In that context, I was reminded what a silly hoot Star Wars was when I saw it at 10 years old - that Empire was brilliant, and how disappointed I was by Jedi, especially the friggin' Ewoks. Episodes I and II were hardly better on DVD than they were in the theater...but a little time has taken the bitter edge off my disappointment and disgust. However, I admit that I loved the Clone Wars series. I know they're technically not any more canonical than, say, The Ewok Adventure, but they truly kick ass, and set up EP III perfectly. Heather and I watched Clone Wars just before going to the theater this afternoon, and with our heads in the "cartoon" state surely made us a lot more forgiving of some of the crap dialogue of Sith.

I've heard reviews that call Sith the best SW film since Empire - I'm certainly not going to go that far... but I will say it supplied good stupid SW fun I haven't seen since '77. So Lucas gets my thumbs up.

I have the OT on laserdisc still. I need to find a laser disk player! ;)

Me: I enjoyed EP3 much better than Ep2 & Ep1. Having watched The Clone Wars cartoon and read the comic adaptation really set up the film for me and I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much had I not. I'm sure some of the stuff the left out of the film that was in the comic adaptation will make its way onto the DVD.

Now only if they could take the look and feel of the Cartoon Network series and do versions of Ep 1-3, that would be freekin' cool.

Yeah, this kind of really is HIS fault, since he didn't stick around to finish the job, or at least make sure that Anakin was actually dead. So I guess that's why he has to go live alone on Tatooine for the next 20 years to make sure that Luke lives long enough to kill Vader. And why he ends up sacrificing himself.

The more I think about Obi-Wan sacrificing himself in the context of EpIII, the more interesting it is. Think about it, what turns out to be Anikin's major flaw? His unwillingness to sacrafice someone he loves for the greater good. He does anything to save Padme instead of doing what he must do.

Well, by the time he's fighting Vader on the destroyer, Obi-Wan's learned his leason. He knows Luke is his father's son, and knows he will make that same decission, attempt to help instead of doing what he must do. So he takes that option away from him by sacrificing himself (oh, for the record Moonliner, I was kidding about the "die in front of Luke" thing, I'm well aware of the meaning of Obi-Wan's sacrifice). So that actually ties in really well.

Still a bad movie with bad acting, bad dialog, and bad editing. And if you have to read and view suplementary material to "get it", that's even worse.

I saws the movie twice this weekend. Once at the Arclight and once at the Big Newport.
It was better the second time around. even the love scenes didnt seem as long an as bad.
I was happpy with it. It completed the trilogy, connecting epII with epIV.

As for continuity glitches between the original trilogy and the second trilogy, I forgive them. Since ep 1-3 were just outlines/ideas and not completly written, if that, not everything can be connected. Some things need to be looked past a little in order to enjoy the overall tale.

I really liked this movie, and it made all of the episodes more enjoyable. The more I take it in, the more I see the big picture of the story and the underlying tale that Lucas was telling. I think he told HIS story well.

Regardless of how bitter one wants to get, it's done.

Good or bad, a reaction is a reaction. and even if it made you pick the movies apart, Lucas succeeded with what he wanted out of Star Wars: To make you think.

I feel sort of shoddy discussing this with you, because by no means am I a huge SW fan, nor do I know all that much about it, but I don't know why he has to feel guilty over the choices someone else makes. I think the point is that Anakin made all of his own choices. In real life, and in the movies, hindsight is 20/20.

Maybe if what would happen was known, others would have acted differently, perhaps even tried to appease Anakin, but would that have turned him into an even bigger monster? Every turn, even literal turns right and left affect "destiny" whatever the hell that is. Everytime little Ani feels jilted just made him pissy and made him crave the praise Palpatine gave him, it's just common sense. I can't hold Obi Wan accountable for what a baby Anakin is. I'm sure he felt bad in subsequent, unwritten, unfilmed years, why else would you go into "seclusion"? That is what he did, right? Not feeling bad is moving on with your life as though it never happened, IMO.

He probably should have just killed Anakin/Vader, but that probably hurt too much for Obi Wan. A little too much leaving it all in the grey, but hey, he's a Jedi, probably didn't want to do the last blow, or was just too lazy to tie up a potential loose end. In either case, Vader couldn't die; we wouldn't have 4, 5 & 6 if that happened, right?

We took the girls and saw it a second time yesterday in the largest auditorium and on the largest screen that I know about in Portland. It made a difference to me....you could tell by the comments people were making, that many had seen it already, too. People clapped at the Lucasfilm screen, clapped at the end, and there were two women near us bawling again. My SW geek kids had lightsaber battles with other little geeks again before the movie played....so much fun.

I agree with ubergeek....it was much better the second time around. I was prepared for Dukoo being killed off so early, Padme and Anakin's scenes (while still sucky) didn't make me want to puke, and I noticed a lot more.....dialogue (still bad) and plot points that had me going "huh?" last time.

Someone mentioned here or on another board that it didn't make sense for Obi Wan to choose that weird dragon thing as his stallion....but when I watched it again, it did make sense to me. He was hiding....he had them believing that he'd taken off in his ship, so he was trying to blend in (there were dragon things flying all over the place) and it worked.

We went straight home and watched A New Hope. OMG. I can't believe how much of that movie I think I've never understood, even though I've seen it probably fifty or more times and can recite most of it by heart. All the senate and republic gobbledygook never really sunk in before. Now I've got it.

:rolleyes: After almost thirty years, I understand it now. ;)

Perhaps if they were better movies, I'd agree. But they weren't.

That's what gets me. Whenever I say I haven't enjoyed these movies, people say one of two things. Either, "Oh, just get over the fact that they do a bad job with the story and enjoy them as movies," or, "Oh, just get over the fact that they are bad movies and enjoy the story." I can't, because he screwed both aspects up. They are neither well made movies nor particularly well conceived sotry-wise. While there are spots here and there that are good, and a few story elements which do give me some food for thought, overall it was a sorry effort.

I'm not bitter so much as disappointed. It could have been great, it wasn't. That's unfortunate.

its time for the spaceballs prequel. In this story, the story and dialogue sucks so bad, that 15 to 30 minutes into the movie, all the actors and extras revolt and walk off the set. End of movie.

GD,
my post had nothing to do with how you felt about the mpvie. I was stating how I felt, and how I overlook those things. You have your right to continue to watch the movies you know are bad and complain about them as much as I do to like them for what they are and say why.
You were set on being disappointed with this movie before it came out and you weren't let down, in your opinion, and that's ok.
I was excited for it and it lived up to my expectations, and that too is ok.
we don't need to start a bickering match over opinions.

Actually, this movie in particular, I was set not to be disappointed. I had hear SUCH good things about it that I went in expecting, well, not the best, but better. I didn't see it. Oh well.

I'm not bickering, I'm just discussing.

Neither do I. Lucas did do a good job of making it no one's fault. Everyone is a victim of circumstance. The Jedi Council acted as it should have, Obi-Wan (and Qui-Gon) acted as they should have, and Anakin simply is what he is. The thing is this - if you were the one who practically raised Anakin, was at his side teaching him how to weild powers, wouldn't you feel bad if he ended up taking over the galaxy? They show a great moment of this frustration when Obi-Wan screams "you were supposed to be the chosen one!" But as soon as he leaves Ani to die, his internal anguish seems to be gone.

Actually, at the end of the movie, they make it apparent that Obi-Wan must go into hiding to save his own skin, and to watch over Luke. It's not over guilt that he disappears.

During the Obi-Wan vs Anakin and Yoda vs Emperor battles, I found myself thinking "all of these characters must live, how will they pull that off?" It the inherent lameness of making prequels.

After all of the good buzz I was ready to be impressed and entered the theater excited. While I did enjoy watching most of it (I laughed, cried, and left the theater feeling somewhat positive) the moment I started trying to link it together I found it lacking, and the more I talk about it the more disappointed I am.

I'll see it again (maybe even on the big screen) but I fear I'll have the same fate that I had with Ep2 - way worse the 2nd time.

Mistful (LiveJournal) does SW:ROTS (Spoilers a poppin!)
 

Maya ([info]mistful) wrote,
@ 2005-05-23 09:52:00

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Current mood: amused

So, Star Wars.
So, I swore I wouldn't see it. Because I actually had to be tackled forcibly by my tiny little brother to stop me walking out of Phantom Menace. Because I, in a tragic lack of my usually trustworthy nerdishness, never actually liked the first trilogy much. Because, I thought to myself, I have exams. And *standards.*

However, I really love [info]silver_shoes, so, that was then, and this is now.
All the same, it amazes me how much people love it. There was an enormous queue of people who already had tickets but wanted really good seats! Two queues!

MAYA: Muahahahahahaha. I mock you all.
MY FRIENDS: You. Write. Harry Potter. Porn.
MAYA: ... now the Star Wars fans are laughing at me. This is rock bottom.
MY FRIENDS: I dare you to kiss that lifesize cardboard cutout of Angelina Jolie!
MAYA: And behold, we drilled through rock bottom and struck humiliation oil!

And then... wonder of wonders, I... think I liked it. A lot. This is why, with mockery, because if this trailer's not a-mockin', I'm probably dead in here.



There's more on the blog: http://www.livejournal.com/users/mistful

Her Harry Potter one was even better.

Okay, so here's what I've been thinking regarding the prequels, and why they disappointed me so much.

First off, I'm very much about form when it comes to film. You can have the best story and ideas in the world, if you can't present it in an artisticly pleasing manner, you've failed to make a good film. So no matter how interesting the back story is, no matter how satisfying it is to learn that Anikin's own selfishness was his undoing, these will remain bad films.

Now, I'll admit, the original trilogy was hardly flawless. It shares, in fact, some of the same flaws I'm quick to point out in the prequels. But you've got to look at context. It's one thing for a movie shot on a tight budget, on a tight time schedule, with a largely inexperienced cast, answering to a studio, in sometimes difficult conditions, and that's pushing technological as well as artistic boundaries to have a few flaws. In the end you end up with an overall good movie with a few of the difficulties they had to overcome to make it peeking through. But when you've got an essentially unlimited budget, a time schedule of your own making, a cast of experienced actors, no one to answer to but yourself, shooting almost entirely in front of green screen, and the resources that prevent any technological challenge, those flaws should possibly disappear, and at the very least not get MORE glaring. What a failure.

And it makes me wonder if those flaws from the OT can be written off as a result of the limitations brought on by the situation. Which just sucks. Part of what helps elevate Star Wars past those flaws is the "knowledge" that, yeah, there was part of the vision that just didn't quite make it onto the screen. And as fans, we happily fill that in, "knowing" that flawless vision was there, but he was just limited by all those mitigating factors. Well, we don't "know" that anymore. If the Special Editions and these prequels were that amazing complete vision that just was too complex to make it onto the screen, then I think that really detracts from the original trilogy.

Finally saw the movie tonight and liked it. Finally got to read the rest of this thread tonight, HAH! Geeks. Hayden Christensen is dreadful. Actually, he was only bad up until he caught on fire. I was grateful there was some humor thrown in. Did anyone else catch Monorail Purple of the Future? I half expected one of those giant pteredactyls to look into the camera, shrug, and say, "It's a living." Glad I don't retain enough of the specifics of the other movies to be bothered by the continuity glitches. Hated the first two, had abysmally low expectations for this one. I don't read or watch entertainment "news," and I've avoided any reviews or write-ups at all. They sure like cutting off hands. Not living near lava, I'd assume that floating around on top of it would be pretty hot. "I have a very bad feeling about this!" I still don't get why Obi-Wan, in Star Wars (yeah, I called it Star Wars, wanna make something of it?), doesn't recognize the 'droids. Could someone give me a rundown on the history of C3PO? He was built by child Anakin, and then I lose track. Poor Jar-Jar, so sad at meesa Padme's funeral. Loved the Peter Cushing-alike at the end. Why did Anakin suddenly acquire a British-y accent after being fitted with the helmet?
Overall, I really enjoyed it. I have to save my Geek Rage for the next Light Magic or Pooh-storm to hit Disneyland.
"It's a dessert topping, you cow!"

I believe the generally accepted excplanation for Obi-Wan's lack of droid knowledge is that he's a big fat liar. He does, after all, lie initially about Luke's father. So why not lie about knowing droids?

I've decided that once Anikin is saved from the Dark Side by Luke, he's so wracked by guilt at his failing that, in a tribute to his late masters and trainers Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, he affects a British accent. It's touching, really.

A ha! I was wondering if there was any SW discussion on LoT. I found it in this thread.

Here's my take on SW-ROTS (this is cut-n-paste from MC):

Have you ever had a friend who liked cooking for you but really stunk at it? You love your friend, and maybe once or twice they got it right, but at some point (if it’s a really good friend) you have to give out some constructive feedback or they’ll have to learn to get better otherwise they’ll never get it and you’ll have to eat it.

Ie. A friend of mine thinks she’s the world’s bestest chef. She loves to cook. She loves to feed her friends. Sadly, what she cooks is famously bad. So, after several meals I had to break down and tell her. Of course, we fought and there was a period where she didn’t talk to me. But upon listening to me and other friends, she came to the conclusion that she needed to try different things and get help to get better. And she did!

George Lucas is a grand chef who served up great meals in the past, but is now serving us garbage. And, to top it all off, after seeing ‘Sith’ I have food poisoning. Someone at some point in the making of the films needed to tell him he needed to go back to cooking school, but no one did. Ugh.

But, GC, you were so excited and wanted to see this film. Maybe your expectations were too high.

Since the announcement of the 3rd movie and until today, I avoided every review, magazine etc about the making of this film. I avoided the book, comic books and all reviews in this thread on purpose. I wanted my vision unaltered beforehand, I was excited but my expectations were not too high… I was stunned at how bad ‘Phantom’ and ‘Clones’ were. Going into this film I expected it to be just okay, if not better than the previous two. I was wrong in both regards.

It’s Star Wars, it’s not Shakespeare.

Nothing but Shakespeare is Shakespeare. I don’t expect Oscar winning performances when I walk into SW movies. I don’t expect them to be deep, life changing or even emotionally uplifting. However, what I do expect from every movie I walk into is pretty basic. They NEED to have the following: a clear-cut message/moral/point (unless the ultimate goal of the movie is to not have one, but that must be acknowledged somewhere in the film), an engagingly structured plot (the characters go from here to here and change [because of things that happen] in these ways) and a film always needs to know its audience (Age group? Sci-fi fans? Romantic Film Fans).

The problem with the prequels is that Lucas never knew his audience. He forgot about the thirty/forty somethings who made his first three films mega-hits. He searched for a younger, newer fan base and appealed the stories to children. But not even in an affective way, Jar Jar characters and Jake Lloyd ‘woopee’ characters appeal to no one. If the adults don’t like them, kids won’t either.

Lucas said himself that he didn’t care about the people who hated ‘Phantom’ and ‘Clones’. In Entertainment Weekly he said that he has younger fans who love the films. If this is true, didn’t he just alienate the new fans by making ‘Sith’ violent, PG-13 and a ‘Titanic’-style love story?
I, as an audience member, felt like an outsider watching these films. Why? To put it simply, there was no ‘Han Solo’ or ‘C-3P0’.

But, wait, I saw C-3P0.

Han Solo and C-3P0 in the first three movies were audience members invited into the film to experience everything that happened to the main characters. We related to them and laughed at them because we saw ourselves reacting to these extraordinary situations as they did. There was no one to relate to in these three films.

C3P0 in these films was almost a set piece. He said things occasionally, but didn’t give us the comic relief he gave us in the 1st three. He played no vital role.

Ie. Han Solo showed us that traveling in space is fun, that some people in the galaxy are skeptical about the Force and that even people with advanced technology at their disposal still have everyday financial debt.
Ie. C-3P0 showed us that traveling in space is dangerous and scary, that getting desert sand in your gears sucks, that it was possible to be a gentleman in turbulent times and that companionship is important even to robots.

Who could you relate to in the original trilogy? Luke – farm boy stuck in someplace he’d like to get out of, loyal to family needs to get his own life. Han Solo – normal guy who fixes and races vehicles. Obi Wan – Older person dragged back into society after writing it off.

Who could you relate to in the prequels? Nobody. Unless you happen to be a slave, Senator, Senate Leader, Emperor, a fussy teen Jedi, Council member, Count, droid with human parts or a big bright blue chicken lizard. (That last one was a joke.)

I know this is a long post, but I’m really passionate about film, filmmaking and the man who redefined filmmaking for everyone and handed us this piece of Shi-th…

Specifics about the film:

(I’ll start with the Pros)
1. There was one scene I absolutely loved, loved, loved! On the platform of the lava planet, the Anakin, Padme and Obi Wan scene where she discovers Anakin has lost it. His anger, her fear and Obi Wan in the middle made it wonderful.

2. Loved all of the light saber scenes.

3. Loved Grevious’s wheel mobile.

4. Love Ian McDirmid all the way through. Evil, evil man.

5. R2-D2 saves the day yet again. Love it.

(Now the Cons)

1. Lots of scenes were just way too busy with special effects to effectively watch certain key areas of action. Even during the love scenes, there were so many flying vehicles and racing ships and even floaty objects (that made grids in the air for some reason) that the effects turned out to be distracting and didn’t play a vital role to the story.

2. Horrible horrible dialogue. ‘My heart is breaking.’ Yes, we know. Movies show us things not tell us the obvious.

3. Dooku getting killed off early. Palpatine should have killed Dooku. Anakin too Darth-like early on, he had nowhere to go with his character then.

4. New characters in the 3rd part of a trilogy? Who the heck is Darth Grevious and why do we care? I don’t know. He just shows up.

5. Obi Wan riding that big turquoise chicken lizard Mardi Gras lizard. What was Lucas smoking when he chose that creature to be the steed of choice?

6. Female Jedi getting killed in what looked like E.T.’s home world from Universal’s E.T. ride. Yuck!

7. The E.T. moment when Chewbacca and friend watch Yoda take off in small E.T. ship shaped vehicle. Bleh. I know Steven helped with this one, but give me a dang break. I was waiting for the rainbow to shoot out of the end of the ship…

8. Arbitrary names for kids. C’mon writer, figure out a why for the names.

9. Leia in ‘Jedi’ remembers mother as being sad. When she was 1 minute old? Ugh.

10. Darth Vader’s Frankenstein and “Noooo!” moment. I don’t know if it was a tribute to the Frankenstein film, but it didn’t work.

Here’s how the Darth Vader scene should have worked:
Anakin wakes up as Vader. His binds fly off… he makes the binds come off, he’s a Jedi he can do that. None of the other room breakage occurs at this time or before… Emperor summons him, Vader walks to him. He kneels to Emperor.
“Rise, Lord Vader.”
He stands, looks Palpatine in the face and his first word as Darth Vader is “Padme?”.
“Anakin, Padme was killed…”
Vader turns away slowly.
“By you.” Emperor says. “In anger.”
Vader stands there, silent. Then suddenly the room starts to shake, the medical equipment flies apart, the droids explode, the table breaks and Palpatine is inadvertently thrown off his feet. Vader’s anger destroys the room. Palpatine looks up at him with a ‘I better keep my eye on this one. He could end up killing me’ look of concern.
The scene ends with Vader standing there unmoved looking forwards. The Emperor slowly gets to his feet.
End of scene

Anyway, as you can see, I didn’t care for the film. I loved how it all tied in to the 1st trilogy, but it just wasn’t what it should have been.

Sorry for the long post...

What Cricket said! I agree with nearly everything!

The Commodore had some great points too!

As long as we're still talking about RotS, I need to put a new question into the mix (this is a valid question even for folks who enjoyed the movie): What, for you, was the most cringe-worthy moment of Ep III?

I'll start with something that hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread: The Wookie doing the Tarzan yell. OMFG...

"Not if something to say about it I have."

Damn dude, you had to remind me that that was in there........:blah:

I think I blacked that out....but Chewie does a Tarzan yell in RoTJ anyway (which is lame as well).

GD said mine first. That was THE WORST, easily.

I'd add the part where Obi-Wan says "Emperor" before he's supposed to. AWFUL continuity error. How many people missed that before it made it onto the screen?

Oooh, ooh, and the j'por snippet! Greg and I laughed every time they showed it. I had been hoping it had vanished. Same for the midichlorians mention, definitely a big cringe there.

Tarzan was one.
Darth's "Nooooooooooo" and Frankenstein step made me cover my eyes with my hands...

There were a lot of 'eyeroll moments'. In fact, so many I think I pulled a muscle.
:D :rolleyes: :D

The "noooo" was bad. But the step made sense. He shouldn't be able to immediately walk perfectly with robotic legs.

I agree that everything in that room should have been destroyed.

The "Nooooo" was supposed to, I presume, mirror Rat Boy's, er, Luke's "Nooooo" from Empire, thus setting up the genetic predisposition to yell "Nooooo" when one learns traumatic family news.

Still haven't seen it. I have a feeling this weekend is when I will be taken to the guillotine. ;0

True. Then he should have fell to his knees or something and then get back up. Someone on the set should have told Georgie that it looked too much like Frankenstein. :D

How is it that I can hate the "Noooo!" but feel like cheering every time I watch Luke say "I'll never join you" or "I'll never turn to the dark side"??

I saw it on Tuesday afternoon.

It was the best movie I saw all day.

You mean Luke's 'Nooo!' in Empire? I think it's the weird face he makes while he says it. His mouth is all twisted and forced.
The other two lines are delivered nicely because he uses a more gutteral low voice that just shows the contempt we all feel for Vader at this point in the movie. I like the way he says those lines, too.
:)

Yup, hence the rat-boy quip by GD. I get my jabs in at rat-boy, but I absolutely melt for him the rest of the time. Yes, I love even whiny Luke. :D

:D lol!
Yep, huge crush on rat-boy. Even bigger crush on that Solo guy... Wow. :)

For all the H4t3rZ (sorry, couldn't resist), click and have your sound on:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!

:p

I'd forgotten about the Tarzan yell! I actually liked it, it made me laugh. In a good way. Cringe-worthy moment? Hmm. Can it just be Hayden Christensen's completely unconvincing "performance?" There was no compelling reason for him to join forces with Sidious (so many Darths, forgive me if I'm mistaken, I mean the Palpatine one), I did not buy for one moment that he was experiencing any sort of conflict over his embrace of the dark side. Every time he and Padme had any sort of "moment" I cringed. Co-dependent much? Bleah.
HC didn't ruin the movie for me, though. Several years ago, I paid 70 bucks to see Teri Hatcher in Cabaret. I wanted to see Cabaret, Teri Hatcher just happened to be in it at the time. Bleah! As lousy as I thought she was, she didn't ruin the show. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Same with Haydey-Hay.
Oh, I just thought of it! The cringe! There's this stock audio cue of a male scream that came early in the film. I've heard this scream in so many movies, most notably, in A Star is Born (1954) with Judy Garland and James Mason. It shows up twice in that movie! I'm guessing it's in the Fox library, and I'm guessing it's a sound guy in-joke. Sort of like the stock Goofy yell Disney puts in everything.

Would that be the Wilhelm?

Holy Sh*t, I had no idea! Thank you, O Ghoulish One, and the article only written on the 17th! Wow! Exclamation point!

OMG, laughing my ass off, as the Helllooooooooooooooo, episode of seinfeld is on, and I just clicked lizzie's link, and darth's "noooooooooo", went right before seinfelds "helllllllllooooooooooo", its very scary how much they sounded the same........ and quite sad too, IMNSHO

As for the guy that probably did the scream:
Craziness.

Some friends of mine and I are going to be queueing up for April Snow in September. This should be ... interesting. We're getting a room at the Roosevelt, however, so will be doing shifts. There's no way in hell I'm seeing the new BYJ film smelling like a Hollywood Boulevard Jedi.

Things I learned from RotS

1) Wookies took their battle cry from the Orks. Or was it the other way around.
2) Yoda kicks ass
3) The Emperors lair is Mordor
4) Jar Jar silent is a blessing
5) What happened to Bobby Simone
And most importantly...
6) How Anakin Skywalker becomes James Earl Jones.

Briefly,

Horrible acting, neat-o effects, very very dark and nice transition to EP IV

We finally got around to seeing the movie tonight, and I have mixed feelings about it. I really don't think the question with Natalie and Hayden is whether or not they can act, but rather would anyone be able to pull off such stilted dialogue? I mean, really. Maybe a seasoned soap star, but I don't know. :rolleyes:

I liked some of the movie, disliked some of it, and appreciated the humor where I could find it. Like Yoda, going through that tunnel- thingy. I kept waiting for him to flick a lighter a'la Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Good ole Artoo provided some funny moments as well. An unintentionally funny moment was when Darth first stood in his new outfit and yelled "Nooooooo!" It just didn't fit. (The moment, not the outfit. I was worried about how little Hayden was going to fit into Darth's big shoes, but now I know. Sort of explains the James Earl Jones voice, too.). Well, maybe a big 'Noooo!' moment was appropriate, but this one was lame. I liked this one better than it's two predecessers, but not by much.

I agree 100%. Episode III gets BETTER with each viewing, having seen it eight times so far. Lucas has accomplished what no other filmmaker has ever accomplished in creating a film series over such a long period of time. In a slightly different comparison, the "Star Trek" film series has failed miserably. Each "Star Trek" film "stands alone" for the most part, and the last three were simply longer, bigger-budgeted TV episodes on the big screen.

I also compare Episode III to a Shakespeare tragedy--you know what will happen to the tragic hero in the end, but it's still interesting, rivoting and emotional to see how the story unfolds. Well done, George Lucas.