OT - Star Wars Ep III

[Iron Giant]

I just picked up 13 tickets for the 12:04am showing here in Boston. We're watching EP I and II tonight starting at 5pm, then heading over.

EP I and II could have been better, but they weren't bad, just sloppy. GL has given in to the very thing he said he wanted to get away from, the idea that SciFi doesn't have to be good since no one cares. He decided after The Empire Strikes Back that he can do anything he wants and make silly decisions (like Ewoks and Jar Jar) and we'll lap it all up just because its SciFi. He started strong, too bad he didn't finish strong.

But part of the problem is he always had the story in his head, and we're all just coming in on it now. Anakin USED to be a good kid with Good Jedi potential. So him being redeemed at the end of Return of the Jedi made sense to GL, even if it looked sappy to us.

Well the reviews are looking positive, I'll find out in, oh, 11 hours or so.

On the Star Wars Books: Timothy Zahn.

IMHO, don't waste your time with anything else. IIRC, Timothy Zahn is the only Star Wars writer who GL has borrowed material from. The capital planet of Corusant was Timothy Zahns idea. GL liked it so much he copied it. TZ also had a couple characters (like Grand Admiral Thrawn) that GL has labeled (off handedly) as cannon.

[David E. Gervais]

Iron Giant said:
On the Star Wars Books: Timothy Zahn.

IMHO, don't waste your time with anything else. IIRC, Timothy Zahn is the only Star Wars writer who GL has borrowed material from. The capital planet of Corusant was Timothy Zahns idea. GL liked it so much he copied it. TZ also had a couple characters (like Grand Admiral Thrawn) that GL has labeled (off handedly) as cannon.

Ahem, you do know that Timothy Zahn had unprecidented 'access' to Lucas while writing his novels and that he was "In the Know" as they say regarding what was/is in lucas's head regarding the SW universe. I think Lucas even gave hin acess to much of the background story stuff he wrote. So don't be too sure who's idea is who's. I'm not knocking TZ, in fact he is my favorite SW writer, he's even a better writer than GL, but then again TZ has much more training in that area.

Just thought I'd point this out.

Cheers!

[Will]

Just got back from the midnight show. One of my friends ended up calling me at work in the morning asking if I was going (like it needed to be asked!), so I was able to enjoy The Line with a friend instead of being by myself.

Quick review: I would rank the movies in the following order... V, IV, III, VI, II, I (although it's a pretty close tie between IV and III). Great visuals, decent acting except for a few moments, and there were one or two points where I was laughing, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to (all I'll say is "NOOO!!!!", the people who have seen it will understand, the people who haven't soon will).

Pretty much the only things I didn't like were the dialogue in several points, and that I think the transition to the Dark Side was a bit rushed. Now if only I and II could have been as good...

[Randallw]

Pretty much the only things I didn't like were the dialogue in several points,

I have one word in support.....battledroids (or is that 2 )

[Kamog]

I just got home from the movie. It's excellent! Go see it!

The theatre was absolutely packed. I had bought my ticket a day early for the 12:01 showing. I got to the theatre around 9:15. There were already several hundred people lining up outside! This theatre has about 12 screens and 5 of them were showing Episode III, so there were 5 lineups outside. Boy, was it crowded. And it just got more and more crowded. Some guys had light sabres. So from 9:15 to 12:01 I spent the time waiting in line or sitting in my seat waiting for the movie to start. It was well worth the wait.

I will go see the movie again probably another four or five times within the next couple of weeks. I hope they come out with a boxed DVD set of all six episodes, I'll definitely buy it.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

I think the reason Lucas's skipped the rest of the nine films he announced he'd make simply because of the immense quantity of newly-created information (the Expanded Universe, as in books and so forth) that either he'd have to
1. Stick exactly to the story in the (massive amount of) books, which would essentially be retelling an already told story, or
2. Contradict events/etc. from the books, which would make many SW addicts very P.O.'d.

On top of that, all the old vehicles wouldn't look the same anymore, because I don't think Lucas is going to use stop-motion animation and bluescreen models anymore, and all the vehicles would simply be "touched up" if they were digitally animated. I mean, just compare the EpII/III Yoda animation with the EpI/IV/V/VI Yoda puppet.

[dogscoff]

I mean, just compare the EpII/III Yoda animation with the EpI/IV/V/VI Yoda puppet.

And now compare Yoda's lightsabre duel in epII with Kermit the Frog's swordfighting sequence in "Muppet Treasure Island."

And now ask yourself "Which was the better film?"

[geoschmo]

dogscoff said:

And now compare Yoda's lightsabre duel in epII with Kermit the Frog's swordfighting sequence in "Muppet Treasure Island."

And now ask yourself "Which was the better film?"

I had to struggle to keep from laughing out loud watching the Yoda saber duels. And not in a good "that's humourous" way. It's an "Oh this is so bad it's funny" way. It's just ridiculous. It almost ruined ep II for me. It didn't seem so bad in EpIII, but maybe that's because I had finally succeeded in beating down the little voice in my head screaming about how bad all three of these movies sucked.

By the the one hour mark of epIII I had finally choked off the little voice and resigned myself to just ignoring the pathetic dialog and contrived or nonexsistant story and end up just watching all the pretty pictures. In the end it was like fireworks. Lot's of ooo and ahhhh, but when it was over I was left with nothing but a ringing in my ears.

EDIT: And yes, Muppet Tresure Island was way better. But that's because it was based on a classic piece of literature. That is something Star Wars has never been mistaken for.

[Renegade 13]

Well AT, I've got a couple of 8 year old relatives, and I think that every 8 year old acts younger than they are. Then suddenly, at around 10 or 12 they start acting their age, and at 14-16 they become human.

[Raging Deadstar]

dogscoff said:
And now compare Yoda's lightsabre duel in epII with Kermit the Frog's swordfighting sequence in "Muppet Treasure Island."

And now ask yourself "Which was the better film?"

Dogscoff, that's unfair, It's like comparing Indiana Jones to the Tomb Raider Movies.

Muppet Treasure Island is by far the superior film