1203 replies to this topic

[zencat]

My only real grip against Lucas is how he's messed with the original trilogy -- and basically it's just his changing of the original Star Wars and Empire. But I think he actually improved Jedi because that movie stunk even in '83. And while the prequels aren't masterpieces, I enjoy them just fine. I expect Sith will become my 3rd favorite Star Wars film.

I also watched THX 1138 the other night for the first time and I really like that movie!

And if you look at Lucas' contributions to the world of film production/technology (sound, editing, special effects, etc.), he may actually be the most influential filmmaker in cinema history.

[Prav_007]

I also promise not to tell about Justin Timberlake's cameo appearance as an alien along with Cameron Diaz who perform a duet of the song Lapti Nek from the Return of the Jedi Original version.  See, Lucas took that song out from Jedi, only to put back in here.

So this Lucas' table scratch?? Sure beats the Phantom Menance without a doubt.

[hrabb04]

Did you all know that a ten yr old Han Solo was at one time going to be in ROTS? I kid you not.
Also, Lucas once joked about putting Qui Gon Jinn at the end of ROTJ with the other Jedi ghosts. Rick M reportedly groaned, "Oh, my God..."

[Triton]

My only real grip against Lucas is how he's messed with the original trilogy -- and basically it's just his changing of the original Star Wars and Empire. But I think he actually improved Jedi because that movie stunk even in '83. And while the prequels aren't masterpieces, I enjoy them just fine. I expect Sith will become my 3rd favorite Star Wars film.

I also watched THX 1138 the other night for the first time and I really like that movie!

And if you look at Lucas' contributions to the world of film production/technology (sound, editing, special effects, etc.), he may actually be the most influential filmmaker in cinema history.

I believe that THX-1138 is a very good film. Perhaps Lucas' best film behind the orginal Star Wars. "Buy more, buy more now. Consume. Be happy."

At least we have a choice with this one to see either the 1971 theatrical release on DVD or the ILMed CGIed Director's Cut of the film.

Strange how we never hear about Special Editions of Howard: The Duck or Radioland Murders.

[Triton]

Did you all know that a ten yr old Han Solo was at one time going to be in ROTS?  I kid you not. 
Also, Lucas once joked about putting Qui Gon Jinn at the end of ROTJ with the other Jedi ghosts.  Rick M reportedly groaned, "Oh, my God..."

Yeah, I heard about that. Not only was there going to be a ten year old Han Solo, but Chewbacca was actually raising him. Yet another remarkable coincidence in the Star Wars universe.

George will wait for Qui Gon Jinn's force ghost for the 3-D 30th Anniversary Special Edition. Plus there will probably be additional tweaks done to all six films for their release on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

[Donovan]

Yeah, I agree not to reveal anything that would spoil the relative surprises in the story.

Speaking of "Return of the Jedi" and spoilers, samples of the graphic adapted novel was sent to several retail stores and the major plot points were pubished in the news papers (Luke and Leia are siblings, Vader was indeed their father, Vader turns to good to save Luke and dies).

My main problem with the film was a certain lack of originality. Why does the new Death Star design look just like the old one? Ewoks can fight back armored Storm Troopers with rocks?

But without "Return of the Jedi", "The Empire Strikes Back" is a frustrating line-up of failures (where the good guys are concerned--especially main hero Luke; the only thing he does right in TESB is bring down an AT-AT and tag Vader in the shoulder. Everything thing else he fails at.) and cliff-hangers. "Return of the Jedi" is the payoff for "The Empire Strikes Back", and it does succeed for the most part...except for the friggin' Ewoks.

[hrabb04]

I guess something must be wrong with me, because the "friggin" Ewoks didn't bother me at all.

[Triton]

Yeah, I agree not to reveal anything that would spoil the relative surprises in the story.

Speaking of "Return of the Jedi" and spoilers, samples of the graphic adapted novel was sent to several retail stores and the major plot points were pubished in the news papers (Luke and Leia are siblings, Vader was indeed their father, Vader turns to good to save Luke and dies).

My main problem with the film was a certain lack of originality. Why does the new Death Star design look just like the old one? Ewoks can fight back armored Storm Troopers with rocks?

But without "Return of the Jedi", "The Empire Strikes Back" is a frustrating line-up of failures (where the good guys are concerned--especially main hero Luke; the only thing he does right in TESB is bring down an AT-AT and tag Vader in the shoulder. Everything thing else he fails at.) and cliff-hangers. "Return of the Jedi" is the payoff for "The Empire Strikes Back", and it does succeed for the most part...except for the friggin' Ewoks.

But I think that the misfortunes of the heroes The Empire Strikes Backmade the Empire a credible and powerful enemy.

In Return of the Jedi, I thought that it was brilliant that the Death Star II/Endor battle was orchestrated by the Emperor for the purpose of destroying the rebellion and goading Luke to the dark side. I especially enjoy Ian McDiarmid's scene chewing as the Emperor. I believe that Lucas redeems himself for the Ewok teddy-bears with the Death Star II throne room scenes.

[Johnboy007]

I guess something must be wrong with me, because the "friggin" Ewoks didn't bother me at all.

They don't bother me either. It's probably from liking them while watching them as a kid. I think ROTJ is often over-maligned by fans. Sure it's not as good as the first two, but it still delivers in a huge way.

[Donovan]

I guess something must be wrong with me, because the "friggin" Ewoks didn't bother me at all.

Oops. Did I say friggin'?

I meant freakin'.

Sorry about that.

[Harmsway]

Well, I just listened to the complete ROTS soundtrack. Very, very nice work from Williams - it successfully bridges the gap between the prequel scores and the original scores. Long live John Williams!

I've also read the script... and I've gotta say that my worries are confirmed for this film. The dialogue IS STILL as atrocious as always, and imagining it said by the same actors in the first two prequels is terribly cringe-worthy. Acting-wise, I'm sure it will be no better than the other two prequels. But as for actual plot events, Ep. III is going to be quite fun.

[hrabb04]

No worries, Donovan. You were still as eloquent as ever.

[SPECTRE ASSASSIN]

A spoof of the upcoming film:

http://www.wimp.com/episode/

Features some immature humor, but harmless goofy fun .

[Johnboy007]

Well, I just listened to the complete ROTS soundtrack. Very, very nice work from Williams - it successfully bridges the gap between the prequel scores and the original scores. Long live John Williams!

I've also read the script... and I've gotta say that my worries are confirmed for this film. The dialogue IS STILL as atrocious as always, and imagining it said by the same actors in the first two prequels is terribly cringe-worthy. Acting-wise, I'm sure it will be no better than the other two prequels. But as for actual plot events, Ep. III is going to be quite fun.

Not covering for the prequels by any means, but the dialog in the originals was not particularly special, especially STAR WARS. Must be something about George Lucas.

Still, it's supposed to have a lot of Ian McDiarmid, and he's good.

[Harmsway]

Well, I just listened to the complete ROTS soundtrack. Very, very nice work from Williams - it successfully bridges the gap between the prequel scores and the original scores. Long live John Williams!

I've also read the script... and I've gotta say that my worries are confirmed for this film. The dialogue IS STILL as atrocious as always, and imagining it said by the same actors in the first two prequels is terribly cringe-worthy. Acting-wise, I'm sure it will be no better than the other two prequels. But as for actual plot events, Ep. III is going to be quite fun.

Not covering for the prequels by any means, but the dialog in the originals was not particularly special, especially STAR WARS. Must be something about George Lucas.

Still, it's supposed to have a lot of Ian McDiarmid, and he's good.

I wholly agree. The dialogue in STAR WARS was darnright atrocious. There was a significant improvement for TESB and ROTJ, IMO, thanks to the talents of Lawrence Kasdan.

Ian McDiarmind, I'm convinced, will be the best thing about Episode III, and will probably make the movie worthwhile and enjoyable because he's such an excellent baddie. I remember seeing the Emperor in ROTJ for the first time and just getting shivers - the scenes he was in in ROTJ were also the best thing about that movie as well.

[Tarl_Cabot]

A Star Wars marathon in london May 16 with III being the finale:

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/


Hey Loomis, how about ya get us some tixs? We'll step out during I and II and grab a few pints.

[Loomis]

A Star Wars marathon in london May 16 with III being the finale:

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/


Hey Loomis, how about ya get us some tixs? We'll step out during I and II and grab a few pints.

Happy to knock a few back during I, but I'd rush back to the cinema for II. I'd be quite tempted to forsake JEDI for the pub, though.

Wonder how many seconds it'll take for all the tickets to sell out?

[Donovan]

This is a pretty good article that has a good grasp on what "Star Wars" was and what is has become, particularly with regards to Darth Vader.

The "Star Wars" I grew up with is really in George Lucas' novelization of his screenplay for the first film. Since he has repeatedly "re-written" his backstory of the saga, he comissioned new novelizations because his original mature vision wasn't correlating with his new wacky message films centered on powerful teen angst-ridden "Ani". I tried reading the new novelization, but the writing is obviously targeting a younger readership.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Filmtracks has quite an extensive review of John Willians' soundtrack.

[Loomis]

A Star Wars marathon in london May 16 with III being the finale:

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/


Hey Loomis, how about ya get us some tixs? We'll step out during I and II and grab a few pints.

Happy to knock a few back during I, but I'd rush back to the cinema for II. I'd be quite tempted to forsake JEDI for the pub, though.

Wonder how many seconds it'll take for all the tickets to sell out?

I think they should do a six-film Bond movie marathon at a London cinema when CASINO ROYALE comes out: either the debut film of each Bond actor (DR. NO/ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE/LIVE AND LET DIE/THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS/GOLDENEYE/CASINO ROYALE) or "the best" film of each Bond actor plus CR (GOLDFINGER/ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE/THE SPY WHO LOVED ME/THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS/GOLDENEYE/CASINO ROYALE).

[Harmsway]

This is a pretty good article that has a good grasp on what "Star Wars" was and what is has become, particularly with regards to Darth Vader.

That's an interesting article - I'm not sure I agree with all of it. I'm no huge fan of Jedi, but the moment where Vader turns against the Emperor I love. The parts with Vader in Jedi are wonderful moments where we see that Vader isn't entirely in control, like he seems. It's a facade, and in reality, he's a slave to the dark side. It's destroyed him. That's tragedy right there, and I didn't think it hurt the character at all - it gave him humanity.

Those scenes with Vader or the Emperor or both of them saved Jedi for me - I can skip the rest of the film, but those moments are poignant enough to end the saga on a good note (the other moment that works is Vader's funeral pyre - a nice thoughtful moment before the horrid Ewoks start their damn dancing).

[Tarl_Cabot]

A Star Wars marathon in london May 16 with III being the finale:

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/


Hey Loomis, how about ya get us some tixs? We'll step out during I and II and grab a few pints.

Happy to knock a few back during I, but I'd rush back to the cinema for II. I'd be quite tempted to forsake JEDI for the pub, though.

Wonder how many seconds it'll take for all the tickets to sell out?

Ah comon, Jedi rocks except for all scenes that take place in Northern California. Otherwise it's good fun.

[Tarl_Cabot]

A star Wars TV series that takes place between 3 and 4 is on the way:

http://www.aint-it-c...ay.cgi?id=20012



Can't we just have Episodes 7,8 and 9 instead?

[Johnboy007]

I picked up the novelization at Costco this afternoon, nifty cover.

May 19th is too far away!

[Qwerty]

Cool looking cover I thought as well - read a few pages over the weekend while at Media Play.

[Loomis]

Saw a few clips of EPISODE III on a preview DVD of movies, games, etc. that came with The Sunday Times. Looks a very exciting, action-packed affair, and considerably more interesting on a narrative level than Episodes I and II. However, the acting seems appalling, and the CGI appears to have been applied with about as much subtlety, restraint and basic good taste as you'd expect from an ageing, alcoholic clown in the throes of a nervous breakdown slapping on his makeup with a trowel. What I reckon we'll get is a film of astonishing visual imagination.... that'll actually hurt to look at in places. Hmmm.... looking forward to this latest STAR WARS flick, but I'm keeping my expectations "realistic".

[hrabb04]

Well, folks, it is just a movie. Whether people like it or not is not life or death. If, for example, Yoda farts in the movie, it will not lead to people in the real world dying. It may lead to people moving out of their parents' basements, but probably nothing more than that.

[Loomis]

Well, folks, it is just a movie.  Whether people like it or not is not life or death.  If, for example, Yoda farts in the movie, it will not lead to people in the real world dying.  It may lead to people moving out of their parents' basements, but probably nothing more than that.

Damn right. I'm glad I'm not a hardcore STAR WARS fan (although I do like the series and will see EPISODE III), and am therefore able to look forward to EPISODE III without feeling the need to tear my hair out and complain about Lucas raping my childhood, Han not shooting first, etc.

It'd be hypocritical for me to claim similar level-headedness about the Bond franchise, of course.

[hrabb04]

Exactly. The people who gripe like that just make me sick. The same types of Star Trek fans who seriously want to murder Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. I mean, get real, folks! It's not real! You would think Captain Kirk was a blood relative of theirs, or something.
Thank God most of the people on this site aren't as bad as the rabid Star Wars and Star Trek fans. Those people need some serious therapy.

[Jim]

This is this Jeddie thing, yes?