Revenge of the Sith

VonOfterdingen · Post by **VonOfterdingen** » Fri May 20, 2005 10:06 am

Anyone seen it? I saw it yesterday and i was thrilled. Some critic from Baltimore Sun called it a Pop-Masterpiece, which imo is a saying verdict.

Pretty tough stuff in it as well

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Fri May 20, 2005 11:43 am

please God it can't be any worse than the first 2 prequels.

VonOfterdingen · Post by **VonOfterdingen** » Fri May 20, 2005 2:06 pm

no it couldn't - and its much much better. Best one since The Empire Strikes Back

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Fri May 20, 2005 2:13 pm

I saw Star Wars around when it first came out but I haven't seen any of the sequels. I'm kind of proud of that and I'm not sure why. I did read a review today in the Daily Mail (free on the plane) that savaged Sith for the crummy acting and the poor writing.

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Fri May 20, 2005 2:56 pm

For what it's worth, A.O. Scott said the only one better of the entire saga was Revenge of the Jedi. We shall see...

[Whoops that was a brain fart-- he said the only one better was Empire Strikes Back. Revenge of the Jedi is not even the name of one of the movies]

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Fri May 20, 2005 3:06 pm

Seeing it Saturday night

SoLikeCandy · Post by **SoLikeCandy** » Fri May 20, 2005 4:41 pm

Went to a midnight showing. The visuals are stunning, and the story itself is well conceived. However, as a fellow nerd friend of mine said, "it would have been a perfect movie if it weren't for the sounds coming out of the actors' mouths that were supposed to be words."

George Lucas has the mind of a genius for action, and the mind of a porn movie writer when it comes to dialogue. Only Yoda is supposed to sound goofy, right? I can't remember all of the many, many cheesy ass lines, but my boyfriend and I were glared at by fanboys from all sides for giggling like 4-year-olds at lines like, "my love can't save her. Only my new powers can!", or, the best thing ever, the newly helmeted Darth Vader finding out his wife is dead, and screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOO!", cop-who-just-lost-a-partner-style.

Still, one of the best movies I've seen in the theatre all year.

(I've only seen three.)

Mike Boom · Post by **Mike Boom** » Fri May 20, 2005 5:24 pm

Yeah, it was by far the best of the prequels - returned a bit of magic to the series, but still had its faults - Vader pulling out of his wrist cuffs and stomping around like Frankenstein screaming NOOOO WAS pretty funny - but it has its great moments - and I found it even quite moving in parts - an emotion I never expected.

whar · Post by **whar** » Fri May 20, 2005 5:37 pm

I think it was atrocious. The ending was very powerful, but by the time it got there I was bored to death and the depressing finale only ruined my mood.
I loved Episode II, however. I don't understand how/why people look down on it as they do. Seems like people's initial reactions change easily when they read what the rest of the world is saying.

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Fri May 20, 2005 6:28 pm

The montage sequence where the Jedi knights are slaughtered is a perfect example of how the second series of Star Wars films has managed to drop the ball in the storytelling department. What should have had an epic, tragic sweep (its the downfall of the Republic!) is rendered mute because, other than Sam Jackson's dull as dirt Mace Windu, we've been given no opportunity to learn anything about these Jedi knights who we are suddenly asked to care about. In some cases, I don't remember seeing any of them until they were killed so there is no resonance for the audience with these assassinations. It also struck me as interesting how this sequence is pretty clearly patterned after the famous baptism massacre in The Godfather except that, with Coppola's film, we had been introduced to the people being murdered and knew them as characters so that their death had real impact as we were seeing half the primary cast getting whacked in one fell swoop.

Another Godfather parallel is the challenge of casting a new actor to play an iconic figure and watching where one (DeNiro as young Vito Corleone) succeeds brilliantly where the other (Christensen as The Man Who Became Vader) fails miserably. I assign no blame to the actor who has proven himself to be very good in other films (Life As A House, Shattered Glass, etc.) and put all of it on the godawful scripts that retroactively tarnish a great villain's menace by showing him as an annoyingly precocious little boy, an unbelievably annoying (and profoundly creepy) teenager and, finally, a one-note sulk whose relationship with Padme (poor, stranded Natalie Portman) is something that we are asked to believe is a galaxy-defying love affair when what we actually see and hear more closely resembles outtakes from the Britney Spears & Kevin Federline reality tv show. Hard-wiring Anakin's descent with the weakest aspect of the film's story makes it hard to buy into this poor man's Prince Hal or his dilemma. At no point in the film does this mopey, petulant tool give off one iota of the gravitas required to be convincing as the future Darth Vader.

The movie does have its many bright spots though unlike Phantom Menace and Attack of The Clones which you just about have to scower to find anything redeemable in either of them. Clones, in particular, is on my short list for worst major motion picture of all time. Anyway, Ewan MacGregor does really nice work as Obi Wan and his reaction to Anakin's turn almost makes up for the flatness of how the betrayal was staged in the first place. Ian McDiarmid, who plays Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, has the best material to work with as he seduces Young Indiana Skywalker by counterarguing those stick-in-the-mud Jedis with their joyless commitment to duty and self-sacrifice. Unfortunately, once Palpatine is deformed in his battle against Windu, the script requires McDiarmid to go a little too over the top and that's when it gets a bit giggly with the Emperor's scenery-chewing theatrics.

I'm not a big fan of green screen films in general but this one managed to work fairly well in terms of giving audiences these amazing visuals while making them seem fairly convincing as real things happening on the screen. One thing I miss about the pre-CGI (or whatever they're calling it) days is the sheer physicality of watching something actually happening in front of you. Even in lesser films, watching cars smack into each other, real buildings exploding, actors actually jumping (sans wire fu) across tables on to other actors....these things had real cause & effect which is something that I find missing from films like this or Sin City no matter how stunning they might be from a technical standpoint.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Fri May 20, 2005 6:57 pm

Haven't seen it yet, but I feel EXTREMELY safe in saying that, for Space Opera, "Serenity" (which I haven't seen either) will be better. Proably a lot better. Probably a lot, lot better.

(If you don't know what "Serenity" is at this point, you have just haven't been listening to me!)

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Fri May 20, 2005 7:01 pm

They showed the trailer for Serenity and, I must say, it did look pretty damn good. The trailer was set up like another other special effects laden actioner but the quirkiness of the characters and the dialogue managed to come through even in the bombast required in order to make an impression in a one minute spot.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Sat May 21, 2005 12:29 am

Interesting that they're showing it with "Sith" down El Vez's way. People on the Whedonesque web site in places back east and here in So Cal have been complaining of not seeing it.

And yeah, it's a very effective trailer, though I'm hoping the "I aim to misbehave" line plays better in context.

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Sat May 21, 2005 6:46 am

V cool avatar WHAR. Moody and arty all at once.

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Sat May 21, 2005 8:41 am

Saw it last night and found it very satisfying. Many flaws, as pointed out in above posts, but for someone who has been on the ride since 1977, it put things in a pretty neat package as far as I was concerned. Definitely like it MUCH more than the first two prequels, especially Phantom Menace, which I rank at the bottom of the Star Wars heap. The dialogue was terrible as usual, but then I remembered that this was an epic space sword and sorcery flick, and so dialogue was of less a concern to me than it would be in, say, Sophie's Choice. I felt very satisfied at the end when Sidious and Vader are gazing at the Death Star in progress, surrounded by guys in identical uniforms to the Empire lackeys in the original film. And did you see the young Peter Cushing look alike exit stage left as they came into that shot? Neatly done.

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Sun May 22, 2005 5:05 am

Thought it was over long and parts of it were very boring, how many choreographed light sabre fights do you need in one film? Yawn. I liked PM, but I'm not long standing SW fan, only saw them all when they were rereleased back in the late nineties.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Mon May 23, 2005 11:13 am

I liked it a lot. It's flawed, deeply in places. SLC nailed the problem with Darth screaming "Nooooo!" But I still thought it was the best since Empire. Though that's admitedly not saying much.

Only one thing could have made the slaughter of the younglings scene better: If Anakin had started whistling "Singin' in the Rain."

selfmademug · Post by **selfmademug** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:38 pm

This has to be seen to be believed...

http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html

"That's not a moon.... it's a melon!"

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:55 pm

that's brilliant, SMM!

I love the Thai fighters.

oily slick · Post by **oily slick** » Tue May 24, 2005 3:07 pm

i would rather spend an evening listening to fran drescher read deuteronomy.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:28 pm

She's actually doing that on this theater on La Cienega. The opening act is Kenneth Branagh reading the yellow pages.

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:39 pm

bobster wrote:The opening act is Kenneth Branagh reading the yellow pages.

Meh, Derek Jacobi did it better at the Old Vic.

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Tue May 24, 2005 5:35 pm

Corny, it was.
The only half decent lines, Sidius had.
Bolts in his neck, Vader was missing.
Much excitement, it gave me!

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Tue May 24, 2005 8:23 pm

"A prophecy which misinterpreted might have been."

Actual frickin' quote. Worst....syntax....ever.

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:46 am

Now that the Republic is under new management, perhaps they'll address the appalling Health & Safety record found throughout the Galaxy.

At the very least, better signage is required at street level (e.g. 'Danger, Falling Jedi'), but preferably more fences and railings (or at least finger holds) around the edges of the myriad suspended platforms found on every planet.

Other issues that need serious consideration include - hand gun control (e.g. no light sabre's over 30 watts), welfare reform (esp. for the poor widows of the many fallen Stormtrooper heroes), and compulsory acting lessons.

Only then can the Emperor claim to be serious about 'peace in the Galaxy'.

BTW does anyone else agree that:
- after his Windo facial, the Emperor looks like Snow White's evil stepmother?
- Ja Ja Binks was mercifully speechless?
- 'order 66' is actually Sweet & Sour Chicken, Hong Kong Style?