Star Wars

[Anonymous]

It's established by Lucasfilm that Palpatine is Sidious (Remember Dooku saying a Sith was running the Senate? Plus, the same actor portrays both parts. ). Still, I don't think the Sith have recruiters out there scouring the landscape for frightened or angry children to exploit, since the Sith are few (only two exist at any moment) and have been hiding out for centuries, until The Phantom Menace when Sidious and Maul start up their new endeavor. He was taught by whomever his Master was, way back when. As far as the lightning thing goes, I think that's a Sith move, kind of like how they uniquely use red lightsabres.

 

[Anonymous]

Okay, maybe the identity of the master isn't relevant to the film (though they seemed to be trying to cram in all kinds of useless information.... Annakin getting trampled by some strange beast just so he could roll around in the grass with Amidala - puuurlease!) but I am concerned that the Jedi haven't realised the senate's being run by a really bad guy AND they let Annakin hang out with him! I know they said they're losing their powers but this just seems ridiculous... no wonder they all die!

 

[Anonymous]

I think at the end of AotC Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Mace are discussing whether or not the Senate is run by a Sith, although they don't know it's Palpatine. Apparently, they have a hard time pinpointing specifics about the Dark Side, plus Palpatine is manipulatve and extremely covert, being a professional-level practitioner of CYA. Not only that, but as the Force becomes more balanced, the Jedi are losing power, so their insight might not be what it once was. I'm pretty certain Palpatine will reveal himself to be a Sith in the next film, though.

 

[Anonymous]

I went to see Star Wars again last night - marvellous! Sat right at the front, big bag of popcorn and soft drink - real in your face music and vision. It's actually better the second time around as you absorb a lot more. The first time it all flashes by so fast you go 'wow, cool, but what was that???' I still think Amnidala running through green meadows in her princess outfit was a bit shit though.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a moment of clarity about what is wrong with the new Star Wars films.
We have Luke/Anakin, we have Leia/Almadia, we have Obi, we have the droids, we even have Boba Fett's dad. So what is missing?
Han Solo of course, the best and most likable character has no replacement, the one person most people identified with.
Personally I thought ATOC was an insult. Poor script, terriable characters, awful acting. You think with all the money Lucas has he could have paid for a decent screenwriter and a dialogue coach.
Lucas was, is and always be a hack. The best film of the lot, Empire, is the one he had least to do with, and was directing by a real director, not a CGI techie with delusions of grandure.

 

[Anonymous]

I Totally Agree witrh Chatsubo about Han....

I watched Empire again the other Day, & was struck by the idea that Luke trains to become a Jedi in what can't be any more than a week! I know he doesn't complete his training, but he has enough to see him through the 'Jedi' and not worry about Yoda's death effectively ending the training! Isn't Annakin still an apprentice after 10 yrs in this?

And Obi-wan says he was trained by Yoda. NOT Qui-Gon-Jin

Maybe i'm just taking it a wee bit too seriuosly though, its only hollywood, after all.......!

Havan't seen AOTC yet, but i'm sure it will look nice..

 

[Anonymous]

Okay, so now I've actually seen it and i want to say I was pleasantly surprised.
I'd like to say that but I can't.
Ha, ha! No really I can, just joking. Yes the first half was like the animated parts of a video game with people and scenes being completely boring and unbelievable, people around me were laughing at the dialogue, but then while Anakin and Padme were alone by the fire together the laughter stopped, and the film seemed to get really good. From then on I was very much entertained and it seemed like one of the best star wars movies again.
I recommend people ask to pay half price to see the second half, or at least take a pillow and have a snooze, but set your alarm for about 1/2 way through.
Maybe the "Special Edition" could simply have less (shite) in it - making the film better, rather than the traditional 'more'.
Django Fett was actually really cool, they should have more of that sort of thing.

 

[Anonymous]

Anakin comes across as a spoilt brat

Understatement of the century - Anakin comes across an an unhinged, schizo, stalkerish would-be date rapist. The guy is clearly not all there in the head, and when his mother dies (and how cheeslily shite was that death scene? I had to bite my tongue to stop myself bursting out laughing) he is driven totally over the edge.

I thought it was brilliant how at the point where he goes out of the hut his dead mother is in and brutally slaughters the Tuscan raiders, it flips to Mace and Yoda and the Darth Vader Imperial heme is just subtly worked into the score, and then gradually recurs more and more obviously towards the end...

The scenes on Coruscant did look/sound just like something out of a Final Fantasy game. The bits filmed on location were much better. The rhino-thing and the weird cat-rat-thylacine-toothy-thing in the Gladiator rip-off scene looked kind of familiar from something outside the Star Wars universe, cant think where tho. There was a blatant LOTR rip-off scene when the locust-winged aliens are crawling out of the tunnels exactly like the orcs in Moria.

And who saw the Cthulhu-Jedi?

 

[marion]

I agree that Shmi's death scene was corny ! I almost expected her say ' the gold is buried at the old arggh....' . You can see that evil starting in Anakin too . I liked the film , it was darker and had a less commercial feel than The Phantom Menace , I don't imagine they will be selling too many Attack of the Clones lunch boxes.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree that Shmi's death scene was corny ! I almost expected her say ' the gold is buried at the old arggh....' . You can see that evil starting in Anakin too . I liked the film , it was darker and had a less commercial feel than The Phantom Menace , I don't imagine they will be selling too many Attack of the Clones lunch boxes.

Shmi dies??? aaaahhhh its a good job ive seen it lol. shame about the others.

 

[stu neville]

Yeah, thanks guys, I'm going to see it next week!

OK, so it's like an opera, and everyone knows how it's gonna end, but I'd like to see it without knowing the plot.:hmph:

 

[Anonymous]

I was there at the special previews at midnight.

Standing in line with the other half, gazing wide eyed at the Freaks and Geeks in the queue.....

One of five women in the whole audiance.

Not allowed popcorn in case it distracts from the great film.

Absolute total and utter pants.
Who on earth is the actor that plays Anakin - get him off and get someone from Neighbours on - it would be more believeable.

Yoda has way too many lines me thinks.
And just how do you raise and equip an army in that timeframe?

Pants pants pants pants.

BUT

The special effects were great and I loved the Storm Troopers uniforms.

Now Dog Soldiers....there's a bloody good film....

 

[marion]

Yeah, thanks guys, I'm going to see it next week!

OK, so it's like an opera, and everyone knows how it's gonna end, but I'd like to see it without knowing the plot.:hmph:

Ooops! Mind you I found out Anakin becomes unhinged by his mother's death/murder at least a year ago . And keep away from the reviews until you have seen it !

 

[dirtybob2]

I saw AOTC last Saturday and although I kind of agree with most of the points posted I think its worth making a few points.
Yes some of the acting isnt great, but please lets not forget the horror that was Mark Hamill, IMHO if he had been playing Han Solo he wouldnt have made it past EPIV. Also you say the dialogue is poor, it may well be but its not really the point of a Star Wars film is it.
Emmy, if I may call you Emmy, it is stated that they began the Clone Army 10 years previously - clearly some long term planning by someone!
Im not sure what most people expect from these films. surely most detractors saw the OT in there youth, and were blown away, fair enough, but that was 20 years ago, imagine seeing the film as a 10 year old, i suspect that you would find much of the OT fairly ropey.

 

[NilesCalder]

Erm...???

Folks you're reading a review thread and you don't expect someone to let slip a few spoilers?

I just saw it for the first time today and so I'm reading this thread for the first time.

BTW: the movie rocks! It's about ten times better than TPM, but is still poorly acted and poor on plot. The whole love thing grates...

Niles "Much you still have to learn" Calder

 

[Justin_Anstey]

Yes the first half was like the animated parts of a video game with people and scenes being completely boring and unbelievable, people around me were laughing at the dialogue, but then while Anakin and Padme were alone by the fire together the laughter stopped, and the film seemed to get really good.

Huh?:

"ANAKIN From the moment I met you, all those years ago, a day hasn't gone by when I haven't thought of you. And now that I'm close to you again, I'm in agony. The closer I get to you, the worse it gets. The thought of not being with you makes my stomach turn over - my mouth goes dry. I feel dizzy. I can't breathe. I'm haunted by the kiss you should never have given me. My heart is beating, hoping that kiss will not become a scar. You are in my very soul, tormenting me. What can I do? I will do anything you ask...

Silence. The logs flame in the hearth.

ANAKIN (continuing) If you are suffering as much as I am, tell me.

PADME ...I can't. We can't. It's just not possible.

ANAKIN Anything's possible. Padme, please listen...

PADME You listen. We live in a real world. Come back to it. You're studying to become a Jedi Knight. I'm a Senator. If you follow your thoughts through to conclusion, they will take us to a place we cannot go... regardless of the way we feel about each other."

Well, one doesn't expect good dialogue and acting to be a high priority with a Star Wars movie.

 

[stu neville]

Erm...???

Folks you're reading a review thread and you don't expect someone to let slip a few spoilers?

That's it though Niles - review, as opposed to minute dissection of storyline. OK, the Star Wars saga as a whole has been telegraphed anyway, we all know the outcome, but it'd be nice to have some surprises left along the way.

Love to hear about the fx and stuff though.

Ta

Stu

 

[Anonymous]

I didnt like the movie much to be honest, my advice is go see spiderman.

Or get Akira out on DVD. Restored my faith in films with big explosions after the letdown of AOTC

 

[Anonymous]

Here is kind of a wonky theory I cooked up about this, your right none of the
Jedi council say anything like, "oh yeah Palpatine, he was such a great Jedi knight back in his day" so my theory is this, that the sith, who I think keep their numbers really low to avoid detection, these sith like go around space, and find these women like anikin's mother and they knock them up, and then use a sith force trick to make the fetus really full of metachlorine and they then delete the memory of themselves from the mothers, and then they take off and monitor the child and mess with it's life so the kid is really unhappy and angry and they grow up without fathers, and then when the kids old enough, they yoink the kid and train him for sithhood. But the Jedi don't know anything about this and they just kind of bungled their way into meeting up with Anikin, this theory also lets Lucas do some pretty predictably retracing of his own foot steeps as in the next film I wouldn’t be surprised if theirs some kind of "Anikin I am your father" thing from Palpatine, maybe Palpatine/anikin/luke are all part of some kind of long Sith royal family going back zillions of years.
Plus perhaps that's also part of the sith tradition, the Jedi are detached from their biological family connections, but perhaps the sith are always initiated from father to son, and that probably means darth maul's mother was one ugly broad. And that Palpatine was trained by who ever was his father.
But I don't know anything much about star wars aside from the films and a few of the star wars tales of the Jedi comics from dark horse in the early 90's, so I don’t know if threes other comics or novels that explain the whole sith thing and make my theory a big pile of crap?

 

[Anonymous]

I quite like that theory - it would explain a lot of stuff, such as:

Why Anakin is the "one who brings balance to the force" - he brings the light and dark sides together, by being both Sith and Jedi, and in his son and daughter the Sith dynasty (if it is a dynasty) become the new Jedi, thus removing the schism between good and evil.

Why "there is no father" - perhaps Shmi was abducted, impregnated and made to forget it happened! The classic "alien abduction" thing, a bit like "The Village Of The Damned" - well its better than that pseudo-Virgin Mary crap anyway, which stood out as blatantly out of place, and which I would like to see as a red herring.

The duality between the Force being non-genetic in the original trilogy, and revealed as genetic in the Phantom Menace, is resolved by the "genetic-ness" of the Sith being replaced by the non-biological, "foster-family" type situation of the Jedi (I always saw the original Star Wars trilogy as being something of a parable against the nuclear/genetic view of the family and against patriarchy).

On the other hand, making Palpatine Anakin's father, and the whole "i am your father" scenario being repeated, would just be cheesy and unnecessary, and probably take away the impact of the original Darth Vader to Luke "I am your father" scene.

Then again, I never thought the prequel trilogy should have been made anyway, although I did like Attack of the Clones - but I still see it as on the same level as the comic books, entertaining but not really Star Wars, which was complete as the original Trilogy.

 

[Anonymous]

Huh?:


Well, one doesn't expect good dialogue and acting to be a high priority with a Star Wars movie.

What can I say? Me, a dyed-in-the-wool Star Wars fan of the first degree .......
I have tried and tried to be enthusiastic about AOTC but I have to admit I actually dozed off for part of it. It must have been during the dialogue between Anakin and Padme which starts off (according to a previous post) - ANAKIN From the moment I met you, all those years ago, a day hasn't - because I don't remember any of this at all!!

I only hope the sequel to the X-MEN isn't as disappointing.

 

[Anonymous]

What can I say? Me, a dyed-in-the-wool Star Wars fan of the first degree .......
I have tried and tried to be enthusiastic about AOTC but I have to admit I actually dozed off for part of it. It must have been during the dialogue between Anakin and Padme which starts off (according to a previous post) - ANAKIN From the moment I met you, all those years ago, a day hasn't - because I don't remember any of this at all!!

I only hope the sequel to the X-MEN isn't as disappointing.

I guess that will be X-Men II

oh dear...

 

[Beakmoo]

I thought Attack of the Clones was even worse than the Phamtom Menace. Fine if you like to watch things exploding for two hours, I like my films a little more cerebral. They should get Woody Allen to direct the next one Then I'd enjoy it.
The characters are uninteresting, the script appalling, the acting (apart from Christopher Lee) was wooden and the plot dull and impenetrable.
G Lucas seems to be suffering from "Roseanne Syndrome", ie, he's got too big and rich and no one can tell him where he's going wrong any more, so he actually thinks this unfathomable shite is good cinema.
But that's just my opinion.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought Attack of the Clones was even worse than the Phamtom Menace. Fine if you like to watch things exploding for two hours, I like my films a little more cerebral. They should get Woody Allen to direct the next one Then I'd enjoy it.
The characters are uninteresting, the script appalling, the acting (apart from Christopher Lee) was wooden and the plot dull and impenetrable.
G Lucas seems to be suffering from "Roseanne Syndrome", ie, he's got too big and rich and no one can tell him where he's going wrong any more, so he actually thinks this unfathomable shite is good cinema.
But that's just my opinion.

The problem with Lucas is that he's run out of Akira Kurosawa films to rip off.
The problem with AOTC was that it was neither a flash bang leave your brain at the door film or a complex political thriller, but combined the worst of both genres.

 

[kiel_d]

I think the probelm is this was a film made to try and appease the Star Wars fans who were out for lucus' throat after the shambles that was TPM. Lucus himself said it was based on a saturday morning matinee from the 50's (in the same way ANH was based on a serial from the same era) so cheesyness was unavoidable.

I think its one for the die-hard fans. I (being one of them) loved it, yes the dialogues pants (remember obi-wan's "thats no moon" line from ANH) yes the acting was bad (erm..with the exception of Harrison Ford, very few of the original cast had careers after the star wars flicks) but i think the plot was where it needs to be. Clones, Anakin -4- Amidala, Death Star, Rise of the Emperor, Disgruntled Jedi and of course Jango + Boba.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being "Romy and Michelles High School Renunion" and 10 being "Citizen Kane". I'd give it a 4-5

of the star wars flicks i'd say 3rd out of 5

My favoutite part was the sound when jango drops the mines in the asteroid field....everyone who's seen it comments on that scene.

thats my two penneth.

--kiel--

 

[Beakmoo]

My favoutite part was the sound when jango drops the mines in the asteroid field....everyone who's seen it comments on that scene.

You're right it was a impressive sound effect. But just once I would like a film to be more accurate in that respect, and to hear nothing from an explosion in a near vacuum. (Call me an old pedant if you will) I expect it will never happen though, it just irritates me every time. :hmph:

 

[kiel_d]

The sound designer has joked about that himself, saying he's better than god cos HE mangaged to make sound travel in a vacuum. But its a valid point.

And if were gonna get technical, i really didn't believe that shot where thousands of sentient robots armed with laser guns attacked the various aliens with their gleaming laser blades.

Suspension of disbelief is what's needed for this film. I'm sure if i was 7 i'd really love all the kiddie jedi stuff. Hell i wish my primary school was like that.........

--kiel--

 

[kiel_d]

Here's a couple of links that could help:

Darth Sidious:-

http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/darthsidious/index.html

and the The Sith:-

http://www.starwars.com/databank/organization/thesith/index.html

enjoy!
--kiel--

 

[TVgeek]

Yoda -- sorta OT

Did anyone read this in the databank?

http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/yoda/index.html

-------------------------------
While meditating, Yoda had felt a traumatic event befall young Anakin Skywalker. At that very moment, he also heard the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Master slain a decade previous. It was impossible for a Jedi to retain his identity after becoming one with the Force, yet he had heard it.

It was another dangerous and disturbing puzzle for Yoda to solve while the Republic collapsed around him.
---------------------------------

Very intriguing plot point! We may see Liam Neeson
as a blue ghost, yet!

TVgeek

 

[kiel_d]

hmmmm...Obi-wan became one with the force (faded away) he was a blue ghost, Yoda faded and became one with the force (he was a blue ghost, at the end of jedi) and anakin became a blue ghost without fading away...always puzzled me that one......so there doesn't seem to be any difference whether you fade away or not. (qui-gon didn't so i assumed he didn't become one with the force)

But if you loose your identity when you join the force, does that mean none of the blue ghosts joined

--kiel--