I got the chance to see it last night and left the theatre much happier than I did the last two times I've gone to see a Star Wars film. Few cheesy lines, almost no Jar Jar, and a much darker plot make it amazing... It also revolves around my childhood hero,so there was a fascination that wasn't there in Episodes I and II.

Your childhood hero was Commander Cody? Mine too!!!

Words really cannot describe how utterly amazed I was by this film. It was everything that I wanted it to be and more. I swear, it is so good that the episodes I and II are great retroactively. There is so much action, so much characterization, it's up there with the originals. Lucas totally delivers.

I agree to an extent... I was pretty damn impressed... I want to see the uncut or director's cut version though on DVD...

I was left with feeling that a lot of meat was left on the edit bay floor to make time. Something tells me there is more about the battle of Kassyykk. My other big beef was the utterly ridiculous dialogue between Padme and Anakin... did we really need 4 scenes of this? All saying the exact same thing? And the way Lucas just neatly buttoned up all the holes bridging the OT with the new series was a bit pat... did it all have to happen in 2 minutes? When Vader gets off the gurney and shouts "Nooooo" while stumbling around like Herman Munster was a bit much, too. And oh... the Death Star being built? What kind of lame ass contractors are they using that it took 20 years to become almost operational? I'd get a refund, there Lord Vader...

On the plus side: the duel between Kenobi and Anakin was damn sweet... Ben leaving him there to die was stellar. The juxtaposition between life and death in the Padme-Vader scenes were great. And all of the nods to OT imagery was fun. I'll go see it again just to get those shots.

I was watching Star Wars (New Hope to you younglings...) before I went to the movie last night. There's a whole new meaning to the scene where Ben and Luke are in Ben's hut talking about Anakin and he gives him his father's lightsaber. The genius of the whole thing, is that you can see in Alec Guinness' face that he's withholding details from Luke... very cool.

And before you bitch about spoilers, there is nothing in here that isn't well known... so phhhhhhpth.

(Edited by Peace Frog at 10:02 am on May. 19, 2005)

I think that was one of the strongest points of the movie. The betrayal and destruction of the Jedi was absolutely fabulous and everything that I had hoped it would be. I was afraid they wouldn't show Ki-Adi-Mundi, Plo Koon, Aayla, Kit Fisto, etc. But they did. And it was great.

I have to agree with some of the Anakin and Padme scenes. I think Lucas was just trying to really sell Anakin's motivation to the audience. Their last scene on Mustafar, though, was great. I think that both Hayden and Natalie stepped up the acting with this movie even though it was the same ol' Lucas dialogue.

I read in Premiere magazine, or someplace, that a lot was edited out. Lucas had an entire subplot about Padme forming the rebellion. And there's a Mon Mothma action figure, but where was she? Lucas said that anything not involving Anakin had to be cut for length and, I guess, it made the film a lot more focused. The movie tells a straightforward story and doesn't meander about like the first two. Still, I think Padme starting the Rebellion is something worth seeing.

SPOILERSTaking 19 years to build the Death Star may seem a bit long, but I think that's how long it took to build the second one. If I recall correctly, there was 10 years in between ANH and ESB and around 1 between ESB and ROTJ. So the second one took around 11 years and it was even finished yet. The building time was also probably quickened since they built one already. And honestly, seeing Grand Moff Tarkin and the Death Star was too awesome to leave out. I loved that.

MORE SPOILERS, SEE THE MOVIEThe only thing that I still do not get and am moderatly miffed about...why, in ROTJ, does Leia talk about remembering her mother and how sad she was when she never even knew Padme since she dies during childbirth? That is a pretty big plot hole that I'm surprised they didn't address. They got 3PO's mind wiped, like I always knew they would. Why couldn't they address this? Maybe Leia remembers her from the womb (a latent Jedi thing)? Maybe Leia's just a big pain and wanted to outdo Luke who had just revealed Vader was his father? Eh...

STILL SPOILERING I also would have liked to have seen Qui-Gon since they revealed that he had figured out how to commune from death. That was a really cool touch.

I was truly entertained by this one. It was wonderfully done. It's not perfect, but it's still good. I'll have to watch it 7 or 8 more times to really decide where it falls compared to the rest of the saga.

Beware of spoilers:

The good:
1. Obi-Wan really shines in this one. We were told his as powerful as Windu before (though we never really saw what he could do either), but he never really showed us this in the last one.
2. I was satisfied with the elaboration on the ethos of the Sith. This has never been discussed before.
3. The death of the all the Jedi was pretty satisfactory. I just wish Vader would have killed more of the grown ones himself.
4. The massacre of the Separatists was nice.
5. Yoda. He was hampered by a sprinkling of bad lines, but he really shone throughout and especially in the last part.
6. The defeat/suiting of Vader. Exactly as it should be.
7. Continued limb cut-offing. I loved all the heads chopped off in II, and this one kept that going.
8. Palpatine. I think he half holds all of the non-action scenes in the first half of the film together.

The bad:
1. The wookiees had the perfect opportunity to tear some arms off of some clones and/or some droids, but they let me down.
2. General Grievous. Great concept...killed too easily.
3. The critics attack Obi-Wan's line, "You were the chosen one," as a bad line. I think the worst line award goes to James Earl Jones: "What happened to Padme?...Noooo!"
4. Natalie Portman. All bad lines. Annoying most of the time. (Her hottness could not save her from the Dark Side). And she was a little too prepared to name those twins.
5. The emperor, after the attempt on his life, is transformed dramtically. Fine. It's just that his evil voice seemed to vary. His appearance continues to change after the initial series of changes. He never developed a single look or voice until the last few scenes.
6. "The first Galactic Empire!" >Cheers ensue; liberty is dead< Wouldn't it have been cooler, George, if the clone troops and droid armies, both under the control of the emperor, had burst in and created more of a military-based totalitarian regime?


Still not sure about:
1. The wookiees and Chewbacca appearing in this film at all.
2. The ending where all loose ends are set up for the 2nd trilogy. I am going back and forth on this one. My first impression is that I wish there would be more left to the viewer to figure out rather than spelling it out so plainly. I'll have to see it a few more times to decide.
3. Inaccuracies. The most blaring to me ties in with Return of the Jedi:
Luke: Do you remember your mother, your real mother?
Leia: Just images, really. Feelings. She dies seconds after I was born, but she was very beautful. Kind, but sad. Why are you asking me this? Are you that other newborn that was there?
4. The last moment between Yoda and Obi-Wan:
Yoda: BTW, Obi, quickly let me show you to communicate with the dead so that quickly we can, as an afterthought almost , briefly explain how vanish we do when later we die, instead of like all those other guys. And I'm going to tempt you with a Liam Neeson cameo, but sorry I am.


Yes, I was up all night digesting this movie after I saw it. And Digsy's simultaneous post stole some of my thunder.

(Edited by YaDaDaDa at 9:35 am on May. 19, 2005)

i saw it last night, and i'm immensely happy. joeywade, that was all i could think about, was that this one was good enough to make 1 &2 not suck as bad.

my only beef was that it was so rushed... there was so much story to cover in one movie. it'd have been awesome if mon mothma had been in it.

and brett, i think you just shot some pretty big holes in it that i hadn't realized, and now i'm a little sadder.

i also got really excited, hoping for qui-gon, but it does make the end of a new hope make more sense...

Isn't that the chick who appeared completely nude in Playboy this month? That may have something to do with it.


I need to go back and watch the scene, but was she talking about her foster mother by any chance? Probably not.

This movie far exceeded my expectations. It was well worth the $19 for the pair of tickets and the 3 hours we spent waiting in line and in the theater. Green Hills Commons did a top-notch job with all that, by the way.

I think that was a tribute by Lucas to the greatest TV series of all time. I read an interview where he said that....no really, I did!

No, Mon Mothma was the chick that led the Rebel attack on the new Death Star in Return of the Jedi. I seriously doubt Lucas would have had Bai Ling playing someone who was white in the original trilogy.

I liked the movie a lot, although I haven't fully digested it yet, either. I definitely want to see it again. As far as the best of the new trilogy, maybe, but I think Episode II is very underrated.

Probable spoilers, I don't know.

I really like how everything was tied up to lead into the next trilogy. I guess I just like having definitive answers to things instead of fanboy speculation and answers given in a random comic book published three years from now.

General Grievous is absolutely amazing in the Clone Wars cartoon and his presence in the movie was a let down. The thing is, at the end of the Clone Wars cartoon, they show Grievous kidnapping Palpatine. It's quite awesome and it ends with Mace Windu and Yoda arriving just as Grievous is getting on his ship. Mace forch pushes Grievous' chest, totally jacking him up. That's why he was coughing and sickly throughout the movie. That's something that I both love and hate. I love that the cartoons were treated with such importance to fill in that hole, but I hate it because if you haven't seen the cartoons you will have no idea why Grievous was hacking away. That's risky.

After seeing Episode III, I have to wonder if the order that people watch these movies will now change. If you watch them in order, I-VI, you lose so much of the surprise of ESB and ROTJ, as well as gaining an ick factor when Leia kisses Luke in ANH and ESB. The entire Star Wars series then really becomes about Darth Vader and not Luke. Plus there's the back to back Obi-Wan/Anakin fights in III and IV, which are of vastly different intensities (Alec Guinness' wee little spin he does in ANH is hilarious).

I can't stop thinking about this movie. I'll be seeing it again in two hours.

As for Leia's mother, I just assumed she was talking about her foster mother and didn't know any better. And I don't know if I missed something, but If the Death Star had gotten finished and had bee naround a couple years before ANH, who's to say that anyone that discovered it didn't get sucked in by the tracker beam and killed and no one knows about it. I'm agreeing with YaDa about the twin's names. But I liked it a lot over all.

The Death Star was just coming online during ANH... they tested it by blowing up Alderaan.

A bit of trivia... the weapons control panel of the Death Star is a Grass Valley 1600 video switcher... I used to direct the local news on one of those back in the mid 90's... I could never help myself when fading between mix effects banks with the fader bar to make the "deeeeooooooooooooooowwwwwww" sound.

Thank God my wife was in front of the camera and couldn't see what a nerd I actually was until it was to late....
You May Fire When Ready

(Edited by Peace Frog at 3:56 pm on May. 19, 2005)

I'm assuming the sex of her "baby" was unknown, therefore she already had a male and female name prepared. We probably missed the sequence where the doctor droids told her it was twins, because she definitely didn't seem surprised when the second one popped out.

Great analysis! I agree that the wookies were horribly underused.

For continuity, I'm also glad they decided to wipe the minds of the protocol droids.

i really need to see this movie again to fill in the holes of what i missed last night, and i'm thinking i should see the clone wars cartoon, as well...is it out on dvd yet?

honestly, i'd have rather Lucas just have made this one big 3 hour jedi-fest rather than what we got.

the deaths of the jedi, the more i think about it, are pretty stupid... these guys are JEDI MASTERS, they can kick ANYONE'S ass. but a few clone troopers is too much for all of them? i ain't buying it.

peacefrog, that's hilarious... and if i were in your shoes i know i'd have done the same thing.

Grievous was cool by me.... the four lightsabers swinging was pretty damn awesome, visually.

I really dug this movie. I and II are definitely better now that we can see the entire story, but this one is by far the best (for the record I did enjoy ep. II quite a bit). Palpatine's manipulation of Anakin was great. I thought his manipulation of the Republic was one of the strongest bits from eps I and II as well. I agree with whoever said that we should have seen more of Anakin during the Jedi Temple attack. I would also have liked to have seen some stuff with the formation of the rebellion. Maybe on the DVD.

My favorite thing about this movie is how much weight it adds to all the other movies. Obi-Wan and Yoda are much richer characters now that we've seen what they've endured. Vader's redemption and death in Return of the Jedi has much more impact now since we've seen his complete arc. We understand the history behind Vader and Obi-Wan's duel on the death star now (even though the fight itself is not that great).

I also really like how well the movie segues into ep IV, particularly the character reveals. When we see the returning characters from the prequels in ep. IV, they are revealed as though we have seen them before.

R2-D2 and C-3PO in the hallway on the same ship where we last saw them.

Vader entering the blockade runner after the stormtroopers.

Luke coming out of the igloo on the moisture farm.

Obi-Wan pulling back his hood and looking at R2-D2 with the "force theme" playing.

It's the little shit that makes a geek happy.

I thought about that last night. It's just brilliant how well so many things add up now.



Volume One of the Clone Wars is out on DVD right now. That has the first few battles of the Clone Wars immediately following Episode II. It ends with Grievous' first appearance. Volume Two will be out sometime soon and has Grievous' kidnapping of Palpatine. Mace Windu is totally awesome in the cartoons. He kills a couple hundred droids...bare handed. I have the second volume on VHS from where Cartoon Network reran the whole thing.

And about the ambush, I buy it. Watch it the second time, every single one of them was killed from behind immediately. None of them had any time to react, not even with their Jedi reflexes. Ki-Adi-Mundi put up a decent fight before being overwhelmed, but the rest of them all got sucker punched (by lasers). Still, I would have loved to have seen them all get proper sendoffs. The Empire is so cruel...



Ah! I feel like such an idiot for not knowing this. The switcher in the control room at MTSU is a Grass Valley. I knew it looked familiar!



And Episode III is even better the second time around. If anyone wants to see it, let me know. I'm always down for some Sith Revenging.

Good to hear. I'm going to see it again tomorrow. It will be much easier to watch without a Vader mask on . . .

I know at one time you could watch every chapter of the Clone Wars at starwars.com. It defintely is a great lead-in to the movie (the scar on Anakin's face, the first emergence of Grievous, the kidnapping of Palpatine, Windu being a bad-ass, etc).

lol. I was actually pleased to see a decent turn out of people in costume. The first people I saw when I got the the theater were Han and Leia. I felt kinda bad for laughing at them, but you know. And it wasn't really at them, more to myself about them. There were also several Jedi Knights, a few Sith Lords, two Vaders, and a Wookie. Not too bad.

Much better than at Return of the King. All that showed up there were a couple of elves. And by elves I mean a couple of dudes with sheets for cloaks and Spock ears.

We were the only people dressed up at the Cason Lane theatre in the boro, I felt like a dork (albeit a cool one). I wouldn't feel too bad about laughing at people in costumes... they knew what they were getting into. Our group probably laughed at ourselves more than anyone else laughed at us. We had 12 tickets and jokingly said that everyone had to dress up in order to get a ticket. A guy made a life-size r2d2 and from there, it turned into an elaborate event. Here we are, minus yoda (he met us at the theatre).

I saw you and I almost went up to get your picture while you were waiting in line for concessions.

Whoah, small world. I was at the start of the line and as soon as your posse walked in, Joey, everyone stood up and tried to get a good look. I was impressed, most impressed, with the costumes. How does one make a life size R2-D2 and where does one put it during the movie? And you all had the totally sweet super lightsabers. Most impressive.

I was also crazy jealous because I almost wore my totally awesome Han Solo costume but decided against it.

There was an Obi-Wan and his lady friend at the start of the line and after seeing you guys walk in, they both had this look on their face like "We were just outdone." Priceless.

(Edited by DigsySlattery at 7:04 am on May. 20, 2005)

The guy that made R2-D2 can build anything I'm convinced. He probably had more talent at age 5 than I do today. He had the head turning by remote control and the sensor lights actually blinked. We actually had a girl give R2 an extra ticket she had so it could sit inside the theatre with us.

Good to know a droid prevented some poor kid from getting a ticket on opening night!

Seriously, though, nice pics!

Man, I thought you were kidding. Nerd alert

Which one of deeez buttons calls your mommy to come peeeek you up? Yesssss.

I keed! I keed.

I think your jealous

I wasn't sure if you were kidding or not. Either way it's funny. Seriously though, your group's costumes were very good. R2-D2's a nice touch.

His jealous what? And what about it?

Better than the other two, for certain, but still more of the same painful dialogue. I was a Star Wars super fan in high school, and the opening of episode I was a pretty big deal to me, but I've lost most of my love for the saga as a result of the middling quality of episodes I and II. I went into episode III optimistic, wanting to love it. I liked it, but not sure if I loved it like IV,V, and VI. random thoughts: (spoilers)

-performance wise, Palpatine/Emperor/Sidious carried the film. His delivery, and dare I say dialogue, was much more reminiscent of the pacing and style of all the acting in IV-VI.

-Ewan McGregor's performance was a pleasant surprise. I felt he was a bit of a drag on the other two, although he didn't have much of a script to work with. Here he was solid, though his scenes with Hayden Christensen only highlighted the latter's complete misplacement in his role. Which has made me wonder if the primary problem with these films is in the casting, with the script and editing being secondary handicaps. I have to wonder if we would have a truly amazing trilogy on our hands if a more comlex and talented actor had been cast as Anakin. Many of you will laugh at the idea, but the first actor to come to mind would be Colin Farrel. I know it would have been impossible, i'm just saying "what if?"

-Sam Jackson still couldn't get his delivery right.

-Natalie Portman was still bad. Though I'm not much of a fan of hers. On a related note, only today did I realize that Padme's death was pretty unmoving. I mean, this is a central character to this trilogy, and her death wasn't even half as moving as Obi-Wan's in episode IV when we knew him for 10 minutes.

-The opening rescue scene was great...paced and edited more like IV-VI. Same thing with the editing between the Anakin/Obi-Wan and Yoda/Sidious battles. The cuts toggling between the two scenes was reminiscent of the brilliant editing in VI , between the charge on the Death Star and Luke's fight with Vader in Sidious' chambers.

-Yoda's entrance into Sidious' chambers, paralyzing the guards with a shake of his hand, was one of the best moments in both trilogies.

-I loved the return to ship that IV opens with....with bright white walls and light. I wish there would have been more of that set. It was a familiar sight and welcome relief to the darkness of film. Same thing with the final shot of Vader and Sidious in the familiar command room with Grand Moff Tarkin.

-Someone mentioned that the entire saga seems more about Anakin/Vader now than Luke Skywalker. I think this was Lucas' intention all along.

-Give credit to Lucas for the very overt political statements made in the film. It could have been disastrous if not handled correctly...I thought he did a good job of making it work.

-I was hoping for one more cockpit hyperspace shot. Alas...

-One thing I missed:what was the point of the battle on kazhyyyk? what was going on, and why was yoda there? I wish there was more of the wookies, which leads me my final comment...

-I hope we get Lucas' full cut on DVD. I hope he doesn't just give us a few chickenshit "deleted scenes."

Again, the film was overall much more likeable than the previous two episodes. I believe this is because stylistically (editing, pacing, etc) it was a bit more like IV-VI, there was a more complex conflict at the center of the story, and its proximity to the imagery, characters, and themes in episodes IV-VI made it better and more familiar by default. As the film inched closer to the (more intriguing and less convoluted) story in IV-VI, it became not only more fun to watch, but more solid--emotionally and thematically.

Lastly, I think I've finally pinpointed what has been an intangible dislike for the CGI backdrops of the I,II, and III. And I noticed it while dissecting the editing style. You see, in IV, V, and VI, the sets and backdrops are very tangible, have more depth, and for lack of a better term, feel more real. When, in those films, we are taken (via the editing) from Degobah to Hoth, or the Death Star to Tatooine, or Endor to wherever, we really feel like we are being taken into another complete world. It never occurs to us that these are in fact locales on earth, or were created in a studio or soundstage. The organic backdrops strike a perfect balance between tangible familiarity and other-worldly sci-fi imagination that tricks our minds into believing in this vast, diverse, beyond-your-wildest-dreams universe. Meanwhile, throughout the course of I,II, and III, we are fully cognizant of the fact that these locales and characters are animated and are not tangible. All the systems sorta kinda look the same, or at the very least, the backdrops have the same hue. Therefore, the "buying-in" to Lucas' universe is more difficult...it requires more effort to escape to this world, to live in it and identify with the characters in it. Whereas from the first few shots in episode IV, we were sold and immediately ensconced in it. I know I may not be saying anything too profound here, that a lot of this goes without saying, but i think it may have taken this current trilogy, with all its advanced animation and graphics and effects, to truly highlight just how good the original trilogy was. In other words, while before we were enamored with Lucas' universe if not exactly knowing why, I think now we have a point of reference in how he was successful in getting us to escape to his world, which could only be realized precisely with a juxtaposed relative failure.

(Edited by roadie at 10:46 am on May. 21, 2005)

A critic somewhere said that the first three are the long wind-up for the last three. I remember leaving Episode One in its first week open and thinking, "Wow, that was great and all, but Episode III will be the one to see!" The Episode I DVD and a few too many watchings of the weak first film have made it so that I cannot stand the sight of any of it. I'll watch it again this summer as I'm reflecting on the completed saga, but the only part that I will look forward to is the battle with Darth Maul. Episode II features some great battle scenes that really bring into focus the fact that these are "Star Wars." Lucas said in its commentary that he could not have made a battle like that before, or ever imagined that he could have made one. The increased scope is its selling point. I was so happy that it was so much better than the first one. But now the cool introduction of Dooku and Anakin's hand getting chopped off and all that other stuff rests in my memory like Episode I: a laborious wind-up to the next film and the meat of the story. I disagree with you, Digsy. I think #3 makes the other two pale in the face. It gives us everything of the Prequels that we were wanting. The other two just give us back story that would have been more enjoyable if read in a book.

I have always had the same troubles as roadie with the computer backgrounds. I think that the technology is getting caught up such that the backdrops of Episode III are somewhat more believeable. It also helps that III seems to use more elaborate sets more of the time (i.e. the white insides of the Organa's blockade runner and the control room in the climactic battle at the end). But then again, I think all of the computer stuff looks better on a movie screen with a film projector than it does on the ultra-high-quality of DVD. That little bit of graininess, imperfection, makes it better. On DVD, all the edges are so well-defined.

Did anyone see Episode II at the IMAX? They cut about 30 minutes from the theatrical version to make a Cliff Notes version for IMAX. I feel like I'm seeing the IMAX summary all over again during the parts about the wookiees and in the end.

I think Lucas turned to his own dark side. I think that instead of acknowledging his own weaknesses with the Force and turning to other talented Hollywood cohorts (most notably Lawrence Kasdan who helped him conceptualize Eps IV and V and then parted ways with him over creative differences about RotJ). Instead, like the Sith, he has sought more power. He cut off the hands of his actors by exposing his greatest weakness: his ability to write dialogue. Even in I and II, the story and the concepts are there, but no one can convey them. No one can do this because the man using his mind tricks to control them only gives them weak lines. He then shows us his other weak side. He chooses the takes in which the actors are saying their lines in ways that no one would ever really say them (and IV is the worst for that). And then he unleashes his droid army of computer animators to destroy all that is left alive. It then becomes more ironic that IV stars two droids with more human-like characteristics than the evil humans, all of whom act more like droids. So at least in the grand scheme of things, time will show that humanity in the last three will win out over the control imposed on the first three. Too bad that Lucas most likely won't get a chance to find the redemption that Anakin does.

But I digress. These are my observations from the second time: (spoilers?)

1. I have come to terms with the wind-up into the second trilogy. It sets up the rest wonderfully.

2. I have always approached these films thinking about the continuity of all 6. I wonder how the newcomer would view the Yoda of II and III versus the Muppet. Then there's the light saber dueling. I then realized something about IV. I always felt like Obi-Wan knew that Vader would kill him, and that he knew he would have more power with the force to help Luke if Vader killed him. I think the continuity between them rests on the fact that Obi-Wan never took off his cloak in IV, Luke never learned the bad-assity of the weapon, and Vader could only move slower with his suit.

And roadie, Lucas said in an interview long ago that he wanted to preserve the effect of that moment in IV when Han jumps to light speed. That's the only "surprise effect" that is, it seems.

3. True, I wasn't really all that sad when Padme died. The emotional pull of the film, I think, is when the Jedi are all killed. It is at that moment when it really sets in that evil will prevail in this film. Ditto that when Yoda and Obi-Wan separately confess that they have failed.

4. Here's a problem with this one that I noticed but didn't mention last time:
INTERIOR ROOM WITH LOW KEY LIGHTING. YODA AND ANAKIN SIT OPPOSITE EACH OTHER.
Anakin: Gee golly, Yoda, I sure have been feeling bad these days 'cause of all these visions of death in the future.
Yoda: Ask only questions that tell me nothing, I will, because troubled you obviously are over this. But beware that this can lead to the Dark Side.
Anakin: I am afraid of loss. I don't know what to do.
Yoda: Only pithy one-liners will I give you about the Force and letting go. True counsel, I will not give you. Led to the Dark Side from these feelings you may be, and danger have I sensed from the beginning in you, and pain have you suffered about your mother. But no attention will I pay you.

USE YET ANOTHER WIPE TO TRANSITION TO SCENE OF ANAKIN BITCHING WITH OBI-WAN.

The Jedi lose a lot of cred in this one as the Sith feelings become so clear. Thematically, the saga never answers Palpatine's accustations (especially about the Jedi's narrow view of the force and their "dogmatic" notions of it). Lucas never really answers the questions of the Jedi having to deal with their human sides. To him, they are trained early and taught to be ethereal and dispassionate while giving all of their well-rehearsed pat answers. This reminds me a lot of the current world's problems with contemporary American Christianity...

5. This leads me to something else. A key element of IV-VI is friendship. All of those people are friends. There isn't much friendship in the I-III. There's lots of companionship, but we never sense deeper bonds of friendship with these people until III. I can believe that Jimmy Smits is friends with these people. I finally see hints of it between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Padme finally hints at friendship with Anakin (NOT true love) just before he starts choking her. But until then, friendship hasn't been there. The wookiees in III highlight the weak and forced version of friendship that we've been putting up with for the last two movies.

Okay, I'm done ranting. Forgive me, I have no other place to rant since TF is out of town this weekend and Token is not a big fan. Overall, I am more satisfied with III after the second watch. I was so tempted to turn around and see it again.

For the record, I've only read one piece of fan fiction, and that was over 10 years ago. And I'm not a member of Hyperspace.

(Edited by YaDaDaDa at 2:54 pm on May. 21, 2005)

whoops

(Edited by SuperElk at 3:27 pm on May. 21, 2005)

i didnt know they did that with the IMAX version for Epsiode II.
Do you know if they did that for ROTS?

anyway, since everyone hit all the points id hit here and there i will say this as far as my opinion on the movie goes.
better than I and II (not a challenging feat) but not nearly as good as IV V or VI. Horrible readings save for Sidious. Sammy J was a riot. Great lightsaber scenes. Good but not nearly as good as everyone is making it out to be.

I'll be seeing "Revenge of the Sith" on the IMAX tonight. I'll give a detailed report about what, if anything, was left out.

I saw "ROTS" for a third time last night and I tried to find things that could be edited out. I love the movie and I like the slow build it has, but the 30 or so minutes in between Palpatine's rescue and his arrest are quite slow and have too many of Anakin and Padme's scenes. The scene with Padme brushing her hair talking about Naboo could be completely lost. Yoda's advice giving scene could go as well.

Yeah, some cracks in the pacing of the first half are definitely prominent after a third time, but I also am enjoying just how awesome Ian McDiarmid and Ewan McGregor's performances are. The two of them seem so deep into their characters and also convey the right amount of sinister manipulation (Palpatine) and swashbuckling fun (Obi-Wan). I also think that Jimmy Smitts gives a lot in his small performance in terms of matching with the original trilogy.

I'm going to break my record and see this 7 times in the theater.

Don't say I don't have goals.

i wish you good luck in this.

i also wish i didn't have a desk job and could go see it again, perhaps this weekend i'll go see it at a better theater than the premier 6 (though, as it's only the 2nd time i've been there, i will say i really dig that theater)

I refused to go to Premire 6 for a long time due to the nasty floors, ugly chairs, and unpleasant aroma. After going there last night, the new management has done a lot to spruce up the place. The chairs are new even though the floor is still hideous. Eh.

I do like that I only had to see two trailers before "ROTS." No commercials and trailers for 10 other crap movies. I really like that. Also, the large popcorn was over a quarter cheaper than the small popcorn at Wynnsong. That's a deal. And really, seeing Star Wars there wasn't as bad if you sit closer to the front.

And now I'm doing a 50% Star Wars edition of my radio show whilst wearing my new "ROTS" t-shirt.

Nerd alert.

The IMAX version is the exact same as the regular version. Seeing it on the IMAX was very cool but, since it's just a 35mm projected on a very large screen, some of the far away shots seemed very blurry, most noticeably the first part of Tarkin's appearance at the end.

I timed the slow segment to 33 minutes in between Palpatine's return to Coruscant and Obi-Wan's battle with Grievous. This segment is really just Anakin walking around and talking to as many people as he can. It's this part that keeps it from surpassing "ROTJ." I wish I had the ability to re edit the movie, mainly just this part. I can add the scene with Obi-Wan, Mace Windu and Yoda on the deployment ship to the list of those that could be cut.

It's still as good the fourth time around.

To be precise

A stern, stately woman, Mon Mothma was the Supreme Commander of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Mothma was an influential loyalist Senator in the final days of the Galactic Republic. She was one of the first to be wary of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's policies during the Clone Wars. When Palpatine created a system of territorial governors to report to him directly, Mothma realized that the Senate was quickly losing its last vestiges of political influence.

I think that shot was intentionally blurry. I only saw it once, but it was definitely noticable to me. I assumed it was so they wouldn't have to cast a look-a-like for GMT. I mean, it's easy to keep continuity if you're in a shiny black suit or flowing robes with a pale, wrinkly face, but if you're some old English dude with decidedly distinctive features, it's kinda tough.

the only notable feature of course being high-as-hell cheekbones.

It was only really blurry on the IMAX. Every shot featuring a character off in the distance was blurry, the Tarkin one was the only one I could think of off the top of my head. The closer shot of the Impirical Trio featured Tarkin as crisp as the others.

Mi amigo who read the novelization of the movie said that Mon Mothma and Padme take a petition to Palpatine and start the Rebel faction. That alone makes me want to read the book. I would have loved it if Natalie Portman had more to do than sit around and chill in her apartment.

Saw A New Hope this morning since school is over. I totally felt like it was strengthened by Revenge of the Sith, which I'm taking Token to see tonight. I'm excited.

A link from TF:

May 23, 2005
The Billboard Country Music Top Ten If Kenny Chesney Were Anakin Skywalker and Renée Zellweger Were Padmé Amidala


Two great love stories are currently captivating the nation: the doomed romance of Jedi turncoat Anakin Skywalker and his forbidden bride, Padmé Amidala, and the surprise wedding of country singer Kenny Chesney to movie star Renée Zellweger, whom he'd wooed in part by writing a song titled "You Had Me From Hello."

We at Fametracker wondered if we couldn't combine these two love stories into one super-mega-universal romance. The answer: yes, of course we can. And from that alternate universe of astral love, we bring you this artifact. Ready the Kleenex you should.


"You're So Beautiful (Only Because I'm So In Love With You)"

"Do It To Me One More Time (Like You Did By The Lake At Naboo)"

"You Had Me At 'I Will Not Condone A Course Of Action That Will Lead Us To War'"

"Naboo Nights (Tatooine Mornings)"

"They Told Me To Let Go Of Everything I Loved (But I Couldn't Let Go Of You)"

"Sometimes Love Makes You Do Crazy Things, Like Slaughter A Bunch of Younglings"

"I Don't Like Sand (But I Do Love You)"

"Remember When We First Met And I Was Only Ten Years Old?"

"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (You Looked Exactly The Same As You Do Now. It's Weird.)"

"My Love Burns Hotter Than My Legless Torso Right Now"

Those are hilarious.

They make me need to see ROTS for a fifth time. I hope Token likes the movie. She needs to get cool and be hip with "Star Wars."

Can someone please explain to me how it is that Leia became a "princess"?

daughter of former queen amidala ?

a.k.a padme

Nope, she got princess status through her adopted parents, hence the Princess Leia Organa name. Her relationship to Padme was kept a secret to pretty much everyone-- including her. C'mon people!

(Edited by carligula at 9:49 am on May. 30, 2005)

Besides, Padme was an elected queen whose term had ended. I think Bail Organa is some sort of king/Senator hybrid.

I have one question: did Token take to the Force like a midi-chlorian riddled adolescent or what?

She liked it, but didn't like it. She started to watch A New Hope with me that morning, then left after about 15 minutes, saying it was, "boring as hell."

I bet that was coz of having to read all those words in the intro....so many words.

I don't see how I got brought into all this.

Revenge of The Sith was okay.

I just wasn't in the mood for New Hope the other day. The first 15 minutes are about as exciting as me punching all the buttons on the microwave and speaking back to them in a British accent.

But you really shouldn't care what I think. I got all giddy over reading Star magazine's 50 best/worst dressed list of 2005 (so far) yesterday.

Yes, I do hate reading.

Must go paint nails now.

Bail Organa was the republic senator and viceroy of Alderaan as well as the head of the Alderaan royal family. Leia was adopted into the royal family and became the princess of Alderaan. Duh.

anybody noticed the millenium falcon in it? it's quick, and very little, but it's there.

saw it again this past weekend, and i agree with digsy... the more you see it, the better.

i guess i'm a complete dork but i can't help feeling completely giddy when i see "a long time ago...etc" on a movie screen.

Did you see Lucas' cameo as the blue-skinned guy standing at the entry to Palpatine's box seats at the performance? You pretty much have to be looking for it to notice. I mean, he's covered in blue makeup.

I think me and the girlfriend will be seeing it again this week. This time I'll make plans to promptly watch A New Hope.

i read about it, but forgot to look for him.

the falcon is at the beginning of the movie, after the crash landing. as the transport is pulling up to the dock, in the far away shot, look in the lower right corner.

Well, I guess I'm one of the last ones in America to see this movie, but I finally did see it tonight. I wanted to wait until I had recently watched Eps I & II, which I did. And I intentionally avoided this thread until tonight.

And after four pages of posts, I think you guys have about covered everything. I have very little to add. I especially agree with roadie's long-winded post, and Digsy's random ruminations.

My 2 cents? I liked it about as much as II, which is to say that I liked it quite a bit. I think for me, the bottom line is that the stories of I-III have been great. It's been the movie execution of those stories that haven't sat so well with me. Like, if you just read the books of I-III, they would be awesome. But with all of the advances in movie-making since 1983, these movies are just a completely different breed. I'm not saying that that makes them bad movies. In fact, even if these movies had had nothing to do with the original Star Wars, I probably would've liked them. But for me, the differences in technology between the original trilogy and the new one are so overwhelming that I can't even put them in the same category. I do appreciate that they were made, because I like the story that they tell, but stylistically, there is just not enough cohesion for me to think of it as "one big series of movies." They will always be two different sets of movies in my mind. I know I haven't done a very good job of communicating this, but oh well...I'm tired. I think you know what I mean, right?

P.S. I still say that the dialogue in IV-VI was very nearly as cheesy and bad as that in I-III. That's Star Wars.

P.P.S. In that scene where Palpatine and Anakin are at some kind of show, what the hell is that that they're watching? I was cracking up, because it was just like ambient bubbles or something, but then the crowd would randomly cheer. Hilarious!

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 2:04 am on Jun. 1, 2005)

I thought the same thing.... Wierdness.

I actually liked the bubble show. I thought it was creative, however, I like weird stuff so maybe it was dumb.

thanks for the light saber, carl

Watch it! My girlfriend might read this!

shit, i was going to thank her for the light saber, too

SPOILERS
I saw it again last night and I was reminded of a few things.

1) I HATE the way the droids are 1000 times cornier in this one. I've always hated C3PO, but the bumbling battle droids sent me over the edge.

2) Obi-Wan killing Greivous with a pistol is disappointing ("How uncivilized")

3) How did the Jedi Temple security tapes capture the moment where Anakin bows to Palpatine when that occured in Palpatine's chambers at the Senate? (Not to mention the dialogue was completely different)

Something occured to me last night that was so obvious I feel stupid sharing it. It's about the prophecy that Anakin would "bring balance to the force". Knowing he turns to the Dark Side makes Yoda and Obi-Wan assume the prophecy was wrong. But, we all know that he fathers Luke and Leia. So, for the longest time I was satisfied that him producing Luke (and/or Leia?) was the action that brought "balance". Then I started thinking, well, what does "balance" mean? Why does it mean the light side beats the dark side? That's a pretty one-sided view of the force isn't it? Maybe he added the necessary power to the dark side to balance out the remaining Jedi.

Last night it occured to me, though... what act single-handedly (pun intended) ended the Sith reign? Killing Palpatine. And who killed Palpatine? Anakin Vader. End of story.

It doesn't make sense to me that "bringing balance to the force" means all jedi and no sith. It makes more sense through the yin / yang philosophy that one cannot exist without its opposite. Darkness doesn't exist without light, bad doesn't exist without good, etc. It could be that Anakin brings "balance" to the force by turning evil, and that this whole millenia that the sith have been extinct was the "unbalanced" period.

I always though of it in the sense that he turned to the dark side, with the effect being Luke being a Jedi and bringing balance to the force. If he hadn't turned to the dark side, then Lude wouldn't have been wat he was and wouldn't have destroy the sith.

i'm too lazy to read the other posts...but...i saw it. i liked it. end of story.

Yeah, Anakin balances the force at the end of "ROTS" leaving two Sith (Vader and Palpatine) and two Jedi (Obi-Wan and Yoda). He then destroys the dark side by killing Palpatine and himself. Nice how it all ties together.

I've started reading the "Star Wars" comics. "Star Wars: Republic" is dynamite. It's all about the Clone Wars and it's about to start into the period leading up to "Episode III." It's nice to see all the background Jedi in action.

Overall the film rocked and I'm sure it will much, much more as I see it again in the coming weeks. Everything's been covered mostly but I do have a couple comments. Firstly, I have to admit I kinda like the battle droids mostly because they're so damn nerdy/dorky. They make me chuckle now and then.

I was SO relieved there was virtually no Jar Jar...3PO was super annoying in this one with several "oh dears" however i did like the fact that he appeared to be piloting the spacecrafts here and there.

Speaking of the ships...I like how they slipped in the (obvious) predecessors to several ships/land vehicles in this one. I noticed the tie fighter, x-wing, mini-atat (that walk on two legs, don't know what they're called) and a few others I have no clue what they're called but it was a nice tie in with the original trilogy.

I enjoyed the emporer's guards looking exactly the same as in Ep. 6. Those guys had pretty good job security it seems.

And lastly, one thing I find annoying is how silly Palpatine seemed in his battle with Yoda. He did all this crazy laughing that was really overdone. It's the same kind of behavior they use with vampires in horror films. Always doing silly laughter and no one's telling any jokes. Just a pet peeve of mine I guess.

Great film though and can't wait to see it again.

EDIT:

One more thing, can anyone elaborate on the Sith legend that Palpatine was telling Annakin during the bubble show??? If it's been addressed already I didn't see it. It was great seeing some history of the Sith and I just assumed Palpatine was the Sith that destroyed his master after he'd learned everything from him. Actually, is there anything on the history of the Jedi's mentioned?

(Edited by holeypeacoat at 11:32 am on Jun. 7, 2005)

On the Selfies board, someone said his name was Darth Plagus, so if you want to google it, you can probably find a lot.

AT-ST..... god i'm a dork.

All-Terrain Scout Transport. The AT-AT's are in "Empire." There are some AT-AT predecessors used in the comics, I don't think they're seen in the movie.

From what I understand, Darth Plages was Darth Sidious/Palpatine's master. They pumped Shmi full of midi-chlorians to produce Anakin and Palpatine then killed Plages. I think this is expanded on in the novelization which I still need to read.

I bought the Star Wars game controller thing that plugs directly into the TV through the AV cables. It's pretty cool and fun and, oddly, hard. I can't beat the Grievous Onslaught level, mainly because it doesn't seem to have an end. I still want to play the Star Wars Lego game but all I have is a PC.

I dug through storage today and found my old Star Wars action figures (mostly from the mid-90s but I have around 10 originals from the 70s/80s). They'll be on display in my den soon.

has anyone gotten the green light saber spoon yet. we've gone thru at 6 boxes and they're all red and blue.

I have two red ones and my nephew has a blue one. The green must be uber rare. It may be going for an inappropriate amount of money on eBay.