Trying to form an opinionon a Star Wars movie after just one viewing is a bit like asking the first person you have a crush on to be your wife. It may make you feel good right now, but you haven't invested enough time to really get to know that person.
Case in point, Episode I. After waiting in line for 12 hours playing Star Wars trivia, there was no chance in hell the cheese wasn't going to love that first showing of Phantom Menace. Having seen the film nearly two dozen times now, the cheese is willing to admit it did not live up to those first few feelings of elation after a 20 year drought of zero new Star Wars on the big screen (although the cheese is still convinced it was better than A New Hope...disagree?...then let the cheese remind you of one little line "But I was going to Toschi to get some power converters!"...whiny Luke beats whiny little kid at the annoyance game hands down).
As for Episode III, it certainly had the most emotional moments of the new three, especially since Vader's first words with the mask on were to ask about Padme. And knowing all those little kids got jacked...damn that was harsh. Also, you feel a great deal of sympathy for Anakin. Yes, he was blinded by his own skill, arrogance, and fear, but he was also handily manipulated by Palpatine (but then again, who the hell wasn't?). And the one thing he most wanted to avoid,(Padme's death) he actually caused. So we see a more complete character in Anakin than we ever have.
And while some of the dialogue in this film suffers from the Lucas curse of not ever doing a 2nd draft, the scenes between Anakin and Padme were actually much better this time around. It was nice to see Bail Organa (and the C-3PO memory wipe line was beautiful), and the wookies. The action scenes were great, obviously, and the Windu/Palpatine and Yoda/Palpatine fights were amazing.
As for things that didn't seem right...would Obi-Wan really leave Anakin to burn to death like that? It's understandable he couldn't just cut his head off, but that was pretty cold to leave him like that. Also, the cheese assumes that we have to believe when Leia speaks about her mom in Jedi, she's referring to her adopted mom (since at that point she doesn't know she's Luke's sister).
Overall, Jedi is still, in the cheese's opinion, the best of the series. Sith may be equivalent to Empire, but judgement will be reserved for after a few more viewings.
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8 comments:
I agree it was rather odd that Obi-wan left anakin for dead. But it was the jedi-ly thing to do. Anakin was defenseless and jedi do not kill defenseless adversaries. I guess he figured that if anakin survived, it was the will of the force or something like that.
The one scene that I thought was very odd was the end where Yoda tells obi-wan that he will be able to talk to qui-gon and then the scene changes. It seemed very random and dropped in.
Yes but it explained away why Obi-Wan and Yoda have the ability to will themselves into the force...and the fact that Qui-Gon didn't disappear when he dies was one of the biggest complaints from the new series...it did play a bit odd, but Yoda knew he wasn't going to see Obi-Wan anytime soon.
That's why the cheese goes to THX (more money for Lucas) certified theatres...so crap like that doesn't happen. You didn't like the lizard? I thought that was the best creature of the new series, and the animated movement of it was pretty damn sweet. The cheese is willing to admit that Grievous' transportation left something to be desired, but it did fit in with the overall theme of the droid army.
The cheese isn't entirely sure someone should watch them 1 through 6, but it would make Luke's reaction to Vader's reveal in Empire that more important. Through 4 and 5 we are told Vader is evil, and he tortures Leia and all, but seeing him cut up unarmed people and kids really makes Luke's reaction even more meaningful. "Not only am I not the guy who killed your father, but I am your father. You know, the guy who single handedly slaughtered most of the Jedi in a single afternoon. Plus, I was the reason your mom died. And if it weren't for me, then Palpatine would never have been able to establish the Empire cause Mace Windu would have sawed him in half. I'm pretty much the guy responsible for everything bad in your life Luke...but join me and we can rule the galaxy as father and son!"
I think the theater we saw it in was thx compatible. They played the little thx "the audience is now deaf" intro. That sounded bitchin but the movie somwhow sounded like crap. The movie started out really quiet and I think rather than trying to figure out why the movie was so quiet, they just turned it up making the louder parts of the movie sound crackly and distorted.
Most likely, if there was a problem with the sound system then they wouldn't be able to fix it mid-movie without shutting it down and allowing the sound to re-sync...the cheese has seen in a number of times.
Here's an interesting take on the film. The cheese doesn't completely agree...but he doesn't completely disagree either...
http://movieweb.com/movies/reviews/review.php?film=7&review=4589
That is an interesting review in that it is more about how the film affected him than the quality of the film itself.
but it speaks to a prevailing feeling about the Star Wars movies in general...that is, people got so upset that Episode I didn't make them feel like IV did when they were kids...this is really one of the few pop culture (let alone film) phenomenons to be viewed by many more on how it "makes us feel" than the quality of the work...IV isn't a very good movie, but it was so different and made people feel so good that the actual filmmaking got overlooked, then when I rolled around everyone attacked Lucas' craftmanship...man, someone should write a thesis on this stuff
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