Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Take Back Every Bad Thing You Ever Said: Revenge of the Sith!

Edited to add: This thread contains some spoilers!

Sorry, CC, I couldn't resist stealing your title

Am I the only person who saw the new Star Wars movie this week? (Yes, I saw it at midnight, despite having an exam at 9 the next morning . In costume. Yes, I am a nerd But, you know, if you're going to a midnight showing, you have to go all out...)

Now, I didn't hate the last two SW movies. I don't love them, and they'll certainly never be as beloved as the original three, but I tolerated them. But a lot of people, a lot of people, hated them. A lot of people figured this one would be just as big a disappointment as the last two, a disgrace to the SW legacy, etc etc etc. Fans can be very melodramatic when predicting doom and gloom

Anyway, lots of people had doubts. But this time they were wrong. Revenge of the Sith is exactly what the prequels needed all along, and I might even go so far as to say it makes up for the first two. I saw it again today and I don't think I was overimpressed on Thursday morning. It really is a great movie.

I don't want to go into spoilers, since I don't know if people have seen it or not, but there were so many moments that blew me away.

I still don't love Anakin, although I'm a lot closer to understanding him, and Hayden does a lovely job. Ewan McGregor and Yoda break my heart. And there's such a sick sense of inevitability about the whole thing. Despite knowing exactly what has to happen and how badly everything has to go, I watched it all unfold and I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It's like watching a train wreck, I guess. A really big train with a whole civilization on its back . That's mowing down a bunch of innocent people on the way.

Okay, I'm going to stop now in case I'm the only one who cares Did anyone else see the movie? Any reactions, good or bad or ugly? <g>

Kaylle

Well, as someone who once attended a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Show dressed in a gorilla suit (don't ask), it seems perfectly normal behaviour to me.

As for the movie...well. I adored the first three. I was one of those sad individuals who went to see Star Wars every weekend for months when it was on in the cinema. :rolleyes:

But I loathed the first two of these - complete waste of space imo - and that killed any interest I had, so I won't exactly be rushing to see this one. Stuart will probably get it on DVD at some point and I might watch it then, since you reckon it's much better.

It's had less than favourable reviews here, which doesn't exactly make me more interested. <g> Most every review I've seen says that the cast look embarrassed to be in it and they single out Ewan MacGregor for skating his way through without once getting involved.

But I've never been one for listening to what professional critics say. Half the time I never agree with them anyway. Much more prepared to take your word for it than theirs. So I'll give it a go...eventually.

LabRat

I saw it. And I did something I will never ever ever ever do again. I went to the midnight showing. And then went to work at 7am. I'm blaming it on the hubby, whose first movie was Star Wars, and wanted to go.

But I was disappointed. HUGELY disappointed -- I only saw 3 people dressed up. Really, what kind of fans were they? (No, I did not dress up. The decision to go was made at about 5pm. I did take my camera, but took no pictures)

The movie, I liked. Lucas seriously needs to work on his dialogue, though, especially between Padme and Anakin. This is a common complaint I heard. The fight scenes were great, though. A bunch of people awwed when the wookies came on screen, saying "I want one!" I just want R2-D2.. I've already got a wookie.

Overall, the movie was great. I have some issues with it, but the good outweigh the bad. And I loved that pretty much most of my questions were answered by the end.

Omg, I loved it. When Eric first told me he wanted to see it last Saturday, I was kind of hesitant at first just because well a) I didn't see Episodes I and II and of course b) I heard I and II weren't that great. But I love the trilogy with Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill, so what the heck, off to the theatre we went.

Loved it! I agree the dialogue was pretty much a snore...really stilted and all. But the fight scenes made up for it so well! PS, I want a lightsaber. And I loved Yoda. He's my new icon for my instant messenger. Also, I haven't seen Episodes IV-VI in about...8 years, so I'd forgotten some things about the plot until stuff came up. Basically, everything that happened with Anakin pole-axed me.

Isn't that fun?


Jen
/me runs around with an imaginary lightsaber
(not kidding, I did it in the parking lot after the movie)

Ok. Well. I'm so geeked up on Star Wars it would be embarrassing if I had any shame at all. Which I don't. But I'm deep into all the novels. They are stacked beside my bed, close to a hundred, and it's a universe I adore.

Having said that, the first two movies, which I went to as soon as they opened, were fine for me because I was going to enjoy them no matter what. What they weren't was memorable. They didn't stay with me and before Sith I had to rewatch them to remind myself who was who and which side the clones and droids played for.

Oh, but this one... Man.

This one I'm still hung over from. In that 'just saw the movie Titanic' sort of way.

You know the ending. You know it's inevitable. And yet up until Anakin hits the iceberg, you can't help but wish, wish, wish one tiny variable would change.

I think that's what makes this one so good, though. You watch as bit by bit it all clicks into place. And it's tragic because it didn't have to be that way.

Things I loved:

Ewan. Though, in general, that goes without saying. Really warmed up to Hayden's Anakin, too. And his motivation- his fear of losing his love- worked for me, even if his scenes with Padme still really don't.

(Dear George, please call me. I'll write your dialogue! For free! No one has to know!!)

Loved the last scene in hell and the nighmarish images which went with it.'You were my brother.' The picking up of Anakin's lightsaber, which we know we'll next see handed off to Luke. The first breath that comes from behind the mask.

And the very last shot, the twin suns, bringing us around full circle and I think a really hopeful way to end a hopeless movie.

Of course I had to come home and watch A New Hope, ESB, still the best sci-fi movie ever, and I'm working on Return of the Jedi.

(I told you. Geeked up. No shame!)

It could have been richer, it could have been less frantic. But Lucas doesn't do subtle and quiet, does he? What he did do, though, really worked for me.

CC

Stuart mentioned the other day that this had been singled out for attention in a lot of the less enthralled reviews.

But, to be honest, the first three movies had some absolutely cringe-making dialogue in them too. So I don't think it's necesarily something that would put me off, certainly. Didn't seem to matter when the characters and plots were enthralling.

LabRat

Ohh I can't wait to go!! (darn it I need to find a babysitter in town!)

Add me to the unashamed SW geek club!

~Liz

Labrat, your comment made me think of a review I read this morning on CNN:

Article:



I thought the article was pretty good, and even came from a SW fan.

LOL! Too true, Karen. Especially the Harrison Ford bit.

LabRat

Lol! Yes, well, the first three can be forgiven all sorts of sins just for Harrison Ford . I'm not at all a fan of Anakin and Padme. They make me roll my eyes every time they try to be romantic. But I adore Han and Leia. I try to tell myself it's because they were cooler characters, that they were written better, etc etc etc, but I think ultimately it comes down to the fact that they had better actors. I mean, I like Hayden's Anakin well enough, but Harrison he will never be And Padme... Natalie may be fine in other movies (and at the rate she's going she may have a better movie career than Carrie did), but she does absolutely nothing for this character (IMHO). Then again, Padme doesn't have the same spirit Leia did to begin with (and her scenes tend to be boring anyway) so maybe she had less to work with.

At any rate, it always strikes me as telling that Han and Leia can bicker and still sound like adults when Anakin and Padme's angsty whining make them sound like teenagers. Then again, look where A/P's relationship ended up

Labby, I hope you find a chance to see it sometime, even if it means waiting for the DVD. (And who knows, we're all hoping the DVD will have the deleted scenes, so maybe it'll be better than the theater version anyway!) I honestly do think this one's head and shoulders above the other two. In my completely unbiased opinion

(/me tries picturing a lab rat in a gorilla costume and fails horribly )

And Karen, I was disappointed by how few people were in costume too! This is the last SW movie ever! Where are (the rest of) the diehard fans? <g> On the boards for the Boston fanclub several people claimed they'd be in costumes, but I don't think I saw more than five in the whole theater, and most of the costumes were half-hearted at best.

Oh, and CC, you may be my new best friend You'll have to teach me the no shame bit! /me hides shelf full of novels...

Kaylle

P.S. My absolute favorite scene: The "Order 66" montage. Yoda stumbles and falls... Oh, and poor Ewan begging Yoda not to make him do this... If I didn't love him already for Moulin Rouge, this would have sealed the deal

P.P.S. Liz, if you want to ship your kids to Ohio, I'd be happy to watch them so you can go

Well, you're definitely making me more keen to see this one than I was when I got up this morning, Kaylle. <G>

Re Anakin and Padme - I just find it hard to find romance in watching someone called Padme smooching. Natalie Portman though will be forever ingrained on my soul as a stunning actress for her role in Leon.

As for the gorilla suit - the most fascinating thing about that was the way it seemed to bring out random acts of 'test your strength' violence in guys I'd never met before.

I was walking down the stairs in the theatre after the show, when a complete stranger behind me punched me between the shoulderblades! When I turned around and loudly protested this, he was shocked to find I was a woman and full of shame-faced apologies.

I've been left wondering to this day why it would have been okay to punch a strange male wearing a gorilla costume between the shoulderblades.

Men. They don't half have funny ideas sometimes.

LabRat

I went to LA to see Star Wars with my brother over the weekend. It was by far the best of the prequels, the only one that came even remotely close to capturing some of the feel of the original trilogy. I loved the action, and I felt the movie did everything it needed to and brought it full circle to set up the original trilogy. I couldn't help but feel the Jedi council played a large part in Anakin's fall, by giving into their own fear of the Sith (as Yoda say's, fear leads to the darkside, but then again it seems just about everything leads to the darkside it seems ). I loved the battle between Anakis and Obi-Wan, and when Obi-Wan cut off Anakins legs I almost burst out laughing, I was reminded of Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail . And I thought some of the best dialogue in the movie was what Obi-Wan then said to Anakin. Anyway, watching it made me want to rewatch them all, and to read the books (which it's been nearly a decade since I read any of them I need to find and read them now ). Sorry for the run on, but it's how I tedn to write when I don't have a real plan .

OMG!! I *so* loved it!

Elena

Well, I haven't seen it yet (somehow, my sister's birthday and her pregnancy and my cousin's new baby and a bunch of other random stuff ended up taking priority. Go figure. ), but I'm glad to hear people are thinking so highly of it. After the last two movies, I was starting to consider not seeing this one (though I kind of felt I had to). All these reviews (here, at the Onion's AV Club , and a few other places), though, have really turned me around. I'm still trying not to get my hopes up too much, but I'm definitely liking what I'm hearing.

So, thanks for sharing, guys, and for keeping this thread (relatively) spoiler-free.

I do have to agree with the Anakin/Padme thing. Their scenes together in Attack of the Clones were, IMO, hands down the worst part of the movie.

I don't have much else to add (costumes are cool, but rare, and I know I'm not doing my part there), but I did want to share this:



It's today's (May 24) Unshelved strip. (Unshelved is an internet comic strip that takes place in a library. I've been a regular reader since Sarah aka Meerkat pointed it out to me.)

Guess that's all for now. I'll probably be back after I've actually managed to go see it.

Paul

I hated ep.I - if there were good things in that movie, I can't see past Jar Jar to find them. II was better, but the love story between Anakin and Padme was definitely a lot to swallow.

III - excellent. Not as good as the original three, but darned close. There are still dialogue issues, and Hayden still can't act...but looking back at the original ones, I'm not particularly impressed by Harrison's acting either. I guess it's what Kaylle said: he's Harrison Ford, so you'll forgive a lot in his case...

When I saw II, I figured it would be impossible for Lucas to finish the war *and* show the progression of Anakin into Vader in less than 2-1/2 hours. I was convinced that he'd end up sacrificing part of the Vader story to showcase battle scenes, special effects, etc.

I'm so glad I was wrong. Sure, I would have been happier to see even more of that storyline, but there was enough to satisfy me.

Now my son wants to do what CC did: watch I & II, then go again this weekend with my husband (he's been out of town, so we went without him), followed by a marathon session of IV, V and VI.

Not a bad idea. If I can manage to stomach Jar Jar again, I think we'll try it. And I'll pay to see III again. Definitely worth it.

Kathy

I still have to see the film, I remember very little of the First one and I never saw the Second. I'm not the number one fan of the SW saga but I have the IV-VI on tape, see them sometimes and I like them very much. Reading your comments I decided to give it a try, but this evening my best friend (a First Class SW fan, she was a fan club member in the Eighties and she used to write fanfics)spoke so bad about it that I almost felt embarassed to have thought to see it! Something about awful dialogues, ridiculous fight scenes (a "flying" Yoda vs. a monster with four lightsabers? I didn't understand this part very well) and, in the most dramatic moment, when Anakin discovers the Power of the Dark Side, the actor making a very poor job with his acting (I think she said that with his closed fists, shouting NOOOO he seemed a desperate kid crying because his little brother broke his favourite toy).
You can say that I'm not so eager to see it now, if you look also to the poor critic comments on newspapers and TVs, which almost generally painted it like a gigantic videogame.
Did someone else see the film during theese days? What do you think? I'm searching for new good reasons to see it, I had decided I'd have liked Part III!
Hopefully,

simona

Hmmm, Yoda did some hardcore tumbling and stuff, but nothint I would have constituted as actual flying. Just kickin' martial arts-ish...

re the monster: Obi Wan did fight a monster with four lightsabers, but...it had mechanical looking arms...and it just looked really cool to me lol.

I personally thought the dialogue didn't flow at all. Really stilted, but looking back now, I guess it was tolerable. Plus, Obi Wan said some things to Anakin towards the end that almost made up for it, for me, at least. But as others have said, was the dialogue really outstanding in any of the other SW movies? <g>

JD

Is that the definition of fanhood? Well, I don't fit... well, there was the Boston club ... and the Luke and Mara... but... um... look over there!


Kaylle
(/me really needs to take those no-shame classes from CC)

Just got home from the theatre.

CC, CC, CC. *sigh*

How can someone who thinks so much like me be so wrong?

Well, I agree about the scenes with Padme. I didn't thing they were as stiff in RotS as they were in AotC, but yes, they were forced.

Which was why the first words out of my mouth to Ken as we left the theatre were "Of all the motivations for Anakin to turn to the dark side, I think love was probably the least believable."

There simply wasn't enough emphasis placed on Padme and Anakin's relationship for me to buy that it was an epical love, capable of destroying galactical orders. Too, I never saw before this movie that Anakin's abilities to see the future were such that he would make decisions like this based on dreams.

Add my disbelief of Anakin's initial reasons (and granted, by the end I did see that perhaps there was more to it than simply his desire to save Padme) to the fact that he turned to the dark side pretty much in a heart beat and I was kind of bumming. I guess I just feel like after all we've been through - five movies, one of which was a painful experience to watch - the reasons for Darth Vadar were a little too easy and thin. I mean, Anakin went from telling the Jedi Council that Palpatine was evil immediately to performing mass murder. That's quite a jump.

But if I let go of those plot holes and just sit back with my bucket of popcorn, I did indeed enjoy this film. I loved how they brought everything full circle, the set up for A New Hope now in place. And I do have an intense desire to watch that film now.

One thing I really loved was at the end, the Emperor and Darth Vadar were looking on the construction of the Death Star (except this leads us to believe it takes 19 or so years to build it).

This one I'll need to rent on DVD to really have a good second look.

Lynn

Having seen all of the Star Wars movies (though I don't consider myself a big fan by any account) I had to see this one as well.

It was... okay.

It was like eating a candy bar. It was pleasant enough while watching it, but you don't take anything away from the theater with you. Empty calories.

Visually it was impressive, if not a bit overdone. The visual overload actually diminished the effect because you couldn't possibly take it all in.

The script had a story of sorts, but the dialog was unconvincing and poorly written. The acting was weak but then, as has been pointed out, if one looks back at the original three, the acting there was pretty amatuerish also.

Padme served no purpose in the story other than to be the vessel for the 'wonder twins' to come. At no time were you convinced that these two people had any real emotions let alone some epic love for each other.

The effects were stunning as usual, and the combat scenes were very good. The fact that JarJar was reduced to little more than a cameo was especially nice.

If your expectations aren't too high, and you wish to kill a couple of hours watching a visual spectacle, then it's worth seeing.

Tank (who found the Darth Vader as Frankenstein ending rather amusing)