http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI
This link is to the review by redlettermedia. I cannot insert it as a youtube video because then it overwrites the below one for some reason.
I agreed on some of the parts regarding plot holes and retcons (those are my pet peeves), but I believe the majority of the view is biased movie snobbage, particularly the comments about lack of characterization and emotion, and the idea that CGI destroyed the novelty and believability of Star Wars.
For example the guy says that obi wan didnt get mad enough or something, and the "boring" beautifully choreographed lightsaber battles were diminished from emotion and interest. I think there was just as much emotion in the battle against Maul as any other in the series. When Qui-Gon died, I cared for the character and so felt for him. When Obi-Wan said "NOOOO", I felt his rage as he barrelled out of the hallway in an explosive flurry.
Im not going to be wasting my time defending the prequels when someone has already done it for me:
Dont ask me where part one is. I have no idea.
I was pretty surprised when I heard all the hate against Star Wars prequels. I wonder how many other people will be when they see this.
That's true, everyone knows that the true greats of sci-fi movies are Ice Pirates and Zardoz.
It's not the concept that i hold issue with, i don't mind the premise actually, just the way Lucas has anakin ask about it and Qui Gon's explanation, to me is more of a MacGuffin than a real part of the lore. Obi Wan's explanation in ANH is far more powerful and encapsulating..
"the Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together"
Even Lucas himself has acknowledged his error with Han and Greedo (see the bonus features of the horrible latest Indiana Jomes movie),but i guess it's hard to criticze something that made you (still making) billions of dollars...
I think id rather watch 2 hours of Jar Jar fondling Anakin than be subjected to that vomit inducing drivel...
No, Twilight is much better than the prequels...
It's a matter of expectations. I expected Twilight to be utter shit, and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to go kill myself by the time my relatives finished subjecting me to it.
Did we watch the same movie!? I guess it's not hard to believe that someone may like the Twilight movies more than the prequel trilogy. Just as long as nonone tries to say they they are better than the classic trilogy, then i'll have to get all on their asses!
I will chime in and say that, your a brainwashed zombie of plinketts because you would have never said that if he hadnt. You used his exact phrase. How do we know that those are even your own opinions? Plinkett could have sent you one of his mind controlling pizza rolls. We cannot trust you.
Clarify.
No. 90% of the time they are taking cover, and the gungas are using hand held shields at their front line so thats why they arent instantly decimated by the droids if thats what you were talking about.
Except the whole point of the battle was so that they could send in people to actually go disable the droids in the first place. It was a distraction. FYI I corrected you where you said clones.
Also, I could just as easily say all the Star Wars movies are geared toward little kids as much as any of the prequels.
Agreed.
I'm not watching or playing anything Star Wars until they lay off this prequel crap. If they make a new x-wing vs tie-fighter game set in the prequel timeline I will kill something.
For starters...if it's going to be actually GOOD it won't have muppets in it.
Don't feed Yoda after midnight...and FFS don't get him wet....
Spider monkey on crack, he is...
I saw the original Star Wars on opening night in 1977, when I was 26. As a single film, it was definitely groundbreaking in terms of its technical achievements, and the spaceship battles were more audience-engaging than anything previously seen at the time. Lucas had no idea the film would be as popular as it was, hoping only to make back the money spent and maybe a small profit. 20th Century Fox supposedly expected it to fail, though they did spend money on posters and a special program booklet that were sold in the theaters. None of the talk about sequels, intricate backstory, etc., appeared until after the film's success.
The original film was a reworking of the old Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials, along with other sci-fi influences Lucas had absorbed. The basic story was fairly preposterous, and the main characters were all archtypes-- callow youth, charming rogue, beautiful princess. Vader was apparently allowed to survive because he was felt to be the most enigmatic character, but there were no plans on what to do with him next.
But for me, the whole saga went downhill with Return of the Jedi. The Ewoks were an obvious marketing concept geared to the kiddies, but at least a lot of little people got some work. Death Star II blown up at the end-- yawn, saw it two films before. Emperor gets thrown into power core-- Vader's motivations were never well explored and the action itself bordered on deus ex machina as a way to save Luke's ass. Plus the fall into the power core itself had some subpar bluescreen work.
Pity it all had the AERODYNAMICS of a Battle of Britain. Hint.... in space no-one can......
The 'ground breaking' technical achievement was solely NOT having a static camera and a wobbly spaceship model on a string....but the reverse.
2001 actually made people THINK instead of smirk at impossible FLIGHT dynamics.
First off, if you are already stooping to calling people names over STAR WARS, you need to either get over Star Wars or get over yourself. Who's the brainwashed person here? I'm not the one here making a flipping movie all personal. Second, I readily admit, I would have said nothing at all about Star Wars had this thread not come up. It's called replying to a thread. Sue me. And third, I don't even know who plinkett is. I agreed with other posters that the prequels sucked, but the old 3 were very good. If that is a truth you can't handle, you need to smile and get over it. It's a movie that has Lego sets named after it.
True, the major achievement was John Dykstra's refinement of the motion control system. For compositing they used the less time consuming bluescreen instead of 2001's in-camera mattes.
Sure the space battles were unconvincing from a scientific standpoint. Lucas was making space fantasy, not science fiction.
Kids' 'Cowboys in Space'....hey Cisco....hey Pancho....
I have to agree. From the very moment of the opening battle scene (where they blow open the door and board Leia's tiny vessel), I was hooked. Actually, for a long time I thought the opening battle scene was the best. And then the Star Wars video game came out.... Then of course I liked assaulting the Death Star better. The space sequence in Return of the Jedi was totally awesome. Even more so, how they had that plot interwoven where 3 climactic battles were occurring at the same time, and if the Rebels lost any one of them, all was lost. Well okay, not ALL was lost...SISTER....I hear Luke has a SISTER.....
If you want a 'the best' battle scene...how about the crashing of the dropship in Aliens?
Even had a battle slogan that wasn't twee..... "We Endanger Species" ...
"The best battle scene" is a good subject (probably deserves a thread of its own entirely), but doesn't ring a bell for me. I think I only saw 3/4 of Aliens. But it sure looks like Alien(s) inspired the Terran Marines in Starcraft. (Starship Troopers had aliens being shot at with automatics, too, but I don't think it was the inspiration)
The movies did...not the book though....for the latter was more TerraNova [the game - not the recent TV series].
For ground-breaking "S/F" [social] that inspired a swag of imitators..... Mad Max. Successfull? Budget $300,000 current returns... $300,000,000.
No CGI in those 'battle' sequences either.....just fair-dinkum live stuntwork...
Starship Troopers is the movie that could have been...I hear they are remaking it, along with all the Paul Verhoven stuff, so maybe they will get it right this time. ie, no Casper van whatever his name is....
Thats because they simply overlayed old Battle of Britan war footage, not a brilliant plan, but hey, i think it did the trick, you can't fault George for not adhering to the natural laws of a vacuum, few film makers do.As for great battles, re-imaged BSG, pilot episode, Galactica emerges from the nebula to face the Basestar, and with much silence and very little fire/flame...hey, they tried at least. (i hate sound in space)
Variations of the phrase "hold a candle to" have existed since at least the 17th century, so I doubt Mr Plinkett can claim exclusive title to it.
Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/183700.html
In space....no-one can hear you scream....
Take Aliens.... "Keep away from her, you BITCH" "What say we dust off and nuke them from space.....only way to be sure..."
" "Hey Vasquez....have you ever been mistaken for a man?" "No, have you?" ".....
What's StarWars got? .....'Luke....cough wheeze... I am....gasp wheeze....an asthmatic...".
My case resteth....
I however have successfully filed for a copyright with the United States government. Woot!
Seriously though, the space scenes were both cool and flawed. From a technical point of view, they managed to smooth out the mechanics and do incredible maneuvers (Millenium Falcon flipping and rolling) that hadn't been seen before. We wouldn't see anything Lucas envied until UFO came out.
From a sensible point of view, it was crap. The fighters moved like they were in an atmosphere. The Death Star (ANH) didn't need to go around the dumb planet, just shoot it out of the way. Why attack the Death Star (RotJ) from the angle that the gun is pointing? Why are we seeing them attack the same thing again?!? And who built the unshielded reactor that explodes so easily?!?!
It was a movie for shits and giggles. That's all there is to it. Prequels were pretty much same ballpark.
The Death Star also seemed a bit too close to any planet/moon it was targeting to not get caught in the explosion of debris.
Yes, I hate movies that treat their audiences like idiots and/or children.
Then you have to relegate yourself to watching movies made by people that aren't idiots/children, a significantly smaller subset than the whole.
That rules out just about everything after Jaws. Which thankfully includes everything by Adam Sandler.
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