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We had 12:01 tickets. The theatre messed up and a bunch of people who had 12:01 tickets for Thursday were let in. Apparently 12:01 thursday is still Wed. in theatre land. This caused quite a few problems in general.
As far as the movie went, I liked it. Although it was so long I'm not sure I'd remember all the parts I might have disliked. There was still bad dialog. But overall I wasn't cringing nearly as much. We watched 1 and 2 before going. So this one was by far better. I'm not going to say anything spoilerish though. More on that after more people get a chance to watch.
Posts: 872 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I won't post any spoilers today. I just saw it and I liked it. I watched Episode I two weekends ago and Episode II this past weekend. Between work and the midnight show I watched the documentary on the bonus disk of the original triliogy boxed set and played some Star Wars Battlefront on the X-box to get fully in the Star Wars spirit. I'll wait until after the weekend to post any specifics about Episode III so that most people will have had a chance to watch it.
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It was definately the best. Far better than I had dared hope for. It actually made a fairly decent movie, which completely surprised me.
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Let's see if all you first nighters can guess who George Lucas voted for. I'll give you a hint, he gave the line "You're either with us, or with our enemies" to the being of pure evil.
Posts: 894 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Oh I know! The first thought that popped into my head was "Did he just call Bush a Sith?"
Semi Spoiler but not really*** the line as best I can remember it:
"I serve the Republic" - OW "You're either with me or against me" - A "Only the Sith deal in absolutes" - OW
The stuff about a democracy turning into a tyranny was good and interesting, but I felt that line was a direct shot at Bush, though, I still liked it either way.
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Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Bush isn't a being of pure evil, I'm just saying that the entire exchange between Anakin and ObiWan right before the ass-kicking commenced had me in stitches.
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I and my brother had more or less the same problems with it: Anakin could have used a real actor, and the droid comics weren't really necessary.
Apart from that I think I'm one of the few in the cinema, maybe the only one, who cringed at the "with me or against me" line...
All things considered, it was an ok movie. Now I'll have to find somebody who owns Episode 2 and watch that one also. (I didn't dare to after seeing the disaster that was Episode 1...)
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Man, I should have just gone. I'm up at 4 a.m. anyhow. I actually woke up because I thought of a brilliant idea for something to do more efficiently at work.
Posts: 2010 | Registered: Apr 2003
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You know, people have been saying, "You're either with us or against us," in all sorts of variations probably for as long as human beings decided to group up and start whaling on each other, and some poor schmuck got caught in the middle.
Lucas also wrote these things decades ago.
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I go to see the film tonight at 10:15. I'm glad that most of what I hear is positive. Even if this isn't the movie to end all movies it sounds like it will at least be much more entertaining than the last two and that is good enough for me. I have to admit that I'm fairly excited about it.
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Lucas planned the whole storyline decades ago. But the script was definitely written before the Iraq war - these things take a long time to make.
Jesus said, "Those who are not with us are against us." Though he also said, "Those who are not against us are with us." And he was far from the first.
Lucas is part of the Hollywood Leftist establishment, of course - as self-satisfied with the perfect correctness of his beliefs as any of them. But it is far more likely that Sith would be referencing Lucas's formative war - Vietnam - than current events that had not happened at the time he was writing the script.
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I thoughht the acting was much better. Sidious was over-the-top, but he always has been. I mean, DUH. Something annoys me about the way Padme said "Anakin". The accent or something didn't seem to fit.
My showing was at 12:15, after hours of standing in lline with people who had plasic lightsaber battles in the lobby Someone took bets. "Two bucks on the chubby Asian with the lightstaff thingy." There was also a Darth Vader in a Santa suit. It was amusing. Oh, and they let everyone in with outside drinks and stuff. People in the line behind me played LotR monopoly.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . From reading general reactions here and on a SW fan list I'm on, I wonder if I saw the same movie.
Droid comedy show? The droids have always provided a bit of comic relief, esp in the OT. Call it a flaw if you like, but that is one thing that is consistent with the old SW.
Confusing plot? Well, it WAS midnight and all, but it didn't confuse ME. I'll chalk that one up to poor attention spans and feel smugly superior. Nyah.
One thing, though - I think the prequel trilogy could have been better as maybe one four hour movie. Not that I didn't appreciate a good bit of the eye-candy-ish filler in the first two, but you know.
Anakin's fall was, to me, a believable example of a young adult identity crisis (in unbelievable circumstances). People make lifelong crazy choices when they are that age. They convert to other religions, make decisions about what to accept and what to reject in their upbringing.
Basically, this was easily the best Star Wars movie since before Ewoks. Was it Lawrence of Arabia, or Shakespeare? No. It was a Staar Wars movie. A danged fine Star Wars movie.
On the SW ML I get, someone said, "George Lucas can still deliver the suck." I wondered what the heck she had been smoking.
Posts: 1664 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I didn't take that "With me or against me" bit as a slam on Bush at all. It's not a new idea.
But one thing I did truly love:
* & & & * * * * * *
* ** When Anakin accused Obi-Wan of turning Padme against him, and Obi-Wan said, "You did that yourself" (or something along those lines). Ouch. The truth hurts.
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I didn't see it as a slam against Bush, either. Had it been in a movie six years ago, it would have been merely hack writing.
Lucas may have included it as a dig, I haven't the faintest idea. Me, I'm much more bothered by the idea that the Bush adminstration speaks in bad movie villain dialogue.
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quote:Originally posted by IdemosthenesI: Let's see if all you first nighters can guess who George Lucas voted for. I'll give you a hint, he gave the line "You're either with us, or with our enemies" to the being of pure evil.
Jar Jar Binks?
Maybe this balances out Two Tower's "open war is upon you whether you risk it or not."
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tern - but... well, I can't say what happened without major spoilers, but Obi-Wan, more than anyone in the film (except possibly Padme) fought against blindly following orders he felt were wrong.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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"with us or against us" is really an ancient quote and idea. Why are people making such a big deal of it now? I freaked out when Bush said it originally, because of all the old old stories that use the phrase. Usually that concept DOES lead to Big Brother and secret police, if the people let it.
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quote: Why are people making such a big deal of it now?
I suspect that it's because many Bush supporters may not have as broad a familiarity with historical context. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote: Why are people making such a big deal of it now?
I suspect that it's because many Bush supporters may not have as broad a familiarity with historical context.
Oh, boy. I can't wait to see MrSquicky's post reminding you that this isn't that kind of forum, Tom.
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Tom, do you have evidence that people who support president Bush are "making such a big deal of it now" moreso than people who do not? Seems to me rather the opposite.
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Notice I managed to post mostlly non-spoilerish comments while not waxing poetic about the manly virtues of a certain Jedi Master (Sith Lords are our speciality) whose eyes evidently changed color after 20 years in the desert (but who cares, 'cause he's hot).
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Tom, that just doesn't make sense. It isn't the Bush supporters who are screaming in horror and drawing the parallels.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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"It isn't the Bush supporters who are screaming in horror and drawing the parallels."
Okay, I'll take this just seriously enough to answer you, Katie.
Specifically, on this issue, the noise being made about Bush/Sith comparisons is indeed coming from conservatives, most of whom are taking it as further "proof" of Hollywood's liberal bias.
I personally am hard-pressed to care any less, but perhaps other people consider this worth some mental energy.
And to respond to Moose: if it makes you feel any better, I sincerely feel that Bush supporters are in fact less likely to consciously recognize historical parallels and/or semiotic connotations. Many of his speeches are deliberately coded to evoke that kind of response, but it's a useless effort if its audience is aware of the attempt. But, again, as this is a personal gut feeling, I'm not going to waste time insisting that it's a political theory. *laugh*
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I had fun. It had the same weanesses as all the SW movies. More than once I thought "Why is this character doing this? It doesn't make sense!".
But it was also good where Star Wars is good.
If you are a fan of Star Wars, especially with how low the bar has dropped, I don't think you'll be dissapointed.
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quote:Tom, do you have evidence that people who support president Bush are "making such a big deal of it now" moreso than people who do not? Seems to me rather the opposite.
I'd like to point out that I only mentioned it in this thread after several others brought it up.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Fair enough, Tom. My gut feeling is that it happens just as often in the opposite direction, because in general one is more likely to dissect an opinion one disagrees with than one he agrees with. Thus, for example, I think Kerry supporters would be less likely to consciously recognize such things in his speeches as well.
Of course, I don't listen to many speeches (as few seem substantive), so my gut may be less informed than yours. *smile*
Livvy, when I said "confusing" plot, I didn't mean that it was hard to understand, per se, just that there were scenes I was left wondering, "Why was that in there?" or, "Why are you telling us that AGAIN?".
Anakin's transformation was as unconvincing as, and possibly because of, the lack of chemistry between him and Padame.
Gen. Grievous, while interesting to watch, was gratuitous filler. So were the Wookies. I was just like, "get on with the movie!" Well, less so with the Wookies. They were cool. As were the other alien planets.
On the upside, Ewan saved the movie. Again. Even with the horrible lines they make him say. The loose ends are tied up pretty believably. Natalie Portman is hot. The "66" scene is cool.
Also, the LW&W trailer gave me goosebumps.
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Chris, I wasn't even using this thread as my source data -- I've seen it brought up myriad other places. I apologize if my comment seemed to be an accusation of any sort.
Posts: 6213 | Registered: May 2001
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Oh, no worries. It wasn't that, it just read to me like "where are you getting that impression" and me, I got it from a few posts up. Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Thank you Jay for getting back on topic. Only 6 hours and 5 minutes until I get to see it and all I really want is to hear either good or bad as I anticipate 10:15. I am enjoying hearing both sides because I get really excited when I hear someone jump in and say something like "it was freaking awesome" but then I read the next post that says it was "only OK and that Lucas still sucks" and remember that I need to just go in with no expectations. So get back to my emotional roller coaster. if you would please.
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Wow, Frisco. I thought the Anakin/Padme thing was much more believable in this movie than before (though maybe not entirely convincing... good enough for a SW romance) as was the relationship between Anakin annd Obi-Wan.
I also thought Grievous was cool. Partly because the Clone Wars shorts made him really cool, and partly because he was a Vader precursor (More machine, now, than man/alien). Also, he was a character who had previously killed Jedi, and fit well into Palpy's scheme.
I agree with you about Ewan, and the LW&W trailer, though.
The only thing my Beloved said as we left was that he couldn't stand Natalie Portman, that he really didn't ever want to see her again. Which puts her in the company of Juliette Lewis and Julia Roberts, which I don't get why he doesn't like any of them (well, okay, Juliette Lewis is annoying). He said she peaked in The Professional.
Sometimes I really don't understand him.
But I really didn't see any filler. repetition... you have to expect that from a Star Wars movie, or at least I do. It's part of tthe music.
I admit I'm a bit sleep-deprived today, so that may be part of it, but I haven't been this much in lovee with a Star Wars movie since I was ten years old.
Posts: 1664 | Registered: Apr 2004
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You know, I have to say, I'm beginning to agree with Ron on Natalie Portman. I'm not looking forward to her in this. (I'm holding off on seeing it until my birthday; it's a tradition. )
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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You'll love it, kq. There really isn't much NP in it. They cut scenes where she was instrumental in forming the rebellion, so she doesn't have much to do but sit or stand around with a bump way too small to have nearly-ready-to-birth twins in it.
Posts: 1664 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Okay, I said that I wasn't going to post anything specific until after the weekend, but since everybody else is already talking about it I won't wait.
I would say that the biggest shortcoming that I saw was the lack of onscreen chemistry between Ankin and Padme. There was something there in Episode III but too little too late in my opinion. Aside from that I felt that with his love for Padme being the foundation of his path to the Dark Side it actually makes the love story from Episode II not seem so out of place anymore. I thought that Anakin's transformation was very believable and a large part of that was the fact that he was in love with Padme and feared loosing her because of the content of the visions that he had been having. From there how does the quote go? "Fear leads to...". Anyways I felt that the transformation should have made sense to anyone who had watched the other movies and could add 1 and 1 to get 2 without a calculator. I don't feel that Grevious or the scenes on the various alien planets where the Jedi were killed were filler. George Lucas likes to provide lots of incedental details that aren't strictly necessary to tell the story and that has always been a part of what drew me, and many others, to keep watching these movies over and over again. Similarly someone commented about the crappy dialogue, but again that has been a part of the Star Wars Saga from the beggining and I think is part of its charm. I watched the documentary on the original trilogy special edition boxed set bonus CD while waiting to go see the movie and was reminded that Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hammil among others had a saying thet "You can write this stuff, but you can't say this stuff." They were talking about the dialogue in the first movie of course and also the second and third movies later in the documentary.
As to the infamous line "You are with me, or you are my enemy", Bush is far from the first person to express this sentiment. Also, while online I have heard a number of conservatives comment on the parallel, they have been outnumbered by liberals commenting on it. In real life, aka the office I work in, I have yet to hear a comment on it by a conservative and I have heard nothing but comments on it by liberals.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Mar 2005
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While I have not and will not likely see tne movie for some time (I am in Kuiat!) The book was very well written and the plot of the fall seemed very believable in it.
I was most impressed by Sidius saying "You are arresting the Prime Chancellor because of religious differences? We have very strict laws about that Master Jedi" I hope that line was in the movie.
That shows how in an effort to be politically inclusive, evil can take center stage. Far from being anti-Bush this seems anti left!
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