Just saw STAR WARS II

nael · Post by **nael** » Thu May 16, 2002 12:46 am

well, it is 3AM, I just finished watching the secodn star wars movie.
it is so cool, simply amazing and way better than the phantom menace. the last five minutes alone are well worth your money.

definitely see it!!!!!

Ode to a Grasshopper · Thu May 16, 2002 12:51 am

I could've seen it last night, but didn't feel up to it so soon after having an operation. Is the actor who plays Anakin any good this time?

nael · Post by **nael** » Thu May 16, 2002 12:55 am

he's a bit stiff at times, but all-in-all he did a good job, and of course anything would be better than that hack of a kid from the first one.

Ode to a Grasshopper · Thu May 16, 2002 1:01 am

How much footage of Jar-Jar did they include?

Kayless · Post by **Kayless** » Thu May 16, 2002 2:00 am

You lucky dog, nael.

I won't see it until Friday at the earliest.

Is the Yoda ass-kicking scene as cool as I hope it is?

EMINEM · Post by **EMINEM** » Thu May 16, 2002 2:18 am

"cough" Klingons rule "cough"

Geckopat · Post by **Geckopat** » Thu May 16, 2002 2:48 am

Originally posted by Ode to a Grasshopper
How much footage of Jar-Jar did they include?

very little....

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Thu May 16, 2002 3:15 am

Originally posted by Geckopat

very little....

YEAH!

Mr.Waesel · Post by **Mr.Waesel** » Thu May 16, 2002 3:17 am

I've always hated that pathetic excuse for a....*thinks*.....whatever!

Kayless · Post by **Kayless** » Thu May 16, 2002 3:57 am

Originally posted by EMINEM
"cough" Klingons rule "cough"

Qa'pla! (Though I'd rather have a lightsaber than an bat'leth)

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Thu May 16, 2002 6:11 am

I went to the midnight show last night, but went straight to bed instead of writing AOTC reviews.

WARNING: SPOILERS!!!!!

The Good: Padme Amidala (yummy!). Jedi Master Shaft kicks ass. Awesome battle sequences. There is a genuinely creepy bad guy. We get to see the Mandalorian armour in action. The technology that went into making a purely digital film is impressive, very impressive. Yoda kicks ass.

The Bad: Hayden is flat as Anakin, but far better than Jake Lloyd. The kid playing Boba Fett needs a haircut.

The Ugly: The love story drags. Jar Jar is still in the movie (albeit in a reduced role).

Best Line:

(Kenobi to Anakin): "Why do I think you'll be the death of me?"

nael · Post by **nael** » Thu May 16, 2002 8:04 am

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nothing too bad though.

Good: hands down the best scene is when yoda kicks butt, also cool to find out how much bobba fett has to do with not just this movie, but all of star wars. and ewan mcgregor was really good, you could really see obi wan coming out in him this time.
bad: as beldin would say, " no worries"...anakin is a bit flat, but SO much better than that little kid
ugly: kinda jumpy between scenes and characters
best line: probably the line HLD mentioned, or yoda saying, "you have much to learn about the force"

actually there are a lot of lines and jokes relatng to the rest of the movies

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Thu May 16, 2002 8:25 am

Anakin is not a very convincing character and Hayden's delivery is stilted and forced. I am trying to decide if this is because he's a bad actor with little range or if George is a bad director. I am leaning towards the latter.

Some of the dialogue ranges from trite to comical, but most of it is okay. However some of it is atrocious, especially some of the exchanges between Anakin and Padme. They sound like something you'd hear on a soap opera. Maybe George just hasn't gotten the love story thing down, or maybe he's trying too hard to get a Titanic-style romance happening, but there is a section of the movie in the middle that drags on for about 20-25 minutes that really could have been cut down to about 8 minutes and the world would be a better place for it. Besides, who said that Anakin and Padme had to fall in love to have kids?

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Thu May 16, 2002 8:31 am

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Anakin is not a very convincing character and Hayden's delivery is stilted and forced. I am trying to decide if this is because he's a bad actor with little range or if George is a bad director. I am leaning towards the latter.

Some of the dialogue ranges from trite to comical, but most of it is okay. However some of it is atrocious, especially some of the exchanges between Anakin and Padme. They sound like something you'd hear on a soap opera. Maybe George just hasn't gotten the love story thing down, or maybe he's trying too hard to get a Titanic-style romance happening, but there is a section of the movie in the middle that drags on for about 20-25 minutes that really could have been cut down to about 8 minutes and the world would be a better place for it. Besides, who said that Anakin and Padme had to fall in love to have kids?

Who said their Anakins kids??
I always thought Luke looked a little like JarJar

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Thu May 16, 2002 10:46 am

I just saw AotC this afternoon, and even I must admit it's pretty good - way better than TPM. Mace Windu has a purple lightsabre

I had my doubts about Hayden Christiansen, and he was better than I expected he would be, but not really consistent - in some scenes he was pretty good, in others he was rubbish. Ewan McGregor was fab (although Obi-Wan overuses the phrase "my young apprentice/paduin"). And Yoda kicking ass is just priceless

But HLD is right, the love story is kinda tedious (essential to the plot though it is), and there's hardly chemistry between Anakin and Amidala.

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Some of the dialogue ranges from trite to comical, but most of it is okay. However some of it is atrocious, especially some of the exchanges between Anakin and Padme. They sound like something you'd hear on a soap opera. Maybe George just hasn't gotten the love story thing down, or maybe he's trying too hard to get a Titanic-style romance happening, but there is a section of the movie in the middle that drags on for about 20-25 minutes that really could have been cut down to about 8 minutes and the world would be a better place for it.

I just read an interview with George Lucas in the paper, he had some excuses for his dialogue (he's a visual director...

) - you can read the interview here.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Thu May 16, 2002 11:05 am

Being a "visual director" is still no excuse for crappy dialogue and flat delivery.

I think the whole "a love story will bring in the teenage girl demographic like it did for Titanic" thing is killing movies. Pearl Harbor was a horrible movie simply because of the contrived love story element. AOTC, not to mention the audience, suffers because of a cumbersome and forced romance element.

Not only is the "romantic" dialogue just plain bad, but it's heavy-handed. Padme and Anakin are constantly harping on their desire and the forbiddenness of the whole thing, but instead of subtly building tension and showing their relationship growing from a professional to personal one, all they do is talk in stutter-stepped, "I'm-reading-from-a-cue-card" style.

By the way, was that a marriage ceremony at the end, or were they just there by the lake with some guy dressed like justice of the peace and two droids for no reason?

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Thu May 16, 2002 11:16 am

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Being a "visual director" is still no excuse for crappy dialogue and flat delivery.

Oh, I agree entirely - excuses, excuses

Just thought people might be interested in his excuses

I would say "Well, George, so you can't write dialogue - surely you can afford to hire someone who can?"

I dunno about the love story, I mean I think it was a necessary part of the plot really... but maybe a more skilled director could have integrated romance and action better than George managed it.

By the way, was that a marriage ceremony at the end, or were they just there by the lake with some guy dressed like justice of the peace and two droids for no reason?

It looked like a marriage ceremony to me - now that really was unnecessary. And I don't get it - it doesn't seem to be that secret, but surely as a Jedi, Anakin isn't allowed to get married? Personally I would have had them have one forbidden night together or something... just seems more likely.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Thu May 16, 2002 11:25 am

Aghhhhhhhhh I thought I'd find just good discusion here, but theres spoilers!!! I can't help it, must read!

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Thu May 16, 2002 11:28 am

Sorry, craig, but there are at least two spoiler warnings on the previous page.

If you want more spoilers, I'm sure those of us who have seen the movie will let you in on more . . . (heh, heh, heh)

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Thu May 16, 2002 11:30 am

@craig you don't get good discussion without spoilers

Anyway, these are the less spoilish details

I want to know why Jedi, in their infinite wisdom, never thought of carrying guns for long-range attack, instead of having to run some distance towards people/droids firing straight at them (but amazingly missing them) before attacking with lightsabres (cool though they are)

There were some interesting parallels with the original trilogy too, like Obi-Wan saying "I will never join you!" ...and other things which would probably count as spoilers