Star Wars Episode 1-3, A LOST HOPE

[Steelrat]

Well, I just saw Ep 3, and I know I will catch hell for this, but it was

TERRIBLE

TERRIBLE

TERRIBLE

It was horrible on so many levels I can't even explain it. Why Lucas had to try to shoehorn every character from the last 3 into the first three I will never figure out. C3PO knew R2D2? Chewbacca knew Yoda? Gimme a break!

And the worst, I mean worst part, has to do with the suspension of reality. I'm not talking about spaceships and droids, that I can deal with. What I cannot deal with is people behaving in ways that make no sense. So Anakin has a bad dream about Padme, and next thing you know thats the "justification" for whacking Mace Windu. Then, I guess in the spirit of "In for a penny, in for a pound" he whacks a bunch of little jedi kids. That kind of behavior is so far from realistic that the light from realistic will take a thousand years to reach it. And thats just one small example of totally irrational behavior a movie thats full of it. I just can't deal with that.

I now wish Lucas had NEVER made episodes 1-3. Things were so much better when everything was left to the imagination, much as with the original Matrix. No amount of cool fights or special effects can overcome how terribly done these movies have been. I only hope to god that I can banish them from my mind and go back to enjoying the original three.

[Warewolf50]

u realize he wrote them all at the same time and im guessing all the characters that he shoehorned in there were written in it originially so he wasnt forcing them in, he was jsut following what the original story called for.

Bout the dream thing the reason it freaked anniken out so much is cause he had the same dreams bout his mom dieing and that came true. Also didnt yoda pretty much tell him that he can tell the future but he cant let it affect him or what he does.

And i agree wiht you that he went bad very quickly, he was regretting what he did to windu then automatically started worshiping the emperor, then to the killing of the lil kids. I did find that scene kinda funny though (master anniken what are we goona do there are to many of them) anniken pull sout light saber and the scen changes.

Ryan

[Steelrat]

u realize he wrote them all at the same time and im guessing all the characters that he shoehorned in there were written in it originially so he wasnt forcing them in, he was jsut following what the original story called for.

Bout the dream thing the reason it freaked anniken out so much is cause he had the same dreams bout his mom dieing and that came true. Also didnt yoda pretty much tell him that he can tell the future but he cant let it affect him or what he does.

And i agree wiht you that he went bad very quickly, he was regretting what he did to windu then automatically started worshiping the emperor, then to the killing of the lil kids. I did find that scene kinda funny though (master anniken what are we goona do there are to many of them) anniken pull sout light saber and the scen changes.

Ryan

Well, writing them at the same time as the original three (if thats true) doesnt make it any less lame. It was all just too tidy. I mean, just look at it. Darth Vader built C3P0, who was a buddy of R2D2 before the first movie? And Obi Wan Kenobi knew R2D2? So, where was the recognition in Ep 4 when Obi Wan deals with R2 when extracting the Death Star info?

I know they went to great lengths to make it seem as if Anakin truly believed the dream would come true, but I still don't find his behavior even remotely plausible. Anakin has been a jedi for what, 15 years, and instead of going to the council or something for help he goes to his buddy the Chancellor. And all the chancellor has to do is relate some lame anecdote about "The Tragedy of Lord Somethingorother" and Anakin becomes some sort of whiney flunky to him.

There were some neat scenes. I enjoyed the General Grievous character, though he went down like a little Biatch. I also enjoy watching the Jedi do their thing, and the battle scenes are always cool, though since when do turbo-laser cannons eject casings?

I don't even know if I'll buy the DVD at this point. I found the killing of the younglings very disturbing, and I think Lucas stuck stuff like that in the movie in an attempt to make it "dark," even though just sticking in disturbing scenes alone isnt enough to make it a dark movie.

At least he minimized Jar Jar's screentime.

[1stdeadeye]

I know they went to great lengths to make it seem as if Anakin truly believed the dream would come true, but I still don't find his behavior even remotely plausible. Anakin has been a jedi for what, 15 years, and instead of going to the council or something for help he goes to his buddy the Chancellor. And all the chancellor has to do is relate some lame anecdote about "The Tragedy of Lord Somethingorother" and Anakin becomes some sort of whiney flunky to him.

Annakin went to Yoda about his dream. He was not satisfied with Yoda's answer of "Let them go." Palpatine stepped in with the answer Annikan wanted to hear. That simple.

[Steelrat]

Simple enough to make him kill the men, women, and children he has spent the past 15-20 years with? To me, it just seemed ludicrous. I didn't buy it for a second. All Palpatine had to say was "I can help you" and Anakin is slicing and dicing kids?

And I really needed the good, sensical plot to overcome the terrible dialogue and so-so acting.

The only really "good" moments for me is when the Jedi were betrayed on the various planets (I thought that was well done) and the final scenes. However, I think the final scenes appealed to me only because they were directly tied in with 4-6.

[Steelrat]

Try this one on for size. Anakin doesnt really tell Yoda the whole story about his dreams because he is afraid that he will get kicked out of the order. Yet he's willing to KILL everyone in the Jedi order? Huh

I've been waiting years for this movie, and all I got was a turd. That $20,000 fan movie was just about as enjoyable as this, and at least they have an excuse.

BTW, at least 2 people in the theater I was at fell asleep during the movie.

[WingMan13]

Dude you have to remember this is Sci-Fi/ fantasy. Our perception of life here on Earth does not fully translate into Lucas's galaxy. When the title scrolls, your suppossed to tranfer yourself to a galaxy far far away. If you dont do that then your just not gonna have fun. You think Anakin went down the dark path too quickly? If you think in terms of Lucas's galaxy, you need to remember the dark side consumes you and dominates your destiny. There was nothing quick about it because the dark side was always tempting Anakin since he was young. Anakin was a murderer even before he killed those in the Jedi temple. Now lets think about this in a Earthling perception. Lucas needs to make a movie and speed it along for the audience quickly. Do we honestly want to sit down and watch multitudes of needless episodes or five hour movies just to get certain points across? Sit back and enjoy!

[matt-o]

i completely agree with steelrat. george lucas killed star wars with the EP1-3, the acting was horrible, the plots were corny and unfounded, and he tried to fit too much into them. the diologue was absolutely horrible and only served to link battle scenes together. the only good actors in all of these movies were ewan mcgregor and the dude who played darth maul. also i have to say that i hate the complete overuse of computer animation. NOT EVERY SCENE NEEDS TO BE MADE ON A GREEN SCREEN, the old wire suspended models were much more beleivable (as corny as they looked). and computer animation allowed them to put things yoda's fight scenes in, and even though those were entertaining they detracted from the movie in the end.

[Steelrat]

Thanks Matt.

To Wingman, I already said that I have no problem with suspending disbelief for sci-fi. I just expect the behavior to be plausible. Giving Lucas a free pass because the dark side of the force can cause irrational behavior is making it too easy on him. A movie doesnt have to drag to be plausible. In fact, I get the feeling that Lucas felt the need to explain EVERYTHING.

And even if this were somehow unrelated to the first three movies, I still would not have enjoyed it too much. Underneath the special effects and the hype, it was a subpar script with mediocre acting.

Again, this is my own opinion. Its just sad when I enjoyed The Chronicles of Riddick at least 4 times as much as this movie.

[tony3]

Still haven't seen the 3rd, hoping to get out tonight to see it. I can say though, I enjoyed 1 and 2 plenty. They both were entertaining and wanted made you want to be in the movie.

[Blennidae]

While I don't dislike it as much as Steelrat does, he does raise valid points.

I was hoping for a reason I could "relate" to that made Anakin turn. Something I could accept. The whole "power of life and death" just didn't do it for me. When Luke decides to fight Vader in the end of Jedi, I could understand the reasoning. I was hoping for something more like that. Something I could see as a plausible cause.

Having Anakin hack the younglings only served to show Obi-Wan he had turned. I think it would have been more believeble if they just had Anakin give access to the Jedi temple and then had boatloads of clone troops do the killing. I love my wife, but I'm not sure a dream of her dying is going to give me cause to go psycho on a bunch of little kids I have known for years.

I think they should have kept R2 with the same mobility he had in the previous movies. I was ok with the little rocket things letting him fly a bit, but what they let him do in this one was just wrong. Do you remember how much trouble he had getting out of the X-ing on Dagobah? They have him leaping out of ships now, its just not believeable.

Too many digital sets. They just aren't as realistic as a regular set. All the shiny columns just didn't look as good as the white hallways of the blockade runner.

But with all the faults, I'll probably see it again in theaters once the crowds die down, and I'll buy the DVD. I think for me, if there had been a better reason for Anakin to turn, I would have enjoyed the movie more.

[bleachit]

if Annikan hadnt lost his mother and was emotionally stable.. then the way he "turned" wouldnt have been plausible. Annikan was very immature and clearly feared the loss of Padme more than anything.. especially after what happened to his mother..

throw in the way he was manipulated by Palpatine and his distrust for the Jedi Council... and it begins to make sense. Annikan was unstable emotionally and was prone to irrational behavior.

as for the killing of the Jedi in the temple.. he really didnt have much of a choice after he helped kill Mace.... and he allowed himself to believe that the jedi had turned on the republic.

[Steelrat]

R2 was one of those "cutesy" things that annoyed me. Included in that is:

-Chewbacca knowing Yoda. I mean "Miss you much I will, Chewbacca?" Lame.
-R2D2 and C3P0 knew each other, then for whatever reason Bail Organa orders C3P0 mind wiped. So why doesnt he order R2D2 wiped, and why doesnt R2D2 recognize C3P0 in ANH?
-Capt. Antilles? Was that Wedge or his dad? lame.
-Darth vader built C3P0???? That alone should get Lucas a death by stoning.
-Yoda's ninja fighting moves


Things done well
-Whole Jedi thing was done well
-Development of Obi Wan character
-Explanation for the creation of the Empire

I know my reaction seems harsh, but after 20+ years and hundreds of millions of dollars, there is no excuse for doing this poorly. Peter Jackson took a creative but poorly written book series and turned them into magnificent movies.

[oldsoldier]

u realize he wrote them all at the same time and im guessing all the characters that he shoehorned in there were written in it originially so he wasnt forcing them in, he was jsut following what the original story called for.

Bout the dream thing the reason it freaked anniken out so much is cause he had the same dreams bout his mom dieing and that came true. Also didnt yoda pretty much tell him that he can tell the future but he cant let it affect him or what he does.

And i agree wiht you that he went bad very quickly, he was regretting what he did to windu then automatically started worshiping the emperor, then to the killing of the lil kids. I did find that scene kinda funny though (master anniken what are we goona do there are to many of them) anniken pull sout light saber and the scen changes.

Ryan

Hey, he didnt write them all at the same time. episode iv was called that, I belive, because it was the 4th time he tried to sell it to a major studio. It was a common misconception about it. I think he started writing the 1st 3 after Jedi. The first star wars was a total sleeper...it wasnt expected to gross anything. Hollywood, and Luca, were VERY surprised by its turnout.

[Blennidae]

-R2D2 and C3P0 knew each other, then for whatever reason Bail Organa orders C3P0 mind wiped. So why doesnt he order R2D2 wiped, and why doesnt R2D2 recognize C3P0 in ANH?
-Capt. Antilles? Was that Wedge or his dad? lame.

I am willing to go with the idea that a protocol droid with language capabilities is a greater chance to blurt out information he shouldn't than an astromech droid that only speaks machine language is. That was my take on it. R2 and 3PO seemed to already have somewhat of a relationship in ANH. I'm going with R2 not filling in 3PO with all the details in their past.

Capt. Antillies being the droids master was established in ANH, the name is just common I guess. Is Wedge ever reffered to by his full name in any of the movies? I can't remember.