The Star Wars Thread, Ep II: Blu or Blu Not, There is No Original Theatrical Release

[lazarus]

That part where Qui Gon is talking about some serious thing over dinner at Anakin's, and Jar Jar sticks his tongue out and makes that noise?

one of the most obnoxious choices Lucas has ever made. Ben Burtt and Rick McCallum should be shot for not arguing him out of it.

 

[Jive Turkey]

I still laugh when I think about the look on McCallum's face after seeing the first edit of Phantom Menace

 

[Lancemc]

I actually got to meet Ben Burtt in person a few years ago. He was kind of a prick.

A genius perhaps, but kind of a prick.

 

[Hewson]

That part where Qui Gon is talking about some serious thing over dinner at Anakin's, and Jar Jar sticks his tongue out and makes that noise?

one of the most obnoxious choices Lucas has ever made. Ben Burtt and Rick McCallum should be shot for not arguing him out of it.

That and having him step in shit on Tatooine also sticks out as ridiculously unnecessary.

 

[lazarus]

A genius perhaps, but kind of a prick.

Either way, he's no Walter Murch.

 

[LemonMelon]

him


ridiculously unnecessary

Seriously one of the worst characters in the history of time.

Phantom Menace has a more engaging storyline than I remembered. The dialogue is horrible enough to compensate though. As mediocre as the film is, probably the worst of the prequels, it was worth seeing it in 3D for the opening crawl alone. So great.

 

[lazarus]

There's a new review I read yesterday which is a well-reasoned defense of some of the film's elements. It's certainly not a glowing review, but highlights what does work.

I'm glad he gave props to Liam Neeson, who I think was perfect in what he was required to do (carve out a mythological place to balance that of Alec Guinness in A New Hope).

Some Came Running: Aaron Aradillas on "The Phantom Menace" in 3D

 

[mobvok]

I decided to salvage a Friday alone at home the best way I could by finally watching TESB on Blu-Ray.

There's little new I imagine I could say here, but there's nothing bad to say about this film. Also, three shots that really stuck with me- zoom ins (zooms in? attorneys general?) on the gently shaking lightsaber in the Wampa lair, Leia's face as the doors close at Echo Base, and the canted angle as Luke and Darth Vader fight at the last outcrop in Cloud City.

It's a little tricky, but I tried imagining what an audience watching TESB for the first time might think, and it was hard to escape the thought that this was a really well humming machine. The context of escaping Hoth provides enough structure for the first third/half of the film, and lets every character bounce off another in comfortable ways. Tatooine isn't as interesting a stage in ROTJ, but it still manages to tie the early parts together decently.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I want to have sex with Natalie Portman.

 

[mobvok]

There's a new review I read yesterday

Some Came Running: Aaron Aradillas on "The Phantom Menace" in 3D

assuming you're the second commenter on that page?

 

[lazarus]

yeah I frequent that site.

 

[Jive Turkey]

I think I'm going to buy a print of this. So awesome

 

[mobvok]

Topher Grace enters the fray with an 85 minute cut of all three prequels together.

Link

The opening crawl establishes that assassins have been after the queen and Jedis have been sent to intervene. Topher’s version begins with Episode I’s climactic lightsaber fight between Darth Maul (Ray Park), Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), bypassing the majority of Phantom Menace completely. Starting the story in the middle of this fight was a brilliant choice. Qui-Gon’s dying request that Obi-Wan train Anakin perfectly sets up the story.

Grace’s version of the film(s) centers on Anakin’s training and friendship with Obi-Wan, and his relationship with Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman). Gone are Trade Federation blockades, the Gungan city, the whole Padmé handmaiden storyline, the explanation of midichlorians, the galactic senate and the boring politics, Anakin’s origins (a backstory which never really needed to be seen in the first place), the droid army’s attack on Naboo, and Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) appears only briefly for only one line of dialogue, used as a set-up to introduce us to the Queen.

 

[lazarus]

Yawn.

ZOMG THERE'S ONLY ENOUGH GOOD MATERIAL FOR ONE SHORT FILM!!

 

[BigMacPhisto]

I'd love to see that. They should renumber the series. I-IV.

 

[Danny Boy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n7y1Kwg2Qw

 

[dazzledbylight]

i didn't have time 2 see the 3DTMP.

because of how my eyes have changed 3D stuff does't usually work on me.... i usually close one eye.
but i would have lijked to have seen it just b/c of the visuals, the final duels with that fantastic music/chorus ( Carmena Burenna, anyone?), Qui & Ben, Sen Palpitine's rise to power

i liked the trade war stuff, and so did several friends of very long time SW fandom. We thought it brought extra intelligence/adult political issues on jar jar... eh, not quite a hater.... i wish GL had given him a few redeeming traits or something.... other than him being sympathetic to our various heroes plights

and actually the mentioned scene of JJB
- trying to snag the fruit w his tongue QGJ catching him.. that was one of my fav JJB moments of course it was his ...?incompetence ( if i remember) that sets the stage for one of the pivotal downfall moments.

As a artist/ fashion lover while way impractical Queen Amedalia's royal outfits were too drool over. and as an artist i have 2 of the Art of SW books- ESB & TPM . Production/set/costume sketches, maatte paintings, and models ?

liked the article from the link. thanks.

came in to point out (not read yet) a SW article in ScienceFiction.com


while i'm sure somewhere along the way it's been discussed....

i'm interested in future movie watchers who might watch it from 1 - 6....how that'll play out.

i saw it about a month or so ( SW:ANH after it originally opened.

 

[Jive Turkey]

ECCC 2012: Star Wars Trilogy: The Radio Play - Official Video - YouTube

 

[lazarus]

Read the character names closely. Pretty brilliant:


SILLOF's WORKSHOP: NOIR WARS - A line in the style of a classic film noir

 

[u2popmofo]

This may very well be super old, but it's my first time seeing it....

Smooth Trooper T-Shirt | Spreadshirt | ID: 5603816

 

[bono_212]

Read the character names closely. Pretty brilliant:


SILLOF's WORKSHOP: NOIR WARS - A line in the style of a classic film noir

The first two took me a minute, but...awesome.

 

[lazarus]

This may very well be super old, but it's my first time seeing it....

Smooth Trooper T-Shirt | Spreadshirt | ID: 5603816

I don't get it.

 

[dazzledbylight]

cool link lazarus

took me a few seconds to pick up the "rhythm" of the names

 

[bollox]

ECCC 2012: Star Wars Trilogy: The Radio Play - Official Video - YouTube

This is very cool. It's a panel of voice actors from various cartoons (including practically all the cast of Futurama) reading Episode IV doing the voices of their signature characters/celebrity impressions. So, imagine Bender as Luke, Yakko Warner as Obi Wan, Inspector Gadget as Han, Christoper Walken as R2 etc. It runs a bit long, but it's worth a listen.

 

[LemonMelon]

I've finally watched Return of the Jedi. Fittingly, it was the last one I needed to see.

It was a film of moments. There were a number of subplots that I felt detracted from the revelatory Luke/Vader/Emperor arc, and the overuse of the puppets was problematic. It looked like the fucking Labyrinth in spots. But holy crap, the last 45 minutes was right in line with the exhilarating highs of New Hope and Empire.

Unfortunately, I torrented the fucking remaster. The CGI additions were incongruous with the look of the film, and most of the obviously added scenes had no impact; they were simply filler. I have no opinion on the addition of Hayden Christensen, but I feel for David Prowse.

Overall, good film. Far from my favorite; it's battling it out in the middle with Sith, which is dragged down by Christensen's horrendous acting throughout but bolstered by a superb, emotional ending.

 

[LemonMelon]

I feel for David Prowse.

Not that there's any reason to, having consulted IMDb about this...

Hey, it made sense at first.

 

[lazarus]

I've finally watched Return of the Jedi. Fittingly, it was the last one I needed to see.

It was a film of moments. There were a number of subplots that I felt detracted from the revelatory Luke/Vader/Emperor arc, and the overuse of the puppets was problematic. It looked like the fucking Labyrinth in spots. But holy crap, the last 45 minutes was right in line with the exhilarating highs of New Hope and Empire.

Unfortunately, I torrented the fucking remaster. The CGI additions were incongruous with the look of the film, and most of the obviously added scenes had no impact; they were simply filler. I have no opinion on the addition of Hayden Christensen, but I feel for David Prowse.

Overall, good film. Far from my favorite; it's battling it out in the middle with Sith, which is dragged down by Christensen's horrendous acting throughout but bolstered by a superb, emotional ending.

Hayden's acting is but one element of Sith, and I feel he's actually good in some scenes. Jedi has problems with more than one element.

The last 45 minutes of Jedi contain good material, but that land battle on Endor is just not very good. The logic is ludicrous, the Leia/Han dynamic has lost most of its charm, and then you have stuff like Chewie swinging from the vine with the Tarzan yell. So, no.

Now the last 45 minutes of Sith? That's a different story. I'd say from the opera house scene onward it's pretty fucking amazing, with only a few missteps (Vader's "Noooooooo!' being one of them).

I'm not even going to comment again on the muppets.

 

[mobvok]

There's some shit flying around on official-looking Reuters and CNBC twitter accounts with a couple million followers that Disney bought Lucasfilm. Reuters says a 7th movie is incoming, but that sounds like bullshit until I see a more official source.

Reuters Top News ‏@Reuters
The Star Wars/Disney news comes from a press release distributed by BusinessWire, for those wondering if this is a joke. It's not.

 

[I Move in Mysterious Ways]

I see more and more stories about this popping up every few minutes. Looks legit.

 

[mobvok]

movie in 2015, $4 billion price for Lucasfilm.