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Star Wars Episode III Spoiler Photos

XSSIV writes "Amazing new spoiler filled imagery from next year's Star Wars: Episode III can be found at the MovieWeb Star Wars III Detail Page. Here is the Gallery for Star Wars III Images" There are a couple of cool shots that cross into spoiler territory (although only if you don't know the Chewbacca is Luke's true biological mother).

112 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by Trigun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nobody's going to feel really bad about seeing those, as George Lucas has turned Star Wars into a franchise to hock his wares.

    At least with the original three, that just happened naturally.

    1. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by TheLinuxSRC · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, at least the original three weren't drivel written for little kids. There was a story there. The latest SW movies have been about nothing other than making George some bank.

    2. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by AIX-Hood · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Huh? Ewoks are nothing but fury drivels.

    3. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The original three?

      Talk sense, man. Only Empire is a remotely decent movie - Star Wars was novel but crappy, Empire was good, Return was a big budget, low-brow remake of Star Wars with any charm sucked out of the script and fucking Ewoks.

      Face it - the Star Wars series has been almost entirely crap with Empire stuck in the middle putting a rosy glow on the first movie and allowing us all to hope that any sequel might be as good, though none of them ever have been.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    4. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, Return of the Jedi was crap, but what about The Ewok Adventure??

    5. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by hype7 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Nobody's going to feel really bad about seeing those, as George Lucas has turned Star Wars into a franchise to hock his wares.


      It's such a shame. I remember when Lucas announced he was making the original three - back when, 1998? I thought it was going to be Eps IV - VI, but with awesome SFX.

      Instead, he candied and kiddied them down too much. Some people get edgier and better with age - Lucas, unfortunately, pretty much lost it. There are still flashes of brilliance, but the feel of the movies has been lost.

      I guess you could say if Lucas brought SFX to the mainstream with his original three movies, he over-commercialised it with the last three. Traditional space movies have almost fallen from favour since Ep I. On the other hand, these past few years haven't been a complete loss as far as cool movie genres and odysseys go.

      -- james
    6. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by Neop2Lemus · · Score: 5, Funny
      No the Wachowskimacallit Brothers stole it.

      And they didn't know how to use it either.

      --
      Needle Nardle Noo
    7. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by utahjazz · · Score: 4, Funny

      Some people get edgier and better with age - Lucas, unfortunately, pretty much lost it

      Err..lets not forget that Lucas wrote the Star Wars Holiday Special back in 1978. Try watching that before you watch eps I and II, they seem so you'll be sayin "My god Lucas has gotten so much better".

    8. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by caller_number_six · · Score: 2, Insightful


      The latest SW movies have been about nothing other than making George some bank

      Just a guess, but it seems like the real problem is that nobody close to Lucas has the heart to tell him that his movies are crap. I mean, he's probably a really nice guy.

      It hadn't occured to me that he needs the money.

    9. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by cbreaker · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, the first three WERE written for kids.

      The story is simplistic, "evil versus good", the characters are goofy, etc..

      They made millions of lunchboxes, action figures, and other toys. Not for kids eh..

      I won't say that they were the worst movies ever, they weren't. I'm a scifi fan and it's decent scifi. I won't however pretend they are something that they are not, and they are not fantastic.

      In my humble opinion, they should have made the new movies (episode 1, 2) for adults rather then kids like the old ones. The kids that watched the old one and loved them growing up are all grown up now.

      --
      - It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
    10. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by websaber · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It has already been slashdoted. Why don't the allow some slashdot users to be given early access so they can cache it so that everybody can see it? This would also solve the problem of not allowing editors to change their site in advance of a "slashwave"

      --
      "A good friend will bail you out of jail. A true friend will be sitting next to you saying, 'damn....that was fun!'"
    11. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by Lonath · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, at least the original three weren't drivel written for little kids.

      Have you watched the first three recently? I like the new movies, and I remember seeing the first ones as a kid, then again as an adult. I also realized upon re-seeing them as an adult that the dialogue and acting and the story in the first three weren't so hot, either. But they were fun movies.

      I like the new movies because I try to watch them as a child would, before I grew up and became cynical and bitter, and I really enjoy them. I didn't realize when I was watching the movies as a child that it was really Anakin's story, and I think the new movies are doing a good job of telling the earlier story of Anakin, even if I would change some things in some places.

      I especially enjoy the "Palpatine's rise to power pretending to be nice while he's really a mean nasty Sith Lord" plot, and how he manipulates everyone into doing what he wants. And how the Jedi can't tell he's a Sith lord. In fact, this plot point is apparently subtle enough that I remember going onto theforce.net after TPM came out and reading the boards where people were discussing whether or not Palpy==Sidious or not, and to this day, if you google "palpatine sidious" you will see lots of discussions on this issue. If people miss this point from the movies, then it's not surprising that so many people think the new movies are crap. (It's also interesting to me that without the existence of movies 4, 5, and 6 there actually could be a question about their relationship because you wouldn't know where the story is going...but that's clearly not the case here.)

      Oh well, but the movie industry still sucks so I won't be able to see the third till it comes out on TV. :(

    12. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by thales · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh Please!

      I Was 20 when the first film came out so I had about the viewpoint as many posters have for the newer films. The Originals were campy space Operas that had every gimik from 1930s and 1940s Serials and B Movies redone done with what was state of the art effects at the time. They made for a fun night of escapist entertainment, but were never anything near good Sci-Fi. The biggest fault of the prequeals is they try take themselves too damn serious and fail at it instead of being the fun campy space flicks the older movies were.

      --
      Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est
    13. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by kaltkalt · · Score: 4, Informative

      yep, and remember, Lucas did not direct Empire. That's why it was good.

      --

      Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
    14. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by Endive4Ever · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, I am a science fiction fan, and I know I am not alone in saying that the whole Star Wars phenomenon did unimaginable damage to the SF genre.

      I'm not speaking from an 'elitist' point of view, mind you. The good SF from the 70's isn't about elites, it's mostly a hopeful vision for the future.

      Star Wars dragged in the whole Space Western bullshit and crowded out and killed a lot of good stuff.

      --
      ---
    15. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 2

      I kind of agree - but nearly the whole charm of Star Wars is Harrison Ford, he carries it on into Empire, but has no dialogue worthy of his character in Return. The Star Wars trilogy could REALLY have used some decent script editors to give the characters some decent dialogue.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    16. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      " The good SF from the 70's isn't about elites, it's mostly a hopeful vision for the future."

      What? were you even alive?

      Omega man, Soylent green, Planet of the apes, Buck Rogers, etc . . . were all about the folly of man and our path to self destruction.

      Star Wars proved that even though Sci-Fi was expensive, it could make big dollars. Look at some of the sci-fi that came out in the next 10 years. some Realy Good Stuff. also a lot of crap, but that is to be expected.

      Star Wars was pretty much anything but a Space Western. Closer to a martial arts movie, or Space fantasy. There was no expansion(Star Trek) involved with Star Wars, no wagon train(Battle Star).

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    17. Re:Face it, Star Wars Three IS a spoiler. by WindowsTroll · · Score: 4, Informative

      >>It hadn't occurred to me that he needs the money.

      I am not sure if you were facetious or not, but old George rates up there as #159 on the worlds richest person list with a net worth of $3,000,000,000 U.S Dollars.

      http://www.forbes.com/maserati/billionaires2004/ LI RPNOV.html?passListId=10&passYear=2004&passListTyp e=Person&uniqueId=PNOV&datatype=Person

      (sorry about the url)

      --
      "Microsoft has made computing accessible to a population who would otherwise not be able to use computers" - B. Kernigha
  2. Chewbacca????? by TheLinuxSRC · · Score: 5, Funny

    although only if you don't know the Chewbacca is Luke's true biological mother

    Chebacca and Darth Vader... Nasty.

    1. Re:Chewbacca????? by good(k)night · · Score: 4, Funny

      ..and that's why they both speak funny?

      --
      my endian is bigger than yours!
    2. Re:Chewbacca????? by Kjuib · · Score: 5, Funny

      But I thought Chewbacca and Han had a Love Child... Anyone ever hear of Alf - I think he had his own TV show once...

      --
      - Your stupidity got you into this mess, why can't it get you out? -Will Rogers
    3. Re:Chewbacca????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, but it makes sense when you look at Luke.

      I mean, with a face like that, his two main contributors HAVE to be some walking carpet and a guy so hideous he has to wear a mask all the time.

    4. Re:Chewbacca????? by liloconf · · Score: 5, Funny

      Han's son?? I guess that would explain Alf's love for pussy....

    5. Re:Chewbacca????? by scubacuda · · Score: 3, Funny
      One of these dirty SW quotes is in order.

      (I'm just too lazy to pick one)

  3. spoiler material? by poptix_work · · Score: 5, Informative

    I saw nothing that came anywhere near spoiler material, nice imagery though.

    --
    Just because you disagree doesn't make it offtopic or flamebait.
    1. Re:spoiler material? by lwells-au · · Score: 5, Funny

      Neither did I. In fact, I didn't see anything.... wait a minute!

    2. Re:spoiler material? by dickiedoodles · · Score: 5, Funny

      I saw nothing that came anywhere near spoiler material, nice imagery though.

      These aren't the spoilers you're looking for

      You can go about you business

      Move along

      --
      In Soviet Russia Slashdot cliches use you
    3. Re:spoiler material? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I saw nothing

      That is the spoiler.

  4. Spoilers? by Ephemeriis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just took a look over there and I didn't see anything I'd call a spoiler. Some concept sketches and the like for various machines...maybe a baby AT-ST? A couple city-scapes... A picture of (I'm assuming) Annakin looking fairly unhealthy... Nothing terribly spoiling or surprising over there. Did I miss something?

    yrs,
    Ephemeriis

    --
    "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
    1. Re:Spoilers? by Brummund · · Score: 3, Funny

      A pity I couldn't find the sketch for the scene where they decapitate Jar Jar.

  5. Ewan McGreagor? by Mitleid · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Is that Ewan McGreagor with all the "burn" makeup on? When the hell did Obi-Won get burned?

    --

    --
    Is it me, or did it just get fatter in here?
    1. Re:Ewan McGreagor? by lwells-au · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No. I imagine its a young Anakin come Darth Vader. Obviously something had to happen to him to require the suit.

    2. Re:Ewan McGreagor? by Fishstick · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, the story, as I remember it from the novelizations, has always been that Anakin and Obi-Wan have a battle in which Anakin is defeated and is horribly burned in some lava pit or something (his lungs are scortched and that is why he needs the ventilator).

      I bet that's Hayden with all the burn makeup. I don't recall that Obi-Wan suffered any major injuries duing his duel with Anakin.

      --

      There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
      Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.

    3. Re:Ewan McGreagor? by Stavr0 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ohhh. I thought a 'Passion of Christ' shot got in there accidentally...

  6. Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    DAMNIT, First someone ruined Passion of The Christ for me, now this!

    1. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      DAMNIT, First someone ruined Passion of The Christ for me, now this!

      Ehh, it's ok, the book is better anyway.

    2. Re:Great by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 5, Funny
      --
      I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
      I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
    3. Re:Great by El · · Score: 4, Funny

      Ehh, it's ok, the book is better anyway. What, it's been turned into a book so soon after the movie release?!? What's the book called?

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  7. Star Wars or Hellraiser by beacher · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just saw Pinhead... Nah that's obviously Annakin after being burned and in the need for his respirator.... -B

    1. Re:Star Wars or Hellraiser by Yorrike · · Score: 5, Funny
      Wait, wait, how do you know Anakin needs a respirator? He's not going to turn into Darth Vader is he? But that would mean that Vader was Luke's... oh thank-you very much mr spoil the entire trilogy!

      Excuse me while I sulk in front of my Happy Days tapes which I've never got around to watching. At least Fonzie will always be cool.

      --

      Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?

    2. Re:Star Wars or Hellraiser by Navius+Eurisko · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well the burned man concept pic does provide evidence that Anakin becomes Vadar because of severe buring. It has been hinted through novelizations and Lucus' early script drafts that Anakin fell into a pool of lava fighting Obi-Wan and was horribly burned. The other theory from early drafts was that Anakin fell into a nuclear core and was subjected to massive amounts of radiation. This pic certainly offers evidence that burns (and not radiation) are what made Anakin don the mask.

    3. Re:Star Wars or Hellraiser by mcpkaaos · · Score: 2, Funny

      It could be acne.

      --
      It goes from God, to Jerry, to me.
  8. and if you dont like the photos by stonebeat.org · · Score: 2, Funny

    try again after having some Lucas Skywalker Ranch Wines. That should help a lot.

    1. Re:and if you dont like the photos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      My favorite Ranch Whine was "But I was gonna go into town and buy some poooowweerr conveeerrrters!"

  9. star wars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    what's with all the star wars hype? I mean sure, it was one of the first big budget science fantasy movie productions, but let's face it, it's really really bad, and the only reason you think it's good is because you've been spoon fed crappy movies all your lives.

    why don't you go to the library and pick up some good sci-fi? I mean, possibly any sci-fi book is at least 34 times better than STAR WARS. pick up Night's Dawn, Hyperion, heck, even the Foundation series and read some books. pretty soon you'll begin to notice that STAR WARS is a really crappy third grade movie.

    just my 2 dollars.

  10. Um, advertisements? by nurb432 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seems if i try to view an image all i get is some damned pop-up ad.. How kind of them, more companies I can add to the list that I refuse to do business with.

    But i agree with the others, i don't see any 'spoilers' here.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:Um, advertisements? by Fragmented_Datagram · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Seems if i try to view an image all i get is some damned pop-up ad

      You need to go here first then: mozilla.org

    2. Re:Um, advertisements? by ILL+Robinson · · Score: 2, Informative

      Or at least install the Google Toolbar [toolbar.google.com](a necessary addition to make IE worthwhile, IMHO) and turn on the popup blocker option...

  11. Re:star wars by Gyan · · Score: 5, Funny

    I mean, possibly any sci-fi book is at least 34 times better than STAR WARS.

    34? Damn, I had my money on 19.5

  12. Comic Book Guy by Luigi30 · · Score: 4, Funny

    *going through a box of very rare film things*
    Star Wars alternate ending, Luke's father is CHEWBACCA!? OOH! I'll give you $5 for it.

    --
    503 Sig Unavailable

    The Signature could not be accessed. Please try again later or contact the administrator
  13. Such a shame about the design... by thatguywhoiam · · Score: 5, Insightful
    For myself, I regard the new SW films as just pure exercises in fantastic design. It's a real shame I think.. not just that the movies are not very well written, but the flip side of that coin: they are fantastically, stupendously well done in terms of art direction and technical prowess.

    Be like me: if you regard Ep.3 as a kind of CG coffee-table-book, you'll get more enjoyment out of it. Set expectations of plot to zero and you can't be disappointed, right?

    --
    If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
  14. You are not a Jedi yet. by ATAMAH · · Score: 5, Funny

    movieweb.com sysadmin (waves hand): you will not slashdot my webservers.

    1. Re:You are not a Jedi yet. by artemis67 · · Score: 4, Funny

      As you can see, my young apprentice, your friends have failed. Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational ball of Perl and MySQL!

  15. Bastard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have no interest in these pictures, but I went there anyway to make sure the slashdotting was complete.

  16. True? by Melvin+Daniels · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You know, I've been a fan of star wars for a long time, mostly my whole life, but over the past year or two, it's started to wane.

    I basically did what this guy says to do, albeit with different books, and more and more, I don't like Star Wars as much. In fact, I'm starting to really hate it.

    On the other hand, I'm finding some really amazing books that keep me hooked, and I'm starting to even read non-scifi books, which is pretty suprising for me.

    So, even though it looks like a blatant troll, it has real insight.

  17. SPOILER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny



    i think we just spoiled their server, unless its a site about "connection timed out"

  18. here's a mirror by Pidder · · Score: 5, Informative

    In case the page is slashdotted I've put up the pictures on: http://fredrik.kalmar.lu.se. It's on a 10 mbit univeristy connection in Sweden. It should stay up for a while atleast.

    1. Re:here's a mirror by Pidder · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think I've been /.ed :D

    2. Re:here's a mirror by Pidder · · Score: 4, Funny

      note to self: do not post half a meg of pictures on slashdot.

  19. Land shark gun? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is it just me or does that bottom image mean the land shark gun will be making an appearance?

  20. There are a few spoilers... by Stuwee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Most of the spoilers are in previous articles from the looks of things. Can't see many spoilers in their "huge new spoiler filled photos" though - media manipulation perfected.

  21. Spoiler alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    He dies, then returns as Jesus the White.

  22. Mother? by ScarletEmerald · · Score: 3, Funny

    although only if you don't know the Chewbacca is Luke's true biological mother

    No. Luke, I am your mother.
    No, that's not true. That's impossible! NO!!!!!
    Search your feelings, Luke. You know it's true.

    1. Re:Mother? by otis+wildflower · · Score: 2, Funny

      Kind of you to translate, your mastery of wookiee is impressive ;)

  23. starwars kid by potpie · · Score: 4, Funny

    The real question is: will Gyslain make an appearance? C'est possible, non?

    --
    Esoteric reference.
  24. Movie tie-ins by MisanthropicProggram · · Score: 4, Funny
    You would have found out when the movie comes out and you see all those movie tie-in fast food meals:
    Now, for a short time only! The Darth Vader, Luke's Father, crispy chicken meal!

    --

    There is no spoon or sig.

  25. Direct Links by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    Ease the load on his server and access them directly, nothing like a dynamic PHP script to bring a site to its knees ;)

    • Image 1
    • Image 2
    • Image 3
    • Image 4
    • Image 5
    • Image 6
    • Image 7
    • Image 8
    • Image 9
    • Image 10
    • Image 11
    • Image 12


    • filler
      # Important Stuff: Please try to keep posts on topic.
      # Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads.
      # Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said.
      # Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about.
      # Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page)
    1. Re:Direct Links by kantai · · Score: 5, Funny

      Awesome! Now that Mozilla has tabbed browsing, I can open all twelve pictures at once...

      And this is better for his server, right?

    2. Re:Direct Links by shadowbearer · · Score: 2, Funny


      It's been completely blown away. Our URL is correct but....no movieweb

      Guess slashdot has the firepower of more than a thousand starships :)

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
  26. 34? by WIAKywbfatw · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think the number you're looking for is 42.

    --

    "Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
  27. This doesn't make any sense by utahjazz · · Score: 4, Funny

    although only if you don't know the Chewbacca is Luke's true biological mother

    None of this makes any sense.

    1. Re:This doesn't make any sense by unknown_host · · Score: 4, Funny

      Here's some popular Open Source code you can use to test who's the "true biological mother"..

      /* HUMAN_DNA.H
      *
      * Human Genome
      * Version 2.1
      *
      * (C) The Omnipotent Creator
      */

      /* Revision history:
      *
      * 0000-00-01 00:00 1.0 Adam.
      * 0000-00-02 10:00 1.1 Eve.
      * 0000-00-03 02:11 1.2 Added penis code to male version. A bit messy --
      * will require a rewrite later on to make it neater.
      * 0017-03-12 03:14 1.3 Added extra sex drive to male.h; took code from
      * elephant-dna.c
      * 0145-10-03 16:33 1.4 Removed tail.
      * 1115-00-31 17:20 1.5 Shortened forearms, expanded brain case.
      * 2091-08-20 13:56 1.6 Opposable thumbs added to hand() routine.
      * 2501-04-09 14:04 1.7 Minor cosmetic improvements -- skin colour made
      * darker to match my own image.
      * 2909-07-12 02:21 1.8 Dentition inadequate; added extra 'wisdom' teeth.
      * Must remember to make mouth bigger to compensate.
      * 4501-12-31 14:18 1.9 Increase average height.
      * 5533-02-12 17:09 2.0 Added gay option, triggered by high population
      * density, to try and slow the overpopulation problem
      * 6004-11-04 16:11 2.1 Made forefinger narrower to fit hole in centre of
      * CD.
      */

      /* Standard definitions
      */

      #define SEX male
      #define HEIGHT 1.84
      #define MASS 68
      #define RACE caucasian

      /* Include inherited traits from parent DNA files.
      *
      * Files must be pre-processed with MENDEL program to provide proper
      * inheritance features.
      */

      #include "mother.h"
      #include "father.h"

      #ifndef FATHER
      #warn("Father unknown -- guessing\n")
      #include "bastard.h"
      #endif

      /* Set up sex-specific functions and variables
      */
      #include

      /* Kludged code -- I'll re-design this lot and re-write it as a proper
      * library sometime soon.
      */
      struct genitals
      {
      #ifdef MALE
      Penis *jt;
      #endif
      /* G_spot *g; Removed for debugging purposes */
      #ifdef FEMALE
      Vagina *p;
      #endif
      }

      /* Initialization bootstrap routine -- called before DNA duplication.
      * Allocates buffers and sets up protein file pointers
      */
      DNA *zygote_initialize(Sperm *, Ovum *);

      /* MAIN INITIALIZATION CODE
      *
      * Returns structures containing pre-processed phenotypes for the organism
      * to display at birth.
      *
      * Will be improved later to make output less ugly.
      */
      Characteristic *lookup_phenotype(Identifier *i);

  28. How can a prequel have spoilers by hillct · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I still don't understand how there could be spoilers for movies which are prequels. There were three movies made over 20 years ago, which established a plot arc to which these new prequels must match up. This is not to say we don't know the ending. We know the ending vary well. The question is, will the middle of the star wars mythos do justice to the end? Will it honor the spirit of the ending with which we are so familiar or will the release of this movie, which defines the middle of the story arc, simply serve to cheapen the experience of those of us who so enjoyed the original three movies? Only time will tell. While we wait though, we can still enjoy the originals and simply hope beyond hope that George Lucas won't further damage the mythos and cheapen the great work he produced early in his career.

    --CTH

    --

    --Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
    1. Re:How can a prequel have spoilers by lokedhs · · Score: 5, Funny
      How can (x || !x) be false?

      Oh, and if you don't get the tounge-in-cheek part of the above, don't spend the mod points.

    2. Re:How can a prequel have spoilers by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A spoiler is information that makes seeing the movie irrelevant, or at least 'spoils' your enjoyment of it. For a prequel like this it would be information that is in the movie and not in anything else: something you don't know and would make the movie worth watching.

      So, no, a spoiler is not possible for Star Wars episode III.

      --
      'Sensible' is a curse word.
    3. Re:How can a prequel have spoilers by squiggleslash · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It could, of course, be that Lucas is going to spring a really big surprise on everyone - Anakin isn't Darth Vader perhaps, something like that.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    4. Re:How can a prequel have spoilers by mabinogi · · Score: 3, Funny

      when x is null, and you're dealing with oracle.

      --
      Advanced users are users too!
    5. Re:How can a prequel have spoilers by stickb0y · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's what I'm thinking too. I posted some thoughts about it before:

      ... maybe we don't know what we think we know.

      For example, everyone is expecting Anakin to become Vader. What if he's not? Perhaps Vader is a clone of Anakin. This could explain a few things:

      • The stupid midochlorian plot element of Episode I. It could have been written in as a (lame) way to get a blood sample from Anakin sent off to Coruscant.
      • How Vader was unaware that he had children. Perhaps they weren't his but instead were the original Anakin's.
      • Obi-Wan's lies and half-truths from different points of views. Maybe Vader really did kill Luke's father.

      Or it could be the other way around, and a clone of Anakin sires Luke and Leia.

      I doubt that any of this is the case. I bet Episode III is going to be a boring piece of trash with nothing substantial to add. I can dream, though...

      Plus, I think I was speculation on theforce.net a few years ago that maybe Senator/Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Sidious are not the same person but rather are clones of each other.

  29. :-0 by Digitus1337 · · Score: 2, Funny

    If this kind of a link isn't taken down by slashdotters....

  30. Titanic by bsDaemon · · Score: 4, Funny

    I bet your were surprised when the boat hit the iceburg, too

  31. Yet another mirror! by EyelessFade · · Score: 5, Informative

    Lets see it the University of Bergen can take the load of an /.

    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd1.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd2.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd3.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd4.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd5.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd6.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd7.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd8.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd9.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd10.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd11.jpg
    http://www.student.uib.no/~st09155/SW/jd12.jpg

  32. It would have been nice... by Zakabog · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...if the admin put up a nice message that said "These are not the images you are looking for." Much better than a connection refused.

  33. I'll still see it by beforewisdom · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I'll still see it though it is more tired then Star Trek.

    That is what matinees are for.....

    Steve

  34. The best thing about episode 3... by Anonymous+Cowabunga · · Score: 5, Insightful

    is that this sorry series will be over, at least the George Lucas part of it. Here's hoping 7-9 will be given to someone with some real edge, like Stephen Spielberg (whose AI or Minority Report films shows how to do intelligent and thought provoking Sci-Fi), or Peter Jackson, who singlehandedly blew away the Star Wars franchise, by revealing the richness and origins of the Star Wars mythology with LOTR. Instead of working on the depth of the mythos, which is what the fans are after, Lucas instead overwhelms us with superficial details--pod racers, giant fighting robots, wookies, talking lizards. By the time the film comes out, why bother? You've already seen it before, only louder and bigger.

    1. Re:The best thing about episode 3... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      AI was a good movie - a Stanley Kubrick movie. Up to the point where the movie _should_ have ended (with the robot kid in the car underwater) - instead, we get some lame ass candy coated hollyweird ending all thanks to Steven Speilberg.

      He's made some decent movies in the past (Saving Private Ryan) but he has no idea how to make a sci-fi movie.
      AI wasn't really a Sci Fi movie anyways....

    2. Re:The best thing about episode 3... by jskiff · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, especially that whole "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" thing. Awful...

      --
      It's "no one," not "noone." Who the hell is noone anyway?
    3. Re:The best thing about episode 3... by ndinsil · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So many people have made that mistake of interpretation, and it's a shame. For that matter, it was said quite a bit about 2001 as well. Would it surprise you to learn the third act has as much Kubrick influence as the other two? It *does* have problems, IMHO, too much narration a large part of that. But it's unfortunate that the shift in style has led people to think of the ending as tacked-on, with Kubrick stopping and Spielberg picking up the pen to finish things off.

      I hope with some investigation you can confirm this for yourself, and reexamine the third act's messages in light of Kubrick's similar statements in A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket.

  35. Re:I'm surprised by lxs · · Score: 4, Funny

    There is an episode 7? why was I not told about this? I bet it's called "The Ewoks Take Manhattan"

    sing along everybody: "Someday we'll find out, the Jedi connection, Chewbacca, Han Solo and meeeeeee!!!!"

  36. Star Wars still the best vision. . . by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 3, Insightful
    of current reality.

    The metaphors fly fast and thick, and probably without intention on the part of the creators. It is certainly a shame that Lucas has lost his creative balancing mechanism, --which I believe, consisted of several people who had both the ability to argue with him and the power to make those arguments stick. That's not the case anymore.

    I wonder what moral is like over at the Ranch. . ? There are some really smart people working on these films. It must be frustrating to be tied into serving a broken machine.

    Still, I am certainly looking forward to the next film. It'll be neat to see how it all plays out. You can map the rise and fall of the U.S. and the world on the parallels presented in the Star Wars prequals.

    Has anybody ever tried a Phantom Edit of the second film? I might give it a shot; although, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'd only be left with about 50 minutes of footage after all the chops necessary in that monster of a mistake! I'd chop whole battles, like that idiot thing with Yoda and whoever the hell that guy was with the bent saber. What the heck was that scene even there for? Too bad it's not possible to change Anakin from a weenie girli-boy into an actual figure of threat and power.

    Hmm. . . Maybe I'd only be left with 30 minutes. Still, it's amazing what can be done with a pair of scissors. The Phantom Edit of the first film was an amazing tribute to the power of good editing!

    Perhaps if one were to combine the 'Attack of the Clones' with the upcoming film, there will be enough material to hybridize into a whole feature.

    We'll see.

    Wouldn't it be weird if the third one does suck at all?

    Whoa. . !


    -FL

  37. Re:star wars by Scooter · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This argument is flawed - you just can't compare books and films in that way. Sure they both tell a story, but the constraints, and media are just too different. I've read some sci-fi, well quite a lot to be honest and whilst I'd agree that the plot of Star Wars isn't amazingly twisted and probably doesn't work too well as a 1000 page book - it was perfect for it's medium: film.

    Movies should evoke emotions and with the good old good vs evil, the legacy, the gimmick (the force)and the mentor/apprentice thing going on, it evoked the right emotions at the right points in the film. (Mind you I always felt Obi Wan could have put up a bit of a fight, even if he was getting on a bit :-/ )

    It's a film, not a book. I'm not saying books don't translate to the film - LOTR managed it really well, but the keyword there is "translate". Peter Jackson couldn't just film every little bit and include every bit of dialogue and have the audience still awake at the end of his 50 hour flick - he and the other script writers had to tranbslate it for the screen. The same would be tru of all Sci-Fi lit with involved plots. Imagine a film of Heinlein's "Number of The beast" - I couldn't remember what the hell that was about 2 weeks after I read it, but it made sense while I was reading it.

    StarWars was a nice sized plot with a bit of intrigue and some great characters. It didn't have a big budget, and Lucas chnaged the story several times to fit with the cash he had. Up until then space had been "clean" with no mving parts. StarWars showed vehicles that looked like they actually had engines and nechanical parts in them - they looked like they would work on an engineering level. And there was dirt, for the first time in a SciFi flick, ships had dirt from being used - the habitats looked lived in. My own 2 penneth on the prequels is that they lack everyday charcters - everybodies a queen or a senator or a Jedi Kight, so they all talk in a formal way which makes the dialogue seem wooden. Where are the Han Solo type characters? It's like looking at life through the pages of a history book - tales of Kings and Queens always seem regal in the books, but between the glorious and famous events recorded in the chronicles of history, I bet there was a lot of nose picking, scratching of arses and general mundane nothingness. We don't see much "life" going on in the new SW movies. In the original movies, at least there were some farmers, the odd used ship dealer (implied) and some general working class dudes you could identify with. Ep V had possibly the best script, dialogue and character development of them all - largly due to the presence of Solo and the fliting with old bun chops.

    I still like the new movies though, as long as I stick my "this is not really a kids movie - you are not sad for watching this age 34" filter on. I am looking forward to EPIII - I'll watch it for what it is - and then watch the original trlogy on DVD (hopefully)!

  38. A theory I heard was it was Lucas's ex-wife by JasonUCF · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apparently Lucas was married/on his way to divorce in the middle of Eps IV - VI and it was her input on the editorial and post in the film that helped make them good. Apparently Lucas wanted to suck at those too but at every step there was her persistent "Uh, dear.." that got him to change his mind. I've never read up enough bio on the man to validate this gossip but it would seem to fit. Lucas channeled by others producing greatness, Lucas left to own devices slinging steaming turds.

    1. Re:A theory I heard was it was Lucas's ex-wife by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Pardon my anonymousity...

      I worked on a short film with several guys from ILM, and they confirm the ex-wife theory (before I'd even heard of it). She was apparently the driving force behind the quality of those films (and the divorce itself had no small part to play in the dark qualities of Indy 2, but you can hear that from Lucas himself on the DVD).

      Don't forget the creative input of Kasdan on Empire, either. Lucas even let someone else direct the feature, which I think we all wish he would have done for the new ones.

    2. Re:A theory I heard was it was Lucas's ex-wife by Ubergrendle · · Score: 2, Informative

      Don't forget the script writing prowess of Leigh Brackett on _Empire_... she wasn't around for _Revenge of the Jedi_ (sic) which to me is always why it was an inferior film.

      She wrote the screenplays for _Rio Bravo_, and _The Big Sleep_, so she had a proven track record at great writing. I'm not quite so sure why she did so little work in the 1960s and 70s, but her last work was Empire.

      --
      John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
    3. Re:A theory I heard was it was Lucas's ex-wife by Dionysus · · Score: 2, Informative

      She died during Empire.

      --
      Je ne parle pas francais.
  39. Re:Star Wars by FoolishBose · · Score: 3, Informative

    Although in all honesty I really didn't see a need for a spoiler alert. Since there really was no spoiler....

  40. You want spoilers? Here's a spoiler by MinorHeadWound · · Score: 5, Funny

    You will die alone. :)

  41. Re:George... by rking · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If these are prequels, then why does everything look more technologically advanced compared to the original trilogy??? I'm so confused...

    I hate to make excuses for them, but I would guess that this is because the Empire is a time primarily of cultural and economic decay, not advancement. Probably a moral in there somewhere. And yeah, that "primarily" excuses one-offs like the Death Star being developed.

  42. Accidental masterpiece by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    accidental master piece all I can say about the first 3

  43. Star Wars is MYTH by Pejorian · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sure, Star Wars was a simple, black-and-white tale. But that's what made it good!

    I think many academics and current thinkers would agree that the Star Wars story has entered into our current mythology -- it's become one of our Deep Stories.

    Of course, no sequels, prequels, whatever, could ever measure up to the original. It was the Brothers Grimm, it was Homer, it was Myth.

    --
    - Murphy's Corollary: - It is impossible to make things foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
  44. Missing information by Orion+Blastar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Both sides seem to be devoid of information when I went to visit them.

    The movie page seems to be a mockup with links going to news items. Hardly interesting.

    The image gallery apparently broke:

    "Warning: opendir(/home/www/media/galleries/7/1692/thumbs): failed to open dir: No such file or directory in /home/www/lightsout/movies/galleries.php on line 99

    Warning: readdir(): supplied argument is not a valid Directory resource in /home/www/lightsout/movies/galleries.php on line 100

    Warning: closedir(): supplied argument is not a valid Directory resource in /home/www/lightsout/movies/galleries.php on line 140"

    I think the gallay has been removed or disabled in some fashion. Must be the Sith at work again clouding things. :)

    --
    Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
  45. New stuff is too advanced looking by st0rmshad0w · · Score: 3, Insightful

    All this (eps1-3) stuff, meaning the ships and tech and other sorts of things just seem far too madern for my taste. I mean all of this is supposed have happened prior to eps 4-6 so why does nearly everything seem to look more advanced? Bogus in my opinion, I would much rather have seen ships and gear that somewhat obviously predate the stuff of Star Wars.

  46. its just a shame by Dr.Knackerator · · Score: 5, Insightful

    SW is a nice idea just apallingly badly done most of the time. The only reason we get so excited is that the sci-fi film genre is *so* badly served with horrible derivative works it makes SW seem ok.

    kudos for Lucas for originally having the sage storyline and hiring some damn talented designers to put a unique feel on the films and superb effects for the time. And great music. But if he gets too far involved, it just sucks. Sorry George.

    quick summary:

    Ep4: poor directing, awful script, okish film
    Ep5: good! somebody else writes and directs (take the hint please)
    Ep6: Ok film, somebody else directs. bad dialogue is back thanks to georgey boy working on the screenplay again. story rear ended for commerical gain by adding the ewoks

    Ep1: Atrocious. Hes back writing on his own and DIRECTING. Dammit george you were not very good to start with and its been 22 YEARS since you last directed anything. story again rammed in the chocolate starfish with the commericalisation of the pod racing scene (which takes up about 50% of the film it seems). pick a totally appaling actor for annakin. Take some of the best acting talent and turn them into cardboard with bloody awful directing and bad script. Hell I can't even remember what happens in this film apart from the pod race.

    Ep2: A bit better, i.e. watchable. Script a bit better as hes working with somebody again for the screenplay. again choose an awful annakin. Whats now odd about this is that I can't think of a single point without music in the film. probably why the film seems better as the great music can actually make you feel the emotions that the script and directing cannot.

    I don't know why he returned to the writing/directing roles, surely he realised that 5&6 were better than 3? Why couldn't he have turfed the directing/screenplay over to better people? He could have kept his repuation as a god, and become a benevolant god at that. What possessed him to do it?

    To leave on a positive note, at least nothing else looks like star wars, it's too 'in your face' to copy. Unlike Alien which although a great film, every spacecraft interior now looks like it's out of Alien and unfortunately it seems a hell of a lot of stories just copy it as well...

    1. Re:its just a shame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      again choose an awful annakin.

      I saw Life as a House, and was forced to conclude that Hayden Christenson is a pretty good actor. So what's up with Episode II? Well it seems to me George Lucas must be directing him to act that way: "Okay Hayden, now you are young Anakin, and to show you've already got a chip on your shoulder walk around looking all brooding and self-aware for no apparant reason." I mean, he is brooding with a chip on his shoulder in the other movie too, showing that he can do it without seeming self-aware. There is only one reason he wouldn't do so in this movie: he isn't being allowed to.

  47. Re:Not SciFi! by RaymondRuptime · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So, I guess your definition of sci-fi is too narrow to include guys like Robert Heinlein and H.G. Wells and Jack Chalker? Arthur C. Clarke invented the satellite and all, so he probably gets to stay, and maybe Larry Niven and Neal Stephenson; but what about Isaac Asimov? I mean, how much real science was there in Foundation?

    Why do we need to be so exclusionary with the genre title? Is there a generally accepted standard list of criteria from which you believe space epics like Star Wars diverge, or is this just a troll?

  48. Thanks ... by cfuse · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Thanks, but I'll wait until it's on Free-to-air.

  49. Episode 3 trailer by smcn · · Score: 2, Informative

    Gotta link to this every time there's a story about episode 3:

    http://users.eastlink.ca/~jaysilver/

  50. Spoilers? by xihr · · Score: 3, Funny

    How can it be spoilers? It's a freaking prequel!

  51. MaAy The Force Be With You by lrdtux · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Being old enought o remember seeing each of the original three movies in their debut on the big screen, I can being excited when Empire came out, the Return. I remember thinking it was everyting I wanted. han got the girl, Luke was the shit (not really but he was supposed to be, GO HAN) any way, The sory is going along pretty much as I read it about 12 years ago. All that remains is the final battle which from what I read then wa balls out! lucas did a story which all other scifi is and will measured. No matter what is said here you all be be there next year with tix. I no I will be. I just hope that George will do the right thing and finish the story. That or let someone else do it.

    --
    Life is too short to crash.
  52. In the Movie Theater Long Long Ago by ericlp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You might have a slightly different opinon if you had see the original Star Wars movie ( IV ) in the movie theater when it first came out. For a movie theater experience, most people were impressed and thought it was at least something unique at the time.

  53. Wrong side of the bed? by BiOFH · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Please, stop calling Star Wars "science fiction". It is not. It's futuristic fantasy at best (spare me the "a long time ago" crap. It's futuristic compared to present Earth).
    Star Wars is fiction, and has nothing to do with science.


    What's futuristic about it? The... style of clothing? Because, by your argument, it can't be the science or the technology. If that were the case it would be fiction which makes use of speculation on technology/science to frame the story or locale. Well, at the local library, they file that under 'science fiction'. The books about dragons and wizards go under the 'fantasy' card.

    So you can't be bothered to be anal retentive about the 'future' bit, that's "crap" (but somewhere there's a futurist analogue to you who is cursing you for such heresy), but you can with the 'science' part? You're OK with 'futuristic fantasy' despite the author's assertion that the story has no relation to Earth or our future, yet calling it 'science fiction' gets you worked up because there's no scientific speculation (which is arguable no matter how hokey you perceive Lucas's writing)? Let's just say "in your estimation".

    If you were arguing the age old notion that there is no such thing as science fiction, only 'speculative fiction', that's one thing. But it's seems you just have a problem with [what you perceive as] the sullying of the word science by its mixing with anything you deem as fantasy (is it the goofy wizard-like Jedi?). I have to assume, then, that what some call 'hard SciFi' is the only thing you would endorse as 'science fiction'. But in the end "science fiction" is a genre identifier and Star Wars is within it according to the author(s), distributors, cataloguers, classifiers and, yes, buying public.

    I'm not a Star Wars fangirl and that's not my motivation for replying. Defending Lucas isn't real high on my list of priorities. But I am an avid reader of the genre. Saying a moose in Fiji is not a moose because your experience says all moose live in Canada doesn't change the moose.

    Star Wars is science fiction because that's what we say it is, not because it took some test and scored higher in maths and sciences than the Dragonrider books.

    --
    - I am made of meat.
  54. Midi- who??? by bckrispi · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I admit, originally the midicholorian idea rubbed me the wrong way. And the "Immaculate Conception" idea for Anakin seemed ludicrous at the time. But now that some time has passed, and we have a more full picture of the prequel trilogy, I really do think that these elements will have a *lot* of bearing on epIII.

    The midicholorians apparently represent a biological way of quantifying someone's force potential. Beyond this, they are also intrenched into the Jedi religion itself. A person created by the midicholorians could be viewed as both a biological act (i.e. a virus causing impregnation) and a spiritual act (the Force "willing" someone into being). We have both the divine and mundane aspects involved - Obi Wan confirms the Anakin's midicholorian count at the behest of Qui-Gon's belief that Anakin's birth is the fulfillment of prophecy.

    Here, again, we see how "the truths we cling to depend on our point of view", and also how "our focus determines our reality". Anakin was brought up to believe he was the "chosen one" who will "bring balance". What these terms mean, we can only conjecture. By joining the Dark side, he does bring balance by reducing the number of Jedi to exactly the number of Sith; master and apprentice. You can also argue that balance is returned when Palpatine/Sidious is ultimately destroyed by Anakin's sacrifice.

    Anakin's lineage has been kept a mystery, and perhaps for good reason. I personally believe that Shmi Skywalker knew more about Anakin's conception than she told Qui-gon. While I don't doubt that "there was no father", I would hardly believe that it was the "will of the Force" alone that caused it.

    One thing we know about the Sith is they *love* playing gods. How Darth Sidious and Darth Tyrannus work both sides of the war to their own means is, imho, nothing short of brilliant storytelling; a fact that is overlooked far to often on /. We'd much rather complain about Anakin's "sand dialog", but I digress...

    Sidious has already shown his willing to create abomination. His creation of the Clone Army is evident of this; tampering with life itself. So here's the real rub: Since midicholorians are a quantifiable biological entity, and an apparent physical link to the spiritual aspects of the Force, it only makes sense that Sidious would use this fact to his advantage. My theory is that Anakin's creation is part of a diabolical Sith experiment. Find some poor slave girl in the ass-end of the galaxy, load her up with Midicholorians, and wait. The child created will be the most Force - sensitive being in existance. Since he is outside of the reach of the Republic, his early impressions and experiences will be out of the control of the Jedi. By the time he becomes a Padawan, it's already too late to change these impressions. Add on the fact that once his training does begin, he's considered by many to be devine: The Morning Star who is soon to fall from grace.

    This is just my theory, of course. But Lucas has promised that Anakin's origins will be revealed in the next film. It may very well be that the so fan-reviled Midicholorians, are in fact, the most important element in the entire Trilogy.

    --
    Xenon, where's my money? -Borno