Star Wars Episode 3 PG-13?

geekboxjockey writes "This story hints at the next Star Wars being a bit more of a mature themed movie: "[The film] is much more dark...more emotional. It's much more of a tragedy," adds Lucas. "...it will be the first Star Wars that's a PG-13.""There's also a new trailer airing during tonight's The O.C., so you can use that as an excuse to watch FOX teen drama. Fortunately for me, Summer is the only excuse I need. And maybe Captain Oats.

Comments

too little, too late

[kin_korn_karn]

Lucas lost me completely with Attack of the Clones. The only Star Wars material worth the time these days is the expanded universe stuff.

Re:too little, too late

[The Amazing Fish Boy]

But how will you know how it ends??

Re:too little, too late

[gimpynerd]

I think that maybe the third one will be better. George Lucas can't be oblivious to the fact that the public opinion of his last two films was not so favorable. I doubt he would want to be forever remembered of ruining a potentially good saga.

Re:too little, too late

[ZephyrXero]

I'm not watching "the O.C."...lol. Who volunteers to rip it and bittorrent it for everyone else?

Re:too little, too late

[spideyct]

How well did that logic work for you after Episode I?

Re:too little, too late

[dswensen]

Good one! Well, actually, you're right. He's not oblivious. He just doesn't care.

He's made it abundantly clear in interviews that the fans don't mean shit to him. In an interview with CNN, his response to fans wanting an un-screwed with DVD of the OT was, "I'm sorry you fell in love with a half-finished film, but get over it."

George Lucas doesn't give a tin shit for his fans or how they (or film history) see him, and moreover, because so many of them pay him money regardless of what he does, he doesn't have to.

So yeah.

Re:too little, too late

[petsounds]

It has been many years since Lucas had any sense of perspective. Return of the Jedi was arguably his first steps in his long journey towards Craptown, Oblivia where he has decided to take up permanent residence.

If Lucas really wanted to win back the fans, he wouldn't have propagated new and existing defacements of the original trilogy, such as not returning the Greedo scene to the original narrative, or replacing Darth Vader in the Return of the Jedi celebration scene with that mullet-wearing, no-talent hack for the sake of "continuity." No, George will make the films he wants to make, regardless of the opinions of the public at large, which is in of itself a noble thing in filmmaking. But apparently no one close to him wishes to risk telling Lucas that he has no clothes.

Re:too little, too late

[MightyMartian]

I don't think Lucas hears his critics. He's only listening to people who fill in "Jedi" on the religion question on census forms.

I thought SW was cool when I was a kid, and that persisted into my mid-20s, but now I really have a hard time watching them, save for The Empire Strikes Back, which is still a damn good story that easily survives the meteorically bad talents of Carrey Fisher and Mark Hamell. It's also likely that it's the best because it had an actual SF writer with a good deal of work under her belt. I'm speaking of the incomparable Leigh Brackett.

Re:too little, too late

[Anonymous Coward]

George L or George W ?

Re:too little, too late

[Curtman]

Have no fear. It'll be on Quicktime's page in a day or two.

Re:too little, too late

[yintercept]

I thought SW was cool when I was a kid

Yeah, I want Lucas to make me feel like I did when I was a kid. Anything less is a betrayal. Damn, I am going to end up watching this thing and end up feeling like some type of lame slashdot reading middle aged computer hack.

Mr. Lucas, YOU ARE FAILING YOUR FAN BASE!!!!

Re:too little, too late

[SeattleGameboy]

Why should he care???

This is his art. He should be able to create/modify whatever he pleases. This is how he expresses himself (how much money he makes off of it should not matter).

Let's say you wrote a novel. After your friend reads the draft, you decide that the ending sucked and changed it, which you like MUCH better. However, then your friend comes back and says the old ending was better and you should produce that novel instead of the new version that YOU, the author, like better.

What business is of your friend to dictate what your novel should be? It is not a collaborative effort (unless YOU wanted it to be). Most artist would demand the same.

If the public likes the new version, great. If they don't, that's fine too. At least you published what YOU, the artist, wanted.

Why is that so hard to understand?

Re:too little, too late

[Anonymous Coward]

After reports of negative expectations of the third installment, George was quoted as saying:
"Fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. It fool me. We can't get fooled again"

Re:too little, too late

[nametaken]

I'm watching the OC now, and damn Lucas straight to his lava planet hell for this.

Re:too little, too late

[Anonymous Coward]

First, these were major motion pictures that were released, not a rough draft of a novel shown to a few friends.

Second, Lucas wasn't the artist who made Empire Strikes Back - the best of the Star Wars films. So your argument has no merit with that movie.

Third, there is no reason to not release the original versions. Given that Lucas hasn't written or directed a good film in decades, any pretense of this being to prevent embarrassment at seeing the old versions has no merit.

Fourth, by not preserving the original version for posterity he is destroying a small piece of modern history and culture. If he were verifiably insane instead of simply losing his talents and abilities, I doubt anyone would agree with this destruction.

Fifth, the original movies would be public domain by now if not for the government-corporate corruption of copyright law.

Re:too little, too late

[Anonymous Coward]

"Let's say you wrote a novel. After your friend reads the draft, you decide that the ending sucked and changed it, which you like MUCH better. However, then your friend comes back and says the old ending was better and you should produce that novel instead of the new version that YOU, the author, like better."

I disagree with this characterization. What George Lucas has done is different.

Imagine that someone wrote a novel that you, and many others, thought to be a real satisfying read. Then twenty years later a new method of distribution comes along called Book 2.0; the author could ?repair? the novel, ironing out anything he felt he didn?t like, before transferring it to this new media. However he should try to comprehend how many readers that have read the novel since is original release. Because the fans that loved the original work, despite whatever flaws the author might perceive, are the ones that made its reputation. To disrespect the fans by going as far as refusing to transfer the original version to a new and better media because you, the author, feels it isn?t perfect seems to me to be a spit in the face to those who loved the original, however flawed it might be.

Re:too little, too late

[SomeGuyFromCA]

if memory serves, someone in the lucas camp did say re: episode 1: "you'll have to wait six years to really appreciate this movie".

having been throughly spoiled on ep 3, i now know what he meant.

you had to see the galaxy (and anakin) as they were before the darkness to see how major the changes were:

you had to see the bureaucratically hobbled, glacially slow to act republic to understand why it was even possible for the empire to be born.

you had to see the "whee! now this is podracing!" anakin to truly see how far the fall was to the "i don't 'fear' the dark side... i embrace it" vader. `

episode 1 really cannot stand alone. it is the prologue both to its own trilogy and to the overall saga. the events in it seem minor and unimportant... except that you know what things like 'chancellor palpatine' will lead to. or when qui-gon said, "anakin skywalker... meet obi-wan kenobi"; the entire theater collectively draws a breath at that point because they know where and how these two men will end their friendship and their lives. and that was just with knowing what would happen in 4-6. now that we (are about to) have seen all of it (obi-wan crying out in frustration "you were the chosen one!" from the new trailer sticks in one's head) we can go back to ep 1 and see the shadows forming.

yes, jar-jar is annoying. what, the universe of long ago and far away doesn't have annoying critters? besides, that's the irony - that jar-jar helped palpatine to power. yes, anakin's annoying, whiny, selfish, and clunky in "love scenes" with padme. that's part of his story and part of the reason he could fall to the dark side - palpy plays on his desire to be more powerful and his fear of losing/failing those he cares about.

if anakin were the uber-cool, suave, humble-yet-powerful jedi people seem to want, what could palps offer him to tempt him to the dark side? moreover, why would he accept? the great irony of the star wars story is that anakin falls to evil because of love. because he wants that power so he can keep those he loves with him. and then once he knows he's lost padme forever, he fully accepts his role as darth vader, taking the only power and control he can, in bitterness, guilt and probably not a little self-hatred.

and this is why luke was able to redeem vader. anakin was finally able to save someone - his own son - and not with the dark side of the force, and not even with the force at all, but by merely making a choice, a choice that he probably thought was lost to him forever.

Re:too little, too late

[eddeye]

Who owns an idea? This isn't a facile question, it's actually the root of the issue. A book/movie/song/painting/artistic expression is just a set of ideas fixed in a tangible medium. When you view a creation, you experience those ideas and make them your own. In other words, your thoughts and feelings filter your perceptions to create a unique personal experience.

Subsequent alterations of a work can never replace your experience of the original. Ideas can't be "undone". At best, changes to a work can supplement or enhance it in the spirit of the original. At worst, they corrupt or cheapen the ideas into a twisted distortion. But it's never the same experience as the original, and every person will perceive the changes differently.

Creators are given distribution rights over physical manifestations of their works to encourage them to create (how effectively that works is another topic). This includes the ability to create derivative works by altering the original. Some people will prefer the new version, others the old. But ultimately they are two separate works, as surely as if made by two different artists. One can never replace the other because each embodies a (perhaps slight) variation on the ideas of the piece.

A creator who owns his creation lock, stock, and barrel is given unnatural dominion over other people's minds. An artist is free to create as many new versions as they want. But eliminating access to the originals deprives the world of that experience. It is an invasive intrusion into our minds to say "No longer can you experience what you saw before. Now you must see it as I say." It is shameful revisionist history.

Lucas can keep his super special terrific happy deluxe editions. They are a gross debasement of what I love about the originals and I will not spend a dime on them.

Re:too little, too late

[Hellad]

Mary Shelley re-wrote Frankenstein in a smiliar way as GL. In books, this was an especially common practice. Iit is different in books because GL is preventing modern distribution of the old version, but Shelley did the same thing after she updated her text. It wasn't until after her death that the original version became available. The only reason that was even possible is becasue of the lax copyright laws on old texts.

Re:too little, too late

[lgw]

While I agree with everything you're saying, none of it excuses the monsterously bad dialog, mostly from Annakin, in Eps 1 and 2. It's not a bad story at all, and the character development is interesting, but the actual writing (as opposed to the concepts behind it) is just so bad.

Re:too little, too late

[kamapuaa]

Wow, you make Star Wars sound almost watchable. I'd like to hear you describe a good movie, I bet that would really be something!

Re:too little, too late

[Mortlath]

I can well imagine why Alec Guiness begged Lucas to kill his character off.

IIRC, Alec Guiness was quite upset that Lucas killed off his character. As one of the (or only?) well-known actors in the movie, he was expecting a bigger role in the movie, and was not happy at first when he found out that he was to die half-way through.

Re:too little, too late

[aggies11]

Yep, it was quite the fall from grace.
From a whiney annoying little kid, to a whiney annoying angst-full teen, to a bad-ass jedi killing cyborg...

Wait a second? Vader is actually an *improvement* over anakin, after watching the first two episodes, it'd be preferable if he was just killed outright! Not to save the jedi from extinction, but just to put the viewer out of his misery.

At the end of ROTJ you feel bad for luke, and his dad, a supposedly nice guy who fell to the dark side. Now that you see the truth, you still feel bad for luke, but this time because his dad was a total loser, and that he didn't kill him sooner!

Anyone who has seen the spoof trailer for Episode III, knows the truth of the above.
Aggies

Re:too little, too late

[nurhussein]

Reality check : the dialogue in the original trilogy was monsterously bad too. Sir Alec Guiness hated his lines because they were so awful. Yet, people loved the original trilogy. Come on guys, it's supposed to be just a fun movie, don't take it too seriously.

Think of the children!

[grub]

"This story hints at the next Star Wars being a bit more of a mature themed movie

We wouldn't want pre-teens emulating the movie and killing themselves trying to surf on lava, would we? Good plan!

Re:Think of the children!

[ZephyrXero]

A more mature Star Wars? Thank God! After the first two, I had lost almost all my hope for this one...maybe it will be halfway decent after all? It would make sense for this one to be the darkest of all of them since it shows how he turns to the dark side ;)

Re:Think of the children!

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

It's much more of a tragedy," adds Lucas.

One thing's for sure, he's right about it being a tragedy.

Re:Think of the children!

[cybercuzco]

I had lost almost all my hope for this one...

Sounds like you need A New Hope.

Make it G for all I care

[Neil Blender]

Just make it good.

Here's to hope

[BWJones]

"[The film] is much more dark...more emotional. It's much more of a tragedy," adds Lucas. ".

Great. Will the story be any better than the last two? Will the acting be any better? BUT.....I ^H^H^H LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!!!! Please. I hope I am wrong as I thought that Empire Strikes Back was the best of the three original Star Wars films principally because it was dark and did not have Ewoks or (Exsqueeze me?) Jar Jar and the acting was much better. Star Wars had its appeal, but they started dropping off in Return of the Jedi and buying into the Hollywoodification and hype.
There's also a new trailer airing during tonight's The O.C., so you can use that as an excuse to watch FOX teen drama.

This is where they are choosing to premier this trailer? Oh man, all hope is lost. Seriously though, why? What is the demographic that they are appealing to for this film? Are Anakin and Padme going to develop into some soap opera? This is soooo disappointing. Perhaps I will see the trailer once it hits the Internet, but given the fact that I have not yet seen the last Star Wars film, I don't have much hope.

Re:Here's to hope

[techno-vampire]

You do know, don't you, that Episode 6 was originally titled Revenge of the Jedi, but Lucas changed it before release because "Jedi don't take revenge."

Re:Here's to hope

[Anonymous Coward]

About why it's premiering during the OC:

Star Wars is under Fox, and the OC airs on Fox...it probably had nothing at all to do with Lucas and all to do with what show Fox wanted to bolster some ratings for.

Re:Here's to hope

[iowannaski]

This is where they are choosing to premier this trailer? Oh man, all hope is lost. Seriously though, why? What is the demographic that they are appealing to for this film?

I am a 26 year old male. The Star Wars trilogy have been my favorite movies since I was 5 years old. The O.C. is the only show on television that I watch every week.

If The Returning Revenge of the Darth Sith or whatever it is called is half as good as The O.C. it will be a huge and welcome improvement over the last two installments.

That said, I get the O.C. via bittorrent without commercials, so who know what the hell that means.

Re:Here's to hope

[riptide_dot]

This is where they are choosing to premier this trailer? Oh man, all hope is lost. Seriously though, why? What is the demographic that they are appealing to for this film? Are Anakin and Padme going to develop into some soap opera? This is soooo disappointing. Perhaps I will see the trailer once it hits the Internet, but given the fact that I have not yet seen the last Star Wars film, I don't have much hope.

Seriously, is this really a surprise to anyone? Lucas (and the rest of Hollywood for that matter) KNOWS that geeks (more specifically, 20-30 something MALE geeks) are salivating to get any glimpse of the new trailer and will sit through this chick-flick show just to see it early. This show's appeal is mosly to women, so they are attempting to (at least temporarily) expand their viewing audience to include the 20-30 something males that normally wouldn't think twice about flipping past it...

I'm glad I have a Tivo though - that fast forward button will come in REAL handy tonight...:)

Re:Here's to hope

[quandrum]

As a member of three member household who doesn't have cable, spends 5+ hours a week gaming together, goes to the Comic book store on new comic book day, and generally geeks out everyday, I think you're dismissing The OC prematurely.

We have someone tape it for us every week and we all love it. It generally has material relevant to geeks in every show, and it's a great way to start conversations with those women you so easily disdain. It may in fact not be for you, but I think more geeks than you realize are regulars.

Now, as for the Spiderman-inspired kiss... *groan*

Re:Here's to hope

[jeblucas]

Empire Strikes Back was the best of the three original Star Wars films principally because it was dark and did not have Ewoks or (Exsqueeze me?) Jar Jar and the acting was much better

I think the telling thing is that Empire was not written nor directed by George Lucas; credit there to Brackett & Kasdan and Kershner respectively. Lucas' writing is sophomoric and his direction is pretty damn bad to say the least. Even good actors become crappy in his milquetoast hands. My friend had the best summary critique of Return of the Jedi ever: "Too many muppets." All those ewoks, the stupid little thing in Jabba's house, the stupid band, &c. They aren't fantastical creatures if you look at them and see a muppet.

As for showing it during The O.C., who cares, or expected differently? Fox is just trying to marry its hot properties. That's the other problem: Fox sees Star Wars and The O.C. as pretty much the same thing. Star Wars will bring in x dollars over y weeks--there's no sense of the non-monetary aspect of the saga. It's just a franchise. The people that grew up with the first set of movies want it to be more.

I think we could all stand a glance at Brin's essays again, just to revel in this Lucas-bashing.

Re:Here's to hope

[NanoGator]

"I'm glad I have a Tivo though - that fast forward button will come in REAL handy tonight...:)"

I'm glad Slashdot warned me not to watch OC tonight!

Re:Here's to hope

[Durandal64]

And of course, the the response from a Star Wars fan.

I assure you

[Sheetrock]

The first two were a far bigger tragedy than the third will ever be. Eclipsed only by all those people waiting in line for months every time a new Star Wars is churned out.

Re:I assure you

[Auckerman]

In all honesty, I really don't understand all of this bickering about the new movies. Have you seen Return of the Jedi, Ewoks, annoying little sh*ts, with their stupid little feel good dancing. How about the predicable way everyone gets out of a bad situation in the old movies, time and time again. If people re-watched the originals with the same critical eye they had for the new ones, they would hate them too.

They are just movies, a lot of fun to watch, fun plot, and cult classics in their own right, but please don't put them on a pedestal.

Captain Oats!

[CyberBill]

Captain Oats and Princess Sparkle are totally gonna hook up and do it. Last episode Seth and Summer kissed, so now its only a matter of time before they bring their plastic companions into the mix :)

More mature?

[bdigit]

"This story hints at the next Star Wars being a bit more of a mature themed movie"

Does this mean we will be seeing the cut scene from Natalie Portman's movie "Closer" where she does a full nudity scene. I am sure they can work it into the movie somehow.

JarJar and Anakin decide to go out to a club one night and are shocked to find the princess slumming it up for some extra cash.

IV through VI were before the PG-13 era

[tepples]

The PG-13® film rating did not exist when the first three Star Wars movies (Episodes IV through VI) came out. Return of the Jedi (Ep VI) came out in 1983; PG-13 didn't start until July 1984, apparently because Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was right smack between PG and R. In fact, some believe that The Empire Strikes Back (Ep V) could have been PG-13 had that rating existed.

R18 for some

[fembots]

I thought, since NP is onboard, SW is always R18 in a geek's eyes ?d

Who cares what the rating is...

[l33t-gu3lph1t3]

Am I the only one not holding his breath on this one? Seriously...who cares what the rating is.

Dear George Lucas:

Please, PLEASE don't screw this one up.

Was RotJ PG?

[TheGuano]

Well then, if we're going to have one of those Leia-in-a-bikini scenes in Ep3, PG-13 means we get to lose one piece of clothing, right?

Re:Was RotJ PG?

[iowannaski]

Leia is like 2 months old in Ep3, you fucking pervert.
Incidentally, that means they cango full frontal on her and not take a rating hit. Naked babies are OK.
So are vaginal closeups during childbirth, I believe, so maybe we'll get some of that!

PG-13...That simply means...

[jbarr]

...that they are caving in just like everyone else to modern pop culture pressures. No doubt, they'll try to spice it up ala the Matrix, and the gratuitous violence will no doubt abound. I'm certainly no prude or anti-violence-in-movies proponent, but it's a shame that they can't come up with truely stunning and excellent stories without having to resort to all the typical gratuitous stuff. I guess I'm just getting old...

Re:PG-13...That simply means...

[vought]

I guess I'm just getting old...

It's called maturing. It's a good thing, really. Adds perspective.

The Age Restrictions are Backwards

[johnlittledotorg]

Am I the only one that thinks his last few movies showed be restricted to those 13 and under? These movies are lifeless, poorly written, sparkly eye candy. Ihey're the filmmaking equivalent of dangling a shiny keychain in front of a monkey.

I love this!

[ackthpt]

Way back when Jurassic Park came out, all these brilliant parents took their anklebiters to the local Bijou and to see the interesting dinosaurs. Whenever something graphic or loud happened the kids would scream, some bursting into crying fits. I could just hear these parents being roused from sleep for the next month by kids having nightmares. What could be so disturbing in this film? "Aaauugghhh! Mommy! Daddy! The Jar Jar has invited me to a sleepover with Jedi Juice!"

Hooray! Now Samuel L. Jackson can let loose!

[GPLDAN]

I'm gonna kill your motherfuckin pasty white ass! Lightin bolt sendin motherfucker. Yo' bitch, you ever think of gettin new dentures? {ZZZZZZZap} God DAMN that hurt! Shit, your ass is mine now. With my blue Yoda saber, when you absolutely postively have to kill every last Sith motherfucker in the room...

Re:Hooray! Now Samuel L. Jackson can let loose!

[Zocalo]

That was my first thought too. Maybe we'll finally get to here some of these lines on the big screen. Or maybe not. ;)

Re:Hooray! Now Samuel L. Jackson can let loose!

[MsGeek]

Apparently the Mace Windu lightsaber has the letters "BMF" engraved somewhere on it. At least that's what I've heard, anyway...

Re:Hooray! Now Samuel L. Jackson can let loose!

[Kaimelar]

Don't forget to check out Pulp Phantom. Thanks to this inspired bit of animation and voice acting, Episode I is almost bearable.

Re:Hooray! Now Samuel L. Jackson can let loose!

[robyannetta]

For those of you who haven't memorized the infamous Pulp Fiction quote yet, allow me to cut & paste from imdb.com:

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

[blam] [blam] [blam] [blam] [blam] [blam] [blam] [blam] [blam]

Karma mod +

[novakane007]

Instant Karma to the first person to get the torrent to us here at ./

Re:Karma mod +

[Anonymous Coward]

From others, I don't deserve the Karma so posting as a/c: small large

Re:Karma mod +

[moosesocks]

wow, that has to be one of the most throughly seeded torrents i've seen.

1536 seeds, 1490 peers

Re:Karma mod +

[proverbialcow]

No stress-testing a protocol like a good Slashdotting. :)

Re:more mature?

[gl4ss]

somehow pg13 doesn't strike me into believing it has any of those.

it might have a semi cruel execution or something.

The line that did it.

[pete-classic]

Weesa really fucked nowsa.

-Peter

Re:The line that did it.

[FuturePastNow]

As long as those are his last words, you'll hear no complaints.

Out of all the reasons for a PG-13 rating...

[The_Rippa]

I really hope it's because of a Natalie Portman nipple slip.

If you hate The O.C.

[BloggerErrant]

The trailer is viewable on my blog. Yeah, it's a bootleg. No, I don't give a damn about movie piracy.

Quicktime required:

http://geekfactor.uni.cc/vids/episode3trailer.mov

Re:If you hate The O.C.

[Mondak]

It looks like everyone bagged on you for this, but I apprecite being able to see it early in any quality. Thanks for the effort and sharing.

Re:If you hate The O.C.

[Keebler71]

Yeah, it's a bootleg. No, I don't give a damn about movie piracy.

That's ok... we don't care about your hosting server either...

PG-13!

[MrMiyagi]

You will probably mod me down, but...

Finally, Nathalie Portman in a Hot Gritz scene!

George Lucas on 60 Minutes this week

[geoff313]

For those of you who don't want to tune into the OC but want your Star Wars fix this week, I just noticed this over at starwars.com:

Tune in to "60 Minutes" Sunday, March 13 on CBS for a special in-depth interview with George Lucas. The show previously profiled Lucas in 1999 during the release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace to document the beginning of the prequels. Now that Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith heads into the final stages of post-production, "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl returns to Skywalker Ranch to chat with Lucas about his family, his technological innovations and his plans after Episode III.........

You can find the rest of the article here:

http://www.starwars.com/episode-iii/release/public ity/news20050310.html

-geoff313

Re:George Lucas on 60 Minutes this week

[Tackhead]

> Tune in to "60 Minutes" Sunday, March 13 on CBS for a special in-depth interview with George Lucas.

JAR JAR: (to ACKBAR's GRANDFATHER): "Youssa think itsa beesa TRAP!?"

Hey, wait a minute. This script... umm... We, uh, we stand by the story, even if the script itself may have been forged.

Courage.

Yes, movie will be better - here's why

[SuperKendall]

This movie will be better than the first two. Why? Because as Lucas moves closer to the source material, he has less wiggle-room to screw up the story.

The acting better? Who knows. Special effects? Undoubtedly similar to before. But the story at least will probably be better, and that's what I'm really looking forward to.

Re:Yes, movie will be better - here's why

[STrinity]

Because as Lucas moves closer to the source material, he has less wiggle-room to screw up the story.

This is the guy who reinterpreted "the greatest star pilot in the galaxy" to mean a seven year old kid who goes "yippie!" He doesn't have to stick to anything that he said in the previous films. He could quite easily decide that Luke is Anakin's clone, Amidala is Mon Mothma, and that Chewie is Jabba's son.

Also on the O.C. Tonight: New Beck

[Le Marteau]

What is Beck and Star Wars doing on the O.C.?

Never saw the O.C., but I will tonight. Beck will be premiering 4 or 5 cuts from his unreleased new albums.

Off topic, I know, but I don't give a damn. This one should be worth watching.

He said it...

[ccharles]

"It's much more of a tragedy," adds Lucas.
Hey, he said it :P

Re:More mature?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does this mean we will be seeing the cut scene from Natalie Portman's movie "Closer" where she does a full nudity scene. I am sure they can work it into the movie somehow.

But if she's not petrified, what's the point?

My cynical opinion

[techno-vampire]

If this does get a PG-13 rating, it will be so that all the parents will want to go to it on their own first, to see if it's OK for their kids, then back to see it again with them. Just a marketing ploy.

Ugh! Can Lucas destroy Episode VI any further?

[dasunt]

We all remember Episodes I - III with fond memories from our childhood, and they seemed to have stood up well to the test of time. The slowly building arc of Anakin's fall from the dark side against the backdrop of the crumbling republic made for some good cinema. Sure, there were a few mistakes (Jar Jar), but none as annoying as the new trilogy (Episode IV-VI) that Lucas started producing a few years ago.

Compare: The multi-facetted Anakin vs the rather shallow Luke who has the depth of the average parking lot puddle. Or what about this 'Han Solo' character which seems right out of a John Wayne western? Instead of political intrigue, we have straight shoot-em-up space battles. And don't get me started on the third movie -- according to the leaks, not only is it going to have Luke blowing up the Death Star yet again, but it will have these cute cuddly teddy bear aliens that are an obvious ploy to appeal to the youngsters.

Lucas! Stop raping my childhood! Ugh, you should have stopped with Episode III back in the 80s. How dare you ruin all that was good in your quest for more money!

(This post brought to you by an alternative-timeline slashdot)

Re:Screener and poor quality

[BloggerErrant]

Sorry. I assumed 'bootleg' automatically meant absolutely lame in terms of quality.

A New Hope was originally G until...

[GuyMannDude]

As an interesting side-note, the original Star Wars was slated to get a G rating. Lucas was already worried about having his film seen as kiddie fodder and the G rating really bothered him. So left in the scene of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's remains burning in the fire when Luke finds them. That was sufficiently gruesome to get the rating raised to PG.

I wonder if Lucas's shooting for a PG-13 rating with Revenge of the Sith is supposed to be some kind of tribute to what he did with A New Hope.

GMD

No, but....

[TiggertheMad]

You get to see her in diapers...

Re:More mature?

[cgenman]

I'm personally amazed that you can film a child watching his father be beheaded, walk over, pick it up, and still get a G rating.

Bambi was bad an all, but at least she didn't crawl inside of her mother for warmpth.

Re:Also on the O.C. Tonight: New Beck

[Turn-X Alphonse]

DONT watch it. It's Dawnsons creek with snobs, it airs here every weekend and if I wake up at that hour I regret it... this is the only way they will EVER get a geek to watch this shit. It's teen-pop at it's worst

Re:More mature?

[RsG]

Well, if they had shown Jango's cauterized neck and lifeless face, then yeah, they would have gotten a higher rating. But all we saw was the mandalorian helmet...

Which raises the question: is showing a horrible fate without any actual, you know, _horror_, really something suitable for children? I'm generally anti-censorship, and in favour of the rating system, but we seem to have some rather odd priorities when blood gore and nipples (gah! evil corrupting nipples!) get all the ire of parent groups and watchdogs, while stuff that may actually be mature is ignored.

epic stories

[nounderscores]

is showing a horrible fate without any actual, you know, _horror_, really something suitable for children?

Remember that Lucas has pretensions of telling an epic story suitable for being the basis of mythology for centuries to come. (Or at least that's how he comes off in interviews.)

We tell our kids about the Spartans at Thermopylae, and The Trojan Horse, The Sack of Troy and so on. We tell them about valiant men who put whole civilisations being put to the sword.

We do this so that when we want them to go off and fight wars of imperial conquest, they have some idea of how we want them to behave.

Of course we don't tell our kids that if you stab somebody in the liver the stuff that comes out of them as they lie dying is coloured green.

Boycott Episode III - The Only Sensible Action

[buckhead_buddy]

Though I'm tempted, I think I'll avoid seeing this movie in the theatres for at least a month (if not completely). Why?

• It'll do well enough without my money. LucasFilm doesn't pay attention to customers today; giving them more money on opening weekend won't change that.
• There's almost no chance that the theatre version will be the same version released to DVD or in any other form in the future. Why become attached to an unfinished version of the film?
• Hear the true reviews. I don't mean shills like my local newspaper reviewer, but the sci-fi fan sites that have similar values in film as mine. Will seeing the movie further ruin my appreciation of Star Wars and Empire? That's a bigger concern than whether this episode is any good.
• Inevitability of Boredom or Disappointment. We know what will happen in the sequels, yet after two attempts no plots or characters have been developed in the first two prequels that I really care about. More than likely any "surprises" will undermine the movies that follow.

I'm posting this on slashdot in case enough disappointed fans and geeks will join me in waiting at least a month after the debut to go see the film. I can't deny there's a curiousity about how this story will be finished, but my expectations are set very low and really only amount to knowing whether it will expectorate, urinate, or defecate on Episodes 4-6.

Re:Boycott Episode III - The Only Sensible Action

[Mr.Progressive]

Wow... 'at least a month,' eh? Man up, Nancy, and just don't see it. Whether you see it on opening day or a month later, you're still another 10 bucks in Lucas' pocket. Also, what you're suggesting is not a 'boycott.' Save the word 'boycott' for things that actually matter and save your money by renting a good movie on May 19th. May I suggest Malcolm X?

Re:American ratings don't make sense to me

[EvanED]

Actually, provided that there isn't too much other "bad stuff", you can say "fuck" and get a PG-13 rating, provided that it is only used once and in a non-sexual manner.

And actually, even that isn't a hard and fast rule, as it can be overturned. For instance, IIRC both Gattaca and Quiz Show had "fuck" used twice. (There are probably other examples.) Even Spaceballs, which is PG, had "fuck" in it. (Pre-PG-13 era though.)

There are only a couple explicit rules for movie ratings, and these are they:

-Any recreational drug use (I assume besides cigs and alcohol) moves you to PG-13
-Any use of the word "fuck" moves you to PG-13
-And additional use of the word "fuck", or if the first use is in a sexual manner, moves you to R

But these can be overturned even if there is enough redeeming quailities.

Re:It won't be as good

[rk]

Go find someone who has never heard of Star wars and get them to watch all 5(6) films. See how they rate each films.

I would do that, but do you know what its like to convince these people that "No, there's not tiny little people hidden in the big box." or "No, I'm not your messiah", or "No, I don't taste good, please don't eat me?"

Movie ratings are based on irrational fear

[leereyno]

Movie ratings are based upon the dubious assumption that children will be adversely affected by seeing certain things when these same things are considered harmless to adults.

If you believe that I've got a really nice bridge I need to get rid of and I'm willing to sell it to you on the cheap.

I'm 32 years old and I don't think I've ever seen anything as a child or teenager in any movie or television program that ever warped my psyche or damaged my character. Yet the superstition persists that children need to be "protected" from seeing two people have sex, or from seeing violence, hearing certain words uttered, or any other number of other things that parents and society in general have irrational fears about. What I find most absurd is that things like movies are presumed to have an almost magical hypnotic influence over the young, while their real life experinces are not nearly so obessed about. If you're going to worry about your kids, worry about the example that you set for them, the things that they see YOU do, not whether they listen to Britney Spears, Howard Stern, or see an R rated movie.

When I was younger I believed that society's treatment of the young was a case of intentional malice. As I grew older I came to realize that society was not out to oppress anyone per se, rather people are as a general rule really, really stupid and have a memory about as long as their little finger. The ludicrous myths and superstititons about what it means to be a child that get passed around as fact by those who only 20 or 30 years ago were children themselves would be hilarious if everyone didn't actually believe them.

It is becoming more and more clear to me that civilization is carried on the backs of the relative handful who aren't tragically dumb. Everyone else is merely along for the ride.

Lee

Re:Ugh! Can Lucas destroy Episode VI any further?

[poot_rootbeer]

Sure, there were a few mistakes (Jar Jar)

And we haven't yet seen him in episodes 4-6, have we? In fact there's not a single representative of his race to be found anywhere.

That must by why Episode 3 is going to get a PG-13 rating -- due to the scenes of the entire Gungan civilization getting demolished, disemboweled, and defenestrated in graphic detail.

BEST. STARWARS. MOVIE. EVER.

Missing the Target Audience

[spideyct]

This is a shame.

I think the largest demographic that enjoyed Ep 1 and 2 are under 13. I know my 7 year old nephew enjoyed them a lot more than I did.

The older generation (that enjoyed Ep 4-6 when they were 30 years younger) has been alienated by the new movies.

I was able to accept the new movies, knowing that they weren't meant for me, they were meant for the kids to enjoy, just like I enjoyed the others.

It is disappointing that the new generation that DID enjoy Ep 1 & 2, and eagerly await Ep 3, will not (or rather, should not) get to see it for a while.

PG-13 means more preteens will see it

[WillAffleckUW]

the lure of the forbidden is similar to the lure of the Dark Side of the Force.

Droids Gone Wild!

[snuf23]

Jawas without cloaks!
Hot Tusken on Tusken raiding!
Watch as Mon Mothma shows Ackbar her trap!
See Han's solo action! (He shoots first!)
Steamy TK42 1 on 1 action!
See Luke "bullseye" those wamp rats back on the farm!
Find out which Jedi really has the biggest saber!
Slave girls drunk on Qui Gon Jin!

And yes finally Amidala with hot grits!

Re: Ugh! Can Lucas destroy Episode VI any further?

[gidds]

Er, how come you got moderated as 'Funny' rather than the 'Insightful' you so richly deserved?

Anyway, just what I was thinking. People have extremely rose-coloured memories. It's only natural! It's almost impossible to objectively judge something that you've known and loved (or hated) for so long.

Okay, so Jar-Jar was an annoying twat. But then C3PO was also an annoying twat, just a slightly different sort of annoying twat, one who's overlaid by years of warm fuzzy feelings. I wish I could compare the two of them fairly, but I can't. Like a lot of people, I see the former as execrable, and the latter as loveable; however, if I were coming fresh to them both, would I still see them that way round? I don't know. But maybe it's a useful exercise trying to guess.

Re:Spoiler alert!

[DavidTC]

I suspect Jar-Jar.

Stop ripping starwars...

[bytor4232]

Yeah sure, IV to VI are far better than I and II, but its still far better than most of the crap that gets realeased nowadays. Lets have a look at the box office shall we?

1. The Pacifier
2. Be Cool
3. Hitch
4. Diary of a Mad Black Woman
5. Million Dollar Baby
6. Constantine
7. Cursed
8. Man of the House
9. Because of Winn-Dixie
10. The Jacket

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd rather see any of the prequels over any of these movies any day.

Re:Spoiler alert!

[kin_korn_karn]

Darth Binks?

BITTORRENT LINK IN HERE http://www.torrentreactor.

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.torrentreactor.net/view.php?id=5060754

peace in da hood!\

Direct link to torrent: http://www.torrentreactor.net/view.php?id=5060754

The torrent:

[AIX-Hood]

The torrent: heres the video

Re:Ugh! Can Lucas destroy Episode VI any further?

[michaeldot]

No it was not. I saw it. I saw it 22 fucking times (hey I was something like 12 years old so in 1977-78 I lived Star Wars) and there was no "Episode IV" in front of the opening scrawl, there was no "A New Hope" in front of it either.

Lucas claims that the studio did not want "Episode IV" in the title (confusing to the audience etc), so for the initial release it was not.

However, for later prints AFTER it had become a box office smash, it was added.

They also remixed the audio at least 3 times for the initial release, depending on where it was going to be shown: newer theaters with Dolby stereo, old ones with mono, and drive-ins, so depending on where you saw it, you could have heard different things.

Lots of interesting things like that in the DVD commentaries. Not once does he apologize for fscking up our childhoods though!

Re:Not forgotten

[Cplus]

Let me know if I'm over-reaching with this, but I'm a film student and it comes naturally.

I took the introduction of the fact that the force was active in people through midichlorians to be indicative of the level of knowledge the Jedi's and the Jedi Council had about themselves at the time, compared to the folk-lore-like manner in which Luke was taught by Ben and Yoda. It seems to make it look like the lessons learned in the first-made trilogy comment on the lessons taught in the second-made trilogy. Something was definitely wrong, in that the Jedi Order failed and teaching of the use of the force fell back to a more natural religious, rather than scientific, state.

Trying too hard?

Re:SPOILER: PADAME DIES IN EPISODE THREE

[G27 Radio]

Nah, it was just a joke. Anyone who's been on Slashdot a while probably remembers the "Trinity Dies" spoilers that were popular when the Matrix movies were still coming out.

I'm sure Padme is just fine at the end of Ep III.

PG-13...

[DownloadTHIS]

If this movie is PG-13, it means that they are allowed to use the word "fuck" once. Given that, the best use, I think would be Mace Windu delivering the following line: "Galactic Basic, motherfucker, do you speak it?!"

Re:Spoiler alert!

[caveat]

Luke...meesa bein' your father...

Great News

[LPetrazickis]

The high quality trailer is already available for download. It seems as though Lucas has had to switch actors, though. Of course, that can only be a good thing.:)