Slashdot Mirror
Initial ROTS Reviews Hit the Internet
Trunks writes "The first reviews of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith have started to trickle onto the Net. Reviews are posted at ComingSoon.net, Ain't It Cool News, Variety, and there are three separate reviews at TheForce.net. The current issue of Time magazine has a review as well. The reviews have all been positive so far, and the consensus appears to be that this is the best film of the prequels and it should satisfy fans who were unhappy with the first two."
But at this point, most of the slashdot crowd has their opinions engrained in their minds at this point. It may be the best of the prequels, but since it's "cool" to hate Star Wars, we'll see the usual posts shitting on Lucas.
But please, spare us the "Lucas raped my childhood" or "digital actors are the sux0rs" comments. We've seen them a million times and they still aren't clever. Come up with something new, please.
I, along with most of /. probably can't count the number of times that we've seen the original 3 Episodes of SWs. I also know I'm not alone in having watched the first two prequels. So now, after all that, how can we not see Episode III? Even if the reviews said it was more of a cross between Ishtar and Battlefield Earth than a SW flick, we'd all still go see it just to finish the series off. After that many hours of investment, no matter how bad it was, we would still have to see it- because not seeing it would still be worse than seeing a horrendously awful movie.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
"the consensus appears to be that this is the best film of the prequels and it should satisfy fans who were unhappy with the first two."
Every time one of these comes out, they say that it's better than the previous one. And each time, I'm sorely disappointed. This one will be no different, I suspect. The hype machine is in full spin mode.
Jedi Master: "This IS the film you are looking for."
Former Fan: Your Jedi mind tricks won't work on me this time. Sure, you got me to see the Phantom Menace, and I regretted it. You coaxed me into seeing Attack of the Clones and I swore revenge. This time, NO WAY. My mind is too strong!
Vincent J. Murphy
Spandex Justice
Of all the movies which should never be released on BitTorrent, StarWars III is the one that leads the pack.
This would prove once and for all to 'the powers that be' on a legal level that P2p CAN lose money for people. Especially considering the lack of tanking reviews, if this movie fails or is even disappointing for ANY reason econommically, there is 0 chance that if there is a torrent out there it will not get blamed.
From what I've seen, the pre-teen crowd might be not going to this movie, which could hurt its success. The question is whether this loss is enough. But really, if this movie fails and there's a torrent out there, there will be a witch hunt. Lucas might not even do it. In fact, I can't see him doing it, seeing as he's not that much of a luddite. But really, the WORST thing I can think of happening to Digital Copyright Stuff is this movie getting leaked.
My little site.
Jar Jar dies in a hideous 5 min torture scene where Annie cuts him slowly into kebabs with his lightsaber.
That scene alone would have made the movie. Hopefully, someone will add it later.
Lucas couldn't kill Jar-jar, even if he wanted to. Even if he had intended, since the very introduction of the character, that he should be killed by Darth Vader, there is no way he could have done it now. Why? Because the audience would have applauded!
I can see it now - dramactic scene where Anakin draws his light saber and decapitates Jar-Jar with one single swipe. Obi-Wan screams "Nooooooooo" in ones of those Lucasesque I-would-not-know-emotion-if-it-hit-me-on-the-head pieces of dialogue. Dramatic camera cut to Jar-Jar's body. Meanwhile, the audience cheers and applauds.
My biggest issue with going to the theater is seeing 20 minutes of advertisements before the previews begin after paying $8 per ticket.
"Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs. We have a protractor."
There's still episodes 7,8 and 9 for the complainers :)
The more influence he has over the directing, the crappier the blocking and acting it.
Lucas reminds me of an old programmer. He's great at painting the big picture, but keep his hands off the source code, he'll just fuck it up. Lucas is an architect, not a carpenter.
"I have never won a debate with an ignorant person." -Ali ibn Abi Talib
I hope Revenge Of The Sith answers the question of why Obi Wan cannot remember R2 and C3P0 in A New Hope.
Food for thought. Has Lucas ever created a good movie that didn't involve Harrison Ford?
What should have happend was AOTC as Ep 1. Then Ep 2 can cover the Clone Wars, with ROTS still being Ep 3. That would have been a more effective story because it would have built Anakin up as a hero more, making his Fall greater. As it stands, he is a whiny jerk who wants power. What it should have been is a War Hero who saved the Galaxy. THEN he got hungry with power.
Dear /.
/. readers it seems) dislike of the new movies is simply the lack of that nostalgic attachment because of an unatainable yearning to live in that nostaligic "moment" before the mortgage, car insurance, diaper changing, my boss is an evil demon, life set in. My 9 year old nephew loves episode 1, and 2, and is frantically waiting for 3 (He hasn't seen the original 3 yet.) In fact he loves it just like I loved watching the first 3. That is the reality. You've grown up, you tastes have changed, and there will never be another "Star Wars" like the one you remember because you will never be that child (teen) seeing that for the first time. Nostalgia is a lie, there never was the good-old-days, they're lies that you memory tells you. The lie tells you that seen a movie based on something you've seen before will give you that emotion and feel again. It won't, it's a lie.
As I near the big 30 I look back at Star Wars with embarrasment. Somewhere along the line I learned about life and that silly things like "What was the 4th stormtroopers middle inital" were in fact trivial. I also look back at Motley Crue, Poison, and most of the 80s with a sense of distrurbed horror.
I realize that movies I liked as a child suck. I had emotion attached to the older shows but if a new one came out in a similar fashion, without the emotional attachment, I would say that the new one sucks. I loved Looney Toons, I loved Spiderman and Friends, but I sure as hell don't like the new stuff. But when I see an old one that I liked as a kid the nostalgic attachment alters how I see it. I can watch an old re-run and not gasp at how horrible the animtion is because the old emotion and perception of the show softens the blow. Come on, watch a few episodes of Thundercats and you'll know what I mean....
But also dealing with children I realize that they "get" that emotional attachment to the prequals because they're new to them. The fact is that all these Star Wars dorks (75.43% of
Think I'm wrong? Put in that Whinnie the Pooh tape you used to watch as a kid 50 times a day and see if you can watch it twice in a row... didn't think so...
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
I agree, I and II are Acts I and II in a 6 hour long movie. Phantom is mostly exposition, Clone is development, leaving Sith for the climax if we follow standard dramatic structure used since the ancient greeks. I and II had to be toned down a bit, because Lucas has to build dramatic tension up in III. If I was as intense as III, you would'nt be able to watch the whole thing.
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Longer version of the same thing on my blog:
http://www.opinionatedbastard.com/archives/000379
Jar Jar is supposed to be an idiot, its his job to stand in for all the people deluded by the Chancellor. (i.e. Hindenberg in pre-Nazi Germany...)
True, some parts/characters could have been left out of the final production but it/they didn't take so much away from the movies that it rendered the movies horrible.
;-)
;-)
Erm. Yes they did.
Honestly though, I like esp 4,5 and 6 (roughly in that order of appreciation as well) but I struggle to find anything good to say about 1&2. The acting, script, editing and special effects were all dire... what did I miss? I'd honestly have left the cinema in episode 2, except that I was in the middle of a row. And I'm not even that fussy - I like Daredevil!
What should have happend was AOTC as Ep 1. Then Ep 2 can cover the Clone Wars, with ROTS still being Ep 3. That would have been a more effective story because it would have built Anakin up as a hero more, making his Fall greater.
This is actually rather insightful. If Episode 1 had featured Anakin being roughly Luke's age or a little younger then, for instance, the love story with whoever was going to be Luke's mother could have been introduced or strongly hinted at in Ep1, properly developed in an unhurried way in Ep2, then suitably tragically broken in Ep3.
The impression I had gotten from Ep4-6 was that Obi Wan had found himself out in the ass end of space, mostly out of touch with the Jedi council, and had encountered this great pilot with a lot of natural ability with the force. Unable to discuss the matter with the Jedi council Obi wan took it upon himself (still young and inexperienced at the time) to train Anakin, fucked it up, and fell right into the hands of the empire. That would have made some sense to me, and would have offered, as you say, a great chance to really develop Anakin as a heor, to really develop the love story over a couple of films, and to contrast the way in which Obi Wan teaches Luke with the way he teaches Anakin. Ah well, too late now.
Jedidiah.
Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
What it should have been is a War Hero who saved the Galaxy. THEN he got hungry with power.
Actually thinking about this part a little more, I think you are again on to something. One could easily develop a story a little akin to say Red Son which does a fine job of turning the all powerful hero into something of a villain in an elegant and believable way. Just add some material about Anakin's rage at not being able to control everything the way he feels he should/deserves to (perhaps the death of his wife could come in here somewhere) and thus falling to the dark side and you would have a much more compeeling story.
Jedidiah.
Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
That is exactly what Lucas counts on. My simple answer: wait. Wait and rent it. Why the impatience? You know it will come out on video/DVD eventually. I waited for Episode II, and I don't regret it one bit. I watched that entire movie in about an hour. FFWD is your friend. Remember those excruciating dialogue scenes in EPII? I don't.
I don't get why people have to line up to see a movie, or even why they have to see it opening weekend. I hate crowds 100x and the impatient (or ambivalent) people who are there are opening weekend. I'll wait 3-4 weeks, sometimes longer, to see a movie I want to see. The theatre is less crowded, and as long as I stick to that schedule, there will always be something new to see. You don't miss out on the movie experience at all. If it is something you want to be able to pause/FFWD/etc then just wait for the DVD.
And if it doesn't do well at the box office, it might send a message to Lucas. If you are into that. I know a movie hasn't made me quite as angry as Episode I. Fool me once, shame... shame on you.... can't get fooled again.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Maybe he really tried to make good movies and he failed so he came up with this "I'm telling a story" excuse.