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."
I'll still be unsatisfied with the first two.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
I've been waiting for a "real" Star-Wars for years....let's hope this one works.
Bonus poiints if there is a scene where Anakin kills Jar-Jar.
My
Yeah but I can't even find the bittorrent yet.
wiction.org
I will see RotS:
Even Spielberg chimed in, while making a plug for his travesty of War of the Worlds.
"You'll cry at the end."
baaaawwwwlll! I want my money back!!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
...it should satisfy fans who were unhappy with the first two.
No... Nothing can take the pain away...
I prefer to let Rotten Tomatoes compile all of the ratings for me...
One man's Funny is another man's Offtopic.
This is what I've been waiting for...two solid hours of lightsaber duels!
Because, let's face it, SW is really all about the lightsabers. You know you want one, and so do I.
Useless opinions, worthless observations, and more!
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
Is it true that Annakin Skywalker dies at the end? Someone told me this and it's just ruined the movie for me.
Meine Schwester ist sehr, sehr reizvoll - Nietzsche
From TFA:
Yoda in a lot of action, more cool bad guys, and no Jar Jar (well, at least no Jar Jar dialogue)
You see, I searched through the TFA's and what is missing is very dissapointing:
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.
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
Initial ROTS review.... Rots...... rots..... return of the king?....no, that's ROTK.... Rots.... WTF?..... Oh that's right revenge of the sith. I wonder if the movie will live up to the hidden meaning in its abbreviation?
I didn't really mind the first two movies. You could tell that they were leading up to some sort of finale with the details surrounding Anakin's turn to the dark side. They were not instant gratification movies and I don't think they were meant to be either.
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.Damn capitalist pigs and their oppressive subscription model! Someone needs to free the ENTIRE article... because... erm, I don't feel like paying for it.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
But does Jar Jar get the Lightsaber Enema he so greatly deserves?
Test your net with Netalyzr
...and give us a topless Padme scene. I'd definitely walk out satisfied.
Did you ride the short bus? http://sh.ortb.us
Lucas is the sux0rs?
digital actors raped my childhood?
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. ..which isn't exactly difficult given the bar has been set so low by the previous two prequels.
It does look however as if the Star Wars prequels will actually achieve the polar opposite levels of critical acclaim as the Matrix trilogy did (i.e. Matrix/SWEP3:ROTS - great, Matrix Reloaded/SWEP2:AOTC - good-ish, Matrix Revolutions/SWEP1:TPM - dire)
I think it's important to keep a couple of things in mind:
1. The action scenes and special effects will be cool. The storyline will be OK, the fall of the senate and rise of emperor and empire will be interesting. It will be nice to see the "straw that breaks the camel's back" and see Anakin finally snap.
2. The acting and the dialogue will be incredibly stiff. It's Lucas after all. I can imagine that exchanges between Padme and Anakin will be just as meaningless as before. (Padme looked pretty convincing though, crying on one of the trailers.)
If you keep those 2 in mind as you go see the movie, it should be a cool and a welcome conclusion to what started out as a kickass story, turned into a disappointment.
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
There is nothing I live more than reading every thread about the Matrix or Star Wars telling me that certain movies stink. It doesn't grow tired at all.
That horse is dead and the users are know bleaching the bones.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
Vader: So, you have accepted the truth.
Luke: I have accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father.
Vader: That name no longer has any meaning for me.
Something new? How about this:
The problem with the first two prequels was not the digital actors. The problem was the real ones.
Jar-jar may have grated on a lot of people, but at least it wasn't a dull, wooden performance by a performer who's obvioulsy capable of far better work.
Portman, Jackson, Neeson, McGregor, Stamp, and yes even Christiansen... all have proven in other films that they are perfectly capable actors, yet Lucas seems to have a unique ability as a director to take these extremely talented people and suck all signs of life and soul out of their performances. It's really quite remarkable.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
You're right- I can't, because each time was less memorable than the first. Ever since I purposely watched it- probably over 10 years ago- the only times I've seen it have been when absolutely nothing else was on TV, and it was being re-run for the fiftieth time on the SciFi channel.
This'll get me marked as a troll by all the rabid SW fanboys (or the Space Fetishists) with mod points, but hell if I care. Believe it or not, not everyone thought Star Wars was more than just "a nice scifi film from the 70's".
Please help metamoderate.
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.
Looking at another man appearing for less than one minute in a science fiction movie is one of your fondest childhood memories?
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
What was wrong with the first two prequels? People complain about Star Wars episodes not being highbrow enough, or adult enough, or complex enough, etc. Star Wars is supposed to be popcorn, not trout almondine. If you can follow the symbolism to see the film at another level, so much the better, but it's a mistake to look so hard for the deep meaning that you miss the fun at the surface.
I have seen all of the Star Wars episodes as they have been released, and each time I make it a point not to expect anything. I watch and enjoy. The cliche "it is what it is" fits here.
These movies are aimed at multiple audiences: pre-teens, teenagers, adult sci-fi nerds, moms, dads, etc. That's why there's always a Jar-Jar, a tragic love affair, a love triangle, a classic struggle between good and evil affecting the future of a civilization, or whatever.
If you go in thinking you want the plot to go a certain way or for there to be a final explanation of any particular story line, you'll usually be disappointed.
Just keep your eyes open, sit back, and enjoy the popcorn.
sigs, as if you care.
Padme: Is that a Lightsabre in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me
Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
I call shenanigans! Where's you proof that only Star Wars fans lined up to see Episode 2?
From Box Office Mojo:
The Phantom Menace
Worldwide: $924,488,301
Opening Weekend: $64,820,970
(2,970 screens, $21,825 average)
Attack of the Clones
Worldwide: $649,476,740
Opening Weekend: $80,027,814
(3161 screens $25,317 average)
Episode 2 had a bigger opening weekend, and each screen had a higher gross. Your reasoning is not really based in fact, but more personal judgement. Sure AotC made less money worldwide, but 650 million is still nothing to sneeze at (320 million domestic, which is exactly the same as each LotR movies made, to bring up a comparison).
It's better to burn out than to fade away
If you enjoy the Star Wars movies/genre you will like this movie. I saw the movie on Tuesday:
1. It is darker than the other movies...but not much darker than Empire. I think it's only two scenes that, if removed, would have given this the same rating as the other movies.
2. The acting and writing is bad. Some good acting moments, but not many.
3. The action and music and special effects are great.
My biggest beefs were the dialogue between Padme and Anakin.
You WILL need to see this movie more than one time, if for any reason then for the initial space battle scene. There is simply so much going on I wish I could have played that in slo-mo to check everything out.
So go out, grab some popcorn and enjoy the hell out of the movie and try not to analyze it too much. It's an easy trap to fall into (Right Admiral Ackbar?), cuz I know I did.
http://viewaskew.com/news/sith/
He more or less said that this is the prequel all you whiners and complainers have been waiting for.
He's a big Star Wars fan himself, and he flat out said that it's a damn good movie... darker than Empire Strikes Back... so you know it's good.
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
Do you have any idea how stupid you sound or how pathetic you look?
Well, in a word, yeah.
Why, does it bother you?
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Force has been good, Yes.
Jar-Jar disemboweled by Anakin. Sad, but not very.
Dancing on Jar-Jar's grave like animatronic puppet I am, yes.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Food for thought. Has Lucas ever created a good movie that didn't involve Harrison Ford?
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 sure wouldn't want to be the person sitting in front of you.
The reviews for Episode II said the same sorts of "It marks a return to The Empire Strikes Back" stuff. The tomatometer's at 65%. That movie made my kids laugh at how bad it was, more than once. Give it two more years, and watch the tomato turn green in retrospect. I dunno how, but it happens. I swear, when "Pearl Harbor" came out, on balance the reviews liked it okay and talked about how it'd inspire interest in the real history. Back in 2001 the Tomatometer doesn't seem like it had PH at 25%.
Is it just me, or does every blockbuster now come with a pre-release spin fest of "It's so much better than you expect, given that it's this sort of movie, that you should see it anyway"? It's like the stock market, with "retail earnings better than expected" for this April being the headline -- even though the expectations were exceptionally low.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
And I was personally had hoped Lucas and Spielberg knew the significance of that (and maybe artistically and personally had been doing some of the same).
Lucas himself claims in latest Wired "to have a stack of ideas piling up on his desk for "highly abstract, esoteric" films even more daring than his 1971 debut, THX 1138".
Revisiting a classic set of movies a few decades after the original should have been a opportunity to showcase their sophistication and growth, but they turned out more fizzle then a bang. I guess success can be creative failure.
I'll be curious to see if Lucas can climb out from under the machine he's built and make the kinds of films he claims to have intended to. Spielberg I have no hope for.
Quack, quack.
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.
In one of the senate scenes in either episode one or two, I beleive they have a delagation. It's a very brief moment, but I'm fairly certain I saw ET shaped aliens in the senate.
Thanks to the internet, we can now all die alone together! -SomeWoman
I am one of those cool people who say they won't see Ep 3 and then rip on it because I think it is childish and Lucas has failed with his 2 prior tries...I will argue with you about how you have b.o. and are wasting your money...then I will argue about how my friends will have it downloaded soon and how I won't even look at it then...then I will say that the reviews are all sucking up to Lucas and how terrible the ads are and all the merchandising is over the top....then, even though I have said and done al l this...I won't tell anyone but will go and see & thoroughly enjoy it.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson