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Newest Star Wars Reviews Suprisingly Positive

Patchw0rk F0g writes "CBC is reporting on the suprising results of pre-screenings of Lucas' latest (and final) installment of his sci-fi epic. From TFA, "The advance reviews of Revenge of the Sith, the sixth - and final - Star Wars film, have been mostly positive - and in some cases outright effusive." Go figure... maybe Georgie got it right finally."

38 of 677 comments (clear)

  1. I see by hotbutteredhtml · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Nothing for you to see here. Please move along."

    True in so many ways.

    --
    how 'bout I give you the finger....and you give me my phone call.
    1. Re:I see by martyn+s · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, rottentomatoes is not an average score, but a percentage of the total that are positive. In other words, if EVERYONE gives a movie the exact same score, 60%, then the movie will get 100% on RT since they were ALL positive. Metacritic actually gives an average score.

  2. Surprising? by shreevatsa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What's so surprising? After all, A New Hope was the best one in the original trilogy, IMHO. Lucas is a great director. Just because he did something different the last two times from what you were expecting doesn't mean you'll always hate his work. So why get surprised?

    1. Re:Surprising? by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

      So why get surprised?

      Because this is Lucas.
      The man who changes his mind about his grand vision more often than a typical person (not a slashdotter) changes their underwear.

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    2. Re:Surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The reason is because, unlike the last two movies, this time Lucas hired a professional acting coach. When you really get down to it, the wooden acting is the worst part about these movies. The story and dialogue, while vapid, is of the same caliber of the originals, imo. The difference is that normally good actors (ever seen Portman in a non-SW movie?) come across as being terrible.

      The changelog for Episode 3 should read: "resolved issue with bad direct^H^H^H^H^H^Hacting"

    3. Re:Surprising? by Tassach · · Score: 5, Informative
      Empire Strikes Back was the best of the original Trilogy. Now who directed that again?
      Irvin Kershner
      --
      Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
    4. Re:Surprising? by soft_guy · · Score: 4, Funny

      His ex-wife did the editing on it, though. (And the first three StarWars movies.) She had some talent, and she kept it in the divorce.

      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
  3. Generally Speaking by mattmentecky · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is there anyone out there, that say, saw 5 out of the 6 Star Wars movies and are not going to see the last one because of a review or vice versa, see the last movie because of a positive review? In general movie reviews are relatively useless unless you know a reviewer well enough to be sure that his/her personal tastes line up with yours.

    1. Re:Generally Speaking by TheHonestTruth · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Not exactly responsive: I saw both Matrix movies in the theater (Reloaded at Grauman's), but because of the reviews, and what friends said, I, to this day, have not seen Revolutions. I'd rather just pretend that the Matrix was a one-shot movie and try to forget that I saw the sequel.

      -truth

      --

      I had a steady B+ in my AI class until I failed the Turing test...

    2. Re:Generally Speaking by LurkerXXX · · Score: 4, Funny
      If anyone suggests you see any sequels to the original Higlander movie, please do the same.

      "It all began 500 years ago on the planet Zeist..."

      NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  4. Star Wars reviews by totallygeek · · Score: 4, Funny
    Everything should be positive about this last film. The film got a bump on the MPAA ratings for violence, which means there will be plenty of action. It shows Natalie Portman preggers, which has been a male fantasy for some time (but men wouldn't watch her in that Wal-Mart movie). And, Jar Jar has very little screen time.

    1. Re:Star Wars reviews by thrillseeker · · Score: 4, Funny
      What does "pregnant" have to do with "petrified and covered in hot grits?"

      Around here, one frequently leads to the other.

  5. I'll be watching by s_wardman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, I'll be watching it whether the critics love it or hate it. I like to form my own opinions.

    --
    A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.â"John Gaule
  6. Torrent? by Saxton · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, where's the torrent?

    --
    My name is Aaron Landry, and I approve this message.
  7. Yeah, It's a real shocker... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Harry Knowles gave it a good review... that means it MUST be AMAZING!

  8. Alexandra Dupont by artemis67 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've been reading the reviews, too, with a bit a skepticism... but I liked this one most of all. She's an occasional columnist for AICN, and definitely one of their better and more trustworthy writers. She trashed the last two movies, but this one, well...

    To quote:
    Q. Give us a four-word review.
    A. Bloody hell! It's good!

  9. Re:final? by Skye16 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Lucas said flat out in some magazine-or-other that he was not doing the final 3, and since he, himself wasn't doing the final 3, he wasn't going to allow them to be made, either.

    Things may have changed since then, but that's the last I heard of it.

  10. How the begining of the Saga Ending begins: by slapout · · Score: 5, Funny

    ---Spoiler Warning---

    Obi-Wan walks into a room full of toys and video games. Anakin is playing Super Mario Brothers.

    Obi: "Where did you get all this stuff!"

    Ana: "I've been using the force like you taught me."

    Obi: "You stole all this stuff?!"

    Ana: "Of course not."

    Obi: "Then what did you do?"

    Ana: "I used the force to see into the future..."

    Obi: "And....?"

    Ana: (Looking down at the floor. Knowing he's in trouble) "...and....and...I used it to find the winning numbers in the Naboo Lottery...."

    Obi: "Anakin!"

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
  11. Re:Am I the only one that liked the first two? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Am I the only one that liked the first two?

    Yes.

  12. Previews by BigNumber · · Score: 4, Funny

    The previews for this movie look very good. Unfortunately, they'll probably let Hayden Christiansen actually speak and that will ruin the movie. The action was fine in both of the prequels so far, it was the god-awful script and acting that made me want to repeatedly stab my brain with an ice-pick.

  13. Re:Am I the only one that liked the first two? by goldspider · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bravo for standing up and saying what (I'm sure) so many here are thinking, but won't say because it's now chic to bash George Lucas.

    The first two weren't THAT bad! Yes, Jar-Jar got on a lot of peoples' nerves, and the puppy-love scenes in EP2 might have been a little overdone. But overall, I thought they were generally very enjoyable!

    But let's face it; most people here weren't old enough to be movie critics when the original trilogy came out, so they don't really have much perspective. Now that it's fashionable to be jaded, they just can't bring themselves to admit that they actually liked TPM and AotC.

    I for one look forward to seeing RotS, and won't be here sounding off about how George Lucas robbed my life of several hours.

    --
    "Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
  14. Re:and... by TychoCelchuuu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know, what's even worse are those first few movies. Just a few spaceships, Luke discovers the force, shoots a bunch of stormtroopers and blows up a Death Star or two. And Darth's his father. I mean seriosuly, what do people see in these things?

    If you oversimplify to the degree that you did Episode III, you can make anything look stupid. Romea and Juliet is just two lovey-dovey people with a fatal misunderstanding. Indiana Jones is just some archaeologist who beats up Nazis. Episode III is just some saber fights. I mean come on; you know it's more than that.

    --
    Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
  15. Re:final? by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Later he might go back and re-edit those comments with enhanced digital effects...

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  16. It's all about the Vader by jtpalinmajere · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I actually liked the first two movies... the dialogue wasn't exactly mind blowing... even dull at times... but they were still very entertaining by and large. However, I have a feeling that, story aside, if Darth Vader had been in the first two movies I think they would have gotten a much bigger reception. All of the original trilogy had Vader in it in all his 3V1L L337 coolness, and all three of them were very good... the third only dropping off mildly from the first two.

    Now that Vader is finally coming back onto the screen he has everybody fawning again. I have a sinking suspicion that the dialogue and acting is going to be similar to that of these last two movies (essentially what makes them 'horrible' in many people's eyes), but its got Lord Vader... so it's AAAAALLLLLL good. My $0.02.

  17. Re:final? by Golias · · Score: 5, Funny

    tHere wAs always supposed to be oNly Six... He said "nine" back in the eighties, because the technOlogy To make only six Films dId not Really exiSt at The time.

    now the series is completed the way he originally intended.

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  18. Probably not by paranode · · Score: 5, Funny
    But there will be a lot of Slashdotters who will get on the soap box and get modded up telling you how they boycotted Episodes I and II yet at the same time those movies raped their childhood. Oh and they won't see Episode III out of principle, even though they have tickets to the midnight showing and plan to see it again the next day.

    Also they cry themselves to sleep at night holding their pillows moaning "Han shoots first!"

  19. Optimistic Crackpot Theory by Apreche · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have an optimistic crackpot theory. I'll write it in PHP because that's what I'm using mostly as of late.

    if( in_array( 'Darth Vader', $movie ) ){
    return awesome;
    }else{
    return poop;
    }

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
    1. Re:Optimistic Crackpot Theory by eatmywake · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dude, i think you might have a bug there. You should be more vigilent with your error checking - I would suggest adding the following to prevent injection of tainted variables;

      if ( in_array ( 'JarJar', $movie )) {
      if ( implode ( $movie ) ){
      unset ( $movie );
      return destroyed;
      }
      die();
      }

  20. Foregone conclusion by Durzel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To be honest though Lucas didn't have an awful lot to do for this film - he already knew how it had to end. I'm no writer but I'd wager it is a lot easier to formulate a screenplay when you already know exactly what it has to achieve to be considered a success.

    Contrast that with Episodes I and II, where Lucas had very little in terms of pre-ordained plot development - the result was obvious, Jar Jar Binks et al.

    Not to mention of course that since Episodes I and II were poorly received (62% and 65% respectively), reviews of this film were (and are already) bound to draw comparisons and as such favour it accordingly anyway.

    For me one of the worst things about the previous two films in the franchise is that because they were continuations (albeit prequels) of what had already become legendary - no one had to try very hard. As a result the acting is wooden, the dialogue stunted and insincere, etc. Reminds me of the cringeworthy Matrix sequels.

    Anyway, I personally believe that if the film didn't happen to include the words "Star Wars" in the title, that we would be seeing completely different reviews. And I consider myself to be an avid Star Wars fan to boot.

  21. You just have to realize... by paranode · · Score: 5, Funny
    The naysayers are always the most vocal. The Lucas-haters never really understand the sad irony of their situation, because while they thrash the new movies as a betrayal of their lovely childhood memories they forget themselves in an inconspicuous and pitiful devotion to concerning themselves with every move Lucas makes.

    Their sad devotion to that ancient trilogy has not helped them conjure up DVDs of the original films, or given them clairvoyance enough to find something better to do with their time.

  22. Re:*raises hand* by Moraelin · · Score: 4, Informative

    "ANYONE who's ever been interested in Star Wars knew the story. Anakin falls to the dark side, Obi-wan knocks him into lava so he gets the suit, Luke and Leia are born, Obi-wan and Yoda disappear to distant planets. The rest is really just details. This isn't exciting because no one knows what's going to happen, it's exciting because we DO know what, but we want to see *HOW*."

    Bingo. That's the whole thing.

    I knew that Anakin was gonna turn to the dark side ever since the original trilogy. I didn't know how or why.

    After playing the video game, I know exactly how and why. And, while trying not to go into any explicit spoilers, let's say it was a bit... not what I expected, and it puts Episodes 4 to 6 in a very different light too.

    So trust me, when I say the video game gives away the story, I don't mean just "it tells you that Anakin falls to the dark side, falls in the lava and gets a cool black suit." It gives away a helluva lot more.

    --
    A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
  23. Nothing would be good enough by davidmcw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Lets be frank here and I'm not trolling.

    Nothing will be good enough for the Slashdot crowd. He could film it in super douper total emersion 3D-o-vision with the best script & acting on the planet and there will still be compaints from many of the Slashdot crowd. He could choose to be totally divorced from the bloody thing and people will still hark back to how it isn't quite as good as the one they saw while in their nappy 25 years ago, and George has spoiled.

    Hindsight is invariably 20-20 and rose tinted. People seem to forget that the originals had their very dodgy moments too. What people remember is not just the movie, it is the whole experience that they had when sitting there many moons ago, before the got old and embittered by age and by supporting Windows boxes (coz supporting Unix doesn't embitter one as much does it). It was going with their parents, getting popcorn, sitting surrounded in awe by peers, with their parents or older siblings. Playing with X Wing fighters for weeks afterward. It was getting all the mags & figures & watching the cheesy kids shows jump on the bandwagon. It was the fact that this was totally new, nothing else came close.

    I watched the rest, I await the next as does everyone else here, even those that refuse to admit it.

    Oh and just to piss off the remaining readers I haven't offended yet, I love my TiVo.

    --
    Just because your paranoid doesn't really mean they aren't out to get you
  24. We shall overcome by jfengel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm a member of an oppressed minority group who believes that New Hope was better than Empire.

    I dunno why that is. Maybe we didn't care for some of the darkness in ESB, and New Hope was more fun. Maybe the open-ended conclusion was less thrilling than the destruction of the Death Star. Maybe it's the "freshman effect" that made Clerks better than Mallrats. (Not that ESB is anything like Mallrats. ESB is a great movie. Just less fun than New Hope.)

    It's not important why. I just wanted to state out loud that although it's accepted wisdom that Empire was better than New Hope, it's not entirely universal.

    But that's why I've said before on Slashdot that I thought that Sith had a good chance to be the best of the prequels: it ties in to what I feel is the best of the originals.

    1. Re:We shall overcome by Teddy+Beartuzzi · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Preach on, brotha.

      The "Empire is the best of the three" is a relatively recent phenomena. In 1980, almost no one felt this way. All my friends and I came out of the theatre saying "Geezus, what a downer. No where near as good as the first one!" It was hard to find anyone who felt the opposite. And the box office totals showed that most of the general public felt the same, the magic wasn't as strong, fewer people were doing the "I've got to see this 12 times" thing, etc.

      In 1983, much of the opinion going into Jedi was "I hope it's better than Empire!" Turns out it wasn't, of course.

      Once the trilogy was complete, and on video etc, that's when the tide started to turn towards Empire. As a part of the whole, fans grew to appreciate it more. But as a standalone film? Can't touch Star Wars.

  25. Isn't that how you do character development? by khasim · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I mean, other than having a movie about a guy talking about himself ...

    The characters are dropped into situations and they react. Like when Han shot a bounty hunter sitting across from him.

    Lucas' problem isn't character development. His problem is back-story. Vader had more character development in ep 4 & 5 than any other bad guy has had in ep 1-3.

    Lucas just doesn't know how to write a story that will result in the character he has already developed. Which is why he falls back on fan-boy tricks of re-introducing the previously created characters and such (the droids, Boba's daddy, Tatoonie, etc).

    Vader has character.

    Annie is just put through some badly written situations and dialog so we can get to the Vader suit.

  26. My easy to digest review by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 4, Funny

    Acting by the guy (whose name I refuse to learn) who plays Annakin: 0/10
    Acting by by the grits woman: 1/10
    Acting by Ewan MacGregor: 2/10
    Overall story: 6/10
    Nostalgia value as we see the things we recognise from Episode IV: 8/10
    Effects: 8/10
    Pleasure from hearing Princess Leia's theme again: 8/10
    Enjoyment value for those with a fetish for hand amputation: 9/10
    Intelligence of characters who don't notice how Padme became pregnant: 0/10
    Entertainment value of Yoda's big fight: 6/10
    Entertainment value Yoda's big fight would have had if we hadn't seen it before: 10/10
    General Grievous's homage to Harryhausen's Kali: 9/10
    Amount of sense General Grievous subplot made after editors removed vital explanations from movie: 3/10
    Did I mention Annakin's acting?: 0/10
    Quality compared to Episodes I and II: 10/10
    Quality compared to Episodes IV and V: 5/10
    Overall: 7/10

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
  27. Re:A few minor inconsistencies... by eutychus_awakes · · Score: 4, Funny

    Q: . . .when Luke takes Vaders mask off at the end of Jedi, no scar.

    A: Bacta. Lots of Bacta.

    Q: . . .Luke and Leia also discuss their mother in Jedi

    A: More Bacta.

    --
    This sig is a test. If this had been an actual sig, you would be reading something quite a bit wittier than this now.
  28. Re:final? by utexaspunk · · Score: 4, Funny

    HANS HOT FIRST? I don't get it -Is that german gay porn?

    (for the humor impaired, yes, I DO get it...)