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LucasArts Embargoes "Clone Wars" Reviews
An anonymous reader writes "George Lucas CGI 'Clone Wars' movie has premiered to reviews ranging from MSNBC's 'Ugly animation and an uninspired storyline drag down the film' to AintItCool's 'I hated the film. HATED IT. REALLY HATED IT.' Critics have noted the animation style, music and slapstick humor had more than a passing similarity to Pixar's Toy Story, and wondered if the introduction of new action figures (sorry, characters) like Baby Jabba Hutt and Jabba the Hutt's Gay Uncle may have taken the franchise a bridge too far.
Lucas responding by enforcing an embargo, forcing the reviews to be taken down. While sites like AintItCool.com responded, by then it was just a little too late.
Still, the CGI eye candy will make it popular with kids. If the 'Clone Wars' movie can't save the galaxy, can it at least save the franchise?"
Can suck my dick.
I think the franchise was lost among the faithful a long time ago. Somewhere between Mesaa and Jar-Jar Binks.
11 was a racehorse
12 was 12
1111 Race
12112
I think we can all thank him for this one. The cartoon, as I gather, did its job well. Potential for a movie in the same spirit certainly existed.
Then Lucas came in and axed Grievous and the art direction.
While sites like AintItCool.com responded, but by then it was just a little too late.
What? Come on, editors.
I was QUITE surprised at the scheming behind the scenes when I read this article some time back. They *know* what they have and aren't holding back. It is interesting just how little they try to hide it and how no one really cares how much they are milking the franchise.
Some odd FORCE really drives the market. I have a collection with items dating as recent as 1981, valued between $5000 and $7500. The original prices for the items summed to no more than $670!
Is the guy who's going to save Indiana Jones.
See title.
I know that Chewbacca and the Ewoks were always there for children, but at least the main story also had very adult parts. Now it's just children's toss, fuck that.
..now I have absolutely no doubt this film is not worth my time and money. I will watch something else instead
They produced a crappy film once again. Now they are trying to sculpt the reaction to it on the Internet. Do they not realise it is futile? For a mainstream film, it *might* make a dent on the number of people who stay away - but for a very nerdy sci-fi franchise its practically suicide. I haven't even read any reviews yet but I am already drawing the conclusion its a dire film based on the fact they are attempting a cover up. The disconnect between the reality of online culture and the actions of people trying to sell things to the Internet using public seems to be growing, not shrinking as you would expect it to do with more young people entering the workforce with direct experience of the culture.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
If Lucas really wants those bad reviews out there front and center, he's doing a bang up job of ensuring that.
I was excited they were making more clone wars... until I saw they changed the animation style, which had me worried.
Now I see bad reviews and an attempt by lucasfilm to suppress them. I think I'll skip this one.
It's a shame really. Clone Wars vol II was absolutely brilliant.
I don't think the franchise is going down the drain just because of the movies. I mean, is there someone out there who can say how many Star Wars games actually got ABOVE average scores?
Oh and to be on topic: Streisand Effect.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Yeah, I know, his latest films haven't been that encouraging. But that's beside my point.
If it's coming from Lucasfilm, it should have standards at least on the level of Pixar. Instead, we get the Clone Wars TV series that ran in the runup to Ep. 3, except done in CGI. Big deal.
If you're going to do a big CGI flick, George, your character designs and other art should be more on the level with the Final Fantasy movie. The animation character designs worked well for that animation style, but they do not port well (if at all) to CGI.
Seriously, crusty old fart in the bathrobe looks like a lightsaber accident took off the back half of his head some years back.
Transformers: Beast Wars had better stuff a decade ago. Get with the program, George.
I think this one is indeed more for kids. I know my Son (9 years old) is near ape-shit about going and seeing this opening day. I'm a bit skeptical about it. It'll be nice to see another new Star Wars film, but at the cost of no real story / character development / etc., I don't know if I want this to taint my view of the Star Wars saga.
I was only 5 or 6 the first time I saw A New Hope in the theater. Indeed, as many, I was blown away and it changed the way I pictured "space" and all that. That side comment to ObiWan from Luke of "You fought in the Clone Wars?!?" in "Ben's" hut was always a very interesting thing to me. "What were the Clone Wars?" "What are the Clones?" (it was never really said the Stormtroopers were all colones and certainly no hint of them being of Bobba's Dad). I wasn't until Ep2 that "The Clone Wars" was really brought into the story and it was very little more than a passing mention in that movie. Ep3 kind of touched a bit more on it, but not really. With this movie we're supposed to see more of the struggle of the Clone Wars. I say struggle because it more about the story behind the battle. The battle we've seen (well, bits and pieces), but we've seen it. We haven't seen the story of it.
I hope it's not as bad as this reviews are making it out to be. Since 1977 I have had huge thoughts and dreams about these half-mentioned "Clone Wars". I hope this is it.
But it is a "new" Lucas movie...
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
Release over budget Disney like Star Wars cartoon Get ripped by media for turning the Star Wars franchise into CGI for 4 year olds Have a public dummy spit and then set the lawyers free on what little is left of the Star Wars franchise fan base. $$$ Profit
I think most of us born from 1965 and 1985 have a pretty good case against George Lucas for retroactively ruining our childhood. Star Wars Episode 1 thru to Indiana Jones and Aliens, now this nonsense. Strangely enough the 5 minute shorts on Cartoon Network about the Clone Wars were actually entertaining, and didn't seem as geared to children, and they had that Samurai Jack animation style.
I really enjoy the original star wars so naturally I was so excited when phantom menace came out I admit that I liked it almost as much as the originals then with the second one I watched it multiple times but only because I had a crush on Natalie Portman at the time. When the third one came out I waited in line for it however after watching it I had a realization about these prequels they were missing something, and that something was heart, when George Lucas mad the original Star Wars he was a nobody so of course he had to make the story epic, so epic that it was a saga. With the prequels he didn't need to so he soldout, hardcore he has betrayed the fans and all he cares about is the money which of course he will get because well there are still raving fans who would buy crap if it had the star wars logo on it and little kids. Bottom line is George Lucas is a sellout
I couldn't stand the crap ad so the "movie" must really be bad. Usually, the promo has the best parts. If those are the best parts, I can only surmise the movie (yeah, right) is the worst ever made. I liked The Incredibles, though. Holly Hunter was great, so much so it seemed as if she was on top doing all the work !!
that star wars may have more or less jumped the mynock... the thing that really aggravates me about Lucas with star wars, is he allowed hundreds of "official" works of fiction to be written, wherein, the authors who wrote them worked very hard to follow and/or stay true to the original movies. These books really flushed out the story and universe, and then Lucas comes along with his prequels, and basically says "screw you all" and ignores all the history and back story that was created on his behalf.
I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
You say that Star Wars shouldn't be made into a cartoon for children? And you also say jar-jar binks was a bad idea for the series?
That doesn't make any sense. Okay look, this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about it; that does not make sense!
Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! But more important, you have to ask yourself: What does this have to do with this review? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this review! It does not make sense! Look at me. I'm a slashdotter defending a major mistake in starwars history, and I'm talkin' about Chewbacca! Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense! None of this makes sense! And so you have to remember, when you're sitting there in the move theater reviewing this movie, does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed review, it does not make sense! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit!
For reviews in the USA, does this not go against the spirit of the first amendment (freedom of the press) even if not the letter of it?
I downloaded that film last week and it was just all gay porn. I couldn't understand what it had to do with star wars
I had been reading/hearing that this was suppose to be the "secret" Star Wars film. It wasn't going to have a big advertising budget and was a labor of love. Obviously that was all a bunch of malarky, just another gimmick to get it in the news. I've been seeing commercials for this film pretty regularly now.
Sadly, I'll be seeing this travesty on Saturday with my two boy and my nephews.
--- What?
...There were Clone Wars. Animated.
Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky of the Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack fame.
And they were decently animated and had some good stories.
The Lucas empire even dropped a more than a decent part of the prequel trilogy's story into those episodes.
If you look at the duration of all three seasons you come up with about two films of about an hour+, or one of two hours+.
Hell... General Grievous is one big WTF if you don't at least take a glance at the animated series.
But I guess that was not good enough.
Or translated from Lucaspeek - It was not a bunch of lifeless 3D rendered puppets, reimagined once again.
What is the matter with Lucas?
Is he really trying to degrade the franchise beyond the "meh" level?
The entire Star Wars universe is slowly being turned into a "you know... that saga nobody really cares about any more, but once it was the best saga evah".
For fucks sake, lay it off for a while.
It is becoming embarrassing to say you actually enjoyed any of it. Ever.
Like it is American Pie or some other endlessly sequelled gag-humor movie.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. "
At least, according to AintItCool's reply.
Insightful, yet hot!
Lets not forget that episodes 1-3 were not exactly cheap to produce. If Lucas had sold out, he would have had the movies made in hong-kong on a shoe-string budget and then raked in the cash based on the brand alone. THAT is selling out.
What he did instead is forget what made the original movies such a success, not just with kids but with adults as well (it was my mom that introduced me to Star Wars and she was an adult mother when it was released) and instead attempted to make the movie appeal to kids without understand what kids want.
Basically, he ignored his matured fanbase and tried to appeal to a new demographic that just didn't exist.
Lets face it, kids today got better entertainment then 3 films that are nothing but a punch and judy show (KIDS: look out punch BEHIND you PUNCH: where KIDS: BEHIND YOU), the jedis never being able to spot the baddie until it is way to late.
It might have worked as high fantasy with a doomed ending with just a tiny bit of hope remaining but that doesn't work in a kiddy movie.
I like the ending of episode three were you see the would be rebels dispersing, but everything before was just... Well not bad exactly, just that the actors could not act, Lucas can't write or direct and just who was the story aimed at anyway?
The most obvious failure? Nobody quotes the new star wars to honor it. "These are not the droids you are looking for" "I am your father" "I find your lack of faith disturbing" "It is a trap".
Where are the episode 1-3 quotes?
George Lucas one had luck producing a movie, it is known by fans that this was not his own creation, his wife for instance seems to have played a large role. Other directors did ESB. He should go back to producing but frankly, his most crowning achievement, getting Star Wars made in the 70's is no longer anything complex with the fortune he has know and the standard high special effects movie we got know. People forgot just how ground breaking A New Hope was from a producers job. That is gone now. Lucas has nothing to do but sign the checks and so he gets involved with other things that were previously left to others.
Lucas did not make A New Hope, he produced it. He did make episode 1-3. That's the problem.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
It almost seems as if he exists to offend both the religious fanatics and homosexuals all at the same time. Its not like the position was needed; Star Wars isn't out to teach anyone anything, represent anything historically accurate, and as such doesn't need to touch on all PC aspects of modern life. At the same time they don't need to ridicule/stereotype it either with a ham handed method of trying to not offend both sides but doing so greatly regardless.
Hell, even the name is amazing... whats next on their list.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
The franchise was already lost. A new Star Wars movie is coming out to theaters and its not even close to being the #1 geek movie of the summer. Even if you took out the superhero movies and Star Trek, its still lagging behind. Ten years ago that would have been inconceivable as even re-releases were huge.
You can't live off past glory forever.
What did he do to Aliens?
WOOKIES DONT LIVE ON ENDOR!
You're arguing the facts here. I take it that Lucas is indeed guilty then?
I've almost convinced myself George Lucas never made the first three Star Wars, and that it was somebody else. Look at the reviews for almost any of the other films he wrote (THX-1138, Willow, Captain EO, Star Wars I-III) and they are all rated at least an order of magnitude worse. The only other film I could find that was rated as highly was Raiders of the Lost Ark, and he shared the writing role with Philip Kaufman on that one.
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
Lets not forget that Has Solo made "I Know" and appropriate response to "I love you."
Okay, which one of those crappy websites went ahead and committed a capital sin?
The web designer of one of the websites linked in TFA took it upon him/herself to resize my browser.
You don't touch my browser without permission. I really wonder who the fuck tought it was a good idea to even allow such crap to take place.
I have my browser set just the way I want it, centered exactly where I want it on my widescreen desktop. Whenever some crappy website goes ahead and wrecks this up, I end up not viewing it. It infuriates me to no end.
Sorry for the rant, feel free to mod me offtopic, but I felt it had to be said.
I seem to remember there already being a animated Clone Wars that bridged between Episode 2 and 3. It had some interesting story lines and the Awesome animation talents of Genndy Tartakovsky. It would be great if the older series made more money than this Remake.
Science is the Real TRUTH!
The first time I glanced at a commercial, I just assumed it was another video game they were hawking for Christmas. It was only when I heard "starts Friday" that I realized it was a movie. It sure as hell ain't Pixar. Or Dreamworks for that matter...
You've killed it.
Star Wars is dead.
Nobody is watching anymore.
It's message has been buried.
We're even laughing at it now.
So really, REALLY, it is no longer a threat to you.
With its political message about evil empires and its spiritual messages about personal power. Really. Nobody is listening to that anymore. You've muddied the waters hopelessly. You've achieved your objective.
So please, please. Retract your mind-control claws from poor George's brain.
Show some pity.
-FL
You can get away with a lot of petty things like forgettable movies if only you don't try to cover it up.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I am not in any way a Star Wars nerd anymore, take note of that.
I saw a link to the trailer on a website I frequent back in May this year, I didn't even know a SW animated movie was coming out and honestly didn't care.
However, I'm open to try a movie of any kind, animated, puppets, I don't care if it's good - I like pixar movies, I once liked Star Wars, I even tried the final fantasy movie.
When the link was posted, within minutes people mocked it and laughed, it's got nothing to do with being untrue to the Star Wars franchise, if anything that may make some hardcore Star Wars fans 'forgive it' - I just saw a trailer for an absoloutely laughable looking kids film, not what I'm interested in, when "Jabba's son has been kidnapped!" is a plot element they feel worthy enough to put in a movie, I figure it's not going places.
http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?id=16928277#itemanchor_16928277
Here is something of note which I figure most of you will agree with and sadly hollywood will never read, nor understand.
Ever since the 3 new movies, Star Wars has been forever tarnished, changing from a great story and universe I am interested in, to something I look at in my mind as simply a 'franchise' or a product.
It's a fascinating transition and one I'm sure marketing people would love to know more about, maybe it's to do with my age or cynicism? Ultimately from my perspective the entire universe is now un-interesting to me, they've caused themselves a massive dis-service as I do not salivate at the thought of any Star Wars products, I don't even fondly remember the originals as I simply can't watch them in the same way.
Yes they are still good but deep down I know that whole universe is diluted.
I had the same feeling from the Matrix sequels, I have no interest even in the first film now.
Just to clarify my stance, I was never ever a huge SW nerd, but I was I guess a light fan (I'm 30 btw) so I saw ROTJ in the cinema, too young for ANH and don't recall empire.
I was never a major hardcore fan, I never purchased the toys or anything but I did like the universe, I did really love the movies and I would've purchased them on DVD for example.
Even the changes to the old 3 movies, made it feel like a product (A New hope 1.01, buy it now!)
Anyhow people go check out the new movie, word on the st is JABBAS SON HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED (oh noes!) :/
Go to any toy store.
Yogurt got it right. It's all about the Merchandising.
Now where's my Clone Wars Flamethrower? Oh, right here....
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT! (whoosh!)
Sooo... no different than the last 3 movies, eh?
I'm a total Star Wars nerd. Not quite a Star Wars dork -- that implies cosplaying at cons, themed weddings, and other acts of fan mortification. But I am a nerd. I grew up on these movies, I watched them over and over and know them inside and out. I would get excited every time I heard the 20th Century Fox fanfare and be disappointed when the movie wasn't Star Wars. I am 100% Lucas' prime demographic. I can obsess over the original trilogy like a Kevin Smith character, though I do differ with him on the matter of Hobbit badassery.
But I digress.
Lucas has managed to snuff my love affair with Star Wars. I saw Phantom Menace with great anticipation and came out inert. I torrented Clones and congratulated myself on saving the money. I only saw the last one in the theater because a gaggle of friends were going and I didn't want to be the wet blanket.
I watched the trailer for this one. Crappy, soulless CGI. How does it differ from the nuTrilogy? I think the characters here looked slightly more lifelike here. There is not a twinge of anticipation, not even a twitch. I'll rewatch the originals (not the re-releases) but even my enjoyment of what came before has been harmed now by what has come after. George Lucas has beat this dead horse until it's nothing more than a thin, red paste. Scrape what's left into a hole and fucking bury it, man. It's done.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
I won't pretend to be a Star Wars geek from the outset - I was a Trek nut until Rick Berman & Brannon Braga kicked the living shit out of the franchise just to get one more dying breath out of it, these days for me it's Battlestar Galactica and proudly displaying the Union Jack tattooed on my chest with pride as we Brits proudly reclaim the "best sc-fi series" throne with the revamped Dr Who.
So for me, the original Star Wars trilogy of movies were never something I went nutty over, I just really enjoyed them as good sci-fi entertainment that I occasionally rewatch.
But let me say one thing here - George Lucas is a very, very shrewd businessman for creating Star Wars movies that, by their very nature, have been designed to squeeze as much money out the hands of fans with merchandise; countless vehicles that can be turned into model & Lego kits, loads of characters to write extra novels about, and even three foot high bears for the kiddies, to start them off nice and young...
And that's all fine and dandy except for the fact that having so much crammed into so few films, it is virtually impossible to make it cohesive - at least as much as Gene Roddenberry did as the controlling hand of Star Trek over almost countless series episodes and a handful of the films.
So what I'm really trying to say is that you cannot turn Star Wars into this realistic, cohesive fictional universe because it was never controlled that way by Lucas.
The Star Wars franchise is, essentially, a merchandising platform, more so than ever, albeit a very well made and entertaining one (at least in the first trology anyway).
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
I personally got over the franchise a long time ago. There are many people where their childhood was heavily influenced by the world Lucas created/borrowed/repackaged/etc. It's pretty sad. I am starting to think that Lucas laughs at fans of Star Wars for being far too interested in something so meaningless. At least Star Trek (TV show - a couple of the movies were OK) had truly interesting stories to tell (based in human psychology and morality) and gave a glimpse of what mankind could be at it's best. Star Wars is eye candy and marketing. Lucas knows this and secretly (or not?) laughs all the way to the bank.
I downloaded the trailer for that new game you are talking about, Force Unleashed. The computer screenshots didn't seem to do it justice. I fired it up on my PS3 on my big screen and it was truly gorgeous. Not only does gameplay look great, but many people keep suggesting it has a great plot. They are doing a novelization of the game, and they suggest that a plot twist in the game will forever change how you view the original trilogy.
I also second a new X-Wing/TIE game. X-Wing Alliance was decent, and there is still a community for that game, but I want to see a next-gen flight sim in the vein of X-Wing/TIE with all the ships in the Star Wars galaxy.
Lastly, we need a solid KOTOR 3 to answer all the questions from the first two.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
There is a combination of words I never thought I would see.
What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
Gabe and Tycho hit the nail on the head with this comic. http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/24/
Lucas cannot write dialogue worth anything, which is why Natalie Portman was reduced to little more than a pretty face in the series. She did a great job in "The Professional" at such a young age. George has great overall ideas, but needs others to fill in the minute details. Hence, he employs excellent authors to write the stories which make up the books of the Star Wars mythos. The book for this movie was a good read. Karen Traviss is a good author, and I highly recommend her books if you get the free time to read. I am concerned, however, that Lucas will find a way to ruin the story with banal dialogue and by cutting out important parts fo the story. Plus, the book departs a bit from the known Star Wars mythos already established within Episodes II and III, but I cannot say how without ruining it for some.
> I know my Son (9 years old) is near ape-shit about going and seeing this opening day.
> I'm a bit skeptical about it. I was only 5 or 6 the first time I saw A New Hope in the theater.
See it drunk. That'll bring out the 5 or 6 year old in you! :-)
If I recall, Nute Gunray used an "Embargo" in the first movie and it worked just as well for him. :-)
...but in the past, he had interference.
Note that most of those films were made after Star Wars made his reputation, that the first two Star Wars films were clearly either constrained by the studio or largely handed off to other people, and that despite its resounding success Return of the Jedi - the film over which Lucas had the most creative control - is widely regarded to be the worst of the first three films. His then-wife also apparently had quite a bit of creative input, if this interview with Mark Hamill is accurate.
Will it save the franchise?
Depends, if by save you mean will it reinvigorate it from a story point of view, probably not. I dont think GL really cares as much about preserving the canon as he does with creating new stories that in his mind were all part of the great mythos he created back in the early 70's.
IF by save you mean it will allow toy manufacturers to offer a slew of crap in time for the holidays, then yeah it will save the franchise and maybe just maybe baby Jabba will teach the world to love.
Personally I want to see George remake American Graffitti within the SW universe. He could set it on Tatooine just prior to the events in episode 4. We could Luke work out some teenage angst with his friends during a crazy night cruising around Mos Eisly, and Toshi Station.
It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.
Personally I want an updated "Tie Fighter" game, that was probably their best sim.
But do you really want TIE Fighter II, TIE Fighter II' Champion Edition, TIE Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, Super TIE Fighter II: The New Challengers, Super TIE Fighter II Turbo, and Super TIE Fighter II Turbo HD Remix?
One use of the verb embargo means just to prohibit. It's common in newspaper publishing where wire stories are sometimes sent out a few days ahead, but are embargoed from publication till a specified date. And that use of the verb has been around at least since 1824 (the OED cites an example from Lord Byron's Don Juan).
The more you tighten your grip, LucasArts, the more reviewers will slip through your fingers.
> Sadly, I'll be seeing this travesty on Saturday with my two boy and my nephews.
See you at ThePirateBay.org! I'm wondering if they'll have a Clone Wars logo. LOL Anakata! http://thepiratebay.org/legal
That's just what I thought when I saw the commercial, kids are going to see this in droves. However, in north america, mature animation is getting more and more common, such as with Animatrix, Family Guy, South Park, etc but people still associate it with crude humor and not the advantages it can lend to storytelling. In Japan it's already quite common to have more mature animations when making a live production is not possible, and that has resulted in many interesting animes that lots of countries import including north america, so clearly there is some market for it. It depends how this movie approaches it. I think it's just about how people see animation, they automatically discount it as being used for telling 'lesser' stories than live action ones. I think the closest thing people in north america will accept as mature entertainment which is animated, is something like Beowulf. But people need to open up their expectations a bit more and give these things a chance, animation is a great medium for storytelling and can suspend your disbelief as well as live action can.
Twinstiq, game news
I can save it:
I'll craft Star Wars into a 22 season television series about the slow decay of the Jedi and the friction between the Sith Council and the the current Sith Lord Sidious.
Sidious on the outs with the Council is in a despirate position and a critical timing to regain control of the galaxy.
Mean while the Jedi have descended into a religious in-fighting on differing theories of the nature of the Force.
Qui Gon is leading the "Living Force" theory basing it in the Midchlorians. Yoda is leading the Universal Force theory (mirroring the differing views of physics, partical, quantum, string, etc..)
The Galactic Sentate is steeping in corruption and dealing with technological stagnation and the political fall out of ivolving the Sith in ending the last of the Mandalorian strong holds. (The Sith this time function as more of a mafia-like organization.)
We then slowly start moving through the movies starting with episode 1 but spend considerably more time focusing on the the infighting of the Jedi and the drama that comes about with admitting Annakin. (Seasons 1-3)
Ok now we are at Movie #2's content where we really start breaking down Anakin psychologically. Obi Wan is the presumed to lead the Living Force movement but is more concerned with the Jedi's pure function, protecting the Republic. Sidious is playing a dangerous game violating several of the Sith's tenants and is running the risk of losing the Sith agent's loyalty. Amadala is dealing with a considerable age gap with Annakin and is dangerously close to plunging the Sentate into a political mess. (Seasons 4-5)
Ok Third Movie content where the Jedi implode politically just in time to get slaughtered. We focus this season specifically on Annakin\Vader and the trouble the Emperor has gotten himself into. At the last moment the Emperor has grabbed victory and appeased the Sith Council for now... The Jedi are hunted and exterminated as Vader begins his reign.
(Season 6)
(Fast Forward 20 Years, yes we are aging the twins from original cannon)
Vader is a tormented soul but suprisingly the Emperor and Vader are in trouble contantly dealing with the reality of ruling the universe. Brokering deals with the Hutt, defending the Empire for invaders, and the rebellion. We paint an unapologetic yet sympathetic view of the Empire internals. Vader's confidant turns out to be Bobba Fett and the Emperor has to deal with growing threats of rebellion, knowing full well that failure will turn the Sith against him in full.
Mean while Luke and Leia's early life plays out in short clips while, once marginal characters (Ackabar, etc.) play out in how they become part of the rebellion.
(Season 7-10)
Ok Movie 4 content begins as a series of riots break out forcing the Emperor to implement the doctrine of fear as a despirate response to the growing rebellion. The clock has started and the only bargining chip he has is the Death Star.
Obi Wan gets word of the open rebellion and senses the time is right. Fate delivers Luke to him.
Mean while the Death Star plans are stolen and the story of their delivery to Leia unfolds.
(Season 11-13)
Ok Movie 5 Content remains straight forward from the movie but an additional focus of the Anti-Jedi propaganda starting to fall apart and the dangerous deals the Relbellion has to make to secure ships, supplies, etc.
Vader figures out whole Luke is and discretely tried to protect his son while playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the Emperor, thinking Luke and himself can overthrow the Emperor and "Fix this, make things right" in his own twisted way.
Han begins to notice that Luke and Leia act a bit too much like one another, begins to see some similarities...
(Season 14 - 16)
Movie 6 now, with a slightly different take. We make the Ewoks just a tad more menacing and a little less cuddly and really focus now on Vader and the Emperor as advisaries. Luke and Leia playout but we add in the "cost of victory" for th
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
When so many movies you have made, suck so much you will not.
Life needs more saving throws.
In the early days Lucas had people helping him with the art, story and scripts including his wife. He parted ways with these people, losing excellent screenwriter Kasdan, director Kershner and producer Kurtz, the last two over money - Lucas wanted to make the movies on the cheap and those guys cared about quality. I don't think he ever realized how important these people were to the vision. He just assumed he was a genius and he didn't need them. He was wrong.
Recommend you read SecretHistoryOfStarWars.com - Bring Tissues :(
"Harry hated THE CLONE WARS!
I've never hated a STAR WARS film before. I have weathered Jar Jar and any number of Ewoks. I survived Hayden and a wooden Portman. I even accepted Jake Lloyd. I handled all that because it felt like STAR WARS.
I can accept all of Lucas' flaws, so long as at its heart it felt like Star Wars. I can deal with politics in Star Wars. I can deal with trade skirmishes in Star Wars. I can deal with musical numbers, breathing in the vacuum of space. Basically - so long as it feels like STAR WARS - I can watch any of it.
Was I looking forward to STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (2008)?
******** A!
I was dying. After Genndy's CLONE WARS - I felt that perhaps Lucas "got it" - and that this new animated series was taking a lead from Tartakovsky's brilliant assembly of pieces. Genndy's CLONE WARS got STAR WARS better than anyone has got it since Lawrence Kasdan and Irvin Kershner. Genndy took designs and characters that folks were dissatisfied with and made them cool. He did this by using and adapting the themes created by John Williams, the wholly perfect entity involved with Star Wars along with... the sound effects of Ben Burtt. He understood speed and motion - not just with action, but in editing. He understood classic film composition and iconography. And he knows what BADASS is.
The folks behind this STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS movie... you could tell, they looked at what Genndy did - but they didn't understand any of it. There's a ****load of battles and ***** going boom. There's noise everywhere - fury everywhere... but none of it is directed. The music by Kevin Kiner is criminally bad. Why they didn't employ Paul Dinletir and James Venable is beyond me. No, no - let's hire the composer of WALKER, TEXAS RANGER. Ahem.
Now - I made excuses for this film as I was watching it. I don't think you understand how much I love STAR WARS. Maybe you do, maybe you do too.
Before the movie started I was firing myself up to go out after the film and buy that new $200 Hasbro Millenium Falcon. I really wanted to go buy it, and I wanted this movie to empower my brain to go through with that. Instead, I found myself at home - putting on Genndy's THE CLONE WARS - to try and rebuild my passion - so I can go get that new Falcon.
Instead - I'm thinking I'll just be here at home enjoying this and that'll be all I need.
Anyway - as I was watching the film, I was excusing the sloppy shots, the sloppy use of the Clone Troopers and Droids - undoing all the awesome work that Genndy had done - and the droids are silly again. The Clone Troopers are limp. And the Jedi - they're at 25% power from the mind of Genndy. But I was accepting that. I figured that was Lucas dialing back so that the animated series wouldn't overpower his features.
Then they introduced Baby Jabba aka Rotta the Huttlet aka Stinky. At the point of this character's introduction - it officially became, the worst character in the history of STAR WARS. If you hate George Lucas cutsiepoo bull**** - oooooooh boy. You're gonna have a field day of venting and hatred directed at this unbelievably ****ing awful little ****.
Oh - but wait... Little Stinky the Hutt isn't the worst character in the history of STAR WARS... because Stinky got introduced earlier in the film. As much as I hated lil Stinky... I was weathering Stinky. I seriously was. But later there was a character of such immense **** - offensively bad. The character was so bad, so incredibly awful - that it was a slap to the face. It woke me out of my ****-accepting stupor and made me angry. SUDDENLY my "inner fanboy rage" was awoken.
As I watched this terrifyingly awful character named Ziro the Hutt. A seemingly female Hutt - with tattoos and make-up that sounds like a racist take on a Black New Orleans Crack-Dealing Whore. Because this Hutt speaks ENGLISH - and it is many times worse than I'm actually describing. This character was actually too much for me. So bad
I saw "Episode IV" when it was brand new, on my first visit to the United States, and that's the clearest memory I have of those two weeks in Hawaii.
This is the first I'd heard that there was a new movie.
It's a damn shame that the story arc has turned out to be a ballistic trajectory.
You never expect irony, do you?
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@iyfwrestling
Like most "franchises" in hollywood, this is another cash hungry one that needs to die a quick death. Followed by the Pirates of the Caribbean series. And the Mummy. And the Fantastic Four garbage. And all horror movie franchises. And anything by Uwe Boll. I'll stop now.
Yeah sure...
There is also certainly millions to be made in producing a action packed adventure series featuring heroes from religion A, while they fight and slaughter evildoers from religion B and promoting holy war between those two religions.
Hint: Sell the movie to the followers of the religion A.
It would make millions AND insult the followers of both religions. Epic WIN!
Or are some things perhaps just bad taste?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
The only reason the Star Wars Battlefront game was so popular was that you got to shoot Ewoks and Gunguns. Personally I get on the speeder bike and run a minimum fifty the little rats over a gane. Oooopeeedeee!
I saw a public-preview, no embargo required. I wasn't impressed but kids will love it.
Think made-for-American-kids Japanese-warrior-animation shows of the Pokemon style plotline meets Hollywood-3D-computer animation graphics set in a Star Wars universe.
Simple plot. Good guys win. Upper-end-TV-quality 3D-animation graphics.
At a risk of being flame bait, I say good. I hope this movie drags this over saturated franchise down to unrecoverable depths. I dream of a day that I do not see Star Wars iterated in every form imaginable. A day where even the nerds realize it's no longer cool or hip to cosplay as Darth Vader and Princess Leia, or write slash fanfic about it.
"action figures.. like Baby Jabba Hutt and Jabba the Hutt's Gay Uncle may have taken the franchise a bridge too far."
Yes, a bridge too far over a tank of sharks.
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
or something.
I know exactly what's driving Lucas on this. Cash. Period. Whatever motivations he may have once had for this story and this franchise, his sole concern now seems to be the bank account.
Supposedly the new movie was supposed to be televised first and then straight to DVD, and during preparation of the movie Lucas' people said he lit up and said something like "This is so good it needs to be in theaters!".
I think it was more like "Hey, I think we can squeeze another 90 to 100 million out of the suckers if we put this in theaters".
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Is it just me or is there a glaring contradiction from what I've read about the overall plot.
Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan learner are sent on a mission to .... blah blah blah.
In Revenge of the Sith Anakin was allowed to sit on the council and not promoted to a Jedi Knight and thus would not have a Padawan to apprentice him. He was still Obi-Wans Padawan himself. By the end of the movie he became the Darth Vader we all know and love.
That seems like a gross oversight to me on Lucas' part or am I completely missing something?
"Wow. Seriously dude, I've never, ever heard those words used together like that."
Any moment now, Mr. T is gonna throw snickers bars at him.
"Get some nuts!"
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Per subject -- we were given a ticket to admit two to an advance screening last weekend. I didn't go because I had work to do; turns out it was for the better.
The Wife (very much a geek -- she planned our first Valentine's Day to see Lord Of The Rings, and I'm right now wearing her Say No To Dubs shirt from a long-ago anime con) said it was awful -- "I might have enjoyed if I'd been a 7-year-old boy", IIRC ...so yar, bad reviews aren't surprising me one bit.
I think the franchise was lost among the faithful a long time ago. Somewhere between Mesaa and Jar-Jar Binks.
I didn't have a problem with Jar-Jar. I actually liked the Gungan dialect. I don't understand the basis for the huge tide of animosity against Jar-Jar. Sure, he was bumbling and inept, but he was there for comic relief.
I can understand George Lucas wanting to polish off episodes 4-6, and some of the additions were good. Most stood out too much because the CGI did not match the model shots. I don't like the music he chose when the Ewoks are celebrating the destruction of the Death Star. I like the original better. Of course, the biggest foul-up was changing the Han/Greedo gunfight. It took the most three dimensional character of the franchise and squashed it flat.
A kid in a pod race, who also happens to knock out the Droid Command Ship, and save the day. Anakin should have been played by someone closer to Hayden Christensen's age. Anakin should have been played with a little darker character. He started off too good.
The midichlorians sucked the mystery right out of the force.
The romance between Anakin and Padme was, well, bland.
Darth Maul was killed off too quickly.
All of these things I could put up with. Sure it was bad, but none of these things made me want to stop watching. The point for me when I was no longer able to immerse myself in the films, the point where Star Wars jumped the shark was when R2D2 flew.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Gotta say, I've gone back and watched those as an adult and been shocked at how mediocre they really are. I guess nine year olds are an easy audience to please.
I don't think the original is mediocre at all. Simple, maybe, but that doesn't equal mediocre. I think your opinion may be colored by the fact that for 30 years, competitors have tried to ape Lucas' original genius, by adding more and more special effects, and by making the story more complex, adult, and "real".
But that's missing the point completely. Star Wars struck such a universal chord in us because it's essentially a fairy tale with a moral story at the center. The simplicity was actually part and parcel of why it was so effective. Simple was a virtue in that movie. We didn't want nuance and intrigue and grey areas. After Vietnam, Watergate, Pol Pot, Jonestown, Charles Manson, urban riots, and Soviets stretching across the globe, we had all the nuance, intrigue, and gray areas we could handle, thanks. What we needed was a simple, old fashioned, black and white tale that showed good guys should still beat beat guys. Lucas gave us exactly what we needed, what our souls were craving; a cut and dried heroic epic with a moral to the story. He just did it with spaceships and wookies.
And maybe that's why the last few movies were so abominable. He went from a straight up "good guys are better than bad guys" allegory to "only the Sith deal in absolutes"; he took away our simple heroic fairy tale, and gave us... nuance, intrigue, and gray areas.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
When Lucas made the first 3 his people developed new cutting edge special effects, but because it was all so time consuming and difficult they had to be frugal in their use. The effects were there to support the elements of the story. The movies therefore had to bring their points across with real storylines and acting ability. Elements had to be left to the imagination.
Now, since CGI effects are a dime a dozen, he can throw them in everywhere he wants. Now the storyline and characters are just supporting elements for all the "cool" visual effects. He doesn't want anyone to imagine anymore, he wants to spoon feed you everything the way he sees it.
Maybe a braindead audience is easier to sell "made in taiwan" toys to?
Looked at in isolation (which is all we had in '77 and '78), Episode IV (back then, simply known as "Star Wars") fits nicely into the Arthurian legend as well.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Star Wars is written mostly with 10 year olds in mind as entertainment for kids. If you try to enjoy it from the perspective of an adult, of course it's going to be lacking.
It's really a bigger league Power Rangers kind of franchise. I think too many people watch a new Star Wars flick with too much expectation. I'm not sure whether they are looking for the meaning of life or an oscar worthy film, or whatever they expect, but if it's more than what a 10 year old is looking for, the expectations are too much.
The only problem I have with any of Lucas' movies is the last 2 were a little too mature for 10 year olds(so are a little too intense or scary). Lucas said that himself that the last movie was for adults. I think it was a huge mistake, because you can never make adults happy with a Star Wars movie, but kids eat it up. I think Episode III proved it. I just wish my kid didn't have to wait until he's much older to see it.
I'm glad to see Lucas has gone back to kid's movies. I'm going to see the new one with my son. I'm sure he'll love it. I'll love it too, because I'm expecting to see a kid's action film, not find the hidden meaning of life within a star wars plot.
Grow up?
-Viz
Don't kid yourself. It's the size of the regexp AND how you use it that counts.
I've seen a lot of clips; I can't tell you the storyline or the quality of the writing or music from what I've seen, but the quality of the animation and style of the rendering is quite good, IMO. A lot better than the Genndy Tartakovsky style, which was fine for Samurai Jack, but not Clone Wars.
Keep in mind, this is a TV show... yes, I know it's going to be playing in theaters, but it's basically just a few episodes of the latest Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network, from what I understand, and it will continue on in TV series at some point after the movie.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
George Lucas is a man with his head up his ass.
I sincerly hope; a) he comes up with something GOOD and original star wars b) studio gets another original idea and produce themselves c) george gets off his high horse, riding the only good thing he's ever done in his lifetime (career wise -- and by himeself cause indy was george / speilburg) D) THIS IS ONE OF THE FINAL NAILS IN THE OLD COFFIN FOR STAR WARS OR THAT FANS START DEMANDING BETTER STUFF FROM GEORGE INSTEAD OF LAPPING UP HIS BS YEAR AFTER YEAR.
BTW george, it's called free speach. It does not defame you, it offers an opinion of a creative work you've published (half-hassardly) for all to see.... Just as these are my opinion, and I'm entitiled to them, I have not defamed you or anybody speficially.. And for the record, I don't need them to laugh at the commercials and shake my head
The more Warner Bros. tightens their grasp, the more these reviews will slip through their fingers!
Just in case the article gets banned.
For posterity.
Bwahahahahaha.
I've only seen the trailer for "Clone". Which is awful. It looks like machinema made with some PS2 game. The movement is wooden and the faces are expressionless. It's 1990s 3D animation technology, about at the level of "Reboot". When I first saw the trailer in a theater, I thought it was for a game, not a movie.
Lucas's work is all about production value. As Roger Corman once wrote of Lucas, "George spends a lot of money, but it's all up there on the screen". Lucas is terrible at dialogue and character development, and mediocre at directing. He's great at production design and managing large-scale effects-heavy films. Which is what the Star Wars franchise is all about. "A new set every minute of film" - that's Lucas. This distracts the audience from the weak characters and dialogue.
So a low-budget cartoon as a product line extension seems like a mistake. This is a killer for Lucas's franchise.
Speaking as someone who works in CG animation, I can tell you that most kids find traditional (2D, hand-drawn) animation a lot more appealing than 3D stuff. Even 2D vector CG is significantly less popular than stuff drawn completely by hand. I'm no big fan of Disney (especially nowadays), but their "12 principles of animation" are absolutely correct, and are much harder to implement in CG.
I'm new to AICN, but are Mr. Knowles' reviews always that poorly written? If his "writing" style and compositions qualify as reviews and all it takes to build a fanbase and a web empire then when I get home I'm all over that and be up and running by tomorrow :-)
that you CANT force or suppress views and trading of information on the internet through lawyers ?
just because of the SHIT you have pulled, i may not go see your movie, even though i have been a long time star wars fan.
next time, use your BRAINS, not lawyers.
MORONS.
Read radical news here
It's LucasFilm not LucasArts.
....George Lucas is a talentless shithead and Aint it Cool is a PR whore.
Good job I dont watch either.
I just felt a great disturbance in the force, as if a great cry went up from thousands of dissapointed sci-fi geeks all at once.
Why should have poor expectaions when i loved the prequils more than the old ones...i mean the old ones were great,
but there's something about the ep 1-3 that really does it for me...
I know im in a small group...but they really do feel right to me...
with revenge of the sith as the best of all 6 in my opion...
the old ones are kinda slow..especially the first 3rd of "a new hope"...i'm also excited for the clone wars...so why should i assume somethings going to be bad if if love whats been happening, maybe other people can't appreciate...that their problem...i'm happier to be me...
I for one am furious about Lucas not giving any screen time to the Jedi Master Plo-Koon.
I mean COME ON! He's the master of Form V of Lightsaber combat, he has an alternative for Sith Lightning called Electric Judgement and the dude can freaking manipuate weather to aid in combat! But noooooooooooo...we have to see shitty Ki-Adi-Mudi and crappy Shaak-Ti.
What the hell Lucas?! Stop keeping the bad-ass characters in the dark and emo-wimpy ones in the frontlight (aka Obi-Wan)
-One really pissed off Star Wars fan.
Just because a Jedi turns to the dark side doesn't not make him a Sith. He is a Sith for as long as he or she embraces the Dark side. The moment a sith rescinds the Dark Side in a real and genuine manner, he or she ceases to be a sith, and returns to the light of the Jedi.
That's just ripped off from Catholicism, isn't it?
you had me at #!
According to Amazon.com, they are.
A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
May the Schwartz be with you!
I write sci-fi for metalheads
Seriously, I'd rather see a movie done in Lego Star Wars (and I do mean the videogame) than watch this.
Sappy Disneylike "I'm not too young to be a padawan" girlpower storyline, just to name one really laughable element.
God forbid someone making money in this world. Do you realize that Lucas paid for this movie and a full seasons worth of episodes right out of his own pocket? Shame on him for trying to make his money back. Oh and that Dark Knight movie, that is a huge cash grab...HUGE!
First, I have no problem whatsoever making money. I think that as long as its not your most important value, making money is a good thing. I'm a capitalist, and a staunch advocate of capitalism.
Second, he paid for it out his pocket. Ok. So what? That's an investment on what he's probably correct in asserting will be a larger return. It's business, and in Hollywood, self-financing your project isn't exactly unheard of. People do it all the time. This just means Lucas doesn't have a take a cut or pay a percentage to someone else.
Lastly, the problem isn't money, the problem is that he's pushing yet more crap in the guise of quality. The fault really isn't with Lucas. The fault is with us if we fall for it. Lucas is just doing his best P.T. Barnum here... there's a sucker born every minute, or in the case of Star Wars fans, several of them. Hey, Barnum was rich too. He didn't get that way by being stupid or by giving a sucker an even break.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
The guy already had enough money for several lifetimes. He was in a position to make any movie he wanted with the prequels, he could have taken it anywhere, it was going to make money anyway...and he fucking cashed in, then he cashed in again.....then he cashed in AGAIN.
How much money is enough?
Fuck you Lucas.
The more you tighten your grip, Lucas, the more reviewers will slip through your fingers.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
If only he used computer animation for an artistic reason instead of saving money on actors. Fortunately, it's no different than slashdot moderators embargoing anti-corporate comments.
FTA: "Still, the CGI eye candy will make it popular with kids." My kids are pretty typical American kids and they said it "looks gay". Not that there's anything wrong with that...
I think that George Lucas is falling victim to the Streisand Effect--- How much publicity would the shitty reviews have gotten if he hadn't worked to put them down? Okay, probably alot, but now he looks like a douche AND a crappy filmmaker.
No portion of this post may be rebroadcast without the express, written consent of Major League Baseball.
I just want to further vent about the ridiculous naming conventions that popped up after the initial trilogy. Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Emperor Palpatine, 4LOM - these are at least sort of single entendres. Darth Maul, Darth Sidious, General Grievous - these are pretty much actual, English language character descriptors.
And everybody else just sounds like a startup. /rant
In 1981 Bose sued Consumer Reports for libel for describing Bose speakers as having vague imaging, which is an understatement IMO. Strangely the case was dismissed because the comments were published "without malice" and not because they were in fact true.
Note how MSN's criticism "Ugly animation and an uninspired storyline drag down the film" does not imply malice, but AintItCool's "I hated the film. HATED IT. REALLY HATED IT" does have a more malicious than journalistic tone. Mod AintItCool -1 Troll.
War as we knew it was obsolete
Nothing could beat complete denial
- Emily Haines
Don't forget all the sounds of space battle Star Wars made so popular.
Laser blasters that are SLOWER than guns?
The 1st Star Wars films were a fluke of artistry and a team effort; the mythology was intact and it had gaps in the right places (almost as if a committee that required consensus was involved.)
The modern ones are made as if by people who didn't understand the 1st ones. It was like Disney's take on greek mythology...
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
your reputation for independence is more important than early access to films
IF ONLY THAT WERE TRUE. But it's just wishful thinking in Bizarro-America.
you had me at #!
Heh. I wasn't talking about Gonzo's excellent anime adaptation. I was talking about the novel. :)
I write sci-fi for metalheads
And they were decently animated and had some good stories.
I'm a hater of the prequels (note: Kenobi's age proves it's set in a different universe, so it's OK) but I really did like the Clone Wars animated series, especially Volume 2, I even bought that one. And I don't care for its animation style at all. (And I really don't like Samauri Jack, just to frame my perspective)
See, it had Jedi who acted like Jedi and, by in large, didn't forget about their Jedi powers when the shit hit the fan. Granted, some were rather weak Jedi, but if you've seen Episode II you know what I'm talking about.
If there's a common theme about what ruined the prequels, it's that the Jedi were a bunch of weak, stupid, underpowered bozos who were only incidentally empowered by a quasi-infection. Of course, writing a story that was interesting with forty thousand Ben-Kenobi-level Jedi and their extermination would have required creativity and talent, and that was just asking too much.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Seriously? Lucas needs to stop. People, don't go see the movie, it only encourages him.
would have had the movies made in hong-kong on a shoe-string budget
Actually pre-CGI that's exactly where and how most of Hollywood's animated features were made (just check the credits). Nobody was trying to hide it, and nobody complained about the quality because there was a huge base of inexpensive, experienced cel animation talent there.
you had me at #!
Then decided to Google first. But there seems to be some confusion as to what a Mynock is?
you had me at #!
All Jedi must come to Corusant sooner or later.
Have the entire planet, or just Jedi temple, covered with nanobots that block or disrupt their connection to the force.
Kinda like Jedi-AIDS.
Activate order 42. Which consists of turning on the nanobots via a wireless link of some kind (Activate the nanoclorian field!) and just shoot them all like they did in the movie anyway.
Vader and Palpatine are covered cause they are the badguys, Luke and Leia are not born yet and Yoda might be able to find out at the last moment.
Too late to save all the Jedi out there but just in time to save himself and Obi-Wan.
Or they could just play Yoda and Obi-Wan as they did - "not enough gun" and fuckin' lucky.
And they would even get to use the obligatory Cool Tech WordTM - nano.
There... plausible Jedi demise.
And that is just me... not a writer with like... writing school... college... or however they call that place where they learn how to write and be creative and stuff.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Folks, please, I know many of you love Star Wars and Star Trek, but please, let them die. They were good in their heyday, but they've long since lost their appeal.
Science-fiction is about pushing the envelope, it's about seeing the world through a very different pair of glasses than the ones you're wearing now. It's about creativity and freshness.
There's NOTHING creative or fresh about the Star Trek and Star Wars IPs anymore.
Let them die so we can change glasses, consume some new content, and come back around to appreciating the one thing that makes humans so damn interesting: their ability to imagine.
> Critics have noted the... music... had more than a passing similarity to Pixar's Toy Story
Oh please say the soundtrack is all Randy Newman singing along to the Star Wars Theme. Please please please.
Did anyone honestly expect that not talent hack to come up with something decent. The last decent thing to come out of LucasArts was Grim Fandango.
What's the chance that a 7 year old in 1981 had a discretionary budget that allowed them to buy $670's worth of Star Wars toys?
If you insist on being so picky about this, let's put it this way: if the original poster was 7 in 1981, should his parents have bought him $670's worth of Star Wars toys, or $670 worth of the Vanguard 500? (If it was up to me, I'd say $500 of the index fund, $170 in toys. The kid's gotta play too...)
Are you adequate?
I've said that the Clone Wars series that had originally aired on Cartoon Network between 2 and 3, was the best thing to come out of the pre-quels. Then to go and do it all in craptacular computer animated terribleness... It makes me sick. Genndy Tartakovsky's rendition was beautiful.
It should be noted that the production was initially intended for TV. As such TV quality production standards were used. The models tend to be lower quality, and the animation quotas are much tighter. When you animate for TV you have to animate quickly, so quality takes a hit, but it's expected and completely acceptable in that medium. For TV animation a quota can be anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds a week. Whereas if you're working on a movie intended for theatres the animation quota will be around 2 to 4 seconds a week (so you can see where the quality comes from).
Everybody went into the project intending it to be put on TV and it was treated that way. And it should also be noted everybody who worked on it were payed for tv work. So the movie being released to theatres was effectively a kick in the teeth to anybody who worked on it.
The movie not doing well is completely George Lucas's fault. He was the jackass who thought it'd be a good idea to put a tv show up in theatres.
I have nothing compelling to say
Dear Sillies, I am laughing at the sad minions who think of George Lucas as a god fallen because he has sold out or broken away from a "Star Wars mythos". Basically, George Lucas was once a guy full ideas and a great story. He used his story and made the Star Wars trilogy. Then he made money. Did people forget that his creative brain was all used up in making American Graffiti and THX 1138? Then he made Star Wars with bad direction and bad acting! Did you forget? The only thing that held up that movie was the "Jedi story" and the special effects. Oh and being a kid with a big box of popcorn going "Ooooh AHHHHH!!!" Then he spent many years in his Fortress of Solitude, aka Skywatcher Ranch, putting money into creative and technological processes in film. THEN HE CREATED JAR JAR AND A NEW STAR WARS *money idea cough cough* WAS BORN! He sold out. So what? Whaddya want? Go see Bladerunner again and then talk about Ridley Scott. Go see Taxi Driver and then talk about Martin Scorcese. Go see Clockwork Orange and then talk about Stanley Kubrick. They're all people that make money making movies in Hollywood. I don't know where I'm going with this. My son wants to see Clone Wars and well, George Lucas is a dad (and might I mention the bad love story lines that sound like they are written by a 60 year old virgin who plays video games and ONCE touched a breast!) and makes interesting shows. He's into entertainment. Not some philosopher. Heck this Jedi idea IS NOT ORIGINAL. Ask the Buddha! Ask Jesus! Silly fans, Star Wars is for kids (and kids at heart). Love Jackie
He is right on about the quotes. I've seen all the "new" star wars movies at least twice and right now I can't think of a single memorable line from any of them.
Bah! Allow me to step off your lawn and educate you!
Who can forget the classic "Around the survivors a perimeter create"? The tender emotion of "I hate sand"? The comic mischief of C-3PO's "I'm beside myself!"? Or those wacky merchants lamenting, "We will not survive this!" and "We should not have made this bargain!" Or Obi-Wan's quip about blasters being "so uncivilized" after his desperate life-or-death battle with Grievous... Or how about "You don't want to sell me death sticks. You want to go home and rethink your life." when Obi Wan is in the bar? And don't forget, the dramatic pinnacle of the movie, after Anakin discovers Padme is dead and he's been turned into a cyborg: as he curses the heavens, screaming "DO NOT WANT!"
Bow-ties are cool.
Is it really possible that no one's made a "nuke the fridge" comment yet? Ah, well. I'll be the one to say it - looks like Lucas really nuked the fridge with this one.
Well, it's not a DIRECT quote, but Ep III spawned "DO NOT WANT!" thanks to some bad subtitles ...
"The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
Gene Roddenberry never sold out. ;p
Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously though, it might not be a bad idea. 22 seasons is way too long of course, I have never been able to watch anything longer than a few seasons, but the idea makes sense. Sometimes I think anime gets things right where Hollywood misses the mark.
Thank goodness for Google cache
[I don't want to post a link to the cached review I found because I don't know the legality of it.]
what breaks my heart about watching the new films is the potential...you can see how truly great they could have been.
if george had of had any conception of his abilities and the sort of ego that let him do only what he was best at, he would have just sat back, wrote the story, done the visual art direction and the CGI and thats it, let someone else script and direct.
think about it... padme and annakin, their love is supposed to be so strong that annakin goes over to the dark side and kills children because of the risk of losing her, and padme DROPS DEAD when she loses annakin. unfortunately the scripting of the relationship and the actor direction is so bad that you cant even really believe that they are into each other. so what happens doesent even make sense. and despite having natalie portman (an actress of such skill and beauty that she makes my nerd loins quiver) i totally couldnt care less when she dies. there isnt a shred of romance.
likewise, when he murders the tribe of sand people for killing his mum, during his seduction by palpatine, during his betrayal of the jedi council, and finally when he is put in the needle machine to become darth vader....you can see how it had the potential to all make sense, to be a thing of beauty and tragedy and pathos. something really moving. imagine watching the original movies again and thinking about all that whenever vader strides onto the screen.
you see, i wonder what someone like chris nolan could have done with with a character arc like that. or any good director actually.
unfortunately, the director of these films was a merchandising magnate first, and a film-maker second.
oh well. at least the computer games are usually great. hopefully george just stays the hell away from the new bioware MMORPG based on KOTOR
Jar Jar Binks and an Ewok walk into a bar
Bartender says "What is this some kind of a joke"
Ewok say "Nope, George Lucas's idea for the next Star Wars movie"
I think the reason we were subjected to shitloads of soulless CGI wasn't because Lucas is blind, but rather because along with JarJar collectibles, he's ALSO MARKETING LucasFilm/ILM as a movie production powerhouse. No doubt there's yet more millions to be made by using Star Wars as a showboat for his render farm. Unfortunately his friend Spielberg is also in on this plan, and it seems like only a few underfunded outsiders in Sci Fi realize that puppetry and costumes are still better than CGI.
I acknowledge this may change some day, of course.
Yep.. that's what mr Lucas is good at, taking something great and turn it into crap.. just look at the EP1-3, and Indy 4.
What started out as a great idea quickly got stupid, simply because Lucas doesn't have Joseph Campbell (Myth Of A Thousand Faces) is his camp anymore. Joseph is the one who instructed him, like a Jedi Knight on the most important elements in story telling. Most of the original story comes from the Mayan Book called, Popol Vu, which describes the fight between the Dark Lords Of Illusion and the Hero Twins. In one scene there is a fight, where one of the twins gets his right arm cut off. Ben in Mayan means, he who walks in the sky, as in Skywalker. Of course when Joseph gave the interview with Bill Moyers, he mentioned every source of story inspiration, leaving out the Popol Vu. How interesting, that right after that interview back in the eighties, no other Star Wars movie has reached such greatness. It's probably due to selective memory on the part of our genetic memory, which doesn't let this sort of shit fly!