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Your first words of reaction after watching one of the PT movies for the first time. — Page 3

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I remember going tlo see TPM on it's opening weekend at the Famous Players Coliseum here in Mississauga, and although the theatre I was in was crowded, it wasn't all that full, and there was no applause, no clapping, nothing during the film. I sat there, watching that movie (I believe I was 12 at the time), and after it finished, I just thought to myself, "That's it? Huh."

To me, that movie was the type of film you would forget about after a couple weeks. Pretty, but not that substantial.
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Originally posted by: Tiptup
Originally posted by: Marvolo
Ok, enough ranting. I will except Anchorhead's descision not to experience the SE.

You mean "accept."



I mess up on accept and except more than I would like, but I definitely meant accept.


Originally posted by: Tiptup
I guess I understand your point better, Marvolo, assuming you look at special edits of Star Wars only as alternative versions and not a supposedly "improved" replacement of the original. I still believe the original film is the best version to watch in a historical sense and in an authentic sense. Other than that, I think tasteful, alternative versions are a fun experience. Too bad George's edits were designed to replace the originals.


That is what I was trying to say with those very long posts of mine and you got it exactly right, Tiptup. None of these special edits could replace what the 1977 version of Star Wars is to me. It is the best version of that movie. It is a classic. However, I watch alternate versions like adywan's to experience it a different way than the origianl just to see someone else's take on it, not to replace it.


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I saw TPM by myself the afternoon of opening day, not a very crowded theater as I remember (although the line waiting to get in for the next showing aftwerwards was pretty long). The duel was so entertaining at the end that it made me forget how cringeworthy some of the previous scenes were. So, my first words of reaction were "best movie ever." I mean, c'mon, it was the first time I'd seen an actual new Star Wars movie on the big screen, although I guess the SE's do kinda fall into that category too, not being the originals and all.

For AOTC I had words of reaction during the damn thing. So did my friends I was seeing it with. The situation was a little different since I'd spoiled myself silly this time. By the time it ended I only had the feeling of having to wait another 3 years.

At the end of ROTS my friend asked me what I thought. My hesitant reply was "It was good."
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TPM: Best Star Wars film ever! Why can't they remake the old ones to make them more like this one with all the cool effects and the better looking lightsabers and fights? Then as the years went on I hated it more and more.

AOTC:This was the only midnight premiere I have ever been to. I thought the movie was better than the first one. It is still my favorite of the PT.

ROTS: As I walked out of the theatre I talked about how good it was and that it was my 3rd favorite, but by the time the DVD came out I could not stand the movie. I do not know what happened, but I just can not stand ROTS. It feels like a bunch of seperate short scenes strung together. Plus, most of it takes place on Coruscant, and Coruscant is really boring to me. There is not really a driving force in the film.


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Originally posted by: Marvolo
It [ROTS] feels like a bunch of seperate short scenes strung together. Plus, most of it takes place on Coruscant, and Coruscant is really boring to me. There is not really a driving force in the film.


That's what I feel regarding TPM -- a bunch of different environments and adventures, but with an overall very loose story holding it together. I think ROTS, on the other hand, is the best executed film of the PT: excellent tragedy (in a literary sense), best acting of the PT, and it actually felt like a movie both adults and kids alike could enjoy.

“It’s a lot of fun… it’s a lot of fun to watch Star Wars.” – Bill Moyers

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Long story short..

TPM - what the hell? I think the opening shot of the Neimoideans needed to be in their own language with subtitles. That's what started it off poorly for me. It didn't feel like Star Wars until they landed on Tatooine. But the movie got gradually better for me the more times I watched it. I don't despise Jar Jar as much as I used to. He's the idiot I love to hate, which makes me love him all the more.

AOTC - There are some parts that irk me, the death of the fake Amidala for starters. After that, the movie got a lot better. I liked it more than TPM, but now I have more of an affinity for watching TPM, but I think AOTC is a better movie.

ROTS - Awesome flick, but such a downer. The battle droid voices irked me a lot. And Obi-wan should have never said "how'd this happen! We're smarter than this." Jedi are completely idiots, they'd get the funny force tingle to warn them. But this film I do enjoy.
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Originally posted by: Davis
Wow. All this time I thought Ep. II was complete crap, and it's actually a sophisticated masterpiece...

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Classic bullshit fan wankery trying to convince the world that the prequels are deep. Aside from the preposterous reading-in of unintended meaning (ie that the visual reference to Triumph of the Will in ANH shows that the rebels are morally hollow and thus foreshadowing their defeat in ESB--WTF??) that characterises prequel fans, this guys seems to be unable to wrap his head around the fact that people understand the majority of the subtextual and intellectual construction of the prequels but still think they suck because the dialog is shit, the characters annoying and the drama mostly absent. His basic argument comes down to "the films are eloquently layered intellectually and therefore that makes them great"--and while Lucas' job at building themes, subplots and a complicated world in which the prequels are set is commendable, these successes are destroyed by the failure of the larger foundation to provide captivating characters and thus engaging films. It really amazes me that fans are so deluded. You know what I've noticed is that all the prequels fans appreciate the films on the intellectual basis that they are densely-layered (counting mythology and history references gets them off it seems) but of course the more important issue seems to have completely escaped them that these qualities don't mean shit because they are the icing on the cake, the cake being captivating characters and plot. Nobody gave a shit at what symbols or "symphonically mirrored themes" were in Star Wars because everyone was too wrapped up in the wonderful characters and touching drama to care--we found those qualities on repeat viewers and they enriched and already-rich story. Conversely, this same quality has led many prequel fans to think the OT is shallow because the intellectual references and convoluted symbolism of the PT suddenly gives way to *gasp* character and story. Eventually though everyone has to graduate from junior college and realise that Battlefield Earth and Troy have the same densely-layered thematic construction as the PT despite being totally lacking in interesting character and story portrayal as well.

Marvolo: What Anchorhead is saying is that the film works. Yes, there are technical mistakes in Star Wars--show me a film that is perfect and i will show you a person who is either lying or ignorant. I can make up a list of 120 things "wrong" with Citizen Kane--continuity errors, technical mistakes, logic errors and ways that i could think the film could be made "better". Ditto for Wizard of Oz. But these films work. Thats the point. Sure, you can make a list of things that could be improved but the films don't need to be "fixed." Star Wars works, like any films its not perfect but it is what it is, and what it is also happens to be one of the most important and beloved films ever made. Watch it and enjoy it like half a billion other people did.
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^
Possibly the best, most intelligent post I've ever read.

Nicely stated, zombie84.

“It’s a lot of fun… it’s a lot of fun to watch Star Wars.” – Bill Moyers

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Originally posted by: zombie84
Originally posted by: Davis
Wow. All this time I thought Ep. II was complete crap, and it's actually a sophisticated masterpiece...

link



Classic bullshit fan wankery trying to convince the world that the prequels are deep. Aside from the preposterous reading-in of unintended meaning (ie that the visual reference to Triumph of the Will in ANH shows that the rebels are morally hollow and thus foreshadowing their defeat in ESB--WTF??) that characterises prequel fans, this guys seems to be unable to wrap his head around the fact that people understand the majority of the subtextual and intellectual construction of the prequels but still think they suck because the dialog is shit, the characters annoying and the drama mostly absent. His basic argument comes down to "the films are eloquently layered intellectually and therefore that makes them great"--and while Lucas' job at building themes, subplots and a complicated world in which the prequels are set is commendable, these successes are destroyed by the failure of the larger foundation to provide captivating characters and thus engaging films. It really amazes me that fans are so deluded. You know what I've noticed is that all the prequels fans appreciate the films on the intellectual basis that they are densely-layered (counting mythology and history references gets them off it seems) but of course the more important issue seems to have completely escaped them that these qualities don't mean shit because they are the icing on the cake, the cake being captivating characters and plot. Nobody gave a shit at what symbols or "symphonically mirrored themes" were in Star Wars because everyone was too wrapped up in the wonderful characters and touching drama to care--we found those qualities on repeat viewers and they enriched and already-rich story. Conversely, this same quality has led many prequel fans to think the OT is shallow because the intellectual references and convoluted symbolism of the PT suddenly gives way to *gasp* character and story. Eventually though everyone has to graduate from junior college and realise that Battlefield Earth and Troy have the same densely-layered thematic construction as the PT despite being totally lacking in interesting character and story portrayal as well.



I think that's it exactly. The PT has a lot of mythological references? That's nice. That doesn't excuse the fact that the movies are crap. I don't know. For me, they're just so distractingly bad they're not even entertaining.
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Originally posted by: corellian77
^
Possibly the best, most intelligent post I've ever read.

Nicely stated, zombie84.


+1

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After seeing Episode I in the theater, I'm not sure if my first words were "That wasn't a Star Wars movie" or "What was George Lucas thinking?".

I did get a horrible feeling from the very beginning after seeing the Epsiode I trailer which played before the one of the worst sci-fi movies ever, WING COMMANDER (that should have been an omen in and of itself). Where's Han when you need him? "I got a bad feeling about this."

That bad feeling was horibbly reinforced by the very first scene of the movie where the Jedi's ship captain played wooden against an unbelievably puppety and Asian-accented Neimodian. By the end of the story, the bad outweighed the good.