The Phantom Menace - general discussion thread — Page 7

doubleKO said:

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What doubleKO said.

"<snip>"

captainsolo said:

I adore both Raiders and TOD, but KOTCS was so painfully bad it entered the "never happened" category.

This.

I can has info?

(requires facebook account to see)

Tyrphanax said:

Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace appreciation society

This group is dedicated to the fact the Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace is a great movie. We are here to celebrate the first instalment of the prequel trilogy.
Note: We are not saying that The Phantom Menace is better than the Holy Trilogy, just that it is not as bad as everyone says it is.
Please post pictures, videos, quotes, anything at all that relates to The Phantom Menace.

LOVE.  IT.

toho-scope said:

there is a facebook group which is to be seen to believed

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_156566601079156&ap=1

...

... thank GOD I don't know any of those 12 members! :D

zombie84 said:

twooffour said:

Moth3r said:

greenpenguino said:

twooffour said:

Moth3r said:

... 1990s sci-fi film, heavily laden with CGI special effects but enjoyable and entertaining nonetheless.

See also Independence Day (1996), Starship Troopers (1997) and Men in Black (1997).

Discuss.

Nah.

Independence Day is cheesy and stereotypical, but a giant pile of silly fun. It's got Willi Schmidt, Jeff Nerdbloom and a wacky Jew with a beard, for Christ's sake.

Men in Black... WHAT? You troll (and forum administrator). 

You should add that 'Lost in Space' Remake to the heavily laden cgi list

 

 

*mutters* Although I do like that film more than TPM *mutters*

Ask someone to name a sci-fi film of the nineties that is heavily laden with CGI effects, and I suspect that very few would remember name Lost in Space.

And Men in Black is no less a giant pile of silly fun as Independence Day or The Phantom Menace.

Consider also Terminator 2. The original Terminator film was, in my opinion, a classic, even with it's low budget special effects and mono sound mix. The big-budget sequel doesn't particularly gel with the original (in my opinion - I know many would disagree). It is nonetheless a pretty decent sci-fi flick which is great fun to watch on its own merits, if you are able to temporarily forget that there was another - superior - film that preceded it.

I feel the same way about TPM.

Well, in that case something's clearly wrong with you.

Equating MiB to Episode I, simply because they're both "silly", is BEYOND absurd and displays a complete lack of thinking ability.

MiB is "silly", by the virtue of being a COMEDY. It has a funny protagonist, a well-structured storyline, a comical over-the-top villain, and tons and tons of funny one-liners, GAGS and slapstick.
Is it ever boring? Does it ever come off as uninspired, wooden and lazy?

Okay, let's look at TPM - it's mostly a "serious" action adventure movie, mostly lighthearted in its tone, but generally less comedic than even ANH.

Its attempt to be comedic is almost exclusively condensed in Jar Jar Binks - now how funny that one was in comparison to Will Smith, Edgar the Bug and Jack Jeebs, I'll leave to you.
Aside from that, it's largely boring, lifeless, has no relatable main characters, and ends up being child-like, sappy and annoying at its worst when little Ani comes into play.
Can you say the same about Mib? Or EVEN Independence Day?


I'd probably put Sebulba on par with any hilarious MiB alien -that one was a really neat creation.
All the "awesome technology and funny gadgets" in TPM is quite cool (even though nowhere as refreshing as in MiB), and it has some amusing alien cameos in the podrace.

But being on par with MiB as a movie? PLEASE.

 He said the movie is "a pile of silly fun." Not "it's a comedy," you moron. MIB is silly fun because its an sci-fi action-comedy that's fun to watch, ID4 is silly fun because it's an over the top disaster film that's fun to watch, and TPM is silly fun because it's a lighthearted children's adventure fantasy that's fun to watch. None of them are in the exact same genre, but they all came out around the same time, they all are sci-fi to some degree, they all have a lot of CG special effects, they all have elements of silliness in them, and they all are considered a generally fun ride, if not by consensus than at least by Moth3r. As he said, "It is nonetheless a pretty decent sci-fi flick which is great fun to watch on its own merits". Read the whole post before you make an over the top response.

"... before you make an over the top response."
"..., you moron."

Um... ok, when did I ever claim he said "it was a comedy"? I don't understand... it was *I* who said MiB was a comedy while TPM was not, it was *I* who insisted on distinguishing between an intentionally goofy, well-made comedy and a sci-fi adventure movie with inept, wacky elements in it, rather than throwing them all in the pot of being "silly fun".
So what, are we now going to lump in "The Naked Gun" together with "Troll 2", because both are "silly fun"? Okay, so they are, but one is a brilliant parody film, while the other is an awfully inept horror failure. Can they even be compared to each other, simply because they're both "silly" and "fun"?

Please... I've already made it clear in my response, TPM does have some entertaining, genuinely funny elements in it, but it also has stupid, annoying mis-attempts at comedy, and all of this in the context of a fairly sincere, and extremely dull sci-fi opera.

Now we can all discuss whether kids will still like it, but let me ask you this:
If we have, on one hand, a
1) genuinely entertaining comedy film, with good acting, funny dialogue, good structure, and on the other
2) a boring failure with one or two cool alien cameos,
does it make ANY sense to say they're somehow comparable in quality? Just because you can "enjoy the ride" that is TPM despite the almost complete lack of characters, does that mean you can compare it to an actually good comedy film that is held together by a competent comedy duo and almost not a single gag attempt that ends up being obnoxious and annoying?

But hey, as I already said, if you actually find any of the cartoons in MiB anywhere as obnoxious and wrong as Jar-Jar, or vice versa, then hey - whatever rocks your boat, whatever turns your crack. I think I'm more or less done here.

Jesus H. Christ, some people here are just looking for an argument :D

So yea, TPM is on par with Troll 2, they're both silly fun. The case is made, quod erat demonstrandum, demonstratum nao est. I think that's it, basically.

So you're back...and nothing's changed.  Thrilling.  :-/

TV's Frink said:

So you're back...and nothing's changed.  Thrilling.  :-/

Well what has you expected? ;)

twooffour said:

TV's Frink said:

So you're back...and nothing's changed.  Thrilling.  :-/

Well what has you expected? ;)

A more wise 2/4.

What does that even mean? :O

....


All joking aside, I would very much like to believe that my contention to the OP is both obvious and understandable to everyone reading this.
Hardly anyone here would say that TPM could be compared to MiB, as a movie. So what's deal? ;D

As far as it being a "pile of silly fun," yes, I think many fans of TPM would say that TPM shares this quality with MIB. I think that is also one of the greatest attributes of the original Star Wars film--like Independenec Day or Men In Black, it doesn't take itself very seriously, has good characters and good natured humour, excellent special effects and action scenes, and you feel good at the end of the picture. Which is a point you continue to miss. He didn't compare it to MIB in a general sense, but specifically in these qualities.

zombie84 said:

As far as it being a "pile of silly fun," yes, I think many fans of TPM would say that TPM shares this quality with MIB. I think that is also one of the greatest attributes of the original Star Wars film--like Independenec Day or Men In Black, it doesn't take itself very seriously, has good characters and good natured humour, excellent special effects and action scenes, and you feel good at the end of the picture. Which is a point you continue to miss. He didn't compare it to MIB in a general sense, but specifically in these qualities.

Well again, Troll 2 is a pile of silly fun, when you watch it, so how much is this label really worth?

"it doesn't take itself too seriously"
Well, not "too seriously" in terms of over-inflated self-importance, maybe, but apart from the "comedy stuff", I'd say it's pretty straightforward - the two Jedi are serious (apart from a few moments), the council is seirous, the politicians are serious, Amidama and her staff are all serious, the Sith villains are all serious, 5/8 of the action climax at the end is epic and serious, and... well, that's quite a lot, isn't it?
Whereas in Independence Day, you've got a wise-cracking Will Smith (or any of the equally quirky supporting characters) at almost every turn. There are a few serious moments there you can count on your finger, like the Pesident's wife dying, the fire holocaust, and maybe when the alien breaks out in the secret base, but other than that?

As for MiB... um, dude... it's a COMEDY. Not only doesn't it take itself "too seriously", it ISN'T SERIOUS TO BEGIN WITH. It's funny, witty and goofy almost through its entire duration.
I think there are no jokes when K explain to J how a mass of people is a bunch of morons. Any other scene?

Hey, I'll make this easier for you - how about you compare Indepence Day to... Mars Attacks!? In terms of "silly fun", I mean, not just "generally"? I'll just let this question hang in the air.


"has good characters"
Um, what? You've just destroyed your whole entire argument.
Let's just say, if every main character in TPM had been conceived as a Japanese robot, they would be slightly less lively, and slightly less interesting.

MiB? Independence Day? :D


"good natured humor"
Um... okay, as I said, whatever rocks your boat, but you'd actually have to spell out loudly that you found Binks, Boss Nass, "ouch time" and "yippee" good-natured and genuinely funny.
Please do that and we'll talk. Or rather, we won't :DD


"and you feel good at the end of the picture"?
Oh RLY?
Let's compare how I feel at the end of each of those three movies:

Independence Day: "hehe... lol"
Men in Black: Wow, that was GOOD! ROFLMFAO!!!!
TPM: Um...

TPM has some amusing moments, a few you could call tear jerkers or heartwarming, and quite a good bunch of "epic" action stuff and elements that could be described as "menacing" or "foreboding".
But then again, lots of its "silly" elements actually don't work in its favor (which is I think the point YOU've failed to grasp until now) - Jar Jar is annoying rather than funny (with a few exceptions, I guess - still not as bad as Drop Dead Fred, I guess), just as the rest of the Gungans with their baby talk, the Neimoidians' pathetic ineptness and lame facial movements don't serve the film well, either.
C-3P0 is lame at best, Shmi should've been heartwarming but really just spouts saccharine, and Ani... well... the least said about him, the better.

Watching the last parade scene, with obnoxiously merry music playing, kiddies throwing confetti from the balcony, and everyone grinning at each other, is probably the singlest surest way of getting instant diabetes. Permanently.
The only thing worse than that is the 100 kiddie cartoon musicals reviewed by the Nostalgia Critic, which, I guess, are "silly fun" as well.


And comparing that to an actually great comedy film? Again, Drop Dead Fred is silly, how does that fit into the picture?