logo Sign In

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

Author
Time
I was just curious what some of your words reactions were while you was leaving the theatre after having seen one of the films for the first time.


Author
Time
It was more of a feeling- disappointment. When I went into work that day (or the next) I remember just telling my co-workers TPM was mediocre (which was generous, in hindsight).

Author
Time
TPM: Hey! That was cool! (at 12)
AOTC: Now how are the clone troopers on the side of the Jedi? I thought the sepratists were making them. I'm confused! (at 15)
ROTS:I guess it was good (at 18)
Author
Time
I actually enjoyed all 3 PT movies upon my initial viewings, as I wasn't EVER expecting them to be to the OT standards, so it was more like, "That was cool to see more SW movies." I think the replay value of the movies is where they don't hold up, as they just arent' as entertaining, and I don't think TPM & AOTC aren't really designed to be watched 8,000 times like many of us do with the OT movies. My disdain over the years towards the PT has been solely cause the OOT has been thrown to the wolves, and I believe the release of the OOT in great quality, would make me take the PT for whats its worth, "Part of the SW-lore now, but really not interested in watching the movies anymore."
Author
Time
They killed Darth Maul? WTFudge!! And what about those Japanese accents? Some folks are going to get mad at that.
Mostly, I kept trying to convince myself that the confusion that I felt was because the movie was new, not because it had big problems. Now I know better.
Author
Time
I've only seen Phantom, so all my thoughts are based on that one film. My initial thought was how it felt completely unlike the Star Wars universe. It was no different than any other remake of a famous movie from decades earlier. It felt like someone else's vision of Star Wars. There was absolutely no connection back to Star Wars (for me, anyway). It didn't look it, it didn't feel it, nor did it transport me to far away worlds.

The acting was terrible - in particular Portman and Lloyd. The characters were one-dimensional. I didn't care what happened to them. I felt no connection. Half of them served no purpose at all, other than to advertise the software that created them or to sell toys or Halloween costume tie-ins. The story is that poorly written - what little story there is.

I had gone to see it out of curiosity. Afterwards, I knew I wouldn't be bothering with the next two.

[rant]
Something that is particularly glaring, acting\writing-wise is George's inability to write a few lines of dialogue beyond the point in a sentence where someone is interrupted. I was reading a piece by Brian Daley where he explained how he wrote lines of dialogue and included sentence structure beyond where a person is to be interrupted while talking. It makes the interruption real - the first person is still talking for a moment while the second person interrupts the dialogue.

When George writes the screenplay or script, the character pauses and waits for their interruption. It feels unnatural. With George, characters are never interrupted - they just have weird sounding pauses while they wait to be interrupted. He sure as hell didn't get any help from Portman or Lloyd either. They're two of the worst. They just read the script, without depth, without feeling.

In Star Wars, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford are particularly good at that kind of interaction - whereas, in Phantom, Portman and Lloyd are uncomfortably bad at it.
[/rant]

My point with including that rant, by the way, is that the terrible acting is one of the things that stood out the most when I first saw Phantom.
Forum Moderator
Author
Time
After TPM: "woah, that lightsaber fight was awesome!" (as i've discussed before, i really can't stand the lightsaber fights in the prequels now b/c i've actually studied european and japanese fencing. At least the OT tried to resemble actual swordfighting).

After AOTC: "I hated it." (that actually an exact quote. the very first words out of my mouth to my friend in the theater beside me)

ROTS: "well, it was better than ATOC"
Author
Time
Originally posted by: Anchorhead
I've only seen Phantom, so all my thoughts are based on that one film. My initial thought was how it felt completely unlike the Star Wars universe. It was no different than any other remake of a famous movie from decades earlier. It felt like someone else's vision of Star Wars. There was absolutely no connection back to Star Wars (for me, anyway). It didn't look it, it didn't feel it, nor did it transport me to far away worlds.

The acting was terrible - in particular Portman and Lloyd. The characters were one-dimensional. I didn't care what happened to them. I felt no connection. Half of them served no purpose at all, other than to advertise the software that created them or to sell toys or Halloween costume tie-ins. The story is that poorly written - what little story there is.

I agree, it did feel like someone else made the prequels. Maybe the real George Lucas was abducted and replaced by a pod-person?

I agree about the acting, too. Portman's accent when she was wearing the Amidala costume was hysterically bad.
Originally posted by: canofhumdingers

After AOTC: "I hated it." (that actually an exact quote. the very first words out of my mouth to my friend in the theater beside me)

Yeah, no doubt that AOTC was the worst. I've only seen it once, but I'll never get the images out of my head of that whole slapstick scene with Threepio getting his head torn off, and the scene with Yoda swordfighting with Christopher Lee. I would have walked out of the theater at that point if not for the fact that I paid $8 for my ticket and (out of morbid curiosity) I wanted to see if the film could get any worse as it neared the finale.

Author
Time
What about the lightsaber battle between Yoda and Palpatine? Do you even think the Palpatine should've had a lightsaber in the first place? And does Yoda speak more incoherently in AOTC or ROTS?
Author
Time
TPM: After it ended, I was on a sort of artificial high based upon the fact that I had just seen an entire SW movie at the theater on a premiere night. Fortunately, one of the friends I saw it with wasn't rooting for it to be good like I was, and he immediately began breaking down all the ways in which the movie failed. He was annoying me, largely because what he was saying was true.

AOTC: I enjoyed it. I realized even then that it wasn't a great movie or anything, but the action/combat scenes had more of a SW feel than those in TPM. It felt more like a SW movie than TPM did. I don't know what my reaction would have been if TPM never existed and AOTC was Episode I. I suppose I'll never know.

ROTS: Pretty good, but underwhelming. All in all, though, my OT:SE viewings were much more fun.

BTW Mielr, I could be wrong, but I recall reading something which said that Amidala's voice was done by another actress.

Want to book yourself or a guest on THE VFP Show? PM me!

Author
Time
TPM: Gutted. Absolutely Gutted. Could of cried in my beer in the pub afterwards. When I got over my initial disappointment , I actually quite liked the film. (wasn't too bad after it came out on VHS. It's amazing what a widescreen TV and a big fat joint can do for a so, so film) I also agree, some of the acting is still way below par though.

AOTC: At the time I thought it was much better than the last one. I wasn't expecting a new prequel to the OT, but more of a sequel to TPM (if that makes any sense) - It's just Ok now. I just tend to lose interest half way through. But it's ok. I think I prefer TPM to this one, but that depends on what mood I'm in at the time.

ROTS: Loved it. Thought it ticked all the right boxes. The music, colours, the acting was a big improvement over that last two, the flow of the film. For me this is what all 3 films should have been like. I still watch it now. Dunno why, but I really do like this film.

ESB is still the best SW film IMO. It's my favorite film ever, always has been, always will be.




On a separate note: Anchorhead - exactly how many Star Wars films have you seen?

http://www.facebook.com/DirtyWookie

Author
Time
Originally posted by: HotRod
On a separate note: Anchorhead - exactly how many Star Wars films have you seen?


All but the last two. I haven't seen the SEs and I haven't watched Empire or Return in about 8 years.

Forum Moderator
Author
Time
TPM : During the end of the movie thoughts(slighty censored for a general reading audience) "WTF is up with that celebration scene!?! The Funeral was a perfect ending!! That's it when I get the video I'm editing that part out.... Wait, how do I get video on my computer? Well, scratch that idea. Oh, there trying to copy the first movie... Wait, WHY!?!?!?"

AOTC : End of movie thoughts "Eh, it was better then TPM."

ROTS : End of movie thoughts "Best of the prequels."


http://twister111.tumblr.com
Previous Signature preservation link

Author
Time
TPM: "I never thought that damn podrace scene would ever end, other than that and Jar Jar, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. Acting sucked."

AOTC: "What the hell!"

ROTS: "Meh, Ewen McGregor was beating on the chest of a long dead patient. He was great, story was okay. I want to find Hayden and make him suffer for what he's done."
Author
Time
Episode I and II

M'eh, not bad, but not spctacular, either.

Episode III:

Fuck you, Lucas.

Author
Time
TPM: (I was 12) Well...Podrace was fast and cool, lightsaber fights were fast and cool, Padme is damn good looking....but what are midichlorians? They sound made up and stupid...why did Jar Jar HAVE to talk like that....Anakin is a whiny bitch and sucks at acting, I hope the grown up one is better. Still a hopeful SW fan.

AOTC: Those ending few shots were cool but the Yoda/Dooku fight was totally lame. Padme is still real hot. Hayden Christiansen is pile of shit, hell I coulda done better. Ohhh....so Boba Fett is a clone....I guess. The CG looked better in the last one most of the time...what the hell? It's official...these ones just aren't as good...just kinda cool to watch.

ROTS: (first midnight SW premiere for me) Well, at least the huge nerd party outside made this easier to bear. Final saber fight was cool if overdone a bit. Hayden can again lick a shiny black plaything. Padme...still hot but seems to have gotten real stupid. Ewan is the island in this ocean of poor acting. Wow, Grievous looks pretty real sometimes. CG is buttloads better this time around.

well actually....after seeing each one I thought about them for days afterward trying to figure out where I stood on them. Then I realized that if I had so many problems with the PT movies that I actually had to sit and think if I liked them.....that I didn't really like them overall. They had their moments which were best only the first time. They just aren't movies I can watch repeatedly like the OT.

Hey look, a bear!

Author
Time
The first time I saw Phantom Menace, I was left feeling "This isn't right, something went wrong."

The first times I saw AOTC and ROTS, I felt like they were slightly less annoying but still could not say I enjoyed them despite a few well executed fight sequences.
I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an Obi-Wan to go.

Red heads ROCK. Blondes do not rock. Nuff said.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/greencapt/hansolovsindy.jpg
Author
Time
TPM: That was awesome! (several viewings later I would cringe everytime Jar Jar was on screen)

AOTC: That was pretty good, definitely better than the last one.

ROTS: That was pretty good until about halfway through. What the hell was up with Anakin though? Some guy tells you he can keep people from dying, you join him, and then he says you can both discover it and you STILL go along with him? And what's up with Padme "losing the will to live"? How weak is that? Well, at least it was better than the last one!

F Scale score - 3.3333333333333335

You are disciplined but tolerant; a true American.

Pissing off Rob since August 2007.
Author
Time
Originally posted by: Anchorhead
Originally posted by: HotRod
On a separate note: Anchorhead - exactly how many Star Wars films have you seen?


All but the last two. I haven't seen the SEs and I haven't watched Empire or Return in about 8 years.


Fair enough. I thought I'd read somewhere that you've only seen 'Star Wars' and none of the others. Which I did find kinda strange, in, how can you have an opinion about the other films if you haven't seen them. But you have (well Empire and Jedi at least - which is really all that matters)

On another note, and I'm just interested thats all, not picking any faults with your opinions or anything like that, but, do you have any interest in watching Adywans special, special edition of Star Wars when it's finally finished? Because I must say (and I'm not the biggest fan of the SE either) that it does look pretty amazing. Considering it's basically just a guy at home working on his PC.

Just wanted to know your thoughts on it, that's all.




http://www.facebook.com/DirtyWookie

Author
Time
Originally posted by: HotRod
...in, how can you have an opinion about the other films if you haven't seen them. But you have (well Empire and Jedi at least - which is really all that matters)

While you're making sure my viewing history is sufficient for this board - I have seen Phantom, so I have at least some idea of how the prequels look and feel.

....do you have any interest in watching Adywans special, special edition of Star Wars when it's finally finished? Because I must say (and I'm not the biggest fan of the SE either) that it does look pretty amazing.


I've never heard of it.

I've never seen the SEs, so if it's something made from those, I won't be watching it.

Forum Moderator
Author
Time
Originally posted by: Anchorhead
Originally posted by: HotRod
...in, how can you have an opinion about the other films if you haven't seen them. But you have (well Empire and Jedi at least - which is really all that matters)

While you're making sure my viewing history is sufficient for this board - I have seen Phantom, so I have at least some idea of how the prequels look and feel.

Not at all. Mate, doesn't matter to me how many films you've seen, just wondering that's all. Wasn't sure if you've only seen SW or the OT at least. Can't blame you for not wanting to watch the PT (although I don't actually mind them - especially Sith - kinda like that one in a shitty way)




....do you have any interest in watching Adywans special, special edition of Star Wars when it's finally finished? Because I must say (and I'm not the biggest fan of the SE either) that it does look pretty amazing.


I've never heard of it.

I've never seen the SEs, so if it's something made from those, I won't be watching it.



Fair enough. Just thought it might give you an alternative view on the original film thats all. Even if you just watch it once.

http://www.originaltrilogy.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=9&threadid=5942&STARTPAGE=54

Just if your interested



http://www.facebook.com/DirtyWookie

Author
Time
I looked at the link you posted. That's not something I would be interested in.

Star Wars doesn't need to be fixed.
Forum Moderator
Author
Time
Wow. All this time I thought Ep. II was complete crap, and it's actually a sophisticated masterpiece...

link

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

link



That totally has to be a Collegiate Thesis.
Author
Time
TPM--" Maybe when George hires Lawrence Kasdan to write and Irvin Kreshener to direct the next one like he did last time, it'll be good."

ATOC--"WTF"

ROTS--"Maybe 'Phantom Menace' wasn't so bad. It at least had Darth Maul"
We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger.