I'd have to say the scene just after lil' annie wins the pod race where kitster and baby greedo attempt but "whiff" a high five. I think its symbolic for the entire PT
Just the overall Luca$ mindset. After all this is the same guy that almost caved in to another Katie demand to allow the pop group "NSYNC" to make a cameo during filming AOTC.
^^^^^BWAHAHAHAHA! That is PURE GOLD! I hope that dude sent a clip to LFL! Take that Luca$!!!
LOL! I was looking for "the good" in it. Could'nt find it
yyyyyyeah but me down for "hate".
There was certainly no lack of trying on my part to "like" the PT when it was introduced. I saw TPM 8 times in the theater before I said "thats it". I tried to keep a positive outlook with thinking "ok, TPM sucked, but AOTC will be better". Saw AOTC 4 times in the theater before I said "thats it". the same pattern continued with ROTS. I agree with the "haters" posts here.
walking_carpet said:
Hoth-Nudist said:
xhonzi said:
Hoth-Nudist said:
He should have hired an actress that knew and loved SW, an actress that wanted to throw herself into the role with passion.
This never seems to be the case. Look at all of the comic book movies being made where the director has the passion for the character and the actors have to google the name as soon as they get the part.
A good actor/actress will read the script, research the role and mentally prepare himself/herself for the performance. Thats Luca$s' fault for hiring Natalie, and Natalie's for not being professional.
Hey Hoth-Nudist - i remember you from when I was lurking in TFN's basher's sanctuary many years ago :) hope to see if binary_sunset posts here!
To you last point - The problem with this is that there was no role to research. Even if Natalie asked lucas a bunch of questions, she wouldn't get any answers (kinda like what terence stamp tried for Valorum). By the time of AOTC, it was obvious to anyone with an IQ above room temperature that padme's only purpose in the PT was so someone can give birth to luke and leia. She exists because she has a uterus.
Everything else - being a queen, senator, marrying anakin, etc - was pitifully contrived in order to create something that resembled a character in the most superficial sense. And what was once a touching moment in ROTJ is now a hysterical plot hole.
I believe that the real reason why lucas is one of the most secretive filmmakers is not because he wants to protect the storylines, but rather he did not want anyone to know that there was no multi-episode saga and everything was made up.
I also find natalie to be a grossly overrated actress and not the wunderkind everyone has made her out to be. But one thing i respected about her was she seemed pretty choosy in her roles (at least when she was younger). it wouldn't surprise me that her attitude was the result of realizing how pathetic her non-character was and being completely appalled about it.
Hey Walking_carpet! Glad ur here dude! Im so glad to be away from TF.net. This site allows free speech! LOL! I havnt heard from Binary in years, but hope he'll find his way here.
I think u make a good point. IMO I think Portman should've studied and honed in Carrie Fisher's performances in the OOT. They were close to the same age for their respective trilogies. Portman's research was basically renting and watching the OOT on a weekend. Im right there with you on feeling that Natalie is grossly overrated. IMO the movie "brothers" with Tobey Mcguire and Jake Gyllenhaal(sp) is her best performance, but yet again was outshined by her costars.
zombie84 said:
Hoth-Nudist said:
xhonzi said:
Hoth-Nudist said:
He should have hired an actress that knew and loved SW, an actress that wanted to throw herself into the role with passion.
This never seems to be the case. Look at all of the comic book movies being made where the director has the passion for the character and the actors have to google the name as soon as they get the part.
Maybe, maybe not. But I havent seen a comic movie with a lead actress' performance that was as bad as Portmans. Portmans was the worst and she didnt want to be there. And what an aweful time to pick such a shoddy performance, during the most anticipated films of all time. Your point reminds me of the x-men movies though. Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, and Famke Jansen werent too familiar with x-men prior to their filming, but they fell in love with it and even read some comics. And they loved their job and wanted to be there, and their performances were great for 3 movies. Not Natalie's though. A good actor/actress will read the script, research the role and mentally prepare himself/herself for the performance. Thats Luca$s' fault for hiring Natalie, and Natalie's for not being professional.
I think that's unfair. Natalie Portman is a great actress; so is Sam Jackson. And look at Ewan McGregor in Episode I. There were ton of Oscar-winning actors in this series that gave in shitty performances.
Why? Well, Lucas can't direct actors. Older actors have learned how to just direct themselves, that's why Christopher Lee and Ian McDiarmid gave the best performances, followed to some degree by Pernilla August and Liam Neeson. But Lucas can't direct actors that need guidance, and that's the directors failing. He's also to blame for miscasting any roles if you feel it is the actors after all.
But the main reason is that the script. That's why the actors are shit: the characters are shit. The dialogue is bad, there's no development, they don't behave like real people. Why does Padme fall in love with pyscho stalker Anakin? Who the hell talks the way she does? What makes her character tick? Who are these people? The only scenes that attempt to answer these questions were cut out, and that's not coincidentally the only scene in AOTC that has good acting in it (Padme's parents house).
The fact is, she probably didn't want to be there, but she had no choice--she was tricked. Everyone was. They had to sign up in 1997 and 1996 without seeing any scripts. Think of how Star Wars was regarded back then--god-like. Lucas was a genius! Even though people knew Star Wars never had the best dialogue, it had well-developed, likeable characters you could relate to. So everyone assumed the prequels would have this but not only that, be better! Imagine their shock when they read the script for Episode I. But Episode I is pretty light, it's just setting everything up. But then imagine their shock when Episode II is even worse! They didn't even get the script until the week they began filming (because it wasn't done!), not even the main cast.
So yeah, probably Portman was like "are you fucking kidding me?" Even Hayden Christensen said to reporters that he was "worried" when he first saw the script because he didn't know "how to make the dialogue sound believable." He never found a solution. There is no solution, the character was simply written awfully.
See, if any good actor saw that script beforehand, they would have turned down the role. "Are you crazy? I can't make this work. No one can. This is professional suicide, I'll be laughed at." That's why it's usually shitty actors that take shitty parts, because the good actors have turned down the role. But Lucas tricked everyone because he made them all sign up based on the success of the OT without ever having seen a script or any scrap of dialogue.
Luckily, Portman continued to take good roles after the films. Christensen, well, his whole career is a bit of shame. He's a good actor if you've seen his early stuff, he thought Star Wars would be his big break but now he can't get good roles because no one has confidence in him as an actor so he gets stuck with stuff like Jumper. Same thing happened to Hamill, who was probably the best actor in the OT aside from Harrison Ford and even then maybe better.
To each their own. IMO, aside from Jake Lloyd, Natalie had the worst performance. IMO, its Luca$' responsibility as I said before. BUT, I still think Natalie should have been more professional. That's what she's paid for. She wasnt the only miserable soul though. Liam almost gave up acting after TPM, and Hugh Quarshie(sp) and Terrance Stamp were fed up with Luca$ and didint sign on for the subsequent episodes.
xhonzi said:
Hoth-Nudist said:
He should have hired an actress that knew and loved SW, an actress that wanted to throw herself into the role with passion.
This never seems to be the case. Look at all of the comic book movies being made where the director has the passion for the character and the actors have to google the name as soon as they get the part.
Maybe, maybe not. But I havent seen a comic movie with a lead actress' performance that was as bad as Portmans. Portmans was the worst and she didnt want to be there. And what an aweful time to pick such a shoddy performance, during the most anticipated films of all time. Your point reminds me of the x-men movies though. Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, and Famke Jansen werent too familiar with x-men prior to their filming, but they fell in love with it and even read some comics. And they loved their job and wanted to be there, and their performances were great for 3 movies. Not Natalie's though. A good actor/actress will read the script, research the role and mentally prepare himself/herself for the performance. Thats Luca$s' fault for hiring Natalie, and Natalie's for not being professional.
SilverWook said:
As the prequels are set decades before the other films, being familiar with the OT ought not to be a major requirement to playing a part in them. (Obi Wan notwithstanding.) Either the character is there on the script page or it isn't.
Aren't we all forgetting a certain actor who wanted to tie George to a chair, and force him to say those lines back in 1976? Carrie Fisher probably still has nightmares about "faster, more intense". ;)
disagree. actors and actresses need to be familiar with what their getting into. George didnt do that due to not having his act together(story,script). So its on george. I credit Fisher with a good performance despite Luca$ shatty directoral skills. When casting for the PT started, the PT roles were some of the most sought after roles, ever. Im sure there were plenty of young women who new the OOT phenomenon and were willing to give their all. Natalie wasnt.
rouged said:
I've read somewhere that Portman hasn't been acquainted with Star Wars prior to receiving the role of Padme. So, maybe the whole series has not been her thing, especially when many of the scenes are forced and not very natural.
Yep. I read an article(in either ent. weekly or cosmo) that she had never seen the OT and had to rent all 3 to get acquainted. She was so miserable in TPM that she took bathroom breaks in order to cry. So she really didnt want to be there. Thats on george. He should have hired an actress that knew and loved SW, an actress that wanted to throw herself into the role with passion. IMO natalie portman is extremely overrated and the measure of her talents equate that of a soap opera or one of "syfy channels original movie" roles.
Another fatal flaw was that Luca$ didnt have the story/script finished until the last minute before filming. The actors hadnt a clue what was going on, so there was minimal mental preparation. IMO the 3 keys to success in anything, are preparation, preparation, preparation. But Luca$ is a sly one. He knew he could get away with sheer laziness in the writing aspect and directing aspect, and still make $$$$, due to the power and amazing success of the OOT. The whole world was waiting with insane anticipation, to find out the origin of Vader. Heck, there's a bit on the making of TPM, where george and co. are discussing the possibility of surpassing "titanic" in domestic and worldwide gross.
I feel George C Scotts' pain!
http://www.kontraband.com/videos/28235/George-C-Scott-Watches-Star-Wars-On-Blu-ray/#show
captain tarpals: "yousa in big doodoo this time!"
that...hurt....to...type.
Also here's a good link. Ive frequented this facebook page a few times and offered my support. some interesting articles as well.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Star-Wars-Boycott-The-Blu-Rays/269110113114406?sk=wall
Tyrphanax said:
I'm pretty sure Katie doesn't understand the full extent of what's been going on since 1977, to be honest. She's just heard George's side of things.
yeah, thats what Im afraid of
Good article! And I agree with Simon Pegg's tweet! Im deeply concerned if Katie Lucas takes over LFL. It sounds like the apple hasnt fallen far from the tree. After all this is the same girl in ROTS where she plays a fat blueberry alien in the background during Bail Organa's interview, and rather than make a pleasant appearance, decides to hold a defiant expression and actually rolls her eyeballs as if to say "why did I agree to to this"?! Im sure daddy is sharing all his business secrets with her in order to pass the "middle finger" torch to continue to defy us OOT fans.
Why does Luca$ do it? Easy. Total control + licensure+ merchandise+ copyrights+ global fandom =$$$$$$$$$$$
Luca$ has made so much money off us that he doesnt NEED to care about our relatively small band of OOT supporters. SW stuff sells. Look at the toys. How many versions of Luke, vader, maul, kenobi or clonetroopers are there? Yet year after year Hasbro(which Luca$ owns BIG stock btw) resculpts, repackages and resells the same characters over and over again. Like the movies, the action figures are tinkered with and rereleased. And people buy them along with clothes, greeting cards, video games etc, which fills the lucasfilm sales spreadsheets with big numbers, thus creating a big arrogant smile from that gray haired fat flannelled one.
Not buying Luca$ stuff= hurts his business and puts us in control.
Um, the scene where padme is cleaning R2 and jarjerk pops in. The dialogue b/ those turds is horrendous. I still remember sinking down in my seat at the theater over that scene.....and many others.
Saw all the SW bluray displays at different stores and, I walked on by. Im currently watching the OOT (faces) VHS versions and loving them. This is one OOT fan that will NOT cave in and feed the corrupt luca$ machine!
just beat AC2 on PS3 with 98% completion. I got tired of looking for all those damn feathers and missed just a few monetary treasures. The game rocked!! Is AC brotherhood worth buying? Im not interested in the multiplayer stuff. Is the single player campaign fun and have a good continuing story about Ezio?
Im again shaking my head at the possible further changes made for the blurays. I also voted "not going to buy" on the poll and will do so until I get the OOT on bluray. Im celebrating by watching the OOT "faces" on VHS now, and Im content with that. Im still amazed that so many people will buy whatever Luca$ throws at them. I mean, what happens when they throw a SW movie party?
Host: "So which version are we watching tonite y'all? I have version 2.5 with 50% more farting eeopie's and anakin says 'zippadeedoodah' instead of 'yippee', or version 3.0 with barking banthas and jabba has pearly white teeth, or version 4.0 with the tap dancing rancor with top hat and baton, or version 4.5 where the endor forrest battle has the ewoks shooting and throwing eggs and pies rather than rocks and arrows, because thats what george originally wanted"
If there was only a way to convince people to stop drinking the lucasfilm kool-aid.
For me the "fatal flaw" was, I didnt care. I dont care about anything or anyone in the PT. The actor portrayals, storyline, visuals didnt inspire me in the least. Nowadays I get a headache and my mind wanders if I watch more than 5 minutes of PT. Also there's no "cool" factor or "intrigue" factor except for Darth Maul, who was extrememely underwritten and poorly executed. Luke's landspeeder, x-wings death star assault,m.falcon action, vader vs kenobi intrigue etc. etc., are bad ass cool! Farting race camels, tax route disputes, slobbering boss gungans, yipee!, whiffing victory high fives, stoic-faced protrayals-----SSSSSSUCK! And jar-jerk binks, what a sick joke to SW. There is nothing logically important about this schmuck. Just simply "there" for advertisement. From the time he 1st pollutes the screen to the end, there is no logical function of this orange putz. So much time and story potential was wasted on jarjar's horrific attempt at kiddie comedy in TPM. sad
I heard he picked some world record boogers on the PT set while re-re-re-revising the script! Gotta give em props for that!
I saw ROTJ as a 9 yo and LOVED it! I recall the huge anticipation I had to see the space battle(I'm an x-wing fanatic, its the greatest fighter...EVER!) and the revealing of Anakin skywalker. Several of my friends told me in advance that the movie was awesome. I still love the film, love the unfinished look of DSII and love Luke's journey to jedi knighthood. The only change I would make nowadays is having Leia abducted by bounty hunters during hans rescue on tatooine. the bounty hunters deliver her to Vader and the emperor, for they already know that leia is a potential force user, Vader's daughter and is going to turn her to the darkside in the hopes that Luke will follow as well. And the rebels to stage a final assault on an imperial city headquarters on Endor rather than another DS assault. The Emperor,Vader take Leia to an ancient Sith temple in the heart of imperial city. in a nutshell the battle would go as:
The rebel fleet en masse, attacks the star destroyer blockade guarding Endor to provide a window for han,luke, chewy and multiple rebel ground assault teams to invade Endor and initiate a ground assault on imperial city. The rebels are armed with lots of cool ground assault vehicles, cannons etc. Han heads the main ground force with Luke taking a small platoon of soldiers in the 2nd wave and infiltrates imperial city to the sith temple. Inside the dark sith temple, luke tries to persuade Vader to go back to the good side and release his daughter, so they can be a family. Vader fights instead, still loses his hand and yields. Luke then refuses the Emperor's offer and demands the release of leia. The emporor attacks luke with lightning, which luke initially blocks. Along with lightning, the emporor force attacks with multiple projectiles. Luke, being pummeled to death asks for his father's help. Leia screams for her father's help, in which the Emporor turns around and force chokes her. Anakin reaches up and attempts a force choke on the emporor, who shifts his lightning attack on anakin. Luke, battered and bloody uses that window of opportunity to lunge forward and impail the emperor, then decapitate him. Luke and leia remove Vader's mask to see their father, who dies shortly, burn down the sith temple and leave the destroyed imperial city. During the celebration, Luke announces a new jedi academy and will seek out desciples throughout the galaxy
Has anyone played assassins creed for PS3? I think Im close to the end where Im fighting like 10 templars in order to get to Robert so I can assassinate him. This game is so poorly programmed as far as the controls go and things dont respond to my commands. The counter command is almost worthless as Im getting sliced and diced by the templars surrounding me. Any tips? I also bought AC 2. Plz tell me that this game is better programmed.
In addition, I really liked the first wave of EU figures released about 10 years ago. I still have them, all unopened, in nm condition. I havent seen them in a long time though for they're in storage. I think the 1st wave consisted of: Kyle Katarn(from video game), spacetrooper(from comics), darktrooper(from a video game), luke(from dark empire), leia(from dark empire), clone emporor(from dark empire), and grand admiral thrawn from the zahn novels and comics. Another cool thing is that they were released on a week that toys' r us was running a big sale on SW figs and I got them for 3.99 apiece!