TheBoost

xhonzi said:

4. The PT supports and enriches the OT.  This for me means preserving the "I am your father", "Leia is your sister" and "Yoda is a midget" surprises.  Therefore, Yoda cannot appear or be heard (but the more talking him up the better).  Episode 3 ends with a pregnant Notpadme, and a not yet revealed to be Vader Anakin.  More on this later.

I disagree. The PT is IMHO supposed to be seen after the OT for the purpose of explaining and enriching things. The OT is not supposed to wrap up the PT's story. Any plotline that allows for that secrecy to be kept will be needlessly convoluted and I think unsatisfying.

I have this crazy idea that the PT would actually set up a Sequel Trilogy.  That some seeds planted by the NPT would bare fruit in a ST.  But probably not.  As to the order of the films, we'll probably have to agree to disagree on when you should watch the NPT.  As someone else said, it should be modular to the point you could watch it before or after the OT.  But I think preserving the surprises is at least a worthy goal.

My first objection to secrecy is I have not heard nor can I imagine any ending to Episode III wherein the main character's horriffic climactic fate is left unseen/ambiguous/confusing enough that secrecy could be maintained in any enoyable way.

My second objection is about context.   If preserving secrecy is important, then the PT is meant to be seen before the OT. (I don't think "modularity" is dramatically achievable.)

If that's the case, then "No... I am your father." and "Leia! Leia's my sister!" dramatically change context. They are no longer surprises, but instead payoffs of some plot twist from Episode III.

Instead of thinking "Holy Crap! Vader is Luke's father!?!?!?" the audience perception becomes "Holy Crap! This revelation sheds new light on the bizarre and ambiguous end that Anakin suffered in Episode III!!"

That does more to change the nature of the OT more than all the flipping CGI Yodas in the world.

xhonzi said:

 

The name that I've been playing around with for her is Valeria/Valaria.  I can't decide on the spelling.  What do you think?

 That's Conan's girlfriends name.

My wife, who, god bless her, I've subjected to more Star Wars in the years of our marriage than is legal in most principalities, has an interesting opinion.

She doesn't see Yoda as acting intentionally silly in ESB. He's not trying to fool Luke.

He's actually gone peculiar.

She, inspired by the PT, sees it like this:

Yoda was (in her words) Big Daddy Jedi of the Universe. For 800 or so years he was 'the man' with everyone telling him how wise he was. Then he 'blew it' and saw everything he stood for and defined himelf by destroyed, largely his own fault, and he went from having the Jedi penthouse in the capital of the galaxy to living in a nasty swamp. After 20 years of eating mud he's actually lost his mind, and it takes him a while to get his act together. That's when he starts talking to Obi-Wan.

It was an interesting viewpoint, one I certainly never thought of.

Thoughts? Was Yoda just plain nuts?

Docta Nick said:

I like the new scenes but there's one thing, Yoda's blink (the one 005 posted) just looks too forced. Blinks should be a quick real fast movement, he looks like he's forcing his eyes to shut for a second. I know it's not finished yet but I think Ady should work on that or tweak it a little more, whatever you wanna do.

 I must agree. The blink seemed off, like "Hey, look at me blink you will, hmmmmmm?"

Docta Nick said:

I like the new scenes but there's one thing, Yoda's blink (the one 005 posted) just looks too forced. Blinks should be a quick real fast movement, he looks like he's forcing his eyes to shut for a second. I know it's not finished yet but I think Ady should work on that or tweak it a little more, whatever you wanna do.

 I must agree. The blink seemed off, like "Hey, look at me blink you will, hmmmmmm?"

xhonzi said:

 

1. The main storyline is the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker.  Anakin is the main character.  His fall to the Dark Side is told convincingly.  His "seduction" by the Dark Side.  He must be a character that you can buy as Darth Vader of the OT, though there shouldn't be things that give away the ESB reveal.

Personally, I'm just as interested in Obi-Wan, bold Jedi Knight. I see the NPT as more of his story, or at least a buddy-film.

4. The PT supports and enriches the OT.  This for me means preserving the "I am your father", "Leia is your sister" and "Yoda is a midget" surprises.  Therefore, Yoda cannot appear or be heard (but the more talking him up the better).  Episode 3 ends with a pregnant Notpadme, and a not yet revealed to be Vader Anakin.  More on this later.

I disagree. The PT is IMHO supposed to be seen after the OT for the purpose of explaining and enriching things. The OT is not supposed to wrap up the PT's story. Any plotline that allows for that secrecy to be kept will be needlessly convoluted and I think unsatisfying.

3. Jedi vs Sith war!  My friends and I all expected "Braveheart" Jedi/Sith battles in the prequels.  The closest you can come is the end of AotC, but's that's a bunch of Jedi vs almost no Sith.  Actually, the closest you can come to this is BioWare's trailer for the Old Republic MMO.

I don't see the need to add the Sith. There's no reason in the OT to assume there ever was a band of evil Jedi-types. Perhaps Anakin, once bad, can lead a contingent of fellow fallen Jedi against the remaining Jedi, but the whole Organization that Serves the Dark Side has never really worked for me and seems un-OT.  

5. Dark Side makes sense, kind of...  This is tricky, but I think you can walk the line where the Dark Side is presented to Anakin in such a way that the audience can understand the temptation.  The movies can't come off like a PSA for the Dark Side, but something that shows the seduction of it.

I agree, this is the central line of Anakins character and needs to be very very well handeled.

9. The Galaxy cannot feel as small as it did in Lucas's PT.  Tatooine cannot be the most visited planet in the movies (what, does it think its Arakis or something?).  I am loathe to show any of Coruscant because I think showing the capital sort of immediately shrinks the rest of the Galaxy.

Can't agree more.

 

 My thoughts in bold.

AxiaEuxine said:

I really enjoyed this last episdoe of the clone wars, pure Star Wars goodness.

 I dug it too. Lots of action, fun fights, no Jar Jar. It felt very Star Warsy.

Why is Asohka back in her jailbait outfit though? Wasn't she wearing something more befitting the dignity of her office and her underagedness for the first few episoes? Something with a midriff and sleeves?

Has anyone considered that perhpas Hoth has an atmosphere high in... helium? Perhaps the high helium concentration accounts for the blue snow, and the high reflectivity accounts for the general bluish hue.

Or maybe the whole planet is berry-flavored.

Where did the concept of vampire politics enter fiction?

It seems I cant watch  a movie or open a book with vampires in it without having to read all about vampire laws, and vampire clans, vampire societies, and vampire rulers fighting vampire wars.

Who came up with this? Was it Anne Rice? I only read "Interview with a Vampire" and there were hints of it in there.

By now the concepts have almost saturation level in all manner of vampiric fiction. It's so bad that most modern "Dracula" pastiches go back and insert the ideas into "Dracula."

Does anyone know who's to blame?

captainsolo said:

I thought for the longest time that modern audiences could no longer appreciate great works of the cinema. Roger Ebert once asked: "Do modern audiences have the patience to wait for Harry Lime in The Third Man?" The answer is: yes. I started a Film Appreciation club at school, and people actually get engrossed by classic film again. So, there really is hope in the world when college students sit in rapt attention for THX 1138, Barry Lyndon, Once Upon a Time in the West, and The Third Man. I want to break out  Lawrence of Arabia and Once Upon a Time in America now just to see the reaction.

 But you're comparing apples to oranges if you think GI Joe is comprable to The Third Man.

Compare meaningless entertainment like Joe (which I reather enjoyed for what it was) with classic meaningless entertainment, not with classic great films.

"GI Joe" should be compared to "Tiger Woman: Perils of Darkest Africa" not "Lawrence of Arabia."

Sci-fi schlock like "Transformers" shouldn't be compared and found wanting next to "Solaris." It should be compared to "The Blob."

It would be like saying that old movies were no good by comparing "American Beauty" to "The Mole People."

Socal Trooper said:

 

in the Marvel Comics adaption of the film when R2-D2 is projecting the hologram of Luke, he's wearing his cloak with the hood up, like when he first enters Jabba's palace.  It gave a mysterious aura to Luke because in the artwork you couldn't see his face.  i always thought it would be cool if Luke was wearing his cloak in the hologram, obscuring his face in the film. 

 I really dig this idea. Does anyone think it's doable?

Johannus said:

 

Anakin - I like the idea of him being a space pilot of some description, and I would even have it so that he is carrying some sort of illegal cargo when he is first seen on screen. 

NotPadme - Originally I was thinking she could be someone who was trained as a jedi, but left the order at a young age (for whatever reason).  That way she would have some training but not be as good as someone like Obi Wan. 

2) I think if Anakin is a very bold and even somewhat reckless character, then the attraction to NotPadme could be more believable by her being a similar character.  (Imagine when they first meet and he jokes about protecting her and really it is her protecting him). 

 

 I'm not sure I dig NotPadme being a Jedi or even force sensitive. I think the PT was far too Jedi-centric and we should lean against that.

Anakin is bold and a little aarogant. Obi-Wan has some of that too ("Was I any different when you trianed me?") They need someone more conservative to play off of. However, the more witty banter they have back and forth, sniping at eachother, the more obvious it will be to the audience, if not the characters, that Anakin and NotPadme are destined to fall in love.

I like that Anakin might be hauling questionable cargo. Maybe in his crummy little ship he's importing medical supplies (to avoid tarriffs) weapons (to avoid regulations) and maybe a little spice on the side (just for the cash). Makes him a bit dubious, but not unlikable.

I'm very interested in seeing this. "StarCrash" was kind of a mess (I saw a bootleg VHS many years ago). With some polish it should be an enjoyable little romp.

Palm Springs, CA

doubleofive said:

According to someone I talked to, the 501st has been asked not to formally support Ady.  Not sure how high up that order came from, but its interesting to know.  I'm sure someone can help anonymously though.

 Well, the 501st is down with Lucasfilm and have had a number of pseudo-official events, so there tacit endorsement of a fan-edit would probably be looked down on by any contacts they have in Marin County.

Anybody watching this tonight?

SilverWook said:

I think they were just messing around as opposed to being actually drunk. Drinking booze is actually a very bad idea health-wise when performing in a mascot type costume.

 As a former costume performer (Easter Bunnies, sports mascots, fat-Elvis etc) I can vouch that at those temperatures, dyhydration sets in very fast and booze would be a very bad idea.

It's less the effects than the skillful set up, but the first reveal of the Executor is my favorite shot in the entire trilogy.

doubleofive said:

TheBoost said:

 

If you're bothered by a problem that's not in te moive, there are a number of excellent (re: silly) explanations offered for it not in the movie. My favorite is the wormhole that takes away Vader's super glove.

I still can't believe the EU acknowledges that series.  Ugh.

 It wasn't completely without it's charms. Admittedly the "Save the Whaladons" theme was laid on a little thick, but I'd take Emperor Trioculus over Emperor Jagged Fel any day of the week.

DF Shadow said:

I think the "your mother once thought as you do" change would be an appropriate edit. At that point in the saga everything is coming full circle and Luke brings up his mother anyway earlier with Leia.

The line is in reference to there still being good in Vader - which are Padme's dying words.

 

 It just occured to me. How the hell would Vader know that Padme thought that?

As far as he knows, her last words are "You're breaking my heart" or something, then he choked her to death. He wasn't there,and probably never read the facebook update about Padme's actual last words.

rcb said:

RoccondilRinon said:

For those of us bothered by the Endor Holocaust Theory, are there any suggestions for averting this?

 from what i understand is that the rebels intercepted most of the debris before they hit the moon. that's EU however.

still, most of the debri i would think would burn up in the atmostphere.

 It's an EU solution for an EU problem.

In the OT, the solution is simple: there is no Endor Holocuast. Plainly, the following evening everything is fine on Endor. The DSII's explosion had no serious effect on Endor.

If you're bothered by a problem that's not in te moive, there are a number of excellent (re: silly) explanations offered for it not in the movie. My favorite is the wormhole that takes away Vader's super glove.

Baronlando said:

Probably a lot and yet the longer they wait, the more it seems like no one will really care. Star Wars is becoming such a specialized, narrow cult thing, like KISS or something. Right now there's a Star Wars Concert tour and deluxe Clone Wars Blu-ray set coming and you can just feel the not-excitement in the air.

 The 600 little kids I saw today dressed as Clone Troopers for Halloween might disagree with you.

xhonzi said:

Are the plot outlines bad?  Or are they just poorly executed?

I don't think there's anything wrong with the PT on a conceptual level. I think it's half-hearted execution, an excess of special effects and a director who admitedly doesn't care about character development.

I firmly believe that with a few extra drafts to polish the dialogue and dangling plot threads (probably involving other writers), a director who cared about human emotions over spectacle, and an editor with a firm hand, the PT (while probably not the level of the OT) would have been a great series of films.

How about if the PT was made in 1985?

QUEEN AMIDALA: Jennifer Connely. (regality and can play young or old at that age)

ANAKIN: (grown up) Robert Downey Jr. (charming, but skilled at dark characters)

ANAKIN: (lil Kid) who knows.

QUI GON: Frank Langella

OBI-WAN: Kenneth Branaugh (was born to do it)

MACE WINDU: Rutger Hauer (a bad MFer if there ever was one)

COUNT DOOKU: Louis Jordan (aristocratic with a real good twisted side)

DARTH MAUL: Young Jackie Chan (would blow the audiences away in 1985)

thoughts?

DF Shadow said:

I think the "your mother once thought as you do" change would be an appropriate edit. At that point in the saga everything is coming full circle and Luke brings up his mother anyway earlier with Leia.

The line is in reference to there still being good in Vader - which are Padme's dying words.

I just don't know if it could be done well enough. There has to be a JEJ movie where he says "mother" that can be worked with.....that's where we need to start.

 

 I dont have it on me, but perhaps during his last monolog in 'Conan The Barbarian?'