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-- Review : Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
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Saw it at last night. This was the best out of the newest Episodes. I really enjoyed it! Going to see it again soon.

I really liked it too, but I'm left with a sense of sadness and void in me because it's "the end" and over. George Lucas vows it's the end of the SW film franchise and I believe him this time. However, there are still speculations about other projects that may include TV to expand on minor characters involved in the gap from Episode 3 to Episode 4.

I've seen it twice now and all I have to do is catch it in a DLP theatre this long weekend.

"The circle is now complete."

Just seen the movie, and to be honest I really didn't dig it, everything happened too quickly, plus conflict of heroes, good guy turning to bad guy, don't know, makes me look at the whole series differently, guess it's quite of a depressing episode.

quote:

Originally posted by djeso makes me look at the whole series differently, guess it's quite of a depressing episode.

Peter, most people say the best Star Wars movie (and subsequently most depressing one) is Episode 5 Empire Strikes back...

Saw it. Loved it. That's all.

just got back

saw it, liked it.

seems as tho lucas wrote the new trilogy with only this movie planned. Why couldn't they all ahve been like this?

quote:

Originally posted by WillyWonka I'm left with a sense of sadness and void in me because it's "the end" and over.

I cried on the way home! I really liked the movie, although I must say half way through I had mixed opinions. It wasn't perfect by any means, but the Vader volcano scene was EXACTLY how I had pictured it in my head since I was like 8!

I feel really really emtpy even now the day after, as if I just broke up with a girlfriend, or someone has died.

quote:

Originally posted by Tordan I couldn't care less.

Punches Ben with my ring and taunts him .... UNITY!!!!!!

(more thinking about it)

I remember an interview with Lucas ages ago talking about the "Star Wars tradition" of telling a story as fast you can, and after seeing last night's EP III, I can safely say it was by far the fastest of the storylines.

The whole movie moved WAY too fast, and was chopped up like a million times. Portman and Lee were in the movie for about 3 mins in total.
Editing overload.

But I got goosebumps about 20x times throughout the course of the movie. I just kept thinking to myself how fucking brilliant the story was. And for that only, Lucas is a genius. The story was so tight man, he really should be a god damn writer.

quote:

Originally posted by E2EK1EL Punches Ben with my ring and taunts him .... UNITY!!!!!!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

quote:

Originally posted by halo20 But I got goosebumps about 20x times throughout the course of the movie. I just kept thinking to myself how fucking brilliant the story was. And for that only, Lucas is a genius. The story was so tight man, he really should be a god damn writer.

This is why I think he wrote the trilogy with only this movie worked out as a framework. The quality of the storyline in this movie was leagues above ep1 &ep2, and it makes me wonder if he was drunk when he created the first two.

But I don't think lucas is a brilliant writer by any means. He can't write characters for shit, even in the original trilogy, there are lines that just seem forced out of the characters.

He relies too much on computer animation in the new trilogy. I like computer animation when it supplements the action going on during the movie, but lucas uses it quite a lot. But what makes it worse is that all the animation liiks too 'cartoony' for a star wars film. Things just move a little too often and a little too geometrically for my tastes.

That being said this one was still a really good movie, and it only makes me more dissapointed with ep1 &ep2. Why could he not think of storylines like this for the first two?

quote:

Originally posted by Sly_Guy He can't write characters for shit

Ok sorry WHAT!

Dude, I agree with most of your review, but this is taking the fucking piss. He has created some of THE most prominent characters in film history.

Darth Vader <- the best villain ever written? So much so he made three movies explaining his past!

Luke Skywalker
Han Solo
Yoda
Chewbacca
Kenobi

BRILLIANT BRILLIANT Characters!

HOW THE FUCK COULD I FORGET ABOUT LANDO!

halo20 + star wars = match made in heaven

super fan

quote:

Originally posted by halo20 Darth Vader <- the best villain ever written? So much so he made three movies explaining his past! Luke Skywalker Han Solo Yoda Chewbacca Kenobi BRILLIANT BRILLIANT Characters!

I love star wars. I've been a fan for as long as I've been alive. But the characters he writes while they serve a purpose in the movie are never fleshed out to the point where they are believeable.

Vader, Solo, and Luke are all characters well written to serve their purpose, but apart from the typical evil, renegade with a heart of gold or hero mold, what is unique about them? Give me a character trait that makes them human? One might argue that in a fantasy film is just that 'fantasy', but without a grounding of the characters by showing they are fallable, or subject to the same whims that we as people are, they just can't qualify as 'great' characters. Yes, Lucas has a powerfully imaginative mind creating memorable characters due to unique physical appearance or stage presence, but don't mistake memorable characters for good characters. A good character should undertake some type of change due to the storyline around him or her. The only two characters in all of star wars who undergo such changes, even in limited forms are Anakin and Luke. And Luke only goes through the limited range of finding out Anakin is his father as a necessary plot development. With this new trilogy, Lucas really had a chance to create a great storyline, one where he had the chance to mold Anakin into a great character with all kinds of issues and traits and change him dramatically through plotline into the evil character that is Vader. But like I said before, it seems as though the first two episodes were merely filler for the story of the third film. And quite frankly, without going into spoilers, I think the dramatic jump from tormented hero to villian was too big a jump in one scene.

Compare the characters of any star wars film to another now huge fansasy film known as Lord of the Rings.

Sauroman, Sauron and Gandalf - one dimensional support characters. Archtype evil characters and the wise eldar one.

Aragorn - undergoes character development in the understanding that good intentions are worthless unless one takes action to put them into motion with the means at their disposal.

The hobbits - undergo character development in the realization that they themselves are not irrelevant in the grand scheme of the world, discover the nature of courage, and nobility, and recognise in a better sense the scope of the world and that the shire is not an isolated plase beyond the reaches of what happens elsewhere in middle earth.

gimli and legolas - limited characters, but they still undergo character development in a sense that they learn to put aside mistrust and prejudice for a common good.

Other characters undergoing changes of note are the kings of Rohan and Gondor, as well as Boromir and Fahramir [sp?].

Tell me, what kind of change does Han Solo undergo?
Maybe in episode 4 in a very weak way he may turn from and consequence free character to one with a consience when he shoots down Vader's Tie fighter in the attack on the Death Star. But where did that change come from? It was too sudden and too absolute, lacking an in-depth look as to why he did it.

And what, apart from stage presence makes chewbacca a great character? Memorable yes, but a great character, no.

But it's tough to have a great character if the lines written for them is very static and devoid of personality. 'from my point of view, the jedi are evil' - anakin skywalker. I mean come on! I charge anyone for coming up with a more dispassionate line during the climax of the film than that.

What made the original star wars movies great was a fast moving, exciting plotline, coupled with a moral overtone, and what was unbelieveable special effects for the time period.

quote:

Originally posted by Endlesswave Peter, most people say the best Star Wars movie (and subsequently most depressing one) is Episode 5 Empire Strikes back...

well it's still my own preference, and 3 for me is by far the saddest, but now that everything sank in, it makes sense

Well it's all over now isn't it? No more Star Wars...at least so Luca$ says.

I really liked the film...not sure if I LOVED it like I love the originals, but it was the best of the prequels. Still, I think that was a given based on the story alone. It was so dark and depressing, plus the acting and writing were noticeably better. There were some great lines in there, mostly by Palpatine/Obi Wan but there was actually some great moments between Anakin and Padme.
The effects were great as usual but sometimes it felt like there was just too much going on. I prefer the relative simplicity of the old trilogy personally.

I did have some problems though. Namely, I wasn't feeling it during the entire first action sequence. The space battle looked very cool but I feel Lucas centred on Obi Wan and Anakin too much and didn't pan out enough. We saw two random shots of clone pilots dying, that was it. And the whole buzz droid thing was a little prolonged. And there were long, loooong stretches without any John Williams music! What wasup with that?? Once they got into the ship, those stupid sounding battle droids (even worse this time) were just annoying. And most of R2's gimmicks fell flat, kinda of like C3P0's "what a drag" esque moments in Episode 2. The droids were funny in the originals...they weren't nearly as funny in the new ones. The Dooku duel was the highlight of the first half hour but Christopher Lee was killed off way too early. He had like what...two lines? What a waste of a great actor! That's a problem I have with the prequels...there were too many underused villains. They should have stuck with Maul all the way through or Dooku. General Greivious felt like an afterthought, although his character was interesting.

Things started to get better with the opera scene but the movie didn't really start for me until Palpatine revealed himself about an hour through. That's when the movie starts to pick up and it just gets better after that. The Jedi Purge was done magnificently and actually provokes emotion. Anakin's turn to the Dark Side was a tad quick but makes total sense when you consider what's happened to him over the three films. He does some truly nasty things.

The last two duels were great as well and were actually quite emotional in parts, especially Padme and Anakin's encounter right before Obi Wan comes in. The whole "Let her go" force choke exchange was my personal favourite part of the movie...that whole pre duel scene was friggin intense. I'm pretty emotionless during movies, but that 5 minutes really got to me...tears welling up and all.

The movie ends almost perfectly...except for one thing that kinda bothered me. Padme "gave up the will to live"? That's taking the easy way out George. You were building up to childbirth complications the entire way...either take that route or go even darker and have her die by Anakin's rage. Seeing Darth Vader (and hearing Mr. James Earl Jones) was a treat. In fact, the last 1/3 of the film is among the best segments of the entire saga in my opinion. Maybe i'll grow to like the first half more as time wears on.

Some things, in retrospect bothered me though. Things felt rushed in places. The edits were annoying at times. Take for example the Wookie/Droid battle. It starts and then cuts away. Twenty minutes later we're back at the battle again. Just finish the entire sequence without cutting George! Christ! That also happens in the duel as well...they start fighting, then three seconds later it cuts away. I don't like breakups that quick and I think George needed a better editor to balance things out.

Overall and damn this is long...I really liked it. The last 1/2 and 1/3 in particular is what sells this movie. I read some spoilers so i know that Lucas cut out a few key scenes which, while making the movie another 15 minutes longer, would have filled in some holes that felt too rushed. Like they mentioned Qui Gon but didn't show him? And you never see Yoda get to Dagobah.

So, I give this film a solid 8.5/10 for now. Compared to my reviews for Episode 1 which I gave a 5/10 and Episode 2 (7/10), it's much better. I give all the originals perfect tens. I rank them this way, though.

Empire
Jedi
A New Hope
Sith
Clones
Menace

vs

that's just an off picture of Carrie Fisher. She was smokin' hot in Empire and Jedi. She hasn't aged well though.

quote:

Originally posted by Sly_Guy Vader, Solo, and Luke are all characters well written to serve their purpose, but apart from the typical evil, renegade with a heart of gold or hero mold, what is unique about them?

I'm not entirely sure of your point. So good characters are defined solely by uniqueness? Fuck man, give the guy a break.

Vader might fall under "classic villain" scheme, but how can you say he's not unique?

You also contradict yourself by saying all of his characters are based on (assumingly human) archetypes, yet you claim they lack humanistic traits?

quote:

Originally posted by halo20 You also contradict yourself by saying all of his characters are based on (assumingly human) archetypes, yet you claim they lack humanistic traits?

No. You've missed my point. Good characters are defined by not being static in what they display of their character during the story. As I outlined above, all characters deeper than one dimension undergo a change in their personality or demeanor as a result of plot elements.

And no, they are not 'human' archtypes, they are plot driven archtypes. The standard 'evil' character is not based on human traits because what human will without conscience blow up an entire planet [vader], or want to conquer a continent only to inflict pain and suffering on the populace [sauron]? That is pretty much the depth of both of those characters in their respective series and all that is needed to understand them in both the lord of the rings and star wars, which is why I outlined them as one dimensional.

yeah I saw it on opening day... I could care less for star wars, I think g.l. shoulda left that series along time ago. When the poster designs and cheesy cut transitions went out of style that is..


anyway, it was stupid. Some people died, some people lived.. lucas buys a new yacht..
whatever...

*looking forward for the Tony Scott projects!!

It's kind of sad that this whole "Star Wars" club of die hard premier people now have nothing to wait for now. LOTR never got people waiting for weeks, I wonder what will be the new saga to draw such a devoted fan base, I don't think there will ever be another.

...And I was at the 1977 opening day.

quote:

Originally posted by Sly_Guy No. You've missed my point. Good characters are defined by not being static in what they display of their character during the story. As I outlined above, all characters deeper than one dimension undergo a change in their personality or demeanor as a result of plot elements. And no, they are not 'human' archtypes, they are plot driven archtypes. The standard 'evil' character is not based on human traits because what human will without conscience blow up an entire planet [vader], or want to conquer a continent only to inflict pain and suffering on the populace [sauron]? That is pretty much the depth of both of those characters in their respective series and all that is needed to understand them in both the lord of the rings and star wars, which is why I outlined them as one dimensional.

Dude, how is Anakin Skywalker static throughout this last episode? Plz explain that to me...he undergoes change which is precisely one of your reaons of criteria for a "good character" no?

agreed.

You'll be hard pressed to find a greater character arc than...

golden child -> master jedi -> dark sith lord

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