Star Wars TV Series

[vzzbux]

On the subject of SW, does anyone know when/if the complete, all singing all dancing box set is coming out. I dont own any of the films on DVD as I have been waiting patiently for this to happen.



V

[TordelBack]

I'd bet my last Republic Datary that there'll never be an "ultimate" edition boxset in anything but name, and there certainly isn't one on the horizon for the 30th Anniversary year, which ends next May.  Then the waters will be muddied for a while with the new TV outings.  

Maybe the 10th Anniversary of Menace in 2009 or the 30th Anniversary of Empire, in 2010? Or worse, 30th Anniversary of Jedi in 2013?  That's plenty of time for SE's of all the Prequels to be released individually, then as a box set, then as double-disc sets with the original 'classic versions', then as a box set including the original Clone Wars cartoons and so forth.

[Funt Solo]

::"I honestly do not see why anyone with any sort of imagination would find it 'hilarious'."

I watched that one in the cinema in Glasgow, with my sister's family.  It was packed with kids, and the entire cohort erupted in laughter during that scene.

Not "taking the piss" laughter, either.  It was just, obviously, genuinely funny.

[Roger Godpleton]

That said, my favourite lightsaber fight in RotS was Yoda vs Palpatine, as it was the only scene which came close to capturing the desperation of the situation as opposed to a whole bunch of bullshit like "You KILLED YOUNGLINGS", "So this is how liberty dies, to thunderous applause" and "I stand for the Republic. FOR DEMOCRACY".

[Richmond Clements]

See, I loved Palpatine's 'I love democracy' speech.

[TordelBack]

Yeah, I loved Palpatine's speechifying too, and even Padme's only passable line in RotS, "thunderous applause".  But I nearly puked when Obi-Wan started in on his "My allegiance is to the Republic ... to DEMOC-RACY. " schtick.  Sweet cheeses, where did that come from?  What ever happened to the Will of the Force?  And then the weakest line line since "I hate sand": "...from my point of view, the Jedi are evil".  Well, there's total commitment to a new faith for ya.

[Richmond Clements]

'I hate sand' is horrible.
The one that annoys me most though is 'An ex-pecially dangerous Dug' from TPM.
Honestly- teaching him to say it right and do another take wouldn't have killed them.

[philt]

Apparently there are three Star Wars prequels. Can anyone confirm this? I certainly don't recall seeing them.

[CreamTrumpet]

Here's my two cents on the Star Wars prequels:

Despite its faults (and it has many), I really think that 'The Phantom Menace' is the only one of the prequel movies that has the spirit and feel of the original trilogy. It just feels more Star Wars-y than the other two. It's also the most beautiful of the prequels - the costume, concept and production design work is stunning.

I thought 'Attack of the Clones' was pretty bad - definitely the weakest entry in the Star Wars saga. The 'love' story was badly handled, the Coruscant (sp?) speeder chase sequence was derivative ('The Fifth Element' and 'Blade Runner' did this sort of thing much better), and having a young Boba Fett in the movie was just a terrible idea (any mystique that character had was totally destroyed by that lazy scriptwriting decision). However, the film redeems itself in the last 40 mins - the clone battle sequence is breathtaking and the Yoda/Dooku duel is stupidly enjoyable.

'Revenge of the Sith' was an improvement on AotC, but it was far from perfect. The Wookies may as well have not been in it at all (Chewie was shoehorned in as a fan pleaser, but he wasn't the same somehow) and many plot points were fudged (why did Padme die exactly?). The biggest problem I had with the film though was the artificiality of it all. The whole movie looked and felt synthetic. Because of this, the movie lacked the gravitas and epic quality it needed. For example, compare the Luke/Vader duel in ESB to the Obi-Wan/Anakin duel. The former was filmed on a sound-stage with a forced perspective backdrop and a couple of wind machines but somehow manages to look more epic and believable than the latter. Instead of thinking about lava rivers and pointless hover platforms, Lucas should've been concentrating on the characters and dialogue. But, that seems to be Lucas' problem doesn't it - he can't see past his box of digital tricks.
On the plus side though, the opening space battle was great (but not as great as the one in RotJ), the Palpatine speech in the opera house was (shock!) well written and performed, and the Vader transformation was well done (apart from the melodramatic "Nooooo!" bit). The final few minutes featuring the Blockade Runner and Star Destroyer sets sent a shiver up my spine - hearing John Williams' old scores also made me realise how lacklustre his prequel efforts are (Yeah, Duel of the Fates is superb, but how many other memorable pieces are there?).

Like many others who've commented, I feel that Lucas should take a backseat on the TV series. He should stay on board as producer/consultant and let some new writers/directors have a crack at it.
 

[TordelBack]

It's also the most beautiful of the prequels - the costume, concept and production design work is stunning.

Absolutely agree, the mounds of TPM making-of books are a magnificent showcase.  What always fascinates me is how much of it was model work or location-shot, vast acres of Theed and the Mos Espa Podrace circuit built in minature, swathes of Tunisia and Casserta imaginatively dressed or extended, when it's always tarred with the 'hopeless CGI' brush.  

I also love Neeson's Qui-Gon character, the only one who really measures up as a Jedi for me, and rehret whatever inexplicable reason caused his 'spirit' scenes to be cut from Revenge of the Sith.  Menace is at least a genuine attempt to do something new and something quite spectacular, even if it founders through a poor core decision re: Anakin's age (make him 13 and the whole thing starts to work), and truly horrid pacing and dialogue.

Really, if someone had just tidied up the dialogue a lot, and coached the performances a bit more strenuously, the Prequels wouldn't be half bad.

[Keef Monkey]

I mainly enjoyed the prequels, although they were obviously pretty flawed. Menace was a big dumb kids movie but I got into the spirit of it so that was fine, Clones was largely mince but had some good action scenes, and Sith was my favourite Star Wars movie since Empire.

I really enjoyed it from start to (almost) finish. Obviously Darth's dreadfully inneffectual howl of sorrow at the end was unintentionally hilarious, but I loved the rest of it. The only plot hole that bothered me whilst watching the prequels was the fact that R2-D2 seems to have lost most of his functions between the two trilogies. I was certain there would be a scene where he's damaged in an explosion and someone says something along the lines of "We can fix him up but he'll never be the droid he was" which would explain it all perfectly. See George, I should write your TV series!!!

[Keef Monkey]

Oh, I remembered something else I don't like about Sith actually. The already mentioned scene where Annakin tells Padme how beautiful she is made me laugh because in that moment where she turns round the usually incredibly beautiful Natalie Portman looks absolutely hideous. Dunno if lighting or make-up or hair is to blame but it was a bad moment to screw that up whatever it was.

[GermanAndy]

I am a big pulp fan, but for me the prequels failed on most levels - except for the eye-candy.

The dialogue is cringe worthy, the acting laughable. The Anakin/Padme thing is absolutly unbelievable, and the transformation of Anakin to Vader didn´t made sense either (as it was portrayed). It was just plain laughable. It isn´t even a "good" bad movie, it is just plain bad. And this is sad.

For all this money they pumped in this movies, couldn´t they spare a couple dollar for a decent writer?

[Bad Andy]

Okay then.  

Phantom menace - Best Lightsabre battle EVER!                        

[TordelBack]

This is true, although I personally prefer Luke finally beating nine shades of nerfherder out of his old man in Jedi, mainly because of the magnificent music, which even as I type I can hear building in my ears...