Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Star Wars - Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith (SPOILERS)

Page: 1 ... 5 6 7 8 9(10)11 12 13 14 15... 20

05:46 / 13.05.05

...it wasn't Han's sophisticated wit that got me, it was the asteroids and ice planets and the At-Ats. (And also, Yoda, of course.) THAT's what I wanted to see more of. I was never as enchanted with ROTJ for that reason, although Jabba was loads of fun, the only thing rife with delicious detail was the space battle at the end. Any wonder why Lando's co-pilot in the Falcon was and always will be my favorite character in the film.

Birdie, I think it's this quote that encouraged Haus's post. You seem to be saying that you don't care about plot or character, hence the suggestion that perhaps demos whould also be to your liking, seeing as they're equally full of COOL STUFF!1!!.

06:42 / 13.05.05

Shaftoe - one of those someones was Kovacs. It was a shame that they chose to make the thing look like a light, funny, breakfast show kind of feature, rather than actually move towards arguing that the films are part of our culture. The arguements seemed cut to the point that they didn't allow the people to talk about why the films are good or not. Kermode must have been affraid. Plus, what's the deal, no clips? I remember when Jedi came out and they showed a great long clip of C3PO and R2D2 helping leia get free from jabba and then falling of the skif, a good two mintues - so far none of the clips I've seen have had dialogue played or lasted longer than twelve seconds.... Unless that's what the film is actually like, no dialogue except for Palpatine dragging his every word out for a minute, and twelve second shots flash cut into pretty little scenes.

06:50 / 13.05.05

Huh? What do you mean?

I read that in an issue of Entertainment Weekly I was flipping through while waiting for Walgreens to finish up with my prescription. Now, though, I'm having trouble finding online confirmation on the matter, or remembering the guy's name. He may very well just be serving as a dialogue coach, but I remember Hayden expressing some joy for the guy's presence by quoting Harrison Ford's line "You can write this shit, but you can't say it." I'll keep trying to find it.

Regrettable Juvenilia

07:15 / 13.05.05

It was a shame that they chose to make the thing look like a light, funny, breakfast show kind of feature, rather than actually move towards arguing that the films are part of our culture. The arguements seemed cut to the point that they didn't allow the people to talk about why the films are good or not. Kermode must have been affraid.

Yes, quaking in his boots, terrified that the Truth about Star Wars would be revealed!

I don't think Mark Kermode needs to be persuaded that "films are part of our culture". I don't really see what that has to do with Star Wars. If anything I think Kermode was overly magnanimous - "well, your arguments are unconvincing, but I'm impressed by your enthusiasm!" - maybe he was just grateful none of them showed up in costume.

08:22 / 13.05.05

But that just shows how light it was. It was a segment about the new star wars film that didn't really show anything about it or talk about it, which sold itself as a debate about why people like it, but didn't engage in debate or raise points and question them. It was light. I'm not saying that it should have been dragged into late review style dissection, and there was an element of Kermode seeming to realise that someone saying a film is dull while another person sings its praises as amazing is a little close to home and excorcist for him to really put up much of a fight, but it could have done what it said on the tin is all.

08:29 / 13.05.05

...and there was an element of Kermode seeming to realise that someone saying a film is dull while another person sings its praises as amazing is a little close to home and excorcist for him to really put up much of a fight

Not exactly sure what you're trying to say here.

Regrettable Juvenilia

08:33 / 13.05.05

It wasn't really Kermode's fault that the cases made for the relevance of the films was so poor. The idea that the end of Star Wars (I refuse to call it A New Hope) being like Triumph Of The Will was somehow a good thing left me pretty speechless, but even worse was the subsequent woman's attempt to claim that there was no feminism in the 1970s before Princess Leia came along. Most damning of all, as Kermode concluded, these die-hard fans could barely bring themselves to argue that the prequels are actually any good - so why do they still cling to the franchise with such fervour*? I guess that's just the way franchises work.

(*I repeat that one of the most baffling spectacles on the internet in the past few years has been people saying how bad they thought the Phantom Menace was, and planning to see it again. Then saying how bad they thought Attack of the Clones was going to be, and seeing it anyway. Then saying how bad they thought it was, and planning to see it again. And again. And again. At least Benjamin Birdie actually likes the prequels - a position I disagree with but at least I find coherent.)

08:52 / 13.05.05

I'm not complaining about the standard of arguement (the woman was made to look particularly bad) but more the format of presentation. It felt like breakfast tv, look at the funny people who are queueing for a film for a month kind of reportage. Not saying that Star Wars deserves more because of what it is, but it tried to suggest that Kermode was noble for not liking the original trilogy, and what was the fuss all about (so hearing arguements about how important at a cinematic level the original trilogy is was to be expected) and at the same time tried to sell itself as a preview of the new film, but never touched upon it. I like Mark Kermode, and I think that he has made a real effort in the past to present film discussion as something that isn't glib or pop-gummy, or dumbed down, but this felt cut to pieces and rushed.

For the record;

Phantom Menace - terrible film, the only moment that lifted it for me was Darth Maul as the doors opened, Liam Neeson saying "we'll handle this" - the only tingle moment of the whole film.

Attack of the Clones - awful, clunky, dull.

Guardian's review of the Sith film today seems to suggest more of the same.

09:01 / 13.05.05

Fly, it's not really that difficult to understand, though, is it? I mean, we're talking about a series that punctured many a psyche at a very early age. People can dislike the prequels and have an almost pavlovian urge to see the new one. That ain't contradictory, that's just people.

I mean, I speak as one of those people. Although the conditioning seems to be wearing off.

09:03 / 13.05.05

Benny, did you seriously expect the Guardian to review Sith positively? Guardian film critics seem to have an allergic reaction to a lot of fantasy.

09:11 / 13.05.05

Referencing my second to last post.

Also, the issue is blurred by what many fans see as the potential of the series and the addition of half-decent EU stuff, like the Clone Wars cartoon.

Regrettable Juvenilia

09:12 / 13.05.05

I dunno, I was pretty obsessed with Transformers comics when I was 8, and I think that "punctured my psyche" pretty thoroughly. If a new Transformers film came out, I'd probably go and see it. But if I thought it was rubbish, I'd not go and see it a second time. And if a new one came out that looked just as bad, I'd be unlikely to see it. And if I did see that one, and that one was also rubbish, and I then saw it a further two times at the cinema - I'd want locking away in a padded cell, wouldn't I?

09:14 / 13.05.05

Boboss - nah, the guardian has the same thing that Barry Norman used to suffer from, makes them both look like they forget that film is art, and entertainment and technology and so on, but cling desperately to weeping camels and the such. Still, funny line about princess di becoming a sith lord.

09:32 / 13.05.05

Weeping Camel is bloody ace.

And, Fly, I know what you're saying. There are, or at least should be, limits, and I'm approaching mine.

Oh, and a live action Transformers' film *is* being made.

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:42 / 13.05.05

It's geek completeness, isn't it? I mean, I own the Ben Raab Excalibur for no better reason than that it had the same cover title and some of the same cast as far better comics. I have no doubt that at some point I'll end up seeing Rewengay of the Sith, just as I will probably end up seeing Matrix Revolutions - to get closure on something that was good and then went shit. Howver, after the arse-numbing snoozefest of seeing TPM in a cinema, where you could not make tea, stop for a breather or shout 'hands above sheets, Skywalker", I'm not paying to suffer it in widescreen, no matter how many star cruisers they park on exploding volcanoes. If you were prepared to swap acting, script and pacing for a pod race scene that is way cooler than on your N64, good luck to you, and you probably should go and see this somewhere with surround sound, because you will probably get a lot more out of it like that.

This review, which acknowledges the importance of the film as an event by making it film of the week while also slating its tits off, seem to suggest that, in a shock move, the best bits are in the trailer.

ONLY NICE THINGS

10:00 / 13.05.05

Guardian film critics seem to have an allergic reaction to a lot of fantasy.

Really? Is that supportable? I seem to recall that in recent times the Guardian has given pretty good reviews to the Lord of the Rings films, Pirates of the Caribbean, Kingdom of Heaven, the Matrix... what's the evidence of an anti-fantasy bent in the reviewing, and for that matter how do you define "fantasy"? The Guardian certainly hasn't been keen on the Star Wars prequels, but we're not talking lone voice in the wilderness on that one.

10:15 / 13.05.05

Also, the issue is blurred by what many fans see as the potential of the series and the addition of half-decent EU stuff, like the Clone Wars cartoon.

Not to jump right in and play the part of nerd extrordinaire, but the Clone Wars series is canon. Lucas authorized it, but managed to keep himself fairly hands-off.

See, I can forget that I and II ever happened, hope that III will be decent, and just take the cartoons and III as the only prequels.

11:31 / 13.05.05

Actually, Haus, it took me writing that post to really examine my opinion, and, no, I don't believe it really is supportable.

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

13:34 / 13.05.05

That Guardian review is quite amusicating.

"Not even the Younglings srvived..."

I must remember to guffaw loudly if I make it into the pick-chas to see this.

D Terminator XXXIII

14:54 / 13.05.05

Glenn Kenny Says:

Here’s how it pans out: The Phantom Menace was the crushingly, suffocatingly lame one, Attack of the Clones was the scattershot, perverse mixed-bag one, and Sith is—finally—the good one. Almost, in parts, good enough to make one want to go back to the first two just to see . . . oh, OK, maybe not.

14:40 / 16.05.05

Most reviews are basically saying it's the by far the best of the prequels & will make SW fans smile but that it still has some clunky parts, as evinced in this no-spoiler excerpt from the NY Post review:

>> Lucas' writing still clangs, though, especially during the exchanges between Anakin and his secret bride, Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), who announces in Episode III that she's pregnant (with twins we've come to know as Luke and Leia in Episode IV, the original "Star Wars").

>> But despite its drama and darkness, Lucas gives us some light moments, too. He slips in a glimpse of the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks at the very end, and although the big, goofy Gungan doesn't say anything, his presence alone feels like Lucas' last little dig at the naysayers - and a reminder with this final farewell that, nearly 30 years later, he's still doing it his way.

17:17 / 16.05.05

I watched episode II again at the weekend - it's worse than I remember, and the whole clone war is effectively Jar Jar Binks' fault. Two things, why would you leave a bumbling frog head in charge of one of the most important political decissions of your career, and why did Lucas have to shrink the Star Wars Universe? Darth is from Tatooine, Ben choses to hide luke there, along with himself, with a family that Darth has met, and then give Leia to amadala's mate.

Anyway, it was crap. I would have much rather seen a big conspiracy movie about the Jedi's collapse without ever having seen anything to do with Anakin until the last minute of the last film to be honest.

19:06 / 16.05.05

He slips in a glimpse of the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks at the very end
...One less reason to watch the film- i was so hoping he'd be in with the cull!

19:38 / 16.05.05

Benny, I hate how Lucas has made the SW universe so bloody parochial.

08:14 / 17.05.05

"Not even the Younglings srvived..."

So the Guardian review suggests that the turning point for Anakin going over to the dark side is when he slaughters a bunch of Jedi children. Does anyone know whether he actually nonces them up as well?

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:20 / 17.05.05

w00t! I'm going on Thursdya morning! I just found out!

15:18 / 17.05.05

I'm going Friday morning, and I'm hoping for noncery.

17:05 / 17.05.05

I'll be seeing it tonight at midnight. Friend of mine scored 12:01AM tickets. He wants to wait in line for the 6 hour prior to start. Dunno about all that but I might give it a shot (have a new book I could sink into while we're waiting and he's bringing the Clone Wars DVD on his laptop. That should tide us over for the first mind-numbing hour).

Wish us luck.

17:33 / 17.05.05

"nonces them up"? Que?

18:33 / 17.05.05

nonces them up = kiddie fiddling.

I heard that there is a scene where Anakin is made to knock door to door on Endor and announce that he is a pederist...

19:13 / 17.05.05

Lucas' first hints at the much-talked-about Star Wars live-action TV series that's in development, from a CNN.com interview today:

>> The adventure will live on in an animated TV show and a live-action series Lucas has planned, set among minor characters from the films in the 20 years or so between the action of "Revenge of the Sith" and the original "Star Wars."

ONLY NICE THINGS

19:17 / 17.05.05

Shamed by Ewoks.

Ewoks bring the shame.

I maintain the prequels would have been far better if Obi-Wan had throughout the whole thing been seething with jealousy that Qui-Gonn liked Anakin better, and, having repeatedly engineered situations in which Anakin was placed in life-threatening danger/ surrounded by naked ladies just before Yoda visits (cue force-enhanced Brian Rix farce)/ inexplicably dragged up on Wookie night, finally loses patience, betrays the cock out of him and knocks him into a stream of molten lava. This seems psychologically far more convincing than "they were animals... and I killed them... like animals.... which is to say, on reflection, that I behaved in an entirely proportionate fashion. Cup of tea, anyone?" At which point the hapless and utterly naive Anakin finally realises that Obi-Wan is, essentially, a piece of shit as big as the Ritz, and in fear of his life makes a deal with Palpatine in which, in exchange for pricey medical attention and 24-hour protection from the nutter, he slaughters the Younglings. Also the Weaslies. Obi-Wan, finally realising that he has really fucked the pig this time, flees to Anakin's home planet to hide out, because he is a halfwit, and spends several decades feeling like an enormous wanker and trying not to watch the news.

Anyone can be Georgicus Hughes,

19:39 / 17.05.05

Just watched JEDI last nite and boy what a stinker that was! It is a preview of the poorly paced, muddled prequels. Major let down with the slackly-paced Luke-Palpatine-Vader confrontation. And in light of the prequels, the Palp-Vader scenes now feel totally flat: the Sith are not even mentioned. I actually found myself hoping that Lucas will add a scene that fleshes out what Palpatine & Vader see as their grand plan now that the Sith rule the galaxy.

Seeing JEDI reminded me of my impressions from 1983: Lucas has a great imagination, but as a storyteller, he more or less sucks.

As I've seen some reviews claiming that SITH is almost as "good" as JEDI, i am now tempering the enthusiam I had amassed.

Hope I am proven wrong, though...

Haus of Mystery

21:00 / 17.05.05

Is Star Wars the one with William Shatner?

I like William Shatner.

07:31 / 18.05.05

No, that's Babylon 5.

Page: 1 ... 5 6 7 8 9(10)11 12 13 14 15... 20