Just saw the new Star Wars

[vz71]

Of course I may gain some enemies here, but I hated it.

Possible spoilers…highlight the text if you want them.

Anakin’s turn to the darkside was too abrupt.

Vader’s little temper tantrum (‘nooooooo!’) was totally uncharacteristic of anything we see in Vader in the later films; and is also uncharacteristic of Anakin.

For someone so torn that he cannot bring himself to kill Anakin, he seems to have no trouble leaving him to the slow torture of being burned alive.

All of the Jedi masters succomb so easily to “order 66” I have to wonder if there was anything special about their capabilities at all.

In episode 6, Leia can remember her mother. Now we can clearly see that there should be no memory.

Obi Wan tells Padme that he saw Anakin kill the younglings on a security camera recording…yet he only watched Anakin’s pledge of loyalty to the Sith.

I still can’t get past the quote “A pupil of mine named Darth Vader betrayed and killed your father.” -Star Wars ANH.

I feel the story has all the earmarks of an author that knows what he wants to say, but keeps getting caught up in his own storytelling that he has to keep ‘patching’ it to make it work.
The story just does not work.

Z

 

[Nan_S]

Saw it Friday night, at a new theater that’s been only open for a week. I think they haven’t got the sound system figured out yet, because the first half of the movie came out BOORRRIINNNGG. The voices were audible and clear, but the music and sound effects were so soft that I hardly felt anything. I’m going back to see it again next week – SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!

My 14-year-old, who went with us just because it was something to do, came up to me at the end of the movie and asked, “Mom, did they do these movies backwards?? I always wondered where Darth Vader came from.”

 

[MidnightSun02]

Saw it Thursday night…very good! Best of the first 3. However, I am sorry to say this, but Christianson (Anakin) and Portman (Padme) don’t work well together as an onscreen couple. The lines and acting were…errrr…umm…I’ll be nice and say so-so.

However, overall it was a good film. Very sad, though. And no matter what you know before you see it you have these hopes built up that something good will happen…some sort of twist…

 

[DustinsDad]

vz71:

Of course I may gain some enemies here, but I hated it.

Possible spoilers…highlight the text if you want them…

Couldn’t agree more with your spoilers. You nailed my thoughts exactly.

DustinsDad

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

Lorarose:

Just saw it tonight.
Thumbs up!

Love scenes could have had better dialogue and better chemistry…but Star Wars is about action, creatures, and special effects…and those parts were fantastic.

Actually, the one failing of Episodes I,II, and III is that Lucas strayed from the formula that made Episodes IV, V, and VI so successful, group casting. In the episodes with Luke, Leah, Han Solo, etc… the cast was established because of how they looked and acted together, not based on their individual merits. Those episodes had great special effects (for their time), but the real genius was the character interaction. In the new episodes, it seems as though Lucas tried to cover up weak character performances with high tech special effects. I think Hayden Christiansen was about the most horrid candidate for Anakin possible. In episode II he look more like a spoiled little brat who at any moment could throw down his lightsaber and throw a hissy fit. I was hoping that Obi Wan or Padame would just smack him and tell him to grow up.

 

[juno24]

MidnightSun02:

Saw it Thursday night…very good! Best of the first 3. However, I am sorry to say this, but Christianson (Anakin) and Portman (Padme) don’t work well together as an onscreen couple. The lines and acting were…errrr…umm…I’ll be nice and say so-so.

However, overall it was a good film. Very sad, though. And no matter what you know before you see it you have these hopes built up that something good will happen…some sort of twist…

Plot-wise, I think this was the best of the 3. It tied up some loose ends very nicely. I thought the FX were awesome, as was the music (as usual). I loved that the music from the dual fight scenes (Obi Wan and Yoda’s combined fight scenes) was the same exact music as the climactic fight scene between Qui Gon Jinn and the Sith in the first episode. I will probably see it again, just for the FX and the music. I love watching movies that are loaded with special effects several times, just so I can focus on them. I LOVED that feathered Komodo Dragon creature that Obi Wan was riding! Fantastic!
I have not been as generous as you in describing the acting. I have said all along that Hayden Christensen is an AWFUL actor. I felt absolutely no sympathy towards Anakin, from any of the 3 movies. The extent of his passion was an annoying whininess. He never conveyed the inner struggle that Anakin was supposed to be having. Natalie Portman is a good actress, but she had no chemistry at all with H.C. on-screen. I wonder what George Lucas saw that convinced him that this young man was perfect for the role. Now, Ewen McGregor, on the other hand— he is awesome. He did an excellent job of portraying Obi Wan. I really got the sense of connection between Obi Wan and Old Ben. Well done.

 

[wabrams]

DustinsDad:

Couldn’t agree more with your spoilers. You nailed my thoughts exactly.

DustinsDad

Those spoilers tied the new trilogy almost perfectly with the original. What I love about these movies is they don’t spell everyhting out for you, you’ve got to think about it.

 

[Bobby_Jim]

I thought it was quite good, and I really enjoyed it… beware of** spoilers below** in my comments.

Spoilers…

I thought the plotting was a bit simplistic, although perhaps that was necessary for the sake of tying everything together in “only” 2.5 hours. But many times I wanted to scream to the characters… how stupid can you be??? C’mon, the Jedi are supposed to be so wise, and Anakin is so strong in the force, and they’re still too dense to figure out the simple deceptions and misdirections, and who’s playing who against whom?

My other disappointment was how under-used Christopher Lee was as Count Dooku. Now perhaps his quick demise was necessary to move along the plot. But Lee, along with Ian McDiarmid, actually brings some serious weight to the acting. At least his scenes weren’t totally cut like in “Return of the King”. But this guy is one of the great all-time B-movie bad guys - he needs some more screen time in what is essentially a big-budget B-movie space opera! And my previous admonition goes double for the old Count - how stupid can you be to think you’re anything but a tool and a patsy? Honestly, that goes for anyone who would trust a Sith Lord. Although Anakin must be about ten times as stupid as Dooku, since Anakin knows exactly how Dooku meets his demise, and yet Anakin still trusts the chancellor. Really now… as the chancellor is telling his story of the wise Sith Lord who learned the secret to eternal life, and taught all of his secrets to his apprentice, who then killed him in his sleep, I just wanted to knock on Anakin’s forehead and yell in his ear “Hello? Anybody home???” Is it still considered dramatic irony if the audience knows something that the character onscreen doesn’t know, but really should know if he had more than a couple of neurons in his brain firing???

 

[mike182d]

Luke-Jr:

I also do not feel obligated to obey the unjust laws (copyright law, mainly) that make such uploading illegal.
There’s certainly nothing immoral about exercising my natural rights to redistribute information.

If Bob’s Produce sold apples for $30 a piece and forbid you from giving it to others, would that thereby warrant stealing the apples when a) you don’t need it and b) there is plenty of other fruit out there?

Possession of the creations of other men is not a “right” that we are ordained with or present within natural law. If George Lucas made Star Wars and decided that he wanted to bury it in the ground so that no one could have it, so be it. I don’t have some unalienable “right” to possesses something he made and he can do whatever the heck he wants with it.

Watching a movie can in no way be considered a “necessity.”

 

[Luke-Jr]

mike182d:

If Bob’s Produce sold apples for $30 a piece and forbid you from giving it to others, would that thereby warrant stealing the apples when a) you don’t need it and b) there is plenty of other fruit out there?

Bad analogy, for two reasons:

1. If Bob sells me an apple for $30, he has no right to tell me what I can or cannot do with it. If I want to give it to someone else, that’s my decision. If someone else buys one and wants to give it to me, that’s their decision.
2. Apples are property, not information. Property has an owner. Information has a creator. The two are not the same.

mike182d:

Possession of the creations of other men is not a “right” that we are ordained with or present within natural law.

No, but just because someone gives/sells us information, they do not have the right tell us what we can do with it.

mike182d:

If George Lucas made Star Wars and decided that he wanted to bury it in the ground so that no one could have it, so be it.

Indeed. But he didn’t.

mike182d:

I don’t have some unalienable “right” to possesses something he made and he can do whatever the heck he wants with it.

Just as I can do whatever the heck I want with it.

mike182d:

Watching a movie can in no way be considered a “necessity.”

I never claimed it was.

 

[wabrams]

Bobby Jim:

I thought it was quite good, and I really enjoyed it… beware of** spoilers below** in my comments.

Spoilers…

I thought the plotting was a bit simplistic, although perhaps that was necessary for the sake of tying everything together in “only” 2.5 hours. But many times I wanted to scream to the characters… how stupid can you be??? C’mon, the Jedi are supposed to be so wise, and Anakin is so strong in the force, and they’re still too dense to figure out the simple deceptions and misdirections, and who’s playing who against whom?

My other disappointment was how under-used Christopher Lee was as Count Dooku. Now perhaps his quick demise was necessary to move along the plot. But Lee, along with Ian McDiarmid, actually brings some serious weight to the acting. At least his scenes weren’t totally cut like in “Return of the King”. But this guy is one of the great all-time B-movie bad guys - he needs some more screen time in what is essentially a big-budget B-movie space opera! And my previous admonition goes double for the old Count - how stupid can you be to think you’re anything but a tool and a patsy? Honestly, that goes for anyone who would trust a Sith Lord. Although Anakin must be about ten times as stupid as Dooku, since Anakin knows exactly how Dooku meets his demise, and yet Anakin still trusts the chancellor. Really now… as the chancellor is telling his story of the wise Sith Lord who learned the secret to eternal life, and taught all of his secrets to his apprentice, who then killed him in his sleep, I just wanted to knock on Anakin’s forehead and yell in his ear “Hello? Anybody home???” Is it still considered dramatic irony if the audience knows something that the character onscreen doesn’t know, but really should know if he had more than a couple of neurons in his brain firing???

It kinda made sense if you think about it this way: Palpatine made sure Anakin was put on the council, knowing he was too young to be made a master. Not being promoted infuriated Anakin, making him question the wisdom and necessity of the Jedi Council. Telling Anakin that story, especially to play off his fear of Padme dieing, was enough of a seed to start major doubts in Anakin wanting to stay a Jedi.

 

[Bobby_Jim]

wabrams:

It kinda made sense if you think about it this way: Palpatine made sure Anakin was put on the council, knowing he was too young to be made a master. Not being promoted infuriated Anakin, making him question the wisdom and necessity of the Jedi Council. Telling Anakin that story, especially to play off his fear of Padme dieing, was enough of a seed to start major doubts in Anakin wanting to stay a Jedi.

Oh, I can see how it all fits together… I suppose Anakin is so blinded by his emotions that he doesn’t see all of this. But that’s a LOT of blindness!

 

[Kay_Cee]

Luke-Jr:

This is what is sounds like you’re saying:

Thou shalt not steal.*

*Certain exceptions apply. For example, if you disagree with the manner in which someone obtained something, okay to steal from them. Also, if you call it “information”, okay to steal even though the selling of such “information” takes money out of other people’s pockets. (In other words, copyright violation is okay.)

 

[beckers]

vz71:

Of course I may gain some enemies here, but I hated it.

Possible spoilers…highlight the text if you want them.

Obi Wan tells Padme that he saw Anakin kill the younglings on a security camera recording…yet he only watched Anakin’s pledge of loyalty to the Sith.

Z

AS an answer to your spolier I thought so too until i went back and saw it again on Sunday. The first time he pushes the button you can see Anakin killing the younglings because then Obi rewinds really fast to get back to the pledging part.

I Loved this move so much.It was my favorite out of all the new ones. I can’t wait to see it again. I thought Lucas tied up a lot of things very nicely though you guys are right the love scenes were forced. George Lucas said the other day that he knows he can’t write dialogue but that no one else felt comfortable writing it since he kept wanting to change it to match what he believed it should be. I will say that no other movies out there come out as clean and beautiful (except LOTR series) as these star war movies.Ever scene is just breath taking and the sound will blow you away! The look of the movie was just awesome!.

Oh I did get to see the “The Lion, the witch and the wardobe” preview the second time i went to the movie. It looks to be an awesome movie too!!!

GOD BLESS,
Beckers

 

[Luke-Jr]

Bobby Jim:

Oh, I can see how it all fits together… I suppose Anakin is so blinded by his emotions that he doesn’t see all of this. But that’s a LOT of blindness!

Don’t forget how close he was to Palpatine…

 

[Luke-Jr]

Kay Cee:

This is what is sounds like you’re saying:

Thou shalt not steal.*

*Certain exceptions apply. For example, if you disagree with the manner in which someone obtained something, okay to steal from them. Also, if you call it “information”, okay to steal even though the selling of such “information” takes money out of other people’s pockets. (In other words, copyright violation is okay.)

Except that I am in no way stealing. Even in this corrupt government, the RIAA and MPAA don’t dare call it stealing except in FUD/brainwashing.

Sharing information does in no way deprive anyone of anything. I have not tried to take credit for their work (plagerism, which is wrong).
If people base their business plan on immoral practices (such as unjust laws granting a monopoly), that is their problem. Claiming “they need this monopoly for their business” is just like claiming “this assassin needs to get away with murder for their living”

 

[wabrams]

Bobby Jim:

Oh, I can see how it all fits together… I suppose Anakin is so blinded by his emotions that he doesn’t see all of this. But that’s a LOT of blindness!

When you’re on the inside looking out, sometimes your desperation clouds your judgement to everything going on around you.

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

wabrams:

When you’re on the inside looking out, sometimes your desperation clouds your judgement to everything going on around you.

Especially since it appears that Sidious’ greatest power is to use the Dark Side to cloud people’s judgement.

 

[mike182d]

Luke-Jr:

Bad analogy, for two reasons:

1. If Bob sells me an apple for $30, he has no right to tell me what I can or cannot do with it. If I want to give it to someone else, that’s my decision. If someone else buys one and wants to give it to me, that’s their decision.
2. Apples are property, not information. Property has an owner. Information has a creator. The two are not the same.

A reel of film is not property? A small silicon disk is not property? Just because this form of property can be duplicated doesn’t mean that its no longer property. Furthermore, if information did not have an owner, why is it that I would be expelled from any credible university for plagiarism?

Let me know the next time you put your money, time, and resources into writing a song, and I’ll copy it, listen to it everyday, not give you a dime, and then ask how you feel about it.

No, but just because someone gives/sells us information, they do not have the right tell us what we can do with it.

Says who? God? Natural law? People give us stuff all the time and tell us what we can’t do with it. When I purchase a bottle of Pledge, the goverment tells me I cannot inhale it. Is that, then, unjust? When a parent buys their child a bike for the first time and tells them not to go to far, is that, then, unjust? When God gave us creation, He told us we couldn’t do certain things with it. On what grounds are we to assume that it should be any different in the instance of a movie or music?

Just as I can do whatever the heck I want with it.

Says who?

I never claimed it was.

Ah, but you have. If it was not necessary, to you, why would you break the law to obtain it? This is not just about hypothetical property rights but rather a greater lesson in the virtue of detachment.

Furthermore, I think you gravely misunderstand Catholic teaching on unjust law. It would be an unjust law if the government demanded something contrary to natural law. If I was forbidden to have more than one child, that would be an unjust law. If I was forbidden to worship God, that would be an unjust law. If the government denied me access to the very food and sustenance I needed to survive, that would be an unjust law.

Making me pay to see a movie? I hardly think that could be considered unjust by any stretch of the imagination. There is a difference between nonsensical laws that may or may not make sense to us and unjust laws. The two are entirely different and not interchangeable.

 

[Bobby_Jim]

Scott_Lafrance:

Especially since it appears that Sidious’ greatest power is to use the Dark Side to cloud people’s judgement.

Hmm, and I thought it was his power to hurl chairs at Yoda.