I thought ROTS was great, almost as good as the first three Star Wars. It's an enjoyable flick, and well worth the admission price.
Posted on 06/01/2005 10:34:25 AM PDT by quidnunc
Vengeance is mine, saith the Sith, whith thoundth like Violet Elizabeth Bott. No such luck. Instead, it’s George Lucas, with what he insists is the final film in the Star Wars sextet. My guess is the first film in the new Star Wars septet will be opening circa 2008. Anyway, Revenge of the Sith is, so Lucas assures us, a ‘tragedy’. It might have been wise to have stationed an announcer at every movie house to announce this fact over the PA system since it eluded the audience I saw it with last weekend. When the Sith hits the fan, the fan bursts out laughing. Oh, to be sure, they were diverted by the opening dogfight and Obi-Wan Kenobi riding a wild four-legged space beast to hunt down General Grievous. But they were howling with laughter through all the so-called ‘tragic’ elements. When Senator-Queen Padmé (Natalie Portman) reveals that she’s pregnant, her secret husband Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) reacts with an eerie glassy-eyed expression as if he’s hypnotised himself trying to remember the next line. Eventually, Lucas prompts him and he utters the words, ‘I’ll have the club sandwich.’ No, wait. That’s just what it sounds like. He actually says: ‘You’re so … beautiful.’
‘It’s only because I’m so in love,’ says Padmé tonelessly, like a spy giving the reply password.
‘No,’ says Anakin. ‘I’m so in love. With you,’ he adds helpfully, just in case Padmé figures it’s the hot-looking Wookie strolling by in the background.
At this, my fellow theatergoers exploded with guffaws of derision. May the farce be with you! The final descent of Ian McDiarmid’s Chancellor Palpatine into Darth Hammitup brought on more laffs, as did the moment when Anakin attempts to talk Padmé into joining him over on the Dark Side: ‘Together you and I can rule the galaxy,’ he snarls. Well, tries to snarl.
‘Obi-Wan was right. You’ve changed,’ says Princess Padmé. ‘I don’t know you any more.’ He used to look like Princess Di flashing those big eyes from under his hair. But suddenly he looks like Princess Di with too much kohl and in a peevish mood. What can this mean?
-snip-
Nope. He was in the last one too. He's in at least one scene where Senators are meeting Palpatine, and he's on the balcony with Palpatine reviewing troops in the next to last scene of the movie (just before the wedding).
There's a TV [non-cartoon]series in the hopper for 2007. Hopefully the title will be "Vader: The Lost Years".
Yeah. After Kenobi and Skywalker rescue Palpatine at the beginning of the movie, Smits is in the delegation. I believe he and Christensen have some dialogue, but I may be wrong.
***He was actually quite good as a smarmy, insecure reporter in Shattered Glass.***
I agree--Hayden Christensen is not a bad actor, based upon what I've seen of him in 'Shattered Glass' and 'My Life As A House' (for which he was actually nominated for several awards). The problem is that he was not at all given much to work with in ROTS. I just think that George Lucas couldn't write a love story if Cassanova dictated it to him verbatim.
I always saw Vader as a true BAD GUY through and through in parts 4 and 5 (that's why we loved him so much!). What I saw in the current movie was just some brooding, less than imposing, chump; totally taken by Palpatine. I think the emperor would have to use some serious "tough love" on the current Darth to mold him into what I saw in the earlier movies. Steyn was right on in his criticism of the whole Anakin to Darth transformation.
Also, WHY WHY WHY did Lucas put Christensen in the Vader costume?!?!? There was no need. He's not supplying the voice even. Hayden is way too physically unimposing for the suit. The guy that was Vader in parts 4 and 5 was an ex-weightlifter that stood like six-five or six-six. In the current film, Vader is barely taller than the hunched over emperor, even with the helmet on! This may be a quibble but this really bugged me. It's like Lucas thought he "owed" Christensen the chance to wear the suit, no matter how ridiculous it looked!
Heck, he's already there. If you bought the DVD release of the original Star Wars trilogy, you'll see Christensen materialize as Anakin in the closing scene of Return of the Jedi.
Honestly, Lucas deserves to be the main course at an Ewok banquet for this sort of crap.
***Heck, he's already there. If you bought the DVD release of the original Star Wars trilogy, you'll see Christensen materialize as Anakin in the closing scene of Return of the Jedi. ***
Yeah, I thought that was rather weird considering that you have a much older Alec Guiness standing next to a very young Hayden Christensen. Wouldn't it make sense that Anakin would appear as a ghost about the same age as he had died? Maybe Lucas thought people weren't smart enough to make the connection between Ep. 4-6 and the prequels. After all, we got lectured about how only bad people "deal in absolutes."
I dunno.
I actually like Mark Hamill as an actor.
Maybe I played the Wing Commander games too much.
One does not become evil easily. It takes time.
Anakin was slowly displaying his ability to do evil, by angrily kiling the sandpeople, dooku, being arrogant, etc. Couple that with a reason to go to the dark side, and I thought the transformation to be about right.
Instead the prequels are more of the "Cameo Trilogy". Want to see Chewbaca again? Lucas throws him in ROTS, though he doesn't add anything to the story other than the cameo. Ditto for Bobba Fett in ATOTC. Heck we even saw Gredo as kid. I'm surprised that there wasn't a shot of the hospital ward with a baby Han Solo lying in a cradle.
These are thrills for the fans, but it makes the prequels more like a expensive exercise in fan-fiction - and I suspect many of the fans could've written up a better story.
Regards, Ivan
Not to mention the scene a few second later where he's holding the guy by the neck, and then even later, "tweaking" Capt. Needa's attitude. I wanted to be Vader's pal. Yeah--and you are totally correct about the morons in the Jedi councel.
These are the best and the brightest, and yet they have no idea that Palpatine was Sidious? Or that Anakin was banging Padme? They deserved being hunted down. I just wish they'd been tortured a little more. ;-)
I've said this before, I will say this again. Any planet that would elect a teenage girl as their queen deserves a little guidance. Dummies, pure and simple. The Sith were a good thing.
FEARED THE WORST?!!! YOU DUMB-**** A WHOLE PLANET WAS JUST DESTROYED AND BILLIONS OF PEOPLE KILLED. It don't get much worse than that, ***-wipe.
If you want to get a good laugh, get the DVD of "A New Hope" with Lucas's commentary. Go to the scene where the rebel commander is running a briefing about how to destroy the Death Star. Now run the scene with Lucas's commentary playing over the dialog and look for Han Solo's reaction to the dribble that Lucas is spouting.
Cannot agree.
When one compares "nuit et brouilard" with "Hiroshima mon amour" it is apparant that the horrors of war are completely relative.
Is the loss of millions of lives by alleged war mongers comparable to the loss of a single life because of power hungry military leaders? It is a question worth consideration.
I wish that I had more time to elaborate on the analysis of these two films in particular. Right now that is simply not possible for me.
Meanwhile, there have been some great propagandist artists who live under the guise of artists. In recent days they have become so incredibly transparent in their endeavors.
My God, a freaking asshole retard lying piece of human waste known as Michael Moore is getting rewards by artists for his vile garbage assailing his country of birth and it's leadership. Future pupils in public schools are going to be told that this vessel of propaganda and dung is some sort of a hero. It is shameful.
Are the architects of the slaughter of millions of innocents, millions of times more evil than the ones responsible for the unjust killing of a single person?
Profound questions raised by some of those Frenchy producers.
#116 was an excellent post, well said.
Still, hands down, the best piece of crap dialoge in A New Hope is the brilliant one Obi Wan says:
"Mos Eisley. You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy!"
Another great, but hokey line, "Into the garbage chute, FLYBOY!"
I'm going to watch the documentary included with the trilogy tonight.
Profoundly BORING!!!!
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