Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Mark Steyn - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
The Spectator ^ | June 1, 2005 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 06/01/2005 10:34:25 AM PDT by quidnunc

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160161-177 next last
To: Logophile
"I suspect that rabid fans of Star Wars would still love it just as much if the dialog were omitted entirely."

As a life-long Star Wars fan, I must say that omitting the dialog entirely would substantially improve some parts of the Star Wars movies, especially the most recent trio.
121 posted on 06/01/2005 3:59:59 PM PDT by NJ_gent (Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: jayef
"That's the shame of it. In the "tragic" scene where Anakin is reborn as Lord Vader all I could think was, look at that dork in the oversized Vader helmet."

I was wondering how Frankenstein's monster got a cameo in a Star Wars film. I swear, when they flipped him vertical, I thought his arms were coming straight out and he was going to walk stiff-legged straight forward.
122 posted on 06/01/2005 4:04:03 PM PDT by NJ_gent (Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: Xenalyte

It's really wrong how just about everyone takes a dirty shot at Mark Hamill. He's the ONE member of the cast who didn't end up in the tabloids drunk, cheating on his wife( Ford) or strung out on drugs( Fisher). He married in 1978, is still with the SAME wife( how many can say THAT in entertainment?), raised 3 great looking kids who also never showed up in the tabloids as embarassments. There's never been any scandal about him, and he's never used his celebrity to criticize his country or even Lucas- who certainly didn't help his career as he did Ford's.

He is a personable, affable, genuine NICE guy who has never snapped back at the slaps he has gotten in the press. He also has made a good living on Broadway and in voice-over work when it was looked down on by celebrities. Now everyone is doing it and it's admirable.
Mark has never gotten the credit he deserved for making the original SW films as culturally immortal as they are- but HIS is the face, and the name, most associated with SW the world over.
He has his immortality, which I doubt anyone from the prequel films will achieve.The constant derision is undeserved .
I agree with Steyn about the film, but the cheap shot at Mark was reprehensible.


123 posted on 06/01/2005 4:08:35 PM PDT by ClearBlueSky (Whenever someone says it's not about Islam-it's about Islam. Jesus loves you, Allah wants you dead!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: safeasthebanks
Have you seen this spoof trailer? I think you would enjoy it...SWE3: A Lost Hope
124 posted on 06/01/2005 4:17:16 PM PDT by StrictTime (Shameless BUMP for Taglinus FreeRepublicus!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 106 | View Replies]

To: I still care

"To me, the greatness lies in the theme (as I see it) - the fall, salvation, and redemption through love. The related tie in of good vs evil, in epic terms. That is why although it has new age overtones, Christians tend to react strongly to it."

But according to Obi-Wan, "only Siths think in moral absolutes". So then what is good and what is evil? Lucas destroyed the whole premise to Star Wars with that line! That was one of the dumbest moments of the latest Star Wars.


125 posted on 06/01/2005 4:25:01 PM PDT by dmanLA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone

BTTT - Unexcerpted, and you are a sweetie!


126 posted on 06/01/2005 4:26:54 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I'm a shallow, demagoguic sectarian because it's easier than working for a living.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Anoreth

Ping post #9 on this Thread, Mark Steyn, the greatest writer in the English language, does Ep. III.


127 posted on 06/01/2005 4:37:33 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I'm a shallow, demagoguic sectarian because it's easier than working for a living.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]

To: ClearBlueSky
Mark Hamill did do an excellent episode of The Simpsons, "Mayored to the Mob". One of my favorites! (and MH was very good, poking fun at his career, etc.)Image hosted by Photobucket.com

--Meanwhile, on stage, Mark, wearing his Skywalker costume with a top
hat, does another song.

Hamill: Luke, be a Jedi tonight!
Just be a Jedi tonight!
Hamill & Chorus: Do it for Yoda, while we serve our guests a soda.
Hamill: Uh, and do it for Chewie and the Ewoks, and all the
other puppets ...
Hamill & Chorus: Luke, be a Jedi tonight!
-- "Mayored to the Mob"

128 posted on 06/01/2005 4:41:02 PM PDT by StrictTime (Shameless BUMP for Taglinus FreeRepublicus!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 123 | View Replies]

To: Xenalyte

I love Jimmy Smits. He's grown so robust and dignified since "L.A. Law" ... the action figures I saw in Wal-mart today cracked me up :-).


129 posted on 06/01/2005 4:52:36 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I'm a shallow, demagoguic sectarian because it's easier than working for a living.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
Star Wars will do for them what it did for Harrison Ford. Instead, Lucas turns everyone he touches into Mark Hamill.

Ouch!!

130 posted on 06/01/2005 5:00:42 PM PDT by Lx (Do you like it, do you like it Scott? I call it Mr. and Mrs. Tennerman chili.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc

One of the problems with ROTS was that Lucas apparently couldn't keep his philosophies straight. Anakin killing Dooku when told to because he was too dangerous was part of the path to the dark side. But apparently begging Mace Windu not to kill the Emperor even though he was too dangerous was also part of his path to the dark side.

He also alternates between "Only the sith deal in absolutes" and "the sith are evil!".


131 posted on 06/01/2005 5:12:12 PM PDT by Sofa King (MY rights are not subject to YOUR approval.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dmanLA

See 131


132 posted on 06/01/2005 5:15:19 PM PDT by Sofa King (MY rights are not subject to YOUR approval.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 125 | View Replies]

To: Radix

"Life Of Bryan" has pretty much nothing to do with Jesus whatsoever. The movie is about a jew who joins and anti-roman resistance group, and winds up getting crucified in the end. There is, IIRC, only one portrayal of Jesus in the entire movie and all he's doing is preaching on a hill.


133 posted on 06/01/2005 5:23:45 PM PDT by Sofa King (MY rights are not subject to YOUR approval.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 93 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc
SPOILER ALERT

Did anyone else pick up on the "Wise Sith" story that Palapatine told Anakin. Seems there was a wise old Sith who was so powerful that he could use the force to create life. He taught his apprentice everything he knew and was subsequently bumped off in his sleep by said apprentice.

Palapatine never claims to have been that apprentice, but his familiarity with the story and the smile that plays about his lips as he "remembers" it led my wife and I to believe that he is claiming to have been the one who created Anakin, since Anakin's mom claims immaculate conception in Episode One. Did any one else get that?

134 posted on 06/01/2005 5:27:35 PM PDT by Crusher138 (Support capitalism. Shop, buy, rinse, repeat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PzLdr

Bump to what you said...and this:

"Oh, put a lightsabre in it, will you? The allegedly anti-Bush ‘subtext’ has won Lucas the unlikely approval of the Cannes Film Festival crowd, but honestly: how desperate do you have to be to applaud mockery of Bush for seeing everything in black and white from a guy who’s spent 28 years peddling a fairytale so basic the good guys and the bad guys are called the Good Side and the Dark Side."

Steyn is to column wordsmithing what Alexander was to world conquest.


135 posted on 06/01/2005 5:31:46 PM PDT by LibertarianInExile (<-- sick of faux-conservatives who want federal government intervention for 'conservative things.')
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: Crusher138
since Anakin's mom claims immaculate conception in Episode One.

Er, that would be "Virgin Birth," i.e., conception by a means other than sexual intercourse. In Catholic and Orthodox theology, "Immaculate Conception" refers to the Virgin Mary's being conceived by natural means, but (miraculously) without Original Sin.

(/theological quibble)

Thanks for the thought ... my kids, my mom, and I will be seeing the movie next week, and I will watch for the scene you mention!

136 posted on 06/01/2005 5:31:51 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I'm a shallow, demagoguic sectarian because it's easier than working for a living.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 134 | View Replies]

To: kaylar
I hated DiCaprio in Titanic. I thought he was a sappy actor.

Then I saw him in "Catch Me If You Can." Excellent film. Much better acting. He's off my "sucks" list.

137 posted on 06/01/2005 5:34:31 PM PDT by TheWriterTX (Proud Retosexual Wife of 12 Years)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Miles the Slasher

The Ewoks were truely lame. However, I'd fix it by giving the feeling there were about 100 times as many of them as there seemed to be in the original, and including some scenes of mass Ewok casualties. (Easy enough to do with CGI.)


138 posted on 06/01/2005 5:34:36 PM PDT by The_Reader_David (Christ is Risen! Christos Anesti! Khristos Voskrese! Al-Masih Qam! Hristos a Inviat!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: Tax-chick

Can you tell I was raised Protestant?


139 posted on 06/01/2005 5:36:30 PM PDT by Crusher138 (Support capitalism. Shop, buy, rinse, repeat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 136 | View Replies]

To: Crusher138

Plenty of Catholics make the same mistake :-). I'm a Definition Fanatic.


140 posted on 06/01/2005 5:39:05 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I'm a shallow, demagoguic sectarian because it's easier than working for a living.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 139 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160161-177 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson