[ArcLight]

No, I'm not the post office guy, but we have remarkably similar tastes. Including the part about Palpatine. Actually, I'd go further. The guy positively steals the show. It's like he's the only member of the cast that can really act. More likely, he's the only one with enough chops to transcend the material. Palpatine gets a lot of screen time in this flick, and he's the most fully rounded, credible character in the movie. Maybe in any of the Star Wars movies, ever. Really good work.

[LAURENTIJ]

I have a feeling that ROTS will make ROTJ appear much stronger... With the Vader issues and the Emperor doing his thing again.

[spinestein]

[...about Palpatine. Actually, I'd go further. The guy positively steals the show. It's like he's the only member of the cast that can really act.]



Is he a better actor than that kid who played the "Manakin" character from The Phantom Menace?

:^)

[Maigrey]

If you recall, Ian MacDermid(sp?) is a classical British actor, and has maintained the role for 30 years. He's got a lock on how to make the Emperor a nasty (ahem!) which is what makes it so grim.

I am soooo anxious to see it.

[Yardstick]

You're making me want to see this film!

I was at Walmart the other day and they had a wall of TV's in the electronics section playing Empire Strikes Back. I stood there for a while watching and thinking about how the Star Wars movies used to be really good, once upon a time. The last few were so mediocre that I had kind of given up on the series. Sounds like this one might be worth seeing.

Quick question: are they still using lots of computer animation? Someone told me they heard that Lucas was going back to using models for this film, which I think would be great.

One of my favorite things about the early Star Wars movies was their use of models. I think especially of the snow walkers in Empire Strikes Back -- oh man, so cool. Models gave the those movies a certain feel that was totally lost with CGI the stuff. For some reason the slight unrealisticness of the models is less bothersome to me than that of CGI. With both you can tell that what you're seeing is "not quite real", but somehow I'm more willing to suspend my disbelief with models. CGI makes me want to nitpick. In a row of computer-modelled droid warriors, I start looking to see which ones are cut-and-paste copies of each other. Sometimes it's all a little too neat and perfect. With models, I know that the Lucas knows that I know he's using models -- there's really no hiding it -- so it's like there's an understanding from the outset that stuff's not going to look perfectly real. You know you're seeing models but you appreciate the technique.