Why I like the prequels (part one- TPM)
#17
Posted 19 August 2004 - 01:42 PM
I look forward to seeing him/her again!
Buy the New LittleHorse CD, Strangers in the Valley!
CD Baby | iTunes | LittleHorse - Flight of the Bumblebee Video
Chefelf on: Twitter | friendfeed | Jaiku | Bitstrips | Muxtape | Mento | MySpace | Flickr | YouTube | LibraryThing
#18
Posted 19 August 2004 - 02:00 PM
#19
Posted 19 August 2004 - 03:04 PM
Yes, well, I agree with you there - Luke sounds like a five-year-old having a tantrum. It's quite an achievement that the dialogue in the Prequels manages to be even worse.
- J m HofMarN on the Sand People
#22
Posted 19 August 2004 - 07:08 PM
Japan!
"may be sleeping, working, attending school."
er...the first one.
kind of only just got up in fact and i see ive got my work cut out for me here. i'll get around to it soon though. thanks for the responses everyone.
#23
Posted 19 August 2004 - 08:44 PM
no, just kidding... you made some good points.
however...
i found the plot to focus on the obvious and unimportant, and lacking in true depth. the coversations in ANH between Luke and Obi wan gives us more information and fed my imagination a million times more than ep1 and 2 together...
Palpatine....
yeah... I dug... McDarmids cool! but that last line was a bit cheesy...
Qui-Gon...
also a nice guy. I think everything his character was, disrupted the potential flow of the overall story and was detrimental to other relationships that should have been cultivated...
on the other hand... he seemed like a really nice guy. like someone you would want to know, and anything wrong with him will not manifest in any hatred for his role personally. he's just a nice guy...
the conversation...
hmmm... i don't know. i could never pay adequate attention to anything but Jar Jars antics... This is the one moment that i can be truly justified in blaming on him. he bent that scene over and raped it!!!
welcom aboard by the way...
Also: The Chefelf.com Lord of the Rings | RoBUTZ (a primative webcomic) | KOTOR 1 NPC profiles |
Music: HYPOID (industrial rock) | Spectrox Toxemia (Death Metal) | Cannibalingus (80s style thrash metal) | Wasabi Nose Bleed (Exp.Techno) | DeadfeeD (Exp.Ambient) |||(more to come)
#24
Posted 21 August 2004 - 11:03 PM
I kind of see where you got your first point. Yeah, the cuts at least all made sense and flowed to an extent and didn't lose anyone. However its the actual plot and believability and quality I'm angry about. It's not really an in-your-face bad movie.
Palpatine was insane. Maybe his acting was ok but the whole plot around him was vastly over-complicated and his origins were never really made clear in the first place. He raised three seperate armies just to gain control of the republic. His minions were not at all interesting or threatening, and in the case of Dooku they were just straight up confusing. And what exactly is it that Palpatine does wrong to make him a villain? So far he's just been talking to some slimy aliens and chatting with lame sub-villains. And let's not forget the force clouding.
I did indeed like Qui Gon but as has been said there was no reason for his existence and his death meant nothing to me because his character hadn't done anything especially endearing. What would have worked better would be if Qui Gon had been a Jedi Knight traveling with (rather than training) Obi Wan and Qui Gon had had some involvement with Shmi skywalker and promised her and Anakin that he would return and free her and all the slaves on Tatooine. That way his death would have represented a problem other than who was going to baby sit the kid.
And no, there was nothing that Anakin did that I really liked.
Quote
#25
Posted 24 August 2004 - 12:06 PM
- In the first film, STAR WARS, there is a single climactic action scene, the attack on the Death Star.
- In the second, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, there are two action scenes, a lightsaber duel and a chase to rescue Han from the bounty hunter. These occur simultaneously and are brought together narratively with a kind of grace.
- in the third, THE RETURN OF THE JEDI, there are three action sequences cross-cut together: a battle on the moon of Endor, a naval battle between the Rebellion and the Empire, and a battle of wills (and lightsabers) on board the Death Star. These work together in a means-and-ends way, since the battle in space relies on the outcome of the battle on Endor, and the two partner to threaten the outcome of the duel on the Death Star. They are a symbiant circle, if you like, of action scenes.
- in the fourth film, THE PHANTOM MENACE, we are treated to four separate climaxes: Will Padme catch Nute Gunray or whoever the fuck she's chasing; will Anakin, WHO SHOULDN'T EVEN BE ON THE PLANET FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, do something important in the fighter plane he stumbles into; will the Gungun survive the battle for Naboo; will the two Jedi successfulkly gang up on Peter Kris from KISS? Needless to say, none of these action scenes is intersting or given any dimension, since the cutting is more important than the action.
- the fifth film failed me. I've asked a number of people, and all insist that no, Lucas does not cross-cut five actions scenes together. I am so disappointed by that; words cannot say. I had hoped that he would keep up the trend into the sequels, and the final installment could have a nine-screen split like in the Brady Bunch, maybe with characters crossing from one scene/frame to another like in TIME CODE. Man that would have kicked ass.
The other aspects of the direction, like the shot composition and the characterization, are just fine, except for the characterization.
2. Palpatine sucks. he's like the old man in the Scooby Doo episode who tells the group how the monster works: that guy was always the villain. Palpatine was transparent enough that kids who hadn't read the epigraph to the STAR WARS novelization still git that he was secretly that Sith guy. Come on.
3. I really liked the scene where Qui Gon left the Gun gun city and he broke down, looking back at all the other little toads and realizing that he'd only saved Jar Jar. The way he broke down and wept "I could have saved one more..." It really burned me that Tom Hanks and Tommy Lee Jones went on to get the Academy Awards that year, by the way.
4. The dinner? Is this the sceen where Qui Gon grabs Jar Jar's tongue? You have to be kidding about that one. This isn't THE LEOPARD; noone will ever remember the scene where all the characters sat down and ate.
Anyway, keep 'em coming jariten. so far I agree with you on all of these.
#26
Posted 24 August 2004 - 12:32 PM
1
It has always been my assertation on this site that TPM is a good idea executed badll. The thing I do like about TPM is that the plot and overall structure is very simple and condensed........TPM is not an "over the top" movie like some blockbusters are.
I disagree with the multiple stories......TPM is really about the Jedis rescuing and helping Amidala get back her world.
When you think about it, Star Wars OT films never had multiple stories.......they were essentially one story line of Luke and his quest to become a Jedi Knight that "tiered" itself by having cast members separate themselves and later rejoin. "ex. Empire splits Luke of from Leia & Han then the return together at the end of the film.
TPM does not have multiple stories.
With the first movie yes, they do a good job showing him as a weasily politician with a hidden agenda. But for my taste they could have done his entrance into the story a little more subtely. Hell they practically almost have a sign over his head saying "I"M THE EMPEROR, YOU BLIND DUMB FOOLS!!!!!"
But I fail to see "any" sign of character development in the second film...considering BAIL ORGANA HAD MORE SCREEN TIME THAN HE DID!!!!!
This is just idiotic of Lucas to build up Palpatine's character and then practically turn him into a bit characte in Episode II.
I hate Qui-Gon for this eason;
He is an unnesecary character in the trilogy. All he does plot wise is introduce Anakin to Obi-Wan. Know how dumb is that? All of Qui-Gon's lines and actions..........could of and should have gone to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Qui Gon Jinn is so useless a character..........that he is completetly forgotten about in the second movie.
Qui-Gon took up screen space and actions from a more important Character in Obi-Wan.
In short, Qui-Gon {like Jar-Jar, Dooku & Mace Windau} are unnecessary characters taking up screen time from more important characters.
im kind of pressed for time, but ive got a lot more to write about, so ill add more later (sebulba, watto, the senate scene, the neimoidians, the battle droids etc. etc.)
Not a bad scene. Although Anakin's acts too much like a typical 21st century 10 year old. His performance and acting limits
#28
Posted 24 August 2004 - 09:54 PM
Well, consider Lucas added the Palpatine/Anikan scene as an AFTERTHOUGHT; in post.
I liked Qui-gon. Neeson brought weight to the film and that's why he was there. Unneccesary character? Uh, Yeah. But Lucas probably just added him to give some credence to the cast (think Sir Alec, or Cushing. Worked once.) If not Liam, who else? Hanks? One of the Godfather guys? It was just like using Brando in Superman. Not neccessary, but I gots money to spend. How else can I get some gravitas with this bullsh!t script?
#29
Posted 24 August 2004 - 11:30 PM
I like Qui-Gon, too, he's the only character with... well.. character... but his presence musses up too many things from the OT (like Obi-Wan finding Anakin), and Lucas didn't need a "star name" for crying out loud--he had something very few directors ever get---a built-in audience! Guiness and Cushing were only used because the studio insisted... at the time SW was unheard of, and they would bring fans of those known actors to the film. Lucas absolutely did NOT need to do this--not one damned bit!!!
The personality quirks of Qui-Gon were close enough to the Obi-Wan we knew in the OT that they could've been given to the PT Obi-Wan.
So much waste. So much. I don't want to hate Lucas anymore. I'm so sick and tired of this..
Okay, I'm going to bed.
#30
Posted 25 August 2004 - 09:29 AM
Obi Wan's character was necessary to the story.
General Moff Tarkin was a supporting character.
Liam Neeson's acting in TPM, was some of the most wooden acting I have ever seen in Star Wars. Emotionless.
Neeson almost looks bored in the role.
Sir Alec, nearly stole the show in Star Wars A New Hope. He looked spry, confident, and fit in perfectly with the cast and the surroundings.