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Was it really THAT BAD??

#16 User is offline   Revan-47 Icon

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Posted 06 July 2005 - 10:31 AM

The phantom menace bad? no way! dry.gif

This post has been edited by Revan-47: 06 July 2005 - 10:32 AM

"Life is too important to be taken seriously."
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#17 User is offline   ernesttomlinson Icon

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Posted 08 July 2005 - 04:04 AM

I think Episode I is moderately entertaining. Jar Jar is painful to watch sometimes but, when you think about it, there are worse things in TPM (e.g. the two-headed podrace play-by-play guy, "Yippee!!", and the accidental blowing-up of the droid command ship come to mind.) On the other hand you've got Liam Neeson; Ewan McGregor showing the occasional flash of humour - not many to be sure; Ray Park in cool black-and-red makeup; and that wonderful moment when Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Maul are all trapped apart from each other and waiting to resume the fight. (Yes, the setup is contrived, but it's still a good scene.) I can imagine watching Episode I again some night with my mate and a few cold ones.

If any of the prequels is THAT BAD it's Episode II. There are a number of reasons but one is fatal: Anakin is, from start to finish, such a noisome creep that it's impossible to work up any sympathy for him. Spending a whole movie with him is agony.

This post has been edited by ernesttomlinson: 08 July 2005 - 04:06 AM

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#18 User is offline   WalkingCarpet Icon

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Posted 08 July 2005 - 04:34 AM

Choosing whether to watch TPM or AOTC is like choosing which testicle you'd prefer to have hacked off.
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#19 User is offline   darth_newmacer Icon

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Posted 08 July 2005 - 04:40 AM

QUOTE (WalkingCarpet @ Jul 8 2005, 03:34 AM)
Choosing whether to watch TPM or AOTC is like choosing which testicle you'd prefer to have hacked off.


WalkingCarpet, that is the best analogy I've ever heard! Good Job! biggrin.gif
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#20 User is offline   Failureboy2 Icon

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Posted 08 July 2005 - 06:39 AM

By the way, the saber fights got worse and worse as the PT unfolded. It's like each one gets longer and longer and more pointless. There's this moment during Anakin vs. Obiwan when they're a foot away from each other and they, like...ninja-twirl their sabers for a couple seconds, and then clash. It's so stupid. It makes you aware you're watching choreography. I'm watching the scene and I'm like, "stab him in the goddam stomach, Obiwan!"

Maybe the fights in the OT lacked some zip (especially in ANH) but at least it's easier to believe the characters are trying to hurt each other. Remember how Vader kept swinging at Luke in Cloud City? It's a sword FIGHT, for crying out loud! Not a dance! angry.gif
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#21 User is offline   CowboyCurtis Icon

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Posted 10 July 2005 - 08:37 AM

Even if you don't take the OT into account, TPM is still a bad movie. The villains' motivation is weak, their purpose unclear, there is silly logic everywhere. Characters are boring or annoying.

It is a bad movie. A really well made movie with heaps of modern, expensive special effects, but it is still a bad movie.
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Battle for the Galaxy--read the "other Star Wars"

All I know is I haven't seen the real prequels yet.
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#22 User is offline   Lord Melkor Icon

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Posted 24 July 2005 - 07:44 AM

This movie entertained me greatly. I watched it many times on VHS 5 years ago, and I was having fun. Now I don't care, but I still remember it as nice fairy-tale.
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#23 User is offline   EwokHunter Icon

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Posted 30 August 2005 - 07:07 PM

It was really bad, only excepting Darth Maul and Qui-Gon
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#24 User is offline   Bissrok Icon

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Posted 06 July 2006 - 12:51 AM

I just watched this movie again last night, gotta say, I was blown away with how terrible this movie was. I mean, I remembered it was bad, but this completely caught me off guard. I was even watching the Phantom Edit version.

Before I thought it was just Anakin and Jar Jar, but even with most of their scenes and dialoge cut out, it was just painful to watch. I was tempted to turn it off the entire time. Not only did it not pull me into the story, it felt like it continuely forced me out of it.

All the dialoge, all of the plot, all of the characters, all of the special effects, the camera angles, the lighting, etc... Garbage. The Phantom Edit did a decent job with the material they had, but damn, there's no helping this mess.

Darth Maul was sort of cool. For a minute there I had a new found respect for the character. Then he got killed by Obi-Wan... who was unarmed and hanging onto a light, ten feet below in a pit.

The PT is now, and forever more, a seperate piece of work all together. As far as I'm concerned it has nothing to do with Star Wars or the EU. It's a very poor fan film.

This post has been edited by Bissrok: 06 July 2006 - 12:53 AM

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#25 User is offline   darth_paul Icon

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Posted 07 July 2006 - 04:20 PM

The PT isn't it's own work, it does fit with the OT. Sure there are a lot of inconsistencies, but there are many how shall I put it, "homage scenes" that if you have seen the OT make you think back to those scenes. One example is the fight between Count Dooku and Anikin in AOTC, it's very similar to Luke and Vader's fight in ROTJ. Things like that, while some think are cheesy, I think are rather cool. It's a parallel. Sort of a "History repeats itself" kind of thing. Instead of ripping apart every nuance of every film if you just looked at all six of them as the "Big Picture" then you'd start to be able to pick things apart not cynically, but positively.
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#26 User is offline   Despondent Icon

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Posted 07 July 2006 - 05:03 PM

Ok, fine. I'll look at it collectively:

Star Wasr Sucks big green ones.
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#27 User is offline   Jedi_1138 Icon

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Posted 08 July 2006 - 02:57 PM

Was TPM really that bad? Yes, it was. Period.

Could you enjoy the PT if you never watched one of the OT movies? Yes, you could. But, you see: Star Wars was about Luke, Vader, Han, Leia & Chewie long before Qui Gong even appeared. The lightsaber duells may be better choreographed then the ones in the OT. But I agree with some of the other posters: in the OT they look more menacing and dangerous. Plus, in the OT, things where seldom black and white. The duells where always a personal thing, and that was what made them interesting.

And talking about eye candy: that may be a value for a computer game. But in a movie, I want to be entertained by conflicts and drama of the characters. That's why the OT is classic.
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#28 User is offline   Harmonica Icon

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Posted 09 July 2006 - 08:05 AM

The main problem with The Phantom Menace was that it was a couple steps forward and then a rocket-propelled train-ride backwards for the Universal Balance of Cool. Sure, we got a faster paced lightsaber battle and pretty new explosions, but the most important aspect of the movie, The Rad Factor, is all but nonexistent in The Phantom Menace.

Since all forms of Radness or saying one movie is "Good" or "Bad" may only ever be demonstrated when compared to other movies, I'm gonna use Star Wars as a reference point, seeing as how the ass who created it claims it's all one cohesive picture (and all the money on those movie tickets and action figures are ending up in the same pit). These are as unbiased examples as you'll ever find.

1. Star Wars had a villain with the ability to crush your trachea just by thinking about it or using his bare, robotic hands. Kids and adults of all ages may appreciate this ability.

The Phantom Menace had several Frog-like men with Mock Foreign Accents and a guy who with red and black tattoos. In comparison, none of this is even remotely rad.

2. Star Wars had Chewie, a mobile shag carpet who walked with the perpetual tension that he would rip someone's limbs off. Which is totally awesome.

The Phantom Menace had Jar Jar, a Frog-like man who walked with the perpetual tension of getting into mild trouble and/or falling down. Which is totally un-awesome.

3. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan cuts the arm off a walking walrus and it falls to the ground and bleeds! Actual, real, authentic fake blood!

In Episode I, Obi-Wan cuts Darth Maul in half and yet there is no blood at all. Cop-outs are most uncool.

4. The good one had a death toll somewhere in the two hundreds on-screen (and a couple billion implied). That's a pretty good deal for a sci-fi movie.

Episode I had about twenty real deaths, and a bunch of droids reduced to scrap. That's a lame deal.

I could go on, but it's plain to see even impartially that the Flanneled One fashioned movies which, when held to the light of the Originals (or hell, most other movies), are not even shallow imitations.

Personally, I found that watching Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace was like having white hot ice picks driven into my eyesockets repeatedly for several hours. And even if it wasn't actually That Bad, people should never watch movies that merely aren't That Bad. Why watch inferior Star Wars Lite when the Concentrated Awesome of the movies that started it all are availible? I don't see the logic of accepting substitutes. Especially when the substitutes send the message that a film featuring not one speck of carnage can still make inordinate amounts of cash. Thanks a lot for killing the massive bloodbaths of the 80s, and reducing the Coolness in the World, George. dry.gif

So, frankly, yes. It was that bad, and even if it wasn't, life is still too short and too precious to waste time or money watching that film.

QUOTE
The PT is now, and forever more, a seperate piece of work all together. As far as I'm concerned it has nothing to do with Star Wars or the EU. It's a very poor fan film.


Amen to that.
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#29 User is offline   CowboyCurtis Icon

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Posted 09 July 2006 - 10:32 AM

I try to put that into perspective. I play 'what if' with movies all time, so here, I pretend the OT never existed, I pretend that the PT is a new movie, a new series, and then try to go from there.

Okay, first off, I would think it was wildly creative, but that crawl would still bore me to tears and make me wonder how one could ever make a plot point out of something stupid as that.

"Glowing swords," people with mind abilities, physically enhanced by an unseen power. However, with PT, I would've already hated the droids and their "behavior." I would've hated the fact that they were "scared" of the Jedi. That makes ZERO sense to me. I would still hate Jar Jar Binks. I would still think he was one of the most annoying characters in the universe, and a possible stereotype. I would not like Watto either, and I would think that Jake was still annoying as hell. I would still think Natalie Portman was imitating wood, and wood would still get the Oscar before she ever did.

I would still think some of the design work was questionable on things (long-winged carrier vessels? How do they store all of those things on the Federation ship? Wouldn't it make more sense to make them more "stackable" to make more space? Nitpick, yes, but still would hate it.

Still would find Jar Jar's lack of worth annoying as he doesn't "guide" them anywhere. Would still hate all of his pratfalls and stepping in poo. Would still find the pod race a hinderance to the overall story. Would still question the Sith's motive, and would look for the reason why the "Seek revenge" in the later movies (and would be summarily disappointed when the explanation is never given).

Would still be bothered by the "power generator" room which is just off the hangar, not have any corresponding structure to house it on the exterior shots---where did it come from, a pocket dimension? All of these little questions would really just disrupt my sense of suspension. One or two I could allow, but when they start piling up, then we've got problems.

I still would hate Anakin "accidently" blowing up the ship. Still would think Anakin was a nooj for asking what will happen to him during the funeral. Oy. Still wouldn't be all impressed with the fakey Yoda puppet.

There would be so many little things in this film, plus a couple of bigger things that would not completely satisfy me. Again, I would think it was inventive and creative and probably wish it had done just a little "more," and the following movies would've had me scratching my head....

(I'm really trying to mbe honest in perception of this)
Flying Ferret

Battle for the Galaxy--read the "other Star Wars"

All I know is I haven't seen the real prequels yet.
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#30 User is offline   Weezer12 Icon

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Posted 09 July 2006 - 11:45 AM

Hey Curtis, can you get around to checking your PM's?
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