Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[dcowboy7]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

I saw a 2AM screening opening night, and it was exactly the same. The crowd cheered when the fox logo appeared, seemingly to the beat of the drums, but by the time the credits ran the clapping and reaction seemed forced as if everyone wanted to like it, but at the same time didn't know what to think. A nervous yet somber energy was in the air.

Maybe they were too busy thinking "why am i sitting in a stupid movie theatre at 5 in the morning when i could be sleeping in a nice bed."

[MCT]

the most damning thing I can say about TPM is....I fell asleep on it. On opening night.

I was at the height of my Star Wars fandom. I was 19 years old, fresh out of high school and in my first year of college. My friend and I were hyped as hell about the movie. I did all my homework prior to the films release, and by the time the movie started, you could feel the electricity in the theater. All of a sudden the lights go low, the Lucasfilm logo comes on....BAM! The theme music! Holy shit! New Star Wars movie! F**K YEAH! Everyone clapping and high-fiving each other. We were pumped.

A little over an hour later, my boy is nudging me, telling me to wake up. I couldn't believe it. I woke up just in time to catch the Obi/Maul fight. Up to that point, everything was just a colossal letdown. I was so...bored. When Jar Jar hopped on screen, you could feel all the energy being sucked out of the room. Easily the biggest disappointment I've seen ever, at least for something I was anticipating so much. Only thing that comes close is Spider Man 3 and the mangling of Venom's character.

[The Doof]

I've been digging through the deleted scenes of the PT. So pissed off. I have a defective set. Somehow raw footage of the new Seth Green SW sitcom got switched with the deleted scenes!!! How can this happen? Where is the quality control Lucasfilm?!!

One the plus side, the new SW sitcom looks pretty funny:

"We're losing power!" (punches one single blue button 100 times)

"BEEP BOOP BEEP! That means up!"

"Rah-jer..."

"RAH-GER!"

"Don't fall to your death! Grab my BOOT!"

HAHAHA!

Pretty good!

[Stinky-Dinkins]

Originally Posted by MCT

the most damning thing I can say about TPM is....I fell asleep on it. On opening night.

I was so friggin' psyched when I first went to see it, and I remember I thought it was going to be so awesome after the Obi Wan / Qui Gon opening scene. Then the movie went to Hell so fast it made my head spin..... Jar Jar (ridiculous,) the young Anakin (unbearable,) the whole useless pod racing storyline... the list goes on and on. I mean, people in the theater were actually laughing at Jar Jar. Not laughing because at parts that were intended to be funny, more at how ridiculously asinine the movie clearly was even during its serious moments. When they met that giant Frog King thing in that underwater kingdom place, and he started shaking his head, slobbering, and making ridiculous noises like a mental patient I still remember to this day my buddy leaning over and saying " ****ing A, man." That said it all.

I just remember feeling deflated.

Luckily, by the time I saw the 2nd one, that one being even more terrible didn't come as nearly such a surprise.

[nathan_393]

TPM is a terrible movie.

It's also a guilty pleasure of mine - but that's because I saw it when I was 9 or 10 years old and didn't care at the time. I still enjoy it on a purely nostalgic, fun level.

EDIT: AOTC is way worse. I hate that movie.

[MCT]

AOTC is a giant XBOX cutscene with real humans spliced into the foreground.....and it leaves me cold every time I see it....but the last 20-30 minutes are inexplicably fun to me. It's all utterly pointless, right on down to the Yoda fight, but it entertains me. Defies logic to me.

[The Doof]

Originally Posted by Stinky-Dinkins

I was so friggin' psyched when I first went to see it, and I remember I thought it was going to be so awesome after the Obi Wan / Qui Gon opening scene. Then the movie went to Hell so fast it made my head spin..... Jar Jar (ridiculous,) the young Anakin (unbearable,) the whole useless pod racing storyline... the list goes on and on. I mean, people in the theater were actually laughing at Jar Jar. Not laughing because at parts that were intended to be funny, more at how ridiculously asinine the movie clearly was even during its serious moments. When they met that giant Frog King thing in that underwater kingdom place, and he started shaking his head, slobbering, and making ridiculous noises like a mental patient I still remember to this day my buddy leaning over and saying " ****ing A, man." That said it all.

I just remember feeling deflated.

Luckily, by the time I saw the 2nd one, that one being even more terrible didn't come as nearly such a surprise.

it was a truly sad, depressing experience. I have never felt more people try so hard to convince themselves something truly awful was actually good. You could actually feel it around you. The internal struggle of 200 people.

it's funny, but with AOTC I actually thought it at least FELT more like a SW movie. But it still sucked. The crazy thing is that the trailers were so god - (not GL) - damned great. There were lines in the trailers that made me laugh out loud and get excited all over again. Obi-Wan's "Nice Job" quip - in the trailer - was really funny. In the movie - totally flat. Same with the "Anakin! How many times have I told you.....stay away from the power couplings." In the trailer, a truly funny bit of interaction between the two. In the film, totally, amazingly flat. Subtle differences in pacing, rhythm, music and sfx, but enough to ruin the film versions imo. Just using music from the OT makes any PT scene better instantly.

Studying the two versions is an exceptional lesson in good film technique and editing. I often refer to them to remind myself of this. If Lucas had brought even half of the fun and energy of the TRAILERS to the actual film, it would have worked and made everyone happy, not just that Beast dude (who is really GL).

But after watching it again, the one redeeming feature of the TPM is katie Lucas' braces. thank god those didn't get digitally removed. Because if you are a slave owner, you want to make sure your slaves have a good dental plan.

[Beast]

Originally Posted by MCT

the most damning thing I can say about TPM is....I fell asleep on it. On opening night.

Heh. Sorry to hear that. I saw it on opening night. And then 3 times the following day.

Loved it more and more each time. And everyone I went with loved it also. So it's a shame to see so many people who didn't enjoy it.

Every showing there was a massive cheer at the start and a round of applause at the end. It wasn't until the net that I saw people who didn't like it.

[The Doof]

Originally Posted by Beast

Heh. Sorry to hear that. I saw it on opening night. And then 3 times the following day.

Loved it more and more each time. And everyone I went with loved it also. So it's a shame to see so many people who didn't enjoy it.

Every showing there was a massive cheer at the start and a round of applause at the end. It wasn't until the net that I saw people who didn't like it.

That's because you were watching it with all of your employees and family at Skywalker ranch!

[Stinky-Dinkins]

When it comes to crazy conspiracy theories about Beast's true identity I'm totally in the Billy Dee Williams camp. I've convinced myself to the point where every time he posts I swear I can hear the light rustling of his mustache.

[goldenrod]

Originally Posted by The Doof

Same with the "Anakin! How many times have I told you.....stay away from the power couplings."

I never understood the validity of that phrase. They are following a killer, what should Anakin do, let Zam go and try to catch her while taking another route to avoid passing through these power couplings?

After the disappointment that was TPM, not that I hate the movie, because it was spoiled before it even hit the theatre: in the teaser trailer, we see the face of the new villain and worse of all, his double-bladed lightsaber. I think it's in the trailer, we see Qui-gon and Obi-Wan fighting against Maul then obly Obi-Wan vs. maul to finish the trailer with Obi-Wan screaming "Nooooooooooooooooooooo". What could that mean???? flash-forward to TPM soundtrack: Qui-Gon's funeral... that's what that "Nooooooooooo" meant. Oh look, Jabba is in the movie. Anakin's shadow on the poster is vader??? (Ok I knew who vader was). All the promotion material used Maul....... my hopes were high with AOTC, until I saw too many pictures spoiling the movie, so...

I downloaded the screenplay and reading it. I was WOW, that'll be a great SW film, perhaps topping TESB. But there were scenes omitted in that screenplay (it was even written scene omitted in it) then the same night I was at the midnight showing and some thing I read wasn't there and the omitted scene played, hated the movie since then. The droid factory scene. How can C-3PO can fall on a platform and grab it to not fall..... still can't stand that scene. So, AOTC is ranked #6 on my list of SW movies.

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by Beast

Heh. Sorry to hear that. I saw it on opening night. And then 3 times the following day.

Loved it more and more each time. And everyone I went with loved it also. So it's a shame to see so many people who didn't enjoy it.

Every showing there was a massive cheer at the start and a round of applause at the end. It wasn't until the net that I saw people who didn't like it.

Yeha it's shame alright ...... that Lucas couldn't come up with something better than that after all those years. I won't force myself to like something because of a name. On a postive note, Episode 1: Racer videogame was very good. The best part about phantom menace personally was the existence of that game.

Of course now, Lucas made sure to force the PT down our throats whether we like it or not by altering the OT to include PT references. Can't watch OT as a single self-contained entity anymore. And why not? All Star Trek series are still self contained. I can ignore Enterprise to my hearts content for example. I can enjoy the reboot Star Trek movie franchise and not care about canon because they had an alternate timeline created to get around it. It's great.

[Beast]

Originally Posted by Hatter

Yeha it's shame alright ...... that Lucas couldn't come up with something better than that after all those years. I won't force myself to like something because of a name.

I didn't need something better. It surpassed everything I wanted from a Star Wars film.
And that's not from forcing myself to like it. Especially given my opinions of AotC and ANH.
Maybe I didn't go into it with expectations of what "Should Happen", and just went along for the ride.

Of course now, Lucas made sure to force the PT down our throats whether we like it or not by altering the OT to include PT references. Can't watch OT as a single self-contained entity anymore. And why not? All Star Trek series are still self contained. I can ingore Enterprise to my hearts content for example.

Sure you can. You can watch the Betamax, VHS, Laserdisc, or DVDs of the original versions.
But regardless, the OT was NEVER a single self-contained entity. It's all part of the whole.

All Star Trek series are not self contained. Might want to take a look at all those guest stars.

[El_Jay]

Originally Posted by Beast

I didn't need something better. It surpassed everything I wanted from a Star Wars film.
And that's not from forcing myself to like it. Especially given my opinions of AotC and ANH.
Maybe I didn't go into it with expectations of what "Should Happen", and just went along for the ride.

Sure you can. You can watch the Betamax, VHS, Laserdisc, or DVDs of the original versions.
But regardless, the OT was NEVER a single self-contained entity. It's all part of the whole.

All Star Trek series are not self contained. Might want to take a look at all those guest stars.

Yes, it was. For like 30 years.

[Beast]

Originally Posted by El_Jay

Yes, it was. For like 30 years.

Funny. I seem to remember a "Episode IV: A New Hope" title to it way back in the very early 80's.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

I completely agree. I think it's important to also note what was different then versus now is we didn't have 10 billion entertainment choices, either. There was nothing remotely close to Star Wars at the time that it really blew everything out of the water. People/fans talked about it for months, perhaps even years, and when IV had a re-release a couple of years or so later, lines once again wrapped around the theater. There was no home-video to spoil the experience and appreciation. A "movie plex" also had a whopping TWO screens. We had time for films - whether great or not - to really sink in, whereas now you have 16 - 20 choices, and when you're done with one it's on to the next. This is not my critique of today's time, it's just a different world of entertainment where special effects are often more important than ever, and is one reason why today's generation can appreciate the PT over the OT. It's somewhat ironic, however, how much the OT itself influence this. Anyway, I will always prefer the OT over the PT, but to a certain degree I can respect Lucas' attempt to make a movie that fit more with today's crowd, even if I feel the PT was a failure by comparison. Conversely, if TPM had released in 1977, it would have been a visual and technical marvel and would likely have garnered blockbuster praise on those merits alone.

I don't know if GL set out to make a trilogy that "fit more with today's crowd", though I guess I wouldn't rule it out, either. The bottom line is, I like all of Star Wars, all six episodes of it. Some are stronger than others, but to me it's all a big, sprawling and terrific space saga.

Maybe the reason that younger viewers usually enjoy the PT more is that maybe they'd never had an old trilogy to put up on a pedestal. I got as big a kick out of TPM, AOTC and ROTS as an adult as I did of the OT when I was a kid. It was just as exciting, exhilarating, captivating, and mind-blowing. It wouldn't occur to me to go up to GL (if I could) and say, "George, you made a mistake with the PT, you should make the movies I want to see, not the movies you wanted to make".

In the end, it was thanks to the OT that GL had the financial independence to make the PT, wasn't it? So if we, as fans of the OT, enabled him to make the movies he wanted to make, why should we complain about it? We more or less gave him the money to make them, either through box-office receipts or merchandising. So more power to him for staying true to his personal vision, imho.

[goldenrod]

Originally Posted by Beast

Funny. I seem to remember a "Episode IV: A New Hope" title to it way back in the very early 80's.

and in the first draft of Star Wars, Vader died. So I don't buy the story that everything was already written and he just couldn't do episode 1-2-3 because of whatever technological reasons

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by Beast

All Star Trek series are not self contained. Might want to take a look at all those guest stars.

Well they are from Enterprise. That's all that matters.

[Stinky-Dinkins]

Originally Posted by Hatter

Of course now, Lucas made sure to force the PT down our throats whether we like it or not by altering the OT to include PT references. Can't watch OT as a single self-contained entity anymore. And why not? All Star Trek series are still self contained. I can ignore Enterprise to my hearts content for example. I can enjoy the reboot Star Trek movie franchise and not care about canon because they had an alternate timeline created to get around it. It's great.

Originally Posted by Beast

All Star Trek series are not self contained. Might want to take a look at all those guest stars.

If someone wants to watch the original Star Trek, as it originally aired, they definitely have that option. Paramount gave it a fantastic new scan for BD, and while they redid the SE's, they included an option to turn off the SE touch-ups entirely so one could watch it as it originally was. They didn't go back in and change things to bring it more in line with future iterations of the franchise, and then only release that "updated" version.

That was sort of his point, I think.

And telling someone to pick up the horrendous (by today's standards) LD versions if they want to watch the OT in a largely unaltered state is so laughable a suggestion that it's not even worth seriously debating.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by Stinky-Dinkins

If someone wants to watch the original Star Trek, as it originally aired, they definitely have that option. Paramount gave it a fantastic new scan for BD, and while they redid the SE's, they included an option to turn of the SE touch-ups entirely and watch it as it originally was. They didn't go back in and change things to bring it more in line with future iterations of the franchise, and then only release that "updated" version.

That was sort of his point.

On this, I would actually agree with you, completely. I wish they could have done this with the blu-rays, so that like with Star Trek TOS, we could change the "angle" and view the updated parts of the film as they originally were.