Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[Rambaldi47]

Originally Posted by Jay444

He started too early (TPM doesn't really accomplish much in the grand scheme of the series) and he skipped the most interesting period (Between ROTS and ANH). But it is what it is.

I like George, I do, I just think he might want to stick to producing (which he was very effective at, i.e. Indy and the last two OT films). Seems his best work is accomplished when he works with others.

Yeah I think Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones could have been combined storywise, leaving ROTS as the "Empire Strikes Back" of the prequels and giving us a great 3rd film taking place between ROTS and ANH. I think yet another big issue is that people really wanted to see more than 2 minutes of Vader.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by thebard

I think it has more to do with this:

Darth Vader would never say "yipee".

Little kids do strange things, I just agree with the person that said the PT would've been better if the events of TPM had been a bit of an opening for AoTC and then the last third of AoTC and the first two thirds of RoTS had been the second film. Then they could've had the fall of Anakin and the Jedi and the last 2/3 of RoTS could've been the events between RoTS and ANH. That's coming from someone who liked the PT quite a bit but still thinks it could've been better.

[Monkey_Boy]

Originally Posted by thebard

I think it has more to do with this:

Darth Vader would never say "yipee".

He wasn't Darth Vader, he was a small child. Good gravy! Now if he was in the suit and said that, then yeah, outta place, but everyone was an innocent child at one time.

[Howdy]

Originally Posted by Monkey_Boy

He wasn't Darth Vader, he was a small child. Good gravy! Now if he was in the suit and said that, then yeah, outta place, but everyone was an innocent child at one time.

Exactly! I don't know why PT haters never admit to that.

[Damage Inc.]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

I think it might a chicken and egg situation. Hard to know whether George wanted the Pod Race because he thought it was a good idea for the movie or whether he wanted it for the videogame.

When I saw the pod race, I did think it was a bit too long, but I really thought he was trying to replicate the excitement from the 'cycle' scenes in the forest in Episode VI, which were well reviewed at the time.

I agree, although I was pretty much a kid at the time, I loved the racing-idea and the scene itself.
But... yeah, maybe I might not have realized that it might not add something to the story.
However, I understood what it was meant to show and it was just a great action-scene too.
Like you said, as with the scenes in the forest, now that you mention it, it's quite similar.
It definitely shows "It's Star Wars".

Oh, and I LOVED the game on PC and I'm still hoping for a new one with updated graphics and more physics.
Back then, no money was made from me anyway.
I didn't have a job, and besides that, I burned the game to CD-ROM...

As for other posters complaints about Anakin as a kid in Episode 1, I agree in part. But I think most of the complaints are from men afraid that if they admit to liking a movie that features a little boy, that they won't seem "macho".

I've always wondered what they didn't like about him, I just thought his acting.
He didn't bother me, and AGAIN, maybe because I was about his age or slightly older.
But to me, he was a really interesting character, I was really wondering what would become of him
and also what Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were planning to do with him.

I also didn't realize at the time that he would become Darth Vader. After a while I was like "WHAT?!".
Guess now I know... lol Probably one of the biggest spoilers to me, because of something that's treated as common knowledge. XD

But I guess I'd probably think a little differently of it too now I'm like 12 years older and care for a good story too.

Originally Posted by thebard

I think it has more to do with this:

Darth Vader would never say "yipee".

As said by two or more posters above, he was a child.
Doesn't it occur to anyone that he WASN'T Darth Vader yet and it's possibly to portray... oh I don't know,
that he was generally a playful and happy child? (And yes men, that's apparently where "big bad Darth Vader" came from.)*

I know it's kinda cheesy the way he acted it out, but... syeah... as if the older movies don't have a bit of a "B-movie" quality to them at times.


*I don't know about age-differences and what not,
but it could have been that Vader and Luke Skywalker shared their toys, so to speak.
I read somewhere, and excuse the strange comparison, that Hitler played in the sandbox with some good person I forgot the name of.
I believe he was in (obviously left) politics or Jewish, I don't know, it completely slipped my mind.
All I remember is the clash was ridiculous. Also that difference in child and grown-up.
So Vader as Anakin being a child and yelling "yippee" once in a time... not so strange.
The way it was performed, sure, that's debatable...

[AlexSing]

Originally Posted by Rambaldi47

Yeah I think Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones could have been combined storywise, leaving ROTS as the "Empire Strikes Back" of the prequels and giving us a great 3rd film taking place between ROTS and ANH.

That would have been perfect. Well, also assuming he'd have done a much better job with them as films that the ones we ended up with.

[thebard]

Originally Posted by Monkey_Boy

He wasn't Darth Vader, he was a small child. Good gravy! Now if he was in the suit and said that, then yeah, outta place, but everyone was an innocent child at one time.

Originally Posted by Darth Anakin

Little kids do strange things...

Just because a character could conceivably have done it, doesn't mean Lucas has to show us. This is fantasy, after all, not documentary. Some (many) of the things included in the prequels don't advance the story, and even detract from it (and from character development).

I mean, I trust Obi Wan et al went to the bathroom occasionally, but it doesn't need to end up on film (heck, we hardly ever even see them eating).

[Cook]

Originally Posted by Monkey_Boy

He wasn't Darth Vader, he was a small child. Good gravy! Now if he was in the suit and said that, then yeah, outta place, but everyone was an innocent child at one time.

Just like we don't see character's go to the bathroom or shower there are certain things characters do that we don't need to see. No one is saying its out of the question he would say that as a kid. What we are saying is that when we said we wanted to see the origin of vader at no time did we say we care about his 9 year old self exclaiming 'yipee!'.

[motorheadache95]

Originally Posted by Darth Anakin

Little kids do strange things, I just agree with the person that said the PT would've been better if the events of TPM had been a bit of an opening for AoTC and then the last third of AoTC and the first two thirds of RoTS had been the second film. Then they could've had the fall of Anakin and the Jedi and the last 2/3 of RoTS could've been the events between RoTS and ANH. That's coming from someone who liked the PT quite a bit but still thinks it could've been better.

Yeah, I thought one of the problems with The Phantom Menace was that it almost feels like a waste of time. When we see nineteen year old Anakin in Episode II, he's a completely different character with a different attitude. There really isn't any connection to the young boy Anakin from Episode I and rebellious teenager Anakin.

Furthermore, Episode II and III both suffer from lack of character development and details that I think stem from Episode I being set too early and mostly being isolated. For example, shouldn't Episode I have introduced Count Dooku? Maybe the Jedi who is said to have been killed when the commission of clones on Kamino was placed?

I also think the films failed to really develop Anakin as a great Jedi and good friend to Obi Wan. Really, the Prequel trilogy seems to be a tragedy, yet it doesn't feel like one because the character of Anakin doesn't really go through a change-- he's just a whiny brat who wants things his own way, Jedi be damned, and then at the end he goes and does it. I didn't feel any emotion at all when Obi Wan discovers that Anakin had turned to the dark side. It all felt so flat.

Now, so far from what I've seen of the Clone Wars series, that show goes a long way towards showing the camaraderie of Anakin and Obi Wan, and developing Anakin as a great Jedi who learns to be the fighter and commander that he ultimately becomes for the Empire. This is something I felt the movies failed to do.

[AlexSing]

Originally Posted by Rambaldi47

Yeah I think Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones could have been combined storywise, leaving ROTS as the "Empire Strikes Back" of the prequels and giving us a great 3rd film taking place between ROTS and ANH. I think yet another big issue is that people really wanted to see more than 2 minutes of Vader.

Originally Posted by motorheadache95

Yeah, I thought one of the problems with The Phantom Menace was that it almost feels like a waste of time. When we see nineteen year old Anakin in Episode II, he's a completely different character with a different attitude. There really isn't any connection to the young boy Anakin from Episode I and rebellious teenager Anakin.

Furthermore, Episode II and III both suffer from lack of character development and details that I think stem from Episode I being set too early and mostly being isolated. For example, shouldn't Episode I have introduced Count Dooku? Maybe the Jedi who is said to have been killed when the commission of clones on Kamino was placed?

I also think the films failed to really develop Anakin as a great Jedi and good friend to Obi Wan. Really, the Prequel trilogy seems to be a tragedy, yet it doesn't feel like one because the character of Anakin doesn't really go through a change-- he's just a whiny brat who wants things his own way, Jedi be damned, and then at the end he goes and does it. I didn't feel any emotion at all when Obi Wan discovers that Anakin had turned to the dark side. It all felt so flat.

Now, so far from what I've seen of the Clone Wars series, that show goes a long way towards showing the camaraderie of Anakin and Obi Wan, and developing Anakin as a great Jedi who learns to be the fighter and commander that he ultimately becomes for the Empire. This is something I felt the movies failed to do.

Nice post, entirely agree

[Cook]

Originally Posted by motorheadache95

Yeah, I thought one of the problems with The Phantom Menace was that it almost feels like a waste of time. When we see nineteen year old Anakin in Episode II, he's a completely different character with a different attitude. There really isn't any connection to the young boy Anakin from Episode I and rebellious teenager Anakin.

Furthermore, Episode II and III both suffer from lack of character development and details that I think stem from Episode I being set too early and mostly being isolated. For example, shouldn't Episode I have introduced Count Dooku? Maybe the Jedi who is said to have been killed when the commission of clones on Kamino was placed?

I also think the films failed to really develop Anakin as a great Jedi and good friend to Obi Wan. Really, the Prequel trilogy seems to be a tragedy, yet it doesn't feel like one because the character of Anakin doesn't really go through a change-- he's just a whiny brat who wants things his own way, Jedi be damned, and then at the end he goes and does it. I didn't feel any emotion at all when Obi Wan discovers that Anakin had turned to the dark side. It all felt so flat.

Now, so far from what I've seen of the Clone Wars series, that show goes a long way towards showing the camaraderie of Anakin and Obi Wan, and developing Anakin as a great Jedi who learns to be the fighter and commander that he ultimately becomes for the Empire. This is something I felt the movies failed to do.

Agree 100% and those points you made are the same reasons why I threw the prequels out and just watch the clone wars in their place. They have more character development and actually show the things I'm interested in and the things I'm not interested in are few and far between.

[Packerfan75]

I've only purchased the new trilogy on Blu because I figure there's not much George can do to ruin those. I'm pretty happy with their transfers though. Still not sure if I can endure the new changes in the original trilogy so I'm holding off for now.

I've gone back and forth in my opinion concerning a directors right to make changes and a fans right to complain. I've finally accepted the fact that both are right. George does have a right to tinker with them if he wishes because without him, there would be no Star Wars, and yet, I believe the fans do have a right to voice their opinions because if the fans didn't buy the tickets, merchandise and in other ways financially support it, there may have never been an original trilogy. So each owe the other some leeway. The best option is compromise. It's not asking much to give the fans what they want and exercise creativity by releasing both versions. The original, unaltered and the newer cuts. This problem shouldn't be a problem and is easily solved. I hope George understands this some day.

[Cook]

Did anyone notice that for AOTC they recut two scenes? One is in the Coruscant chase and the other is Dookus escape after the duel at the end.

Check this out:http://www.schnittberichte.com/schni....php?ID=929191 Its german but you get the idea.

[Brightstar]

Lucas said he will not make anymore changes to the 3D versions my question is what about the pink lightsabers?? are they gonna stay pink?

[Aquel]

I'm more curious if Darth Maul's fate has been altered (as he will be back in one form or another in the Clone Wars)..

[dfharris]

Originally Posted by p@t_mtl

it's $13 a movie, pretty hard to ask for a cheaper price

+1

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Cook

Did anyone notice that for AOTC they recut two scenes? One is in the Coruscant chase and the other is Dookus escape after the duel at the end.

Check this out:http://www.schnittberichte.com/schni....php?ID=929191 Its german but you get the idea.

No I didn't notice it at all. Must've been pretty minor to me, if it's actually true.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by motorheadache95

Yeah, I thought one of the problems with The Phantom Menace was that it almost feels like a waste of time. When we see nineteen year old Anakin in Episode II, he's a completely different character with a different attitude. There really isn't any connection to the young boy Anakin from Episode I and rebellious teenager Anakin.

Furthermore, Episode II and III both suffer from lack of character development and details that I think stem from Episode I being set too early and mostly being isolated. For example, shouldn't Episode I have introduced Count Dooku? Maybe the Jedi who is said to have been killed when the commission of clones on Kamino was placed?

I also think the films failed to really develop Anakin as a great Jedi and good friend to Obi Wan. Really, the Prequel trilogy seems to be a tragedy, yet it doesn't feel like one because the character of Anakin doesn't really go through a change-- he's just a whiny brat who wants things his own way, Jedi be damned, and then at the end he goes and does it. I didn't feel any emotion at all when Obi Wan discovers that Anakin had turned to the dark side. It all felt so flat.

Now, so far from what I've seen of the Clone Wars series, that show goes a long way towards showing the camaraderie of Anakin and Obi Wan, and developing Anakin as a great Jedi who learns to be the fighter and commander that he ultimately becomes for the Empire. This is something I felt the movies failed to do.

I like the PT more now than I did when they were released, but I agree completely with everything you said, right down to the Clone Wars series.

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by motorheadache95

Yeah, I thought one of the problems with The Phantom Menace was that it almost feels like a waste of time. When we see nineteen year old Anakin in Episode II, he's a completely different character with a different attitude. There really isn't any connection to the young boy Anakin from Episode I and rebellious teenager Anakin.

Furthermore, Episode II and III both suffer from lack of character development and details that I think stem from Episode I being set too early and mostly being isolated. For example, shouldn't Episode I have introduced Count Dooku? Maybe the Jedi who is said to have been killed when the commission of clones on Kamino was placed?

I also think the films failed to really develop Anakin as a great Jedi and good friend to Obi Wan. Really, the Prequel trilogy seems to be a tragedy, yet it doesn't feel like one because the character of Anakin doesn't really go through a change-- he's just a whiny brat who wants things his own way, Jedi be damned, and then at the end he goes and does it. I didn't feel any emotion at all when Obi Wan discovers that Anakin had turned to the dark side. It all felt so flat.

Now, so far from what I've seen of the Clone Wars series, that show goes a long way towards showing the camaraderie of Anakin and Obi Wan, and developing Anakin as a great Jedi who learns to be the fighter and commander that he ultimately becomes for the Empire. This is something I felt the movies failed to do.

I agree that Anakin could have been handled differently and I think he should have been a teenager or close to it during TPM. The large year difference between TPM and AOTC didnt work. There were some development issues too but AOTC at least tried in this area. If you think about it, being a whiny brat is tantamount to being selfish and angry - all of the things that a dark-side partaker would be. This was done OK, IMO. The scenes of loss with his Mother were actually well done. Still, I mostly agree with you on this topic.

Dooku is a waste of time and only exists so they have a human for Anakin to kill in ROTS since killing sandpeople was NOT enough. They needed someone to kill and Dooku was it.

I disagree on the Obi-Wan/Anakin conflict falling flat. ROTS was a very good film and other than their incredibly absurd, way too long light sabre battle, the last 15 minutes or so of this flick is epic. Padmes death had some definite emotional depth.

[Jay444]

Originally Posted by Cook

Did anyone notice that for AOTC they recut two scenes? One is in the Coruscant chase and the other is Dookus escape after the duel at the end.

Check this out:http://www.schnittberichte.com/schni....php?ID=929191 Its german but you get the idea.

I noticed the first change, but not the second one. However, these are just sequence changes, not changes in narrative. In other words, it does not alter the story or characters in anyway, so honestly, no one is going to care all that much. It isn't like Empire where we get a whole new sequence to throw off the pacing of the film. These two changes are just fliping the shot order. No biggie.