Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[IndyMLVC]

Originally Posted by steel_breeze

Agreed; fantastic moment. I think David Prowse is underrated for his performance in the suit. His postures and little moves of the head are extremely effective and evocative. I also love his performance in the landing-pad gantry, when Luke surrenders to him. He leans forward and seems evil, malevolent, and overly defensive after Luke calls him "Anakin Skywalker" -- just by his imposing posture. And then the transformation by the end of the scene: the way he stares off into the night after Luke is led away... it's a genuinely moving moment. You can feel the "conflict within him". Kudos to Prowse for the Vader we "love"; no one else has gotten it quite right behind the mask, in my opinion.

Be careful what you attribute to Prowse in Jedi. By that point, he had been mostly replaced because of how pissed Lucas was at him

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by steel_breeze

Agreed; fantastic moment. I think David Prowse is underrated for his performance in the suit. His postures and little moves of the head are extremely effective and evocative. I also love his performance in the landing-pad gantry, when Luke surrenders to him. He leans forward and seems evil, malevolent, and overly defensive after Luke calls him "Anakin Skywalker" -- just by his imposing posture. And then the transformation by the end of the scene: the way he stares off into the night after Luke is led away... it's a genuinely moving moment. You can feel the "conflict within him". Kudos to Prowse for the Vader we "love"; no one else has gotten it quite right behind the mask, in my opinion.

And that is why I DETEST the added "NooooOOOOoooooOOOOOO" during the climactic moment in Jedi. It may just be us viewers ascribing something that isn't there but you can somehow feel Vader's conflict radiating from underneath the mask, it doesn't need the massive punctuation mark of the "NOoOOOO" tacked on. It's as crass an edit as the BONGS! that Nick Meyer added to his most recent revision of ST VI because it assumes that the audience is as thick as shit.

Yeah, I know the usual suspects will now pull the old "but Lucas is rhyming, RHYYYYYYYMING!!" rabbit out of the hat, but in this one case you can stick your 'rhyming defence' up your arse. Lucas took one of the most beautifully played moments in the entire saga and completely undercut its power, it's almost like the guy who gained the confidence to not have dialogue slathered over everything in Sith ('Padme's Ruminations') lost his nerve again.

[steel_breeze]

Originally Posted by IndyMLVC

Be careful what you attribute to Prowse in Jedi. By that point, he had been mostly replaced because of how pissed Lucas was at him

Is that true? I'm aware how strained the Prowse/Lucas relationship had become, but I always thought it was Prowse in the suit, as long as he wasn't dueling or showing his face.

[Bobbyjoe766]

My favourite STAR WARS trilogy moment would be the scene where Solo is being escorted (in carbonite) through the corridors of Cloud City, by Boba Fett & company. The mournful almost funereal take on Boba's theme used, makes this scene quite powerful, imo.

EMPIRE is so full of classic moments, it's often difficult to choose. My favourite chapter in the STAR WARS trilogy.

[Ernest Rister]

Favorite scene is easy...Yoda's Lesson to Luke and then Raising the X-Wing. Heart and soul of the OT.

[steel_breeze]

Watched RETURN OF THE JEDI tonight and have two fairly silly observations about the Jabba's Palace sequence:

1. I have an obsession with finding Dengar in any wide group shots of Jabba's minions. Had the action figure as a kid; one of my favorite unused characters in the STAR WARS universe. The Disney folk have turned him into a goofball in the LEGO FREEMAKER ADVENTURES series... but I still love it. Can't get enough Dengar.

2. I now think it was Luke's plan to have Artoo in Jabba's main palace when he arrived. He could've summoned his lightsaber and done all his Jedi stuff there. He must've panicked a little (I know, Jedi don't panic) when Artoo was re-assigned to the sail barge, leaving only Threepio in the main room. Breathe, Luke... Just... Breathe.

Good fun.

[Elvis4-ever]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Favorite scene is easy...Yoda's Lesson to Luke and then Raising the X-Wing. Heart and soul of the OT.

Hmm guess they did a clean up. To restate, Yoda's lesson as I agree is a pretty cool moment, but I still think it is redundant to the relationship that Luke has with Obi Wan. So much of that was stated in the first movie.

[crissrudd4554]

It's really hard to pick one. It's like asking what's your favorite song out of your whole CD collection. But if I had to choose one I guess it would be the carbon freezing chamber lightsaber duel, particularly the start of it. The build up is perfect: Luke flying in, he thinks he's alone, then the lights and the breathing, cut to Luke's face ('The force is with you young Skywalker..), cut to Vader on platform (..but you are not a Jedi yet!'), do I have to say much else??? The dimly lit closeup of Luke right after Vader ignites his saber looks really cool.

[Josep5349]

My favourite moment is when Luke charges towards Vader and finally overpowers him in Return of the Jedi. That's my favourite but I have many more, most of them are from Empire and Jedi.

[Martoto]

My favourite part is "Noooooooooo-ooooooooooooo".

But which one?

Originally Posted by steel_breeze

... The Disney folk have turned him into a goofball in the LEGO FREEMAKER ADVENTURES series... but I still love it. Can't get enough Dengar...

The characterisation in Robot Chicken is hilarious. "Looks like another TP tuxedo for old Dengar."

[Rodney-2187]

Originally Posted by ElvisForever

Designated landmark is by permission of the owner.

They do not need the consent of the owner. You can own a piece of property and they can designate a building on that property as historically or culturally significant and you can be forbidden to tear it down or alter it in any way. I know from personal experience.

[Jakdonark]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

Ok. let's try something new...
WHAT IS YOUR ALL-TIME GREATEST SINGLE SCENE FROM ANY OF THE SIX MOVIES?
Yes, six. This is the Saga Set discussion after all...

This is going to sound cliché, but "No... I am your father." Then a pause and a reaction of shot of Luke, then Williams' march comes in slowly and heavily. I still get chills every time I see this or think of it.

There are so many great moments or scenes, and of course the initial fly over is one of the top ones too. I recently finished watching the series with my daughter, we did 4-6, 7, 1-3, haven't watched Rogue yet though. But while watching Sith and the final exchange between Obi-Wan and Anakin it really hit me more than it had before. It's going to be up there as well.

Funny thing, when watching Empire my daughter had a bit of a reaction with the father reveal, but during Jedi it seemed like it hadn't fully registered, then it clicked and she was like, woah! And then during the prequels she kept asking who Anakin was, and I kept telling her it was Luke's father. And even after the duel where Anakin is lying on the ground, she kept asking why he turned bad, I explained it again. But when the mask came down she had this absolute look of recognition, that Anakin was the man who became Darth Vader. Even with watching the originals first, it still kind of surprised her, like she couldn't believe that Anakin would have turned evil. We may have to watch them again before Last Jedi comes out, it will be her first Star Wars movie in the theater!

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

Ok. let's try something new...
WHAT IS YOUR ALL-TIME GREATEST SINGLE SCENE FROM ANY OF THE SIX MOVIES?
Yes, six. This is the Saga Set discussion after all...

Duel of the Fates.

[oubukibun]

Duel of the Fates is all-time Williams. When the music video was in moderate-to-heavy rotation on MTV before PM's premiere, I'd stop what I was doing and just listen and watch.

I wish it had been cut differently in the movie itself, though: the full concert performance with no intercutting and just the duel. That actually would have made that last act of PM for me.

[KRW1]

One of my favourite scenes, doesn't get any love but needs some - the bit in Attack of the Clones where Obi Wan jumps out of the window towards the start. Love that bit.

[balthazar_bee]

Geez, it looks like the mods removed my post. How...thorough?

Anyway, I commented that my favourite thing about The Empire Strikes Back is no single scene, but rather the way it sells all of its many quiet moments of anxiety. There are several great examples, but the ones I listed in the previous post were:

- When Leia, Chewy and the droids watch the shield doors close. There's a wonderful piece of music that Williams composed to accompany this section of the film, but it was (wisely) left out. You can hear it on the soundtrack album, and while it's effective, just the look on Leia's face, the "chances of survival" comment and the rumble of the doors punctuated by Chewie's howl works better.

- When Luke and Han have that mostly wordless exchange before the Battle of Hoth. Now here's a moment I can't imagine seeing without music. Williams lets his sentiment hang out here, and it works because the two guys can't quite put the depth of their feelings into words.

- When Luke tells Yoda about his vision of a "city in the clouds" and gets his rescue plan temporarily shut down by Yoda's tough love. Hamill's really great at selling the weight of this decision. Then we cut to, well, a city in the clouds, and John Williams' score returns to the forefront, such that it's easy to miss the subtly brilliant stuff he'd been doing immediately prior.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by KRW1

One of my favourite scenes, doesn't get any love but needs some - the bit in Attack of the Clones where Obi Wan jumps out of the window towards the start. Love that bit.

Yeah. That scenes turns Obi-Wan into a full fledged badass. Up from quasi-badass at the end of TPM.

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by KRW1

One of my favourite scenes, doesn't get any love but needs some - the bit in Attack of the Clones where Obi Wan jumps out of the window towards the start. Love that bit.

If the entire final act of AotC could count as a "scene," I'd have to give it some consideration. At the very least, Yoda vs. Dooku is in my top five moments from the saga.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

If the entire final act of AotC could count as a "scene," I'd have to give it some consideration. At the very least, Yoda vs. Dooku is in my top five moments from the saga.

Right? I love the last couple of reels of Clones but holy hell is it ever a slog to get there.

[stvn1974]

I do like the Yoda/Dooku duel from Clones. Both Clones and Sith would have been great movies if they were made as silent films.