Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

[SonOfNun]

Ian McDiarmid should get an Oscar for his performace, he rules. That scene at the "entertainment venue" where he relates the tale of Darth Plagueis is so dark and amazing. Throughout he just puts on a stellar peformance and plays the role of the puppeteer like no one else could.

Just dire, dire dialog/those stupid soldier droids that groan when you shoot them/those stupid droids that cling on to the ship and start picking away bits and pieces....basically the whole rescue sequence was a disaster...ugh, this was 12 year old shit.

The entirety of Episode IV anyone?

Notes:

The Windu/Palpatine sequence is great, the turning point in the entire saga if you will. If he sides with Windu, no Darth Vader. It was really well put together too, except Kit Fisto getting ruled too easily. That was teh ghey.

The soundtrack is indeed excellent. The music when Anakin enters the Jedi temple is exceptionally thrilling. Speaking of that scene, I'm hoping it is extended or extra footage is included as a deleted scene on the DVD as rumors suggest. Anakin didn't just kill younglings in there and if you look at the hologram, the Jedi he's fighting look at least his size.

I wish Darth Maul was still alive, he was such a better villain than Count Dooku. Maul vs. Anakin=OMFG.

One of the greatest parts of this film is that it ties up essentially any possible loose ends and actually completes the series perfectly without any questions.

This film is emotional as feck. I almost cried when Obi-Wan said, "You were the Chosen One!" Seriously. Beautifully put together, the relationships were articulated very well.

 

[MFJ]

I almost cried when Obi-Wan said, "You were the Chosen One!" Seriously. Beautifully put together, the relationships were articulated very well.

BEST.PART.EVER. My friend Stephen and I were shouting this for days afterward... we drove by what is supposedly Harrison Ford's house (in Durham) and screamed it too, just to be jerks.

 

[JayKeeley]

The way Annakin burns up is pretty fucking gruesome too. It would have been cool if Palpatine cradled him at that point. Would have been nice to see more of Vader in the costume though....but I guess it makes you want to rush home and put on episode IV.

 

[Demilich]

IV is still the best!

 

[J.]

EMpire is the finest Star Wars movie, but some of that overdubbing is just horrendous, like when Luke is yelling "NOOOOOO" while hanging on the edge of that thingy after Vader says "I am your father". Awful overdubbing, only exceeded in terribleness by Mad Max.

Still, Empire wins, but I still loves me some Return of the Jedi and that fine Ewok ass.

 

[JayKeeley]

By the way, just realized it was rather odd that Padme having twins was a surprise. I guess they have the ability for light-speed travel back then, but not pre-natal ultrasounds.

OK so I'm watching the first half of episode IV today, and there's a few odd things to say about the continuity from III to IV.

Ewan McGregor aged pretty fast to turn into Alec Guinness in 16 years! (Or however old Luke is supposed to be).

R2/D2 claims that he's the property of Obi Wan. Hmm, thought both C3P0 and R2 had their memory circuits wiped at the birth of Luke and Leia, in order to maintain the secrecy of their respective hiding places...

(That whole connection between Annakin and C3P0 is fucked up anyway. Sure, C3P0 may not remember Annakin, but why Annakin/Vader wouldn't remember him is just screwed up, considering he built the cunt in the Phantom Penis).

Darth Vader now reports up to Grand Moff Tarkin? I thought he was second in command to the Emperor only?

Eh, everything was so air tight until these prequel scripts messed around with it all.

I guess there's a TV show coming soon to fill in the gaps between episodes III and IV. Maybe that explains Vader's demotion and pay cut.

 

[KILL TULLY]

but not pre-natal ultrasounds.

That doesn't bother me, what bothers me is that Obi-Wan/All the other Jedi's that where close to Padme seem to have missed the fact she was carrying 2 of the most powerfull pieces of the Force ever conceived.

R2/D2 claims that he's the property of Obi Wan.

Leia tells him. (No idea how she knows =/ )

Darth Vader now reports up to Grand Moff Tarkin? I thought he was second in command to the Emperor only?

Vader is out ranked by Tarkin. This is apparent because though Tarkin defies Vader he does not choke him, because he is out ranked as per Palpatines orders...and hes a Sith Lord so he's very disciplined blahblahblah so he listens. This all can be seen in the conference in A New Hope when hes choking an imperial officer, but listens when Tarkin tells him to stop that shiznit.


EDIT: Also, at the time of A New Hope Vader was still a hot-headed young man, not very skilled in military tactics/politics, so maybe the Emperor wanted him to learn from Tarkin.

 

[JayKeeley]

This all can be seen in the conference in A New Hope when hes choking an imperial officer, but listens when Tarkin tells him to stop that shiznit.

Exactly, that's what made me wonder why it wasn't Tarkin reporting up to Vader instead of the other way around. I suppose there was some rank re-ordering between III and IV.

I'll give credit to the fact that they included Tarkin at the end of III though, looking at the Death Star with Sidious and Vader, just so you know he's already in the top three ranking.

I silently cheered seeing the resurrection of Tarkin. Watching episode IV today, the acting/script isn't half as bad as the prequels. Sir Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, James Earl Jones...all well established actors in their own right.

Shame about the additional scenes in the extended editions. They made a mockery out of Mos Eisely.

 

[KILL TULLY]

Well, on the death star Tarkin is absolutly 100% in charge and the only person that could ever boss him around would be Palpatine, because that is his "ship" and he is Captain, and no one ever outranks a captain on there own ship no matter what there ranking is on land.

 

[JayKeeley]

Well, on the death star Tarkin is absolutly 100% in charge and the only person that could ever boss him around would be Palpatine, because that is his "ship" and he is Captain, and no one ever outranks a captain on there own ship no matter what there ranking is on land.

Is that right? I did not know that. So that applies even to real naval rankings?

 

[KILL TULLY]

Back in the day at least that was what it was like, but im not sure how it applies to the modern navy.


"Captain is the rank of a Quick Facts about: commissioned officer
A military officer holding a commissioncommissioned officer between Quick Facts about: Commander
A commissioned naval officer who ranks above a lieutenant commander and below a captainCommander and Commodore or Quick Facts about: Admiral
The supreme commander of a fleet; ranks above a vice admiral and below a fleet admiralAdmiral (1 star). Naval officers below the rank of Captain who are assigned to command a ship are addressed as captain while aboard that ship, by nautical custom. A naval captain traveling aboard a vessel s/he does not command is never referred to by rank to avoid confusion with the nautical captain, who remains in charge of the entire ship (including the passengers who outrank the nautical captain)."

 

[JayKeeley]

Cool.

 

[E-bortion]

Wow, seriously. So a film has some loopholes and plot err, big fucking deal. Don't be pretentious nerds about it.

 

[KILL TULLY]

Its fun discussion, whats the big deal?

 

[JayKeeley]

Wow, seriously. So a film has some loopholes and plot err, big fucking deal. Don't be pretentious nerds about it.

What, so people can only discuss music, films, books, etc to a certain point and NO FURTHER WHATSOEVER? Yes, let's all go through life dealing with things at face value.

 

[KILL TULLY]

The force is weak with e-bortion.

 

[cthulufhtagn]

i still hate hayden christiansen. to call him "wooden" is an insult to trees everywhere. i had very, very limited expectations for episode III and i'm happy to say it far surpassed them but it still wasn't as good for me as the originals. the change from anakin skywalker to darth vader was way too sudden...i understand it's not an easy thing to show, but it really seemed like all of a sudden it was "ok, i'm bad now". portraying such a transformation is a daunting task to be sure, but it requires a subtlety that the script and actors couldn't achieve.
acting: 3 ("NOOOOOOO".....gimme a break)
dialogue: 4
effects: 10 (of course, it's ilm)
story: 8

overall i give it a 7 out of 10

 

[Demilich]

HOW did the dialogue not get a 1 or a 2?

random thoughts:
- not as good as the originals, or even close
- some of the worst dialogue ever, accompanied by cheesiness that is not at all endearing (like the cheesiness in the old ones)
- a big fat NO to hayden christiensen or whatever... seriously, this guy's family lives down the street from me, and i have half a mind to go give him a punch in the face next time i see him for giving such a bad performance

redeeming factor: lucas seems to make most of his actors suffer from temporary lack of talent, 'cause i know i've seen some of these people do a much better job elsewhere. when handed such a lifeless script, i guess you can't expect them to pull a water --> wine trick, can you?

[/disorganized and incomplete rant] and i'm out for the night

 

[JayKeeley]

I thought Hayden Christiensen did a better job, but sadly for him, he can't escape that montonous tone in his voice. I mean, when he went from "Annakin" to "Vader", it's not like he really transformed into anything different (not including the yellow contact lenses). He just delivered the lines in the exact same manner, but with a frown. I think that's the best you're going to get out of him.

I agree that you have to blame the scriptwriters somewhat -- Ewan McGregor is normally a phenomenal actor (just watch Trainspotting), and Natalie Portman was doing better stuff when she was 11 (just watch Leon aka The Professional).

Of course, Samuel Jackson will always be that bad ass nigga from Pulp Fiction. He's no Jedi, he's a fucking pimp.

I'm sticking with my 7.5/10 score, and I'd like to see it again. (Unlike episodes I & II, which I will never watch ever again).

 

[spaffe]

Of course, Samuel Jackson will always be that bad ass nigga from Pulp Fiction. He's no Jedi, he's a fucking pimp.

Exactly my thoughts


Btw, did you notice than Annakin said "If you're not with me, you're on their side" not "If you're not with me, you're against me", with the pause between the two lines, I was half expecting some semi-hidden Bush criticism