TheStairwayRemainsTheSame Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Say what you will about Lucas, Jar Jar, the prequels, etc. "Star Wars" in 3D is wonderful. For all of its flaws, watching "Episode I" with the 3D glasses allows the franchise to reconnect with its roots; "Star Wars" is meant to be gimmicky popcorn fun, and that's what I got tonight. That first moment where the "Star Wars" logo recedes into the distance... seeing THAT in 3D gave my goosebumps goosebumps. Looking forward to seeing it again with friends and family. Thanks again, Uncle George. There's no place like home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 George Lucas has gotten rich off of fanboy lemmings like you. Sorry, I wont be allowing Georgie-boy to rape my wallet again...especially with this bullshit 3D hype. A piece of crap is a piece of crap, no matter how you dress it up in shiny new clothes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Historian Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) I've been a fan/mild fanatic of Star Wars since I saw the first one when I was kid. I have a shelf dedicated to all of my Star Wars collectibles/ action figures. I look forward to maybe seeing this in 3D, even though Im in no absolute rush to check it out....... I haven't seen a 3D movie in years. I don't like the idea of wearing those "pain in the ass' 3D glasses-they give me a headache after a while. I don't think my eyes can endure that for too long.....However, It should be interesting and allow me a chance to reconnect with a film that I haven't seen in some time. Although, I prefer Episode IV- "A New Hope", "Empire" and "Return of the Jedi" over the newer releases any day, there's always time for a Star Wars flick. Good to hear you enjoyed it. Check out this amusing / goofy review..... Edited February 20, 2012 by Rock Historian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheStairwayRemainsTheSame Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 There's a lot of shades of grey to it all really. There's the extreme die hard that will love anything with Star Wars logo in the title. Then there's the fans that strictly love the original trilogy and despise anything that's come since. But there's also fans that just love the prequels and think the originals are old and outdated. For me, I enjoy them all. I grew up on the original three, so for me they're untouchables. The prequels, however, I think were entertaining and noteworthy on their own. They're not like the originals, they are different in tone because well, they're different in story. I think that's what most troubles people that dislike the films. I think they really just wanted more of the same good old fashioned heroics of good vs. evil, and that's not what the prequels are. As for the The Phantom Menace, I do agree that it is the least of the 6 films, predominately due to pacing and the overuse of Jar Jar Binks. That aside, in the tradition of the saturday matinee serials, it's a fun film for the entire family. For me, I much more enjoyed episodes II and III. Overall, I think Star Wars fans - and the average moviegoer - are rather content with the prequels. Most would agree that Episode III is the best of those set of films but it's really just a cult following that irrationally rage about their "childhood being raped". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzepfilm Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) The only flaw I have with the prequels is Jar Jar and horribly scripted drama. I remember watching A New Hope with my family on DVD and I went on a 2 or 3 year obsession of Star Wars. Then I discovered Zep and look where I am now. Episode 3 was the best out of the prequels, just because it was a real drama movie.... I and II are a joke. Edited February 20, 2012 by ledzepfilm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrum Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Milk it! Milk it! 'Use the 3-D glasses Luke!' :^) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenman Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 There's a lot of shades of grey to it all really. There's the extreme die hard that will love anything with Star Wars logo in the title. Then there's the fans that strictly love the original trilogy and despise anything that's come since. But there's also fans that just love the prequels and think the originals are old and outdated.". The last group is just insane to me, personally I suspect that most of them were originally fans of the first trilogy who became so hyped for the second that they only way they could defend there many obvious failings was to attack the films they used to love, basically fanboys ruining it for themselves. The new films werent THAT bad, I found them a passable diversion on the big screen(mostly due to the connections to the originals and the often exellent design/FX) as a one off viewing but they most definately do not stand up to repeat viewing in the way the originals do. I'd be happy to forget them personally and wouldnt hold it agenst Lucas if only he'd release a decent version of the originals without all his silly and slapdash tinkering. That he's seeking to claim those films as his own is frankly offensive to me considering he did not direct or write the last two, stealing the legacey of dead men and tarnishing an important peice of popular art. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LedZep342 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I've seen all six films and enjoyed watching them (I don't have a personal favorite). I agree that episode three is the most dramatic, however I don't think one and two are a joke compared to three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenman Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I've seen all six films and enjoyed watching them (I don't have a personal favorite). I agree that episode three is the most dramatic, however I don't think one and two are a joke compared to three. It was probabley the best of the prequals but still lightyears behind the originals, even Return of the Jedi. In a way I found it more disapointing than the rest of the new series since it did in theory cover the events we wanted to see in the first place but it was full of all the same problems(horrible dialog, often horrible acting, boring sub plots etc) somehow managed to clumsily rush Anakins turn to the darkside("hey Anakin kill some kids and I'll save you wife" "oh ok") dispite having 3 films to set it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Melanie Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I despise when Hollywood turns movies into 3D for the sake of profit. I love the original trilogy but have "Luke"warm feelings toward the second trilogy. I am NOT seeing this version. Jar Jar Binks in 3D is my idea of cinematic hell. I would much rather wait until it comes on t.v. and create my own 3D effects by turning it into a drinking game with Absinthe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzepfilm Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 With 3D Jar Jar, all hell will break loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reswati Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I despise when Hollywood turns movies into 3D for the sake of profit. I love the original trilogy but have "Luke"warm feelings toward the second trilogy. I am NOT seeing this version. Jar Jar Binks in 3D is my idea of cinematic hell. I would much rather wait until it comes on t.v. and create my own 3D effects by turning it into a drinking game with Absinthe. In fact I did watch episode 1 on absinthe. To be honest, the combination enhanced the feeling that I was watching a videogame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Point of order, StairwayRemainsTheSame: I never said George Lucas "raped my childhood"...I said he raped my wallet. Big difference. George Lucas and the original three Star Wars don't mean anything special to me...I was never a Star Wars geek and so George Lucas wasn't part of my childhood the way Led Zeppelin and skateboarding was. Hell, "Star Wars" wasn't even my favourite movie of 1977...that would be "Annie Hall", which would have a way more profound impact on my life and how I approached women and relationships. I was a freshman in high school when "Star Wars" came out in 1977. Yes, I saw it and I enjoyed it for its cinematic razzle-dazzle...you couldn't help but get chills from that opening scene where the tiny rebel ship is being chased by the Imperial forces, and that huge ship moves across the screen. The special effects were cool, and a marked improvement over the usual sci-fi of the time. Just compare "Star Wars" to "Logan's Run", which came out around the same time. But as a cinema geek who had already read Truffaut's Hitchcock book at age 13, it didn't take much to see some of the sources Lucas borrowed from to create his story...Kurosawa, Joseph Campbell, westerns, etc. Which is fine by me...all artists are inspired by and borrow from earlier sources. The original "Star Wars" was a great piece of summer popcorn-movie derring-do, with just enough pseudo mumbo-jumbo to give it some depth. "Empire Strikes Back" was great fun, too. But cracks in the armor started to show with the release of "Return of the Jedi" and those infernal ewoks. But when "Phantom Menace" came out, the wheels had completely fallen off the Lucas machine. I remember the buzz of anticipation people had when the "prequels" were announced. People were finally going to see how Luke's father became Darth Vader. I myself was a little curious, and waited with friends for a couple hours in line to attend that first midnight screening at Grauman's Chinese Theatre(where "Star Wars" had opened in '77). By the end of "Phantom Menace", the reaction of me and my friends was as if George had let loose a loud fart. What was with these annoying, whining kids...WHAT THE FUCK was that Jar Jar Binks?!?...why cast a bad mofo like Samuel L. Jackson and then waste his talents? Why did everything have to look like a video game? It is a ironic twist that with all the tech advancements and cgi f/x, today's action movies don't look as good, aren't as cinematic as pre-cgi films. CGI has the annoying tendency to render images mushy and blurred when moving fast, which makes it hard to follow action scenes in most modern films that rely on CGI. That's why the handbuilt models of "Star Wars" come off as more impressive on the screen than the CGI toys of the Prequels. A model is still a physical object...it has a weight and presence to its image that mere CGI trickery cannot convey. Watching the prequels is like being stuck in a mindless video game for hours...boring. All sound and fury signifying nothing. But the main failing was the dialogue and story. If the original Star Wars began the era of Hollywood mostly abandoning the adult-market in favour of pitching its movies to 13-year old kids, the Prequels was George Lucas going after 6-year olds. Some of the worst dialogue and performances in movie history are presented in the Prequels. I felt sad for Ewan MacGregor and Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson...they deserved better. The worst thing of all though, was how George Lucas treated Annakin's transformation into Darth Vader as an episode of Gossip Girl. Annakin's decision came off as just a petulant teen's wanting to have everything his own way. It was absurd and reduces the Darth Vader character to a ridiculous and trivial figure. Who can take him seriously now when the reason for his creation is like something out of Dawson's Creek? Even Yoda sucks in the Prequels. And the less said about the "love story" the better. The WORST romance in cinema history. It was bad enough Lucas tinkered with the original three Star Wars. Then when the Prequels came out, it was clear Lucas had lost his cinematic mind. But now to jump on the post-Avatar 3D bandwagon is so craven and cynically a money-grabbing ploy, that I question the sanity of anyone who falls for this ruse. 3D only works when the film is planned for, lit and shot in 3D. A 3D transfer of an originally 2D movie is going to make the images dark and murky, and focus will be blurred around the edges. Basically, you're being ripped off. And I cannot believe, Stairway, that you would call "Phanton Menace 3D" fun for the whole family. Maybe if the family's rich and dumb. You have any idea what it would cost for a family of four to go see this movie paying 3D prices...not to mention all the snack costs and parking? Well over $100 easy! Now Martin Scorsese's "HUGO"!!! THERE'S a 3D movie that is worth paying to see and that TRULY is fun for the entire family. Because Scorsese is a cinematic artist where Lucas is a toy-hawking hack. And "Hugo" was expressly planned and shot for 3D and Scorsese uses it properly, not as just a cheap trick to poke things in people's eyes. But I've said more than enough...I'll give Patton Oswalt the last, hilarious word: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbaE0Nj9h-Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheStairwayRemainsTheSame Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 This was the first 3D movie ive seen that didnt make my eyes sore. Which says something because it was well over 2 hours long there was one brief moment during the pod race where a bad 3D effect was jarring and took me out of the movie, beyond that, I thought it looked good. Phantom Menace is my least favorite movie of the 6, but I still enjoyed seeing it in a theater and the 3D was perfectly fine. $30mil seems like a good weekend. Beauty and the Beast 3D did $23 mil. I would assume Phantom Menace will end up pulling in $40mil with this run, which should be plenty good to work on the next one ... I also assume Lucasfilm knows the biggest money maker will be Episode IV and they are marching towards that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheStairwayRemainsTheSame Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 Point of order, StairwayRemainsTheSame: I never said George Lucas "raped my childhood"...I said he raped my wallet. Big difference. And I cannot believe, Stairway, that you would call "Phanton Menace 3D" fun for the whole family. Maybe if the family's rich and dumb. You have any idea what it would cost for a family of four to go see this movie paying 3D prices...not to mention all the snack costs and parking? Well over $100 easy! Apologies I misread it, well it's much cheaper as here it would be about £30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cletus Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) I pretty much happen to dislike all the changes Lucas has made to the OT since 1997. I think he should have just left the originals as they were. The worst of them, was perhaps replacing Sebastien Shaw with Hayden Christensen during the ending of Return of The Jedi, on the 2004 version. Edited February 21, 2012 by Cletus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheStairwayRemainsTheSame Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 I pretty much happen to dislike all the changes Lucas has made to the OT since 1997. I think he should have just left the originals as they were. The worst of them, was perhaps replacing Sebastien Shaw with Hayden Christensen during the ending of Return of The Jedi, on the 2004 version. I've never had any problems with the changes Lucas made to the OT, but this is the only one I don't like. I like Sebastian Shaw as Anakin. Sure he is a little bit older than he should be, but I always thought it was a very symbolic image of Old Ben, Old Anakin, and Yoda. I really can't describe it, it has nothing to do with nostalgia, or "I grew up with it so don't change it," it just doesn't look right with Hayden Christenson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrum Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 The best 3-D movie I ever saw was Andy Warhol's 'FRANKENSTEIN' at the old YORK Theater in San Francisco in the mid 70's. I think the bats flying at the camera had the best effect, although the maid's guts hanging through the grating was pretty spectacular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Melanie Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I pretty much happen to dislike all the changes Lucas has made to the OT since 1997. I think he should have just left the originals as they were. The worst of them, was perhaps replacing Sebastien Shaw with Hayden Christensen during the ending of Return of The Jedi, on the 2004 version. Agreed. And Han shot first! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenman Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) It is a ironic twist that with all the tech advancements and cgi f/x, today's action movies don't look as good, aren't as cinematic as pre-cgi films. CGI has the annoying tendency to render images mushy and blurred when moving fast, which makes it hard to follow action scenes in most modern films that rely on CGI. That's why the handbuilt models of "Star Wars" come off as more impressive on the screen than the CGI toys of the Prequels. A model is still a physical object...it has a weight and presence to its image that mere CGI trickery cannot convey. I see that as really two issues, as you say Lucas clearly overused CGI thoughout the prequals but compaired to the originals the FX scenes themselves were servely lacking in cinematic craft. Watch the Battle at the end of Return of the Jedi and compair to to Lucas's prequals.... Strong interesting composition in loads of shots then compair it to the "roving camera" CGI cluster**** at the start of Revenge of the Sith... Even ignoring the typical terrible dialog theres just not the same cinematic craft at work there, CGI is the temptation would not the cause IMHO since films such as Lord Of The Rings have been able to use it and retain strong dramatic composition. The worst thing of all though, was how George Lucas treated Annakin's transformation into Darth Vader as an episode of Gossip Girl. Annakin's decision came off as just a petulant teen's wanting to have everything his own way. It was absurd and reduces the Darth Vader character to a ridiculous and trivial figure. Who can take him seriously now when the reason for his creation is like something out of Dawson's Creek? Luckly the prequals are so far removed from the originals in many aspects that I find it easy to put them out of mind but really this was the unforgiveble failing to me. Lucas had 3 films to build up to this moment yet he spent the first two building up a dull political plot(that still lacked any kind of depth) instead before botching it in film three and again spending more time on silly politics. Edited February 21, 2012 by greenman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrum Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) Now THIS is REAL animation. :^) Note the beautiful background art. Edited February 21, 2012 by redrum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzepfilm Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I see that as really two issues, as you say Lucas clearly overused CGI thoughout the prequals but compaired to the originals the FX scenes themselves were servely lacking in cinematic craft. Watch the Battle at the end of Return of the Jedi and compair to to Lucas's prequals.... Strong interesting composition in loads of shots then compair it to the "roving camera" CGI cluster**** at the start of Revenge of the Sith... Even ignoring the typical terrible dialog theres just not the same cinematic craft at work there, CGI is the temptation would not the cause IMHO since films such as Lord Of The Rings have been able to use it and retain strong dramatic composition. Luckly the prequals are so far removed from the originals in many aspects that I find it easy to put them out of mind but really this was the unforgiveble failing to me. Lucas had 3 films to build up to this moment yet he spent the first two building up a dull political plot(that still lacked any kind of depth) instead before botching it in film three and again spending more time on silly politics. Although the prequels looked more "real", the originals are more just... natural. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenman Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Although the prequels looked more "real", the originals are more just... natural. As I said I think alot of it is down to composition, just because your dealing with an FX scene in a space fantasy doesnt mean the rules of cinema are suspended. The way the ships in Return of the Jedi are placed in the frame and the direction the move makes the shots more dramatic and "real" where as Revenge of the Sith is full of too much CGI clutter and the easy option of having the camera follow the ships. Really just shows a clear problem thoughout the films, 20 years on the sidelines has clearly led to a decline in Lucas's abilties as a director. Quite apart from the poor acting/dialog his new films simpley arent shot in an interesting fashion much of the time, characters sit around talking or walk slowly talking in a boring standard composition far too often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Who needs Star Wars in 3D when you have this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazedcat Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 No doubt millions wish this "edited" scene was real and in the first movie.................. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObcYgDZ9aqo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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