Jaivens review.

[jaiven]

I finally saw EP 3 on Friday night and here is my brief review of what I thought.

Ok, first off, I will say that Episode 3 was "OK" at best. In my opinion of course. It could have been better. I guess I am just to picky on the little stuff.

Like:

1. Near the beginning, when the Grevious's ship started toi go down into the atmosphere of Coruscant. Everything in the ship started falling down to one end of the ship. This would not happen for the simple fact that the artificial gravity would hold everything down to the floor. Gravity Plating, thats what it is designed to do. And to say that the artificial gravity was damaged or knocked out, well then they would become weightless until they hit the atmoshpere where the planets gravity would start to take effect.

2. If the main engine section broke off what were they using to actually steer the rest of the ship with into a the semi controlled decent they had shown.

3. When Anakin and Obi Won where fighting on the Volcano planet, they would not have been able to breath very well once the facilities shields went down. All those sulfuric and toxic gases. And when they were fighting on top of those droids floating over the lava, the heat would have been way to much. Lava is usually between 2300 and 2500 degrees F* Way to hot to be that close to.

4. Natalie Portmans acting was just plain not there, lacking, unrealistic. When she was dying, well, I just didn't believe it.

5. Anakin turned way to fast and way to easy to the dark side. Once he realize that his pal Palpatine was the Sith Lord, he should have realized that everything Palpatine had been telling him was a lie. I know, then we never would have had Dart Vader and no Star Wars story to tell.

Those are just a couple of the severe discrepincies that I found. Over all, it was better than TPM and ATOC. But I still think the original three are much better. Lucas fell short if you ask me. The script was just dull.

Anyway, that is jusy my person opinion.

[Ani-Chay Pinn]

Nope. Don't agree.

About the spaceship breaking up.....well, there isn't any sound in space eiither. I went around and around on spaceship details 28 years ago when ANH first came out. Same goes for the technicalities on the lava planet. Look and sound are everything. Star Wars is ART. And it's fantasy, not science fiction.

Don't agree about the character details either. I think Lucas did a fantastic job of matching the look and story style of Ep III with the prequel and original trilogy movies; the good, the bad and the ugly. If it's got "Star Wars" on the label, the lines are going to be cheesy. It's been that way from the beginning. I regret that Padme didn't have much more to do that have babies and die dramatically in this one, but I wasn't expecting her to be the one to lead Obi-Wan to Anakin; I liked that bit of surprise. My spoiler avoidinig paid off.

And I LOVED the line about "Only Sith think in terms of absolutes." YAY! Worth the price of the whole movie for me.

Here's something that I thought was funny.....the Friday after ROTS came out a guy in my office was REALLY talking up the movie. He loved everything about it. And I'm the one who saw it in a Jedi costume. I hadn't said much about it other than I came in late to work on Thursday because of the midnight showing.

[Leda EmBorr]

Yeah I'm a bit "nitpicky" as well. The movie is fantastic, I absolutely love it... but I think it should have been 3 hours. Lord of the rings was! I hope we get a good 3hour DVD version!

Here's a few comments I have:

In the novelization, the gravity generators were damaged... they became desynchronized, causing the gravity to be erratic. One minute the floor was a floor, the next it was a cliff. The gravity vector kept swinging back and forth so that they got tossed around quite a bit while they were trying to escape the ship with Palpatine. But in the movie it just looked like they were falling toward the planet. But you're right Jaiven, in that case, they should have been floating... or in freefall.

I loved the way the ship going down was animated... It was chilling... so reminiscent of Columbia breaking up. My thoughts went back to that sad day... I had to take a moment to come back to the movie. But to steer it I think Anakin was using the drag fins... and the Force! lol!

And I have that problem with Mustafar too... I suppose the volcanos there spew out oxygen instead of toxic fumes? lol... that's a stretch! And the droids over the lava had the blue force fields... someone corrected me on this... originally I thought that the blue was like the hot blue fire you see on gas stoves. But that's why those big things melted when the controls got accidentally shut down. If you notice the blue disappears. Still, they shouldn't have been able to breathe! They should have been coughing a bit at the very least!

And it how is it that Obi-Wan has just had the fight of his life and he didn't even get his hands dirty? After he leaves Anakin, he goes to check on Padme and he's got clean hands... so I guess I'm supposed to believe that washing his hands and brushing his hair comes first, before seeing if Padme is ok. This bugged me in AotC too. Stop brushing the guy's hair between scenes! That makes the movie less believable.

Speaking of unbelievable... Obi-Wan gets kicked in the face by a big metal foot and we see no blood... not even a bruise! And I don't care if that wall that fell on him was made of hydrofoamed permacrete... it should have done a bit more damage... not to mention the rail he crashed into, and the fall to the floor... it struck me as unbelievable that he would be able to just get up without even a limp! I guess he can use the Force to shield himself even while he's unconcious? Hmmm...

And Portman's acting was... embarrassing? IMO. Maybe I just don't get it... is that the acting style Lucas was going for? Did he direct her to say her lines that way? If so, I'd really like to know why. I feel like I might be missing the point of his artistc vision. If anyone has any insight on this please tell me! Still, I felt no onscreen chemistry between Padme and Anakin. Her character was more believable in her scenes with Obi-Wan.

Overall, I think that casual viewers are entertained by this movie due to the awesome visual effects and the presence of all the nostalgia... the wookies, Darth Vader, etc... And I have to remind myself that this is a fantasy and that not everything has to work according to the physical laws of reality... but some things could have been a little bit closer to it!

[mooglar (Malim Vincible)]

The gravity thing with the ship bothered me too. I had already read the novel and I thought the gravity generators would be acting up as Leda noted. There were some other problems along these lines, such as fighters suddenly diving toward the planet when they got shot, which doesn't happen in microgravity, and the buzz droid sliding off Anakin's ship after Artoo shocks it, when, of course, with no wind resistance there's nothing to make it do so. And we know they weren't in the atmosphere up there because, when the ship is crashing later, Obi-Wan says, "We're in the atmosphere," to let Anakin know they've entered it. The mechanics of that whole sequence were all screwed up, but, as Ani-Chay noted, Star Wars physics and real physics have never been the same, so I didn't let that bother me much.

As far as the heat of the lava, as noted, the force fields protected Anakin and Obi-Wan, just as they did the droid Anakin jumped on, who would have been melted by the lava when Anakin's weight pushed it down had it not had a force field. However, if you notice when the big spire that Anakin and Obi-Wan are on that breaks off, it breaks off where all that lava fell on it. When it is breaking, there's a whole bunch of lava stuck to the end of the spire as it breaks that should have been above Anakin and Obi-Wan and probably fallen on them, but it magically disappears from one shot to another.

As far as breathing goes, I figured it was the Force or something, so that didn't bother me too much.

As to the section of the gangway falling on Obi-Wan, I thought he should have been more injured too at first. But, if you watch it again, pay close attention to what happens: it doesn't actually fall on Obi-Wan at all. Some part of it hits the ground first. It does then slide a little and push Obi-Wan's body a bit, but the weight of the plank doesn't fall on Obi-Wan nor is its weight resting on him. I think that is what saves him from more serious injury.

A few other things I noticed: Where does Obi-Wan get a new robe from between Utupau and the Temple? He drops his robe before he jumps down to fight Grievous, and then boards Grievous' fighter without a robe. He couldn't have gotten a robe from his room in the Temple because the fight is to enter the Temple. And Bayle Organa wasn't allowed to enter the Temple to get anything out of it, so unless he happens to have had a spare Jedi robe laying around, there's no place for Obi-Wan to have gotten it from.

Also, it's pretty lucky for Obi-Wan that Grievous' fighter has life-support, since Grievous is self-contained and doesn't need it.

How did Anakin or Obi-Wan lose his saber before the part when Anakin is forcing Obi-Wan down? One of them lost his saber because there's only one in the shot, but I don't know how, and I don't know which one, because the saber in Obi-Wan's hand actually switches from his to Anakin's and back when the scenes shift.

Speaking of lightsabers, if you look closesly, two of the sabers Grievous attacks Obi-Wan with are Anakin's and Obi-Wan's.

During Yoda's fight with the Emperor, how did they go from fighting on the central column to the Emperor being above Yoda throwing Senate platforms down at him? There's a missing sequence that explains how the fight progressed to that point, I think.

One really cool thing in ROTS, though, if you look closely, is that the tips of Yoda's ears are translucent like human ears, so you can see a little bit of light through them that is colored red from the blood vessels. Pretty cool.

One irony of the line, "Only the Sith deal in absolutes," of course, is that saying "only" makes this statement, itself, an absolute.

Overall, I thought the movie was pretty good. Natalie Portman's acting was as good as it could be given the direction and how poor the scenes she was in were. Hayden was much, much better through most of it, though the line about his "new Empire" didn't work well at all. Ewan's acting was excellent, especially in his stuff with Hayden at the end. The action and lightsabers, by and large, were cool, though I didn't think Grievous came off as very scary or intimidating at all. The worst part, for me, was the Frankenstein scene with Vader awakening in the suit and going, "Nooooooo!!!" The audience laughed at that line. Yoda was cool, though knowing what happened between the center column and throwing the platforms would help me to understand why Yoda couldn't beat him.

And I loved the fact that Mace Windu nearly beat the Emperor all by himself, had the chosen one not intervened. For all his scheming and plotting, the Emperor almost lost because Sam Jackson came over with a baseball bat. (I don't think the Emperor was pretending to be beaten for Anakin's benefit, BTW, because it was too risky and also because he still uses Force lightning to try to kill Mace himself rather than relying on Anakin, showing he doesn't necessarily trust Anakin to side with him).

Not as good as the Original Trilogy, but much better than Episodes I and II, in my opinion.

[kivaanzion]

I loved the way the ship going down was animated... It was chilling... so reminiscent of Columbia breaking up

That's the first thing I thought of when I saw that image in the film! I wondered if some viewers would find that image disturbing.

Portman's acting embarrassing? I didn't feel that way at all. The scene on Mustafar where she delivers the "Anakin... You're breaking my heart" line was outstanding. Portman spontaneously sheds tears! It moved me to tears! Yes the "Hold me like you did on Naboo" line was corny- but this is George's doing.

The exchange on the balcony ("I'm so in love..." "No, I'm so in love...") has been bashed the most, but I got the feeling they were just being giddy in love (I love you... I love you more... No I love you more... etc). They did appear to be teasing each other near the end. The whole point of the scene is to have a cute sickly sweet exchange that is suddenly contrasted with the horrible image of Padme in pain, pleading for help (Anakin's dream).

I'm sure you could find dozen of things to nitpick about the film. Look at ANH- Leia's hairdo and lipstick are untouched throughout the entire film!

Anakin's turning to the Dark side was rushed- things could have happened at a slower more deliberate pace. But the movie is nearly two and a half hours long. As had been said it could have easily been over three hours. Here's hoping for that extended dvd!

During Yoda's fight with the Emperor, how did they go from fighting on the central column to the Emperor being above Yoda throwing Senate platforms down at him?

As they are fighting in Palpatine's office, they both end up on his desk- the desk begins to rise up to the ceiling (it is on some kind of pneumatic lift) which opens up- Once they go through the ceiling of Palpatine's office they emerge at the bottom of the Senate room.

For me the bottom line is it is fantasy- and this film was a wonderfully fun time!

[BakaNeko]

malim said:

the buzz droid sliding off Anakin's ship after Artoo shocks it, when, of course, with no wind resistance there's nothing to make it do so.

I think with that, when the buzz driod landed it magnatized it feet to the ship, then when Artoo zapped it and disabled it, it became demagnatized. When Anakin accellerates his ship, he leaves the driod behind because its not attached to the ship anymore.

[Leda EmBorr]

malim said:

As to the section of the gangway falling on Obi-Wan, I thought he should have been more injured too at first. But, if you watch it again, pay close attention to what happens: it doesn't actually fall on Obi-Wan at all. Some part of it hits the ground first. It does then slide a little and push Obi-Wan's body a bit, but the weight of the plank doesn't fall on Obi-Wan nor is its weight resting on him. I think that is what saves him from more serious injury.

Ah ok... I'll have to watch closely next time.

malim said:

Also, it's pretty lucky for Obi-Wan that Grievous' fighter has life-support, since Grievous is self-contained and doesn't need it.

LOL! I thought of that too! Gotta love that "hot-rod" sound when he revvs up the engines!

malim said:

How did Anakin or Obi-Wan lose his saber before the part when Anakin is forcing Obi-Wan down? One of them lost his saber because there's only one in the shot, but I don't know how, and I don't know which one, because the saber in Obi-Wan's hand actually switches from his to Anakin's and back when the scenes shift.

Speaking of lightsabers, if you look closesly, two of the sabers Grievous attacks Obi-Wan with are Anakin's and Obi-Wan's.

I'm sensing another frame by frame analysis when the dvd comes out! lol! I did notice Obi-Wan's saber falling with Grievous' severed hand. Anakin's too? That's too funny!

malim said:

The worst part, for me, was the Frankenstein scene with Vader awakening in the suit and going, "Nooooooo!!!" The audience laughed at that line.

I laughed out loud too... I called him "Frankenvader"... heheh

kivaanzion said:

Portman's acting embarrassing? I didn't feel that way at all. The scene on Mustafar where she delivers the "Anakin... You're breaking my heart" line was outstanding. Portman spontaneously sheds tears! It moved me to tears! Yes the "Hold me like you did on Naboo" line was corny- but this is George's doing.

The exchange on the balcony ("I'm so in love..." "No, I'm so in love...") has been bashed the most, but I got the feeling they were just being giddy in love (I love you... I love you more... No I love you more... etc). They did appear to be teasing each other near the end. The whole point of the scene is to have a cute sickly sweet exchange that is suddenly contrasted with the horrible image of Padme in pain, pleading for help (Anakin's dream).

Ok, You're right about the scene on Mustafar where Padme is crying and saying "You're breaking my heart". That's actually the only scene in the movie that threatens to bring tears to my eyes and I have to blink them away.

And you're right too... the bottom line is it is fantasy- and this film was, indeed, a wonderfully fun time! And it will be quite a few more times before it leaves the theaters! ;D

[mooglar (Malim Vincible)]

Ki Vaan:

Yes, they got into the Senate chamber by the column lifting them up. What I meant was that Yoda and the Emperor are fighting on the desk as it lifts up into the middle of the Senate chamber in one scene. Then, we cut to Anakin and Obi-Wan fighting. When we cut back to Yoda and the Emperor, they aren't on the column anymore. The Emperor is already above Yoda and throwing platforms down on him. What I'm asking is how did they get from fighting each other on the center column to that? (Not expecting an answer, just clarifying that I didn't miss the obvious!) :^)

[kivaanzion]

Whoops! Sorry Mooglar, I misunderstood what you were asking before.

Hmmm... I guess I'll have to go watch the film again.

I'll get back to you.

[devineoin]

Okay, I'm ready for the fallout from this statement, but let me preface it by saying that George Lucas is amazing. His creativity is unrivaled and he has singlehandedly changed the way movies are made--sound, SFX, non-linear editing (yes, Lucas was the first to develop a working model), heck the 3D animation that is so popular today is an offshoot of his techincal innovations... and I love Star Wars... it's an amazing creation... but anyways,

George Lucas is a terrible director. There's a reason ESB and ROTJ are most peoples' favorite SW films... There's a reason the EU is so darn popular... George has great vision, and he knows how to blend space age special effects with left over WWII relics to make a georgous set, but he never has been able to direct actors. Say what you will, but if you compare the performances of any of the actors in any SW film with their reel outside of Star Wars, there is no comparison.

I love Star Wars, but I have always consigned myself to the fact that if GL is helming the project, the story will lack when it's not in an action scene. Throughout the prequels I have never once felt an ounce of chemistry from Portman or Anakin (by either actor--please don't get me started on the kid from TPM...) It just has never been there.

I can totally not worry about all the physics of crap... besides the fact that the force exists, it's a different galaxy/universe, so maybe somethings are just different there... but the acting kills me everytime.

Again, I love Star Wars, and ROTS was by far the best of the prequels, but George Lucas just can't direct...

You may all now proceed to verbally abuse me....

[Leda EmBorr]

Is it his directing that's bad, or is that the way he intended for those certain scenes to come across? That's what I am asking... if anyone has any links to quotes from interviews where he discusses this, point me there! I know he structure the story to be reminiscent of the "cliffhanger" style of moviemaking that was popular back in the ---um 1940's (I think?). Wondering if there is a style of acting that he is trying to emulate.

In web doc #2 on discII of Attack of the Clones, GL says flat out that these are meant to be visual movies.

"I'm a visual filmmaker as opposed to a literary filmmaker, so the movie doesn't rest in the dialogue, it rests in the visuals."

And an excellent visual filmmaker, he is!

[devineoin]

I'm not denying that they are stunningly beautiful. But to say that your movie isn't going to be carried by dialogue is a cop out when your dialogue is so horrible. Even in the '40's you still had believable chemistry and character interactions between actors.

Honestly, the way he "tackled" the love story of Anakin and Padme made me sick. I mean it was truly horrible. I honestly think that he just spends so much time worrying about everything else that he just doesn't spend the time and/or know how to coax the performances he (should) need out of his actors.

I actually thought this exact line during the scene when the Jedis go to arrest Palpatine and they kept cutting between Anakin and Padme :

"This scene is perfectly shot. This would build the exact right amount of tension as Anakin weighs his options... if I believed for one second the performance Hayden or Portman were giving..."

Again, I love Star Wars, but I think to say that GL isn't intersted in that aspect of directing or that he's intentionally doing it, is to simply settle for mediocrity.

I dunno, maybe years of film school, and experience running my own production company have made me jaded, but I think we deserve better.

[Aayla]

i also agree about gl and his directing skills but when it comes down to it its his story let him tell it how he wants to tell it sorry to seem rude but thats just my opinion only one critisism i have for gl although hayden looks the part of anakin his acting is horrible it makes me cringe (apart from the saber fights) what was gl thinking

[Seda Navilli]

Didnt he try to get someone else to direct it, but they refused?

[Leda EmBorr]

Not sure about that... but I know Speilberg helped him with some of the action scenes.