ROTS - I have a sad feeling about this

[GarekHaig]

Only 4 days to go, I have pre-booked my ticket and chosen my seat. There is no doubt in my mind that this is what my 28 years have been building towards but I can't shake a feeling in the pit of my belly. I know the basics of what is going to happen (thankfully I've stayed fairly spoiler free) and I know that I will love the film. I just don't know if I am ready for the devastation, destruction and sadness that is to come.

I think as soon as I have seen the film, ROTJ will be going straight into my DVD player to cheer me up, how is everyone else going to recover from this film?

[kivaanzion]

It will be a very dark film (by the way, it only received a PG rating in Canada, rather than PG-13). ESB is probably the closest film to compare it to (in terms of darkness). Han was lost, Luke was defeated and had his hand cut off, we found out that Luke's dad is the most evil man in the universe, etc...

But ESB still ended on a relatively high note: Luke received a new hand, Chewie and Lando set off to find Han, and the Rebels escaped the Empire with Luke, Leia and the droids reunited.

I'm sure Ep III will end on a similarly high note... I don't think Lucas would want millions of fans leaving the theater in tears. I do know of some high points that should be in the film, but I'll keep them to myself so as not to be a spoiler.

I've been watching all 5 films for the last two weeks. I'll probably throw Ep IV in the player as soon as I get home to see how the two films link up.

[Ani-Chay Pinn]

I think that this film will bookend with ANH very, very well. This one will be very, very down (I'm thinking something like "Schindler's List" for Jedi), while the movie that follows it in the story is very, very up, especailly if you saw it in 1977 when it first came out. That's a high that I don't know if anyone could replicate.

[JediMistressDragon]

Does it help that I heard Speilberg saw it at the Ranch and cried. I read the graphic novel--nothing much that I didn't figure out from years ago in '77-'83 when things were in the papers and news then)--except one thing that is changed and upset me as has to do with ROTJ (but then Lucas is famous for this). But it is a 'bring your hankie' movie. And I will cry.
JMD

[himiko sabbrawrra]

I think I am going to go home and Wathc ROTJ myself.. I mean.. I feel all sad about this.. even though I know what is going to happen...

[Jan-Qui Coran]

I've already started preparing myself for the down I'm going to feel. I've started reading the Jedi Academy series of books just to reassure myself that the Jedi come back stronger than ever.

[JediKai]

I've seen it .....and, with my personal identificaton with the Jedi, it broke my heart.

Yes, go home and watch ANH. All is not lost.

As I've said elsewhere, so far 3 of our 501st group have indicated re-thinking their attachement to the Imperial forces after seeing it. One said, "I never realized the Empire was SO evil".

(we were costumed volunteers for the Charity Premier and the charity agency was kind enough to let us into the film!).

[Leda EmBorr]

Ok, I didn't cry... not till I saw it for the 4th time. Today I got a bit teary eyed.

hmmmm......

[Schph Gochi]

I have only seen ROTS once so far...at midnight...and after a full day of work ....and a lot of other stresses...my first reaction is:
yuck!

I had a whole cupholder full of Kleenex ....ready to cry...and found that I did not shed a tear....
I am terribly disappointed in ROTS....but...
I was also disappointed the first viewing of PM...and when I went to see it a second time and under different circumstances....I was then blown away by it.

I know this will be the case with ROTS too...there were some things to like...but too many things to NOT like...

Grevious is a cartoon...and annoyed me much more than Jar Jar ever did...

The CG is over done...too much...

Natalie Portman was atrocious (sp?)....wooden as ever...she may know how to act...but she can't act with blue/green screen......and that is what was needed.

The only time I felt a slight tear coming to my eyes was the very end...with Beru and Owen and baby Luke watching the twin suns set....

My big "wow" moment was the horrified look on Anakin's face when the Vader mask came down and "locked" him in the suit....it was a real kick in the gut...Hayden nailed that scene for all it was worth......
I read the novelization before the movie came out...and the movie just didn't do the novelization justice....it looked like Anakin turned very fast...but the novel make the transition much more painful....

[Ani-Chay Pinn]

I shed no tears at the midnight showing of ROTS. It was guaranteed that I wouldn't once I'd heard that it was supposed to be heartbreaking. But I'm still in denial about just how many Jedi got wiped out when Anakin marched on the temple. It will take time for that part to sink in. Then it will be heartbreaking.

But the final Yoda/Sidius, Obi-Wan/Anakin confrontations were breathtaking, even the first time. Those fights were worth waiting 28 years to see. Anakin/Obi-Wan I knew about, but I wasn't expecting Yoda/Sidius at the same time.

And dare I say it? I LOVED the "If you're not with me, you're my enemy -- Only a Sith thinks in terms of absolutes" confrontation! Worth the price of the whole movie, just for that.

What I tell everyone about this film, the first thing I say is that it's INCREDIBLY busy. Lucas took every space battle, every explosion, every droid that wouldn't fit in the first 5 films and crammed them into this one.

I looked at ANH last night and it is positively austere in comparison. I can look at the backgrounds and see places where Lucas would have put all that business if he could have at the time. But I think the contrast could be deliberate. Lucas has been very good with matching the two trilogies. Everyone gets lost in all the war and technology in the first trilogy. Even the Jedi were lured into it; they were planning a COUP before Studius made his move! In the second trilogy, when all that is stripped down, everyone finds themselves. I may be giving Lucas too much credit on the visual metaphors, but that's what it looks like.

Funny thing, I liked TPM better the third time I saw it. Now I love it. I keep seeing review comments about how stiff and wooden Liam Neeson is supposed to be in that, and I just don't see it. Portman did a good job with Padme, but her character isn't very interesting in ROTS because she doesn't have much to do at all except have babies and die dramatically. Very operatic. That's how Lucas told her to do it. But since Portman beat Meryl Streep out for a Golden Globe award this year, I don't think she needs to worry about her acting. And I think Liam Neeson's doing fine. Hmmmmm, Kinsey's out on DVD this week I think, too.

But now when I look at it again, I wonder about Anakin--she was so pregnant at the beginning, but she still had to tell him that she was having a baby(ies) even after he'd just hugged her. Did he just think she was gaining weight?

[Bel-Den Shaw]

its kinda funny cause i the movie that i watched after "sith" was "jedi" I guess i needed to be cheared up too.

[Leda EmBorr]

Yeah, Schph... the novelization was much more heart-wrenching than the movie was...

[Parga Carwis]

The parts that were heartrending to me were the Order 66 sequence (the look on poor Ki Adi Mundi's face), and the entire duel between Obi Wan & Anakin - out of all of the actors in any of the 6, Ewan McGregor nailed this part (imo). It's easy to believe that he wanted so badly for Anakin to come back from the dark place he was in, and you knew exactly when he realized that it wasn't going to happen. Natalie Portman - I agree on the above mentioned comment on her acting in ROTS. I'm sure Mr. Lucas told her to act that way (my wife claims that it's because she was pregnant & hormonal, thus she couldn't act one way for too long), but Hayden Christensen definitely redeemed himself (again, imo) to anyone who said he couldn't act after AOTC.
Therapy for me afterwards? Discussing it in the car on the way home (not to mention posing for more pictures with fans outside the theater who wanted to have their pic taken with a Jedi!)...

[Elric Surwar]

Intense. that's how I would describe it after 2 viewings. Sadness, yeah though I'm not a "crier" per say (not "overly macho" I just don't cry at movies. The best have tried, I was dry-eyed during Steel Magnolias and the Lion King) but it did complete the circle. Darth Vader is more than a big evil guy in armor, but Anakin Skywalker who made a choice and was shown the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Hayden did a wonderful job, I too wanted Anakin to turn back to the light and at times almost thought he could.

Maybe I'll break down somewhere between viewings 3 and 7...

[Mon-Jas Charan]

schphgochi said:

The only time I felt a slight tear coming to my eyes was the very end...with Beru and Owen and baby Luke watching the twin suns set....

Are you sure it is a suns set? i.e. setting on the Republic. Or is it the twin sun rise of a new hope dawning? i.e. Luke and Leia the New Hope.

We had this discussion on the way home after the mid night showing.

No tears shed by my wife or I after 5 viewings ... I thought the movie ended on a hopeful note, when Obi-Wan delivered Luke to the Larzs' .... so I though it may be a sun rise.