Final thoughts from those who attended Lucas' Q&As at STAR WARS: CELEBRATION!!!

Thats right bitches, I got FISTED! Jealous?

so there..

Bring on the Tarkin!!! Bring on the Wedge! Wedge saved Luke's ass so many times he needs to have his own movie. Or Porkins...more Porkins!

to ask the cocksucker where the original trilogy is on dvd without his bullshit in em?

I could see the 20-20-60 distribution. That makes sense to me. It just underscores the point that it all really does come down to RoTS. This is the episode we have all been waiting for because it sets in motion IV, V, & VI. I & II served a purpose of setting up III, the real point of making the prequel trilogy. And to his credit, Lucas has always said these new movies serve a purpose in telling a story, not necessarily existing as great individual films themselves. With all this said, RoTS must deliver. We're at the end of the line. It's the bottom of the ninth. The bases are loaded. Sure, I would've have enjoyed seeing those runners on base homer themselves but they didn't. So now we are left with the bases loaded and the at-bat must deliver the runs. This is it. All or nothing. Not the best analogy I know, but work with me people ;)

That's the question I would've asked because as far as I'm concerned that's still the biggest area of concern when it comes to Star Wars: preserving the TRUE original classic series and not these special edition nonsense discs.

Seriously, just hate the film. If the other two disappointed you so bad (put 40 and 60 together, and watch how all of your bitching just falls to the wayside), then this one will probably do the same. Since most of the people in the same boat as you. Hold these films up to some whack standard, that only a shrink could properly rationalize. Go ahead, join the likes of EW, Devin Farci, and countless other geeks, and hate Revenge. We will have fun without you. Like we did the past six years.

pls correct, kthanksbye.

"Wah...we want the original versions of the original trilogy. Wah...I want to look at crappy FX..wah...I want to make sure to have film history restored...wah..." Get over it, and move on. You will get them. If you get them. It all comes back to your need to relive your youth. Wow. Again, when do the shrinks start checking some of you people out? Like the frickin Library of Congress and the National Film Archieves do not an non-special edition print. It's has nothing to do with perserving film history. It has all to do with making your inner child happy. I hope Lucas puts them out one day. Just so many of you will, as Julianne Moore once said in Magnolia...

Was that great big penis in ROTJ!! That was fuuuuuuuunnnyyyy!! I want to be fed to a giant penis one day.

Midichlorians are Stupid Wookies are Good Midichlorians are Stupid Wookies are Good Midichlorians are Stupid Wookies are Good Midichlorians are Stupid Wookies are Good

More Fargin Wookies George and I just might forgive you.

I really don't buy this whole "there wasn't much story, and that

No really, he was here last night. It was horrible. The lawyers came in their black cars 2 hours later and waved papers in my face. Mitzi needs money for surgery, she might not walk again. Who will give to the Mitzi fund?

And "Revenge of the Sith" blows. Get used to hearing that.

Just kidding. Thought the last 2 films were ok. Cool action scenes with average-poor acting. The Clone Wars cartoons series has a TON of replay value. I've watched both seasons multiple times on dvd and even find that the cartoons have more emotion in them than the last 2 movies combined. The animated love story is actually believable. I feel for Anakin and Padame in the 'toons. I dowloaded the Episode III storybook yesterday (complete with never before seen pictures)from Bearshare and read the entire segment about Mace trying to arrest Palpatine. I ruined the ending for myself also....SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you wondering if we see Vader in "action", the answer is yes and no. After Vader realizes what he has become, he goes crazy with his force powers and tears up the operating room along with some medical droids. And the Mace/Palpatine fight sounds WICKED. Apparently Palpatine kills the other 3 Jedi that Mace shows up with INSTANTLY. He beheads one of them (the green underwater/tentacle-headed dude)and the head lands on Palpatine's desk. After a brutal saber/force power battle, Windu is eventually sucker-punched with lightning blasts and falls to his death while Anakin watches. Sounds fairly cool. How can you screw that up on film?

Once upon a time, we were able to construct plotlines based off dialogue in the original trilogy. I really miss those days. So, returning to those roots... when I hear of a series between 3 and 4, I tend to think of a story that follows the rebel alliance, pilots, the academy, and Han as an Imperial Officer rescuing Chewbacca. There's all sorts of neat stories that could be told and have Vader as the occasional bad guy in the background. BUT, WHEN I THINK ABOUT THIS KIND OF SERIES, I always... ABSOLUTELY ALWAYS... picture it done in the same style as A NEW HOPE... a gritty 70's look and feel. No big fancy CG special effects... just film on location, vaselyne on the lens, rusty land speeders, stop motion space ships. I MISS THOSE DAYS. But really, that's the series I'd like to see... my childhood revisited in all its cheesy splendor.

As I think about it, the more I'd want to see that... more of those orange jump suits... rebels jumping into their X-WINGS (or the predecessor Headhunter ships). The plotlines could follow the Antilles family and the Organa family on Alderaan... conspiracies, trying to elude the Imperials. COMPLETELY IGNORE TATOOINE (and Luke... saving him for Episode 4) and focus instead have the occasional episode with a ten year old bossy Princess Leia (ala the child version of Wonder Woman in Justice League Unlimited). THAT WOULD BE COOL! Get a good montage of generic actors with moustaches in their mid 30's to late 40's... I am thinking of that Yavin 4 base and that look... DANG IT, I AM REALLY GETTING EXCITED ABOUT THIS. What do you think, George? A stroll down memory lane? (Anybody else here got excited when they listened to all that story expansion in the old Radio Dramas?) Hmmmmm.

You know, the monster that used to be a giant vagina with teeth, is now a humungous dick in the middle of the desert! How could you miss it?! I'm not the only one who noticed, surely? Anyone? <Sound of lone dog howling in the distance>...

Damn my over-eager use of the enter key! Damn it straight to heck and back!!!

"Wah...we want the original versions of the original trilogy. Wah...I want to look at crappy FX..wah...I want to make sure to have film history restored...wah..." Get over it, and move on. You will get them. If you get them. It all comes back to your need to relive your youth. Wow. Again, when do the shrinks start checking some of you people out? Like the frickin Library of Congress and the National Film Archieves do not an non-special edition print. It's has nothing to do with perserving film history. It has all to do with making your inner child happy. I hope Lucas puts them out one day. Just so many of you will, as Julianne Moore once said in Magnolia...

Lucas in the past week stated the show would be similar to young indy chronicles. I think the show will revolve around Young Solo and the characters in his world. Chewie,Lando, Jabba, Greedo, and other various scum and villainy. They could shoot the sow out in yuma.

Were the quotes by Rick McCallum on StarWars.com deleted? I could have sworned he was quoted as saying, "We finally got it right." And now that quote is gone from the Celebration 3 report. Interesting.... Anyone know for sure? To me that is admitting that the other two prequels stunk. Does anyone have his transcript?

Having studied animation these past few years in College, I look at CG and can appreciate it, but there's something about the models. I love the model of the Millenium Falcon, the X-Wing, and the Tie Fighter. They feel so much more real than the CG versions. It's kind of like Vinyl versus CD. Vinyl has better rhythm and base despite the superiority of the digital disks. I think it's that same nostalgic feel that has me wrapped up in the OT of Star Wars as well as the old Star Trek movies. You couldn't release Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home in theaters today, it'd get laughed at. But it came out at the right time and is revered as nostalgic. I'd LOVE to see a "classic" STAR WARS continuation using all the old bad effects... but it'll never happen. I am instead left to play in my imagination and day dream. I love Star Wars.

Hey Jarv!

And fucking cold. No fisting for prevert I'm afraid:( She charges double for that service.

You know what they say: Avoid hangovers - stay drunk!

And I bet she didn't charge him ANYTHING! Slut.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum....no

..lots of people were taking photos, I expect someone will send one in for an AICN article - I'm excited about Star Wars for the first time since 1999!

If I was drunk and spanking Natalie Portman, maybe I'd be having more fun...

What's that technique for obtaining your Star Wars name? Is it first car plus medication or swapping the first letters of both christian and surname?

I can't believe I know that. But they did go out. Not being a gossip bitch or anything..

So far the prequels have not provided any real reason for the reverence Anakin gets in ANH. I can't see him getting much in for the last film either as he has to become Vader within 90 minutes. I remember Alec Guiness talking about him to Luke and I imagined him to be so much more noble than a sulky teen. I mean honestly, what did he do?

He's a goddamn hero mister!

and a Cunning occasional CGI warrior.

These prequels have been a graveyard of good actors. Ewan McGregor, Sam Jackson, Portman, Jimmy Smits, Terrance Stamp (he played a door in Episode 1), Christopher Lee (in a blatant display of PJ envy, Lucas hires him only to replace him in the fight scene with a gimp with a CG head), Temuera Morrison (okay he's not so great, but he's a Kiwi!).

... stealing posts from other Talkbacks. Oh, and it looks like you have, namely from my own. (I'm a petty fuck)

You missed my point. The point is Harrison's Ford's missing charisma. Ewan McGregor has that. It's not shitty plots either. It's boring as fuck pompus characters that have no relation (at least not the way OT characters did) to our contemporary culture... Execpt maybe right wing assholian republicans. Annnd even further more, I think the way Lucas has mirrored these prequels to the current state of our countrie's affairs has been staggering, considering the plots for the fall of the "Republic" and rise of dictatorship were already put in place way back in the late 90's. Did George see this very outcome and the parrells he could take from it?... Lucas talked about how he used certain world affairs and applied them to the OT.

the devilish wit. It must have been on the same retard bus with the typos. - And as far as fanboys go, why distance yourself from them, especially when I see you constantly posting about the house Lucas built? These movies are bullshit, you're above them, barely have the time, but just can't stop posting. We get it, you're stupid. Have fun going through the archives, hopefully you'll find an old Neil Cumpston insult you can recycle my way. Now lean back, cause tears hurt the keyboard.

Cunt will be infecting the screen, though unfortunately she'll look like she's smuggling a beer keg for the whole of the movie. I feel your pain Jarv, but I'm probably in the majority of Star Wars fans due to the fact that I think any Star Wars is better than no Star Wars. I can do without the TV show though. I have a feeling that no matter what it would turn into Star Trek Voyager, or a Babylon 5, none of which I've been able to sit through full episodes of because of the shit budgets, shit actors, and just plain shitty shit facts that they're shitty TV. I'm still holding out hope that we'll get to see Speilberg, Tarantino, Fincher, or any other directors I like tackling episodes 7, 8, and 9. They will happen one day, even if it has to be after Lucas dies.

Therefore, I am gay

And you obviously leave it til last as it's the new one. Incidentally, 50 quid for 6 movies in Leicester Square including a live introduction by Lucas and the cast is a fucking bargain

Why not just merge one failing franchise into the other, and have "Imperial West Wing?" Jimmy Smits plays idealistic senator Bail Organa, who tries to foster a grass roots rebellion against the evil Emperor Palpatine (Alan Alda). Also starring John Spencer as Alderaanian chief of staff Leo McGarry, and Richard Schiff as Chewbacca.

Phantom Menace had 5% of the story, Attack of the Clones had 25%, Revenge of the Sith has 30%, and 40% of the story took place OFF SCREEN. And that's why the prequels suck.

zzz zzz zzz

He likes pissing us off even more.

And even if you claimnot to believe it is intentional, modern critical analysis cares little for the author's intent - how the story of Palpatine tricking the populous into give up their power and freedom by ramping up a 'phantom menace' mirrors the neocon coup is about the only thing in the series that still interests me. That and my theory about R2.

If everyone calms down for a minute and takes the Star Wars movies AS movies, A New Hope was great simply because no one had ever seen anything quite like it before. Good cast, decent writing, but the acting wasn't that great. However, it was so fresh and so unexpected that it was wildly successful. Empire, was to me the best of the series--the only "adult" Star Wars flick. Return of the Jedi was a big disappointment to me. Puppets and midgets galore. And by this time, it was more about merchandising than story. Frankly, the series could have ended there for me. But twenty years later, you've got Phantom Menace with that awfully annoying kid and Jar-Jar, who had to be the worst conception to ever make it out of an editing room. I thought Attack of the Clones was a big improvement, but they had no where to go but up. Still awful acting and dialogue that was laden with termites. ALL of the films have had great special effects for when they were made, but special effects do not a great movie make. As for the new movie, yeah--I'll see it. But one thing everyone seems to forget. These movies are and have always primarily been made for kids. And for the most part, kids don't care about acting and dialogue. They want to see cool stuff fast and Star Wars has always delivered that. I saw Phantom Menace with my six year old nephew and while I thought it was crap, the nephew was lit up like a Christmas tree. Try telling HIM that Lucas can't write for shit. He saw stuff blowing up and spaceships and he was happy. Just like while we're bitching about the colors of Superman's costume, all the kids that see it are gonna think it's way cool.

What, you didn't see that coming?

Yeah, give the guy a break already. It's sadly obvious, judging by the sheer number of posts in all the ROTS talkbacks, that this is all that he has going in his life. Cut the poor loser some slack and send some sympathy his way instead...

"cunning warrior" when? "good friend" when? I've always thought it would be a hell of a lot more powerful to have anakin as this mighty, GOOD jedi, instead of an annoying, sulky adolescent. Then it would be almost unconceivable that this virtuous character would "fall" - even knowing it's going to happen. But perhaps Lucas knows he's not capable of portraying that? Perhaps he is, but just wants to sell the movie to teenage girls and ignorant kids.

"ben was just lying to luke through that WHOLE scene"...just wait and see.

but at the same time, look at it from Lucas' perspective. He could have not made these last three at all and he still would have had more money than God just from the work of ILM. I'm not even sure why he DID make them, except I have to believe he wanted to continue the story. Unfortunately, he simply isn't that good a dialogue writer nor can he get believable performances out of his actors for the most part. But think about this...for all the carping and bitching that everyone does about the quality of these films, they still smash box office records, don't they? And they still make a ton from DVD and merchandise sales. So, SOMEBODY thinks they're worthwhile. About all you can infer from it is that the general public likes to sit in the dark for two hours and see pretty lights and shit blow up. And Lucas delivers that in spades.

Was finding out that there are really only two Sith. I always the Sith were some kind of big evil civilization, but no, it's just one bad guy, and his assistant. So what's this Revenge of the Sith business. Revenge for what? Nobody seems to have ever done anything all that bad to Palpatine that he should want revenge. He's more the agressor than the victim. If any Sith wants revenge it should be poor Count Dooku who is not only given a stupid name but gets royally fucked over by his boss. Since he later pulls the same trick on Vader in ROTJ, maybe THAT movie should have been called ROTS. Cause that's where Vader gets his revenge, baby.

...George about the 20-20-60 plot distribution ratio. And while I think that's a shitty, shitty thing to do to long-time fans, it makes perfect sense from a business standpoint. Sure, as adult filmgoers and recovering Star Wars junkies, we can't conceive of why anyone would want to make one (much less two) plot-light and less-than-stellar Star Wars movies. But George did it to widen his money-making window (much like Mirimax and Tarantino did with Kill Bill). George knew that many of his original trilogy fans would have kids by now and would take them to see the first movie, at least, no questions asked. He also had people telling him that the average child's attention span these days can't accommodate more than three seconds of story at a time between explosions and cute, funny characters doing stupid shit. So that's how he set up those first two films... as two-plus hour toy commercials. At least he's admitting it and, it seems, saved a good chunk of story for this third prequel. Maybe that will be enough to make it watchable... or even good. That would be great, as I'm sick of being disappointed in Star Wars movies. It would be fantastic if someone with some time on their hands would edit all three prequels down into a three hour movie worth watching as "The Hobbit" to Star Wars' "Lord of the Rings."

Most of us were kids when we saw the original movies. Now were adults, you get a completly different perspective. The Star Wars movies are still making 100's of millions of dollars. Look around the audience, not everybody who went to go see the original trilogy is going back to the theaters to watch the new movies. The younger generation is going, and they like them. I am a high school history teacher and several of my students love these new movies. As far as comparing the original to the new, the dialogue in the orginal movies is not shakesphere. There was just no point of reference when things were explained of the past, so we used our own childish imagination that has stayed with us for 20 something years. Now when we see something in the new movies that does not match our imagination we get angry and say it is not as good. I wish somebody would do a poll and just go out on the streets and ask college and high school students today which movies they prefer? We had SW, we had Transformers, we had GI Joe, Mask, Voltron, Gobots, and Ninja Turtles. Now were still trying to be kids as adults and take things like Harry Potter for our own. If the kids like these movies, then great, it is their childhood, these are there masterpieces. We had ours and nothing anybody ever does will come close to our childhood memories, cause were ADULTS now. No movie like Indiana Jones (mummy or sahara) will be as good as Indi cause I watched indi as a kid. Same as star wars. Same as our parents or grand parents watch old Magnum PI or Andy Griffith reruns, or cant wait till the Dallas reunion movie. Nothing can be done about this. We were young and impresionable, we no longer are.

That's the the exact POINT many of us are trying to make. Lucas ratio is correct, these movies ARE set up for the later chapters. ROS, will be great

I mean, you guys do realize that the "backstory" which is serving as the basis for the prequel trilogy was just some half-assed ideas jotted down on a yellow pad, nearly all of which were modified for the original "Star Wars", right? See the whole Annakin Starkiller thing for confirmation. Its always been pretty clear that the only things that have been planned from the start are 1) Anakin turns into Vader at some point, and 2) Obi-Wan's failure as a teacher led to Anakin's fall. That's IT. Everything else was made up from Lucas on the fly. Come on.

You should be grateful!!! Its probably the most action you fatass, basement dwelling, borderline homosexuals have ever, or WILL ever get. Just be sure to lube up. As for me, I've enjoyed everything Star Wars (with the possible exception of the Christmas special and the gay ass Ewok movies), and I proudly proclaim that I will be in line (behind all you haters, no doubt), on opening day.

Your amusing "wit" just caused me to waste a hour of my fuckin day reading these Talkbacks. Thanks for the laughs Jarv and everyone else who has contributed to my Monday morning lethargy.

They're bad because there is no hero. I have nothing invested in any of the characters. Storywise, why not have a prequel to Goldfinger where Auric Goldfinger is the main character? Why not have a prequel to the New Testament about Pontius Pilate? I'll tell you why: They are not heroes.

The simple fact that there is no hero is what makes them interesting. We all know that the person who should be the hero, Anakin, will intstead become the ultimate villian, and we also know that the famed Jedi (all the other heroes), will be wiped out with the help of Mr. Anti-hero. Its that depressing storyline, followed by the heroic final chapters we all know and love, that make these prequels so much fun.

Why. From the trailers, it's obvious Darth Vader only shows up at the end of the film. Without the suit, what you've got is Hayden with a scar. Ergo: Suck.

We've known for months (years?) that Darth Vader would only be in the last few minutes, why are you surprised? This movie will rule, and no matter how much you complain, you will see it, I guarantee you.

But on a dramatic level, failures every one.

Boba Fett-- the bountyhunter/social-worker!

As cool as the Star Wars films are, the LOTR trilogy has definitely surpassed them as "Greatest Trilogy Ever".

Trevor Goodchild really summed it up for me too and reminded me of all the suppositions I had when I was a kid and pondered about what Anakin Skywalker was like. I always imagined him to real heroic, noble and one hell of a good guy to have about. Seeing the truth on the big screen is a real let-down. Also didnt appreciate the revelation of Boba Fett as a kid too - his backstory was lame compared to all the crazy shit the feared and lethal boba fett could have had. Did we really need a Jango Fett to introduce what could have been An ancient Mandalorian bounty hunter that really struck fear into those he tracked down (and those forced to hire him)? oh well, just a shame its all abit underwhelming, even if it is done primarily for 9 year olds...

The extended edition of ROTK will not be surpassed by ROTS.

Now don't get me wrong...I do think these movies are OK and I'm going to see Episode III but, am I the only one who finds all of this StarWars, Babylon, Trekkies stuff a load of crap? Seriously!?...a Star Wars convention? What kind of undersexed geek goes to this stuff? I wouldn't walk into one of these things if they promised a strip tease by a 25yr old Carrie Fisher! Casablanca was classic, Gone with the Wind was classic, Starwars is NOT classic! It's in the same boat as Ice Pirates, Spaceballs, and Starship Troopers. It has it's place, it's entertaining, but once it leaves the "New Release" section of Blockbuster Video then it just becomes a reason for the employees there to laugh at the person who rents it. Who the hell would wait for a hour in a line for ANYTHING involving StarWars? They should have put up a sign that read "Line to verify you are a dork and deserve to get beat up and have your head shoved into a toilet begins HERE!" Ok Ok, I'll confess...I'm only in my mid-20's and I probably missed out on some of this craze for these movies because I was too busy doing things like going out on Saturday nights and having sex but still anyone who buys into all of this is an ass. IT'S A MOVIE...JUST A MOVIE...YODA is NOT going to envite you to a Luke, Vader, and Obi Wan circle jerk if you go see Episode II or III or XXXII dressed as a clone droid or whatever. Come to think of it...it's not even that great of a movie! It's a bunch of morons in bathrobes pretending to be ninjas using flashlight handles! And then we have the "force"...who came up with THIS idea? Everytime they use a special effect that has NO place what so ever they say, "oh yeah that was the force again." IT'S WORSE THAT THE WHOLE NEO IS THE ONE THING! Why can he fly?...he's the one. Why can he stop bullets?...he's the one. Why are we watching a movie where the main character sucks so bad?...he's the one. Why does Keanu Reeve's have a career?...he's the one. Now with Star Wars: How did a nomad in the desert become a pilot?...it's the force. How can he fight like he does?...the force. How can a little green reject from Fraggle Rock be so powerful?...it's still the force. How is he pointing at things and they move?...seriously, I swear it's the force. Is that guy making out with his sister?...it's ok, must be that force again. How come no one has figured out that "THE FORCE" is what they used to explain why they used every special effect they could find whether it had it's place in the movie or not? I figured that out when I was 8yrs old! You know what...I bet all of those "Heaven's Gate" clowns were big Star Wars fans. Same goes for anyone who was part of that whole Waco thing. Only a mindless cult following idiot would buy into this crap so much that they feel a need for a convention. Here's a good one...have a jack ass convention. You can get all of the Babylon 5, Star Trek, Star Wars, and whoever else that lives their lives in the name of a movie together under one roof and then they can raise money by letting people pay to come in and give them wedgies and swirlies. You know what...you people deserve what you get when you get pointed and laughed at.

Rut roh....

While I think you were a little extreme in your condemnation, your post was funny as hell. I've never been to any fan conventions either. I don't buy action figures. If they get my money at the theater, they've gotten all they're gonna get from me. But don't go completely postal, either. There's nothing wrong with being a fan of anything if it gives you pleasure. I've followed a couple of bands around cross-country over a couple of summers in my time. That might have been considered extreme as well by some, but I had a good time. Don't sweat it. If you have any type of hobby, I guarantee you somebody will think you're nuts. Who cares?

Yeah that was funy. I Love SW Talkbacks...

I'd love to see a Boba Fett series. Absolutely number one choice. Imagine it opening with the Sarlacc pit. Calm, placid. Then the thing burps a little, gets some indigestion. A little internal burst, then BOOM. Slimy, steaming, disgusting Boba climbs out, blaster in hand and stands like the unkillable badass he is. We flash back to his formative years then, where the rest of the show takes place. We get to see why Darth Vader has to single him out in ESB and say "No Disintegrations." We get to see the hatred towards the Jedi as--you know it would happen--he comes across one of the last ones to escape the purge and they have at it. Could be a very interesting, dramatic show. Sad thing is, I don't know that a network would want to back a weekly kill fest by an uber-baddie. I'm thinking a young Jedi Knights thing will happen in a post-ROTJ era. Which, PS, would also be amazing.

It's obvious that Lucas had the basic plot for ONE movie at the start of all this. What we got was it spread thinly over three movies with tons of boring bullshit about trade franchises, pod racing and an unbelievable love story thrown in for good (or bad) measure. The story that Lucas originally had is all contained in Episode III. What Lucas SHOULD have done was hire people to come up with some actually GOOD shit for episodes I & II with him just having a story credit, and putting all his writing efforts into ROTS. The taxation of trade routes in episode I, and Palpatine's involvement in it in order to become Chancellor makes sense but FUCKING HELL it's boring. Even Ian McDiarmid basically admitted that in his video interview. Lucas is bullshitting telling us that the first episodes had to be exposition and boring. YES there had to be exposition, but a good director and writer can make it also interesting. Lucas is a second-rate director and writer (don't believe me? check basically every scene in AOTC. the dialogue is mostly pathetic), he's best as an ideas man. He should have stepped out of the director's chair at least for episode II. Now, episode III's script is much better than TPM's or AOTC's. Lucas finally got his ass into gear in that respect. Now, will his directing (particularly of the actors) be up to scratch this time?

Yeah, that was funny as hell, and he's right, I would never go to one of those ultra-dork conventions either. They're just movies, people, let it go!

Oh no I completely agree. And don't get me wrong, being a fan of a band or team or so on is ok but this is a movie. Husbands and Wives have gotten devorced over this Star Wars stuff. Parents have chosen these conventions over taking care of their kids! Now I can't turn on the TV without another Darth Vader spoof or something. I have no problem with someone who buys season tickets for a team and follows them around from game to game. They probably aren't dressing up like Michael Jordan and trying to live his life either. The whole following around these movies is rediculous! I can't say it enough...they're just movies. People ACTING. I guarantee that James Earl Jones doesn't walk around in a Darth Vader mask quoting lines from the movie! I'll bet you Carrie Fisher isn't wearing her gold bikini right now. And to top it off I'll bet that Harrison Ford is nowhere near a spaceship. Call me crazy...but I have a funny feeling that they too make fun of people who actually believe that their characters are real. When I go to a concert I don't introduce myself as the lead singer of the band. If I go to a baseball game I'm not going to pretend I'm the guy on first base. And if I go see the next predator movie I'm not going to walk into the theater in a fishnet body suit and a steel helmet carrying a plastic spear and wearing a fake skull on my belt. When all is said and done I do see your point. And it is very well taken. However, I'm really only repeating the same things that people have been saying for the last 20yrs. There's nothing I could possibly say that isn't getting said in everytown everyday. I just find that when you begin to confuse reality with fiction that you should really stop whatever you're doing and realize it. Either way though...a 30yr old walking down the street in a Darth Vader costume swinging around a plastic light sabre is funny as hell! Especially when he gets pissed because no one believes that he's really Darth Vader!

Was when Triumph, the insult comic dog interviewed the Star Wars supernerds waiting in line for AOTC. "Which one of these buttons calls your mom to come pick you up?" "You have the veritable pick of the litter of guys who have absolutely no idea how to please you" LMAO!!!!

Moyers interviewed Lucas for the Mythology of Star Wars as a follow-up to his interviews with Joseph Campbell. Those interviews basically state how Star Wars is not original in the least. Star Wars is MadLibs with previous mythologies. If you think SW is any more original than LOTR, you're wrong. SW and LOTR were both conceived by people using tried and true formulas and puting them in a different time and place. And the reason the "prequels" fail is that they veer off the path of the dramatically successful. It's as if Lucas started doing a maze and after 2 films is realizing that there is no correct path to get to the end.

http://millionaireplayboy.com/celebrationiii/

I like realistic weathering as much as the next guy, but c'mon. Those clone troopers look like they were rattling around inside a garbage disposal.

Well, there are two types of movies for kids. There are types that only kids can enjoy (like Rugrats or Jimmy Neutron or something). Those are movies made for kids. There are movies made for general audiences that people of all ages can enjoy (Star Wars), including kids. In '77, people in there twenties, thirties, and seventies were lined up around the block to see Star Wars. Sometimes 2-4 times/day. The FIRST Star Wars was not made for kids. He may deny it now, but Lucas had a vision, as well as a statements to make about opressive governments, rebellion, weapons, and war. Epire was not make for kids. There were sophisticated themes about relationships, loyalty, and an entire bit about Buddhist philosophy. The third one was kind of made for kids, with the Ewoks and Jabba muppets and all. Still, Salacious Crum was a bastard; and the Ewoks were made to look like Teddy Bears so emphasize the defeat of a primitive culture over technology. On the other hand, TPM was a saturday morning cartoon, and AOTC was...not bad, but not good.

Also, movies for kids do NOT have to be lame, or filled with fart jokes. I mean, who doesn't like a fart joke? But I swear that Lucas was a master at picking the least funny way to make a fart joke on screne in TPM. When I was a kid, some of my favorite movies were Raiders of the Lost Arc, Clash of the Titans, and Time Bandits. None of those movies really pandered to kids. Shure, there was that mechanical owl in Titans, but there was also a psychotic satyr and lots of titties (in a PG movie, no less). Why do people think that movies for kids need to be dumbed down? It's that kind of thinking that made TPM so awful, and added all of the bad moments to ROTJ.

For more information on SW, visit your local library: Kurosawa, Akira; Gordon, Flash; Rogers, Buck.

Interesting tidbit from Lucas on the failings of the PT. Now it seems to me that if someone goes into a project with the belief that the "first act" of a play is going to be "boring", that is becomes a self fullfilling prophecy. The only thing is, that the theory Lucas has is total bullshit. It isn't ordaned someplace that the first act, because of exposition, needs to be boring. Thats a load of crap. Now, I'm not a big fan at all of TPM. I'm neutral on AOTC. Love ANH and ESB. Now according to Lucas's formula, Return of the Jedi should be the best, and crowning jewel of the trilogy...I rate it only a red cunt hair above TPM. It sucks. No story woth telling "needs" to be boring. Exposition doesn't "need" to be boring. This is where Lucas's amature and lacluster skills as a writer let down his otherwise steller imagination and eye for the unique. One thing Lucas has never quite been able to learn, is how to step back in certain area's and let others, who are more talented in certain areas (mainly writing), help him bring his vision to the screen. TESB was a perfect example of this. Lucas was most removed from the writing and filming of that movie...and it is still by far the best of the five so far. Let us hope, that Lucas has somehow baked the proverbial "awsome batch of cookies" with ROTS. He's done it once before (ANH), maybe, just maybe, things will come together again?

Tonight, after watching Enterprise, I'm jumping out a window.

Having a good time? Standing for whole hours in the rain, paying 80$ just for that? Where is the line i wonder?... Fan conventions are organized to make money and to help people become the zombies they want to be (reality sucks, there is no spoon, and so on).

So, uh, who are you bequeathing all your Star Wars toys to? (Woohoo, one less person in line!)

First off...movie fan or not, I'm not even 30yrs old and I know that placing "Gone with the Wind" and "Star Wars" in the same category is so lame it could almost be used as a basis for testing intelligence. Second, if enough people pay to see Glitter or Catwoman over the next 20yrs then they too will get placed in the top 100 movies because all of those lists are based on attendance and dollars earned. Lastly, I guess by your post that the truth really does hurt. But that was a quick reply...I didn't know you people could get internet access in your 4hr long "hope to get a tickle from Lucas for paying $20 to get a $4 WalMart action figure" waiting lines. ...telling the truth doesn't make one an asshole...insulting someone for being honest does!

Worldwide, dancemonster, I'd estimate there were 7 of us who viewed "They Live" in its entirety. I've located three of the seven, not including you and I. I'm having trouble finding the other two, as the trail died somewhere outside of Zimbabwe...

The prequels are getting hammered on these boards the past couple of days with little to know defense, making for a less entertaining read. I guess the others are too busy at the Star Wars Celebration 3.

Ahh yes, a day I remember well. Your hands were so soft... (Did I say that out loud?)

Eh, I think the Star Wars connections to "Hidden Fortress" are apt, but a bit over stated. It's not like comparing "Fistful of Dollars" to "Yojimbo", or anything. All you LOTR fans need to go read "Beowulf" and Wagner's "Nibelungen", then read The Hobbit and LOTR again, and see where Tolkein's inspiration came from. Artists have been "borrowing" and stealing for a very long time.

They are big, massive gatherings of people. Crowds are easily manipulated into doing anything. From yelling at concerts to bying products.

That's because they have no defense. They ask us "Why do you hate the New Trilogy?" So we make an argument, and they usually don't respond. Instead, there is usually just some assinine response like "Lucas will own you" or "ROTS will own you". There is no defense for the new trilogy.

You had me litteraly laughing out load, that is the funniest post I have ever read. You have made my day thanks. Did anyone else ever see the Ewok Movies? I liked them were there two or three?

Come on peeps, let the movie come out - then slam it if it stinks. Otherwise I'll have to "Kit Fisto" your women!

I listened to the books on tape about what happens to the Star Wars Galaxy after 6. I think Peter Jackson should direct those. Kong Rules. Hithiker's Guide is awesome, Willy Wonka out soon. Finaly a summer of movies to watch.

Yeah, but were you guys dressed up like Nada while standing in line for it like I was?

What happened to the guy on the Jedi Council who said this movie wouldn't make 100 mill? Also I'd like to pose this question... What other movie franchise or property has changed the way movies are made, imbedded characters, situations, and a religion into modern pop culture better than or equal to star wars? Now I'm not here to start a flame war but LOTR doesn't count. Peter Jackson didn't write the book, and i seriously doubt he could ever come up with characters that would have such a huge following, although i do love LOTR and i think it's one of the greatest sagas of all time. Star Trek doesn't count either because it doesn't have anything near as cool as lightsabers, also I think the prospect of being a Jedi kicks the ass of being a starfleet officer into next week. Who's highly anticipating the next Trek movie? I bet the next one is lucky if it tops 50 million. Anyway, just a few thoughts i had to get off my chest.

"What other movie franchise or property has changed the way movies are made, imbedded characters, situations, and a religion into modern pop culture better than or equal to star wars?" I would say Star Gate, The Godfather, and Willy Wonka, and Dr. Who. I am looking to the next Star Trek movie. I think the next Star Trek TV show should be set much farther in the future and the Federation should be become like time police, they could go back to any time or any show, DS9, Next Generation, yada yada, and correct continuity errors. Was that a Constitution class ship on ST Enterprise this week? ROTS looks awesome, it has been so long any decent movies have been in the Theater. Kong rules.

I just found out Enterprise is a two-parter.

It was a cold day in late 1976. I stayed home from school because I was sick. I was watching John Lanigan's Prize movie on channel 43 in Cleveland. They played a clip of this new Sci-Fi movie coming out. It had Mark Hammil crossing a pit on a rope with a girl in his hand and then a clip of some guy saying, great don't gett cocky kid. I ask someone the next day. "Hey have you heard about this new Star Wars movie?" They said, "Star Wars, what is that?" I remember it like it was yesteday.

Ask the casual tv viewer if they know what star gate or dr. who is and they'll say what is that? I don't even know what dr. who is? Isn't it some british hero or something? We don't have him over here in america, I can tell that much. Plus if stargate is so popular, why haven't they made another movie? Though I will agree with the godfather, but it hasn't the following of star wars, nor has it made anywhere near as much money.

I remember going to a Snow White matinee in Austin in '76 and seeing that famous teaser for Star Wars (the one with random clips intercut with the words "Star Wars" slowly approaching the screen). What struck me then was how sinister the whole movie felt. There wasn't the slightest hint of a cheerful, adventurous vibe coming from the trailer at all. Of course, we all know how it turned out, but like you, I can remember it like it happened yesterday -- especially the eerie feeling of that first teaser and not knowing what the hell it was. I imagine I'll be sitting on a creaky old porch when I'm 90, still telling that story to the young'uns.

Careful what you say...someone might use the damn force on you! Or bust out their maglight and make "swooshing" sounds while telling you what part you should pretend they just cut off.

The talkbacker who flat out INSISTED that Sidious and Palpatine were two different people? gone awful quiet lately.... anyone else remember him?

when the Star Wars movie ads came in. I put the first one in the reel to reel tape recorder. "Don't be nervous", it said, "It's only a planet exploding." (I still have them)

Wow. I did not know there was anyone else in the world who had ever seen that movie. Oh, ROTS? I'm holding out hope, but sprinkled with a healthy dose of doubt. Oh, and as for "25 minutes of hand-opening-to-reveal-ring-with-no-power-but-to-get-bearer-caught is better than 25 minutes of Darth Maul." As a fan of movies IN GENERAL (Christ, why does everyone pick a fucking side, it's just cinema, people), couldn't I just say "Fine, you win, 25 minutes of disagreements over taxes combined with Padme and Anakin mooning over each other is better than 25 minutes of Helm's Deep"? It's all subjective. Why make it franchise vs. franchise?

Criticism of the prequels is consistently amateur to say the least. Over the last 6 YEARS. 'No defence'? Please. There's been several dozen posts saying there is no plot in the prequels. Do half of you even know what 'plot' is? If (as Lucas says) there's only 40% plot between episodes 1 and 2, that's still a shitload compared to your average film. So word to Lucas. Palpatine's machinations, the behind the scenes plot of the Sith, the rise then fall from grace of the chosen one- encompassing an illicit affair, murder and betrayal- the inability of the Jedi to foresee their own downfall , the building of the forerunner to the Empire... I could go on. But realistically, it's wasted on most of you, it's clearly gone way over your heads. Was TPM too 'talky' for you? Judging by the 'Clone Wars is what the prequels should have been' comments, I'd say I'm pretty much spot on. Don't worry though, you can all sleep well at night come May, while the rest of us losers enjoy the final film in blatantly the best series of movies ever made. Gutted.

Was there a memo or something that I missed where we were supposed to deny ever seeing it or something? It wasn't that bad, surely?

I am your father, indeed! 'Twas the dark side made me do it! Honest!

Does that mean I have to give the toys back...?

Amen, brotha man! Amen!

C'mon man, that doesn't even make sense. I appreciate what you're trying to say, Fox, but learn the langauge!

"He's secretive, sure, but he's stated quite openly that he made the prequels in order to make a ton of money off of a very profitable franchise." So the OT wasn't about making money?

The OT was all about artistic integrity, and "keeping it REAL", and giving 7 year old, future basment dwelling, 300lb, borderline homosexuals a fantasy world to base their entire existence on.

...is a low-budget Caprpenter classic and contains one of the five greatest fight scenes ever put to film (the others being in Rocky II, The Quiet Man, Cool Hand Luke and Game of Death). Plus Roddy Piper's delivery turned every one-liner into comedy gold. Oh, and Jarv, if you like my idea about editing all three SW prequels down into one film, try this: Watch the movie "Say Anything" right up until the scene where it's raining and Cusack's Lloyd Dobbler is in the phone booth. Stop it right after he says: "I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen." Then take the movie out and put in "Grosse Point Blank." It's like watching an alternate reality where Lloyd didn't get the girl, joined the army like his father wanted and ended up a professional killer. You just have to mentally substitute "Lloyd Dobbler" every time you hear someone say "Martin Blank" in the movie and it works pretty flawlessly, right down to recurring actors and themes.

"The Star Wars of the Ring: Episode II: Fellowship of the King Kong" -- Summary: Six Jedi and a giant ape defend Helms Deep against an army of attacking Orcs, Godzilla, and robot mummies. Starring Bruce Campbell, Bill Paxton, CGI Boris Karloff, and Eliza Dushku's mammaries.

Where would you rank the Eastwood/William Smith fight from "Any Which Way You Can"? I seem to recall that being a pretty good one, although not sure if it is top 5 worthy. I agree with your "Quiet Man" and "They Live" rankings, without a doubt.

That would be infamous talkbacker Some Guy, and yes, he has been awfully quiet lately. As for the lower level of prequel defence in the talkbacks lately, the same thing could be said of the prequel bashers. Apart from a few rabid haters the vitriol has been quite subdued lately. I think it's due to one of two things: 1) that we're in the middle of a slow overall reappraisal of the prequels, or 2) everyone's waiting to see whether ROTS will suck or not. If it doesn't suck, a reappraisal of the prequels is virtually guaranteed. If, on the other hand, ROTS sucks, the geek armies of darkness will march all over the face of the internet and we'll see hatred in the TB like never before.

...did, indeed, have a pretty great fight scene. Possibly top 10 material. Any other nominations for the top 10? The fight between Martin Blank and the assassin near the lockers at the high school reunion in Grosse Point Blank ("kickboxing.. its the sport of the future") doesn't make the list, sadly, as he ends it with a pen. This top ten list is for bare-knuckle, boxing or unarmed martial arts fights (I know portions of the Game of Death final fight sequence involved armed combat, but the parts that didn't were just awesome). If we were counting sword fights, the list would be different and would make allowances for lightsabers (like the Empire Strikes Back duel, which is just one of the greatest moments in film history, period). And thus, I get us somewhat back on topic.

You obviously haven't seen the latest version of ROTJ. At the end, when the scenes of celebration are being shown, there's a clip from Naboo with a bunch of Gungans. The cry of "weesa free!" is heard in an unmistakable voice. Sorry, chief, Jar Jar survives the reign of the Empire.

star wars is not geek, it's the epitome of trash and idiocy, how to make a bad film 101, watch EP I and II.

Ha Ha! You say that complaints against the prequels are "amateur", and follow it with that response? I bet you were disappointed that "haters" like us messed with Lucas' vision, and made him take N*Sink out of AOTC. I bet you were really bummed by the reduced Jar Jar screen time. Nice try, but you don't even know the arguments people make. No, you have no defense. I haven't seen anyone complain about lack of plot. It's the lack of character that everyone hates. These are some of the least interesting characters ever put to film. As I've said many times, there is NO moment in the prequels like the one where Luke stares off into the double sunset in SW. Was TPM too talky for me? Ha, that's a laugh. Only if you mean that I could have used less of that dialogue that seemed like it was written by a six year old. I wished that JarJar and the badly dubbed (and badly named) Federation aliens had fewer lines, though. You could cut out all that dialogue about Anakin having a virgin birth, and The Force being based on Midiclorian count. Oh, and all that dialogue by the lame-ass sports casters during the pod race. I could have used a little more dialogue about "At last we will have our revenge!" Why? QuiQueg Gin is on the outs with the Jedi council. Why? When one dies, there's always another. Why? What the hell is a Sith, anyway? In one set SW novels they were a race of people. Now, I guess, they're some sort of "dark side" padowan? Why'd the aliens go from having languages like Huttes, Jawa, Driod, and Ewok, to having Asian, Jamaican, and Jewish accents? Sure, Star Wars was influential on film, but only when you're talking about the O.G. Trilogy, and not that special edition crap either. The only influence that TPM has had is to show young film school students that no matter how much money and technology you have, you can

O.k., I normally avoid JarJar bashing. First, it's too easy. Second, there are so many other, more important, problems with the prequels, and I hate to focus on that one aspect. Still, the aliens in previous star wars films, even the muppets and the Teddy Bear suits, had a realism about them. Jar Jar was a badly designed character. He didn't move like a creature, he moved like a cartoon. Most of his screen time, I felt like I was watching a low-rent Roger Rabbit. I'm surprised that Lucas didn't put little birds flying around his head when he got hit. It was such an ill conceived and silly character, that even TPM luvers will admit to hating him. One of his first lines in the film was "Ex-squeeze me?"!!! A friggin' Wayne's World reference made about 8 years too late? I predict that most kids who have grown up liking the character, will realize how hateful he is when they reach the age of 12 or so. When I think about how Lucas thought that JarJar's voice was perfectly cast, I remember how he has always hated 3PO's voice. Anthony Daniels has said several times that Lucas is still upset that 3PO doesn't sound like a southern used car salesman.

Bathroom fight - Arnold versus Kristanna Loken - Terminator 3. Zorro Versus Captain Estaban - Mark of Zorro 1940, Robin Hood versus Guy of Grisbourne 1938, Punisher Versus the Russian 2004, Bond Versus Oddjob - Goldfinger 1964, King Kong Versus Godzilla 1962, King Kong Versus T-Rex 1933, Ripley Versus Mother Alien - Alien II 1986, Colin Firth vs High Grant - Bridget Jones Diary 2001. Linna Quigley vs Michelle Bauer - Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. John Wayne vs Irish Guy - The Quiet Man 1952.

Good show, old chum, good show.

You know the people who post things like, "I HATE AMERICANS!" "USA SUCKS!" "LONG LIVE CANADA!" I sort of miss those angry, random people. I'll be there opening day for Episode III, without a doubt. A so will every single one of you reading this.

Little orphan Annie. What a joke. Dancemonster, you had me laughing my ass off. Totally Wizard! But, I came here to talk about DROIDS. The "Bad Guys" in TPM. In TPM, did anyone really find those rickety droids threatening? Did they give rise to feelings of an undefeatable and menacing foe? Hell no, they didn't. They are, probably, the biggest problem with TPM. Stormtrooper, Snowtroopers, Biker Scouts, and Tie Fighter Pilots were menacing (and were pretty damn cool looking). The captains, commanders, and generals all looked like nazis. Once again, damn threatening foes. The "evil" droids from TPM didn't really live up to that. Even the mutant midgets who worked the carbon freeze in ESB were more frightening than those droids. Even if they had been effective, did anyone really care if they killed a few Gungens? Those guys were annoying anyway. What an awful battle sequence. Whoops! I dropped some bombs and accidentally blew up the bad guys. Whoops! I accidentally blew up the enemy ship.

Didn't see Clones. Won't see this.

The convention was fun as long as your only interest wasn't standing in line to get a Vader figure. The new footage kicked ass, there were plenty of funny, geeky people to talk to, and come on, how cool is it to have Storm Troopers guarding doors and telling you to "move along?" By the way, does ANYONE know the music from the second, ILM-effects clip they showed after the footage?

Damn Double posts, anyway here's a link: http://theforce.net/latestnews/story/Aayla_Secura_Talks_Star_Wars_TV_Series_91649.asp I think a show focusing on her character would be awesome. Maybe about her trying to escape the jedi purge or something or helping to start the alliance.

I'm somewhat ambivalent about that whole phenomenon. Sometimes I can watch the most advanced CGI effect possible in a film and its "fakeness" plucks me right out of the movie. Other times I can watch the original King Kong or The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and my suspension of disbelief is complete. I mean, if I stop to think about it, of course I can see how fake old stop motion is, but I think my childhood love of those films still functions as a filter today. This only works, however, with films I've watched regularly since I was a kid. If too much time has passed between a film I saw when I was, say, ten years old and today, the primitive effects can be quite jarring. Suspension of disbelief is the key, obviously, but it's a scarce commodity when you're an adult. You literally have to fight to attain it sometimes. I think the prequels and OT are objectively much more similar than most people are willing to admit. It's easier to hate the prequels than to take a long hard look at the OT which we grew up loving unconditionally.

I grew up watching the old tril. with my older brother and his friends. It caused him and a lot of his friends to become art majors and land pretty good careers in the industry. The new tril. aren't as crappy as a lot of people are making them out to be, but they do suck on some levels. They feel to me like they are shooting lucas's first draft. Remove jar jar, add some real dialogue, and you've at least got something to work with.

First, I need to bitch that they are selling Celebration III talking Vader action figures on starwars.com. People waited up to ten hours to get in that f-ing store to buy them because they were suppose to be exclusive. I didn't wait but paid alot of dough to someone who did to get mine. Then I had Prowse sign the card so I still feel like it was worth it. But others really got screwed. As far as a TV series, you can't do better than Tarkin! Not a main character in the prequels and he can be gunning down some remaining jedi. Vader can have a cameo now and then, but it can be about the rise of the Empire.

I forgot to keep going. The point of the story about my brother is the new movies don't inspire, at least they don't inspire any of the younger people I know. I wouldn't even care if they were campy fun as long as they got some kids bright eyed and wanting to try something new and creative. Which leads me to the newest insult my brother and i have come up with. Whenver something really really sucks, like house of flying daggers, we say "that was lucas"

It seems like everyone is still trying to bend logic and truth and find some way to think that ROTS is going to be a great film. Ep I and II sucked, but maybe this one will be different...no, it probably will be different...no, I know it will be great...lol..you self-deluded geeks are too funny. I'm geeky, but not that bad.

Episodes I and II are terrible movies despite any worthless fanboy raving you morons spew out. Get over it and go jerk off to Resident Evil: Apocalyse. You have no critical faculty.

No, they aren't terrible movies, they just aren't good movies. I would agree with you that Resident Evil Apocalyse was a terrible movie though.

My god. This is why I am going to be happy these films are over, whiny fucktards trying to rewrite the movies from their basement, pissed off 400 pound virgins who are so angry that they new films aren't what THEY wanted that they ramble on for months without changing their Depends, and idiots like Kapowski who speak of Lucas as if he [Kapowski] has earned any right whatsoever in life to call a genius like Lucas a cocksucker, all the while being nothing more than a waste of sperm himself, your father should have pulled out Kapowski. And give the LOTR shit a break please. LOTR is a 12 hour opus of melodramatic over-acting. Every time the Hobbits have a slo-mo moment of sexual longing I want to kick the TV in, which means I want to kick the TV in every ten minutes because Jackson doesn't know how to edit to keep pace. I didn't think anyone could take the boredom of Tolkien's long winded trips into the pattern of the leaf second to the left of the rock the Fellowship just passed, but Jackson managed to with the wretchedly horrible Frodo and Sam scenes. SO to summarize, bring on ROTS, it will be an incredibly fun movie that millions will love, and for those who don't, do us a favour and stick to your supposed guns of "never giving Lucas another dollar because he raped my childhood" bullshit and stay away from the movie. But you know you can't because you are weak little pussies who have no will power. Regarding the

The inane banality of saying that people who have nothing better to do than to write on a message board about something they hate is rivaled only by someone such as myself pointing that out, yet here I am doing it anyway. That being said, the OT is full of crap dialogue, shoddy effects, and stupid contrivances, and so is the PT, perhaps even more so. That doesn't stop me from liking both of them, though I'm also not going to say that I don't hold a special place in my heart for one more than the other; after all, it's what I grew up with. We all think we know what Lucas could have or should have or even was SUPPOSED to do with these movies, but nobody here, last I checked was claiming to be a self-made billionaire and one of the most influential (for better or worse) filmmakers of all time. I think the Vanity Fair article summed it up best by saying (and I'm paraphrasing you bastard nitpickers) that even the most cooly-received Star Wars (TPM) is today and will probably still be being discussed 10, 20, 30 years from now, while other so-called "great" films (or at least Best Picture Oscar winners) will have fallen by the wayside. When was the last time you heard anyone talk about The English Patient or Shakespeare in Love? The PT might not rule, but if you dno't think it's going to stick in the minds of people along with the OT, you might as well go jump off a bridge, because unless a meteor hits the Earth and destroys us all before May 19th (again, for better or worse) the prequel trilogy IS Star Wars now as much as the OT ever was, and there's nothing any of us can ever do about that.

See, Lone Fox. You say we make "amateur" arguments. That's full of crap. The only person who have half-assed defended the PT is NightArrows, who I think is secretly "Ghyslain the Star Wars Kid", and is all pissed off that his masturbation video got put on the internet for all to see. Sorry, Sabowan, but the only thing people will be saying about TPM in 10 or 20 years will be "Hey, remember that piece of shit Star Wars movie that they once came out with?" And just because someone is a self made rich asshole, that doesn't make their opinion any more valid than anyone else's. Most of the time it means they are out of touch with reality (e.g. Sean Penn).

Got my opening night tix for ROTS and everythaaang. Still wish I was going to the London show, tho. Bet that'll be a blast.

I've never been able to accept the idea that the problem with the prequels is that they had a lot of set up and exposition to do, and that the film everyone wanted to see is EpIII. I mean, sure, EpIII was always going to be the most interesting, but I don't think the vast majority of moviegoers had any problem with starting with a good Anakin, and then going on to tell a love story. The problem (for many, though certainly not all, maybe not even most) is how Lucas handled such things. A ten yr old anakin instead of one closer to Luke's age which would have made his exploits more believable and allowed a head start on the romance. A love story written and directed in such a way that seemed designed to test the audience's patience (Lucas even said as much with the fireplace scene)and to stifle the talent and chemistry of the leads. And of course there was jar jar, who was complete overkill in the quest to appeal to children since just about everything about SW naturally appeals to children anyway. If its true that Lucas was much more involved in making EpIII, then perhaps it would have been best for him to let others handle the first two. At the very least he should have let someone else write the love story. His style of dialogue is fine for action and political scenes, but is totally unsuited for a romance. Having said all of that, I still think they turned out okay, but not nearly as good as they could have been. Its good that he admits he never had more than a broad outline for the backstory.

Right Bastard you ignorant twit, why should I bother trying to defend something so subjective as a movie? I mean I can see why the zookeeper defended your right to live instead of having the visitors stone you to death, that's something more tangible, but a movie is a personal thing fuckwit and yet you speak as if your "opinion" is the law of the land regarding TPM. I have no need to "defend" the movies to the likes of you. IMO you are an idiot who seems to think his presence on earth is validated by being a douche bag on an internet forum. The fact that you have never met the man but seem to be able to pigeon hole him into the asshole category fortifies my above assessment of you perfectly. Get bent! :)

Well, maybe not. But, I can't resist a shameless plug. Requiem for a Ring -- 7mn parody crossing Requiem for a Ring with Lord of the Rings, in movie trailer format. Download here: http://joehanson.blogspot.com/2005/03/my-fire-escape-movies.html

Sorry. I'm mildly retarded.

Go on - admit it.

A talentless cunt who, if not for him, every sci-fi movie, including your precious LOTR and 20th version of King Kong, would be Ray Harryhousen style stop-motion. Like Star Wars, hate Star Wars...the point is that you're wasting your life posting in a Star Wars TalkBack. And that makes you lame.

Despite the great pathos and direction by Kershner of ESB, ANH is probably the most frank, cruelest(until Ep.III probably), fairy tale of the saga. You got Vader snapping necks, escape pods being blasted if they had humans onboard, obi-wan's slashing off the arm is 10x more visceral and violent than the stupid double spin then slice of ep.II obi-wan of the shapechanger. Aunt Beru and Owen burnt skeletons even in a closeup shot. violent agonizing deaths of X-wing pilots over the deathstar wasted by Vader. esp. Red Leader and Porkins. Even Obi-Wan was supposed to survive and teach Luke in ESB except Lucas wanted to kill him off to make it more dramatic as a last minute decision. Leia looking haggard like she expects to be raped again when she sees "short" stormtrooper disguised Luke. All of Alderaan blows up. Who knows, maybe Lucas 10 years from now will put in some apocalyptic cg shot of Bail Organa and others watching the whole world blow up like in some nuclear blast scene from "The Day After". Watch the ESB DVD WITH the commentary put on, and you can see Kershner screwed it on Lucas big time practically creating the rest of the characters' characterizations that were missing from ANH. Not to say ANH wasn't bad, sometimes I prefer it to ESB. Even Leonard Nimoy says in his later book "I Am Spock" vs. his "I Am Not Spock" book in the 70's where he said he was told he would get a call from Paramount so he went to see Star Wars to see what it all was. He said he whooped, yelled and enjoyed the moments just the like the rest of the audience around him thinking in his mind "I'm getting a call from Paramount!", i.e. new Star Trek(The motion picture) movie coming up$$$$$$$$. As for LOTR, it already rules SW saga not to mention the best film trilogy of all time. If Kershner directed all 6 movies, maybe SW saga would have had a chance vs. LOTR. Though I don't trash ANH and ESB, but the commercialized crap in ROTJ, EpI and II deserve all the rotten tomatoes that directing inept and greedy Luc$ deserves(though he is respectfully a marketing success).

If these prequels are so bad then how come the combined worldwide gross of both prequels made a total of $1,573,965,041?!? That's over a billion and a 1/2 dollars spent on POODOO! My theory on this is that people kept seeing it over and over again hoping that the shit was gonna get better cause afterall it's STARWARS! How the hell could it be this bad? GL is a genius, he can sell ya truckloads of POODOO and ya'll keep coming back for more! :D

Be sure to stop by and read this peabrained moron's racist rant in the Pan's Labyrinth TB.

Really. The OT is of course better, but I have no problem with Jar Jar, I find the lovestory believable, the acting is no worse than the OT, and the plot is great. Really. And I am not a basement dweller, not mentally disabled, and not in any way deluding myself to see quality where none is to be found. In fact, judging buy a lot of the posts here, I'm probably smarter, prettier, funnier and more well adjusted than many of you guys. I just happen to like these movies. There, I said it. THE PREQUELS ARE GREAT!!!! Let the flaming begin. By the way, I apologize for any bad grammar, English is my second language.

"20% of that got used in TPM (with the rest of the movie made up - Lucas called it a "jazz rift" on the main plot), 20% in AOTC (with more "filler"), but fully 60% of the prequel plot is contained in ROTS" Come on..."Oh yeah, the last two were crap, I agree, but THIS time..." Honestly, Lucas must be crapping himself if he's resorted to dissing the last two prequels in order to sell the third. I wouldn't be surprised if Rick McCallum was onhand to frantically agree with what The Beard was saying.

Thanks for spellchecking 'whingeing'. Or pick up an English dictionary and discover my letter-perfect construction of the word... Your rants have just confirmed my 'amateur' comment. 1) plot complaints are earlier in this very TB. 2) you describe yourself as a 'hater' but post more frequently than any SW fan here (with the exception of MinasTirithII- but he secretly LOVES SW). 3) Jar Jar. He didn't move like an alien? or words to that effect. Your criticism centres around the first ever fully realised CG humanoid character in a movie. Not bad for something never done before. You can't dismiss the fact he DOES interact with the real actors, he looks like he is actually there. Whether you like him or not is one thing... 4) accents/racism. I can't believe this still comes up. My only comment is this: we'll use Mr Binks, as he's your favourite. If you ever meet a Jamaican that talks like that, get him on tape and share with all of us. However, for arguments sake, any 'blackness' to his voice may come from the fact HE'S VOICED BY A BLACK MAN. This is where I point out how not offended I am that most of the villains (in SW and just about every action movie over the last 100 years- I deliberately exaggerate- amateur, see?) are white British men. The only people that seem to take offence are those looking for a reason to dislike it one notch higher. 6) explaining stuff. One of the great things about the OT was that it began in the middle of a story with very little exposition. Like it was everyday life for the characters. With the exception of the midichlorians (without them, he's a Christ figure, with them the Force is stripped of its mysticism- Lucas can't win) the PT has kept to this, but then you want still more background. It's unnecessary. 7) the PT is too kiddie-orientated. No, there was just as much squarely aimed at 4- 10 year olds in the OT, but you're comparing the work of a twenty-something to his later work pushing sixty! Script-wise, the PT certainly favours the older fans. I love the political aspect of the new films. Palpatine is probably my favourite character. Yeah, talky. And yes, I spelt it 'favoUrite'.

the first trilogy 'languages' were all based on something else, too, so complaining about the Neimodians (sp) or jarjar sounding bad is actually not taking the argument far enough; the jawas and greedo from the first trilogy might as well have been mexicans, Huttese may have been chinese, etc, etc. Some of the languages were entirely bizarre, digitized and synthesized affairs that lent some credibility to being 'aliens', but to be sure, the big difference between the 2 sets of movies is that the aliens actually SPOKE their native languages, instead of speaking english with very heavy accents. What was the point of that? The audience can't read subtitles 20yrs after the original used them? Dumb. And a dumb little nitpick that stands out, unfortunately. This couldn't be something to pander to the kids, if they couldn't understand a damn thing they were saying until the 3rd or 4th replay. JarJar with a jamaican accent wouldn't be so bad if he actually spoke some kind of JAMAICAN language every once in awhile, as his accent suggested. There is a point where drawing parallels from our own reality just becomes too obvious and detracting from the 'fantasy' that the films are supposed to be.

I'd say that's your own subjective view-- and anyone else's-- whether JJ "interacts" with the cast convincingly. It doesn't look convincing to me in the slightest. As for giving Lucas' fx team credit by saying the first CGI effort was "not bad", that's just apologetic nonsense. A man in costume with a prosthetic mask would be MORE convincing for the sake of the film, because he would actually move like physics suggest, with real-time limitations. (And yes, I know there were stand-ins for the character on-screen/stage, before they covered them completely in post-prod.) If they couldn't get it to look entirely convincing after pouring all that cash in the rendering programs, what's the point? Only for Lucas to have something to show for, after pouring all that cash into it, really. Gotta have something to show for all that investment. By comparison, I can visually accept the crazy-ass CG effects for the space battles because (surprise) it takes place in outer space where our perception of physics isn't commonplace and gravity and all those other things don't apply the same way. I know what a real frog jumping in a real pond looks like, so why replace it with a flawed CGI clone on film? The CGI only succeeded in showing the glaring obvious-- it wasn't real. Maybe Lucas will re-edit in his 10th Special Edition in the near future. Who knows. But neither was I entirely convinced with Gollum (a far better effort). I can understand using CGI for a massive crowd or a complex background scene, in order to curb production expenses, but not as a replacement of a single actor. Film makers are using CGI fx masturbation just for the hell of it, when there are more realistic and proven attempts in film fx history.

I don't think it's apologetic in the slightest. He's not human, so for him to move in a 'realistic' way just doesn't make sense. Realistic to whom? His body isn't proportioned like a human, otherwise sure, a guy in a suit would've been perfect. I stand by my claim- when he's walking through the swamp with the Jedi, or the streets on Tattooine, he looks like he's there. On another note, though a completely different argument, without Binks in TPM, effects wouldn't have progressed to the standard they can reach now (post Gollum, etc). And furthering technology is certainly something Lucas can be credited for. And for genuinely bad CG, without interaction or character, look no further than Van Helsing. The Phantom Menace is just too easy.

aaaahahahahahahahaha. Terrible save, but I will give you points for effort, you vacuuous moron.

...really fucked you up, didn't they TJ?

60 per cent of the story seems to be about right. But if this third film also has as much action as promised, that's gonna be one Hell of a fast-paced film. How's he gonna fit it all in? Check out the new 'breathing' Darth Vader cover of Empire magazine: http://mbmchannel.blogspot.com/

I don't call myself a "hater", Lone Fox, that's what I've been labeled by the PT luvers who can't take the criticism. I do love SW, which is why it pisses me off that the PT is so damn awful. I watched the (non-special edition) version of ESB last night. There is no comparison. The interaction between the characters are many levels above anything in the PT. Once again, there are not interesting characters portrayed. Yes there are holes in the information in the OT, and not everything is spelled out; but none of those things were major plot points. Yes, things in OT were kiddie orientd, but it didn't pander itself to kids. That's the BIG difference. I didn't bring up the Jar Jar and Wato racism this time. That's another point, but my beef is that the accents were badly done, distracting, and entirely lacked creativity. Yes, the OT languages were based off Earth languages, but in creative ways. Like mixing Swahili with Chinese, and crap like that. NightArrows, why should you bother trying to defend something so subjective as a movie? Read above. I didn't start this conversation. As for a douche who needs their opinion validated on an internet forum, look in the mirror buddy. I don't need my opinion validated. I set up arguments that you have no response to; so, in tern, you have to write a meaningless reply about fat slobs on their computers (like the guy who runs this site?). You have nothing to add to this conversation.

Well, at least Howard the Duck was based in Cleveland. Is it me or what? In A New Hope it looks like Han shoots Guido first. In the DVD it looks like he did not. Jar-Jar Stinks should have his head lopped off in the final film.

I felt the ROTS book was very good. I just don't think the movie will be half as good.

Are there any original thoughts in this talkback? My apologies if I missed a good post, I didn't read them all, but I'm hearing the same things I've heard since TPM came out: Star Wars sucks, Lucas has lost his touch, Jar Jar sucks, Lucas raped my childhood, Jake Lloyd sucks...blah blah blah Look, due to the bad reaction, Lucas basically cut Jar Jar from the entire AOTC film. I've been avoiding spoilers, but I'm assuming he wont be in ROTS much either. Jake is long gone. Those movies are in the past. I agree that TPM was pretty useless, except for the Jin, Kenobi, Maul battle. I actually liked AOTC, the romance was definitely forced, but it needed to be there to progress the storyline in ROTS. Sorry, now I'M rehashing old arguments. The point is this, unless you've read all the spoilers, novel, etc., you don't know how good or bad ROTS be, and even if you have, you have no idea how it has been adapted to film. Is it too much to reserve judgment until you see the damn movie? Obviously you care enough about SW to post on here, so why not give this new film the benefit of the doubt until you see it? A previous poster did get something right, this is the movie that Eps I and II were building toward, this is the payoff for the exposition. If it sucks, I'll be the first person to say it, but until I see it, I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic.

I hope to god it will be good. And please for the sake of all that is good please no spoilers or at least put a warning.

This, by the way, is why you should never go 20 years between movies when you have a series of movies as popular as SW. Given the amount of time everyone waited, TPM could have been Citizen Kane and people would have bitched that it didn't live up to expectations. That's because in the 20 years that we watched the OT over and over, we built up ridiculous expectations in our minds. We imagined what the clone wars and Anakin were like, and when they weren't exactly how we pictured them, we freaked out. This is not to defend TPM, it is one of the most poorly written/acted films I've seen, to be honest, but even if TPM had been as good as ESB, people would have freaked out. Anything would be a let down after the OT, which we the fans have built over the years into some sort of sci-fi standard.

No, if it had been as good as ESB, then we probably would have liked it. You said it yourself, "it is one of the most poorly written/acted films I've seen."

only a geek would design a special envelope to hold his precious episode III ticket: http://homepage.mac.com/jazzman2155/P1010006.jpg

As embrypotzebra721 and ZombiePurge pointed out, the most interesting thing about the prequels is the uncanny way they mirror the way the USA has been led into the Iraq War. Damn prescient. 1) The Phantom Menace = use trumped up terror alerts to induce panic 2) Attack of the Clones = build your army and invade while your populace is under panic 3) Revenge of the Sith = drop all pretense that the war is justified and accept the fact that you are an Imperialist pig.

...I don't think so many people are saying ROTS will suck. The ones who are really are just looking to get a rise out of the apologists. Most of us are going to see it and judge it based on whether it succeeds as a film and goes any distance toward redeeming the other two prequels. The portions of the talkback that I find interesting (and that you apparently missed) are dealing with the revelation that Lucas readily admits he didn't set out to make great movies in the first two prequels. He expected them to be slow, boring and largely uninteresting from a plot and character standpoint. And he made them that way. I think that alone justifies a healthy amount of trepiation going into what I think most of us can agree is the most anxiously anticipated Star Wars film of all time.

Mr. Lucas's explanation makes perfect sense. But, it's also the the explanation of a very lazy story-teller with very little respect for the audience.

Put him out then! Nah, in fact he's just cutting and pasting stuff which has been said before, and as he himself acknowledges, Jar-Jar bashing is a pointless occupation, after AOTC came out, the problem with the prequels became much more generalised, and there was no way JJ could be blamed for that film's failings. But the person who really disturbs me here is De La Boom - WHy does this reject keep harping on about Gone With the Wind? HAve you even seen that dude? It's a four-hour long crapfest. The reason it gets so much respect is because it pushed the boundaries of what could be achieved with film-making, just like the other film you mention, Casablanca..... oh, and just like Star Wars did too, and continues to do. You mention the fact that you're under 30 as some kind of corroborative point, but in fact it means your opinion is LESS valid, because you would have missed most of the impact of the OT, so go and buy a couple of books about film history and try reading them, instead of coming on AICN to spout comments which make you sound like a precocious 4-year-old who has been let loose near a computer.