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Another positive review for REVENGE OF THE SITH! Could this really be the one we've been waiting for'
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here! Now, we have the press junket for STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH next week (no, I'm not invited... I'm still crying) and, from what I hear, foreign distributors are getting the movie right this very moment, so expect a flood of reviews starting from this point on till the release of the film.
The below is very plot-heavy, so go at your own risk. I didn't read it all (I want something to be unknown when I finally see this flick afterall), but it seemed very levelheaded, especially when talking about not quite digging Grievous.
I'll be keeping an eye out for more screening reviews, so stay tuned! For now, we have this review that places ROTS next to TESB... tall order, that. "Please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck..."
Harry,
Can?t say where I saw it. When I saw it. With whom I
saw it. Just trust me, I did. Revenge of the Sith.
Final print.
Won?t bore you with ?I?m a big fan?, blah, blah, blah.
Rest assured, I am, and believe not much comes close
to Empire Strikes Back when thinking Star Wars. Except
maybe
for this movie.
Please note I also liked Alien 3 which might, for
some, call my credibility into question, but what the
heck, here it goes
As if you don?t know already, the opening battle above
Coruscant is absolutely breathtaking, with the camera
following Obi-Wan and Anakin in their starfighters as
they desperately try to get to Grievous? ship, with
all kinds of stuff blowing up in the background.
Still, while visuals are nothing short of amazing, I
kinda missed the militaristic approach to space
battles found in the Classic trilogy, especially
Return of the Jedi. Somehow, whether this particular
battle, or exciting but short assault on the droid
donut ship in TPM, or the Geneosis confrontation in
AOTC, the prequels never seemed to embrace the idea
that to care about the action a bit more we should be
given some indication of who is doing exactly what and
why. A sense of progression, if you will. This lack of
focus always bothered me in Attack of the Clones and
the beginning of Revenge is just the same: we are
never really told what?s at stake and then the battle
ends too abruptly. Ships blow up. That?s it.
In the
end I was left with the ?nothing to see here, move
on, people? feeling. A minor and rather personal rant,
but still The Obi-Wan / Anakin banter during the battle is
alright, nothing great or particularly inventive, but
fortunately nothing really awful either. In fact, it?s
worth to mention I never noticed strikingly bad
dialogue throughout the movie. Anyway, once our
characters board the Invisible Hand, the humor
quotient goes up, but contrary to the infamous C3PO
gags from AOTC I actually found some of the scenes
pretty amusing... except for the R2-D2 making the
fools out of a couple of super battle druids, which
seemed too slapstick and silly for my taste (though I
imagine Lucas thought this necessary to further
undermine the droids? effectiveness). In retrospect,
the lightweightness and a sense of adventure of the
first 30 minutes contrast and emphasize the darkness
that follows when things go bad for our characters.
Grevous is a non-entity for me. He?s supposed to be
this great and invincible master strategist but
nothing in the movie actually proves that he is except that the characters constantly say he is. I?d
say Grevous? cartoonish appearance and his manierisms
belong to the animated Clone Wars tv series rather
then to this movie. In the end the general is just
another droid and a plot point for Obi-Wan to follow,
not the Episode III Big Bad Lucas often touted him to
be.
Once the Chancellor is rescued, Revenge slows down a
bit to make room for the seduction of Anakin. I read
the movie novelization a while ago and must say I was
truly impressed by how THE transformation of Anakin
was handled. It just all made perfect sense and
resulted in a tragic, ?can?t escape fate? dilemma for
the character. I was rather afraid the movie would
simplify matters too much ? I mean, the book had so
much more time to concentrate on the slow and natural
change in Anakin. Fortunately there are enough
Palpatine / Anakin scenes throughout the film to
actually illustrate the process of Skywalker being
slowly dragged into the darkness. The signals of doom
are all there: Anakin?s pride and arrogance, his
prophetic dreams regarding the death of Padme, his
inability to keep those he loves but who are destined
to pass away, and in the end Palpatine?s promises of
power and control.
Speaking of Palpatine, Ian McDiarmid shines. To some
extend, Revenge is his movie. I particularly liked
subtle changes in his tone of voice and body language
during his shifts between the good Chancellor
Palpatine and ever-manipulative Emperor, especially in
the ?Squid Lake? opera scene which in itself was a
very eerie and unsettling moment in the movie. Of
course once he becomes the Emperor full time he?s
just, well, crazy evil, laughing like a lunatic even
when hanging and about to fall from one of those
floating senate platforms during the climatic duel
with Yoda.
Hayden Christensen, while not in the acting league of
Ian or Ewan, gets to perform some nice and emotionally
charged scenes, which was a nice surprise considering
Attack of the Clones. The rift in Anakin / Padme
relationship, a direct consequence of Anakin?s blind
and desperate search for a way to save his wife from
imminent death, is showcased with surprising
believability. A far cry from the overly forced love
between them in AOTC, indeed. Strangely enough, the
best scene between Anakin and Padme takes place when they are actually apart. While Anakin is told to wait in the Jedi Temple by Mace Windu (who goes on to
arrest Palpatine), Padme is looking out from the
window of her apartment and gazes toward the Temple
spears ? with rather nicely underplayed musical score
in the background and some nice editing, it is
immediately evident both characters feel each other?s
anguish and fear of the future, and suddenly realize
they cannot escape what awaits them, namely Anakin?s
decision to accept Palpatine?s offer. Definitely one
of the great emotional highlights in ROTS and possibly
the entire saga. Nice!
And then all hell breaks loose and the movie gets
better, and better, and better... Mind you, this is a
true PG-13 experience. When the Emperor activates
Order 66 and the slaughtering of the Jedi begins,
Lucas does not shy away from showing the brutal
reality of it. In one of the most shocking scenes of
the entire saga, the clones keep shooting at the
fallen and already dead Jedi, with the camera slowly
panning up to the sky. In fact, the whole montage of
the clones turning against their former masters is
extremely effective and emotional ? a disturbing
mixture of horrible images and truly sad music by John
Williams. A goose-bums moment at its best.
I could go on for hours how much there is to cherish
in the last 45 minutes of Revenge. The duels are
absolutely awesome. The only one I didn?t care much
for was Mace Windu vs. Palpatine ? I simply never
liked Mace and always thought Jackson should have
stayed away from playing a Jedi Master. His delivery
is somewhat wooden and instead of intended coolness we
get another ?this party?s over? stuff. On the other
hand, Yoda taking on the Emperor in the Senate chamber
is simply enormous in scope and I think at least in
this respect it overshadows the climatic Obi-Wan /
Anakin fight but just a bit. Sparks fly everywhere,
Senate platforms crash into each other, dark energy
explodes ? truly wild stuff accompanied by the only
bombastic part of the Williams? score.
Obi-Wan / Anakin fight on Mustafar is just too good to
write about. You need to see it for yourselves. What?s
worth mentioning is another uber-cool moment just
before the duel begins, when Anakin confronts Padme
and says something along the lines: ?You will rule
beside me in MY new empire?. That and the final ?You
were the chosen one!? and ?I HATE YOU!? exchange
between Obi-Wan and Anakin rule big time, no question
about it.
Obviously I have barely scratched the surface as there
is so much more to enjoy in Revenge of the Sith. Even
though I dislike Grievous, the bit on Utapau, with
Obi-Wan chasing the good general on Boga, was fun to
watch as an exciting adventure. Bail Organa, while
absent for the first 45 minutes, delivers some good
lines later on and is brought into the story
seamlessly. The final minutes of the movie ? the
cutting between death of Padme and the birth of Vader
in his mechanical form; Padme?s quiet and etheral
funeral procession; Bail and his wife lovingly holding
Leia in their arms on Alderaan ? all of it is just
heart-breaking, but cathartic and not without a sense
of hope. A new hope
Call me No One
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+ Expand All
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I meant to say that on rottentomatoes.com, episode 1 has 62%, episode 2 64% (recently bumped up to 65% inexplicably), so my prediction for this one is 66-67%. You heard it here first.
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Is it just me or does anyone else have the sinking feeling that all of these positive reviews are setting us up for a BEYOND THE RICHTER SCALE-END OF THE WORLD TYPE of disappointment? *fart*
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It does look like though Ian McDiarmid and Ewan McGregor will be the highlights of the film as far as preformance goes (both Scotish I believe, not sure if that means anything). Speaking of rottentomatoes, look at hitchhikers guide, that ain't looking to good.
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I feel like he's questioning how good this movie is. Then again, maybe it's all the question marks. Would that have been so hard to fix? Almost unreadable.
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Agree with previous poster: copy text into Word, change ? into ' and the review becomes magically readable. 15 seconds work, tops.
About the movie? I'm not even going there in this talkback... -
Better to say "the duels are awesomely well digitally-enhanced", no?
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Two reveiws in one night and I can't read either of them...SPOILER-FREE FOR EPISODE-III
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the reviewr wasn't quite sure of himself? Or the movie? It was like reading one long question...?
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?????????????
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I'd rather see it and then decide rather than take someone else's opinion and make it mine. Anyway I already know I'll like it because I like Star Wars. Unlike many people here I don't go in expecting to be disappointed. And I don't expect to see things in the prequels that for the most part didn't exist in the o.t. as in A) good acting- "i've got a bad feeling about this." nuff said.
B) complicated plot- the 3-act structure goes back to the beginning of theater. This is a 3-act play with 6 acts, ok? nothing complex here.
So I'll go watch it, then watch it again. All I have to say is enjoy it, because when it's done what else will you bitch about? Silly me... -
I can't be the only one who doesn't like the 'I hate you!' line. Come on, this is the climax of the film, the next time Darth and Obi meet will be in ANH, and Anakin comes off sounding like a spoiled kid.
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"Shield generators been hit!!", "That little droid did it!", "We didn't hit it!", and other gems.
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If you don't even have that bare minimum of a requirement then I'm sure there's very few films that dissapoint you, kudos to you.
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I am so there. I can't wait to see Yoda kick some ass! After he rips off Palpatine's head and takes a generous crap down his neck, he and Mace can go grab a couple of brews at the temple bar and...oh shit, that's right...damn.
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Apr 29, 2005 5:35:51 AM CDT
EXPECTATIONS ARE SO LOW - SOCK PUPPETS WOULD BE GREETED WITH STA
by scenicroute555
Six years ago I joked with my friends that Lucas would only show us Vader in the last few minutes of the final installment of the first trilogy. 'That would be suicidal!' my friends cried. 'Lucas wouldn't be that stingy or rotten towards the ticket buyers! The decline of Annakin can be summed up in 45 minutes - it's VADER the audiences want to see!' I had no idea that my joke has now become a reality. He took the most cinematic character he had and decided to show us everything but him. Maybe Lucas has already begun his transition to difficult tone-poemed art-filmmaker and we just didn't know it.
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...and I have my fingers crossed. Third times a charm I hear. Speaking of things I hear, I've heard way more than I want to concerning the plot of this movie. Now that would be just a bunch of "Too bad! So sad!" Sour-Grapes tm , if I've spent the last couple of years sifting the internet for all things "Sith". But I haven't, and I don't have to. Because it's everywhere. (insert Gary Oldman voice here)EVE-RY-WHERE!! I remember a time when the plot to a Star Wars movie was kept secret in a way one usually associates with Area 51. A bunch of blurry pictures and rumors. These last three episodes have gotten progressively worse when it comes to keeping a lid on the plot. Hell, not only is George not trying to keep the lid on, he seems to be actively passing out chunks of the plot like its Halloween candy and he's the Great Pumpkin! Now don't get me wrong, I realize that there's an internet now and people are slinging bits and bytes all over the planet. We all know that EP4 picks up where EP3 leaves off. That can't be helped. What can be helped is not knowing HOW EP3 gets to EP4. That little piece of knowledge has been eroding at a fast pace for some time now. You'd think Uncle George would want to keep that stuff close to his vest or under his hat. TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, Books, the Internet. It's media overload. Is there anything on his exclusive-pay-for-a-view-only Hyperspace website that hasn't immediately leaked when released? If I paid money for it I'd be pissed. He must know that this is happening by now. If that's so then I can only conclude that he's doing it on purpose. That's a bit sad. Letting the cat out of your own bag may help increase an already gigantic media blitz but who really wants to know everything that happens in a movie before you see it? I feel like Quint does. I want to know as little as possible about a movie's plot before I see it. This movie has a strike against it in that regard from the begining. It's like watching a high-scoring Superbowl game while knowing who's going to win. I just want to be surprised by the surprises in the movie and leave the theater satisfied. I don't want to sit there for 2 1/2 hours checking off a list of things I knew was going to happen. Okay, I'll stop ranting about that for now, but I do have a question about one plot point that I've ran across. I keep hearing that Padme dies in the movie. If I remember right, in Return of the Jedi doesn't Leia tell Luke about her childhood memories of her mother? It was something about her "being beautiful and sad". Unless George changed that on the DVD's, that would mean that Padme lived for some time after childbirth. At least long enough for Leia to remember her. I don't know, it just sounds like a possible continuity error to me. Oh well, we'll all know for sure when we see it or read it or download it or whatever...
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Apr 29, 2005 6:06:55 AM CDT
"I never noticed strikingly bad dialogue throughout the movie"
by bluebottle
High praise.
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Apr 29, 2005 6:28:42 AM CDT
Continuity wise, Leia remembering her mother in ROTJ is perfectl
by commando cody
Look at it this way. We know the twins are separated and taken to 2 different sets of parents -- Infant Leia goes with Bail Organa to be raised, Obi Wan takes Infant Luke to the Lars homestead on Tatooine. In ROTJ, Luke simply asks "What do you remember about your mother?" to which Leia comments not much except that she was beautiful, but also very sad. Which STILL makes perfect sense. After all, Leia was raised by this woman just the same. And as we now see in the prequels (via Jimmy Smits) Bail Organa was an active Senator and was right there on the front lines and involved in the action with the Jedi when Palpatine seized power and life across the galaxy became tyrranical and shitty. So obviously MRS. Organa shared in the pain her heroic husband felt in having to live through this, as well as in remembering what the Republic once was and how the Empire now is. Hell, maybe off-screen in untold continuity, Bail dies trying to oppose the Empire and that, too, made Mrs. Organa sad -- or at least sad enough to impress a memory on Leia as a toddler. The thing to remember is that the whole point and emotional hook to the ROTJ scene ISN'T what Leia says...it's what Luke says. When he sadly replies "I have no memory of my mother at all." Which will now be true. So continuity wise, Leia's line still makes sense as does Luke's response.
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what you do at weekends is your own business.
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Apr 29, 2005 7:54:36 AM CDT
Since Alien Resurrection pissed Alien 3 off into oblivion... I'l
by theginger twit
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I'VE READ THE BOOK AND LIKED IT.
HOW THAT ALL TRANSLATES VISUALLY IS STILL A MISTERY, BUT I THINK IT WILL BE OK. THE BOTTOM LINE IS WHEN ANYONE CAN SIT DOWN AND WATCH ALL 6 IN CRON-ORDER I THINK
PEOPLE WILL RESPECT THE PREQUELS A LITTLE MORE. I THINK THE PALPATINE/MACE FIGHT SCENE WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST.
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Is going to leave me speechless and heartbroken - I just know it. Thanks for the review! I need to stop reading them though, otherwise I'll be anticipating way to much. Must stay away. :)
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Call me immature? but... I got a chuckle out of how bad that review was written? Whether it's his "super battle druids" or "goose bums" you have to admit? The standard of proof reading here at AICN is low? If it exists at all?
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Apr 29, 2005 1:35:13 PM CDT
I can't believe it. LUCAS actually pulled it off, like a footbal
by orionsangels
I'm glad. I can't wait! Thanks for that honest review
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>I actually go into EVERY movie >expecting good acting
>by Gheorghe Zamfir 2005-04-29
>If you don't even have that bare >minimum of a requirement then >I'm sure there's very few films >that dissapoint you, kudos to >you.
Ok I'll go slow.
Here's what I said:
"I don't expect to see things in the prequels that for the most part didn't exist in the o.t."
one of those was good acting.
I made no reference to what I expect in any other movies.
I know some people want to post a witty retort at the first chance without regard to fact, but it just makes you look bad.
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You said you don't expect good acting from these movies, and decided that since you don't think the OT had good acting, expecting good acting in these movies is an unreasonable expectation for everyone else as well. I could really give a shit what you expect from other movies, my point was, follow this closely, expecting good acting from ANY movie is a reasonable expectation, as its really one of those bare minimums a good movie should be able to provide, and yes, that includes even these movies.
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Ric Olie...master of the obvious
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That not a single one of these reviews mentions a thing about the wookies and yoda, which is supposed to be a big part of it - cameo appearance by chewbacca and all that?
Just like the novelisation left that bit out so there would be something left in the movie that people had not read about.
They are quite frankly all talking shite, and have read the novelisation - and thats it!
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Go get em, R2!
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Apr 30, 2005 12:58:39 AM CDT
NEW RULE: The fact that this asshole uses question marks ("?") w
by bill maher
In the words of the obnoxious Kid Brother in the classic comedy Eurotrip: "YOU LOSER! I'm getting the video camera! HAHAHAHAAAAAA! What an asshole!"
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For those of you concerned about the plot, here's some info: That Annakin kid is evil! So is Palpatine. They are very bad! Sam Jackson will die. Natalie Portman will die. The kids will be named LUKE and LEIA. Yoda will escape and hide on a swamp planet. Obi Wan will hide on a desert planet. Han Solo is a little kid somewhere, being taught that it isn't nice to shoot first. How do I know these things? I've TRAVELLED INTO THE FUTURE and seen episodes 4-6! See also: latest Esquire magazine page 34 - analogy to walking into the same bar where you've been served warm piss TWICE, expecting to get cold beer this time...
Enjoy your beverage.
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