Am I the only one NOT buying TPM? (1 Viewer)

[Barry S]

Not to mention that the writing was terrible, the dialogue boring and Jar Jar was the biggest mistake Lucas made.

Maybe I'll be flamed for this, but in my opinion, The Phantom Menace is no worse than A New Hope. ANH itself was hardly Citizen Kane. It's crudely filmed (on a rather low budget), filled with cheesy dialog, bad acting, and numerous continuity errors. I feel that Annie Hall was far more deserving of the best picture Oscar. Empire and Jedi were certainly better technical achievements.
I love the movie, don't get me wrong, but as far as artistic quality, it's no Godfather or Casablanca. And for those of you complaining that Phantom Menace was a kids' movie, who do you think the original Star Wars was aimed at?? Lucas said he wanted to make a fantasy for kids and families like the kind he grew up with.
I will be buying TPM. I found it a very enjoyable sci-fi fantasy movie, like the original three.

 

[RobertR]

those of you complaining that Phantom Menace was a kids' movie, who do you think the original Star Wars was aimed at??

As the late Gene Siskel pointed out, saying a movie is a "kid's movie" doesn't excuse bad moviemaking. The Wizard of Oz is a "kid's movie", and it's almost universally acknowledged to be one of the all time great films. It's on the AFI's top 100 list. So is the original Star Wars, by the way.
NO one thinks TPM will ever be on any such list. It's more accurate to call it an example of juvenile filmmaking.
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[SteveGon]

If ya don't wanna buy it....well, to each his own. I enjoyed TPM but will admit that it's not the best in the series. I'll be picking it up!
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He thought on homeland, the big timber, the air thin and chill all the year long. Tulip poplars so big through the trunk they put you in mind of locomotives set on end. He thought of getting home and building him a cabin on Cold Mountain so high that not a soul but the nighthawks passing across the clouds in autumn could hear his sad cry. Of living a life so quiet he would not need ears. And if Ada would go with him, there might be the hope, so far off in the distance he did not even really see it, that in time his despair might be honed off to a point so fine and thin that it would be nearly the same as vanishing.
-- Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain

 

[Ricky Hustle]

I won't even pick up the box at the store to give the back cover a read.

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rickyhustle.com

 

[Ricky Hustle]

You know, It's so funny that one movie can ignite so much extreme emotions here that it creates a thread asking if people will not buy a certain DVD. You never see this happen with other high profile titles like T2:UE or Fight Club or the Toy Story Ulitmate Toy Box.

It has NOTHING to do with emotions. Just simply that we who are not fans are extremely outnumbered. The person who started the quote probably felt that he was the only one who thought that TPM was crap, and was polling the crowd to see if anyone else felt the same.
And go ahead, start a Shrek thread if you like, you are certainly entitled!
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rickyhustle.com

 

[Francois Caron]

quote: Nice to see you are an unbiased reviewer who will reserve judgement until they've actually SEEN the product

[/quote]
Ouch! Actual criticism from one of my posts! I get so few of them that I rarely know what it feels like when I'm on the receiving end!

I've already seen "The Phantom Edit" for which I wrote a lengthy but partial review. Of course I had to reserve final judgement on the special effects as well as the picture and sound quality since there's no way a downloaded movie can look and sound as good as an official DVD release. Also, all the extra features are missing. Once the official release is finally put on store shelves, I'll be able to complete the review I started last Summer.
As for "destroying" the DVD release before actually seeing it, I already have a good idea of what will happen when I evaluate the DVD because from my perspective, it already happened! Remember "Lost In Space"? The movie was terrible, suffering from the same shortcomings as TPM: lousy acting, lousy story, obnoxious kids that should be thrown out of the ship without a spacesuit... The DVD release was made even worse with the addition of all the supplemental material featuring various members of the cast and crew involved in a sickening example of excessive self-praise! It was downright embarassing! About the only good elements of the movie were a few scenes that would make excellent demo material. However, demo material is simply not enough to sustain one's interest for two hours.
"The Phantom Menace" seems to be following the same route. Already I saw the lousy acting, lousy story and potential demo clips on "The Phantom Edit". Now I have to see and hear the full potential of the official DVD release along with the extra material in order to properly complete the review. It's already a foregone conclusion the audio and video on the DVD will be top-notch (as always I will confirm this on multiple HT installations). As for the extra features, it's only once I start watching them that I'll find out if the crew is putting on another "self-praise" show or not. If they do, "The Phantom Menace" will definitely surpass the sheer embarassment that was "Lost In Space". And that's not counting of what I'll think of Jar Jar Binks in all his splendor!
Like I said before, this ain't gonna be pretty...
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The Milnoc
News, Views, DVD Reviews.
[Edited last by Francois Caron on October 08, 2001 at 01:56 AM]

 

[Sutjahjo Ngaserin]

Personally, I think the only good George Lucas movies are the Indiana Jones series, nevertheless, I will still buy the TPM DVD, just to be able to view it at hone.

 

[Matt Gordon]

I like (not "love") the original "Star Wars" trilogy, and own both the THX and updated versions of all three on LD.
I just didn't really care for TPM, and it certainly didn't match the expectations that many of us had built up for the film. I think that without the "Star Wars" excitement surrounding it, TPM probably would have been perceived as an almost moderately tolerable juvenile movie. Jar Jar would have never gained popular acceptance under any circumstances.
I will not purchase the DVD.
Matt

 

[Tom Oh]

Now it's not a masterpiece. I hated Jar Jar and Jake as much as others. However, I purchased the the DVD and I'm happy with it. The sound is amazing and the beauty of DVD is that you only watch the parts you want (Pod race and the final 20 min.) Also the extras on this disc is outstanding. It's like buying Haunting DTS, but much better. Deleted scenes were also very interesing and fun.
I did not care for easter eggs. Searching for them that is!
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[Frank]

Never seen it. Never will.
Frank

 

[Micah Cohen]

In rebellion and disgust I am turning to eBay to get the original trilogy (not "SE") on widescreen VHS, that's how convinced I am that I will never see them in that untampered form on DVD (and I don't feel like buying a laserdisc player for one film). I'm not letting Lucas dictate my buying habits.
If I had been one of those people who stood on line for three days dressed as Princess Leia to see TPM, I'd be mortified.
MC
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[Adrian_N]

Never seen it. Never will.
Frank

Thanks for being so frank.
I don't plan on buying this DVD either. I am a big fan of SW, but there are so many more interesting films I'm interested in, TPM is way at the bottom of the list.

 

[James D S]

However, I purchased the the DVD and I'm happy with it.

So you are posting in this thread because.... ?

 

[Dave Koch]

Not gonna buy it... Got it promo a couple weeks ago...
maybe I'll watch it in a couple weeks.

 

[Frank_S]

If Lucas said he would donate a portion of the profits to the families who lost loved ones in the WTC I'd buy it, but I refuse to donate solely to the Lucas fund.

 

[Barry S]

As the late Gene Siskel pointed out, saying a movie is a "kid's movie" doesn't excuse bad moviemaking.

That's not what I meant. I said that in response to those who say that TPM sucked because it was a kids' movie. I'm very much aware that family films can be Oscar-caliber in quality. I was saying that the original Star Wars was intended as a family movie, so why shouldn't Phantom Menace?
Whether or not Phantom Menace represents "bad moviemaking" is purely subjective. I don't see how one could look at a movie like The Phantom Menace and say that it's bad moviemaking. Not from a technical standpoint, at least.
You think it's bad. That's okay. I do not share that opinion.

 

[Russ Felton]

I probably won't buy it. I was more excited about finally getting John Waters' Female Trouble on DVD than this.
Hell, I was more excited about a full screen Willy Wonka DVD (now that's sayin' something)
Russ

 

[Randy_M]

I'd buy the original 3 movies in a heartbeat, but not this one. Just seemed annoying to me when I saw it at the theater...

 

[Dean DeMass]

Francois,
I don't think you have to worry about the self-praise in the extras. From every review I have read about the disc, it has some of the best extras ever on DVD. According to the reviewrs, the extras are about the film and not about the ass-kissing.
BTW, I'm a big fan of the film, and I can't wait to buy it. However, I also respect everyone's opinion, and if you don't want it, more power to you.
-Dean-
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"I've seen you and you are not cool."

 

[MikeSerrano]

If the DVD would have came out at the same time as the VHS, I might have bought it... I admit, I was caught up in the hype at the time.
Now that I've seen countless snipettes since then, I've realized what a bad movie it really is and how much I DON'T need this DVD in my collection.
Thanks to George "Jar Jar" Lucas for saving me $21.
-Mike
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