REVENGE OF THE SITH DVD Review up and running...(let the flood begin)(SNEAK LOOK POST #146)... (1 Viewer)

[GuruAskew]

That, I think, is perfectly reasonable. I expect fully-functional lightsabers to be on the market within a year or two. On the other hand, adding retractable legs to a wheel is just pure fantasy. It can't be done!

 

[Bryan X]

'Retractable' legs would be fine as you put it. But I didn't care for the way the legs were implemented.

If it would have been more 'mechanical' I wouldn't have minded. But they were very organic and animal like in there movement and abilities. I just find it to be too stark of a contrast with the OT.

Look there was some very good stuff in the PT. But there were some designs that just took me out of the 'Star Wars' moment.

Mock me as much as you want, but when I watch Star Wars it draws me in because in a sense it is so beleivable (even much of the PT). There were just some things in the PT that were 'out of place' for *me* and took me out of that moment.

I don't know what else to say to get you to simply understand (not accept) this view.

 

[Kenneth Bova]

If Grievous's legs can move as fast as his arms can spin lightsabers, then why didn't he just "Fred Flintstone" around in the wheel. That would have been more like Star Wars.

 

[GuruAskew]

How are they more organic than, say, Luke and Anakin's artificial limbs? I just did a Google image search for +Grievous +"wheel bike" and I am completely baffled at how somebody can single those legs out as a bone of contention in a series with such fantastical elements. It just comes back to that bias I mentioned a few posts back: PT-haters will bash anything in the prequels with no regard to logic.

 

[Bryan X]

PT hater, huh? Do you even read my posts?

 

[GuruAskew]

I didn't read all your posts and maybe you don't hate the prequels but you most certainly have a bias against them.


Yeah, but this isn't really a matter of opinion. An opinion is something like "OMG, Yoda is way cooler than Obi-Wan!" but the subject we're discussing involves practicality and realism. Right now, in reality, on planet Earth there are wheels and legs everywhere. Hover bikes? That's a whole other story. Grievous's wheel bike is one of the MOST REALISTIC devices in all of the "Star Wars" films, it would undeniably require a level of sophistication that's not possible at this time but the basic way that the vehicle functions is grounded in reality and technology that is far from cutting-edge. If the discussion at hand was "Grievous's wheel bike is so much cooler than the 'Jedi' speeder bikes" it would come down to personal taste but we're talking realism and functionality here and a wheel with legs is UNDENIABLY more realistic than a FLYING BIKE.

 

[Bryan X]

I don't find the way the weel-bike moves to be realistic at all. That IS an opinion.

It's the way these legs move and how they move that I don't think is realistic. Again, they are more like animal legs than mechanical legs. Why 30 years later did the Empire use klunky propulsion for the AT ATs? Why not use the wiz-bang tech from the wheel bike to have them bound across Hoth? Because at the time ESB was filmed Lucas was limited in what he could do. But those limits made the Star Wars universe what it is. And now, for me, some of these newer 'designs' just conflict with that original universe too much.

I don't think things had to be 'exactly' the same in the PT universe. I think the sleekness of the Naboo Starfighters and some of the other sleek designs were a great touch to show form over function before the Empire took over. But when the mechanics are so much more advanced in the PT, I have a hard time with that.

What was this thread about again?

 

[GuruAskew]

No spacecraft in the prequel trilogy ever demonstrates any superiority over any classic trilogy spacecraft performance-wise, and the technology present in stuff like the legs on Grievous's wheel bike don't seem to even approach stuff like the droids and mechanical limbs in the classic trilogy. There seems to be NO loss of functionality in Luke's new hand in "Empire" and "Jedi", (on the contrary, he is shot on the wrist in "Jedi" just to remind the audience that his hand is artificial) and the human hand is capable of movements far more complex than anything that the wheel bike does.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Hope this is the right thread to say this:

Can't wait to see the DVD.

 

[PaulP]

So just to clarify, no prequel box to go along with the Star Wars Trilogy box?

 

[GuruAskew]

There definitely isn't a box set containing Episodes I-III coming out any time soon but there are rumors that one of the major retailers will offer an empty box as a promotional giveaway. It's most likely not Wal-Mart because they already have the "Story of Star Wars" bonus disc as an exclusive, and I hear Suncoast's exclusive is a Darth Vader patch. Best Buy offered a box with "Kill Bill Vol. 2" so there's a good chance that they're the ones that will have it. They do already have a couple of Episode III tie-ins like an exclusive Darth Vader action figure but those are seperate items, not giveaways. If it ends up at Best Buy, I hope they offer it for sale as a seperate item like the "Kill Bill" box. There isn't a Best Buy in my town but I was able to order the KB box through their webstore for a small price. I'll definitely be buying the movie and bonus disc at Wal-Mart because exclusive DVD content is more important to me than packaging but if a box *is* offered I'd like to get that, too, and buying a 2nd copy of the movie isn't an option.

 

[PaulP]

Hmm, that's a missed opportunity. We'll see what happens, but I was hoping for a simple prequel box.

 

[Dharmesh C]

The biggest problem with the Prequels is that I don't care enough until the last 45 minutes of Ep3, and I'm not including Hayden in this. I don't care if Anakin becomes Vader because I could never identify with his character - if he was likeable then him becoming Vader would have been a much more powerful scene and the fall to the darkside would have been dramatic.

The constant referencing to the OT proves that Lucas doesn't have the confidence in the audience. Granted, there has to be some referencing and foreboding but Chewbacca???
The crowning of Vader when the mask is placed on his face is out of place in the entire saga, it goes against the grain in terms of the Star Wars style.

I certainly don't buy the 30s over-the-top dramatic love story because those films were consistently over-the-top whereas Star Wars is a rollercoster, constantly dipping.

 

[RickHeart]

I totally see where Bryan X is coming from. Lucas himself wanted to create a "used-future" look to the OT. Whether the X-wings or any of the other vehicles and technology could, in fact, operate in the physical work is irrelevant; the point is, they LOOK like the could, at least to me. The x-wing, speeders, Falcon, etc., look like they are practical machines which had a use and function beyond what was on the screen.

I do buy and accept that the prequel vehicle and technology have a sleeker look and represent a "more civilized age"....I'm fine w/ that. What I dont buy is that lot of the stuff, like the wheel bike, looks like no thought was given to it other than it would look cool and serve the purposes of the scene...much like the magic button that Padme pushes in ATOC that instantly gives her whatever information she wants, the flying R2-D2, etc. Don't get me wrong, some of the stuff is cool to look at, and maybe I could see a droid army making the stuff, but it just doenst work for me.

And yes, these are all just opinions. It works for some of us, doesn't work for others. Not sure why it makes some so crazy that someone else has a different opinion than yours. The same people who are indignant and insistent that those who have a differing view are PT bashers are also the ones coming across as Lucas apologists.

 

[Tim Glover]

Man, I was really looking forward to a cool prequel box set like we got with the OT. I guess that would be too much to ask Maybe they thought since the bonus dvds are already attached to each PT film that a 3 pak wouldn't look right.

I may have to try being a gigalo to hurry and get more $$ to have that dang new SVS subwoofer in time for Nov.1

My Shwartz is bigger than yours. :wink:

 

[Ron-P]

"You have the ring. And I see your Scwartz is as big as mine....Now let's see how well you handle it."

 

[ShaunG]

"Jedi (this is almost painful to watch now)"

I agree since the added scenes & altered ending I really have a hard time watching the DVD version.

I really didn't mind the ewok & the original ending. Besides the celebration song sounds like the song at the end of Romance in the Stone!!! At least the original music was...original :p) .

 

[Ron-P]

I'd have to agree with you Shaun. Of the OT Jedi is by far the stinker and even smells more since Lucas tampered with it. Still, I would watch it over any of the newer films. I just love the original cast and cannot get into liking this new one.

Of all the battles which would be some favorites?

ANH, the attack on the Death Star still ranks as the #1 battle out of all 6 films for me. It had emotion, simplicity, tension and some darn good fight scenes.

ESB and the opening attack on Hoth holds second place for me followed by...

AotC, that final battle was a good one and I liked how Lucas used the quick camera action in that. It ranks right up there as a favorite SW's battle to watch.

 

[Josh Simpson]

Well, we all know hoverboards exist... they just weren't released cause they were unsafe for children.

I look forward to this dvd, flaws in the movie and all. I'm interested to see what goodies Lucas will throw in his 6 movie box set, which we all know will eventually happen.

 

[Richard Kim]

OT, I know, but I had to respond


I strongly disagree. The new ending is byfar the best change made by the SEs. The old Yub-Yub song sounds like it belongs in Sesame Street (ironic that those who complain about the "juvenile" aspects of the PT like the old ending). The new celebration and music is much more somber and bittersweet and better fits the emotional mood of the ending (the redemption of Anakin Skywalker).