TPM Reviews (1 Viewer)

[Richard Kim]

I didn't have a problem with Jar-Jar's clumsiness. As a clumsy person myself, i could identify with him and being ridiculed for being awkward.

As for the conception by midichlorians, unique/unusual birth is a common theme in mythologies around the world (Jesus' birth being the most famous example), and we all know what a student of folklore and mythology George Lucas is. I mean, nobody complained about Neo's messiah like qualities in The Matrix, right?

 

[Richard_D_Ramirez]

I find it interesting that many think TPM as "kiddie-centered", considering this is the only film of the prequel trilogy with any air of "Lightness". If Lucas directed TPM with entire seriousness, the entire prequel trilogy would be majorly depressing, since each of the following films will become progressively darker in tone.

and the space battle was good with the juvenile dialogue being the exception there

He is a kid, right? He may be "The One who will bring balance to the Force", but he was still only eight years old, and unaware of his true potential....

8^B

 

[TerryRL]

TPM was a 3 star movie amidst a 4 star franchise. I think the biggest problem TPM had was the fact that Lucas hadn't directed a movie in over 20 years. I think that rust had a lot to do with some of the weaker points to the movie. Overall, I thought TPM was a really cool flick, it wasn't as good as the OT, but I think AOTC will more than make up for any lapses it had.

 

[RobertR]

I think the biggest problem TPM had was the fact that Lucas hadn't directed a movie in over 20 years. I think that rust had a lot to do with some of the weaker points to the movie.

I agree with that.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

All true looks at TPM. I must go here, on RECORD, as stating that midi-chlorians (sp?...like I care) were perhaps the stupidest introduction into the series. How ridiculous is that? To explain what gave true power and resonance to the OT showed a glimmer of ignorance on GL's part. It seemed that he did not know what made the OT a hit. I hope that is not the case. I did like TPM, and Terry's view of a 3-starrer with 4-star movies (well, ROTJ was a 3.5-starrer) is quite accurate. Except for the midi-chlorians. How would they know Yoda's? Are they on display?
Just mt two cents on the good and the terrible,
Chuck

 

[Hubert]

Is that one a 4 or 5 star scale. On a 5 star scale I would have to give Star Wars a 4.5 stars. The Empire strikes back would get 5 stars from me. Return of the Jedi would get 4-4.5 stars. I liked ROTJ as much as the others. The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite. A lot of people rank ROTJ lower than the other two simply because they didn't like them ewoks. But if you look at the movie and not the Ewoks, the movie is very good. The Phantom Menace I would give 3.5 stars. A highly enjoyable movie with some annoyances.

 

[TerryRL]

I used a 4 star scale. If I were to go to the 5 star route, I would grade each flick like this...

ESB 5 stars

ANH 5 stars

ROTJ 4.5 stars

TPM 3.5 stars

As for the midi-chlorians, I think Lucas had another motive in giving the Force genetic roots. I think that it's going to eventually come out that midi-chlorians can't be cloned, at least to the point to make someone Force sensetive. Hence, why Sidious cloned Jango Fett instead of Dooku. Also, it would answer the question of why Sidious didn't clone an army of Darth Mauls, as well as why the Jedi didn't clone anyone following the catastrophe on Geonosis in AOTC.


Thus, this would still make anyone who is Force sensetive a rarity and a bit of an anomoly (sp).

 

[Chuck Mayer]

But, IMWO (worthless), it belittles the power and majesty of the force in the OT, specifically Yoda in ESB. Whatever his purpose for the midi-chlorians, it's use diminishes the power of the force and makes the story less mythic and more "real." So I simply ignore it, in the hopes it'll go away
I used a 4-star rating...of course. It's not just the ewoks in ROTJ that dropped it down a little, although they are major contributers!
Take care,
Chuck

 

[TerryRL]

I can understand why some fans had a hard time with the midi-chlorian angle, my main point is that I don't think it'll hurt the overall narrative. At least I don't think it will.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Again, I understand that Lucas may use the MC angle, but I feel that damages the original. If the Force is genetic, then it's like red hair. It's science. You can say that Luke gets it from his father, so therefore it's genetic. I always felt that Luke was strong in the Force because the force chose Luke to redeem his father, not because he was born with it. The MC moments were my big WTF moments in TPM, because I couldn't imagine where he was going with it. The force isn't a plot device. It's the soul of the movie, the innate power to change the world for the better. I like it better that way. I enjoyed TPM and I love the OT. I respect George. If he wants to pee on the new movies, that's fine, but I would rather he didn't whizz on the old ones, too. I don't mean to be so "uptight" about this, but that's the one SW that gets me. Other than that, I am very excited about AOTC!

Take care,

Chuck

 

[Hubert]

Well, I still say Lucas will end up having to put his altered versions of the original trilog, as well as the unaltered version of the OT on DVD. Maybe both on the same DVD. Either that or I'm kidding myself.

 

[TerryRL]

I think Lucas will release the OT on DVD before he does the big 2006 'Saga' set. I think the OT set will include the original cuts, as well as the SEs. I think the 2006 set will only have the "new" cuts of the OT that will tie them better to the prequels.

 

[Marvin Richardson]

Well, if anyone cares to hear my opinion (too bad!) here it is:

I watched all four of the Star Wars movies last weekend (thankfully I have the THX WS ORIGINAL versions of the first trilogy) to TRY to compare them in the same frame of mind, rather than the giddy excitement of youth.

On a 1-4 star scale

Star Wars (I refuse to call it "A New Hope") - 3.5 out of 4

There are some problems with this movie looking back, as the acting isn't always very good. But still it is exciting and funny and moving all at the same time. Obi-Wan's death at the hands of Vader is still one of the more moving moments in the whole saga. And man are those effects STILL powerful, especially when you consider the movie was made!

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - 4 out of 4

Still the pinnacle of the saga to this point. Great battles, great funny lines (I don't care if others think they are "cheesy") and YODA! So very cool in this movie!

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - 3 out of 4

Carrie Fisher looks more spaced out than ever in this one...Great beginning, but like so many others, I HATE HATE HATE EWOKS! Stormtroopers just don't seem as bad when they get killed by teddy bears. I still wish they had used Wookies, that I could have bought. But, the space battle at the end is still the best of the saga, and Vader turning on the Emperor still makes me cheer after all these years.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace - 2.5 out of 4

Call me a lemming, this movie still doesn't do much for me. Exceptions being Darth Maul (the scene where the blast door rises up, and there he stands with his head bowed and "Duel of the Fates" kicks in) was awesome, but would have been more so if we had learned of the reasons for his hatred of the Jedi. I don't care, I just can't get past Jake Lloyd's horrible acting. And my biggest complaint? Why do all the aliens have to speak with such outrageous accents? (Reminds me of the French man in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" - "Of course I'm French, why do you think I have this outrageous accent!") Did they get lazy, and not want to come up with new languages to subtitle? Would have been better in my mind. Natalie Portman is fine in this role, as I thought her emotional detachment was intentional, since she is the Queen.

That's all I have. Any comments? I can take it!

 

[stan hiller]

I consider myself a big star wars fan having spent hundreds of pounds watching the 3 films at cinemas during the eighties - these films encouraged me to delve into home cinema and have made quite an impression on my life.

I'v owned all the ntsc laserdisc boxsets (still do!) and am on the whole, happy with the special edition films - ok, there's a couple of sequences I tend to squirm through - Han & Greedo, Han and Jabba in star wars, and the palace singalong in rotj, but on the whole, I feel that the special editions have nicely fleshed out the star wars universe.

My point is, as far as I'm concerned, there are only 3 star wars films -4,5,and 6.

Their success was an excuse by george lucas to expand the star wars universe into a multi billion dollar industry with more films, books, games, toys etc and now the industry is so big that I feel its lost its way, I only got round to watching tpm for the first time last month when the dvd was released and on the whole, hated it - it has its moments, like the pod race and the light sabre duel - it looks and sounds spectacular but on the whole, left me feeling like I'v just watched yet another action packed no brainer. STAR WARS it aint!

One other thing that annoyed me was, in 4,5 and 6, the 'force' was a thing of mystery, mysticism and magic, now, its been classified and labelled as some weird symbiotic life? form - somehow, this does'nt talley with obi wans description of the force in ST ANH when he describes it as 'an energy field created by all living things which surrounds us pentrates us and binds the galaxy together'.

If ST AOTC is any good, I may even watch it but its gonna have to be one hell of a film to convince me that its not an exercise in marketing!

 

[Steven L]

Why do all the aliens have to speak with such outrageous accents?

At the beginning of the film, the Neimoidian tells the Jedi/ambassador ship that they can dock. Whenever I hear him speak, it reminds me of the Frank (Martin Short) character in Father of the Bride - makes me crack a smile each and every time.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Marvin,

As for Lucas and Co. dropping much of the original alien languages/subtitle angle from the original trilogy and going to stereotypical/racist accents, my bet's on "lazy."

Lucas turned this franchise into a Muppets from Space kiddie schlock fest. Just look at Return of the Jedi with the Lucas-tampered weak script and teddie bear aliens. We should have seen it coming. Without people around Lucas (like Gary Kurtz) to tell him to "back off" he doesn't know how to make a truly exceptional film. American Graffiti is one big exception to the rule. His heart and soul was put into that movie and it showed.

Dan

 

[Carlo_M]

As for Lucas and Co. dropping much of the original alien languages/subtitle angle from the original trilogy and going to stereotypical/racist accents, my bet's on "lazy."

I'd have to agree, although lazy might be a tad strong, perhaps "didn't want to bother" which could be just playing semantics...
Seriously, I remember watching a special on Jedi way back just after it waas released. They went through the totally intricate process of the language they created for both Jabba and The Ewoks. I remember thinking (I was probably 12 at the time) "holy crap! that's a lot of time to spend on just those two languages! how cool!"
Perhaps they didn't want to bother since they were so busy on the technical (CGI) aspect?

 

[Simon Massey]

To go back to the argument on the midichlorians :

It seemed to me in TPM that this midichlorian count was a way of measuring Force sensitivity, although I understand he may be expanding on the midochlorians in the next film.

My point though is surely the Jedi Council would have to have some "scientific" way of finding potential new Jedis. They couldn't have built up large numbers of Jedi Padawans just because they happened to bump into them every now and then. The "scientific" measuring of force sensitivity doesn't IMO, detract from the mysterious nature of the Force.

 

[RobertR]

My point though is surely the Jedi Council would have to have some "scientific" way of finding potential new Jedis. They couldn't have built up large numbers of Jedi Padawans just because they happened to bump into them every now and then.

I don't buy that explanation. What you're saying is that the Jedi Council would have to run around running blood tests on countless kids just to see if they're Jedi material. It's much faster, much simpler, much more elegant, and much more in keeping with the idea of the force as a mystical, magical connection with all life for them INSTEAD to simply be in a city, and say "I feel the presence of the Force very strongly in this neighborhood. I will investigate and locate the child."

Blood tests vs. "feeling the force". I know which one *I* consider more in keeping with the OT.

 

[Simon Massey]

The force would be more "mysterious" in the OT because there are hardly any Jedi left at that point - within the story of the saga itself, they have in essence become slightly legendary/mythical in their own right, and most people think they have all been wiped out. It is not as if non-Jedi will actually know anything about the Force - "a hokey religion" I understand. The silence which greets Obi-Wan using the lightsabre in the canteen in ANH empahsises this for me.
Also it is not as if Obi Wan and Yoda need to test Luke's ability - they know he's Anakin's son. But even they don't know how strong he is because they can't measure it, thus they are concerned about whether Luke can actually succeed.
In TPM the Jedi are supposed to be at the height of their powers, and there are lots of them. Not all Jedi would be as strong as each other, and it makes sense to the logic of the film to have some way of identifying the different levels of ability - thus, the midichlorian count. Yes, the Jedi can sense someone who has the ability, but not the strength of that ability. Qui Gonn doesn't recognise Anakin's ability right away, despite how strong with the Force he is supposed to be. He may have suspicions and these are confirmed with his midichlorian count. It doesn't detract for the actual mysterious nature of the Force, it just determines strength IMO.
Or perhaps I am reading way too much into this
Don't get me wrong, if Lucas had decided to leave the Force "mysterious" this would probably have worked as well, but I don't think the idea of having the Force as "scientifically" measurable in some way is a bad idea at this stage of the Saga. I suppose it will really depend on how far Lucas takes his "explanation" in Ep 2 and 3.