The Star Wars Rants:

[Boo]

Originally Posted by Veela Magnet

Oh yeah, I've always maintained that as standalone films the prequels are actually pretty good, if at times deeply flawed. It's just hard to talk about them, especially in the presence of people who've grown up on the OT, without opening a gigantic can of worms.

Brave man

I know what you mean, if they weren't being measured against the OT then I doubt they'd have been subjected to quite the level of vicious criticism that they were...that being said I personally think they are too deeply flawed to be good films even on a standalone basis.

[Veela Magnet]

Originally Posted by Boo

I personally think they are too deeply flawed to be good films even on a standalone basis.

Oh for sure; and they aren't flawed in the same way as say, Batman & Robin or Street Fighter -- those kinds of films are relentlessly watchable, but for completely different reasons. Even as a non-fan I can completely understand the more cringeworthy aspects of the PT, particularly the first two. Even watching them again last year, I was reminded just how flat some of the performances were.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Veela Magnet

Even watching them again last year, I was reminded just how flat some of the performances were.

Not to mention the lifeless dialog and deathly dull scripting.

It is fair to say that the prequel trilogy gets judged more harshly because of what came before, but it's also fair to say that as movies in their own right, they really aren't very good anyways. Up side is they have space ships, aliens, robots, lightsaber duels and huge battles, so they're not all bad.

Wonder if Star Wars will endure in the same way that Star Trek has? For that to happen, I'd imagine new stuff would need to appear. By "new stuff" I'm talking live action TV/Movies of course.

[Big Orange]

Originally Posted by Perdide

I'm not a big fan of Phantom by any means, though compared to some of the dross that has been in the cinema's recently, it's actually surprisingly watchable.

The infamous Phantom certainly blows the contemporary Willd Wild West out of the water in every way, and while overall less sharp and less innovative than The Matrix, many of its visual effects seemed to have have aged surprisingly well and a bit better than The Matrix's visual effects (outside of bullet time). The Phantom Menace is superior to The Matrix's sequels as well.

And on another tangent, looking at this sarcasting review of A New Hope, I really notice that the 1997 CGI "enhancements" are starting to look as aged as the original 1977 model effects and matte paintings (but me being less than 30 years old, for better or worse, the Special Edition A New Hope is the definitive version to me).

[Andrew.poole]

I've managed to avoid going back to Phantom meanace for a long time, but have just started watching it with my girls (4 & 6).

As per the recent discussion here, I was wondering if I might look at it through rosier glasses, especially as I was watching with (what i presume to be) the intended audience.

Unfortunatley I think its worse.

I am less forgiving of Jake Lloyds performance than I was first time round, dialogue still makes me cringe and the characterization is non existant.

Admittadly we are only half way through, but if anything I'm finding more faults than I did first time round.

As per earlier comments, I tried to look at it objectivley without the rapidly diminishing sense of expectation I had first time round, and increasing feeling of "WTF???"

Its not just that its a crap Starwars film, its simply a crap film.

I'm looking forward to the Light Saber duel at the end, but to be honest I'm dreading the rest of the second half.

[Veela Magnet]

Originally Posted by Andrew.poole

I am less forgiving of Jake Lloyds performance than I was first time round, dialogue still makes me cringe and the characterization is non existant.

I think it's his mumbling, casual delivery of "Are you an angel?" coupled with the outright banality of the line itself that sums him up for me.

[TALON]

The prequels are always going to be a tricky one aren't they? I've always maintained that they aren't great, but certainly better than a lot of the dross that is out there calling itself cinema entertainment, and that a bad Star Wars film is still head and shoulders above some of the other major summer blockbusters that we've been suffering of late (yes, Transformers, other than the first one, that's you I'm looking at), but as people have said, even in their own right they're deeply flawed. They are very much movies of moments, and unfortunately even though there are a whole flotilla of breathtaking jaw dropping moments in the prequel trilogy that are a joy to watch, be that the Pod race or Lightsaber duel from TPM, the asteroid chase sequence or battle for Geonosis from AOTC, or the opening space battle, Palpatine's scenes and Anakin going dark in ROTS, there are as many if not more cringeworthy or really just badly judged scenes, sequences or characters. Anakin and Jar Jar, that sand related chat up line, Vader's "Noooooooo!" There is also the inescapable fact that even though I own them all on dvd, I can't think of the last time I watched them (think it was when I did a 6 movie marathon, but can't remember how long ago that was), but can remember the last time I watched an original trilogy Star Wars movie, which says it all really. I think I have something of a love hate relationship with them, as there is a lot I love about them, they have really opened up that universe and given us some cracking designs, and new worlds and aliens to explore, not to mention the excellent Clone Wars series, and a Star Wars renaissance we would not have had if not for the prequels. So I guess next time I sit through them I'll just zone out the bad and look forward to the next cool bit.

Regarding the Matrix, that is an interesting one isn't it? The Matrix certainly stole Star Wars' thunder in the summer of 1999 as it just came out of nowhere, but yeah, if you look at the Matrix and it's sequels now, they don't look so hot or as enduring do they? The first one I find actually holds up better than the sequels, effects and all, perhaps due to them pushing the envelope, but not pushing it so far as they did in the sequels to almost breaking point where everything started to just look like a cartoon, the first sequel's Burly Brawl being the epitomy of that. It is a shame as I really loved the Matrix, but the sequels to that, like the prequels, just couldn't live up to the hype.



As for the Special Editions being a definitive version of the OT?! Oh no, don't get me started.... Must hold back... the beast!




On another note, changing the subject swiftly, on a swelteringly hot summer's day like today, who better than Captain Solo in his block of Carbonite to come to the rescue? That ice tray my niece got me for my birthday couldn't have come at a better time. Any of you lot had any Star Wars themed trinkets that you found to be a bit of a life saver, or have proved indispensable?

[Boo]

Originally Posted by TALON

Regarding the Matrix, that is an interesting one isn't it? The Matrix certainly stole Star Wars' thunder in the summer of 1999 as it just came out of nowhere, but yeah, if you look at the Matrix and it's sequels now, they don't look so hot or as enduring do they? The first one I find actually holds up better than the sequels, effects and all, perhaps due to them pushing the envelope, but not pushing it so far as they did in the sequels to almost breaking point where everything started to just look like a cartoon, the first sequel's Burly Brawl being the epitomy of that. It is a shame as I really loved the Matrix, but the sequels to that, like the prequels, just couldn't live up to the hype.

Like the Star Wars prequels, I prefer to pretend that the Matrix sequels never happened. I still think The Matrix itself holds up extremely well though. Like the SFX Special says, the only thing which dates it are the mobile phones.

[Knappos]

Originally Posted by Boo

Like the Star Wars prequels, I prefer to pretend that the Matrix sequels never happened. I still think The Matrix itself holds up extremely well though. Like the SFX Special says, the only thing which dates it are the mobile phones.

And the phones you can forgive as it's a computer simulation of the late nineties. They do thorough research these machines.

[badhat-h]

sam jackson is darth vader!-

http://news.moviefone.com/2012/05/23...n_1540299.html