Episode II

[CHILL]

Although I've not yet seen AoC (seeing it tonight) - I thought I'd kick start a thread where you can say what you thought, or what your hopes (fears) are if you haven't seen it yet.

I'll start - simple really, I just hope it doesn't suck - oh, that and the rumour about Binks only getting a few seconds of screen time - I hope that's true as well

[FredrikSvanberg]

Jar Jar got a bit more than a few seconds but at least he didn't do anything too stupid in the time he was on screen. I'm disappointed that they didn't make him lose the Naboeese dialect like the synopsis said.

Beside some painfully embarrasing scenes and some horrible acting from what's-his-face playing Anakin I thought the movie was fun. Hm... now that I think about it, this could have been a really good movie if they cut away 90% of the scenes where Anakin and Amidala (sp?) are alone together. It seemed almost geared towards such a modification as well since nothing important happened in most of those scenes anyway. I'll look for the web-edit.

[André]

Well they neede the scenes of those two cause they are falling in love. A little romance never hurt anyone.

Well what I like the most about the movie is Yoda. And when the big battle between the jedis and the droids kick off. I love to see all those jedis charging in to battle.

There were once again some background story for other important characters.

And Anakin gets mad of course.

[Breearg]

As opposed to Fredrik, I thought Anakin did an excellent job--he was a tad lax in some places (is this his first movie), but I thought he did quite excellently in "I'm evil" kind of stuff.

Ok, yeah, Yoda was definately the coolest part though, LOL.  I want to be just like Yoda when I grow up.

The weird thing is, that actual attacking part of the clones is only a very small portion of the film.

In my opinion though, this is possibly the best Star Wars film yet.

-Breearg

[CHILL]

Well - I've just come back from watching AoC.......

.......good fun

Sure, there are some things that I 'winced' at (Yoda's first 'I'm gonna kick your ass' glare at Dooku, for example)

- audience fell about laughing at that one - but they all soon went quiet when he started actually delivering on that glare.....

Putting it bluntly, Yoda  =  muppet on speed.

He kicks ass does he not?

As for the rest of the film, it sometimes felt 'restrained' ala EPI, and I thought that Anakin (whassisname) had a great deal more bubbling away under the surface but wasn't allowed to 'let it out', maybe we'll be treated to that in the next film?

Natalie Portman was a bit, erm, wooden methinks.....  ::shrugs::

Coruscant ( sp? ) was amazing, as was the 'attack' of the clones.  ( AoC indeed )

Overall, 8/10 - For me, Empire still leads the way, followed by this one, then Jedi, then New Hope.......  and I don't really rate EPI - I get the feeling that EPIII will blow our minds though.......  

I'll probably not go see EPII at the cinema again, but I'll definitely buy it on DVD whenever it comes out.  I'd recommend people go and see the film, it is good fun and the special effects are top class........

.......  and a muppet on speed, come ON!  You _have_ to see that part of the film, its worth the admission fee alone.

[Aninemity]

Ep 2 was very cool! not the best, but right up there by far...

Yoda's my new hero!!!!  hehehe....I thought that was just kickin'.

I actually agree w/ Bree that Anikin did a good job. a lot of the conflicting overly emotional stuff was necessary. it was the explaination for Darth V and at the same time for how Amadalia managed to fall in love with him.

I overall loved it.

...A muppet on speed....gives you a new respect for the cute little buggers, huh?    :sigh

[Joseph]

As I'm not seeing it until next week most likely, I'm just in here trolling for a bit.  :devil

...A muppet on speed....gives you a new respect for the cute little buggers, huh?

Hmm. With Chill reminding me of Kermit now... Yup. I think I can picture it.   I remember the flurry of posts and ideas from the redesign.

How was the Fett situation handled? Did they do the hunters justice?

-Joseph

[Breearg]

Chill--I couldn't agree with you more on your rating of the movies:

Empire Strikes Back

Attack of the Clones

Return of the Jedi

A New Hope

Phantom Menance

That is my order, best to worst.

-Breearg

[Breearg]

Actually... that should probably be:

Empire Strikes Back

Attack of the Clones

Return of the Jedi

A New Hope

.

.

.

.

.

The Phantom Menance (wee Anakin ruined that whole movie for me, stupid little kid--if you have the DVD look through the final call-backs for Anakin... Jake Lloyd couldn't even remember his lines!  Not only that, the guy right before him... apparently WAS a junk yard slave from Tatooine... at least I believe he is)

-Breearg

:downwithmal

[Defender]

I was scared.

So very, very scared to see this movie. All I'd heard from stuff online was the naysayers, the critics and the people panning Star Wars because that's the hip thing to do these days. Phantom Menace--while a good film--had a truckload of flaws, and having fifteen years of expectation buildup from waiting for George to get back on task didn't help anything either. With reluctance, I bought an advance ticket and waiting in line Wednesday night for two hours to see the film. Beside me were people wanting to love it, people wanting to hate it, and people who wondered why the hell they'd paid 8.50 to stand in line for two hours and change.

I sat in the midst of the theater, the exact middle of the center row. I wanted the film to wash over me, I wanted to be enveloped in Lucas's vision. I sat there breathing deeply, trying to get the critical 26 year-old side of my brain to pipe down. Then the theatre darkened. . .the previews rolled. . .Our Feature Presentation. . .20th Century Fox, the music. . .Lucasfilm. . .and. . .off we go!!

Mother of God did I love this movie. The first half is wonderful, feeling more like a novel than a film it's rich and filled with a lot of backstory and building on what is to come. I've promised myself I won't give anything away for those who haven't seen, but man the detail and action of the film is incredible. Ewan MacGregor as Obi-Wan. . .I love seeing how the character is progressing from the Young Padawan to the Wise Old Man. . .I loved the scene in the bar, I loved how he handled the assassin, every time Obi-Wan was on, I had a smile on my face.

Anakin was good. I loved his cloak, so evocative of Vader's cape. . .I loved his scene with Padme, explaining his atrocity, and his final roar of " I HATE THEM!! " made me shudder. He's on a slippery slope indeed. He's a bit of a jerk, so cocky and full of himself, but then he grins that grin and all's forgiven.

Yoda. . .my God Yoda. As a kid I loved that green guy, and as an adult I love him even more. Everything about him was cool, from his floating chair to his recognizing the Jedi Order's increasing arrogance. . .and his scene with the Jedi Children. . .awesome. Yoda is the ideal teacher and protector. And his scene with Count Dooku. . .wow. I laughed with pure joy. . .Yoda is a Jedi Master for a _reason_, and you'll see when you watch the movie.

Palpatine. . .my god. He's evil, but I never guessed how evil. He plays the entire galaxy like puppets on strings. He pits both sides against the middle and comes out on top. . .

Be back for more in a moment.

[Defender]

Padme/Amidala. . .eh. She was okay, but let's face it the only real reason she's in the films at all is to bear Luke and Leia. I didn't find at all charismatic, and I found some of her reactions to be downright stupid, although she did redeem herself in the last third of the film.

Jango Fett/Boba Fett: Heh. Even as a little tyke Boba Fett was a murderous #######. And his dad is badass.

JarJar Binks: Well, I always knew he was an idiot. But I never expected him to be _this big_ of an idiot. Good stuff.

All in all, I found the film highly enjoyable, harkening back to the stately days of yore when Star Wars films were looked forward to little more than pure glee. The film didn't strike a wrong note with me once, and I loved every second of it. Now that the Clone Wars have begun, darkness descends on the galaxy and soon the tragedies of Episode III will make the naysayers and critics pine for the simplistic fairytale aspects of Episode I.

Whew. Sorry. Just needed to put my feelings down.

-Defender.

Ps. If anyone could get me a half-decent pic of Yoda swishing back his cloak, lightsaber on his hip, I'd be in your debt. I want to make a t-shirt with that image on the front, and on the back have inscribed YODA OWNS YOUR PUNK ASS.  :devil

[ezekiel]

I can't believe you'd rate ep2 above the trilogy...

My complaints about ep2 are the dialogue is awful (besides a few nice quips 'n puns), acting is awful (besides Obi-Wan. Notice how I said "acting" and not "actors"...I blame the directing and script) The movie takes the audience for morons and spells out everything like in ep1 (The ultimate weapon...+ hologram for the dim-witted) and as much as I like digital special effects, sometimes there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. I don't think that cramming all the moving things you can into one frame is especially good. Also some beings/droids were too cartoony (I'm especially thinking of the "waitress droid" amongst others).

Even Yoda's dialogues were annoying at times because of his inverting of phrases. Yoda didn't categorically invert all of his sentences in the trilogy. (ex. "You will be...you will be."; "You will know. When you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.) I liked the end battle between Yoda and Dooku though when it came to light sabers it got kinda ridiculous (though I'll admit it looked cool. Yoda is like every old mentor in anime movies)

The movie cut interesting scenes too short (Anakin's revenge...what an anticlimax!) and the love scenes were too fake.

Other than that it was great!  

Ahem...

On the plus side, I liked the fact that they played Darth Vader's theme for some scenes and a few costumes were great (especially Padme's flight suit at the beginning.) The aliens that did the cloning looked very cool, beautiful even. So was their architecture.

Anyway, sorry for being the dissenter in this crowd of enthusiasts. I still think this doesn't do justice to the trilogy.My little brother should like it though.

[CHILL]

Ezekiel.

Just for reference really.

I'm actually not a Star Wars fan.  (As Senior Mal, who is going to run the RPG for us, can tell you).  I actually didn't really like any of the original trilogy, with the sole exception of Empire.

I can't stand Mark Hamill's acting, which makes me cringe whenever 'A New Hope' is on the telly

........and as for Jedi.  Ahem, Ewoks?  Do me a favour.  As Yoda would say...

"...Cutsie creatures for children?  down that path Jar Jar Binks lies  ..hmmmmmmmm"

I agree with some of the flaws people have mentioned that EPII has, but the fella playing Anakin wasn't that bad.  He squealed, he moaned, he posed, he acted tough, I hated him.......

......hang on a second?  I'm supposed to hate him.   Ahhhhh....  unlike Luke.  Who was the hero we were supposed to like.....

.......Nah.  Don't think so.

Anyways, Just thought I'd ellaborate on my first post.

There you go, take it or leave it.  

[ezekiel]

Actually you're supposed to like him, 'til he falls to the dark side that is (debatebly after the Shmi incident...but it was handled with such an anticlimax that we almost didn't care.)

Also:

"I don't like the sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating--not like you. You're soft and smooth." LOL!

You can't really blame the actors I guess (besides maybe for the fact that all the lines sounded recited) The script was gawdawful.

As for Mark Hamill, I guess that's a matter of taste. I liked him, though I guess he is an annoying weakling in a New hope. All the better to see the transition from boy to jedi master I guess.

Empire is by far the best one. It's also the one Lucas had the least control over. (Kershner and Lucas had many arguments, especially over character development)

[Minerva]

I'm all for starting a "Cult of Yoda" because Yoda would definitely kick Sr. Mal's butt!!!

It kind of reminded me of something out of Japanese animation when some little old pervert kicks some one's butt because he was not going to let him pass or some such nonesence... then afterwards... picking up his cane and continuing on... hobbling.  

You go Grover!

---Min

[Senior Mal]

Hmmm me versus Yoda... We like each other to much.  

[Aninemity]

I'm all for starting a \"Cult of Yoda\" because Yoda would definitely kick Sr. Mal's butt!!!

I like that thought!  hehe...sign me up for that one.

oh, wait..... ::withstupid &  ::downmal

...almost forgot...  

[Joseph]

because Yoda would definitely kick Sr. Mal's butt!!!

For some reason that made me picture a little green guy on fire, running in circles yelling "Away with your weapon! I mean you no harm!"

What was that, Chill? Okay, back to my cage...  ::dozingoff

-Joseph

[Minerva]

Oh come on... he redirected Force Lightning!  Quantum energy flows and binds the universe together.  Quantum IS the Force!  Yoda would shrug off any attempts at some pansy Quantum Fire!!!

---Min

[painheart]

The thing that I don't understand is that the clones are good guys in this film.  They are also bad Ass Warriors.  Some were along the line lucas has got to explain why the stormtroopers are such chumps.

[André]

I have a friend who said that the clonas are just the starting of the stormtrooper legions we see in the triology. At that part there are regular humans involved among the troopers. Just as inte the real world. That is why they suck.

[nerdvana]

Just wanted to add my two cents worth (as a Star Wars fan)... I've seen it 1.4 times myself (see below*)

I think that the movie rocked! The only problems we had were the rehashing of dialog (well handled, but still rehashed) and the fact that every cliche from the trilogy appeared in EpsII.  Despite this we loved the film and I can't wait for the DVD now...

* Viewing a Film 1.4 times:

Do not take 3 toddlers to a movie with just two adults, it just doesn't work.

[operations]

EPII vindicated my claims of minor Clairsentience. My first viewing of EPI in the theatre caused me to scream out after about 2 minutes of Jar Jar, "That MORON is the whole REASON THE EMPIRE GOES BAD!!!".

And then, Jar Jar gives emergency powers to Palpatine in EPII and I just looked at my buddy and smiled. He really hates it when I do that...  ::sly