One of the things that is emphasized is Anakin's loyalty to individuals, not necessarily institutions, despite his protestations that his loyalty is to the Republic and to the Jedi.
He is fiercely loyal to Obi-Wan, to Palpatine, to Padme. Padme loves him, Obi-wan trains him and teaches him to be a powerful Jedi, Palpatine feeds his ego and sympathizes with his frustrations. Anakin's horror that his friend Palpatine is a Sith Lord is overshadowed by his personal loyalty to him, and by his need to have what Palpatine can give him to save Padme from the death he has visions of. Even though he initially does "the right thing" and reports to Windu that Palp is a Sith, his action does not carry inner conviction and quickly is swept away.
Anakin's anger at Obi-wan is fueled by Obi-wan's opposition to Palpatine and also by Anakin's perception that he has turned Padme against him. Earlier he not only risks his life, but the rescue mission itself to save his mentor.
At first I thought that his actions in killing the Jedi, especially the "younglings", was too quick of a change in action. But he had begun compromising a long way back, including his marriage to Padme, and by sharing Jedi confidences with ol' Palp. Giving in to killing rages with the sand people and later with Dooku paved the way for what came later. Seeing Windu about to execute Palpatine seemed to cause him to snap. Everything that came after was natural to someone who had gone over the edge and was under the influence of a master manipulator.
So does Yoda. His fight with the Emperor is terrific.
The execution of the Jedi is handled well, and the murder of the children is just chilling. Not very well acted: the one kid with a line is stiff as a board. But they're kids.
Chilling, yes, but I don't know if even Anakin was that far gone at that point as to
actually do it.
quote:
Did I mention Yoda kicks butt? He gets the one spontaneous burst of applause, and the one uncontrollable laugh in the whole movie.
Agreed-especially about the laugh.
quote:
Samuel Jackson... well... I feel bad for the guy. He's kind of irritating through the whole movie, and when he finally meets his doom (and we all knew he would), you're actually kind of rooting for the bad guys.
I disagree. (But then, so what?)
quote:
The Emperor's transformation from the dignified Palpatine to the deformed creep we all remember from Jedi is fairly credible.
Wasn't quite what I expected, but it did fit previous speculation that it was
"Dark Side" energies that ate up his life-force.
quote:
His seduction of Anakin is just downright creepy,
Did you wonder if he had something to do with Anakin's dreams? When he mentioned
Anakin's fears, I was suspicious.... maybe it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
quote:
and (AT LAST) he does sort of explain the laughable "immaculate conception" crap from Phantom Menace that would otherwise be unforgivably bad writing. Now it's just bad writing.
I had thought Lucas was going to leave that alone. My previous
standing theory was that Anakin's father was a Sith who used the Force to blank
parts of his Shmee's memory so she didn't remember him. When Sidious made his comment
in the movie, I connected the dots also. Glad it wasn't just me.
quote:
General Grievous is a waste of CGI. I was seriously disappointed. The cough was just too over-the-top.
But he had one good fight scene.
quote:
Look carefully after the end of the first battle, when the Chancellor, Obi Wan and Anakin are safely headed into some major building on Coruscant. As they land on one level, the Millenium Falcon can be seen coming in for a landing on a lower level. Blink and you'll miss it.
I truly, truly enjoyed the chemistry between Obi Wan and Anakin at the beginning of the movie. Ewan McGregor is fantastic in this movie, and when he and Anakin finally have their volcanic duel, you really get the sense of betrayal that he must have felt.
Agreed and agreed, and I missed the Falcon.
quote:
Finally seeing Vader in uniform is gratifying. Then he talks. And you remember that Lucas is still writing this crap.
That scene was just horribly scripted,
I think. Vader wasnt the only thing that was stiff and mechanical in that scene.
quote:
He juts out of his straps in a way that makes you think he's about to sing Putting on the Ritz with Gene Wilder.
There are some really bad writing moments, and I'm not just talking inauthentic. Obi Wan calls Palpatine the Emperor long before he should know anything about the rise of the Empire.
You caught that too? "Emperor? Who's the Emperor?" (Me in the theater.) Nitpickers
never rest.
quote:
And suddenly they're calling the Galactic Senate "Congress." When did it become "Congress?"
Hm, I missed that.
quote:
Seeing this movie, which was so good in so many ways, makes you wish that Lucas had taken that crappy script, given it to a real writer and said "I want this story, told this way. But make it so that real people are actually talking to each other."
True, but it was so much better than I and II.
quote:
Oh, and whoever thought to make Obi Wan ride that lizard should have his hands chopped off so he never writes anything again. Oh, it was Lucas? Why am I not surprised? Sigh.
Probably trying to draw the contrast between droids/machines and Jedi/life.
Matrix 2 failed attempting to make the same contrast.
Other things I noticed or didnt notice....
Mon Mothma was in the credits. When did she appear? Probably a Senate scene, since
Mon Mothma, Bail Organa and Garm bel Iblis were the 3 best negotiators the Senate had,
but I didn't spot her.
I did notice that they had an officer named Cody, who had the rank of "Commander".
I was recently corrected about the mistake of Obi Wan calling him the Emperor. The moment before he does that, he sees a hologram of Palpatine telling Vader to bring peace to the Empire. Considering that the Jedi have become suspicious of Palpatine by that point, it isn't as much of a stretch as it originally seemed to call him "Emperor."
I missed Mon Mothma.
I thought the duel between Grievous and Obi Wan was supposed to look awesome but, in the end, just looked silly. What saved it was McGregor clearly having a field day.
The whirring lightsabers didn't impress me. I thought it just looked stupid. But hey, that's me.
and (AT LAST) he does sort of explain the laughable "immaculate conception" crap from Phantom Menace that would otherwise be unforgivably bad writing. Now it's just bad writing.
I had thought Lucas was going to leave that alone. My previous
standing theory was that Anakin's father was a Sith who used the Force to blank
parts of his Shmee's memory so she didn't remember him. When Sidious made his comment
in the movie, I connected the dots also. Glad it wasn't just me.
In the Phantom Menace, it's stated that Anakin had no father. The subject is then dropped...
until Revenge of the Sith, in which Palpatine tells Anakin that he knew of a Sith lord who could manipulate the midichlorians to the point where he could create life. We're supposed to make the leap that this is how Anakin was conceived. WordWolf had come up with an alternate theory before this movie came out.
Well, you don't go to "Star Wars" expecting to see "Hamlet." You go to see starship battles and light sabre battles and whatever goodies Industrial Light and Magic has cooked up this time.
The dialogue has been lame since the first scene of the original and it hasn't gotten any better.
I thought this movie was spectacular to watch but I really miss a Han Solo-type character to bring in a little fun to the proceedings.
The only thing that even got a chuckle out of the audience when I went were the previews of "The Longest Yard."
Yoda knocking out the red guards didn't make the audience laugh? Tough room.
Oh, and I am among those who think the writing in the original trilogy wasn't nearly as bad as the writing in the new trilogy. Yeah, it got no better after the first line of the first movie. But it did get substantially worse in episodes II and III.
I was recently corrected about the mistake of Obi Wan calling him the Emperor. The moment before he does that, he sees a hologram of Palpatine telling Vader to bring peace to the Empire. Considering that the Jedi have become suspicious of Palpatine by that point, it isn't as much of a stretch as it originally seemed to call him "Emperor."
I considered that
and disagreed. Obi-Wan was focused on what I was focused on-the slaughter
of the younglings. I think he went as far as "Palpatine's making his move
now to seize power" and didn't need to focus on any new titles.
Obviously, Lucas disagrees with me.
quote:
I thought the duel between Grievous and Obi Wan was supposed to look awesome but, in the end, just looked silly.
I thought Lucas was trying
for a laugh or something there.
quote:
The whirring lightsabers didn't impress me. I thought it just looked stupid. But hey, that's me.
As a swords/dueling fan, I was entertained not by the spinning blades,
but with Obi-Wan's technique in dealing with them. As I expected, he
took them out one at a time while in a defensive mode. Jedi are supposed
to be able to move at speeds exceeding human reaction time, and I figure
slowing the playback on this scene is going to be fun also. :)-->
In the Phantom Menace, it's stated that Anakin had no father. The subject is then dropped...
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan asked Shmee about Anakin's father. She said he didn't have
a father. If you're not paying attention, you might miss the exchange.
I think it was around the time they gave Anakin the blood test.
At the time, rather than jump to any conclusion, I figured Anakin HAD a
father, who had Force skills (they run in families). His father erased Shmee's
memories of himself, then split. It's not a Jedi kind of reaction, so I
thought it was a SITH who did it.
quote:
until Revenge of the Sith, in which Palpatine tells Anakin that he knew of a Sith lord who could manipulate the midichlorians to the point where he could create life. We're supposed to make the leap that this is how Anakin was conceived. WordWolf had come up with an alternate theory before this movie came out.
Think back to the scene where Palpatine's in that funky opera house talking to
Anakin in his private theater box, and in the hallway. Basically,
Palpatine implied that his instructor, Darth somethingorother, had figured
out how to do what Raf said, and how to prevent people from dying, and he
taught Palpatine almost everything he knew, and then Palpatine finished him
off.
As a side-note, notice how he says Palpatine taught him "everything", then,
once Anakin's on his side, he says he needs to rediscover how to save
Padme's life....
It's the bait-and-switch you may remember from twi.
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Oakspear
One of the things that is emphasized is Anakin's loyalty to individuals, not necessarily institutions, despite his protestations that his loyalty is to the Republic and to the Jedi.
He is fiercely loyal to Obi-Wan, to Palpatine, to Padme. Padme loves him, Obi-wan trains him and teaches him to be a powerful Jedi, Palpatine feeds his ego and sympathizes with his frustrations. Anakin's horror that his friend Palpatine is a Sith Lord is overshadowed by his personal loyalty to him, and by his need to have what Palpatine can give him to save Padme from the death he has visions of. Even though he initially does "the right thing" and reports to Windu that Palp is a Sith, his action does not carry inner conviction and quickly is swept away.
Anakin's anger at Obi-wan is fueled by Obi-wan's opposition to Palpatine and also by Anakin's perception that he has turned Padme against him. Earlier he not only risks his life, but the rescue mission itself to save his mentor.
At first I thought that his actions in killing the Jedi, especially the "younglings", was too quick of a change in action. But he had begun compromising a long way back, including his marriage to Padme, and by sharing Jedi confidences with ol' Palp. Giving in to killing rages with the sand people and later with Dooku paved the way for what came later. Seeing Windu about to execute Palpatine seemed to cause him to snap. Everything that came after was natural to someone who had gone over the edge and was under the influence of a master manipulator.
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WordWolf
Chilling, yes, but I don't know if even Anakin was that far gone at that point as to
actually do it.
Agreed-especially about the laugh.
I disagree. (But then, so what?)
Wasn't quite what I expected, but it did fit previous speculation that it was
"Dark Side" energies that ate up his life-force.
Did you wonder if he had something to do with Anakin's dreams? When he mentioned
Anakin's fears, I was suspicious.... maybe it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I had thought Lucas was going to leave that alone. My previousstanding theory was that Anakin's father was a Sith who used the Force to blank
parts of his Shmee's memory so she didn't remember him. When Sidious made his comment
in the movie, I connected the dots also. Glad it wasn't just me.
But he had one good fight scene.
Agreed and agreed, and I missed the Falcon. That scene was just horribly scripted,I think. Vader wasnt the only thing that was stiff and mechanical in that scene.
You caught that too? "Emperor? Who's the Emperor?" (Me in the theater.) Nitpickers
never rest.
Hm, I missed that. True, but it was so much better than I and II. Probably trying to draw the contrast between droids/machines and Jedi/life.Matrix 2 failed attempting to make the same contrast.
Other things I noticed or didnt notice....
Mon Mothma was in the credits. When did she appear? Probably a Senate scene, since
Mon Mothma, Bail Organa and Garm bel Iblis were the 3 best negotiators the Senate had,
but I didn't spot her.
I did notice that they had an officer named Cody, who had the rank of "Commander".
"Commander Cody." Cute. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045382/
You also spotted Tarkin at the end, right? I wonder what rank he held at the time.
Obi-Wan complaining about the ineligance of using blasters versus lightsabers.
(Reminded me of his initial description to Luke-"not as clumsy or as random as a
blaster.")
Obi-Wan DID get Luke's father's lightsaber, and it WAS blue.
Not absolutely certain his father wanted him to have it, though.....
Back when "Empire" was out, there was an article in "Fantastic Films" where it was
speculated that Darth Vader had been dropped in a volcano. Rumours and speculation
later followed that Obi-Wan dropped him into one.
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Raf
I was recently corrected about the mistake of Obi Wan calling him the Emperor. The moment before he does that, he sees a hologram of Palpatine telling Vader to bring peace to the Empire. Considering that the Jedi have become suspicious of Palpatine by that point, it isn't as much of a stretch as it originally seemed to call him "Emperor."
I missed Mon Mothma.
I thought the duel between Grievous and Obi Wan was supposed to look awesome but, in the end, just looked silly. What saved it was McGregor clearly having a field day.
The whirring lightsabers didn't impress me. I thought it just looked stupid. But hey, that's me.
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Oakspear
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Raf
In the Phantom Menace, it's stated that Anakin had no father. The subject is then dropped...
until Revenge of the Sith, in which Palpatine tells Anakin that he knew of a Sith lord who could manipulate the midichlorians to the point where he could create life. We're supposed to make the leap that this is how Anakin was conceived. WordWolf had come up with an alternate theory before this movie came out.
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Pirate1974
Well, you don't go to "Star Wars" expecting to see "Hamlet." You go to see starship battles and light sabre battles and whatever goodies Industrial Light and Magic has cooked up this time.
The dialogue has been lame since the first scene of the original and it hasn't gotten any better.
I thought this movie was spectacular to watch but I really miss a Han Solo-type character to bring in a little fun to the proceedings.
The only thing that even got a chuckle out of the audience when I went were the previews of "The Longest Yard."
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Raf
Yoda knocking out the red guards didn't make the audience laugh? Tough room.
Oh, and I am among those who think the writing in the original trilogy wasn't nearly as bad as the writing in the new trilogy. Yeah, it got no better after the first line of the first movie. But it did get substantially worse in episodes II and III.
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WordWolf
and disagreed. Obi-Wan was focused on what I was focused on-the slaughter
of the younglings. I think he went as far as "Palpatine's making his move
now to seize power" and didn't need to focus on any new titles.
Obviously, Lucas disagrees with me.
I thought Lucas was tryingfor a laugh or something there.
As a swords/dueling fan, I was entertained not by the spinning blades,
but with Obi-Wan's technique in dealing with them. As I expected, he
took them out one at a time while in a defensive mode. Jedi are supposed
to be able to move at speeds exceeding human reaction time, and I figure
slowing the playback on this scene is going to be fun also.
:)-->
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WordWolf
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan asked Shmee about Anakin's father. She said he didn't have
a father. If you're not paying attention, you might miss the exchange.
I think it was around the time they gave Anakin the blood test.
At the time, rather than jump to any conclusion, I figured Anakin HAD a
father, who had Force skills (they run in families). His father erased Shmee's
memories of himself, then split. It's not a Jedi kind of reaction, so I
thought it was a SITH who did it.
Think back to the scene where Palpatine's in that funky opera house talking to
Anakin in his private theater box, and in the hallway. Basically,
Palpatine implied that his instructor, Darth somethingorother, had figured
out how to do what Raf said, and how to prevent people from dying, and he
taught Palpatine almost everything he knew, and then Palpatine finished him
off.
As a side-note, notice how he says Palpatine taught him "everything", then,
once Anakin's on his side, he says he needs to rediscover how to save
Padme's life....
It's the bait-and-switch you may remember from twi.
Palpatine played Anakin "like a harp from hell."
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WordWolf
BTW,
I was a smidge disappointed that the starfighter battles didn't include
the 2 ship models that should have been there:
the Y-Wing and the Z-95 Headhunter.
Both were old-model fighters by Episode IV.
Y-Wings were used in the Death Star battle in Episode IV as bombers,
but were being phased out as bombers by Return of the Jedi.
Their main strength was being able to take a lot of punishment and keep
flying. (Secondary strength: some models had a 2nd seat and a tailgunner.)
The Z-95 Headhunter was "the X-Wing's little brother."
It looked like an X-Wing with its wings together in cruise mode.
Z-95's were the earlier model and lacked hyperdrives. They were known
for taking a tight turn and also for taking a lot of punishment.
The Rebellion never used them because they needed ships that could
hit-and-run...and the Z-95 never had a hyperdrive. (For that reason,
it also didn't use R-2 astromech droids.)
Then again, if they HAD been used, the famous line
"lock S-foils into attack position" could not have been used, since both
are fixed-wing fighters.
I think I'll survive the disappointment somehow.
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Steve!
Did you guys know that one of the younglings was played by George Lucas's son?
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