Saw the midnight showing as well. As mentioned the movie does not disapoint, it's a hundred times better than the other two prequels and on par with the other three. McGregor and Christianson were superb, Portman's great scene at the end was heading towards tearjerker quality and then ruined with "you broke my heart!" Portman's and Christianson's on screen chemistry has always seemed forced, IMO and it doesn't improve here. Oh and am I the only one who thinks it's cheesy when characters are "introduced." Like in Phantom Menace when R2D2 saves the day and the Queen asks his number....same with C-3PO, in ROTS Yoda saying goodbye to Chewbacca was just lame. It's like they slow everything down in an overly deliberate manner so the audience can go "oh look it's Chewbacca."
Another question.. At the end of the movie Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious orders that all of the battledroids be deactivated, destroyed, etc. We all know that Storm Troopers (Clones) are the main force of the Empire/Republic in episodes 4-6.. but why were the droids gotten rid of? Was it because Palpatine had to keep up the perception that the war was over and the Republic had won? Also.. in episodes 2 & 3 the Storm Troopers are all very well trained super soldiers cloned from the great bounty hunter Jenga Fett.. yet in episodes 4-6 the Storm Troopers become bungling morons that are basically the equivilent of cannon fodder who end up getting their asses handed to them by a bunch of little stuffed animals.. that kind of irks me.
I was wondering that as well..... Something that bothered me in Attack of the Clones: Why was Count Dooku and company surprised that the Republic had a huge clone army? I mean wasn't Jango Fett on their side and sitting right there? Couldn't he have enlightened them before the clones showed up and saved the Jedi's butts?
I don't think Jenga knew that the Clones were going to show up. I mean, he knew they existed.. but he thought he had killed Obi Wan and therefor had snuffed out any chance that the Jedi Council knew about the Clones... and when he sees Obi Wan next, he's imprisoned, about to be executed.. so I guess he figured Obi never got the chance. Yoda found out aboubt it though, and decided to crash the party.
Was he faking his surprise?? Remember, the whole war is a setup, right? He goes back and meets with Palpatine to tell him the war has begun in earnest.
After seeing ROTS, the war as a setup makes sense and faking surprise sounds plausible, but I was highly confused after Clone Wars. *SPOILER* Technically Max he met with Siddious not Palpatine. Maybe I'm in the minority but I didn't realize Palpatine was Siddious until ROTS. Siddious in the first two movies looked wrinkled ala ROTJ. But Palpatine doesn't become haggard and wrinkled like that until Windu fights him in ROTS. That still confuses me or am I missing something?
The entire movie I kept hoping the "Star Wars Kid" would show up.. I figured out the best place for him too! In the scene where the Senator that adopts Leia is confronted by Storm Troopers and is almost killed except for that Padawan who shows up and helps him escape (but gets killed anyway). That would have been the PERFECT place for the Star Wars Kid to have a scene.. the big blubbery kid flies in.. broomstick lightsabre in hand.. saves the day..
IIRC, in the books sidious lies to him about Padme, i.e., he did not really kill her. It's all very tragic, he is more or less tricked into his anger and hatred.
Great movie. Totally redeemed episodes I and II, which I really do not think are necessary at all. Sorta spoiler. Okay this is kind of nippicky but... Yoda knows Chewbacca. He refers to him by name in ROTS when he is leaving the Wookie planet. I really don't remember, but does Yoda ever come into contact with him in any of the three originals?
I did the Midnight thing and easily, it was the best of the three prequels. The Emperor was delightfully evil, Ewan McGregor reminded me of a younger Alec Guiness as Obi Wan and Yoda seemed even more alive as his vulnerability vis-a-vis with Siddious. However, Hayden was awful as before and Annakin's character was poorly written. He came off as a spoiled prima donna who all-too-easily shifted from being a good man to being a damn serial murderer. Maybe this was more a function of Lucas's pathetic writing (how about those awful forced scenes between Padme and Annie!) then Christensen's acting talents (or lack thereof). Natalie Portman was smoking hot and was an effective salve for the loss of Lindsay Lohan, who is working on a part in Crack w**** Illustrated. Another thing that bothered me is the total lack of restraint. Lucas's attitude was, "If we need just 10 space fighters duking it out at once, why not a gazillion." That opening sequence was a bit too much. The effects were cool, but way over the top. I personally prefer the originals as they left something to the imagination. My advice is: don't take the kids. This movie is way too frickin' dark and with all the cut off hands, legs and stabbings (thankfully the light sabers cauterize as they slice, lest we see a ton of gore!), we're talking serious nightmares. I did like the allusions to Episode IV (the Rebel blockade runner, a young Grand Moff Tarkin, the Emperor and Darth watching the Death Star being built). That was extremely cool. But here is one unanswered question: Why was that cave on Dagobah so strong in the dark side? I figured that the swamp planet would be where Siddous and Yoda mixed it up.
The fact that they're both played by the same actor didn't clue you in? Dooku and Fett both knew perfectly well that the Republic had the clone army (hell, they secretly helped the Republic build that army), and they were only pretending to be suprised in front of their Federation allies. In fact, the reason they captured Padme, Annakin and Obi-Wan alive and intended to execute them publicly was to use them as bait to lure the Republic and the clone army there and begin the clone wars. It worked like a champ, and they played the Jedi's for suckers.
What makes me curious is, Does either Yoda or Obi-Wan make a "pact" with Chewbacca, sort of, Here's an inter-galactic pager; we'll beep you when we need you to pay back the debt you owe us (and thus Ben winds up meeting Chewbacca in Mos Eisley, although in A New Hope we just believe Chewie was there as ship-for-hire)? Also: How did Obi-Wan get so damned old so quick between Episodes III and IV? I mean, damn. I guess that double-sun thing on Sh*ttoine ain't so great for the health. He should have bundled up like the Sandpeople.
You figure at least 18 years passed from the birth of Luke and the time he meets Obi-Wan, so that would likely put him in his late 50's. Anyway, I also went to one of the midnight showings here in Austin. LOTS of people. I got there about 2 1/2 hours before the start time and got in line. Fortunately they let us into the theater within 15 minutes of me getting in line. I went in and got a decent seat about 10 rows up just right about 8 seats from center, then waited while some guys from the crowd "entertained" us with lightsaber duels. Most of the lightsabers were the cheap kind you get from any local Walmart, but one guy had two of the more professional models that lightup neon and make the exact sounds as in the movies. OK, onto the movie. <SPOILERS> While it did not live up to the original trilogy (what ever will), it was defintely the best of the new triolgy. I can't believe no one has mentioned the battles with General Grevious, which were totally insane! The space battles were awesome. Palpatine's rise to become the head of the Empire is detailed. All in all a good movie. There are a couple of things that still could have been done better, as with the previous 2 movies. Some of the story seems to be forced along, like Anakin's path to the darkside. It was too hurried and assuming. However it was incredibly sad to see him after getting his legs and other arm cut off, then watching him catch fire and still survive. It was great seeing him being put into the Darth Vader outfit as we know it, but I could have done without him, immediately asking about Padme afterwards then screaming "NOOOOOOO!" when he found out he killed her. I can think of a number of lines much more dramatic and foretelling. Still, I really enjoyed it and am already itching to see it again.
How did Chewbecca go from being this great Warrior to smuggling crack with Han Solo thruout the galaxy?
I'm pretty sure there is about a 20-25 year gap between episodes 3 and 4.. by far the largest gap.. that is why Obi is so old.. he goes from late 30s/early 40s to late 50s/early 60s..
Actually, according to the original script for New Hope, Luke and Leia are both 18 yrs old, so the time difference makes sense. Yes, Yoda does come into contact with Chewbacca at the end of ROTJ, but it is very indirectly, when his ghost appears. You really feel for Vader in this movie, its amazing how that ****bag palpatine manipulated him. He was really "blinded" by love, and that led him to make the decisions he did. Then as usual, the Dark Side consumes all, and made him crazy and dangerous. I honestly think that Episode 3 was the best of all 6. Empire was my favorite, but the darkness, sadness, and angriness is more rampant in this one. Jimmy Smitts is a terrible actor though.
