Watched Episode III with my son last night

"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
11/06/2015 at 09:16 • Filed to: a long time ago in a galaxy far far away

And man, that whole trilogy is just so lackluster compared with the originals... He’d watched the original trilogy a while back, and has been on me to see the other three before Episode VII comes out next month. He was home sick the other day, so I relented and let him watch Episode I, which we soon followed with the other two the last few days. There are just so many cringeworthy issues with the more modern trilogy: nearly emotionless acting in many scenes, over-the-top CG that doesn’t mesh well with the live action - making suspending disbelief almost impossible, story lines that seem forced or rushed at times, space travel over large distances in a seeming instant, and last but not least, kung fu Yoda (I’m not even going to dignify Jar Jar with a mention in my list...). My son did enjoy them, and maybe that’s all that they cared about - roping in the younger generation to sell more merch - but I sure hope that Abrams can do a better job at capturing more of the look and feel of the originals.

DISCUSSION (39)

Agrajag > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:21

I burst out laughing at kung-fu Yoda when I saw it in theaters, otherwise I like the prequels more than most. I always thought it would have been cooler if he just stood still and force controlled some lightsabers in Dooku’s general direction.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:23

The pod racing scene was good though.

MultiplaOrgasms > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:24

I’m not even going to dignify Jar Jar with a mention in my list...

No comment.

Nauraushaun > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:25

Do you never cringe at episodes 4-6?

Horkin' Up Dangle Hams > Nauraushaun
11/06/2015 at 09:29

They kind of grow a bit more campy with every passing year, so this is a legitimate question. Also, I hate Luke’s character in Episode 4 so much it makes my head hurt. It only makes his transformation into a total bad ass more satisfying, though. There is no such pay off in the prequels...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Nauraushaun
11/06/2015 at 09:30

Yeah, there’s plenty to cringe at, especially with the acting, but it just seems like the stories hold up better and the look is more cohesive. Maybe it’s just nostalgia coloring my view...

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > MultiplaOrgasms
11/06/2015 at 09:31

Hahaha - it’s not in the list (it’s in the parentheses!). =)

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Agrajag
11/06/2015 at 09:31

Now we’re talking.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
11/06/2015 at 09:31

Yeah, I’ll give you that.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:38

Kinja'd!!!

jariten1781 > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:43

I was a wait in-line person for episode 1. I caught episode 2 later in the run. I watched episode 3 at the second run theater. I probably won’t even bother with the new one until it’s on HBO or something.

I do wonder how I’d take the original 3 if I hadn’t seen them as a kid and am therefor nostalgia blinded.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > jariten1781
11/06/2015 at 09:49

My son and I already have tickets for the first day of release (wanted to go Thursday night, but didn’t work out). Like I said, I hope it’s good. I’m sure we are biased to the old ones, but they really were groundbreaking at the time. It was very hard to compete with that when the newer ones came out.

ttyymmnn > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:49

How old are you, Dave? I only ask because I am 49 (almost), so I was 10 when Star Wars premiered in 1977. Nobody had seen anything like it, and it absolutely blew everybody away. Of course, it became a cultural phenomenon, but those first years, between what we now call Episode IV and Episode V, were truly magical. I had the comic books, I drew pictures, I doodled TIE fighters on my homework. I saw SW nine times. I remember when my dad showed me an article in the NYT Magazine that had pictures of the Hoth Battle before Empire came out. I stared at it for hours.

I think the biggest problem with Episodes I-III, aside from their being terrible movies, is that there was no way to recreate that sense of awe and excitement that came with the original movies. It’s almost like they didn’t even try. Episodes I-III are certainly no Citizen Kane , but that’s not why we watched them. We watched them because they came at a time when we needed something to pull us off of the Earth of 1977, to go-fight-win in a just cause, and to do it with shiny laser bolts and ancient high-tech swords. The Force Awakens is showing signs of recreating that excitement, and I sure hope it delivers. But there’s simply no way to put the lightning of that first Star Wars experience into a bottle.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
11/06/2015 at 09:50

Love the sound direction of these scenes.

Nauraushaun > Horkin' Up Dangle Hams
11/06/2015 at 09:56

I agree, I actually think that’s what stuck with me most last time I watched them all: Luke’s whingey, whining voice and demeanour. It’s probably partially intentional so that his transformation is more significant as you say. But he’s such a damn bitch!

The pay off I take from the prequels is watching the emperor craft his plot with such unfathomable foresight.

pauljones > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:56

There were many, many things wrong with the prequel trilogy. Kung-fu ninja acrobat Yoda was not one of them, and neither was Ewan MacGregor having all kinds of fun hamming it up as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Nauraushaun > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:57

I think you’re probably right. I don’t have the nostalgia, so it’s pretty easy for me to look at the older movies and see the 70s-ness.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn
11/06/2015 at 09:58

Very well put. My three older brothers (now 51, 49 & 47) experienced them in the theaters, like you. I’ll be 38 in a couple months, so I’m a little behind, but I had their hand-me-down t-shirts and played with an original headless Han Solo for a long time (and I had the Ewok village!). You’re right: it was truly groundbreaking back then, and there was really no way for I-III to live up to them.

The previews for VII are making me hopeful. Either way, it will be some good Dadlopnik taking my oldest on opening day!

jariten1781 > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 09:59

Oh yeah, don’t get me wrong, hope it’s spectacular. I just got burned with the prequels and am not going to let the hype get me again. Who knows, I may be at the midnight showing for the next one if this turns out good, but I’m not going to put myself out there for abject disappointment again.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > pauljones
11/06/2015 at 10:01

I actually did like MacGregor as Obi-Wan. He’s one of the bright spots of the movies for me.

Horkin' Up Dangle Hams > Nauraushaun
11/06/2015 at 10:03

Have you read any of the expanded universe? Apparently there was another Sith Lord behind the Emperor the whole time. This plot is so thick I can’t even see through it.

Oh, and this is a suggestion for everyone in this thread, go watch Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars cartoons from 2003. Kotaku or something referenced them the other day, and I actually watched them. They really do add something to Episode 3, or at least give it slightly more impact. Also, this is the guy that did Samurai Jack, so the action is bonkers. Mace Windu punches super droids to death. A lot of them. They are all on YouTube!

ttyymmnn > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 10:04

Have fun!

JR1 > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 10:07

As someone who grew up watching the second generation in theaters I could not disagree more. I loved the second three movies. Episode three is awesome and I love Obi Wan. I have never liked either Skywalker through.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > jariten1781
11/06/2015 at 10:08

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame... on you again. Fool me thrice, shame... on you, but last time! Fool me four times, then, yeah, shame on me.

Hahaha... this is making me think of the Matrix sequels.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > JR1
11/06/2015 at 10:12

MacGregor as Obi-Wan is great; I’ll give you that. But your perception is skewed by nostalgia as much as mine is - ha!

ttyymmnn > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 10:13

Agreed. It was good to have some solid acting. I think having Sir Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing (how the hell did Lucas get those two guys?!) in the first movie certainly helped. I remember hearing a story about Guinness. They were shooting in Tunisia, and it was extremely uncomfortable. Frigid nights, blistering days, sandstorms, etc. But Guinness was the consummate professional, always on time, never complaining. He was very much the role model for the other actors, and his professionalism inspired the rest of the crew. You should watch him sometime in Tunes of Glory . Wiki can give you a better synopsis than I can. It’s kind of a depressing film, but the acting is excellent.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 10:20

Of the three prequils, III is my favorite, two scenes stand out: 1. Opening scene to rescue Palpatine from Dooku’s ship, and 2. Order 66 when Obi-wan is fighting Grevious. Otherwise totally screwed from the begining. Considering movies like Avatar were released around the same time and just blew Star Wars doors off.

pauljones > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 10:23

I really do think he was one of the very few saving graces of the entire prequel trilogies. Despite having grown up thinking of Obi-Wan Kenobi and picturing Alec Guinness, I now think of Ewan MacGregor. He did a great job in channelling Guinness’ mannerisms, and it made it very easy to link the prequel character to the original character. I also think that MacGregor very much enjoyed the opportunity to live out his nerd dreams and be in Star Wars, but there were just moments where thing got so ridiculous that he couldn’t take himself seriously, and those wound up being some of the best moments in the prequels.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn
11/06/2015 at 10:32

Thanks for the recommendation. That’s a great story about Guinness, and it made me think of something. The original trilogy had a “gritty-ness” that made it seem much more real, and that was helped a lot by being on location to make Tatooine, Dagobah, Hoth, etc. seem like actual, physical places. There’s just no way to replicate that in CG...

ttyymmnn > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 10:36

Exactly. CG is cool, but it was definitely overused in I-III, and I think it made a mockery out of the Hobbit trilogy. People can’t properly interact with a green screen. And do we really need to put a CG face on Legolas? Come on, we all know Orlando Bloom is older now, and Legolas was younger at the time of The Hobbit than he was in LOTR. But nobody is going to care. Besides, Legolas wasn’t even in the damn book.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > pauljones
11/06/2015 at 10:42

Definitely. I assumed you’ve watched all of Long Way Round?

gin-san - shitpost specialist > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/06/2015 at 10:50

There were many weak points, but one thing I’ll give these series is that the use of CG allows for amazing action sequences. Lightsaber battles were fantastic to watch compared to how rudimentary they seem in the classics. I still hate the fact that Darth Maul was killed the way he was but action sequences were really fantastic in the new movies.

I'm hoping the new movie will be able to combine our modern tech with good storytelling and great acting - the acting has always been kind of cheesy in Star Wars movies and this is something I hope improves with the new movie(s).

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > gin-san - shitpost specialist
11/06/2015 at 11:51

The Anakin and Obi-Wan vs. Dooku duel is great, for sure, but some of them are just way too over the top for my preference. You’re right that some of the duels in the old movies are pretty weak, though.

I’m hoping for the best with the new one!

Nauraushaun > Horkin' Up Dangle Hams
11/06/2015 at 18:35

I haven’t read any expanded universe. Wouldn’t that sort of violate the sith rule “always two there are”?

Horkin' Up Dangle Hams > Nauraushaun
11/07/2015 at 02:33

My interpretation of #4 on this list may have been slightly off, but it still sounds interesting. The Expanded Universe is very much worth reading, well, some of it. Anything by Timothy Zahn is a great place to start!

deekster_caddy > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/09/2015 at 16:03

I just started the original trilogy with my family this weekend. Got the “despecialized editions” of IV V and VI. Thank goodness those exist!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > deekster_caddy
11/09/2015 at 17:20

Nice!

cdydatzigs > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
11/12/2015 at 14:19

NEWS FLASH: All the prequels were, was a path to get to Darth Vader. That’s it! From 1999 to 2005, we were freaking waiting for a 5-minute scene where “what’s his face” finally becomes fucking Darth Vader. You know why everyone like Episode III the best? Because that’s the one where this “payoff” takes place! Oh yeah, and the droids look like how they did in the original films and because the Chewbacca/Wookie planet thing.

cdydatzigs > Nauraushaun
11/12/2015 at 14:20

Yes. Episode 6. Jedi Rocks.

Proof anything Lucas touched after 1996 was shit.