Now that you have seen The Revenge of the Sith...

[adam]

I still like the Prequels very much, but I do think that Lucas is incapable of directing good dialogue scenes. If you watch the extras in Ep. II they brag about how technilogical their filming process is, and I honestly was amazed at how they could be proud of something so unnatural.

What I'm talking about is the process where they filmed several takes and then took the best take from each actor and spliced them into the same frame. Since all camera movement were motion controlled, this was easily done as long as there was no physical interaction between characters or scenery that overlapped.

So the actors' performances are not even contemporaneous. Even though its transparant, it still kills the chemistry between them.

I honestly think the dialogue all would have been much better if they'd cast someone other than Hayden as Anakin. Everything he says just seems so forced.

[Cobra]

I agree completely with you, vitualis - especially about Anakin turning. It is as if he did it on a whim.

Also, the bit at the end... "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"! How cliched.

[cor1]

George could have split the Episode 3 to part 1 & 2. Episode 3 story line is too abrupt.

I agree. Besides the extra action scenes that would have been possible (like the 2 you mention plus e.g. one where General G defeats and kills a Jedi knight in LS combat) there are two things deserving extra treatment.

One, more backstory about Sith Lords generally. I know, I know, mystery and all that but still, a little more wouldn't hurt.

More importantly, the fulcrum of the whole saga is Anakin/Vader. And the most dramatic event in his life, the flip to the dark side, is very rushed. Yes, they found a good "hook" for Palpatine to make Anakin listen and doubt. But it should not have been enough. Frustration with your boss or your company (i.e. the Jedi Council) may make you want to go and get drunk but going over to what you and your peers consider to be the side of ultimate evil?

And maybe one or two action scenes should have been used to show us more reasons/excuses for Anakin's change before the Mace-Palpatine confrontation. I don't know what, but then I'm not the scriptwriter.
If you think about it, Palpatine only talked to Anakin 2-3 times, then Anakin got offended by the Council twice and that was it. The Dark side may give you thunderbolts and such like but it sure as hell gives you formidable powers of persuation...

[smearbrick1]

Spot on smearbrick1.

My main problem with all three prequels is that the key character developments in the movie don't make sense.

EP1 - Anakin's mom want to keep Anakin and then her reaction in letting him go in crazy death defying race is simply unbelievable.

EP2 - The romance between Anakin and Padme is again, completely inexplicable.

EP3 - The critical scene where Anakin turns to the dark side disappoints.

George Lucas make be a "master storyteller" and good at special effects, but he has absolutely no idea on how to direct living breath actors. Like some of the others in this thread, I found some of the characters in the droid army had much more character than the "real" actors.

Regards.

I just wonder what happened between the end of film ROTJ to Episode I. All of the characters in the original Star Wars had personality. They attempt to speak with perfect grammar and in sharp right angles (sorry, not the best way to explain speech, but it's how I see it.) NOBODY TALKS LIKE THAT!!!
The characters in Episodes I - III lost all of their humanity. It appeared as though they were all merely robots stuck in human skin. I think that may have been why the Jar Jar character stood out so much. His character was a complete departure from the rest of the stuffy, stick in this ass characters. He was the only one who really expressed himself in true, albeit annoying, fashion. It's like Lucas does 13 takes of the same scene and picks the worst take as the keeper.

The best thing that could've happened to episodes I - III is that someone else would have seen how terrible the character development, story development, and dialog were and either shelved the project, or convinced Lucas to pass it on to someone else (i.e. Empire).
By the end of the movie, I didn't care what happened to anyone. Even though, I already knew what was going to happen.

[pbhalerao]

Found it OK. Will probably see it again. I also posted my comments here:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1309333#1309333

[adam]

I just saw ep. III a couple days ago...

I really don't think the turn to the Dark Side was rushed or unexplained at all. His distrust of the council was just a contributing factor. The real thing that pushed him over the edge was the desire to save Amidala, and this couldn't have been foreshadowed more in Ep. II with his hatred of his weakness for failing to save his mother.

Once he tells Mace about Palpatine he knows he will kill him and he'll lose Amidala. So he goes there just trying to save him temporarily. In that flash of weakness he attacks mace just long enough for Palpatine to kill him. At this point there's no turning back ("What have I done?") so he pledges himself to the emporer. And then the only way to learn how to cheat death is to gain knowledge of the sith through evil deeds. So on he goes to slaughter the jedi.

I mean we've got an entire movie (ep. II) where Anakin goes bad and it makes it clear that in between Ep. II and III he and Palpatine have spent considerable time together. I say all that was enough. I thought they did a really great job of making Anakin choose Light or Dark in a flash. It was either help Palpatine kill Mace or let Amidala die. From his past experiences his choice is actually believable.

The thing I found interesting was the Oedipus Rex phenomenom. He saw visions of her dying and tried to prevent that future, and its possible that his intervention was the very thing that led to her death and to his downfall. Its textbook Greek tragedy. I know his visions were slightly different than how she died, but they always talked about how those types of visions are clouded. Anyway, my point is that this all carries the same theme as in Oedipus Rex, which is that you can't escape your fate. He is fated to bring balance to the force. He does eventually and becoming a sith himself is all a part of the process that no one could predict. I think it really couldn't have happened any other way. He had to gain the emporer's confidence so that he could scoop him up from behind and toss him down the chasm. There's no other way to kill such a powerful Sith except to almost literally stab them in the back, just how Palpatine killed his master in his sleep. I don't think for a second that Mace actually bested Palpatine. That whole, "I'm too weak, I'm old, help me Anakin" spiele was clearly scripted to force Anakin to choose.

[mrtristan]

I enjoyed the movie, but a lot less, due to all the hype. EVERYONE was saying how great it was, but I thought the first two were just as good. In fact, the acting in episode I was better, to me. This movie did tie together a lot of loose ends, but went about it through horrible acting. The plot itself was great, I just don't think it was done in the best way that it could have been done.

As for Mace beating Palpatine, I'm pretty sure he flat out beat him. It's not in the movie, but according to the books Mace is one of, if not the best, lightsaber fighter. Different Jedi have different talents, except for Yoda, who kicks ass at everything. Anyway, Palpatine had no way of knowing that Anakin would arrive at that exact moment. He also became deformed, from the drain that the Force lightning put on him. I think Sidious was more manipulative than he was strong with the Force. Granted he was a powerful Sith/Jedi, but I believe his true strength was his intelligence.

[guns1inger]

The better of the prequals, but still shows that Lucas is a much better technician than he is writer or director. Technically stunning, the fully digital pipeline that ILM have in place is definately the way of the future. Anakin's drift to the dark side was better than expected, given the petulant spoilt brat that was scripted for epII. Generally though, too much time was spent on the politics across all three of the prequals to no real end. I don't need to understand the socio-economic background to world war II to enjoy Patton. Similarly, I don't give a toss about the trade federation's squabbles. The same back story could have been got through much more quickly if he had had better character stories to work with (his own fault, as writer). In fact, there was barely enough plot across the three to make two movies. A 3 hour epic would have been preferable to my mind.

If someone who had never seen any star wars films asked me where to start, I'd say epIII, epIV and epV. EpVI only if you absolutely need to have closure, but not necessary. Ep I and II could be skipped altogether and you'd still have a happy life. I'll buy the DVD, mainly for the extras, but I'll give the movie another go then.

[adam]

Oh so Palpatine really did become deformed? I thought he just sort of finally revealed his true form. In any case, I still think the whole thing is obviously scripted by him. He reveals himself to Anakin and presents him with the choice to join him to save Amidala. I'm talking about before the big confrontation. He knows Anakin won't go for it, and will turn him in, but counts on him to keep him alive when the jedi come for him. Even if he really couldn't defeat Mace and knew it, I think he knew he only had to hold out long enough for Anakin to choose.

I think after Anakin pleges allegience to him Palpatine says something like, "now my plan is complete." Pretty much everything that happened in the prequels is all according to Palpatine's elaborate plot, or at least after all is said and done it might as well have.

The more I think about it, the more I prefer Ep. I to the other prequels. Maul is just about the coolest villain in any sci fi movie short of Vader. Liam Neeson did a fine job of acting with Qui Gon and I thought he and McGregor made a cool match. The only thing I really didn't like were Jar Jar and the acting of the kid who played Anakin, but its rare to find a good actor that young. Despite all the complaints about Jar Jar he's really not that important and I don't think it ruins the film like so many people complain.

[otpw1]

I'll see it again when it's out on DVD. No rush.

[pbhalerao]

My 11 year old thought it was awesome and wants to see it again.

[BJ_M]

I have not seen it -- you didnt put that option there ...

I'm still waiting for someone to take me or if i can scam some free comps ..

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

I have not seen it -- you didnt put that option there ...

I'm still waiting for someone to take me or if i can scam some free comps ..

That is in another thread/poll, "When are you going to see The Revenge of the Sith?" https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=267954&highlight=

This would be the second part, "Now that you have seen the revenge of the sith..."