Post by Jason143 on Jan 6, 2020 18:17:44 GMT
I like the pacing of Episode 1. We get to see a lot of new planets/species over a short period of time. Naboo was a great addition to Lucas' galaxy, in my opinion. I think it is probably my favorite from the PT (although the lava planet of Mustafar finally being used from Ralph McQuarrie's fantastic concept art from the 70's is fantastic too). The funny thing about this movie is that I remember being in the theater with the first, sold-out midnight showing in my city and people laughing repeatedly at Jar Jar. They loved him. It wasn't until shortly before Episode 2's release that I first heard complaints about the character. People did grow to despise him haha. I think if they had used a different actor for Binks' voice (perhaps someone with a deeper voice), Jar Jar may have been received differently. Maybe. I liked how even though the Hutts aren't in the movie very much, they're still talked about as having strong control on Tatooine. Duel of Fates is still my favorite song from the PT. Lucas replacing the atrocious Episode 1 Yoda puppet with CGI Yoda was a much better change from the theatrical cut. The grappling hook on the blasters is still silly to me, but a very minor nitpick on my part.
Episode 2 is still fine. I like the business on Coruscant. I still thoroughly enjoy Yoda's lightsaber duel. I agree with others that Dooku wasn't nearly as memorable as Maul (sorry Christopher Lee). The latter should have been the apprentice to Sidious for the whole trilogy until Darth Vader emerged. It's interesting to note that Benicio Del Toro was originally cast to play Maul. He dropped out of the role after Lucas cut most of Maul's lines from the script. The Jedi coming into the arena is still a great moment (I remember the audience in the theater cheering over that). I was surprised to find I liked Jango Fett more than in the past. I don't think Boba should have been in the movie (sorry Daniel Logan), maybe just a quick clue that Jango intended to have a son.
Episode 3 is still my favorite episode of the PT. The opening space battle is my favorite of Lucas' movies. Hayden gives a much better performance and his 70's hairstyle is a nice transition towards the OT. I like Bail Organa gets a slightly larger role in the movie. I would have liked Anakin and Obi-Wan to have at least 2 more scenes together. It's kind of jolting how Obi-Wan go from saying goodbye to one another after Anakin's issues with the Council, and then they don't see each other again until they're about to duel towards the end of the movie. Order 66 is greatly executed and John William's accompanied score sets the mood for it wonderfully. Grevious is ok...I do like that the character's cough in the movie is George Lucas' actual own cough because he was sick during a portion of making Episode 3 and it was suggested (probably by Ben Burtt) they use him for it. I still really enjoy the whole confrontation between Windu and the other Jedi when they go to arrest Palpatine. It would have been interesting to see a five-way duel go on just a little longer between all of them. Palpatine dispatched them just a little too quickly (perhaps that was the point though) for the audience to fully enjoy it, in my opinion. The same problem goes for Grevious losing his multiple lightsabers too quickly during his duel with Obi-Wan...if they're going to include multiple force users/lightsabers, let's see them fully utilized!
Anyway, update when you've rewatched the others.
I agree the pacing im TPM is well balanced. There is no action sequence that is not needed, one of the complaints I have about these newer movies where it feels like they put in action set pieces every 20 minutes. I would rather sacrifice these spots for story and character progression, which TPM has in spades. One of the criticisms I've come to learn is that the main characters all appear to be talking heads, reciting lines in a monotone fashion. I can see where that complaint comes from, but it doesn't bother me. I accept that Jedis are serene individuals with high degrees of discipline and restraint so the style of dialogue delivery worked fine for me. Same with Queen Amadala, she is meant to come across as a queen and leader whose in control. But when she is talking out of role, to little Anakin for example her style changed to be more natural talking one and thats cool. At the end of the day, for me I really liked Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, R2, Senator Palpitine, Anakins mother, Maul and I didn't mind Padme, Anakin and Jar Jar. The story was intriguing and kept me hooked until the end with nice little twists along the way. This is almost opposite to tRoS, where the only character I connected with was Kylo and the story was pretty mundane, possessing no aura of mystery (why did they have to reveal Palpitine was the boss straight away?)
I just watched Attack of the Clones too for the first time ever. Its pretty good but I would say TPM is better. AotC's pacing was more akin to a slow burn and at times it did drag. The action set pieces to me weren't that interesting such as the asteroid chase scene and the metal factory sequence. Visually it was fine but I didnt feel any weight of consequence, perhaps too much CGI was used. There are a few hokey dialogue, line delivery and shaky acting, mainly by Hayden but he was fine for the majority of his on screen appearance. The love story was okay, have no major complaints. The seeds that are planted to show how Anakin eventually rejects the Jedi are very cleverly inserted throughout the story which I liked. I hoped Count Dooku would have been in it more and the end duel with Yoda is the best moment. Overall its still watchable, a step down from Episode 1. I still prefer it to any of the sequels though because as a trilogy there is clear direction where the trilogy is heading.