Did I somehow see the wrong version of AOTC

I along with all my friends saw AOTC last night at Midnight. I have always been a hardcore fan, and am 30 right now so I grew up with Star Wars.

I am honestly shocked and surprised at all the positive reviews and feedback from people who saw the film.

Everyone of my group (10 of us) thought AOTC was a very poor movie, and if you were to rate it out of 10, we all agreed it was no higher then a 5. We came out of that movie and were honestly saying it sucked in terms of a Star Wars movie. A few of us were like "What the hell was that?!?!?!"

I came out of TPM on a high (even though I thought it wasnt even that good), with AOTC I came out on a serious down note. I was disappointed truley.

Maybe I'm just too critical of Lucas now, but this movie DID NOT have any of the flair of Empire or even JEDI for that matter, nor did it even hold up to TPM. The ewoks (who I hate) are now icons to me.

Something was just WRONG with AOTC. There was so much wrong though and that what bothered me.

The dialogue was horrible, the acting horrible, the writing horrible, and there wasnt even a consistent story. The worse thing is that fact that Lucas is putting more and more fluff in these classic movies. Just because you have the ability to use CG, you dont have to over do it.

The droid factory...waste of time and money. Everything with C3P0 and the whole head thing...stupid. The arena and the monsters...made for toys. The diner...why?
Anakin riding a stupid beast in the field, in the arena, Padme having a hair pin in her waste..come on George..what has happened to you.

I think that ever since the special editions when Han Solo became the second person to shoot after Greedo did in the cantina and therefore didnt become a "Cold blooded killer" to "someone who had to defend himself" that Lucas started ruining the saga.

The best parts of AOTC were so short (the sandpeople, the end fight, Jango) and it didnt even have the momentum of TPM in terms of pacing. Dont get me wrong, Jango and all of that stuff was great, Mace, Tatooine, his mother, Dooka, the fight scenes, but there was just too much useless and un-needed things that could have been replaced with better items of the story.

Somehow, the Star Wars saga has been turned into some 2 hour special effect show with no story just so he can say (look what we can do with our computers) when they use to be great movies with great special effects that added the extra element. I cant even put "Movie" into AOTC because I just didnt feel it was anything that any of us couldnt have done ourselves.

I think Lucas needs to direct the next one and thats it. He can't write anymore, thats obvious (ie: this party is over...come on George). And his choice of his co-writer from the Young Indy Chronicles shows me that he can't write either. Since the Young Indy series was a flop, I don't understand why he would choose him.

Of course, Lucas can do whatever he wants because he can and I respect that.

But somewhere along the way, I hope someone like Timothy Zahn (who out of anyone has created the best Star Wars novels yet that have the same feel of the movies) gets a hand on EP3 before it gets ruined also.

A very disappointed fan.

 

I think that ever since the special editions when Han Solo became the second person to shoot after Greedo did in the cantina and therefore didnt become a "Cold blooded killer" to "someone who had to defend himself" that Lucas started ruining the saga.

You misinterpret this scene, like most people do. In the Original version, Greedo was about to kill Han, so shooting first was still 'self defence.' George made the edit to drive the point home.

 

The dialogue was horrible, the acting horrible, the writing horrible, and there wasnt even a consistent story.

Aside from saying that it was horrible, tell me how it was horrible.

 

I personally liked the movie, minus some painful dialogue in the romantic scenes, but I have to say it makes me sad to hear so many fans disappointed like you are. I have a few friends who were pretty much devastated like you last night. I think what it comes down to for me is, unless Lucas makes the perfect film, I will always hold the OT in higher regard because I grew up with it, and it is a part of me in so many ways.

Try to cheer up, maybe episode III will redeem Lucas in your eyes.

 

Each to their own.

 

I don't let the adult, judgemental side of me critique a movie like Star Wars. I let the kid-portion of me take control. Don't over analyze... SW was made for children, and children at heart... I doubt children care for "Mel Gibson quality acting"... I know where you're coming from...but I just think it was great, and fun. Thats what its supposed to be. Lucas does it again.

 

I came out of the theater wanting to grab someone and tell them how wonderful it was.

I hadn't experienced that kind of high since the Diamondbacks won the Series. It was an incredible film.

The dialogue was decent, and I thought it was plenty realistic at times. The acting was fine, and McGregor did a great job.

 

Well, the audience I saw it loved the movie as did I....was the audience disappointed there as well?

 

The film is a pacing nightmare. While Lord of the Rings found a way to cut characterization and exposition intermittently with the action, Lucas seems to think everything has to come to a halt in the middle of a film to build up motivation, etc. The result is a major momentum killer for about an hour. The action also lack a sense of suspense. At no point did I ever question how a battle scene would turn out. And other sequences, such as the asteroid scene, is plain old tired.

 

Just because you didn't like it...doesn't mean it was ruined. Tough luck for you, but me and my 10+ friends, who also grew up with Star Wars and are fanatics...were all overly impressed and very satisfied. I take that back, we weren't satisfied because it actually had to end....we have our tickets bought for the next 3 nights as well and we're going to enjoy everytime.


To each his own, but I hope Lucas continues what he's doing with Ep. III....i guess you don't have to go watch it though, but I'll be thoroughly enjoying it.


Every movie has flaws.....none of the 3 original movies are perfect....there are countless things in each that can be griped about....the same with the new ones.


I love the original trilogy and ESB will always be my favorite....but I loved AOTC...I hated TPM, but AOTC was very enjoyable to me.

 

Wow, your candor is amazing.

I was only disappointed in two things:

1. I agree that the Special effects were way too many. They were really well done, but sometimes I just find myself wishing I could look at something more substantial. The whole Geonosis battle took longer than I would have liked, because I felt like I was just drowning in special effects shots.

2. I don't buy that Padmé really loves Anakin. The whole scene on the couch where he was like "I can't breathe..." If I was her I would have been seriously creeped out and started edging away. He sounded more like a crazy stalker than someone really in love.

I do however, think that Hayden's acting was amazing. He was so tense and volitile the whole time. I can totally buy that he is obviously headed for the dark side.

To be honest though, I'm going to have to see it a few more times to digest it more properly. I often have this kind of reaction. When I saw the Lord of the Rings I came out feeling kind of numb, not really sure how I felt about it. But each successive time I saw it, I loved it more and more.

You say that RotJ has certain moments. Well this one has certain moments too. The Death Star connection. That's defenitely one of my favorite parts. The Zam Wessel speeder chase. As far as action, I liked that much better than the Geonosis part.

I haven't ranked this one yet. ESB and ANH are still my one and two, but I'm gonna have to see AotC atleast two more times before I know if I like it or TPM better.

 

I think this pretty much sums it up... written by someone else

"No Star Wars movie can or will live up to the expectations put on them because they're infinitely high. People expect to go into the theater at 25-35 years old and feel as awed and fresh about it as they did when they were 6. It's not going to happen no matter how much people want it to."

 

There are existing threads for fan reviews. What makes your opinion so important that it merits a thread of its own?

 

The result is a major momentum killer for about an hour. The action also lack a sense of suspense.

What? I completely disagree. I liked the more ponderous time. It wasn't all action, and there was some real dialogue and character work involved, instead of battle scenes.

 

"Something was just WRONG with AOTC. There was so much wrong though and that what bothered me."

I agree, in fact, I totally disliked it.

 

I know he shot first and trust me I didnt misinterpret the scene.

The scene was "FINE" the was it was in ANH. Going back and adding greedo firing was pointless.

As for the acting being horrible, this is my opinion.

First, here is why I believe the acting has gone down in these 2 movies (note: Liam does a great job in TPM).

Placing actors in front of blue screens with no environment or having anything to go on visual to set the mood, stage, etc is what is causing a lot of this. Look at this piece of tape, look at this point, and act. By the way, you are on a cold hard rock of a world with hundreds of things chasing you...imagine that.

I think that you can't act without the environment. CG is great, but build the sets, monsters, creatures, again and help the actors out some.

As for the "ACTING"...I feel Natalie doesnt do a better job. She seems lifeless, like she doesnt want to be doing these movies, and most of her lines delivered are very monotone in nature.

The writing sure doesnt help.

Samuel Jackson...he does an ok job, but I feel that he tries to always bring too much of his pulp fiction character into these movies.

HC: At times, does a good job with Anakin, but the love scenes were just akward, poorly delievered. Also, too whiny. I know Lucas wanted him to protray a young Anakin, but Lucas should have let him act instead of forcing him into certain mood/role.

Ewan..did a better job then TPM (of course he gets a lot more dialog) but still seems like he'd rather not be making Star Wars.

In all, it seems more like they are all pretty faces vs actors.

Im not going to keep going on about it because I just feel they dont convey the quality of acting that the original series had and the chemistry. Thats just my opinion.
There is no chemisty in AOTC.

 

duh... common sense, fan boy???

 

Sucks for you kenoidewi. I, as well as everyone else in the theatre thought it was totally awesome.

 

this should be here

 

I agree with JediMaster22's assessment...however, in the original poster's case, it might be that he/she is truly disappointed in it. That's fine as the film might simply not have worked for them....hey, ANH never worked for me, and it was the movie that started the series!

 

While I enjoyed it the first time immensley, it was a bit of a shock to my system, the movie was much better on second viewing.

(and on a nother slightly related note, I've decided to be spoiler free for episode III)

 

"I feel Natalie doesnt ... want to be doing these movies"

Natalie admits that!

 

The first half drags. Not even the city chase (Pod Racing II) generates that much excitement. The Anakin & Padme romance scenes are almost painful and drawn-out, I'm talking "Pearl Harbor" here. I was sitting through the movie thinking "Phantom Menace was more interesting than this!" Not a good sign.

Of course, by the end of the movie (especially when it picks up after Jango vs Obi-Wan), I walked out with a huge grin!! The battles totally made up for those romantic parts.

The performances were mixed. I've already addressed Anakin & Padme, they really put an asterisk next to my experience. Samuel L Jackson really had his role cut down from the book, and barely registered. Christopher Lee reprised his Saruman role, even using the same "join me" dialogue with Obi-Wan as he did with Gandalf! C-3PO and Obi-Wan make much more effective comic relief than Jar Jar. Yoda's reverse sentences get really annoying, but he makes up for it in one of the most memorable scenes in the entire saga.

Maybe part of my problem is that I read the novel first, and was shocked at how much development and juicy quotes were left out.

For instance, the lightsaber battles are
cut down from the book and seemed too short. The Anakin fight was less swordplay, and focused more on faces glowing from lightsabers. I was under the impression that Dooku had all these smooth, elegant moves, but it look just like a quick regular lightsaber fight.

And what happened to that cool line: "Come, Master Kenobi, put me out my misery"?

One thing I did notice, Yoda never said there were thousands of Jedi, but only 200 could make it to Geonosis. I guess we're to think those jedi after the battle were the only jedis left, period? Which makes Anakin's job in Ep 3 easier!

 

ditto. the fans in my theater loved it. Personally, watching it yesterday just made me feel like a kid again - blown away by all the imagination on screen. it was amazing and it ended on such a great feeling. I'm totally on a star wars high.

 

I suppose I have to say this first or else I'll get flamed: I enjoyed the movie. Mmkay?

However, I was disappointed with some of the scenes and/or dialogue that was cut. Maybe there were good reasons for having different things cut. But I have to agree with kenoidewi that too much time was spent in the factory scene for really no compelling purpose. Some of that time could have been better devoted to longer, more interesting scenes/dialog... for example: Mace vs. Jango (from the storyboards), longer lightsaber fights with dooku vs. whoever, Obi-Wan's missing line, "Aren't we all?", when Jango tells him he's just a simple man, trying to make his way in the universe.
Also, I was hoping to see Yoda hold up the "crane" that was falling on annie & obi, as well as pull Dooku's ship from escaping; eventually having to choose between the two. Anyone know why it was changed from the shooting script?
One last thing: when Anakin gets on the speeder and heads for the camp, the scene starts to get intense. He heads off into the sunset, and you hear a Duel of the Fates chorus rising. Then the scene cuts to Obi-Wan snooping on Geonosis. I'm not sure you can build up a scene like that and then just come back to it later. I dunno. It almost seemed "anti-climactic" when they cut away.