Did I somehow see the wrong version of AOTC

A lot of the anti-AOTC comments could easily be directed at the OT. How many of you just made up you minds not to like the new movies?

 

This movie is so much better than TPM that it defies belief it came from the same person!..

I have qualms apart parts of it, as expressed in other threads (for which I have been soundly flamed), but all in all, it is a very very good film.

The sense of excitement as you see the large group of Jedi ignite their lightsabres! wow!..

 

Thragar: please. i'm not a child. i laughed, but not to the point where it disrupted anyone else (those who also laughed when Shmi flopped over like a wet muppet). i was actually tryng to focus on the thing and keeping quiet, but those moments were just laughable, sorry. i mean i liked the movie! it was fun. but so are the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films. it was fun, but it was also really cheesy at points.

the other person: how was the OT more magical? well, there was a sense of mystery and mysticism to the Force for one thing. you really cared about the characters for another. there was a real sense of tension and fear in the Empire and in Vader. these new films completely lack that! some of the characters are cool, ObiWan is great, Jango was great, Dooku hardly had enough screen time, Anakin is great at times, but we all know he gets ALOT COOLER as Vader.

again, i did say that i enjoyed it, but it just feel sort of hollow. the designs are great, the visuals are fantastic, but it's more like a video game now than anything else. this isn't necessarily a bad thing, cause video games are pretty intense and intricate these days, but the whole classic hollywood / Cambellian myth thing is dead. it just is. the PT is fine, it's enjoyable, but it doesn't even come close to the OT.

 

"there was a real sense of tension and fear in the Empire and in Vader. these new films completely lack that! some of the characters are cool, ObiWan is great, Jango was great, Dooku hardly had enough screen time, Anakin is great at times, but we all know he gets ALOT COOLER as Vader."
Sorry, but there really can't be any mysteries or surprises or great character revelations, because we basically know how the story ends. Its like reading a book from page one through the end versus reading the ending first. Seeing the OT first takes away from the scary tension or fear that these new movies have, because we always know who lives and who dies.

 

I'd love to hear of at least ONE fault AotC has that the original trilogy doesn't. Acting, dialogue, etc., is pretty much the same in every Star Wars film.

 

I also registered at this forum because I too was in the minority in the theatre and wanted to see if anyone else felt the same as me. I found a few on the Rotten Tomatoes message board, and I came here out of pure curiosity.

I am not surprised at some of the lame reactions to negative views here, though. All of the negative reactions have been expressed decently and have been thought out to an acceptable degree. Yet, biased fanboys (sorry for the categorization) come and accuse them of being plants and such. If you can't counter with legitimate discussion, don't say anything at all.

And now, my rather long review of episode 2, as posted on my site. As you see, even though posted earlier, it agrees with the first poster and many others here. And yes, it does cover reasons WHY the writing, dialogue, etc. was better in the OT:



Aaron?s Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones diary


It was a dark and stormy night. Actually, it wasn?t really stormy. Although it did rain the day before?okay let me start over?

It was a dark night. At around 10:30 p.m. , I was dressed and ready to go to the first showing of Attack of the Clones. Although I enjoyed my initial viewing of The Phantom Menace, I missed the whole ?event? nature of it all - I saw it on opening day and not the first showing with the REAL Star Wars fans, the people who dress up like their favorite characters and camp out for days in order to see the movie. Well, this time, I made sure not to miss such an event and got a hold of two shining tickets, one for myself, and one for my longtime movie going partner, my father (the guy that introduced me to Aliens - I owe him for life for taking me to that movie).

I arrived at the Star Southfield theatres and was not disappointed. Here were the real fans, the people that dress up, the people that congregate on TheForce.net?s forums and declare their blind love for the movies, the people that were already here for most of the day, swinging their plastic light sabers at each other. I knew it immediately - this is the crowd I want to see the movie with. Who else would get better enjoyment and provide better crowd reaction than this group of people? As long as my ?Lord of the Rings ultimate fan who orgasmed after seeing The Shire? fiasco was not repeated, this was sure to be a great crowd.

I met another ?movie pal,? Wilson, at the theatre and after taking a few pictures, we got our seats. I got my favorite seats - all the way at the back, and the previews began. I saw trailers for Austin Powers 3, Undercover Brother, Minority Report, a really bad ripoff of that movie where the kid?s arm got broke and he became a professional baseball player, only this kid gets magic shoes that make him ?Like Mike? in basketball, Spy Kids 2, and something else. I thought that a Matrix Reloaded trailer was to be attached, but it wasn?t for this viewing. Good thing I?m not really a Matrix fan anyway. Oh, and of course I had to deal with the nominal commercials. God, I hate commercials. Finally, after 50 commercials and 6 or 7 previews, the lights dimmed and the 20th Century Fox logo appeared on the screen. It was time for the movie to begin!

The first thing that I noticed about the movie was the sharpness and clarity of the digital picture. I believe I was in the theatre with the digital projector (I had a 1 in 3 chance of being in that theatre as it wasn?t announced beforehand as to which midnight showing would have the digital), and even if I wasn?t, I can?t imagine the movie looking any better. I scanned the bootleg earlier, and hated myself for doing so now, the crappy quality of the TMD doesn?t even come close to the beauty of the digital projection on the screen. Although I tend to prefer film over digital, I easily made an exception in this case.

And surprise, surprise - at around 15 minutes into the movie, I was enjoying myself. I liked Anakin, I liked Obi Wan, and I liked the new style of direction that Lucas showcased in this film. This wasn?t the still, slow direction of A New Hope or The Phantom Menace - th

 

I'm not a true fan? 'Cause I didn't, in Ari-an's estimation, enjoy the "simplicity?" Wow.

I liken it to this: I go to my favorite restaurant, they have a new dish on the menu, I order it, don't like it, but does that mean I don't go to the restaurant anymore? Heck, no! I keep going to the joint because I love it and there's no place I'd rather be. They just had one thing I didn't like....

 

I just want to say to everyone that dislike the movie, SUCKS FOR YOU! I dont know what more you people want, I dont think Lucus or anyone can live up to your expectations. You guys have set the bar so high, and somehow you have forgot that its just a movie, thats it. Go see it, enjoy it, stop looking at it under the microscope. I along with everyone in the theater I was in enjoyed it. It had tons of action, it was funny, good story, cool bad guys, great fights, what more do you need in a summer blockbuster? The problem here is its a Star Wars movie, and people love to pick them apart. Can you honestly say Spiderman was better, or LOTR (which in my opinion was one long boring movie)?! I guess my point here is stop being a movie critic, and just enjoy it for what it is, an action packed, kick ass movie!!

 

i'm sorry people, but kenoidewi makes some valid points. there was some ridiculously bad stuff going on in this film

Since you are going to make absolute statements I will then respond in kind.

No, Keno makes no valid points. There is NOTHING rediculous about AOTC. Nada. Not a single scene. Not a single moment. N-O-T-H-I-N-G.

Thank you for playing along though.

RB

 

Uh, yes, I can easily say that both Spider-man and FOTR were better. And although I'm somewhat of a Spider-man fan, I'm NOT a LOTR fan. In fact, I'm more of a Star Wars fan than a LOTR fan.

As I hinted on in my review up there - everything that was right about Spider-man was wrong in AOTC.

 

"No crap, I've seen it 3 times at 3 different theaters, the crowd LOVED this movie. If I had a dime everytime I heard a person outside after the movie saying "HOLY **** THAT ROCKED!" I'd be set for a year. Only things I ever hear negative about this movie thus far are online. "



That's because in the first week of release it's going to be mostly FANBOYS in the theater. Wait till the average filmgoer (non fans) see these film. They are going to have a different reaction. They will notice the stiff, monotonic, and emotionless acting as well the embarrasing line deliveries between Hayden & Natalie.

The love story , however unintentional, was great comedy relief.(at least funnier than Jar Jar)

 

"everything that was right about Spider-man was wrong in AOTC."


---Granted Spiderman was a good movie...it's not SW and it never will be. You and all the other basher's knew from the start you weren't going to like the movie(if you really saw it). What gets me is not that you disliked the movie...it's that you post over-n-over again why you didn't like it. A simple, "I hated it" is enough. Kewl, don't go see it again

And LOTR's, it was an ok movie but it didn't make me want to see it again and again. But that's just me

 

Not just fanboys will like the movie. An employee at the theater said that he wasn't a Star Wars fan, yet he still liked the movie. I saw nothing wrong with the movie. It's up there with ESB on my fav. movie list.

 

Troll heaven here I see.

Lots of people who love to spit in peoples cocopuffs.

It is ok if someone thinks LOTR or Spidey were better movies... or if someone thinks AOTC was the worst movie ever made.

After all, some of us think LOTR was horrid and that Spidey had some of the worst cgi scenes ever seen.

RB

 

If you thought that AOTC sucked I have one question for you. What are you smoking? I gotta stay away from whatever it is!

I will admit that the movie started out slow, but it was AWESOME during most of it. It reminded me of the greatness of the original trilogy. I rank it right under ESB.

You can't tell me that seeing that battle at the end wasn't your Star Wars dream come true. Or seeing Yoda kick butt like he did. It was so cool!

 

"Granted Spiderman was a good movie...it's not SW and it never will be. You and all the other basher's knew from the start you weren't going to like the movie(if you really saw it). What gets me is not that you disliked the movie...it's that you post over-n-over again why you didn't like it. A simple, "I hated it" is enough. Kewl, don't go see it again

And LOTR's, it was an ok movie but it didn't make me want to see it again and again. But that's just me "

So is that the defense now? Everyone that disliked the movie is a "basher?" Did you even READ my review, which not only clearly stated that I WANTED to enjoy the film and tried to lower my standards so that i would, but also stated in clear detail why the character relationships in Spider-man were more effective?

What do people like yourself get from categorizing everyone away, purposely ignoring what they say? Are you that unsure of your own opinions that you're forced to do that?

 

I think that ATOC was good, but not great. The romantic connection between Anakin and Padme seemed forced and the images of some of the special effects appeared "flat". I did enjoy the battle scenes at the end and seeing the origins of the future stormtroopers.(I still think they are the coolest...even @ my age of 30...) I could tell the series was lossing it's magic with me whe I found myself looking at my watch 1 hour into the movie. I think I will appreciate the series as a whole when it is finished. Until then, I will wait for episodeIII.

 

Funny... you can say whatever you want about AOTC and people have to respect your opinion but when someone says they don't think well of your choices of movies you feel as if the person is attacking you?

RB

 

As a female, I'm going to try and shed some light on why I thought it was a believable romance. Please note I haven't read the novel or any other EU surrounding AOTC, so her motivations might be explained differently.

Padme has grown up being "proper" her entire life. She didn't get to be a normal teenager - when most of us are starting to think about the opposite sex, she was the leader of her planet. She said there was a boy when she was 12, but she doesn't make that next step to having a boyfriend when she hits her mid teens. So it turns out, she's suddenly 24. She's still extremely busy with the Senate and probably doesn't have time to even contemplate sharing her life with someone else. Enter Anakin.

We all know Anakin has a screw or two loose. His obsession over Padme stems from the attachment he made at a very young age and the almost eunuch-like life he has followed since then. For ten years, he's built up this woman in his mind to be his ultimate fantasy; his life's pursuit, and when they finally meet again he has trouble containing how he feels about her.

Padme, having never experienced this devotion is most likely flattered and a little overwhelmed, but in the midst of trying times this 'love' makes perfect sense. It's someone to cling to; someone to lose yourself in if only for a moment. Plus, Anakin turns out to be a complete hottie which makes her decision that much easier.

I feel for everyone that doesn't understand their romance, or that hasn't experienced that kind of passion. But it makes perfect sense.

 

So you're saying that you would fall for a guy that tells you that he loves you every 5 minutes even though you've known him for approximately 2 days?

Women NEVER fall for stalkers. And Anakin was exhibiting pure stalker-type behavior.

 

Abmccray, great post. I agree with almost everything you said.

On a lighter note, the conveyer belt scene made me think of the Metal Man stage in Mega Man 2 too!

 

Seen it 3 times now and LOVED IT EVEN MORE EACH TIME!!!!

Everyone has their own opinion of course and I am very happy!

The movie is not perfect but it's GREAT and I definitely think worthy of the series. I cannot compare LOTR which had an hour more time to tell it's tale to AOTC. And I would not really want any SW movie to be 3 hours long. They are fine as they are.

 

Firstly, enough of the hyperbole. How many times were there when Anakin confessed his love? 2? 3?

Secondly, you have to remember where Padme is coming from - she's probably had no successful relationships whatsoever so Anakin is something different.

Thirdly, if a stalker looked like that, I'd have to seriously consider it.

 

Silmarillion

I agree with you 100%! I also sense that Padme feels a kind of motherly-love for Anakin as she saw how affected he was by having to leave his mother behind as a slave.....then not be able to save her as he predicted he would before he left.

 

<<Funny... you can say whatever you want about AOTC and people have to respect your opinion but when someone says they don't think well of your choices of movies you feel as if the person is attacking you? >>

You're the one who called people who didn't like the movie "trolls." Unless I misread your post.