Fan Commentary Needed for book on Revenge of the Sith!

It was everywhere. On the television, my supermarket, magazines, fast food resturants. Personally I loved it. It was like everywhere I whent, there was Star Wars.

I left work early and then got lost on my way to the theater for the midnight showing. So needless to say, I missed it.

But even then I really hadn't anticipated anything like I saw. People driving around in thier cars screaming "Star Wars!" By the time I got to the theater, it looked like Woodstock had taken place out front. My God what a mess.

I did see a difference in picture between the two. However, I'm not real nitpicky w/ needing a movie to be so sharp that I can see the actor's pores.

3) Revenge of the Sith. It was everything I had expected since I read the Return of the Jedi novelization. It evoked so many emotions that no other Star Wars movie ever had. It had no moments in it that made me cringe (Threepio in the arena, Jar Jar, Jedi Rocks). Great effects, the wonderful acting of Ian and Ewan and terrific music. Unfortunately it was the end of a Saga and a realization that there would be no more Star Wars movies.

4) A little. It gives more back story to some of the characters.

Well, I'm over 25 and minus TPM, I received the the prequels quite well. But there is definately a biased from fans who were in the theater when ANH came out (they will insist it is and always will be Star Wars and not ANH). They look at it the originals through nostalgic goggles the same way my Dad looks at old VW Bugs and says "those are awesome cars." Another problem is that they had preconcieved notions of what happened before EPIV that ended up being wrong. If you take away something a person has believed for years, they're going to get defensive and angry.

Revenge was a darker movie. Bereft of comic relief (which Lucas has shown to be lo

 

Thank you Kevin, I will add some of that in I think if I can find the space!

Yeah I will admit to major personal annoyance over people calling A New Hope "Star Wars." I'm sorry but it's not called Star Wars. Star Wars refers to a multi, multi-billion dollar empire of merchandise: films, novels, toys, soap, bath towels, beach towels, toothpaste, etc. Star Wars is everything that $16,200,000,000+ in revenue has created. Also, it's really idiotic from the perspective that it has been called A NEW HOPE for 25 years out of 29 years of existence. It was ONLY just "Star Wars" in 1977-1981, before a re-release changed its name to A New Hope. ANH was re-released in '78, '79, '81, and '82, then again in '97. The point is, the film has been A New Hope for well more than two decades. Deal with it.

 

I think the resistance to "Episode IV: A New Hope" is that the newer title reflects the altered context of the movie as part of a larger saga, either as the IV-VI arc of the OT, or the I-VI Tragedy of Darth Vader re-interpretation that the prequels have now brought. The film as just Star Wars, a stand-alone film without an episode title or subtitle, without sequels, and whose story ends when the credits roll after the medals are bestowed, ultimately is a very different and in a way an alternative movie than the one represented by the re-interpretation expressed by "Episode IV: A New Hope."

The resistance also comes down to the fact that Star Wars is the title--the series was called "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker" technically, but that didn't matter because it wasn't even a series, it was just a single stand-alone fairy tale called Star Wars. Star Wars is the film that changed the face of cinema more than Godfather and Citizen Kane combined, that broke every box office record in history, that won seven Oscars and was nominated for eleven, that adorned the cover of Time magazine, that launched the special effects industry, that was inaugurated into the Library of Congress' film registry and that became the most popular work of contemporary art ever made. Deal with it.
The re-titling ultimately reflects a re-shaping of that original film that most feel ultimately diluted--or at least altered--the power of the original movie, and hence the reluctance to go along with the changed storyline which was introduced starting in 1980. I mean, Lucas tommorrow could suddenly start calling it "Chapter alpha beta nine: The Empire Rises", but will that mean that from then on we can't acknowledge that it once was called something else, and that we must only refer to it as Chapter Alpha Beta Nine The Empire Rises? Personally I don't really care what people call it, because there is ultimately at least three different interpretations of the Star Wars storyline, and fans aren't always even talking about the same thing, but i think its ignorant and too revisionist to say that Star Wars is only the name of a series when it is also the name of the first entry into that series and a film that, in its original configuration under that original title, is among the most important works of 20th century art, let alone cinema.

 

Well first of all, it's completely incorrect to say that MOST people feel that sequels and prequels to A New Hope, i.e. the 1977 Star Wars movie whatever you want to call it, have diluted the original. In fact it would be quite fair to say that 99% of everyone on earth who has seen all six movies feels that it is better to have six movies than just one. I don't think anyone with an IQ room temperature or higher would actually say that having a larger Star Wars story is worse than just one Star Wars movie. Certainly no fan would say that, otherwise what kind of fan are they?! That's like saying you wish your sports team had ceased to exist after its last Championship just because they haven't won one since. I would still say it's better to have a team to root for, even if they don't win it all every year, even if some years they suck, than to have no team at all. Most fans would agree, because that's what it means to be a fan. It means that even if you didn't like TPM as much as the OT, you still liked parts of it, you still were glad it came around in some way because it offered a few good moments, or whatever, but to say that most people are really bummed that Lucas made The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi is a total joke. Most fans think ESB is significantly better than ANH, just look at any poll result ever conducted. ANH is not a favorite. In fact ANH ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack with most fans. Behind ESB, behind ROTS, and often times behind at least one other movie. It isn't a first or second best Star Wars film to most people. Just because it started it all doesn't make it the best. Technically speaking, until the 2004 DVD release, it was very hard to watch actually, because technically it was so far inferior to every other Star Wars movie. Since that 2004 release, I think it looks way better, it is much improved as far as cleaned up looking, and it's so sharp in general that it's again a marvelous pleasure to watch, you don't get distracted by outdated technology because it actually looks almost up to par now, which is great. It took a Special Edition and a DVD special edition to get there, though. Lucas is right to say that ANH was the most unfinished Star Wars movie -- it wasn't his fault, he gave it his best, and it was great but just not the huge production that the other films were.

The reason I don't like people using "Star Wars" to refer to A New Hope is because it's confusing. I'm a writer. I like clarity and I like people to be unambiguous with their comments. If someone says, "I really love Star Wars," I assume naturally they must be talking about the franchise, the saga, I don't assume they're about to say, "... but I hate the other movies." That would be so confusing I'd have no idea what they were even saying -- they love the six Star Wars movies and they hate every other movie? Huh? You have to be clear when you're talking or writing, it's communication, and saying "Star Wars" when you mean "The part of the Star Wars story called A New Hope" or "The episode that people call Episode IV" is just improper and unclear. It's the same as why I detest the use of the word "Sex" on forms that we fill out -- gender is the preferred word. The reason is clear: sex has two meanings, either the act of intercourse or the reproductive characteristics of an organism, whereas gender means ONLY one thing -- the reproductive characteristics of an organism. So it should read "Gender" because then there can be NO mistaking what is being asked. Whereas "sex" elicits the joke: "Yes please!" Because it is not clear what it means. You have to guess based on context. Exact same thing here with "Star Wars" -- I assume first that you mean the franchise or saga, and if you don't, I have to try to guess based on the context whether you might mean the movie now called A New Hope.

I think personally it should be renamed "The Artistic Work Formerly Known as Star Wars," sort of like a Prince reference.

 

Yes, you are correct, because the series has inevitably been known as "Star Wars the series", for the sake of communication when discussing multiple films, i sometimes refer to it as ANH because it is sometimes clearer what i am actually referring to. But this is only to appease those fans too ignorant to realise that "Star Wars" was still referred to as the title as late as the millenium. When the film was released in theaters in 1997, it wasn't "A New Hope"--it was Star Wars. The posters and trailers referred to that film as Star Wars, because that is what audiences know it as. When it was released on video, the spine had no reference to Episode IV or A New Hope--it still was referred to only as Star Wars. When someone said "Star Wars is my favourite movie" there was never any question because it was clear that they were talking about the 1977 film. If they wanted to refer to the overall three-film series they would say "I love the Star Wars series." Saying "I love Star Wars" is not poor communication on the part of the speaker--its poor interpretation on the part of the listener, because if they speaker intended it to be in reference to the series it would have been "the Star Wars series."

How then do you differentiate the films? By their actual titles! Star Wars came out in 1977, Empires Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983. You didn't have to say "episode v" or whatever, because the films had actual titles that didn't include "Star Wars" in them, except as part of the roll-up in the film as a stylistic device. A New Hope was never seen on any video box cover or re-release advertisement--it was always just a subtitle.

It wasn't until the 2004 DVD that the episode listing and subtitle began to be empahsised, and A New Hope and Episode IV brought into the foreground, due to the fact that the prequels were advertised not by their respective titles (ie Attack of the Clones) but by their episode number in relation to the original film. So really, no, Star Wars was not deleted in 1981--it was deleted in 2004, but by then the original title had been culturally ingrained in people.

As for people prefferring it, yes, i am talking about people, not fans of the series. This is why Star Wars grossed twice as much as Return of the Jedi when it was released in theaters in 1997, and why it is still beat Empire, which at that point was supposedly the clear fan favourite. Well, Empire very clearly was and still is the fan favourite--but hardcore fans of the overall series make up a very small percentage of viewers of the original Star Wars, because it is a film accessible to everyone. Star Wars is still, by far and without any comparison, the most overall popular film ever made.
Furthermore to say it looked rough until the 2004 dvd is just ignorant of anything technical or historic--by 1993, for example, the release prints being circulated were showing their age through some grain and scratches, but at the time the film was released in 1977, it looked as vibrant and sharp as it does on the DVD. The 1997 SE wasn't just an enhancement--it was also a restoration as in restoring the film to the quality it initially had at the time of its making but that had been physically degraded by the forces of time. By then of course some of the motion-control FX didn't hold up to contemporary film, but this is okay--films are a product of their era. Personally, the 1997 SE completely reeks of 1997 CGI technology in the same way that the original is obviously late 70's technology. The prequels follow similarly. You can't change this. Eventually you have to realise that certain things in a film are products of their era. Even the supposedly "timeless" Wizard of Oz has many 1930's artifacts if you know how to recognise them (because it was so long ago, most don't).

 

Marketing and Promotion:

-What was your overall impression of the number of product tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith?

Mine is that it was all geared towards the toy-buying public.

-Do you think there was too little, too much, or just enough marketing for Revenge of the Sith?

When it comes to my first impression, all I can say is Vader, Vader, Vader...

-How would you describe the marketing tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith? Effective? Classy? Tasteless? Overbearing? Well, if you like Burger King, then you could say it was tastefully done. The rest was a perfect blend of effective and overbearing.

-Did you think the tie-ins for the last prequel helped the movie overall or hurt it? How come? Helped it no doubt. Simply because kids get their parents to spend money.

Fan Enthusiasm:

-Did you skip work or school to see Revenge of the Sith opening day? If so, what was your reasoning behind it and what did you tell your boss / school?
Work. Told him that I was gonna be in late the next day because I had to go act like a kid, and catch the Star Wars premiere. He said he never would have guessed, I told him geeks like me lurk everywhere.


Epic Lineups:


-Any stories about your lineup experience you want to share?

Seeing all the young teens whack each other with their light sabers for an hour before the movie started. We had this "epic geek battle" with about 12 kids down in the front, and they just went to town on each other. It was grab-your-side-funny, watching those numbskulls totally botch the "Jedi-moves". The best part was the crowd gave them a standing "O" when they finished. Beach balls were bouncing around the theater, the vibe was awesome. The silence when the lights went down... almost spooky-quiet, until the roar when those blue letters appeared onscreen. A LONG TIME AGO... The applause made the hair on my neck stand up...


Digital Projection:

-Why did you decide to see Revenge of the Sith in a digital theater?

Why would anyone want to see it any other way?

-Could you tell the difference between the film in digital form and in 35mm format? If so, what were some of the differences, good or bad?

True "moviebuffs" know, casual fans may, or may not.

-Are you looking forward to a future of digitally projected movies, or in other words, does it matter to you that studios and theaters work together to make the change happen more quickly?

Digital is the only way to go.


PG-13:

The following section is for parents with younger children.
-Did you decide to let your kid(s) see Revenge of the Sith? How old was (were) your kid(s)?

My son was almost 9 when ROTS was released.

-Did you think Lucas should have made the final prequel PG instead of PG-13? How come?
Doesn't matter really.

-In your opinion, what age should a kid be before seeing Revenge of the Sith?
At the age that his or her parent feels that their child is old enough to understand that movies are make believe.

Fan Reaction:

The following questions apply to anyone wanting to respond!
3) What is your favorite Star Wars movie? How come?

ESB. For me, this film epitomizes the essence of Star Wars.

4) Have the prequels changed the way you looked at the Original Trilogy? In what ways?

The OT made Darth Vader an icon.
The PT failed to live up to the imagination of my youth, and basically left me with an unsatisfying taste in my mouth regarding the fall of Darth Vader. (I'm not bashing, just being honest, I loved the PT for what it was... not what I wanted it to be)

 

Happy to answer hour survey but very disappointed that the meat of the questions are requested to be answered only by post-younglings.

Marketing and Promotion:

-What was your overall impression of the number of product tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith?
A ton of action figures but I wish there had been an emphasis or art works - even the anachronistic lobby cards.

-Do you think there was too little, too much, or just enough marketing for Revenge of the Sith?
Could have used more.

-How would you describe the marketing tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith? Effective? Classy? Tasteless? Overbearing?
Effective but not hugely so - the midnight showings were the best example of marketing the movie.

-Did you think the tie-ins for the last prequel helped the movie overall or hurt it? How come?
Helped but in a limited way.


Fan Enthusiasm:

-Did you skip work or school to see Revenge of the Sith opening day? If so, what was your reasoning behind it and what did you tell your boss / school?
I did skip work - but because my boss and everyone else I work with knew the depth of my fandom, they all also knew where I would be so I had to take a vacation day.

Epic Lineups:

-Did you lineup for at least 12 hours in advance of Revenge of the Sith?s first midnight showing?
Wasn't necessary - I was in line about 4 hours.

-What do you like about lining up early for a Star Wars movie?
Definitely the camaraderie.

-Any stories about your lineup experience you want to share?
I was interviewed by both tv and radio stations - I had my lightsaber with me - and made the 11:00 news. One reporter couldn't resist borrowing the lightsaber, turning it on and doing what we all do.

Star Wars Celebration III:

-What did you think about the Celebration III store? Or rather, what went wrong?
No organization, too few cashiers, impossible lines.

-How long did you wait in line for the store? Did the ?Fast Path? system that event organizers tried to implement work at all?
I gave up at 5 hours. Didn't want to miss Celebration III.

-While waiting in line, did you have any good conversations with other fans? Was there a good sense of camaraderie despite the long waits?
Initially we were jolly - that evaporated as the time lengthened.

The below questions only apply to people who waited in line for the Lucas question-and-answer sessions:

-What time did you start lining up roughly? 3:30 A.M. in the rain that turned into a mushy snow.

-How many other people were in line at the time? over 50 but adding by the minute.

-Can you describe the organization of the lineup a bit? Where were people waiting, were there problems lining up, lineup confusions, etc.?
The weather really made the waiting miserable and then we learned that a huge amount of people just showed up and were allowed in front of us with great seats while we were relegated to the 2nd to the last back row. Not cool at all.

-How was the weather and were you prepared for it? Did it seem like other fans were wearing proper attire for the weather conditions?
No one was really prepared - we went from perfect weather to a January thaw.

-Do you have any stories about the lineup, like for instance problems between fans in line, issues with the organization of lineups, the cold, or anything else amusing that comes to mind? Feel free to share as much as you want.
I really want to voice my disappointment that our patience and our following the rules resulted in the worst seats in the house. We who paid a later price in the form of colds and other health problems but willing to do so for the chance to be in the same room as George Lucas did not leave with the same experience of those who got out of bed, had breakfast, were well rested and just walked in ahead of all of us who had been there hours before dawn.

-Ultimately, was the lineup worthwhile for you? Was seeing Lucas and hearing him speak worth the effort of lining up in the cold?
I'll stay say yes, but it's a

 

Hey,

Thanks for the commentary. Good stuff... There are only a few questions for people under 21, and those were just to see if there was actually any difference between fans, let's say, over 35 versus under 21.

I'm sure ANH looked great in theaters in 1977, for its time, etc., but it did not look great again by 1985 on VHS or whatever, because it was pretty much hard to watch until at least the THX versions and for me more like the Special Editions. Then the films looked amazing again, but even better by the 2004 DVD release.

You're also wrong about communication versus interpretation -- nobody says, "I love the Star Wars franchise" or "I love the Star Wars series," are you kidding me? Read what you are writing and tell me that doesn't sound ridiculous. WHO do YOU hang out with?! I've never heard ANYONE in the general public say that! If I say something like, "Yeah I wrote a book on the first Star Wars prequel," they might say something like, "Oh, nice, I love Star Wars!" They mean STAR WARS -- i.e. what that means, i.e. THE FRANCHISE, they don't mean, "Oh I love just the first Star Wars movie, that's what I"m talking about, uhh yeah." No. Nobody has ever said to me, "I love the Star Wars SERIES." Ever. I've never heard that. I've heard, "I love the classic trilogy" or "I love the originals" but never "I love the Star Wars series," that just sounds hokey.

 

I live in Australia BTW

Marketing and Promotion:

-What was your overall impression of the number of product tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith?

Nowhere near as big as TPM or even AOTC, but then that's a good thing as TPM was an avalanche which meant collectibles for ROTS were worth more.

-Do you think there was too little, too much, or just enough marketing for Revenge of the Sith?

Just enough, though the badges cost me a few $$$

-How would you describe the marketing tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith? Effective? Classy? Tasteless? Overbearing?

Some of them were a bit kitch, like the Burger King ones but I didn't really mind it.

-Did you think the tie-ins for the last prequel helped the movie overall or hurt it? How come?

I reckon it helped it.

Fan Enthusiasm:

-Did you skip work or school to see Revenge of the Sith opening day? If so, what was your reasoning behind it and what did you tell your boss / school?

I went to the midnight premiere even though I had class the next day. I felt like death warmed up but it was worth it.


Epic Lineups:

-Did you lineup for at least 12 hours in advance of Revenge of the Sith?s first midnight showing?

No, as where I live is kinda small I pretty much walked in. I had a bit of a job finding a seat though.



Star Wars Celebration III:

-What did you think about the Celebration III store? Or rather, what went wrong?

I didn't go, but one of my friends did and he said one of the main reasons that it went bad was because of Gen Con, particularly getting the action figure in the shop which could have been managed MUCH better.

The next question also is specific to a certain group of fans, namely fans who consider all six movies equal in quality and/or prefer not to judge them individually but as one story.
7) What is your rationale behind seeing the six Star Wars movies as equal entries in the saga? Describe briefly your philosophical viewpoint about the six movies and their quality.

I value to OT above the Prequel Trilogy and ESB above the entire saga, yet I do appreciate the films as a complete story as that was how George hand intended them to be. While I still have gripes about certain aspects of the films, I can easily put them aside in a more holistic sense. There is a very interesting comparison study that can be done in comparing the OT to the PT and vice versa, ROTS to ROTJ and even ROTS to ANH which are two extremely different films designed to be viewed consecutavely. It is a very strange experence watching the SW saga from TPM to ROTJ, particularly of how ROTS ends so darkly and how ANH is so light-hearted.

 

Mark Bladt from Haderslev, Denmark



Marketing and Promotion:

-What was your overall impression of the number of product tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith?
I feel that the amount of product tie-ins like burger meals and so on was to be expected for a movie release of this magnitude. It was ofcourse not as much as The Phantom Menace, which I believe has got to be the most hyped and advertised movie event in history.

-Do you think there was too little, too much, or just enough marketing for Revenge of the Sith?
Here in Denmark the level of marketing was just fine for my taste. I didn't have to search very hard to find a Star Wars ROTS related product, but since I'm a die hard Star Wars fan that's just the way I like it.

-How would you describe the marketing tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith? Effective? Classy? Tasteless? Overbearing?
Appropriate. Not to much and not to little.

-Did you think the tie-ins for the last prequel helped the movie overall or hurt it? How come?
I think it helped. It made more people aware that the last chapter of the Saga was not as silly/lighthearted as Episode I and that it was more down to business than Episode II. I think this helped bring back some of the fans that had "lost hope" after watching Episode I & II.


Fan Enthusiasm:

-Did you skip work or school to see Revenge of the Sith opening day? If so, what was your reasoning behind it and what did you tell your boss / school?
I didn't need to skip school.


Epic Lineups:

-Did you lineup for at least 12 hours in advance of Revenge of the Sith?s first midnight showing?
I went to another city with a better cinema and visited a friend. Me , my friend and his older brother went to see it on it's first midnight showing, but we didn't have to stand in line for very long.

-What do you like about lining up early for a Star Wars movie?
Never been to one.

-Any stories about your lineup experience you want to share?
Nope.


Fan Reaction:

What is your favorite Star Wars movie? How come?
I've always loved Empire Strikes Back, even though the Star Wars movie I've watched the most is A New Hope. A New Hope is actually the movie I have watched more than any other movie.

I guess what makes me love ESB more than any other Star Wars movie is that the characters seem to behave in a more believable way, than they do in any of the other Star Wars movies. I like the serious tone of the movie and the development of the characters as well as the inter-character relationsships. Leia and Han's love blossoms, Vader becomes much more sinister, the Emperor is revealed as is the larger plot of the story.

Kershner is not afraid to go were Lucas won't, making the characters do things that you don't see in any of the other movies for example Han cutting open the TaunTaun to save Luke from freezing to death. We see a much more evil and tyranical Empire, yes I know they blew up Alderaan in ANH, but in ESB the tyranny of the Empire is much more realistic. We are introduced to Yoda, or reintroduced depending on the order in which you watch the movies, and Yoda is a much more strict and serious teacher/mentor who is actually scary in certain scenes.

I like the way that the movie ends making you exited and wanting to see what will happen next.

And do I really have to mention... "No.I am your father."?


Have the prequels changed the way you looked at the Original Trilogy? In what ways?
Like it was expected and intended by Lucas it changed the way I look at Vader. I now see what he once was, a person who desired to do good but who was deceived by an evil madman and who was a victim of the times and circumstances.

This may have been mentioned by others

 

Hey,

Thanks for the responses. What's interesting actually is that the advertising budget on TPM was very small -- LFL spent less on TPM than almost any other movie released that year. Only a $20M marketing and promotion budget. But the reason it seemed over-promoted was the fact that it had so many tie-in partners and they spent the money advertising the film and the saga, with their product launches, so it was just an unreal amount of free advertising for LFL.

ROTS actually had more promotional tie-in partners than all of the other Star Wars films, and it boasted a much larger advertising and promotion budget (closer to $50M as I understand). There is no doubt that ROTS was much larger in scale than AOTC; Lucasfilm intended this. Interestingly, in revenue taken in from licensees, TPM set a new record at the time with $2 billion, AOTC fell to $1.2 billion (still higher than any other movie ever made except for TPM; Lion King was behind that at $1 billion, the first ever film to make that much from its tie-ins and licensing), and Lucasfilm predicted that ROTS would take in somewhere between the two, around $1.5 billion was the goal they set. It actually doubled that, taking in $3 billion in licensed merchandising revenue, by far the largest haul ever for a movie. I think the reason that it seemed like TPM was over-merchandised is because so much of the stuff went unsold. Sure, they sold $2 billion in stuff, which was absolutely incredible, a remarkable achievement, but the licensees went CRAZY, they probably made enough stuff that if it all sold at retail price the total would have been $3 billion. So that's why it seemed like the stuff wasn't selling well, even though it was actually the most successfully licensed film in history by dollar total.

It was a chain reaction because the hype before TPM's release, I mean well before (like Special Edition releases, etc.), caused licensees to bid huge sums of money for the rights to whatever (toys, games, t-shirts, beach towels, whatever), and the amount of money these companies paid then forced them to make enough product to recoup their investments, and that is why the market flooded with product that just couldn't be absorbed by consumers. In many cases, though, the licensees did not suffer much. Hasbro, for instance, did extremely well with The Phantom Menace. A lot of the tabloid media reported otherwise, but The Wall Street Journal (probably the most reputable financial source on publicy traded companies like HAS) had a whole writeup in July 1999 I think it was about how well the toys had sold, how Hasbro had actually increased its estimated revenue from the film, etc. It was mainly the retailers that suffered with TPM, because they had all this crap they had ordered and had to mark it down to $3.99 per toy or whatever, as we all saw in stores, and that gave fans, the media, and just consumers in general the impression that TPM stuff wasn't selling well -- it was, after all, still on the shelves, so it must have bombed. In reality, though, it wasn't poor sales but massive over-production that led to such backlogs of stuff.

That's just one bit of info for anyone interested, obviously my books have a lot more information and I look forward to sharing this second book with you all.

 

Fan Enthusiasm:

-Did you skip work or school to see Revenge of the Sith opening day? If so, what was your reasoning behind it and what did you tell your boss / school?

Yes, I did. I called in sick to work. I told him I had a headache so bad I couldn't see straight. He bought it.

Epic Lineups:

-Did you lineup for at least 12 hours in advance of Revenge of the Sith?s first midnight showing?
Nope. I was there five hours early, though and that was long enough.

-What do you like about lining up early for a Star Wars movie?
The people you meet. Learning their love for the film and seeing the costumes.

-Any stories about your lineup experience you want to share?
Making new friends!!

 

Bowen - I didn't realize you're already a published author. I checked out the book site and was shifted over to Amazon.com - I WILL buy your TPM book but I need to fester a bit. I just placed a book order with them yesterday so will have to swallow the shipping fee anew and somehow that just gets to me. But after a few days I will be healed.

 

I'd rather not put my full name so would first name and last initial work?

Forrest P. from California

Marketing and Promotion:

-What was your overall impression of the number of product tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith?

It was about what I expected considering that this was going to be the final Star Wars film.

-Do you think there was too little, too much, or just enough marketing for Revenge of the Sith?

I thought it was just enough, though it went a bit longer than I thought it needed to post-release. I'm sure it was because of the at that time impending DVD release, but it still seemed kind of strange.

-How would you describe the marketing tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith? Effective? Classy? Tasteless? Overbearing?

They were definitely effective as friends of mine who, while they had seen the films were certainly not Star Wars fans were getting excited about Episode 3.

-Did you think the tie-ins for the last prequel helped the movie overall or hurt it? How come?

I think they helped the movie as they built the perception in people's minds that it was going to be a very different movie than it ended up being. A lot of people wanted to see suited Vader again, and given just how much of the RotS tie-ins were related to the suited Vader wielding his crimson saber, it's understandable that the general impression created was that this would be(for lack of a better term) the 'second coming' of the cinematic icon of evil that Vader still is to an extent, but was to a greater extent before the Prequels.

Fan Enthusiasm:

-Did you skip work or school to see Revenge of the Sith opening day? If so, what was your reasoning behind it and what did you tell your boss / school?

I didn't tell them anything on the day of Episode 3, so I'm guessing they assumed I was sick. I however was honest with my class that I'd missed it because "It's Star Wars." I'm assuming that the faculty found out, but it was common knowledge in my fairly small school that I was a die-hard Star Wars fan(especially as this was after C3 which I already missed school to go to.)


Epic Lineups:

-Did you lineup for at least 12 hours in advance of Revenge of the Sith?s first midnight showing?

Yep, I was the first in line at the theater, and one of the few who was in costume.

-What do you like about lining up early for a Star Wars movie?

My favorite part of it is the community. It brings you together with people that you would have never met otherwise.

-Any stories about your lineup experience you want to share?

There was someone who had one of those plastic carpets you sometimes see in a bathroom hanging from a string around his neck with a paper sign taped to it labeled "Homemade Wookiee Costume." One guy went around doing imitations of Yoda that were really well done, but were very very wrong given some of the content.

Star Wars Celebration III:

I would include pictures for this section, but I unfortunately lost them all when my computer went down. My costume however was a Jedi based off Obi-Wan, however I didn't have a leather Jedi belt so I tied it off and looked vaguely Samurai I suppose, but it worked.

-What did you think about the Celebration III store? Or rather, what went wrong?

The real question is what didn't go wrong? I went there just to buy a poster(which was sold out) and a limited edition Vader. That shouldn't take anywhere near the time it did. The biggest mistake they made though, was running out of the Yoda onesies.

-How long did you wait in line for the store? Did the ?Fast Path? system that event organizers tried to implement work at all?

I don't remember the "fast path" system so I can't answer.

-While waiting in line, did you have any good conversations with other fans? Was there a good sense of camaraderie despite the long waits?

There was an amazing sense of camaraderie especially when you consider that none of us had ever met before. That actually can be used to sum up Celebration III fo

 

Marketing and Promotion:

-What was your overall impression of the number of product tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith?:

I think the number was adequate - there were many, many toys, action figures, commercials - all these were shown to us months before RotS came out.

-Do you think there was too little, too much, or just enough marketing for Revenge of the Sith?

As a Star Wars nut, I would have liked to seen more.

Fan Enthusiasm:

-Did you skip work or school to see Revenge of the Sith opening day? If so, what was your reasoning behind it and what did you tell your boss / school?:

I skipped a friend's graduation to stand in line for RotS. If she hadn't been graduating, though, she would have been right there with me.


Epic Lineups:

-Did you lineup for at least 12 hours in advance of Revenge of the Sith?s first midnight showing?:

10 - almost 12.

-What do you like about lining up early for a Star Wars movie?:

The interaction of the fans! You see people you'd never expect to see at a midnight showing of a sci-fi films: people in suits, older people, toddlers with their lightsabers. There's a certain companionship and friendship - you save a spot for someone you don't know so they can go to the bathroom, or let the guy next to you borrow some of the blanket. You're all there to see something that means so much to you and finding that same awe in another person really just opens you up.

-Any stories about your lineup experience you want to share?

At my line-up, some guy dressed as Vader had a laptop and was showing the films as we waited. Before the film started, as soon as we got into the theatre, the people in Jedi costumes lined up, a dozen on each side with Darth Vader standing in the center. When he told them in that wheezy voice to go, they ran straight at each other with their lightsaber, attempting to reinact the battle of Geonosis. It was one of the best things I've ever seen.

Fan Reaction:

Looking for younger fans (under 21) to answer the following few questions.
1) Do you prefer the prequels to the original trilogy? Why or why not? Please be as specific as possible.

18 years old here. This is a very hard question for me, because even in Star Wars, there's debate in our community about which one's better and you always hear, from people young and old, that the OT is better. It's a general consensus that the OT has to be better - and in all honesty, it is. But in terms of preference, I will always prefer the PT over the OT. I can't really explain why. The OT deals with fantasical issues, that when I saw it, had no bearing on me. When I saw the PT as it came out, there in the moment, I saw issues in myself that dealed with the stage I was going through at that time in my life - such as problems with a mentor and on a lesser scale, the fall-out of a friendship. I've always been fascinated with Darth Vader as a character, and it was nice to see him from start to finish. With the PT, I feel as if it's okay for me to disagree with some aspects of it, because everybody does! Everybody hates Jar-Jar and it's ok! With the OT, since I wasn't around when it was made, I feel as if my opinion is less valued because I grew up on the PT. I can't go around saying I hated ANH (which I don't!) because people would jump down my throat. There is no fear of reprisal in the form of the PT because people bash it all the time, and I like that freedom.

2) Why do you think the prequels have taken so much criticism from the media, considering that they have received overall positive reviews, many fans, and made huge sums of money?

Because the critics are right: the movies aren't that good in terms of plotting, character development or dialouge. The difference between the fans and the critics is that we care about these faults but don't allow it to ruin the movie for us. We still have these movies, and they're still ours.

The following questions apply to anyone wanting to respond!
3) What is your favorite Star

 

Marketing and Promotion:

-What was your overall impression of the number of product tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith?

Considering TPM's marketing was waay overblown (which was completely understandable considering its been 16 years since a new SW film came out), and AOTC was very underwelming, ROTS, I beleive struck a perfect balance between the two. It wasen't subtle but it wasen't monsterous either. It was just right for the very last SW film ever made. One little problem I have with the marketing of ROTS was the overbearing image of Darth Vader, when he only appeared in the movie for what? 5 minutes? (in the suit).

-Do you think there was too little, too much, or just enough marketing for Revenge of the Sith?

As a hardcore obsessive fan, anything SW is too little, but speaking from a business POV (or as much as I know of marketing) I felt it was just right, but perhaps in the eyes of a regular non-SW person, maybe a BIT too much.

-How would you describe the marketing tie-ins for Revenge of the Sith? Effective? Classy? Tasteless? Overbearing?

Somewhere between Effective and Classy. Most of the tie-ins like the visual dictionary and the comics are very effective but in instances like the novelization and the Making of Book, those were pure class. In cases like the image of Darth Vader and Chewbacca: Yes, a bit overbearing.

-Did you think the tie-ins for the last prequel helped the movie overall or hurt it? How come?

Definetly helped it. Novels like Labyrinth of Evil and the ROTS novelization hyped up the movie like nothing else could have. The image of Chewbacca and Darth Vader on everything from lunch boxes, to crackerjacks, though false advertisement at times, WAS very effective in bringing the general audience who didn't care for the last two films but loved the OT back in the seats.


Fan Enthusiasm:

-Did you skip work or school to see Revenge of the Sith opening day? If so, what was your reasoning behind it and what did you tell your boss / school?

I was homeschooled at the time, but if I had a job yet or was still going to regular school, I definitely would have called in sick.


Epic Lineups:

-Did you lineup for at least 12 hours in advance of Revenge of the Sith?s first midnight showing?

I wish I did. I would have lined up for weeks, but I only got to line up for 8 hours which went like the breeze. It was very exciting.

-What do you like about lining up early for a Star Wars movie?

The anticipation and meeting the fans.

-Any stories about your lineup experience you want to share?

Not really any specific stories other than lightsaber fighting in the parking lot and talking with fellow fans. Overal, it was probally one of the greatest times of my life. I was with my girlfriend who is also an obsessive SW fan, so it was pretty unreal. I'll never forget it.

Digital Projection:

-Why did you decide to see Revenge of the Sith in a digital theater?

Lucas being the inventional pioneer of movie and arts technology, you'd be a fool not to see ROTS atleast once in a digital theatre.

-Could you tell the difference between the film in digital form and in 35mm format? If so, what were some of the differences, good or bad?

The regular film version was VERY blurry and dark. I could barely see the details of what was going on at all.

-Are you looking forward to a future of digitally projected movies, or in other words, does it matter to you that studios and theaters work together to make the change happen more quickly?

I only really notice the differences in SW movies, but yeah I'm all for movies in digital. Its like back in the 60's when color became a new big thing, why woulden't you want it?



Fan Reaction:

Looking for younger fans (under 21) to answer the following few questions.
1) Do you prefer the prequels to the original trilogy? Why or why not? Please be as specific as possible.

Being 18 now, I grew up with the PT as they were coming out and waiting for each episode and everything

 

I should have noted that I was 16 when Episode 3 came out and I'm now 18.

 

Fan Reaction:

Looking for younger fans (under 21) to answer the following few questions.
1) Do you prefer the prequels to the original trilogy? Why or why not? Please be as specific as possible.

I do prefer the prequels to the original trilogy probably because I sw them first. I'd never seen a Star Wars movie untill I watched Ep. III. I also like the slightly more "real" special effects in the prequel trilogy.

2) Why do you think the prequels have taken so much criticism from the media, considering that they have received overall positive reviews, many fans, and made huge sums of money?

I'd say because of some more matrue ideas, but that's just my opinion.

The following questions apply to anyone wanting to respond!
3) What is your favorite Star Wars movie? How come?

Ep. III. It depicts Anakin's fall prefectly.

4) Have the prequels changed the way you looked at the Original Trilogy? In what ways?

I saw them first so I can't comment.

5) Have you noticed a difference in opinion between fans under 25 and fans over 25 regarding the prequels? Do you think the younger fans like the prequels more, or that the older fans are harsher to the new trilogy?

I haven't really noticed much of this.

 

I will respond to you via email.

 

Hey all,

Oops! I didn't think this would get bumped back to the top. I am about to submit the final draft of my book to the publisher (in the next three days, I'm finishing some polishing work on the book, last fact checking, etc.). It's unlikely I'd be able to add any more at this point. Also, a few of the last responses here, while they were very amusing and had good stuff, did not have full names or locations and that information is vital to me being able to include commentary.

I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond, though, some good stuff here. Also some things that make me cringe, haha, only because my books are definitely pro-prequels and I think the media has done quite a number on ruining the facts about fan opinion. So much so that you'll have fans, like here, who prefer the prequels, or prefer a prequel over an OT movie, yet still are convinced somehow that it's not ok to think that, so they have to justify it like, "Well the OT is better, but I prefer the PT." Better or worse = qualitative judgments, always matters of opinion, and favorite = best. I am a critic myself, and have no trouble saying the six Star Wars movies are the *best* movies ever made. That's my professional opinion as a film reviewer with extensive historical knowledge of film and the film industry. I don't really care that Joe Blow at Such and Such publication thinks I'm crazy because Citizen Kane is better than The Phantom Menace. Hey, I love Citizen Kane a lot, I wrote a 19 page review of it, but it's still not as entertaining or meaningful to me as The Phantom Menace is and therefore I can't say it's better. Objectively speaking, while Kane did much for the film industry, TPM did more, so there's really no logical grounds for holding opinions like that except to appease the media and basically sound intellectual (though I've seen most of the major classic films and studied them, I don't need to pretend I think Kane is better than Star Wars to make myself feel smart or something, hehe).

To be fair, though, my two Star Wars history books (the one out and the one upcoming) focus on the movies mainly from a film history perspective and look at the movies as far as what their place is in popular culture and the history of film. It so happens that each of the Star Wars prequels was a monumental event both in film history and popular culture history (with TPM being the first-ever digitally projected film, introducing Surround EX 6.1 channel surround, and being the first movie ever with fully digital, talking co-stars, for instance, and AOTC being the first major movie ever shot fully in digital). Though I focus very little on the actual quality of the movies, except to go over the critical reviews and report fan reaction, I always find it disappointing that the Star Wars films have received completely undue criticism about dialogue and plot, the two areas the saga is *strongest* in! The plot of the saga is what makes it great; for my money, you can't find a single other story as great as the Star Wars story. Furthermore, I think it's a pretty lame cop-out that Star Wars dialogue is the most quoted film dialogue in the history of the world perhaps just because it's "bad" or something. There's a reason everyone quotes Yoda and Obi-Wan and Star Wars in general -- every film is loaded with great, quotable dialogue.

Whatever dialogue is not good is meant not to be good -- i.e. Anakin's romantic dialogue. I do take the time in my book to defend that, because it needs defense since only about 2% of fans seem to "get it." I won't rehash everything I say in my book, you'll have to buy it for that But suffice to say, Anakin has no experience with women, he's a Jedi, and to assume that Lucas wrote bad dialogue -- completely unintentionally -- and that Jonathan Hales never even noticed or said anything, and everyone on set said nothing, is just kind of silly. Perhaps many people would prefer unrealism over realism. I prefer realism. I prefer that Anakin speak as his character really would speak, which is to say awkwardly (with ro

 

exactemente -
Anakin could not be the swaggering, sardonic, sarcastic and glib Han nor the Romeo of Shakespeare...he's inexperienced, awkward, honest in a very unintentional way - IMO the first scene between him and Padme in AotC rings so true....stumbling over his own eagerness to make an impression, as would any fanboy on his first date.

and I agree with every positive word of your reviews of the prequels - and I too have taken classes in film viewing and construction, humanities pertaining to filmmaking and can say "Rosebud" with the best of them.
I have a copy of Citizen Kane but I never watch it- but it's a great, great film by the equally great Orson Welles - plus placed in the historical context of the wrath of Hearst and its effect on Welles - well, now we have another evil empire. Conversely - I do have several copies (formats, etc) of each of the prequels and watch them .........let's just a A LOT.

and Bowen - I did just buy your first book on TPM - finally bit the bullit over at Amazon. grrrrrrl - I hate paying full shipping two days apart, but whatdya goin' do? There were only two copies left!