Found this AOTC review on Netflix today

Let me know what you think about his conclusions.

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[i] It's hard to know what's more off about this movie, the 50's era, inhibited, pre-'sweet valley high'/'A Summer Place' dialogue, or the orgy of walking, flying, rolling, grunting, belching, blasting and exploding silicon-coated computer cartoons that are meant to transport the audience to that galaxy far, far away. They took me about as far as a playstation. But that's just where Lucas has spent his time in the intervening twenty years between trilogies. LucasCo. has earned most of it's revenue from creating special effects for other movies, and by saturating the video game market with star wars (TM! you bet) product. During this time, old George was replacing everything he learned at film school with playstation code. The video game spin-offs were the best part of Episode One, and I imagine it'll be the same this time. The movie is all technology. In the end, it's all so flat that only a sugar junkie could really go anywhere with it. I'm not sure it was even fun. And it's terrible to be bored in a movie like this. It's just excruciating. Pokemon and Power Ranger fans may disagree....if you count yourself among them, then this is YOUR HOLY GRAIL. Star Wars is a fixture in the culture, and so we can't ignore it. It's family. The best thing for fans of the genre and the series to do is to write your own scripts and make your own movies. Star Wars has life, and it'll live beyond its creator, much as Star Trek, same as The Odyssey. Meanwhile...George Lucas, poisoning us with sugared cereal and predigested, uninspired, kiddy-ride anti-ideas has become, truly become the Dark Side, and he has us by the throats. We can't save him, and he apparently can't save himself. Oh boy. But don't wait for the bad guys to win, get out there, true believers, with your ideas and comics and internet movies, and bring balance to the force. [/i]

 

No, he doesn't play video games, but he does sell them. -=sigh=-

 

OUCH!

 

Ok, so I?ll be one of the first to admit that the PT doesn?t hold up to direct dramatic or thematic scrutiny when compared to the OT. That having been said however, it is a base over-simplification to equate either Ep I or Ep 2 with simple Playstation fare. First, let?s get the literal comparison out of the way. As a PS2 owner myself, I can state unequivocally that the CG in both TPM and the aforementioned AOTC is proverbial light-years beyond ANYTHING that Sony or it?s vendors have released for any PS machine. Now granted, LFL has been synonymous with marketing since Kenner first introduced us all to the 3 ¼? line. However, I must contend that there has not been a major blockbuster released since then that has not spawned a countless number of home and arcade-style gaming counterparts in its own right. In fact, Hollywood has even dredged the depths to the other end of the spectrum by actually making ?movies? based purely on video game offerings. Who remembers Mario Bros.? Although rife with clever witticisms as well as the overt, throwback movie references such as ?Sweet Valley High? and ?A Summer Place?, and the obligatorily condescending pop-culture iconic allusions to both Pokemon and the ever-colorful and always-mundane Power Rangers, this review purports little more than a childish attempt to slam GL. I can agree that the stories for both Ep I and Ep II have suffered under the cardboard, cookie-cutter direction of His Flannelness, and that his cinematic vision extends little further than the monitor of his iMac, but to liken either film to meager video game submissions is at best laughable. There are fantastic and wonderful moments in each movie, and in certain instances, it is the virtual backgrounds themselves that provide the marvel. The reviewer continues by actually reveling in their own juvenility, supporting the argument with such non-sequitors as ?sugared cereal and predigested, uninspired, kiddy-ride anti-ideas?. It is my suggestion that this reviewer stick to the genre which best appears to suit them; that of the video game, amusement park, and Saturday morning breakfast cereal, since apparently little else will serve to relieve such ?excruciating boredom? in their life. Silly reviewer, Trix are for kids.

On a positive note, I will give them points for use of the word, ?orgy?; always a plus in any review.


MTFBWY.

 

I concur!!!

 

But don't wait for the bad guys to win, get out there, true believers, with your ideas and comics and internet movies, and bring balance to the force.

Notice that by making fan films we "bring balance to the force." I think that is the important part of the review...

Doin my part to bring the Force into balance...

 

Well, like I've always said -- I don't count the prequels as "Star Wars." They're prequels. That's it. Whatever GL stumbled across in E4-E6, it's not present in the prequels.

And while being in the tech industry, it's heresy for me to say it, but he went overboard with the CGI. Yoda was so much cooler as a Muppet. And the backgrounds -- true, the backgrounds were extra-vivid and shiney and candy-coated, but there's really no substitute for a well-done matte painting. Same thing with all the spaceships -- models (REAL) just look so much more realistic than a perfectly built, perfectly dimensioned, perfectly colored 3D model.

That, and being a proppy person -- WHERE'S ALL THE PROPS??? The Clonetroopers were all CGI! Someone had to actually MAKE the armor instead of steal a copy from LFL! And there's no pieces of the Death Star to auction off on eBay. It's like, in the event of a catastrophic sun flare or an EMP going off by Skywalker Ranch, the prequels would CEASE TO EXIST!

And really -- wouldn't the 4-armed scuzzy figh guy cook at the diner have looked much better as a Muppet? I think so.

I wouldn't even touch on the subject of acting...or the lack thereof.

As if the real SW had acting, too, but I can pretend. It was real enough when I was 5.

 

In addition to my heretic thoughts on Star Wars, I'd also like add, off the subject, that I do not, will not, and never have acknowledged Dave Prowse as "Darth Vader." While he makes a big deal about it, as do most other Troopers, in reality he never did anything but stand there. He didn't fight, didn't do any stunts, and didn't provide the voice, and wasn't the guy under the mask when they took it off in ROTJ.

That's another aspect of SW that's bugged me since day one, and I felt the need to vent since this thread seemed most appropriate. So there. I vented.

 

Oh, come now. He had to stand around for hours on end, looking all menacy and gesticulating with his gloved hands. He even got to to do that cool throat-pinch chokey thingy with his fingers a couple of times. If that isn't the essence of Vader...


Butt seriously (if at all possible), back to topic.

I think the points about matte paintings, puppets, props, etc. are all just signs of the times. What we have with Ep's I & II are evolution, for better or worse within this genre of film.

Matte paintings had been used since the 30's to make movie backgrounds, most notably in Gone With the Wind & even Citizen Kane. What GL did, with the OT, was to take the art form to a new, and almost perfected analog level. What we have now is the next logical, evolutionary extension of that - the digital matte painting.

I think GL might have actually somewhat pioneered the use of a muppet as a central character with the introduction of Yoda. I can recall Labyrinth & Dark Crystal relying heavily on their use, but those actually came after ESB. Again, the digital "puppet" is now the next evolutionary level of the physical, and somewhat limited puppet.

As far as props, well, I'm all for 'em. Toys should be played with. But hey, when you've created a digital army to fight in a digital battle, I guess you're left with digital props. But that's not to suggest that LFL still doesn't rely heavily on scale models, artist renderings, etc. As digital-heavy as the PT has been, there have been some substantial, PHYSICAL creations by the design department as well, in the form of ships, podracers, sets, etc.

GL pioneered some amazing cinematic things with the OT, and for those of us that were at the oh-so impressionable ages of 5 to 10 when they were released, will undoubtedly love them moreso than anything that his computer spits out nowadays.

Digital is the next step in the food chain of film. And no, I don't think it's perfect, and they haven't gotten it quite right...yet. However, digital speaks to those impressionable children out there now that are just growing up on such visual story-telling. Those same children who look back at the OT and laugh and giggle at the matte paintings, muppets and props are also the ones that cheer Ani in the podrace and cringe at the sight of the Reek in the Arena.

Can't really defend the "acting" in any of the films...

GL = visionary

GL ¥ director