PT ROTS gets some love on the online starwars.com poll!

That's a bit... needless. I think what HD meant is that ROTS is quite well-liked in the fandom, but without being appreciated for some its subtler aspects. Some of its rating also seems to derive from the fact that some consider it a marked improvement over the former prequels, which means they like it more for not being something else: a slightly twisted form of approval.

But yes, the words "over-rated" and "prequel trilogy" do seem to make an oxymoron. I guess people sometimes speak highly of the visual design or the music, and some of the action scenes, perhaps; and maybe, when it comes to casting, Ewan McGregor. You rarely encounter flowing praise online, however.

Which makes me thankful for people that do speak up or probe into the movies as HD does.

 

Isn't this supposed to be about ROTS and what's good about it?
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to be blunt 2/3 of PT threads are about what a wonderfully unadulterated masterpiece that particular PT film is

 

Which forum is that on?

 

if you're not being facetious my friend, was talking about this forum

or has been until recently.

Good to see appreciation threads for AOTC though, but not many on the TPM. That's curious to me.

But to keep on topic (which I always try to do) well done to ROTS, and all that

 

My mom - who was born in 1941 and has no reason to have a crush on any of the actors, have an informed opinion or anything - was visibly shaken after she saw ROTS for the first time and ended up taking a tranquilizer. She claims the other five films are miles behind ROTS and I can see why.

On top of that, she otherwise has an odd taste in films. The other day she compared Donnie Darko to Twilight, for example and said that they both suck.

 

The result's not a million miles away from the poll here in Saga.

 

Is that supposed to be a joke?

 

Lucas didn't even write A New Hope by himself. Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz helped out on some of the dialogue, mostly dealing with the witty exchanges between Han Solo and Leia onboard the Death Star.

 

Good to know that they're responsible for some of my least favorite character moments. People find Anakin and Padme grating, well I find everyone's sniping on the Death Star to be incredibly obnoxious.

Edit: Han calling Leia "sister" feels more and more dated every time I hear it. Yuck.

 

A lot of the dialogue in that section really works, IMO.

If I look past clunkers like "sister" and "flyboy".

 

Even ESB has moments where the film stops and there are little bits of dialogue dumps. Those things work if they are sandwiched between humor or dramatic bits. They're all a part of just about any film.

One example in ESB is Leia's instructions to the pilots about the fighter escorts and Ion cannon.

 

Their antagonistic lines and behavior towards each other didn't exactly make them endearing. A simple case of overkill, really.

 

Yes. And your wording is telling: "Even TESB".

Which I'm with you on. It's a little gasping when you notice that the most recondite of all the films (from a certain point of view) has the same design feature/flaw.

Almost like a watermark in a way. What would these movies be without clunk and dumping?

It's part of the fun of Star Wars, basically. I don't really grouse about these moments because it's all part of the experience, as far as I'm concerned.

I like the way the actors carry the lines. Star Wars is actually a pretty hilarious film. A grand caper.

I wouldn't have it any other way, personally.

 

ROTS is better than ESB. A classic tragedy as opposed to a soap opera plot. And no space slugs. It's all a matter of informed opinion.

 

LOL! I think that's a bit unfair, though.

It's like pitting jazz music against the blues.

The Kershner film is very controlled and maturely-delivered. To say it has a "soap opera" plot is really accusing all of the Star Wars films of the same thing.

Plot is of lesser importance in TESB. That's not to say it doesn't have one or that it's particularly lax about it, but the film is more a journey into ambient uncertainty.

The plot, in other words, is a bit of dressing -- another vapour or mask that conceals deeper, enticing truths.

It's very much a film about tone and mood, with dark revelations lurking just below the surface.

Without TESB, there would also be no saga; at least, nothing like the one we know.

IMO, anyway.

 

I think you're right. The story and character points in TESB set the stage for a SAGA, not just an original film with two sequels.

 

I don't know. I never liked the entitled Han, the whole asteroid field and space slug arc and it gets a bit boring. Visuals and the noir vibe are incredible, though. Almost chanelling Bergman right there.

The soap opera thing - should have added a winking smiley, sorry. I was trying to reimagine it as a Venezuelan telenovela where nobody knows where they came from, who is their mommy, who is their daddy and so on. One has to watch one of those to see what I mean, and I have a weird sense of humour.

 

I'll let you off, then.

Okay, fair.

And that is odd, now that you mention it.

No-one seems to have parents in Star Wars (besides the obvious ones).

 

Now I want to write a cross of this and SW. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassandra_(telenovela)

 

A bit off topic but...does it shock anyone else to realize that ROTS is over 10 years old?

I remember celebrating the five year anniversary since it was released as though it was yesterday...

It's still my favorite Star Wars film but gosh is it odd to realize how much time has passed.

 

Yep. Time has flown by since ROTS, not to even mention the release of Episode One.

Cryogenic and Ewok Poet, TESB is my favorite SW film, but I do have to say it's placement in the original trilogy helps it immensely. It can kind of riff around and find itself slowly. And it doesn't even have to have a real ending…..and it doesn't. It leaves a ton of loose ends to be wrapped up nice and tidy in ROTJ. And it can easily ignore much of Episode 4, or at least just leave it behind.
I love middle chapters because you're in the thick of it. And TESB really puts the characters in the thick of things. It takes risks. But, it doesn't have to resolve them. It is the perfect Saga film in that it really benefits from that whole idea immensely.

 

It's interesting how drawn people are to domiciliary conspiracy and incestuous affairs and inter-breeding.

It is.

It's even odder to realize that Episode I began filming in 1997: 18 years ago.

That is almost the same span of time between the filming of Episode I and the release of the original film: 20 years.

And as much time has now elapsed, between the theatrical release of Episode I and the present moment, as between the release of Episode I and ROTJ.

We're getting old.

 

for me it's even odder that the whole episode 1 really started in a November morning in 1994.

Lucas was up all night (the night before) because his daughter (Amanda? Katie?) was ill.

Gosh 1994...seems a life time ago.

 

The prequel trilogy began with sleep deprivation.

Some would aver that that explains a lot.

 

That is the one that doesn't seem real. It seemed like we waited ages. I suppose much of it might be all the changes I went through during that time: from young kid to well into my twenties. That's a time of great change for most people, emotionally, physically, etc.

It's still crazy though.


Time speeds up as you get older. Explain that. Time dilation?

 

Not to be a bore, but I think it's simply that, as we accumulate more years, the same pocket of time seems to whiz by increasingly faster.

But who knows? Perhaps the flow of time is occurring at different rates for different people (according to relativity, it is for all of us, actually -- but only very minutely).

The Star Wars logo has begun to scare me. The way it recedes? It's a chillingly precise metaphor for the way the past fades from view, until it seems only a memory, or a dream...