[ROTS] *Official* ROTS Initial Reaction Thread

Don't get me wrong, I love TPM and AOTC. But I think ROTS was so much better that those two its almost embarrassing.

I was drained emotionally after seeing it. I knew it would be sad, but the music, scenery, acting, lines, everything was pitch perfect.

EDIT: I think the only disappointment is that the Sifo-Dyas/erased archives wasn't explained. Unless I totally missed it.

 

i def want to see it again.
but the younglings in the council room scene is so gut wrenching.....

 

And here's the kicker...Anakin murders people, murders Jedi, young and old, kills his friends, and is responsible for the death of the woman he loved. And yet you still desperately feel bad for the guy and want him to save the day at the last moment.

You're EXACTLY right. Just for being able to pull that off Lucas should be heralded as one of the all time greats.. I mean truly. He, and Hayden shares quite a lot of responsibility, has created a character who we care deeply about, and even after everything in ROTS we still want to save him. I wish people would stop complaining about the prequels, because whether they want it or not, for everyone who has seen them, their perception of the OT will totally change. It's an amazing feat of filmmaking.

 

Wow. Saw it yesterday and am still stunned. Incredible. Heartbreaking. Epic in the grandest sense. It was like watching one of the great Greek tragedies -- but without the catharthsis -- or seeing a brilliant staging of Shakespeare's MacBeth -- Palpy played Anakin with a skill that Lady MacBeth would envy.


A few initial reactions:

- From two ten year old boys leaving the theater: "The movie wasn't scary, just very sad." From the mouths of babes....

- Artoo and Yoda stole the show. Artoo's poptart-esque egresses from Anakin's starfighter drew chuckles every time, as did the hangar scene at the openning of the film. Yoda hitching a ride on Chewie's arm got applause and the whole theater cheered when the diminutive Jedi Master smoked those two red guards.

- Ian McDiarmond is an amazing Sidious, oily, grotesque -- almost pornagraphic in the way he delights in slaughter and pain.

- Obi-Wan is the consumate Jedi. If you need a Sith dismembered, Obi's your man!

- The image of Anakin writhing on the shore of the lava lake will haunt me for a long time -- Memo to Peter Jackson: THIS is what happens when an organic being falls into a volcano!

- Hearing James Earl Jones speak Padme's name caused a great deal of cognitive dissonance -- but in a good way.

- Artoo remembers EVERYTHING! Wahoo!

- Best of the prequels. Thank you George and Co!


A Few Analytical Thoughts/Questions:

- Is Padme really dead? I think so and yet something about that funeral scene, especially the blooming flowers, evoked images of Snow White and/or Sleeping Beauty. It's a far-fetched idea, I know, and yet hope springs eternal.

- Did Darth Plagueis create Anakin?

- The Yoda/Palpy duel, Sideous victory or draw? I think they fought to an impasse, and Yoda bailed because he knew neither could win.

- Is there something about Vader's suit that prohibits him from disobeying his master? "You don't know the power of the dark side. I MUST obey my master," he tells Luke in Jedi. Yes he kills Palpy to save his son, but I get the impression that he is physically unable to move against him until the suit begins to malfunction. That could also explain why he tries to recruit Luke in the first place.


Oh, well, those are just a few initial thoughts and impressions. It will take numerous additional viewings -- of all six films -- for it all to sink in. Truly, Lucas has given us grist for twenty more years of speculation, and that, of course, is what makes the SW saga so much fun for so many of us.


Cheers,
ShadowGirl

 

meh, just because he finally makes the right decision and throws the bad guy down the shaft doesn't do it for me anymore. i don't care what his intentions were. he killed little kids. to what, save his kids and his wife?
nah doesn't work for me.
i loveed the movie and all but redemtion just doesn't occur for me anymore.

 

Did Darth Plagueis create Anakin?
thats the impression i was getting from that. so it thats the case how can he be the chosen one?

 

Why not? Perhaps they had their own interpretation of the prophecy. Say, Balance by numbers and not as if the Sith were a cancer to the force of some sort. The Sith always being 2, they had nothing to lose by executing this balancing.

 

We'll be debating the Prophecy until the end of time.

Who's to say that this ancient Jedi Prophecy did not predict that a Sith would create the person who would bring balance? Maybe that wasn't even written down, but the people writing it knew. Who knows, it could be anything. I actually quite like this idea that out of evil (Sith create life) comes good (the person who will eventually bring balance). Because sure as hell, Anakin takes good and twists it to become evil. I love how Lucas himself twists our own perceptions of good and evil, it's definitely a major theme.

 

Saw the movie yesterday at 7 pm.

I have no words to describe what I felt! It was just so amazing. Good thing I went in spoiler-free because no where was I expecting it to be as good as it was.

Tons of heart-breaking moments. To name a few of my favorites: Padme staring at the distruction at the Jedi Temple from her apartment window (the music they played was so emotional), Yoda feeling the death of the Jedi, Padme loosing the will to live, Padme's funeral (the most heart-breaking I think), and then of coarse Anakin turning to the dark side.

I truly felt bad for Anakin in this one. He was being pulled in two different directions. Palpatine told him it was the Jedi who were corrupting the Republic and the Jedi told him it was Palpatine who was corrupting the Republic. What made his situation worse was that both sides were telling him to search his feelings. In the end he was so corrupt by Palpatine that he believed if he turned that he would be doing everyone a favor and making the world safer for his wife and child (children since he didn't know Padme was carrying twins).

I will admit that General Grievous wasn't as bad as I thought he would be. I was hoping to see him kill Jedi and take their lightsabers and not just have him show his prizes to Obi-Wan. Don't get me wrong, Grievous is a cool character, I just expected a little more from him. I'm reading the novel now (finally!) so hopefully I'll get a better understanding and a better liking to him.

Overall on a scale of 1-10, I'm definately giving this episode a 10+. Because that is what it truly deserves.

Just one more thing to say:
Thank you George Lucas, for making the ending film go out with a bang! And may the force be with you, always.

 

Is there something about Vader's suit that prohibits him from disobeying his master? "You don't know the power of the dark side. I MUST obey my master," he tells Luke in Jedi.
As I understand it, even though Anakin is bound physically, his obligation to Palpatine is not physical at all. He swore to the Sith because they told him that was how he could save Padmé. But essentially they screwed him over and she did die, but he still has to keep up his end of the bargain.

 

- Is there something about Vader's suit that prohibits him from disobeying his master?

Yes. If he goes after Palpatine in his condition, he'll die. RotJ showed us that.

 

Thnigs I notcied



-The look on Dooku's face when he was betrayed
-Grevious was sorta overrated
-The duel was great
-the temple scene was sad
-Yoda vs. Palps was great
-Mace went out well

 

Just got back from seeing it 3 hours ago. Tired as hell so excuse incoherent ramblings.

Initial reaction = Very sombre mood but pleased. Relieved that it?s all done and complete.

Quick comments:

? Strong and satisfying plotline. Really loved the plot of the whole movie especially the reasons why Anakin turned against the Jedi and how Pals manipulated him. I thought the manipulations from a certain point of view from the various characters worked very well. So glad I was spoiler free about the plot.

- Acting and dialogue all round was great. Portman was a highlight.

- Portman looked very very weird in one of her earlier scenes

- R2 setting fire to the super battle droids

- Yoda throwing his sabre and skewering a clone trooper then jumping on him to retrieve his sabre. lol so cool.

- Yoda taking out the imperial guards. Classic

- Disappointed with Dooku. Wish he had a few more lines.

- Shed a tear when Yoda said goodbye to the Wookiees and blasted off in his little ship.

- Some editing problems. During the duel one point they?re fighting with sabres the next they?re both having a good old fashion brawl. How did they disarm each other? I think I missed something.

- Don?t think the Wookiee plot was really necessary. Too short and didn?t really serve a purpose.

- Loved Obi?s line ?Well hello there?

- Couldn?t help but think of my screen name when Obi says something along the lines of not resting until Grevious becomes spare parts. hehe I know it?s silly but I?ve come to love this forum.

Need to see it again to digest everything but my first impressions were very good.

 

"Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back."

It was nice to see Ewan McGregor play Obi-Wan as a mischievous Jedi again. "Spring the trap." (grin)

"Sith Lords are our spec-E-al-tee".

"Your move."

 

I went to see it for the second time yesterday with my sister and her friend. I think my sister and I have converted her friend to liking Star Wars because she absolutely loved ROTS and now wants to watch the OT.

 

"Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back."

I?m one satisfied customer

Obi had some great lines in this one. Though anything he says turns out to be great

 

- Don?t think the Wookiee plot was really necessary. Too short and didn?t really serve a purpose.


Yes it was. This is the reason that Yoda is not on Couruscant following Obi-Wan's defeat of Grievous. If he was there, when they went to confront Palps, Palps would not have lasted long enough for AnaVader to save him. This is what enables Yoda to survive Order 66.

 

Good point though there seems to be quite a bit of debate as to whether Palps was losing to Mace or Yoda in the other thread. It would have been interesting to see Mace and Yoda take on Sidious and then have Ani step in.


This is what enables Yoda to survive Order 66.


I don?t think whether a jedi was on or not on Couruscant would help them survive when Order 66 was carried out. There were plenty of jedi that were off world that died. I don?t what to derail this thread, but if you want, bring it up in the in depth thread and i'll try to post something coherent there.

 

WOW all i can say is WOW that movie rocked

 

i haven't read quite all of the pages of this thread to read everyone else's reaction, but i found a lot of comfort the morning after my midnight showing on the first page. when watching, i think i just couldn't believe what i was seeing. i couldn't believe that it was all finally unfolding before me--it was just shock.

i walked out of the theater and drove home feeling awful. my spurts of tears began when the troops turned on bail organa. he's always been the character that symbolized the rebellion for me single-handedly in the prequels and so that moment represented the sudden need for and beginning of the rebellion.

i was so comforted, though, when i started reading this thread in the fact that many fans also felt sad/drained/heartbroken like i did/do.

i really wanted to feel hopeful and uplifted by the final scene, but just couldn't. i had to watch rotj for that last night.

 

Hmmmm, that's what I thought after this movie.
It's the day after and I'm still indifferent.
The movie was quite dark and there were a surprising number of "cheesy" moments that rubbed me the wrong way. I just don't really know what to think about it reall.

So far my ranking has RotS in the middle, AotC is #1, ESB is #2. I really just don't know what to think about RotS. Might have to see it again.

I was horrified by the death of Dooko, it was so pathetic. Like not in a negative way, but I really had pity for Dooko and Anakin.

 

Wow- it's been about 24 hours hours since I've seen the film and all I can still say is wow. I'm going to try and organize my thoughts here, but I dunno how coherant things'll be.

Hayden was amazing, absolutely amazing. I was screaming at Anakin time after time for making the wrong choice, especially in the scene with Mace/Palps and then again when he entered the Temple

Ewan made me cry during his whole "You were the CHosen One!" speech. When I first saw it in the trailers, I cried then and I knew I was going to cry when I saw the film. There was just so much raw emotion in his voice, *sniffs* He was the best one in there, I lvoed some of this comments.

Palps was great too- almost stole the show.

Natalie didn't bother me as much this time.

Special effects wise- amazing. Very very cool and well done.

Yes!!! Almost no Jar Jar!!

Wait, what happened to the Rebellion subplot? And where are Padme's handmaidens?

All of the fighting was really cool, awesome duels- Yoda now officially rocks my world. As does Artoo.

The only really really bad dialogue in there was the whole "You are so beautiful!" "It's only because I'm so in love..." "No, it's because I'm so in love with you." exchange- that was really odd.

Why doesn't George give female Jedi lines?

The scene where Vader is "born" was very well done, I almost cried when he started screaming No!, even if other people did think it was out of place.

Over, all, awesome movie. I give it 4.5 stars. It's right below ESB for my favorite SW movie ever.

 

I finally saw it!

Initial reaction =

 

George Lucas delivers a film as intense and vibrant as a Mustafar larva eruption.

-Seldon

 

During my fourth viewing, I couldn't help but yell "'tis but a flesh wound!" when Anakin got his legs cut off.