PT Star Wars Prequels Appreciation Week

It was my pleasure!

Forgot to add today... Favorite Prequel Film: Well it's my favorite Star Wars film... Revenge of the Sith. Bold, operatic, huge themes, and bridges the OT quite nicely.

 

Favourite PT Film: AotC, second fave film over all and I don't care both get ragged on a lot now. Not ashamed of what speaks to me.

 

No complaints from me! Great film. Basically my list goes:

1) Revenge of the Sith
2) A New Hope
3-5) Any of the remaining films save Return of the Jedi... depends on mood.
6) Return of the Jedi

But I love them all.

 

Mine is:

RotJ
AotC
TSW
TPM
ESB

 

Favorite PT Movie: Attack of the Clones. Actually, it really is my favorite movie, even though the romantic dialogue can be cringe-worthy at times

 

Favorite Actor: Ian McDiarmid
Favorite Main Character: Palpatine
Favorite Side Character: Shmi
Favorite Movie: AOTC. A sprawling, sumptuous fantasy like no other.

 

Favourite Side Character: AotC Nexu.

 

Should we add favorite musical track?

 

The last day is a your choice. How about then?

 

Well, I`ve been away for a while, so forgive my catching up with previous questions:

-Favourite Actor: Christopher Lee and Ewan McGregor, I can`t really decide. Christopher Lee is Christopher Lee, he elevates the scene just by showing up. On the other hand, McGregor`s work is my favorite among the all SW main actors (fincluding the OT)
-Favourite Main Character: Obi-Wan Kenobi, no doubt about it
-Favourite Side Character: Does Watto count? If it needs to be really "side-y", I`d say Wat Tambor.
-Favourite Movie: I can never choose one. I think I enjoy Attack of the Clones more out of the three of them, if I had to choose.
-Favourite Scene: The whole ending montage of Revenge of the Sith is absolutely fantastic.

 

This and all subsequent posts will probably be on the longer side, partially because I love writing, mostly because I have nothing better to do at 2:00 AM.

Favorite movie: As I get older, I find myself liking Attack of the Clones less (I really only enjoy the Obi-Wan investigation scenes now) and The Phantom Menace more (Structurally it's an absolute mess and I've hated Jar-Jar since I was four, but it's still fun and I have the most nostalgia for it), but for me the choice is easy: Revenge of the Sith. Now, I may have more than enough complaints about this film (Anakin and Padme's continued lack of chemistry and abysmal romantic dialogue, Sidious being played too far over-the-top after his deformation), but it's time for some unapologetic appreciation.

I was ten when Revenge of the Sith was released. My younger brother and I literally begged our parents to let us see the movie at midnight, opening night, and eventually they agreed that so long as we both got up for school the next day (we didn't), we could go. I couldn't have been more ecstatic. Still, the three years of built-up anticipation I had for the film was nothing compared to actually watching it. Man, what a rush. The movie is just relentlessly paced from the very beginning, and it doesn't let up for a second. Right off the bat, the tracking shot of Anakin and Obi-Wan's Jedi starfighters navigating the largest space battle I'd ever seen was jaw dropping, and the entire opening thirty minutes contained the kind of fun and energy I had loved so much in the original trilogy, but had always noticed was conspicuously absent in the previous two films. Anakin and Obi-Wan genuinely felt like friends, and here they were both cracking jokes and looking like they actually enjoyed being Jedi in spite of the war being waged around them. I was happy, I was laughing, I was having fun. Then the rest of the film proceeded to become emotional napalm.

Keep in mind, I had read the junior novelization prior to seeing the film. I knew exactly what was going to happen and why. I knew who said what and when. This was my first fully spoiled movie, and yet it did nothing to prevent me from sitting on the edge of my seat as I watched everything fell apart for the heroes. This was the first time I sat in a theater and watched helplessly as the good guys lost, and even though I could recite Episodes IV-VI by heart and knew how it all really ended, it still hurt. Anakin feeling betrayed by Obi-Wan and the Jedi Council hurt. Anakin saving Palpatine and choosing to join the Dark Side hurt. Watching the Jedi executed by their own soldiers as Order 66 unfolded hurt. Anakin Force-choking Padme, paranoid that yet another person he loved had turned on him, hurt.

Favorite scene: And of course, the immolation scene hurt most of all. Just to recount, Revenge of the Sith was my first fully spoiled film, and my first time watching the good guys lose. A couple of decent movie-going firsts. It was also my first time honest-to-goodness crying in a movie theater. Sure, the long-awaited duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan was thrilling, if a bit too long, but the scene I kept replaying in my head long after the movie had ended was the final exchange between master and apprentice, as the latter lay broken and maimed on the bank of a hellish river of fire, seconds from being burned alive for his sins. From the moment Anakin's body slid limbless to the river's edge, I could feel the tears welling. I knew what was coming. When I heard Obi-Wan proclaim with a voice that sounded like he too was on the verge of tears, "You were my brother, Anakin... I loved you," I was done. Goodbye, self-dignity.

With hindsight, those words and the scene as a whole sum up their relationship perfectly. Anakin saw and sought in Obi-Wan the father figure he never had, someone to be looked up to and respected from bellow, but someone whose shadow he was perpetually, inescapably standing in. Obi-Wan saw and sought in Anakin a brother, someone he respected and trusted and stood alongside as an equal. Their inability to be emotionally open with the other, due to personal insecurities (Anakin's desire to live up to Qui-Gon's expectations and Obi-Wan's anxiety in living up to Qui-Gon's example) led to an inequivalent exchange that created an irreparable rift that gradually grew between them, unnoticed until it was too late. This to me is where the true tragedy of Anakin's story lies; not in his lust for power to save Padme, but in his and Obi-Wan's failure to save each other from their own self-doubts. Ultimately, it destroyed them both and tore their lives asunder, and it took a boy they both were fathers to (from a certain point of view) to repair the damage.

 

Favorite scene: "You were the Chosen One." A truly powerful and touching scene with perfect performances by Ewan and Hayden. You can really feel the emotional and physical pain on each character respectively.

 

Favourite scene: That's impossible to choose. Hmm

Uhhh

Eh. All

 

Favourite Scene: The ending of ATOC has be my favourite scene. First Dooku and Sidious discuss their evil plans, we have the beautiful sunset on Coruscant, and the Jedi temple. Some great quotes: "Begun the Clone War has". The imperial march over the clones and the seeds of the Empire being sown. Then the Wedding with a great lift in the music.

Truly stunning visuals, throughout.

One minor point though regarding the Jedi temple.

As you see in this photo, the Jedi Council chamber is at the top of the spire:





But where is the corridor that leads of from the chamber, seen in shots such as this one:



The corridor doesn't seem to fit with the exterior of the Temple. I am missing something? Or is it a real error?

 

No ROTS?

 

Not funny I just skipped it accidently. I've been distracted by pain the last few days.

RotJ
AotC
TSW
RotS
TPM
ESB

 

OK, favourite scene...

This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard to choose as there's so many.

TPM - Doors open, Duel of the Fates begins - Darth Maul Reveal:



AOTC - Anakin's Search: Love the short montage of Anakin searching for his mother and the reprisal of DOTF



AOTC - The closing scenes - In many way's AOTC has the bleakest ending of ALL the Star Wars movies - The Clones Wars/Empire has started, Palpatine now has total control of the GFFA and Anakin and Padme seal their fate by getting married - Turning their back's to the camera their fate's are sealed...





ROTS:

Ruminations - Such a power moment. I distinctly remember, in the cinema, that at this moment, suddenly the energy and attention of the audience rocketed. Up to this point, there had been the typical "chatter" and fidgeting you always get in at the Flicks... But during this powerful moment of silent torment between our doomed lovers... Silence!



Palpatine's declaration of the Empire - "This is how Liberty dies. With thunderous applause"



Anakin on Mustafar - Such a bleak image - Here is our hero. Now completely fallen and in hell both literally and personally. And he cries for what he he is becoming. What he has done. And what he has yet to do.



Pod rise's into the senate chamber as Yoda and Sidious fight - This is perhaps my all time greatest moment. The music becomes a thumping drumbeat as the epitome of good and evil battle for the fate of the galaxy in the center of democracy



You were the chosen one - Really not much more to say except Ewan Mcgregor is absolutely outstanding in this scene:




Closing montage - I love everything about the final scene's of ROTS - The mother, the father, the daughter, the son. I've chosen Padme in her coffin because out of the four, it's probably my favorite. The way she lies there, in a dress that's reflective of water, with flowers all her is very reflective of Ophelia's death in Hamlet. Another heroine, destroyed by her love for a man. But the snippet of Jappor, given to her so long ago by that little boy who is now "more machine than man" offers a small crumb of comfort perhaps?

"There is still good in him".



There are so many more images/scene's I could have chosen though, LOL! So tough.

 

I have four in the PT:

Dooku and Obi in AotC
Anytime I see a Venator vessel
Dooku and Death Star I holo (links my Boys' together a final time!)
'You were my brother, Anakin!' RotS

 

Anakin/Dooku in AOTC is fantastic. I love how their faces become illuminated by their light sabers... Probably the most "abstract" moment of all the moves.

 

Favorite scene: I kinda have to pick the immolation scene. It's always the first that springs to mind whenever I'm thinking about great scenes from Star Wars.
I mean, "Padmé's ruminations", "I hate them", "Order 66", "Don't look back" and practically all other crucial moments in the trilogy are right up there, but this one is the pinnacle, isn't it? This is where it all leads, the emotional climax, the heart of the conflict in the six part saga.
This scene is why Lucas made this trilogy and I'm on board, a hundred percent. I just can't quite find the words to express how it makes me feel. The tragedy of the whole thing is heartwrenching.

PymParticles: Thank you for your eloquent description of your thoughts and feelings regarding the relationship of Anakin and Obi-Wan. You nailed it.

 

Fave scene: Opera scene (RotS)

Wow this is almost exactly my list - except I would take TPM out of the 'depends on mood' spot and put it in a last place tie with RotJ

 

Favorite Scene: This



Everything is perfect in this scene.

From the lighting, acting, writing to the whole feel itself.

 

I have to add that "The Immolation Scene" might be John Williams' greatest cue of all time. It is the essence of the Darth Vader tragedy, expressed in a short, moving string composition. The betrayal, the sadness, the shock, the inevitability, it's all there and somehow, it brings the whole saga together into one cohesive whole. It wasn't something I'd heard before and yet, it felt so familiar and right. It was all I'd hoped it would be.
But what else to expect from the Maestro?

 

Good to see ROTS cited more than once for being "bold and operatic" -- that's exactly how I hold it to be, too. There's an electrifying fullness and intensity about it. It's there. It's all there. Ya know? I'm sticking firmly with AOTC for yesterday's choice, however.

Gosh, though. I do feel a little bad, now, for TPM. I feel like I've abandoned it. It's very under-represented in the responses here (Sith Lord 84 picked it at least -- good man). And it really is a great, sweet, fun, gorgeous-looking fantasy film. A real trip. I can understand people having issues with it, but it's still derided a bit too much for my tastes.

Back to ROTS for a moment. Nice scene selection, G-FETT. It really offers its share of pulse-pounding moments. When you think about it, what a chaos all the Star Wars movies are: a lot happens between the beginning and the end of each movie. That is really highlighted, for me, with both AOTC and ROTS. Sith really brings the emotional goods at the climax and the denouement. You see everything go explosively wrong for the characters in a way that vindicates the intense, compressed nature of every Star Wars movie. Spring-loaded tragedy.

I must also commend PymParticles for their neat little valentine. The immolation scene is, indeed, an emotional powerhouse. Very, very intense. You can see that Lucas has poetically built up to the burnt offering of Anakin across the movies. I don't hold it as accidental that the Jedi Temple, for instance, is atop a plinth, recalling human sacrifice as practiced by Mesoamerican civilizations like the Aztecs. Look more into the visuals of Star Wars. I shouldn't have to say it on a Star Wars board (and a prequel board, at that), but they're really quite profound. BTW: What did Aztecs and civilizations back then fight with? Arrows, amongst other things, right? What do the spires of the Jedi Temple look like? What does Obi-Wan hold up and comment on after Zam is killed in AOTC? What image replaces it? And what was the big thing for Aztecs and numerous earlier human civilizations: sun worship, correct? Count all the sun references in ROTS. Lucas is very astute.

So, anyway...

Favourite scene. Ya know, I kind of have three, and they're all (not too surprisingly) interlinked.

TPM

The scene between Anakin and Padme on the queen's ship. Sorry, but this is a very poignant scene, and I enjoy its placement after the brief scene of Nute and Sio Bibble at the palace, with the sun-form battle droid (uh oh!) indicating they're about to rough the Gungans up (hidden underwater villages -- subconsious about to be raided, etc., etc...). Darkness closing in. Padme paces across in a very effective wipe transition, flicks on the hologram, blinks a lot, and this otherwise relatively-mundane happening is infused with as much visual beauty as you could ever hope to see (the orange of Padme's garment, the lights in the background, the blue of the hologram, the cream-coloured innards of the ship -- wow!). And the way Anakin quietly watches her. Then Padme re-focusing her energies onto Anakin himself, suddenly becoming aware that he is there, huddled and cold. And Jar Jar snoozing! It's all about the kids, this Star Wars thing (I'll bring that theme to completion in just a second). Plus, of course, the sweet exchange that follows, including the introduction of the snippet. Couldn't be any more gentle and sad, really. And there is also a double rhyme here ("Always two there are") with Leia putting the blanket around Luke after Obi-Wan's passing *and* Luke tending to Anakin in their final scene together (in the flesh) in ROTJ. "Let me look upon you with my own eyes..." And I just want to add a personal anecdote (of sorts). When I saw TPM 3D in 2012, I heard some kid whispering something to his parents, maybe his dad, that Qui-Gon looked to have forgotten about Anakin in that scene. He seemed concerned that the venerable, Living-Force-lovin' Jedi Master had just dumped his ward like that. It was something I hadn't thought about before. Here is the Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker, already firmly taking shape, with only a mother-surrogate to care. Awesome little scene.

Runners-up: Jar Jar first encountering Qui-Gon (and he is literally running) and chasing after the Jedi in the Naboo forest. Otoh Gunga scenes. The dinner table scene on Tatooine. Anakin departing his mother. Laser gate sequence. Padme reclaiming the throne room.

AOTC

The meditation scene on Naboo. From a visual standpoint, this is the real centrepiece of the prequels, from the very precise scene composition with Anakin having his back to the camera, to the colours and the fact it looks like a religious painting. You get the distinct impression that Lucas made the prequels to finally create imagery like this. Anyway, the whole scene -- again, brief as it is -- is tender and evocative, and a tenative sensuality seems to hang in the air. There's a sad lilt, from the gentle breeze (which seems to be carrying away Anakin and Padme's innocence), to the serene amber curtain, flapping in the background, to Anakin's doom-laden expressions. Padme/Portman is at her most understated in this scene, offering firmly-gentle (yes?) statue-like support to her Jedi companion, as if trying to mirror and perfect the composure he himself is trying, and gradually failing, to project. The vines and the whole "nature" feel of the scene (including the sound of birds and other wildlife on the soundtrack) is very fetching; and there is, as ever, a rhyme with the vine-y wilderness of Dagobah. Anakin, here, elects to save his mother, dangerously rationalizing that he doesn't have a choice, which is weirdly echoed by Yoda telling Luke that he must enter the cave on Dagobah (which Luke, in a rather revealing gesture, doesn't question -- indeed, like Anakin, he seems drawn to go in). Padme's soft and reassuring, "I'll go with you", is barely heard by Anakin; yet it represents a seismic shift in their relationship, changing before their very eyes. There is also some other sneak dialogue here. Anakin pleading with Padme not to go when she first enters the scene is haunting; and the line, "Your presence is soothing", couldn't be more devastating, when you know what's in store. I like how there's a slight masculine toughness to it, too. And the corker: "Jedi don't have nightmares". So many layers to that one line. My favourite, perhaps, is a line that suggests the psychological phenomenon of transference: "I saw her as clearly as I see you now." See what Lucas did there? It's actually not subtle, but I've never seen anyone comment directly on it. Anyway, fantastic scene, that is really just an interlude/intermission. Similar -- of all things -- to Bill Murray playing golf at the foot of Mt. Fuji in "Lost In Translation" (LIT fans surely see the basic similarity). A part of me is always asking (in a good way): "How is this happening right now in a universe of Jedi and robots and glowing laser swords and men in plastic?" But there it is. The contrasts of this cine-verse are immense. Even the dissolve leading into the scene is quite incredible.

Runners-up: Opening chase sequence. Younglings scene. Scene between Obi-Wan and Dex. Meadow scene. Obi-Wan encountering Jango. Fireplace confession. Anakin at the Tusken camp. Obi-Wan encountering Dooku. Droid factory, love confession, arena battle... hell, everything about that last 45 minutes of AOTC.

ROTS

Night-time scene on Padme's veranda. I mean... c'mon! How can you not admire the aesthetic beauty of this scene? Eye-popping night-time visuals. And obviously, a bit of a meditation-scene-on-Naboo Redux. Beautiful atmospherics and another very poignant scene between the lovers. And before, it was an amber curtain, and now, it's amber lamps. Yeah, yeah... what a peculiar connection to make. Lucas' extremely expressive use of colour and lighting is really something else, though. It's odd we read so much bashing toward these films for (allegedly) bad cinematography and camera placement. Colour me confused. So, anyway, Anakin has had another bad nightmare (and I really should include that part, every bit as much as the shot of Anakin thrashing between silk sheets, in twilight, should really be included in the meditation scene; even though AOTC simultaneously bifurcates and melds the two more self-consciously with a dissolve transition). And Padme, this time, is (initially) dumb to it. That's a very inviting contrast compared to her alertness to Anakin's nightmare in AOTC. One of those neat little "everything's different, but everything's the same" transitions that the Star Wars saga incorporates perfectly into its makeup. The scene plays out, like before, with a lot of tenderness and beauty, and the music supplied by John Wiliams throughout couldn't underscore the upcoming tragedy better. Everything was a-okay for Anakin and Padme a moment ago (on the surface, anyway), and now, cruelly, suddenly, it isn't. I love the devastating switch. And the way that Anakin futilely tries to bat away Padme's concerns is touching; and then the precipitous way he finally voices that which has been bothering him: "You die in childbirth". Ow. Innocence briefly reacquired and lost again. What I also find great here is how the lovers flip mental positions on the seriousness of the dream. They try to play it down, but this flip-flopping also suggests they have both internalized the authenticity of Anakin's inner life and visions. They're scared, basically; and Anakin's last-second reassurance to Padme is both wonderfully ironic (but also true in the longer-scheme of things) and perfectly hollow. The other dimension to the line is that Anakin wants their forbidden union to be blessed. And with the Chosen One plot backgrounding his life, Anakin might have added cause to think he'll find a way to fix this; that he must, indeed, fix it (more irony). I'd also like to just say how much I appreciate that set extension (bluescreen) in the background when Padme is imploring Anakin. The depth and opulence of that corridor: it looks fantastic, in my opinion. The actors, too, look formidably, well... fabulous. As in the previous meditation scene (Anakin's shirt in the AOTC scene is exactly the sort of clothing I've been looking more for of late).

Runners-up: Space battle. Opera scene. Palpatine's reveal. Ruminations. Bail flying back to the Jedi Temple at the end of Order 66 (and Order 66 -- duh). Anakin/Padme/Obi-Wan on the Mustafar landing platform. Senate battle. Immolation.

There you have it. A trifecta of Anakin-and-Padme scenes with beautiful shot composition, wonderful art direction, and brilliantly-controlled direction. It would have been easy to pick any number of other scenes (hence my self-indulgent "runners-up" selections), but there's something about the A&P scenes which compelled me to pick 'em. I think they say something very positive for these movies in general. And I had fun.

 

I will have to double check it with the Cross-Section album but I think I've read it there that every spire of the Temple had that kind of chamber. So In the movie, Anakin might not be in the center spire.. I will get back to you on this once I'm home