Basher Sanctuary Episode I: The Phantom Thread

Stryphe old chum, I said I loved the Balrog, not that it looked absolutely real. I didn't mind that the flames weren't 100% natural-looking, this is a magical creature we are talking about. As a cinematic presence it still worked for me.

As for the cave troll, no not all of its movements were natural and there are some wonky moments where the structure moving under the skin just doesn't look quite right, but I liked the overall feeling of weight to it. Weight conveys presence in animation, and in turn conveying weight is a constant challenge in CGI animation since it is SO easy to make things look floaty. The troll was much better than, say, the arena beasts in AOTC. Other than the rhino/bull creature, they didn't feel very weighty to me and thus had very little physical presence.


As for titles: I don't think anything like "Revenge of the Sith," "Rise of the Empire" or "Fall of the Republic" will be the EIII title, since Lucas knows those are expected and he'll want to come up with something that no one has previously guessed. Besides, he just used "of the" and I don't think he'll want two of those in a row.

 

Really? That's interesting, people who disagree with me strongly have a tendancy to disappear

LOL

*reminds himself to agree with Stryphe on all issues*

 

You're getting the idea, Ultimate.

Stryphe old chum, I said I loved the Balrog, not that it looked absolutely real.

Oh, right then. Yes, the design looked good (the mix of flame and shadow), it just looked very animated. It was like "run, the CGI is after us!"

 

It was like "run, the CGI is after us!"

C'mon now, it would be "This is CGI beyond any of you. Fly, you fools!"

Hmmm... well Stryphe, if you'd say that about the Balrog sequence, I'm curious as to what you have to say about the Arena sequence in AOTC.

 

"run, the CGI is after us!"

I find that a bit scarier than a Balrog. Is the CGI Jar Jar or Kangaroo Jack? Either way, terrifying stuff.

 

"I can't stand any title with the word "seeds" in it..."

Do many exist? ?

 

I wrote: The one Gandalf is on picks-up a Hobbit, then the second eagle picks-up the other Hobbit. And the third eagle...does nothing and just flies away!

Why?

"Because Gandalf thought that Smeagol might have been redeemed and thus still with Frodo and Sam. The third eagle was for Smeagol. But alas..."

I get choked-up just thinking about it.

Then Stryphe asked, "Where did you get this from?"


Just out of my own head. I remember being a bit puzzled why three eagles went to pick up two Hobbits. Then on my second viewing it hit me: The third eagle was for Smeagol. What other reason could there possibly be? Consider:

1. Gandalf had a feeling about Gollum.
2. He knew Gollum was following the Ring.
3. Faramir told Gandalf everything.
4. Gandalf was a holy angel clothed in human form. Gollum was a fallen Hobbit (and Hobbits were essentially short Men), hence redeemable. Especially after listening to Faramir, Gandalf had to have held out hope for Smeagol's redemption. After all, if Frodo could so hope, how could one expect less from an angel?

Besides, what else would the third eagle be for? To carry Gandalf's sack lunch?

 

I have to confess I never felt awed or impressed by the Balrog either. It's a lot of sound and fury but I just tend to sit there admiring it more than feeling anything. But I will say what did SCARE me, which is what occurs 2 minutes before when the Balrog is off-screen and you see the other end of the cavern light up and flicker with flame, and you can sense the Balrog approaching. It just goes to show that imagining what lurks in the shadows can be very TERRIFYING. Which is why I loved "The Blair Witch Project". (It seems I am very much alone in loving it)

What did everyone think about the opening of TTT when Gandalf and the Balrog wrestle? Unfortunately, I felt the same thing, which was not much. I guess I like the toned-down and simpler approach to things. I also guess Balrogs don't really put a fright into me. Even in Street Fighter II he was always the easiest boss to defeat! (thanks for that reminding pic Tokyo!)

It just occured to me that TCF could stand for The Crappy Film.

 

Hey guys. Not sure who is posting here these days. Sorry I haven't been around but I don't feel that passionate about SW anymore. Anyone excited about Batman Begins?

 

Im for, "SW episode III: The Apology"

 

JohnWilliams00 - I love when the Balrog is approaching at the end of the tunnel and all you can see is coloumns lighting up one after the other in the distance, the look on legolas's face is priceless tooescpecially after you read the Silmarillian and discover the history Elves have with Balrogs.

Darth Styrphe - Awww c'mon, it's not the only moment I could come up with, i have plenty, that's the problem so i picked the most powerful one for me out of the whole series. Others would be:

The grief of the fellowships as they exit Moria, poor Pippin is so shattered he's floored with grief, Sam has his head in his hands and legolas doesn't know what to do with himself. That's a powerful scene.

Borimirs last stand defending the Hobbits from the Urak Hai, that's like the most hardest thing to watch on a repeat viewing. The arrows he gets hit with are like trees and the lone statue behind him is like an angel signalling his time has come. Utter quality.

Borimirs passing words to Aragorn, "I would have followed you to the end, my brother, my captain, my King" - For me those are the finest lines in the whole trilogy, they hit me like a 4x4 in the back of the head on my first viewing, the words just get more poignant as each film unfolded, it summed up Aragorns journey in one sentence of respect.

Sams speech at the end of TTT is another, a more heartfelt delivery in a fantasy flick I've never heard and the montage of images they blended with it was fantastic stuff. Inspiational stuff placed at he right point in the grand tale. Even Captain Kirk couldn't have said it better!

Gollums Song that plays over the end titles and sung by an artist doing her best Bjork impression is oneof many pieces of music in the trilogy that plucks on the old heart strings. When you know Smeagols history and future, then every word in that song just hits the spot.

Okay ROTK has a piece of music that just does it for me when Gandalf takes Pippin and departs for Gondor and its like the first time ever hat the two Bobbits have been parted. The music that kicks off as Shadowfax bursts out the gates and over the hills is so wonderful it needed a reprise, that one definately touches the soul.

King Theoderns Speech to rally his men into the greatest charge ever is another, I can't beleive anyone would not be moved by his words and their challenge. The Rohirrim are like the best bunch of guys EVER, the way Theodern rides down the line hitting every sppear withhis sword before turning and spearheding the attack with cries for death is moving stuff esppecially when you consider what they are riding into. A red dawn indeed!

Frodos farewell to his friends in ROTK is just too much, those guys don't look like they're acting, the tears and the expressions just seem so real that its like the performers as saying goodbye to each other now that the production is about to wrap. Merry is balling his eyes out like a baby and Frod kisses Sam on the forehead after ther last hug before departure. Those two get all the gay jokes on the net but a stronger and more heartfelt friendship I have rarely seen portrayed onscreen especially in a fantasy film.

The moment that gets me the most choked up in the series next to Elrond giving Arwen the vision of the Future is the scene in the Green Dragon bar in hobbition after the Hobbits have returned to the Shire. They all sit around the table and not a word needs to be said, they salute with their drinks and the music that marks that spot is perfect with every note of its conception. You just feel everything in one moment, relief, sadness, happiness, grief and finality. Best film EVER!

 

Hey Hawk, long time old buddy! (..join the club about feelings for SW )

Of course I'm excited for Batman begins, I'm a huge batman fan, it's one of the few DC hero titles i still collect, the rest suck. I'm not a fan of the movies, none of them did his character justice and Bruce Wayne even less so, This film however with Christioan Bale seems to be riding along the right track for once so I'm really looking forward to it. The choice of Ken Watanabe for Ra's al ghul is excellent and at last they're going to show a decent relationship between Batman and Gordon as well as a proper look into Bruce Waynes training to become the dark knight. but If I see one silly and pointless romantic interest thrown in to satisfy suits at WB I'm going to give it a huge miss.

There's a new batman animated series starting soon, looks good but not sure it'll measure up to the Bruce Timm and Dini run of shows that were the best representation of Batman ever put to screen, large or small! Mark Hamills Joker was seriously sick in every good way it needed to be, best thing he ever did after playing Luke.

 

"SW episode III: The Apology"

But, that would mean that GL thought that there was something wrong with either TPM or AOTC.

I get the impression, that GL thinks there GREAT!

 

Of course, he doesn't think anything is wrong with them. Otherwise, he would have changed the way he's doing things in AVBE. But we all know he hasn't.

 

"I can't stand any title with the word "seeds" in it..."

Do many exist?

"The Seed People" Is that close enough?

Personally, I like "Revenge of the Sith," and believed it should've been for "The Phantom Menace" which I don't mind, but sounds really campy/kiddish to me. As someone (sorry, can't remember who) said it sounds like a bad pulp novel title.

With a title like ROTS, it would've mirrored (literally) ROTJ.

Also, isn't that the whole impetus behind TPM? The Sith and their revenge on the Jedi? Weird to say that TPM STILL confuses some people today. Even my mother can tell me who's "A New Hope" in SW, but with TPM she hasn't a clue what it means.

I also think AOTC should've been called "Balance of the Force," <because it's the 'balance' point between the first and third movie> and TCF should be "Fall of the Republic," but I can see people getting undies in a bunch by to many "of the's"

I, too, am a Minnesotan and had to deal with the evils of the bank called "TCF" So, I definitely don't like the new title.

 

My favourite Episode 3 titles:
The Ultimate Disaster - can be explained by both gushers and bashers in a satisfying way.
Revenge Of The Sith - Perfect, and this one has been suggested by everyone for the last 6 years or so, but I like to think I was one of the first... If Lucas uses this title now he will show a complete lack of originality. Hmmm, I'm going to put my money on this title!
Dark Destiny - just to promote my final prequel episode rewrite/fanfiction. I don't really like that title, but it was the only one left

Other possible titles:
Episode 3: The Final Insult (the studio that made the Naked Gun movies would not like this)
Episode 3: No Title But It Doesn't Matter Because You Will All Go See This One Anyway And You Know It You Whiny Little Bitches.
Episode 3: The Search For A Plot
Episode 3: Black Helmet Down
Episode 3: Ripping More Clothes Off Padmé
Episode 3: The Preggo Adventure
Episode 3: The Transformation From Anakin Skywalker To Darth Vader And The Birth Of His Children Luke And Leia, You Know From The Original Trilogy (just so that nobody gets confused and everything is explained in detail).
Episode 3: Bloody Births
Episode 3: The Womb Of Despair
Episode 3: Another Attack Of The Clones
Episode 3: The Menace Unveiled (nice?)
Episode 3: The Clones Attack Some More
Episode 3: The Expected Failure
Episode 3: Cee-Gee
Episode 3: The Vile Villain
Episode 3: Wacky Wookiee
Episode 3: Yoda Jumps
Episode 3: The Man With The Golden Saber
Episode 3: The Third Episode
Episode 3: The Unfinished Edition (The DVD will be called The Somewhat More Finished Edition)
Episode 3: Crying Fanboy
Episode 3: Rule By Fear (hey, this one is nice!)
Episode 3: The Sphere Of Death (= the Death Star)
Episode 3: Dude, Where's My Star Wars?
Episode 3: It Ain't Over 'Till The Fat Lady In Jabba's Palace Sings
Episode 3: Return Of The King We've Never Seen Before
Episode 3: Check Out Those Cool Effects In The Background
Episode 3: The Last Nail (in the coffin of the franchise)
Episode 3: The Incomplete Circle (which 'at last' will be complete in Episode 4)
Episode 3: The Passion Of The Lucas

Okay, that's enough.

Return of the Jedi is my favourite SW title. Simple, but effective. I never say 'A New Hope', except on these boards. It's simply 'the first star wars'.
In fact, I never say any of the titles out there in the 'real world'. It's just 'the first', 'the second', 'the first new one', etc. That way people don't get confused...I think

 

How normal people identify Star Wars movies...


Episode I
The New One
The Next One
The First One
The Second One
The One with the Ewoks


Ah, the grandeur of it all!



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

Courtesy of Darth Sillyname: Episode 3: Dude, Where's My Star Wars?



And Adam, I think you're right about your list of what normal people call Star Wars movies. One additional note on this: People aren't totally lost when you say SW, ESB, ROTJ, TPM, or AOTC. They at least kind of know that those are Star Wars titles. But say "ANH", and you get blank stares. Which makes me very happy.


I run into bashes of the PT in even the most unlikely of places. I'm browsing through a new online book on Mel Gibson's The Passion by Protestant theologian Gary North. In it he writes: "Compare the first two Star Wars movies with the last two. The special effects are amazing, but they do not compensate for the sub-standard dialogue and plots."

 

Darth Sillyname - Quality list!

 

They at least kind of know that those are Star Wars titles. But say "ANH", and you get blank stares. Which makes me very happy

I actually quite like A New Hope as a title, but I only ever refer to it as ANH on the net. For some reason it always feels awkward to say in real life.

Strangely enough I actually liked The Phantom Menace as a title as well, there's a certain flair to it, but Attack of the clones always sounded a bit plain to me.

 

"Episode 3: Dude, Where's My Star Wars?"



"The One with the Ewoks"

I'm afraid you'll have to narrow that one down a bit more, Adam.

 

My fave Ep3 titles so far:
(mainly not my own inventions)

Episode III: Bad, Bad Ben Kenobi and the House of Chocolate Funk

Episode III: Two Straight Hours of Galactic Senate Hearings and a Lava Pit

Episode III: Queer Eye for the Jedi

Episode III: Die, Giant Intergalactic Trade Federation, Die!

and the immortal

Episode III: Padme's Long Hot Soapy Shower

 

...with CGI soap.

(Can't wait for that deleted scene. )

 

Padmé's long hot soapy shower.
I'd stand in line for that one!

"The One with the Ewoks"
- Yes, that's how people say it, but I was a bit confused. I thought you meant one of those Ewok movies!

 

TPM, people. Not LOTR and not Episode III.