TPM Defense Force

This isn't the Guardrail Gushers' Sanctuary, it's The Phantom Menace Gushers' Sanctuary, so let's please get back on topic. Don't make me lock you!

 

Awww, come one Steve! It's funny!

We can only say we love TPM so many times.

Well, to assure avoiding a lock....

I LOVED TPM! Who's with me?!

 

I loved TPM

 

Sorry.

Let's talk about the Politics of TPM. Umm, maybe not.


One of my favorite scenes in TPM is the Senate scene. Visually, it's very cool. I especially like the slight tilt down shot showing dozens of senatorial pods.

 

Yeah the senate was really great. I liked the shot of the TF tanks coming over the hill. It was really impressive in the trailer and it stuck with me.

("Your over confidence is your weakness."
"And your faith in your guardrails is yours.")


Sorry Steve, I had to say that last one

 

The Senate Scene:

The Senate Scene is one of the shorter of the scenes of The Phantom Menace, but is full of tidbits of accutely interesting information. We have the development of Senator Palpatine, the Queen's desparation ane eventual collapse, and the power of the beaucrats.

Senator Palpatine's involvement in the Senate Scene is subdued in speach but powerful in his actions. "...here is where the Chancellor's power will slip away." Palpatine's constant badgering of the Queen shows the audience his true powers and mastery of others. He need not use the Force to sway her, he only wispers the right things at the right time and she folds like a cheap tent. His intentions are clear as the Queen announced her vote of no-confidence, his eyebrows raised , his smile could have cut through steel. Palpatine's almost artistic maneuvers in the political arena are but a prelude to his ultimate rise to power.

"I was not elected to watch me people suffer and die while you discuss this in a committee. If this body is not capable of action, I suggest new leadership is needed. I call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Vallourm's leadership." With this, the Senate is thrown up in the air and the seed which is the eventual rise of the Empire is planeted. The Queen is seen as a strong character, but in her eyes, she is falling. With her people dying, the Senate doing nothing, and Palpatine wispering words of insurrection that can fix everything but destory her friends, Amidala is caught in a web that she knows will only lead to pain. Her tears are quite visible while she calls of the vote of no confidence. Lucas does the situation credit by showing us her utter despair in that hopeless situation.

"Enter the beaucrats, the true rulers of the Republic. This is where the Chancellor's power will slip away." Corruption and the interests of others tear away at the core of the Republic. As the Chancellor moves to reply to the Queen Amidala, a blue tenticled aide turns the Chancellor away and wispers in his ear, much like Palpatine wispers in the Queen's ear. Vallorum folds much like the Queen does, and conceeds the point. The beaucrats are obviously in control of the Senate.

Visually, the Senate Scene is one of the most stunning and grandiose. The hundreds of senatorial boxes spiraling down pull you into the central point, which is where the most corruption and control occurs. The Senate is literally and figuraitvely in a whirlwind sprialing down to the eye, the center of the storm. This center is being used to please the needs of others, the storm continues because those who profit from it wish it too. We then have the Senator Palpatine enter into the storm and take of the eye by force. The center is no longer keeping the storm spining for others, but for himself.

Visually, emotionally, and thematically, the Senate Scene is one of the most important of all the scenes of The Phantom Menace. The audience is given a taste of the political genius of Palpatine and the corruption that mires the Senate of the dying Republic. Visually, the scene is stunning with graceful curves and a grand vision of what the Republic of old was. But if one looks closer at the Senate, one sees it to be a gray insitution that is whithering away. The colors shows the audience the very beginnings of the Empire. It is here, in the Senate, where the Empire was born.

 

Well said DS5. You obviously put a lot of thought into that. I feel a lot of these types of thoughts analysis and details are lost on people who simply thought TPM was shallow and poorly written.

 

Excellent DS5.

 

DS5> I really like that quote in your sig. It sounds familiar, is that Carl Sagan?

 

Sounds like Mr. Cosmos.

 

God, I loved that book.

 

Actually, I ripped it off from Babylon 5 and changed it around a bit. I like it. Takes up a bit too much space thought.

DS5

 

I'm a 100% lover of all things Star Wars.

And let me say, I'm considering leaving the JC, just so I'll never have to read another one of Binary_Sunset's posts. They sicken me. The man is so narrow-minded, I'd like to sock it to 'im every time he makes a post. He is, without a doubt, the most sedentary thinker I have ever heard of.
He loved ANH when it came out in '77. Okay, nothing wrong with that. Like most fans at the time, he spent a lot of his time pondering and formulating opinions and theories on certain aspects and plot points presented in the film. Obviously, some of these would prove to be incorrect, since no other SW material was available at the time. But even when it was (ESB, ROTJ), for some reason beyond me, he REFUSES to acknowledge that his theories and opinions are WRONG. He is living in a state of DENIAL.
Example: Let's say that "plot element A" was introduced in ANH. Binary_Sunset made up an opinion about it. But, "plot element A" was disproved in ESB. Now, most people would take this in stride, and wouldn't dwell on it. After all, they had nothing more to go on.
But not B_S.
Just look at his "The Force's portrayal worsens with each movie" thread. This is the most blatant example of his narrow-mindedness. He takes every word of ANH as Gospel, and automatically rebukes anything from the other movies that contradicts it. Apparently, every line spoken in ANH is the absolute truth. So, if B_S had his way, Old Ben WOULD have been the last of the Jedi, Anakin Skywalker WOULD have been a Jedi who was killed by Darth Vader, and, of course, lightsabre duels would never be any more intense than that of ANH, since the force can never be used for anything more powerful that a whisper.

I mean, jeez. Most elderly individuals I know are more open-minded than he is. What, I'd like to ask him, is so hard about having your opinions contradicted? Are you so insecure? And the "I grew up with it" excuse doesn't work. There's plenty of people on these boards who saw the OT when it first came out, and love TPM equally. There's nothing wrong with preferring ANH over the other films, but you have to realize that the opinions that you and the rest of the SW fandom formulated in '77 are WRONG. I don't blame you for forming them in the first place, but it's been 25 years. Let them go!

I realize that this probably constitutes as a personal attack, and will be edited, at least, but I HAD to get this out. I could probably go on forever, but I had to cut it off somewhere.

 

Better to vent your frustration here than on B_S himself and cause more strife. Just keep your chin up and remember that there are a lot of "oldbies" out there who like and accept a lot of the new ideas in Episode 5,6 and even 1 and 2.

 

Wow!

I just got done listening to all the tracks for the AotC score, simply amazing! This movie is going to rock I cant wait for May 16th.

 

You know what, im not a complete gusher, but I agree with the comments about Binary. Torgo and Rabid_Balding_Ewok are just as annoying. I mean, im sure theyre great human beings, but I cannot stand their flawed logic.

I call for Gushers to participate in a complete ignoring of the bashers of this board, FOREVER. Its all thats fueling them. They just love to post endlessly to see us all wind up. LETS ALL IGNORE THEM TOGETHER. It wont work with just a few of us. CAN I GET A YAY OR NAY FOR THIS PROPOSAL?

 

That does it. Just because you don't agree with our opinions doesn't mean you have to get stuck into members who are nothing but polite. So you have a problem with Binary? Gee, he doesn't agree with you. Boo hoo. Don't make ME sick. I have never once seen Binary flame anybody here or even be rude. Often when he is insulted, he ignores the poster. He is aware his opinions are not loved but never tried to shove his ideas down anyone's throat. Rabid_Balding_Ewok is also a polite member who often just jokes around.


Asks yourselves a question. Have any of the guys you mentioned said anything about you in other threads like you have just done? Do they say, thy are not going to post here anymore simply bc they don't agree that TPM was God's gift to man? Why don't you stick to "Gushing" about the movie instead of bad-mouthing fellow members. I wish the old Gusher's sanctuary was back. You guys have turned this new one into a disgrace. Shame.

 

This would be the perfect time to excercise this new way of keeping the peace folks.

 

Prune- Pipe down. You've been here a month and a half and you act like you know the whole damn place and own it as well. Hush up for a little while and listen. A smart man speaks always and listens seldom. A wise man speaks seldom and listens always.

Hawk- Ignore him, you're sensible enough to not get into these kinds of arguements, you know what happens. You've been on the wrong side of the 'ban' button because of it. Take it to PMs, ask a Mod to do sometime, but don't bring it up in this thread. I'm inclined to call it mine, but it's not really that anymore.

Hatter- It is not kosher to talk about members in a movie discussion board. Let's keep the subject matter aimed at The Phantom Menace, OK?

 

Prune- Pipe down. You've been here a month and a half and you act like you know the whole damn place and own it as well. Hush up for a little shile and listen. A smart man speaks often and listens seldom. A wise man speaks seldom and listens always.

Dude, I am familiar with a message board. I recognize when one has been over run by redundant posts of stuff weve gone over plenty of times until were blue in the face. Thats all thats needed. Do I need a college degree and 10 years on this forum to realize this?

Oh and I will get back on topic for the sake of the thread:

The decision by the senate members to tax the Trade Federation on outlying star systems was a landslide approval.
Naboo (a planet in the outlying systems) is the planet to be blockaded because of the trade federations protest. The idea is to check any ships that arrive at Naboo to make sure no goods get to the planet. Sidious has a hand in coaxing them to do this, as well as having the Trade federation invade.

Amidala takes her complaint to Coruscant and it is decided that they WAIT for an investigation. WAIT! The rest of the senate doesnt agree and feels sorry for Naboo. A vote of no confidence is suggested. This leads to Palpy (senator for Naboo)getting in office and ditching Valorum.

There. Thats my run down of the events of TPM.

 

Has anyone considered the developmental arc that Lucas has created with TPM and ROTJ? I've heard lots of complaints about TPM being too kiddy and not dark enough. But I realize, beside the fact that it was a good movie anyway, that there is a more important reason for this. The Star Wars saga follows the fall of the Republic, then the restoration of order afterwards. In TPM, the galaxy is still largely at peace, there is symbiosis and a certain innocence to the story. If I predict correctly, AOTC and Episode III will show a move away from this state. In ANH and ESB, the galaxy is engulfed in this darkness and thus there is very little innocence left. Also gone is the symbiosis evident in TPM. The humans in ANH fight each other. The Wampa ice creatures attack Luke and injure him. The swamp of Dagobah is alive, but sickly. In ROTJ, Endor embodies the good kind of symbiosis and it reminds me of Naboo. Ewoks work together with the Rebels, just like the Gungans work together with the Naboo. As the saga progresses, there definitely is that shift. ROTJ is a restoration of the innocence and symbiosis found before the Sith took over. By making TPM show all of the elements that "return" in ROTJ, I think that the saga's developmental arc is strengthened.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself, Ardens_Furore.

 

Ewoks work together with the Rebels, just like the Gungans work together with the Naboo. As the saga progresses, there definitely is that shift. ROTJ is a restoration of the innocence and symbiosis found before the Sith took over. By making TPM show all of the elements that "return" in ROTJ, I think that the saga's developmental arc is strengthened.

Thats the exact conclusion that I came up with. Well done GL.

 

Hawk, thanks for the nice words about me!

While we're at it, I must say that hawk is one of the best members of the JC I've had the pleasure to interact with. His fandom runs deep and true.

 

"This would be the perfect time to excercise this new way of keeping the peace folks. "

Prune that is very true.

DarthSeti, I can't doubt you've been here longer than Prunef8ce, but maybe you've been too busy learning the wrong lessons. There is always room for someone reminding us to keep our heads and be peaceful.

But hey, this is the gusher's forum. We all agree here. No sense in thinking we don't.

Let's all give a big high five!

*slap!*

Edit: *sees who just came in* Uh oh... spoke too soon about agreement.

he he he