— I truly hope that I never go to that lava planet. Because it looked extremely unpleasant.
— The childbirthing scene was unintentionally hysterical. That operating room was so clean that one would be embarrassed to fart there, let alone give birth. Also: the robot-midwife with gleaming glass eyes was hilarious. (I don’t think she was supposed to be …) She’s a midwife – but … she’s a robot. And I just assumed she was a “she”. I loved how they carefully placed that space-age metal thing across Padme’s body – to somehow shield and hide her lower body from … the all-seeing eyes of a robot-midwife? So it appears that shame about the female body is alive and well in a galaxy far far away. I thought it was hysterical. When I give birth, I’d like it to go as easily as it did for Padme (well, except for the dying part), and only shed a couple of tears, and have a couple of artfully placed beads of sweat. Natalie Portman’s makeup stayed put during the entire childbirth scene. Very funny. And I don’t know, maybe I’m nuts – but I’d feel a bit self-conscious giving birth in front of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I think I’d want them to sit out in the waiting room.
— I LOVE IT when R2 screams. Not that I enjoy his pain and terror … but it is SUCH a funny sound. I remember thinking it was funny when I was a little kid, and it’s still funny. This supersonic: “wheeeeeeee” – growing in intensity as his emotions get stronger … and it’s a sound from a COMPUTER and yet it still has all this feeling in it.
— I felt bad for poor R2 sliding down that vertical drop, when he should have been back helping out with the elevator. But he couldn’t help it. You can’t fight gravity. Also, I loved it when he hid behind the barrels, trying to muffle the sound of Kenobi’s voice coming out of his … er … cell phone.
— Padme and Anakin’s apartment is pristine in a highly frightening way. Again, I would not feel comfortable farting there, or even lounging about on the couch. I would have a nervous breakdown if I spilled something. Don’t people in a galaxy far far away have regular apartments with bookshelves, and sippie-cups lying about? A couple unwashed coffee mugs in the sink? Or … no …? I guess C3PO as the butler would take care of any mess – but the cleanliness of that apartment was on a pathological level.
— The opening battle scene was amazing. Just spectacular – the camera moves – you really felt like you were watching something real. Hard to believe NONE of it is real.
— Did I mention that I love it when R2 screams?
— It made me so happy to see all those Wookies charging into the water, like some sort of Braveheart-moment of suicidal courage. I wouldn’t want to mess with a Wookie. They need better weapons, though. They’re pretty far behind everybody else, and are still sort of on a bow-and-arrow level of self-defense.
— The sequence of the assassination of the Jedis was incredible, and really really sad. It reminded me of Goodfellas (similar sequence in that film – when all the bodies are being discovered … here, there … in the dump, in the freezer-truck …) I thought it was very very well done.
— What is Jimmy Smits doing in this movie?
— Yoda is SO COOL. I love it when squints his eyes in the middle of a battle … You know he’s about to become a total bad-ass then. And I love it when he flies through the air. Best moment, though: when he strolls into that one room, two droids approach him, and with a mere gesture with both hands – (he doesn’t even touch them) – they crumple to the ground. It was like the gun-sword moment in Raiders – because Yoda does it with a kind of tired, “Oh … you guys again?” energy. It got a huge laugh. I love Yoda.
— The destruction of the Senate was my favorite scene, I think. That’s when the implications of what was really going down hit me. I thought it was awful. The shattering of a Republic.
— If Padme is so concerned that her marriage to Anakin be kept a secret … then why was she waiting for him to return in that first scene? Like: babe. Go back to your pristine apartment, sit pristinely on the couch (but don’t drink anything because GOD FORBID YOU SPILL ANYTHING) and he’ll be back. But … there you are … creeping about in the shadows … Uhm … you don’t think you look just a leeeeeetle bit suspicious? Loved her Leia hairdo in that scene, though. We are back to ginormous-Cinnamon-Buns-on-side-of-head and I couldn’t be happier.
— The sound the lightsabers make has to be one of the all-time genius effects ever created in a sound design lab. I mean … that SOUND. Jesus.
Anyway, these are my thoughts. Many of them are quite girlie in nature. (Makeup, hairdos, childbirth, and apartment decoration). So be it. I’m a girl. And Star Wars belongs to all of us.
–when Darth took his first steps after being “put back together”, all i could think was, “good God, that has to be painful.” I’ve read people making fun of the staggering, “Frankenstein” homage moment–but think about it. Friggin metal rods for calves. Give the man a break about taking a while to get the stride down.
–the R2 hiding bit was genius. he’s one character that became consistently more human with each movie.
–the crowd at my screening roared in applause when R2 lit the oil on fire, frying the two droids.
–The Sith Legend sequence was awesome, i thought. The only thing missing was Palpy saying, “here, take a bite of this here apple.”
Dismemberment reached a new level in this one. I counted five hands and two legs. Not including the 50 more that probably happened off screen in the temple.
Bah…humbug the Republic. I’m all for clone soldiers, but are you meaning to tell me that not one non-clone outside of the Jedi thought holding the Republic together was worth their lives?
What did Windu intend to charge Palpatine with? Is there no Freedom of Religion in the Republic? Is “being a Sith Lord” a criminal offense? Mind you, they had no actual evidence that Palpatine was behind the Separatists. At least none that we saw.
I can’t remember who sent me this link, but I thought it was hilarious:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4658382
Anyway, reading this post, I can’t help but wonder if you’re involved in the production of some sort of all-droid version of Deliverance.
I agree about the Jedi purge scenes. My friend leaned over and whispered “it’s like the Night of the Long Knives.”
Another scene of unexpected power/poignance: when the half-grown Jedi makdes a run for it but gets cut down in from of the Smits character. I don’t know why, but I found that moving.
There’s a film maker in Lucas struggling to escape.
Well Red, since you’re even more of an acting geek then I am, I have to ask:
Does Lucas make actors look bad like he usually does?
The last two movies made clear that he makes good actors look bad, and that he doesn’t CARE. He did it to Liam, Sam Jackson, Natalie, and even Ewan. I had written off Hayden until seeing him in that Kevin Kline movie and Shattered Glass. The battles that Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher had with Lucas were telling, especially since they came out unscathed acting wise, but nobody else could do the same after George became the infallible billionaire genius. For me there’s no greater sin for a director to commit.
Granted, I’ll still see the movie this saturday, and I’m sure I’ll like it overall, but how many groaners will I have to withstand?
Lots of groaners. Just think of them as a Star Waars tradition – it’s easier that way.
Scotter – I don’t know. For me, those movies were never about the greatness of the acting.
I think Carrie Fisher’s performance is pretty cliched, actually – but somehow, it just doesn’t matter. She wasn’t a real person – she was the “Princess” archetype – and I just didn’t care that all of her reactions seemed pre-planned and even a bit stilted.
Yeah, Harrison Ford emerged from it with acting talent intact … but I think that had a lot to do with the fact that Han Solo was a free-spirit – he had funny lines – He wasn’t suffused with seriousness – and so the audience loves him.
But there’s Samuel Jackson, being all serious and tortured as a Jedi … and … it just doesn’t really work.
I don’t know. The acting just doesn’t bother me all that much.
The only time it really bothered me was the love-scenes in Episode II. Then I thought: Jeez, George … this is TERRIBLE.
I thought longingly of the sexy sizzle of the kiss in the asteroid belt during Empire Strikes Back …
But I don’t know. I’m in it for the glimpses into other galaxies, and for the story itself. The acting was ALWAYS pretty cheesy!
Dan – definitely Night of the Long Knives …
I think Bill brings up some very interesting questions, by the way. Indy George – that link is AWESOME. hahaha
Hey! How about a spoiler warning! ;)
Although.. I am now looking forward to R2D2 screaming again..
..and the cinnamon buns.. sans jiggle *ahem*
I am fixated on Ewan McGregor’s Obi-wan. His heart breaking as he cuts down Anakin. It gave me chills.
The Lucas cheese was the bit about “No, its because I love you for loving me loving you…” line. He needs to let just one other person see the script before shooting it.
Good God, 11 comments in and nobody has mentioned the “NNNNOOOOOOO” which would have been much better had he yelled “KKKKHHHHAAAAAANNNNN”.
Red is totally right about the saber sound effects though, and we’re not alone. In the Rolling Stone out this week, Hayden Christensen says that Lucas had to keep reminding he and Ewan McGregor to stop making the lightsaber noise with their mouths when filming the fight scenes.
I can TOTALLY see myself doing that.
“And Star Wars belongs to all of us.”
I think the Revolution has lost some steam after Sith, so I’m really glad you reminded everybody.
Still haven’t seen it, but have to really soon so that I can buy a ticket to Hitchhiker’s and sneak into the Star Wars theater. George Lucas ain’t getting one thin dime of my money.
And I don’t know, maybe I’m nuts – but I’d feel a bit self-conscious giving birth in front of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I think I’d want them to sit out in the waiting room.
Do you remember in Empire when Luke was floating in the bacta tank in that big ole cloth diaper? Heh.
Contrast that with Lucas’s decision to not leave an inch of bare skin uncovered with Leia’s outfits in the ANH and TESB.
Usually I don’t quibble, but in defense of the wookies, those aren’t crossbows or bow and arrows, they are bowcasters and they function as blaster rifles. I guess this ranks me with the geeks.
Big Dan is right, bowcaster type weapons shoot a greenish energy bolt. They probably operate on a similar principle to blasters.
It was good to see Chewbacca again.
The lightsaber sound was discovered by sound designer Ben Burtt. He had a mike to capture sounds from the environment, and he started picking up this weird sound. It took him a second to figure it out, he was holding the mike near the back of an old TV set. (I heard that tidbit at a young age, and could hear the lightsaber sound behind my grandma’s old TV.) And Ben Burtt’s a freaking genius.
And frinklin, here’s something to make up for the lack of “N-O-O-O!”: The United States of N-O-O-O! remix. Hilarious.
Exactly what environments do you feel comfortable far… oh jeez … nevermind … I retract the question.
;-)
Greg .. hahahaha I know. It’s all about the passing of gas. Listen, it’s part of life … and I don’t like to be in an environment where it makes me feel embarrassed about it. Who does???
I made my own comments here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/wutzizname/19295.html
I have the following to add:
I’ve ALWAYS loved how Artoo is an indecipherable entity that somehow can communicate with Threepio, and most people through a teleprompter. I’ve pretended like Artoo’s side of the dialogue is crass, sarcastic cockney swear words too foul to be uttered before children. In some cases it matches the connotation of the scenes.
For the longest time, I remember a rumor (I’m talking from like when I was in 7th Grade) where Vader was put into the respirator because he was ejected into space, and then found holding himself together by sheer will of the force. I’m not saying I wanted to see that happen in EP3 instead, but It was a damned impressive story back then. in like…1985.
I really wanted to see more referring to the Mandalorian Order. I really did. I feel so cheated.
Anyway, I’m off to sulk and try to repair my Vhs of the original Episode 4 studio edit, then I’m off to paint Miniatures. Ciao.
Wutzizname, YES, the Mandalorian Supercommandoes! I have had hopes for them since the 80’s too. Why Boba Fett has Wookie scalps and all. I have a whole fanfic going about it, geek that I am.