Comments on: Comments on 17183

Post number 17183

aaronshaf — Wed, 15 May 2002 23:59:26 -0800

Yoda was awesome. What are your thoughts on the movie?

By: mad

mad — Thu, 16 May 2002 00:04:56 -0800

four words: extreme disappointment. good night.

By: monkeyJuice

monkeyJuice — Thu, 16 May 2002 00:18:06 -0800

four words: not seen it yet

By: Su

Su — Thu, 16 May 2002 00:20:07 -0800

MetaTalk

By: jjg

jjg — Thu, 16 May 2002 00:32:13 -0800

In the interest of bringing some actual substance to this thread: The reviews so far are rather mixed, but (a) Star Wars and critics have never really gotten along all that well to begin with; and (b) everybody has already decided whether they're going to see the film anyway.

By: krakedhalo

krakedhalo — Thu, 16 May 2002 00:38:47 -0800

I'm thinking the shriveled up pasty guy that played Vader in Jedi would have been a better choice for Anakin. He would have given a much more convincing performance. And he's been dead since '94. Good fun plot, GREAT action sequences, but that was some of the worst acting I've seen in a long time. Most of the people in the theater I was in were laughing at how bad the dialogue was and how badly Christensen mangled it. Yoda..... dammmmmmn......

By: schlaager

schlaager — Thu, 16 May 2002 00:39:24 -0800

Yoda does definitely kick ass with a lightsaber. "Why do i have the feeling you're going to be the death of me?"

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 16 May 2002 00:46:23 -0800

I performed an informal survey at my local movie theater tonight and the results were unanimous: Luke Skywalker could kick Spiderman's ass. Even without a light saber. That being said, the reviews for episode 2 seem pretty bad, and I doubt I'll see it.

By: dong_resin

dong_resin — Thu, 16 May 2002 00:47:46 -0800

I thought it was lukewarm as I saw it, but it's growing on me now, about an hour latter. I really liked the bit with Yoda and the Jedi kids in the library. Didn't really buy his little fight scene, god bless `im. The rest of it seemed a bit eager to please, but not bad. The theater, of course, went nuts as Yoda struck the Enter The Dragon pose.

By: dong_resin

dong_resin — Thu, 16 May 2002 00:52:47 -0800

Everyone applauded at the end by the way. Seemed to be crowd pleaser.

By: McBain

McBain — Thu, 16 May 2002 01:16:24 -0800

I loved it. Every minute of it. But I am a fan-boy so...

By: XiBe

XiBe — Thu, 16 May 2002 01:20:37 -0800

Friends in Australia have seen it, and urge me to go see it. I of course will. But not now. I'd like to enjoy the movie, not smell the anxiety of the two guys sitting next to me while they say out loud what they'd like to see from what thet read in all their Star Wars novels. (yes, that happenned for Fellowship of the Ring. No, I didn't enjoy the movie that much. But that was probably also because of the french dubbing and the cheesy music. So there)

By: WolfDaddy

WolfDaddy — Thu, 16 May 2002 01:39:06 -0800

I'd like to enjoy the movie, not smell the anxiety of the two guys sitting next to me while they say out loud what they'd like to see from what thet read in all their Star Wars novels Uh, thanks, XiBe. You've managed to a) define fanboy ... any fanboy, b) define what 'Star Wars' means today and c) I'll wait for the DVD -- all in one sentence. Brilliant.

By: ooklah

ooklah — Thu, 16 May 2002 01:42:53 -0800

I enjoyed the movie but felt the movie had a "rushed" feel to the plot with the exception of some tedious romantic dialogue that was a bit overdone. I could have used a few less one-liners from C3P0 as well. The fight scenes, however, were fantastic. Especially the battle royale featuring Droid army vs. Jedi. I can see the Lucasfilm spin-off now exploiting the Jedi training school angle. I thought Yoda was fantastic although he still sounds like Grover from Sesame Street too often.

By: Spoon

Spoon — Thu, 16 May 2002 01:52:24 -0800

Chitty chitty bang bang in space.

By: McBain

McBain — Thu, 16 May 2002 02:24:54 -0800

Thoughts on the film that include SPOILERS: My only serious gripe is that Anakin's prosthetic was way lame compared to the clever way they showed Luke's in Empire. Padme's outfits are outstanding. Where can I get my girlfriend these clothes? Yoda gets to be Bruce Lee, Col. Kilgore, and of course Yoda. Great moment remeniscent of Bond meeting Villain when Jango Fett and Obi-Wan meet. There has always been a serious "secret agent" aspects to Jedi that has only been hinted at and never realized until this film. Lightsabers kick ass, inherently. And this film had more of them than ever. The slow burn of Anakin is done really well. The "You aren't all powerful" "Well I should be" exchange sounded really awkward in the trailer, but given the context of the movie it works and Anakin's descent into darkness is amazing to watch. I can't wait to see it again.

By: Mach3avelli

Mach3avelli — Thu, 16 May 2002 03:14:17 -0800

For Yoda's fight scene alone, worth it. Otherwise, a crap waste of time in a crowded theater of noisy, smelly, dot.com shirt-wearing, mullet-ridden geeks who exclaim "Fucking A" between every sentence.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 16 May 2002 03:43:54 -0800

Chitty chitty bang bang in space. From this I infer that the film will ROCK MY WORLD.

By: kfury

kfury — Thu, 16 May 2002 03:56:47 -0800

Better than Phantom Menace. If I let myself be convinced that anakin's spoiled bratty whiney and clodlike schmoosing is a result of his immaturity rather than Hayden's bad acting, then I would actually rate this above Jedi, making it (from best to worst): A New Hope, Empire (Yeah, I liked the first one better, sue me), Clones, Jedi, and Menace. There was a lot of good stuff here, and a lot that could have been better. The movie was completely misnamed, and there were so many allusions and symmetries with future events that those things that didn't match up probably serve as a blueprint for Episode III, but it was okay nonetheless... Basically, if this trilogy were mine to write, I would have written Anakin as more of a good guy, who is forced into the dark side in such a way that I the audience member can understand it, and understand the tragedy of it (think Evil Willow, or even Luke in Jedi). Having Anakin as just a spoiled power-drunk brat deadens the moral message of the story. I can't empathize with him, and so I can't sympathize either. But then he gets to boink Padme, so who am I to say it's wrong?

By: kfury

kfury — Thu, 16 May 2002 03:58:30 -0800

Oh yeah, and Lucas should team up with Alan Sorkin on the next screenplay. Seriously.

By: apostasy

apostasy — Thu, 16 May 2002 04:18:59 -0800

Unexpected this movie was. And unfortunate. (Vaguely spoilerish this is.) Seriously, even the final kiss was horrid. Not the cheesy sentimentality, simply incompetent. Anakin looked like a gasping fish. Few other thoughts: Final battle did nothing for me, as it was a shootout, not a battle. Would've loved a final battle, but with that level of military firepower I'd prefer tactics that rose about the (U.S.) Revolutionary era. I've been forced to reckon with my apparently unfounded belief that Natalie Portman is a good actress. Finally (as a friend pointed out), Lucas has, at least, given Jar-Jar a reason to be executed.

By: riffola

riffola — Thu, 16 May 2002 05:24:19 -0800

Here's the spoiler for any one who wishes to save some money.

By: mrmanley

mrmanley — Thu, 16 May 2002 05:48:45 -0800

"Your clones are very impressive." Did Ed Wood write this movie?

By: brand-gnu

brand-gnu — Thu, 16 May 2002 06:13:16 -0800

Better than Phantom Menace.
That's the excuse I kept hearing from my friends last night (this morning? whatever.), and I'll say the same thing to y'all in response: "Is it better than Phantom Menace? Yes. Does that make it a good movie? Not even close."

By: tpl1212

tpl1212 — Thu, 16 May 2002 06:16:34 -0800

Not enough Jibba Jabba The Hutt...or so i've heard...

By: spilon

spilon — Thu, 16 May 2002 06:21:28 -0800

I thought the romance crud was a bit lame, and Hayden was clearly only hired for his ability to go from smiley-face nice boy to glarey-eyed scary boy in two seconds flat. But he was better than Jake Lloyd, and part of me wonders if they HAD to hire a bad actor to make us believe he was the same person. Anyway, other than those minor quibbles, I thought it was awesome. And like someone else up-thread said, I like it even more now that some time has passed since I saw it. After you think about how much was packed into that movie, it is hard to be too picky about the little disappointments. Oh, and I have to say that my screening was chock full of very impressive Storm Troopers, as well as an excellent Boba Fett and Darth Vader, plus even a couple of other characters. Looked like they stepped right off the screen. They were from here: www.501st.com.

By: timyang

timyang — Thu, 16 May 2002 06:44:09 -0800

It wasn't the acting that was bad. It simply had an awful and awkward cliche-filled script. Luckily I watched it on a pirated VCD so I could skip the terrible "romance" scenes. That terrible "sand is rough but you are smooth" line will live in infamy. I don't know about you but I had this feeling that Lucas didn't want to shoot them either -- they were so rushed, I think he just wanted to get right back to the great starship shots but felt obligated to have a bit of romance. Lucas' problem is that he can't tell a story to save his life. Although he can direct good CGI.

By: mad

mad — Thu, 16 May 2002 06:51:06 -0800

I guess it's hard to find good actors- or at least good blue screen actors. The first 1:45 dragged on with awkward acting from Hayden. The love story is weak- I'm supposed to believe that a Jedi in training fell in love at age 10? And a few awkward moments and Jedi tricks compell Padme to fall truly, deeply, in love with Anakin? I hoped Lucas would gives us a bit more credit.

If I hadn't explored some lovely Beligian beers at Monk's beforehand, I'd have been even more disappointed.

By: fleener

fleener — Thu, 16 May 2002 06:56:04 -0800

I really did not appreciate Yoda's love scene.

By: taumeson

taumeson — Thu, 16 May 2002 07:23:34 -0800

Includes Spoilers: Jedi Hand to Hand combat (Obi-Wan vs. Jango Fett at the cloning factory) Mace Windu vs. Jango Fett...awesome. The theater clapped when that was finished. Anybody realize Boba Fett picked up his father's Mandalorian helment with the head still in it?

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Thu, 16 May 2002 07:42:02 -0800

Saw it, but I've learned on this site, in the last Star Wars thread, that my opinion doesn't matter, because I'm a fan of the series, so I'll just keep it to myself.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 16 May 2002 07:58:56 -0800

Rotten Tomatoes rates it as Barely Fresh at the moment, with 61% of the critics listed being kind. Roger Ebert called it "a technological exercise that lacks juice and delight." Overall the response I'm seeing is this: diehard fans think Lucas made this show to appease a more mainstream audience, while those who think diehard fans of Star Wars are geeky think this movie was made to appeal to the fringe elite. No one gets it, so they think Lucas is talking to the other camp. In other words, no one's happy. I think what's really being criticized here is not the movie itself, but the fact the movie didn't live up to people's expectations. Lucas has made it abundantly clear he doesn't care. He has a story to finish. If people think he's rushing it, they may or may not be right. I mean the guy's not a youngster anymore. He wants to be done before he keels over dead. That doesn't matter. He wants to do this. He has the technology and the funding. He's wants to finish what he started twenty five years ago. Phantom Menace was made on a budget of approximately 115 million dollars. Opening weekend in May of 1999, it made over half that back. Worldwide theatrical release maxed out at over 900 million. In worldwide video rentals since it has grossed over four times its original budget, despite the fact people largely agree it's not that great of a film. That probably doesn't count sales, merchandising, cable & network tv broadcasts - accumulatively Phantom Menace has grossed almost a billion dollars. Admit it. George could do a movie that's worse than the largely forgotten Wookie Thankgiving Day TV Special, and still make millions. Whine and bitch all ya want, but you ain't George so the movie ain't gonna look just like you want it to look. Either go see the movie for yourself, or don't. George certainly won't notice your absense.

By: Qambient

Qambient — Thu, 16 May 2002 08:35:32 -0800

i went last night and geeked out. It was a fun movie. If you go into the movie looking for a good time and not to criteque it to death you might enjoy it. Yoda does kick ass and Natalie Portman has never looked better. I enjoyed how she seemed to lose more and more clothing as the movie progressed. Hayden's acting was no worse the Toby's in Spider-man

By: dkhong

dkhong — Thu, 16 May 2002 08:55:02 -0800

Hayden bites...He was in another movie with Kevin Klein and he sounded just as whiny and annoying. I was really hoping Yoda would kick his ass too... BTW, I'll reiterate it again, Yoda's fight scene was awesome...

By: Skot

Skot — Thu, 16 May 2002 09:01:42 -0800

I can't believe we're still not talking about Life as a House. I love you, Kristin Scott Thomas, bug eyes and all!

By: endorwitch

endorwitch — Thu, 16 May 2002 09:24:07 -0800

wow i havent posted a comment in ages. i went to the australian premiere on wednesday night. i liked it but hayden annoyed the crap out of me. and i dont think they did a good job of explaining how anakin went from annoying 'i wanna help people' sickly sweet child to annoying 'obiwan is holding me back' arrogant mr broodypants(tm). and please explain to me how padme fell for the jerk...and the corny lines.....i could have thrown up. but wooty to jedi's fighting. wooty to fuzzy bearded ewan(tm)! wooty to temeura morrison. i love that guy. and GO YODA!!!! that was cool! **this bit could have some vague spoilers** one of the girls i went with to see it - we kept commenting how things remided us of other films. like the racing around Coruscant reminded me a lil' bit of the cab chase scene in the Fifth Element. the arena (and that whole scene really) where obiwan, anakin and padme get tied to those things reminded my friend of Gladiator. i thought the main creature obiwan fought in that scene looked like the Bug from Men in Black a bit. there were other bits but i have forgotten them at the moment. **spoilerishness over** but over all i liked it. much better than ep 1. but i am from the 'why do people hate Jar Jar?" school and i wished he'd ben in it a bit more. :( i could have done without C3PO - i hate that droid with a passion. i will crawl back into my hole now and dream of fuzzy bearded ewan. ciao kiddies.

By: dansays

dansays — Thu, 16 May 2002 09:27:16 -0800

My only serious gripe is that Anakin's prosthetic was way lame compared to the clever way they showed Luke's in Empire. There was some discussion about this last night. The consensus seemed to be that Anakin was presented with a variety of prosthetic options, including a natural-looking hand, but opted for the cool-looking metallic one. Have they explained why Yoda normally has trouble walking without a cane, yet was capable of jumping around and doing mid-air flips during the fight scene? Or is it one of those "the force works in mysterious ways" kind of things?

By: herc

herc — Thu, 16 May 2002 09:40:57 -0800

"...Admit it. George could do a movie that's worse than the largely forgotten Wookie Thankgiving Day TV Special..." No. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to make anything worse than The Star Wars Holiday Special Bea Arthur serving drinks in the creature canteen! Jefferson Starship singing to Chewie's son, "Lumpy." Carrie Fisher sings! Hmmm...I'm guessing there's no mention of "Life Day" in Episode 2.

By: herc

herc — Thu, 16 May 2002 09:42:27 -0800

Sorry, folks. The link didn't take. Here's the page for the Holiday Special -- visit if you dare: http://www.timewarptv.com/site/programs/Star_Wars_Holiday_Special/

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Thu, 16 May 2002 09:48:13 -0800

Have they explained why Yoda normally has trouble walking without a cane, yet was capable of jumping around and doing mid-air flips during the fight scene? He's faking it to get the good parking spaces.

By: mcwetboy

mcwetboy — Thu, 16 May 2002 09:48:35 -0800

So long as no one is protecting their soul trees from stupid lurdos.

By: devo

devo — Thu, 16 May 2002 10:01:36 -0800

It's great that Anakin's prosthetic was lamer than Luke's. Let's not forget that these are prequels. For the first time, it seems that something is more advanced in Episode V (~20 years later) than in Episode II. Everything else in the prequels seems more advanced, thanks to 20 years of special effects technology.

By: sixtwenty3dc

sixtwenty3dc — Thu, 16 May 2002 10:14:41 -0800

the full cumulative minute and a half of jar jar dialogue was a full two minutes too much. however, i do find it fitting and very very unsuprising that it was jar jar who brought about palpatine's absolute authority and thus solely responsible for the downfall of the republic!. i'm glad Lucas also decided to involve R2 and 3PO more, their antics in Clones parallels their best performance in A New Hope in my opinion. As much as i love Sam Jackson, some of his acting and movement was just lame (that is, before he whipped out the purple lightsaber and sliced though jango). and yoda... wow. overall, i think Clones was a solid story.

By: cell divide

cell divide — Thu, 16 May 2002 10:46:32 -0800

The pacing was kind of bad, Natalie Portman had no life in her whatsoever, and the love-scenes had the audience in stitches. Still, it was a great movie. Never has a film been so... full of color, machines, clones, ships, stars. Wow. I saw it in a theatre with digital projection and it's amazing, so crisp and clear. I really enjoyed this movie, it had enough amazing scenes to make all the bad parts worth it. All the 'sets' were amazing, as were the ships. And Yoda made the whole thing worthwhile, his digital face is probably the best digitial creature ever.

By: Ben Grimm

Ben Grimm — Thu, 16 May 2002 11:22:37 -0800

Easier to follow than The Phantom Menace, and more fun. Not as good as the originals, but that's apples and oranges at this point. Yoda rocks!

By: Dirjy

Dirjy — Thu, 16 May 2002 11:31:56 -0800

That terrible "sand is rough but you are smooth" line will live in infamy. As will the 'rolling around in a grassy meadow' moment. Wow. Left me speechless. Runner-up: Anakin's nightmare scene -- 'no... no... MOM!' Gawd. i do find it fitting and very very unsuprising that it was jar jar who brought about palpatine's absolute authority and thus solely responsible for the downfall of the republic!. That was beautiful. They played that Gungan like a little puppet bitch. Also, I don't get all the complaints about the hardcore geek audience. At the midnight show I saw, the house was packed with Star Wars fans (except my wife, who feel asleep -- oh, the embarassment!) and I thought it was one of the best audiences I've been around in a long time. They got energized, applauded the opening intro, then the got terribly quiet in order to hear every bit of the movie. Then Yoda rocked the house and we all went apeshit.

By: brittney

brittney — Thu, 16 May 2002 11:46:39 -0800

I fell asleep.

By: stifford

stifford — Thu, 16 May 2002 12:48:44 -0800

a lot of lame stuff watered down what would have been a decent movie, imo. I'd give it a C, as is. It was better than Phantom Menace though...

By: esch

esch — Thu, 16 May 2002 13:00:23 -0800

Anybody realize Boba Fett picked up his father's Mandalorian helment with the head still in it? Anybody realize that Boba isn't his son, but the second clone they speak of?

By: daveadams

daveadams — Thu, 16 May 2002 14:15:07 -0800

I can see where casual viewers and non-fans would not really like this movie. It's very nearly a fanboy's dream, though. It pleased this fanboy much more than he thought possible. Jar Jar didn't bother me at all. I do have several complaints about things I would prefer have been done differently, but that's unavoidable in a prequel where the events are leading up to something you already know about. SPOILERS probably. The dialogue parallels to the original trilogy were awesome, I thought. The slapstick humor by 3P0 and R2 in the final 40 minutes or so was also laugh-out-loud funny. This is the movie Episode I should have been. Did anyone else notice the two fast-zoom handheld shots in the final battle sequence that were totally odd for a Star Wars film? I really loved the direction on the Dooku-Anakin saber battle after Anakin shut off the lights. I wish Anakin and Padme hadn't married. That seemed a little silly. It would have been better for them to have a night of passion that could get her pregnant. The marriage scene seemed forced and unnatural to me. Anakin's new arm also was a little weird. The Yoda battle was awesome. I loved how he drew his saber. The actual saber fight was too fast to really take in. I have to see it a few more times. Okay, that's a quick overview of my thoughts. More than you cared to know, but somebody has to listen.

By: stifford

stifford — Thu, 16 May 2002 14:27:08 -0800

The slapstick humor by 3P0 and R2 in the final 40 minutes or so was also laugh-out-loud funny. more like groan out-loud non-funny. C3PO out jarjar-ed Jar Jar... my two biggest issues with the movie (Minor SPOILERS below): 1) not showing Anakin slaughter the Sand People. this could have been better than the yoda fight (which was cool,but very short...and yoda definitely didn't kick anyone's ass...) what a waste. and 2) Flying R2D2. How many situations in the original trilogy could R2D2 had saved people from if he could have flown? but now, before all that he can fly? lame... I could nit-pick a lot more, but I'll spare us all that torture... :)

By: thomas j wise

thomas j wise — Thu, 16 May 2002 14:33:15 -0800

Wooden the acting was, although good the special effects were. It was better then Episode I, although I absolutely cringed every time either Christensen or Portman started speaking. Not that the prose they were dealing with helped all that much. A critic once remarked that C-3P0 and R2D2 were the only human beings in this series, and that seemed particularly the case this time around--Anthony Daniels gave the liveliest line readings in the whole film.

By: thomas j wise

thomas j wise — Thu, 16 May 2002 14:37:01 -0800

more like groan out-loud non-funny. C3PO out jarjar-ed Jar Jar... Oh, yes--I was going to say that I didn't recall C-3P0 being quite this much of a ding-a-ling before. High-strung (high-wired?), yes, but not in need of a new operating system.

By: Yelling At Nothing

Yelling At Nothing — Thu, 16 May 2002 15:17:27 -0800

Frankly, I was very glad that Lucas seems to be getting back to the sardonic humor from IV-VI, rather than more slapstick Jar-Jar.

Also, what impressed me the most about the movie was that the computer animation was very real; not the plastic-wrapped look of Phantom Menace.

By: jcterminal

jcterminal — Thu, 16 May 2002 15:51:56 -0800

"I performed an informal survey at my local movie theater tonight and the results were unanimous: Luke Skywalker could kick Spiderman's ass. Even without a light saber." stupid people still go to the theatres? right. without a light sabre. laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame.

By: diddlegnome

diddlegnome — Thu, 16 May 2002 17:16:12 -0800

A pretty good movie. It was way funnier and in general better than I expected, which hasn't been the case for a "Star Wars" movie in, oh, 22 years or so. Some tremendous (if slightly implausible) action sequences, but yeah, the romantic moments were nearly unwatchable. People in the theater clapped during the opening fanfare (which I'll admit still sends a little shiver down my spine). I thought that was funny.

By: owillis

owillis — Thu, 16 May 2002 20:12:33 -0800

Yoda does kick ass and Natalie Portman has never looked better. I enjoyed how she seemed to lose more and more clothing as the movie progressed. This was far and away the best part of the movie. My hat's off to you Miss Portman! I enjoyed it, not too geeky and not too kidsy.

By: diddlegnome

diddlegnome — Thu, 16 May 2002 21:31:05 -0800

owillis, you just like the way she bared her midriff a la Britney.

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 16 May 2002 21:47:05 -0800

Everything to do with Anakin was a mess. The rest of the movie was fanboy gold. The amount of screen time given to Boba Fett makes me wonder if episode 3 will finally reveal the secret origin of Jek Porkins.

By: diddlegnome

diddlegnome — Thu, 16 May 2002 22:23:16 -0800

Jek Porkins He was the love child of Jabba the Hutt and that blue chick with the stocking-cap head, I think.

By: josh

josh — Thu, 16 May 2002 22:26:50 -0800

For the record, I definitely enjoyed it. But I had no expectations, since everyone I know saw it opening night and then spent hours telling me how awful it was. I guess the same thing was true for everyone else in my theater: people started laughing before the 'sand' line and about 1/4 of the theater went to the bathroom as soon as the fireplace scene started.

By: Hildago

Hildago — Fri, 17 May 2002 00:12:45 -0800

Natalie Portman was midrifferific. In fact, I'd like to take this opportunity to copyright the word Nabooty-licious

By: Danf

Danf — Fri, 17 May 2002 08:01:55 -0800

I plan on seeing it tonight. . is it still in the theaters?

By: feelinglistless

feelinglistless — Sun, 26 May 2002 16:41:18 -0800

I'm sorry Star Wars? What's that?