Vader Rising

We’re about a week and a half away from seeing Anakin transform into Vader. I’ve been trying to avoid reading too much about it before seeing the film, but i’ve noticed a lot of positive early reviews. I’m getting excited. I loved the first three films. Menace was horrible and Jar Jar nearly sunk the series. Lucas rebounded nicely with Attack of the Clones. The duel with Dooku at the end of Attack is one of the series’ highlights for me. All of the commercials/previews for Revenge of the Sith look great. Lord Vader will rise, General Grievous will kick ass and I will be there.

Posted by chuck at May 9, 2005 12:57 AM

Comments

The nerd topics here and at Hermann the Maleovolent always get me charged up and launch a flurry of discussion. The ROTS trailer is the best of the neo-star wars entries in the last 6 years, but I am still reserved for what it will ultimately be. I think Clones was incomprehensibly stupid and muddied. Revenge of the sith will be a little bit more even, definitely more action packed, but the only beats and charges I see coming out of it positively will be one and a half video game level lightsaber battles, and the opportunity for people to cheer when Chewbacca and Vader appear gratuitously onscreen. It will be the sci-fi equivalent of a surprise visit by Burt Reynolds on Johnny Carson’s Tonight show. Familiarity will be its only savior, but I expect the same mediocre mess from the previous two films. Overall, I just think these stories were a poor choice to tell in relaunching the films for a new generation. There’s a story in screenwriting where Jack Warner (of Warner Brothers) was pitched a story about a guy who goes on a tightrope over niagra Falls in some evel knievelk type deal and in the original script it happened on page 17. Warner threw the writer out and said that he’d make the movie if the character walked on the tightrope on page 50. Only by page 50 would the audience care about the safety of the character doing the stunt after getting to know him for an hour of the movie. I believe the Star Wars movies are a victim of poor choices and everything happening at page 17 and we probably din’t need to see these stories at all. The old movies were cool because when you heard of Vader’s turn and the old republic, and clone wars and it was all in the mind’s eye. I liked it better when Jedi master Yoda was in my imagination and an old sage instead of a flurry of CG super ninja moves and visually unnerving action sequences.

Posted by: Andy G at May 9, 2005 10:41 AM

Thanks, Andy. You saved me 8 bucks by writing that.

Posted by: Jim at May 9, 2005 1:00 PM

I don’t mean to deflate, it could rock, I hope it does for the movies sake and sake of the “brand” Just a small opinion from the cheap seats. I actually can’t wait for their TV projects, maybe there will be a “young han solo” show or something. They are set to do (1) live action and (1) animated show for TV in the next couple of years. I’d watch an Obi Wan adventures show on HBO.

Posted by: Andy G at May 9, 2005 2:06 PM