Ep3 review thread SPOILERS

[Gandalf]

Since I didn't see a thread for these already, I figured I would create one.

Greatest fucking movie ever. The story was great, the acting rocked and the effects made me fill the cup. The birth of the Empire was handled greatly. I also thought that the Jedi fighting scenes really kicked ass. Yoda's trash talk and taking out those Royal Guards got applause from the cinema, deservedly so.

My only reservation was some of the dialogue, especially the scene where Vader is "coronated".

9.9/10

[Crown]

Holly shit dude, I was just thinking when our Oz/Kiwi members would come back and post that they saw this bad boy!

[McC]

Damn, beat me to it 10 hours, 57 minutes to go before I see it, but you can be sure that I'll add some comments once I do.

[Ace Pace]

3 hours and 54 minutes for my showing.

[Crown]

I wonder why Vympel hasn't posted yet ... probably crying in the corner over the fact that the Mack-Daddy just laid the smack down of the century on his 'golden boy'! (in joke)

[Vympel]

Just got back from seeing the movie. Review following ... now.

[Vympel]

Ok, I'm going to rate the movie right now, and then get into the details: 4/5. Very good, best of the prequel trilogy. Better than RotJ? Can't decide.

I'll follow the movie from start to finish. There are spoilers, obviously.

The Space Battle.

BIGGEST. LETDOWN. EVER.

That's right. I said it. It had to be said. I have never been so misled. This space battle had the shit hyped out of it, and practically nothing happens.

Why? Simple- Anakin & Obi-Wan are just making their way through duelling capital ships- trust me when I say that you have seen everything you've seen in the space battle that's really cool already if you've seen the trailers/tv spots/ Clone Wars DVD footage. It really is unfathomable. There's a few instances of capital ships fighting as Anakin & Obi-Wan fighting, but I was expecting more. I was expecting more dogfighting even, not a single scene at the very start where ARC-170s enage Vulture fighters and blow each other up for a few shots then "moving on".

What about Anakin and Obi-Wan, in their fighters? They do nothing. A Vulture droid launches buzz droid missiles at them, Anakin dodges his, Obi-Wan doesn't, buzz droid attack, buzz droid attack is defeated, Obi-Wan's ship is screwed, Anakin bumps him on a proper course, destroys the hangar generator (port side) of the Invisible Hand, they land.

End of space battle sequence. No fighting droid fighters. Nothing.

We get one more space battle sequence- that of a Venator pulling up alongside Invisible Hand and delivering a smack-down broadside, about 3/4 of which have already been seen in trailers and tv spots.

No more space battle.

The Invisible Hand sequence

This is a great sequence. Anakin and Obi-Wan's friendship is established more in this sequence than in all of AotC. There is some excellent comic relief from both R2 and Anakin and Obi-Wan's dialog, as well as the Battle Droids even. They make their way to where the Chancellor is being held.

Duel with Count Dooku

Surprisingly short. Too short, in my opinion. Christopher Lee dies only slightly slower than he does in RotK EE. Anakin is much more powerful, yes, and Palpatine during the fight is quite cool. Good scene, but I would've liked more.

Escaping the Invisible Hand/ Capture/ Ship Crash

This bit was cool. More good Anakin Obi-Wan banter, R2-D2 comedy, a fight on the bridge, etc. Strong. The ship crash was also well done.

Note: this is what I deem to be the strongest part of the 1st half of the movie, which is undoubtedly weaker than the second half- let's call it the first quarter. Overall, the first quarter was very good.

Now for the rest of the first half:

Back to Coruscant

Marred only by some bad Anakin/Padme dialog. When they first meet, it's actually ok, but later in their apartment they return to AotC mode. Induced some cringes, groans, and laughter from the audience. This is bad.

The rest of this is perfectly good: Anakin gets his faith in the Jedi tested as they try and figure out just what Palpatine is playing at, insulted by being put on the Council but not being declared master etc. A superb scene where Anakin and Palpatine just talk at a Coruscant opera. Completely enthralling, Ian McDiarmid really shines.

Utapau part 1

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is sent looking for Grievous on Utapau. He quickly finds and engages Grievous in battle. Their fight sequence and the entire battle when the Clonetroopers arrive to reinforce is extremely well done. Thumbs up.

Coruscant again

Anaking goes to see Palpatine to tell him Grievous has been found, etc. Palpatine makes his Sith Lord sales pitch. Another awesome scene. Anakin goes to tell the Council, Mace Windu gathers his posse.

The arrest scene

I loved it. The way Palpatine fights is disturbing- his and Mace Windu's fight really isn't like anything we've seen before. I don't know how to describe it, but it works well- Palpatine's kind of a hissing ... something. There's also an excellent scene of Anakin and Padme figuratively looking at each other from the Jedi Temple and their apartment respectively, and it goes a long way to making Anakin' choice more credible.

The scene where Anakin makes his choice is great. In it, Palpatine conversion to Sidious is sudden and shocking- he's no longer the fatherly, nice old guy, he's a cackling maniac. It's the return of the Emperor from RotJ, and I relished every second of his cackling, manic ranting, from the moment he unleashes the lightning to the very end of the sequence where Anakin makes his choice and Mace Windu goes hurtling to his doom (with full powered force lightning- incadescent skeleton and all)- all while Palpatine is screaming: "UNLIMITED POWER!". Wow.

However, Palpatine was a bit over the top when he "knighted" Anakin moments later. No matter, it still doesn't detract from the scene much.

We are now in the second half of the movie. This kicks major ass from here on in

The Order 66 sequence of Jedi we recognize getting killed by their Clonetroopers is utterly awesome. One of the best sequences in all of Star Wars history. Without question. It's very gripping and tragic.

On Kashyyk

Really, Kashyyk is split into the two halves because Yoda decides to goe there during the Council sequence in the first half, but I'll just discuss it in entirety here. It's very short, but visually pleasing, all of it.

However- it is really just action for action's sake. For the purposes of the script they needed Yoda not to be on Coruscant, but really, Chewie being in the film is totally unecessary, for one. It's a fan point, sort of like an apology for RotJ Ewoks, it seems.

The Clonetroopers turn on Yoda, of course, and he gets away with the help of the Wookies. All very short, but good.

Temple sequence

Short, but excellent. Anakin is an evil bastard. Cool.

Utapau part 2

Obi-Wan gets turned on during the on going battle, he gets away. Kudos all around for another great battle sequence.

Yoda, Obi-Wan and Bail

So and so has happened, we've got to go do this at the Temple, etc. Moving the plot along, nothing objectionable, all in all good.

Anakin sees Padme after the purge

This was a fairly good scene, unmarred by the bad dialog in the first half.

Mustafar/Empire declaration/ Obi-Wan and Yoda in the Temple

Awesome sequence. Just watch it, it's all excellent.

Obi-Wan goes to see Padme

Nothing objectionable, as far as I can remember. Good dialog I think.

Palpatine vs Yoda, Vader vs Obi-Wan

Before Obi-Wan and Anakin fight, Padme and Anakin talk. I thought this was a powerful scene. Natalie Portman didn't quite do it for me, but Hayden Christensen was spot on in this. A great exchange.

Both of these duels are great. The smack talk between Yoda and Palpatine is fucking gold. Vader and Obi-Wan just proceed to beat the shit out of each other. Palpatine and Yoda fight to a stalemate, Yoda buggers off. Back to the main duel. Some good dialog between them, but not enough.

Vader's defeat: an incredible scene. I am lost for words. Just a great moment.

Wrap up: Birth of Twins/ Vader in the suit

Also excellent. Really, there is not a single negtive point here.

I will now follow with some general, non review related comments.

[Vympel]

Big list of awesome Star Wars things we see in this film

1. The Clonetroopers.

They're just awesome- the variety in uniforms, the way they fight, the way they look, the way they move, it's just fantastic. They're a special effects star.

2. Blaster rifles firing on automatic

Watch for it on Battle of Kashyyk. Cool.

3. Repubic armored vehicles

It's not just the AT-AP, AT-RT, and Juggernaut. Not only are there other walkers for which we don't have a name yet, there are Republic tanks. Yes, with treads. See the Mygeeto sequence, where Ki-Adi-Mundi bites the dust.

4. Venators in Imperial gray comapred to their brown/red livery at the start

5. Grievous' spinning lightsabres etc: I shit you not- it's like the novel says, almost exactly. Awesome

6. Clonetroopers in camo

God I love Clonetroopers. Sorry.

7. The world, through Vader's eyes.

Wow. All red and shit. Cool.

8. James Earl Jones

A few lines of dialog, but they work really well.

[Gandalf]

Vymp, don't forget the sighting of Tarkin on the SD bridge. That too was cool.

[Vympel]

Vymp, don't forget the sighting of Tarkin on the SD bridge. That too was cool.

Indeed it was. For those wondering, btw, yeah, the Death Star is the same as the pic in the spoiler thread. We don't get a good look at it unfortunately.

[GuppyShark]

Interesting. I felt Sidious's transformation to full-blown Emperor & subsequent Darthing was the only poorly-done scene in the entire film, it made it harder to believe Anakin would go along. But once that scene is past it's all gold again.

[NecronLord]

Incidentally, did anyone see the supposed (rumoured way back) Asgard Beliskner mothership in the opening space battle? And if so, can they tell me where to look?

[VT-16]

3. Repubic armored vehicles

It's not just the AT-AP, AT-RT, and Juggernaut. Not only are there other walkers for which we don't have a name yet, there are Republic tanks. Yes, with treads. See the Mygeeto sequence, where Ki-Adi-Mundi bites the dust.

Oh, goody, now my longing for this film will only get worse!

Incidently, did any of you chaps happen to see any other Republic/Imperial vessels besides the Venators? EU or otherwise?

btw, yeah, the Death Star is the same as the pic in the spoiler thread

In other words, probably not the same as the one in ANH. Excellent....

[AniThyng]

I loved the pan down shot at the begining where we got a good look at the Venator

er..and what the hell is wrong with teh tantave IV? isn';t that engine WAY TOO BIG??

[VT-16]

Refit in-between ROTS and ANH. No questions asked.

Told you guys it was going to end up like that, but nooo, it had to be an "unfinished model"....

Either way, blame WEG. Seems they studied that model instead of, you know, the actual movie it was in.

[Mlenk]

12 more hours till my showing. Dammit! This day seems like it's going so slowly.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

The Space Battle.

BIGGEST. LETDOWN. EVER.

That's right. I said it. It had to be said. I have never been so misled. This space battle had the shit hyped out of it, and practically nothing happens.

Seriously? Crap... that was one of the parts I was looking forward to the most.

Anyway, nine hours if I can convince my brother to drive me out this late. Otherwise it'll be at least a day for me.

[Winston Blake]

For me, Episode 3 finished 37 minutes ago. It was as good as i could have reasonably expected. There must have been about 15 times when i simply thought to myself "Oh My Fucking God, Fuck Me Now" (as a good thing). A few bits were definitely off-key, but damn, on first viewing, that was a kickass movie. Coming off a SW high, i'd say it was way more dramatic and emotionally engaging than TPM or AOTC by far. Technically, all the machines were sweet, sweet eye candy, and Yoda's CG seems to have improved a lot.

The movie was definitely very good with some iffy bits rather than vice versa. Most of the iffy bits were just because they were a little comical, like Palpatine suddely sucking a lightsabre out of his ass and flipping around slicing up Jedi Masters like it's going out of style, and/or didn't quite make sense, like Yoda spinning up the senate pod before flinging it.

The OT-verse seemed to come a little too quickly though, with Vader striding along the bridge with Imperial Officers (all set just like the OT) coming out of nowhere.

One more thing:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I predict it shall go down as one of the most parodied SW lines ever.

[PackMule]

Fantastic! It's been about 6 hours now since I saw it, and all I want to do is go back and watch it again.

Spoilers btw:Question: During the theatre scene when Palpatine is talking to Anakin about dark side powers, he mentioned that the Sith have the power to control midichlorians and can use this control to create life. In Ep1, Anakin's mum specifically says to Qui-Gon that there was no father. Is it possible Anakin was "created" by Palpatine in an effort to eventually develop him into a superstrong sith lord? Is this already established? Did I miss the ball somewhere?

[Ace Pace]

Okey, back from midnight showing, this thing ROCKED, 9.8 out of 10.

Only problems was cheese and romance acting.

Windu dying was SO ROTJ paced., esspecially with the music.

Imperial march used liberally. Duel of Fates = Yoda VS Sidious.

[Firefox]

.... So, anyone get a good look at the Venator's landing gear, or was it ever shown?

[weemadando]

Fucking brilliant, probably sitting equal with ANH, after ESB in terms of best SW flick.

Things I love:

R2-D2 being a cheeky little fucker (the entire sequence onboard the Invisible Hand)

Purge of the Jedi (done fucking brilliantly)

Yoda being so effortlessly awesome (the bit with the 2 Imperial guards - gold)


But there just weren't enough space battles. Not enough at all.

[Captain tycho]

3 hours left. Mmmm.

[Vympel]

You really can't notice geek details after the first viewing- the only thing that jumped out at me as noteworthy were the Republic tanks, you do see a landed Venator taking off (Obi-Wan takes multiple of them to Utapau from Coruscant) but I wasn't really looking at the landing gear

I wonder why Vympel hasn't posted yet ... probably crying in the corner over the fact that the Mack-Daddy just laid the smack down of the century on his 'golden boy'!

Because it was, as I expected, not a smackdown of any kind. Anakin's loss was due to arrogance as well as the terrain- it was highly unlikely to be repeated in any other setting, which is to be expected given Nick Gillard's consistent statements that Anakin is better than Obi-Wan.

[Xuenay]

Now back from a midnight showing myself.

The bad:

- Acting a bit wooden at times
- The occasional CGI looking too much like CGI
- First half of the movie a bit boring

The good:

+++++ The second half of the movie
+ Anakin's fall to the Dark Side believable
+++++ The second half of the movie
+++++ Did I mention the second half of the movie?

Xue's final verdict: Fantastic movie, easily many times better than the two previous prequels. Easily on the level of the original trilogy, AT LEAST.