I have my likes and dislikes with the Phantom Menace as much as anyone else, so I think the real question here is: Is the 3D conversion worth a movie trip, or should I just stick with the Blu-Rays if I absolutely must watch it again?
Escape to the Movies: The Phantom Menace 13 Years Later
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
Personally i think the problem is that A) the movies got worse and worse through the trilogy and B) they bear the unfortunate cross of having to be compared to the original star wars, hailed by many as one of the best sagas of all time (and by many others as just really really good)
I liked the Phantom Menace. Retrospectively, yeah, it wasn't all that great. But it wasn't horrible and on it's own doesn't deserve over a decade of hate.
I liked the Phantom Menace. Retrospectively, yeah, it wasn't all that great. But it wasn't horrible and on it's own doesn't deserve over a decade of hate.
I do think that It is better than Attack of the Clones, I'll give you that.
But if we're talking about the worst Star Wars film, that easily goes to this turd.
By god was this movie bad.
You said it yourself Bob.
But if we're talking about the worst Star Wars film, that easily goes to this turd.
You said it yourself Bob.
Hate for PM would be strong, but disappointment was definitely the case when it came out.
However I'm taking my 5 year old son this weekend who has become obsessed with the movies (5 of them [haven't shown him this one yet, waiting to see it in the theater]) Seeing the series with fresh eyes (through him) has been refreshing and I'm excited to see it this weekend. I don't expect greatness.
Funny thing, my son thinks Jar Jar is stupid.
However I'm taking my 5 year old son this weekend who has become obsessed with the movies (5 of them [haven't shown him this one yet, waiting to see it in the theater]) Seeing the series with fresh eyes (through him) has been refreshing and I'm excited to see it this weekend. I don't expect greatness.
Funny thing, my son thinks Jar Jar is stupid.
While I do believe that The Phantom Menace is as bad as I think it is, it isn't any different from myriad other films I enjoyed when I was younger that don't hold up today. It certainly isn't worth dwelling on (though I do love the Plinkett review for how funny it is).
Hey Bob, do you know where the Hulk comes from in that clip of The Avengers? He's clearly not there, then the camera rotates and suddenly he is! CG goof? It might be something they can fix in post, but there doesn't seem to be any room between Iron Man and Hawkeye for him to stand anyway.
Hey Bob, do you know where the Hulk comes from in that clip of The Avengers? He's clearly not there, then the camera rotates and suddenly he is! CG goof? It might be something they can fix in post, but there doesn't seem to be any room between Iron Man and Hawkeye for him to stand anyway.
Lending a sort of emotional and moral complexity to a kids movie YES IT'S A KIDS MOVIE DEAL WITH IT and a movie by George Lucas I think just doesn't exist. Windu had to kill Palpatine because Anakin had to kill Windu because Anakin had to take that step from mere pyschological dissidence to outright murdermurdermurderface, and Windu provided the foil for that. It wasn't the Jedi themselves who were corrupt - their sin was probably at worst being completly out of touch and ignorant, which is by no means a minor thing - but that the entire system of the Republic was corrupt - which made the ham fisted democracy good, monarchy bad! nonsense of the third act of ROTS all the more facepalmy.CronoT said:
In my opinion the best Star Wars material produced in the last decade or so is and remains Genndy Tartokovsky's Clone War's shorts, which 'coincidentally' consist primarily of dramatic action sequences with little to no characterization or dialogue - with the exception of materials dealing with Anakin which demonstrate a far better descent into angst and pride fueled rage far better than the movies did (it also provides a far superior characterization of General Greivous and frankly just makes him awesome and menacing as opposed to the comedic charicture of a menacing villain we're provided with in ROTS without any leadup or introduction)
I'll admit the animations are poorly voiced, drawn, and animated, yet their choreography still conveys an impact on par or exceeding the movies.
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It also provides interesting context for your claim that Windu was slipping to the darkside (it's worth noting that Windu's particular saber style and practices require aggression and 'enjoying fighting' which have historically claimed everyone who utilized the Style to the darkside) because, when confronted with the then far more menacing Greivous, rather than tangling with him or trying to rescue Chancellor Palpatine, Windu -crushes his chest cavity with the force-, the equivilant of a force choke at least if not outright crushing someones heart with the force.
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This scene was added in by Tartokovsky to make Grievous match up to the wheezing invalid we're presented with in the movies, by the way, not the other way around - work on the Cartoon was done under an info blackout from Lucas arts (because many details were still in flux at that time).
And finally just for Funsies, here's Mace Windu soloing an army.
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I'm fine with not hating it anymore (not that I really did to begin with, at least not compared to the other two... shudder), but these crappy rehashes don't deserve a big box office when truly good stuff like Scott Pilgrim isn't successful.
So yeah, I won't rant about it (nor will I encourage others to do so), but neither will I go see it (and I encourage others NOT to do so.)
Not to mention, if it succeeds it'll get all of Hollywood on the REMADE IN 3D! bandwagon where they can rerelase decade-old footage at premium prices just for the privilege of giving the audience migraines.
So yeah, I won't rant about it (nor will I encourage others to do so), but neither will I go see it (and I encourage others NOT to do so.)
Not to mention, if it succeeds it'll get all of Hollywood on the REMADE IN 3D! bandwagon where they can rerelase decade-old footage at premium prices just for the privilege of giving the audience migraines.
Damn Bob. You read my mind before I went into this video. You see, I wanted to like and be biased for the Star Wars fanbase for having valid points, but recently I took a few steps back and realized that they were letting their childhood fuel their anger over a couple ****ing movies.
I'll admit with the rest of you that the prequels are nowhere near as good as the original trilogy, because it's hard enough to follow them up. Still, I see no reason to hate the prequels aside from being goofy and straying slightly from what was grounded before.
I'll admit with the rest of you that the prequels are nowhere near as good as the original trilogy, because it's hard enough to follow them up. Still, I see no reason to hate the prequels aside from being goofy and straying slightly from what was grounded before.
Well since I was born in 1995 this was the first Starwars movie I actually ever saw, and I loved it. Then I watched the original 3 and I was like "meh". Personally I love the prequels more than the originals just because that was my childhood. I loved the action scenes in the first one. Loved Jarjar and the whole Naboo ordeal. When I watch them now I still think the original just aren't as good, and why? That was what I grew up watching man.
Okay, you raised a lot of valid points. The Phantom Menace is a mediocre movie. I hear you mention that the CGI aged. I don't think that's going to help the 3d any? Is the 3d any good?
My only main beef with the prequel trilogy was that they went almost exclusively for big ticket names to star in it and you can practically see the egos rise up throughout the movies. The only real exception to this (in my eyes at least) being Samuel L. Jackson who actually gave a solid performance. The rest though? Practically calling it in and dull as dishwater.
Compare this to the original trilogy where nearly everyone was an unknown and the trilogy gave them their big ticket start off. You saw determination to give a good performance there because their livelihood relied on it.
That said, I've seen each prequel movie precisely once, noted that at best they were an average summer blockbuster (which when you think about it puts it on par with the original trilogy though not as memorable but that's because it's been done before) and walked away.
And of course roll my eyes at any ragers who feel like their childhood has been asked to point on the doll at the spot the bad movie touched it.
Compare this to the original trilogy where nearly everyone was an unknown and the trilogy gave them their big ticket start off. You saw determination to give a good performance there because their livelihood relied on it.
That said, I've seen each prequel movie precisely once, noted that at best they were an average summer blockbuster (which when you think about it puts it on par with the original trilogy though not as memorable but that's because it's been done before) and walked away.
And of course roll my eyes at any ragers who feel like their childhood has been asked to point on the doll at the spot the bad movie touched it.
So... Hardcore fanboys are basically just big, whiny kids.
"No shit Sherlock", comes to mind.
On a side note, I never really cared all that much about the Star Wars universe. Any of it. Just like Dragonball Z or well-known 80's horror flicks, I've noticed that watching carefully thought out spoofs of those works are often more entertaining than the original works. For me at least.
"No shit Sherlock", comes to mind.
On a side note, I never really cared all that much about the Star Wars universe. Any of it. Just like Dragonball Z or well-known 80's horror flicks, I've noticed that watching carefully thought out spoofs of those works are often more entertaining than the original works. For me at least.
Here's in part, something I wrote on a previous post about "Lucas retiring from movies"
"[...] all 6 movies are in the Top 100 movies with the highest revenue. If the more it went the worse they were, why did they keep making money? The answer is easy... most people didn't care so much about the Star Wars legacy when going to see them. Here we have the loud geek (me included) voices speaking angry. But most people just go see a movie and that's it. Not everybody cares about expressing themselves over the internet. They either love or hate the movie they just saw, talk bits of it with friends around a supper and that's it. They don't make a big deal out of it as if it ruined their life. That there are no reasons to feel like our childhood memories were soiled. I'm not saying "get a life"... I'm saying "life goes on". There are more important things in life than movies to let it ruin your life and generate so much hate. [...]"
Now I would like to add that, I saw episode once twice in the theater. Kinda like it. Good music, locations, costume, choreography and the story isn't all that bad. I feel like the good outweighs the bad. The only thing preventing me from watching more often is that the acting is terrible... Portman, McGregor and Neeson are terrible. It's hard to see them so clueless when you know what they are capable of.
"[...] all 6 movies are in the Top 100 movies with the highest revenue. If the more it went the worse they were, why did they keep making money? The answer is easy... most people didn't care so much about the Star Wars legacy when going to see them. Here we have the loud geek (me included) voices speaking angry. But most people just go see a movie and that's it. Not everybody cares about expressing themselves over the internet. They either love or hate the movie they just saw, talk bits of it with friends around a supper and that's it. They don't make a big deal out of it as if it ruined their life. That there are no reasons to feel like our childhood memories were soiled. I'm not saying "get a life"... I'm saying "life goes on". There are more important things in life than movies to let it ruin your life and generate so much hate. [...]"
Now I would like to add that, I saw episode once twice in the theater. Kinda like it. Good music, locations, costume, choreography and the story isn't all that bad. I feel like the good outweighs the bad. The only thing preventing me from watching more often is that the acting is terrible... Portman, McGregor and Neeson are terrible. It's hard to see them so clueless when you know what they are capable of.
I'll echo a couple thoughts here in that Phantom Menace is an average to below average movie with the best fight scene of all the movies. I think that last fight scene is a great example of how a creator can deliver excellent visuals, but also incredible characterization and story without leaning on dialogue or exposition and relying entirely(or almost entirely I should say) on action and body language.
Does anyone else feel like Bob's 'review' was a condescending conversation between himself and his former self?
I don't know that people DO get particularly angry at the Phantom Menace for no reason. I think what annoys people most is that it developed an audience who disdain critical analysis. It is a bad movie; it doesn't seem to exist for any other reason than making money (having no tale of interest to tell). What fans seem to 'hate' is that so many others are uncritically praising (and giving vast amounts of money to) a sloppy film, that fans KNOW is sloppy because they KNOW Star Wars.
The fact that MovieBob has a consistent strategy of ranting at people enjoying dumb films makes him seem hypocritical in condemning others who (perhaps over-enthusiastically) try and open a dialogue with the people 'enjoying' the prequels.
The prequels are terrible films, and they squandered the mythology of a fantastic film series, for no other purpose than to make money and exploit a dedicated fanbase. From the bad press garnered from the Phantom Menace onwards, perhaps Hollywood has refrained from further exploiting other film series for a quick buck. Obviously, it's hard to prove or disprove a negative event, but you shouldn't conclude that the revolt against Phantom Menace was fruitless for the very same reason: who knows what other films would've been released, maybe worse ones than Crystall Skull or Transformers.
However, I do think Plinkett's review has conclusively said almost everything that needed to be said, while self-mockingly playing on the hyperbole of the hate towards the prequels. The great thing about Plinkett as a device is that it stops the critical analysis feeling like a critic patronizing you by being 'knowier-than-thou'...Something not achieved in this video.
Edit: Although, in the context of Bob's ongoing technique of stirring up controversy for hits and comment posts, I understand completely the purpose of this video.
I don't know that people DO get particularly angry at the Phantom Menace for no reason. I think what annoys people most is that it developed an audience who disdain critical analysis. It is a bad movie; it doesn't seem to exist for any other reason than making money (having no tale of interest to tell). What fans seem to 'hate' is that so many others are uncritically praising (and giving vast amounts of money to) a sloppy film, that fans KNOW is sloppy because they KNOW Star Wars.
The fact that MovieBob has a consistent strategy of ranting at people enjoying dumb films makes him seem hypocritical in condemning others who (perhaps over-enthusiastically) try and open a dialogue with the people 'enjoying' the prequels.
The prequels are terrible films, and they squandered the mythology of a fantastic film series, for no other purpose than to make money and exploit a dedicated fanbase. From the bad press garnered from the Phantom Menace onwards, perhaps Hollywood has refrained from further exploiting other film series for a quick buck. Obviously, it's hard to prove or disprove a negative event, but you shouldn't conclude that the revolt against Phantom Menace was fruitless for the very same reason: who knows what other films would've been released, maybe worse ones than Crystall Skull or Transformers.
However, I do think Plinkett's review has conclusively said almost everything that needed to be said, while self-mockingly playing on the hyperbole of the hate towards the prequels. The great thing about Plinkett as a device is that it stops the critical analysis feeling like a critic patronizing you by being 'knowier-than-thou'...Something not achieved in this video.
Edit: Although, in the context of Bob's ongoing technique of stirring up controversy for hits and comment posts, I understand completely the purpose of this video.
Agreed. The whole sequence on Endor is atrocious. Also, the plot doesn't make much sense - I would love RLM to do a Plinkett deconstruction of Jedi.Thomas Guy said:
OT: The Dark Knight Rises - Phantom Menace comparison is not a very good one. A TDKR - Return of the Jedi comparison is more apt. Everyone knows that TDKR won't be as good as TDK, the question is how will it fare next to Batman Begins? Whenever the second movie in a series is better or as good as the original the third part is almost always a big disappointment (Return of the Jedi, Alien 3, Superman III, Spider-Man 3). Hopefully TDKR won't follow that path.