Looks like George Lucas made a lot of IMDB accounts.
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Incorruptible — 9 years ago(December 18, 2016 10:07 AM)
plasma who was only included to sell action figures and create publicity
Agreed, Phasma is one the worst and useless characters in Star Wars saga I can't even remember a single memorable moment from that character
Why Star Wars: The Force Awakens sucks
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BillyWombat — 9 years ago(June 04, 2016 03:53 AM)
Phantom Menace is a bad movie made by an over-the-hill director whose creative juices have run sour. Force Awakens is an enjoyable rehash of everything you love about the STAR WARS OT. So despite its lack of originality, FA wins on its entertainment merit alone. Discussion over.
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baronofspades — 9 years ago(June 09, 2016 07:03 AM)
The Force Awakens spits on everything the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy established about the Star Wars universe. Lets ignore for a moment the redicilously similar plot to New Hope. After everything we saw in Return OF The Jedi and the other eps of the original trilogy are the fans really satisfied with the way the original protagoinsts were shown?? Luke who in New Hope and Empire Strikes Back was frustrated about the fact that so many secrets were hidden from him and who in Return Of The Jedi risks everything to redeem his father, a father with whom he never grew up with, who ordered the death of his aunt and uncle and who was the 2nd in command of a Tyranical Empire all because he is his father and he knows deep down that there is good in him is in Force Awakens a coward that abandons his sister and best friend at their time of need! And dont listen to people saying that Yoda and Obi-Wan did the same! NO! These 2 had many more years of war under their belt, they survived the massacre of all their friends and comrades, were betrayed by those they fought and bled in the battlefield with, one of them had to battle his brother to the death and they saw everything they tried to protect in ruins not to mention that they became the Galaxys Most Wanted and were serverly outnumbered. In TFA the Republic exists and the FO are the outlaws! Han who became a respected general of the Rebel Alliance, who was willing to die rather than going back on being a criminal and who loved his starship so much ends up being a smuggler again, dealing with criminals and somehow loses his ship! This is the guy that was frightened at the thought of the Millenium Falcon being destroyed somehow manages to lose it! And Leia. Leia was originally a Rebel and a diplomat. She has been in the front lines and she knows war. So why is she leading a group of Outlaws? The term resistance means that there is resistance against an evil that is the ruler of the Galaxy. But that is not the case here. The Republic is back. I would have expected Leia to act as a senator and help repair the damage the Empire did to the Galaxy in order to ensure that the Empire will never again rise. Or her being a military leader working with the Republic Army on rooting out the remnants of the Empire. Plus she is Force Sensitive like her brother. Why not have her being a Jedi?
Oh i am not done. I am going full throttle here. I talked about the characters of the original trilogy. Lets talk about the new characters.Lets start with Rey. She is one of the most illogically overpowered characters i have ever seen. In real life and in the Star Wars universe we know that experience and skill are things that are obtained through hard work and training. We know that just cause someone has a strong connection with the Force doesnt mean that he/she is invincible or more powerful than all others [both Luke and Anakin thought that and they both lost a hand to people with more skill and experience than them at the time]. Yet here we see Rey a character who has never heard or used the Force in her life: a)Performing a Mind Trick b)Defeating an opponent who has clearly more experience and skill than her using a lightsaber [a weapon she has never used before and is completely different from the staff she knows how to use] and the Force that she has no idea how to use in battle something that her opponent knows how to do. And it doesnt stop there. Rey who has never piloted anything in her life somehow manages to pilot the Millenium Falcon. Now i have seen people stating that this is not something weird given how both Anakin and Luke piloted sucessfully space fighters. There is a huge difference. The Millenium Falcon is way more complex than a space fighter. The Millenium Falcon is a ship. Meaning that it cannot be piloted just by anyone. It needs a competent pilot. Plus Anakin in TPH never piloted his figther for that long [auto-pilot did most of the work] and in ANH Luke had already stated that he knew how to fly a fighter. But it gets worse. Rey not only manages to alone with zero experience fly the MF. She also manages to survive an aerial dog fight with 2 Tie Fighters! Not to mention that she apparently knows the MF better than Han Solo. And of course she is constantly shown superior to every male in the movie. I am not kidding. This is what happens. Now for Finn. Boy do i dislike his character. Our boy Finn is a soldier. Taken as a child and since then being trained to be a living killing machine. And that killing machine sees a comrade die and some civilians being executed and he deserts cause he is tired of the bloodshed. Lets say that we accept that. But then he joins the people he trained his whole life to kil and starts killing his former comrades. All it took was a pretty face. Yep that was all it took. Phasma. She is a waste of a good actress. After how tough that actress is shown to be in Game Of Thrones and given her rank in the FO i expected that she would be a -
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Hotwyre6 — 9 years ago(June 12, 2016 02:23 PM)
I can't put my finger on it precisely, but TPM has certain qualities that really set it above TFA in many ways.
I was more pulled in by the hologram appearance of Sidious in the first two seconds at the beginning of TPM than anything Snoke blurted out in his scene. Likewise, with the henchman characters, Maul's arrival to the Star Wars universe with his hologram appearance accompanied by ominous music was excellent cinema; by contrast, Kylo Ren strolling down the plank was just film of a guy in costume walking. These little moments really matter, and once they fail to do much, it irreparably affects the entire experience of the film. That's how it was for me, anyway. Who that possesses hearing and loves Star Wars doesn't associate Vader with those three amazing notes that accompany his appearance on the Tantive IV? I think TFA is utterly lacking in these moments and they are indispensable IMO to Star Wars.
In addition, while the Plinkett reviews dismiss the dialog of the symbiosis theme of TPM as "dull monotonous drivel" or however they refer to it, I found it to be an engaging element of the film. You can see the symbiosis theme of the Force weaved throughout the film. No, it's not executed to perfection by any means, but I like that it does work to some degree. It might not be everybody's bag but as a sci fi guy, I liked it. I don't think there's anything like this in the entirety of TFA. But I've only seen the film once and since I really hated it, I haven't given it a fair overview so it may contain something to which this can be compared.
Some people might call these minor elements but that's subjective. They are important to me as a viewer. TFA didn't sell these elements to me immediately, but TPM did. It made you see why the dark side was feared while still being a pretty family friendly film. It made you understand how the Jedi saw the Force in a way different from how Yoda showed Luke, and how Qui Gon was a different sort of "living Force" advocate of the order. You got these ideas, however minor, and it made all the difference in the world that allowed me to enjoy what was, to be completely honest, a film that was plagued with enough elements that I could rightly have hated it under other circumstances. TFA introduced no ideas, no themes, and was more concerned with the meta-narrative of OT character worship than it was in telling a good story.
That's the difference. TPM was an attempt to tell a good story. TFA was an attempt to bank on brand recognition only.
Free will is a golden thread running through the frozen matrix of fixed events. -
kurtmoulton — 9 years ago(June 21, 2016 06:08 PM)
I am so glad that I'm not alone in my opinion of "The Phantom Menace"; I've always defended it and was upset by how it has been dismissed as a failure or how George Lucas is accused of being washed-up or money hungry. I can see the how the movie didn't live up to expectations - what movie that was anticipated for 16 years could? Lucas could never have satisfied EVERYONE with a single movie that people expected to be based on every action figure adventure, every Expanded Universe novel, and every fan-fiction ever conceived! (Honestly, if you've ever overheard a conversation at your local comic book store, do you believe that anyone there would have done a better job?)
Anyway, I really think Lucas has always wanted to do independent movies where he could take risks; in other words, he approaches movies as an artist. I think he genuinely cared about his story and he wanted to make a trilogy with the time and money he didn't have before and he wanted it to be
different from the Original Trilogy. I'm very impressed by the way that he depicted how a republic becomes an empire that mirrored historical examples like Rome, France, and Germany, but with a distinctly Star Wars flavor with elements of clones, Jedi, and Sith.
I love Star Wars, but I feel awkward when people ask me how excited I am by "The Force Awakens". I feel like a traitor when I admit to myself that it was okay, but I was depressed by it. Remember in "Clerks" when Dante tells Randall that "Empire" was better because it had a down-ending, like life? Well, "The Force Awakens" took care of the happy Ewok celebration of "Jedi": Luke's a reclusive hermit since utterly failing to train a new generation of Jedi; Han and Leia have separated; Han lost the "Millennium Falcon" and is again a smuggler; instead of heading the government, Leia still leads a ragtag bunch of freedom fighters (Why, exactly? Was I the only one distracted because I was trying to figure out the political situation of "The Force Awakens"? I wasn't even sure if I'd just witnessed the destruction of Coruscant or not at one point!). Also, at least the prequels gave us new planets instead of just the same environments with different names (I love the RiffTrax comment about a desert planet with only ONE sun.). At the end of the novel "The Princess Bride", the author mentions how his dad never read the full ending of the book and it wasn't until the author read the book for himself that he realized that things didn't end so happily. The point was that his dad was a romantic who loved happy endings. "The Force Awakens" is a realist that sacrifices the happiness of our heroes to make more sequels.
And Darth Sidious is the best villain ever because, from a certain point of view, I don't think that he's just evil to be evil. He had an inherited vendetta against a bunch of self-righteous warrior monks that he considered hypocrites and usurpers. He also believed that he would clean up the government and restore order to the galaxy. I'll bet that - once the Jedi were exterminated - he was kind of bored and that's why he kind of let the galaxy be ruled by his own bureaucracy. What are Snoke's motives? Who is Snoke?! Yeah, I know that we're supposed to be asking these questions, but I faithfully watched "Lost", even keeping a notebook of references and reading/listening to the novels and music featured on the show (which was a cultural experience for which I'm grateful)and I got a "Drink your Ovaltine!" conclusion! And, for all we know, there's no grand overarching story to this trilogy! George at least had a plan!
Still, people can like what they like. I just consider "The Force Awakens" as kind of superfluous and made by a committee, whereas, like it or not, "The Phantom Menace" is a piece of art made by a actual artist. It's funny, but I'm reading a book about the Impressionists ("the Judgment of Paris" by Ross King)and everybody - critics and commoners - laughed and ridiculed Manet, Monet, Cezanne, and Renoir in their day because society didn't get what they were trying to do. So, being an artist sometimes means being unpopular. -
Kruleworld — 9 years ago(June 25, 2016 07:11 PM)
It didn't take any big chances like TPM.
yeah, and we know how THAT turned out. when it comes right down it, Disney doesn't care if it's good or bad, original or rip off, so long as it makes a shet-ton of money they will consider it 'good' and keep milking it.
"He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok" -
death-lord — 9 years ago(December 05, 2016 08:29 PM)
if you love phantom menace so much describe the plot without the following
you cant refer to future films
you cant mention any star wars elements
you cant mention space
phantom menace is a meaningless mess with no story under the surface -
chriscougar7 — 9 years ago(December 06, 2016 03:48 PM)
A group of people flee invading forces, a warrior discovers a talented apprentice and takes him for training, group goes back and defeat the invading force. Wasnt hard and I dont really love TPM, or see what loving it has to do with knowing the plot
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death-lord — 9 years ago(December 06, 2016 07:06 PM)
the problem with phantom menace is this
there isnt really a story or a emotional core
TFA was about a woman letting go of her past and finally moving on with her life
new hope was a coming of age story in the guise of a space adventure
empire strikes back is about fighting back against dark forces that erodes a persons humanity
return of the jedi is about how redemption and familial love triumphing over meaningless violence
phantom menace has no story under the surfacemuch of its "story" is hollowironically the prequels are much worse than godzilla 1998a film lucas mocked
oh the irony -
chriscougar7 — 9 years ago(December 07, 2016 01:37 PM)
TFA was about a woman letting go of her past and finally moving on with her life
except Rey didnt let go and move on, she wanted to go back to Jakku and then she was abducted by Ren. She goes to find Luke but without anymore info you can't say she left her past and moved on and the most likeliest of plots in the next movie are Rey's past
The difference between the PT and the OT in regards to your simplifications is that the OT is about a few people while the PT is about an order, more about war than the OT. This doesnt make the story instantly inferior, execution maybe but the premise no
On its own a coming of age story isnt superior than the story of the fall of a republic, or the resistance of an invading force, or a civil war
You are using what you like as fact, a lot of people dont care and even dislike Rey so there is no emotional attachment with her for some as there is for Anakin in the PT with you
BTW the violence was the opposite of meaningless -
death-lord — 9 years ago(December 06, 2016 07:06 PM)
the problem with phantom menace is this
there isnt really a story or a emotional core
TFA was about a woman letting go of her past and finally moving on with her life
new hope was a coming of age story in the guise of a space adventure
empire strikes back is about fighting back against dark forces that erodes a persons humanity
return of the jedi is about how redemption and familial love triumphing over meaningless violence
phantom menace has no story under the surfacemuch of its "story" is hollowironically the prequels are much worse than godzilla 1998a film lucas mocked
oh the irony -
bheadher — 9 years ago(September 20, 2016 05:25 PM)
Haven't seen The Force Awakens, and have no intention of ever seeing ityeah, I read the reviews elsewhere, so I can't imagine how it would get higher scores than this oneand TPM was a stinker to someone who saw the original way back when