Looks like George Lucas made a lot of IMDB accounts.
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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
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andyroo54 — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 06:19 PM)
I blame red letter media and his stupid videos about the prequels. It bolstered support and bred unfounded hate in fans and even non fans.
Then they complain about rogue one for 'pandering to fans with too many OT references' when it's EXACTLY what they were claiming was lacking from the prequels.
Anyway, I love ep 1 and 3, they are so real star wars, not TFA or rogue one. Those movies are just disney specials, worse than the holiday special.