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SW - Star Wars

TMBTM

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That new Resistance series looks good quality for a kid show but I reaaallly don't think I'm the target audience this time!
 

ThrowgnCpr

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well, the animation is leaps and bounds more interesting/enjoyable than Clone Wars or Rebels, but yeah, this looks geared for young kids and super-Disney. Will probably pass.
 

Moe_Syzlak

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My kids (almost six) found my old prequel DVDs in the attic and wanted to watch them. I had been hoping to keep these from them for as long as possible. Ha! Well I decided to go with edits rather than the originals. Even still, all I heard for 15 minutes was, “where’s Luke Sywalker?” “This is boring.” “Have you watched these before? Is the ending better?” Etc. They quit after 15 minutes.
 

Moe_Syzlak

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The Scribbling Man said:
Which edit did you watch?

Honestly, I don’t even remember the source edit, but I further edited it myself. It’s a roughly two hour 3-in-1 edit.
 

Zamros

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K, so I just watched a 3-in-1 of the prequels, Vader's cut, and wow... I'm just astounded at how bad an actor Hayden Christenssen is. Like, I know, I've seen the films over and over. But there's something about seeing them altogether, that really highlights, this motherfucker is just as bad as Tommy Wiseau.

Some lines I get, because George Lucas is a shitty writer. Daniel Day Lewis couldn't pull off the line "From my point of view the Jedi are evil" while riding a lava surfboard. But there are so many lines in the script, that given to a better actor, could have been really powerful moments.

The moment where Anakin tells Padme he could overthrow the Chancellor and rule the galaxy, could have been the standout moment of the film. Instead, because this guy can't emote, it comes off weak.

Can this guy not display emotion? He literally says "I'm furious" with a monotone!
 

DigModiFicaTion

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So, Tron: Uprising meets Hot Wheels: Battle Force?
 

TomH1138

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Zamros said:
Can this guy not display emotion? He literally says "I'm furious" with a monotone!

Right, and when Chancellor Palpatine says he's appointing him to be his personal representative on the council, Anakin says, "I'm overwhelmed" in the most bored, non-overwhelmed way possible! 

Apparently, Hayden Christensen has been good in some other stuff. I think Lucas picked him because he was tall enough to be in the Vader suit and because he looks like he could be related to Mark Hammill. But he didn't seem to be the right actor for this role. Or maybe he did better takes, and Lucas -- with his sometimes inscrutable vision -- demanded that he re-do the takes with less emotion.
 

TomH1138

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Today in the news: When Rian Johnson was asked on Twitter if he's still making his trilogy, he replied, "Yep," ending speculation that Disney wanted to show him the door after the backlash to TLJ.

http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/rian-johnson-shoots-rumors-new-star-wars-trilogy-canned/

I also thought that Johnson was going to be quietly shown the door. In fact, when the Game of Thrones writers were hired back in February, I thought they were going to take his place (although that was quickly dispelled even at the time). 

Although I found TLJ unsatisfying, I respect Johnson a lot and only more so with what I've read from him in interviews since the movie's release. In a way, I'm glad he's getting a second chance. Half the audience thought TLJ was better than Empire; the other half thought it was worse than Phantom Menace. It makes sense for Disney to give Johnson another try, but to be a little more cautious. 

Indeed, I don't think a single "yep" tweet is the resounding confirmation that others seem to think it is. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney lets him do one more movie, and then if it does well, he can do the rest of his trilogy. I also bet he's getting more studio notes this time.

One should keep in mind that Johnson mostly got flak for how he wrote the legacy characters. The new trilogy was always going to focus around a new set of characters, and I think Johnson actually has quite an opportunity to shine when playing in a different corner of the universe.
 

Gaith

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TomH1138 said:
Today in the news: When Rian Johnson was asked on Twitter if he's still making his trilogy, he replied, "Yep," ending speculation that Disney wanted to show him the door after the backlash to TLJ.

Meh, I'm sure he was contracted and paid to at least outline some movies, so why wouldn't LFL let him continue doing said work? I have no idea if the prospective movies will or won't happen, but just because he's still working on pre-production doesn't mean they'll actually get made. Sam Raimi did a fair amount of development work on Spider-Man 4. Plans change all the time...
 

thecuddlyninja

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IMO you guys are being too harsh on the actor and not enough on the director. It's not just Anakin, almost all of the acting is pretty lifeless. That says to me that the director wanted it that way, for some reason that will never make sense to me. For me the smoking gun is Natalie Portman. She's almost as bad in those movies and she's an incredible actress. Hayden is nowhere near as good as she is but he's good elsewhere. I think I remember an actor from the prequels complaining that Lucas kept wanting it more and more stiff, because he thought it gave the words weight or something. I dunno, but I know good actors are pretty bad across the board in those movies so I don't really blame them. Not to mention the writing makes it hard to get there regardless of direction.
 

The Scribbling Man

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TomH1138 said:
Or maybe he did better takes, and Lucas -- with his sometimes inscrutable vision -- demanded that he re-do the takes with less emotion.

Well, he sure as hell didn't say "Faster, and more intense". 

TomH1138 said:
Today in the news: When Rian Johnson was asked on Twitter if he's still making his trilogy, he replied, "Yep," ending speculation that Disney wanted to show him the door after the backlash to TLJ.

The important thing here for me is less that Rian Johnson is getting his own trilogy, so much as someone is.

IMO, the biggest mistake Disney made with the new star wars trilogy was not having a single person oversee the story, and instead just giving free reign to whoever happened to direct the next instalment. Regardless of whether people like Rian's style, at least we'll in theory get a Star Wars trilogy that's a bit more consistent narratively.
 

Rogue-theX

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^
^ Like how he tended to use bad takes for a certain character in American Graffiti?
282304.jpg


^ Tho I think it worked. That time.
 

addiesin

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I just had a dumb revelation.

The Force was originally called the Whills. Star Wars was originally titled The Star Wars: As Taken From the Journal of the Whills or something.

The Force was almost literally "will power". That George sure is full of original ideas.
 

ThrowgnCpr

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TomH1138 said:
Or maybe he did better takes, and Lucas -- with his sometimes inscrutable vision -- demanded that he re-do the takes with less emotion.

LOL, takes. You do realize that Lucas "directed" this movie?
 

addiesin

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I legitimately think he was of the opinion the live action footage was just a formality and literally anything could be "fixed in post". This, in my mind, led to the focus being on blocking, choreography, and a checklist of rhyming visuals. 
Did he start writing by saying "what's the most surprising/compelling/exciting way to show a Republic twist into an Empire"? Absolutely not. The dialogue across the board, and the actual scenes he chose to show as the narrative were an afterthought to the structural skeleton he thought made Star Wars what it is. All to be augmented later by what's really important to him; costumes, makeup, props, set-pieces, and effects. These were Band-Aids over his first-draft writing.
Performance was the last thing on his mind. Probably thought it was the actor's job to figure out on their own.
To compare, usually a director is like a business manager. In this case the manager is also the business owner, and has more on his mind than effective management. Throw in the writing duties, and he's pulled in too many directions. Some can handle it, he could not.

He really should have hired outside help in these areas.
 

TomH1138

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thecuddlyninja said:
IMO you guys are being too harsh on the actor and not enough on the director.

If you'll recall, I did say that Christensen has reportedly been good in other projects, and that it's possible Lucas specifically directed him to perform the scenes with no emotion.

Sam Jackson is normally an amazing actor, but he couldn't do anything with the lines he was given. On the other hand, Ewan McGregor, Ian McDirmid and Christopher Lee mostly did a great job (although there were a few scenes even they couldn't save). I don't know how they managed to give good performances when so few others did. Maybe they ignored everything Lucas said until he gave up and let them do the scene their way? *shrug*
 

TomH1138

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ThrowgnCpr said:
LOL, takes. You do realize that Lucas "directed" this movie?

Heh. Well, there was at least an initial read-through of the script (assuming the movie followed the same pattern of Ep. I and nearly all other movies), probably one run-through to check camera placement before any footage was shot, and then any additional takes due to technical glitches. Lucas saw the performances more than once, I'm sure. He had a chance to say something if he didn't like it.
 

TomH1138

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addiesin said:
...To compare, usually a director is like a business manager. In this case the manager is also the business owner, and has more on his mind than effective management. Throw in the writing duties, and he's pulled in too many directions. Some can handle it, he could not.

This post might hit the nail on the head more than any other post I've ever read about the prequels. It's honest without needlessly vilifying anyone. Great job! :D
 
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