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Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review

oh, nice, I am looking very forward to that. Since Phantom Menace Review is such a big success on FE, I will make another DVD for all of his Star Trek reviews. They are almost as funny and of course worth to be watched.
 
boon23 said:
oh, nice, I am looking very forward to that. Since Phantom Menace Review is such a big success on FE, I will make another DVD for all of his Star Trek reviews. They are almost as funny and of course worth to be watched.
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Awesome. Can't wait for the AOTC's dissection.
 
To be fair, after the prequels he really should turn his eye to Return Of The Jedi which in many ways is where the rot set in.
 
Oh god, NO! I am going to have a ****in epileptic aneurysm!
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
sigh, the shame is we can't get through to George Lucas enough for him to completely remake the prequels :p
 
The Attack of the Clones Review has gone up on You Tube.

Just finished watching it. Not as 'tight' as a movie review and concise analysis as the first one but very entertaining. If you enjoyed the first one and Plinket's reviews of the Star Trek films you'll enjoy it.
 
finished it too, not as good as episode 1 of course because now i had highest expectations, but still very insightful and hilarious after the first half.
at the beginning the hooker jokes and his abduction was a little bit tooo much, the fun thing in his first review was that it was just a sidenote while here it turns into a very very long sub"plot" still hilarious disection of star wars only a fanboy could do
 
I see the second one as more entertainment where the first one was more an analytical review and disection.

Since he's a movie maker I think it's a smart gamble on his part. He's got the audience now- so i can see why he would make his move and show what he can do. I hope he picks up more industry connections.
that being said i preferred the first one more as well for its expert analysis of why it fails as a movie- regardless of the fact that it is a star wars movie.

I found the story plot running through Review 2 engaging and liked that it was at the end of each 'part' and someone posted in the comments something I feel is quite insightful -

that we feel more for the characters and their plight in his story then the ones in the prequels.


I do disagree with you Sunarep on calling him a 'fanboy.' although we may have different opinions on what makes a fanboy? At least in the circles I run in.. its the most negative cogitation we assign to people that basically ruins any fun genre stuff we like, where as we like something but are still able to call a turd a turd, while a fanboy will come up with an overly convoluted defense of something that is bad or doesn't make sense no matter how illogical it might be.


much like the kind of people mike i.e. 'Harry Pinket' makes fun of in his reviews- saying its explained in a novel or game or whatever.
thats what i call a fanboy

anyway
 
I haven't had a chance to watch this installment yet, and though I plan to, I find myself growing leery of his work. There is no denying how spot-on his criticism of Phantom Menace was, nor how clever his humor was or even just how epic it was to undertake a 70 minute film study that was also wonderfully original in its presentation.

But let's be fair here, did he actually say anything that any of us didn't already know or think about TPM? It is likely that none of us conceived our critiques quite as cleverly as he did, and I certainly enjoyed the footage of Rick McCallum writhing in the viewing chair. It was in a strange way satisfying to see the actual moment in time when Rick realized he'd allowed Lucas to run amok and prove that despite how lame studios are, they can, at times serve a useful check and balance against the largess of film-makers, but I get the feeling Red Letter was a one-trick pony.

I watched his 'review' of Pandora and was far from impressed. Most of it was an extreme stretch so that he could have the same smug, "I'm a bigger genius than [insert mega-film maker here]" ego. His critique of Cameron's 'manipulation' of movie-goers may be the most idiotic critique I've ever heard regarding film. ALL film is a manipulation, even a documentary is manipulation. Spielberg is considered one of the greatest film-makers of all time, and it is 100% because he consistently knows how to manipulate audiences, from Duel, to Schindler's List all play upon manipulation of the viewer.

Good story telling and great film-making is all about manipulation, the skillful execution of already known paradigms, which play with, off of, or against emotional impulses. He blasted Pandora for its simplistic delivery of an overt message, while he previously had elevated Star Wars A New Hope for the very same thing. If there ever was a story of classic pandering, of playing to stereo-types such as military and mechanism as evil, and rebellion and nature as good, then Star Wars is the poster-child for this. The villain was 6 and a half feet tall, wore all-black, and had a breathing apparatus that gave kids nightmares. It was a theme that Lucas was obsessed with in the 70s, and produced his finest work and ideas (THX 1138, Star Wars and his original work on Apocalypse Now)

I'll still give this a go when I have a moment, and he deserves kudos for just how brilliantly he his put epic 7-part deconstruction together, the review was excellently conceived and executed. But as the Phantom Editor pointed out, it's easy to say something sucks, there is no particular genius in that act alone. Red Letter simply did it more succinctly than most, and did it in such an entertaining fashion that we all watched 70 vindicating minutes of it.

Ultimately though, saying TPM was terrible or that Lucas had lost his way is akin to shooting fish in a barrel.
 
Re: the review... Yeah... that wasn't so good. Morgan Freeman, a better choice for a Jedi than SLJ? Nope, don't buy it. The same old unfunny women-abusing jokes? Fast-forward, indeed. Droning on about all the wrong moves Anakin makes? Accurate, but way overdone. And there wasn't nearly enough of the fun, in-universe nitpicking as well as storytelling analysis that made the first review so good.

For AOTC hating, 64 Reasons to Hate Episode II remains the gold standard. I mean, who could forget this observation (or condone RLM's leaving it out)?
Reason #1: The Title
I don't think it ever occurred to anyone that the title of Episode II wouldn't be The Clone War. That seemed like an obvious title and a good one. Lucas then announced that the title would be Attack of the Clones to pay homage to the days of the 1950's movie serial. What he's forgetting is that those serials were terrible! Attack of the Clones, while it will grow on you just as any bad thing will, is a horrible title! Why would you want to pay homage to crap? It's especially bad when you realize that the clones in question are fighting for the good side. That's even less scary and stupider sounding. The title is essentially Attack of the Good Guys.
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All the episode titles are in the style of old serials. I never really understood that criticism.

I mean, seriously..."THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" isn't just as cheesy?
 
Well, I disagree with the above quote (and agree with you) that AOTC is as inherently decent title as ESB... but the context makes it inarguably awful, IMO; it really is "Attack of the Good Guys". Even Attack of the Droids would make more sense.
 
Gaith said:
Well, I disagree with the above quote (and agree with you) that AOTC is as inherently decent title as ESB... but the context makes it inarguably awful, IMO; it really is "Attack of the Good Guys". Even Attack of the Droids would make more sense.
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I agree that the thing that distinguishes between the two is that ESB is a relevant title, it accurately describes the events of the movie as by the time the credits roll, the good guys have had their asses handed to them by the Empire.

I don't mind the 'quality' of title, my issue is a) the lack of relevance and b) the fact it should have been 'The Clone Wars'.

Of course this was to a degree rescued by the fact that the animated series is 'The Clone Wars' and it works wonderfully as a stand-alone creative peace that is simultaneously distinct from the movie franchise, yet fits within the movies. They are their own creative piece all themselves (and vastly superior to the PT) but I don't think that is what Lucas was counting on at the time.
 
The Clone Wars would have been an equally bad title, IMO. Rise of the Clones or Attack of the Droids, if you like, but not The Clone Wars. ;)
 
Gaith said:
Morgan Freeman, a better choice for a Jedi than SLJ? Nope, don't buy it.
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I buy it. SLJ was a disastrous casting choice. He's pretty much a gimmick artist or a comedian by now, the Steve Buscemi/Kurt Russell/Christopher Walken of black actors, only with less credibility. I can't think of a worse choice for a Jedi master than him. That's not hyperbole, I seriously cannot think of a worse choice. Maybe they exist, but I can't think of one. Morgan Freeman, although typecast and overused, is convincing enough as a stoic thinker type - not that dissimilar to Alec Guinness, really - and would be miles better than Samuel L. "Bad Motherfucker" Jackson.

(edited for removal of brainfart)
 
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