Watching Star Wars will send you to Hell...

[headscratcher4]

http://www.ooze.com/toolofsatan/

it's no joke, apparently. ;)

[Genesius]

Watching Star Wars is my personal definition of Hell.

I mean, I'm a SF freak from way back, but this third-rate space opera makes me want to claw my eyes out of my face and smash my head into the wall untill I knock myself out.

[KingMerv00]

Watching Star Wars is my personal definition of Hell.

I mean, I'm a SF freak from way back, but this third-rate space opera makes me want to claw my eyes out of my face and smash my head into the wall untill I knock myself out.

Jeez man. Were you mauled by a Wookie when you were a kid or something?

[Tricky]

Watching Star Wars is my personal definition of Hell.

I mean, I'm a SF freak from way back, but this third-rate space opera makes me want to claw my eyes out of my face and smash my head into the wall untill I knock myself out.
Don't think of it as sci-fi then. Think of it as a western, because that is exactly what it is. Young but green hero with good friend who is a plucky neer-do-well, gorgeous but strong female in trouble, comic relief sidekicks (the droids), intelligent pets (Chewbacca), enemies shooting at them who cannot hit the broad side of a barn, the fastest horse in the territory (the Millenium Falcon), a wise old cowboy to help him learn the ropes, and of course, the evil land baron who wants to control everything.

[kmortis]

Don't think of it as sci-fi then. Think of it as a western, because that is exactly what it is. Young but green hero with good friend who is a plucky neer-do-well, gorgeous but strong female in trouble, comic relief sidekicks (the droids), intelligent pets (Chewbacca), enemies shooting at them who cannot hit the broad side of a barn, the fastest horse in the territory (the Millenium Falcon), a wise old cowboy to help him learn the ropes, and of course, the evil land baron who wants to control everything.

Yes, 'cause we all remember that classic scene from "A Few Dollars More" where the Monco (aka Man with no Name) uses his mystic Moxie to get his gun to leap into his hand from twelve feet away just in time to kill the Bad Guy. ;)

[Foster Zygote]

Wow! The old saw about the difficulty of distinguishing fundamentalism from parody really stands up to the test.

Steven

[Marquis de Carabas]

At least they have gay Jesus shirts.

[kmortis]

I think that's manditory, MdeC. YOu can't be an Official Jesus Nutter without gay Jesus T-Shirts.

[Dragon]

http://www.ooze.com/toolofsatan/

it's no joke, apparently. ;)Your winky smiley thing gives it away - I'm guessing this is the Landover Baptist crowd, right?

[I'll_buy_that]

no way, that is parody, isn't it? I mean, look at that gay jesus tee.

R2-Demon-2? come on man.

SPREADING THE WORD THROUGH THEATER
The Morality Players - Coming Soon to L.A. when the Morality Players perform the works of JACK CHICK on August 19-21 2005 – The only entertainment in Hollywood that saves your eternal soul –Guaranteed!

oh i wish i was in LA to see that one :rolleyes:

[Ladewig]

Don't think of it as sci-fi then. Think of it as a western, because that is exactly what it is. Young but green hero with good friend who is a plucky neer-do-well, gorgeous but strong female in trouble, comic relief sidekicks (the droids), intelligent pets (Chewbacca), enemies shooting at them who cannot hit the broad side of a barn, the fastest horse in the territory (the Millenium Falcon), a wise old cowboy to help him learn the ropes, and of course, the evil land baron who wants to control everything.

If one doesn't like westerns, one can consider it to be classical mythology. Commoner with humble origins rises up to defeat the evil king. Hero is helped by archetypal characters: wise old man, rogue, pretty woman. Hero is revealed to be the rightful heir to the throne.

Of course neither the western theme or the mythological theme explains all the gay imagery (the nellie robot, Chewbacca carrying a purse, etc.) I wonder why the opening post's site doesn't go into criticizing that aspect of it.

[Genesius]

Jeez man. Were you mauled by a Wookie when you were a kid or something?

Sorry, just a product of a life-long starvation for good screen SF.

If you really want to get me started, we can start a new thread in the Entertainment section concerning what tortures would be appropriate for the director who screwed up Starship Troopers.

[ponderingturtle]

Sorry, just a product of a life-long starvation for good screen SF.

If you really want to get me started, we can start a new thread in the Entertainment section concerning what tortures would be appropriate for the director who screwed up Starship Troopers.

What you don't think it accurately captures the facist idiology of the book?:)

[Beerina]

What you don't think it accurately captures the facist idiology of the book?:)

Regarding Starship Troopers, the book:

Critics: But...but...but it glorifies the military!

Heinlein: You're damned right it does.

[I less than three logic]

"Never judge a book by its movie." - J.W. Eagan

[Genesius]

"Never judge a book by its movie." - J.W. Eagan

Too true!

"Starship Troopers", the novel, was a great piece of work.
"Starship Troopers", the movie, sucked the diseased pustules from a leper's posterior.

And on another note, I would like to publicly apologize to headscratcher4 for allowing my eternal hatred for all things Star Wars to so derail his thread.

[Trantor]

Your winky smiley thing gives it away - I'm guessing this is the Landover Baptist crowd, right?

It sure does look like something that Landover Baptist would do. When ever I need a good laugh, reading some of Landover's "hatemail" does the trick.:)

[Almo]

Don't think of it as sci-fi then. Think of it as a western, because that is exactly what it is.

Actually, it's a WWII movie. Check out Dambusters sometime. Nearly identical films. Plus the weaponry (rifles, double barreled turrets that kick). And the fighters use WWII flying tactics, like flying in wing formation then peeling off one-by-one to attack.

And if you really get me going, I'll talk about how it tries to frame the Viet Nam conflict in terms of WWII so that America can feel better about it.

[hgc]

Don't think of it as sci-fi then. Think of it as a western, because that is exactly what it is. Young but green hero with good friend who is a plucky neer-do-well, gorgeous but strong female in trouble, comic relief sidekicks (the droids), intelligent pets (Chewbacca), enemies shooting at them who cannot hit the broad side of a barn, the fastest horse in the territory (the Millenium Falcon), a wise old cowboy to help him learn the ropes, and of course, the evil land baron who wants to control everything.
I think of it as even more generic classic story structure: fresh cheeked farm boy, plucky princess, rogue pirate, old wizard and exotic beast have adventure.

[nescafe]

Sorry, just a product of a life-long starvation for good screen SF.

If you really want to get me started, we can start a new thread in the Entertainment section concerning what tortures would be appropriate for the director who screwed up Starship Troopers.

Aw, it was not nearly as bad as Starship Troopers 2.

[Azure]

Damn...I'm screwed.

[Aoidoi]

Aw, it was not nearly as bad as Starship Troopers 2.Caught that on cable, if it ever made the theaters it left quickly, out the back, holding it's hands in front of it's face.

It, at the least, appeared to have the excuse of no budget.

Back on SW... I suppose the (particularly fanatical) church would object to aliens due to the bible not mentioning them, and the Force cause godless heathens clearly aren't connected to the true believers, and humanoid androids cause they're probably gay. "Goldenrod" indeed.

Long, long ago probably contradicts the young earthers. I'm reasonably sure that blowing up enormous military installations is ok, as long as there are godless heathens inside. But a black guy and someone who doesn't speak English blowing one up? Surely they've gotta object to that. ;)

[nescafe]

Caught that on cable, if it ever made the theaters it left quickly, out the back, holding it's hands in front of it's face.


Oh, no theater run for that one -- straight to DVD.

[Genesius]

Aw, it was not nearly as bad as Starship Troopers 2.

I was unaware there was such a movie.

I now wish I believed in the afterlife, so I could happily imagine Heinlein's ghost tracking down the perpetrators and making them suffer.

[slingblade]

Sorry, just a product of a life-long starvation for good screen SF.

If you really want to get me started, we can start a new thread in the Entertainment section concerning what tortures would be appropriate for the director who screwed up Starship Troopers.

I don't know, but I want in on it when it gets applied. :mad:

[JamesDillon]

If you really want to get me started, we can start a new thread in the Entertainment section concerning what tortures would be appropriate for the director who screwed up Starship Troopers.

You simply lack an appreciation for the finer things in science fiction. Starship Troopers was utterly brilliant.

[Zombified]

You simply lack an appreciation for the finer things in science fiction. Starship Troopers was utterly brilliant.
Starship Troopers had more boobies than Star Wars, but fewer robots.

[Tanstaafl]

Starship Troopers had more boobies than Star Wars, but fewer robots.

Yes, the co-ed shower scene was the high point of the movie.

[c4ts]

This has to be a joke. It has Jesus reaching down to hug the Death Star.

[JamesDillon]

Starship Troopers had more boobies than Star Wars, but fewer robots.

True, and while the boobies were quite nice (though that coy vixen Ms. Richards avoided showing hers, perhaps the only time she's ever been in front of a camera without getting topless), I was referring more to the scathing political satire.

That said, boobies beat robots.

[Almo]

You simply lack an appreciation for the finer things in science fiction. Starship Troopers was utterly brilliant.

I liked it. But that's because it didn't take itself entirely seriously. "Do you want to know more?" But the book WAS serious, I think, so in one respect, it's not a good adaptation. In another respect, the mobile infantry were in power suits; so it's not a good adaption that way, either.

But I liked it. When I complain about Pirates of the Caribbean, and they say, "Aw it's just a fun film, you're stupid," I have to remind them that I liked Starship Troopers, Rush Hour, Waterworld, Shanghai Noon, and Face/Off. PotC wasn't fun; it was bad. Despite Johnny Depp's excellent efforts, it was just flat, boring, uninteresting, lame, and dull.

[JamesDillon]

I agree that it was a bad adaptation, in that it wasn't particularly faithful to the book, but I didn't like the book all that much; I liked the film a lot better. I think it's often unfairly disregarded as a silly action movie about giant bugs, when it really was a fairly insightful bit of political satire.

[Aoidoi]

I agree that it was a bad adaptation, in that it wasn't particularly faithful to the book, but I didn't like the book all that much; I liked the film a lot better. I think it's often unfairly disregarded as a silly action movie about giant bugs, when it really was a fairly insightful bit of political satire.I'm still trying to figure out what was insightful about the political satire in the film. I found the over the top and rather unnecessary eeeevilness of the government more comical than the absolutely idiotic action scenes. I mean, you've got giant freakin' insects that annihilated a planet full of humans... some people might consider that a legitimate threat and not have to be bullied/misled/lied to about it for no particularly good reason. Maybe if they got around to exploring what was really going on in the universe (like Ender's Game where the war with the bugs was due to a miscommunication... oops, or covering up the blatant ineptitude of the military or any of a dozen other possibilities) then it would be interesting, but as it was it just showed a bunch of propaganda and a really bad action film. No idea if the propaganda was appropriate or not (Allied vs. Axis propaganda?), but given that the average IQ of characters in the film bordered on freezing ice I gotta think leading these morons around by the nose was necessary. Gotta admit I have the same feeling about the Emperor and the Jedi in episodes 1-3. He was the only competent guy in the universe, seems like putting him in charge isn't such a bad idea. ;)

Course, the fact that the soldiers firearms seemed totally ineffective from more than 5 yards did kind of sour me on Starship Troopers. The scene with a bunch of soldiers standing in a circle and shooting inward towards a bug decreased my opinion of the intelligence of the filmmakers to the point where I'm not gonna give anything in it the benefit of the doubt. Similar to the problem I have with lightsabers in a blaster fight. Yeah, you can block a shot or 2, but at some point it's just silly. And that point is the colliseum scene in ep 2. In the original trilogy (and even ep 1) they were bright enough to gloss over this and seperate out the lightsaber duels from the shootouts. Honestly, doesn't matter how fancy the knife, it's still a gunfight. Course, the catapult/paintball thing in episode 1 didn't help any. And the utterly moronic civil war stand in lines and shoot at each other thing in ep 3. Come to think of it, ep 1-3 might have had worse battle scenes than Starship Troopers. Hell, they knew the concept of "taking cover" while on Hoth, guess the clones and robots were just too stupid for that idea to catch hold.

The shower scene in Starship Troopers was interesting. A bunch of totally non-sexual nudity. It was frankly the only "sci-fi" concept I thought done remotely well in the movie. In the future, people are only allowed to have kids after becoming citizens, so casual coed nudity (and one supposes casual sex, not that it's mentioned) among non-citizens isn't such a big deal. No kids will result, and one presumes that STDs aren't that big an issue. One could argue it's postponing the issues of puberty until one becomes a citizen, and get into entire sociological debates about what that would mean. Of course, in this film it was just an excuse to show boobies, but hey, at least it isn't morally repugnant like all those rape scenes in the 70s that they included to sneak shots of boobs in. Or kissing your sister, and later rescuing her while she's wearing a brass bikini and chained to a worm. Or knocking up a Senator and having her die of sadness or some craptastic thing.

[Beleth]

Don't think of it as sci-fi then. Think of it as a western, because that is exactly what it is. Young but green hero with good friend who is a plucky neer-do-well, gorgeous but strong female in trouble, comic relief sidekicks (the droids), intelligent pets (Chewbacca), enemies shooting at them who cannot hit the broad side of a barn, the fastest horse in the territory (the Millenium Falcon), a wise old cowboy to help him learn the ropes, and of course, the evil land baron who wants to control everything.
So Pirates of the Caribbean was a western too?

[Ladewig]

But I liked it. When I complain about Pirates of the Caribbean, and they say, "Aw it's just a fun film, you're stupid," I have to remind them that I liked Starship Troopers, Rush Hour, Waterworld, Shanghai Noon, and Face/Off. PotC wasn't fun; it was bad. Despite Johnny Depp's excellent efforts, it was just flat, boring, uninteresting, lame, and dull.


I thought the whole undead thing with the moonlight was pretty interesting. I will agree that the plot was not much more entertaining that Geena Davis's pirate movie: Cutthroat Island. On the other hand, I am a bit of a costume aficiando, so between the period costumes and the good musical score, I was entertained by PotC. I also enjoyed (on a much smaller level) spotting the references to the Disneyland ride.

[Katana]

Star Wars is an awesome movie. You have to consider the time and what it accomplished for that time (and subsequently). I love the movie, I love that I was a child when the original movies came out, and I am sorry that younger folks might not have the experience with it that I did. I can understand some cynicism. I'm just sad to hear it.

One thing that I wish Lucas would take back is Jar Jar. It became clear in Episode 1, in particular, that he didn't appreciate what it was about the first three films that made them so special. CGI was a detractor, in my opinion, in the beginning. Episode 2 was an improvement, and Episode 3 was definitely the best of the more modern films. Hayden had also figured out finally how to act.

One more thing that I would add is that, the only reason why I would want to get this "newly"-released original Star Wars on DVD is so that I could see the cantina scene the way it really was. In other words, Greedo did not shoot first! He got what he deserved, and Han was a bad (hot)-ass!

http://www.blueharvest.net/images/closeups/han.jpg

[fuelair]

Yes, 'cause we all remember that classic scene from "A Few Dollars More" where the Monco (aka Man with no Name) uses his mystic Moxie to get his gun to leap into his hand from twelve feet away just in time to kill the Bad Guy. ;)

A s.f. author/critic many years ago(enough that I do not remember which- but it was at least ten years before SW) compared much of TV/film and book SF to westerns, westerns could be compared to knight adventures, etc. It does not become "real" s. f. because it has space ships and ray guns - they just take the place of the horses and six-guns or the horses and sword (bow and arrows/crossbows). Babylon 5 was Lord of the Rings with spaceships replacing horses (again). They are all based on ancient story groupings/archtypes. and as such, Star Wars wasn't that bad - the dialog got crappy though. (Oh, if it helps, the reviewer actually said - at about 95% accurate reconstruction rate "If you can replace the spaceships with horses and the rayguns with six-shooters and tell the same story, it's not science fiction")
The equivalent of pulling the light saber to his hand from twelve feet away is dive,roll, grab gun and shoot. Neither is Science Fiction - nor is the Force. Light Drive would be if it actually mattered to the plot, but it was never used in a way that did. No element of SW was SF, just its' trappings - and the aliens were never alien in any way except appearance.

[fuelair]

True, and while the boobies were quite nice (though that coy vixen Ms. Richards avoided showing hers, perhaps the only time she's ever been in front of a camera without getting topless), I was referring more to the scathing political satire.

That said, boobies beat robots.

I assume we all know this ( I tend to be very literal and sometimes miss jokes because of it) But the Nazi outfits, etc. were making fun of the Heinlein philosophy as well as (at the time) some American policies. I still remember the Forever War people lining up to protest the Vietnam war while the Starship Trooper guys and gals supported the war. I liked both books and did not support the war AS IT WAS HANDLED (just like my attitude about the one happening now). I also hope we noticed that there was NO WAY IN HELL the (Klendathi?) could have launched a big rock from another solar system that would hit the Earth (the rocks traveled at very sub-light speed).
Also, I liked the Rorkes' Drift part!!(But I like Rorkes' Drift so.......).

[Katana]

Forget Starship Troopers and forget boobies (ok at least for a second). Star Wars rules!

[hgc]

Star Wars is an awesome movie. You have to consider the time and what it accomplished for that time (and subsequently). I love the movie, I love that I was a child when the original movies came out, and I am sorry that younger folks might not have the experience with it that I did. I can understand some cynicism. I'm just sad to hear it.

One thing that I wish Lucas would take back is Jar Jar. It became clear in Episode 1, in particular, that he didn't appreciate what it was about the first three films that made them so special. CGI was a detractor, in my opinion, in the beginning. Episode 2 was an improvement, and Episode 3 was definitely the best of the more modern films. Hayden had also figured out finally how to act.

...
So true. The original 3 had an insouciant spirit, mixed with the classically high-toned villiany of Darth Vader. It is stunning how Ignorant Lucas is of his own creation. What on Earth happened to him in the intevening years?

I love the scene where Vader first appears. Listen to the music here:
http://www.last.fm/music/John+Williams/_/The+Imperial+March+%28Darth+Vader%27s+Theme%29

Also, the scene where Luke breaks into Leia's prison cell and they first meet. She says, "You're kind of short for a storm trooper," and he takes of his helment, and with his best chirpy farm boy charm declares, "I'm Luke Skywalker, and I'm here to rescue you!"

Lucas can't touch that kind of spirit any more.

[clarsct]

SW: I hear the Japanese original was better.

ST: Boobies. Boobies are the source of most goodness.
(a coupla feet down from them is the source of the rest....)

[alfaniner]

Star Wars was about as close to Heaven as I could ever imagine to get.

[a_unique_person]

What you don't think it accurately captures the facist idiology of the book?:)


I won't have anyone say anything bad about the director of "Robocop". Starship Troopers was just the Robocop world some years in the future, without the Robocop, and called "Starship Troopers". I tried to read the book when I was young and would read nearly anything that was SF. I drew the line at Starship Troopers and Lensman.

[Temporal Renegade]

SW: I hear the Japanese original was better.

ST: Boobies. Boobies are the source of most goodness.
(a coupla feet down from them is the source of the rest....)

And, 'May the Source be with you'! :)

[Temporal Renegade]

Why does the picture of Jesus on the t-shirt, look like he's about to kick someone while they're down?

[Katana]

So true. The original 3 had an insouciant spirit, mixed with the classically high-toned villiany of Darth Vader. It is stunning how Ignorant Lucas is of his own creation. What on Earth happened to him in the intevening years?

I love the scene where Vader first appears. Listen to the music here:
http://www.last.fm/music/John+Williams/_/The+Imperial+March+%28Darth+Vader%27s+Theme%29

Also, the scene where Luke breaks into Leia's prison cell and they first meet. She says, "You're kind of short for a storm trooper," and he takes of his helment, and with his best chirpy farm boy charm declares, "I'm Luke Skywalker, and I'm here to rescue you!"

Lucas can't touch that kind of spirit any more.
I love hearing that music. It brings back so many memories. John Williams was a brilliant choice.

As for the spirit, obviously, I couldn't agree more. I love the scene that you mentioned. I think that what made the movies special is what he did with so (relative to now) little. The character moments added so much. The banter between Leia and Han set a tone, and C-3PO and R2 provided so much comic relief. A perfect example of how, with a mixture of sounds, R2 could be so funny: C-3PO & R2 (http://www.gotwavs.com/php/sounds/?id=bst&media=WAVS&type=Movies&movie=Star_Wars_Episode_IV_A_New_Hope&quote=slightflutter.txt&file=slightflutter.wav)

Out of order, but another great exchange: Amusing (http://www.gotwavs.com/php/sounds/?id=bst&media=WAVS&type=Movies&movie=Star_Wars_Episode_IV_A_New_Hope&quote=youregoing.txt&file=youregoing.wav)

Lucas was so wrong when he thought that he could recreate that with a character like Jar Jar and depend so heavily on CGI. I wonder whether he didn't realize this and if that isn't why we saw so much of -3PO and R2 in the third of the newer movies.

[Mephisto]

This has to be a joke. It has Jesus reaching down to hug the Death Star.

I thought so too, especially after reading this short blurb advertising their Jesus line of underwear . . .

Is that Jesus in your pants, or are you just happy to Praise the Lord?
$13.99 + shipping

[ponderingturtle]

The shower scene in Starship Troopers was interesting. A bunch of totally non-sexual nudity. It was frankly the only "sci-fi" concept I thought done remotely well in the movie. In the future, people are only allowed to have kids after becoming citizens, so casual coed nudity (and one supposes casual sex, not that it's mentioned) among non-citizens isn't such a big deal. No kids will result, and one presumes that STDs aren't that big an issue. One could argue it's postponing the issues of puberty until one becomes a citizen, and get into entire sociological debates about what that would mean.

Please tell me what alternate universe you are in? I can't remember any requirement of citizenship for procreation in either the movie or the book. You couldn't vote, but that isn't the issue either.

[Trantor]

Check out Landover Baptist's gift store. It is similar, but I didn't see any star wars stuff. Perhaps a new niche market?:)


http://www.cafepress.com/landoverbaptist

[Zombified]

Please tell me what alternate universe you are in? I can't remember any requirement of citizenship for procreation in either the movie or the book. You couldn't vote, but that isn't the issue either.
IIRC the main character's parents in the book weren't citizens, and weren't terribly supportive of him becoming one via military service. While Heinlein had his thing, he wasn't oblivious to potential criticisms or pitfalls and tried to address some of them, to some degree, in the book. But its been a long time since I read it.

[Forty-Two]

As for the spirit, obviously, I couldn't agree more. I love the scene that you mentioned. I think that what made the movies special is what he did with so (relative to now) little. The character moments added so much. The banter between Leia and Han set a tone, and C-3PO and R2 provided so much comic relief. A perfect example of how, with a mixture of sounds, R2 could be so funny: C-3PO & R2 (http://www.gotwavs.com/php/sounds/?id=bst&media=WAVS&type=Movies&movie=Star_Wars_Episode_IV_A_New_Hope&quote=slightflutter.txt&file=slightflutter.wav)

Out of order, but another great exchange: Amusing (http://www.gotwavs.com/php/sounds/?id=bst&media=WAVS&type=Movies&movie=Star_Wars_Episode_IV_A_New_Hope&quote=youregoing.txt&file=youregoing.wav)

Even when Lucas had real actors in the new movies, the exchanges just weren't quite right. Han and Leia make a much more convincing couple than Anakin and Padme. The original trilogy seemed to understand that a couple can trade barbs and still show how much they care, whereas in the newer trilogy, it seemed as though the dialogue was meant to say, "See how in love we are? Get it? We're in love and sappy! In case you forgot, we're in love right now! See?"

[ponderingturtle]

IIRC the main character's parents in the book weren't citizens, and weren't terribly supportive of him becoming one via military service. While Heinlein had his thing, he wasn't oblivious to potential criticisms or pitfalls and tried to address some of them, to some degree, in the book. But its been a long time since I read it.

And at least I have heard others argue that he was not suggesting it as a utopian society like some people try to push it into. How much he supported the whole political structure is unclear

[hgc]

Even when Lucas had real actors in the new movies, the exchanges just weren't quite right. Han and Leia make a much more convincing couple than Anakin and Padme. The original trilogy seemed to understand that a couple can trade barbs and still show how much they care, whereas in the newer trilogy, it seemed as though the dialogue was meant to say, "See how in love we are? Get it? We're in love and sappy! In case you forgot, we're in love right now! See?"In Episode 2, when Anakin is whining like a 15 year old that wants to get laid, and says to her, "my heart is bleeding," I yelled out (in the Ziegfeld Theatre), "my ears are bleeding!" That the Anakin/Padme love story was deadly serious was another way Lucas has no concept.

As for the CGI, just compare the puppet Yoda to the CGI Yoda. There's no comparison as to who's the better character. The scale model hardware, from ships to scooters, look a lot more corporeal than the CGI stuff too.

[Katana]

Even when Lucas had real actors in the new movies, the exchanges just weren't quite right. Han and Leia make a much more convincing couple than Anakin and Padme. The original trilogy seemed to understand that a couple can trade barbs and still show how much they care, whereas in the newer trilogy, it seemed as though the dialogue was meant to say, "See how in love we are? Get it? We're in love and sappy! In case you forgot, we're in love right now! See?"
Too true.

In Episode 2, when Anakin is whining like a 15 year old that wants to get laid, and says to her, "my heart is bleeding," I yelled out (in the Ziegfeld Theatre), "my ears are bleeding!" That the Anakin/Padme love story was deadly serious was another way Lucas has no concept.

As for the CGI, just compare the puppet Yoda to the CGI Yoda. There's no comparison as to who's the better character. The scale model hardware, from ships to scooters, look a lot more corporeal than the CGI stuff too.
Agreed.

[Ladewig]

Watching Star Wars will send you to Hell

No, watching Star Trek will send you to hell

http://www.nisbett.com/symbols/peace_sign.htm

Another hand signal is the Vulcan peace sign. It is supposed to mean "Live Long and Prosper," and can be seen in Star Trek.

Vulcan was a sun deity who was associated with fire, thunderbolts, and light. The festival in honour of him was called the Vulcania in which human sacrifices were offered. "According to Diel, he bears a family relationship to the Christian devil.' It is fascinating to know that he married Venus, another name for Lucifer or the devil. What is even more interesting is that Vulcan is adored in Masonry under the name of Tubal Cain.

[clarsct]

Even when Lucas had real actors in the new movies, the exchanges just weren't quite right. Han and Leia make a much more convincing couple than Anakin and Padme. The original trilogy seemed to understand that a couple can trade barbs and still show how much they care, whereas in the newer trilogy, it seemed as though the dialogue was meant to say, "See how in love we are? Get it? We're in love and sappy! In case you forgot, we're in love right now! See?"


Sign of the times. Welcome to the new, warmer and fuzzier era.

[Pauliesonne]

No, watching Star Trek will send you to hell

http://www.nisbett.com/symbols/peace_sign.htm

...and watching the new BSG will get you into heaven!

[Aoidoi]

Please tell me what alternate universe you are in? I can't remember any requirement of citizenship for procreation in either the movie or the book. You couldn't vote, but that isn't the issue either.We are each in our own little world. But I seem to recall one of the women in the shower discussing that after she became a citizen she was going to have kids. I remember the implication being that you weren't able to have kids unless you were a citizen. I haven't seen the movie in a half dozen years and may be misremembering (couldn't find the quote in imdb and am certainly not gonna watch the movie again to find out). If so, guess the movie has no redeeming value for me. ;)

Haven't read the book, so didn't really get it if the point was to argue against Heinlein's vision. Seemed like generally eeeevil for no point eeevilness to me. The movie just seemed to me to be a bad action movie with generic evil government movie stuck on top. If they actually showed that the government had nuked a city to create a war to distract the people from the eeevil government, well, that's a plot. But when you're making up your own subplots to make the movie interesting then the filmmakers have missed something.

Also have to admit that I can't really recall a single main character. There was a woman pilot and the guy who's parents died, but never really differentiated the guy from the other infantry, and never had any reason to care about her. Given that their character arcs sort of... stopped

Random question, was it Earth that got hit by that asteroid? I thought it was a colony on some other planet named after the city that got it, but again, certainly could be misremembering. As for launching an asteroid interstellar distances... weren't the bugs on multiple planets? Or are we to assume that was more propaganda? They had defences against ships in planetary orbit (not that the eeevil government told the fleet, assuming they even knew), and telepathic bugs. Somehow arguing that we should assume the movie wants us to know that the attack was staged because of the physics of it don't add up doesn't really work for me. Maybe the bugs have a giant asteroid firing space dwelling bug. It's only slightly less plausible than hundreds of enormous fusion powered rear firing plasma bugs or, for that matter, enormous bugs with exoskeletons.

I mean, sure, you can just assume everything the government says is lies to cover up something, but then what's the point of the movie? That an evil near omnipotent yet oddly inept government is does bad stuff, badly? Color me confused.

Though as an allegory for the old testament god maybe there's some merit... ;)

ETA: wow, the whole first page of comments in imdb are overwhelmingly positive. Interesting.

[senorpogo]

In Episode 2, when Anakin is whining like a 15 year old that wants to get laid, and says to her, "my heart is bleeding," I yelled out (in the Ziegfeld Theatre), "my ears are bleeding!" That the Anakin/Padme love story was deadly serious was another way Lucas has no concept.

I went to see Blimp: The Hindenburg Story and right in the middle, the ship blows up- burning debris, bodies falling- and then just as this eerie silence settles over the airfield, I yelled out, "That's gotta hurt!" The place went nuts.

[Ryokan]

We are each in our own little world. But I seem to recall one of the women in the shower discussing that after she became a citizen she was going to have kids. I remember the implication being that you weren't able to have kids unless you were a citizen. I haven't seen the movie in a half dozen years and may be misremembering (couldn't find the quote in imdb and am certainly not gonna watch the movie again to find out). If so, guess the movie has no redeeming value for me. ;)

I believe she said it was easier if you were a citizen.

Random question, was it Earth that got hit by that asteroid? I thought it was a colony on some other planet named after the city that got it, but again, certainly could be misremembering.

The asteroid hit Buenos Aires, where our heroes were from.

[ponderingturtle]

I believe she said it was easier if you were a citizen.



The asteroid hit Buenos Aires, where our heroes were from.

Except in the book where his mother just happened to be visiting, and he does not have any particularly personal connection to that for months after when he finds out his mother dies.

[ponderingturtle]

In Episode 2, when Anakin is whining like a 15 year old that wants to get laid, and says to her, "my heart is bleeding," I yelled out (in the Ziegfeld Theatre), "my ears are bleeding!" That the Anakin/Padme love story was deadly serious was another way Lucas has no concept.

As for the CGI, just compare the puppet Yoda to the CGI Yoda. There's no comparison as to who's the better character. The scale model hardware, from ships to scooters, look a lot more corporeal than the CGI stuff too.

"Is the dark side more powerful"
"No faster, quicker, and get laid you can"