[OT] Something To Keep In Mind When Reading Reviews Of Episode II

[King_Stannis]

funny this got brought up, but last night in our game session we were talking about this. while far from objective, i actually like return of the jedi the best. it easily had the best space battle of any of the movies (including TPM), and for pure dramatics, the final confrontation with luke and vader and the emperor can't be beat. yet it still persists that "empire" is the best movie. while i thought it was a good movie, i have to say that in my opinion it has gotten to be a tad overrated. hoth was great, but that stuff on the asteroid - with the falwas just silly (to me). also, while bespin had some great scenes, i thought it dragged in parts. i also thought the parts on dagobah were boring at times.

i might be in the minority, but i also feel that empire was the weak sister.

 

[333 Dave]

I personally think ESB is the best, though the Jabba's Palace sceans in RotJ are pretty cool

 

[Wicht]

As a kid, I always thought Return of the Jedi was the best of the three and Empire strikes Back was the worst (and slowest). Rewatching them as an adult, I like Empire Strikes Back a little better but still find it a tad slow in places. And Return of the Jedi is still my favorite. I have always been somewhat surprised that a lot of people like Empire the best and Return the least.

 

[Psion]

funny this got brought up, but last night in our game session we were talking about this. while far from objective, i actually like return of the jedi the best. it easily had the best space battle of any of the movies (including TPM), and for pure dramatics, the final confrontation with luke and vader and the emperor can't be beat.

Oh, I agree. The only people I know personally that didn't like ROTJ best didn't like the ewoks... and I'm like so what. The movie had more dramatic/funny/classic moments and one liners. And the space battle was awesome. Especially for the day! The first time as a kid I sat down to all those space fighters streaking out of the screen at you, I was just awestruck.

yet it still persists that "empire" is the best movie. while i thought it was a good movie, i have to say that in my opinion it has gotten to be a tad overrated. hoth was great, but that stuff on the asteroid - with the falwas just silly (to me). also, while bespin had some great scenes, i thought it dragged in parts. i also thought the parts on dagobah were boring at times.

Indeed. It just didn't flow as well, lack closure, and left you feeling defeated like a VC Anders novel or something equally morose. It had some redeeming qualities, but as a whole it just didn't hang together for me.

i might be in the minority, but i also feel that empire was the weak sister.

Like I said, this is the first community I've ever been a part of that more than a minority have suggested it was the best movie.

 

[Ristamar]

In regard to Empire being best/worst, most people I've known (and most professional movie critics, apparently, not they they know anything *snicker*) touted Empire as the best of the series. Personally, when I was younger, I, like Psion, enjoyed Jedi the most (kick ass space battles, cool speeder bikes, etc), but as I grew older, I began to appreciate Empire more and more. For me, RotJ and ESB now stand on about equal footing. I admit I'm a bit biased toward Jedi, however, simply because it was the only one I saw in theaters when it was originally released (I was 4, at the time).

Anyway, on to what I really wanted to talk about.... I think Ebert let his disdain for digital filming get in the way of an actual review of the movie itself. He loves 35mm. It was more of a review of the format Lucas used rather than a review of the film. I read over it, and he seemed to spend more time bitching about how bad it looks through non-digital projection than discussing what happened on the screen. I wouldn't be surprised if the film had been done on 35mm, or had he seen it digitally projected, his rating might've been 3 or 3 1/2 stars.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I'm not going to say reviewers suck all the time, I might think it.. Anyway the one time I must see a movie after reading a review is when it is totally slaughtered by the reviewers. For exmaple in Sacramento, the Sac Bee had a rating system with stars, if it got no stars the movie was so bad it was offensive. Long Kiss Goodnight got no stars it becamea must see movie for me, and guess what I liked it a lot, I even decided I had to own it, and after seeing it my sister decided she had to own it, and my best friend decided he had to own it etc. My only guess is that the reviewer refused to except a hardcore female aciton hero, cheezy xena style ones maybe he'd like, but female action heros with neck snapping fun for the whole family is a no-no.

 

[dagger]

Mark Hamil was in the Big Red One WWII movie.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Just to throw more fuel...

Between myself, my wife, my sister, my father, my friends in Austin (2) and my friends back in Houston (7), I believe all but one or two of us think ESB is easily the best of the original series.

And no, I don't say that because I hated the ewoks. I say it because I feel that it had the best script, the best acting, and the best mood. But hey, YFCRMV.

(That's "Your fuel-consumption ratio may vary." I decided to really geek it out, this being a Star Wars thread.)

 

[Sulimo]

Anyway, on to what I really wanted to talk about.... I think Ebert let his disdain for digital filming get in the way of an actual review of the movie itself. He loves 35mm. It was more of a review of the format Lucas used rather than a review of the film. I read over it, and he seemed to spend more time bitching about how bad it looks through non-digital projection than discussing what happened on the screen. I wouldn't be surprised if the film had been done on 35mm, or had he seen it digitally projected, his rating might've been 3 or 3 1/2 stars.

Speaking of which, does anyone know of any reviews of the digital version? thats one thing I'm especially curious about given I wont have a cxhance to see it digitally (there are no digital cinemas locally)?

 

[Viking Bastard]

AICN's Moriarty saw it in a digital medium.

But beware, it's spoiler heavy.

http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=12201