What is your favorite Star Wars film?

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I'd never had much of a problem with them until I found out that it was supposed to be Wookies fighting the Imperials originally, which I think we all know would have RAWKED.

I've got nothing but love for the Ewoks, but then I see a whole Vietnam War subtext to that battle, so maybe it's just me .

Yeah, I've never had a problem at all with Ewoks. Heck, I was in an X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter clan NAMED EWOK for a long long time.

Tarrasque: We'll get Wookie fighting action in Ep 3...and I don't care what people say about the prequels, they're still fun movies compared to a lot of the crap out there.

 

[Kai Lord]

Does that surprise you?

Heck yeah! A now 128 votes from random sci-fi/fantasy/film geeks and not one single person raised their hand and said they like Phantom Menace the best? That's pathetic.

Look at all the varied opinions we get on this forum alone about what we like in films, we have *lots* of different tastes. Hell, there are even people who claim to dislike or flat out hate the LOTR films. And then look at the mammoth "guilty pleasure" threads. So many films that people here like that I felt like taking a shower after watching they were so bad.

People almost universally agree that Temple of Doom was the worst Indiana Jones flick, but I find it vastly more entertaining than Last Crusade and on certain days might even prefer it to Raiders. So where are all the Star Wars fans who view Phantom Menace the way I see Temple Doom. There are none? That's just beyond pathetic, and yes, considering the amount of votes and the varied tastes of this forum, quite surprising.

Not even Welverin voted for it.

 

[John Crichton]

Heck yeah! A now 128 votes from random sci-fi/fantasy/film geeks and not one single person raised their hand and said they like Phantom Menace the best? That's pathetic.

Look at all the varied opinions we get on this forum alone about what we like in films, we have *lots* of different tastes. Hell, there are even people who claim to dislike or flat out hate the LOTR films. And then look at the mammoth "guilty pleasure" threads. So many films that people here like that I felt like taking a shower after watching they were so bad.

People almost universally agree that Temple of Doom was the worst Indiana Jones flick, but I find it vastly more entertaining than Last Crusade and on certain days might even prefer it to Raiders. So where are all the Star Wars fans who view Phantom Menace the way I see Temple Doom. There are none? That's just beyond pathetic, and yes, considering the amount of votes and the varied tastes of this forum, quite surprising.

Not even Welverin voted for it.

Fair enough.

I would just assume that the few that did like it the best (mind you, I did like the film, it's just not the best of the films mentioned) just haven't arrived yet to peak at the thread. It's been about 5 days since it's been up. Give it long enough and someone, I'm sure, will vote for it.

I'm not sure the Temple of Doom analogy works but there may not be one film in existence that really could compare. There has been no single movie in history as widely anticipated as The Phantom Menance and there probably won't be. That's a lot of jaded folks. I've actually never met a single Star Wars fan (not that it means much, I'm just going from a perspective here) who likes Phantom Menace over any of the Star Wars films. Also, while there are many different folks with vastly different tastes in the ENworld community - we're not that diverse. Post this on the WotC boards (where the number of younger posters is much higher) and the results would be different.

I also don't view it as pathetic. I view it as people simply choosing the better films. I had absolutely no hestitation when eliminating from my mind what films I wouldn't be voting for. Phantom jumped right to the top as did Clones. The prequels simply haven't been out long enough for them to get a fair shake against movies I've seen a hundred times and have childhood experiences with.

So, that's why it doesn't surprise me at all. Just a personal thing.

 

[Welverin]

I'd never had much of a problem with them until I found out that it was supposed to be Wookies fighting the Imperials originally, which I think we all know would have RAWKED.

Would it have really made a difference? They would have been used for the same purpose, they just would have been taller.

Not even Welverin voted for it.

HEY! I may like it, but I still admit it has issues (serious ones at that).

Of course I may have to vote for out of spite now.

p.s. I do know someone who did think it was the best SW film, but that was before AotC came out, after which he switch to that. I'm not sure he he has changed his mind more recently.

 

[Pants]

What is the big deal with Ewoks? Why are they so hated?

I don't mind them as 'kiddie stuff' (I never really did like them at all...), but what I really find jarring is the fact that they were tearing apart ranks upon ranks of Imperial Troopers. Yes, I know Stormtroopers pose the same threat as a pebble wrapped in cotton, but still... they had Speeder Bikes and AT-ST's! You'd think more than 3 or 4 Ewoks would bite it.

Otherwise, I voted for ESB OE, cause I never saw the SE

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Heck yeah! A now 128 votes from random sci-fi/fantasy/film geeks and not one single person raised their hand and said they like Phantom Menace the best? That's pathetic.

Look at all the varied opinions we get on this forum alone about what we like in films, we have *lots* of different tastes. Hell, there are even people who claim to dislike or flat out hate the LOTR films. And then look at the mammoth "guilty pleasure" threads. So many films that people here like that I felt like taking a shower after watching they were so bad.

People almost universally agree that Temple of Doom was the worst Indiana Jones flick, but I find it vastly more entertaining than Last Crusade and on certain days might even prefer it to Raiders. So where are all the Star Wars fans who view Phantom Menace the way I see Temple Doom. There are none? That's just beyond pathetic, and yes, considering the amount of votes and the varied tastes of this forum, quite surprising.

Not even Welverin voted for it.

I don't hate Phantom Menace like some people seem to...but its not the worst movie EVAR!!!1! I love the Star Wars movies...and while Phantom Menace is definatly not the BEST IMO, it doesn't have to be the best. There was no way it would ever had lived up to the expectations people had for it.

Besides, most of us here grew up with the Original Trilogy, so we're all going to be biased...for good reason.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Would it have really made a difference? They would have been used for the same purpose, they just would have been taller.

Ewoks: 3' tall arboreal primitives with stone-tipped spears, bolas and some log traps.

Wookiees: 7' tall musclebound arboreal techfreaks with BOWCASTERS.

Yeah, I'm sure that would have gone the same way .

My big problem with that battle scene was, by making it Ewoks instead of Wookiees, they had to turn the Stormtroopers (who were pretty badass in A New Hope) into Keystone Kops just so it wouldn't be a slaughter.

So, Ewoks vs. RotJ's Dorktroopers = slightly dramatic, mildly amusing battle.
Wookiees vs. ANH's Beru Killaz =

 

[James Heard]

Besides, most of us here grew up with the Original Trilogy, so we're all going to be biased...for good reason.

Good taste and a sense of plot?

 

[Welverin]

Ewoks: 3' tall arboreal primitives with stone-tipped spears, bolas and some log traps.

Wookiees: 7' tall musclebound arboreal techfreaks with BOWCASTERS.

Yeah, I'm sure that would have gone the same way .

Ah, but that's the problem. The reason wookies weren't used is because Chewbacca showed them as being too advanced for the role Lucas wanted them for. SO if things hadn't been changed we would have seen 7' tall arboreal primitives with stone-tipped spears, bolas, aqnd log traps instead of 3' tall arboreal primitives with stone-tipped spears, bolas, and log traps.

See why I don't think it matters? The role would have been the same, the height of the actors would have changed and that's it.

 

[ledded]

Ah, but that's the problem. The reason wookies weren't used is because Chewbacca showed them as being too advanced for the role Lucas wanted them for. SO if things hadn't been changed we would have seen 7' tall arboreal primitives with stone-tipped spears, bolas, aqnd log traps instead of 3' tall arboreal primitives with stone-tipped spears, bolas, and log traps.

See why I don't think it matters? The role would have been the same, the height of the actors would have changed and that's it.

I've heard that, but I was also under the impression that he thought the ferocity and size of the wookies would scare younger viewers that he personally wanted to target better with that movie, and make it too violent or fierce for some older viewers.

Personally, I think the movie would have been completely different (and pretty cool) with Wookies carrying bowcasters and some advanced weaponary, and even if they were a primitive species with rocks and sticks their natural ferocity and size would have made it play very different on the screen than it did. It's not as "cute" when a 7-foot primitive screaming wookie steps out from behind a tree and takes a stormtroopers head clean off with one swipe of a massive hand opposed to when a little group of chattering 3-foot beanie babies poke a power-armored stormtrooper into submission with a small rock-pointed stick