I've seen Sith twice now. I was vastly disappointed the first time I saw it. I liked it better after the second showing. I think I expected too much.

What disappointed me the most was the abrupt switcheroo Anikid pulled during the critical scene with Mace and the Chancellor. OK, Ani walks in, and sees Mace getting the best of Palpatine. Palpy puts on a "poor little old me" charade, Ani buys into it, and chops Mace's arm off. Palpy finishes Mace off with a bit of evil force lightening.

Anikin's first reaction? "Oh no, what have I done?" Thirty seconds later, and he's on his knees, swearing fealty to the Dark Side? Uh, wasn't that just a tad abrupt there? I don't care what the set up was leading up to that point, it was still less than credible. I'd have bought it more easily if he were faced with making an immediate decision based on immediate critical need. If Amadala were dying and he had to decide on the spot whether to turn to the Dark Side to save her life I'd have understood it better. But he'd just screwed up and essentially gotten Mace killed. You'd think he'd be more prone to make up for that by NOT turning to the dark side at that particular point. sigh

And WHAT was that crap about Amadala dying in childbirth. I predicted (and was unfortunately correct) that this is exactly how Lucas would write this script. Unfortunately, he's already established in Episode VI that Amadala survives childbirth, at least long enough for Leia to remember her. I realize the kids are strong in the force but does that really permit Leia to remember her mother within seconds of her birth? And if so, why doesn't Luke remember her too?

And the romance scenes. Gads, gag me with a spoon, why doncha? "You're beautiful." "That's only because I love you." "No, I love you." I mean, what exactly was the point of all that? Surely they'd have been able to bring their relationship to something beyond a high school crush by the point?

While I suppose it was a nice touch, I still got the feeling that the Wookies were thrown in rather gratuitously. And please don't tell me that Chewie hasn't changed his clothes (such as they are) in the twenty-some years from Episode three to Episode four!

Still, there was a fair amount to like about the movie. The final battle between Anikin and Obi ended rather nicely. In spite of everything, Obi could not bring himself to deal the killing blow to Anikin, in memory of past friendship. That was a fatal failing flaw, and resulted in two decades of subjucation by the Sith over the former Republic. The time Obi Wan spends on Tatooine watching over Luke has got to be a terriblly guilt-ridden period of his life. It makes the final duel between Obi and Darth Vader in Episode four all the more poignant. It also puts flesh to the partial lie he feeds Luke in Episode four regarding the death of his father.

I also liked the way that Anikin handled the news of impending fatherhood. Here's a guy who had no intentions of sharing his wife with anyone finding out that she's going to have a kid (aside: Why the hell didn't she ever know she was going to have twins? Don't they believe in pre-natal check-ups in the Republic?). There is a rather subtle play of expressions on his face while he musters up the wits to tell her that it's wonderful news. He's obviously ambivalent about fatherhood. This is never more true than when confronted with Amadala's death. He's crushed by the news of her death, and by the information that he was responsible. But does he ever ask if the child survived? No. And wouldn't that be the first thing that any other expenctant father would ask? The fact he never even thinks to ask is a rather chilling and telling point.

OK, I could say more, but it's someone else's turn. I'll repost this on the Star

I thought LOS was the only board being used now.
Hmm..guess I should repost my comments over here too. grin
wok

We saw it last night.I was excited. I even pulled my button out, that was given away at the very first movie, to wear. It said May the Force be With You. I'd been playing the soundtracks from the originals all last week. I was ready.

I can only say it didn't move me. I felt no emotion for most of the characters, other than Anikan's struggle trying to save Padme, and Obi-Wan's gut-wrenching discovery than Anikan had abandoned him and the Jedi.
The rest of it was like reading a comic book, three lines on this page, two lines on that, and the rest was action. The "actors" read their lines like zombies.
And where was the inspiring John Williams soundtrack? After all the other movies, I've gone out and bought the soundtrack. But this time I kept thinking they tried to save money by just putting in a sound byte from the previous movies, or having subtle music suggesting wonderful themes that came with the first three. Boring.
It was amusing when Palpatine started his maniacal laugh after the fight with Mace, and the audience was laughing at how hokey it was. His former sinister laugh would have been much better.
OK, the last half hour was worth watching. But the rest...ho hum.
And where was the explanation we were promised of the midiclorians? Yeah, yeah, an now-dead Sith had manipulated them to create life. So are these cells?
I'm going to watch the originals to get some enjoyment out of it. There is no way those will ever be topped. Sequels usually don't do well, but prequels suck big time. Hubby kept saying the reason I liked the first ones were the "special effects" were so new. Now they're blasee. I disagree. I felt for the characters, and I identified with them. I cheered for them.
I still like Obi-Wan the best.
A group in the audience stood up and applauded the trailer for the Chronicles of Narnia.
still ewok

- I can't say that I've ever had a deep emotional involvement with any Star Wars character (OK, except for Han Solo, but I was much younger and far more impressionable and I don't want to talk about that Callista Flockhart besotted idiot anymore anyhow). Lucas does have a knack for making three-dimensional characters two-dimensional, as one film critic stated.

- I actually liked the way that all the scores from the other movies found a place in Episode three, without the introduction of much new music. That first stirring of the Imperial March, the wistful hints of Luke's and Leia's themes during their birth, and the reworking of "Duel of Fates" for the climactic Anakin battle all served to reinforce the action without becoming overtly intrusive. I'd have to agree that there weren't any new themes introduced that have stuck in my head, but I'm n ot particularly upset by that.

-Palpatine's crazed laughter during the fight with Yoda? You really have to wonder what Lucas was thinking on that one.

-Were we promised an explanation about midichlorians? I somehow missed that in the lead-up hype to the movie. It was intriguing though that Darth Sidioius mentions Darth Plagus's ability to manipulate midichlorians to create and preserve life. Does that tie in with the "virgin birth" crap from Episode I? Could it possibly be that Anakin was essentially created by a Sith Lord to become a Sith Lord apprentice? What better place to perform such an experiment than in a backwater, unallied planet that condones slavery and does most of its trading on the outside of the law? The idea almost absolves the stupid virgin birth concept, which leads me to believe I'm thinking too much and that this was not Lucas' intent. I actually don't think that Lucas intended midichlorians to be cells. I think he developed the name from two organelles that exist within different kinds of cells - mitochondria in animal cells and chloroplasts in plant cells. Both are the "power factories" for their respective cells, which would then explain their ability to produce an energy known as the force. What that doesn't explain is why inanimate objects (such as rocks) are also enveloped in the foce, as Yoda maintains in Episode V. But frankly, midichlorians are mostly a lame idea not worth spending much debate time on.

-You liked Obi Wan best? Me, I'm a Qui Gon gal myself. He's the closest we got to a Han Solo rebel in the current trilogy. If Liam Neeson ends up with Callista Flockhart, I will have to go out and kill something. Which leads me to my last dire prediction. When Lucas goes back and tweaks Episode VI again (and we all know he's not going to be able to resist doing it) I predict that Mr. I've_Figured-Out-How-to-Return-From-the-Dead-Without-Going-Poof is going to be added to the Ghostly Aparitions at the end of the movie. Anyone want to take the bet?

before he changes them. I have the Collector's Edition of Phantom Menace with a film strip from the movie, and singles from the original movies, but they're all on video, and I don't have video anymore. Guess I'll have to take bids on them somewhere. Or toss it into my cedar chest, along with my Force be with you button, for the 50th anniversary.
I liked Qui Gon too but he wasn't around very long.

That's where I got my letterbox edition set for a decent price. With the last movie just released though I don't know how bidding is currently.

Just got back from seeing Ep III a third time. Interestingly enough, it's bearing up well under repeated watchings. I keep finding new details each time, and seem to be getting innured to the really bad sequences so that it doesn't hurt so much to watch them anymore.

and probably wait until it's on video to watch it more than twice. I know there's no way hubby will go again, but then he's not a diehard fan.

I dont' think there were even twenty people in the theater with us for the 6:30 showing last night. I was a little surprised, but then again it was a Monday night, and school is not quite done for the year yet around here, so I guess that would have impacted attendence a bit.

I too was completely confused by the scene with Anakin, Mace and the Chancellor. The only conclusion was that Lucas had no clue how to show Anakin's fall visually, so he went with that.

Both Tex and I mentioned the fact that Leia said that she remembered her mother in the original movies. I guess that Lucas can always claim she meant her adoptive mother.

Amidala's line about the lake on Naboo is already a source of much merriment in the Troll household. We quote it when we want to get a laugh during intimate moments. We're sick that way

Both Chewie and the end scene where the emporor and Vader are viewing a Death Star already under construction were totally incongruent in my mind. How did the ensuing 18 years slip by with no progress on the Death Star and no aging of Chewie happen? Eh!


OK enough complaining. The visuals were great, the script was light years ahead of the preceding two movies and Jar Jar was nowhere in evidence after the very beginning. The stilted love scenes were short and the action scenes were beautiful. I liked how most of the loose ends were tied up and connections established with the original movies. The climactic scene with Obi Wan and Anakin was awesome and I think had the best acting of the movie right when it was needed most. It was easily the best of the prequels and did not disappoint, which does not make up for the first two but satisfies me enough not to call for Lucas' head.

Did you notice Tarkin in that scene? A much younger Tarkin? I thought that was pretty neat.

And the Death Star only appeared to be in its earliest stages of construction. Considering the size of the thing, and the fact that nobody had built one before, I'm not surprsed it would have taken nearly twenty years to build.

Well, how long do Wookies live, anyway? And besides, with all that fur it's probably hard to tell a Wookie's age. Cats are like that, too.

As for the 18-year construction time to build the Death Star, that's not unreasonable. It's a huge battlestation the size of a moon, after all. The Empire took its time constructing it, arguably, because in the early days there was no pressing need for a planet-smasher with which to suppress an unruly rebellion. The second Death Star in Episode VI was coming together much faster, but then, the Emperor wanted it badly in the face of growing insurrections.

Leia may have thought she remembered her mama, but it seems reasonable that she might have been mistaken and was indeed remembering her adoptive mother instead. Shit like that happens in real life, so why not in a story?

My question is: did Darth Plaguis(?) actually create Lil' Orphan Ani? Or maybe Sidious did? That would be like Lucas to make Sidious Anakin's "father" (even if a test tube in a laboratory was actually involved).

Sidious explicitly states that Plagius (or however you spell it) could create life by minipulating midichlorians . And Episode 1 certainly implies that while little half-orphan Annie had a mother, the midichlorians were dear ol' dad. Unfortunately, there's probably no definitive way of knowing, unless Lucas adds related footage to the DVD release.

Which I wouldn't put past him.