NFT: Revenge of the Sith...you consider it a good movie?

The only good Star Wars movie was the one with Jar Jar.

But I still think it was sub par. Wonky dialogue, but some memorable moments

I thought it was good, but I thought the guy who played Anakin was such a whiny little bitch and a horrible actor. I think it could have been so much better with a better actor there.

In comment 15074740 26.2 said:

Quote:

I thought it was good, but I thought the guy who played Anakin was such a whiny little bitch and a horrible actor. I think it could have been so much better with a better actor there.

I hated him too, but if you watch episode 4, Luke is a whiny little bitch too, so like father like son...

was the Emperor patting young Anakin Skywalker and saying "I will be following your career very closely." during the end parade scene.

It is amazing in all Star War movies that there are brilliant lines/scenes and some of the worst lines every witnessed.

The dialogue can be outstanding and amazingly soap operish/childish two within the same movie.

I once read a Sci-Fi/Fantasy book written by a husband and wife team and it was so easy to read the differnt lines/scenes where each clearly was directing the writing.

Anyway.....

around when disney plus launched. Decided to watch all the star wars stuff in chronological order including the animated shows which i hadnt seen (rebels and clone wars, didnt watch the newer show). It was pretty fun and worth doing if you havent seen the animated shows. Was a bit of commitment though, took me awhile as i didnt really have time to watch more then maybe 2 episodes a day or so.


Like all of the prequels it has its solid moments and its cringy moments. I know its talked about as the best, but personally i dont find it much better then attack of the clones.

I just watched it again on TNT, still bad. "I hate you!" "NOOOOO!" Some of the most poignant parts of the Skywalker story are ruined through stupid dialogue and bad acting. Watch the last episode of The Clone Wars when new Vader finds Asohka's lightsaber and thinks she's dead. You can tell he's crying but also can't see it through the helmet. It is such a well-done moment. The prequels could have captured similar emotion but focused on CGI and visuals instead.

The movie is made even better, by the Clone Wars cartoon series, when you get more in depth with Anakin's character. Especially the final season.

me.

I have no problem with big dumb action movies, but this movie wasn't trying to be that at the time it was made.

It was okay, but could have been much better if Hayden Christensen wasn’t such a god awful actor. That and the special effects looking so dated really took away from the movie. That said, it was definitely better than Return of the Jedi, that movie was not good.

Hate to say it but I’d probably put Revenge 5th out of the 9 “main” Star Wars films behind Empire, A New Hope, The Last Jedi and Force Awakens. Return of the Jedi just doesn’t hold up, Attack of the Clones was meh and Phantom Menace and Rise of the Skywalker were fucking awful.

The new trilogy is frustrating because outside of that Disney has actually done a good job with Star Wars. The new season of Rebels was great, The Mandalorian is fantastic, and Rogue One is probably in the top 3 for Star Wars movies. I also though Solo was a lot of fun and is underrated.

Also have to say, the Vader scene in Rogue One and the Boba Fett scene in the Mandalorian were about as good as it gets for a Star Wars fan

They started out by reviewing the prequels - ten episodes each(!) - under the premise that they were unaware of any other Star Wars media. Like, do these things work as movies in any way shape or form, taken entirely on their own. It was fun. Recommended.
Here's the first episode of Episode I - ( New Window )

and like others have said, it's probably the best of the prequels. Hayden Christianson is a good actor, but his dialogue and acting is quite poor. I think the biggest problem with the prequels, is George did everything where the orginal 3 he let directors do the directing and he stuck to the screenplay and writing. That and a heavy reliance on CGI which wasn't there yet in 1999-2005. I would love to see these movies made now instead.

George Lucas' biggest strength/gift is his story telling, the stories of the 3 films are great, but executed poorly.

The only thing I wish he did a little better with the writing was demonstrate how much palpatine was manipulating everything. You never really grasp that Palpatine was playing both sides and was the instigator of the clone wars. That's something that clone wars did a great job of illustrating

In comment 15074757 Eli Wilson said:

Quote:

The movie is made even better, by the Clone Wars cartoon series, when you get more in depth with Anakin's character. Especially the final season.

Re: The Clone Wars- I 100% agree, the show made the movie better. You gain a lot of perspective on Anakin and his relationship with Ahsoka and Obi Wan so the turn to the Dark side has so much more impact. It gave me a feeling of sadness for, and betrayal by, a character I had grown to love in the show.

and duels are stellar. The script is ok- an improvement over Attack of the Clones. But on the whole, it fell short.

In comment 15074766 Mike in NJ said:

Quote:

It was okay, but could have been much better if Hayden Christensen wasn’t such a god awful actor. That and the special effects looking so dated really took away from the movie. That said, it was definitely better than Return of the Jedi, that movie was not good. Hate to say it but I’d probably put Revenge 5th out of the 9 “main” Star Wars films behind Empire, A New Hope, The Last Jedi and Force Awakens. Return of the Jedi just doesn’t hold up, Attack of the Clones was meh and Phantom Menace and Rise of the Skywalker were fucking awful. The new trilogy is frustrating because outside of that Disney has actually done a good job with Star Wars. The new season of Rebels was great, The Mandalorian is fantastic, and Rogue One is probably in the top 3 for Star Wars movies. I also though Solo was a lot of fun and is underrated. Also have to say, the Vader scene in Rogue One and the Boba Fett scene in the Mandalorian were about as good as it gets for a Star Wars fan

It's just such a shame that they didn't really think through the sequel trilogy before splitting it up with 3 directors and letting each have to sort of react to the film before, and keep it going. There are really strong moments in TFA and TLJ that I still appreciate, but Rise of Skywalker left a really bad taste in my mouth. Thank god for The Mandalorian quickly restoring my faith in SW.

In comment 15074755 Pete in MD said:

Quote:

I just watched it again on TNT, still bad. "I hate you!" "NOOOOO!" Some of the most poignant parts of the Skywalker story are ruined through stupid dialogue and bad acting. Watch the last episode of The Clone Wars when new Vader finds Asohka's lightsaber and thinks she's dead. You can tell he's crying but also can't see it through the helmet. It is such a well-done moment. The prequels could have captured similar emotion but focused on CGI and visuals instead.

Lucas has admitted he doesn't really give a shit about the emotional range of actors. His lone instructor in the directors chair is "faster, more intense"

A New Hope is awesome and lightning in a bottle, the sequels (ESB/RotJ) have a lot more range and nuance and those were not directed by Lucas.

... To answer the OPs question, RotS is just ok. Its not a good movie, but its not terrible. Phantom Menace is truly an all time terrible movie and the special effects have aged poorly that there is nothing redeeming about it left.

Attack of the Clones is just really really boring until the end. It is my favorite subtitle of the whole series though. So campy.

The moment the whole trilogy was based off of, by far the biggest moment we were all anxiously awaiting:

Anakin making the leap into Vader.

And it felt like "eh, you're my master now, I guess"

In comment 15074779 CoughlinHandsonHips said:

Quote:

The moment the whole trilogy was based off of, by far the biggest moment we were all anxiously awaiting: Anakin making the leap into Vader. And it felt like "eh, you're my master now, I guess"

They had so many movie hours to explore his shift to the dark side but decided to use like 15-20 minutes on it so space battles a sword fights could happen. They could have made a low-budget art film that was better at showing someone's decent into madness.

What a lot of people seemed to have missed in all these decades is that Anikin Skywalker is a socially awkward teenager. He doesn’t know how to approach the woman he loves and he doesn’t know how to deal with his mentor or Jedi leadership who don’t seem to respect him. Hence the so called bad dialogue. The dialogue is “bad” because Anikin doesn’t know what to say in any given situation. So when he tries to express his love for Padme, he says something corny and stupid. When he is frustrated with the senior Jedi, he sounds like a whining child. Since all of us males were at one time clumsy teenagers, such situations are painful to watch but its absolutely necessary for the story being told. This is how he is able to be seduced by Palpatine and the dark side. Palpatine is his sympathetic mentor who tells him what he needs to hear. Where the Jedi have forbidden his love for Padme, Palpatine encourages it . Where he feels disrespected by the Jedi, with some justification, Palpatine tells him he’s the greatest Jedi. Without the “bad” dialogue, without Anikin’s clumsy pursuit of an older woman who’s out of his league, the story doesn’t work.

because I don't want them to influence me. I think the first two movies of the prequel trilogy are just outright awful. I mean I don't even really get the second movie and the first movie is about a trade war and has a six year old as the lead character. They were dreadful. I do think, though, that Sith was a great movie. Not a good movie, but a great one. The tone is right (very dark) and it really is an interesting story of a young guy trying to figure out love and power against the backdrop of a civil war. I think some of the dialogue is ridiculous, but what Lucas production does not suffer from corny and cheesy dialogue. I also think that you could have had the Sith movie all by itself as the first two movies are basically superfluous to Sith. In other words, the characters don't grow on you like in the original trilogy where you needed really to have those two movies to build up to the third. The third can stand all on its own.

... However, as terrible as Phantom Menace was I would (will) watch it again (and again) just to watch the Darth Maul fight scene at the end. Darth Maul was the best character this franchise had going for it and that fight scene is phucquing brilliant... lol

In comment 15074779 CoughlinHandsonHips said:

Quote:

The moment the whole trilogy was based off of, by far the biggest moment we were all anxiously awaiting: Anakin making the leap into Vader. And it felt like "eh, you're my master now, I guess"

Decades of buildup, culminating with Hayden Christensen kneeling and whimpering “I pledge myself to your teachings”

Cringeworthy. No matter how good the duel with Obi-Wan was

In comment 15074790 Ron from Ninerland said:

Quote:

What a lot of people seemed to have missed in all these decades is that Anikin Skywalker is a socially awkward teenager. He doesn’t know how to approach the woman he loves and he doesn’t know how to deal with his mentor or Jedi leadership who don’t seem to respect him. Hence the so called bad dialogue. The dialogue is “bad” because Anikin doesn’t know what to say in any given situation. So when he tries to express his love for Padme, he says something corny and stupid. When he is frustrated with the senior Jedi, he sounds like a whining child. Since all of us males were at one time clumsy teenagers, such situations are painful to watch but its absolutely necessary for the story being told. This is how he is able to be seduced by Palpatine and the dark side. Palpatine is his sympathetic mentor who tells him what he needs to hear. Where the Jedi have forbidden his love for Padme, Palpatine encourages it . Where he feels disrespected by the Jedi, with some justification, Palpatine tells him he’s the greatest Jedi. Without the “bad” dialogue, without Anikin’s clumsy pursuit of an older woman who’s out of his league, the story doesn’t work.

Young kid changes himself the universe for a girl (a gorgeous Long Island girl, no doubt) but I just wanted more from the story I guess. I see your point though.

I think it is a solid movie, and I think I have liked it even more in recent watches. The final confirmation between Obi and Anikan is great. If you have seen any of the stuff from the Darth Vader comics it puts some really good context around it as well, about how conflicted he was throughout everything.

is that it's emotionally unsatisfying, because you don't know who to root for. The good guys are becoming the bad guys. That's the whole point. Anakin becomes Darth Vader. The Emperor siezes power. The Clone Army becomes the Storm Troopers.

And the bad guys win. That makes it frustrating and emotionally unsettling. The people who don't like the movie find that a big problem. I like it, but it makes the movie a different kind of experience than we're used to seeing, especially in Star Wars films.

I think it was actually an audacious choice by Lucas, but I don't think he was skillful enough as a filmmaker to fully pull it off.

The prequals were okay, there is some good to focus on, like the special effects, there are corny parts to them, the dialogue as an example, but the movies served their purpose, and like many I too liked Sith the most of the 3 and thought it was pretty good.

In comment 15074736 mfsd said:

Quote:

But I still think it was sub par. Wonky dialogue, but some memorable moments

I never did see the whole thing, but I remember one exchange that told me everything I need to know:

Obiwan: Anakin, the emperor is evil!

Anakin: From my point of view the rebels are evil!

Obiwan: Can you repeat that? We have a dumbass audience and your motivation REALLY needs to be spelled out for them

Jar Jar did suck, but Hayden Christensen's overly whiny portrayal of Anakin was just hard to watch. None of the immature charm of the kid and none of the menacing intimidation of Darth Vader for a character who was supposed to bridge the gap between the two.

Revenge of Sith has a lot of enduring memes for all the wrong reasons.

In comment 15074836 widmerseyebrow said:

Quote:

Jar Jar did suck, but Hayden Christensen's overly whiny portrayal of Anakin was just hard to watch. None of the immature charm of the kid and none of the menacing intimidation of Darth Vader for a character who was supposed to bridge the gap between the two. Revenge of Sith has a lot of enduring memes for all the wrong reasons.

meant to say the other two prequels*

In comment 15074836 widmerseyebrow said:

Quote:

Jar Jar did suck, but Hayden Christensen's overly whiny portrayal of Anakin was just hard to watch. None of the immature charm of the kid and none of the menacing intimidation of Darth Vader for a character who was supposed to bridge the gap between the two. Revenge of Sith has a lot of enduring memes for all the wrong reasons.

Phantom Menace just seemed like it didn't have a protagonist. I still can't really tell who the main character of that movie was.

(I'm coming at this being relatively ignorant of the various animated series, so maybe some of these nitpicks are answered there.)

All the elements for Anakin's turn in Sith are there, but they don't quite fit together. Palpatine seduces him by telling him he knows the way to save Padme, but as soon as Anakin betrays the Jedi, what does he tell him? "Nope, sorry, don't know how to save Padme, but I'm sure we can figure it out together." By all rights Anakin should have cut him in two right there. I know, he's immature and naive, etc., but it's a letdown to learn that the Dark Lord of the Sith was basically an idiot as a kid. And as usual, Lucas got too wrapped up with showing off fancy CGI. The Obi-Wan/Anakin duel didn't need to get all crazy playing Frogger on the lava flow, for instance -- that kind of corny stuff took me out of the drama.

It's a shame the dialogue and plotting is so clunky, because Sith's visuals and overall tone are way better than the other prequels. The best moments are the silent ones, like Vader being "born" (prior to the "Noooooooo!"). Still, I like it more than the recent trilogy -- the later movies are more professionally made, but I find them be a cynical regurgitation of the original series, with less interesting characters and terrible plotting.

Whenever they get around to the next trilogy, I hope they hand it off to someone like Dave Filoni, who understands and respects the universe and the stories.

In comment 15074839 Sonic Youth said:

Quote:

In comment 15074836 widmerseyebrow said: Quote: Jar Jar did suck, but Hayden Christensen's overly whiny portrayal of Anakin was just hard to watch. None of the immature charm of the kid and none of the menacing intimidation of Darth Vader for a character who was supposed to bridge the gap between the two. Revenge of Sith has a lot of enduring memes for all the wrong reasons. Phantom Menace just seemed like it didn't have a protagonist. I still can't really tell who the main character of that movie was.

I see where you're coming from, but I'd disagree. Liam Neeson is the glue of that movie, and I think part of the reason the other two fell apart is the lack of a strong, likeable lead.

Which is weird because Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman are excellent actors in other movies, but their lines and delivery are just painful in Star Wars.

and they themselves were ordinary. So, they were bound to be disappointments.

In comment 15074845 DieHard said:

Quote:

(I'm coming at this being relatively ignorant of the various animated series, so maybe some of these nitpicks are answered there.) All the elements for Anakin's turn in Sith are there, but they don't quite fit together. Palpatine seduces him by telling him he knows the way to save Padme, but as soon as Anakin betrays the Jedi, what does he tell him? "Nope, sorry, don't know how to save Padme, but I'm sure we can figure it out together." By all rights Anakin should have cut him in two right there. I know, he's immature and naive, etc., but it's a letdown to learn that the Dark Lord of the Sith was basically an idiot as a kid. And as usual, Lucas got too wrapped up with showing off fancy CGI. The Obi-Wan/Anakin duel didn't need to get all crazy playing Frogger on the lava flow, for instance -- that kind of corny stuff took me out of the drama. It's a shame the dialogue and plotting is so clunky, because Sith's visuals and overall tone are way better than the other prequels. The best moments are the silent ones, like Vader being "born" (prior to the "Noooooooo!"). Still, I like it more than the recent trilogy -- the later movies are more professionally made, but I find them be a cynical regurgitation of the original series, with less interesting characters and terrible plotting. Whenever they get around to the next trilogy, I hope they hand it off to someone like Dave Filoni, who understands and respects the universe and the stories.

Did he do Clone Wars or Rebels? Haven’t watched those...thankfully, I have a 10 year old nephew to fill in the story gaps when we discuss the Mandalorian. Which is brilliant.

...in the first one. It screws things up in so many ways.

If Anakin is fourteen like Padme in the first movie, everything makes a lot more sense.

In comment 15074859 mfsd said:

Quote:

Did he do Clone Wars or Rebels? Haven’t watched those...thankfully, I have a 10 year old nephew to fill in the story gaps when we discuss the Mandalorian. Which is brilliant.

Yep, Clone Wars is his baby, and he was a supervising exec on Rebels (and Mandalorian, of course).

In comment 15074866 Gary from The East End said:

Quote:

...in the first one. It screws things up in so many ways. If Anakin is fourteen like Padme in the first movie, everything makes a lot more sense.

Spot on.

in spots, you are probably right. Obviously, the special effects are top-notch.

I think the movie is aimed at the younger generation--the you of 10-15 years ago, not mature movie aficionados.

The movie grossed $868.4 million USD world-wide, so perhaps they felt that they didn't need to make it perfect. So much the worse for us.

Eh, not a bad flick. Not going to win any awards, but enjoyable viewing. Also, how bad were the other Jedis Windu took with him to arrest Palpatine? LOL. Was the A team Jedi on vacation? Those Jedis were pathetic.

In comment 15074903 Marty in Albany said:

Quote:

in spots, you are probably right. Obviously, the special effects are top-notch. I think the movie is aimed at the younger generation--the you of 10-15 years ago, not mature movie aficionados. The movie grossed $868.4 million USD world-wide, so perhaps they felt that they didn't need to make it perfect. So much the worse for us.

Funny you say that. I was covering vfx during that period. Lucas always wanted more rather than best. Given a fixed budget — there's ALWAYS a limit — he'd rather have the frame be full of stuff, even if that meant that stuff was less polished. The vfx teams got very expert at figuring out where your eye would go in the frame, and if an f/x element was not near there, they could fudge it.

Same may be true of the whole picture, including the script. Maybe they fudged because they didn't think people would notice. George should know better.

The fight scene at the end with Obi Wan and Anakin Skywalker was funny. Lol. Kind of like a dad disciplining his son. Other than, that the film was more of a joke than anything and way overhyped.

I saw it midnight with my friends and it wad mu senior year. This "epic night" we planned years ahead was just a big waste of time. Pretty boring.

The first two prequels sucked and let's be honest, this one did as well. Don't know why people still bother anymore. The last three Star Wars with the little girl Jedi leading the way, sucked major ass. I left the last one early and I got to see a viewing for free. So bad. It was the day the Giants beat the artists formerly known as the Redskins.

Probably the last time I'll ever be in a movie theater now that I think of it...

Was my senior year*

Yikes. The Phantom Menace still gets my blood boiling.

I remember coming THIS close to walking out of Phantom Menace. It was THAT bad. And as someone who grew up loving the first 3 movies, I was super stoked for Menace & it was a complete joke. Jar Jar Binks...Good lord. He was such a loathsome & joke of a character.

Route 9.

LOL. That's what I've been feeling like for the past nine months.

In comment 15074923 Route 9 said:

Quote:

LOL. That's what I've been feeling like for the past nine months.

Haha. Sorry man. My bad.

Prequels was George Lucas. He’s NEVER been a good director. The material, stories, dialogue, characters should have resulted in REALLY good movies. But the butchered them!
Look at the actors he had to work with. Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Ian McDarmid, Liam Neeson. Even Christianson has done good work elsewhere. If they all are terrible, it’s the screenplay and director.
When I watch them, I remind myself who made the movies. They are more enjoyable then. Sith is the best because the structure of the movie was pretty rigid and had to accomplish certain things to set up the originals.

In comment 15074930 Dave on the UWS said:

Quote:

Prequels was George Lucas. He’s NEVER been a good director. The material, stories, dialogue, characters should have resulted in REALLY good movies. But the butchered them! Look at the actors he had to work with. Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Ian McDarmid, Liam Neeson. Even Christianson has done good work elsewhere. If they all are terrible, it’s the screenplay and director. When I watch them, I remind myself who made the movies. They are more enjoyable then. Sith is the best because the structure of the movie was pretty rigid and had to accomplish certain things to set up the originals.

I sure hope you're being sarcastic. Are you going to say that American Graffiti also sucked and the only decent thing he did was Howard the Duck ?

Only how they got there. You could sum up the prequels as "A talented young hero ends up becoming Darth Vader."

The problem is they never created the talented young hero that you can't wait to see on screen. Therefore it's not gut-wrenching at all when he finally turns. In fact, I found myself wishing he'd become Darth Vader sooner so I could feel better about rooting against him. Sure, Anakin is pretty good with a lightsaber for his age, but he's pouty, has no charisma or leadership traits, and is pretty stupid to boot. That's the beginnings of Darth Vader?

I suppose Hayden Christensen isn't completely to blame.
It's also a hard thing to pull off on-screen charisma and a then a massive heel turn when you're opting to keep the dialogue firmly in the little kid's section. I can see how that strategy is appealing in a boardroom meeting, but did kids avoid seeing the dark, gritty Nolan Batman trilogy for example?

Oh well, I just forget the movies and enjoy Mandalorian with my family.

It's coarse and irritating, and I don't like it.