I liked Ep 1. It wasn’t a great film, sure - but it was a Star Wars film. I thought Qui-Gon Jinn was very sexy. And I wanted all Queen Amidala’s dresses.
delphica, did you make your Queen Amidala costume yourself? I might like to branch out into heavy duty dressing up geekiness myself. It’d be easier if components of the look were available from some sort of central dressing up box clearing house. I’m not very experienced at dressmaking.
Of course, this is going to be another hobby that I never have time to do.
I’ll admit I found the movie entertaining. Lucas sure knows how to paint an elaborate fictional scene.
Still…there was just too much to be pissed at too really come away with a smile on your face (and I felt this way as the credits rolled…not when it became ‘cool’ to dislike Episode 1).
I think the problem most people had was how it was geared to a kiddie audience. Most Star Wars fans were kids when the original Star Wars came out. We’ve grown-up now and want something with a little more grit and meat to it. Instead we get a ‘Muppets in Outer Space’ movie geared to 8 year olds as this was even too young for more worldly 12 year olds of today. Even the 12 year olds can’t swallow the notion of a space faring, laser blasting, hyperspace universe populated by the likes of Jar Jar Binks and silly acting robots.
George Lucas has said he is committed to the value of his stories and not marketing. Who does he think he’s kidding? It’s hard to remember a movie with more blatant marketing and consumerism surrounding it. I don’t mind someone wanting to make a buck by selling McDonalds promos but Lucas seemed to have the entire thing geared to be the next big kiddie thing instead of making a serious story out it.
A few points to remeber and be sad about:
[ul]
[li] Jar Jar Binks (has to top any list)[/li][li] Midiclorians (sp?): Where the hell did THAT come from?[/li][li] Samuel L. Jackson: I love this actor but I kept waiting for him to say, “My lightsaber is the one with ‘Bad Motherfu**er written on it’” and then kick some serious ass.[/li][li] The knowledge that Jake Lloyd was going to knock heels with Natalie Portman in the next film.[/li][li] Darth Maul dies: The one decent bad guy and he dies (yet they keep Jar Jar who’s a doofus)[/li][li] Let’s waste a huge portion of the movie on a racing scene that has nothing to do with anything except as a vehicle for showcasing some special effects.[/li][li] Anakin destroying the command ship: He’s in a ship he’s never flown before, enters what amounts to the Command Battleship practically unopposed and shoots a reactor laying out in the open in a landing bay that is sufficient to destroy the ship (it would be like an aircraft carrier keeping its nuclear reactor on the landing deck). Even though there are multiple ships in orbit this one controls ALL of the droids. The droids, in this advanced universe of autonomous R2 and C3PO units, are completely disabled once communication has been lost from the ONE mothership that controls them all (not that they were good for much to begin with). I guess they never heard of redundancy.[/li][/ul]
And so it goes. I can suspend disbelief with the best of them but some gaffs scream at you and there were simply too many in Episode I. The movie looked good but that was about it. The potential for realizing a REALLY cool universe was utterly wasted.
I bought a cheap-o Queen Amidala halloween costume, and then improved the parts I didn’t like. This is very easy, and another benefit is that you can do it at your own pace. The costume was a basic red dress with the fancy details printed on (like an iron-on picture on a t-shirt) – I used them as a guide and covered them with a (fake) fur trim and gold fabric and beads.
The easiest of all, of course, is the Emperor. You can buy a black floor length robe with a hood just about anywhere around Halloween, and then you can sit around with the hood pulled over your face, and say things like “In time, you will call me Master.” The cat, however, never calls me Master, so far he has been a hard sell to the Dark Side.
I did volunteer that Halloween to bring my boss’s kids and some of their friends around trick-or-treating, in my costume. I had an Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Darth Maul, Darth Vader, a storm trooper, and C-3PO (we were sort of combining the films), all between 9 and 11 years old. Darth Maul kept whacking C-3P0 with his dual-bladed lightsaber, so I confiscated that when he would not stop. Amidala with a lightsaber, cool!
jarbaby, while I didn’t like Phantom Menace, I do like your brass balls (or whatever the female equivalent is) for being able to stand up and admit it proudly.
I like JAG, but hell, I’d never admit it to anyone.
I don’t see why it was so cool to hate Titanic in the first place. I always thought it was a fine film. All things considering, it was very historically accurate, and that’s not something that’s found very much these days. The only fact that made the movie horrible was the fact that 12-year-old girls had to make it into a cliche.
I hate Leo the person, but I liked his character in the movie.
Good, some people other than me liked Jar-Jar. I am satisfied. Oh, and Guinastasia, I am with you. Who cares if he was meant for the kids? I love Disney films and most people think those are meant for kids. Adults have imaginations too! (Although mine seems to be on a serious vacation.:()
MEBuckner, I’ve been seduced, and was it great! Anyone else want to seduce me, as it seems to be sooo easy?
I enjoyed Phantom Menace and not just because a friend of mine worked on the movie. Sure it was mostly geared towards kids but so was the first Star Wars movie. I didn’t like Jar-Jar but that was mostly because the character had an annoying voice.
(Just because a movie or a book or a TV show targets the youngsters doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy it as well. Heck, my favourite literature is classified as Young Adult.)
Jake Lloyd can’t act his way out of a wet paper bag.
Jar Jar Binks was funny for the first 10 minutes he was on screen, then he was just annoying, but not as annoying as the Ewoks.
Ewan MacGregor could stand there and read from the phone book and it would be brillant.
I cried at Titanic
You, jarbabyj, liked some of the things I don’t like, but that’s…OK, because you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and gosh darnnit, people like you.
The problem with Episode I is it has an identity crisis. What is it really? A kids film or an adults film? It never really comes down on either side of the fence.
So what do you think it was? A kids film or an adults film? Seriously…enquiring minds want to know!
I Hated Phantom Menance. It had about 40 minutes of unnecessary footage, and it tried to make up a peseulo-scientific explanation for a mystical phenomenom when it wasn’t necessary (Just like Highlander II: The Sickening). That said, I admire jarbaby’s courage in daring the slings and arrows of the SDMB with such an admission. You’d never hear ME admit that I like some of the Spice Girl’s music, or that I thought Hudson Hawk rocked. Nosiree, not me!
Heck, my favourite literature is classified as Young Adult.)