She appears to have full monarchial powers, but is, in fact, elected. Strange system, but I think there are some equally strange ones on this planet alone.
Wow, wow, wow! I just got back from Ep 2, and I am so pumped!
I agree with tons of the comments already mentioned here. gobear, you crack me up with the Baron Me Go Bye Bye. Every time I see Count Dooku’s name, I’m thinking “This guy’s name is Count Dookie? And people take him seriously?”
I think the best part, for me, was that the exciting parts were so exciting. In Ep 1, the climax was completely, well, anti-climatic because every time Darth Maul and Qui Gon were getting down and dirty, they cut to stupid stowaway Ani, or stupider Jar Jar. In Ep 2, I thought every action scene was practically perfect.
The love stuff was so terrible, but enough has been said about that.
I hope Owen was just visiting, because if he lived there, where did Beru live? I was a little alarmed at the thought of teen Beru and teen Owen shacking up. I wish Beru had, oh I don’t know, a line or something. The look on her face was exactly like the original Beru, that was pretty amazing.
Ok, I know this is a girly comment, and don’t think I was buying into the love thing, but did anyone else feel a little sentimental when Amidala brought Anakin some blue milk? I was all “Awwwww, she brought him some blue milk! Just like Luke used to drink. Or will drink, in the future. Whatever. Awwwwww.”
Speaking of blue milk, I’m of two minds about all the OT references. When Anakin and Amidala race out on to the retractable walkway that’s already been retracted, I thought to myself “Wow, this movie is the ultimate fan fic.” Then I was a little freaked out, can that apply to a situation where George Lucas is making a fan film for a movie that he made?
The cloning aliens – I love them. They look fabulous, and they’re so soothing. I think there’s supposed to be somewhat bad, because they’re so calm about making a clone army, but I don’t know, I found myself wanting to go live with them. I bet they’d bring you a delightful breakfast every day.
I’m sorry I can’t remember the person who made the comment about laughing when Yoda came in to face Dooku – but that was absolutely spot on! This ripple of sound spread over the theater at that moment, everyone was murmuring and laughing, but not in a mocking or goofy way, it was pure joy that Yoda – Yoda! – was coming in to kick ass and take names. And he did! Wooo!
There’s tons more, but I have to actually go and do some work now.
It dawned on me while watching Epsiode II that R2-D2 is acting as the Hand of God in the Star Wars universe. He has saved the good guys countless times, usually appearing at just the right time (and miraculously having quickly traversed terrain that should be impossible for him). He also seems to have a prescient knowledge of who needs to be saved (Amidala, Luke, etc.) and when it’s OK to let someone die (Obi-Wan). And of course R2-D2 sacrifices himself numerous times to save everyone, only to be resurrected.
Miracles, divine knowledge, secret powers, resurrection. It all makes sense now.
Just the fact that they actually showed the flash of light before the sound came made me want to get down on my knees and fellate the special effects guys. For once, a 'splosion that obeys the laws of physics!
I thought it rocked. Sure, the acting was a little wooden and Amidala’s last-second confession of love at the death arena made me laugh out loud, but shit! The action was great and I was never bored. I thought my bladder would explode, but I refused to leave the theater (unlike at TPM, where I fell asleep during the pod race). Good stuff.
Ya know, I was all agog over that cool delayed sound effect too…except for the fact that there’s no need to obey one part of physics (sound travels slower than light) and ignore the other (sound can’t travel in a vacuum.) But you know what? Screw it, it looked cool! Let’s hear it for poetic license!
Yeah, disliking a sci-fi or sci-fantasy movie because they depict sound in a vacuum would mean that 2001: A Space Odyssey would be the only likable sci-fi film in history.
Those sonic bombs (and the silence before them) deserve a Best Sound Editing Oscar nod in and of themselves.
Oh yeah. Sorta forgot about that.
Yeah! Poetic license!
I generally liked it (I think that the love scenes have been nicely discussed earlier, so there’s no need to rehash it.) My big problem was sort of an Austin-Powers type scale issue . . .
Two hundred THOUSAND clones!
And a million more on the way, eventually. Wooo. So there’s thousands of separatist systems? I’m sure that show of 200 troops in each ought to calm that nationalist sentiment right down! No, better keep 'em together and take it one at a time. Sadly, I don’t think that’s nearly enough troops to conquer Stalingrad, much less the galaxy.
The fight scenes rocked, though.
oh, god! do i wish…
BTW: Natalie Portman will be on Letterman tonight.
further, you’ve convinced me -
Sorry, it was last night. I missed her actual segment, but they repeatedly showed her in the green room afterward, being seduced/scared by some contortionist. She was wearing one of those dresses that separates the breasts and dips way down low into cleavage country.
I think she’s attractive (esp. at the end of Ep. II), but she doesn’t make my Top 5.
Well, you’re forgetting the hitting power that everyone seems to have. Only a few hundred Jedi can police the entire Republic. Besides which, I’m sure those first-generation Star Destroyers they’re driving can flatten most opposition from orbit.
I think the Republic is mostly demilitarized. Remember Naboo’s “security volunteers”? They didn’t do so good.
re owen and beru.
once again i turn to the book. owen lived on the farm with dad and stepmom. owen is about the same age as anakin. shmi was a very good mom to him. shmi feels that beru is a perfect match for owen and that they will marry. beru is visiting the family for a bit, i guess to see if farm life and owen would be the life for her. there were a few scenes of farm life with shmi in the book that would have cleared up a few things later on in the movie. perhaps in the dvd.
re the droids.
there are many a c3po and r2d2 out there. i’m sure owen, obi-wan, etc just didn’t give it a thought in epis.iv, why would the exact same model turn up over and over. the droids don’t have “force” traces to sense.
re bail organa
yep, that is leia’s dad. he is more like who you would think amidala would end up with.
there were many times through the movie that i thought anakin moved in a vader way, or where a silhouette or shadow would look very much like vader. it seemed his cloak moved more like vader’s cape, where obi-wan would wrap his cloak closer to him. i also wondered about the use of leather in his jedi clothes. the others had a darker cloth material where he had the leather.
I just remembered one of the worst scenes, Padme has fallen out of the transport and she is lying in the sand, looks like she may be out for the count. Then a stormtrooper comes over and asks if shes ok, up she pops, “I’m fine-diddly-ine” (Or something like that). That was just so…guh?
I was waiting for the clone trooper to pick up a ring and say, “Look, Senator! Droids!”
Maybe the next batch of clones will be super accelerated, and the first ones will be elite troops. It would explain why Stormtroopers aren’t so hot, anyway.
Blue or green signify the Light Side of the Force.
Red signifies the Dark Side of the Force.
Purple signifies the BAAAD Side of the Force.
When Anakin and Padme are on that desert world (where Anakin’s mother is), they talk to a small creature with a big nose who is fixing some kind of device and Anakin fixes it for him.
I can’t work out the accent of that creature - sounds like a cross between Russian and mafia-style Italian.
Anyway, someone mentioned the bit when Anakin kills the two wriggly creatures on Padme’s bed with his lightsabre and how this shows the precision accuracy and power of these weapons.
This was one of the things I liked about Phantom Menace. I think PM showed the lightsabres used better than any other Star Wars movie.
I agree Christopher Lee was great, but then you would expect nothing less from the Prince of Darkness himself. I think he’s going to be much scarier in the next film.
In fact I think this whole film was really just a build up to the next one - near the end Yoda says “the clone wars just begun they have” (or something like that).
Lucas reckons he’s not gonna make the final three movies, I’m not sure about this. I suspect he’ll do it if the money’s right. In fact, all this “I’m not gonna make any more” is just him using his bargaining position.
I hope he does make them because they could be the best of the lot. Set in the future after Return of the Jedi so the technology can be more advanced, a whole new set of characters etc. Does anyone know what the general storylines are in the final three instalments?
Even if Lucas doesn’t make them, someone will at some point in the next 20 years so Lucas may as well do them himself so they at least get done how he wants them.
Also, when Padme falls off the ship and lands in the sand she is knocked out cold. When the stormtrooper/clone comes, and she wakes up, the first thing she says is “We have to get to the hangar”.
How does she know that Dooku has gone to a hangar?
By the time she wakes up, Dooku, Obi Wan and Anakin are all miles away and she was unconscious the whole time.