Finally! The funny old guy takes on Phantom Menace

[Harvey]

To me, "fun" is incredibly dependent on the performances of actors. And Lucas is mostly incompetent at directing actors. So, no, The Phantom Menace isn't nearly as fun as Star Trek. Outside of Ian McDiarmid (who will get his chance to deliver a dreadful performance in Revenge of the Sith) the actors are so emotionally unaffecting that the only time I have any fun with the film at all is entirely dependent on John Williams' score (which is terrific).

That's probably why the best part of the movie is the lightsaber duel at the end, which combines Williams' excellent Duel of the Fates with acting that is welcome due to its lack of wooden line readings and, instead, an emphasis on physicality and the visuals. Of course, this is cross-cut with an awful space battle and a cluttered, disinteresting land battle, but I never said I liked the film.

Does anyone have a link to that interview with Kurtz?

 

[Kegg]

The Kurtz interview really 'twas a google away.

 

[Gepard]

But, for me, what sinks the Star Wars prequels are the performances Lucas fails to extract from actors that are more than talented enough for the material (this is a man who makes Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, and Samuel L. Jackson deliver wooden performances). And what makes Star Trek work is the performances that Abrams is able to get out of his actors. Pine may be playing Kirk as an asshole, but he's also charming, confident, and able to share moments of genuine emotion with his co-stars.

I find this whole line of discussion fascinating, but I think this point bears repeating and agreeing with – to an extent. What sinks Trek XI for me is that what you mention about Kirk is the same set of characteristics that we should have seen from Anakin Skywalker over the course of the PT, e.g., a talented, charismatic asshole who's too over-confident and too much of an arrogant jerk yet can get away with everything because he can nevertheless make people like him. To my mind, that's the makings of a future villain, not a hero.

We can always hope the next Trek film will try to address some of these problems.

 

[Harvey]

Sometimes my laziness knows no bounds.

EDIT: The next Trek film won't be very interesting if they play the same tropes with Kirk again. He's in command, and he better be willing to step up and shoulder some responsibility. Unless he wants to be the next Colonel Young.

 

[Gepard]

Even though you have a perfectly valid point, for some reason, I like Colonel Young. Go figure.

 

[Harvey]

I don't, but he obviously doesn't have the baggage of a recast Kirk, and that offers him a little more leeway as a character.

 

[Kegg]

The discussion about fun can boil down to one thing:

Did you find the new Trek movie fun?

Well? Because if I didn't I'd rip the hell out of it. I assume in good faith the people who dislike or hate the film did not enjoy it, because to assert otherwise is illogical.

Well, mostly. Ebert manages to call the film fun and still pan it, and then I'd have to get into a definition of what I mean by fun which might begin to sound tautological ('fun is when you don't dislike it enough to dislike it to... er...') so I'd rather we ignore that review and move on.

Sometimes my laziness knows no bounds.

Mine too. I should have linked it first time round.

EDIT: The next Trek film won't be very interesting if they play the same tropes with Kirk again. He's in command, and he better be willing to step up and shoulder some responsibility.

I agree with this. Kirk not growing in Trek '09 was fine, but come 2011, he'd better wise up a little. There's a hint that he might do that in '09, but not much more than that.

 

[Gepard]

I don't, but he obviously doesn't have the baggage of a recast Kirk, and that offers him a little more leeway as a character.

Plus he isn't acting all covetous of command – he clearly doesn't like running the crew on Destiny, he just doesn't seem to think there's anyone else there better at it than he is.

Kirk not growing in Trek '09 was fine, but come 2011, he'd better wise up a little. There's a hint that he might do that in '09, but not much more than that.

I'd agree with this as well, if it wasn't for Kirk getting handed a starship at the end of the film – it's like all the other characters missed Kirk's lack of growth, and it's the kind of thing that makes viewing a film uncomfortable for me, as I'm now questioning the competence of every person on screen.

 

[watermelony2k]

Quiet! I'm trying to do my youtube star wars review!

 

[Hyperspace05]

Yikes this thread went off-topic...

But to bring it back - the final part of the review (part 7) was posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIWKMgJs_Gs

It doesn't quite keep the same quality as the other parts, but the ending is amusing.

 

[Broccoli]

He is dead on with the lightsaber battle at the end. Granted, it looks cool, but there is no emotional depth to it.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

You need to watch the reviews from Generations thru Nemesis to get what's going on in The Phantom Menace review. Not only because they are all hilarious and bear repeated viewings, but there's a thru line with his crazy narrator's story.

I've been waiting a year to see this review, and it was well worth it. Nearly everything he came up with to blast TPM about, I hadn't even been able to articulate. It's all true, but there's so much more and I'm glad he actually covered new ground for me on this one.

Now he needs to recover from being shot by the po-po and do AOTC and ROTS. And not in another year, either.

As a warning: Redlettermedia's other youtube videos are SHIT. The Grabowski's, etc., while clearly done by the same person, are so unfunny, I almost missed out on the gems that are his Star Trek/Star Wars reviews becuase I didn't think they could possibly be any good after watching the other shit. Stick to those reviews and skip the rest. You have been warned.

 

[Trekker4747]

He is dead on with the lightsaber battle at the end. Granted, it looks cool, but there is no emotional depth to it.

Also on how over-choreographed it is, nice compare with it to the Luke and Vader's battle in TESB and ROTJ.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

He is dead on with the lightsaber battle at the end. Granted, it looks cool, but there is no emotional depth to it.

Also on how over-choreographed it is, nice compare with it to the Luke and Vader's battle in TESB and ROTJ.

You mean the point is to hit the opponent, not his lightsaber?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSIzOfrpQw0

 

[Trekker4747]

Ok, I've plowed through his TNG films reviews and they're all pretty good, make very good points and, well, Berman sucks. Simple as that.

I'm still not "into" the old man character the intercuts involving homicides, or the pizza-roll obsession but whatever.

And, oh, I can't get the latest EP1 segment to load.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIWKMgJs_Gs[/yt]

try that

 

[Broccoli]

He is dead on with the lightsaber battle at the end. Granted, it looks cool, but there is no emotional depth to it.

Also on how over-choreographed it is, nice compare with it to the Luke and Vader's battle in TESB and ROTJ.

You mean the point is to hit the opponent, not his lightsaber?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSIzOfrpQw0

"Lets get down?"

What. The. Fuck.

 

[watermelony2k]

he never mentioned jar jar binks

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

He didn't really need to... Confused Matthew didn't either in his review.

But RLM did mention him in passing as a "cartoon rabbit."

 

[watermelony2k]

He didn't really need to... Confused Matthew didn't either in his review.

But RLM did mention him in passing as a "cartoon rabbit."

on second thought jar jar was at most an arguably annoying character while old creepy guy focused primarily on illogic aspects of the story.

also:

Now I've analyzed this film with a group of cheerleaders and they came up with one unanimous conclusion that if I let them go they promise they won't tell nobody."