Plinkett gets REVENGE

[Anticitizen]

If Alderaan is the new Coruscant, then why didn't anyone mention that they were blowing up the galactic capital. Take that, you frakkin Senators!

I can't remember if they blew up Alderaan before or after dissolving the senate. If it was after, then it wouldn't be the capital anymore, I guess.

In any case, I wasn't suggesting keeping the PT exactly the same and just switching one of the planets to Alderaan. If I were in charge, I'd rewrite the whole thing. But I'd throw in some Alderaan action to tie the stories together. Make it a real paradise full o' happy peoples, in order to emphasize how bad things have gotten at the time of A New Hope.

 

[Set Harth]

I can't remember if they blew up Alderaan before or after dissolving the senate.

It was after.

Apparently, when Palpatine talks about dissolving the Senate, he means business!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Considering the shooting accuracy of the Stormtroopers?

The Force was just trying to equalize things.

If I were in charge, I'd rewrite the whole thing.

Me too, but Coruscant as the capital is one of the few things I've leave alone. There's a good idea for a thread: what about the PT wouldn't you change?

 

[flemm]

what about the PT wouldn't you change?

That's a short list. Ian McDiarmid is excellent as Palpatine. Natalie Portman is hot. I wouldn't make her less hot, but everything else about her performance is subject to change I don't think Ewan McGregor was intrinsically a bad choice for Obi Wan. We definitely needed to see a climactic duel between Vader and Obi Wan. I can't think of anything else right now

 

[Gaith]

There's a good idea for a thread: what about the PT wouldn't you change?

You mean: that'd be a good idea for at least part of the mini-essays already filling every single PT thread.

Back to the OT, I disagree with Plinkett on hating on the long-take opening shot. Sure, the whole battle was silly, but CG or no, I love me some long takes.

 

[starfox]

There's a good idea for a thread: what about the PT wouldn't you change?

Ummm...

Mace Windu's actor.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

what about the PT wouldn't you change?

That's a short list. Ian McDiarmid is excellent as Palpatine. Natalie Portman is hot. I wouldn't make her less hot, but everything else about her performance is subject to change I don't think Ewan McGregor was intrinsically a bad choice for Obi Wan. We definitely needed to see a climactic duel between Vader and Obi Wan. I can't think of anything else right now

Good list, hits a lot of my points. I'd keep Samuel L. Jackson in the cast, keep Coruscant as the capital world, keep the visuals and of course the MUSIC!

For Obi-Wan, I wonder if Edward Norton would be interested, assuming the writing were a whole lot better, which of course it would be. Norton would be a perfect match for my concept of Obi-Wan as being more impish but also having a tragic dimension (TCW's Obi-Wan is hitting pretty close to my idea). He wouldn't be naggy or a wet blanket at all. And Norton with a beard looks enough like Alec Guinness that it isn't hard to envision them being the same guy.

Eric Stolz is another good match for looks and acting style, but maybe a bit too old for the role (then again, why not have Obi-Wan's age match up with Guinness' appearance?)

 

[Anticitizen]

what about the PT wouldn't you change?

That's a short list. Ian McDiarmid is excellent as Palpatine. Natalie Portman is hot. I wouldn't make her less hot, but everything else about her performance is subject to change I don't think Ewan McGregor was intrinsically a bad choice for Obi Wan. We definitely needed to see a climactic duel between Vader and Obi Wan. I can't think of anything else right now

Yeah, even with the drastic rewrite I suggested a few pages back, I'd keep most of the cast. Liam Neeson could play the king

Kids and CGI rabbits would have to go, though!

 

[Hyperspace05]

There's a good idea for a thread: what about the PT wouldn't you change?

You mean: that'd be a good idea for at least part of the mini-essays already filling every single PT thread.

Back to the OT, I disagree with Plinkett on hating on the long-take opening shot. Sure, the whole battle was silly, but CG or no, I love me some long takes.

I'm another "PT basher", and I agree about the opening shot. Very epic.
(Well, until we get to the silly 'droid bugs attacking')

Other good things about the PT:
- Liam Neeson
- Ian McDiarmid
- Coruscant and the worlds shown
That's about it...
(Portman may be hot, but what use is that if the dialog is so painful? Nor did she motivate herself to deliver a performance worth a damn.)

 

[Anticitizen]

As Plinkett pointed out, apparently 90% of the dialogue scenes were shot against a green screen, with tight, immobile framing, turning all these good actors into wooden soap opera level actors.

And they ARE all good actors; even Hayden, who caught the most flak for being 'wooden' in the PT. Even Samuel Jackson, who's usually larger than life on the big screen, came across flat. Probably because half the time he was talking to a stick with a colored ball on the end of it that stood in for Yoda, pre-CGI. (And some flunkie was probably reading Yoda's lines from the paper script, offstage).

 

[Myasishchev]

Yeah, I can't think of any actual casting decisions I would change, short of removing entire roles.

 

[starfox]

A respectable, young female Jedi who also grows and progresses through the films would've been a nice touch.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Yeah, I can't think of any actual casting decisions I would change, short of removing entire roles.

I'd remove Liam Neeson's character (what was the point?) but I didn't have any objection to his performance. Maybe he should be recast as Bail Organa.

A respectable, young female Jedi who also grows and progresses through the films would've been a nice touch.

Ashoka Tano?

 

[davejames]

I would also keep most of the lightsaber battles, and a lot of the other Jedis we saw (like the sexy blue chick, who definitely deserved a more prominent role).

And while most of the new ship designs did nothing for me, I would keep the yellow Naboo fighter around. That one was cool.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

There's a good idea for a thread: what about the PT wouldn't you change?

You mean: that'd be a good idea for at least part of the mini-essays already filling every single PT thread.

Yeah, though it might be surprising to some, there really is quite a bit about the PT that is likable enough. And there are plenty of people willing to sift through it all and describe those elements in great detail. The common denominator in all the discussions, though, is one of execution. There aren't a lot exceptionally executed moments -- and those that are tend to be undercut by the sloppiness surrounding them.

Take the "theater" scene in ROTS between Palpatine and Anakin. It's a fantastic scene on its own merits. McDiarmid's delivery and subtle performance are thrilling. Anakin does well in playing someone who, despite his "morals" is thoroughly tempted. The visuals of the "ballet" are mesmerizing. Williams' minimalist score fits perfectly. But start working the dialogue into what we already knew and subsequently discover and (as Plinkett points out), the scene can become problematic for many viewers.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'd keep all the basic lore, like lightsaber battles and the Jedi Council. I'd keep the no-attachments rule but deal with it more logically (shouldn't Padme be responsible enough that she'd take it seriously even if she didn't really understand it?)

I'd keep the Clone Wars, but have the clones be the cause of the war, not major combatants, and the bad guys would be the ones doing the cloning (to create slaves).

I'd even keep the Space Jesus notion for Anakin, but make the prophecy more vague and open to interpretation - he could save the Jedi or destroy them - and how people read it depends on what they want to read into it.

For instance, balancing the Force means equal power for Sith and Jedi. But the Jedi aren't going to like that idea, so they delude themselves that it means all power for the Jedi, none for the Sith. Meanwhile the Force gazes upon the mortal foolishness of Jedi and Sith alike with unconcerned equanimity. The Jedi may be good but they aren't wise.

Yeah, though it might be surprising to some, there really is quite a bit about the PT that is likable enough.

The most surprising thing for me in TCW is how little actually needs to be changed to turn it into a kick-ass story! In some cases, just adding one background element (Separatists with reasonable motives) negates a huge problem (heroes look stupid for not being suspicious of a war with no reasonable cause).

Take the "theater" scene in ROTS between Palpatine and Anakin. It's a fantastic scene on its own merits.

With some vital changes to Anakin - he's likable and heroic but arrogant and stubborn; he has good reasons to mistrust democracy (the Republic is thoroughly corrupt, the audience sees evidence of thorough corruption and understands that he's never seen a healthy democracy, plus he loves power); and his love of power is drawing him already to the Dark Side (I'd like to see some scenes establishing he's checking out the Dark Side on his own initiative, nothing to do with Palps) - that scene would be terrific. So much of the PT was right, it rankles that a few vital mistakes sunk the whole thing.

 

[davejames]

Take the "theater" scene in ROTS between Palpatine and Anakin. It's a fantastic scene on its own merits. McDiarmid's delivery and subtle performance are thrilling. Anakin does well in playing someone who, despite his "morals" is thoroughly tempted. The visuals of the "ballet" are mesmerizing. Williams' minimalist score fits perfectly. But start working the dialogue into what we already knew and subsequently discover and (as Plinkett points out), the scene can become problematic for many viewers.

Actually I'd say there are a LOT of little moments which work really well in the prequels (another being the confrontation between Dooku and the captured Obi-Wan, which actually had the feel of classic SW). And when it comes to the actual camera work, I'd say Lucas hasn't lost a step at all. There were a ton of really cool, badass shots in these movies.

The problem is it was all completely undercut by his awful, awful storytelling.

 

[Myasishchev]

Yeah, I can't think of any actual casting decisions I would change, short of removing entire roles.

I'd remove Liam Neeson's character (what was the point?) but I didn't have any objection to his performance. Maybe he should be recast as Bail Organa.

I dunno. Qui-Gon makes a good Obi-Wan for... er, Obi-Wan. (And also an adult Anakin.)

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Yeah, I can't think of any actual casting decisions I would change, short of removing entire roles.

I'd remove Liam Neeson's character (what was the point?) but I didn't have any objection to his performance. Maybe he should be recast as Bail Organa.

I dunno. Qui-Gon makes a good Obi-Wan for... er, Obi-Wan. (And also an adult Anakin.)

But why have a character like that in the story? From what I can tell, everything would have worked fine without him.

Have Obi-Wan be the guy who is pulling for Anakin and everyone else is against him. But Obi-Wan sees the best in everyone (that's his downfall - his character arc is to realize he shouldn't be so naive) and that's why Anakin can go bad right in front of his nose and he never sees it until it's too late. Obi-Wan should have been a starry eyed, optimistic type. The PT had him be too hardass and priggish.

Instead of Qui-Gon, wI'd prefer to see Ahsoka in the PT. In addition to needing a female Jedi with an actual speaking role (!!!) she serves an interesting purpose in TCW, to give us a sounding board for Anakin's ideas vis a vis the Jedi. Padme doesn't really fulfill that role because she isn't a Jedi and Anakin wouldn't have been honest with any other Jedi. When we hear Anakin telling Ahsoka to take all those stupid Jedi rules with a grain of salt, that conveys vital information about his state of mind.

And she's young enough that we can understand why she doesn't immediately rat out Anakin to the Jedi Council. She wouldn't understand the danger and why in this case, it's the right call to "betray" a friend and mentor.

Above all, the PT needs to convey Anakin's state of mind much better than it did. He was largely a cypher from first to last, yet the whole story IS his state of mind!

 

[Gaith]

What could he possibly review next? Maybe the shitty TOS films idk

I'm hoping "Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls"

How about (Pretentious) Days of Summer? I'd love to hear him tear that one a new one. Just watched it, and that last line? The new girl's name? I was all,

ARE YOU F** KIDDING ME?!