You raise an excellent point. When TPM was first released, it seemed as if everyone loved it. It wasn't until about 3-4 months later that the honeymoon period was over when opinion turned.
Will "The Phantom Menace 3D" bomb?
- Thread starter Mach5
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You raise an excellent point. When TPM was first released, it seemed as if everyone loved it. It wasn't until about 3-4 months later that the honeymoon period was over when opinion turned.
No, I pretty much remember everyone ripping on TPM pretty quickly.
Define "everyone".
Adorable.
So, you can't remember a single person who did not rip on TPM right away?
For the record, I did not. So obviously "everyone" is a hyperbole.
As much as I enjoy pedantry, there was a pretty quick critical backlash to TPM. Enough so that after a week or two, there was a set of TV spots for the movie with "on-the-spot interviews" with "real people" on their way out of the "movie" talking about how much they, as "real people" "liked" it. On actually said, "I don't know what movie the reviewers saw, but this wasn't it."
It wasn't universally reviled by the folks on the ground for a while, but it also wasn't viewed very favorably even when it was new.
It wasn't universally reviled by the folks on the ground for a while, but it also wasn't viewed very favorably even when it was new.
Yea, I remember the first reviews on the BBS' I hung out on, were mostly, it was alright, could've been better, mostly set up for the next movie and I'm excited for the second one.
After a couple months was when you had trouble finding reveiws from posters that weren't incredibly negative, but, the initial posts were more lukewarm that reviling, from what I saw
After a couple months was when you had trouble finding reveiws from posters that weren't incredibly negative, but, the initial posts were more lukewarm that reviling, from what I saw
I remember that Empire gave Phantom Menace a four star review on release and a two star retraction-review on home video, so while there's some truth to people disliking the film straight away, there's also some truth to the film having some initial praise and the negative attitude gaining traction later.
*blushes*Adorable.
Thanks!
This will make a metric assload of money.
Surely you mean a "metric fuckton"?
That's metric. The English measurement is based on the as-determined capacity of some monarch's large bowel circa the eleventh century.
No.
Something like the above seemed to happen with AOTC. As I remember there was initial positive reaction, but after about two months, the negative consensus started to set in as everyone began conforming to it. Still fallout from TPM.
I remember seeing some MTV show (possibly TRL) just a couple of days after AOTC premiered, where the male host said something like "Go see it, I promise you it's nothing like the first one, it's really really good!"
I do remember a lot of people saying the exact same thing ("much better than the first one"), only to eventually, as you put it, "conform" to the negative consensus.
One of my closest buddies actually to this day DENIES that he ever liked TPM, and I distinctly remember him saying he LOVED it when we were exiting the theatre back in '99. He'd probably call me an asshole for sharing that here.
Then there's Harry Knowles of AICN. When TPM came out he went on record with "I WUV Jar Jar!!!" By the time AOTC rolled around, with its comparatively limited amount of Jar Jar, his opinion had seemingly... changed:
Of course, the "final review" which now appears on the site backpedals once again, as if someone pointed out Knowles' inconsistency and he felt a bit of revisionism was in order:HK early cut review said:
AICN "final" review said:
LOL, Harry!
Remember his review of the AOTC workprint that someone leaked to him? I don't think I've ever seen so many nerdgasms in a single text piece before!
Eh, there are numerous examples of people praising those movies, than taking these praises back when they became uncool.
Remember his review of the AOTC workprint that someone leaked to him? I don't think I've ever seen so many nerdgasms in a single text piece before!
Eh, there are numerous examples of people praising those movies, than taking these praises back when they became uncool.
I can't imagine this would bomb. There are way too many super loyal SW fans to keep that from happening. Everything "Star Wars" sells. I'm sort of in disbelief that the Clone Wars series have lasted as long as they have, and the toys continue to be huge sellers.
To be fair to the flick, put the story aside and there are some stunning visuals. If done right, the 3D could be amazing.
To be fair to the flick, put the story aside and there are some stunning visuals. If done right, the 3D could be amazing.