What is it with the people who LOVE the prequels?

[J-Proof]

I could see Portman in the SW universe just fine... course I'm in love with her so I'm a little biased

Hayden AND Portman would have worked fine if Lucas had directed them adequately.... Hayden tain't that bad an actor, and Portman can be fantastic.

[BathTub]

Hands off JP! She's Mine! 



 

[Hobbit]

I could see Portman in the SW universe just fine... course I'm in love with her so I'm a little biased

Hayden AND Portman would have worked fine if Lucas had directed them adequately.... Hayden tain't that bad an actor, and Portman can be fantastic.

Portman isn't regal enough.  She just doesn't carry herself like a politician.  Maybe given adequate coaching, she could have pulled it off, but she's nothing like Carrie Fisher.

[LadyKenobi]

Absolutely, Hobbit.  I thought she was horrid in all three.  No presence whatsoever, and she hadn't even SEEN the OT when she got the part.  Not that I can blame her apparent boredom with the lines, but it's like she didn't even try to make it work.  I don't think she had any appreciation for the import of the part.  She was like the head cheerleader who was waaaaaaaaay to cool for this lame graduation ceremony.

Ewan, though, with his uncle being Wedge and having played with SW toys as a child and all, clearly got into the whole thing.  He made the best of it, and it really shows.  It seemed like he was having fun in spite of it all.

Aw, just let Pac love on the prequels, if such be his preference.  Ain't no thang.

[Nunyerbiz]

As far as the Ewoks... Everybody rips the setup because the teddy bear Ewoks beat the mighty Empire with sticks... except that didn't happen. The Ewoks had the element of surprise at the start, but it was only Chewbacca and Random Ewok #3 who managed to commendeer an AT-ST that saved the day. The battle was almost lost up until that point. (I'll admit, it's been a good two or three years since I've seen Jedi, but that's how I remember things shaking out)

If you replaced them with Wookies, you got another "inept Empire" conundrum. Why the hell would the Empire base it's Death Star effort around a planet that featured huge 7ft creatures that can dismember droids with their brute physical strength? Hmm... teddy bears without eletricity or ape-men with superhuman strength who can pilot and repair spaceships?!? Which would you choose? I'm not going argue Wookies being "cooler", but it would be equally silly from the story perspective.

[J-Proof]

In Portman's defense, she's pretty effin' hot....

And also, her poor acting in the prequels was due to Lucas's poor direction. I don't fault Portman for the result. She also claims openly that her Star Wars performance is her worst -- and I totally agree -- but it's truly the director that decides /how/ someone acts in a movie. And Lucas just ain't that great. I honestly couldn't see someone else portraying her character and succeeding either because lucas wanted some monotone wench, and that's what he got.

As for Ewoks, I'm glad Nunyerbiz brought that up. The Empire in the OT was /smart/. And they wouldn't have built a WMD's defense system on a moon inhabited by armies of Big Foot's intelligent cousins.

[Rude]

...

I finally watched the extra disc from Episode II, and it really opened my eyes to the horrible direction those actors received. Apparently, Lucas only films elements for a shot... ya' know, rather than filming an actual scene. So everyone is acting in front of blue-screens, trying to react to things that aren't there.

Of course, i knew that before i saw these particular documentaries. But, as i watched them, i noticed just how much more attention Lucas was paying to everything digital. Or, how when he was filming anything live-action, the most important task on the set seemed to be about matching digital elements. The actors seemed less important than a prop. The animators received more direction than the actors!

In the interviews he keeps mentioning the importance of the story. Yet, he became too focused on single frames to notice the whole thing falling apart around him. It was like a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. I suppose if you only watched five or ten second clips over the course of an entire year, Episode II might not look so bad afterall...

-Rude

[Steve-O]

As for Ewoks, I'm glad Nunyerbiz brought that up. The Empire in the OT was /smart/. And they wouldn't have built a WMD's defense system on a moon inhabited by armies of Big Foot's intelligent cousins.

[J-Proof]

Something that kinda bugged me in Jedi was that the Death Star didn't seem as massive as the first Death Star......

It was orbiting a forest moon, which orbited an even larger planet (and from Mothma's mission briefing you can see that the DS isn't nearly as big as Endor).... I don't see how the Death Star blast could have destroyed an /entire/ planet.... but then again, I've never seen a gang of super lasers fire at a planet before so I wouldn't know for sure =P

Death Star physics alone are pretty hard to grasp.... that thing's effin' HUGE.... and if it's the size of a small moon, then I wonder how it could sustain it's weight without its own gravity destroying it.... or how star fighters could fly into it without the intense pressure of the surrounding environment crushing the ears of the pilots..... or how the Enterprise dips into hyperspace before achieving warp speed... I DON'T GET IT!!!!!

[Hobbit]

Something that kinda bugged me in Jedi was that the Death Star didn't seem as massive as the first Death Star......

It was orbiting a forest moon, which orbited an even larger planet (and from Mothma's mission briefing you can see that the DS isn't nearly as big as Endor).... I don't see how the Death Star blast could have destroyed an /entire/ planet.... but then again, I've never seen a gang of super lasers fire at a planet before so I wouldn't know for sure =P

Death Star physics alone are pretty hard to grasp.... that thing's effin' HUGE.... and if it's the size of a small moon, then I wonder how it could sustain it's weight without its own gravity destroying it.... or how star fighters could fly into it without the intense pressure of the surrounding environment crushing the ears of the pilots..... or how the Enterprise dips into hyperspace before achieving warp speed... I DON'T GET IT!!!!!

There's gravity on board the space ships, and a single shot from a personal blaster causes a huge explosion and can probably cook a whole chicken, if not a turkey, in one shot.  I think that says it all.

[J-Proof]

That's the thing tho.... Artificial gravity on the individual star fighters does nothing to stop enormous amounts of air pressure from squashing their heads.... What a scary thought......

[AmandaGal]

You boys.  I once made the mistake of mentioning to a real life physicist (he was completing his PhD anyway) that I liked the Star Wars trilogy when he said he was a big fan.  Oy.  My head hurt for days.  Apparently he had thought of such things as this a little too much   

[Tyrant]

That's the thing tho.... Artificial gravity on the individual star fighters does nothing to stop enormous amounts of air pressure from squashing their heads.... What a scary thought......

  J, it's Star Wars. Suspend your beliefs. 

[J-Proof]

LOL! I know I know -- I wish /I/ had a gigantic deadly space station that can be destroyed by one-man fighters and can itself destroy gigantic floating rocks that are more than three times its size.... And I will love it, and pet it, and name it George!! (that's Steinbeck for all ya ig'nant ones...)

And you know....lightsabers are actually designed rather stupidly.... it's a long "bladed" weapon with no crossguard!! Everytime a jedi and a sith do that final clash of the sabers, where their sabers tensely push against each other, and they feel like they need to talk to each other dramatically and all that, it'd be one simple drop of the wrist and your opponent has lost his/her fingers!! There's also the issue of a jedi "accidentally" letting his sweaty thumb slip and now his /own/ fingers are gone... that kinda sucks.....

Okay I know.... suspend my beliefs lol

[Pak-Man]

And I will love it, and pet it, and name it George!! (that's Steinbeck for all ya ig'nant ones...)

Actually, for all us ignorant ones, it's the abominable snowman. :^)