STAR WARS!!!
May. 19th, 2005 12:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiralamouseMy first update in forever, I know. I'm recovering from a late night. See, at around midnight last night, there was this movie... which, previews et al accounted for, lasted till 2:35 or so... which meant I wasn't in bed till 3, and didn't sleep till later (who could sleep with a grande chai and a 20-oz Coke and six years' worth of aborted adrenaline coursing through their veins?) and, of course, woke at 9 AM, still jazzed and therefore unable to sleep. Oh, and my windows face east and I'm light-sensitive, so it's kinda a miracle that I managed to sleep in that long. I'm babbling. I don't care. This movie was actually worthy to bear the name Star Wars. I'll have to see it again to consider whether it could be held equal to even the worst of the OT - but it was infinitely better than anything else in the PT, IMHO. Lights! Camera! Action! And there's so much I want to say that I can't, because it'd be spoiler-y! Ack! I shall have to gush on IM with my fellow viewers later. Or perhaps I'll jump in the Ep III section at the Star Wars forums - the first time I'll have left the Cantina (the non-SW section, for those few of my readers who aren't Cantina denizens themselves) since Ep II came out.
There's a couple tidbits I can't help sharing. Jar-Jar has no lines! He barely has screen time! Now, granted, there have been a fewmillion times when I've fantasized about the Gungan encountering the wrong end of a lightsaber, or possibly a Sarlaac, but this was the next best thing. The fight scenes also dramatically outnumbered the "romance" scenes - another plus. There was a painfully bad scene between Anakin and Padme near the beginning, but forewarned, I was able to simply laugh and enjoy the rush from the preceding fight scene.
Humor! It had humor again! The opening fight sequence actually involved deliberate humor, on top of the probably unintentional humor of the setup itself. Okay, you know how kids will sometimes set up the most improbable battles simply because they want to make use of every single one of their toys? That's what Lucas did with the opening shot. It made Endor look like a skirmish. And it looked like it was designed to help the Lego factory do a very brisk business.
And, I have to add...
*ACTUAL SPOILER ALERT*
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There was something satisfying about seeing Anakin (oops, Vader) Force-choking Padme rather than trying to be romantic. And something poignant (despite also being amusingly corny) about James Earl Jones getting a chance to give voice to a Vader-an echo of Luke's tortured "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Although what's with the hands??? I understand that several of the lopped hands were, in fact, mechanical, but really. It utterly changes the impact of Luke losing his hand in Ep V. Now, instead of a horrific tragedy, he's simply joining the venerable "Look, Mom, no hands!" club, which includes... eh, okay, they're mostly bad guys, but still. Come to think of it, Sidious is the only Sith Lord who never has a very bad encounter with a lightsaber. Why should he get all the luck?
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*END SPOILER*
My sisters and I got to the theater around 9:45, and were surprised at how light the line seemed to be. Luckily, we discovered within ten minutes that the line was mostly abandoned because the theater was now opening seating for the showing. We got some nice seats, while I was snapping pictures. (I'll try to load some later.) The costumes were rare and hardly elaborate, but the T-shirts and lightsabers abounded, and I saw at least two devices for viewing Ep II while waiting. (At least one was a laptop, and I'm pretty sure at least one was just a portable DVD viewer, but hey, how should I know?)
The night got interesting when one sturdy young man with a Dooku-style saber (finest collapsible red plastic) challenged two lithe young men with generic Jedi saber to a duel. While not exactly Duel of the Fates, it was enthusiastic, and far more realistic than any staged battle I've seen. They did seem to have missed my old fencing instructor's info: the point of fighting is to hit your opponent, not your opponent's blade. But I suppose that without protective gear, it was best to be hitting the sabers. One funny moment came when an Obi-Wan lookalike (I think from another theater) came in and challenged our Sith wannabe. The Obi looked very imposing, but unfortunately his saber broke with the second strike. Nothing daunted, he chased the Sith about with the hilt alone - but to little effect, and eventually he had to gracefully retreat, to thundrous applause.
I got a bit of applause myself later in the evening, when I was the only one who could tell the trivia-game leader that Sy Snootles was the lead singer in Jabba's palace. Made me feel good. The guy who knew that the odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field "are three thousand, seven hundred and twenty to one!" got quite a bit as well. I really think that whoever figured out the name of the beast Jango fought in the arena was more deserving of it. It's a whatchamacallit...
The festivities were only mildly dampened when a manager came in and demanded that the lightsaber fighting cease. Our valiant warriors had evidently come too close to the movie screen for the managers' comfort (yes, I do mean the comfort of all the managers, not just the one particular one - it's a shame when a rule's become so mangled that it no longer reliably conveys the info it's supposed to). Later, the fighting resumed, only this time in the aisles instead of the front of the theater, making viewing a bit more difficult.
Meanwhile, my little group got to playing Egyptian War with our cards. This resembles conventional War almost not at all, and involves speed. Naturally, this meant I lost. *sigh*
The previews looked promising. My sisters and I agreed that the girl playing Lucy in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe looks just right. I took a couple pictures as the opening crawl came up. (I know, illegal, but since I only took pics as long as it took STAR WARS EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH to come up, I figure I was well within the spirit of the law.)
And there I leave off. All in all, it was a very satisfying night. I'm glad I went. I'm glad I had people to share it with. And I have to go see it again soon. :)
There's a couple tidbits I can't help sharing. Jar-Jar has no lines! He barely has screen time! Now, granted, there have been a few
Humor! It had humor again! The opening fight sequence actually involved deliberate humor, on top of the probably unintentional humor of the setup itself. Okay, you know how kids will sometimes set up the most improbable battles simply because they want to make use of every single one of their toys? That's what Lucas did with the opening shot. It made Endor look like a skirmish. And it looked like it was designed to help the Lego factory do a very brisk business.
And, I have to add...
*ACTUAL SPOILER ALERT*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
There was something satisfying about seeing Anakin (oops, Vader) Force-choking Padme rather than trying to be romantic. And something poignant (despite also being amusingly corny) about James Earl Jones getting a chance to give voice to a Vader-an echo of Luke's tortured "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Although what's with the hands??? I understand that several of the lopped hands were, in fact, mechanical, but really. It utterly changes the impact of Luke losing his hand in Ep V. Now, instead of a horrific tragedy, he's simply joining the venerable "Look, Mom, no hands!" club, which includes... eh, okay, they're mostly bad guys, but still. Come to think of it, Sidious is the only Sith Lord who never has a very bad encounter with a lightsaber. Why should he get all the luck?
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*END SPOILER*
My sisters and I got to the theater around 9:45, and were surprised at how light the line seemed to be. Luckily, we discovered within ten minutes that the line was mostly abandoned because the theater was now opening seating for the showing. We got some nice seats, while I was snapping pictures. (I'll try to load some later.) The costumes were rare and hardly elaborate, but the T-shirts and lightsabers abounded, and I saw at least two devices for viewing Ep II while waiting. (At least one was a laptop, and I'm pretty sure at least one was just a portable DVD viewer, but hey, how should I know?)
The night got interesting when one sturdy young man with a Dooku-style saber (finest collapsible red plastic) challenged two lithe young men with generic Jedi saber to a duel. While not exactly Duel of the Fates, it was enthusiastic, and far more realistic than any staged battle I've seen. They did seem to have missed my old fencing instructor's info: the point of fighting is to hit your opponent, not your opponent's blade. But I suppose that without protective gear, it was best to be hitting the sabers. One funny moment came when an Obi-Wan lookalike (I think from another theater) came in and challenged our Sith wannabe. The Obi looked very imposing, but unfortunately his saber broke with the second strike. Nothing daunted, he chased the Sith about with the hilt alone - but to little effect, and eventually he had to gracefully retreat, to thundrous applause.
I got a bit of applause myself later in the evening, when I was the only one who could tell the trivia-game leader that Sy Snootles was the lead singer in Jabba's palace. Made me feel good. The guy who knew that the odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field "are three thousand, seven hundred and twenty to one!" got quite a bit as well. I really think that whoever figured out the name of the beast Jango fought in the arena was more deserving of it. It's a whatchamacallit...
The festivities were only mildly dampened when a manager came in and demanded that the lightsaber fighting cease. Our valiant warriors had evidently come too close to the movie screen for the managers' comfort (yes, I do mean the comfort of all the managers, not just the one particular one - it's a shame when a rule's become so mangled that it no longer reliably conveys the info it's supposed to). Later, the fighting resumed, only this time in the aisles instead of the front of the theater, making viewing a bit more difficult.
Meanwhile, my little group got to playing Egyptian War with our cards. This resembles conventional War almost not at all, and involves speed. Naturally, this meant I lost. *sigh*
The previews looked promising. My sisters and I agreed that the girl playing Lucy in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe looks just right. I took a couple pictures as the opening crawl came up. (I know, illegal, but since I only took pics as long as it took STAR WARS EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH to come up, I figure I was well within the spirit of the law.)
And there I leave off. All in all, it was a very satisfying night. I'm glad I went. I'm glad I had people to share it with. And I have to go see it again soon. :)
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no subject
Date: 2005-05-19 05:56 pm (UTC)You don't want to know the rules under which a certain disreputable Jedi and I used to play War. (1. Play normally until you both have the same number card, then do the whole "I de-clare War" thing. 2. Accuse each other of cheating- arguing, raising of voices, and finally fisticuffs to ensue.
Having not seen the movie (but not particularly caring about spoilery things), I'll give my impressions as soon as possible. Probably you'll hear me moaning about the music.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-21 03:28 am (UTC)Well, you DID.
Saw it last night. Liked, for the most part. Was disappointed by music -- not so much horrendous splicing, which finally seems to have been abandoned, as gratuitous use of tracks recorded for other movies. Was gratified to see that they FINALLY figured out what space battles should look like (Endor). Was shaken by image of descending Vader-mask, then promptly caused major internal damage trying not to laugh at Vadery "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
no subject
Date: 2005-05-22 04:39 am (UTC)By this point, though, I must admit, I was giggling. And feeling ashamed that I wasn't crying. Wait, Lucas wrote the script. Never mind
Having seen the film a second time, I found it less funny. Perhaps because I wasn't coming up with clever running commentary for my sisters [Padme: "I'm pregnant." Me-for-Anakin: "I am a father!" Or after the Youngling scene, me-for-Anakin: "I killed them all. And not just the men. The women! And the children!"]. Perhaps it was because my neighbors were crying. Perhaps it was because I finally cared what happened to Anakin - after Ep I and II, I didn't care all that much.
Gah. Must go watch ANH again now.