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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 292 responses total. |
senna
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response 174 of 292:
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May 19 07:49 UTC 1999 |
Star Wars, Episode I. The Phantom Menace.
Ultimately, all film is subjective. This holds true from the pristine
towers, the Godfathers and Casablancas and Citizen Kanes, to the dredges
of Batman&Robin and Mortal Kombat Resurrection. It is always helpful to
remind oneself of this. It holds true again for this Star Wars movie.
If one walks into the theater expecting to see the dark drama of Empire
Strikes Back, the heady enthusiasm of Star Wars, and the active fun of
Return of the Jedi, one will be disappointed. It's rather difficult to
combine three movies into one.
However, this is not meant to be three movies in one. It is the opening
act of a six movie cycle. Such a giant undertaking deserves a grand
opening, and that is what it gets. This movie splendidly establishes an
opening to a story that will ultimately lead us through two generations
of Skywalkers. The foreshadowing in particular is superb, despite the
dangers of overstatement provided when we already know how things end
up.
However, on that level it's like many other pieces of film or
literature. What's so good about the Star Wars series? The effects, of
course. In this film, they are brilliant. Once again, the boys from
Lucasfilm have redefined moviemaking in their own image. The results
are spectacular. Full armies, products of computers, fighting against
each other without a second thought. An entire main character (Jar Jar
Binks, who isn't exactly a deep character) is created and executed with
perfection against the other main roles. Moviemaking will never be the
same.
This movie was a spectacular experience. Between the storylines and the
effects, it is definitely worth seeing several times. I have no
illusions about its standalone greatness, since on its own it would be
good but not great. It does not, however, stand alone. Watch it for
the visuals, or for the foreshadowing, or for the marvelous action
choreography, but be sure to watch. It will blow your mind.
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tpryan
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response 175 of 292:
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May 20 03:45 UTC 1999 |
It is also all the special effects going on to create the background
environment, including the action/movement in the background.
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mcnally
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response 176 of 292:
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May 20 06:09 UTC 1999 |
Since I didn't have any classes today, and since I was really trying to
find something to help me postpone doing work for my physics classes,
I stopped by Showcase and bought a ticket for an afternoon matinee showing
of "The Phantom Menace" (apparently all of the hardcore cases had attended
showings in the wee hours of the AM -- in any case I didn't have any trouble
getting a ticket at the regular matinee price and my total wait in line was
about 50 seconds..)
My opinion: I liked it. I wasn't eagerly awaiting the movie, and my
reaction to all the hype was that I was fully prepared to despise it,
so it was with somewhat low expectations that I entered the theater.
It turns out that Lucas very sensibly stuck with the formula that has
worked so well for him in the past: corny space opera with eye-popping
special effects. The movie was calculatedly manipulative and not
particularly imaginative but it was fun enough to watch despite its
limitations and apparently managed to please the crowd who shared the
theater with me. As long as you haven't been living the past six months
in anticipation of this film and as long as you realize that it's just
another Star Wars movie (with all the limitations that that implies)
you should have a fine time whiling away an afternoon or evening with it..
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scg
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response 177 of 292:
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May 20 16:46 UTC 1999 |
I'll be seeing The Phantom Menace on Monday evening with a bunch of people
from work.
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jazz
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response 178 of 292:
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May 20 17:03 UTC 1999 |
I was disappointed in it's focus more on being a children's film than
a children's film with subtexts to keep adults interested; outside of a few
references to the later movies, it was a very simple storyline with
one-dimensional characters but very pretty special effects. The original Star
Wars was, to some degree, a kid's film, but nowhere to the degree Phantom
Menace is.
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aaron
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response 179 of 292:
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May 20 17:54 UTC 1999 |
Actually, I think that was a mistake/miscalculation by Lucas. The original
Star Wars had a lot to appeal to kids, without catering or condescending
to them. This film chooses to cater and condescend.
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jazz
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response 180 of 292:
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May 20 20:45 UTC 1999 |
I was surprised how few people noticed it, to be honest.
_Phantom Menace_ had less sublety than a brick to the head.
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otter
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response 181 of 292:
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May 21 03:08 UTC 1999 |
The political message certainly wasn't subtle. 8^}
I walked out wanting to club Lucas for manipulating me into loving a
particular character (no give-aways from me to those who haven't seen it!).
DEFINITELY stay through all of the credits, though, for the little kick in
the belly afterward.
And I was impressed by the music. Williams toyed with "The Imperial March"
and came up with some great variations on the theme.
Remembering that the point of the whole thing (besides $, of course) is
FUN, go and have some. We did. (twice today)
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mcnally
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response 182 of 292:
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May 21 17:34 UTC 1999 |
Huh? What comes after the credits? I watched through what I thought was
the whole credit reel and there wasn't anything notable at the end (at least
not to my recollection..)
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richard
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response 183 of 292:
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May 21 21:49 UTC 1999 |
STAR WARS-- I thought it was good and delivered what it promised. The
special effects may even have been overdone-- you dont want the effects to
overshadow the real characters. Movie's biggest flaw is the kid who plays
little Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd)-- his acting wasnt up to the rest of
the cast. When you are casting the central character, you need someone
who can convey emotional depth. Too bad they couldnt find another kid
actor with a little more experience than him. I also wish they would have
developed the Darth Maul character better, given him some dialogue and
gotten into his motivations. Otherwise I enjoyed the movie, and thought
it delivered what it promised *** 1/2
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otter
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response 184 of 292:
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May 22 04:11 UTC 1999 |
ref #182: After the screen goes green, there's an audio thing.
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senna
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response 185 of 292:
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May 22 07:50 UTC 1999 |
I should point out that, in my lowly opinion, regardless of what you
think of the rest of the movie, Phantom Menace has one solid selling
point. I holds in it one of the most stunning, awe inspiring,
jaw-dropping-directly-to-floor combat sequences you will ever see.
Easily one of the highlights of the series already, and it's a pity it
didn't last longer.
I only add this because I melted directly into my seat while watching it
tonight on the big showcase screen. Oh my god.
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tpryan
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response 186 of 292:
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May 22 18:41 UTC 1999 |
I went to see "Trekkies" today at the Showcase. A documentary on
fandom put together and featuring Denise Crosby (Bing's kid).
If it interests you, see it qucikly, as I thing lack of audience
will see it wrap up it's theatrical release within two weeks.
For the Sat morning, 11am showing, I almost had a private showing.
Two other people did finally show up.
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anderyn
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response 187 of 292:
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May 23 00:33 UTC 1999 |
The Prices went to _Phantom Menace_ today. It was enjoyable, though
some of the more conscious "echoes" of the earlier movies made me
wince.
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bru
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response 188 of 292:
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May 23 02:31 UTC 1999 |
and we sat thru the credits and there was no green screen, no audio kick to
the belly...
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otter
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response 189 of 292:
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May 23 02:44 UTC 1999 |
Bummer. Slap the manager.
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tpryan
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response 190 of 292:
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May 23 10:21 UTC 1999 |
One interesting thing I saw in the credits of TPM, was
(some) digital effects by Michael Smith of Jaava the Hut.
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senna
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response 191 of 292:
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May 23 17:30 UTC 1999 |
the visual effects crew has fun, too. Look closely at the senate
chamber scene. After the no confidence vote is called for you can see a
delegation from ET's planet in the lower left corner. I'm dead serious.
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mary
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response 192 of 292:
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May 23 22:18 UTC 1999 |
eXistenZ is one of the best grossouts ever. I think for most
scenes you could have your eyes closed and the sounds effects
would be enough to make you cringe. The whole thing is
fairly sensual in an olive oil and tarp kind of way.
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mary
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response 193 of 292:
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May 23 22:20 UTC 1999 |
On second thought, any oil would do.
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mooncat
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response 194 of 292:
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May 24 02:30 UTC 1999 |
I was truly stunned by "Phantom Menace" Saw it twice today (once
with Jim and Michelle and once with Sarah and Matt) the combat
scenes Steve mentioned were well done. It was neat to see people
use the force to a full extent (not fumbling with it like Luke- who
I do like...)
Anyone else notice how similar Leia and Queen Amigdala look?
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rcurl
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response 195 of 292:
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May 24 04:40 UTC 1999 |
Do you realize that you can use the "force" just as well as they can?
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mcnally
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response 196 of 292:
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May 24 05:36 UTC 1999 |
Geez, Rane, get a life. You're clearly not really stupid enough to
read everything literally, so why pretend to be?
Of course she realizes that it's just a movie and they're all fictional
characters. But, like many others, she's excited about the further
development of a shared story-line that has given her and many others
a great amount of innocent pleasure.
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mooncat
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response 197 of 292:
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May 24 12:22 UTC 1999 |
What #196 said. Yes they're fictional, but for all that, they're a lot of
fun to watch on the big screen. I enjoy watching good guys and bad
guys that have extraordinary powers, I like watching characters do
things that they couldn't do in real life. <shrugs> The Jedi and the
Sith are great types of characters. And I was pleased to see the
two 'new' Jedi characters that Lucas developed.
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md
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response 198 of 292:
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May 24 13:35 UTC 1999 |
Recent rentals:
VELVET GOLDMINE (F) -- It's about something called "glam
rock" or "glitter rock" and the you-cannot-possibly-imagine-
how-boring people who make it and listen to it. I gathered that
for a certain type of person, going to a live concert of this
music makes them feel as if they're starring in an interesting
version of their own lives. I also read somewhere that the
movie is loosely based on the relationship between David
Bowie and Iggy Pop. But the music, dear God, the music.
It went on and on and on and on.
STAR TREK INSURRECTION (B) -- A little drifty, but a lot of
care went into the production. I liked it.
THE EXORCIST (not rated) -- My son wanted to rent this movie
after seeing THE EXORCIST 2 on cable. There's a new
25th anniversary edition out, with interviews, trailers, etc. But
when we put it in the VCR, it made the VCR turn off immediately.
You could turn it back on again, but it would turn itself right off.
So there sat our VCR with The Exorcist permanently stuck
inside it. Finally, my son, who has Nintendo-honed reflexes,
managed to hit the "eject" button in the tiny gap of time between
turning the VCR on and the VCR turning itself off, whereupon the
tape slithered out and the VCR went back to normal. Oo-ee-oo.
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