hford713 Wrote:And despite the original trilogy being Sci-Fi films - they were still somewhat grounded in reality.
Ummm...
where? Lucas said from the beginning that Star Wars was science fantasy, not science fiction. (In science fiction, space ships shouldn't make noise -- though they often do.)
There's a 1977 interview with Lucas
here where he talks about that. He also talks about the original Star Wars only being 25% of the movie he wanted it to be. Interesting to see it confirmed that he always held the opinion he was giving when the Special Editions came out.
hford713 Wrote:For me, the EXCESSIVE CGI ruined the whole film (not to mention the acting, dialogue, plot holes,
I've only spotted one minor one so far. Which plot holes are you referring to?
I didn't have a problem with the CGI at all, but that's me. Some people just seem opposed to it.
hford713 Wrote:enitre [superfluous] wookie sequence,
While it could be argued that having Yoda with the wookies
specifically is superfluous (I thought Chewbacca's cameo was borderline stretching things myself), the sequence itself is not. The plot required Yoda to be away from the Jedi Temple when the massacre happens, and it also required an attempted assassination of Yoda so he would know things were going wrong.
hford713 Wrote:. . . not understanding a word Yoda said,
You're kidding, right?
hford713 Wrote:Portman as a whole,
I thought Portman did fine in this one overall. The only real weak scene is the one where she's brushing her hair, and that's due more to the dialogue than her performance.
hford Wrote:God-awful voice work - especially with Grievous and the other characters that were looped by Asian actors,
Where on earth did you get
that? Grievous is voiced by Matthew Wood, who was also the sound designer. I'm not aware of any other characters being looped by Asian actors, either. Or did you see a dubbed version?
hford713 Wrote:endless shots of ships landing, crew disembarking, ships taking off, etc)
And this is different from the original trilogy how, exactly?
hford713 Wrote:Don't get me wrong, I'm a 36-year-old hardcore Star Wars fan (it was my life as a kid growing up) - I just feel George Lucas should have stepped back, analyzed EVERY SINGLE FRAME, and said to himself, "Ok, I owe the world. I've got to get this right."
I've never understood that mentality. Lucas doesn't owe anybody a thing. Not a single piece of pocket lint. He didn't hold us all at gunpoint and force us to go see his movies. He just happened to make something most people seem to respond to (much to his own surprise).
And what makes you think Lucas
doesn't analyze every single frame? It's pretty obvious he does. He considers himself to be in control of every single shot, along with the editing. He's made an occasional editing decision I don't like, but that's tough for me. They're his movies, not mine. And he doesn't owe me squat.
hford713 Wrote:I'll surely purchase the DVD, but don't think I'll visit the theater again to see it. (really sorry to be too critical)
I don't mind anybody not liking the movie. Heck, I've got a sister who's never liked a single Star Wars film, old or new. It's your reasons that seem dubious to me.
Blake