Ok, so this will be my third Star Wars-related entry after emperor leads death star memorial service (which was on the funny side) and revenge of the sith (which was more serious and not really about the movie anyway). This one is a little bit on the geeky side:
I just saw Episode III last night, and to be honest I was a little disappointed. The special effects were of course "amazing" but I'm not sure if they were worth the money. Of course, the movie was orders of magnitude better than Episodes I and II, but that's not setting the bar very high. I would actually recommend the novelization of Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover. The dialogue is better, the background story is more fleshed out, the significance of events is more apparent. And I was especially surprised at how rich the descriptions of the various duels and fights were. A big part of my disappointment with seeing it in the theatre was due to the fact that the film's portrayal of the lightsaber duels and other action sequences didn't convey the same meaning found in the novel's descriptions.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, I don't want to give away too many details. But I will say that unfortunately there is NOT a scene where Mace Windu says "...And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee. ..." right before killing Jar Jar Binks with a light saber.
Now that the series is "over". I wonder what stories would have made up episodes VII, VIII and IX? There are many novels and graphic novels (i.e. fancy comic books) which deal with the events following Return of the Jedi. The New Republic arises out of the ashes of the empire. Kind of like the Contras in Nicaragua, there are still Imperial forces lying around which need to get mopped up by the new fledgling government. Han Solo and Princess Leia have kids. Luke Skywalker reconstructs the Jedis in order to protect the New Republic and he also eventually marries and has at least one child of his own. And of course, there are many snags and obstacles along the way. Beloved characters fall. Noble Jedi are tempted into the dark. And life goes on. I don't know if George Lucas will really get around to making the last three episodes. But if you are really overcome by curiosity over what happens to the characters, it is easy enough to take a trip to the sci-fi section of your local bookstore and read for yourself.
2 comments:
I just saw it today. It was good 'eye candy', the special effects -- particularly the space battles -- were incredible. But the writing, again, was just as atrocious. I felt myself wishing for a remote control just so I could put on the 'mute' button . . .
Padme: "Obi Wan is worried about you. He thinks you're under a lot of stress."
The philosophical incongruity was comical -- Obi Wan chastising Obi Wan "only the Sith believe in absolutes" -- when the chief temptation of Anakin is not to think in absolutes but to succumb to the wish-washy moral relativism, where the ends justify the means and "anything goes" in the effort to save Padme's life -- even butchering little Jedi younglings.
Ah, well . . . I was pleased to see the previews for C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.
Yeah, I saw the Narnia preview too and thought it would be interesting. I wonder if was greenlighted post-Passion and post-Lord of the Rings. I also wonder if they are going to do the whole series.
And about the Sith believing in absolutes, I see your point but I think there are other ways to believe in "absolutes" and other ways to be a "relativist" although at the moment I'm not sure how to articulate the differences exactly. It seems like the Sith do take their own goals and purposes as "absolute" in importance. While the Jedi seem willing to look at things from multiple perspectives, and their own individual goals aren't as important as the larger objectives of the Republic (at it's best) or the Jedi Order.
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