Episode 3 trailer available

[Sobelius]

Free download of Episode 3 trailer here.

I have to see it -- like the instinct to look at a car wreck.

[HaemishM]

I have never seen a live-action film look more like a fucking animated film than on that trailer. /meh Looks interesting, and I'll see it for completeness sake, but after the CGI-overkill that was AOTC, I don't have high expectations.

[schild]

The trailer is great. As in, they took the only good parts of the movie and put them in. So basically this is Mr. Lucas' way of not making me spend $7.

[Dark Vengeance]

Meh, the lightsaber duels in the prequels make everything from the originals look extraordinarily tame.

Anakin's skill in the duel with Dooku, combined with Obi-Wan's l33t sab3r sk1llZ in both films means that the showdown between the two in Episode 4 should have been among the best parts of the film, if not the entire series. Instead, it serves as the worst lightsaber battle in the series.

Unless Lucas intends to go back in and redo all the original Obi-Wan duel with CGI....but I'm not so sure pulling a Yoda with Sir Alec Guniess is such a hot idea.

Bring the noise.
Cheers.............

[Paelos]

Looks solid, and I've been waiting for this one since the original idea of the prequals came out. It may suck, but not because of story line or lack of action. In the others the plot was very very weak because they've basically been saving up all the backstory for this one movie. They have so much to cover it's hard to imagine where they will leave off at the end.

[Train Wreck]

Hopefully Darth Vader won't be such a whiney kid this time around.

[Roac]

I love 4-6 too much to not see 3, despite the suckage of 1 and 2.  I'm a total fanboi of this series, and am gonna be there.

Hope it doesn't suck :(

[Samwise]

Unless Lucas intends to go back in and redo all the original Obi-Wan duel with CGI....but I'm not so sure pulling a Yoda with Sir Alec Guniess is such a hot idea.

Right now it'd be a really bad move.  Another decade or so and it might be feasible.

I just figure Obi-Wan had gotten old, hadn't been practicing, and wanted Vader to cut him down anyway so he could retire and be a blue glowy.

[Kenrick]

I just figure Obi-Wan had gotten old, hadn't been practicing, and wanted Vader to cut him down anyway so he could retire and be a blue glowy.

But that doesn't account for how "crappy" Luke's saber skills look during an era (V and VI) when he should be at the height of his Jedi superbadassness.

[Pineapple]

But that doesn't account for how "crappy" Luke's saber skills look during an era (V and VI) when he should be at the height of his Jedi superbadassness.

Luke didnt exactly get years of Academy-level training like the Jedi in Episodes 1-3.

He got basically one session of training on board the Falcon. Yoda instructed him verbally, but didnt exactly demonstrate any lightsaber skills to Luke. He was getting too old.

Luke didnt stay with Yoda that long. They didnt have the training facilities there.

I can see Luke managing with use of the Force and such, but his training wasnt nearly on par with the others.

[Roac]

Luke didnt stay with Yoda that long. They didnt have the training facilities there.

Heh, don't try to debate it with fic references.  The swordplay sucked because they didn't have Grade A choreographers to do the legwork.

[SurfD]

i would actually have to go with the whole "out of practice", "not fully trained" arguement.

I mean, how long do you think it had been since either Vader or Obi-wan had dueled ANYONE with a saber.  I dont imagine either spent serious time keeping in practice.  Vader had no one to fight, and Obi-wan had pretty much retired.

[Sobelius]

Luke didnt stay with Yoda that long. They didnt have the training facilities there.

Heh, don't try to debate it with fic references.  The swordplay sucked because they didn't have Grade A choreographers to do the legwork.

They didn't *need* choreographers because the duels were not the point of the movie -- they were just part of it. No one complained about the light saber duels when the films were originally released. We were too awed by feeling that we had actually flown down the canyon trenches of the death star....

[Kageru]

I'm happy to see one of the most over-blown and over-valued space opera franchises being spectacularly demolished by its creator. That will help open space for new stories rather than endless re-arrangements of tired ideas by a clearly talentless hack.

[Resvrgam]

I'm happy to see one of the most over-blown and over-valued space opera franchises being spectacularly demolished by its creator. That will help open space for new stories rather than endless re-arrangements of tired ideas by a clearly talentless hack.

Not to mention an idea-thief.  I wonder if Akira Kurosawa rolled in his grave when Lucas made the new movies?

[daveNYC]

The first two movies have been about 220 minutes of 'wha?' with 10 minute of 'boo-yah!' on the end.  I don't see any reason why III will be any different.  I'll see it because I've seen the first two.

I didn't see any shots of Natalie in a bikini.  Feeling grumpy.

[stray]

Hopefully Darth Vader won't be such a whiney kid this time around.

Yeah, he was definitely the weak link, but if Shattered Glass is any indication, I'd say he's grown up as an actor.

I wonder if Akira Kurosawa rolled in his grave when Lucas made the new movies?

Do you realize how many times Yojimbo has been ripped off? Just about every director steals something from Kurosawa. That's like criticizing someone for stealing from Shakespeare (which ironically, Kurosawa did a little of himself).

[schild]

Star Wars sucks. You bastards better not start a thread when they release a 6 movie box set.

Fucking beasts.

[stray]

Star Wars sucks.

True, but I bet you're going to see it anyways, aren't you?

[schild]

Star Wars sucks.

True, but I bet you're going to see it anyways, aren't you?

I saw the trailer. That was all the good parts. I stood in line for episode 1 tickets. I still taste the urine.

[daveNYC]

Star Wars sucks. You bastards better not start a thread when they release a 6 movie box set.

Dream on.

[schild]

(There was an image of a banstick here for $9.95. It was transparent. They fucked up.)

Cheaper than a movie ticket and a diet coke.

More powerful than the force.

[Arnold]

Hopefully Darth Vader won't be such a whiney kid this time around.

Yeah, he was definitely the weak link, but if Shattered Glass is any indication, I'd say he's grown up as an actor.

I think the suckness has neither to do with the actors, nor their age.  You did see Natalie Portman in "The Professional", didn't you?  She was what, 12, when she did that movie?  Compare that to her shitty performance in the Star Wars films.  I think we can blame Lucas.

[stray]

I think the suckness has neither to do with the actors, nor their age.  You did see Natalie Portman in "The Professional", didn't you?  She was what, 12, when she did that movie?  Compare that to her shitty performance in the Star Wars films.  I think we can blame Lucas.

Perhaps you're right.

Just want to add here too: These films aren't gonna work like the originals, I think, because they're lacking the whole Campbell-mythology-archetype bent. It's not necessarily that Lucas sucks (and maybe he does). It's just that it's impossible to incorporate those things that made the original work into a story like this one. This new trilogy is tragedy wrapped around a intricate political backstory (but granted, even that isn't done well).

It's made Star Wars suck, but I'm not totally hatin' on it either...Qui-Gon, Obi, Jango, and Palpatine are cool. Some of the action scenes are really good. These aren't going to make up for lack of a good story, a poor central character, or Jar-Jar, but I'll give the last one a chance, I guess. It's only one more (or so I think).

[Ironwood]

Hopefully Darth Vader won't be such a whiney kid this time around.

Yeah, he was definitely the weak link, but if Shattered Glass is any indication, I'd say he's grown up as an actor.

I think the suckness has neither to do with the actors, nor their age.  You did see Natalie Portman in "The Professional", didn't you?  She was what, 12, when she did that movie?  Compare that to her shitty performance in the Star Wars films.  I think we can blame Lucas.

YES.

[Merusk]

I just figure Obi-Wan had gotten old, hadn't been practicing, and wanted Vader to cut him down anyway so he could retire and be a blue glowy.

But that doesn't account for how "crappy" Luke's saber skills look during an era (V and VI) when he should be at the height of his Jedi superbadassness.

Crappy as in you don't go "OOOH shiny"  not so crappy when viewed by folks with any training in actual long pieces of sharp deadly metals.

The fights for the first 3 episodes were coordinated by professional sword choreographers.  The prequels were by hollywood fight coordinators with an eye for flair influenced by 30 years of martial arts and action films.

The explainations of "Luke was half trained" and "Ben was old, Vader is half machine" are only there to gloss-over this discrepency between the styles of Shallowood (sorry, Hollywood) of 30 years prior and today.  Would anyone have gone to watch EP1 or EP2 if they had more realistic swordplay vs the flash that works well in trailers?  Sure, but not as many and the grouses would have been louder.

We live in a time when "Fast and the Furious" and "XXX" are considered to be great movies by youth culture.  If the original Star Wars were released today (even if you filmed it with modern techniques) it'd be a joke that wouldn't even make 4 million.

  I've watched EP1&2 and the OT enough now to see they're actually preddy damn similar. In terms of dialogue, pacing, depth of character and a slew of other things that EP1&2 are panned for while the OT is praised they're identical.

  Too many people are just glossing over the "suck" (relative term here. "suck" compared to current movies.) factor of the OT with cherished memories and the fact that it was a completly new thing for its time.  But since GL hasn't moved forward and matured along with the genre and the audience, the new trillogy seems hackneyed, stilted and shitty.

[Murgos]

I gotta go with Merusk here (at least part way) Lukes fights with Vader are far more 'realistic' than the fights from EP 1 and 2 (from a stand point of you want to kill someone with a long sharp thing while protecting yourself from the same).  Sure the Qui-Gon, Obi, Darth Maul fight looks better but its all chinese opera theatrics, in the end its just not as satisfying, at least to me.

[stray]

I think Lucas explains on the DVD's that his original idea (which he eventually gave up on) for the saber fights was to mimic Japanese sword fighting (i.e. two-handed), and that the lightsaber was equivalent to swinging a 50 lb sword. I guess he could explain it away as Obi getting old or whatever, but then look at Dooku..He's like one of the three musketeers or something.

[Ganon]

There's a simple reason for the crappiness of the Ep 4 saber battle...there were only two lightsabers duelists left in the entire galaxy (not counting all the EU Jedi that were hidden in every other street) and they hadn't fought for decades.  When you kill all the Jedi in the galaxy except two you have to accept that your saber skills may thereafter suffer.

[Evil Elvis]

I remember hearing a while back that Lucas had a fit over Irvin Kershner having Vader hold the lightsaber with one hand.

Then on the dvd's, he goes on about how it was just a progression.

[Moroni]

No. Just no!

[Arnold]

I gotta go with Merusk here (at least part way) Lukes fights with Vader are far more 'realistic' than the fights from EP 1 and 2 (from a stand point of you want to kill someone with a long sharp thing while protecting yourself from the same).  Sure the Qui-Gon, Obi, Darth Maul fight looks better but its all chinese opera theatrics, in the end its just not as satisfying, at least to me.

I don't know if any of the fights were "realistic".  A lightsaber should be able to stab just as well as it can hack.  It's easier to get a stab in, past the guard of an opponent, yet I can recall no thrusts in any of the movies.  The moves I remember seem to be telegraphed hacks and slashes that could be easily defended against.

[Arnold]

and that the lightsaber was equivalent to swinging a 50 lb sword.

50 pound any kind of melee weapon == wielder loses.  Sorry, but that's just the way it is.  Katanas don't weight 50 pounds, not even close to that, and lightsabers are not mimicking 50 pound weapons.

[Nazrat]

Obviously, he is not referring to Japanese swords but to the English broadswords and Scottish claymores which were extremely cumbersome.  50 pounds might be an exaggeration but there are quite a few swords that require two hands to swing.

[Murgos]

It's an urban legend that medieval weapons weighed 50+ lbs.  Its STEEL people, it has a certain density and the medieval smiths wern't able to get around such nifty phyiscal effects such as Specific Gravity and Molecular Bonding.

Think along the lines of 5 lbs being extraordinarily heavy. Try swinging a 5 lb piece of steel around for 30 seconds and you will see that 5 lbs is plenty heavy.

And don't try any crap about how they didn't have steel.  The fucking Romans in 80 BC had steel for thier swords and armor.

As for thrusting attacks not being used in ep 5 and 6 go watch the fucking movie again.  Luke uses several lunges, one in particular when he THRUSTS his saber at Vader after Vader figures out about Leia.