The 5 Year Anniversary of ROTS

[galactiboy]

I do remember a funny thing about seeing this opening night.

As this thread has taught us ROTS came out on May 19th; sadly for my wife (fiance at the time) her 25th birthday was on the May18th. So we had dinner and did stuff for her birthday, but the whole experience of her birthday was noticeably overshadowed by the premier of the final SW movie.

In general she was cool about it, but needless to say I am reminded every so often about how my love of SW caused her 25th birthday to be a second class event

 

[daikkenaurora]

Its been on SpikeTV today and on again.

"I can feel your anger"

Saw this in the theaters for free.

 

[galactiboy]

A 2nd part of opening night... the theater I was in was showing it on every screen, but I guess they didn't have enough copies so they started in a group of theaters and then there was a delay until the others started.

The movie didn't actually start until around 1:30am which meant about half the audience was asleep or falling asleep during the movie. There were 2 kids next to me (about 10 or 12) who were all excited about the movie and by about 20 minutes in they were completely asleep.

Luckily my excitement over the movie kept me from passing out as I would been even more pissed by the ridiculous delay.

 

[cerealkeller]

John Williams really stepped up his game for ROTS. Has some of my favorite music in all of SW in it. Even Grievous' arrival on Utapau the music was great!!! Though I will admit I LOVE Across the Stars from AOTC. Beautiful music. Wish the romance between the actors matched the music. It was a beautiful, sad melody

 

[abake]

Yup the Anakin-Padme love theme is really beautiful.
Back to ROTS though, it has one of my favorite scenes from the entire saga: when Anakin tells Obi Wan how he has failed him, and how we have this premonition it's the last time they will see each other as friends. Very touching, sad moment.

 

[Darth Madden]

Just got done watching it again and other than some terrible dialoge here and there its a pretty good movie.

 

[cerealkeller]

Yup the Anakin-Padme love theme is really beautiful.
Back to ROTS though, it has one of my favorite scenes from the entire saga: when Anakin tells Obi Wan how he has failed him, and how we have this premonition it's the last time they will see each other as friends. Very touching, sad moment.

That scene really got me the first time I saw it too. So sad to see the two for the last time as friends. The scene reminds me of ANH when Obi-Wan gives the brief smile and says remembering "..and he was a good friend". Poor Obi-Wan

 

[tylerdurden]

agree with u guys. the most surprising accomplishment of epIII, and something it doesn't get enough credit for, was its character moments.

- the playful, almost cheeky banter between obi-wan and anakin during the palpatine rescue mission. "do u have a plan b?" funny stuff, and captures the sense of real friendship that these two men are supposed to have. not enough of it though...

- the silent moment between anakin n padme when he's in the jedi temple looking across the city for her. there is flicker of psychic connection, then it's lost. and tears well up in anakin's eyes. to me that was the real turning point for his character.

- the "seduction" scene at the opera, where palpatine relates the story of darth plagueis to anakin. ian mcdiarmid justs nails the silken-tongued, manipulative portrayal of the devil. subtlety isn't a common feature in the star wars saga, but this was one such great example. pity there wasn't more of it between palps and anakin.

- the scene on mustafar where anakin has been defeated by obi-wan. the apprentice is lying in ruins, yet it is the mentor who is the broken man. "u were u my brother anakin! i loved u!" it was a pretty heartbreaking moment and ewan mcgregor played it beautifully.

of course there are a huge number of cheesy, embarassing character moments too, but i just wanna give credit where credit is due...

 

[abake]

agree with u guys. the most surprising accomplishment of epIII, and something it doesn't get enough credit for, was its character moments.

- the playful, almost cheeky banter between obi-wan and anakin during the palpatine rescue mission. "do u have a plan b?" funny stuff, and captures the sense of real friendship that these two men are supposed to have. not enough of it though...

- the silent moment between anakin n padme when he's in the jedi temple looking across the city for her. there is flicker of psychic connection, then it's lost. and tears well up in anakin's eyes. to me that was the real turning point for his character.

- the "seduction" scene at the opera, where palpatine relates the story of darth plagueis to anakin. ian mcdiarmid justs nails the silken-tongued, manipulative portrayal of the devil. subtlety isn't a common feature in the star wars saga, but this was one such great example. pity there wasn't more of it between palps and anakin.

- the scene on mustafar where anakin has been defeated by obi-wan. the apprentice is lying in ruins, yet it is the mentor who is the broken man. "u were u my brother anakin! i loved u!" it was a pretty heartbreaking moment and ewan mcgregor played it beautifully.

of course there are a huge number of cheesy, embarassing character moments too, but i just wanna give credit where credit is due...

Quoted for truth.

I also love the bit when Anakin gets all defensive about R2, and in the opening sequence how he wants to help the clones, but Obi Wan is willing to sacrifice their lives without a second thought in order to get the job done. That scene alone speaks volumes about their characters.

ROTS (and to some extent all PT films) has so many brilliant moments that fans generally dismiss because they can't get over their childhood memories of the OT.

 

[thenammagazine]

Quoted for truth.

I also love the bit when Anakin gets all defensive about R2, and in the opening sequence how he wants to help the clones, but Obi Wan is willing to sacrifice their lives without a second thought in order to get the job done. That scene alone speaks volumes about their characters.

I actually enjoyed the undertones of that scene. In one aspect you understand Anakin's need to protect them as he feels their deaths are meaningless. But in the other, Obi's "greater good" remark, not implying that they're expendable, but that their potential sacrifice is necessary by saying, "They are doing their job so that we can do ours."

 

[LOTRFan]

ROTS took great strides to make you hate Yoda and Mace.

 

[the dude person]

ROTS took great strides to make you hate Yoda and Mace.

why do you say that?

 

[LOTRFan]

why do you say that?

Because Lucas clearly wanted us to identify/sympathize with Anakin's fall: Yoda was completely distant and cold in his counsel to Skywalker; and Mace was a total ____.

 

[Khev]

There was a funny parody in Toyfare magazine that came out the summer of 2005 making fun of the fact that the Jedi Council pretty much went out of their way to make Anakin a Sith.

 

[abake]

Well, Obi Wan's and Yoda's morals have always been somewhat questionable... remember the "what I told you was true, from a certain point of view" speech from ROTJ? After all, they lied to Luke and tried to get him to kill his father...

 

[tylerdurden]

Because Lucas clearly wanted us to identify/sympathize with Anakin's fall: Yoda was completely distant and cold in his counsel to Skywalker; and Mace was a total ____.

actually, i never saw it as yoda being cold or distant. he was being true to the purest teachings of the jedi, which are actually very zen/buddhist-like in the sense of detachment one must cultivate in order to attain genuine serenity. in fact, that was one of the few clever ideas lucas used to really sell the fact that anakin was all about inner turmoil and uncontrollable ego, and was completely unable to attain that sense of calm that only a true jedi has. a true jedi, like yoda.

i say clever, because at this point of desperation and frustration, anakin wouldn't be able to "let go of all he feared to lose". it was impossible for him. he had already broken the jedi code of chastity by falling in love and marrying a woman. that overpowering emotional attachment was ultimately his downfall. because palpatine's solution seemed so much more tangible and practical. a real solution he could grasp, rather than a (perceived) wishy-washy, conceptual ideal. a power he could learn in order to save padme, rather than being told to give up his attachment to her. remember that yoda didn't know about this secret relationship. i'm sure his approach would've been different if he'd known. then again, in the end anakin would've been expelled anyway. which might also have made a good plot device for his hatred of the jedi and subsequent turn to the dark side.

on the other hand, i agree with u about mace. his character was just poorly handled. there wasn't anything about the way mace's character was written that suggested he was a wise jedi. he just seemed like an unaware, aloof idiot. sigh.

 

[Jmek]

Wow, can't believe it's been five years. I saw Sith twice at the flicks. Awesome movie, and the only film I've ever witnessed an English audience clap a the end. On both occasions too.

 

[zeiss]

actually, i never saw it as yoda being cold or distant. he was being true to the purest teachings of the jedi, which are actually very zen/buddhist-like in the sense of detachment one must cultivate in order to attain genuine serenity. in fact, that was one of the few clever ideas lucas used to really sell the fact that anakin was all about inner turmoil and uncontrollable ego, and was completely unable to attain that sense of calm that only a true jedi has. a true jedi, like yoda.

i say clever, because at this point of desperation and frustration, anakin wouldn't be able to "let go of all he feared to lose". it was impossible for him. he had already broken the jedi code of chastity by falling in love and marrying a woman. that overpowering emotional attachment was ultimately his downfall. because palpatine's solution seemed so much more tangible and practical. a real solution he could grasp, rather than a (perceived) wishy-washy, conceptual ideal. a power he could learn in order to save padme, rather than being told to give up his attachment to her. remember that yoda didn't know about this secret relationship. i'm sure his approach would've been different if he'd known. then again, in the end anakin would've been expelled anyway. which might also have made a good plot device for his hatred of the jedi and subsequent turn to the dark side.

on the other hand, i agree with u about mace. his character was just poorly handled. there wasn't anything about the way mace's character was written that suggested he was a wise jedi. he just seemed like an unaware, aloof idiot. sigh.

I agree completely about the way Lucas handled Yoda. It made sense considering the values of the jedi and alluded to the growing rift between Anakin and the jedi order. However, there could have been some room for Yoda to sound a little more sympathetic in the counseling scene as Yoda displays feelings of sympathy in other scenes throughout the series.

I actually like the way Mace Windu was handled in the film. He seemed suspicious and had a strong personality (throughout the trilogy, actually). IMO, this differentiated him from the sometimes bland behavior of the other jedis. Considering he was supposed to be the youngest jedi to ever serve in his position it would make sense that he he would be more direct in dealing with things.

 

[Darthrazz]

Because Lucas clearly wanted us to identify/sympathize with Anakin's fall: Yoda was completely distant and cold in his counsel to Skywalker; and Mace was a total ____.

I know that Lucas got Jackson to act flat, but Kudos to the man he even got a CG to act flat as well!

 

[unsung hero]

And since today is the actual Five year Anniversary for ROTS (and the 11th for TPM), I figured it was time to bump and say Happy Anniversary for those that enjoyed this movie. I liked it at first, but over the years I think less and less of it. I still like the Duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan, but still despise the duel between Yoda and Sidious. Loved Ian McDiarmid in this one (as well as the others, but he was given a chance to run with it in this one), though Grievous sucked (though still a cool design, so bring it on Sideshow). Some terrible dialogue, like the other films, but some lines just make me cringe. Two big disappointments for me though. First, that they took out the line in which Palpatine admits to Anakin that he used the Force to create him. I knew it long before the film came out that they did away with the line, but I still held out hope that they snuck it back in. And second, that they cut Liam Neeson's dialogue with Yoda at the end of the film. My main complaint with AOTC and ROTS is the lack of Qui-Gon. Great actor and a great character.

All in all, it's still Star Wars, so I will watch it today with fond memories of five years ago.