The Phantom Menace 3D Discussion

I'll be there. As far as it being a terrible film, Plan 9 from Outer Space is a terrible film, and people still break their necks to see that on the big screen. I really doubt it's going to make enough money to justify the conversion to 3D though.

Why would you pay to see this in a theater? Why not just smear shit into your eyes and save the money?

You and me both, Hammerhead.

 

Doing the review a few months back solidified that, Jar Jar aside, nope, I continue to be afflicted with the strange virus of not hating this movie.

My 9 year old son is VERY excited to see this.  I raised him the right way, by showing him the first 3 movies in the order they actually came out.  I haven't gotten around to showing him the 3 newer movies yet.  All he knows is Darth Maul looks cool, and it's Star Wars.  He's excited, and honestly I think it's right up his alley.

 

I don't hate the movie either, btw.  I doubt I'd effort to see this re-release without my son around though.

Yep, bunch of us are taking our kids along. Think we're up to about 20 of us now.

Also, I like it. There are FAR worse movies out there. It's silly, it has Binks, but it's an entertaining ride, especially for kids. Plus the final three way fight is still the best in the series for me.

I feel nothing about this film either way, but I'm tired of this defense being used for anything. There are far better movies out there, too. Why not watch those instead?

"Star Wars" and I decided a couple of years ago that it's probably for the best if we start seeing other people. It was hard at first, but eventually, I got over it. I still think about "Star Wars" sometimes, wonder how it's doing. I heard from mutual friends that "Star Wars" has gotten some work done since I last saw it. Makes me kind of sad. But what can you do?

Is anybody on chud (who doesn't have kids) seriously going to pay money to see this in a theater?

 

If he decides to convert the OT, I might consider those, mostly just to see how the 3D conversion went.

I do, but it's not going to stop me going to see this one, is it? "Sorry daughter, I can't take you to see this film because there are a large number of better movies that I should see instead."

I dont understand your issue with that statement to be honest. When people talk about the prequels as if they are the absolute nadir of film making then it's fair to point out that, in fact, they're not.

It would be pointless and redundant to do some kind of cross reference analysis of other sci-FI adventure yarns as to what is better or not since a) enjoyment of a film is subjective and b) I can't be bothered since it's a message thread about Star Wars.

Hence, throw away statement.

I'd go if I could personally select the 40 minutes or so I'd be willing to sit through again.  

The Phantom Menace (and all the prequels for that matter) are like Lucas' first drafts of A New Hope.  Full of imagination, but not a clue how to make it work as a coherent story.

I wouldn't mind seeing the final Darth Maul/Obi Wan/Qui-Gon battle but other than that, I don't know if I can sit through this film again.

I've seen the 3D trailers for this and Titanic.  I was legitimately impressed with the post-conversion for Titanic.  For whatever reason, I forgot the Phantom Menace was in 3D... even during the trailer.  The depth didn't feel all that strong.

 

Still, I have a friend visiting in February.  We're gonna go see this and relive all the dorkiness from a decade ago.

 

It's a meaningless statement, though. You could pull that out with most movies. And I should have been clearer: it would be equally weak to claim that people should skip it just because there are better films out there. But people usually have reasons and some kind of evidence, valid or not, to make arguments against the prequels.
 

 

That's another empty defense, frankly.

but in another way it's one of the only valid defences there is.  All experience is subjective, it's not like you can quantify it empirically.  You can justify something till you're blue in the face, but if someone doesn't enjoy something you do enjoy, you're not going to be able to make them enjoy it.  I've had loads of people, from friends through to Internet message board users, explain to me why I should enjoy Scott Pilgrim, but I just can't.  In another vein Faraci tried to beat everybody over the head as to why they shouldn't enjoy Avatar.  But you enjoy what you enjoy.

 

And to qualify my original throw away statement ("there are FAR worse movies"); it was in direct response to a post from someone who I've subsequently found out is a known, recidivist, troll who mistakes opinion for FACT.

 

Maybe it is a failing on my part.  I don't know the intricacies of filmmaking, I couldn't really tell you what makes a good script technically, or good direction technically.  I can only tell you what I enjoy, or what I may consider to be good direction, or good screenwriting.  But I couldn't really justify them because I don't really know.  For that reason I could never be a film reviewer, because it's just down to my own opinion.  It's one of the reasons I enjoy coming on this board, because people can give me that kind of insight.  It may not make me like a film any more than I do, but I can certainly appreciate it more.

 

So to finish with another possibly empty defence: "I like what I like" :)

I operate on the assumption that "the enjoyment of a film is subjective" is a given.  But a lot of us on CHUD are here because we share somewhat similar tastes.  So based on that commonality, I enjoy discussing movies beyond the "I like what I like" principle and try to understand why someone may not have appreciated what I appreciated (and vice versa).  I'm not all that great at it.  I can't even really say I'm trying all that hard to get better at it.  But I just keep at it because I have fun here.

 

I enjoy a good contrary position when it's argued well (as far as I can see), friendly, and fun.  Even more than everyone agreeing, in fact.  It's why I try my damnedest to not say anything as aggressively as fact (even though it's always implied, I always word my opinions in terms of 'think' and 'feel') and take it back if someone thinks that I did.

 

This is my way of saying...

 

Mr. Bain... IT'S NOT A VALID DEFENSE AT ALL!!!!!!  This is FACT.  Mwuhuhuhuh

 

Also, Avatar sucks and Scott Pilgrim is the greatest thing ever in the history of ever.  BAM.

For Titanic the company doing the conversion had to have EVERYTHING approved by Cameron... Star Wars? who knows really.

 

fair enough.  But I just took this as "who's going to see it when it's released" rather than discuss why (which I now have to backtrack on having paid attention to the thread title!).  Because when it boils down to that, I'm taking the kid first and foremost.  Thus, throwaway :)

 

On track, and avoiding discussion of the film itself, because that's a flogged horse, I'm not sure how much point the 3D conversion is.  In the trailer the first real thing you see is the pod race, with the pod racers coming right at you, and it didn't exactly pop.  In fact none of it had that much depth.  You'd hope that the shot of Obi Wan dangling above the bottomless pit of death would be at least a little bit vertigo inducing for example, but having recently seen Hugo, and how Scorsese fills the screen, I'm struggling to see where 3D is going to add anything.

 

I don't even think it's being shown in 2D in Palmy, so for my girl it's this or nothing.  And I can't refuse her the right to see a film she loves on the big screen.

Yeah, I was pretty surprised by the lack of 3D presence in that trailer.  Have you seen the one for Titanic?  In that one, I can feel the depth of Kate Winslet's fancy hat!

I dunno, Lucas is a pretty big control freak, I mean he's been tinkering with the same 3 films for 30 fucking years.

 

Oh, The Chin's been talking up these 3D editions for years. I remember reading reports of Lucasfilm giving private screenings of  test segments in 3D two or more years ago, so the last thing this is, is a last-minute hack job. They'd better look good, considering how long they've been in the works.

 

As for TPM 3D: Nah, I'll pass. I recently caved once and for all and got the blu ray set, so I've seen these movies far too recently to pay cinema bucks for them, and don't enjoy the film enough to make the exception. Same goes for AOTC. Sith onwards? I could be persuaded - maybe -  but that depends on the quality of the 3D and what it actually adds to the films. I'm just not passionate enough about 3D in general to get that excited without hearing some decent feedback on it.

 

I saw some 3D footage at a RealD (I think) presentation.  The Titanic and Star Wars (the Sith opening battle) stuff looked fine.  But, it's still the same movie, so unless you really like it, you're not paying for a whole heck of a lot.
 

Yeah, they've been using Star Wars as the test bed/show reel for the post-convert process for a really long time. Jonathan Liebesman said that seeing the Star Wars post-convert was why they decided to shoot Wrath of the TItans flat, and I believe Nolan mentioned it when discussing whether doing Inception in 3D was ever a possibility.

Aside from the podrace, I can't think of anything in here that would really pop in 3D. 

 

Anyone who goes to see this is a Star Wars battered wife.  You go back, you got that black eye comin'.

The space battle at the end.  That's about the only other thing.

Well to be fair, you deserve an exception if you have kids who like Star Wars (Because let's face it, if you do a large chunk of the choice is probably out of your hands at this point). But otherwise, I just don't see the need to see this unless you have some ungodly drive to see Star Wars in 3D.

No, you don't.  I'm sick of hearing people say this like their children are in charge and make their film-going decision for them.  It's YOUR money.  Say no and that's that.

Depends on the kids and the parents. If you own the movies already and the kids have seen them multiple times, then I think you certainly should say no. If the kids are new to the series, then I could see parents using this as an introduction. I don't know, I'm just saying that for some kids this would be a special experience and in those terms it has some value, but only if seeing the film again will have that specialness. It's about the only circumstance where I can see going to see this have any intrinsic value, but it's up to individual parents to decide whether that applies to their kids.

 

I don't know, considering the fact that this is a going-on thirteen year old movie that has been released multiple times in pretty much every format imaginable? I don't see the above happening very often. But it is in the realms of possibility, and it's about the only circumstance where I can see going to see this thing actually being worth it.

I think this movie's fun.  Please keep the egg out of my eyes.

The primary mover is the kid, but I have to say I am interested in going myself because I don't hate the movie as a whole, and I flat out love the final fight.  Plus watching these with the girl has genuinely made me enjoy the whole series again.

 

Does anyone know if Yoda is CG in this movie, as he is in the Blu Ray?  I mean, is this the Blu version or one of the previous ones.  Because I really did not like the puppet in the theatrical version.  This may be sacrilege, but the CG version in AotC and RotS was more "Yoda" for me than that puppet.

yeah, it was very good (except for the water rushing down the hallways but I can't really fault that as it would have been a nightmare).

 

Are they going to go all Tron Legacy and only have the flashbacks in 3D? (because that was apparently the only time she REALLY lived..)

Pretty sure this is going to be the CG Yoda in this release.  I don't see why it wouldn't be.

Yeah, I think the CG Yoda's permanent now. One of the few changes I honestly think is better, though a certain perverse part of me misses the 'Yoda: The Stoned Hawkwind Roadie Years' puppet...

I'm hoping the 3D release flops really hard. It has no purpose other than Lucas to show "hey guys I can do it too."

I mean flopping so hard Lucas is homeless. So hard, he releases the original original trilogy.

One day I'll show my kids the movies I have on DVD. I'm sure I'll have a projector by then.

The Pod Race is the best action in any of the prequels.

The only other aspect of the Menace capable of being summoned up by me is how ludicrously stupid the notion of Jedi carrying around underwater breathing apparatus was on first encounter.

But now I'm totally fine with it. The hidden message of the prequels being, the Jedi were never really as awesome as Luke Skywalker and all you children of the 80s made them out to be. Just like fame and fortune have proven to be not that fucking worth it, in Lucas' estimation. There is a deep bitterness in the Prequels that is there for the appreciating. The damnable thing is, there are shots of intense atmosphere and beauty illustrating the solitary royalty of Queen Amidala that outweigh the whole of Return of the Jedi. The Phantom Menace is a truly silly movie, with many silly elements, but I don't see how any objective fan of the series can torch that effort while offering a pass to Jedi. Jedi is fucking boring.

 

See I thought the Pod Race was boring. For me, the first 15 (?) minutes of Phantom Menace (right up until they meet YOU KNOW WHO) were the Star Wars movie I was waiting for. That, and every appearance by Palpatine and Darth Maul are the highlights of that film.

 

Interesting point about the Jedi not "being all that". I think it's equally plausible that they WERE all that, but forgot themselves in their Hubris.
 

 

Jedi has the benefit of having characters with a lot of good will built up. Storywise, it feels a bit by the numbers, and I'll watch Sith over Jedi any day.

That's because you're insane.

Jedi has Ewoks besting Stormtroopers and another Death Star.

 

And it makes Han and Leia boring.
 

 

*facepalm* Are we really having another "The prequels suck!" "No they don't!" discussion? Jesus Christ, I thought we were better than this.

 

(For the record, I enjoy the prequels, but recognize their many flaws)

Me (1999) - (walking out of The Phantom Menace) Well, that was boring.

Me (Today) - Hey, it's me! It's you from the future!

Me (1999) - Wow, I got fat.

Me (Today) - Fuck you. So you know that movie you just saw? It makes a LOT of money, and becomes reviled by an entire generation. If people don't hate it, they find it outright dull and boring. The phrase "The Phantom Menace" becomes a punchline.

Me (1999) - Oh, well, that's good, I guess.

Me (Today) - ... And in 2012, they convert it to 3D, and everyone goes again.

Me (1999) - Wait. So everybody knows it's boring and dull and lame, and they go again?

Me (Today) - Yes, and this is after most of them have bought the VHS, and later the DVD. A large contingent of people have this in their homes.

Me (1999) - And they're still going? Even though they know it's terrible and many of them own it?

Me (Today) - Yes! Incredible, right?

Me (1999) - Why are they doing that?

Me (Today) - Honestly, I don't know, dude. Also, by the way, in the coming decade, they go on to make a movie for almost every single superhero out there. Even though back then I was saying-

Me (1999) - They'll never make a Ghost Rider movie, guy's got a flaming skull for a head!

Me (Today) - They made two!

Me (1999) - Get outta here.

Me (Today) - Just don't get your hopes up, kid. Also, skip prom. You don't want to know what happens there.

When OT gets released in 3D, I will go see those. I might skip Jedi because of the Nooooo. These are going to make money, just like the Blu Rays did,  Now if the Red Letter Media reviews where released in theaters in 3D, I'd be there ASAP!

You passed out, then woke up seeing Ahmed Best zipping up his fly?

 

 

You don't even send a warning about 9/11? Jeez, dude.

Then you enjoying sucking. And no, we're not - otherwise we wouldn't be on the internet.

 

 

???

 

Way to be a douchebag. A grammatically incorrect one at that.

 

I'm probably not going to SEE this, no, but I'm just so goddamn tired of Lucas-bashing, whether or not it has any merit.

 

I could use some backup here, Justin.