h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've just seen it, and i've not read the backlog yet (as i didn't want to spoil the film right).

But some crap things about the film:

The galactic map sequence, where Obi-wan described the position of a planet in space as being 'suth' of another star!!!! Get real.

The guy playing Anakin couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag, might as well have been Leonardo or Keanu in the part.

The death of Anakins mother was the worst screen death i've ever seen. It was a five year olds enactment of death. Utter poo.


Wasn't the rest of the film great though, i wasn't looking forward to it after Phantom Menace, but i really liked it.

I paricularly liked the Raiders of the Lost Ark reference in the arena sequence. And Yoda kicking off was great - lots of laghter in the cinema, but it should have gone further in my opinion.

One of the things that surprised me most was the number of references to other films. I suppose critics would say this is Lucas' lack of imagination. But I tend to feel that it's Lucas saying 'And *this* is how you do *that*'. Whether you think he measured up or not is a matter of personal opinion. I thought it was fab.

I didn't. In fact quite a few of the audience walked out of the showing I saw. Plus the films he ripped off where in my opinion *much* better. And the space diner was just inexcusable! Also George Lucas should be physically prevented from writing dialogue.

Also the real landscapes clashed too violently with the CGI but as they were filmed afterwards, I can't complain I guess. But having CGI food, was a bit of a joke! Can't Natalie Portman bite?

The only bit I truly loved was Obi Wan in the bar. 'I don't want to sell you any death sticks and I am going home to rethink my life.'

Oh I agree with Autist - Yoda's fight scene was far too short!

It should have been far more effortless for Yoda, and it should have been much more powerful and terrible, without being violent. I'm not sure how you'd do that exactly, but it's the sort of zen mastery that you want from the little green fella.

I think the imitations of other movies willl be seen by critiscs as stylistic and filmic references to classic genre peices both building an archetypal and semiotic language and making ironic or homageous gestures toward it's predecessors.

Was it my imagination, or did the sequence where the Senator Amidala comes over the hill take all of its cues from The Sound of Music. I half expected to see Anakin in lederhosen.

What references did anyone else spot (i admit i didn't spot that many - not like SWIV-ANH which was full of bits of westerns and war movies.

No, I didn't see that many either . Must have been dazed from the audio-visual assault on my senses .

Ste

Both of the two new films are very much films of their times. Wheras Star Wars iv-ANH and v-ESB(technology excepting) could have been made at any time post war. The plot, themes and style were timeless. These new movies follow the trends and fashions of hollywood so very closely (and it's Hollywood, not even quality cinema like the origonals aspired to) that the films fail entirely to be 'epic' in anyway.

Watching the scene on the assembly line with the Senator ducking between and under the various rams and jacks, i couldn't help thinking that perhaps the guys who were designing screens for the forthcomming nintento game were sketching out their ideas over lunch only to leave them in the cafeteria, and as the storyboard writers came in for second sitting they laid thier papers down on the table and the two became inexticably mixed. Just as in The Phantom Menace i was constantly aware of the armies of merchandising marching across the screen, this seemed like yet another example of sticking scene from the game into the film rather than the other way around.

The annoying thing about that for me was that the *game* being copied was a *very* old timeless classic being ripped off badly.

I wouldn't have minded so much if it had been like Phantom Menace - the best scene of which was basically a game of wipeOut2097 writ large - because at least
(a) the game was fairly recent and
(b) the homage/plagiarism was done well.

But frankly, if it's a choice between watching Anakin and Amidala dodging the slamming droid-making machines, or actually downloading an emulator and PLAYING Manic Miner, I'll take the latter.

H.

I´d also choose Manic Miner, or any of the other old jump´n runs that were copied in that scene.

I´ve just seen the movie on sunday and... well this rarely happens to me, I almost walked out in the middle. It is way to long, there are lots of really unnecessary scenes (Anakin and Amidala running over grassy mountains, just like in the actors in any movie done in Germany in the 50s). The dialogue is so well written that it made me hate Anakin and Amidla by the middle of the film. Anakins mom dying made me laugh. It is soooooooooooooo very bad acting, bad camera and everything else. It is not even a cheap (yeah, I know that movie was expensive, I am thinking about meaning and content) hollywood pocorn-cinema anymore. It is a b-movie badly done.

The scenes I was looking forward to were either to short (Yoda) or were not as exciting as they could have been (the gladiator scene). All the references to other movies just show how unimaginative Lucas has become. He just relies on the visual gimmicks to do the work for him and what they can´t do he steals from other movies.

I could go on for hours.... So I stop here and just sum it up:

I loved the first StarWars movies
I wasn´t sure about Phantom Menace
I am very much into sf and fantasy
I hate Attack of the clones and certainly won´t weatch Episode III

194376

I thought that Episode ii-AotC was a far superior film to i-TPM. It was at least a relatively serious film (rather than a kids movie).

Agreed Autist. I was impressed and relieved at AotC, especially after Phantom Menace. I've seen it 3 times now, which is the highest cinema viewing (for me) of any star wars film other than A New Hope. You want to talk about crappy Star Wars films? Try Return of the Jedi. Utter drivel filled with bloody muppets. The strength of the Empire layed low by the Ewoks. Yeah, right.
And to celebrate the ending of the evil Empire?
A p*ss up in a wood.
With teddy bears.
Utter sh*te.

No argument from me there!

So nobody thought the Sound of Music reference was actually very clever? Referencing scenes taking place in the idyllic Austrian mountains, shortly before that paradise was taken over by an evil fascist regime.

They don't just throw this stuff together, you know.

They don't?


()

Well, Abi, you don't like Buffy, so obviously your opinion is deeply suspect

I like Buffy - now that I actually get to watch it! I like Angel too. It was just the politics of envy!

Interesting story on IMDb about the worries the animators had with Yoda:

http://us.imdb.com/StudioBrief/2002/20020612.html#3

So are we all in agreement:
(Best to Worst)
1. Episode V (Empire Strikes Back)
2. Episode IV (Original Star Wars--Was there a subtitle?)
3. Episode II (Attack of the Clones)
4. Episode VI (Return of the Jedi)
5. Last, and certainly, least, Episode I (Phamtom Menace)

just wondering - who thoughut upa such a crap name for a star wars movie. Attack of the Clones? the clones had almost nothing to do with the movie. What are they gonna call the next movie - Return of Jar Jar Binks? Lucas should really spend longer then 5 seconds to create a movie title.

Wasn't Four called A New Hope?

Couldn't agree more Spook!