That balance to the force thing has always annoyed me. I think I eventually in decided that jedi's interpret "balance to the force",to mean "peace to the galaxy",for no apparent reason
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- Thread starter girish
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There are plenty of fan theories about the "high ground" line but basically they all assume that Lucas is clever and not completely retarded.
Which, obviously, is a very very bold assumption.
Which, obviously, is a very very bold assumption.
Yeah, except he at no point brings peace to galaxy, does he? The galaxy was already relatively peaceful to begin with. He just fecks it all up before eventually deciding to stop fecking it up. By which stage nearly all the good guys are dead and the galaxy is in bits. Pretty shit prophecy, really.
To be fair, I always thought the whole thing about Anakin eventually destroying the Emperor was him restoring balance. The first film...as in the one called episode 4
, begins with a whole bunch of evil people ruling the galaxy. Vader eventually restores balance by ending the Empire when he chucks his boss down the shaft. I think "balance" is meant to refer to "peace" essentially.
I love the Star Wars series, but my word extracting logic from George Lucas is like doing mental jumping jacks.
Nah I don't think so. When Anakin is born the Republic is on the verge of collapse for a thousand bureaucratic reasons + evil Palpatine is busy laying dastardly plans. Anakin isn't the catalyst for the Republic's collapse and the outbreak of galactic war, he just shows up at the right time to play a major role. From a prophetic standpoint, you could say Anakin's purpose is to restore balance to the Force, in the face of a grave threat (Palpatine).
Which of course makes the Jedi idiots (again). Simple logic would have let them know about a coming devastating war.
"Hmm, bring balance to the force, the prophecy says a Jedi will do? Interesting! But odd this is, since balanced the Force already is... So unbalanced first, the Force must become, in order for true the prophecy to be."
Yet clearly in all their wisdom they decided "Well things seem good now and oh look here's the kid from the prophecy! He's here to bring balance, awesome!" and never bothered questioning where the need for this balance might come from. (hint: it's the so obviously evil looking fecker controlling the government)
Interesting point, but weren't most of the Jedi skeptical about Anakin being the "chosen one"?
Good point, at least in the Phantom Menace I remember them all being skeptical despite QuiGon's certainty. However, you'd think that somewhere in between records of a planet disappearing from the Jedi Archives (which apparently was a big deal), those records pointing to a planet where a massive cloned army just happened to be waiting around, to the presence of a Sith Apprentice (Darth Maul) and the inevitable conclusion that there's another out there ("always two there are"), to the Jedi having to get involved in a massive medieval style battle etc...I mean at some point they should have realized things were spiralling out of control.
The biggest one is that when Darth Maul shows up they clearly conclude "yeah that was a Sith", and then basically ignore the matter entirely. "The Sith haven't been seen for a thousand years!"...well you just admitted they're back now. So what are you going to do?
a) Start finding out everything possible about Darth Maul and where he came from
b) Scour the galaxy for clues as to the last known remnants of the Sith
c) Meditate for a bit
d) Teach some younglings
Like really, what could possibly be higher up on the Jedi priority list than dealing with a Sith threat? I could be wrong but isn't that sort of the reason Jedi exist?
Except he doesn't bring any balance to the force or peace to the Galaxy, does he? Even if you accept that he wasn't the catalyst for the bad guys getting the upper hand, are things any better once he's finished? The emperor is dead, sure, but there are still a load of other bad guys around, no? Otherwise the upcoming sequels will be a bit dull. So for all the talk of "balancing the force" all he really does is keep killing people until things are roughly as balanced as they were when he started off killing people in the first place.
My assumption would be that after Vader's death a new Republic arises free from corruption, greed etc. I guess I always assumed the idea is that it would mirror real life empires (Rome, Ottomans etc) where you've usually got an uncommonly progressive society at the beginning, then over time it all eventually goes to shit until there's a massive collapse, and the cycle repeats somewhere else. Vader's death would be the resetting of that cycle to the beginning "progressive society" stage. Or something. That's probably reading far too much into it honestly, it's always been my assumption though.
@Annihilate Now! When's your write-up on Revenge coming?
@Annihilate Now! When's your write-up on Revenge coming?
Ah, i thought this bump was it!
Just watch the Plinkett reviews. They cover everything.
@Annihilate Now! When's your write-up on Revenge coming?
Arf! Well it's been a busy week... so I'm either watching it tonight or next Monday... so either tonight or Tuesday!
I've read most of the books in the expanded universe(I got hooked on them when I was 13 -- 11 years ago..).. they've come to a grinding halt recently, I think, with the announcement of the 7th movie which will basically render the books pointless.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_books
You should read the ones tagged as 'Adult novel' in that link.
I would suggest skipping the likes of 'Jedi Apprentice' series which are categorized as 'young adult novels' and are pretty mild, targeted at kids.
Go ahead and read the book trilogy on Darth Bane, which are outstanding. Follow it up with the Darth Plageuis novel. These novels mostly establish the 'Rule of Two' that's described in the movies -- that there can be only 2 Sith and no more.
After that, I found all the books pretty dull set in the timeline between the first and last movie -- except, read Revenge of the Sith's novelization which is one of the best bits of writing in the EU. Follow that up with The Thrawn trilogy, Jedi Academy trilogy and New Jedi Order(extremely long winded story arc of 19 books, which tell the story of aliens invading the known universe). There are more books after this, but that's a good place to start.
Oh, and there's a one off novelization called 'Courtship of Princess Leia' which comes somewhere in that timeline also, which is good.
noodle, the 3 'high ground' photos are genius. 
You've neglected to mention the X-Wing series there.
I got half way through the New Jedi Order and got bored and went back and read some of the other stuff - Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, Scoundrels, and now I'm reading Errant Knight.
Yea. The X-Wing books -- all the Aaron Allston books -- are really good, but I left them out because I don't think they're for people looking to get into the EU.
How far into the NJO did you get? I liked the series a lot. But I read more than half of them as they were being released, so the wait between the books made it better for me.
Some of the books are really good, some aren't. I remember Balance Point and Star by Star being great books.
I got halfway through Star by Star and then canned it off a few months ago - it was turning into a bit of a slog, but then I read them straight through in alphabetical order in a very short time (<2 months from Vector Prime to Star by Star) so I was getting a bit sick of Republic getting smashed, Jedi getting their asses kicked, Vong are whacked out religious zealots. It got to the point in Star by Star
where it seemed like about 150 pages straight of the Jedi search party just cutting their way through the Vong ship
I was trying to hold out for the Alston books (Enemy Lines I and II) but gave out in the end. I'll go back to them at some point - X-Wing: Mercy Kill is ostensibly the shining diamond on top of the mountain of stuff I have to read through, the carrot incentive to get me through everything chronologically (Dark Nest, Legacy of the Force, Destiny of the Jedi etc), so I suppose I need to finish it at some point.
I really liked Balance Point, and I also really really liked Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial (which I know was not massively favourably released, but I quite liked the writing style because it reminded me a lot of Kube McDowell's Black Fleet Crisis, and is the only EU book that actually bothers to call back to the Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy so it won points from me for that)
(For me money the Black Fleet Crisis is massive underrated).
Aaron Alston is probably my favourite Star Wars author. Starfighters of Adumar is easily my favourite EU book. As for jumping off point post ROTJ, I'd actually recommend starting with X-Wing: Rogue Squadron because that details how the Rebels take back Coruscant, and seeing as most of the subsequent books have bits that are set there I feel it's a start.
It's Tuesday
It's Tuesday
Watched it last night.
Alright so Revenge of the Sith - probably the best film from the original trilogy, though I'm not sure I would call it a "good" film... still it manages to maintain some level of OK-ness, until it shits its pants in the last 10 minutes.
- This opening space battle is actually quite decent... and thankfully quite low on the mad Jedi bantz we saw in AOTC.
- General Grievous.. what the feck? He coughs? He (later) has human organs? Surely this is a MASSIVE design flaw when creating a sodding robot? Thank god we skipped that really awkward scene where he has a full on asthma attack and has to retire to the corner for 10 minutes to cough his guts out and take his inhaler.
- Oh feck, we're back to Anakin and Padme romantic scenes.... though note to these two crazy love birds, excessive PDA in a massive public hall might not be the best idea for your super secret relationship... just saying. Also, should Anakin be able to sense other life forms, yet Padme has to tell him she's pregnant? He really is a naff jedi.
- feck me George... Palpatine says, and I quote "One more younger and more powerful" ... yes, because then you'll have an apprentice who is more betterer. Wanker.
- "It's only because I'm so in love" .... "NO! it's because I'm so in love with you" . Kill me now.
- "Fear of losing leads to the darkside, envy, greed leads to the dark side" ... good lord this dark side has a lot of entry points. I half expected Yoda to continue with "Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll, all lead..."
- It's also a bit of a bastard is this Jedi lark, as Yoda wonderfully tells Anakin "laern to let go of everything you fear to lose" ... well that's fecking nice, these films basically made being a Jedi about 97% less fun then you thought it would be.
- Right, Mace Windu. Let's be honest, he's a bit shit isn't he? He just sits around all day being a right moody fecker. On top of that, why on earth does he treat Anakin like utter shit all the time? Especially when he actually wants him to do important shit for the council? You're not a Master, you immature shit, but could you spy on the emperor for us? Cheers.
- Ah well... at least Obi Wan and Anakin don't act like cnuts to each other for the first half of this film
- Back to Grievous... with one of the more preposterous lines of the film, and I quote "I've been trained in your 'Jedi Arts'" ... That must have been some training with Dooku... who I can only imagine really couldn't be arsed that day and just told him "Just spin them around really fast, yeah, that'll work" ... because that's all the fecker seemingly does. I think the certificate he got after that Jedi training course could probably rival my Cycling Proficiency certificate in terms of achievement.
- General Grievous is a terrible name without his sidekicks Admiral Bodily and Captain Harm... god I wish there was a Captain Harm
- Anakin's EUREKA moment, "YOUR THE SITH LORD" ... no-shit dickhead. You mean his other references to the dark-side didn't tip you off? Moron
- Palpatine wanging around a light sabre looks ridiculous... though not as ridiculous as his giant apple head, which is both hilarious and awful. In fact, everything about Palpatine in this film is rubbish... when he's killing Windu, he for some reason shouts POWERRRRRRR!!! I mean, he might as well of just shouted COWABUNGA or some other nonsense. Towards the end of this film, when he's fighting Yoda, he does a hilarious arse of head fall over his desk too... it's definitely worth watching in slow motion... and backwards.
- I always get a bit of a laugh out of the Darth VADER naming scene. To be fair, its not an easy one to write (which is why there shouldn't have been a naming scene at all, he should have just said Arise Lord VADER at the end when he's all suited up and that would have been that) but the way he just plucks the name out of thin air is great. "I shall call you Darth... VADER. Yep, VADER, that's the one, good strong name... I like it... come let's eat brunch"
- Order 66 - more creative genius from Lucas here. Also, I find it wholly unfeasible that Stormtroopers - those easily killed folk from the original trilogy - could kill ALL Jedi bar two. Even with the element of surprise, I'm sure some could have survived. Again, another case of shit/idiotic Jedi
- "I've seen a security program of him..... Killing Younglins" This line must have been made for intentional comedy, because McGregor's delivery, along with his fist to mouth, kills me everytime.
- Apparently all turning to the dark side does is turn Anakin Emo. He now wears a hoody, has bags under his eyes, whinges more, and wears eyeliner.
- Yoda's tip to Obi-Wan is to "Search your feelings and you will find him" ... right, or he could just sneak on Padme's ship... yep, that's a better idea.
- Higher Ground. Urgh.
- Darth VADERs first words as Darth VADER are "Where is Padme?" ... way to kill one of the most iconic screen villains of all time George.
- Padme losing the will to live... poor las, but not before she finishes naming her children of course. Urgh, i'm dying urghh,, so weak, urgh LUKE THAT feckER IS CALLED LUKE, oh the pain, death argh, LEIA, feckING LEIA THAT ONE, arrrgghhhh... and dead.
- "Hide the children, somewhere the Sith can't detect" .... so they hide one of them on Anakin's home planet with his family? Jedi must be shit at hide and seek.
- Finally... why is Princess LEIA a princess?? Her dad is a Senator... her dead mother (who apparently she remembers in Return of the Jedi when talking to Luke - despite the fact that she spent all of 30 seconds with her) was also a senator... why is she a princess?
So that's the prequels done, I'd say Phantom maintains one level of badness throughout, AOTC fluctuates where some bits rise above the line of badness into quite decent, but an equal number of stuff goes way below the line to make it utterly awful, and Sith sort of stays above the line of badness for quite a bit of it, but manages to find its way back down everynow and then, especially at the end, where it plumets.
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I'm going to get my salad, your post will serve as lunchtime entertainment!
Leia, AN, she's called Leia.
Vader
In my defence, i'm currently texting a girl caled Leila... though i've never actually caller her Leia once... remind me to do that.No excuse for Vader though, apart from I'm a moron. But you all knew that already.
I'll let you off AN, because you're doing God's work in the general.
Revenge of the Sith coult have been quite good if Anakin wasn't played by someone who is incapable of showing any form of human emotion. I mean, R2D2, a robot that can't talk and has no face, was genuinely a better actor than him. Also:
- Anakin, within five minutes, goes from being one of the good guys, to calmly hacking up innocent children with a light sabre. I mean, there's really no between ground here? They spent the best part of three films building up as if his turn would be driven by him being emotionally compromised and lashing out at the jedi in anger...then he just goes and does it in a completely calm manner, just because some guy with an onion as a head told him to.
- Obi Wan jumps down from the high ground in order to confront General Grevous face to face...then ends up killing him by shooting him with a gun, repeatedly.
- Where did Obi Wan find that weird dinosaur creature that can out run and manouvre a giant robot motorbike wheel whilst carrying him on its back?
- "I am sending you to the Mustafa system, you will be safe there"...Mustafa system ends up being lava covered planet which causes the death of just about every single person in the film who visits it
- "Only a Sith deals in absolutes"...
"Are you absolutely sure about that?"
"Yes"
"....."
"Bugger"
- It wasn't the fact that Anakin had murdered children, alligned with the Sith Lord, or plotted to rule the galaxy that cemented his status as a Sith...it was because he deals in absolutes.
- Why DID Palpatine's face shrivel into that weird oniony shape? ...Did Yoda look like a human until one day Samuel L Jackson got pissed off and electricuted him?
- You can turf out a Chancellor because one person gives them a vote of no confidence, but you can't do anything about it if a Chancellor just randomly decides to rule over the entire galaxy all by himself.
- If Anakin is so much younger and stronger than Count Dooku, how come he can't defeat Obi Wan, yet Count Dooku can, easily, WHILST fighting other people at the same time?
- Anakin, within five minutes, goes from being one of the good guys, to calmly hacking up innocent children with a light sabre. I mean, there's really no between ground here? They spent the best part of three films building up as if his turn would be driven by him being emotionally compromised and lashing out at the jedi in anger...then he just goes and does it in a completely calm manner, just because some guy with an onion as a head told him to.
- Obi Wan jumps down from the high ground in order to confront General Grevous face to face...then ends up killing him by shooting him with a gun, repeatedly.
- Where did Obi Wan find that weird dinosaur creature that can out run and manouvre a giant robot motorbike wheel whilst carrying him on its back?
- "I am sending you to the Mustafa system, you will be safe there"...Mustafa system ends up being lava covered planet which causes the death of just about every single person in the film who visits it
- "Only a Sith deals in absolutes"...
"Are you absolutely sure about that?"
"Yes"
"....."
"Bugger"
- It wasn't the fact that Anakin had murdered children, alligned with the Sith Lord, or plotted to rule the galaxy that cemented his status as a Sith...it was because he deals in absolutes.
- Why DID Palpatine's face shrivel into that weird oniony shape? ...Did Yoda look like a human until one day Samuel L Jackson got pissed off and electricuted him?
- You can turf out a Chancellor because one person gives them a vote of no confidence, but you can't do anything about it if a Chancellor just randomly decides to rule over the entire galaxy all by himself.
- If Anakin is so much younger and stronger than Count Dooku, how come he can't defeat Obi Wan, yet Count Dooku can, easily, WHILST fighting other people at the same time?
I once saw a film in which Hayden Christensen wasn't irredeemably shit at acting.
Really?
There's a theory that his face was naturally like that, and the regular 'human' face was simply a disguise.
Really really. He's truly awful in Star Wars, but so is Portman at times. They all got Lucased.
2 questions.
1) Has anyone actually watched all 6 in the correct order over a short space of time.
2) Is there any plans for the final 3?
Ta!
1) Has anyone actually watched all 6 in the correct order over a short space of time.
2) Is there any plans for the final 3?
Ta!
I thought Lucas ballsed up by not correctly bridging the gap between his normal 50 year old Palpatine in TPM and the ballsacked cloak monkey in ROTJ. He looks younger in the third one than in the second, and he put the electrifying scene in as a cop out.
I tried to watch all 6 in less than an hour and just couldn't.
The higher ground?
Yes, well other a week or two I think.
I must do this. I only watched the new trilogy once and never within a few weeks.