Cheap Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) (1977)

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This is a genuine review. One that I refused to write until I watched all 6 blu-ray movies (with my girlfriend -more on that later), all deleted scenes, listened to 8 of the 12 commentaries and sampled the other 4. In other words, this review is -unlike so many 1 star reviews written prior to the release of this collection that were based on rumors and the person doing the critique's imagination -REAL.

All changes and alterations will be noted, for better or for worse, so you can decide if this collection is for you. Also, for the alterations/changes, I'm adding THE GIRLFRIEND TEST (she likes the movies, but never "loved" them) and THE FANBOY TEST (I have seen all 3 sequels at least a hundred times and the prequels at least 15 times each). Now onto the reviews ...

PHANTOM MENACE Review:

I debated going in the order the series was filmed, but I've never watched them in chronological order so figured I'd take a chance. The Phantom Menace has went from a beloved Star Wars' film in most fanboy eyes ("Not as good as A New Hope and Empire, but better than Return of the Jedi" was the common refrain) to the most hated of the prequels. The movie definitely isn't all that it could be. It isn't even close. But it has the best lightsaber battle of the trilogy, an awesome opening sequence, and WAY less Jar Jar than you remember (it's just that he's so SHRILL whenever he appears). It's also the only Star Wars' prequel that FEELS like Star Wars. It has plenty of real sets and is structured much like the original 3.

The Movie Itself: 7 out of 10

PHANTOM MENACE Picture Quality:

The picture quality of The Phantom Menace is the worst of the bunch. It's filled with TONS of annoying Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) leading to a LOT of clayface. And even with that, the digital FX are still much sharper than the filmed shots of actors (this was the last Star Wars' film to actually be shot on film), which leads to the actors oftentimes looking out-of-focus or "blurred" when compared to their annoying digital counterparts. This one still needs a lot of work, and I'm sure that was what George intended -as he wants to sell us this set all over again in 7-10 years. In 3D.

Picture Quality: 6 out of 10 (still WAY better than the DVD)

PHANTOM MENACE Sound Quality:

The sound in the film is INCREDIBLE. It is some of the best surround sound ever produced on blu-ray. It genuinely sounds better than the the theatrical version. The Pod Race is, in my opinion, the best sounding segment of film ever put on a blu-ray disc.

Sound Quality: 10 out of 10

PHANTOM MENACE 2011 changes:

The horrible cross-eyed, stoned looking Yoda puppet has been changed to CG.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: Yes, she noticed. Yes, she liked it better.

THE FANBOY TEST: Yes, I noticed. Yes, I liked it better.

The HORRIBLE FX when Obi and Qui run away from the droid destroyers down the hall where you could see THROUGH them (Obi and Qui) is removed.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: No, she didn't notice. Yes, when compared to the DVD she liked it better.

THE FANBOY TEST: No contest. It is a GREAT improvement.

ATTACK OF THE CLONES Review:

Attack of the Clones has always been -prior to this blu-ray release -my least favorite of the 6 movies in the saga. This release won me over. The movie is the best paced of the prequel trilogy and second to Empire Strikes Back in pacing, overall. The downfall is the HIDEOUS "romantic" dialogue between Anakin and Padme. What a load of garbage. It's still as laughable and as intolerable as it was at the midnight screening a decade ago. Fortunately, the rest of the movie holds up very well. This is the best directing Lucas has done since A New Hope (aside from his poor direction of actors). It moves at a brisk pace and keeps the viewer involved from start to finish.

The Movie Itself: 8 out of 10

ATTACK OF THE CLONES Picture Quality:

Sadly, the movie suffers from the same DNR as Phantom Menace. As it was shot digitally, it isn't as glaring, but there are a few moments of waxy-face that are nearly intolerable. On the other hand, the CG in the movie has never looked better. The end battle (which is essentially one big cartoon) has some breathtaking moments.

Picture Quality: 7 out of 10

ATTACK OF THE CLONES Sound Quality:

Incredible. Amazing. Ear-shatteringly awesome! Every bit as great as Phantom Menace. If TPM and AoTC lived up to their soundtracks, they'd be the best movies ever!

Sound Quality: 10 out of 10

ATTACK OF THE CLONES 2011 Changes:

Anakin hears junk (such as his mother) while he's dreaming -indicating it's a terrifying dream, instead of a wet one.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: No, she didn't notice. No, she didn't care.

THE FANBOY TEST: I noticed something was different, but not exactly what (which led me to look it up). It did make the scene slightly less humiliating to watch.

REVENGE OF THE SITH Review:

Revenge of the Sith is a bleak film. If you're a diehard fan, it comes close to being traumatic. Lucas didn't sell this one short. Not at all. Sure, it should have been at least 3 hours and expanded further on Anakin's change to the Dark Side. That said -the Emperor thought he could change Luke in a matter of seconds in Return of the Jedi. So at least it makes a bit more of an effort. The opening space battle is incredible. The banter from the original trilogy is back and nearly lives up to its predecessors. This is a very good movie. It still suffers from some of the inane "romantic" dialogue between Anakin and his lover, but Star Wars' fans have learned to deal with some cheesiness. Honestly -no SW film, like no pizza (at least no good pizza), is without cheese -not even Empire.

The Movie Itself: 10 out of 10

REVENGE OF THE SITH Picture Quality:

Unlike the first 2 DNR destroyed prequels, Revenge of the Sith looks GREAT! As a matter of fact, it's the best looking of all 6 films. The opening space battle is right up there with Avatar and Planet Earth as the best looking thing you'll ever see on blu-ray. This movie is, visually, reference quality. If you're proud of your set up and don't own this film, you no longer have a reason to be proud.

Picture Quality: 10 out of 10

REVENGE OF THE SITH Sound Quality:

I guess -if you're a Star Wars' fan -you can't have it all. This mix is muddled and doesn't sound nearly as good as the other 5. Still -they set a very high standard and RoTS definitely impressive.

Sound Quality: 8 out of 10

REVENGE OF THE SITH 2011 Changes:

I noticed none.

A NEW HOPE Review:

What can be said that hasn't been said already? A New Hope introduced us to this crazy universe. It was like nothing we had ever seen. It was Flash Gordon for a new generation. It was pure amazement. It literally defined the word "entertainment" and, because of that, lines of geeks and non-geeks surrounded every theater playing the film. Aside from the dated 70s looking computers (which is a change I wish George Lucas WOULD make) and a few clunky lines from the actors (mainly Mark Hammill), the movie is pure perfection.

The Movie Itself: 10 out of 10

A NEW HOPE Picture Quality:

There's quite a bit of DNR toward the beginning -especially on Princess Leia's face, but it lessens throughout. There's also some terrible dirt during the Tatooine scenes and a few blurry looking shots. That said, the film looks GOOD. Almost too good. Better than I thought I'd ever see a movie this dated appear.

Picture Quality: 9 out of 10

A NEW HOPE Sound Quality:

Picks up right where Attack of the Clones left off (Sith was a misfire). The sound is so tremendous, you'll have trouble believing this movie was released in 1977. It sounds better than 99.9999999999% of movies released today!

Sound Quality: 10 out of 10

A NEW HOPE 2011 Changes:

R2 hides behinds some CG rocks that look pretty real.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: No, she didn't notice. No, she didn't care.

THE FANBOY TEST: I noticed and didn't care until the rocks suddenly vanished. Sorta lazy, Lucas.

Luke's lightsaber is color corrected during his training.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: No, she didn't notice. No, she didn't care.

THE FANBOY TEST: I noticed (because I was LOOKING for it) and was happy Lucas corrected the error.

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Review:

As a fan of film and a fan of "event" films, I believe Empire Strikes Back to be the BEST event film ever made (along with Raiders of the Lost Ark). It is absolutely perfect, from beginning to end and, frankly, my favorite movie of all time. 'Nuff said.

The Movie Itself: 10 out of 10

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Picture Quality:

Best it's ever looked. Yes, there's some grain in the scenes on Hoth, but at least the scenes on Hoth are WHITE again -instead of blue! Not quite reference quality, but VERY close.

Picture Quality: 9 out of 10

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Sound Quality:

Let me just repeat what I said for the other ones and double it: Incredible. Amazing. Ear-shatteringly awesome! Wait 'til Han flies you into the asteroid field!

Sound Quality: 10 out of 10

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 2011 Changes:

Can't see the puppeteer's hand on the Wampa anymore.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: No, she didn't notice. No, she didn't care.

THE FANBOY TEST: I noticed because I read about it and I didn't really care.

The whole scene in Cloud City with Chewie retrieving 3PO has been color corrected and sparks have been added.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: No, she didn't notice. Yes, she cared a little bit when I compared the two.

THE FANBOY TEST: I noticed and cared. It looks a LOT better, now.

RETURN OF THE JEDI Review:

This is the suckiest of the original 3 films. In a lot of ways, this is the worst Star Wars' film ever made. Yes, there is an awesome puppet creation in Jabba the Hutt, but it also has teddy-bears destroying the Empire. It's ridiculous. Han Solo acts like he's been brain-damaged by the carbonite. Luke isn't as much of a Jedi as he is Luke who we're told is a Jedi. The "sister" angle is wedged in and embarrassing. The premise of being told you HAVE to DESTROY Vader and yet being told you'll turn to the Dark Side if you strike him down is pure insanity. Another Death Star with basically the same exact weakness is silly and shameful. C3PO being this great storyteller after claiming he's not very good at telling stories in A New Hope is lazy or ignorant. This movie was George just wanting to get his "9 part" saga over in 3 sections. I'm sorry if your child blinders are blinding you, but this is, hands down, the junkiest of the Star Wars' films. It makes all 3 prequels look like Citizen Kane. Complaining aside, it does have an AMAZING space battle and a pretty groovy speeder bike chase through Endor.

The Movie Itself: 7 out of 10

RETURN OF THE JEDI Picture Quality:

The picture quality of Return of the Jedi is second only to Revenge of the Sith. There's less DNR than in any of the other 5 and it really does look like it did on the big screen. If not for the large amount of uncleaned grain during the Tatooine scenes, I'd say it looked better than it did theatrically.

Picture Quality: 10 out of 10

RETURN OF THE JEDI Sound Quality:

Like every movie in this box, excluding Sith, the sound is as good as modern technology gets.

Sound Quality: 10 out of 10

RETURN OF THE JEDI 2011 changes:

Jabba's palace has a bigger door made of CG.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: No, she didn't notice. When I showed her the DVD, she liked the new version better.

THE FANBOY TEST: Yes, I noticed. I liked both about the same.

Han thawing from carbonite is slightly different (through CG).

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: Yes, amazingly, she noticed. She liked it "way" better.

THE FANBOY TEST: I noticed. I thought it was a little cheesy, but was fine with the change.

A Dug is added to one scene, but takes away from nothing.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: She didn't notice or care.

THE FANBOY TEST: I noticed and thought it was awesome. Perfect tie-in to the original trilogy. Just wish they made it look SLIGHTLY less CG.

Ewoks have blinking CG eyes.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: She didn't notice, but when I showed her the older version she thought the new one was "10 times better!"

THE FANBOY TEST: I noticed immediately and thought the new version was, let's say, 3 times better.

R2D2's attack is now over-the-top CG.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: She didn't notice. When I compared, she didn't care.

THE FANBOY TEST: I HATED this change. It looked fake and I can't think of a single reason why they changed it. It sucked.

Darth Vader says "No" and then says, "Noooo." Contrary to rumor, he never screams "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" like he did in Revenge of the Sith.

THE GIRLFRIEND TEST: She noticed. She didn't care.

THE FANBOY TEST: I noticed and, to be honest, didn't really care. It's tactfully done. It doesn't take away the silent moments where we see Vader, just through his eyes, starting to hate the Emperor and sympathize with his son. It ties together well with the original and if you're whining about this by writing a fake 1 star review before even watching the blu-ray, you need to get a life.

EXTRAS:

Awesome. But I won't give them a 5 out of 5, as they should have included ALL deleted scenes and ALL extras from the DVD releases AND the blu-ray releases (this is George's greedy way of making us all hang onto our DVDs instead of selling them used). Billionaire George is into making billions more. Still, this is the best set of extras the Star Wars' saga has ever had. By far.

Overall? This is easily the best Star Wars' release ever. This is an event. If you want to deny yourself the pleasure of owning this treasure because the original versions aren't included, I more than understand. But, if you are a huge fan of the saga AND writing a 1 star review before even seeing the blu-rays, you are both lying to your audience and denying yourself to the point of being pathetic. May the force be with you. Always.

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I'm going to make this short and sweet. There is no need to review the story lines contained in these 6 movies. That has been done in the past. Everyone now knows that Lucas has made further changes to the films if you aren't aware of it, then google it.

This is what you do NOT know: How is the audio and video quality of this Blu Ray Release?

Here is the plain and simple answer: AWESOME

Do I love all of the movies for their content? No.

Was I completely blown away by the superb audio mix? YES.

Is the video quality great? YES.

If you are a fan even a casual fan with any kind of decent home theater equipment, then you owe it to yourself to buy this box set. It is FANTASTIC.

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Having seen the films, here's my very brief updated review.

It's not as bad as some feared it would be (given that they're older transfers -a route I still maintain was a cheap way to go). But it could still stand to be improved in a lot of ways with a new trasfer.

As to the films themselves:

1. There have been changes. Some work; some have caused even more fan contention. I'm one of those that actually wishes for more changes. I think TPM, AOTC, ROTS could stand to have major editing and fx work done to them. So put me in the camp of wanting even MORE special edition changes to both the special effects and narrative.

2. There's no original versions. Even though I prefer the SEs, I think fans should be able to get the version they grew up with.

3. Special features: Everything from the past DVD set should've been ported over. It hasn't, so hold on to your DVD copies if you want those documentaries. There are still features from the old videos that haven't been released on digital.

Hopefully, one day the equivalent of the Blade Runner or Aliens blu-ray sets, which contained all the different versions of the films (including new versions), will come out. This isn't the Ultimate Edition box set that fans had been teased with for years, and will not include extended versions of all six films. Additionally, the "100 hours of new documentary footage" fans had been teased with by Rick MaCallum in 2007 isn't here, which implies an eventual later set, likely in another 7/8 years.

In the meantime, the films look great, and this is the best version available for home viewing. Some good news: the grotesque puppet Yoda in TPM was (thankfully) replaced with a digital version that looks like Yoda. It helps TPM quite a bit (though, as I said, more is needed for that film).

For those who want to look deeper, take a moment to read about Star Wars' sordid history on video -including the reasons four of the six films were downgraded in image quality -on the site, The Secret History of Star Wars (in the article: "Saving Star Wars.")

Honest reviews on Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) (1977)

George,

I appreciate your attempt to clean up matte lines, wonky lightsabers, and improve sound and picture quality in your Blu-ray release.

However, I don't understand why you want to make jarring changes to your characters that make once powerful cinematic moments now creepy or distracting.

A lot of people have made the case for Han shooting first (as in the theatrical cut) in Episode IV being a much more interesting and accurate characterization, so I'm not going to touch that.

This review is going to be principally about the changes you made to scenes with me in it.

For instance, in the original cut, when I throw Emperor Palpatine down the death star's reactor shaft, there is a moment of silent deliberation where, oscillating my expressionless masked face back and forth, I decide whether or not to sacrifice my life for the life of my son. The lack of dialogue allows the viewer to read more subtlety and indecisiveness into this act, and the silence is truer to my character's previous dialogue in films IV-VI.

In this release, you decided to have me scream "NO! NOOOOO!" at the very beginning of the scene, removing any of the subtlety or conflict, inserting a goofy, lamely comic line not befitting of my badassness, and consequently dulling the emotional significance of a father's redemptive sacrifice of his son.

What's worse, you replace Sebsastian Shaw's peaceful and redeemed ghostly image on endor with Hayden Christiansen's garish, creepy, pedefile-like smirk.

Not only does this not make any sense, because the last time I was alive (on the Light or the Dark side) I looked like Sebastian Shaw, and Obi-Wan and Yoda's ghosts look exactly as they did before they died... but again, Hayden's horrible acting and the visual unevenness of the three actors blunt what could have been a great, emotionally significant scene.

The scene starts great with Mark Hamill's excellent contemplative stare, coupled with peaceful acting from Sir Alec Guinness, but it ends with Hayden Christiansen's disgusting smirk, ruining what was one of the emotional high points and one of the key resolutions of the trilogy.

I keep trying to Skype you please pick up so I can force choke you and prevent you from making any more changes to your movies.

Sincerely,

Darth Vader

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These latest scene changes are the final proof that George Lucas has lost his mind, however they are NOT the main reason why I just cancelled my blu-ray pre-order. I had been excitedly counting down the days until this release, but this time George/Lucasfilm has given the whole Star Wars community the middle finger by not correcting many of the problems (color) which plagued the 2004 release. This blu-ray has virtually all of the same issues as the DVD. I'm talking about Vader's bubblegum pink lightsaber, the super high orange or purple explosions opposed to the more realistic white hot/yelow effects. These were especially noticable during the Battle of Yavin, Tantive IV shootout, and the carbon freezing chamber duel. They stuck out to the point to where they were almost distracting. After seeing the prequels, it's hard enough to still view Vader as that ultimate bad a** villian I feared in my childhood, but it's now near impossible to do it when he's chasing after Luke with a pink lightsaber.

Lucasfilm has been made well aware of these issues thru complaints made by ticked off fans since the DVD launched 7 years ago. Now in the last year of hyping up of this Blu Ray release, Lucasfilm has assured us Star Wars fans that our complaints had been heard and addressed in this release, the Blu-Ray would NOT have the same color and audio problems as the dvd's, they went back to the original negatives and spent 3 years fixing these particular problems, they manually went thru frame by frame in the problem scenes fixing and making other color corrections to bring them close again to the original theatrical versions.

Heck Starwars.com displays a screenshot of Luke's fixed blue lightsaber on the Millenium Falcon in ANH, boasting about how they went back and fixed these problems. I have seen the Blu-Rays myself and I can confirm this is NOT the case!! Yes it is fixed for that particular frame and a few other frames, but the next shot of the same scene his lightsaber shifts back to green, just like in the screwed up dvd release, then goes to bright white, then back to a very pale blue color. Yes they fixed ONLY a small portion of that scene, left the rest of it untouched with the wrong color, while implying that the whole thing has been corrected. The lightsaber scenes in the other movies, Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi, are practically UNTOUCHED WITH THE SAME color and timing problems that the DVD's have. It's like Lucasfilm is only willing to put in a half a** effort in anything they release anymore.... and why not?? If it says Star Wars on the box it's going to sell.

Now for the changed scenes:

A New Hope

When R2-D2 hides in the shallow cave from the Sand People, there have been CGI rocks added in. The new rocks now cover up half of R2's body which makes him hidden better. However when he leaves a few seconds later, he just pulls forward and the rocks simply disappear!! Did they just forget to alter that scene too?

Obi-Wan's introduction, he scares the Sand People away with a Krayt dragon call, has been redone again and now sounds like a jr. high kid making funny noises in Windows sound recorder. When I first heard it I thought no way, it's someone pulling a joke. It's sounds so bad and is so out of place, they made absolutely no effort to mix it in at all. You'll just have to hear it for yourselves... but sadly it's real. Unbelievable

Greedo still shoots first. It is alot better than the DVD version.

Empire Strikes Back

Wampa's arm in fixed. Looks good about time.

Return of the Jedi

Jabba's Palace has a bigger door... ok?

New CGI alien walking around in Jabba's palace as everyone sleeps. Poorly done and sticks out worse than a sore thumb... looks like Sebulba from Episode I?

Ewok's now have CGI eyelids, blink, and sometimes make a clicking noise when they do. (maybe a tribute to Muppets/Fraggle Rock?)

Darth Vader now screams "Noooooooooooo" as he picks up and throws the emperor, much like the way he does at the end of Episode III.... now twice!! This ruins a great and one of my favorite scenes. It's bad. The voice doesn't even sound like Vader's and it's just lazily pasted over the rest of the audio. Lucasfilm didn't make the effort to blend in at all..... what are they thinking????? If you really feel you need to add something like that, at least attempt a decent job.

This has just gotten laughingly ridiculous. There is no excuse this time for ignoring what the fans want and taking away more of the original magic the movies had back in the 70's and 80's. Besides the deleted scenes, this is not a quality release. I've cancelled my pre-order and I'm done with anything new to do with Star Wars. This includes the new upcoming 3d versions which will no doubt have even more stupid changes and conveniently opens the door for yet another Blu-Ray release. I have my unaltered copies on my bonus DVD and that's all I need.

I urge anyone who feels the same way to NOT fill the pockets of George Lucas anymore!! I don't understand how they think it's necessary tinker with new stupid voiceovers and Ewok eyes, but not fix the more obvious and distracting problems of this and the previous release. All the while Lucasfilm insinuated, just as recently as last week, that they had indeed corrected those problems..... THAT IS FALSE ADVERTISING!! They also claimed to have exhaustively sent this set thru 3 levels of quality control which is either another lie or Lucas has the most elite team of a** kissers ever assembled. I've defended the first two prequels, the Special Editions, and George Lucas himself over the years, but I'm done. For the first time in 25 years they will not be getting another dime of my money.

***UPDATE 9/9/11***

I've viewed the bonus content which the deleted scenes are no doubt the best of all the extra features. As for the Prequels, the previously released DVD deleted scenes are NOT included, so hang onto your old discs. The older movies include scenes that have been Star Wars folklore for years. Some are good and the quality is what you expect for deleted scenes cut over 30 years ago. However some of scenes I particularly had interest in, seem to be made from degraded alternate shots... since there are productions stills and video snippets that Lucasfilm released, over the years in different supplemental products, showing the same scenes taken from higher quality sources. On another note, the deleted ESB content shows the scenes leading up to and the aftermath of the wampa fight with rebel soldiers in Echo Base. The battle itself is completely omitted in this release, which is a shame since the battle scene was filmed and possibly finalized before it was cut from the final release. Luckily there are various stills of this scene still floating around and it was covered by Star Wars Insider years back. The rest of the content is very good and it's great finally seeing some of the other scenes... however after viewing I get the impression Lucasfilm is purposely holding back some of these materials for a future release.

Buy Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Customer Ratings:

Perhaps giving this movie two stars was a bit harsh. But, I couldn't bring myself to give it three. No way. It's just too boring. This is a movie that is truly sleep-inducing. The plot is a muddle--trade federations, knights fighting on behalf of commerce, a race here, a race there, muddle, muddle, seven large, indisinguishable underwater monsters, etc. Even my 11-year old couldn't stay up through it when we saw for the second time (the pain, the pain) on pay-per-view. I truly love the original Star Wars trilogy. But those films were good in all the ways this film isn't. A true fairy tale story form, great acting turns by the entire cast, energy and enthusiasm, and a great set of villains. The worst thing about this film? The AWFUL kid who plays the young Darth Vader. You'd think after an hour of filming they'd have dumped him. Hmmm. He must be related to George Lucas. Rent it if you must, but no need to buy the darn thing.

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I saw this film on theatrical release in and was very disappointed. Of course, alot of the disappointment initially had to do with the incredible hype build-up that accompanied the new trilogy. Nothing could have lived up to the public's expectations.

That having been said, The Phantom Menace is disappointing not so much because it stinks, but because, I felt, with some additional tweaking, it could have been much much better. Its almost as if Lucas got the plot ideas and character concepts developed to a schematic level and then sort of lost interest in them and did not develop them any further.

Specific gripes:

1. We never really bond with or understand Qui-Gon's character or his relationship with young Anakin. He states that he thinks Anakin may be the chosen one, but that is not really sufficient. We need to see an emotional bond or some kind of identification between the two, but it just isn't there.

2. Not to pick on Jake Lloyd (he's probably a great kid), but Lucas or whoever just did not get a good performance out of him. Plus, there is no hint in young Anakin at this point of character traits or flaws that might later foreshadow his fall. Yoda says he sees anger and fear in Anakin and the Jedi Council make vague predications that he may eventually be dangerous, but we as audience members just don't see it. We are supposed to infer that Anakin is somehow damaged by his life as as slave and subsequent separation from his mother, but again, we don't see any of this. His life as a slave doesn't seem to indicate any hardship; his big scene saying goodbye to his mom is not particularly moving (mainly due to wooden acting by Lloyd; Pernilla August as his mom does a good job thought). Also, if he's a slave, how does he have time/resources to build robots and pod racers? Just not very true to life.

Perhaps if we had seen Anakin and/or his mom subjected to some sort of abuse or exploitation we would have a better indication both of the fear and anger in Anakin and also a potential emotional reason for why Qui-Gon wants to rescue Anakin. When I reflected on it, I thought it would almost be better if Anakin were like the feral boy in Road Warrior II: an unkempt, unclean, and agressive character that had to be somewhat tamed and civilized by his Jedi rescuers. We don't see any character flaws, any little hints of selfishness, anger, fear or frustration. As is, young Anakin is just an average cute kid; we don't see any depth to why he wants to escape his life as a slave or run off to join the Jedi so we don't really care.

3. Source of humor: The original series had a mix of humor based upon the droids 3PO and R2D2 and also with the human characters (primarily interactions between Solo, Leia, and Luke). In TPM, the primary source of humor is generated from droids and Jar Jar Binks with little or no humorous banter or interaction between human characters. This has two effects: 1)relying on computer-generated characters for humor means the primary form of humor becomes physical slapstick, which is one of the main complaints about the Jar Jar charcter; and 2)the interactions between the human main characters, when deprived of humor, makes their relationships seem dry and mechanical, another source of the shallow characterizations.

The one humorous moment that stands out is when, after being ambushed by the Trade Feds at the beginning, Obi-Won says to Qui-Gon with a wry smile: "Well, you were right about one thing Master....the negotiations were short!" This one moment stands out because it is one of the few jokes between human characters and it works and expresses some of Obi-Won's personality. It also effectively echoes some of the banter and attitude that made Solo's character so liekable and crucial to the original films, an attitude and sensibility that is lacking in TPM. As is, we are stuck with Jar Jar's pratfalls for yuks, and it just doesn't work unless you are 5 years old.

4. The shallowness of Darth Maul: Similar to other problems with character depth, we don't know enough about Maul. He says early in the film that at last he will have revenge on the Jedi. Revenge for what? We never know beyond vague notions that the Sith and Jedi are ancient enemies. That is not enough. We either need to be shown more back story on this or have some reason for Maul's motivation. His fight scenes with the Jedi at the end are dynamite and clearly the actor is very skilled in martial arts and projects a menacing attitude with only minimal dialog or screen time, but we never really know anything about him other than "he is a bad guy" and that is not enough.

5. Plot goofiness. As others have pointed out, all the midi-chlorian business is a red herring of mumbo-jumbo that takes the mystical mystery out of the Force and reduces it to a medical condition. The Jedi are supposed to be wise, powerful seers, but them seem oblivious to the presence and intentions of the bad guys over and over again. Having young Anakin build C3PO is silly and seems like a forced "circle closer". Further, having Anakin start out on Tatooine doesn't seem right and seems like another circle closer that is forced. Wouldn't he remember all this years later as Darth Vader in Episode 4? Wouldn't there be some result of this coincidence? As noted above, having a slave that doesn't seem to be deprived or suffering and has the time/resources to build robots and pod racers as a hobby seems goofy too.

Again, it seemed to me like Lucas got the plot and characters to a certain point and then quit on them. With only a little extra effort or different emphasis on certain elements, the movie could have been much improved and the audience would have had more insight into the characters and identified with them more. As is, the lack of character development combined with wooden acting makes it hard for the audience to care. The special effects set pieces are spectacular, and the computer generated elements are pioneering and well executed, but without a reason to care about or like the characters, its hard to get too excited.

Again, not a horrid movie, but frustrating because with just a few changes or extra effort, it could have been so much better.

POSTSCRIPT (2011)to my original year 2005 review:

This movie does not get better with time or repeated viewings. Further, the contention of some fans who like this movie and claim it should be viewed in the context of the other films (now complete) is not only a misguided apologist stance, but outright doesn't hold water. Why? Because if you compare TPM to any of the 5 other SW films, it is clearly the idiot bastard son of the bunch, wheezing and drooling in the corner.

In review, I give credence to a theory that a lot of other reviewers have given: in essence, Lucas was boiling everything down in this film to aim at the 5-year-old to 8-year-old demographic (probably to sell toys and mechandise, the real unexpected treasure that the original trilogy coughed up back in the 70's and 80's) and, as a result, bored everyone else to tears and/or made older fans hopping mad. However, huge stretches of this movie are so slow-moving that I bet a lot of the the target audience squirmed around in their seats anyway.

The second theory that other viewers have posed that seems to ring true with me as well is that Lucas is in a position now where he's THE MAN and, as a result, has no one around him that is willing to bring up constructive criticism to him or challenge weaknesses in the plot, script, or characters. Back in the day, while the original SW was certainly his vision, that film had to rely on a far more collaborative process to get made and address the many challenges its making entailed. With TPM, Lucas had total personal control and it seems like no one around Lucas had the guts to say: "George, we need a good kid actor to play a central character like Anakin, not some cutesy wooden mop-topped kid from TV commericals" or "Damn, George, that Jar Jar is irritating as hell!" or "George, did you realize all the aliens seem to be stand-ins for offensive real-life planet Earth racial / cultural stereotypes?" or "All the scenes with Kabuki-Natalie are boring boring boring" or "This movie is all-CGI and no plot and no character depth!" or "This movie is full of jumbled-up crap that makes no sense!". Further, modern movie technology further consolidated control with Lucas in that the 1970's technology required many people's input to solve technical problems and was far less malleable; modern CGI allows Lucas to personally review, tweak, and endlessly revise every aspect of the film just the way he wants it.

In a nutshell, there is a reason that the Irvin Kerschner (R.I.P.)directed "Empire" is widely viewed as the best of the 6 films. How Lucas could see dailies of some of the performances he got out of his actors in TPM and not realize things stank or, at the very least, weren't working is beyond me, unless he was constantly surrounded by lackeys and toadies saying "That's great, Mr. Lucas! Not explaining anything about Darth Maul makes him sooooo mysterious! Having Jar Jar be a moron who speaks like Stepin Fetchit is really cool! He needs more screen time! You're a genius!". In retrospect, I wish that Lucas had handed over all the remaining films from "Return" all the way thru the newer Pre-Quel trilogy to others with Lucas only having an overall story arc / consulting role.

I know that Lucas is irritated by fans who act as if he "owes them" to handle all these movies a certain way (its HIS vision, as I'm sure he'd point out), and maybe it is unfair to whine about how Lucas could have / should have directed the story a different way. But the fact is that TPM is not a very good movie, and regardless of quibbles about overall direction of the story line, Lucas did owe it to fans to at least not make a stinker-roo that not only insults fans above the age of 8, but really tarnishes the legacy from the first trilogy. Lucas seems to think these movies are only for kids now, and has, at least in the case of TPM, clearly targeted them accordingly.

However, while I guess one could argue that adults should only go to see films like "My Dinner with Andre" or the oevre of Ingmar Bergman and leave anything less mature and intellectual to the kiddies, the fact is millions and millions of adults went to and enjoyed the first trilogy (and other action-adventure-fantasy films) and it is not unrealistic to expect millions of adults would have some interest in the Pre-Quel trilogy as well. Further, it is not unreasonable to expect those adults would have some expectation that the Pre-Quel trilogy would not only have something worthwhile for grown ups, but would also build and expand upon, in a worthy way, the original trilogy that was so well-liked. Lucas, frankly, dropped the ball on this one; contentions that it should be enough simply because it sprang out of Lucas' mind and vision are not sufficient.

One could even argue that Lucas now has more contempt than anything else for his adult audience and for the fanboys who gripe about things like "How could he make Greedo shoot first?" (the big Special Edition tweak that many felt was a poke in the eye.) Lucas seems to go thru great lengths to tweak things that don't need it and then ignores or is oblivious to things that are huge, infected carbuncles staring him right in the face, like crappy dialog, unrealistic plot devices, bad casting, and wooden acting. Its almost as if with TPM he's saying "Grow up, already! Trix are for kids! Don't forget to buy your kid a Happy Meal with an authorized LucasFilm toy on the way home!"

In short, Lucas seems to be taking his own films far less seriously than his fan base (and probably movie goers in general) does, and it clearly irritates the crap out of him (and/or he doesn't understand it). However, it also irritates the crap out of his fans and the audiences who loved the movies of the original Trilogy and expected more of the TPM. At worst, as some other harsh reviews have pointed out, TPM seems like just another cynical Hollywood-as-usual souless big money cash-in; was it so wrong for fans to expect something more than that? Until TPM, everyone felt that the Star Wars series was somehow different from the myriad of sci-fi / fantasy effects-laden movies (many of them awful; others: naked cash grabs) that its success inspired and spurred from 1977 onwards. The Star Wars series seemed to have a spirit of its own. The reason, whether Lucas understands it or not, for the vitirol spewed about TPM is many fans felt this "special-ness" was betrayed or sold short (either out of laziness, sloppiness, ineptitude, or worse, greed).

In short, TPM is a stinker. I surmise that even though he seemed to discount it in the press, Lucas took some of the fan reaction to TPM to heart as he stepped his game up somewhat with (the marginally better) AOTC and certainly with the much better (and darker, natch) ROTS. (Granted, no one is going to think ROTS was directed by Kubrick, but you get my point). Too bad TPM seems, still, like a serious and uncertain mis-step, almost like a rough draft concept that should have been abandoned and re-done from scratch. "Super Special Edition" anyone?

Best Deals for Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace

As I'm sure you know, this movie is so extremely average that it is a mountainous blemish on the face of the Star Wars saga. The standards George Lucas had to live up to for this project were immense, but this movie is a letdown all the same. The original three movie arc was a dark, dramatic saga that was perfectly paced, beautifully written, and featured strong, three dimensional characters. Episode I, conversely, lacks the dramatic edge that marked the previous efforts. Instead of Chewbacca we get Jar Jar Binks, an overgrown frog with an ugly pug of a face and a voice that's about as soothing as a drill through the head. Instead of a tightly knit plot propelling the movie forward, the entire film feels like action scenes with numbing drivel inbetween. The importance of Anakin is somewhat underscored. He has "special blood" and can compete in pod races, but that's the only look we get of his abilities.

The core audience for these movies was established 23 years ago. With this movie Lucas is trying to appeal to the next generation, but he's supplying them with inferior product. Summation: kill Jar Jar Binks, up the Darth Maul factor times 10 to make it dark and edgey again, tighten up the plot *A LOT*, cut out the circus/kiddy feel, and focus more on the characters who will be in the forthcoming movies (not Subulba, not JJB, not those weird looking Jedi dudes). Appended to the holy name of Star Wars, this movie is nearly blasphemous.

Honest reviews on Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Well, my heading says it all. `The Phantom Menace' is littered with faults in terms of acting, directing, scriptwriting, style and special effects, and is saved (if that term can be used in association with a lost cause) only by the blossoming talent of Natalie Portman, who has come a long way since `Leon'. Now before you start saying that I'm criticising the film only because I'm against Star Wars, I'll confess that, though not a huge fan, the original Star Wars (Episode IV) was a darned good yarn which had class (Alec Guinness), vitality (Harrison Ford/Mark Hamill), a truly great villain (James Earl Jones) and incredible special effects (the trench sequence still puts current-day imitations to shame). Episode I, on the contrary, feels like a lazy cash-in that was given no attention to detail, no thought and no effort from the writers, directors, producers or actors. As a result, without the success of Star Wars this film is nothing.

In terms of story, Episode I falls flat. Rather than being a movie, it is a `let's-fill-in-the-blanks-that-don't-need-filling-in' piece of filmmaking, and thus, rather than telling a story, it feels like an episode of a television show, Xena: Warrior Princess, for example. And, like television, the characters have no depth whatsoever and do not develop; at least Han, Luke and Leia had `issues', not to mention personalities. Furthermore, the special effects are diabolical. Yes, they are stunning at showing what computers are now capable of, but they DON'T LOOK REAL. At times you think it's a Pixar film, especially in the battle between the Gungans and the automated Federation soldiers, because the visuals could have been lifted from `A Bug's Life' or `Toy Story', which is bad when you consider that this is a live-action rather than animation film. Added to this, actors are frequently chroma-keyed into obviously computerised backgrounds, which are spotlessly clean, sterile, flat and unbelievably low-budget whatever happened to building a set, small-scale modelling, linear rather than CGI animation? All it comes down to is that in the 1970's, with extremely limited computer technology, Lucasfilm was able to make a movie that looked and felt ten times more real than this one.

Overall, this is a disappointing beginning to what was touted as the most eagerly-anticipated film series of recent years. I (perhaps naively) thought that the film was about the guy in all the film-posters, Darth Maul, but his eight-or-so minutes of film time kind-of don't satisfy. And, looking forward to Ewan McGregor's proven acting talents, the only thing I was impressed by was his English accent. And, of course, there was that much-talked-about pod-racing sequence, which looked identical to the Playstation game, so that tells you precisely how realistic it was. I can only hope that Episode II is given a slightly larger budget, a hell-of-a-lot more effort, and stacks more of the creative flair that made Lucas his name all those years ago. This does not bode well for Indiana Jones 4!

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But its easy to see why some people were disappointed with it. After sixteen years, a lot of fans and critics were expecting the end-all of all summer action movies. And by that standard, the movie does come up a little short. The bad guys are shadowy at best and their motives are unclear; the good guys never really seem to be in any great danger.

But evaluated on its own terms, the Phantom Menace is a very good movie. Subtle, understated, sometimes a little slow, the movie sets up the characters and relationships that will drive the next five films. Storywise, the film is apparently simple the resolution of a trade dispute between a peaceful planet and a greedy trade federation. But many fans will recognize this conflict for what it is the end of the Republic, the beginning of the Empire, and the prelude to the Rebellion of the first three Star Wars movies. In a lot of ways the movie plays like the Hobbit, a childrens story which sets the groundwork for a much larger and darker tale.

The films visuals help to contribute to its storybook feel. Brighter and more colorful, with more creatures, ships and planets than ever before, this is easily the best looking Star Wars film ever. Unlike a lot of films, with a sprinkling of effects,a cool alien, a cool shot, here and there the Phantom Menace washes the viewer in another galazy. At times it can feel overwhelming, a little distracting from the story, but by the end, you really feel you had visited a much different place. Dont listen to the people complaining about corny dialogue and flat characters. Star Wars tells its story with visuals and the Phantom Menace delivers.

Review of Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episode IV: A New Hope / Episode

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This is just an alert since there seems to be some confusion about a trilogy release with the original unaltered versions along with the special editions vs a trilogy set that only contains the special editions and no copies of the original unaltered versions.

The reviews for both sets are merged together... that is why you are seeing people claim that it has the original unaltered versions, and people complaining they do not. THIS set that I specifically clicked on to make this comment on is on the 2004 release which DOES NOT CONTAIN THE ORIGINAL UNALTERED VERSIONS. The box image is silver and has Darth Vader's mask on the box. This set ONLY contains the SE along with a 4th bonus disc of making of features and trailers and a sneak peak at episode III. If you want the trilogy set that contains both the SE and the unaltered versions but no bonus features, make sure when purchasing from Amazon, that the picture is a picture of Darth Vader and Luke clashing with light sabers and the box has a lot of blue coloring. It also says IV V VI along the bottom. Scroll down to DVD info and it should say release date: 2008. THAT is the version you are looking for.

If you place an order on the Trilogy with the Silver box with Darth Vaders mask on it, you are going to get the 2004 release of the trilogy and that's probably not the one you want... This review is going to appear on both sets though... So make sure before you buy, that you are on the correct trilogy page. Check the picture. Check the release date.

There are plenty of reviews of the actual product so I'm not going to go into that. Just wanted to clear up some confusion.

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It's real simple, George. The vast majority of people who will buy the Blu-Ray versions are middle-aged nostalgia hounds. These people will NOT pony up more of their hard-earned dough for CGI "enhancements." They WILL, however, whip out their credit cards for the ORIGINAL THEATRICAL RELEASES faster than Han Solo's draw-down on Greedo.

Find your best exant print each film of the original trilogy. Have the ILM lab boys scan in every frame @ 4k. Do the LEAST amount of color correction and dust/scratch removal--only in a restoration sense, not "improving color" or anything like that. Approach it like archivists.

Use your technical advancements to do the finest BR encoding of those individual frames. I want to see film grain, dude. Matte lines. Pancake makeup. Absolutely naked and unvarnished. The final result should be a monument to the format, really.

Do the same with the audio.

If your ego won't let you "let go" of your CGI meddling, then make every feature a two-BR set--your best "improved" version + the original theatrical release. You can charge more that way, have your final vision, and still satisfy the fans who want the '77, '80. and '83 prints. And line your pockets with more filthy lucre as you sell the same product to us for the umteenth time.

Call it a "Special Edition Archivist Series" or something like that.

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Memo to George Lucas: I am not buying any more of your movies until you give us the REMASTERED films as they were ORIGINALLY. Han shoots first. Hayden Christiansen's ghost does not appear at the end of ROTJ. The original nub nub Ewok music is put back into the film, and the original Jabba's Palace band music is restored, etc. etc. Get the picture? You can do it, George. And don't tell us that the original negatives for these films no longer exist, because I don't believe you. If you think you are going to keep me buying and rebuying and rebuying the same product over and over and over again, then think again, because I'm not coming along for the ride.

I repeat: As soon as you release the original 1977, 1980, and 1983 versions of the films AS THEY WERE ORIGINALLY and they MUST be remastered not grainy laserdisc transfers. Then, and ONLY then, can you have any more of my money.

Just give the fans what they want. Is that too much to ask?

Honest reviews on Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episode IV: A New Hope / Episode

I am a huge fan of Star Wars. YEs, I am an 'Original Fan". And why is being an 'Original' fan percieved so negatively? If you are an original Beatles fan, the newer fans ask you with reverence what it was like seeing them in concert, etc. etc. (No, I am not fortunate enough to be an 'original' Beatles fan. I wasn't even born in 1964.) Original Star Wars fans are called oldtimers and accused of not letting go of the past and not appreciating that times change.

Mr. Rehnquist wrote in his review "I ask, who would want to see old, outdated movies in this age of advanced technology? " Well, I hope the answer is "Many People". My love of movies is not based on the level of special effects. Should we no longer watch the great old black and white films of the past because they are 'old and outdated'? No more Bogie and Bacall? No more Hepburn and Tracy? What about Gene Kelly? Jimmy Stewart?

The thing Mr. Lucas is forgetting is that more is not always betterin an interview when the movies first came out, he was quoted as saying that the problem with the Sci-Fi genre in general was that so many moviemakers forgot about the story. The movies ended up being built around the special effects.

Unfortunately, Mr. Lucas is adding all of these scenes and filming the newer movies (Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones) with nothing but the possibilities of these special effects in mind. He has lost the story; it had become secondary to the special effects.

I had no problem with the celebratory scenes added at the end of "Return of the Jedi" but I do have a problem with some of the other scenes. Han shot Greedo. Greedo did not shoot first. It is ridiculous to change this. Han's change of heart and redemption are more powerful when you know he was a mercenary! He was always looking out for himself. That's how he survived! He was in it for the money, and found himself inexplicably drawn to the people of the Rebellion. That's good story-telling.

The problem is that Mr. Lucas has taken the liberty of CHANGING much of the story with these scenes.

Mos Eisley was supposed to be a dusty, deserted town. Tatooine is on the outer rim of the galazy. It's an unimportant, dusty, underpopulated planet. What I saw in the "Special Editions" was a thriving, well-populated town.

I would happily buy the special edition versions if I knew Lucas intended on eventually releasing the original versions on DVD as well. I'd buy both.

We're not trying to erase the movies you love. If you like the "Special Editions" Great! I am glad. I would never tell any of you to shut up or that your opinions were stupid and your views outdated as we have been told by Mr. Rehnquist.

We original fans aren't telling you new fans that the version we grew up with should be the only one out there. Please have the courtesy of relizing we are only asking for the opportunity to buy these movies the way we fell in love with them.

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The packaging falsely states that these are "the classic films". The films being sold in this trilogy are updated versions of the "Special Editions" that were released in 1997, NOT the original theatrical classics as the packaging states. Very deceiving and shameful marketing!