Superman II – The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
The preface to this review and this version of Superman II in general is that this is more of a rough draft reconstruction of Richard Donner’s original vision of the film. As much of Donner’s footage was culled together and assembled for this edition, but there’s even a screen test used for one scene and a lot of special effects that are not comparable to what would have been done in 1980. This version also follows the intended original ending for Superman: The Movie where it would’ve ended on a cliffhanger of Luthor’s missiles being hurled into space and its explosion freeing Zod and his cohorts from the Phantom Zone. So, even then, this is not the film we would’ve gotten had Donner finished filming this sequel. So, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get deep into this special and unique version of Superman II.
Freed from the Phantom Zone by an exploding missile in space, General Zod (Terence Stamp) leads his fellow Kryptonian criminals on the path to super-powered tyranny over the planet Earth. Meanwhile, criminal mastermind Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) escapes from his own prison, and journeys to discover Superman’s secrets at the arctic Fortress of Solitude in hopes to harness that knowledge as a weapon. As this all happens, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) forces a series of events for Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) to reveal himself as Superman. This leads to a romance between Lois and Clark, but the sacrifices the Man of Steel will make for the woman he loves may leave the entire planet in dire circumstances under the tyranny of General Zod.
The highlights of this version are the inclusion of Marlon Brando’s scenes as Jor-El. We get a truncated version of Zod’s trial from the first film, conducted by Jor-El, with a few different angles thrown in. This better establishes Zod’s personal contempt for Jor-El. However, the best Brando content is in the Fortress of Solitude. Clark’s interactions with Jor-El as he professes his love for Lois is strongly substantive and nearly heartbreaking. Jor-El pleading with his son to think about his actions and re-consider his choices is a powerful scene, and is further enhanced when Clark learns of Zod’s tyranny on Earth and seeks to regain his powers. This is the single biggest and best improvement from the Lester to the Donner cut. We see how he gets his powers back, and while Reeves’ acting is deeper and more powerful in the Lester version, the overall scene has more impact and meaning with this interaction. Brando’s presence simply enhances the emotional and consequential scope of the story. This is due to Jor-El’s overall importance, and the quality of Brando’s legendary talent.
This version also excises nearly all of the silly humor that Richard Lester put into the film. This makes for a leaner, more serious movie, and that’s exactly what Superman II required. It has plenty of substance and thematic weight that shines through more clearly with that consistency of tone. However, there are some structural problems that arise from this. While I find this to be a faster paced version of the film, I don’t especially see it as a more streamlined or as well plotted of a version.
This version does have good ideas and intentions, but I think the editing is too aggressive to excise more and more Lester footage. Beyond just having this match Donner’s version, a certain percentage of his directed footage has to be present for him to take credit as the film’s director by DGA rules. This, along with the new timeline of events, affects the pacing and structure of the film in some negative ways. For instance, Zod and company are freed from the Phantom Zone, and then, don’t reappear for another twenty minutes. Then, after the moon scene, they don’t appear on Earth for another fifteen minutes. Then, once there, the film jumps ahead so abruptly that within a one minute cutaway scene to Lois and Superman having dinner in the Fortress, it goes from their abbreviated encounter with the two cops on the outskirts of the town to them reaching international television coverage on their reign of terror. Scenes are strung together in choppy ways to excise Lester’s comedy and to remove entire sequences that might be a little funny but also establish informative plot progression and gradual build-up. The structure has some good intentions by tightening up the pace in a more modern way, and getting straight to the point, but ultimately, it doesn’t feel well balanced or evenly paced.
And it might be a nit-picky thing, but if these events happen within a day or two after the first film, how in the world is Lex able to build both a holographic projector and his alpha waves detector within that time? I was realizing how much more sense some of Luthor’s dialogue with Otis was with these events happening immediately after those of the first movie, and then, that idea sprung to mind. Some stuff works in that context, but other stuff, not so much.
Some of what I don’t feel works as well in that compressed timeframe is Lois’ suspicions about Clark being Superman. First off, I think it’s rather abrupt as she begins suspecting right from the film’s start. It’s not something built up in the first movie, and is introduced here at full throttle. Lois also does some insanely radical things to prove it such as jumping out the window of the Daily Planet. Furthermore, Lois and Clark have only known each other now for a few weeks, and Clark’s now willing to give up everything for her. The dialogue between him and Jor-El alludes to him serving mankind for a long time. He says things like, “After all I’ve done for them….will there ever be a time where I’ve served enough?” In this version of the film, he’s only been Superman, again, for a few weeks, at most. It simply doesn’t fit. In Lester’s cut, you get the feeling that he has been around for quite a while, possibly a few years, but here, that is not the case at all. This film picks up almost immediately after the conclusion of the first movie allowing for no such leeway.
The screen test scene is where Lois forces Clark to reveal himself as Superman. Of course, this scene is jarring as Christopher Reeve looks quite different, even from shot to shot, as his hairstyle and glasses are different from the rest of the movie, and two screen tests were combined for one scene. He’s also particularly thinner. However, I especially don’t approve of Lois’ drastic measures, yet again. Even though she loads the gun with blanks, the connotation is abhorrent. Blanks or no, Superman or not, it’s not something you do to someone you love. Not to mention, I’m sure even Clark could tell that no bullet impacted his man of steel body. However, the real downside of this scene is that it’s not remotely effective or has nearly as much build up as the scene in the Lester version. There’s more subtlety and underlining character and emotion in the Lester version where Clark feigns burning his hand in the honeymoon suite fireplace. It’s also better acted as, again, Donner’s version is probably the first time Reeve and Kidder ever worked with one another. Even if it were a properly produced scene, I just don’t like Lois pulling a gun on Clark.
The new digital effects for this version are divided in quality. The one exceptional area is in the Fortress of Solitude with Jor-El’s projections. You can sometimes tell they are digital composites, but overall, they are the best CGI this film has to offer. They have a near dead-on look and feel to what we saw in the first movie. Sadly, there are some really atrocious digital effects and composites on display here, especially the ones in space. Those outer space background plates look like terribly cartoonish and laughable. You would NEVER release a film with these cheap looking digital effects into a movie theatre. Even for a low budget direct-to-video feature they are horrible. Some of the effects in the Earth based scenes are more easily blended, but still leave a lot of room for improvement. It is sad that you see other films of that era like Blade Runner or Star Trek: The Motion Picture that have been given similar director’s cuts and digital touch-up jobs with immensely superior results. The former being a cult classic that did poorly upon release, and the latter still being one of the more maligned entries in the franchise. Superman II has always been a widely revered film since release, and fans had demanded a Donner version for years. It’s a terrible shame that Warner Brothers didn’t allocate a larger effects budget to this project because it severely needed it. History shows you cannot do good visual effects on the cheap, whether in the optical or digital eras.
Another arguable issue is that Richard Donner chose to downgrade the use of Ken Thorne’s original score for Lester’s version in favor of cutting and pasting various pieces of John Williams’ score from the first movie. This reportedly includes some previously unreleased tracks. For certain sequences, especially with Zod, Ursa, and Non on the moon, the original Thorne score is more effective highlighting more subtle flourishes and moments. One can never deny the value of a John Williams score, but his tracks are compositions created for certain other scenes from another movie. They aren’t going to flow or fit as well as Thorne’s music. Not to mention, there are times where you can hear obvious chopped up cues that are simply manufacturing moments to fit the scene. Again, this sort of stems from a low budget for this project. If this project had enough money, they could have gotten it scored the way it was supposed to be instead of pasting random cues together.
On the upside, there are a number of other improved scenes. I like the extended assault on the White House. There’s a peculiar moment where Zod, bored at the lack of a challenge, picks up an assault rifle and starts just shooting the soldiers with it. All the while he’s got this smirk of amusement on his face like a man playing with a child’s toy. To him, that’s exactly what it is. While the scene of Zod being bored after having ceased control of the world is present in both versions, I’d just like to comment on this exemplifying a thought of mine. What exactly does an all powerful villain and tyrant do once they’ve conquered the world? For Zod, he sits around being bored out of his skull all day long. I find that rather funny.
The battle through Metropolis is extended with a few more fun and exciting moments, but the Lester version does feel a little tighter in places. Yet, Donner’s cut removes so much of the humor that previously undercut the drama of the scene, which is very welcomed. I also wholeheartedly feel that the climax in the Fortress of Solitude is vastly superior here. It’s simply better written dialogue and interactions. Zod and Superman have a more confrontational exchange of words that build upon elements from the Metropolis battle and Zod’s history with Jor-El. It’s better staged and shot in a more interesting way. It just has a better, more cumulative feel to it, and is not hampered by a battle of bizarre powers. It’s very character based, and Donner knows how to pay-off characters amazingly well.
There is a problem with the ending of this version. While the time reversal usage in the first film, which was transplanted from this film, was strange but nothing really objectionable, how it’s used here negates the events of the entire movie. Superman reverses time back to the beginning of this movie so that none of it actually happened. All of the maturing and development of his character is washed away because he no longer has to face the consequences of his actions. Him destroying the Fortress of Solitude showing that he is now moving beyond that and standing on his own is negated because turning back time restores it. I also don’t know how reversing time actually prevents the missile from not exploding and releasing Zod, Ursa, and Non from the Phantom Zone all over again. That’s not addressed in the least. Plus, Superman did nothing to prevent Luthor from escaping prison, and then, traveling to the Fortress to learn all his secrets all over again. It’s an extremely sloppy ending, and far too much of a copout power for Superman to utilize. Any mistake he ever makes can be immediately undone by reversing time. This applies to the ending of the first film, too, but at least, it was used in a rage of emotion for an isolated incident. This might as well have had Superman suddenly waking up at the end revealing that it was all a dream. Furthermore, the jerk at the diner that beat up Clark when he didn’t have his powers, he’s still given a beat down by Clark in this version AFTER he’s already turned back time. So, Clark is now beating up a guy for something he actually now hasn’t even done. It’s just sloppy, incoherent structure. Donner seemed to want everything poured into this without really rationalizing out what made sense to belong or not.
I think somewhere between the Richard Lester and Richard Donner cuts lies the ultimate version of Superman II. Something that features the best quality performances, including Brando as Jor-El, with a main focus on serious drama, but with a more even pacing that does not favor one director’s footage over another’s. Warner Brothers should put the right money into it to enhance the new effects, clean up the original optical effects, and get a composer to create a full score with a solid mix. Not to mention, a semblance of a truly satisfying and smart ending that doesn’t rely on either a memory wiping kiss or a time reversal concept, if possible. Again, I like the intention and creative direction of Donner’s version, but because it is only a rough draft approximation of the film he would have made, it doesn’t feel like a complete film. If Donner had been able to shoot his complete film the way he intended to, I truly believe this cut would be so supremely better. Instead, his ideas have to cut around and chop up footage he didn’t shoot and doesn’t care for. It’s like trying to fix someone else’s mistake on a sculpture by chipping your way around the undesirable parts. It’s going to look awkward and clunky. I more or less believe Donner did the best he could with the footage he had in approximating his vision while adhering to the rules of the DGA to receive a director’s credit on this. I really hate to speak so negatively about this version because it should be the better version of the two on principal, but on a structural level, it doesn’t really work the way it’s supposed to. If this was a script, I would say it would need rewrites. I really enjoy Donner’s extended cut of the first film, and I only own his director’s cuts of the first three Lethal Weapon movies. So, he does make some great choices in the editing room, but this is too peculiar of a situation for him to forge the best, unbiased edition of Superman II. This feels more like a workprint than a final product, and I would hope that a better revision on this film could someday exist in an official capacity.
Superman (1978)
The original superhero blockbuster was an epic task to achieve in the late 1970’s. Richard Donner was the director given the main task of helming this ambitious project, but the true strength of bringing Superman to the silver screen lied within one man who remains, for so many, the quintessential embodiment of the Last Son of Krypton. Christopher Reeve would carry this icon to soaring heights, and capture the hearts of audiences worldwide.
When the premier scientist of the planet Krypton, Jor-El (Marlon Brando), rightfully predicts the destruction of his peaceful planet, he sends his only son in a spacecraft to the planet Earth. There, he is adopted by the kindly Kansas couple the Kents, but they quickly discover young Clark Kent possesses powers beyond that of any human. As he grows to maturity, Clark (Christopher Reeve) learns of his alien heritage, and comes to Metropolis as a reporter for the Daily Planet. However, when a perilous helicopter accident forces Clark to reveal his powers to the world as Superman, he becomes the target of criminal mastermind Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) who launches a diabolical plan to destroy the west coast and kill Superman.
When this film was being made, comic books weren’t taken very seriously, and so, these filmmakers intended to make a serious impression with Superman. While this didn’t break the floodgates open for comic book movies to be produced, this laid the groundwork for things to come, especially 1989’s Batman. Even though the tone isn’t consistently serious and epic, it never degrades the integrity of Superman. That’s something I can at least say about all of the Christopher Reeve outings, regardless of how bad, cheesy, or stupid they may have gotten – Reeve maintains Superman as an icon of integrity and dignity. However, he is not the only incredible acting talent on display in this epic blockbuster.
Casting Marlon Brando as Jor-El was a brilliant idea. For those first twenty minutes of the movie, he carries it effortlessly bringing compassion, strength, and wisdom to this pivotal character. No one could ever discount Brando’s talent, and he establishes a solid impression with just a few introductory scenes. In addition to that, Glenn Ford really has only two scenes here as Jonathan Kent, but the substance of his talent and performance rings through purposefully. It has weight and poignancy. Both of these fathers are the moral building blocks of who Clark Kent becomes, and they are the men that forge the strength and virtue that are key to Superman. Brando, in particular, sets a wonderful, heartfelt tone when he returns as this projection in the Fortress of Solitude to guide his son. The film’s extended edition adds in another scene between Clark and Jor-El which is beautiful and touching.
And since Superman and Superman II were plotted out and conceived at the same time, we have an excellent setup at the beginning of this film with Terrence Stamp’s General Zod and his fellow conspirators. Stamp makes a powerful impact in that one scene with a cold, tyrannical presence where he leaves Jor-El with a prophetic threat that pays off in the following film.
Richard Donner and his cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth do a remarkable job with the visuals here. Krypton has its epic visual scope, but also, this intriguing utopian alien aesthetic. The crystal structures are unlike anything that had been seen before reflecting a culture vastly different from our own, and the journey of Kal-El’s spaceship to Earth is wonderfully cosmic. The scenes in Kansas are sprawling and picturesque. They evoke that Norman Rockwell heartland of America feeling. They use the landscape to stunning effect giving the film visual scope in distinct ways. When the film shifts to Metropolis, it looks more standard with less visual flare. More urban grit with locked down shots and less graceful camera movements. The whole film also has this soft focus glow that I feel really works well.
Must I even say that John Williams’ score is amazing? The man specializes in amazing. However, what he does here I think is even more special. No other theme in all of cinema, to me, reflects such hope, heroism, and inspiration as his theme for Superman. It has lived beyond this continuity of films to be iconic with the character himself through all media and generations. It is usually a surefire way to choke me up, especially with the right imagery, and it encapsulates Superman in the most epic ways possible. The overall score is equally as stunning, and stands as one of Williams’ finest accomplishments.
This was a film of ambitious special effects as never before had the image of Superman flying through the air appeared convincing. Largely, I do think many of these visual effects are still great. They still work beautifully, but every once in a while you get a shot that looks quite dated and less than convincing. However, the use of miniatures for certain shots, and every trick they used to make Superman fly is stellar. Oddly, I really like the scene where he stops the car burglar from scaling the skyscraper, and you see Superman fly down across frame as the burglar falls. It’s a simple shot that required no visual effects. The opening shots on Krypton are stunning too especially after Zod and his cohorts are sentenced to the Phantom Zone, and we see that massive dome opening up. It’s all about visual scope, and this film captured it with epic results. In general, this film was an amazing achievement in visual effects that earned this team an Oscar.
Now, while this excellent special effects team made you believe a man could fly, Christopher Reeve made you believe in Superman. That helicopter rescue scene remains possibly my favorite Superman moment of all time. His moments at the end of that scene speaking with Lois are magical to me. The confidence he projects with a glimmer in his eye is the moment I believed in the power of Superman. Overall, Reeve brings the heart, humanity, compassion, and charm of the Man of Steel to brilliant life. He even shows moments of emotional depth speaking again with Jor-El at the Fortress of Solitude after revealing his existence, and especially so opposite Lois. But it’s the genuine kindness and earnest humbleness in Reeve’s performance that sells everything. You can see that this is a character that believes in the best in humanity, and is truly a beacon of hope to all. Later in life, we saw that Christopher Reeve naturally embodied these qualities in his struggle with paralysis, and because of his undying hope, he became one of the greatest inspirations in life to me. He was a real life Superman.
Now, while the first fifty minutes of the film are very serious, dramatic, and vast in scope, the latter bulk of the movie shifts tones. It delves more into a somewhat campy comic book tone. You’ve got the charming yet bumbling Clark Kent creating a little bit of physical humor here and there. Then, the introduction of the villains pushes the proverbial envelope. Ned Beatty’s Otis is not to be taken seriously at all. He’s an obvious dimwit, and Miss Teschmacher is not much better. It almost seems like Lex Luthor surrounds himself with morons in order to make himself look like a genius in comparison.
Now, I am not a fan of this portrayal of Lex Luthor. He’s little more than a ruthless con artist and a real estate swindler with bad fashion sense and maniacal aspirations. I will give credit that he is a sociopath willing to exterminate countless lives for his own greed, and that does make him a serious threat. However, regardless of the sort of silly characterization, Gene Hackman still puts in a damn fine performance. The humor of Luthor is expertly done with sharp conviction, but what sells him as a villain is really the vile intellect. The entire “greatest criminal mind of our time” thing does come off comically, but we do see moments where Luthor has a dangerous intelligence. He can setup a cunning trap for Superman, but I’d love to be able to take the character seriously on a consistent basis. I truly believe Hackman could have done a wholly serious, villainous performance, and done it awesomely. Unfortunately, it really is the bumbling fools that surround Luthor which make him cartoonish for most of his screentime. I don’t think the film needed silliness in any degree. Regardless, Hackman is a magnificent actor, and his talent regularly shows here even if the material is a little goofy.
And the remainder of the supporting cast is exceptionally solid. Jackie Cooper gives us a great, hard edged Perry White. He’s a newsman who has gusto and aggression who motivates his people firmly. Margot Kidder is indeed a stellar Lois Lane giving us both the assertive, ambitious journalist who will do whatever it takes to get the best story, but also, shows us the feminine vulnerability. We see her genuine affection for Superman, and Kidder has solid chemistry with Reeve in both of his personas. The scenes of tender heart and warmth are genuine while the bumbling Clark scenes have a nice contrast of humor and Lois’ aggressive nature. It’s fantastically handled by two amazing talents, and honed by a great director.
This is a solid origin story and a colorful, vibrant film. I do like the pacing of this movie because it is consistent even if it is slower than your modern day superhero epic. Yes, Kal-El’s early life is kind of done in a Cliff’s Notes version as it just briefly touches on the largely important parts. Then, when Reeve makes his appearance as the adult Clark / Superman, the pacing is more lax allowing for things to be stretched out further. I did watch the expanded edition for this review as I like the extra content with Jor-El on Krypton, and Lex Luthor’s gauntlet that he lays out to test Superman. There are a number of added segments throughout, but I do think they are mostly substantive and worthwhile. The film has no overarching plot, and the extent of one is simply foiling Luthor’s crazed plan to blow up the west coat to make way for his real estate scam. So, this isn’t a film of thematic material and heavy subject matter. Yet, it accomplishes its goals – bring Superman to glorious life on the big screen in an epic sized adventure. There’s really only two real action sequences – the helicopter rescue with a crime-fighting montage afterwards and the climax as Superman attempts to stop the missiles and save people from its destructive consequences. The ending is rather ridiculous by most standards. Reversing the Earth’s rotation to turn back time is a very cheap idea, but also very much in the style of the Golden / Silver Age of comics where logic didn’t figure into science. So, given the time this was made, I can let it pass, but if a movie today did it, I’d cry out for someone to knock some sense into the filmmakers.
While it might be entirely perfect, Superman: The Movie was the wonderfully produced and directed film it needed to be. It keeps things simple enough without sacrificing emotion and drama, but adds in touches of humor later on for a generally fun and enjoyable superhero film experience. It set the foundation for where the franchise could go from here, and while directors, tones, budgets, and qualities would change, Christopher Reeve maintained the steady confidence of Superman through each film. Here, there was no question that he was indeed the Man of Steel brought to cinematic life, and Richard Donner’s high quality direction with a great eye for visual scope made this a stunning success. Add in the sweeping, epic, and iconic score of John Williams, and you have the greatest superhero of all time taking flight in a great and satisfying way.
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
As it has been announced since the Disney acquisition of LucasFilm Ltd, this will, apparently, will not be the chronological end of the Star Wars movie saga after all. A sequel trilogy following the exploits of the original cast is on track for a 2015 release helmed by J.J. Abrams. What will come of a new trilogy remains to be seen, but for the original trilogy, it ended on a very good note even if it lacked a little something. I think this is the one movie of the original trilogy that has declined over time for me. There is so much depth and peril in The Empire Strikes Back that this movie feels a little starved for that, on the whole. Yet, it is still a highly entertaining, rousing, and powerful film where it truly counts. And no, I’ve never had a negative disposition towards the Ewoks. I certainly understand the issue people have with their part in the film, but it’s never really bothered me. So, let us journey back to a galaxy far, far away one more time.
Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) must travel to Tatooine to free Han Solo (Harrison Ford) by infiltrating the wretched stronghold of Jabba the Hutt, the galaxy’s most loathsome gangster. Once reunited, the Rebels team up with tribes of Ewoks to combat the Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor. Meanwhile the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) and Darth Vader conspire to turn Luke to the dark side, and young Skywalker is determined to rekindle the spirit of the Jedi within his father. The Galactic Civil War culminates in the ultimate showdown, as the Rebel forces gather to attack the seemingly defenseless and incomplete second Death Star in the battle that will determine the fate of the galaxy.
This was actually the first Star Wars movie I saw theatrically, and I was all of three years old at the time. All I remember from the experience was getting scared by the loud noises and the scared visage of Anakin Skywalker. At that age, you can hardly blame me. This film does follow up rather nicely on the cliffhanger plot threads of The Empire Strikes Back. Scenes of Luke visiting Yoda and Obi-Wan are given substantial weight and the comfort of time to play out with importance. Many were in disbelief at Darth Vader’s revelation in the previous film, and they required reliable confirmation. There were no two better characters for that than these Jedi Masters. This is the main crux of Luke’s storyline as he struggles with trying to pull his father back from the Dark Side, and it provides the weight of emotion throughout the picture. It is a little unfortunate that some scenes were cut from the beginning of the film that would have made this a far more constant and overarching element of the film. As it is, none of this is addressed until forty minutes into the movie in favor of the action set pieces of Han’s rescue from Jabba’s Palace.
Never get me wrong. The Jabba’s Palace scenes are expertly done featuring some of the highest grade puppetry in live action films. CGI has never done Jabba the Hutt justice over the original tangible puppet by Phil Tippett of ILM’s Creature Shop. The palace scenes subject audiences to an eclectic menagerie of fantastical aliens that demonstrate a fertile imagination and talented ambition. While everyone holds the Cantina scene from the first film as the groundbreaker, George Lucas truly made this the new gold standard, and achieved something amazing with his dedicated team at Industrial Light & Magic. The atmosphere of the sets is almost classic noir with the smoke all around in this den of seediness and crime. The Rancor scene, matte lines or no, is still an impressive piece of work that has always been an action highlight for me. This is a great example of 1980s fantasy film visual effects where more organic, large scale creatures were integrated into live action. And yes, indeed, I do vastly prefer the original musical numbers by the Max Reebo Band. I am reviewing the original theatrical versions for a distinct reason here beyond just the fact that those are the ones I grew up with and fell in love with. Overall, this entire section of the movie is amazingly well done in every aspect, but unlike the previous movies, it takes quite a while for the story, action, and drama to pick up. Even with Empire, while it didn’t have a rousing opening, it still had danger and peril to create dramatic momentum. Return of the Jedi feels like it lacks an element of excitement and momentum from its outset.
The one thing that I really have come to notice lately about the structure of the film is a marked lack of intercutting storylines. The previous two films used this story structure technique to maintain a tight rhythm and up tempo pace. This made it feel like plots were progressing, and characters were converging. With Return of the Jedi, there’s barely any such regular intercutting until the final third of the film. Anything we do get before then is slowly plotted. The entire Tatoonie sequence, which runs thirty minutes long, is presented without a single cutaway or linking element to anything else in the film. It runs along as its own isolated adventure. While it is smartly written, beautifully executed, and tightly edited, it is this structural issue that makes the film feel too compartmentalized. There are a lot of long sequences in this film that tend to drag the pace of it down, but in the least, they have character building and storyline progressing purposes. Still, maybe it’s just the familiarity of time, but that more deliberate pace seems to work towards the more somber tone for the end of a trilogy where character and story reach their ultimate juncture. They take on a far more important role than action, which is commendable. I’ve felt that the film has lacked something poignant or substantive for the longest time, but maybe it’s not so much an issue of what’s not there but how what is there is presented in terms of structure and rhythm. Just about everything that needs to be there is there, but maybe it could’ve used some greater peril to give it more punch.
I think I have to agree with Harrison Ford and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan in that the film really needed a genuine low point. Both of them firmly believed that Han Solo should have died to give the film that grave sense of peril and consequence. This is probably the film where Solo has the least substantive things to do with no arc to traverse, and he does seem like he’s more just along for the ride instead of having much poignancy to the plot turns. I’m certainly not saying that I would have wanted to see Han die, but I understand where Ford and Kasdan were both coming from. In A New Hope, there were the deaths of Aunt Beru, Uncle Owen, and Ben Kenobi to give the film peril and gravity, and in The Empire Strikes Back, there were low points abound creating an emotional contrast and sense of real danger for the characters. Luke surely has his dark moments in his confrontation with Vader and the Emperor, but they only resonate for about a moment. The triumph of the heroes would hold more weight if we had felt some strong sacrifice or loss from them.
Now, there is a question of who really directed the bulk of this film. While Richard Marquand is the credited director, many claim George Lucas was far more hands-on throughout production as many of the actors did not respond well to Marquand. To me, there doesn’t appear to be any noticeable evidence to this effect. This is a well-directed movie. The Empire Strikes Back is a brilliant movie in all aspects for many reasons. With Jedi, any problems it does have are really not a fault of direction, just a slower pace that may not have given quite as much prominent screentime to the Vader-Luke plot. What we get of it is substantive and right-on-the-mark, but there’s not much thematic material in the film beyond this. Rescuing Han from Jabba, or running through the forest with Ewoks is just fun adventure stuff. The crux of this saga at this point is what is transpiring both internally and externally amongst Luke and Vader, and with so much meaty depth built-up between them in The Empire Strikes Back, I would’ve liked to have more of that spread throughout this movie. I would’ve liked to see more of that internal conflict show through and be dealt with. Ultimately, the film feels a little too light too often for what dramatic weight it is building up to in order to conclude the trilogy.
Regardless, this film features some of the best action scenes in the whole saga. The rescue from Jabba’s sail barge is a rousing, fun, swashbuckling adventure piece where everyone gets their moment of heroism and excitement. It’s great to see the full team of heroes together fighting against a large force, and faring better than they ever have before. This triumph is a great counterbalance to how we left them at the end of the previous movie. It also builds up Luke as we know he was the architect of this plan, and the carefully crafted quality of it all demonstrates his maturing role as a leader and Jedi Knight beautifully. The speeder bike chase is still fantastic making fine use of blue screen effects and optical composites to create this dangerous, high speed sequence. And I hold the entire space battle sequence as the best I’ve ever seen. What impresses me is the depth of elements piled into this energetic and dynamic battle above the moon of Endor. Yet, they never clutter the frame, only add to the scope and visual storytelling of this climax. The technical achievement of this sequence is amazing in the age of optical composites, and it still holds up solidly to any CGI creation made today. This is further reinforced by this film’s Academy Award win for special achievement in visual effects. Beyond just that, it has great tension, danger, and stellar dog fighting. The entire three-way intercut climax gives everyone something purposeful to do, and no one ever gets lost in the mix. Nor does it bog it down with any extraneous story elements. It’s all evenly balanced and clearly conveyed to an audience. It’s the most hair-raising, exhilarating, and epic climax in the saga, to date.
Now, again, I’ve never had an issue with the Ewoks. I just always accepted them. If I have any qualm about Endor is that it never feels sufficiently alien. At least Tatoonie had alien creatures and felt like a full barren world, much the same for Hoth. Meanwhile, Dagobah was lush with its own vibrant, otherworldly life. Endor just feels too terrestrial with no unique personality. There are times when it has a nice, moody feel, but that occurs in scenes that were surely shot on a soundstage. There’s good production design with the Ewok village and a few nice matte paintings, but overall, Endor is a bit of a visual letdown.
The final confrontation with Luke, Darth Vader, and the Emperor is fantastically crafted and executed. I like that the lightsaber battle is almost ancillary to the emotional and psychological struggle playing out between these three characters. As I’ve mentioned in a previous Star Wars movie review, the lightsaber battles are really a plot device to motivate characters and events forward. The action is not really the focus, it’s the character interactions and dynamics. The temptation from the Emperor is masterful and devilish, and Ian McDiarmid plays it so damn good. He never treads the line of over the top acting. He keeps the Emperor a very real and frightening threat. He has all this power over so many, and he barely has to raise a finger to exercise his will. His power is in McDiarmid’s dark mystique and subtle, brilliant villainy. What we see in this climax is a seduction to the Dark Side done correctly. A little push here and there, edging Luke towards the unleashing of his emotions shows the cunning psychological manipulation that the Emperor possesses. The symbolism we get when Luke finally lashes out and severs Vader’s hand is just brilliant. The strength of Luke’s character and belief in his father shines through with inspiring honor as he throws down his arms and refuses to give in to the Dark Side. He’s able to resist the temptation because he is not a selfish person. There are good people that he believes in, and those that believe in him. I like that even Obi-Wan tells Luke that his emotions do him credit. Coupled with his maturity, Luke’s loyalty and emotional connections can lead him to the right decisions where we later saw that Anakin’s more intense, selfish emotions were his downfall. I also like the motif of Luke’s attire. In the first movie, it’s all white, in the next, it’s gray, and in Return of the Jedi, he’s all in black. It shows a certain spectral progression for him, but ultimately, his journey is not towards darkness but bringing his father out of it.
The maturing of Luke Skywalker is one of the beauties of this trilogy for me. Mark Hamill matures with the character from an eager young man desiring adventure to a far wiser, confident, and intelligent adult. Luke’s learned a lot from his first encounter with Vader. He’s no longer impatience and impulsive. He makes calm, calculated, and selfless decisions towards ends he believes in with his heart and mind. He’s more than just a respectable leader at this point, he’s a true Jedi that has taken the best qualities of those that came before and of himself. Each film evolved Luke Skywalker another step forward which resulted in this wonderful, noble, and honorable hero. Mark Hamill brings a fresh strength and air of subtle mystique to the role in this film. He taps a little into what Alec Guiness had in the original Star Wars, but with the added aspect of optimism and hope. He has not been weathered by defeat, but instead, made stronger and more decisive by it. I think very highly of Mark Hamill’s acting talents, and I am excited to see what he will be able to achieve in this new sequel trilogy.
The ultimate pay-off in this movie is the beautiful way that Vader redeems himself. I’m not going to analyze this in relation to the prequels. I’m going to say that this has always been one of my favorite moments of the saga. The silent contemplation, the internal struggle you can read so deeply into Vader’s scuffed up mask while Luke is on the verge of death from the Emperor’s Force lighting is just brilliant and gorgeous. Vader doesn’t have to say a word, his actions speak emphatically for him. The unmasking of Anakin Skywalker is beautifully touching, and the funeral pyre has always been a beloved moment for me. John Williams’ score is amazingly heartfelt and wonderful here. I also love the chorus-backed score in the climax. His work is fantastic throughout this film, as always. This saga would lose something immensely profound if John Williams had not been involved, and I hope that the sequel trilogy will maintain the integrity of his musical brilliance.
There is a great deal of good content in Return of the Jedi, but I wish the film had a stronger opening to pull me in more. That’s what usually turns me off, initially, to the movie. It takes a while for it to get exciting, much longer than most of the Star Wars films, but once it gets there, it’s great stuff! This film has all the elements it needed, and delivers spectacularly on the plot threads and conflicts established in The Empire Strikes Back. In the end, I do wish there was a little more meat on the bone to bring those aspects of character depth and conflict more into the forefront of the film instead of lingering in the background for most of the runtime. Regardless, this is a fine conclusion to the trilogy that does satisfy on many levels, especially on fresh action scenes and emotional pay-offs. Despite any shortcomings, this is still a pure, fun, and exciting Star Wars adventure that you cannot go without experiencing!
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
It was an enormous task to make a second Star Wars movie. To follow up that explosion of a success, that immense phenomenon must have been terribly challenging on so many levels. What these filmmakers did with The Empire Strikes Back was a masterstroke of genius. Instead of retreading the same tone, pace, action, and style of Star Wars, George Lucas and Irvin Kershner, along with screenwriters Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, chose to make this a film about character development and darker consequences as a second act in a trilogy. Characters would mature, the dangers they faced were more dire, there would be heavy losses, and some major revelations would surface. Whether it was the general consensus or not, I would still state that this is the best Star Wars film to date.
Despite the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance still flees from the might of the Galactic Empire to the remote, barren ice planet of Hoth. There, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) receives a vision from a ghostly Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guiness) to seek out Jedi Master Yoda on the planet Dagobah. When the Empire finally locates the rebel’s base, an imperial assault drives them to evacuate in a crippling loss. Captain Han Solo (Harrison Ford) escapes with Wookie co-pilot Chewbacca, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) aboard the Millennium Falcon, but with their hyperdrive damaged, they are forced to evade the Imperial fleet in an asteroid field. Later, they seek sanctuary at the beautiful Cloud City from Han’s old gambling and smuggling buddy Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams). Meanwhile, Luke begins his training with the wise and unexpected teacher in Yoda. However, with the evil Lord Darth Vader vehemently intent on finding young Skywalker, Luke races to save his friends from a painful vision, against Yoda and Kenobi’s warnings of temptations of the Dark Side of The Force. What awaits the Jedi-in-training is a startling revelation and great peril for him and his heroic friends.
I really like the reversal of structure on this film. It starts out with the bigger adventure aspects, and the major battle between the Rebellion and the Empire. Then, it descends into the more character driven aspects building towards very deep personal conflicts and resolutions. It satisfies your expectations up front with some peril and fun, and proceeds to exceed them with a much more emotionally powerful storyline. Where the first film had our heroes all gradually coming together for an adventure against a large scale threat, this one has them separate so to further explore their own personal journeys. Ultimately, they come out of it wounded and changed.
The film really wastes no time in establishing the darker, more dangerous tone as Luke is attacked by a Wampa Ice Creature while on patrol. It adds some well crafted fear and tension into the film. This perilous sequence further builds the bonds of friendship between Han and Luke as Captain Solo risks his life to save his friend’s. Luke’s ultimate escape from the creature’s cave gave us our first look at what The Force can do. Before, it was mind tricks and a sort of second sight. It was all very abstract and mystical, but when Luke uses The Force to pull his lightsaber to his hand to free himself, we see what that power can physically and practically do. It’s a wondrous moment that sparks the magic of Star Wars. Yet, the film shows us the true depth and nature of The Force when Luke seeks out Yoda, and brilliantly expands upon the vague ideas we got in the previous movie. Yoda teaches him to change his perceptions in that the physical has no bearing on the potential of The Force, merely your will and clarity of mind are relevant. Yoda shows Luke that it’s his own self-imposed perceptions and limitations that are the instruments of his own failures. The tests Yoda puts him through are difficult ones that are meant to confront him with frightening truths of where his path may take him if he follows his impulses and passions. Luke may have matured somewhat, but he still has an impatience and impulsive quality that puts him into danger. He’s allowing his emotions to guide him without the wisdom or experience to temper those emotions. It’s a fascinating journey that Luke takes in this film as he does begin to understand the philosophy of a Jedi, but the dire peril of his friends is something he cannot shake from his mind. He knows it’s likely a trap, and is unprepared for what Lord Vader has in store for him.
The Battle of Hoth is excellently done giving us a land battle to contrast the space battles of the original Star Wars. We see the rebels utilize some strategy in attempting to topple those awesome Imperial Walkers to buy time for the evacuation of Echo Base. It’s a big, impressive, and exciting opening to this film that has Star Wars again showing us something that had never been seen before. This sequence showcases the evolution in effects work by Industrial Light & Magic. They really achieved something exceptional here, and continued to do so throughout the film. They truly exceeded their own standards of excellence here. The first Star Wars was groundbreaking in the realm of visual effects, and ILM was motivated to keep pushing the boundaries of what was possible. The asteroid sequence is spectacular, as is so much from top to bottom here. The Go-Motion effects with the Tauntauns remain excellent, and the model effects are still some of the most impressive in cinema history. It is no wonder that this won a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects at the Academy Awards. They, without a doubt, earned it with every new fantastic sequence of thrilling imagery. And furthermore, the matte paintings are stunningly gorgeous, and are beautifully integrated into the rich visuals of the film.
The Empire is presented perfectly here. The reveal of the fleet and the Super Star Destroyer creates a sense of scale and power to their presence. To me, they feel like an even more formidable military force than they were in the previous film. We have more troops, more ships, more personnel, and more resources, and their early victory over the Rebellion sets a tone of desperation and danger for our heroes. Darth Vader himself is clearly unleashed in this film. He’s not held back by Tarkin or the Emperor. He’s assuming complete command over everything, and stops at nothing in attempting to crush the Rebellion and obtain what he wants. There’s no one stopping him from Force choking Admirals, and promoting people to take their place, putting the fear of death into them to motivate their success. Once the Emperor does endorse his quest to capture Luke Skywalker, Vader uses every resource at his disposal, such as the bounty hunters, and becomes an even more frightening threat. This is a major part of why I think this is the best film of the franchise. The villains are out in full force, not hiding behind protocol or deception, and showing their near ever-present might. Nowhere else in the saga do the antagonists feel so hell-bent on crushing our heroes, and they’re nearly winning for most of the film. It’s said that a hero is only as great as the enemy he faces, and this film shows us the vast scale and threat of the Empire like no other. Our heroes are left with a steep failure to rise back up against for the next film.
I do like that, for all the darker tone and subject matter, the film never forgets to inject fun and humor at appropriate moments. We still get the overly excited panic of C-3PO, the cute moments with R2-D2, and the humorous quips and sharp banter between the other heroes. Even Yoda is given a nearly hilarious introduction into the film as he plays with Luke’s misconceptions, and has a playful time with him and his droid friend. It’s all handled wonderfully to keep the film lively while never intruding upon the more dramatic and dire aspects of the film. It’s a perfect balance, and it wouldn’t feel like Star Wars without it.
Speaking of Yoda, he proves to be an inspirational achievement. I can definitely understand the apprehensions of the filmmakers in putting what was essentially a Muppet on film, and hoping it will come off as life-like. However, with the amazing work of designer Stuart Freeborn and performer Frank Oz, this magical character came to stunning life. Every word spoken had the weight and gravity of the most talented and credible actor behind it. There are many subtle expressions worked into Yoda that further created a believable character that an audience never questioned the realism of. This was all vitally important due to Yoda’s poignant role in the film in training Luke in the ways of the Jedi, and bestowing upon us the deeper ideals, wisdom, and philosophies of The Force. Because of the brilliant work of all these fantastically talented effects masters and performers, he were treated to one of the most fascinating, insightful, and endearing characters of this saga. We were previously intrigued by The Force, but I feel that Yoda truly made us believe in its power beyond all imagination. He opened up our minds to its possibilities, and the potential it had within Luke. Through Yoda, The Force was wondrously mystical and magical, and taught us the weight of commitment and responsibility to becoming a Jedi. Everything that needed to be known about The Force was revealed to us in this film by a rubber puppet, and we never doubted it for an instant. That is the magic of cinema.
The Empire Strikes Back is filled with some tight pacing and urgency. The signature intercutting between storylines creates that great rhythm which keeps the film engaging without drawing any one scene out too much. There’s almost always something interesting developing even if it’s not a rousing action sequence. This is greatly helped by the expert, tight editing by Paul Hirsch. He and director Irvin Kershner knew when to cut to the right angle, and when to let a shot play out. And the film is shot so dramatically perfect with solid compositions and superb camera movements pushing in at the right moments and giving the film scope and scale with sweeping and subtle camera work. Lighting is always excellent giving personality and mood where needed to the appropriate scenes. Irvin Kershner really helped up the visual storytelling in The Empire Strikes Back, and the refined, polished quality enhances the overall picture immensely. George Lucas was the executive producer and did have creative input, but he allowed Kershner to make the movie his own. So, while it is generally Lucas’ story, this is Kershner’s film through and through.
This truly is an emotionally powerful film hitting us with a vast array of pain, fear, sorrow, heartbreak, and disturbing revelations and insights. Our heroes are put through a maelstrom of hell in their journeys. Luke learns the most from it on the most personal of levels which challenge him right down to his core. I love seeing the maturity take form in Return of the Jedi showing that he has learned a great deal from these events, but he had to experience some terribly hard learned lessons. Sometimes, we can only learn to commit ourselves to change when faced with the absolute worst of consequences, and that’s Luke’s journey here.
Even Han and Leia are faced with their own pain and heartache. Their love for one another is apparent almost from the start. They wouldn’t be so mad with one another if they didn’t care so much, but it takes a series of worsening pitfalls and dangers for them to begin to genuinely show that affection. This is punctuated like a dagger through the heart in the Carbon Freezing Chamber scene where they have the most heartbreaking of parting words. It is undoubtedly this moment, where we see the severe anguish on Leia’s face, that motivates Lando into taking action. Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher have amazingly sharp chemistry in all their scenes together selling every nuance of Han and Leia’s relationship. It’s a very emotionally natural progression of two characters who really did not like each other at first trying to hide their feelings through conflict, but their true emotions break further and further into the surface. It is glorious work on both actors’ parts as well as Irvin Kershner’s detailed and masterful direction.
The returning cast shows a lot of growth. Primarily, Mark Hamill matures with the character of Luke Skywalker. He carries the heaviest weight in this film with a great deal of subtle emotions and deep rooted fears. You feel the honest depth of Luke in Hamill’s performance as he struggles with his training, and the thread of fear that is ever present as he battles Darth Vader. He tries to mask and control his fear, but he slowly realizes how outmatched he is as Vader gains the upper hand. Hamill delves deep into a real well of pain and desperation by the end which really penetrates powerfully into an audience. Mark Hamill was required to stretch his acting abilities much further than the first Star Wars film demanded, and he rose to the task admirably and successfully. The wonder of Yoda is also sold through Hamill’s performance, and the urgency of the latter half of the film is driven by his remarkable acting.
We also get Harrison Ford maturing Han Solo as well. He shows a lot more responsibility to himself and his friends, conveying respect to his fellow rebels, and leaving behind that “out for himself” arrogant attitude. The more juvenile aspects only really show up in the heated moments when rash action is necessary, or when he’s arguing with Leia or 3PO. However, when circumstances become more grim, Han shows that he is a far more matured character handling the situations with a lot of earnestness. Ford probably puts in his best performance as Han Solo in this film because it has the most for him to work with between the romantic arc with Leia, the comic timing with Chewbacca and C-3PO, and dealing with the betrayal of Lando. It was a strong and diverse spectrum for Ford to work with, and by no surprise, he achieved it with ease.
I truly love the addition of Lando Calrissian. Where Han Solo was a very roguish outlaw, Lando’s a gambler. He can come off as a legitimate businessman, but is able to manipulate people and events to his liking. With Vader, he succumbs to the might of the Empire only until the stakes are too high where not acting is too costly of a choice to make. Even with appearing in less than half the film, Lando has a strong character arc to traverse. He tries to bargain everyone’s way out of a worse scenario while betraying his friends to the Empire, but as I said, when he sees the price of bowing to their demands, he shows who he is deep down inside by trying to save Han’s friends from a potentially terrible fate. Billy Dee Williams puts in an excellent performance showing off Calrissian’s smooth charisma, but also reflecting the frustration and dire weight of Lando’s situation. He walks the line of friend and adversary very masterfully. Lando’s struggling with the effort to do right by everyone, and you can see that painful internal conflict play out in Billy Dee’s performance.
And of course, many fans would be remised if I did not make mention of Boba Fett. The fascination with this bounty hunter really stems from something like Clint Eastwood’s The Man With No Name character. A gritty, mysterious man who doesn’t speak much, but when he does, it carries a great deal of weight. Fett is someone who only speaks when he has something important to say. That creates intrigue. It makes him standout because it creates a certain looming presence. Also, the original voice for Fett provided by Jason Wingreen was absolutely perfect with its right amount of grit and vile attitude. A voice can tell you a lot about a character’s personality, and get that with Wingreen’s voice work. Additionally, Vader tells Boba Fett, specifically, “No disintegrations.” That lays an air of ruthlessness on Fett, and smartly spotlights him amongst the other eclectic bounty hunters in that scene. Plus, where everyone else has failed to capture Captain Solo and the Millennium Falcon, Fett succeeds using some subversive cunning of his own, which demonstrates the character’s intelligence. He’s a subtly developed character that quickly builds that air of mystique around himself. Furthermore, all of this is done without Fett ever having to fire a blaster. He physically does very little in the movie, but it’s the results of his actions which count. It surely helps that he, like Darth Vader, is hidden under a mask and armor. It makes you wonder more about who he is.
I honestly believe this film features John Williams’ best work of the Star Wars saga. With the more character driven story, he is given a broader canvas to work with, and to create a more diverse and powerful score. The beautiful compositions pull at the heartstrings making one feel the immense weight of emotion throughout the film. Every moment of magical wonder, ominous threat, romantic richness, and rousing excitement is lushly and gorgeously on display in every note he commits to this score. “The Imperial March” is the most notable debut here creating a militaristic musical presence for the oppressive Galactic Empire, and is one of my absolute favorites. However, Leia’s theme gets a sweeping enhancement accentuating the film’s romantic feelings. I own the scores for all six films on CD, but this is the one I listen to most often because of its wider breadth of artistry and cinematic beauty.
The Empire Strikes Back also showcases a lot of great imagination in its production design. It’s great seeing the scope of the Echo Base hangar with the full size X-Wings and Millennium Falcon there along with various other Rebel Alliance vehicles. The integration of the ice caverns into the technology of the base is done with a lot of attention to detail for an interesting visual aesthetic. However, the most notable environments are the swamps of Dagobah and the immaculate Cloud City of Bespin. Yoda’s adopted home gives us a location full of lush life where one would imagine that The Force is very strong here, as life is what creates it and allows it to grow. This was all created on a soundstage, and that is just a fantastic accomplishment. This makes me think why the same effect of depth and all encompassing realism couldn’t have been achieved for the Genesis Planet sequences in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. In that film, similar environments were created on a soundstage, and are blatantly obvious as being set on a soundstage. Here, Dagobah looks and feels like a wholly authentic environment. Never does it feel like a fabricated set. That’s the immense care and hard work that were put into these films by exhaustive crews and talented artists.
Still, it is Cloud City that is my favorite Star Wars environment. I’ve never seen another design in science fiction quite like it. The rounded buildings and corridors with their subtly textured stark white walls give us a very picturesque locale. It also feels like something elegant and futuristic that would come out of the era of 1980. It feels like a peaceful city, and is surely a new, unique, and welcoming world to visit. However, once things turn ill for our heroes, we are plunged deeper into the more industrial bowels of the city where it just gets darker and darker both literally and figuratively. I think the overall design is beautifully inspired, and I am so glad to own the book The Art of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. I fond memories of reading through this gorgeous large format book, and being inspired by the designs and matte paintings. It made me want to run home and watch the movie that night.
While there is not as much action here as there was in the first Star Wars, there is no shortage of imagination. I absolutely love the asteroid chase sequence as the Millennium Falcon weaves its way through this near certain death trap to evade the forces of the Empire. John Williams’ score in this sequence is another one of my favorites which reflects both the rousing adventure aspect and the high tension and danger of it. What Han does after escaping the asteroid field to further elude the Empire is ingenious, and perfectly on-the-mark for Solo’s craftiness. It shows his intelligence and sharp thinking that define the cunningness of his character.
The entire climax is just brilliant all the way through. Lando, Leia, Chewie, and the droids escaping Cloud City is wholly exciting giving us some fun and dramatic beats along the way, but ultimately, a sense of elation as they fly away on the Millennium Falcon. However, it is the confrontation between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader that is the centerpiece of the film. The dark tone reaches its pinnacle in the shadowy, smoky Carbon Freezing Chamber where their duel begins with a chilling line from Vader, “The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi, yet.” That dark environment, with its moody orange and blue lighting, establishes an ominous, foreboding atmosphere that is only heightened in the latter two parts of their escalating duel. While it was never clear in the context of the film, after seeing a schematic of Cloud City, I could see that Luke actually does descend further and further into the depths of the city until he literally falls out the underside of it. That descent is such a perfect metaphor for what is actually happening to Luke in this battle with Vader. For the first two sections, it’s Vader testing Luke, seeing how proficient and resourceful he is. He wants to be able to inform the Emperor of how advanced Skywalker is in his training, and how susceptible he is to the Dark Side. However, the final part on the gantry is Vader letting loose entirely, and we see how truly outmatched Luke is against the dangerously aggressive Dark Lord. Here is where Luke pays the price for rushing headlong into this confrontation without the proper training. Yet, the action is not the ultimate pay-off. The legendary and climactic revelation in this scene is shocking, and I’m sure, back in 1980, this left audiences stunned and in disbelief. Mark Hamill’s acting in this scene is intense, and couldn’t be more perfect. It’s a culmination of all the emotional trials he has battled through this entire film, and it hits him with all the dread in the universe. It creates that final emotional stinger which carries the momentum of dire peril through to the film’s end, and leaves an audience in suspense for the resolution of everything in Return of the Jedi.
The Empire Strikes Back is an absolute masterpiece of cinema, in my honest opinion. I would not change a single frame from the original theatrical release, period. The late director Irvin Kershner did a marvelous job focusing this film so tightly and strongly on the characters, making their development the core of the story without losing what makes Star Wars entertaining and rich. All that was crafted for this film from the screenwriters to Kershner’s input, made this not a sequel, but a second act in a trilogy. That opened up the possibilities far wider allowing for growth to occur, and consequences to be faced that would require a final chapter to resolve fully. The characters are hurt physically and emotionally, but also, they learn a great deal from their defeats. The film may have a down ending, but that final scene where everyone is gathered back together, mending their wounds and setting plans to rescue Han, leaves an audience with hope that they will return for further heroics and redeem their losses. As time has gone on, my choice for favorite film of the saga has shifted from the original Star Wars to The Empire Strikes Back due to the depth of character, emotion, and consequence in the story. Even more so now, I can vastly appreciate the level of filmmaking artistry and talent on display here from all involved, and it should be always heralded as one of the finest works of cinema.
Dracula (1979)
Dracula. The name is legendary in the world of horror. There have been countless portrayals of the infamous Count throughout the decades. In the late 1970s, a stage play was produced with a unique take on the original novel focusing more on a seductive Dracula than the gory, fearsome one. In both the stage production and this film adaptation, the iconic role was portrayed by the excellent Frank Langella. Directed by John Badham, this is a very interesting presentation of this story that I feel is very successful, even if the horror factor does not rival its brethren.
When a ship is wrecked off Whitby, the only survivor, Count Dracula (Frank Langella), is discovered lying on the beach by the sickly young Mina (Jan Francis), who is visiting her dear friend Lucy Seward (Kate Nelligan). Lucy, her fiancé Johnathan Harker (Trevor Eve), and her father Dr. Seward (Donald Pleasance), who runs the local asylum, try to make the Count feel welcome to England. The Count quickly takes the life of Mina, and proceeds to romance Lucy, with the intention of making her his greatest bride. Soon after the death of Mina, the Sewards call her father, Dr. Van Helsing (Laurence Olivier) to come to their home. As Lucy falls deeper under the spell of the Count, Dr. Van Helsing almost immediately comes to understand that his daughter fell prey to a vampire and discovers the culprit to be none other than the Count himself. Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and Johnathan Harker work together to foil the Count’s plans to take Lucy away to his native Transylvania.
I feel this really is more of a performance-driven film as the plot doesn’t captivate very much. It’s quite standard for a adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel. Thankfully, the cast is especially exceptional. Frank Langella is undoubtedly the most seductive and sensual Count Dracula ever committed to film. With every glance of his eyes, every graceful movement, every soothing, hypnotic word he speaks, it fully enraptures an audience into the Count’s spell. Langella has been told by many fans how their wives were so greatly turned on by his performance, and the husband’s benefitted nicely from it. The wardrobe was meticulously assembled to give him the right flowing and iconic quality, and Langella envelopes that ideal beautifully. He has such a striking presence from his first entrance to the end. He truly commands a scene bringing a shadowy majesty to all he does. The performance is captivating reflecting the centuries old wisdom and power Dracula has gained, making him a dangerous and fearsome evil to combat. The character himself is depicted as a more lonely individual who feels a sadness being isolated from the world. Words spoken with great zeal by Bela Lugosi about the creatures of the night are turned around with a sorrowful tone by Langella. It makes Dracula a more sympathetic figure who yearns for an eternal love to end his pain of loneliness. He doesn’t wish to damn Lucy, he wants to be with her for all time, to love her in the darkness.
Sir Laurence Olivier is also a sympathetic figure as Abraham Van Helsing. He inhabits the intellect of the Professor well, but since the story makes it that Mina is his daughter, there is an added depth of emotion here. As anyone should expect from this magnificent actor, Olivier brings great theatricality and soulful breadth to this portrayal. Despite his grief for Mina, Van Helsing has a solid strength and conviction which makes him a formidable adversary for the Count. Olivier puts on a peculiar accent as Van Helsing which is further unique since all other actors in the role have just used their native English accent. It’s just one more thing that helps him make this role his own.
Lucy Seward is wonderfully portrayed by Kate Nelligan. She has an elegant, soft beauty about her that is perfect. She brings forth a great depth of love and pain just in her eyes alone. How Lucy is mesmerized and caught up in Dracula’s power is realized with a dynamic expression of soul and heartache. You can feel the connection between Lucy and Dracula so deeply throughout the film, and is never anything but powerful and beautiful.
The rest of the cast is remarkably solid. Donald Pleasance is great as Dr. Jack Seward smartly keeping up with Olivier, and never faltering in anything he does. Trevor Eve is quite distinct as Jonathan Harker, but spends most of the film in contempt of Dracula to really breakout into showing his love for Lucy. There are a few moments where he has the opportunity, but they don’t last long enough to be fleshed out. While all other roles are rather small, the actors in those roles maintain the level of quality and commitment as the leads.
Now, there are moments of fearsome horror, but it’s more suspenseful than frightening. There’s enough dramatic conflict and ghastly encounters to maintain this in the realm of horror. When Van Helsing enters the underground cave, and is confronted by his now undead daughter, the make-up upon her is very ghoulish. While its not played for startling scares, the suspense and emotion of the scene is strong. It’s clear that John Badham wanted to make an elegant horror film instead of a shocking one, and I can respect that. The atmosphere created around Dracula in certain scenes make him both enrapturing and chilling. Ultimately, this is tragic vampire love story that has sophistication and grace in addition to its fair share of creepy imagery. I think the ambiguous ending is rightly appropriate to the mysterious qualities of the Count.
The visual effects are very impressive, and handled by the legendary Albert Whitlock. He’s done amazing work on numerous productions over his sixty year career, and this is no exception. Dracula’s transformations into bats and wolves are done very artistically using some beautiful techniques which add to the elegance of the film. It’s rarely anything noticeably elaborate, but these effects are no less impressive because of that.
The masterful John Williams did the score for Dracula, and it is grandiose and sweeping. The main theme is both haunting and romantic, a perfect encapsulation for this story. As always, Williams did a marvelous job creating something unique and operatic for a film that deserved a rich musical experience.
The film is brilliantly shot by veteran cinematographer Gilbert Taylor. In his more than fifty year career, he most notably shot Dr. Strangelove, Frenzy, The Omen, and Star Wars. Dracula is simply a gorgeous film through and through with mystifying atmosphere, alluring lighting, and artistic and competent compositions. It masterfully showcases the amazing production designs in great breadth and detail. Said production designs are exquisite with elaborate, theatrical scope to them, especially in Carfax Abbey. While some are divided on the expressionistic love scene with the red laser light and all, it really didn’t elicit a generally strong emotion from me either way. I surely advocate that it is outside of the style of the film, but one could make the case for Dracula and Lucy’s sexual encounter needing to be a heightened sensual experience. Of course, there are other ways to do that which don’t date the film in the late 1970s. The filmmakers actually borrowed the laser lights from the rock band The Who on a day off from their concert tour. That aside, there’s really not a single technical that fails to impress in this film. It truly is gorgeous.
However, I have to take issue with director John Badham’s alterations to the color timing of the film. He originally wanted to make this as a black & white film, but Universal Pictures vetoed that idea. Thus, when the film was given the widescreen laserdisc treatment in 1991, Badham de-saturated much of the color from the film leaving it with a flat color palette. This mostly affects the darker or exterior scenes giving the picture a rather bleek, muggy look. Knowing that he had done this, I did boost the color setting on my television to partially compensate, but much was still left to be desired. It’s simply the fact that a film needs to be shot and lit as a black & white film for it to work in that sort of presentation. Dracula was not shot in that way. Regardless of this fact, the 2004 DVD does look quite good with good picture quality, if it is a tad dim, but I can see the potentially vibrant film that this once was.
Regardless of this, there is still an excellent motion picture to be had here. Again, granted, there’s not much in the way of true horror that will affect a modern audience, but if you’re looking for a romantic vampire film done right, you would be hard pressed to find one better than this. It is interesting to note that, as a stipulation, Frank Langella did not don any fangs at any point during the movie, and specifically did not want blood on his face. He wanted to maintain a certain level of integrity, and avoid the clichés that other Draculas had indulged in. I think it generally works for a film of this style and tone. It helps maintain a level of humanity in Count Dracula which enhances the heart and soul of his tragic character. This iteration of Dracula might not be for everyone, but I truly like the change of approach here. I can watch a gory Dracula film at anytime in a dozen or more different versions, but this gave me something different with the talent and artistic quality to make it very successful.
Star Wars (1977)
In 1977, an extraordinary motion picture was released that changed filmmaking forever. It captured the imagination of millions across the world, and has remained a magical and beloved treasure of cinema for more than three decades. That film was Star Wars, and I am going to share my love and admiration for this film as it was originally released. Before a mess of mixed quality digital effects were inserted, and other arguable changes were incorporated into the context of this masterpiece, there was the film I grew up with in the age of VHS and cable television. This film was a major part of my childhood, and I could not even estimate how many times I have watched it. This was the first program recorded onto my family’s first VHS tape from when it aired on ShowTime. So, is it any surprise that this is one of the most important films of my life?
In a galaxy far, far away, a brave rebellion fights against a tyrannical Galactic Empire. When the ship of Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is attacked and boarded by Imperials troops, she hides secret plans to the Empire’s planet destroying space station – the Death Star – into the memory banks of an Astrodroid – R2-D2. Along with his fellow droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), the two escape to the barren desert planet of Tatoonie where they come under the ownership of Owen & Beru Lars and their farm boy nephew Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Luke yearns for a life away from this dead end planet, but soon, he finds adventure when R2-D2 seeks out Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi (Alec Guiness). Princess Leia recorded a holographic message for the former Jedi Knight and General of the Old Republic to help her in delivering the Death Star plans safely into the hands of the rebellion. After securing passage aboard the smuggling freighter the Millennium Falcon by way of the cavalier rogue Han Solo and his wooly alien co-pilot Chewbacca, Luke, Ben, and the droids must evade Imperial troops and starships to rescue the Princess before she is executed by the vile Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) and the powerful Lord Darth Vader. Along this journey, Kenobi begins to teach Luke the ways of The Force, a mystical energy field that surrounds all living things, binding the galaxy together, and may hold the power to defeating the Empire.
I believe what captured my young mind with this film is the level of wonder and fun. Having being born in 1980, I only lived in the era following the innovations of Star Wars, but that doesn’t lessen the amazing cinematic visual brilliance of this film. I didn’t see a widescreen version until the films started airing on the SciFi Channel in the mid-1990s. So, that’s saying something special about Star Wars. The quality of everything is so great with dramatic angles, dynamic special effects, and fascinating locations that even only having half the frame still brought massive impact to my eyes. Just based on nostalgia alone, I can still watch those old grainy VHS tapes in pan-and-scan for that youthful feeling of watching these films on some quiet afternoon in the 1980s. Of course, no presentation rivals that of the full widescreen aspect ratio. The compositions are immensely intelligent and rock solid presenting a film that shows it has a solid foundation in the technical qualities of smart filmmaking.
Simply everything about this film inspired my creativity throughout the years. George Lucas was an ambitious visionary who knew what he wanted to achieve, but had to do some building to make it happen. Industrial Light & Magic was created with a slew of young and passionate people who wanted to create innovative special effects. They had to build the equipment with some of the first computer controlled cameras to do the blue screen visual effects shots, and basically, they had to invent new ways of doing this type of work. Watching documentary footage of them doing all of this is immensely historic, and it looks like the pioneers of the industry taking those first major steps forward into a grander future. Every ounce of sweat, hard work, and long hours paid off. This is one of the absolute finest special effects pictures ever made. While there had been other films that had done amazing outer space-based visual effects prior to this, they had never done anything as exciting or dynamic as was done here. The fast paced motion of ships flying by in dogfights had never been seen before, and made this an intense feast for the eyes. The scope of these effects were awe-inspiring such as the opening shot of the Rebel Blockade Runner being pursued by the relatively massive Star Destroyer, or the Millennium Falcon’s approach to the gigantic Death Star. These filmmakers knew how to convey size, weight, and scope with these shots to give them a believable reality. The laser blasts throughout the film, accompanied by the amazing sound design, are vibrant and intense. They always convey power and danger. Of course, while the lightsaber rotoscope effects were still a little rough, one could not help but be fascinated and enthralled by their appearance.
In the late 1970s, films were rarely using traditional orchestral scores since disco and synthesizers were so popular. However, George Lucas knew that something big, epic, and rich was needed to make this a timeless adventure film. John Williams had already worked with George’s friend Steven Spielberg on the brilliant blockbuster Jaws, and it was Steven’s suggestion to employ Williams for this task. In retrospect, there surely was no other way to go. Star Wars is filled with iconic elements, but those gorgeous, masterful themes of John Williams go above and beyond anything else. Williams has since defined what a rousing adventurous film score is, and that began here. He captured every single emotion in this film from big and exciting to low and menacing to quiet and meaningful to magical and mysterious to deeply touching. Star Wars itself does touch on a wide range of emotions and dramatic tones, and every single one is given such depth and soaring richness with this score. The iconic scene of Luke peering out at the twin suns of Tatoonie yearning for something greater than himself is wonderfully punctuated with a powerful rendition of the main theme. The flourishes Williams adds throughout just bring such beautiful life to every moment striking the perfect chords every time. The musical brilliance of John Williams is lushly on display here, and he more than earned the Academy Award for Best Original Score here. It’s one of the finest achievements of musical art ever committed to film, and he would still be able to build upon and surpass himself later on in this trilogy.
I believe the casting of Alec Guiness was an invaluable one. He instilled such a wonderful depth of wisdom, warmth, wit, and world weariness to Ben Kenobi. Guiness carries a sense of history about him that makes Kenobi fascinating and intriguing. When Ben speaks of the Old Republic, there’s a heartbreaking weight behind it. You feel the burden of history upon Kenobi’s heart and mind. While Lucas had not yet concretely decided upon the back story of Star Wars as we’ve come to know it, you can surely read all that we do know into Guiness’ subtle, intelligent, and emotional performance. His is one of the most powerful and textured performances of the entire saga. He easily endears himself to an audience with his compassion and good nature. It doesn’t take long for Ben’s wisdom and caring manner to influence Luke. While the young Skywalker could still be a little brash, the trust is built right from the start, and it’s very much the tempered wisdom of Obi-Wan Kenobi that guides Luke down the right path.
Now, I have a lot of respect for Mark Hamill as an actor. Seeing how he grew with the character of Luke Skywalker is a remarkable achievement that I don’t think enough people give him credit for. Here, he starts out as an eager young man who is in awe of the wide, adventurous galaxy out there, and frustrated with being stuck on this barren world on the outer rim of that galaxy. Through Luke, an audience is introduced to and experiences the excitement, danger, and wonder of this galaxy far, far away. Mark Hamill brings that fresh faced youthful energy and desire to the role. He feels natural and authentic in everything he puts into the role. He embodies the wide-eyed and open minded innocence of Luke Skywalker perfectly. Some have called Hamill whiny as Luke. They’re not looking close enough at what he’s doing opposite such great talents as Alec Guiness and Harrison Ford. I like the banter between Luke and Han. The eager, young kid creating friction with the weathered ego of Solo results in some great funny moments that work very well. Luke has no problem challenging Han’s ego, and eventually, I think Han comes to respect that spirit in him.
Of course, no one else could’ve portrayed Han Solo as well as Harrison Ford. He brought a cool swagger and sex appeal which really popped off the screen. The laid back confidence and charisma made the character feel seedy and dangerous. He’s a guy who could casually fry an alien bounty hunter in a shady cantina without hesitation or breaking a sweat. He doesn’t wait for Greedo to make a move. He intends on shooting him right from the start, and only strings Greedo along until the moment is right. He’s a definite rogue out for himself only, along with his loyal Wookie friend Chewbacca, but I love seeing how that loner attitude slowly softens as he starts to care for Luke. Ford nicely shows that transition from rugged, egotistical outlaw to reliable, hopeful friend. I find it sly and clever how Harrison Ford worked off of Peter Mayhew’s Chewbacca. How Ford leans up against his seven foot tall, lanky frame in certain scenes reinforces that casual swagger of Solo. These two really felt like two old buddies who had seen it all and been through it all. They’ll back one another up every step of the way, and aren’t afraid to rush into danger, whether it’s wise or not.
Princess Leia is a great change of pace. She’s not a helpless damsel in distress. She can easily handle herself in tough situations whether it’s trading stinging words with the icy Grand Moff Tarkin, or grabbing up a blaster and fending off Stormtroopers in a firefight. She has solid, inspiring leadership qualities mixed with a sense of warmth and compassion that are strongly brought to life by Carrie Fisher. It’s great seeing that this young woman can be a very diplomatic, even tempered person in addition to being sternly intelligent and aggressive. She is not intimidated by Vader or Tarkin, but when others are threatened, you clearly see the humanity that is her core. It’s also a great dynamic between Leia and Han Solo. She’s not going to take any of his ego or machismo, and he clearly doesn’t want to suffer any of her insults. It’s a beautiful piece of writing and chemistry that both Fisher and Ford play up well to comedic effect. It’s a very nice building block for where the following film would take their characters.
The cast overall is great. The characters are very distinct and diverse ranging all the way from Anthony Daniels’ sophisticated, yet cowardly droid C-3PO to the amazing Peter Cushing’s razor sharp, authoritative, cold-blooded Tarkin. It’s interesting that Darth Vader is handled as a secondary villain under Tarkin’s command. Vader has an undoubtedly powerful, imposing presence that makes him more mysterious and intriguing than Tarkin. He’s truly a definite dark opposite to Ben Kenobi, but I take nothing away from Peter Cushing’s chillingly theatrical performance. Having the voice of Vader being provided by the exceptional James Earl Jones was a stroke of genius. Along with that brilliant respirator sound effect, Jones was integral in making the character as powerful and commanding as he has become. While he looked immensely awesome and striking, with the wrong voice it never would have worked.
Now, there are people that regard the lightsaber duel between Vader and Kenobi here as the most boring. I greatly disagree. It’s actually one of my favorites. It has a great sense of two old Samurai from a war long ago meeting again to close out unfinished business. They are not the vigorous young men they once were, but there’s a matter of honor or revenge to settle that neither can deny. There’s something to prove in one way or another for them both, and it is that aura which elevates the sequence for me. Their words hold great weight on a very deep personal level, but for Kenobi, there’s something greater at stake than himself.
I believe the writing of humor here is very smart. It’s always a natural product of the situation or contrasting personalities. R2-D2 is kind of spunky, and C-3PO is certainly a little uppity. So, there’s some magical comedic gold which extends from that, but never hijacks the tone of the film. It adds to the fun and entertainment value. It accentuates the personalities of the characters, and builds relationships. The humor is used as an excellent tool to bond these characters together. They might irritate one another, but eventually, they build a mutual respect through all the shared emotions in these intense life-or-death situations.
The film really does have a wonderful story structure. We follow these two lowly droids firstly who constantly push the story towards introducing Luke, then Ben Kenobi. Their actions initiate this slow assembling of an unlikely heroic team built through unexpected situations. The story nicely transitions into Luke Skywalker being the audience’s guide through this world, allowing us to feel his plight, and incorporating his journey with that of the overall plot. Ultimately, it comes down to an ensemble piece where each character has a purpose and opportunity to be heroic. They all have their threads, either plot or character based, that carry them through this adventure, and that’s a clever achievement. No one’s ever just tagging along without something to contribute or gain from this experience.
The Empire is firmly established right from the start as a dominant, oppressive entity in opposition of the smaller rebel forces. It’s also a nice juxtaposition where the Imperial Stormtroopers are fully armored, masking their human features while the rebel troopers are clearly human. It shows that the Empire is rather cold and lacking in humanity while the rebellion is very much about people. This is a motif carried through the whole film. Even the TIE Fighter pilots have full respirator gear on while the X-Wing pilots can clearly be seen to the audience. It’s a very smart visual idea that is realized strongest in Darth Vader.
I also love the seedy parts of the Mos Eisley Cantina sequence. Touching upon Han Solo’s shady world of smuggling, bounty hunters, and gangsters gives even more flavor and depth to this universe. It adds an extra layer of danger and treachery to this greater galaxy that we are being introduced to. The alien designs, while rough with limited rubber masks, still remain effective today. I can see and understand what George Lucas’ frustrations were with this sequence as he hoped for much higher quality masks and such, it’s still an iconic scene that really captured the imagination of audiences.
While Star Wars is generally a fun, rousing adventure film, it doesn’t shy away from the darker dramatic beats. The death of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru is a very striking moment that penetrates deep inside Luke’s heart and soul, as it does for the audience. It’s an unsettling, grim scene followed directly after by Darth Vader about to implement a very foreboding interrogation upon Princess Leia. These setup the dangers our heroes have to face that will motivate them forward. However, it’s great seeing that Luke never goes down the path of vengeance. He remains true to who he is and to his friends. He also knows there’s a greater good to fight for, and he is fully committed to that. These heavier dramatic beats throughout the film create emotional obstacles for Luke. The loss of family and friends test his strength of spirit, and pushes him further towards believing in The Force.
The idea of The Force is an excellent one that plays into the mystical, spiritual, and magical. Luke must believe in something beyond himself to tap into this power. He learns to trust in himself by way of The Force to accomplish great things. We are gradually shown the extent of The Force with subtle feelings and tricks at first, but it all builds up to and pays off largely in the climax as Luke lets go of the cold technology to embrace The Force to defeat the cold, oppressive Galactic Empire. Kenobi becoming “More powerful than you can possibly imagine” to guide Luke in this assault on the Death Star enhances the depth of The Force overall. It’s something greater than any one person or thing, but if you trust in it fully, it can be yours to command to achieve the incredible.
Speaking of which, Star Wars is filled with incredible action that brings back that swashbuckling mentality of those old serials George Lucas grew up loving. Backed by that thrilling John Williams score, these are sequence that satisfy in a big way. In an era of film where things had gotten mostly dark, gritty, and explicitly violent, Star Wars made action fun again without sacrificing suspense, tension, or danger. The heroes keep getting into increasingly more perilous scenarios where they have to be smart and innovative to escape and survive. It’s one bad turn after another, which brings the film some humor and excitement, but these situations are never played lightly. There’s always a real, imminent threat. This maintains a tight, solid pace. The film simply has exceptional editing along with superb cinematography. George Lucas had a great approach to the editing in having the edits dictate the rhythm and pace of scenes instead of the performances. This ultimately created a much sharper and snappier pace.
The entire climactic assault on the Death Star is one of the best space battle sequences ever. The amazing, dynamic visual effects cinematography creates an exhilarating cinematic experience. George Lucas has always been fascinated by speed, and he accentuates that with this sequence. The fighters are always in motion with an environment that blurs by at a breakneck speed. The dogfights are nothing short of amazing. It all builds to a nerve racking apex, and how it ends must have had audiences on their feet cheering back in 1977.
Star Wars remains a triumphant motion picture that should stand and be preserved for all time. It’s a massive part of cinematic history which revolutionized filmmaking in every aspect. It was innovative and marvelous on a technical level. Still, despite all these awe-inspiring visual effects and technical achievements, this is a story that is all about its characters. It never loses sight of the human aspect, and that is what drives this film into excellence. George Lucas once said that special effects are just a means of telling a story, and that without a story, they mean nothing. At this point in time, he showed us exactly what that meant. He crafted a wondrous, exciting, adventurous, and emotional story first, and then, incorporated those groundbreaking special effects to tell that story in the most original and powerful way possible. For the last thirty-five years, this film has excited audiences like few other films can. Lucas took classic archetypes of literature and the classic hero’s journey, and molded and melded them into one of the best adventure films of all time. Audiences at the time had never seen anything like this before, and could never imagine that another Star Wars film could equal, let alone surpass this one. It would not be an easy feat, but in the right hands, it would become possible.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
So, it all came down to this. Both previous prequels were met with mixed reactions, at best, but the advocates for the negative seemed to shout much louder than the positive side. As I have covered in my own reviews here, there were some improvements from the first to second film, but many glaring problems existed with lapses in logic and intelligence, to be brief. Coming to Revenge of the Sith, it is difficult to be entirely objective as I have fond memories surrounding the release of this film. I thought that might impact my review a good amount, but after some refreshers and a deep analysis of the film, I’m going at it just as hard as the last two. Again, it’s not a stubborn stance of hate against something new or different, it’s an objective point of view of seeing what is good and what is wrong about the film. One thing that irritates me with sequels is when the filmmakers don’t have enough objectivity to actually fix the obvious problems from one film to another. So, you know I have a few axes to grind down even further, and there is some summation needed for the overall prequel trilogy. So, get real comfortable because this is gonna be a lot longer than I expected it to be.
After waging the Clone Wars for three years now, the evil Separatist cybernetic commander General Grievous has boldly kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from the capital of the Republic. Quickly sent into action on a rescue mission are Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) as a space battle is waged above Coruscant. However, despite their ultimate success in this mission and the death of Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), more foreboding threats lurk ahead for the Jedi and the Republic. Anakin reunites with his secretly wed wife Senator Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) who reveals she is pregnant. This sparks repeated visions for Anakin of her death during child birth, and he becomes consumed with finding a way to avert this event. As Obi-Wan is sent on a mission to track down and dispose of General Grievous on the planet Utapau, Chancellor Palpatine further manipulates Skywalker towards a dark path which is meant to see the fall of the Jedi and the Republic, and the rise of the Sith Lord’s Galactic Empire.
Let’s just get the bad out of the way first. The film’s pivotal faltering crux is that Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side is exceptionally weak. It stems from the foundation of a romantic relationship that made no sense to exist in the previous film, and never felt truly believable to begin with. It came off more like teenagers in some glorified storybook romance with both having some delusion of what love really was instead of a naturally and organically developed relationship. Anakin never matures, or really changes as a character at all. I can take dark, troubled, and brooding, but the reasons behind it are just very one dimensional. Yes, anyone who had a vision of their loved one that Anakin does here would have a flood of emotional reactions, but what Anakin does because of it and why he believes it will save Padmé comes off as naïve. All of Anakin’s suspicions are unfounded. He is disillusioned by his own built-in paranoia and distrust because he isn’t the all-powerful Jedi he was prophesized to become. A prophecy that no one ever explains where it came from, or who created it. A prophecy that causes a lot of damage to the conceptualization of the prequels. Yes, Palpatine constantly puts ideas in his head, but remember what Ben Kenobi said in both A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. “Vader was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force.” Nowhere in this film does it seem as if Anakin is “seduced” into turning evil. He’s a desperate man searching for a long shot desperate solution, and as always, is selfish enough to not care if hundreds or thousands of Jedi have to die for what he wants. It doesn’t feel like he’s truly tempted or lured there by way of its power tapping into his darkest impulses. While the opera scene surely tries to support that idea, Anakin clearly states that the only reason he’s joining the Sith is to save Padmé’s life. That is all that matters to him. If the Jedi could do the same as Palpatine claims he can do, he’d stick with the Jedi. There is no seduction involved.
My personal belief is that Anakin should have been a mature, honorable, and confident man who is swayed and consumed by power. A man who seeks the means to restore order in the galaxy, which aligns with Vader’s statements to Luke in The Empire Strikes Back. I would expect that his motives are broader, encompassing a larger landscape instead of being manipulated into believing everything he does. I surely have no qualms about the Emperor being manipulative as that’s always been part of who he is, but Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side is more a result of Palpatine molding him there through lies and deception instead of Anakin making these choices of his own free will. Darth Vader was a confident, intimidating individual with a sense of self-control. I would’ve expected to see those qualities reflected in a young Anakin Skywalker. A man mature beyond his years, and amazingly proficient in the ways of the Force. Someone to be admired, not tolerated. His fall is meant to be tragic, but instead, it only comes off as selfish. It’s difficult to care about a character when he is not likeable in the least, and that is a failing which extends to nearly every aspect of these prequel films.
Thankfully, Anakin’s growing paranoia and suspicions leave us with very few scenes of him and Padmé gushing over one another, but we do get one scene too many. Personally, said scene is cringe inducing. The dialogue is horrendous, and the acting from Portman and Christensen do nothing to make it more bearable. Outside of said scene, Natalie Portman comes off a little more mature than her performance in the previous movie. This is likely due to her not being forced into a poorly conceived romantic storyline. However, I do wish the “Seeds of Rebellion” scenes were kept in the film because they actually give Amidala an active storyline to personally involve herself with. In the film as it is, she essentially sits around her apartment waiting for people to inform her of the latest plot developments and get emotional over them. Again, Natalie Portman is one of the most talented and diverse actresses around today, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from her performances in these films. There is some improvement from the flat, hollow Queen Amidala back in The Phantom Menace, but even with strong emotions injected into her character, it still lacks depth. The relationship between Anakin and Padmé only ever feels fabricated. It’s presented to us with a minimum of effort put into making it feel earned. What makes it worse is that Natalie and Hayden have no chemistry whatsoever. A really good actor can take something not so good and turn it into something worthwhile, but everyone has their limits. You can’t do it all on your own, and George Lucas seems to have a tough time conveying his ideas to actors. That is all I can chalk this up to because, outside of these Star Wars prequels, I have yet to see anything less than great performances from Natalie Portman. She really can do it all, and she always does it exceptionally well. So, while it sounds redundant, it seems necessary to say that I have to attribute the sub-standard acting qualities in these films to Lucas’ inability to communicate the depth and detail of his characters to his actors. Of course, the poorly written dialogue doesn’t help matters, either.
With Samuel L. Jackson, I can understand the marketing appeal of casting him in these films, but he wasn’t made for a role like Mace Windu. The wise, seasoned Jedi Master role would be better filled by a Morgan Freeman, Forrest Whittaker, or even a Laurence Fishburne type. Jackson does have plenty of talent, but he seems to shine in more passionate roles. Characters that aren’t conservative with their emotions, but that’s exactly who Mace Windu is. Windu could have been the elder Ben Kenobi allegory for the prequel trilogy, if written with more perceptive wisdom and cast with a more appropriate actor. Alas, he comes off just as one dimensional and clueless as all the other Jedi. Many of his line deliveries are as flat and hollow as they get, especially when confronting Palpatine. Samuel L. Jackson can be a marvelous actor. Probably my favorite performance of his is in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, a film I love very much, and his Ordell Robbie is a performance filled with a lot of charisma, wit, and dramatic weight. That’s the sort of role Jackson shines in, and shows what kind of talent he has to offer. Mace Windu never offered that for Jackson because, unfortunately, it was never a role designed for him.
Fortunately, Ewan McGregor seems to pull through fine. This is probably because he has full context of where Kenobi has been and where he will go to draw on. He knows where to take his performance to sync the character up with Alec Guinness’ portrayal in the original films. His heart wrenching performance at the start and conclusion of the final duel is everything it should have been. It’s only too bad that the rest of the prequel films never earned those deep moments of character and emotion. McGregor makes this younger, yet still wise Kenobi charming, compassionate, and overall a pleasure to spend time with. He truly had a dimensional handle on the character, and filled it with personality and emotion to spare. Ewan really gave it his all, and it shows through in every second he’s on screen. The character might not have been written too greatly in these three films, but Ewan was able to rise above that more than anyone else.
Moving onto fresher ground, some of the lightsaber duels here are rather mixed. The good ones are the opening duel with Dooku and the climactic Anakin versus Obi-Wan battle. My main gripe is the sequence where the Jedi go to arrest Chancellor Palpatine. Lightweight choreography between Samuel L. Jackson and Ian McDiarmid along with some bad editing to terrible close-up shots of cringable facial expressions make it tough to sit through. Neither actor is convincing as a master swordsman. Even before that, the editing of Palpatine slaying the other Jedi Masters is clumsy, shoddy. It makes the movie feel like cheap B-movie schlock that couldn’t hire a competent choreographer or editor to make the sequence look decent. Then, there’s the horrible line deliveries of bland dialogue at the latter end of the scene which makes the entire thing worse. At times, it seems like Jackson, McDiarmid, and Christensen aren’t even trying as if the script drained the talent right out of them. And this is the scene which directly leads to Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side. I couldn’t ask for a worse build up to the saga’s most pivotal moment. It encapsulates everything that is primarily wrong with the prequels – bad writing, bad acting, uninspired editing, and poor plotting. Again, Anakin doesn’t strike out and join the Sith because of a sense of injustice at hand, it’s because Palpatine can maybe save the woman he loves. He even shows regret and remorse over what he just did to Mace Windu, but still goes along with joining forces with Palpatine because of what he claims he might be able to do to save his wife. Again, a desperate guy looking for a long shot solution.
Since I jut touched upon it, I do need to address the technical aspects of these three films, in retrospect. What really strikes me is how dull the cinematography is. There’s hardly ever any camera movement to punctuate emotional or dramatic moments, and scenes are blocked and plotted out with no originality. While the action sequences are dynamically quite well handled, the dialogue scenes are very point-and-shoot, by-the-numbers work. Very little effort is put into making them visually interesting aside from the CGI blue screened backgrounds. I think not working on practical sets or locations greatly affected how these films were shot. There are no environments to envelope the film in, to really move the camera around in to take advantage of what’s actually there. Shooting in a tangible environment inspires a filmmaker to interact with it, and play with camera angles and movement. Instead, everything is shot against a flat blue screen which inspires nothing for both the filmmakers and actors. And as I said before, the editing is also very uninspired. With the original Star Wars, George Lucas went for a less conventional method of editing the film by having the cuts drive the rhythm of the scene instead of it being dictating by the actors. It created energy, pace, and urgency in the way scenes unfolded and how the story was told. With the prequels, Ben Burtt approaches everything very conventionally, very clinically. It’s just like the cinematography. There’s nothing original about it, nothing creative in how anything is presented. It’s all just there.
Another lackluster lightsaber duel is the overly long battle between Kenobi and General Grievous. There’s some dramatic license taken at the beginning as Obi-Wan just stands there waiting for Grievous to throw off his cape, talk trash, and unfurl four lightsabers before even getting into a fighting stance. Then, the scene goes on and on from a duel to a ridiculous chase to a more straight up fight. There is something to be commended for a short, straight to the point action sequence. Long and elaborate can work when it leads to a point, but the end result is the same here no matter the length. The Yoda / Emperor duel is entirely pointless, and just sucks up time that could’ve been used to better story-driven effect. It’s more of that ridiculous action hero posturing from Yoda which is entirely out of character. Removing this fight sequence from the film would have no effect on the story or characters, and that is the very definition of a frivolous action sequence.
While the Anakin versus Obi-Wan battle is well choreographed, and I enjoy the action quite a lot, the dialogue exchanges within it also terribly lack passion and depth. One would think it would be the most impassionate confrontation in the entire saga, but it just lacks that visceral emotional intensity. The entire sequence could have benefited from being a shorter fight with more substantive interactions like the original trilogy duels. The biggest difference with lightsaber duels in the prequel trilogy versus the original trilogy is the over reliance on high speed fight choreography instead of character-based conflicts. You can only maintain interest in a high speed fight for so long before it has to boil down to substantive moments with the characters. This is an impressive sequence, but Anakin and Obi-Wan are so evenly matched that there’s barely any back-and-forth peril. While Anakin might be more powerful, Obi-Wan has the experience and discipline to compensate, and that’s what ultimately allows for him to defeat Anakin. The sequence has plenty of merit with the magnificent digital effects, the changing location of the battle, and the slow descent into a hellish environment. John Williams’ music reaches a major apex here with “Battle of the Heroes,” one of my favorite prequel trilogy cues. Ewan and Hayden showcase immense physical ability and discipline making this an action highlight of the entire saga. Despite any flaws, this confrontation has added so much more depth to the Ben Kenobi / Darth Vader duel in A New Hope for me. It does feel like “the circle is now complete.” The context now given offers up a more epic atmosphere to it like two old Samurai from an era long past battling for the last time. Both men have been through this personal history that no one else in the film is really aware of, and so, that adds to the personal strength of it all.
The opening space battle sequence has always impressed me. I know there are those out there that have their gripes with the entire rescue mission section of the film, and I can understand their issues with it. There’s some extraneous humor that really isn’t needed with R2-D2, and a few bits and pieces in the space battle that could have been trimmed up or cutout for a tighter sequence. Plus, it is extremely difficult to discern what ships are fighting on what side of the battle. There’s no visual context to apply to it, and the scene is very jam packed with all kinds of crossfire and visual depth. That’s how a space battle should be, but it really just becomes random background to the main action with Skywalker and Kenobi. I can entirely advocate for all of that criticism, but with the sentimentality I have for the film, it does not bother me. I enjoy nearly every moment of it because it does feel very Star Wars to me, and I think it’s a welcomed change to start one of these films out with an action sequence like the original film. For a few of the films in the saga, a slow start works nicely by establishing an appropriate dramatic tone, but others like The Phantom Menace or Return of the Jedi just seem to drag along before anything exciting or interesting occurs. For Revenge of the Sith, it definitely needed an energetic, dark, and dangerous tone set from the start, and I truly love that aspect of the movie. Of course, the tone does become rather inconsistent with the humorous bits intercut with the darker or more perilous moments here, and tone has gotten more inconsistent with each subsequent prequel film.
Also, one has to beg the question of what the purpose was of abducting Chancellor Palpatine. If this was a plot devised by Palpatine and Dooku, I can’t see how that particularly benefits Palpatine’s overall master plan. Him being abducted removes him from his seat of power in the Republic to manipulate events towards his agenda, and gives the leverage of power to the Separatists in the war. It’s kind of a long way to go to assume that it was an elaborate scheme meant to result in Anakin killing Dooku. No guarantees that it would be Anakin being part of the rescue since he and Obi-Wan only just returned from assignments in the outer rim of the galaxy, and no definite guarantee that Obi-Wan would get knocked out for Anakin to potentially give in to killing Dooku. If it was Grievous’ plan, that makes more sense since he doesn’t seem to know that Sidious is Palpatine, but then again, Grievous is depicted as being fully subservient to Darth Sidious and Dooku. So, it’s highly unlikely he’d launch an offensive without their approval especially since Dooku is on board the ship. Of course, as usual, these prequels hardly adhere to any sort of storytelling logic. Characters do what they do because that’s what the script needs them to do. This really harkens back to the nonsensical story of The Phantom Menace where the surface plot does not align with the behind the scenes machinations of Palpatine. If Palpatine is not manipulating events to his benefit, all of this makes good sense, but George Lucas seems to not think beneath the surface of what he’s writing. He approaches the story from the wrong perspective, and thus, it results in these different elements at play not aligning with one another.
George Lucas leaves a lot to be desired in this film because of many hanging plot threads, character motivations that are not explained, the lack of character development, and the stupidity of certain characters. For instance, while I am a very knowledgeable Star Wars fan, and even own the Star Wars Encyclopedia, the average movie-goer never has a single thing explained to them about who the Sith are and why they are seeking revenge. Everything about them is taken for granted as if you just happen to know this, or worse yet, don’t need to know this. Because I am a knowledgeable fan of this franchise, I generally know that the Sith were driven to near extinction by the Jedi a thousand years ago. Also, they have had only had a single master and a single apprentice since then because the Dark Lords of the Sith were too power hungry and deceitful to co-exist as a large organization. They would all backstab one another for their own personal agendas to be furthered, and that contributed to their extinction as well. However, none of this is ever mentioned or hinted at, let alone explained in these films. In the original trilogy, the term “Dark Lord of the Sith” is never mentioned either. So, even the term is brand new to those who’ve followed nothing but the films. It is a gross oversight that the history of the Sith is never explored or implied in these films to give context to their motivations, and those motivations are the real crux of the entire prequel trilogy storyline. In The Phantom Menace, the Jedi Council mentions that the Sith had been extinct for a millennia, but go into no detail as to why or how. It’s a revenge movie that never says what the person is getting revenge for. Quite frankly, that’s utterly ridiculous.
And of course, several characters go grossly undeveloped. Count Dooku used to be a Jedi and Qui-Gon Jinn’s mentor, but no one ever gives any background on why he left the Jedi Order. Just implying that he might’ve had contrasting opinions isn’t enough. What kind of man was he really before he became a deceitful Sith Lord? What we see of him is generally an act put on to fool everyone into following him to secretly benefit the agendas of the Sith. Possibly the only honest scene we see of him is when he has Obi-Wan imprisoned in Attack of the Clones, and he is truly a fascinating character in that scene. However, we are never given any further true insight into the man. He’s just another pawn of Palpatine, and with such a talented actor in Christopher Lee, it was a deeply wasted opportunity to not flesh out his character more.
Also, Padmé Amidala might seem to have character development, but in reality, she’s a hollow vessel made to be whatever the plot needs her to be at any moment. In Attack of the Clones, she consoles Anakin after his Tusken Raider mass murder confession, saying “to be angry is to be human,” and then, later marries him despite this cold blooded act of violence. In Revenge of the Sith, she learns he killed Jedi Younglings, is shocked and dismayed at hearing this because she can’t believe that he’d do something like that, and then, says she can’t follow Anakin to the dark places he is going. These are entirely contradictory behaviors and reactions that cannot be reconciled in my mind. Padmé should be one of the most level headed, clear minded, and intelligent people in these films, but instead, she is written with so many incompatible and contradictory character traits that she should have canceled out her own existence. Also, her dying of a broken heart or having “lost the will to live” comes off as terrible in this because of this. Not to mention, she can’t find the will to live so she can raise and love her newborn twins? Seriously, Lucas could’ve had her dying of a crushed windpipe or hemorrhaging or any number of medical complications from Anakin’s Force choke, but he chose “she’s lost the will to live.” That puts an ugly nail into a so-called romance that was contrived and ridiculous to begin with.
Back to Anakin himself, it is hard to actually say he has “fallen to the Dark Side” when he’s still the whiny, selfish, impulsive, bratty person he always was. He’s no different a character when he was a Padawan to when he becomes a Sith Lord. All his turn to the Dark Side really does is free him up to not have to apologize for being the arrogant jerk he’s always been. And of course, he contradicts himself as well. His entire reason for joining the Sith is to find a way to save Padmé from dying in child birth, but once his megalomaniacal streak kicks in on Mustafar, he goes right ahead and tries to kill her himself while jumping to another unfounded conclusion. There’s just no motivational consistency with these characters. In many films, I’ve seen someone striking someone they love, but then, they quickly snap out of it when they realize the horrible thing they just did. They come back to their senses. Here, Anakin just keeps being an disillusioned arrogant jackass. Again, this is not the Darth Vader we know from the original trilogy who is confident, intimidating, and in control. Anakin is the direct opposite of that.
Fortunately, I can give a lot of praise to the Order 66 sequence. From the newly dubbed Darth Vader assaulting the Jedi Temple to the Clone Troopers turning on their Jedi Generals, the sequence is rich with sorrow, dread, and ominous imagery. The moment of Jimmy Smits’ Bail Organa witnessing a young Padawan being gunning down on the landing platform is tragic and unsettling. Right from the start of Anakin marching the troops into the temple to the final shot of smoke billowing out of it the next morning, the whole sequence is really well done. It’s only a shame that, one, some bad child actor has to have a line of dialogue in it, and two, we don’t get to know any of these Jedi that are murdered. There was an opportunity in these films to do something with a few of these characters so that an audience could come to care about them to some extent. While the sequence itself earns my general praise, these are just interchangeable background characters being killed off who never had any emotional resonance on the story or audience. It’s ultimately less about those who are killed, and more about those either doing the killing or who have to deal with the repercussions of these events. That’s not necessarily bad or wrong, but it’s just a missed opportunity to have the sequence hit the audience harder on an emotional level.
A rather pointless character comes in the form of General Grievous. He makes no independent decisions like a General would. He demonstrates no tactical proficiency or command authority. He just mindlessly carries out the orders of Dooku or Sidious, and is really just around as a plot convenience. He’s also a comedic “mustache twirling” type of villain giddily laughing when he cowardly sneaks off to escape, or likes to strut around boasting his unearned ego. It probably would have been better to have Dooku hang around for a while, and give more weight and purpose to his death instead of burning run time on this CGI waste of a villain.
The Jedi themselves consistently display an almost willful ignorance to what’s going on around them. Maybe Lucas was trying to present them as having become overly confident in their perception of the absolute clarity and power of the Force, but so much blatantly unfolds right in their face that one would have to be willfully ignorant to not take action. Every major negative event that impacts the Republic strategically comes to greatly and solely benefit Chancellor Palpatine, and none of the Jedi seem to find it all that suspicious until the war is over and Anakin actually tells them that Palpatine is a Sith Lord. And of course, by this point Palpatine has almost indomitable control over the entire galaxy. It’s even worse that it takes them well over a decade to perceive that there is a plot to destroy them at work. I understand Palpatine is using his Sith powers to cloud peoples’ minds, but I doubt he’s so powerful that he can cloud the minds of every single Jedi throughout the galaxy every hour of every day. Even then, they hardly need to use the Force to perceive this threat as the obvious evidence right there in front of them. It never seems like anyone followed up on the investigation into Darth Maul’s origins after his death, or discover any allies he had that could further threaten the Jedi. Even Obi-Wan’s investigation into the Clone Army is never resolved. The Jedi never truly discover the hard facts on how or why Jedi Master Syphadias ordered the army, if it actually was him, how Jango Fett got tied up into it, who erased Kamino from the Jedi Archives, or anything else that weaves into and out of that mystery. The Jedi remain willfully blind to these unanswered mysteries which are clearly ominous signs of a conspiracy that could threaten them and the Republic. Fett himself says he was hired by a man named Tyranus, who is later revealed to the audience to be Count Dooku. It’s likely to speculate that Dooku impersonated Syphadias after he was killed, and ordered the Clone Army himself in conjunction with hiring Jango Fett. So, if the Jedi actually followed the investigation to full conclusion, they would’ve uncovered an elaborate conspiracy against them. Instead, the plot requires them to be stupid so that these obvious hanging plot threads can come back to bite them in their collective posteriors.
Going both ways on the issue of character is Palpatine. He is given a good amount of depth and a hint of back story to give him some dimension. Ian McDiarmid has generally done a good job in the role, but there can be too many instances of disingenuous emotion that just make the character’s façade horribly transparent. It’s only by way of everyone else being dumb as a post that no one ever notices how obvious Palpatine is every time he opens his mouth. Also, when he unveils himself as Darth Sidious, McDiarmid starts hamming it up like crazy. I don’t view that as a good thing. How he portrayed the Emperor in Return of the Jedi is vastly different in tone than how he is in the prequels. In Jedi, he was a deeply serious and intimidating villain who was creepy and ominous. McDiarmid’s chilling portrayal penetrated deep into an audience’s consciousness, and deeply into the heart and soul of Luke Skywalker. He had a grim, imposing aura to him that was more dreadful than Darth Vader which elevated the psychological threat in the situation. He was over confident but subtle, and that’s what is missing here – subtlety. McDiarmid’s performance in this movie is far too obvious and overt. While he has solid low key, compelling scenes, such as his telling of the story of Darth Plagueis, he simply allows Palpatine’s ego to increasingly overflow throughout the movie. Instead of transitioning into that fearsome character we experienced in Return of the Jedi, he becomes a cackling, over the top madman. McDiarmid’s performance in The Phantom Menace was actually far superior and more consistent with his original portrayal. It was a more serious, dramatic approach to the character with subtlety and intelligence. Unfortunately, it only went downhill after that. Also, it’s never explained why Palpatine becomes deformed from the Force lightning. Nothing of the sort happened when the Emperor unleashed it on Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. With these prequels, George Lucas seemed more interested in having things cosmetically align with the original trilogy instead of conceptually. He really can’t have it both ways.
When you go ahead with a prequel you can’t change your mind on the established back story and representation of the characters. You can only flesh out what’s already there, and bring clarity to the more vague areas of these histories. George Lucas just failed at that. Everything about an honorable, noble, and admirable Anakin Skywalker that Ben Kenobi spoke about in those original three films is entirely eradicated in favor of this selfish, egotistical, and violent person that never seems like a hero. The Jedi never seem like an order of wise protectors of peace and justice. They come off like short-sighted, dumb as dirt, full of themselves fools who never follow through on any course of action they set out on. Yoda continually acknowledges a swirl of negative and even violent vibes coming from Anakin, but he continually ignores the severity of what Anakin’s going through. Considering that the Jedi had a bad feeling about Anakin from the start, one would think they would keep a close watch on him to make sure he doesn’t go off the rails. Also, after Mace Windu learns that Palpatine is a Sith Lord, he originally goes to arrest him, but then, he insists to Anakin that Palpatine must be killed on the spot. Beyond just the conceptual inconsistencies in these films, the writing itself can’t keep a character’s motivations and intentions consistent throughout a single scene. It really is atrocious on so many levels. Again, the problem is that there is no one to challenge George Lucas’ creative direction. Whatever he wants, he gets even if it doesn’t make any blasted sense.
Some people say that the anticipation and hype built up for these films could never be lived up to. I say that’s a pithy excuse for churning out substandard movies. Plenty of films have been able to live up to immense hype time after time. You can’t tell me that The Empire Strikes Back didn’t have massive hype around it leading up to its release, and that clearly exceeded all expectations. It comes down to talented, competent filmmakers putting care and intelligence into what they do to produce a high grade feature film. Over time, it seems that some filmmakers lose their focus or ambition to be as good as they once were, or in some cases, certain filmmakers lose sight of the fact that film is a collaborative process and they reject anyone’s attempt to offer an alternate point of view to potentially improve the film. I am a filmmaker myself, and my stance has always been, “I know I have not thought of every great idea in the world.” I encourage my cast and crew members to always help in the creative process so that we can make the best film possible. However, George Lucas seems intent on his word being the only one that counts, and that is the first step towards creative failure.
As I’ve alluded to, I have a lot of fond memories from the theatrical experiences I had with this movie. I saw it twice on opening night with a glorious digital projection screening the following week. I went to see this in the theatre, at least, four times in 2005, and even did a DVD marathon of the entire saga when Revenge of the Sith came to home video. I highly enjoyed this movie, and I still find good qualities in it that I continue to enjoy. However, while all of these fond memories project some sentimentality onto the film for myself, they do not excuse the critical analysis it deserves.
The original Star Wars trilogy captured the imagination and wonder of people all over the world, and for me, it still inspires and entertains me greatly. Unfortunately, these prequel films have not done the same for me. They lack the vibrant, memorable, and iconic characters that came to define Star Wars, and are plagued with amateurish screenwriting wrought with underdeveloped concepts. Lucas was trying to tell a story he didn’t have the skill to competently write. There were too many elements at play that he could not put into a cohesive whole, nor was he able to flesh these ideas out so they had some depth and relatability. I have no problems with telling a more complex Star Wars story with political aspects, but it has to make sense. All three of these films are excellent examples of terrible screenwriting, or in the least, a screenwriter’s ambition outreaching his skill.
There was no ambition behind these movies, or creative drive to make them original or innovative. More effort was put into advancing the technology of digital effects than crafting a solid, sensical, and lively screenplay. Everything just reflects a lack of passion from most everyone involved – the wooden acting, the dull dialogue, the clinical non-action sequence cinematography, the by-the-numbers editing, and the clunky plotting. There are a few positives to credit the films for such as mostly great lightsaber fight choreography, some good action sequences, John Williams’ incredible music, and a few bright spots with the casting such as Ewan McGregor, Christopher Lee, and even Jimmy Smits, for what little he was given to work with. However, these few highlights are grossly overshadowed by all the poorly executed elements of these movies. I hope that I never commit myself to reviewing films requiring this deep of an analytical deconstruction, again. However, I had to complete what I started so that I could move onto the praise heavy reviews of the original trilogy in their original theatrical versions. Those will come in time, but for now, it’s time to rest my mind. Thanks for bearing with these excessively long, in depth reviews of these disappointing movies.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
I grew up on Star Wars. Being born a matter of months before the theatrical release of The Empire Strikes Back made that inevitable. The first of the films I saw theatrically was Return of the Jedi, and I have vague recollections of the experience with loud noises and the unsettling image of the unmasked Darth Vader (for a three year old, it was like A Nightmare on Elm Street to me). These films have been part of who I am for as long as I can remember, and I feel it’s about time I share my thorough thoughts on the entire saga. With the 3D theatrical re-releases on the horizon, it seems timely. I don’t plan on seeing them in 3D, and I do not own the Blu Rays at this point. When reviewing the prequels, it will be their original DVD versions. When reviewing the original trilogy, it will be the original theatrical versions. I have many editions of the original trilogy on VHS & DVD, but this is about what I grew up on.
For The Phantom Menace, I was part of the madness in 1999. I stood in line with a lawn chair, a brand new CD Walkman, and a sunburn to get advance tickets for opening night. I ended up sitting next to a guy dressed as Darth Maul that first night, and I did see the film multiple times in theatres. However, with time comes perspective and maturity. I know everything that needs to be said about this film has been said, but this is a forum to share my thoughts. It also an opportunity to express what these films mean to me. So, this is not me trying to add to a worn out battle cry against this film. I’m just here to offer my point of view. All eight pages worth.
Two ambassadors from the Jedi Order, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Nesson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), are sent to the planet of Naboo to resolve a trade taxation dispute. The politically powerful Trade Federation has setup a blockade of battleships around the planet to force their position, but they are actually working with someone of ulterior motives named Darth Sidious. Viceroy Nute Gunray works on his behalf to manipulate the young Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) to give into their treaty, but the Jedi soon learn of the Federation’s invasion army. After surviving a battle droid attack, Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan escape to the planet’s surface where they are joined by the bumbling Gungan outcast Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), and rescue the Queen and her contingent to escape the planet. With their ship damaged, they land on the outer rim desert planet of Tatoonie where they try to barter for replacement parts, but they are soon hunted by Sidious’ apprentice Darth Maul. On this planet, Qui-Gon discovers Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), a young slave of the junk dealer Watto who has unusually strong Force abilities. Qui-Gon believes Anakin could be the one prophesized to “bring balance to the Force,” and later champions him to be trained as a Jedi. However, the Jedi Council is apprehensive about the boy’s future sensing danger and fear in him. Meanwhile, Naboo Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) tries to coach the young Queen in the political matters of the Senate, and manipulates her into forcing Supreme Chancellor Valorum (Terence Stamp) from the head of the Galactic Senate. Eventually, all things converge back on Naboo where Queen Padmé Amidala attempts an assault to end the invasion and captivity of her people, and for the Jedi to learn the truth of whether or not the Dark Lords of the Sith have returned from a millennia of extinction.
What really strikes me about this story, beyond plot holes born out of illogical actions, is that there is no central main character. With the original Star Wars, it was crystal clear that Luke Skywalker was our hero that would guide us on this journey through a galaxy far, far away. It was his arc that was mainly at play as he goes through emotional trials that would forge him into a heroic figure. I have never seen any character arcs in The Phantom Menace. No one ends up any differently from when the film began to when it ended. They don’t evolve and grow into something more than they were before. The film has no prominent focus on any one character. Looking at the saga as a whole, perhaps it should have been Obi-Wan Kenobi’s arc. The film would show an eager, young Padawan who matures from student to mentor, truly earning his stature as a Jedi by the end by facing the breadth of this adventure alone. Unfortunately, he’s left out of the meat of the story and action so much that he ultimately has little to say for himself. Ewan McGregor is an exceptional actor with a wide range of talent who could’ve carried this film quite well, as he demonstrated in the following two films. He does have flourishes of endearing charm that create some bright moments, but his potential is sadly suppressed to a minor supporting character. Earlier drafts had it where Obi-Wan actually was the one mainly involved in the story on Tatoonie, and he forms a bond with Anakin championing his path to becoming trained. That would actually follow what was stated in Return of the Jedi¸ but for whatever reason, George Lucas decided to overhaul continuity in the prequels. It is clear that the way Lucas potentially envisioned the prequels in the early 1980s was very different from how he saw them in the late 1990s.
Anakin is an even less likely main character since he doesn’t enter the story until forty minutes in, and once they’ve left Tatoonie, he becomes mostly a background character. Jake Lloyd certainly didn’t have the spark of great talent that Lucas’ friend Steven Spielberg is usually able to find in his child actors. Lloyd makes Anakin almost a nuisance in the film. He can become quite annoying acting like some kid on a rollercoaster ride instead of someone of mythic potential. I would’ve anticipated a slightly more matured Anakin, despite his youth. Someone that showed not just strength with the Force, but someone with the character traits to be the “great Jedi” Obi-Wan speaks of in the original trilogy. Ultimately, Anakin never stops being the whiny annoyance he started out as until he is voiced by James Earl Jones as Darth Vader. Here, not having Obi-Wan or Anakin as a main character works to the detriment of the prequels since their relationship is the linchpin of the saga.
This leads us over to Qui-Gon Jinn. I really have a generous amount of respect for Liam Neeson. He always does admirable work, and I have enjoyed his wave of action thriller successes in recent years. With Qui-Gon, it’s hard to say much about him. He’s stoic and little else. There are brief, light touches of heart, but they lack substantial depth to be impactful. Knowing Lucas’ direction style, I would definitely have to say that Neeson wasn’t given the proper direction to breathe appropriate life into the character. Given the right context and perspective on Qui-Gon, I believe Neeson could have brought more depth to him. Qui-Gon is the mentor, and I suppose he is meant to act as some form of main protagonist, but there’s not enough bold dimension in the characterization for him to standout amongst the blandness of the film.
Another amazing actor that occasionally comes off like a dull wooden board is Natalie Portman. Anyone who has seen Léon (aka The Professional) knows that Natalie has had a wealth of stunning acting ability from an early age, and that talent has continued to flourish to this day. She is one of the finest actresses around, and has been so for a long time. She could’ve done so many impressive things with Amidala had she just been given something of substance to work with. Instead, it’s all dry political ramblings that never give Portman an opportunity to break out and show some character depth. There’s a little of that in her scenes with Anakin where the humanity of the character surfaces, but that’s not in the forefront of the picture. It’s definitely there to lay the groundwork for the following two films where Anakin and Padmé develop a relationship, but outside of that, she seems almost robotic. As the Queen, her line deliveries are entirely monotone, reflecting no humanity, concern, worry, or urgency. I believe some of her dialogue was overdubbed by another actress due to Lucas’ intention to maintain the ruse of the bodyguard decoy scenario. As Padmé, Portman does have more natural warmth, but I know she’s capable of much more than what I saw here.
George Lucas is not an actor’s director, and that tends to be his biggest failing. I think he’s a great producer. He manages all aspects of production with confidence, decisiveness, and skill, but he just doesn’t know how to bring greatness out his actors. An actor brings their own talent to the table, but it is the director’s job to focus and filter that talent into a unique performance. Without that, an actor has no guidance to know what to put into their character. George’s writing also leaves something to be desired. Sometimes, you get a Harrison Ford who just gets it right from the start because the character practically wrote itself, but for potentially more complex roles, it needs more on the page. You can’t expect every actor to simply see more than what’s written. It requires the director’s input to make it more than that, but Lucas simply doesn’t know how to approach those interactions.
However, the one actor who really shows something of substance and nuance is Ian McDiarmid. While the story follows no reason or logic with the schemes of Palpatine / Sidious, McDiarmid captures a subtle subversive quality that makes him intriguing. While the film never blatantly states it, the two are one in the same, and McDiarmid clearly integrates that into how he plays Palpatine. He’s a man with sinister motives playing out in the back of his mind while keeping up the friendly personae of Senator, observing and manipulating people and events to achieve his goals. McDiarmid brings Palpatine’s ominous perspective into his performance adding the right touches of restraint and foreboding malevolence to draw in an audience’s attention. You can see in McDiarmid’s subtle expressions the moments where Palpatine’s plan is coming together, and he relishes it with silent restraint. Conversely, as Darth Sidious, McDiarmid captures a straight up villainous and intelligent performance that is quite unsettling. As the prequels went on, Ian surely delved wholly into the character playing up the feigned sincerity nicely, and having a broader canvas to work with than others were given latitude to do.
Now, the original trilogy were groundbreaking films in special effects that revolutionized the industry. That’s a big reputation to live up to, and the success here is a little mixed. This was 1999, the same year The Matrix was released, and while I’m no major fan of that film, it’s achievements in digital effects were more consistent and eye opening than The Phantom Menace. It’s difficult to be entirely fair since the DVD transfer of Episode I is not the best. The film comes off a little too grainy to grasp the clarity of the visual effects, and it has this odd pinkish hue. Generally, the visual effects are quite good for 1999, but the leaps and bounds taken in CGI evolution would allow the following two prequels to be vastly superior in that area. So, in comparison, The Phantom Menace looks a little undercooked in the visual effects realm. It’s not a constant, but as I said, it is a mixed bag. Most stuff is great, but some things just lack detail and depth. Many of the hover tanks in the Gungan-Droid battle often look like an animatic or something from an old video game. I would hope that these issues would be resolved with the Blu Ray and 3D releases, but Lucas doesn’t always fix what you think he will. On the positive side, many of the computer generated characters are impressively detailed, creating very finely textured creations. While Jar Jar is an insufferable character that grates on my nerves incessantly, visually, he is an amazing achievement. If he had been as good of a character as Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, maybe people could give more credit to the CGI work put into him.
Production design here is quite impressive. Naboo is certainly a world with a lot of culture and sophistication, and that comes out in the architecture and their design of technology. The capital city of Theed is exceptionally picturesque partly due to the location shooting in Caserta, Italy. Coruscant entirely captures the intended scope and scale that Lucas always wanted for Star Wars. There is an inevitable Blade Runner influence here, but instead of smog, rain, and industrialism bearing down upon the environment, Coruscant is a perfectly wondrous planet that stands as a beacon for the entire Republic. However, I can’t say I care much for anything surrounding the Gungans. Every element of them just seems to pander to the child audience. It is sufficiently alien, but there’s just too much of a cartoonish element to all of it to accept it as anything but child oriented. There is nothing about them that I can take seriously in their culture, characterizations, or dialogue.
Focusing more on the story itself, I find it quite dull and illogical. I could probably write, at least, ten pages worth of criticism about the plot holes in this film, but let me dig into what’s most annoying to my intellect. The actions that different characters take have no sense to them. Darth Sidious orders his minions along a certain course of action that should lead to the opposite outcome for himself, but because all the characters apparently just read the script so that they can follow along an illogical course of action, it all works out right in the end. Sidious wants the Trade Federation to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty making their blockade legal to the point of invading the planet, but if they had succeeded in doing so, Palpatine could not have achieved placing himself as the head of the Galactic Senate. Palpatine could not have foreseen all these plans going awry where the Jedi Ambassadors survive the Federation’s assassination attempt, escape to the planet, run into Jar Jar, make a deal with the Gungans for passage through the planet core to arrive in Theed just in time to rescue the Queen, and escape the planet through the blockade of battleships so that Amidala could reach Coruscant to ask for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum. That is an impossible series of events to foresee or predict when your plan is clearly setup to kill the Jedi and keep Amidala locked up in a prison camp while keeping the Senate blind to what’s really happening on Naboo. My only conclusion that allows this to make any sense is that Palpatine and Sidious are split personalities with conflicting motives intent on screwing each other over like a pair of warring siblings. Obviously, that’s not the truth of the matter, but I can’t find a rational stream of consciousness to resolve this issue. If Palpatine was playing both sides, pretending to help the Trade Federation as Sidious while actually focusing his success on Queen Amidala’s side so that he can ultimately seize control of the Senate, that would’ve worked brilliantly. He would really use the Trade Federation as ignorant pawns who were always meant to fail for Palpatine’s further success. He would get them to setup the blockade, but then, sabotage their plans from the inside out so that Amidala can easily escape to Coruscant and set the political stage for Palpatine to ascend to Supreme Chancellor. Instead, every action Palpatine initiates is towards the ends of supporting the success of the blockade. Sending Darth Maul to hunt down and attempt to kill the Jedi and drag the Queen back to Naboo to get the treaty signed is entirely counteractive to Palpatine’s endgame. And this is the entire plot of the movie!
Other plot holes arise from the need of Lucas to make the characters dumb as a post so they make moronic decisions that move the so-called plot forward. A single vote of no confidence from one representative of one planet out of thousands of governments, star systems, and planets immediately usurps Chancellor Valorum from office, and forces a new Supreme Chancellor to be voted into service. I always say that the system works, it’s just the people within it that make it suck. Here, the system sucks, and the people within it are stupid. I can’t imagine how a government body like this could actually function if all it takes is for one person to voice their loss of confidence in its leadership. You’d be voting in a new Chancellor every week. Worse yet, this is not the last time this ridiculous plot device will rear its ugly head.
Further ridiculousness comes on Tatoonie as Qui-Gon goes to one dealer to find the parts they need, and then, since that dealer, Watto, won’t accept Republic currency, Qui-Gon simply gives up trying to locate the parts elsewhere. Just because Watto says no one else would have these parts doesn’t make it true. I wouldn’t trust Watto to be an honest businessman for a nanosecond, especially when he has a young boy and his mother as slaves with explosive devices implanted in them. He’s clearly not moral or ethical. So, why trust him to be an altruistic salesman? Qui-Gon could’ve attempted to charter passage off Tatoonie like the elder Obi-Wan and Luke did in the original Star Wars, but again, the script requires the characters to be intellectually stunted so that the incoherent plotline can be furthered. Because of this, all cunning and ingenuity that could’ve been injected into these characters to make them smart and innovative in tight situations is discarded. These brain dead moments happen again and again and again in nearly every scene. I have seen hundreds of films, and many bad, horrible piles of cinematic trash. However, I can’t recall experiencing a film with such a shoddy script with dozens upon dozens of plot holes that mutilate all common sense from its pages. It’s not like the plot is that interesting to really sacrifice intelligence for it.
I also have to say that Anakin Skywalker being the creator of C-3PO was ridiculous. It adds nothing to anything in the saga, and is a pure fan service addition that, again, has no intelligent thought behind it. A protocol droid is good for language translation and little else. Shmi Skywalker has no practical use for such a droid, and I don’t know how anyone could believe otherwise. And the fact that he builds the exact same droid that is mass produced throughout the galaxy seems stupid. A real world allegory is that when people build their own custom personal computers, they don’t go constructing exact replicas of something they could’ve bought at Best Buy. They customize it to their needs so it is a optimal tool for the work they need to do. If Anakin had any ingenuity, he would’ve built something entirely original that could assist his mother with daily chores. A protocol droid is not designed for manual labor.
Of course, I also have to address the sad attempt at humor in this film. You see, in the original trilogy, the humor really arose from conflicting personalities and witty banter in heightened situations. It could be a little immature, but Han Solo was a little immature at times and Luke was on a journey to maturity. So, it fit the personalities of the characters. Here, the supposed humor is so blatant and in your face, it’s not funny. It’s like a bad stand-up comic trying too hard for a laugh through cheap physical comedy. Jar Jar is here only for stupid comedic antics. Yes, he is a conduit for certain plot developments, but this film already demonstrated that logic holds no substance here, so, I’m a little surprised he has any plot related function at all. Everything he does is clumsy slapstick humor which couldn’t be more out of place for this saga. Star Wars was originally created with the idea of bringing mythology into the modern era as adventurous films for the whole family. I’m sure poop and fart jokes were not part of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces, a book of mythological archetypes that heavily inspired Lucas. It really is sad how far George had degraded his standards for entertainment here. He went from creating a fantastical world of colorful, iconic characters and thematic mythology-inspired stories to a world of flat, dull, lifeless characters that are devoid of intelligence and humanity in ass-backwards stories that follow no reason or logic.
Despite all this, people still thought there was something cool and awesome to be had in this movie in the form of Darth Maul. I respect Ray Park’s athletic talents immensely, but it is only that mixed with a very stunning character design that makes Maul cool. He has no character. He’s a plot device to make a few action sequences dynamic. He’s a henchmen with nothing to say for himself, and nothing of substance to add to the story. Maul exists because Sidious needs a competent ally to go out into the field and do his dirty work him. Yes, he makes himself intriguing through an air of mystique, but frankly, as soon as he departs the film, none of it matters. He’s a disposable villain whose loss makes no impact on the story because he never added anything to it. This is different from Boba Fett who had a cunning role in The Empire Strikes Back by outsmarting Captain Solo’s escape plan, and actually had something to say for himself that reflected a sense of character, personality, and attitude.
The action sequences are a little mixed, but mostly excellent. All the lightsaber battles are amazing! The choreography of these segments show what fully trained Jedi could do, and what a fully capable Dark Lord of the Sith could accomplish. They are dynamic and exciting, but they can seem a little too choreographed at times. I see many behind the scenes featurettes on action movies where they strive to maintain a spontaneity to their fight choreography. While it is all well rehearsed, the choreographers, stunt performers, and actors focus on keeping it real in the moment. They inject character and emotion into those moments so it never looks to be so ‘by the numbers.’ The lightsaber battles can tend to come off like a dance instead of a physically intense series of actions and counteractions where a single error could cause doom. It lacks emotion and danger. It also lacks a psychological aspect due to the absence of dialogue. Before, there would be Darth Vader or later Dooku trying to play mind games through cunning dialogue and strategic intimidation. They would try to put their Jedi opponents off-guard this way, and it made for a more multi-dimensional fight.
Meanwhile, the space battles are okay. There are very few of them, and none of them really capture that urgent speed and suspense that most others in the saga have offered. The climax ultimately gets sliced up too thin between four interconnected action sequences to really give enough coherent importance to more than one. That being the Jedi versus Sith lightsaber duel, and it’s the least consequential fight of the film since there’s nothing at stake between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Maul. Regardless, its speed and physical intensity give it the rousing action sensation that was needed in more abundance here. The film starts so slowly and flatly laying out plot elements and briefly introducing a few characters while pouring out redundant dialogue that there’s not enough momentum to keep the film going. It has a consistent pace, but that pace is a bit too sluggish here without anything of importance happening. A methodical pace is workable when, like in The Empire Strikes Back, you are getting character development. The Phantom Menace has no substantive character development. Anything you learn of them is really surface stuff, very one dimensional insights.
The Gungan-Droid battle is uninteresting to me since I don’t care about the Gungans or the Droid Army. It also comes off highly cartoonish and pathetically unfunny. I wish like hell there was a way to excise this from the film, but Lucas himself realized that plot elements were too interwoven to do such a thing. Another frivolous action sequence is the pod race. It’s gratuitous in my eyes. Theatrical or DVD cut, it’s far too long for such a minor element in the story. This is not some sports movie where the entire film builds up to this critical sequence where everything is laid on the line, and all character, story, and emotional threads tie into it to make it pivotal and crucial. Yes, it determines whether Anakin goes free or not, but Qui-Gon had already well demonstrated how much he was willing to cheat and manipulate events to get what he wanted. I have no doubt that he would’ve done something unethical to free Anakin even if he had lost the race. Simply said, the pod race overstays its welcome, and once it is done, it has no further relevance to the film. Never has such a fast paced sequence slowed down a film so much.
On the brighter side, as is always a highlight that elevates the quality of any movie is John Williams’ score. “Duel of the Fates” still is a brilliant, operatic piece that gives the climax a sweeping, epic majesty. It was a perfect composition that has always marked what I call, “where the movie really begins.” The only thing the score lacks is due to the lack of it in the picture is rousing adventure. The action sequences are few and far between, and so, it requires the score to be more in the background instead of crashing into the surround sound with heart soaring excitement. Regardless, I own two versions of the CD soundtrack including the two disc ultimate edition, and it is a fantastic listen. So, I give it high marks all around.
The only other thing to address are the midichlorians. You see, the Force used to be something entirely spiritual where it required great commitment and discipline to master. It’s a power anyone can tap into it if they are willing to open their minds and trust in it fully. Yoda spoke to this perfectly in The Empire Strikes Back in that the Force doesn’t rely on the physical. It’s all about the character of the person which determines how great of a Jedi they could become. Now, George Lucas tells us that everyone’s ability to use the Force is based on how many of these microscopic organisms are present in your bloodstream. This means you are biologically limited to how potent of a Force user you can be, and you can never become anything greater than that. No amount of spiritual strength or Jedi training you go through will make you as good as someone with more midichlorians in their body. That entirely crushes the sensibility the Force was originally built upon, and that is another terrible idea injected into a film already ripe with terrible ideas. Before, it was an inspiring idea and philosophy that added a fantastical quality to Star Wars that captured and enthralled peoples’ imaginations. Now, it’s cold science. Just like how I don’t need to know where immortals came from in Highlander, I don’t need to know the clinical origins of the Force. Magic is magic, and that’s all I need to know. And the fact that Lucas uses these midichlorians to say that Anakin Skywalker is the result of a virgin birth created by the midichlorians themselves is just a smack in the face to me. There was never any need to inject such an idea into the saga, and it has extremely little relevance to anything. It is only ever mentioned again in Revenge of the Sith by Palpatine, and it’s practically glossed over entirely by Anakin in that same scene. I suppose it’s meant to give Anakin a more mythic or prophetic aura around him that neither Jake Lloyd or Hayden Christiansen ever remotely live up to. While I’ve never had an overt issue with the whole “prophecy” aspect, it is another idea that Lucas developed exclusively for the prequels. This revisionist mentality is no surprise to anyone now, but frankly, it gets to being a bit aggravating in the prequels as George keeps altering the original trilogy to accommodate it.
That’s really the perils of making prequels. How do you introduce something new to the story that hasn’t already been said without betraying what has already been established? It is not impossible, especially considering Ben Kenobi’s line about “a certain point of view.” There are many things Lucas could’ve altered that could still be true if looked at from a different perspective, but nothing about prophecies, midichlorians, Qui-Gon (not Obi-Wan) discovering Anakin, or anything else can be taken in that way.
As I said, I could go on and on about the flaws and failures of this film that bother me, but this has already been an obscenely long review as it is. Still, it feels like I’ve only barely scratched the surface of it all. There are people who think we just don’t “get” the prequels as if we’re unable to accept them for what they are, and that’s why we rag on them. The truth is that we are fans who just expect a product with a little thought, care, and integrity be put into it. A plot that makes sense with smart, entertaining characters. Frankly, that is not difficult to deliver, but somehow, George Lucas failed on all fronts. Again, I enjoyed the film upon release in 1999 because I was just in awe of the spectacle, but as I have matured, I can see beyond that to focus on how poorly conceived this film was at its most base level. I’ve said for a while now that if this was the original first Star Wars movie, it would not have sparked the same phenomena that we have enjoyed for the last 35 years. It just doesn’t have the rousing adventure aspect or lively, iconic character qualities that made Star Wars so successful in the first place. I don’t enjoy watching this movie, and I don’t believe seeing it in 3D would give it any more actual dimension or entertainment value. My reviews on the entire saga will continue as the prequels do improve beyond this point, but flaws still exist. In one case, my fondness for one prequel film will allow for some forgiveness. In the least, I believe my following reviews will be no more than half as long as this one, thankfully.
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