So what the best thing about the last Star Wars Episode?

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Sun May 22, 2005 1:07 pm

After 30 years, Its finally over!

Weeeeee Heeeeeeee!

After star trek, the whole series was a let down. The Dark Ages in Space! The only futuristic foresight was being in space with no social advancement. But that's my opinion of course. Hope it was everything you wanted it to be.

When will someone do Asimov's "the foundation trilogy" NOw that's something that can happen to best of empires.

AIIZ

PS- if you could tell a producers what SiFi book you would want on the big screen what would it be????

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Sun May 22, 2005 4:30 pm

Apollonaris Zeus wrote:After 30 years, Its finally over!

Weeeeee Heeeeeeee!

After star trek, the whole series was a let down. The Dark Ages in Space! The only futuristic foresight was being in space with no social advancement. But that's my opinion of course. Hope it was everything you wanted it to be.

When will someone do Asimov's "the foundation trilogy" NOw that's something that can happen to best of empires.

AIIZ

PS- if you could tell a producers what SiFi book you would want on the big screen what would it be????

Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen by H. Beam Piper. I always liked Piper's works, and was sad to find out he axed hisself right after I was born. This was one of my favorites - the lead character was a Philly cop who gets sucked accidentally through a temporal portal (being used by a 3rd alternaatre reality, if you read it youll understand) to another reality and changes their course of history. He thought his writings were going nowhere, and did not know that he was *that* close to being published big time when he did himself in. Kinda sad...

He also did a different series based on 10,000 years of an intergalactic empire which I thought was prettty good.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Sun May 22, 2005 5:39 pm

Ringworld tops my list. Someone has the rights to it, guess they're just waiting for the right director. I have to believe that the CG is ready now to handle this.

ibdave · Post by **ibdave** » Sun May 22, 2005 6:37 pm

So what the best thing about the last Star Wars Episode?

That it's the LAST Episode

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Sun May 22, 2005 8:29 pm

I saw it today... it sucked.
Since it's a "pre-quel", there's little mystery or suspense... in any battle or fight, you know that any charachter you've ever heard of will be fine...
and my B.S. detectors just wouldn't let me get into it, cuz the Jedi are essentially sword-fighting against high-tech future laser weapons, and they win...

Side note; Sunday morning admission, $6. Medium popcorn and a soda, $10.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Sun May 22, 2005 9:25 pm

My eyes can't take the flashs the whole thing is made up of. If I have it on the TV I let it run and glance now and then. Listening to the storey. I tried to watch/do the ll one today. Wondered off and worked a new lighting skeem. Layed down and fell asleep. Contaning a small light beam in a tube is more interesting. It will give my MV more of a wow factor.

robbidobbs · Post by **robbidobbs** » Sun May 22, 2005 10:28 pm

I liked how they tied up some loose ends, like why is Yoda on a swamp planet, and how did DV get fucked up.

The movie that I'd like to see made isn't sci-fi, it's fantasy: Discworld.

Now back to reading the 25th book in the series...

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Sun May 22, 2005 10:55 pm

hmmm, I think he managed to salvage the prequels without doing anything ground breaking. All in all I think it makes the Orig. trilogy (ep 4-6) make more since and opens the door for the extended universe to make some major $$. I was glad to haden get beat down, but still long for the day someone cuts Jar-Jar's ears off and feeds them to him...

Being a Star Wars fanboy, I think it was worth it. Coulda been bloodier, more sith on jedi action... but hey, at least its finished now and we can finally see the whole story as Lucas intended.

I should add that seeing the preview for Narnia was very exciting for me. My mother used to read me the Narnia series for bedtime when i was younger. I'm probably more excited about that than I was about LoTR. I just hope it gets the same TLC that LoTR got.

joel the ornery · Post by **joel the ornery** » Mon May 23, 2005 3:28 am

ibdave wrote:So what the best thing about the last Star Wars Episode?

That it's the LAST Episode

i second this observation.
can we bring it to a vote?

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon May 23, 2005 7:38 am

sputnik wrote:Ringworld tops my list. Someone has the rights to it, guess they're just waiting for the right director. I have to believe that the CG is ready now to handle this.

It's hard to believe that NONE of Niven's stuff has EVER been made into a movie- Even a SciFi Channel Shitfest of a movie. He's produced loads of great, movie-worthy stuff.

dr.placebo · Post by **dr.placebo** » Mon May 23, 2005 1:48 pm

Here's another vote for Larry Niven. Many of the Beowulf Schaeffer short stories would make great starting material. Ringworld is going to be really difficult to film.

I'd like to nominate Iain M. Banks, especially for Player of Games or Use of Weapons. The Culture is a great setting for space opera.

Also, Samuel Delany, author of Dahlgren and Triton (and many others). Dahlgren would be a bitch to film, but Triton might work.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon May 23, 2005 2:18 pm

I don't get Science Fiction Channel so I have no idea how Earthsea or the Mars Trilogy turned out. Any reviews?

Ranger Genius · Post by **Ranger Genius** » Mon May 23, 2005 4:24 pm

I believe I read somewhere that Foundation is actually in pre-production. I was horribly disappointed by SciFi's Riverworld; their superfluous Dune had instilled in me a false sense of hope.

falk · Post by **falk** » Mon May 23, 2005 5:14 pm

robbidobbs wrote:The movie that I'd like to see made isn't sci-fi, it's fantasy: Discworld

Seconded.

Wyrd Sisters was made into a quite passable animated feature. I've seen clips of the fanfic production of Lords & Ladies and it looks dreadful.

I've got the perfect opening for Soul Music: Black screen. A single bright star blossoms in the center of it. Stephen Hawking rolls onto stage and in that sythesized voice of his tells how the universe started with the big bang, but before the big bang there was another sound. Hawking fades out. A voice in the distance says "a one, a two, a one two three" and then the star on the screen explodes, filling the screen with light. The screenfull of light fades and differentiates itself, and we're treated to a 30-second summary of cosmology that any astronomer would be proud of. Clusters of gas swirl past. Then proto-galaxies. Then galaxies. Nebulae. Star-forming regions. Birth of stars. Fully-formed stars with gas clouds. Stars with planets. Stars, gas giants, and solid planets fly past the viewer. Finally, a giant turtle with four elephants on its back swims into view. The camera flies into the diskworld and takes us to Ahnk Morepork. The story begins.

I have an even better opening for Lords & Ladies, but I need to rush off to class.

cowboyangel · Post by **cowboyangel** » Mon May 23, 2005 6:39 pm

I haven't seen the latest edition yet, but I almost got run over while riding my road bike down Lucas Valley Rd. yesterday. Lucas' 2 ranchero/studios are located off this totally beautiful California back road. A couple in a silver SUV pulled up close to me on the fast downhill part and wanted to know where Skywalker Ranch was and if if you could just "drive in". I told them there's 2 studios and no you can't get in, unless you "know" someone. Star Wars fans are a breed apart. I survived.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Mon May 23, 2005 6:44 pm

Put in another vote for Ringworld. My favourite sf book.

On topic...the best part of RotS for me was Padme's line, "This is how liberty ends: with thunderous applause." You KNOW Mr. Lucas was making some social commentary with that one. I saw a lot of analogs between the Emperor and Hitler.

I had a couple minor quibbles with the film. I think it could have run a little longer without compromising the pacing, ten minutes interspersed throughout wouldn't have hurt it. I rather thought General Grievous died a little too easily; when he fell in pieces and Obi-Wan stepped right up to them, I whispered, "Don't get that close!!" A scary, surprise attempt at a nasty parting shot wouldn't have endangered the rating and would have provided a good "make the popcorn fly" shock to the audience. Also, hands down, General Grievous was a very cool villain.

Would have been nice to see more of the Wookie planet, Padme's funeral (why was the Queen smirking?), heck, even a bit more about the separatists. PG-13 rating aside, it would have been fun to see Anakin and Padme get it on, too! They're married, aren't they? There were steamier scenes in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The Wookie scenes almost struck me as an afterthought — how many hours in the series and we only get to see five minutes of them and their culture?

After Padme's line my favourite part was the editing on the big tandem showdowns between Yoda and the Emperor, and Anakin and Obi-Wan. The shot where the latter two clash lightsabres against a gouting spurt of lava was classic.

falk · Post by **falk** » Mon May 23, 2005 8:03 pm

diane o'thirst wrote:On topic...the best part of RotS for me was Padme's line, "This is how liberty ends: with thunderous applause."

Also Anikan's line about "You're either with me or you're my enemy"

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Mon May 23, 2005 9:06 pm

Oh yeah. This movie was full of veiled potshots at the current state of the nation. Republic turns into a corrupt pseudo-theocracy, factions playing each other off each other, regular folks trying to live their lives under it all. The only big difference is — there's no outside threat, it's all trickle-down from the top. More than the other films, this was a political film.

While my friend and I were watching the creds roll, we started a lively discussion (I'm the type of film geek who stays until the end of the credits) and I brought up a point that what happened to Anakin was very similar to Baron Gilles de Rais's story: he was a warrior who suddenly found himself without a war to fight, and went back to the court (since he was nobility). He entered that cesspool with next to no knowledge of the ins and outs, and next thing he knew, he was framed, set up and bamboozled by the court politics and wound up as a stooge taking a faceplant. I said, "It's right there in Sun Tzu's Art of War, warriors are not politicians." I went on to express concern at America's tradition of making the President the head of the armed forces: this is absolutely against Sun Tzu's teachings and is definitely a path to self-destruction. We see it in RotS, the Emperor has both the Senate and the Republic's armed forces in his pocket. The scarier thing is, the main force opposing the Emperor is an elite cadre of warriors too — can we say the makings of a junta if it had gone the other way?

It was so twisted when Anakin screamed that he'd brought peace to the Republic, right near the end. I wanted to shout, "Yes you did, and you just threw that peace straight down the tubes!"

I wish George Lucas wasn't so hard to hook up with; I'd love to sit down, buy him a coffee, and pick his brain for an hour.

joel the ornery · Post by **joel the ornery** » Tue May 24, 2005 5:36 am

diane o'thirst wrote:I went on to express concern at America's tradition of making the President the head of the armed forces:

It isn't a tradition, it is the fucking law.

The Constitution of the United States:
Article. II.
Section. 2.

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue May 24, 2005 5:53 am

Ranger Genius wrote: I was horribly disappointed by SciFi's Riverworld;

Those sumbitches! I really liked those books, too!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue May 24, 2005 6:53 am

An aside, on the subject of unnecessary reworkings....I was horrified to discover that ABC is remaking "Kolchak: The Night Stalker". They've removed the "paranormal Columbo" aspects and "X-Filed" it, plus giving Kolchak a mysteriously-murdered wife to investigate, a la' "Monk". Sheesh.

Ranger Genius · Post by **Ranger Genius** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:32 am

diane o'thirst wrote:The Wookie scenes almost struck me as an afterthought — how many hours in the series and we only get to see five minutes of them and their culture?

The best thing about the Star Wars title--and really, the only reason to give a shit about it--is the EU, or Expanded Universe. There's a mountain of literature and multimedia out there that takes place outside the realm of the six films, which greatly surpasses them in quality and entertainment value. I suggest you go and try the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR). I'm not really a huge Star Wars fan (understatement warning), but I enjoyed that game immensely. So much so that I had to start over and am currently taking the path of the Dark side through it. I do love playing a villain.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue May 24, 2005 8:46 am

Can you get "evil colored" gels for your lightsaber, or do you just have to build a new one? Ideally, there'd be a color-control knob to more easily facilitate those seductions-to-the-dark-side.

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Tue May 24, 2005 11:45 am

[guote] "currently taking the path of the Dark side through it. I do love playing a villain."[/quote]

"Beware the dark side, one must!"

AIIZ (aka Yoda)

PS- Saw the hitchhikers guide sunday. I forgot how ironically funny the series opened up with the demolition of homes for a highway extension then the demolition of earth for an intergalactic hyperspace highway built thought earth!

The one scene, where the lead woman was arrested, reminded me of BM so much I became home sick for a while, shit i'm home sick now!

falk · Post by **falk** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:22 pm

joel the ornery wrote:
diane o'thirst wrote:I went on to express concern at America's tradition of making the President the head of the armed forces:
It isn't a tradition, it is the fucking law.

Whatever. Her point stands either way.

falk · Post by **falk** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:25 pm

Apollonaris Zeus wrote:PS- if you could tell a producers what SiFi book you would want on the big screen what would it be????

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Princess of Mars, no question. It's got swords, monsters, retro golden-era flying ships, epic battles, sweeping vistas and half-naked people. What more could you ask for?

Simply Joel · Post by **Simply Joel** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:29 pm

falk wrote:
joel the ornery wrote:
diane o'thirst wrote:I went on to express concern at America's tradition of making the President the head of the armed forces:
It isn't a tradition, it is the fucking law.
Whatever. Her point stands either way.

what?

othereye · Post by **othereye** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:11 pm

Don't try to argue this one, Joel. You'll get a headache. And look on the bright side - at least no one tried 'correcting' you by telling you it's "Commander AND Chief"!

joel the ornery · Post by **joel the ornery** » Wed May 25, 2005 3:51 am

othereye wrote:Don't try to argue this one, Joel. You'll get a headache. And look on the bright side - at least no one tried 'correcting' you by telling you it's "Commander AND Chief"!

something akin to herding cats.

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed May 25, 2005 8:27 am

falk wrote:
Apollonaris Zeus wrote:PS- if you could tell a producers what SiFi book you would want on the big screen what would it be????
Edgar Rice Burroughs' Princess of Mars, no question. It's got swords, monsters, retro golden-era flying ships, epic battles, sweeping vistas and half-naked people. What more could you ask for?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/

There's so much sci-fi-turned-movie that's bad, that I'm hesitant to curse anything I really enjoyed. There are exceptions, but they are far and few between. And Card is still running roughshod over the production of Ender's Game. He won't give up until the movie they're making is good. If he doesn't like it, it won't get done.

So what the best thing about the last Star Wars Episode?

So what the best thing about the last Star Wars Episode?

Re: So what the best thing about the last Star Wars Episode?

It isn't a tradition, it is the fucking law.

Re: It isn't a tradition, it is the fucking law.

Re: So what the best thing about the last Star Wars Episode?

Re: It isn't a tradition, it is the fucking law.

Re: So what the best thing about the last Star Wars Episode?