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Editing Episode III
Loved the first tem minutes of this movie, felt like the continuous-take intro to Welles’ “Touch Of Evil”… Lucas can direct action and explosions, but can’t direct people unless they too are exploding.
Continuity error in the final third ofthe picture: Padme’, Annikin’s secret wife, comes bounding down a gangplank in a maternity dress that’s shorter than a babydoll teddy. Seconds later, her character falls to the ground, now she is wearing loose fitting slacks along withe the almost-dress. Because the kids can’t be allowed to see her legs and all, though we’ve seen people and aliens killed and dismbered a dozen gruesome ways by this point of the film… (shakes head at the cognitive dissonance)
I read a review where it said the wookie planet section was shortened for time. It should have been eliminated altogether, it brought NOTHING to the story. The worse thing: apparently, there was a deleted scene where Padme is shown creating what will eventually become The Rebel Alliance. Had this scene been kept, and the already paranoid Annikin Skywalker character became aware of this fact, it’s percieved betrayal would have generated the perfect dramatic nexus for his turning to the Dark Side, and we’d have ourselves a real picture. Because that was cut, his conversion to evil is about as motivated as flipping a light switch, and what should have been a really awesome dramatic moment is lost. Seemed like a really stupid mistake on Lucas’ part. Maybe he’ll fix it for the DVD Director’s cut version.
Thought I saw an homage’ to the multiple-assasination sequence from The Godfather when the Jedi’s get attacked. Am I the only one?
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13 Replies
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[Mark Suszko] “Thought I saw an homage’ to the multiple-assasination sequence from The Godfather when the Jedi’s get attacked.”
You’re not the only one. (He cracks a tiny smirk.)
Man, my wife’s pissed at Lucas. She says “He turned Padm
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I was awaiting the appearance of an Episode III thread here at the COW.
Did you notice he did one or two clever wipes, where a person or building motivates and shapes the wipe, instead of the traditional wipes used in all the other films.
Also there was at least one fade to black, which is unusual since Lucas made a point of using wipes in his movies.
I have to agree that Anakin’s fall to the dark side was about as convincing as his romance with Padme in Episode II – so I guess it was perfect!
I thought the sequence where Anakin is in the Jedi Council room, looking out over the city, and Padme is in her apartment, looking out over the city, with the sunset and the middle eastern music was well done, and quite unlike anything Lucas has done before. If he could have made the rest of the film as artistic as this scene we would be in good shape.
For all the hype, I thought the final duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan was poorly done. There should have been more dialogue throughout the duel, not just at the end. The way Vader taunted Luke as they fought was much more satisfying. Anakin should have appeared much more angry. Also, the business with them floating on those hover platforms was typical Lucas cheese. I think it would have been much better if they were on a platform over the lava, and Obi-Wan cut off Anakin’s legs, then grabbed his arm to try to save him, but Anakin lets go, rather falling to his death than going back to the good side.
Maybe if Ben Burtt reads these boards he will chime in (yeah right)
Well that’s my 3 cents worth.
Mike
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Now that the sets are all digital, the most wooden thing in the movie is the acting 😉
Cheers
David
P.S. It is saying something when you consider that this is the best of the 3 movies! And did they change the “killer of children” to “killer of Youngling’s” for the rating? I found this scene with the lighting of the saber the most emotional.Cheers
David Mcsween
Editor ABC Brisbane, Australia -
You know what I liked about old style filmaking, the budget restricted you to telling the story efficiently without hundreds(!) of locations. I swear that the this movie raced around locations faster than any day time soapie ever dares to.
Cheers
David Mcsween
Editor ABC Brisbane, Australia -
Back stories are interesting. They really are. But they aren’t always necessary, nor asked for. This has turned into a reverse Police Academy series. Does anyone care about Bilbo Baggins’ alcoholic Grandpappy? Or the childhood JAWS had in the Carribean lagoons? Sure, why not. But not 6.5 hours worth.
Movies 1-3 could have been done in one film. Actually, that’s an editing project for ya! Take 1-3 and cut out all the crap. The kid who played Skywalker in movie 1? No speaking parts. JarJar? Gone. Also, cut out all the gratuitous “I think we can make a video game out of this scene” stuff. Pod race? Gone. Blade Runner-meets-Fifth Element car chase in movie 2? gone. I was more interested in Obi-Wan’s buddy who works as a short-order cook than a lot of this other junk.
Actually, it should have been two films. The second, being 2 hours of Yoda beatin’ the hell outta JarJar. I’m talkin’ Reservoir Dogs meets Hard Boiled. And as far as Yoda’s voice, forget Frank Oz. Get Dennis Leary. Hundreds of thousands of Eric Estradas dressed up like iPods are blowing up planets, killing your buddies Godfather-style, wreaking havok on everything they touch… and you don’t think it’s Joe Pesci time? Not to mention that you’re short and green. Hell, that’s enough. The Kermit jokes in Jedi studyhall. Picking up chicks. Think of it! No wonder the dude carries a cane. He’s never been laid. Forget about that whiney teen and his prophecy. You’re fricking green, you’ve got a cain, a big light-up ouch stick, and JarJar just walked in. Go get some.
That’s a back story.
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will edit for food
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Was it just me that was annoyed by all the cutting TO words. eg. CUT TO ANAKIN : Why? CUT TO OBI WAN : Beacause Master Yoda says so. CUT BACK TO ANAKIN : It’s not fair. etc…
No splits to speak of at all therefore no reax to other dialogue, could the on set direction be that far out that the timing was up the creek (it would have to be the creek on the Wookie planet, no doubt, it seems that’s all the place was good for).
Cheers
David Mcsween
Editor ABC Brisbane, Australia -
. . . but the four lightsaber totin’ droid leader? That’s when you trade all deductive reasoning and plot analysis for a simple “shiiiiit, that’s cool!
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will edit for food
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Im glad to see an Ep3 thread on the COW as well… At first I thought wow about the opening sequence with all the ships and destroyers battling like all the warships from WW2. Good stuff included all the limitations Lucas surpassed to get all his ideas to screen. I dont know what happened to the kid who played anakin, but at the end of the movie he seemed to start ACTING. go figure. I did however not understand all the cutting to speaking like someone stated before… Another thing i dont understand is that after all the gruesome body burning that anakin went through and all that robotic plastic surgery that makes him darth vader as we know it- why did Lucas make vader hold his arms up the way he did??? I thought that the gesture in his arms said . . . “im upset but i’ll live” vs. throwing his arms up and choking a droid while using the force to get his saber out and chop everything in sight in half.
i think that would have concluded that he was just a little bit more upset than the trucking shot away from him at the end. wah wah wah…
i did however like the way they did the wipes according to the subjective contours of what was on the screen. That way he could use his wipes and make those transitions a little smoother and more interesting.
my 4 cents worth
chadwik -
the “transformation scene”, is the main point and hiughlight of the movie, after all, and I think this was completely botched. 20 some years after the first Sw movie was produced, you still can’t do much “acting” inside that suit. Here’s what i would have done:
The conversation about what Annakin did to padme would have happened while he was still on the table, being worked on. The key revelation that he was the one that killed her would be given just as he is about to have the helmet attached, so we can see his ruined face contorting into anguish, see his eyes flash their torment, see the actor ACT… I imagine, with a tortured, haunted scream… as the helmet comes down over him, cutting him off in mid-scream, as if his humanity is being buried alive inside the suit. THEN the trademarked breathing comes on, etc.
What we got in that scene instead was a little hand-waving, no emotional impact, no drama.
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Nice imagery! Although if it was shot your way, no one would be able to mess with alternate audio when it hits DVD. That’s the nice thing about masked talent – the voice-over room is fair game. (IE- replace Vader’s “NOOOOOOOO” with “Whasssaaaap”, playing over a tune from the Talking Heads on tracks 3 & 4).
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\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
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