70-minute hilarious review of Star Wars: Phantom Menace

[evilmike]

The gallows humor gets a bit over the top, but the commentary on the movie was pretty much right on.

I liked how he deflated the "it's a kid's movie" argument by showing how some parts of the movie obviously weren't intended to be aimed at kids. Not that I'm exactly sure who the minutes-long monotonal dialogs about trade disputes were actually intended to appeal to, but it certainly wasn't 8-year-olds.

 

[Chippy]

This is awesome.

"What's wrong with your face?!"

 

[drawn_inward]

Very funny! Nicely done.

 

[Bubble181]

Just watched the first bit...He makes some interesting points, but his humour really doesn't do much for me - and the voice really does get annoying.

 

[Bowielee]

Just watched the first bit...He makes some interesting points, but his humour really doesn't do much for me - and the voice really does get annoying.

It sounds like a male Penny Marshal...

Oh, wait, Penny Marshal is already the male Penny Marshal

 

[Necronic]

My brother just showed me this, absolutely fucking hilarious, and right on the money.

"quiet, I'm making my youtube starwars review!"

"it was a little thing, maybe you've heard of it....oh yeah: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION!"

 

[@Li3n]

Finally watched it all (the voice gets too annoying to watch all 7 in a row), and i have to say, even if you didn't like it, watch the second half of part 6, totality hits the nail on the head. And there was even footage of a younger Lucas agreeing with it.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Finally watched it all (the voice gets too annoying to watch all 7 in a row), and i have to say, even if you didn't like it, watch the second half of part 6, totality hits the nail on the head. And there was even footage of a younger Lucas agreeing with it.

Okay, on your recommendation, I went in... and yeah, entirely.

For those who don't wanna hunt for it:


starting 5:56 until the end.

That Lucas clip at the end is just... wow.

 

[evilmike]

"Coming Soon"

 

[Chad Sexington]

Yay!

 

[Chippy]

Well, the Phantom Menace review came out three months after the trailer for it. Hopefully, now that this one has gotten so big, he'll work on getting the second one out quicker.

Can't wait!

 

[@Li3n]

That Lucas clip at the end is just... wow.

Also the last part with the footage of Lucas and crew watching the finished product for the first time is worth seeing too.

 

[Hailey Knight]

That Lucas clip at the end is just... wow.

Also the last part with the footage of Lucas and crew watching the finished product for the first time is worth seeing too.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for pointing that out; I didn't have time to watch the whole review, but I should make time someday (hey, got a 3-day weekend coming up). That's kinda sad, where they finally realized what they were doing wrong, at which point it was too late to do anything about it.

 

[Rob King]

Thanks for pointing that out; I didn't have time to watch the whole review, but I should make time someday (hey, got a 3-day weekend coming up). That's kinda sad, where they finally realized what they were doing wrong, at which point it was too late to do anything about it.

Well, they had two whole movies to get back on target ...

 

[Zumbo Prime]

I need to watch this at some point.

 

[CynicismKills]

Wow, he made a lot of good point in part 6. Makes me want to watch the original 3 again.

 

[@Li3n]

Thanks for pointing that out; I didn't have time to watch the whole review, but I should make time someday (hey, got a 3-day weekend coming up). That's kinda sad, where they finally realized what they were doing wrong, at which point it was too late to do anything about it.

Well, they had two whole movies to get back on target ...[/QUOTE]

I guess they thought that taking out Jar Jar was enough...

 

[Hailey Knight]

Thanks for pointing that out; I didn't have time to watch the whole review, but I should make time someday (hey, got a 3-day weekend coming up). That's kinda sad, where they finally realized what they were doing wrong, at which point it was too late to do anything about it.

Well, they had two whole movies to get back on target ...[/QUOTE]

No, the video he's talking about is Lucas and others reviewing the last act of The Phantom Menace, not the prequel trilogy as a whole.

 

[Rob King]

Thanks for pointing that out; I didn't have time to watch the whole review, but I should make time someday (hey, got a 3-day weekend coming up). That's kinda sad, where they finally realized what they were doing wrong, at which point it was too late to do anything about it.

Well, they had two whole movies to get back on target ...[/QUOTE]

No, the video he's talking about is Lucas and others reviewing the last act of The Phantom Menace, not the prequel trilogy as a whole.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I got that. But after they messed up Phantom Menace (and realized that they messed up Phantom Menace) they could have been more careful with the other two. The reviewer acknowledges that they DID scale back on the endings, but the other problems didn't really get fixed.

Although, to be fair, they only admitted that the complex ending was a problem. So they DID fix that. Maybe they thought they did a good job on the other two, then.

 

[Bowielee]

I still maintain that Revenge of the Sith was a damn good Star Wars Movie. They did improve as they went on.

The only issue I have with Revenge of the Sith was Hayden Christiansen in general.

 

[@Li3n]

I still maintain that Revenge of the Sith was a damn good Star Wars Movie. They did improve as they went on.

The only issue I have with Revenge of the Sith was Hayden Christiansen in general.

Which unfortunately was 80% of the film.

Oh, and Palpatine hissing was so retarded... thank goodness he didn't sparkle in the sunlight at least.

 

[Frank]

I still maintain that Revenge of the Sith was a damn good Star Wars Movie. They did improve as they went on.

The only issue I have with Revenge of the Sith was Hayden Christiansen in general.

His entire turn to the darkside was completely awful.

 

[@Li3n]

His entire turn to the darkside was completely awful.

Made me loose a lot of respect for Vader...

 

[evilmike]

His entire turn to the darkside was completely awful.

Made me loose a lot of respect for Vader...[/QUOTE]

I think the treatment of Anakin / Vader is the biggest failing of the three prequels. Not only doesn't his fall seem particularly tragic because he never really comes across as a hero. He doesn't make a particularly effective villain.

The fall of the Jedi should have been because of Anakin, not the clone troopers.

 

[Bowielee]

Actually, the Clone Wars series is doing a better job of making Anakin a good character than anything the prequels did.

 

[chakz]

This guy seems very intelligent and insightful. Didn't watch the whole thing though but I'm pretty sure he had some interesting things to say. OH MY GOSH but I hate his voice. Its like having an itch on the back of my BRAIN. I scratch and I scratch but I just. can't. get to it.


Edit:

His entire turn to the darkside was completely awful.

Made me loose a lot of respect for Vader...[/QUOTE]

I think the treatment of Anakin / Vader is the biggest failing of the three prequels. Not only doesn't his fall seem particularly tragic because he never really comes across as a hero. He doesn't make a particularly effective villain.

The fall of the Jedi should have been because of Anakin, not the clone troopers.[/QUOTE]

I think the Jedi fell because of palpatine not because of the troopers. He tricked them into relying completely on the troopers while spreading themselves out across the galaxy. When he gave the call they were completely surrounded with no hope of back up.

Personally I like the third one. I think it stands well on its own without the previous two. Anakin comes off as almost likable. I'm not quite sure what your getting at with his turn to the darkside. He turns because he fears his wife will die like his mother and the emperor is the only one who can save her which seems pretty plausible to me, though he goes from zero to killing children pretty quickly, which seems kind of unrealistic.

I'm not saying the movie is perfect I just didn't think it was that bad.

 

[@Li3n]

He turns because he fears his wife will die like his mother and the emperor is the only one who can save her which seems pretty plausible to me,

On paper it doesn't sound bad (still makes him stupid), but in the actual film the execution is laughable. Oh noes, i has bad dream, let's betray all my friends based on the vague insinuation of a Sith...

 

[Bowielee]

I can see the final push being a good one, it's just the fact that there's no real build up. Killing Duku is supposed to show us that he's getting dark, but I really didn't see it. Killing your enemy in a war is not really the path to the dark side. Slaughtering the Sand People had more weight to it. It just seemed like, for the most part, it was all "I love you Padme, and you're my best friend Obi Wan... wait, Palpatine says you may be screwing.... WELL KILL THE BABY JEDI, ZOMGASDFAVAWE***HAHAVVAV!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

As I said earlier, at least the Clone Wars series is kind of filling in the gaps, with Anakin slowly showing his willingness to bend and break the rules and be a little ruthless sometimes.

 

[evilmike]

His entire turn to the darkside was completely awful.

Made me loose a lot of respect for Vader...[/QUOTE]

I think the treatment of Anakin / Vader is the biggest failing of the three prequels. Not only doesn't his fall seem particularly tragic because he never really comes across as a hero. He doesn't make a particularly effective villain.

The fall of the Jedi should have been because of Anakin, not the clone troopers.[/QUOTE]

I think the Jedi fell because of palpatine not because of the troopers. He tricked them into relying completely on the troopers while spreading themselves out across the galaxy. When he gave the call they were completely surrounded with no hope of back up. [/QUOTE]

The problem is with that is, ultimately, it means that Anakin's turn to the dark side contributes very little to the story. The Emperor's plan would have happened almost exactly the same way if he never existed. Seriously, in the grand arc of 6 films, the only point at which Anakin's turn to the dark side is useful to anyone is to Luke at the end of RotJ because it leaves the Emperor vulnerable.

 

[Draxo]

I guess they thought that taking out Jar Jar was enough...

And the sad part of it all?

For all his annoyance, he was the only character in the entire first movie with anything approaching a personality.

I can't sit through any of the first three movies in one sitting. Occasionally one of my friends puts on one of the first 3 to watch a couple scenes to 'get in the star wars mood' when he's DMing a star wars game, and I can't get through to him that he's missing the point entirely. I was saying it years ago, long before these reviews came out. Star wars is about so much more than pretty light-saber duels (which bored me to tears when I first watched 1-3) and unfortunately I can't get him to watch these. '70 minutes is too long'.

I guess he's one of those kinds of people this guy mentions early on. The screaming fratboy type that screams at special effects with no story behind them. He thinks Darth Maul is cool and happily watches those choreographed fight scenes with relish.

Anyway, I don't know where i'm going with this.. venting I guess.

 

[Hailey Knight]

I think this weekend I will get on my PSP and give this review a deserved listen for its duration.

 

[Kitty Sinatra]

I guess they thought that taking out Jar Jar was enough...

And the sad part of it all?

For all his annoyance, he was the only character in the entire first movie with anything approaching a personality.[/QUOTE]
Indeed. My biggest annoyance was that the Jedi were annoyingly wooden. I know they were aiming for "calm, collected and unshakeable" but they were just so bloody wooden.

 

[@Li3n]

Well what with the stick up their arses it's the most honest portrayal.