[Ace]

But that's actually part of the problem. The plot of the new movies have everything to bright, shiney, and artificial.

The robot armies didn't look worn with use, being dragged from battlefield to battlefield for various reasons and then used in the movie.

The 'Naboo' (uggh) ships were bright and shiney like they had never been used, ever. There were no marks on them from their landing during training exercises, no paint chipping from friction in the atmosphere, normal wear and tear.

The Republic cruiser shown at the start of Episode 1 and Obi-Wan's fighter in Episode 2 are some of the few prequel ships that look like Star Wars ships. ...and they were rarely used.

Meh.

[Omniscaper]

I think CG work in any movie will be scrutinized because of its widespread presence in main stream media today. Our generation have been spoilled by video games and TV shows where CG is prevelant now. To top that, we know how its made and are familiar with all the technical elements and glitches associated with with CG content.

When I was young, I had NO CLUE as to how they made those special effects in the original trilogy. Matting techniques and photography tricks was not in my head. In the back of my mind I knew it wasn't real, but the lack of knowledge in its creation just fueled my imagination and convinced me of its illusion. Another plus side of old skool effects is that it wasn't too detailed. It gave just enough information to convince me and my imagination took care of the rest.

Could CG and live action be blended better... of course. Does CG get abused... of course. But put yourself in the shoes of today's 7-10 year olds. Imagine whats goin on in their heads when they first saw the prequels. Though I don't differ to their judgement in matters of story (hell they like Jar Jar) , I can appreciate Lucas's goal of targeting the next generation.

I think EP3 will be targetting all audiences this time around, but it would have been nice if Lucas just continued his focus on the story and not marketing from the get go.

[vyper]

Just found out I'm going to see it at half twelve on wednesday night - perks of being friends with a girl at the cinema box office.

[Night Hammer]

me and my friends got tickets for the 1215 showing on wednesday night/thursday morning

[Carl]

The problem is that he is using so many special effects that ILM can't make each one look good.

[EtherShock]

Originally posted by Flipside
Actually, I don't recall it being mentioned anywhere that the ships were brand new, simply that the clones inside them were, in the case of the Pre Star-Destroyers. The B-Wings in ROTJ were brand new, and clean, yet still managed to remain matte.

Edit : Basically, I don't see, in a universe that is supposedly 20,000 years old, a reason for suddenly everyone to jump up and say 'Let's build some brand new ships! After all Vader and the Emperor are coming and we want to look our best!'.

I think you're looking at this too literally. Maybe George has a reason for the clean look of the first trilogy. The pristine appearnce could be some sort of symbolism. The Republic was a shining beacon. It's like a contrast of things. Every thing is all shiny and clean before the rise of the Empire. Then after things changed, much like the Millennium Falcon, they didn't look like much, but they had it where it counted. Not necessarily realistic (possible though) but it gets the message across. Then again, maybe during the Republic they just cared for their ships' exteriors better.

Anyone ever notice the Imperial craft looked clean pretty compared to the Rebels'? Maybe not clean like the Republic, but fairly clean. They had virtually unlimited resources to build new vessels, while the Rebellion used whatever they could for however long it would last, so their stuff looked like a "hunk of junk."

[Grey Wolf]

The Republic is rotting from the inside, so it's not really the ideal that the Rebellion tries to get people to think of.

Anyways, the ship design in general in the original trilogy was far superior, even ignoring whether they look worn or not. The ships just have a better design, and look fairly functional whether they are or not.

[Ford Prefect]

The new Star Wars movies are making no heavier use of special effects than the originals, relative to the respective times in which they were made. I'm sure people in the 1970s saw the originals and grumbled about overuse of special effects. Besides, I don't know about any of you, but I'll take CG over puppets any time.

As for becoming attached to characters, I think that's a rather personal thing. I actually find it easier to get emotionally involved in the new movies because I can look at what's happening and feel the dread of knowing how it's going to play out.

Acting? I'm sorry, you can whine all you want about Anakin, but Mark Hamill's acting wasn't fit for my school drama club.

[Sigma957]

In the 70's they never saw special effects lquite ike that until star wars debut and it took the world by storm. I know when I first saw it I was awe struck by that star destroyer in the opening scene.

[Bobboau]

the origonal versions looked better, they looked better than the rererererereremastered version with the totaly new effects and added sceens and stuff. if the new effects were soposed to make the old republic look shiney and happy then why did the same thing happen when they reworked the origonal trilogy?

[StratComm]

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
The new Star Wars movies are making no heavier use of special effects than the originals, relative to the respective times in which they were made. I'm sure people in the 1970s saw the originals and grumbled about overuse of special effects. Besides, I don't know about any of you, but I'll take CG over puppets any time.

I think this is part of the problem.  No one in 1970 grumbled about the special effects because the original trilogy was absolutely groundbreaking in comparison.  Watch Star Wars and then look at, say, any episode of ST:TOS that you can find.  They are seperated by 10 years or so, yes, but the differences in quality are quite frankly astounding.  Today, we expect our special effects to be better than they were then, and the CG in the new trilogy looks considerably worse than the old-school physical models in nearly every instance.  What's worse, the effects from a blockbuster film (star wars) don't even eclipse the relatively low-budget sci-fi of today, which is what makes the difference.

Also, and not to start a flame war, but look at the LotR trilogy.  It uses much more advanced CG in a lot of places, but it's so painstakenly integrated with the live action and minatures that it's hard to tell what's what and seems completely immersive.  The new star wars lacks that attention to detail, and so it suffers for it.

[Bobboau]

yeah, LotR did it's job almost perfictly, there are only a few places were I don't think things were as good as they could be done.

[Ford Prefect]

Well I suppose it's not really something that can be argued rationally. All I can say is, I find the effects in the new Star Wars movies very impressive, especially the planetary landscapes. I could watch the footage of Coruscant forever-- it's just breathtaking to me.

[übermetroid]

ALL the tickets for the 12pm showing are sold out...! @#$@#$@  So I am taking my brother and his friends to see teh 6:30 showing... In the AM!

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
The new Star Wars movies are making no heavier use of special effects than the originals, relative to the respective times in which they were made. I'm sure people in the 1970s saw the originals and grumbled about overuse of special effects. Besides, I don't know about any of you, but I'll take CG over puppets any time.

Nobody grumbled about the special effects of the originals because they were not only amazingly realistic, but they didn't become the whole freaking reason to make the movies in the first place.

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
As for becoming attached to characters, I think that's a rather personal thing. I actually find it easier to get emotionally involved in the new movies because I can look at what's happening and feel the dread of knowing how it's going to play out.

Well then I'm glad at least one person on the planet did.

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
Acting? I'm sorry, you can whine all you want about Anakin, but Mark Hamill's acting wasn't fit for my school drama club.

You know, I really don't know why everyone bashes M.H.'s acting. Yeah, he's whiny, overworked farmboy, but guess what. That's who Luke is! Mark Hamill's performance was great acting in my eyes because he was believable - not once did I think of him as an actor shooting scene after scene, like I did with almost every character in Ep's I & II (with the exception of Anakin's mother). Mark/Luke came across as a real person, with all his flaws and broken dreams bundled into one unhappy, then devestated and vengeful, and finally one wise and learned character.

Anakin was just a caracter played by an actor. So was Mace Windu. So was Padme. So was Obi-Wan (in the new movies). Qui-Gon was okay for the most part. Bobba Fett was laughable. And Yoda? Freaking bouncy ball. *barf*

[Knight Templar]

< 12:10.

Re: Naboo Fighters: They are "royal fighters" from a planet that seems to be really into it's image / royal family / the whole "regal" feel. I wouldn't be suprised if the rational for them being perfect is that they were maintained to be. It's not that farfetched an idea.

Not that I like how they look.

[EtherShock]

Originally posted by Ford Prefect
Acting? I'm sorry, you can whine all you want about Anakin, but Mark Hamill's acting wasn't fit for my school drama club.

I don't know, he did a pretty good job portraying The Joker.

Originally posted by Sandwich
You know, I really don't know why everyone bashes M.H.'s acting. Yeah, he's whiny, overworked farmboy, but guess what. That's who Luke is! Mark Hamill's performance was great acting in my eyes because he was believable - not once did I think of him as an actor shooting scene after scene, like I did with almost every character in Ep's I & II (with the exception of Anakin's mother). Mark/Luke came across as a real person, with all his flaws and broken dreams bundled into one unhappy, then devestated and vengeful, and finally one wise and learned character.

I thought that one part where Anakin goes berserk on the sandpeople was well portrayed. I found that scene to be very disturbing, and I really think that was the intended reaction. I heard Lucas told Hayden Christensen to hold everything back until Revenge, so if that's any indication of what happens to him, there's going to be quite a show this time. It might even be better than Empire, but that's saying a lot.

I do find something lacking in the prequel trilogy, and I think it's the chemistry between the cast.

[Andreas]

I just absolutely HATE the new movies. Episode 1 was childish, shiny **** a'la Disney. That really did it for me. After that, I really didn't bother with the second one, and I'm certainly not going to watch the third one either. For the love of God, Lucas should keep his ****ing hands off of the original trilogy! Fortunately I still have the original movies on VHS, without any needless "upgrades".

Uggh, now I'm depressed.

[Flipside]

Well, I won't say the movies weren't without their good bits, the duel of the fates in Ep1, and some of the droid battle in Ep2, but then they went and ruined it with, Anakin Skywalker and his accidental taking out of the Trade Driod controller in Ep1, or Yodas 'Green Beachball of Death' in Ep2.

I just found I couldn't link with the characters like I could in the original set, Han was a scruffy-looking Nerf-Herder, Luke was a naive farm boy thrown into a universe he hardly knew existed, I just don't get the same depth from the current characters, Obi-Wan is pretty well done, admittely, but then, in all Honesty, when you have someone like Alec Guiness to model yourself on, it's hard not to be a good character

[Setekh]

Episode 2 just screened on the TV a couple of nights ago... reminding me just how bad some of the acting is in parts. I still enjoyed the movie for its fights and effects, though. I'll see episode 3 soon... lightsaber fights rock!