[OT] Reactions to NEW Episode II Trailer

[Wolfspider]

The founder of BADD (Bitching About other peoples' Dragon Dilemmas)

Oh, that's very clever! Although it does break the rules about abbreviations...but I still like it. It's just the kind of personal attack that gets my blood pumping!

Example: the time I popped into a Buffy thread and asked what was so great about that show anyhow? I really do hate it. So...why did I feel the need to bust in on a bunch of Buffy fans and tell them that what they liked was crap? Sure, it was my right...I'm a member...it was a public discussion. But once they finished yelling at me, I saw their point. Just because I had the right to post my complaints, why bother unless I just felt like being a troll? So I apologized, and now I don't do that sort of thing.

Let me tell you a story about something that happened to me once. I joined a Dark Crystal mailing list because I loved the movie and wanted to share opinions and thoughts with other fans. For a few weeks everything was just as I had imagined it would be--a virtual paradise for Gelfling fetishists.

Then this one guy posted a message saying how much he hated the movie and gave a lot of really damning reasons why.

Similar to how you seem to view my comments here, I thought this condemnation was out of place, and I flat out told him that if he didn't like Dark Crystal, then he shouldn't rain on our parade. I said that he was just here to stir up trouble.

And you know what happened?

I got banned from the list.

I was shocked. Then the mod sent me a note explaining why he had banned me. He believed that a person could post whatever opinion he or she had about the film, positive or negative, and that I was trying to squelch another poster's beliefs.

Although at first I was sore, I have since realized that it was a admirable thing to do. The owner of the list really had ethical standards that I proved lacking in my own character.

Imagine that! Defending the right to freedom of speech. Wow...what a concept!

Post Count in this Thread: 15

 

[Henry]

What's all this virtual beating on my fellow B.A.D.D.-boy, Wolfspider? Just because you dislike something is no clue to bash the person making the statement.

Wolfspider, I have a feeling that you are on the receiving end of a backlash that has little to do with you. If 15 people have said that your favorite cereal sucks, and you decide that the next person to insult your preferences in this manner is really going to "get it", and then a 16th person tells you the same thing, well... BOOM!

However, I still have to say that I disagree with most anti-Episode I and II posters, here. I went into the movies not expecting anything but fun and stunning visual elements, and I was not disappointed. I fully expect to enjoy the movie, even if the plot does not blow me away with complexity and depth.

How many reading this who disliked Episode I hated the podrace scenes? How many hated "Jinn and Tonic" fighting the battle droids aboard the Nemoidian Command ship? How many hated the final fight between Jinn and Maul?

Every one of these elements were worth the price of admission for me, as well as purchasing the VHS. I don't expect a movie to thrill me every second I see it, but I do expect to be entertained. If I want deep discussion of the human condition and pathos, and deep character exploration, I'll either read a book or play an RPG.

As for the poster who claimed that the movie should be entitled "All about the Benjamins": First, your arguments actually have little substantiation, due to Lucas' film history. This is a man who DOESN'T GIVE A **** whether his movies make money or not, if it's a pet project. Unless his fortunes really changed during the recession, Uncle George is still independantly wealthy, both for ILM and his many other projects and invenstments. Lucas is not only known for Star Wars and the first Indiana Jones film, he is also the film genius behind both Willow and Howard the Duck. Neither of the latter two movies made much money at the Box office, but he fielded them because he found them fun, and he wanted to do them. I am one of those rare individuals who loved the Howard the Duck movie - so institutionalize me already. They miffed a few things from the comic book, but in all they captured the tongue-in-cheek feel of the first ten comic books or so. IMO, that series went downhill soon after about issue #12 anyway.

From the discussions about Ep I onward, he has not added or taken away anything that he didn't want to in the first place. (I wouldn't be surprised to see N'Sync STILL make cameo shots in AotC, with a hidden "**** you" message in the CGI part of the shots. After all, the guy's face appears in several of the EP I CGI shots, after an ILM'er put them in as a joke, and he spotted them YET left them in for fans to find.) Lucas, remember, borrowed 12 million dollars from 20th century Fox to make Star Wars, and wanted no percentage bonuses from the Movie - ONLY the toy rights. At the time, it was a risky and almost suicidal move, but it paid off for him in a BIG way.

Lucas was not a prodigy then, and isn't now - like any really good producer/filmmaker, he makes movies HE wants to see. He had the fortune of producing two movies (Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark) at a time when the U.S. and the ENTIRE WORLD needed them most.

Did Lucas make a mistake with Jar Jar Binks? Ask almost any child under ten that has not been tainted with the cynicism of parents who hated the movie, and they will tell you that Jar Jar was their favorite character in the whole movie. I asked my wife about this once, and she told me that at her Center, the two things kids mostly play in pretend games are either (A) Pokemon characters or (B) Jar Jar Binks. As adults, many fans can't stand him. As children, our favorites were R2-D2, and the aliens at Mos Eisley. And of course, the Jedi knights are cool.

Now, the Jedi are still cool, and we get to see oh so much fun stuff.

If Lucas made a mistake in Ep I, it was too much reliance on CGI. That movie's CGI effects got so much screen time, it was like watching a kid play with a new Cap Gun for christmas. Even the action and adventure segments took a backseat to the CGI. BUt then, that's my take.

First, Blade 2; then, Spider Man; then Star Wars II; finally, THE WORLD! Muah-ha-ha-ha....

Oh, sorry, wrong thought process got mixed in there...

 

[Wild Karrde]

Once again, I'd like to urge anyone who thought Ep 1 was a waste of film to boycott the opening week of Attack of the Clones (aka WORST TITLE EVAR). If this is the first you've heard of the boycott, spread the word around. There's certainly enough of a fanbase online to make a difference if enough people get the word out.

And once again I must urge everyone who doesn't like it to NOT go see it at all. A week doesn't mean anything. Hold your head up high and make a true stance. Boycott the movie entirely. Don't see it in the theater, don't watch it or purchase it on VHS or DVD and never watch it on T.V. Then people will believe what you say. Otherwise it's just a meaningless gesture.

Kinda like saying...I thought the original Disney movie of Peter Pan was awful so I'm gonna wait a week to see Return to Neverland. That's simply silly. I'm not gonna see it at all. If you don't like it don't see it. That;s the only way to truly show how mad you are, hit them in the pocket book for good. Not for a one week delay. (FYI I like peter pan my daughter makes me watch it all the time )

As for me I'll be there opening night with bells on my toes. Excited and anxious for the chance to see EPII. And those of you who skip it completely make it that much easier for me to get into.

Thanks.

 

[Wolfspider]

I respect anyone's right to like the prequel movies or think that the trailer was awesome. But I reserve the right to think otherwise.

I'm trying to download it again and get a second look at it to see if the impression (or lack of one) remains, but I can't seem to get a connection. I'm sure the countless hordes of fans are sucking up the bandwidth...

Post Count in this Thread: 16

 

[el-remmen]

And once again I must urge everyone who doesn't like it to NOT go see it at all

Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?

I mean, how can we tell if we like it unless we see it?

 

[EricNoah]

Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?

I mean, how can we tell if we like it unless we see it?

Well, I have never seen the Dungeons & Dragons movie. I guess *technically* I can't say I don't like it. But I wouldn't waste my time with it given reviews, previews, trailers, etc.

Certainly it's possible to not like a trailer and then like the movie. Or to read a bunch of negative reviews and then discover you liked the movie anyway.

But unless you go somewhere where they have a money-back guarantee, once you've experienced the movie, like it or not, they have your money. And then the studios report all of that income as a way of saying "look how many people liked our product" when it's really more like "look how many people took a chance on our product."

In any case, given the previews I've seen thus far of EpII, I'm certainly willing to "take a chance" on it. The Anakin actor seems a bit wooden from what I've seen so far, and Lucas' strength has never been in the script. But I likes me some eye candy!

 

[Randolpho]

Well, I have never seen the Dungeons & Dragons movie. I guess *technically* I can't say I don't like it. But I wouldn't waste my time with it given reviews, previews, trailers, etc.

<tangent>

You know... it's actually not that bad of a movie -- if you get the DVD and watch the deleted scenes (which really shouldn't have been deleted). I'm kinda getting tired of people picking on it so much.

Sure, the acting is pathetic all round (the best actors of the entire movie were Riff-raff himself Richard O'Brien and Marlon Wayans, neither of whom got top billing ), and some of the CGI was a little low-quality, but the sets, character development, and plot were very good. That movie *was* D&D.

</tangent>

 

[Tom Cashel]

Oh, that's very clever! Although it does break the rules about abbreviations...but I still like it. It's just the kind of personal attack that gets my blood pumping!

Not meant to be a "personal attack" at all, Wolf. I thought "B.A.D.D." was an organization.

By the way, B.A.D.D. is an acronym, not an abbreviation.

And you can stop counting, I already know you're monopolizing this particular "discussion."

 

[kenjib]

How many reading this who disliked Episode I hated the podrace scenes? How many hated "Jinn and Tonic" fighting the battle droids aboard the Nemoidian Command ship? How many hated the final fight between Jinn and Maul?

I thought episode I was okay. Not a bad movie but not as good as the older ones. It definitely had higher production values than most sci-fi movies and was a quality film worth seeing. It also had better effects, costumes, and choreography than the older movies.

The podrace was pretty good but not nearly as good as something like the ol' death star trench run in EP IV, for example. Consider how they built suspense by having several pilots, all with names, getting shot down and how you were made to care for each one. I found this to be quite effective. The pod race relied on the old "machine breaks down until the pilot magically hits some random switches and it works again" to build suspense. Kind of a cop-out in my opinion. Flipping a new metaphorical manual override switch every time something goes wrong is an old bit of worn out deus ex machina. Consider when Han Solo hits the millenium falcon with his fist to get it going - that was very funny and a tongue in cheek way of having fun with this exact plot device. That was a much more clever way of handling the same situation as the film was a bit self-aware regarding the fact that it was using a worn out cliche. In episode I it is just blindly used without being aware of how worn out it is. I won't delve into the whole believability issue regarding how such a racing industry, and experienced pilots, can even exist considering how the race unfolds, but this was a sticking point for me.

The tan battle droids were not at all threatening due to their comedic appearance (unlike the threatening storm troopers), which completely ruined them for me as villains. I half expected them to do the Three Stooges eye-finger poke thing to Obi Wan because they really reminded me of the skeletons in Army of Darkness.

The fight between Jinn and Maul had no suspense or drama because Maul was never developed as a character. He didn't seem like a very dangerous or important adversary because he never really did much throughout the film. It was just a couple of guys fighting with glowing swords - not much beyond that. It was okay but nothing special. Darth Maul was only one step above mook - the "named mook." Compare this to either of the duels between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, or even Darth Vader and the elder Obi Wan. Dramatically, all three of those fights (one in each OT movie) were head and shoulders above the Darth Maul fight, even if the Darth Maul fight had more a contemporary choreography style.

The problem was the way in which the dramatic parts of the film did not relate closely with the action parts of the film. The drama all wove throughout the non-action scenes, the political negiations mostly. The action scenes didn't carry all that much impact and so they felt like little more than eye candy. The movie just doesn't hold together very well - it meanders and lacks a focus of gravity.

On another note, I agree 100% with wolfspider that it's fair to judge a product by past history and advertisement. You need to evaluate products before you buy them. Furthermore, the trailor does give us insight into where the film is headed, what kinds of scenes it will entail, etc.

 

[King_Stannis]

Yes, please. That way I won't have to deal with opening day crowds.

Seriously though, there's NOT enough people online to boycott the film in any way that will make ANY difference at all in Attack of the Clones (a title I like ). I love how people on the internet delude themselves into thinking that they have this much importance in the scheme of things. For every 1,000 people who boycott because of an internet boycott, 1,000 more will be at the theater in force on opening day. Sorry Rin, I don't think it's gonna make any difference, which means I'm still gonna have to deal with the crowds on opening day. Ugh.

Absolutely.

I'm not going during the first week either. But I’m probably not going during the first week because of crowds and because I must line up a babysitter. So does that put me in with the “protesters”? If these “protesters” end up seeing the film 3 times, but just not on the first week, can that in any stretch of the imagination be called a “boycott”? What if the theaters are still sold out on day 8 and these protesters somehow wrangle up a ticket or two? Is that a protest? Today’s society has produced some really self-important and somewhat delusional people. If you’ve got it in your head that this movie will suck, then DON’T GO! In my opinion, it’s your loss. But I’d still have much more respect for you than these one week feel-gooders. Besides, I’ll let you in on a little secret. A movie’s real strength COMES from its staying power. “Titanic” did some of its best business four week from its release. That’s when I ended up seeing it. Guess my own unsuspecting “four week” boycott didn’t work, did it. Yep…that’ll teach’em to make the highest grossing movie in history. So by all means, go on week 2, 3 or 4. Keep this movie in the top 10 as long as possible.