After I got my Harmy discs I was going to swear off the PT for pretty much, well, ever. But I liked the finale of Rebels so much that I figured I'd give those 13 "lost episodes" of TCW a chance. And then I really liked *those.* Particularly the bit about there being a difference between the "Living Force" and the "Cosmic Force" and how the Living Force communicates its "will" to certain individuals through midichlorians but that the Cosmic Force is what properly trained Jedi or Sith can control.
"It controls your actions?"
"Partially, but it also obeys your commands." --Luke and Obi-Wan (1977)
Hmmmm. You know I actually don't hate that and it keeps Luke and his coolness with the Cosmic Force somehwat separate from some of the science mumbo jumbo of the midichlorians and all that. My whole thing with new SW movies in general is pretty much "do whatever you want, just don't make the OT stupid with any retcons." So I really don't mind there being tiny little creatures or this living off shoot of the Force, especially if those things raise more questions than they answer. Just keep my Luke and Death Star attack and all that separate and cool like it's always been.
On to Phantom Menace.
I watched it again. Twice. Twice because I really found myself not hating it the first time. Twice because after I watched it once I viewed the special features and was reminded that pretty damn near EVERYTHING except individual creatures like Jar Jar, Battle Droids, and so on was NOT cgi. All the ships were models; the giant Federation battleship, the Naboo fighters, even the Queen's chrome starship was a live model coated in mylar tape to give it the chrome effect. I think the pod racers were CG but they looked damn good.
It had real locations, it had real sets, it had an AMAZINGLY cool villain (Darth Maul.) And Liam Neeson, he was just the MAN. I know that red letter media or whatever did that whole thing were they ripped on the movie because it didn't have a central hero. I disagree. I think it was definitely Qui Gon. I think our minds just see him as the "mentor" or Ben Kenobi character so we don't give him enough credit. But he drives damn near everything in the movie. The Federation negotiations, the decision to follow Jar Jar to the underwater city, the negotiations with Boss Nass, the picking up of Jar Jar and later Anakin. He spearheads the rescue of the Queen. All the haggling with Watto. The decision to free Anakin and then train him. Qui Gon, Qui Gon, Qui Gon. And he's just so damn cool. He really comes through the movie unscathed. He's unamused by Jar Jar, talks back to Padme ("No more commands from the Queen today," LOVE IT,) treats the Jedi rules as more "guidelines" than a code. He figures out that the transmissions from Naboo are just to establish a connection trace (which is correct.)
He dies but not in the typical SW humiliating way but as a badass who simply gets outfought. I love how he gets pissed when Watto won't be mind-controlled and gives the alien a courtesy "eff you" smile before turning and leaving without a word. Then when Padme and Anakin are smack dab in the middle of a conversation he just strides through, states "we're leaving" and doesn't even wait for them to wrap up their discussion. He's the MAN. He really does make being a Jedi "cool."
The big weakness of the film, IMO, is Jake Lloyd as Anakin and the Tatooine sequences in general. When Qui Gon isn't being a bad ass they're definitely a bit of a struggle to sit through. All the goofy aliens, groups of little kids who CANNOT act that are clearly children of ILM employees who each conveniently get one line each. SO bad. But it's still cool seeing real live Tunisia and all the little huts and things they built. Some of the background aliens/bounty hunters/space pilots do look really cool too.
The Naboo stuff is my favorite and serves as nice bookends to the film. The Gungan ground battle and Naboo space battle are literally the only times in the entire PT (okay save for about 30 seconds of Wookiees fighting in ROTS) that actual living "good guys" are giving their lives to a battle and not just robotic robots fighting robotic clones that no one really cares about.
The Maul saber duel is SPECTACULAR and if you can't watch those hangar doors opening in front of Maul when the music starts up and not still get goosebumps these many years later then something is wrong with you. Definitely the best duel of the prequels by far and on par in coolness with the OT.
But here's the biggy. The thing that really changed my mind. If you skipped most of this post because it's too long start reading here!
PALPATINE'S PLAN
I always thought it was so *ridiculously* elaborate and contrived. We know he wants to kill the Jedi and rule the galaxy. So his plan was to get the Trade Federation to create a blockade around Naboo so that a domino effect could occur where Amidala flees to Tatooine, where he has conceived or somehow foreseen this Anakin kid to be. The "alarming chain of events" will get Anakin to be whisked away to Coruscant while he falls in love with Padme, his mother dies, he becomes enraged and helps Palpatine kill the Jedi. But before that Palpatine also makes sure that Amidala (who would have been kidnapped and taken to Naboo to sign a treaty if Maul succeeded on Tatooine) would actually FLEE to Coruscant where she can do the whole "no confidence" thing and get Palpatine elected. WHAT???
How the hell could anyone puppeteer everything so perfectly to make all that happen? Oh yeah, "maxi big the Force" bla bla bla. It just seemed like such an ill thought out ridiculous stretch for that all to be Palpatine's plan. But whatever, its the prequels and par for the course.
But then I read an original synopsis for "The Star Wars" or whatever back from the 70's. It spelled out more what Palpatine was doing. Before he had an Empire at his disposal he did indeed trick the Trade Federation into raising import/export taxes on distant worlds that had been colonized and didn't have the planetary resources to sustain themselves. When the taxes skyrocketed those planets could no longer afford to import goods and THOUSANDS of them starved and were wiped out. That caused turmoil and outrage in the Republic and he used that leverage to unseat the Chancellor.
So he wasn't all about the red tape of tax percentages and people properly filling out their forms on April 15th or having to add this or that to the cost of a new gun. No, he just didn't have an army so he used political methods to do the SAME thing he would later use the Death Star for. *Wipe out entire planets.* Then once he got the power and the technology he was free to use the more direct approach for keeping people in line. That's pretty freaking cool if you ask me.
I was watching TPM and here he was on the balcony with Darth Maul telling him to go to Tatooine, capture the Queen and take her to Naboo to sign the treaty. I thought why the hell wouldn't he just come clean to his own apprentice? "Chase her but don't capture her. I need her to speak up in the Senate and get me elected." Why not say that? Because that WASN'T his plan. That was his improvisation when she DIDN'T sign the treaty and Naboo didn't stop exporting to other worlds causing their destruction. With the trade embargo kind of stuttering and her in Coruscant he immediately figured out an even quicker way for her to be useful. Trick her (with seemingly sound logic) into setting him up as Supreme Leader with just her planet in peril instead of thousands. And she was so persuasive that it worked.
Suddenly I feel like I "got" what Lucas was going for. What was driving everything and what George pretty much messed up in conveying. I guess he just didn't think it was necessary or that he assumed people would mull over all the dialogue to piece Palpatine's plan together. I don't think Palpatine used the midichlorians to create Anakin anymore. I think that was just another lie that he threw out there in ROTS because he knew that Anakin knew that he didn't have a conventional dad. I think the "Living Force" was picking up on Palpatine's plan and created Anakin to thwart him. Tatooine and all that was Force manipulation in response to the disturbance created by the Sith, not Palpatine's own insanely engineered plan.
So I recognize where George blew it big time. All he had to do was add an extra line to the opening scroll. Why was the Death Star a threat? Because it could blow up a freaking planet! When did we learn this? The opening scroll! "Turmoil has engulfed the Republic. The taxation to outlying star systems is in dispute. If trade of valuable resources becomes too expensive entire worlds will perish." That's all that it would have taken! Then the gravity of the situation would have been there from minute one. But alas, George probably wanted it to be this big mystery but it was never explained and became this big confusing thing.
So yeah, you've got to connect the dots and that is the apologist approach. But I also think it is the *correct* interpretation of events especially if you read the original backstory synopsis from back in the day, which I readily admit you shouldn't have to do, but still looking at things with that in mind really elevates the entire situation IMO.
"It controls your actions?"
"Partially, but it also obeys your commands." --Luke and Obi-Wan (1977)
Hmmmm. You know I actually don't hate that and it keeps Luke and his coolness with the Cosmic Force somehwat separate from some of the science mumbo jumbo of the midichlorians and all that. My whole thing with new SW movies in general is pretty much "do whatever you want, just don't make the OT stupid with any retcons." So I really don't mind there being tiny little creatures or this living off shoot of the Force, especially if those things raise more questions than they answer. Just keep my Luke and Death Star attack and all that separate and cool like it's always been.
On to Phantom Menace.
I watched it again. Twice. Twice because I really found myself not hating it the first time. Twice because after I watched it once I viewed the special features and was reminded that pretty damn near EVERYTHING except individual creatures like Jar Jar, Battle Droids, and so on was NOT cgi. All the ships were models; the giant Federation battleship, the Naboo fighters, even the Queen's chrome starship was a live model coated in mylar tape to give it the chrome effect. I think the pod racers were CG but they looked damn good.
It had real locations, it had real sets, it had an AMAZINGLY cool villain (Darth Maul.) And Liam Neeson, he was just the MAN. I know that red letter media or whatever did that whole thing were they ripped on the movie because it didn't have a central hero. I disagree. I think it was definitely Qui Gon. I think our minds just see him as the "mentor" or Ben Kenobi character so we don't give him enough credit. But he drives damn near everything in the movie. The Federation negotiations, the decision to follow Jar Jar to the underwater city, the negotiations with Boss Nass, the picking up of Jar Jar and later Anakin. He spearheads the rescue of the Queen. All the haggling with Watto. The decision to free Anakin and then train him. Qui Gon, Qui Gon, Qui Gon. And he's just so damn cool. He really comes through the movie unscathed. He's unamused by Jar Jar, talks back to Padme ("No more commands from the Queen today," LOVE IT,) treats the Jedi rules as more "guidelines" than a code. He figures out that the transmissions from Naboo are just to establish a connection trace (which is correct.)
He dies but not in the typical SW humiliating way but as a badass who simply gets outfought. I love how he gets pissed when Watto won't be mind-controlled and gives the alien a courtesy "eff you" smile before turning and leaving without a word. Then when Padme and Anakin are smack dab in the middle of a conversation he just strides through, states "we're leaving" and doesn't even wait for them to wrap up their discussion. He's the MAN. He really does make being a Jedi "cool."
The big weakness of the film, IMO, is Jake Lloyd as Anakin and the Tatooine sequences in general. When Qui Gon isn't being a bad ass they're definitely a bit of a struggle to sit through. All the goofy aliens, groups of little kids who CANNOT act that are clearly children of ILM employees who each conveniently get one line each. SO bad. But it's still cool seeing real live Tunisia and all the little huts and things they built. Some of the background aliens/bounty hunters/space pilots do look really cool too.
The Naboo stuff is my favorite and serves as nice bookends to the film. The Gungan ground battle and Naboo space battle are literally the only times in the entire PT (okay save for about 30 seconds of Wookiees fighting in ROTS) that actual living "good guys" are giving their lives to a battle and not just robotic robots fighting robotic clones that no one really cares about.
The Maul saber duel is SPECTACULAR and if you can't watch those hangar doors opening in front of Maul when the music starts up and not still get goosebumps these many years later then something is wrong with you.
Definitely the best duel of the prequels by far and on par in coolness with the OT.But here's the biggy. The thing that really changed my mind. If you skipped most of this post because it's too long start reading here!
PALPATINE'S PLAN
I always thought it was so *ridiculously* elaborate and contrived. We know he wants to kill the Jedi and rule the galaxy. So his plan was to get the Trade Federation to create a blockade around Naboo so that a domino effect could occur where Amidala flees to Tatooine, where he has conceived or somehow foreseen this Anakin kid to be. The "alarming chain of events" will get Anakin to be whisked away to Coruscant while he falls in love with Padme, his mother dies, he becomes enraged and helps Palpatine kill the Jedi. But before that Palpatine also makes sure that Amidala (who would have been kidnapped and taken to Naboo to sign a treaty if Maul succeeded on Tatooine) would actually FLEE to Coruscant where she can do the whole "no confidence" thing and get Palpatine elected. WHAT???
How the hell could anyone puppeteer everything so perfectly to make all that happen? Oh yeah, "maxi big the Force" bla bla bla. It just seemed like such an ill thought out ridiculous stretch for that all to be Palpatine's plan. But whatever, its the prequels and par for the course.
But then I read an original synopsis for "The Star Wars" or whatever back from the 70's. It spelled out more what Palpatine was doing. Before he had an Empire at his disposal he did indeed trick the Trade Federation into raising import/export taxes on distant worlds that had been colonized and didn't have the planetary resources to sustain themselves. When the taxes skyrocketed those planets could no longer afford to import goods and THOUSANDS of them starved and were wiped out. That caused turmoil and outrage in the Republic and he used that leverage to unseat the Chancellor.
So he wasn't all about the red tape of tax percentages and people properly filling out their forms on April 15th or having to add this or that to the cost of a new gun. No, he just didn't have an army so he used political methods to do the SAME thing he would later use the Death Star for. *Wipe out entire planets.* Then once he got the power and the technology he was free to use the more direct approach for keeping people in line. That's pretty freaking cool if you ask me.
I was watching TPM and here he was on the balcony with Darth Maul telling him to go to Tatooine, capture the Queen and take her to Naboo to sign the treaty. I thought why the hell wouldn't he just come clean to his own apprentice? "Chase her but don't capture her. I need her to speak up in the Senate and get me elected." Why not say that? Because that WASN'T his plan. That was his improvisation when she DIDN'T sign the treaty and Naboo didn't stop exporting to other worlds causing their destruction. With the trade embargo kind of stuttering and her in Coruscant he immediately figured out an even quicker way for her to be useful. Trick her (with seemingly sound logic) into setting him up as Supreme Leader with just her planet in peril instead of thousands. And she was so persuasive that it worked.
Suddenly I feel like I "got" what Lucas was going for. What was driving everything and what George pretty much messed up in conveying. I guess he just didn't think it was necessary or that he assumed people would mull over all the dialogue to piece Palpatine's plan together. I don't think Palpatine used the midichlorians to create Anakin anymore. I think that was just another lie that he threw out there in ROTS because he knew that Anakin knew that he didn't have a conventional dad. I think the "Living Force" was picking up on Palpatine's plan and created Anakin to thwart him. Tatooine and all that was Force manipulation in response to the disturbance created by the Sith, not Palpatine's own insanely engineered plan.
So I recognize where George blew it big time. All he had to do was add an extra line to the opening scroll. Why was the Death Star a threat? Because it could blow up a freaking planet! When did we learn this? The opening scroll! "Turmoil has engulfed the Republic. The taxation to outlying star systems is in dispute. If trade of valuable resources becomes too expensive entire worlds will perish." That's all that it would have taken! Then the gravity of the situation would have been there from minute one. But alas, George probably wanted it to be this big mystery but it was never explained and became this big confusing thing.
So yeah, you've got to connect the dots and that is the apologist approach. But I also think it is the *correct* interpretation of events especially if you read the original backstory synopsis from back in the day, which I readily admit you shouldn't have to do, but still looking at things with that in mind really elevates the entire situation IMO.
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