Oh yeah. I watched it again myself this past weekend. I think Return of the Jedi is my second favorite. Not quite as good (not because of the ewoks, I actually like them) because of some technical issues. When the Jedi returns (and you will know exactly when that happens) was one of my most cathartic experiences while watching a movie. Jedi is a satisfying conclusion to the original trilogy.
Jedi is my favorite because I love story endings and the Luke stuff is so good. But I know very well that Empire is the best overall movie of the saga.
Aspro the Vader observation is a good one. Basically what Lucas said he was going for is that after melting and entering the suit Anakin lost some of his power. From that point forward he was a disappointment to the emperor. Vader is ridiculously strong and in the years after he is basically the enforcer of the empire but he was never in the government aspect. Still you will see the emperor test him and him always having a sort of inferiority complex. Tarkin being in charge sort of shows how he is just a rabid dog to many imperials, at least the ones with protection from the emperor. Vader is obsessed with Luke cause as you saw he viewed it as his ticket to finally kill his master and take over, if Anakin never got mutaliated he would have easily been able to kill Palps.
So far for the ones I've seen this is my order of preference:
Ep 5
Ep 3
Ep 4
Ep 1
Ep 2
Seeing the two trilogies in the timeline order must change how characters are viewed. For us OT guys the emperor was an extremely mysterious figure, only shows up at the end, is scary as hell but we don't exactly know the backstory.Vader always kills him but before the OT it felt like he did it for his son. If you watch it the other way you learn the brilliant plan Palpatine enacted, basically destroying the entire Jedi order on his own. I love episode 3 because it's the emperors coming out party, for all the stupid crap the prequels have the core story of a government falling from within and the hubris of the Jedi leading to their downfall is amazing. It's the stuff of legends and it's why it works so well paired with the classic coming of age hero story. Ultimately you see the series from the point of view of Anakin, how the emperor is responsible for so much pain in his life so that moment in Jedi is cathartic for Anakin, that moment had a whole new meaning.
The sequel trilogy is next, the first is great, after that well let's see. The main issue I have, they are well made, great action BUT lack that myth building that Lucas had. I can't for the life of me find the core story or lesson the ST is supposed to share.
Good insights Vader. Hey, I see there are other, non-numbered movies in the timeline like Han Solo. Should I have watched those in the story sequence as well, or would that have bogged down the experience. I think if I had known about them I would have included them in this viewing.
My daughter has already asked if we can watch the Star Wars movies again when they "run out". This morning she drew C3PO and R2D2. So hopefuly I have not ruined her for Star Trek.
Watching Rogue One between Episode 3 and Episode 4 would've been good for continuity. I highly recommend it. Han Solo is mostly a stand alone film. It fits in somewhere between Episode 3 and Episode 4 but isn't connected directly to them storywise. It was a fun movie.
As far as Solo....meh. it's okay but didn't really serve much purpose. It was kind of a mess with the original director being fired midway through filming, and as a result it never really clicks. A couple good scenes and a good ending though. It's a take it or leave it kind of movie.
I watched the first half of Return of the Jedi. NO SPOILERS PLEASE.
I have to say, it's holding up to Empire so far. Fast moving, the "heist" sequence in the beginning was great. The Ewoks, which I heard from just being alive on the planet turned the movie into a muppet movie, I find not to be that way at all.
Very much enjoying it.
Okay, this was a surprise based on what you pick up just from being alive and being surrounded by people who have seen these movies. But Return of the Jedi was outstanding and on-par with The Empire Strikes back.
I think it had to do a lot with the Anakin Skywalker development in Eps 1-3, because when Vader was dealing with his morals in this Episode I was visualizing Anakin inside the suit. I can see if you had only seen Episode 4 and 5 then the Vader part of the movie would seem like a left turn -- "Wait, so now I'm supposed to feel empathy for this guy?" but for me it was really well done.
SPOILER AHEAD. Okay, so how could the helmet removal have completely surprised me! I had no idea they did that reveal in Return of the Jedi (or ever)! You would think that would have been spoiled for me as some meme in the last 30 years. Wow.
The dumb college party sequence at the end was the only let down. Should have ended after Han and Leia's kiss.
All in all, I've enjoyed the ride so far. Thinking about Roghue One next, but Vader did say to watch only the numbered movies first... Out of my hands for a few days because my internet has been slowed.
In a hotel, so watched Rogue One. It seems like a Netflix TV show. So high quality but not a movie release. Entertinaing enough, much more of a Star Trek vibe than a Star Wars one. Glad to have gotten it out of the way before proceeding toward the numbered series.
I really enjoyed Rogue One. To me it showed what Star Wars could be, away from the huge spotlight that is a numbered release.
aspro said:Okay, this was a surprise based on what you pick up just from being alive and being surrounded by people who have seen these movies. But Return of the Jedi was outstanding and on-par with The Empire Strikes back.
I think it had to do a lot with the Anakin Skywalker development in Eps 1-3, because when Vader was dealing with his morals in this Episode I was visualizing Anakin inside the suit. I can see if you had only seen Episode 4 and 5 then the Vader part of the movie would seem like a left turn -- "Wait, so now I'm supposed to feel empathy for this guy?" but for me it was really well done.
SPOILER AHEAD. Okay, so how could the helmet removal have completely surprised me! I had no idea they did that reveal in Return of the Jedi (or ever)! You would think that would have been spoiled for me as some meme in the last 30 years. Wow.
The dumb college party sequence at the end was the only let down. Should have ended after Han and Leia's kiss.
All in all, I've enjoyed the ride so far. Thinking about Roghue One next, but Vader did say to watch only the numbered movies first... Out of my hands for a few days because my internet has been slowed.
My man, I love ROTJ, gets a lot of hate. So episode 7 is great and then... well I'll let you decide. 8 is the splitting point and then 9 is just junk.
SupremeAC said:I really enjoyed Rogue One. To me it showed what Star Wars could be, away from the huge spotlight that is a numbered release.
I really did too, I wish I had watched it before Episode 4. Ah well.
BTW at this point I love the Star Wars world based on the 7 movies I've seen so far.
My daughter now calls herself She-3PO and walks like him and talks like him. Not all the time of course.
I guess her pronouns are She-3PO and Her-a Syndalla
aspro said:BTW at this point I love the Star Wars world based on the 7 movies I've seen so far.
I think that basically sums it up. Wether some of the films are junk or not, it's an amazing world to be in. I remember an interview with some game developer years ago who was working on a Star Wars game (Amy Henning?) and she said that their research had shown that the thing that drives the most die hard Star Wars fans is just being knowledgeable about anything and everything Star Wars related. It doesn't matter what medium it is, if it's good or bad, they just want more of it.
Episode 5 = 5 out of 5 stars. Best in the series so far.