[Cerek]

<font color=plum>I saw the film yesterday and thought it was fantastic. I was especially impressed with the two final battles occurring simultaneously. GREAT EFFECTS!!!

I did notice some "political insinuations" in the film, then again the review posted in the other thread pointed them out ahead of time. Had I not read that review, I seriously doubt I would have made any connection between certain remarks being veiled pot shots at Bush. I definitely would NOT have considered Padme's comment to be aimed at Bush.

As for the two series, I liked both of them equally well. I though the first two movies in the current series were good films and fun to watch....and the "magic" of the original series has definitely lost some of it's luster. I saw Return of the Jedi on TV a couple of weeks ago and - to be perfectly honost - Mark Hamill's acting skills were wooden and his light-sabre skills were pathetic. He looked like a 10yr old swinging the Christmas-wrap tube instead of a master swordsman wielding a custom weapon (he supposedly made his own light sabre).

If nothing else, the athleticism and choreography(sp?) of the fight scenes in the new series is "light years" ahead of the original 3. Oh, the original series had it's shining moments to be sure...the original duel between Vader and Luke Skywalker was very well done, but many of the other fights Luke had were just pitiful. In particular, the one against Jabba the Hut and his minions when they take Luke and Co out into the desert to feed them to the worm.

As far as I'm concerned, the new series is just as good as the old series. The technology and special effects are much better in the new series, the dialogue and acting is about the same and I'm very impressed that Lucas keeps coming up with NEW angles on how to create dangerous opponents for the Jedi. Darth Maul used the dual light sabre and General Grevious pulls out an even BIGGER surprise. I was VERY impressed with that.

I will agree with <font color=white>Mr. Mopery</font> that the new series doesn't seem to capture the whole scope of the intergalactic conflict that the original series did. Then again, the events were already set in motion when Star Wars begins. This series was designed to show how the various characters - and especially Anakin/Vader - reached the point they were at in Star Wars. So even though there are galactic events occurring, the emphasis IS more on a few individual characters that are the key players in the coming conflict.</font>