[Timber Loftis]

I saw it, and I am duly appreciative of it. Rain hated the first one due to Jar Jar, thought the second was good, and LOVED this one. From a non-SW geek, that's a heck of an endorsement. We went to a clown's birthday party this weekend, and she happily discussed the movie AT LENGTH with all the geekhood present there.

Personally, I think this was the best flick since Empire. I would rate it 2nd in overall quality behind Empire, but A New Hope gets props for being the genesis of it all, and I don't want to ignore that.

Technology-wise this was by far the most ambitious movie -- and it was well executed. The only part that did not look as convincing visually was some of the Mustafar stuff, which was done by superimposing images over a filmed eruption on Mt. Etna. Perhaps, as one critic indicated, this was merely the result of being too ambitious with the technology. Ep. I was a landmark for the number of troops on-scene at one time. LOTR's "massive" program enabled LOTR to also accomplish these goals, but Lucas was first. AoTC saw the addition of numerous Jedi on-scene at once, fighting for the first time in concert. This movie superceded even that.

SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!!!
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Regarding Portman's acting, I think she was limited by the script. Plus, we didn't get to see a lot of it. I remember with Ep II he cut like 5 portman/Ani scenes that are in the "deleted scenes" section on the disk. Out of all that got over-filmed and subsequently cut, the romance thread is most prominent in the movies.

The fight in the Senate chamber was way cool. Sidious had his own flippityness to combat the ever-flippity Yoda.

I still have no problem with Obi beating Grievous. Grievous was NOT FORCE SENSITIVE. When 2 jedi fight, they sense the next moves and anticipate. Obi could do that to Grievous, but Grievous had no such capability to do likewise.

I did not like the "I have the higher ground- you can't win" bit at the end. It was in the video game, and I'd hoped it was changed, but there it is. I was like "Hey, Ben old boy, exactly HOW did you kill Darth Maul?" Regardless, Obi is my favorite character of the 6 movies now, bar none. I even liked his Dick Tracy investigation in AotC. And, he did leave Ani really gimped out.

Did anyone else think it was stupid to "Vaderize" Ani without first putting him in Bacta to get rid of the charred flesh and nastiness?

Mace Windu's death was waaay cool. He go bizzatch-slapped.

Speaking of which, all Palps had to do to avoid his own mutilation was QUIT FIRING THE FORCE LIGHTNING. Or, did he plan that? Could anyone WANT such a visage?

Why did Ani never confirm his understanding that Palps controlled both sides of the war? He certainly knew of this after the Trade Federation folks spoke of Palp's "promise" to them. I just wanted him to acknowledge it, and then make a choice, based on whatever reason. But, it was glossed over.

Yes, the battle droid boot-kicking R2 was a really funny moment. [img]graemlins/1drinkspit.gif[/img]

Regarding C3PO's mind wipe, now we know how R2 knew where to head to find Ben in Ep IV -- even though the Jawas stopped him.

Speaking of which, where did R2's bouncing out of the starships and jet flying disappear to between the two trilogies????

Interesting notion that Darth Plageus created Ani. It does not defy the prophecy, which would of course come true despite Sith meddling. Of course, we don't KNOW that Plageus was Palp's master. He could have been, but Palps could have discovered Sith knowledge of the tale elsewhere, among Sith artifacts. I have heard it mentioned that Palps was self-taught.

Note that the prophecy was true, and Ani did in fact bring balance to the force -- in Ep. VI.

Ani beating Dooku was not silly in the least. Having 3 years of combat training and further mentoring, he of course could have doubled in power. Between Ep. II and III he became, by Obi's own admission, a greater power than Obi.

I do love how it was the evil to be found in insecurity, envy, anger, etc. that led Ani down the dark path. He was in an unwinnable situation, and had a personality that was easy for Palps to manipulate. Between being so old when he started training, being so full of tragic flaws, and being thrust in the middle of the Senate/Jedi conflict, he was doomed from the outset.