Star Wars: The Phantom Menace • j********o@***.com 19/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC I just came back (6:30 am, Wednesday morning). A light drizzle and fog plus the 4 am show-time (perfect for night-dwellers such as myself - I wish they showed everything at this hour!) kept the audience at the multiplex under twenty. It's not nearly as bad as you've heard. The aliens and robots were uniformly embarassing, Jar Jar-puddinhead especially, and both the race announcer and the Asian-accented aliens were wince-inducing (the latter not from any great sensitivity on my part to ethnic stereotypes, but due to the sheer '30's cliche of it). The humans were pretty cool, *except* for young Anakin - he starts off a non-entity then becomes insufferably cutesy. The Jedi kicked ass: these are fully trained Jedi with all the options and they aren't interested in keeping a low profile. (Watch for the scene where Gong-ji tells panicky Jar-Jar to "relax" one too many times). I had thought, "OK, the old 'they're fighting robots so they can kill lots of them'-crap," but was entertained by the fact that they don't just kick droid ass, they can practically do it with their eyes shut! The battles with Darth "Evil-Clown" were really great but cut way too short. The principal bad guys, the cowardly traders and their droids, were pathetic. There was some neat exposition, like the proper use of astrodroids, and inclusion of a few of the sorts of ideas I've promoted in postings are present and suggested for the next movie. Some unwelcome but not atrocious retooling of the Force. The Muppet-babies syndrome with Artoo and Threepeo is even more contrived than I'd imagined. To paraphrase one reviewer, it's been a decade since Lucas has directed, and it shows. A Star Wars movie lives or dies by it pacing, and the placing sucks. The tragedy is that this could have been a *good* movie if it had been streamlined and turned into a steady pursuit with frequent battles. The problems starts with the uninspiring opening drag which reads like AP copy - here's how it *should* have read: "It is a time of galactic decay. The OLD REPUBLIC rots from within, weakened by jealousy and cowardice. New forces claim dominion over the weak and distant territories of the galaxy. Among these is the greedy and merciless TRADE FEDERATION: the Federation has laid an embargo upon vulnerable frontier worlds, squeezing the life from them. Wealthy planet NABO, ruled by young PRINCESS AMADALA, dares a lonely resistance. As Federation prepares a new and deadly strategy, its plan is upset by the arrival of two special 'negotiators'..." And let the ass-whooping commence. The last fifteen minutes were practically pointless. The next movie has promise... Gorno • Anthony Matranga 23/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC Spoiler Alert. Do not read further unless you have seen the film. I went to see Episode one on May 19th. My brother and I both took the day off from work and underwent an epic quest in the pursuit of tickets. Through some trick of fate, my brother Marc wound up with two - one for Wednesday and one for the night before - so he had seen the movie before he went to the Wednesday showing with me. While he didn't give me spoilers he is a major Star Wars fan and I could see he was disappointed. So, I was kinda biased in my viewing of the film. I knew it was gonna suck, so I concentrated on looking for exactly what made the movie suck. I kind of wish now that I had seen the flick with an open mind as there really were some good parts to the film. I think that maybe I'll see it again in a matinee now that I've had some time to read others' reviews. My overall impression of the film is fairly negative. I had problems with some of the characters, the plot and the directing: The characters: >The aliens and robots were uniformly >embarassing, Jar Jar-puddinhead especially, and both the race announcer and the >Asian-accented aliens were wince-inducing (the latter not from any great >sensitivity on my part to ethnic stereotypes, but due to the sheer '30's cliche >of it). I agree that Jar Jar and the announcer were terrible but the traders or their robots were both kinda cool and worked in the story line- I liked them both. Jar Jar and company were insipid; they reminded me of Jamaicans with Down's Syndrome. Jar Jar was there not only as comic relief but as a sop to attract a younger audience. It doesn't work. Watching Jar Jar follow Qui-Gon was like seeing Roger Rabbit tagging along with Don Corlione in the Godfather. The two headed announcer in the pod racing scene was self parody. I think that both the Traders and their robot minions worked. They were supposed to be fairly incompetent and pull this off well. Even the few comic relief robot scenes work for me. My only problem was that the trader's costumes seemed a bit clumsy. Finally, did anyone else think that Yoda was lame in this flick. If he were a real actor, I'd say that he was just mouthing his lines and waiting to pick up his check. Puppets don't do that, do they? >The humans were pretty cool, *except* for young Anakin - he starts off >a non-entity then becomes insufferably cutesy. Did we really need Macaulay Culkin's Home Alone character in a Star Wars movie? The only things that were missing was having him set traps in the Queens Palace and a shot of Darth Maul slipping on a bar of soap :). Seriously, the boy was seriously miscast, had about a thousand too many lines, and seems like a reemergence of Gene Roddenbury's Wesley Syndrome. This is not a kid who you can see growing up to be Darth Vader. Lucas has never been very good at working with real actors and it shows here. There is a great article at www.salonmagazine.com that explores this issue further. All of the other actors were fine. I especially liked Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon and Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine - but maybe I'm a sucker for actors with English accents. Pernilla August was great as Anakin's Mother. The Plot and Directing: I had several problems with the directing, my biggest being that George Lucas never decided what kind of movie he wanted to make. Did he want a dark tragedy dealing with the fall of a mighty republic and the corruption of the innocent, or did he want a light hearted children's movie? He couldn't decide so he made both and spliced them together. I for one believe that this movie should have been more tragic and more adult oriented. Neither Star Wars nor Empire pander to children. While they are not *serious* films, they take themselves very seriously and that is one reason why they are great films. There are no gratuitous cutesy characters in either movie. Even in Jedi, the Ewoks aren't nearly as bad as Jar Jar's people. Hey, at least you get to see a few Ewoks get blasted :). I get the distinct impression that at some level Lucas didn't take this movie seriously. When he wrote the script it seems to me that he tried to create a 'rapport' with his audience at the expense of serious dialog. Sadly, scenes like the announcer's bit in the pod racing sequence break the illusion that you are "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away." It's kind of like when J.R.R Tolken's moronic nephew destroys the sense of history in Tolken's tails by giving the alternate ideas his Uncle had come up with. I also think that Lucas was lazy in plot and direction. He regurgitates old techniques. This is especially evident at the end with a tri-battle scene almost exactly paced like the one in Jedi. >The Muppet-babies syndrome with Artoo and Threepeo is even more >contrived than I'd imagined Yup. It's almost as if they showed up late for his role-playing game and he had to figure some way to get them into the plot. I expect better from Lucas. >The battles with Darth "Evil-Clown" were really great but cut way too >short. The principal bad guys, the cowardly traders and their droids, were >pathetic. He should have had a lot less of Anikan, a bit less of the Trade Federation and a hell of a lot more with the Darth brothers - Maul and Sidious. I thought the light saber duel at the end was great, but there isn't enough explanation for it. The only reason Darth Maul is a villain is because he opposes the Jedi. He should have been developed a lot more. This should have been the focus of the movie. >Some unwelcome but not atrocious retooling >of the Force. . Now this is were we disagree. I thought the retooling of the force was a major mistake. Midi Clorides? What was that all about? Not only does this ruin the mystique of The Force, but is smacks of a horrific 'Star Trek' like, bullshit pseudo-scientific explanation. Seeing Qui-Gon with the equivalent of a 'tri-corder' was stupid and depressing. And don't even get me started on the whole Virgin Birth thing. I defer to my earlier comments about Wesley Crusher Syndrome. And when you proxy self starts taking on the characteristics of Christ, it's time for therapy. >To paraphrase one reviewer, it's been a decade since Lucas has directed, and it >shows. A Star Wars movie lives or dies by it pacing, and the placing sucks. Why do I have the feeling that some of the best parts of this film were left on the cutting room floor. Lucas' talent really is in the editing processing too, and that makes this even more depressing. >The tragedy is that this could have been a *good* movie if it had been >streamlined and turned into a steady pursuit with frequent battles. The >problems starts with the uninspiring opening drag which reads like AP copy - >here's how it *should* have read: "It is a time of galactic decay. The OLD >REPUBLIC rots from within, weakened by jealousy and cowardice. New forces >claim dominion over the weak and distant territories of the galaxy. Among >these is the greedy and merciless TRADE FEDERATION: the Federation has laid an >embargo upon vulnerable frontier worlds, squeezing the life from them. Wealthy >planet NABO, ruled by young PRINCESS AMADALA, dares a lonely resistance. As >Federation prepares a new and deadly strategy, its plan is upset by the arrival >of two special 'negotiators'..." And let the ass-whooping commence. The last >fifteen minutes were practically pointless. The next movie has promise... I think you got this one right on the mark. -Tony • Stargazer 28/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC >Spoiler Alert. Do not read further unless you have seen the film. >My overall impression of the film is fairly negative. I had problems with >some of the characters, the plot and the directing: I finally got to see Menace tonight. I argee with Gorno's comment that it's not as bad as you've heard but not nearly as good as it could've been. >I agree that Jar Jar and the announcer were terrible but the traders or >their robots were both kinda cool and worked in the story line- I liked them >both. Jar Jar and company were insipid; they reminded me of Jamaicans with >Down's Syndrome. Jar Jar was there not only as comic relief but as a sop to >attract a younger audience. It doesn't work. Watching Jar Jar follow Qui-Gon >was like seeing Roger Rabbit tagging along with Don Corlione in the >Godfather. The two headed announcer in the pod racing scene was self parody. That's exactly what passed through my head too: retarded Jamaicans! The worst part about the Gunga was that I couldn't understand a goddamned thing they said, so much of the first portion of the movie was somewhat unitelligble to me. I didn't mind the slightly asian accent, but what the *hell* was Lucas thinking?! >I think that both the Traders and their robot minions worked. They were >supposed to be fairly incompetent and pull this off well. Even the few comic >relief robot scenes work for me. My only problem was that the trader's >costumes seemed a bit clumsy. >Finally, did anyone else think that Yoda was lame in this flick. If he were >a real actor, I'd say that he was just mouthing his lines and waiting to >pick up his check. Puppets don't do that, do they? Same here...Yoda seemed oddly wooden. Not a Jedi master, but overly cautious bereaucrat.   >>The humans were pretty cool, *except* for young Anakin - he starts off   >>a non-entity then becomes insufferably cutesy. >Did we really need Macaulay Culkin's Home Alone character in a Star Wars >movie? The only things that were missing was having him set traps in the >Queens Palace and a shot of Darth Maul slipping on a bar of soap :). >Seriously, the boy was seriously miscast, had about a thousand too many >lines, and seems like a reemergence of Gene Roddenbury's Wesley Syndrome. >This is not a kid who you can see growing up to be Darth Vader. Lucas has >never been very good at working with real actors and it shows here. There is >a great article at www.salonmagazine.com that explores this issue further. >All of the other actors were fine. I especially liked Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon >and Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine - but maybe I'm a sucker for actors with >English accents. Pernilla August was great as Anakin's Mother. I didn't think he was overly cutsie. It seems the boy was cast for his looks rather than his acting ability, which shows rather painfully in the first half of the movie. I thought the woman who played Anankin's mother was terrible. We were supposed to feel all emotional when Anakin left his mother behind but that scene fails miserably because of the poor acting. What the heck was the deal with the virgin birth? >The Plot and Directing: >I had several problems with the directing, my biggest being that George >Lucas never decided what kind of movie he wanted to make. Did he want a dark >tragedy dealing with the fall of a mighty republic and the corruption of the >innocent, or did he want a light hearted children's movie? He couldn't >decide so he made both and spliced them together. I for one believe that >this movie should have been more tragic and more adult oriented. Neither >Star Wars nor Empire pander to children. While they are not *serious* films, >they take themselves very seriously and that is one reason why they are >great films. There are no gratuitous cutesy characters in either movie. Even >in Jedi, the Ewoks aren't nearly as bad as Jar Jar's people. Hey, at least >you get to see a few Ewoks get blasted :). Aye...I would've liked to have seen the old Republic seem more decadent and decaying. And if he had wanted to make a kid's movie he should've simply done so. >I get the distinct impression that at some level Lucas didn't take this >movie seriously. When he wrote the script it seems to me that he tried to >create a 'rapport' with his audience at the expense of serious dialog. >Sadly, scenes like the announcer's bit in the pod racing sequence break the >illusion that you are "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away." It's kind >of like when J.R.R Tolken's moronic nephew destroys the sense of history in >Tolken's tails by giving the alternate ideas his Uncle had come up with. >I also think that Lucas was lazy in plot and direction. He regurgitates old >techniques. This is especially evident at the end with a tri-battle scene >almost exactly paced like the one in Jedi.   >>The Muppet-babies syndrome with Artoo and Threepeo is even more   >>contrived than I'd imagined >Yup. It's almost as if they showed up late for his role-playing game and he >had to figure some way to get them into the plot. I expect better from >Lucas.   >>The battles with Darth "Evil-Clown" were really great but cut way too   >>short. The principal bad guys, the cowardly traders and their droids, were   >>pathetic. >He should have had a lot less of Anikan, a bit less of the Trade Federation >and a hell of a lot more with the Darth brothers - Maul and Sidious. I >thought the light saber duel at the end was great, but there isn't enough >explanation for it. The only reason Darth Maul is a villain is because he >opposes the Jedi. He should have been developed a lot more. This should have >been the focus of the movie. Very true...Darth Maul is as much of a puppet as Yoda in this flick. Hey I'm the bad guy: see my horns?! The two jedi and Maul exchange not a single word during the entire battle. Earlier he says "At last we will have revenge." The Sith were supposedly beaten down a thousand years ago...yet Maul doesn't gloat or even say a word. The death scenes of both Maul and Qui Gon sucked. They both get chopped in half -- the end.   >>Some unwelcome but not atrocious retooling   >>of the Force. . >Now this is were we disagree. I thought the retooling of the force was a >major mistake. Midi Clorides? What was that all about? Not only does this >ruin the mystique of The Force, but is smacks of a horrific 'Star Trek' >like, bullshit pseudo-scientific explanation. Seeing Qui-Gon with the >equivalent of a 'tri-corder' was stupid and depressing. And don't even get >me started on the whole Virgin Birth thing. I defer to my earlier comments >about Wesley Crusher Syndrome. And when you proxy self starts taking on the >characteristics of Christ, it's time for therapy. It's true that The Force's appeal is its mystique, but is there method to the madness? Perhaps the knowledge of "Midi Clorides" (or however you spell it) is lost or hidden for some reason after the fall of the Republic. --Doc • **@***.com 29/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC Stargazer (u*******e@d*****n.com) wrote: : >I get the distinct impression that at some level Lucas didn't take this : >movie seriously. When he wrote the script it seems to me that he tried to : >create a 'rapport' with his audience at the expense of serious dialog. : >Sadly, scenes like the announcer's bit in the pod racing sequence break the : >illusion that you are "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away." It's kind : >of like when J.R.R Tolken's moronic nephew destroys the sense of history in : >Tolken's tails by giving the alternate ideas his Uncle had come up with. Christopher J.R. Tolkien is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's youngest son,not nephew.And I don't feel that things were "destroyed" by adding the additional information. • **@***.com 29/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC Meanwhile,it passed $150N yesterday,probably $170M today and $190M tomorrow. • Stargazer 28/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC >Spoiler Alert. Do not read further unless you have seen the film. >My overall impression of the film is fairly negative. I had problems with >some of the characters, the plot and the directing: I finally got to see Menace tonight. I argee with Gorno's comment that it's not as bad as you've heard but not nearly as good as it could've been. >I agree that Jar Jar and the announcer were terrible but the traders or >their robots were both kinda cool and worked in the story line- I liked them >both. Jar Jar and company were insipid; they reminded me of Jamaicans with >Down's Syndrome. Jar Jar was there not only as comic relief but as a sop to >attract a younger audience. It doesn't work. Watching Jar Jar follow Qui-Gon >was like seeing Roger Rabbit tagging along with Don Corlione in the >Godfather. The two headed announcer in the pod racing scene was self parody. That's exactly what passed through my head too: retarded Jamaicans! The worst part about the Gunga was that I couldn't understand a goddamned thing they said, so much of the first portion of the movie was somewhat unitelligble to me. I didn't mind the slightly asian accent, but what the *hell* was Lucas thinking?! >I think that both the Traders and their robot minions worked. They were >supposed to be fairly incompetent and pull this off well. Even the few comic >relief robot scenes work for me. My only problem was that the trader's >costumes seemed a bit clumsy. >Finally, did anyone else think that Yoda was lame in this flick. If he were >a real actor, I'd say that he was just mouthing his lines and waiting to >pick up his check. Puppets don't do that, do they? Same here...Yoda seemed oddly wooden. Not a Jedi master, but overly cautious bereaucrat.   >>The humans were pretty cool, *except* for young Anakin - he starts off   >>a non-entity then becomes insufferably cutesy. >Did we really need Macaulay Culkin's Home Alone character in a Star Wars >movie? The only things that were missing was having him set traps in the >Queens Palace and a shot of Darth Maul slipping on a bar of soap :). >Seriously, the boy was seriously miscast, had about a thousand too many >lines, and seems like a reemergence of Gene Roddenbury's Wesley Syndrome. >This is not a kid who you can see growing up to be Darth Vader. Lucas has >never been very good at working with real actors and it shows here. There is >a great article at www.salonmagazine.com that explores this issue further. >All of the other actors were fine. I especially liked Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon >and Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine - but maybe I'm a sucker for actors with >English accents. Pernilla August was great as Anakin's Mother. I didn't think he was overly cutsie. It seems the boy was cast for his looks rather than his acting ability, which shows rather painfully in the first half of the movie. I thought the woman who played Anankin's mother was terrible. We were supposed to feel all emotional when Anakin left his mother behind but that scene fails miserably because of the poor acting. What the heck was the deal with the virgin birth? >The Plot and Directing: >I had several problems with the directing, my biggest being that George >Lucas never decided what kind of movie he wanted to make. Did he want a dark >tragedy dealing with the fall of a mighty republic and the corruption of the >innocent, or did he want a light hearted children's movie? He couldn't >decide so he made both and spliced them together. I for one believe that >this movie should have been more tragic and more adult oriented. Neither >Star Wars nor Empire pander to children. While they are not *serious* films, >they take themselves very seriously and that is one reason why they are >great films. There are no gratuitous cutesy characters in either movie. Even >in Jedi, the Ewoks aren't nearly as bad as Jar Jar's people. Hey, at least >you get to see a few Ewoks get blasted :). Aye...I would've liked to have seen the old Republic seem more decadent and decaying. And if he had wanted to make a kid's movie he should've simply done so. >I get the distinct impression that at some level Lucas didn't take this >movie seriously. When he wrote the script it seems to me that he tried to >create a 'rapport' with his audience at the expense of serious dialog. >Sadly, scenes like the announcer's bit in the pod racing sequence break the >illusion that you are "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away." It's kind >of like when J.R.R Tolken's moronic nephew destroys the sense of history in >Tolken's tails by giving the alternate ideas his Uncle had come up with. >I also think that Lucas was lazy in plot and direction. He regurgitates old >techniques. This is especially evident at the end with a tri-battle scene >almost exactly paced like the one in Jedi.   >>The Muppet-babies syndrome with Artoo and Threepeo is even more   >>contrived than I'd imagined >Yup. It's almost as if they showed up late for his role-playing game and he >had to figure some way to get them into the plot. I expect better from >Lucas.   >>The battles with Darth "Evil-Clown" were really great but cut way too   >>short. The principal bad guys, the cowardly traders and their droids, were   >>pathetic. >He should have had a lot less of Anikan, a bit less of the Trade Federation >and a hell of a lot more with the Darth brothers - Maul and Sidious. I >thought the light saber duel at the end was great, but there isn't enough >explanation for it. The only reason Darth Maul is a villain is because he >opposes the Jedi. He should have been developed a lot more. This should have >been the focus of the movie. Very true...Darth Maul is as much of a puppet as Yoda in this flick. Hey I'm the bad guy: see my horns?! The two jedi and Maul exchange not a single word during the entire battle. Earlier he says "At last we will have revenge." The Sith were supposedly beaten down a thousand years ago...yet Maul doesn't gloat or even say a word. The death scenes of both Maul and Qui Gon sucked. They both get chopped in half -- the end.   >>Some unwelcome but not atrocious retooling   >>of the Force. . >Now this is were we disagree. I thought the retooling of the force was a >major mistake. Midi Clorides? What was that all about? Not only does this >ruin the mystique of The Force, but is smacks of a horrific 'Star Trek' >like, bullshit pseudo-scientific explanation. Seeing Qui-Gon with the >equivalent of a 'tri-corder' was stupid and depressing. And don't even get >me started on the whole Virgin Birth thing. I defer to my earlier comments >about Wesley Crusher Syndrome. And when you proxy self starts taking on the >characteristics of Christ, it's time for therapy. It's true that The Force's appeal is its mystique, but is there method to the madness? Perhaps the knowledge of "Midi Clorides" (or however you spell it) is lost or hidden for some reason after the fall of the Republic. --Doc • p*******x@****.com 26/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC One day in Teletubbyland, j********o@***.com (JohnGorno) said: >furniture had been discarded, and I ran into Nat Hendrix! I think he was Now there's a name I've not heard for a long time -- 73 de Dave Weingart KA2ESK Powerpuff Nerds. Saving the mailto:p*******x@****.com Net before bedtime http://www.liii.com/~phydeaux • j********o@***.com 26/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC I like those tie-in promos for KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell - they're perfectly cast: the Master Jedi, the Young Adventurer, and the Chihuahua (that Pizza girl is one fine bit o' tail!) The ad where they're fighting droids was better than the movie! Gorno I've had Forum dreams the last two nights: first, I dreamt I was visiting the Brook, possibly in the future, and it was a sprawling campus of rolling hills with neatly trimmed grass. I walked into a kind of open storage area/lounge on the ground floor of one long building wherein all sorts of couches and old furniture had been discarded, and I ran into Nat Hendrix! I think he was wearing a suit and had commandeered a partitioned alcove with a tub in it as his lair. Second dream, last night, I think it was I-Con X or so, and I was hanging out at the registration desk. If I had only known then what I know now! • Stargazer 28/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC JohnGorno wrote in message <1*************.*****.********9@n*****.***l.com>... >I like those tie-in promos for KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell - they're >perfectly cast: the Master Jedi, the Young Adventurer, and the Chihuahua (that >Pizza girl is one fine bit o' tail!) The ad where they're fighting droids was >better than the movie! Yes, tres amusing! >I've had Forum dreams the last two nights: first, I dreamt I was visiting He-he...those Forum dreams can be really weird, I haven't had one in a while. I had the strangest dream last night that I was watching a movie. It starred Michael Meyers from the Halloween movies except he could fly and was a vampire. He was trying to kill a family, but the dad was also a vampire and the kids had pyschic powers. Very odd! --Doc • s******j@f****.**o.com 29/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC I've got a draft of a rant by David Brin to read over: "Fandom Blemish." It's got some hilarious observations on the movie, and digs at George "I'm creating a myth!" Lucas. (From Jon Lomberg: "Talking about this film as if it were really mythology is a sad joke about cultural decline.") On 26 May 1999 03:12:49 GMT, JohnGorno wrote: >I've had Forum dreams the last two nights: first, I dreamt I was visiting the I've traded in my dreams for money. It howls to me at night and demands company. -- +-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+ SeJ@ay-oh-el-dot-com ~ stefanj@eye-oh-dot-com http://www.io.com/~stefanj/ CHARGES APPLIED FOR UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL! • *...@***.com 29/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC Stargazer (u***....@d*****n.com) wrote: : >I get the distinct impression that at some level Lucas didn't take this : >movie seriously. When he wrote the script it seems to me that he tried to : >create a 'rapport' with his audience at the expense of serious dialog. : >Sadly, scenes like the announcer's bit in the pod racing sequence break the : >illusion that you are "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away." It's kind : >of like when J.R.R Tolken's moronic nephew destroys the sense of history in : >Tolken's tails by giving the alternate ideas his Uncle had come up with. Christopher J.R. Tolkien is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's youngest son,not nephew.And I don't feel that things were "destroyed" by adding the additional information. • waldhari 29/05/1999 17:34:41 UTC Louis Epstein wrote: > Stargazer (u***....@d*****n.com) wrote: > : >I get the distinct impression that at some level Lucas didn't take this > : >movie seriously. When he wrote the script it seems to me that he tried to > : >create a 'rapport' with his audience at the expense of serious dialog. > : >Sadly, scenes like the announcer's bit in the pod racing sequence break the > : >illusion that you are "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away." It's kind > : >of like when J.R.R Tolken's moronic nephew destroys the sense of history in > : >Tolken's tails by giving the alternate ideas his Uncle had come up with. > > Christopher J.R. Tolkien is John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's > youngest son,not nephew.And I don't feel that things were > "destroyed" by adding the additional information. Tolkien's tails? Did his tailor spill the beans? And please, if you've read even a few pages of the 'History of Middle Earth', you would think you might notice the Father-Son thing.