The Star Wars Thread

[The Ben]

Anything you want to say about Star Wars. No, Seriously! Anything!

Was it cool, bad, or do you want to explain how exited you are for 3?

What ever!

[The Ben]

On the Phantom Menace, and other title musings

In the years that have passed since September 25, us denziens of the ever-expanding cyberfandom have, in my opinion, become accustomed to the now-accepted title of Episode I. This is the same title, The Phantom Menace, which a few months ago caused a widespread “Huh?” reaction because it sounded more like a new Batman movie. Personally, I myself was not one hundred-percent convinced that the title would stick, until the trailer was released. But the title grew on us, as others predicted. As we analysed it more carefully, asking ourselves, “Who is the Phantom Menace?” we began to refer to the movie that way. Some still call it “Episode I” or “the new Star Wars movie,” but the title and even the acronym “TPM” are now in widespread use.

Who is the Phantom Menace? For months we speculated on whether this meant Darth Maul, the baddie with the double-blade lightsaber played by martial artist Ray Park; or Senator Palpatine, a guy who’s supposed to take over the galaxy and become the Emperor somewhere along the line. Now George speaks up and tells us that the Phantom Menace is a guy nobody knows exists called Sidious. The name Sidious has been rumoured on TF.N and other websites for quite some time now, but there is one detail -- or lack thereof -- that sets him apart from the other characters: no actor has been listed as playing him.

Back to the spy reports we go, and learn from T’Bone Fender that Ian McDiarmid plays Sidious. Wait a minute, McDiarmid is the guy who plays Palpatine. Is this purely a coincidence, or something far more sinister? Now, one theory that I’ve heard is that Sidious and Palpatine are one and the same. Let’s all hope that reading this isn’t going to spoil the entire movie for you. This theory came from a misinterpretation of T’Bone’s statement, and also from a guy who compared supposed shots of Sidious with the Emperor in ROTJ.

Now, that brings up an equally interesting theme: the presence of dual personalities throughout the Star Wars universe. You have Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is not only a Jedi Knight but a “crazy old hermit” in the Jundland Wastes called Ben. Then there is Darth Vader, who is obviously Anakin Skywalker. You have Natalie Portman’s teen queen character in TPM, Amidala, who supposedly masquerades (or rather, de-masquerades) as a common citizen named Padme. Logically, why should Sidious and Palpatine be any different?

Something that is still problematic is why, on the website and in the trailer, the words “EPISODE I” are so big while The Phantom Menace is more of a subtitle. Previously, the titles of ESB and ROTJ stood on their own, and the episode number was more of a cosmetic item in the opening crawl. On the IMDB, ESB and ROTJ are listed by their own title. As for TPM? No such luck. It is not listed simply as The Phantom Menace, like it should be, but rather “Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace.” This is also how the movie is referred to in reviews and the like. Why doesn’t anybody settle down and simply call it The Phantom Menace?

The point is, we’re not that stupid. Even the most uninformed people who rarely attend the movies know that the new Star Wars is called The Phantom Menace. And in the rare circumstance they don’t, they will sooner or later. I suggest that the title be referred to as The Phantom Menace from now on. Even I have stopped calling it “Episode I.” In fact, many have taken it a step further and referred to it as “TPM”, expecting that you know what it stands for. May the Force be with them.

[hectorberlioz]

nice

I heard that Anakin will choke padme in no.3, and I'm looking forward to that.

[The Ben]

Originally posted by hectorberlioz
nice
I heard that Anakin will choke padme in no.3, and I'm looking forward to that.

Sweet. oh yeah, in this forum, if you have anything about the content in SW3, then use the spoiler thing

(I don't like spoilers)

[The Ben]

When all three prequels are released, there will most certainly be a box set that includes the three Special Edition films as well as the prequels, in both VHS and DVD format. First of all, how will the tapes be arranged? 1-2-3-4-5-6 or 4-5-6-1-2-3? If it is the latter, then perhaps there is the implication that the movies are indeed meant to be watched in chronological order of production. If it runs from 1-6, then perhaps they are to be watched in that order. But until then, the order in which the Star Wars saga is to be watched is completely shrouded in ambiguity.

Suppose we watch the completed six-film saga in order, beginning with TPM and ending with ROTJ. Since George has confirmed that ROTJ is the ending, then isn’t the ending of the entire Star Wars saga a little too... expected? This is sort of like watching Citizen Kane’s ending, and come out knowing that “Rosebud” is Kane’s sled for twenty years before watching how it begins. (Now, I do hope that you have watched Citizen Kane, because I just spoiled the ending.)

Firstly, we know that Anakin becomes Darth Vader. Who doesn’t? It has been published in every newspaper and entertainment magazine. Never mind that a local cable channel thought that Anakin was actually a young Luke. Never mind that Entertainment Tonight said Princess “Leah” (Leia) was going to be in the prequels, when she isn’t even supposed to be conceived until the end of the third episode. But that is a moot point when you consider that, watching the first trilogy, you already know that Luke is going to be Darth Vader’s son. ESB’s lightsaber sequence (“I am your father!”) will no longer be a climatic turning point as it was the first time I watched the trilogy; it will merely be confirmation of the obvious.

Now, even though everyone knows that Anakin becomes Darth, why not hide it so “future generations” can watch the six episodes in order and be surprised when we find out Darth Vader is Luke’s father, and therefore can reason that Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader only then, and not before? Let’s say that Anakin turns to the Dark Side in Episode III, near the beginning. Later, OB1 kills him in the much-rumoured lava pit sequence that originated from some novelization. The movie would be about the fact that Queen Amidala is pregnant, and OB1 tries to hide her. Then, suddenly, the greatest enemy yet appears; it is none other than Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. George should make sure that there is no connection between Darth and Anakin until ESB.

Now, of course, we will know that OB1 is lying when he tells Luke back in the Tatooine farm-boy days that Darth Vader killed his father. We can reason that OB1 feels so much guilt over the fight between Anakin and himself that he decides the best thing to tell the young son of Skywalker that everything can be blamed on Darth Vader. Can you imagine how disappointed Luke would be if he found out that Old Ben of the Dune Sea killed his father (or so we should think, if Episode III follows my plan)?

For this to work, it would have to be mentioned in Episode III that Luke is Anakin’s son. There should obviously be no mention of Leia, because that would spoil ROTJ. I never thought making Leia the “other hope” and Luke’s sister was a very good idea anyways, and it was never well-developed in the first place. I still suspect that George threw that in because he forgot what he was doing in ESB when Yoda slipped in that line: “There is another.”

Also, Darth Vader would have to fight with OB1 in Episode III, and lose. Otherwise, the lightsaber sequence in ANH (“When we last met, you were the master”) would be a dead giveaway. Which brings up another interesting point: how do you mask the Anakin-Darth connection when we learn that Darth was supposed to be OB1’s apprentice? My solution to this is that there is a certain gap between Episodes II and III, so we never really learn the backstory of how Obi-Wan supposedly trained an apprentice who also turned to the Dark Side. A really bad reputation, if you ask me; first Anakin, then Darth? This would have to be done so when we find out that Anakin and Darth are the same, it is a complete and total surprise that nobody could possibly have imagined, just like it was for the first-generation fans. The next generation of fans, who can only watch on video, should be surprised as well. Strong with the Force are they.

[hectorberlioz]

see thats the problem with epsode II. Anakin isnt "evil" enough, he's more of a wimp/cry baby who gets mad. IMO, before episodes I and II were released I had imagined Anakin to be a quiet type, always in the back type figure who is always contemplating.
second problem with ep II, there are way too many jedis! jedis are supposedly hard to train, but here in ep2 you have em swarming like ants, and I didnt like that.

[The Ben]

Yeah, you just have them coming at the Battle Droids without a care in the world. They are supposed to be good! but NOOO! They just get shot down. About 1000 of them getting slaughtered by a few wimpy battle droids.