Well, ladies and gentlemen, the saga’s over.
2:30 pm, Thursday May 19th- I am sitting in a cinema along with my friend Emma. Between us we have a plastic lightsabre and an outragously expensive bag of crispy M&Ms. The trailers end, the cinema quietens, and A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away appears on screen.
And then, the music starts and the letters scroll up. I have a big stupid grin on my face and I honestly don’t care.
The yellow letters in the stars look spectacularly three-dimensional. I wonder why I’ve never noticed that before.
*****
The opening scene- my god, I loved every second of that. Especially some of the very first lines.
“I’ll go back and help them.”
“No- they’re doing their job, you do yours.”
Oh, I think, so that’s why he fell.
*****
The whole thing with the elevators with brilliant. It reminded me of ANH. And it was just what the film needed, a bit of fun before all hell breaks loose. R2 was great as well- I didn’t know he could do half of that stuff. :)
*****
What else? My god, there’s so much stuff-
The bit that keeps cutting between Padme in the apartment and Anakin in the Council room- oh wow. If that doesn’t make some future Best SW Scenes list…it should. Seriously.
That, after god knows how many years, we finally got a glance at Leia’s adopted mother. :)
Someone in the cinema went ‘awwww’ when that little Jedi kid said ‘there’s too many of them…’ I expect the under-12’s in the cinema (and there were a couple of them) got a bit of a shock after that. ;)
Obi-Wan’s ‘Oh SHIT’ expression when Grevous reveals himself (honestly…no matter how I phrase that sentence, it still sounds downright wrong. :p) Really, other than that, and Yoda taking care of the Red Guards, there was so little humour in this episode. Which is really how it should be.
Probably the bit that really stood out, but probably just for me? When Palpatine says ‘Only one other has cheated death’ or whatever he said…I was like OMGQUIGON. And then he didn’t show up like I figured he would. ;) Well, I suppose he almost did, but hey…I’ll get the DVD. As will we all. :D
Palpatine saying how Darth Plagueis ‘could create life’? Another OHMYGOD from me.
*****
Oh, I want to talk about Obi-Wan for a second.
He doesn’t cry in this one. He comes very close, but he doesn’t cry. He hasn’t cried since TPM. He doesn’t even after both Anakin and Padme are dead (or he thinks they’re dead) You can tell he’s so close to breaking, but he doesn’t. He just doesn’t.
He’s that good.
*****
Oh, and Yoda! My god, if anyone went into this movie hating Yoda (not me, but I know some people do) they will utterly loathe him by the end. That bit about ‘Miss them, you should not.’…if I was Anakin, I’d have thrown him right out of the window.
*****
And just a bit about Anakin-
I didn’t want Anakin to turn. I really didn’t. After Mace dies, and Palpatine is speaking, I was thinking to Anakin, ‘Say NO. For God’s sake, just say NO.’ He didn’t.
And all through the film you get the feeling that he knows he’s in over his head, but has no idea just how much…
I kept thinking about TPM. It was exactly right. Maybe it’s partly to do with the fact that I was twelve when I saw it, and it was a long hot summer…but I kept thinking about it…
*****
Okay, okay, the bits that nearly made me cry-
(I hardly ever cry at movies, and especially not in public. :p)
Obi-Wan’s ‘I will do what I must’. OMG that was perfect, perfect, perfect. I can’t even describe it. It just said so much- Obi-Wan’s loyality to both his Master and to the Council (and they were always at odds…) and sadness and…well, I would have cried then. I really would. I think that might be my favourite bit in the entire movie, actually.
(Heck, maybe Obi-Wan is the most balanced Jedi of them all)
‘I loved you!’
Which says it all really.
The ending. Owen and Beru looking at the sunset- well, it begins with Owen looking at the sunset, really, and I thought that was great. I always liked Owen and Beru. Who knows what Luke might have turned out like, if not for them? And Beru’s face when Obi-Wan hands Luke to her…she was really good. I wish I’d met her at C7 now.
*****
Me and Emma went home and watched the end of Return of the Jedi.
Well, that’s it. It was brilliant. Now that was a Star Wars movie…
…and so were the other five. ;)
May 19, 2005 @ 10:00 pm
I’m pretty sure Obi-Wan cries. He starts crying when he has fatally wounded Anakin; when he says “Your were like my brother. I loved you.” there are tears in his eyes.
May 19, 2005 @ 10:38 pm
Just got back! I agree… the open sequence was amazing! And I know what you mean about Anakin… I knew what was going to happen to him but I was still screaming at him in my head “Don’t do it!!!” The bit that really affected me was Anakin’s transition. It was just the dehumanisation of it all… so horrific and brutal… the bit when he was on the operating table was almost too painful to watch. And how about “Oh, no!” as the last line. I dunno… I know it’s supposed to coincide with the first line of Episode 4 but I still wish they used something a little different. And finally… for a moment I thought that we’d get to see a ghostly glimpse of Qui-Gon… alas, my hopes were shattered ^^;;
May 19, 2005 @ 11:35 pm
OMG! It was excellent! I have to say Obi-Wan and Anakin are two pof ,my favourite charcaters EVER. C-3P0 and R2-D2 will always be the ultimate AND Anakin. OMG. I know some people out there hate Hayden for the way he portrays Anakin but OMG in this he does SUCH a good job. Anakin is so…tortured in this. God. Part of me was like: IKUBCG:OUSA :O BIOUCASB@IOA DONT DO IT!!! YOU KNOW YOYU DONT WANT TO!!! And during their duel OMG!! I was like..*cries*. I just….God the pain thye must both be feeling : ((( And yes I know by then Anakin is too far gone to feel much but hate, but part of me still believes there’s some part of Anakin that would never have been able to kill Obi : ((( I still hold that thought to my heart. Vader kills Obi-Wan. Not Anakin. And I will go down bearing that belief : ) And Obi Is so strong in this Episode. I love him. So. Even after withnessing the ‘death’ of his Padawan and Padme. God. I know that it’s Anakin that brings balance to the Force, but Obi-Wan is the real strength behind the Jedi. And I will go donw bearing that belief too. NIOSBO XIOSABOI SUCH A GOOD MOVIE!! And OMG I DID MEET BERU AT C7!!! She was so lovely and I got my picture taken with her nad everything! She was fantastic and alovely person! God. It was amazing.
May 19, 2005 @ 11:51 pm
Yeah, I gasped at the Qui Gon, and thought we might see him, but then I remembered reading he WASN’T in it. But now I can just imagine that in IV when Obi-Wan is duelling Darth Vader, Qui Gon is there with him, just like Obi-Wan was when he died. (Thank god Lucas didn’t splice THAT in the DVD versions though.) And with the Yoda thing, it’s like how can you be saying all this when you are not human yourself? So was Palpatine saying that Darth Plagueis was responsible for Anakin’s being? That’s what I assumed the significance of that line was, but as there’s no other reason why that should be the case I’m not sure. And lol, those things made me so much more than nearly cry…
May 20, 2005 @ 2:50 am
YEah there were clearly tears in Obi’s eyes when he near kills Anakin. OMG this is such a good movie and that Qui-Gon bit just made me fall out of my seat. I WISH we could have seen a glimpse of him *hopes for something on DVD* OMG. I need to see this again, like, NOW
May 20, 2005 @ 3:48 pm
Need we say any more? I’ve gotta admit, those opening 15 minutes were some of the best of any of the SW films. I’m going again on Monday to re-watch it! Whoosh!!!