EP2 review up at AICN

[ReaperFett]

Sorry, cant get link


Some spoilers there too, so DONT LOOK IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS




But he liked it, and said it improves TPM. As I said it would :)

[ReaperFett]

"This movie is the real deal. It is smart, beautiful (god digital photography is the glory and the future of the world of film, the palette is strikingly dramatically colorful), thrilling and electrical. Essentially it is a pure action adventure science fiction fantasy with a touch of romance. Line up now. This Star Wars is for real. "

[Charley]

I read that. VERY COOL :)

Even if it is probably smoke up our collective butts...I am stoked!

[darth_mcbain]

I'm going to avoid it - all I've heard about the review is glowing - that's enough for me to know that the movie is gonna rock. I don't want to hear much more in the way of major spoilers, especially now that we are so close. This movie is SO gonna rock!

[Jedi Master Carr]

I read about it on theforce.net and it sounds great, I wonder who gave him the copy? You think Lucas might have had it done to try to promote the movie.

[ReaperFett]

It was Lucas wearing a disguise :)

[Starquest aka AndyR]

Well, I read the review....
It is glowing. Harry is practically foaming at the mouth over it, so I am fairly confident that I will feel the same way.

As if I could be any more excited... :rolleyes ;)

[JMK]

I've heard nothing but good stuff about AotC except a couple reserved opinions. I'm totally psyched for this movie! It looks like it has everything Star Wars is about!

[ReaperFett]

Stars and Wars? :)

[Jinn Fizz]

I guess I'm going to be the party pooper and throw some cold water on this topic...isn't anyone else suspicious about Harry Knowles's claims at all? AICN has been caught posting inaccurate information before, so this could very well be some kind of hoax, or at least some kind of game on Harry's part. Because hey, I'm sure he generated lots and lots of hits on his website today, but gee, do you think that thought was even crossing his mind? :rolleyes

Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe AOTC is going to kick major booty, but I think this whole story smells stinkowiff.

[Venom]

If it is a hoax, then the info given will be shown up for that soon.

I think it could be real. Which I hate, cause AICN is a stinking cesspit and does not deserve a preview like that.

OR.... it is Lucasarts beginning a publicity campain. Despite most of us being SW freaks, the general Unwashed did not really like TPM - I believe this is a set up to begin a publicity campain to win back hearts and minds - especially from the rabid LOTR fans, who were more than likely SW fans to begin with

[ReaperFett]

Remember what AICN is. People send in info, Harry posts it. 99% of what Harry says is spot on, and the rest are where he is putting 2 and 2 together and getting 4.1

[Jedi Master Carr]

The story is starting to get some press and CNN thinks it was Lucas who leaked it to him here is the story
http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/19/clones.reut/index.html

I think they could be on to something because Lucasfilm didn't not condemn him or really say anything bad, all they said was "We are glad he liked it."

[ReaperFett]

Remember, Harry = more tickets sold. AICN is a massive site, it could bring in the uncaring.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I agree that is why Lucas did it to start the press machine roaring.

[Marcus Telcontar]

oh, I agree, this is the real thing - deliberatly leaked with the blessing of Lucasfilm itself.

[qoute]"The sources that showed it to me were tired of all the rhetoric about Tolkien, all the focus I had on 'Lord of the Rings,'" Knowles wrote.
[/quote]


Therein lies the reason - LOTR has stolen the hearts and minds of a lot of SW fans and Lucas wants them back. When we talked a while ago, speculating if Lucas was worried about what the reception to LOTR:FOTR could mean, it could be concluded he was indeed thinking that!

Look, Dont kid yourself, LOTR rose the bar for AOTC. LOTR delivered much more than the fans expected. For a big (not majority, but still sizable) percentage of SW fans, TPM did not. Is this a case of Lucas rising to the challenge?

I hope so. That will mean AOTC will be ballistic. And to be honest, it certainly is hinting to be better than TPM.

[ReaperFett]

No, because TPM was a start. Unlike ANH, it was a TRUE part 1 or 3(ANH had to sell itself). As Harry says, EP2 improves TPM no end. As expected :)

[darth_mcbain]

I don't know if it is entirely fair to judge Ep. I in a vacuum - like Reap said, it is a true part one, and will set the stage for the future episodes. I think once II and III come out, TPM will get a lot more credit than some fans have been giving it, as it is only a part of the whole and will be better when integrated with the rest of the movies.

[JMK]

GL has always maintained that he is going to stay the course. Yes, ANH had to stand well on its own. TPM did not, and really, it doesn't. But anyone who doesn't realize why it doesn't need to stand on its own needs a good braining. LOTR:FOTR is different because it's been around for so long as a novel, and the movies are coming out so quickly in succession that they don't leave time for people to say that it sucks in a vacuum. Before the dust settles in FotR, we'll be salivating over the trailer for TTT.

[Darth Vader]

Also, think in the extreme hypothetical...if Tolkien wrote FotR separately, and the movie was made after it, yet before work began on the Two Towers. Talk about a movie that can't stand on its own!

[Jedi Master Carr]

Okay that bootleg tape must be making the rounds because according to E News Daily (I didn't see the show so not sure what they exactly said, read it on the force.net) A reviewer from Salon.com saw the tape and said it is the best SW movie to date. I think it is something that the two biggest TPM bashing sites both are giving out postive signs of EP2, now lets see if Newsweek and EW both do the same thing.

[Figrin D'an]

Originally posted by Marcus Q'Dunn
Look, Dont kid yourself, LOTR rose the bar for AOTC. LOTR delivered much more than the fans expected. For a big (not majority, but still sizable) percentage of SW fans, TPM did not. Is this a case of Lucas rising to the challenge?

Mark is absolutely right about this.

Is it fair to judge TPM in a vacuum? No... I'd be one of the first to defend it's status as a beginning, a preface to the rest of the story.

But, there is no denying that a competition now exists between these two franchises. This early "leaking" of AOTC tapes to people like Harry Knowles only confirms this. A little competition is probably a healthy thing... and, for me personally, I'm just going to enjoy the next several years and all of the wonderful films that we will get to see. :)

As much as anyone at Lucasfilm or 20th Century Fox may deny it, they do have some serious competition now... we admire Uncle George because he seems very down-to-earth, humble and engaging, but don't think for a minute that he doesn't have an ego... he wants his films to be THE thing that people talk about, just like it was with his first trilogy. At the moment, that vision is no longer a sure thing... and I don't believe for a minute that the "flanneled one" hasn't thought about that on several occasions.

Like I said... competition is a good thing, and if it means a little bit of extra effort on the part of the filmmakers... far be it for me to complain. :)

[ReaperFett]

I think it is something that the two biggest TPM bashing sites both are giving out postive signs of EP2
Exsqueese me? Harry loved TPM. It was just behind the Matrix in his best of 2001 list.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I wasn't speaking of Harry, its the TPM bashers on the talk boards over there, read some of the stuff they have said, it is awful.

[ReaperFett]

Talkbackers are 90% pondlife. Even he says that:)

[Jedi Master Carr]

I agree with you there, Lucas could make the greatest movie of all time and some of them still wouldn't be satisfied.

[BUFFJEDI]

oh, fat boy has got me foaming at the mouth a little bit more.:)

[imported_QuiGonJ]

Okay, I gots ta know.. Marcus, who are you and what the hell did you do with Darth Turbogeek, Defender of Episode I?

I've read ToyFare magazine, the #1 US toy magazine for years, and Star Wars toys have always made their Top 10 Hot Toys roundup each month.

Last I checked, the LotR toys were considered underperformers, and the E2 preview toys, especially Jango related ones, are flying off the shelves. And that thud you heard last night was FotR's box office dying after it failed to garner the big awards. :p

The official Star Wars Galaxies board I frequent registered 100,000 visitors in under 12 months.

The BO experts tell us the Clone Wars trailer helped Ice Age at the box office.

Star Wars is alive and well, thank you very much. Last I checked, Lucas was too busy counting his thousand million plus dollars to really care, and was unconcerned about how AOTC will do. He says as long as the films make their money back, he's happy.

Yes, it's fashionable to bash TPM now, but without the situations and characters it introduced, E2 and E3 would be hard pressed to be what they will be, nice and dark.

TPM was a prologue, just as the Hobbit was to the LotR books? And I don't think LotR has stolen that many SW fans, just a few here on this board. >_<

[Darth Vader]

Its not that, so much as people needing a fix in "the offseason".

Oh hey Rick...I hear you're gonna hang with us for the E2 shebang.

[JMK]

Did anyone see Harry on Access Hollywood last night? He gave his opinion, and it was pretty much all good. He said it wasn't the great movie that ANH or ESB is, but that its the most entertaining of them. That's pretty much all that we can ask for, right?

[imported_QuiGonJ]

Some RL friends of mine and I will be getting together as we did for TPM, along with a few out-of-town CCnetters. Just won't be at the Chinese. :)

[Darth Vader]

Yeah thats what I heard.

Well if we don't do Mann's, I guess we'll chill with you.

[imported_QuiGonJ]

It was quite the party last time, and where we'll be has primo eating spots close by including a Krispy Kreme, so sure, the more the merrier. :)