Tag: star+wars

Wall Cheer

While I’m quick at picking and moving to new tech, the same can’t be same around the house. I’ve had bare walls for years with just a few bits and pieces but not any more.

The first poster I picked up was from Mondo Tees. They have been running a Star Wars series recently and I was lucky enough to pick up this one.

I say lucky as the posters are limited runs of between 2-400 and they sell out very quickly…as in 5 minutes or less. It’s also an American site so invariably the posters would go on sale at a time that was awkward for buying. Thanks to Boxcar and Notifo on the iphone I got a notification as soon as the poster went on sale as Mondo tweet when new ones become available. A few weeks later and the poster is now looking resplendent on my wall. It’s a shame I didn’t get this one though which looks amazing.

The poster buying wasn’t done there. A new set of comic book locations from Justin Van Genderen caught my eye, specifically Gotham and Metropolis. A short flight later, here they are in location. Lovely.

One mention must go to the delivery – it was awesome. Shipped on Monday 13th from Texas with a delivery date of Thursday 16th I expected it to be delayed due to the weather the UK has right now. Well it didn’t arrive on the 16th…it arrived one day early on the 15th. Well done FedEx! That just left frames to organise for the posters. I was tempted to order frames with the ImageKind posters but that was quite costly. After checking out options for the UK and what I’d seen recommended elsewhere I eventually went for PicFrames. Within 10 days I had my custom frames delivered and posters installed. Very impressed with the range and quality of the frames and most importantly, the price, which I thought was excellent when compared with competition. Best of all – I love how all three look now that they’re in place.

Revenge of the Sith

The last of the new trilogy and hopefully the last Star Wars movies Lucas directs, Revenge of the Sith is without doubt the best of the new bunch but isn’t on a par with New hope never mind Empire. Word of warning – spoilers ahead. Considering everyone watching the film knows the outcome and who lives/dies it’s still a good film to watch mostly due to it’s darkness. There’s a beheading, wife beating (ok…strangling) and probably the scene that got most gasps at the cinema was the killing of the child jedi’s (although I couldn’t help laugh at the use of ‘younglings’ throughout the rest of the film – it just sounded so false).

The special effects are stunning although there’s maybe too much in certain scenes – the opening space battle for example requires 3 or 4 watches to catch everything that’s happening. Even then the feeling of ‘falseness’ is throughout the film as scenes are ruined by the overuse of special effects – the final battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin is a prime example. I was enjoying the fight and the lava looked amazing. Then both Jedi jump onto small robots in the middle of the lava flow – rather than enhancing the battle it made it feel more like a computer game or a battle of between graphic artists and cgi modellers in an attempt to outdo each other.

I also had a few issues with the structure and storyline, namely:

  • Anakin’s move to the dark side has been gathering pace throughout Episode II & II but when he gives into dark side it’s sudden and with ease – did not sit well with the rest of the film
  • Palpatine was so obviously the dark lord – it should have been fairly obvious to the Jedi but again this was glossed over
  • Obi-wan – why did he not kill Vader when he was so near death. Considering he had wiped out all the other Jedi’s this seemed the weakest point of the film
  • Speaking of the other Jedi’s they died very easily. Too easily. Made a joke of their position in the Star Wars universe.

    • The actors in the film did a pretty good job. Ewan McGregor was pretty good (much better than Episode I) although some of his dialogue was pretty sucky. Same can be said for Hayden Christensen. The best was undoubtedly Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine. The evil pored out from him at all times – great to watch. Christopher Lee was underused and yet again a good character in Dooku (like Darth Maul in I) was lost to easily.

    It will be interesting to watch IV, V and VI again – I’ve not seen them in years but I feel the 6 episodes will not gel well at all. R2D2 for example is like a super droid in II & III compared with the last three films – I guess he got old. I’ll be treating the Star Wars films as two separate trilogies – one a great space story, the other a good tale and a good use of new technology.

    Star Wars Revisited

    Hopefully seeing Revenge of the Sith tonight and in preparation I’ve watched Episodes 1 & 2 again.

    Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace
    Oh dear. I really struggled to sit through this film. Stilted dialogue, uninspiring acting and laughable interaction between the real and CGI actors. If we hadn’t seen episodes 4,5 and 6 I really doubt that anyone would have signed up a follow up based on this. Out of 5 I’d give it a 2. Taxation of trade routes – is that the best they could come up with? Pah!

    Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones
    I liked this film. Maybe it was after the high expectations of Episode 1 and the subsequent let down but even watching it yesterday after at least 18 months or so from the last viewing I still enjoyed it. Far better plot, more action and better use of the main characters. A geek pleasing Yoda fight, more darker tones and more impressive CGI than the first one – no Jar Jar. Dialogue still painful, especially the love scenes between Anakin and Padme. 3.5 out of 5.

    Which leaves Revenge of the Sith. Most websites are reporting that this is the best of the three and based on trailers alone this does look to be a cracking film. I still have doubts though – maybe the lack of expectation will again increase the enjoyment.

    Star Wars Revelations

    With the news that there is to be a Star Wars TV series (been watching Battlestar George?) and the immenent Episode 3 you may have missed the release of Star Wars Revelations by Panicstruck Productions. This is an independently made 45 minute production that captures all that’s good and bad about Star Wars, namely:

  • Great special effects – the CGI used in this film is impressive, most impressive
  • Good use of sound
  • Crap storyline
  • Poor dialogue
  • Questionable acting ability

    • That’s maybe a little harsh as the CGI is amazing for a free film but to ‘star’ in the film it looks like you had to be American, fat, ugly and have facial hair…and that’s just the girls. Seriously though it’s well worth a download at around 250Mb just for the CGI alone – best to grab the torrent though as most of the mirrors aren’t reliable.

    Star Wars DVD

    I’ve finally given in (to the force) and ordered the Star Wars trilogy. Amazon will deliver on the day of release (20th Sep) but the chances of it coming that day are slim. Digital Bits has a review of the box set and also screens of some of the changes that are in this release.

    It’s a pity the DVD release didn’t take advantage of branching to allow the original and these updated editions to exist on one disk. The tampering Lucas has employed with the originals does not, in my book, make the films any more watch able. Indeed some shots just look wrong when mixed in with the new effects. More fool me for buying them. But I’m looking forward to seeing them – it’s years since I’ve watched them in full and I’ve a week off at the end of September. Perfect.