Well... more of the same. But there's a lot more use of the Emperor's theme, Anakin's theme, and stuff like that.

The CD, though, is now somewhat of a mess. (My review is gonna be harder than I thought.) Like PHANTOM MENACE ("The Arrival at Naboo"), cue names on the album ("Ambush on Coruscant") don't always go where you would think they would go in the film.... it's not the music used in the ambush (for example) - it's used elsewhere.

Some observations (possible spoilers - but I'll try not to):

Parts of "The Chase through Coruscant" show up in the climax of the film.

The electric guitar is barely noticible (thankfully drowned out by sound effects).

The use of "Duel of the Fates" is great, and works exactly where it works in the trailer (the speederbike against the sunset).

There was no music for the asteroid chase.

I could swear that "Han and Leah's Theme" showed up briefly during the conveyer belt sequence.

A huge segment of the climax is tracked with "The Droid Invasion" and "The Droid Battle" from TPM.

I didn't like the use of "The Imperial March" on Tatooine when Anakin cries - but I liked it at the end (on the album).

So what will the inevitable expanded 2-CD set later this year contain? I honestly don't know.... it might be just like the Ultimate TPM....

Dan

quote:

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Originally posted by MarkA:
Thanks for the score info but you forgot to mention one thing -- how was the movie?

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LOL - I knew I forgot something!!

The movie was GOOD. Not GREAT, but definitely a hell of a lot better than Episode 1. It was pretty solid, and never dull. The action was great, the acting was whatever (Lucas.... grrr....), and the love-story was a little forced.... But overall, this is a good film.

quote:

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Originally posted by Will:
I'm hoping for a sad theme (like the one in TPM when Anakin leaves his mother) to recur in Tatooine...

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Umm... why? It doesn't really fit in the story.... you'll see.... there's plenty of "sad" moments....

A lot of the film was flat like The Phantom Menace but the script was good. Acting was a mixed bag but the good performances (Hayden Christensen, McGregor, the wonderful Christopher Lee and even Jimmy Smits) outweighed the bad (that would be the comatose Natalie Portman).

quote:

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Originally posted by Mark Olivarez:
Several reviewers have stated that the final battle is tracked with music from ROTJ, TPM and AOTC. The reason I'm slightly confused is because I read somewhere Lucas was doing some last minute tinkering with the film, so I'm wondering if the early print people are reviewing is the final or is it still a temp with tracked music. Another reason is that I though Rick McCallum had mentioned Williams wrote 125 mins worth of music. I can see maybe rehashing some action music but either Williams just used previously written material or Lucas FUBAR'd his music again.

What gives?????

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Not sure what gives, to be honest... but I didn't hear ROTJ in there.... just AOTC and TPM. This was the final cut of the film. The film has been locked for a few weeks, and THX TAP has been QAing the prints around the clock. What I saw was digitally projected, and I'm sure - nay, I KNOW - that it was the final cut. Trust me on this one. Williams probably DID record 125 minutes of music... but it doesn't mean they USED it all.

Dan

- Track any scene of tenderness with either Princess Leia's theme, Han & Leia's theme, Luke & Leia's theme, Across the Stars, or the Love Theme from SUPERMAN (Hey, it's all just strings to Lucas!).

- Track heroic moments with the TIE Fighter attack from ANH, The Forest Battle from ROTJ, and Desert Chase from RAIDERS (Hey, they're all just brassy themes to Lucas!).

- Track all evil moments with either the Imperial March, Main Title from THE FURY, the theme from JAWS, or O Fortuna! from Carmina Burana (Hey, it's... you get the picture).

I just find it extremely distasteful that Lucas feels the need to just simply needle-drop freely for his film's scores. As egregious as the edits were in TPM, at least all the cues were from the score as written for the damn film! Did Lucas really have to pull cues from a previous score to fit the emotional need of the scenes in AOTC? Did not one single moment in the 125 minutes of music Williams composed for AOTC meet his strict requirements?

quote:

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Originally posted by Quill:
If the music from an existing Star Wars score is more befitting for a certain scene then use it. Is is really that much of a travesty?

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Not really - if it works in the film.....

Anyways - this has been done many many times before. ALIEN used Goldsmith's music from FREUD, and DIE HARD used music from MAN ON FIRE and ALIENS.... at least in the case of Episode 2, the music comes from the same film series!

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Originally posted by JeffBond:

If you loved TPM, you'll go ape over this--if you hated TPM, you'll find this a bit more palatable but with some of the same weaknesses: forced humor (albeit with several genuinely GOOD lines) and some flat pacing courtesy of Ben Burtt.

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quote:

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Originally posted by dgoldwas:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=1 face=arial>quote:</font><HR size=1>Originally posted by MarkA:
[b]Thanks for the score info but you forgot to mention one thing -- how was the movie? <HR size=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

LOL - I knew I forgot something!!

The movie was GOOD. Not GREAT, but definitely a hell of a lot better than Episode 1. It was pretty solid, and never dull. The action was great, the acting was whatever (Lucas.... grrr....), and the love-story was a little forced.... But overall, this is a good film.

Dan[/B]

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Wait wait wait!! You've...SEEN this movie? NO FAIR!!!

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Originally posted by HAL 2000:
Ben Burtt? I could be wrong but isn't he the sound effects wiz? What does he have to do with the pacing of the movie?

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well... he edited Episode 1, and he edited Episode 2.... and yes, he's a sound effects wiz.

talk about "keeping your day job"! eeesh....

quote:

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Originally posted by John Zimmer:
Wait wait wait!! You've...SEEN this movie? NO FAIR!!!

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Oh, relax John! It comes one in one week.... you'll live!!

Jz

quote:

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Originally posted by dgoldwas:

well... he edited Episode 1, and he edited Episode 2.... and yes, he's a sound effects wiz.

talk about "keeping your day job"! eeesh....

Dan

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Wow. Did he do that badly editing Ep 2?

Now, as the traditional (and more senior) reviewers are permitted to screen the film, the response has become much more restrained, even muted.

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Originally posted by Beatty:
Who is TOM?

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TOM is a misspelling of TPM (The Phantom Menace).

Or maybe ATOC=TOM (The Other Menace)

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The most consistent criticisms concern the acting, dialog, plodding pace and too much visual overload.

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Originally posted by SPQR:
Gotta wonder then what the attraction is.

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Well.... it's a visually cool film. It's fun.

As far as how it ranks as film (and i use the word regarding "movies", not the whole digital/celluloid issue) holds up... well... it's just an alright film. The pacing is fine (I was never bored), but the editing (see above) isn't polished. The actors seem to muddle through their hammed lines of dialogue with little enthusiasm, and the term "high school drama" came to mind a few times.... And that's the thing - the dialogue isn't really anything spectacular.

Ultimately, this is a visual popcorn film - it's a feast for the eyes and the ears - and if you're gonna be all critical about it from a film theory perspective, you're gonna find it to be flawed.

quote:

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Well.... it's a visually cool film. It's fun.

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So, that's it? Nothing else to recommend it but alot of spiffy CGI? Geez, pixels seem to be more entertaining than people now in days...

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Originally posted by SPQR:
So, that's it? Nothing else to recommend it but alot of spiffy CGI? Geez, pixels seem to be more entertaining than people now in days...

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Well, there's more to it than just spiffy CGI.... but if you're looking for seriously good acting and quality dialogue, look elsewhere.

I agree with whoever said the music was hacked together in this one as well. The entire score was mixed quite low--so low at points I found myself hoping this was not the final mix (alas, it is).

On the good side, it's better than Phantom, but not by much. Jar Jar is almost a non-character in this one, but there are a host of other digital toys that clutter the screen and make the human actors seem even more out of place.

Will it make a ton of money? Sure. It's a fun summer popcorn movie.

Bozman

NP: Moby - 18

You can't just go around to a bunch of critics for the first time on one film and expect to be truly educated in any way. Why would you? Critics are there to give you their educated (yes, educated) opinions as to the quality of the film as they see it.

You can't throw them all into a barrel and use them all at once. You have to find (a) critic(s) who's opinions are comparable to your own--not necessarily always the same--but comparable. Only after you've familiarized yourself with a critic can you begin to use any of the information they provide.

Sure, some of them are unpredictable (Roeper) and some of them seem to think movies are only made to suit their individual reviews (Roeper), but there are some very talented, very effective critics out there with very valid things to say. You just have to know how to listen.

Sorry for the departure of subject. I am looking forward to Episode 2. While none of the critics I keep a close eye on have weighed in yet, I think I've learned enough about Dan's outlook on things to be optimistic--while cautiously not too excited--that I will enjoy the film not only for the time I'm in the theater, but also, hopefully, when I watch it years later. It sounds like a good movie.

They've all had simplistic dialogue.

quote:

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Originally posted by JJH:
no one should ever make the mistake of confusing [b]Star Wars with Shakesspeare.

They've all had simplistic dialogue.

NP -- Iris, Horner[/B]

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Whines Luke...:""Ahh....but I wanted my power converters."

Plot...the original was incredibly simplistic...essentially a western in space. After reading the script for AOTC I found it to have twice the plot. Apparently though it does suffer from pacing issues...probably tied to the editing room.

Too much CGI...kinda like there was too much model work in the originals. Lucas has always tried to push the envelope--problem now is too many people are jaded against FX. Don't blame Lucas--he is doing what he has always done. Little models for more lifelike computer images...cute rubber costumes for more lifelike computer generated characters. Complaining about that seems a little silly.