The problem in having the opportunity to read such a screenplay ahead of the movie's (especially this kind og movie) release is you visuals things in your mind. You visualise locations, characters, even actors performances. Moriarty highlights this fact in his article.
On top of this, you just don't know what in the screenplay you've read has been changed on set and/or cut from the movie completely, it's a pretty unstable source to make judgement on the final product.

Phantom Menace, on paper, is actually a pretty good read. In the scripted version (I'm guessing this is all in the published screenplay they released) you've got a good deal of dcene scenes and dialogue cut or changed in the final movie. I recall a great bit in the TPM screenplay where Jar Jar questions Amidala as to why there is war and death. On paper, the movie's pacing was far better. Anakin, scripted, had better dialogue too, and was also free of the uninspiring performance of Jake Lloyd.

Jonathan Hales' involvement in Episode 2 is a good thing, but until we see what Lucas changed in shooting and how the Actors deliver these lines we're just never going to know what it's really like. The script is a blueprint, where it goes from there is up to the creative talent involved, and Lucas isn't always the best at getting the most from the talent around him, and the actors performances in Episode 1 prove this more than anything.

Just to be clear, I do enjoy episode1 a lot, but wont overlook its many flaws. I do have more excitement for Ep2 but can't be made more so by an advance script review JUST yet.

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Originally posted by Dan Brecher:
You have to understand, Moriarty was also very excited when he read the Phantom Menace screenplay before the movie opened, indeed, so was I.

The problem in having the opportunity to read such a screenplay ahead of the movie's (especially this kind og movie) release is you visuals things in your mind. You visualise locations, characters, even actors performances. Moriarty highlights this fact in his article.
On top of this, you just don't know what in the screenplay you've read has been changed on set and/or cut from the movie completely, it's a pretty unstable source to make judgement on the final product.

Phantom Menace, on paper, is actually a pretty good read. In the scripted version (I'm guessing this is all in the published screenplay they released) you've got a good deal of dcene scenes and dialogue cut or changed in the final movie. I recall a great bit in the TPM screenplay where Jar Jar questions Amidala as to why there is war and death. On paper, the movie's pacing was far better. Anakin, scripted, had better dialogue too, and was also free of the uninspiring performance of Jake Lloyd.

Jonathan Hales' involvement in Episode 2 is a good thing, but until we see what Lucas changed in shooting and how the Actors deliver these lines we're just never going to know what it's really like. The script is a blueprint, where it goes from there is up to the creative talent involved, and Lucas isn't always the best at getting the most from the talent around him, and the actors performances in Episode 1 prove this more than anything.

Just to be clear, I do enjoy episode1 a lot, but wont overlook its many flaws. I do have more excitement for Ep2 but can't be made more so by an advance script review JUST yet.

Dan

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you hit the nail dead on the head

was this really a hard thing to do, given ROTJ and TPM?

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Originally posted by Bozman:

I gave up on Star Wars after Return of the Jedi, and The Phantom Premise only confirmed my suspicions.

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How does one "give up" Star Wars?
And, most of all, after Return of the Jedi??

I am really confused now.

And yes, TPM sucked. Just as I'm sure AOTC will. Why? Because Lucas couldn't write himself or direct himself out of a hole.

Anyhoo, I only know one specific thing about the movie, which I HATE because someone didn't put enough spoiler space on the Superman Cinema message board (plug, plug) but I'm gonna try to keep it at that. I don't want to know a thing about AoTC. It's gonna be amazing, I just know it!

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Originally posted by UCFKevin:
Oh, anyone who saw the trailers could've told you that. Why else would ObiWan scream out, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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Yeah, anyone, except the hipocrite who claims to hate spoilers...

Besides, I saw the trailer and obviously it didn't spoiled at all. At the time I didn't even know who Qui-Gon was, you know...

Does it mean that STAR WARS is just a movie????

Does it mean I am not the son of the galactic evil lord, hidden on this earth planet by my protectors????

Does it mean I will have to grow up and find a job or something to do???

No!!! It's impossible!!