Have you had your dose?

[cinemabon]

The time has almost arrived and soon we will know all the secrets. The loose ends of the story will be resolved and all will be revealed. The Second Coming? No, the last installment of "Star Wars" of course. If you haven't heard about what will happen May 19th, you've either been marooned on Mars, or your working on Peter Jackson's next movie.

Two events happened this week that will give you your dose of "Star Wars" so you won't be dehydrating by May 19th.

First of all, the final soundtrack was released. John Williams' last contribution to this incredible epic tale. As an added bonus, there is a DVD included that shows the "musical history" of The Star Wars Saga. Not only is this a visual feast of images from all six films, but a tribute to the man who has written the greatest symphonic soundtrack in the history of film. No composer can even come close to sheer volume and mix of thematic material Williams has woven for these films. One might even wonder if Star Wars would have been a success without his brilliant score.

The second event is strictly for gamers. The new Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith video game is a tell-all story unfolding in a series of challenges. Increase your skill by defeating each level, and another part of the film is released. Unfortunately, the entire plot of the movie is also known. So, if you are one of those that likes to turn to the last page of the book to see if your hero survives, then by all means, rent or buy this diverse video game. Otherwise, don't go anywhere near it, for the game reveals all.

As an added bonus this week, the Atom Film site (http://www.atomfilms.com) is showing the amateur tributes to Star Wars from the Indianapolis Festival held last weekend and attended by Lucas. The short films are hilarious send-ups of the science fiction adventure fans have come to love. There is even a link to the Star Wars web site that is currently showing the Williams music video. Again, watching the video will spoil the film if you are a purist.

There! I've given you plenty to soak your teeth into, or avoid at all costs. Having been an ardent fan from the beginning and even a collector of some of the trivia (Say it isn't so, Cinemabon!), I will be there, with my son, on May 19th.

(I had to say it) May the force... oh, you know the rest!

[tabuno]

I'm not "lining up" to see this last or actually third episode of six, though I have to admit the rich depth of the images in the trailers and the darker theme are definite draws that will eventually get the better of me so that at some point after the rush of the crowds I will see this movie. After the first three (episodes four, five, and six), I pretty much had my dose of Star Wars. Overall, the basic structure of these films reminded me somewhat of Dune in terms of the political backdrop, the overarching metapolitical efforts for control over the galaxy or world at least.

What attracted me to Star Trek, has pulled me to these last Star Wars episodes and the focus on Skywalker and his transformation. Like Star Trek, the more substantive - science fiction - interaction between good and evil of a more supernatural/alien bent brings forth more of what I enjoy in science fiction that appears to be occurring with full force in this most recent Star Wars movie. As to whether or not John Williams has produced the "greatest symphonic soundtrack in the history of film," I think I'll leave that question open for now. I will say though compared to the Star Trek movies (all six) that I happened to see again on VHS last week, the music unfortunately was not helmed by the same composer throughout and Jerry Goldsmith apparently disappeared for a few episodes making the music somewhat for this series at odds between them. Personally, I feel that in terms of volume and mix over one's career, based on sheer general publicity and exposure, Mr. Goldsmith is probably way up there on greatness.

Mr. Williams musical credits include:

Starwars
The Terminal
Harry Potter
Catch Me If You Can
Minority Report
Jurassic Park
AI
Saving Privte Ryan
Amistad
Sabrina (remake)
JFK
Hook
Home Alone
Always
Born of the Forth of July
Indiana Jones
Empire of the Sun
The Witches of Eastwich
Jaws
Space Camp
The River
The Big Chill
Superman
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Eiger Station
The Towering Inferno
Earthquake
The Sugarland Express
The Paper Chase
Cinderella Liberty
The Poseidon Adventure
Goodby, Mr. Chips
Valley of the Dolls
How to Steal a Millon
(and numerous television themes)


Jerry Goldsmith musical credits include:

Kingdom of Heaven
Star Trek
The Sum of All Fears
The Last Castle
Along Came a Spider
The Hollow Man
The Haunting
The 13th Warrior
The Mummy
Mulan
U.S. Marshalls
Alien
The Edge
Air Force One
L.A. Confidential
2 Days in the Valley
Executive Decision
Powder
First Knight
Congo
The River Wild
The Vanishing
Forever Young
Basic Instinct
Medicine Man
Sleeping with the Enemy
The Russia House
Total Recall
Warlock
Leviathan
The Burbs
Hoosiers
Poltergeist
Legend
Explorers
Runaway
Supergirl
Gremlins
Twilight Zone
First Blood
Outland
The First Great Train Robbery
Magic
The Boys From Brazil
Capricorn One
Coma
Omen
Logan's Run
The Wind and the Lion
Chinatown
Papillon
Mephisto Waltz
Tora Tora Tora
Patton
The Illustrated Man
Planet of the Apes
The Flim-Flam Man
The Sand Pebbles
The Blue Max
Von Ryan's Express
In Harm's Way
The Satan Bug
Fate is the Hunter
Seven Days in May
Lilies of the Field
The List of Adrian Messenger
Lonely are the Brave
(various television theme music )

[cinemabon]

There are many good film composers, and a few great ones. Jerry Goldsmith is certainly noteworthy. I would even add John Barry in that 70's to 90's crowd. However, when it comes to full orchestra scores, Williams has made the last thirty years outstanding ones. Only one other composer in film has been more honored than Williams, Alfred Newman, his mentor.

Prior to his era, I would say that composers like Newman, Korngold, Herrmann, Steiner, Berstein, Rosza stand out above the rest. One of the nice things about looking back at earlier works is to compare scores that were composed in the 30's and 40's, like the Flynn collection I reviewed in the DVD section. The marriage of Korngold to Flynn was perfect, giving the swashbuckler something to swing about. Just as Darth Vadar wouldn't be so recognizable if we didn't have that brassy theme in the background.

The DVD included with this last Star Wars ROTS soundtrack is made up of musical shorts, almost like music videos, where large portions of Williams scores are played to edited pieces of all six films... themes of love, friendship, betrayal and evil among many others are explored. Those universal themes explored by Lucas in his long-winded tale are given a large boost in credibility thanks to Williams' music giving those images sustenance.

[Johann]

Looks like this will be the best of them all.

I heard the lightsabre duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan is epic.
I also heard George Lucas himself appears in a cameo. Have to keep my eyes peeled for that..

It's about time we had a dark Star Wars film.
Lucas' pandering to kids is unforgivable. Part of the appeal of these "space-operas" like Dune and Star Wars is the idea that YOU are foreign to the story, that YOU are the one who is looking thru the glass, YOU want to be Luke Skywalker or Paul Atreides.
When those kids grow up they will not want to be the Anakin of The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones.
He's a pussy in those 2 movies. Especially the kid in Ep.1

Hayden had better come out swinging and with some serious gloom hanging over him or it's a sad day at the Lucas ranch once again.
But I have hope (a "new hope"?) ha!: the trailers look awesome, and it looks loaded with visual nirvana. Plus the wookies. Can't forget the wookies.
Peter Mayhew is back as Chewbacca. Excellent. He's the best actor who's starred in these movies. (Alec Guinness notwithstanding)

I also heard that Yoda lays the smackdown on the Emperor in another sabre-duel. It seems as if Lucas has heeded the hue and cry of fans who felt cheated...

[HorseradishTree]

After watching an extended trailer, I'm getting nervous. Lucas' everpresent bad dialogue is starting to show its ugly face, and Hayden still doesn't look like he's taken acting lessons. For me, Star Wars is in the pooper. I'll grasp tightly to my VHS copies of the original trilogy (until I DVD-burn the laserdiscs) and keep calling Lucas a tool until he admits that he may have made a few mistakes along the way.

[cinemabon]

My enthusiasm is based on the reactions fans gave at the Indianapolis convention. One posted a rather sound criticism on IMDB. Unfortunately, there are a number of "spoilers." However, I can tell you that the person writing the review had two things going for him. He sounded as if he were skeptical going in and had to be convinced, aka, Horseradish; and he had been jilted by Lucas' return to the films by characters like JarJar Binks. He pointed out that there were so many redeeming qualities in this final chapter, he felt Lucas was trying to make amends with his hard core fan base.

[Johann]

In the new issue of Vanity Fair magazine Lucas says he sees two separate trilogies "tonally". Well George, there is more than just tone differences in the new & old movies.

He won't admit "failure" or "mistakes"- it's just not his style.

He threw the gauntlet down for die-hard fans by saying they should be happy with the new film and to finally understand what he was doing. This new "chink" in the saga is supposed to make everything clear.

We shall see. Radio announcers here who've seen an early screening say it's bombastic and VERY dark.

Indeed we shall see.
Lucas, despite my loathing of some of his modus operandi, is not a guy you can ignore.

[cinemabon]

Reporting from Cannes, A.O.Scott of the NY Times reported that "Revenge of the Sith" is by far the best of the four films Lucas directed, and possibly the best in the series. His review is in today's Times:

http://movies2.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/movies/16star.html?hp

[HorseradishTree]

Originally posted by cinemabon
Reporting from Cannes, A.O.Scott of the NY Times reported that "Revenge of the Sith" is by far the best of the four films Lucas directed, and possibly the best in the series. His review is in today's Times:

http://movies2.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/movies/16star.html?hp

If he means the best in both trilogies, that's blasphemy. From what I've seen, it already can't top Empire or Jedi.