the "travesty" of pod-racing? the pod race was one of the few things that kept me awake during episode i... but i do agree, the car chase was phenomenal. watching obi-wan and anakin work as a team was gratifying. speaking of obi-wan, i think my favorite part of his character is the occasional "oh, shit!" look (there's one when he's hanging from the flying drone, i believe, there's another during the fight with jango fett when he realizes he's about to be pulled over the edge of the platform, plus a great one in the arena when the big mantis-monster catches the spear in its jaws and snaps it more or less effortlessly). the way ewan mcgregor plays those looks makes me think of obi-wan less as a remote, all-powerful Jedi and more as a human, well-intentioned guy who occasionally gets himself in over his head (which, coincidentally, could also serve as a description of pretty much any of my favorite action heroes).
for me the best parts of the movie were the lightsaber duels. watching the line of Jedi charging forward, sabers raised, during the arena battle made me want to leap to my feet and cheer. but what was up with everybody constantly dropping their lightsabers in the one-on-one duels? i thought Jedi used the Force to keep their sabers in their hands. (and even if not... hey, i know i'm just a lowly SCA heavy list grunt, but i've figured out how to use a damn lanyard to keep my sword in my hand!) i was also a bit surprised to see less throwing of lightsabers; i know that if i were obi-wan, standing on the platform watching jango fett's ship lift off, i would have chucked my saber after it, even if just out of frustration.
but all in all, it was a good flick. the pacing seemed odd to me; the final third of the movie felt kind of like i was watching a long trailer, as each scene seemed to end too quickly. and i have a theory that i'd like to test; i need to go back and watch the original trilogy again, because i seem to recall that the original movies had far more dialogue during the action scenes (and far better as well).
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for me the best parts of the movie were the lightsaber duels. watching the line of Jedi charging forward, sabers raised, during the arena battle made me want to leap to my feet and cheer. but what was up with everybody constantly dropping their lightsabers in the one-on-one duels? i thought Jedi used the Force to keep their sabers in their hands. (and even if not... hey, i know i'm just a lowly SCA heavy list grunt, but i've figured out how to use a damn lanyard to keep my sword in my hand!) i was also a bit surprised to see less throwing of lightsabers; i know that if i were obi-wan, standing on the platform watching jango fett's ship lift off, i would have chucked my saber after it, even if just out of frustration.
but all in all, it was a good flick. the pacing seemed odd to me; the final third of the movie felt kind of like i was watching a long trailer, as each scene seemed to end too quickly. and i have a theory that i'd like to test; i need to go back and watch the original trilogy again, because i seem to recall that the original movies had far more dialogue during the action scenes (and far better as well).
-steve