Majestic

Why is Uwe Boll considered such a big hollywood producer/director? When he started out he was supposed to be this revolutionary, cool, young director with projects like Blackwoods and Heart of America. Then he did House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark. Sure a lot of his money went into drugs but they are parts of his company, not his personal projects with total involvement like film production. Now he's lost a bunch of weight (about damn time too, ya pudgy Euro) and is making Bloodrayne. So is he a nut or what?

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Wouldn't a turn around be a 180? My guess is they want to avoid the "2" moniker so that they don't have to compete with the "3" in PS3. The uninformed consumer sees Xbox2 and PS3, they're going to assume that the PS3 is the next-gen hardware. Not sure how I feel about the other rumored names either, like Xenon or XboxNext. I'd put money on the MTV special featuring second-tier hiphop artists playing the NextBox in their humungous "crib" while raving about how real the graphics are. Poor Naz and Jay-Z will be relegated to merely pimping Halo 2.5 rather than their lifestyles.

I picked up MP-02 Ultra Magnus and I'm pretty happy with it. Here he is comparing matrix sizes with Prime:

Please add me to the list for one! Thanks.

I'm curious as well, as I have it up for preorder. The rumor is a May release. My guess is middle to end of May.

I don't know, his hands seem smaller than the original.

Found this on the Toybox DX forums: "Dengeki Hobby have confirmed GX-30 to be Voltes V" EDIT: This looks a million times better than the half-transforming tiny chintzy plastic abomination I had back in the 80s!

Does it bother anyone else that Vader is even being shown in his full, imposing form? I always thought that his entry in Episode IV was the best way to introduce him and it seems like having him appear in Episode III somehow dilutes that initial appearance. On the other hand, I can't wait to see Vader again! I'm torn! So far the images of Vader from the film itself aren't bothering me, just some of the promo materials appear to be a little "off". but then again, I'm ranked second lieutenant in the "Tiny Hands" brigade.

You're not the only one. Disappointed by overall ship design (again) - both fighters are too colorful and cartoony IMO - although the proto-star destroyers aren't so bad, as they look similar to the early Ralph McQuarrie (sp?) designs.

Perhaps the removable missles facilitate the larger chest.

Now I know what's bugging me. That's not Stik at all, it's Professor Fuyutski from Evangelion! What? No.

I agree, it's too bad Lucas had to stoop to the level of burp/fart jokes. Star Wars had the ability to be funny without being slapstick (i.e. Han on the radio in the death star "how are you?") or the Chewie "walking carpet" line.

The color scheme, IMO, leaves much to be desired. I think it would look great in "Low Vis" gray tones though. EDIT: Not so much gray here as black, but I like this better than the standard blue.

Man, I definately never tire of storm troopers. While the AOTC design never really took off for me, the ROTS design really looks great. I had the pleasure of seeing a few excellent storm and clone trooper costumes at the last WonderCon in San Francisco. The best costume was actually a TIE pilot - I couldn't stop complimenting him on the details of his costume, down to the imperial flight manifest tacked to his knee!

I think many that were offended by Jar Jar made comparisons of his character to Steppin Fetchit. Considering JJ's accent, it's not hard to make that comparison. But I agree with BSU Legato, Lucas' inspiration likely drew more from Kurosawa than the vaudevillian blackface routine.

There are people that love Jar Jar? Not trying to ridicule here, but I thought it was pretty universally accepted that his character was/is extremely grating and annoying. I attended a fraternity party where a cardboard Jar Jar standup was used as a urinal (yeah I know, classy, but what can I say, it was a fraternity). I think Jar Jar was Lucas' aborted attempt to create another beloved alien Chewbacca-like sidekick - it's too bad that idea didn't seem to work out, I'm sure a more solid, less annoying character might have actually contributed to the story. Not that I'd want a copy of Chewie, just maybe a character not quite so aimed at juvenile interests. Perhaps Lucas' aim was to appeal to the 10-and-under crowd, in which case he probably succeeded. Ah well, I guess there's folks that adored the ewoks too (I didn't find them that bad)!

I had hoped for the overall "dark side" of Anakin to have been more prevalent. That's not to say he hasn't had his dark moments in AOTC, but I had somewhat expected more foreshadowing in the character arc. Perhaps this third film will ameliorate what I found lacking. Nothing obvious or spelled-out, but a more disturbed and anti-social version than the Anakin that appears in I and II, perhaps one more haunted by the past of being a slave. Luke I saw as the happy-go-lucky dreamstruck farmboy, whereas Anakin should have been portrayed as the hopeless, demented parallel of Luke.

Does anyone else find the young Anakin chilling or disturbing, I guess was my question. I agree with the ultimate character arc. I'm not saying his portrayal was faulty at all, just interesting in its execution.

I wasn't aware of Brin's venom in regard to Lucas, as I haven't been privy to his particular articles. It will be interesting to see if my abhorence of the prequels is on par with his own. We may indeed have something in common there! And where would that be exactly? Can you link me to the multiple occaisions where I did this? Sure thing, see above. Feel free to contribute to the discussion on the themes he brought up, maybe we could actually get this thread going again! Sorry to hear you consider me objectionable. Here's to a brighter future and friendlier MW threads, eh?

From the above-linked article: I remember thinking exactly that, that the portrayal of a young fun-loving Anakin was extremely chilling, considering the monster he later becomes. I wonder if Lucas purposefully presented it this way or if his intentions were simply the "unfortunate hero on a bad path" - hinting at the propspective Hitler that could be latent in anybody.

The article was written in 1999, so it can't really amount to being all that anti-lucas, since I don't think Salon, bias against SW or no, has been around for that long (since before 1999 or before the prequels). The intent was to talk about the content of the article, but we're used to your dismissive behavior in terms of SW criticism. But remember, this thread has been bookmarked for just such criticism, so you're certainly free to avoid the thread if you're only going to continue the dismissive routine.

LOIL! I'm actually hoping for a much better third film as well. I'm optimistic this one will deliver where IMO, the others didn't. On a sidenote: I heard there's a line forming outside the Chinese Mann theater in Hollywood, yet they aren't planning on showing the movie. Huh?

Here's an interesting, if not a little dated, article on "Star Wars" vs. "Star Trek", including some interesting themes perceived by the author: http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/19...6/15/brin_main/

Majesitc, There is no such thing as unbiased journalism. So your search for ever-elusive proof from an "independent review" will be fruitless. Those that you look to for proof are biased themselves. This guy puts it best. We both need to shut up now. Feel free to rant away. I'm done (and not a standard Hurin-esque "I'm done until you piss me off again and then I'll write two more pages". . . I'm really done). H Thanks for the interesting article. I don't think an independent review is outside the realm of possibility. I've been hoping for an overarching set of media representatives to address these very same issues in a public forum (with a wider audience than college campuses), but we likely won't see that anytime soon. Glad to hear you consider yourself done with this subject. Feel like I was ages ago! Now, back to the merits and pitfalls of Star Wars, kids! (BTW, what ever happened to the "Star Wars Kid"?