Great writeup. Here are some of my thoughts.
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Originally Posted by sisterhellfyre
A few thoughts on the movie...
* Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine just made my skin crawl, especially when he told Anakin Vader that *he* had killed Padme. That was just vicious. Stick the knife in and twist it deep... and in so doing, Palpatine cemented his hold on Vader forever. Under that load of guilt, Vader would never question, never rebel, never hesitate to do anything he was told.
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Lucas could have written it so that Palpatine blames her death on Obi-wan. That way Vadar would have always hated the Jedi. But then it wouldn't have worked out when Vadar and Obi-wan met in A New Hope. The dialog wouldn't have matched up.
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Originally Posted by sisterhellfyre
* Mace Windu's death was okay, in terms of how it fit into the plot. And it did show Windu's competence as a Jedi fighter. Even so, I came away unsatisfied because Lucas could have gotten so much more from Samuel L. Jackson for the character of Windu. Jackson is one of the best "tough guy" actors of all time, and all that potential was just left sitting on the shelf. Then again, that's not surprising for a Lucas project.
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I kind of feel that way, but then at the sametime I can see why Jackson didn't play the tough guy role. As a Jedi he's supposed to be calm. But it would have been cool if he said "I'm gonna stick this light saber up this MFers ass!!!!"
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Originally Posted by sisterhellfyre
* One thing I got a kick out of was how the stage was set for a loose, surreptitious, hyper-low-profile conspiracy between Yoda, Obi-Wan, Chewbacca, and Senator Organa for the (roughly) 20-year period between ROTS and A New Hope. I'll just bet it was no coincidence at all that Chewbacca just happened to appear on Tatooine, with Han Solo, crewing the Falcon, just at that time.
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That's an interesting point of view with Chewbacca. Was it part of the plan for him to meet up with Han Solo and help protect Luke and Leia? Maybe they could have tied that into the scene when Yoda spoke to him. Maybe add a line where Yoda says he'll let him know when he's needed.
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Originally Posted by sisterhellfyre
* Padme's death was not well done. Lost her will to live? Phooey. Anakin should have killed her -- or at least left her comatose and dying. (No, being comatose would not have prevented her going into labor. Labor is a function of the autonomic nervous system, and only moderated by all the Lamaze techniques.) That would have taken the tragedy and horror of the scene to a whole 'nuther level... which is probably why Lucas didn't do it.
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Totally agree, and it seems that everybody does as well. It would have been better if she died from injuries she got from Vadar.
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Originally Posted by sisterhellfyre
* I found Anakin's descent into evil pretty believable. It started off with a fear, and ended with paranoid megalomania, before Palpatine put Vader in his place. If Vader was not psychotic during the confrontation with Kenobi and Padme, he was darned well close enough! He carried the key to his own destruction... and he handed it to Palpatine.
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Many people didn't believe that the loss of his wife would be enough to turn Anakin. But that was just part of it. A big part of it was Anakin wanting more power, and to be the best. He wanted to be the man, and Palpatine convinced him that the Jedi were holding him back. Being able to save his wife was what put the whole thing over the top for Anakin. If he turns to the darkside he saves his wife, and gets the power and respect he wants. Even without her death I think Palpatine would have turned him at some point. Anakin wanted the power that Palpatine could give him, and that he would have never gotten with the Jedi. The guy was a loose cannon. That's why Yoda was against training him, and why Yoda was against training Luke. I just watched Empires, and it's clear Yoda was against training Luke for those reasons.
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Originally Posted by sisterhellfyre
* This episode really nailed it down for me that the whole series, all six movies, is about Darth Vader. He's the central character that makes the whole thing work. It's his decisions and his actions, from childhood to death, that drive the plot. If Lucas ever goes on to make Episodes 7, 8 and 9, he's going to have to take it in a whole new direction and hang the plot on a different character because Vader's dead. It would be real interesting to see which character takes the central position, or if it's someone altogether new.
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Looking at it a different way, I'd say it's really about the Jedi vs. the Sith, with the two Skywalkers the central characters. I'd say Palpatine is nearly as big as the Skywalkers, because without him trying to bring back the Sith, there are no major wars here. Without him there is no need for a chosen one. If there are new episodes, they could have somebody that's trying to do what Palpatine was doing. Maybe there is another Sith out there. The Skywalkers would still play an important role. Either Luke has some kids, or maybe Leia and Han. They'd be strong with the force. By that point the Jedi should be strong. Luke probably would have trained a number of them.
If there are more episodes I'd think Lucas had a plan for them 30 years ago. More than likely he had the basic stories when he made episodes 1-6.