EPISODE III nabs PG-13 Rating

[AndyDursin]

...according to the usual news 'n scoops sites.

Can't say I'm surprised, and I don't really understand why it's a big deal, either.

LAST CRUSADE scored a PG-13, and the other Indy films were PG (okay, so Temple of Doom started that rating in the first place, but it's still technically a PG!), so what's the big deal? It's not as if kids can't get in anyway to a PG-13...and it's not as if they need parental accompaniment like it was R.

Still, hopefully we'll get some intense material in this movie. After ATTACK OF THE CLOWNS I'm hoping this film delivers the goods (cautiously optimistic).

[romanD]

hm, the new trailer didn't impress me much though... it gives already the whole story away (as if anything surprising would happen). Hayden Christiansen is bland as he always is and the effect sequences are overloaded like never before.

Will watch it as around that time nothing else will be shown and I will be in LA, so I go to the Mann's Chinese Theater, no matter what they show...

[MikeSkerritt]

Rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America
For Pervasive Stilted Dialogue, Endless Clock Wipes, Cartoonish Sci Fi Violence Involving Cartoonish Sci Fi Characters, and Awkward Romantic Interludes

Blah blah blah...

I want to like this movie. I really, really do. As a matter of fact, the trailer was the first of the prequels that made me want to see the movie itself, not just the new STAR WARS movie.

Then, today, I got the new issue of PREMIERE magazine, and Hayden's on the cover doing his best Vader death look, and it just doesn't work for me. Ugh.

[AndyDursin]

I just sat through another viewing of ATTACK OF THE CLONES tonight with a buddy of mine -- my first since seeing it for the first time in theaters in 2002 -- and it still doesn't work. The dialogue is limp, the performances bad (though Natalie Portman looks awfully fetching in some of those outfits), the climax awkward, the comic relief of C3PO and R2D2 sadly insipid, the development of Anakin's turn to the dark side lame, and the most hilarious moment still coming from Jimmy Smits' "gosh this sucks!" look on his face right before the credits roll. Even Williams' score to me was a disappointment in this movie, with a love theme offering a variation on "Hook" but isn't really moving.

Not the worst movie ever made (it's quite watchable despite all of the problems), but not as good as "Phantom Menace" (which I admit to enjoying) and a big missed opportunity nontheless.

Still holding out hope for EPISODE III.

Roman -- one thing on the Throne Room arrangement you mentioned in the other thread. Williams' concert arrangement always flows like that (the statement is repeated), it's nothing new. I also doubt you'll hear the full arrangement of it in the movie either -- unless the credits are 10 minutes long (doubtful). So before passing full judgment let's see the movie before saying it doesn't work.

[Eric W.]

I couldn't agree with you more, Andy.

I know acting can't save everything, but really: One of the biggest tragedies/mistakes people will look back on with this trilogy of prequels (and there are many tragic mistakes associated with these films) - is the casting of a worthless pile of garbage that is Hayden Christiansen, in the central role of the entire trilogy! He really is one of the worst young "actors" I've ever seen anywhere.

I just can't believe, for a role as important as Anakin Skywalker, that they couldn't have come up with anyone better than this. Unbelievable!

Does ANYONE here really look at that kid and say: "WOW! This is guy is going to be Darth Vader! Yeah, I buy it!"

I, for one, will applaud loudly in the theater the second that kid is forever done and I see Vader. He's wretched.

[John Johnson]

Rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America
For Pervasive Stilted Dialogue, Endless Clock Wipes, Cartoonish Sci Fi Violence Involving Cartoonish Sci Fi Characters, and Awkward Romantic Interludes

Blah blah blah...

I want to like this movie. I really, really do. As a matter of fact, the trailer was the first of the prequels that made me want to see the movie itself, not just the new STAR WARS movie.

Then, today, I got the new issue of PREMIERE magazine, and Hayden's on the cover doing his best Vader death look, and it just doesn't work for me. Ugh.

I never really bought into the whole Stars Wars thing. I found the characters to be badly developed, the writing purile. The only redeeming aspect of the whole series is the scores, with the exception of Return of the Jedi. As for the sfx, overblown CGI and after a while quite boring to look at. I for one won't be sad to see the end of this series of films. Don't forget to turn out the lights when you leave Mr. Lucas.