[Chefelf]

But seriously, I loved the Phantom Menace...I'll always have a soft spot for that one. I watched it as a child and I loved it and I still love it to this day. really hyped up movie and it probably didn't live up to all the hype but I loved it anyway.

Welcome to the forums!

And thank you for being mature enough to enjoy a movie and still be able to laugh about it. I'm shocked at how many people are unable to do both.

[Snake Logan]

I probably read this on the nitpickers but why did the droid army cease to function when the Trade Federation Ship exploded? The droids seemed to operate independently so why didn’t they have some kind of failsafe if their command structure was interrupted?

[Thurkon]

Is it me, or is this plot needlessly complicated? Not only that, but at its core it doesn't even make sense. Eventually, Palpatine is able to use the Trade Federation's invasion to get Amidala to make that ridiculous vote of no confidence and make himself Chancellor...but what was all that Sidious nonsense about making Amidala sign a treaty to legitimize the invasion?

Why the efforts to make her sign the treaty if that's not what he really wanted? If she had done so, how could Palpatine have made the same strategic move?

[Thurkon]

A few more of my gripes about Episode I:

1. The Pod Race. The only good things, in my opinion, about the prequels, are the action sequences. Lucas can still pull those off. That's what makes Episode III somewhat watchable...there are enough of those action sequences to entertain in between the suckiness. Even Epiosde II has its fair share...I could watch the Jango/Obi-Wan fight in Attack of the Clones over and over, if only because that's what I wanted Boba Fett to really do in Return of the Jedi. But, besides the final Darth Maul duel, Episode I lacks these moments. The Pod Race could have been such, but alas...too much kiddie comedy. The two-headed announcer was mentioned, but an even more egregious error was the cartoonish design of the pod racing aliens. Could these guys look more like the ridculous villains in a Super Mario game? Tatooine has transformed from the gritty, scary backworld of Episode IV into a delighfully quirky Pixar movie!

2. The Prophecy. Not only is the prophecy never fully explained, but it is uncertain why the Jedi strive to fufill it. Why is the Force currently unbalanced? What are the Jedi lacking, Force-wise? What is so unsatisfying about being the very numerous, powerful guardians of the galaxy?

3. Killing Darth Maul. Lucas actually manages to create an interesting villain, and then gives him few lines and kills him off. Great formula. Really paves the way for two more lackluster villains, Dooku and Greivous, to be thrown into the plot abruptly with minimal development.

4. The rule of two is just incredibly stupid, especially considering that...without exception...Sith apprentices always seem to betray and kill their masters. Why do they need to limit their numbers to two? Oh, yes...Darth Bane felt the Sith were too destructive when they were numerous...but the destructive nature of Sith has more to do with the dark side, not how many there are. How can the Sith control how many Jedi turn to the dark side anyway?

This post has been edited by Thurkon: 07 February 2008 - 09:19 AM

[jerfus17]

Anybody ever notice that at the "Gungan Sacred Place" - where Amidala and gang meet up with the idiot Gungans to form and alliance against the invading droid armies - almost all the statues surrounding the "sacred place" are human? I thought the Gungan's "no like'n the Naboo". So why the Hell is their "sacred place" filled with giant statues of human faces?

[Mr Pye]

What was the Trade Federations plan for the invasion of Naboo? They seem to land their troops in the densest jungle. Also it is suggested that they landed on the opposite side of the planet from the city.

Why does the Trade Federation have cannons in their hangar? Who would blow up things inside their own protective shields? Especially with the reactor next door. It's not easy imagining a US carrier having anti aircraft guns in its hangar. Maybe they do?

Geografy. The queens ship is leaking hyperdrive, so it cannot reach Corruscant. Fine. It can reach Tattoine. Fine. Tattoine is out of the way, good! It is also out of the reach of the Trade Federation. But how? The Trade Federation can reach Corruscant. And their ships are not leaking hyperdrive.

Mr Maul droids. Darth Maul has these nifty searcher probes with him to Tattoine, and a good thing too for it is one of them who discovers the queen. Pity the probe is unable to transmit this information to Maul. Instead it has hover all the way back to him and beep him in the face. Mauls little scooter is very fast. Considering how much happens between discovery and Maul starting the chase we can guess that the probes do not share its propulsion technology.

As an aside the above makes me wonder why Maul landed so far from the city.

And finally a line that Captain Panaka lets out. Red group, Blue group, everybody follow me. Who are Red and Blue group? And if everybody was to follow why was it necessary to make the distiction? Is this an Old trilogy reference that misfired?

[Chefelf]

I think the Trade Federation used the Russians-in-Red-Dawn-Strategy which generally involves invading portions of territory that are largely uninhabited so that minor characters have a chance to be heroes.

It was pretty noble of them to do that when you look at it that way.

[J m HofMarN]

I cant believe no one noticed this weirdness in the first moments of the movie:

When the droid leads them into the conference room, the head rests on the chairs are pointy. How in the hell is that a good idea? Who designed these things? Are they specificly meant for jedi torture?

[Star_Wars_Kid]

Hey, everyone. I registered this nick several years ago, meant to post something and forgot to.

First of all, I absolutely love the Star Wars nitpicks. I am a fan of Star Wars, but I think Lucas has gone absolutely nuts with his movies. Or, sane. As someone once said:

"Art comes from angst. If the artist is lucky, the angst will go away with time. If the audience is lucky, it won't.

He goes on to describe how some movie directors lost their edge after a while, and started producing bad movies. But the reason I'm posting here is that I noticed something while reading the nitpicks for Episode I (by far my least favorite of the Prequels). I came across this:

The Chance Cube
At one point Watto makes a bet with Qui-Gon and takes out a "chance cube" to settle it. A chance cube looks just like any die that you'd get with a Milton Bradley game. The only thing is instead of numbers it has two colors, red and blue. My question is if you have a 50% chance of getting red and a 50% chance of getting blue then why the hell do you need something with six sides? Why not just use a coin? They don't roll a die at the beginning of a football game. Do they? I don't know, I don't watch football. The point is that I'm sure they can find something on Tatooine with two sides rather than six.

For some reason, I feel compelled to point out something I noticed even the first time I saw the movie (I think I was about 11). If you watch Watto closely, he twists the cube in a certain way. The kind that people use when they're being tricky. So, when we got the DVD (ugh!) I satisfied my curiosity and frame-by-framed the sequence at that point, and the actual toss.

Watto's cheating.

The die is actually not 3 red, 3 blue. It's 5 red, 1 blue. Watto tried to twist the cube so it looked fair, but really wasn't. So, chefelf, that would be why watto used a cube, and not a coin. He was drastically improving his odds of keeping the boy, who'd be more useful to him as he matured, because a 5/6 chance of red means his odds of tossing blue is 17.6666666% instead of 50%. (Except that Qui-Gon interfered and all that.)

I know, this is a tiny nitpick and it proves I have too much time on my hands. But I thought it was actually a bit of inspired plot because, for once, it was actually subtle compared to the rest of the movie. But then, if an 11-year old can catch it... *shrugs*

Cheers (and keep up the good work on the site ),
Tim

[Chefelf]

Tim, thanks for signing up and for remembering about the site over a year later!

The chance cube thing has been pointed out to me before. I should really keep a running database of the things that HAVE been pointed out to me already. Or update the articles. I guess I'm too lazy for all of that.

You were 11 when the movie came out? That would make you 20 now. I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that that movie came out almost 10 YEARS AGO!!!

[Star_Wars_Kid]

Tim, thanks for signing up and for remembering about the site over a year later!

The chance cube thing has been pointed out to me before. I should really keep a running database of the things that HAVE been pointed out to me already. Or update the articles. I guess I'm too lazy for all of that.

You were 11 when the movie came out? That would make you 20 now. I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that that movie came out almost 10 YEARS AGO!!!

Hm... my math was wrong. I have a cold, so my brain isn't working as well as it should... I'm actually 17, which means I thought the movies were cool when I was 7. Now I don't feel so stupid for liking the movies.

I'm rereading the EpIII nitpicks now, having finished all the others again. I love how I can mentally replay every embarrassing scene thanks to Lucas' 'subtlety'.

[Chefelf]

Yes, at 7 you are quite easily excused for liking Episode I.

If you'd be 8, I'm not so sure.

[Star_Wars_Kid]

Yes, at 7 you are quite easily excused for liking Episode I.

If you'd be 8, I'm not so sure.

...

Oh, for the love of... ... "D'oh!"

In my defense, I missed a lot of the connections between the Prequel and the Original at that age, because I didn't watch the Original Trilogy all that much. But even then, I smelt the distinct smell of cheese in Episode II. Episode III... well, I was one of those dolts who got wowed by the effects. I know better now, though.

[Chefelf]

Well, in your defense, Episode III is the best of the prequels. And at least some plot finally developed.

[Mr Pye]

Well, in your defense, Episode III is the best of the prequels. And at least some plot finally developed.

Puts me in mind of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Aah the scripts finally arrived.