Sunday, March 4, 2012

Star Wars Episode 1: Phantom Menace in 3D

Last night I decided to finally go see The Phantom Menace in 3D. I've seen the movie more times than I have seen the other two prequels combined, and despite Jar-Jar and other flaws, I think it's the best of the prequels. I'm going to rewatch Revenge of the Sith on DVD as soon as I've finished this review for a better comparison.

Some thoughts:
1. The movie is loooooooooooooooong. Too long. The entire underwater sequence could have been cut; it's not very interesting. I'm reminded of The Phantom Edit, which was apparently done by USC film students (I remember at the time that there was a rumor that Kevin Smith did it). That version cuts out a fair bit of Jar-Jar, but I never saw it. There were copies on ebay at the time for about $50, which was a little spendy for a VHS of questionable copy quality, but now I wish I had. There are no copies available on ebay. I suppose that my belief in not violating IP rights should mean I shouldn't get it, anyway; I know I could probably torrent it, but I don't do that. Buying a copy from ebay would also be no better than torrenting it...

2. The 3D effect doesn't do much for me. It looks good, but I don't really notice it after a little while. It might be that my strabismus makes it difficult for me to appreciate, but I don't think it's that. I remember seeing the podrace for the first time and being amazed, and that was a mix of novelty and the size of the screen (much bigger when I first saw it). Part of the problem, I think, is that there isn't much camera motion.

3. There was almost no one there, so if you are reading this and thinking about going, go now. Don't wait. It won't be around for long. If there were ten other people (for a Saturday showing at 6:30pm), I would be surprised.

4. The movie is decent. I always enjoy seeing Star Wars on the big screen, even if it is a prequel.

Nothing shocking; it's the same movie (with a few added bits) that's been around for almost thirteen years. It seems odd that pretty soon we'll be as far past the prequels as we were the originals when the prequels were released.

No comments:

Post a Comment