Star Wars 2.0 - Part 1.5 Chapter III: Revenge of the Thread - Part 4

[craigdbfan]

He was ridiculously perfect in Revenge of the Sith up until his face gets burnt. Everything about his performance just oozed slimy, politician manipulating everything. Especially that opera scene, something about him is so creepy but then once he starts fighting Mace he begins to have all these really weird facial expressions and its like man what are you doing.

He's been great IMO. Great actor portraying one of the greatest villains out there.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

then once he starts fighting Mace he begins to have all these really weird facial expressions and its like man what are you doing.

aye, my friend(who was also a big SW fan) and i used to get a good laugh out of the bit right after that, when he is giving the speech to Anakin when he becomes Vader, an absolute hoot, there is one line he delivers in particular that is really funny, can't recall what it is right now though.

 

[marvelman2006]

It was just weird and I still believe we didnt need to see his face get "melted" and instead leave it too old age or say maybe the dark side took him over so much it made him age badly. It was just like "hey we have to have him look like this even though we dont see him again for another 25-30 years." Just too campy from face melted to end credits and What was with those weird facial expression. How come Ian looked old in AOTS and looked like a new man in ROTS? Why not just have hime age badly?

 

[jacobed]

I didnt mind the face transformation and there are moments where he's brilliant as the Emperor but its like Ian didnt quite know how to change from Palpatine to the Emperor whereas I thought Hayden played his transformation pretty well. You could see his struggle. Ian didnt have to change his performance at all but he did and most of the time its hilarious in a bad way.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Ian didnt have to change his performance at all but he did and most of the time its hilarious in a bad way.

I think he did, see, he was restraining himself for all those years as Chancellor, and then he unleashes his Sith side, and is reveling in the defeat of the Jedi.

Aye, i found him funny, but i still thought it was a good performance, it was *meant* to be funny at points, stuff like calling Yoda 'My little green friend...', it would not have nearly been as good if he had carried on in that restrained manner he had, he had to have those points of the villan reveling in his plan coming to frutition.

edit: see, I was laughing back there at the expression of your incredulity at his facial expressions during the lightsaber fight, but really, there was nothing wrong with him performing like that, he was showing that his Sith side was being allowed to unleash itself in front of the Jedi finally, and he was enjoying it.

 

[marvelman2006]

I didnt mind the face transformation and there are moments where he's brilliant as the Emperor but its like Ian didnt quite know how to change from Palpatine to the Emperor whereas I thought Hayden played his transformation pretty well. You could see his struggle. Ian didnt have to change his performance at all but he did and most of the time its hilarious in a bad way.

Couldnt agree more, I think Hayden made the most of what he had to work with going from good to bad. The audience laughed a couple times in my midnight screening when Ian did the whole ,no no no you will die to mace and the weird noises after that. I dont know why Ian didnt stay with the performance he had in the scene when he reveals to anakin he's a sith. That sublte acting that emotes a evil sinister look goes along way and more so then

Then leaving half the audience

 

[roach]

It was just weird and I still believe we didnt need to see his face get "melted" and instead leave it too old age or say maybe the dark side took him over so much it made him age badly. It was just like "hey we have to have him look like this even though we dont see him again for another 25-30 years." Just too campy from face melted to end credits and What was with those weird facial expression. How come Ian looked old in AOTS and looked like a new man in ROTS? Why not just have hime age badly?

I had read the novelization and at this point the public really didnt know the full extent of the jedi powers...so when he appeared before the senate and his face was scarred...he attributed it to the jedi and the public believed it.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Wow, I couldn't disagree more, Ian's theater routes came out a bit for sure but it worked well IMO.

I also don't see the Anakin and Padme romance as forced, terribly written at points and Hayden isn't much of an actor, but they were 11 and 16 when they first met, so it's maybe odd she had feelings for him but not the other way around. As for Natalie, I'd blame the dialogue more than her, she did her best with what was given to her, and I really enjoyed her getting in on the action at the end.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Man, I am so glad I don't watch that performance in the same way you guys do, you are a bit uptight about it really i think, taking your Wars' a little too seriously.
Who cares if the audience are laughing at it? It's a children's movie fer chrisakes, haha, with a great ott chew the scenary villan.
I'm pretty sure they are laughing with him, because McDiarmand is having a ball with the character, if you are trying to tell me there isn't a level of humour intentionally put into the Emperor's ott performance, I'd have to say you were missing the point of his portrayal at that point in the game.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Bim]

The funniest was when she explained how she was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder in her 40s, which was so unusual (it's usually caught much earlier) that it ended up in a medical journal along with a picture. They put the page of the medical journal on a screen onstage...it was a picture of Princess Leia.

She shouted, "See? I'm not crazy! That b**** is!"

oh man, Carrie is a riot and it's fantastic to see her keep her sense of humor despite of everything she's been through. I'll have to check that one out for sure.

Regarding Palpatine's transformation in ROTS, i gotta say it kind of shocked the hell out of me when i first saw it because i wasnt expecting it. It was like he was just ready to unleash himself after so many years of hiding. It was his time now and he went all out. I just love Palpatine's arc in the PT, i really, really do.

I can understand how some find it hilarious though, cause the same thing happens to me with Luke's "I am your father" moment, which isnt meant to be funny at all. To this day i cant keep myself from laughing whenever he replies "That's impossible!"... the way Mark twists his mouth is just crackes me up lol. I think that's why this moment isnt as jaw dropping and dramatic to me as it is to most.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Perception is our own individual reality Bim when it comes to movies and any kind of art in truth, so I get where you are coming from. Only a Sith deals is absolutes.

 

[The Caped Knight]

After watching all 3 prequels again in a row for the first time in a long time. I never realized how much of a evil mastermind Palpatine is. His whole plot basically the silent backbone of the prequels is freakin great.

He's actual is The Phantom Menace, He orchestrated the War from the very beginning and the end of freedom and democracy in The Old Republic . While also befriending Anakin gaining his trust and support so when he finally does revealed his true intention and his identity in episode III. He really does seduce Anakin to the Dark Side.

 

[marvelman2006]

Its not like Im making fun of just Ian in ROTS, theres tons of other actors in other movies who go so over the top that it becomes comical without being intended.
Case in point

- Tobey maguire fight facial expressions in the spiderman trilogy
- Chris Klein as charlie nash in street fighter (so bad its become a standard for bad acting)
- Nic Cage in most of his movies
- Stallone in some of his earlier films like judge dredd
- The entire cast of twilight

 

[TheDreamMaster]

See it's that only the mace fight that bothers me, as any scene after that, he reminds me of classic palpatine. I always get a little chuckle out of his "Gooooooood" in rots, because it's so over done and his facial expression is weird.

 

[The Caped Knight]

Its not like Im making fun of just Ian in ROTS

I enjoyed Ian performance a lot more than the god awful cheesy lines and teenage angst performance from Hayden in AOTC and ROTS

Ian at least gave a much more operatic theatre performance rather than a wooden Hollywood one like Hayden did.

 

[Sith Scotti]

I think Aotc is completly underrated . Yes there are some cringe worthy lines and some editing issues but overall I think its a damn good film , and after TPM and ROTJ , the story took a more serious tone .


I loved the storm troopers clones plot . I really thought it had a noirish Blade runner quality . Especially in the beginning . To me it felt it a returm to form in spite of some flaws . I love the film . Much better than TPM or Jedi

 

[marvelman2006]

I enjoyed Ian performance a lot more than the god awful cheesy lines and teenage angst performance from Hayden in AOTC and ROTS

Ian at least gave a much more operatic theatre performance rather than a wooden Hollywood one like Hayden did.

See I couldnt stand hayden in AOTC and I liked him once he went bad in ROTS but the rest was a throw away. Ian did good but I just like the more subtle yet menacing perfomances actors do when portraying villians. I always like to believe less is more. I loved him in the opera scene because he was so laid back and slick when talking to anakin about the darkside that anakin never stop to say "hey how do you know about the darkside?"

 

[The Caped Knight]

IMO after re-watching the prequel trilogy Ewan McGregor is without a doubt the best actor. He really gave a much more greater depth to the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi that seamlessly line up perfectly with the great Sir. Alec Guinness portrayal in the original trilogy .

 

[Hunter Rider]

I think Aotc is completly underrated . Yes there are some cringe worthy lines and some editing issues but overall I think its a damn good film , and after TPM and ROTJ , the story took a more serious tone .


I loved the storm troopers clones plot . I really thought it had a noirish Blade runner quality . Especially in the beginning . To me it felt it a returm to form in spite of some flaws . I love the film . Much better than TPM or Jedi

I agree with all the bolded parts.

 

[Hunter Rider]

IMO after re-watching the prequel trilogy Ewan McGregor is without a doubt the best actor. He really gave a much more greater depth to the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi that seamlessly line up perfectly with the great Sir. Alec Guinness portrayal in the original trilogy .

I agree with this as well, he is the star of the PT.....along with Yoda.

 

[The Caped Knight]

I agree with this as well, he is the star of the PT.....along with Yoda.

Agreed


1. Obi-Wan Kenobi
2. Yoda
3. Palpatine/Darth Sidious
4. R2-D2 and C-3po

 

[Erzengel]

 

[Lord]

He was ridiculously perfect in Revenge of the Sith up until his face gets burnt. Everything about his performance just oozed slimy, politician manipulating everything. Especially that opera scene, something about him is so creepy but then once he starts fighting Mace he begins to have all these really weird facial expressions and its like man what are you doing.

Yup, i found those parts stupid too, had the actor not been the same from Return of the Jedi making those faces fans wouldn't have reacted as well.
And there's the inconsistency that his face is melted with the electricity but Luke didn't when he was attacked by the emperor, unless George Lucas is planing to include that in the 3D editions and in the next edits of the movie

 

[henzINNIT]

It does have a cliff notes feel to the Thrawn Trilogy which makes sense as I believe Zahn got background information and material from Lucas Films. Finding out Leia was not Luke's sister, or that he had another sister feels too much like drawing from the same hat; we've already seen that once, why see it again?

That Zahn changed it to a non-relative worked better and IMO the entire premise of a cleaner like that (Emperor's Hand) worked better in the long run.

Killing off Han would have been a great emotional gambit and depending on how it played off even better. His death would be the epitome of the noble sacrifice and left Leia to figure out how to go on alone after losing him.

Although having the Emperor return from the not-so-dead feels cliched even for the era. Had it been another Sith or someone who aspired to that level would work more. Again, Zahn found a work around with a Dark Jedi here.

I wonder if we will ever see a sequel series or not. Lucas can always change his mind and do a 30-40 years later sequel similar to how he did a 20 years prior prequel although I hope this time it's better executed.

From the notes it looked like Leia was never Luke's sister, and the Emperor wouldn't die in 6.