jedi training academy review

this episode of movie night is brought toyou by netflix. sign-up for your free 30-day trial at netflix.com/jogwheel. obi-wan never told you what happened to yourfather. // he told me enough! he told me you killed him. // no. i am your father. // that'snot true. that's impossible! ... and this is movie night! hello and welcome to movie night, i'm yourhost, jonathan paula. happy may 4th. tonight we'll be discussing george lucas's famed "starwars" franchise. having already reviewed " the phantom menace" in an earlier episode (whichyou can watch by clicking here) - this seems like a great opportunity to review the filmsin the so-called "machete order", whereby

instead of watching them chronologically byrelease-date or episode number, the prequels are featured as a sort of flashback betweenparts five and six - omitting episode one entirely, as most agree its the weakest ofthe bunch, and has little to do with the saga's overall story. but, i encourage you to read-upon this viewing experiment by checking out the link below. we begin of course with thepicture that started it all, "episode iv: a new hope" known simply as "star wars" when first releasedto massive fan fare on may 25, 1977, this epic space opera quickly became the highestgrossing film of all time, earning over three-quarters of a billion, against its modest $11 milliondollar budget. adjusted for inflation, this

fourth installment of the six-part seriesremains the second most successful film in american history, behind only "gone with thewind". opening with the iconic tilted text crawl, which, like much of this ambitiousfantasy adventure was inspired by the "flash gordon" saturday morning serials of the 1940's,visionary writer and director george lucas crafted a stupendous 125-minutes of cinema.set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", the picture follows a group of freedomfighters as they attempt to destroy a powerful space station controlled by the menacing darthvader: a mysterious cyborg with telekinetic powers, whose booming voice is provided byjames earl jones. told through the perspective of their intrepid droid companions playedamusingly by anthony daniels and kenny baker,

who remain hidden inside their metallic costumesthroughout, the film stars mark hamill, carrie fisher, and harrison ford, all in break-outroles. while hamill is annoying, whiny and naive, ford is gruff, sarcastic, and charming- both of them a great foil to fisher's aggressive yet romantic portrayal of the damsel in distress.aside from the wise and stoic sir alec guiness featured as a mentor character in a nominated-supportingrole, much of the acting here is never particularly impressive, perhaps due to unsubtle dialogue.many of the films' slower-paced scenes are abruptly bookended by a curious array of transitionalwipes that otherwise feel out of place with the steady and traditional filming style.the consequences are heightened when luke skywalker nervously foreshadows, "i have avery bad feeling about this" as the group

first approaches the daunting death star.borrowing inspiration from kurosawa, "the wizard of oz", and world war ii dogfighting,this movie introduced fantastical environment that are extremely lush, detailed, and intriguing,especially in the franchise's expanded universe of novels, video games, comics, action figures,tv shows, and theme park rides. a mind-blowing accomplishment in the visual-effects realm,the inaugural effort from lucas's now iconic industrial light and magic effects-companywas revolutionary in every sense of the word: completely redefining cinema, and winningsix oscars in the process. from the seamless integration of model-work, chroma-key overlays,and imaginative backdrops and matte-paintings - the world of star wars is a breathtakingone that inspired a generation, myself included.

this pg-rated movie single-handedly cementedmy die-hard passion for film. the oscar-winning score from famed composer john williams isas powerful and thematically captivating as it is memorable; the sweeping sounds of theleitmotif associated with hamill, as he longingly stares into the burning twin suns of tatoonie,is haunting; sending chills down my spine no matter how many times i watch it. likewise,the tense and gripping sequences featuring brave star-pilots firing lasers at the empire'splanet-killing weapon are similarly backed by triumphant and appropriately gripping thememusic. the cheapest lookin of the double-trilogy, thisextremely fun and exciting film still holds up remarkably well today, aided by tune-upsin the form of re-releases along the way.

much has been said about lucas's constantmeddling with his beloved franchise, even a feature-length documentary chronicles thewidespread issues fans have with the changes made to the newer versions. i for one understandgeorge's desire to "fix" the movies as he sees fit: many of the cosmetic updates arefine with me: making mos eisely more lively and populated enhances the film, but alteringdialogue and including redundant scenes is unnecessary and over-zealous. as a kid, thisa monumentally incredible motion picture that makes you want to pick up a stick and pretendyou're dueling with lightsabers... and as an adult, it makes you feel like that samekid all over again. slower and less involved than its sequels, it's easy to overlook theflaws here (like poorly synced adr or hokey

dialogue) and simply be swept away with wonder."star wars - episode iv: a new hope", a "game-changing marvel. truly magical." now lets see whatyou had to say about this movie in the youtube comments. "star wars" on the rate-o-matic. unsurprisingly,two tens. unanimous praise was given to its great effects, memorable characters, and excitingaction. you thought it was amazing. although i consider it the weakest of the originals,it's impossible to not to recognize "a new hope"'s contributions to cinema, so i haveto score it an amazing as well. our next review tonight is for "episode v: the empire strikesback". although ultimately less successful than it'spredecessor, this was the highest grossing

film of the decade, earning over $500 millionin proceeds when it was released on may 21, 1980. widely considered one of the greatestmotion pictures ever made, the 129-minute epic space fantasy adventure was directedby irvin kershner - who skillfully incorporated subtly and emotion into the franchise, somethinglucas's directorial efforts lacked. picking up a few years after the events of the previousepisode, the older protagonists now have more responsibilities, attempting to protect therebel alliance in that far away galaxy from the reaches of darth vader and the evil galacticempire. mark hamill leads the ensemble group, as he struggles with an identity crisis whiletraining to become a telepathic warrior known as a jedi knight. the sharper and well-actedwriting and dialogue results in many amusing

and whimsical moments: the lengthy inclusionof frank oz's "yoda" puppet is funny, endearing, and memorable, especially when he's interactingwith r2-d2, the spunky little astromech droid portrayed by kenny baker. the small greencreature is even more interesting when he's revealed to be an ancient jedi warrior, advisinghamill on his trepidation, "do or do not. there is no try". meanwhile, the romanticwill-they or won't-they interplay between harrison ford and carrie fisher heightensduring the impeccably paced pg-rated film. all of our favorite characters and actorsthankfully return for the immensely fun and dramatic ride, even denis lawson as a rebelstar pilot who brings moxy and grit to the exciting snow battle on the ice planet ofhoth. once again, 5-time oscar winner john

williams lends his incredible talents to picture'soriginal score: composing many new themes, the most famous of which, "the imperial march"is a bombastic and threatening tune signaling the presence and power of the film's primaryvillain. joining the cast of eccentric and lovable characters - whom all rather impressivelyhave their own individual wikipedia pages - is billy dee williams as a womanizing frenemywho provides for some laughs and tension later in the picture. a darker and more mature experience,but still on the same grand spectacle as its predecessor, this film expertly balances charactersand intrigue with thrills and excitement; culminating in one of the most incredibleplot-twists in cinematic history. from a passionate stolen kiss aboard the millennium falcon toa nail-biting asteroid-dodging sequence, this

picture represents the second-act to a muchlarger story, ending on a depressing, yet hopeful cliffhanger: one that may ultimatelydisappoint some audiences seeking a tidier resolution. sporting the lowest body count,but using the most stop-motion animation, this is a rich and emotionally captivatingstory with plenty of action and humor to go along with it - making it endlessly rewatchablefor years to come. "star wars - episode v: the empire strikes back", "superb sequel.history's finest fantasy." now, here six of your reviews from the comments section. the rate-o-matic with our scores for "theempire strikes back"... another double ten. mostly everyone agreed this picture was notonly better than episode iv, but also the

best of all six - which is no wonder it currentlyholds a top-15 rank on imdb - you gave it an amazing. this is a wonderful two-hoursof cinema representing everything that inspired me to go into video production as a youngteen, i of course think its amazing too. for tonight's poll question -- which characterin the star wars universe is your favorite? leave your response as a comment below. continuingin the "machete order", now lets flasback to the prequel trilogy and discuss "episodeii: attack of the clones". directed once more by george lucas, the $115-milliondollar follow-up to the massively successful, but critically disappointing "the phantommenace" was released in may of 2002, and eventually grossed $650 million. the impossible to summarizeplot is an overly complicated one, mixing

investigation elements with action-adventure,as the jedi uncover a secret clone army, and eventually begin a war with it. the verbosesetup to the story reintroduces us to the characters we met in the saga's first installment:now 10 years old, the smart-ass thrill seeking anakin skywalker is portrayed by hayden christensen,who is certainly a capable and attractive hero, but is positively dreadful when requiredto showcase emotion or love: which unfortunately happens frequently during the pg-rated film.even future academy award winner natalie portman is awful in the acting department: a scenewhere she rebuffs hayden's advances while wearing an uncomfortable looking s&m outfitis laughably cheesy. throughout her dozens of costume changes though, the young actressmanages to stay beautiful, even in many of

the ridiculous action sequences, like whenshe's dodging robots and magma on a robot assembly line, or staying alive in a gladiatordeath-sentence. even samuel l. jackson has his time to shine,dispatching bad guys in a mammoth jedi verse droid battle during the film's unrelentingclimax. much like his counter-part in the original trilogy, ewan mcgregor lends a greatdeal of maturity and credibility to the film, but during a gratuitous chase scene with shipsslaloming between each other at high velocities and altitudes, his self-addressed one-linersare cringe worthy. it's also unfortunate that anthony daniels, a strong comedic-foil fromthe original trilogy, is reduced to goofy puns for all his lines of dialogue. at 142-minutes,this awkwardly paced picture is the longest

of the six, relying on only a vague senseof urgency to move it along. because of technical limitations, an imax re-release was editeddown to an even two-hours, and proved to be a stronger picture for it. the abundantlyeffects-heavy feature definitely has an over reliance on cgi... several shots seem to existif for no other reason than to show off ilm's latest and greatest: but when these elementsare motivated, the result is staggering and impressive -- this rich environment becomestruly enveloping. the scenes that build towards the originals are the most effective: likewhen christensen speeds through the hot desert of tatoonie in search of his kidnapped mother,and "luke's theme" transitions into "duel of the fates" in a tremendously powerful moment.speaking of which, john williams' score is

as moving as ever, the featured ballad, "acrossthe stars" is a romantic score with strings and violins incorporated at all the rightmoments. the plot holes, bad acting, and excessive computer animation aside, this is still incrediblyentertaining as a brainless thrill-ride: seeing little master yoda face off against the dastardlychristopher lee received thunderous applause every time i saw it in theaters. "star warsepisode ii: attack of the clones", "rapturous excitement, outweighs childish issues." now,some of your thoughts from the comments. "attack of the clones"... a six and a eight.you loved the visual effects, but loathed the poor acting and love story, calling thismovie good. i'm in the minority, but i definitely liked this picture. the bombastic, cgi-heavyaction was fun enough for me to overlook most

of the other issues. an improvement from "thephantom menance", but only slightly - i thought it was great. next up tonight, "star wars- episode iii: revenge of the sith". it may have taken writer and director georgelucas three prequels, but he finally got it right here: by far the darkest and most completeof the second trilogy - and the only picture in the franchise to be rated pg-13. releasedon may 19, 2005, breaking every record in the process, this epic space opera fantasyfilm grossed over $700 million in profit, $17-million of which from the midnight showings,one of which i personally attended, shouting like a fan-boy and all. the opening sequenceto this 140-minute adventure is a blisteringly chaotic one: a single shot pans down fromthe text crawl into a massive space battle,

with lasers and ships flying everywhere. setthree years after the onset of the clone wars depicted in episode ii, this movie finallyfeatures the dramatic turn of the saga's primary character - anakin skywalker - into the menacingvillain known as darth vader. struggling with the appeal of the "dark side", hayden christensenstill isn't very convincing in the lead role, but his character arc at least has much greaterconflict and interest this time around. when ewan mcgregor, in his third picture, gleefullyresponds to his partner, "spring the trap", it's hard not to get excited over the thrillsthat are about to be unleashed, especially after you watch the agile jedi master crashhis ship, summersault out, and slice a battle droid in half with his lightsaber in one cleanmove. r2-d2 really comes into his own in this

picture, becoming a fully-fledged hero thatsaves the day on more than one occasion - retconned jetpacks and all. despite her obvious talentsin other films, natalie portman disappoints again - especially in an awful scene whereshe breaks down and attempts to cry after learning news that skywalker is now evil.reprising his role he began 22-years earlier, ian mcdiarmid is positively devilish and cunningas the evil darth sidious: and the renowned stage actor really sinks his teeth into thelayered performance. although he has a tendency to over-sample the "wilhelm scream", editorand sound designer ben burtt deserves a lot of credit for contributing iconic sound trademarksto all six installments: from the humming sabers, to the twang of the blasters, to vader'slabored breathing, to artoo's chirps and beeps.

paired with this of course is another brilliantscore from john williams: which ramps into a furious crescendo, during the film's climaxas our favorite heroes aggressively battle with their lightsabers for the fate of thegalaxy in some of the most epic locations imaginable. the newest film in the seriesclearly contains the best visual effects: with nearly every shot featuring blue-screenadditions, and cgi creatures floating around in the background: although largely clutteredat times, it's still a true marvel to behold ilm's impressive work. the best-paced of theprequels, this film is non-stop, rewatcable entertainment from start to finish: comingfull circle to the 1977 original with a delightful and satisfying epilogue ending on that iconictatoonie sunset. "revenge of the sith", "jam-packed

with classic adventure." now that you've heardmy review, lets see what was said in the youtube an eight and a ten for "revenge of the sith".labeling it the best and darkest prequel yet, you held off on the highest scores, but praisedthis picture for not being a disappointment like it could have been, you thought it wasgreat. again, i'm in the minority here... but i positively loved this film. just a goodold fashioned blockbuster that gave me everything i wanted out of the franchise. i have a blastevery time i watch it, i thought it was amazing. finally tonight, lets review "star wars - episodevi: return of the jedi". the final chapter of the original trilogywas directed by richard marquand, and released in may of 1983 - eventually earning nearly$450 million in profit. picking up the story

of "empire" a year later, we join our fearlessheroes during a daring hostage rescue back on the dusty dessert planet of tatooine - thesupremely fun and thrilling assault on jabba's sail barage would normally serve as a climaticcenterpiece in most other films, but here, it's merely a precursor to the epic conclusionto the six-part story. the pg-rated space opera reunites mark hamill, harrison ford,carrie fisher, billy dee williams, peter mayhew, anthony daniels, kenny baker, ian mcdiarmid,frank oz, and james earl jones for one last fantasy extravaganza around and above theforest moon of endor. by now, the actors have all found a steady rhythm bringing their charactersto life, but the stand-out performances are definitely from hamill and mcdiarmid duringtheir uncomfortable confrontation late in

the film, as the hooded emperor taunts, "letthe hate flow through you." although never referred to by name, a band of mischievousfury woodland creatures called ewoks can be a bit childish, but they're a terrific comedicoff-set to the film's heavier moments. at 136 minutes, this is a well-paced adventurethat adeptly balances the slower character discovery moments, like an emotional scenebetween luke and liea, with the effects-heavy action set-pieces, like lando's death starattack run onboard the falcon. intercutting three parallel stories, the final act is atrue tour-de-force experience: meshing humor, sorrow, hope, and despair into a furiouslyawesome climax that will have all audiences at the edge of their seat. the visuals used to achieve the hundreds of effectsshots are as impressive as they are seamless:

especially when you consider this pictureis 30-years-old, and still looks better than many of today's sci-fi films. john williams'sscore, as usual, serves as a powerful backbone to the picture: providing emphasis and tensionin all the right areas, resulting in a truly re-watchable, and re-listenable experience.george lucas made a number alterations to this film's re-releases: updating the sarlacmonster to include a beak is fine with me; it looks even more frightening now... buta goofy musical number only serves to distract from an otherwise tense moment. and althoughi understand the symbolism behind including prequel-star hayden christensen as a force-spiritin the movie's final shot, i reject the idea behind it: which suggests anakin was neverredeemed, his true self apparently died 25

years earlier: the original version with anolder anakin played by sebastian shaw retains a more hopeful message. the names, places,and mythos with the star wars universe are fascinating and attractive: and this rollercoaster experience serves as a great ending to all of the plot-threads and people we'vemet along the way... well, at least until disney releases episode vii in 2015. "starwars - episode vi: return of the jedi", an "unrelenting spectacle with loveable characters."and now, lets go to the youtube comments to see what you had to say. our scores for "return of the jedi"... a nineand a ten. fun and adventurous, but ultimately flawed, you enjoyed this picture enough, callingit a great conclusion to the saga, rating

it an awesome. by now, you can certainly telli'm a star wars fan -- having adored this franchise since i first rode "star tours"at universal studios in orlando in the early 1990's... i have no problem rating this amazing.finally tonight, lets take a look at what you said about movies currently playing intheaters with some tweet critiques. if you see a new movie in theaters, tweetyour review with the #jpmn hashtag to have it featured on the show. we'll only be reviewingtwo films next week... because quite frankly, i need a bit of a break... and i have somethingfun planned for episode one hundred a fortnight from today. but next week we'll be reviewingtwo new theater releases, "iron man 3", the latest big-budget installment of robert downeyjr.'s superhero trilogy, and "the great gatsby",

the high-concept adaptation of the acclaimednovel by baz luhrmann. if you've seen these films already, share your opinions, eitherby voting in the polls below, or by leaving a comment review. and please subscribe tothe movie night archive channel for my exclusive trailer commentaries, and an organized libraryof all our past reviews. once again, my name is jonathan paula - thank you for watchingmovie night, and may the force be with you.