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Forum namePass The Popcorn
Topic subjectI'm not sure how 1-2 ruins the surprise
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=6&topic_id=452794&mesg_id=453798
453798, I'm not sure how 1-2 ruins the surprise
Posted by colonelk, Thu May-28-09 12:14 AM
Obviously Anakin is on a rough path but 2 doesn't spell out "This kid becomes Darth Vader."

I think the problem with 5 so early is just that with the standout best film out of the way the last 4 will become a slog. Better to tease out 5 until past halfway.

So basically:

NEW HOPE - sets out this whole universe, what the force is, etc. Also the shortest, the funnest, and the simplest plot. Great way to start.

PHANTOM MENACE - Let's just get it out of the way. Some necessary exposition. Hopefully the good feelings engendered from Ep. IV get us through this one.

ATTACK OF THE CLONES - A big temporal jump forward from Ep. I and a significantly better film. Anakin is troubled but nothing indicates he's going to become that badass dude in the suit from Ep. IV. Ends with a really big battle.

EMPIRE - Back to the present. Opens with a pretty big battle. We start to see some parallels between Luke and his dad, though everything clearly came so much easier to the father. Luke really struggles. Meeting old frail Yoda after seeing him going buck wild on Dooku is probably a compelling contrast. And then the big reveal should probably still come as a shock (assuming your kids haven't already learned by pop culture osmosis).

SITH - This should follow Empire directly. Anakin is doomed and that feeling haunts Ep. 3. He's genuinely trying to be good (much more disciplined and relaxed at the beginning of the opening battle, but then he just can't control himself). This movie is huge in scale and Wagnerian compared to the rest of the series. Like 10 different planets; deaths, transformations, and births of many characters; and an entire war coming to a climax. So that 6 almost feels like an epilogue.

JEDI - A strangely structured film. Basically just two distinct missions: rescue Han, blow up Death Star. All the real drama happens in a single scene with Luke, Vader, and Emperor. It's more like the last episode of a TV show than the conclusion of an epic film series, but you have no choice other than to end this way.