I just logged in to post about his death. http://www.ralphmcquarrie.com/gallery_1/star_wars/empire/index.html

4,5,6 skip 1,2,3

I only play a healing Operative. I leveled as a healing Operative with Kaliyo only (except for that one portion, you know what I mean) I had no trouble beating every Heroic 2 and normal quest. Make sure you are doing all the quests, so that you are at the level of the quests you are on (or a level over). I was consistently at this level and was fine. I did flashpoints when they were red had no problem healing them (depending on team make-up) Its very easy to level as a completely healing specc'd Operative.

As someone with a Bachelor's degree in History, I didn't have to look up any of the words.

Yes, Timothy Zahn's trilogy after Jedi is basically the opposite of the prequel movies. That is, its entertaining and doesn't suck.

You mean there are inconsistencies in the Star Wars world? Stop the presses.

No one who would ever day they relate to Luke is saying so because of the literal background of the character. Its a metaphor. Luke leaving home represents anyone who has to leave home, with little experience in the world. The farm boy goes to the big city. The students goes off to college. Etc. Anyone who dreams of something more than what they have. It kind of the most timeless, and easily relatable, story element. I don't think you have the gravitas to speak for an entire genre. Thank you very much.

What qualifies one as a film critic? I watch about 600 movies a year. I have worked on low budget films. I have been published. I read a lot. I am not 'bragging' or anything puerile, just saying I am not talking out my ***.

This. And by 'this', I mean, 'this is not the case at all' True. We might have been children when we saw the original. And it might have been why we liked it then. But the reason I saw Star Wars in the theater in 1977 is because by father went about 20 times. And he took his just over a year old son with him almost every time. (so yeah, technically I didnt really see it when it came out, but I was there a bunch of times ). And even seeing the film so many times, my father is not a huge Star Wars fan. In fact, he never talks about, has no Star Wars products, etc. He is a normal dad. Also, Star Wars holds up after time. Lots of films I loved as kid do not. Blackhole, anyone. (sure the end is still great/bad/awesome) What's my point? Some people who love Star Wars and don't like the prequels were not children when Star Wars came out. Some of those people are not giant fan nerds. And 30+ years later, Star Wars is a classic. The Phantom Menace did not reignite the franchise (say, the way the Dr Who was reignited in 2005). It rides its coattails and pretends it matters. Its exists because of Star Wars, and I don't mean just because its a prequel. If Phantom Menace came out by itself, as a stand alone movie (promising a trilogy) and there had been no Star Wars. No one would give a **** about it. it would have been laughed into oblivion.

lol...Its like the person writing this forgets how clumsily all that he is writing about is realized. X-Men 3 is about homosexuality, its more relevant in those terms than any other X-Men movie. Too bad is still blows.

I love Goonies. I love Red Dawn. I love Blade (even Blade: Trinity, which isn't great to say the least). So I understand liking films on a purely entertainment level. There is a 'bad movie' from 1975 called The Love Butcher. On the surface, its a cheap stalker film. But it contains such a tour de force acting job by the lead (playing multiple roles) that I can't help but love the film. Its campy and awesome at the same time. I just see anything in The Phantom Menace that engages me (except that one fight I mentioned). I agree, Dragon Wars is the suck.

Firstly, stash the 'that's your opinion, man' argument. Secondly, the idea that you 'never' get any reasons why they are bad is inane. You either are not looking, or are blinded by fandom to notice. Which is fine. I am not saying you shouldn't like the films. I don't care if you do. There are plenty of films I like, that I am sure you wouldn't. As to reasons: The most obvious failure is the writing. That is where most problems with the film start. Its a very poorly written film. In terms of dialogue, pacing, plot elements, etc. Its all bad. Lucas himself has said he is not a writer, and he is 100% right about that. The only good scene of action is the fight between Darth Maul and Qui Gon. Its actually staged competently, and the part where they are separated by the force field, and Maul paces while Qui-Gon sits in meditation is probably the best visual representation of the differences between Sith and Jedi in any of the films. The acting, at best, is mediocre. And this partly due to the Lucas's direction and the weak script. Casting a wooden boy in your lead doesn't help either. The effects, today, look more dated than the original. All that fake everything looks just like that, fake. Wait ten years, and watch the remake of The Thing, and then watch Carpenter's The Thing, and tell me which one looks better. If Lucas would clean up the originals (remove mattes, etc) and not add in his extra crap, it would stand way ahead of visual realization vs the prequels. Good CG shouldn't be noticed. Like good editing. We are not there yet where we can create a whole world in a computer. No matter how many times Lucas tries. I could go on, but I have to get back to work. Someone posted the Red Letter Media videos. They are worth watching. Under all the 'comedy' and randomness is some real, on point, criticism. I was surprised to see how many of the ideas I had about the film he covered. I saw this movie when it first came out, before the first midnight showings (I worked at the theater at the time). I was so disappointed and sickened by the complete failure of it that I wanted to tell the people waiting in line for the first real showing to just go home. It took me ten years to watch the other two, and I wish I didn't. But enjoy if you like it. More power to you.

To call it entertainment is an affront to the word.

Maul was a MacGuffin. It's just that simple.

Its even more amazing considering how it fails on every level of filmmaking.