On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:45:25 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>>> I watched the extended versions of all three LotR films in the same
>>> day once.
>>>
>>> I felt like I just ran a marathon or something...
>>
>> We do that once a year (this year twice, because we got the Blu-Ray
>> versions).  It is a marathon, has to be started around 9 AM to finish
>> at a reasonable time. :)
> 
> Oh, wait - I thought you meant you *actually* run a marathon one a year.
> o_O

Um, no.  I don't have that kind of energy or ambition.

>>> That's the thing about Episode 3. Who wants to see a guy go mad and
>>> become evil? That's not a very happy story...
>>
>> Not all stories are intended to be 'happy'.
> 
> Yeah, that's the part I never understood. If I /wanted/ to be unhappy, I
> could just look at reality. I mean, in a few years' time I'm going to
> die, alone and unloved, and nobody is going to care. That's prety much
> sadder than anything any story writer can come up with.
> 
> I want stories as a /escape/ from reality. :-P

Some people like stories that are more like reality.  I like when good/
evil is not clear cut.

>> Empire Strikes Back ends
>> with the rebels getting their asses handed to them.  Not exactly a
>> cheerful ending, but most consider it the best of the 6 films.
> 
> Um... it ends with the rebels describing the AWESOME PLAN they've
> hatched to epically overthrow the Empire. Which worked, by the way.
> Sounds like a pretty up-beat ending to me...

Seems like you saw a different film than I did.  The rebels lost Hoth, 
Luke lost his hand, Cloud City was in the hands of the Empire, Han Solo 
was encased in Carbonite and needed to be rescued, and the rebels were 
scattered across the galaxy.

Yeah, a *lot* to be happy about there.

>> I was glad that episode 3 ended the way it did - how else could it have
>> ended, given what the audience knows about Vader after episode 6?
> 
> Well, that's the other thing. It's like watching Titanic. Everybody
> dies. You know that before the opening titles. So why bother watching?

Having the ending spoiled, for many people, doesn't ruin the film/story, 
because it's about how they got there, rather than what the ending was.

Of the prequel films, I enjoyed the third the most *because* I knew where 
it was going.

Jim

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