Odds & Ends
Friday, March 18, 2005
Do What Must be Done...
There have been a couple of good trailers floating around the net in the last few weeks. The first is the latest for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is worth a look even if you're not that interested in the movie. It's kind of a meta-trailer, commenting on the conventions of movie trailers, and is fun purely on that level. And it should also leave you wanting to see the movie which is, after all, the point. I particularly enjoyed hearing Stephen Fry's version of the Guide, which is spot on.
But the behemoth of trailers is the new trailer for Revenge of the Sith. We Star Wars nerds bring trailer-watching to a new height, which is not surprising given that the trailers for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were generally considered to be considerably superior to the movies themselves. It's old news by now that geeks go to see movies they otherwise wouldn't simply to see the latest Star Wars trailer. That was happening back in the 90s: things have gotten much more bizarre since then. The Revenge of the Sith trailer debuted on American television during The O.C., so of course the network which carries that show ran ads to let people know that they should watch. Since this ad for The O.C. included a couple of seconds of footage form the movie, it itself ended up on the net. So at this point, fans were actually downloading a trailer for a trailer. This is the kind of madness broadband internet has created. (Did I download it myself? You bet). But we don't have to worry about the trailer-for-a-trailer anymore: the full trailer is now up for everyone to enjoy at the official Star Wars site, and in YoTube form directly below (although it may be worth the hunt for a mirror that lets you download it and enlarge the picture, rather than watching it in a teeny window, as it looks much better full screen). Unlike the first teaser trailer, which I didn't find terribly exciting, this one is pretty spectacular. My main gripe is that it gives away pretty much the whole trajectory of the movie. In particular, it leads front-and-centre with the fact that Palpatine is the villain. While any Star Wars fan is aware of this, I suspect many casual viewers hadn't necessarily linked Palpatine and Sidious / The Emperor in their minds. While it's hardly a big secret, neither The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones had been terribly overt about it, and you'd think they'd preserve at least a little bit of a "reveal" for this moment in the final film. Having said that, as someone who already knows who Palpatine is, his dominance of the trailer is probably what I personally like most about it. Ian McDiarmid is just about the best thing in the prequel films, and it has been enjoyable watching him gradually skew Palpatine more towards his portrayal of the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. His off-kilter, over-enunciated delivery is one of the few examples where the much-maligned, deliberately theatrical acting Lucas encourages has really worked. Palpatine is a great master villain, and his speech in the trailer - "Do what must be done. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy" - gives me chills each time I hear it. The other thing that's interesting in this trailer is the darkness of the tone. While this was always to be expected, given this film charts the downfall of both Anakin and the Republic, it's great to actually see it there on the screen. This involves more than just the fire-and-brimstone scenes on the lava planet, with more quietly menacing shots such as this: The obviously 9/11 inspired imagery of such a shot would normally make me cringe, but it is interesting in the context of the thematics of the prequel trilogy. For all the disappointments of the prequels, I have always thought the basic plot thrust was really interesting: they show the way a government can rot from the inside, and the way citizens can voluntarily surrender their rights to a dictator. While both The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were written before September 11, their message has proven to be very timely, given the constant pressure upon civil rights since those events. Particularly prescient are the scenes in Attack of the Clones where the Galactic Senate willingly grant expanded military powers to Palpatine in response to an immediate security threat. I think the basic message that these scenes impart - that rights are surrendered at our peril, and that politicians may use crises to achieve their own ends - is a really vital one. Given that Revenge of the Sith is the first of the films to be fully written and shot after September 11, it is interesting to see those events flavouring this plot arc. What is really creepy about this whole parallel between real life and the prequel trilogy is that every time I see Phillip Ruddock, the Australian Attorney General, on TV I feel like I'm looking at Palpatine. Judge for yourself: One of these people is being eaten away inside after surrendering to the dark side in order to secure greater political power... and the other is the principal villain of the new Star Wars movies. I wish I could find this funny. Comments  Cinephobia on Facebook |
 This page is for assorted musings and editorialising that don't fit elsewhere on Cinephobia. Best Director vs. Best Picture Best Director? The Ultimate Power in the Galaxy (May Present Chok... Casino Royale with Cheese Buggered Bunny, Part 2 Buggered Bunny It's Whatever Turns You On: The Goodies on DVD Whose Casino Royale is it though? Eternal Autumn of the Brainless Oscar December 2003 May 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 October 2008 November 2008 January 2009 February 2009 May 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 Want to contact me? |
