Night Falls on the Old Republic

Rating: Null/10 (20 August 2005)

Its more interesting to look back on this now that the series is complete. There were some great opportunities here that got blundered. Instead of interesting parallels between the son and the father, we have repeated stanzas -- only its clumsy; Like when a high school band plays "The Imperial March" at a homecoming game. Amateurish. Instead of foreshadowing, we trip over what is to come. We can feel Ron Howard's presence on the set. Tatooine has retroactively become Mayberry.
This is probably the best of the prequel series from a conceptual standpoint. The designs are outstanding. The first twenty minutes have some overwhelming eye candy and we're off to a great start. But by now you know the real tragedy of this series. This was the last time Lucas would ever rely on real sets to anchor his myth in something tangible. Henceforth, everything would be as digital as possible.
American audiences will perhaps be more keen on the political satire now that *Sith is out. Congressional gridlock was the biggest domestic problem we seemed to have back in '99. Here the epicenter is more China vs. Tibet -- rather blatantly. 'Amidala' is almost an anagram for Dalai Lama. Perhaps that's why her ceremonial dress is red and gold.
A filmmaker is in a unique position to contribute the line "Your focus determines your reality." This is where that focus started to blur.