Lucas rips off Lucas

Rating: 3/10 (28 May 1999)

Hmm, rookie pilot destroys massive space station, climactic light saber battle on catwalks over bottomless air shafts, where have I seen this before? I'm not buying the "it's all foreshadowing" b.s. More like it's all recycling. Although Jar Jar gets the prize as the worst part of the movie, the Ming the Merciless Federation guys, the Arab/Jew trader (let's make him dirtier, with a bigger nose next time) and the jivey, high-steppin' Triumph scene (complete with bell bottoms) were the most disappointing.
Maybe George should leave Xanadu ranch occasionally and meet more humans. Those are the bad parts.... visually, the movie was interesting. Great art direction and some superb sets and costumes. Aurally, although I saw the film at a showcase cinema complete with digital sound, THX, EX, DTS, Dolby,... .... .... and all that, much of the dialogue was muffled and obscure, mostly from the rubbery-faced creatures. I can see why such make-up would muffle the actors' voices if recorded live, but what happened to effective looping, and weren't most of these characters completely digital anyway?
The audience is listening, hard, trying to understand all the mumbo-jumbo. Corvair