Chen G.

Its not the first, but certainly the biggest film at the time to have done so. Very important milestone, indeed.

I think one can appreciate a film's impact on the industry, while still disliking the film itself. That's not to say that I dislike Star Wars. But I can't get into that film the way I can Empire Strikes Back. You need to keep in mind that Star Wars isn't a big deal around here. I never saw these until I was an adult.

Empire Strikes Back is. Star Wars is a bit too trapped in its time (case in point: the 70s wierdness that is the cantina) and its core demographic: look at the way dramatic beats such as Ben's death are watered down by the way in which they are nestled into the action material.

Congratulations, Rian Johnson! your film has officially cleared the lowest bar ever!

Condescending? Hey, I like this movie just fine, but its just as much comedic as it is dramatic. The only moment that really works for me on an emotional level is Luke meeting up with Leia. But that's hardly enough to classify the film as a "gut punch."

Did we watch the same movie? And I'm not sure IX would be as light as you think it would.

I really like his analogy to a musical. Now that I think about it, the Star Wars scores, especially the early, formative ones, do fit more into the template of a musical than an opera or symphony. You have big, flashy tunes, pervasive main themes and - in the early scores - a lot of setpiece-specific material.

Mine was a similar experience with An Unexpected Journey.

Indeed. I feel like this film was tracked with a lot of Revenge of the Sith. Before the choir kicks in when Finn is about to sacrifice himself, the strings are straight out of the immolation scene.

I think the issue is with the reception of fans, which are more obsessed about the inner workings of the universe, than with the narrative. What they don’t understand is that the universe exists only to serve the narrative, not the other way around. But, it should be said, the other side's response is at times overreaching, as well. I've seen many people claim that this film is like Empire Strikes Back in that the immediate critical response was lesser than what it gained over time, as to say that The Last Jedi is great, and only hurt by the critics' lack of perspective. It really isn't: it lacks restraint in its pacing, its narrative format and its characters.

Yes, movies can be emotionally manipulative in a very shallow way. I don’t think Braveheart does that. I think it makes one invested enough in the plight of the protagonists and in their need to triumph over the opposition that the dramatic moments truly resonate. That’s the brilliance of starting this movie with young Wallace and keeping the action until an hour into this film. It also manages to avoid the other extreme, that of melodrama, through Gibson’s directing: when William sees the men return, we see that his father and brother are missing and that the oxen are carrying something. But instead of turning to melodrama, its entirely wordless: Wallace turns away and focuses on his chores, but even as he does, the carriage is always there at the back of the frame.

What is the lithmus test of good drama if not the emotional reaction it ellicits in you?

In terms of historical epics, Braveheart's my favorite. I like it more than Lawrence of Arabia; I like it way more than Ben Hur. It moves me far more, therefore it is the better film. And "Best Picture" is, to no little extent, the "best producer" award: That's why its given to the producer. And Braveheart is the most ambitious production of that year. A 3-hour, thick-accented, R-rated, on-location, harrowing historical war epic and a period piece, and a tragedy on top of that, with a script that eschews the three-act structure, all helmed by an actor of "mindless" action roles in his second directorial role, whose also starring the picture? the potential for it to be a disaster was there, but it turned out amazing.

It doesn't deserve Best Picture. It deserves "The Best of Best pictures."

Braveheart>>>>Everything, except Return of the King.

Oh yeah, that’s very nice.

Its not The House of Durin per se, its a theme in and of its own, that marries The House of Durin and The History of the One Ring. It occurs again near the end of the score, and I think it also occurs in the Battle of the Five Armies. The House of Durin proper plays in "The White Council" in a sort of embryonic form when Elrond and Gandalf discuss dragon sickness within earshot of Thorin, but the definitive form only appears in The Desolation of Smaug. On the soundtrack or the theatrical cut - in Laketown; in the extended edition - in the prologue.

Yeah, the achievement here isn't necessarily in the sheer number of leitmotives (which is staggering) but in that they are all divided into sets and subsets and sub-subsets of related themes. Certain sets of themes are contrasted against others (Mordor/Shire; Fellowship/Isengard) while others complement each other, but all are nonetheless connected. The dramatic effect is that Shore can introduce a new theme such as The White Rider and the Fellowship or The House of Durin late in the game, but it still feels like we did hear it before because we heard some of its building blocks in previous themes.

Yeah, in the sketch, Thorin's theme is Thorin/Erebor.

Which is what I'm here for!

I'll help you out: is it this theme or this one? The first is Erebor's. The second is Thorin's, but they're very closely related. Both are great, anyway. There's a great sense of yearning to them, which is appropriate given the story.

I’ll rewatch Braveheart, then!

I’ll watch An Unexpected Journey, my least favorite of the bunch, ten times on repeat before I’ll watch Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And I don’t adore things. I like things.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

I'm not here to argue that they're brilliant cinema, but a lack of fidelty in adaptation isn't their fault. If anything, superflous fidelty is.