Star Wars: Episode 7 Will be Better Than “The Empire Strikes Back”! At Least According to Anthony Daniels.

C-3POThe actor who played C-3PO in all 6 previous Star Wars movies, shared on Twitter his praise for the upcoming movie directed by J.J. Abrams. Find out what he said after the jump.

 

 

Daniels’ post came as a reply to the following tweet:

 

 

 

This is not the first time Daniels speaks highly about Episode VII. Here’s his tweet from 6 months ago when he praised the movie’s story:

 


December 18, 2015 can’t come quickly enough! 🙂

 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

79 thoughts on “Star Wars: Episode 7 Will be Better Than “The Empire Strikes Back”! At Least According to Anthony Daniels.

  • November 4, 2014 at 6:05 pm
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    He must mean it. Deep down he knows people are gonna spend money on this film. So for him to hype it up n lie just for views doesn’t seem right. All the actors so far have said they love the script. So that means it’s up to the actors to produce.

  • November 4, 2014 at 6:08 pm
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    Does anyone remember his public statements during the PT-era? I know Twitter wasn’t around yet but maybe on other channels?

    • November 4, 2014 at 6:25 pm
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      He never praised the prequels..only saying it was a Joy to be working in the universe again,and with George. he did however and very recently talk about his dislike of ALL of the 3P0 CGI scenes, calling them horrible.

      • November 4, 2014 at 10:32 pm
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        Haha I remember that. There might be a select group of people that pretend they didn’t hear his thoughts on the CGI 3P0, though I think he was specifically talking about the factory scene, which was awful.

        Well either way I’m glad to hear he thinks it will be the best… I’m hoping he’s right. Does anyone know how good his judge-o-meter is?

  • November 4, 2014 at 6:21 pm
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    Better than Prequels? Definitely. Better than ROTJ? Probably. Better than ANH? Hmm…maybe.
    But better than TESB? Very unlikely, although you can never know…

    • November 4, 2014 at 9:45 pm
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      I doubt it will be better than ep5 the way it felt, the way it was back then when it came out. But with all those years gone Daniels might be right, who knows? I certainly hope so!

  • November 4, 2014 at 6:28 pm
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    While I hope that he is right about Ep 7 being amazing, I simply cannot allow myself to set the expectations that high. Too dangerous to my fragile faith in Star Wars 7. But, boy, am I glad to hear things like this.

  • November 4, 2014 at 6:33 pm
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    I have to admire his spirit. Anthony Daniels has always seemed to genuinely love the Star Wars films. It’s obvious how proud he is to have been a part of them for so much of his life.

    I can’t really remember whether he was making glowing statements like this about the PT films or not. But he does seem to be quite enthusiastic about Episode 7.

    And really, if there’s one movie coming out in the next few years that needs virtually no pre-release hype to generate massive box office numbers, it’s gotta be Episode 7. Even if it’s another TPM turkey, it’s gonna make a fortune. So I don’t get the feeling that Daniels is just trying to market this thing.

    Better than ESB, though? I reckon that’s pushing it a bit. ;^)

    • November 4, 2014 at 10:11 pm
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      TPM was the best of the prequels. IMHO. I know “Jar Jar!” but the rest of the movie was the most Star Wars feeling of the three. Samuel L Jackson is a favorite actor but he was terrible. Most jedi other than Liam Neeson were terrible. Too much of the time the Jedi didn’t seem to be Jedi to me.

      • November 4, 2014 at 11:30 pm
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        I definitely agree with you, TPM was the most trilogy-feels-like of the prequels. This has to do with the shooting being on film, in Britain and with less CGI background which really went off the map in AotC and RotS.

        If Ep7 could have this feel without all the annoying stuff that kept TPM from being great, I would be satisfied. But I don’t want to see ANYTHING related to Ep2&3 ever again…

  • November 4, 2014 at 6:38 pm
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    Quite a promise, i’ll remember those words when the next winter comes around.

  • November 4, 2014 at 6:50 pm
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    Peter Mayhew reportedly said it will be the best SW film he has seen.
    But I don’t think any of the ST films will be better than anything from the OT..at least for me. That being said I would be more than happy if we get let’s say 40% of Empire.

  • November 4, 2014 at 6:54 pm
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    If we dare to assume he is sincere, this is really heartening. It is a beautiful thing when writers, producers and actors can all unite around a project they genuinely believe in, and everyone brings out the best in everyone.

    Finding a way to carry on the story after the seeming end in Episode 6, and after the passage of three decades internally and externally, must have been a great challenge. But Daniels genuinely seems to feel that the writers have got it right. Well, eventually we’ll find out.

  • November 4, 2014 at 6:56 pm
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    If Ford says that, I’ll believe it since he’s the only Hollywood guy honest enough to express his true feelings toward his work and those he works with (more so in the past but still)

    • November 4, 2014 at 7:00 pm
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      Nah, not really. He was upset with Shia for speaking his honest opinion about Indy4.
      Ford: “I think I told him he was a f–king idiot,”

      • November 4, 2014 at 9:27 pm
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        That sounds like an honest opinion to me about someone else’s honest opinion. Quite refreshing from Hollywood people these days.

        • November 5, 2014 at 12:42 am
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          to me it sounds like someone mad at somebody for speaking the truth because you just don’t do that when it makes your film look bad 😉

          • November 5, 2014 at 5:32 am
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            Yeah Indy IV was god awful… I think Harrison just likes to be a contrarian no matter what. “Han should be dead after V”. “I will never do Star Wars even if they ask me to”. “Indy IV wasn’t a turd”. Etc, etc, etc.

  • November 4, 2014 at 7:14 pm
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    The movie that was recently voted greatest movie of all time ! That’s pretty big talk Mr Daniels

  • November 4, 2014 at 7:17 pm
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    Well, that’s grand. However, will it be better than my favorite Star Wara movie, Return of the Jedi? Either way, I am extremely excited to see Episode VIII. I think that it’s going to be really good.

  • November 4, 2014 at 7:20 pm
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    Peter Mayhew did say this would be the best star wars movie. But Peter is the kind of guy who would just say that. Kevin Smith is going bonkers over how it’s going to be awesome but he likes the prequels so his opinion on what makes a good star wars movie is completely irrelivent. Anthony Daniels at least realises how awful the phantom menace is, but then again he doesn’t like Return of the Jedi, so he’s not particularly the best person to trust either. I don’t think anybodies opinion is enough to breathe a sigh of relief over the film. Although, Harrison Ford did say they had a ‘great script’.. This is the guy that said to George in regards to the original script- “You can type this shit but you can’t say it”. So that is extremely good news indeed to hear him of all people, to go out of his own way to praise a star wars script.

  • November 4, 2014 at 7:31 pm
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    Anthony Daniels hasn’t seen Episode VII. No one has. We all want this movie to be great but I think it’s getting kinda pointless to get excited about all these comments. It’s nice that most cast and crew members are sharing positive feelings about this but that doesn’t make an unfinished film any better.

    And to quote Harrison Ford on some production video on the set of Indy 4, “we’re making a dynamite movie”. That got me really excited at the time. Sigh…

    My fingers are tightly crossed.

    • November 4, 2014 at 7:35 pm
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      Indy 4 was awesome.

    • November 4, 2014 at 8:05 pm
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      Really? “We’re making a dynamite movie” actually sounds very cryptic to me. Essentially saying “this movie is going to blow”.

    • November 4, 2014 at 9:24 pm
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      True all we can say for certain, is that it probably has some awesome C-3PO stuff in it.

  • November 4, 2014 at 7:39 pm
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    Hah! Highly unlikely, Empire is the best movie of all times, C3PO is really pushing it, but still I can’t wait for this movie though

  • November 4, 2014 at 7:48 pm
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    I’d be interested in knowing what he said prior to Episode I personally.

    • November 5, 2014 at 2:42 am
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      Episode 1 is a great movie – despite some of its flaws. While not as technically great or historically important as ANH or TESB, I watch scenes from TPM more often that I do scenes from ANH and TESB.

  • November 4, 2014 at 8:11 pm
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    We can only hope. It sure sounds like everything is on track. It’s going to come down to story and how well it’s acted out.

    Ironically I feel the oldest actors are the biggest liability. I remember thinking that with Leonard Nimoy though and he rocked it in Star Trek.

  • November 4, 2014 at 8:52 pm
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    I guess Lucas did probably think back in 1999 that episode I was going to be the best star wars ever. Ford publicly said that Indy IV was like the earlier three, even a little bit better (before it was released) and Ridley Scott said that the Promtheus script was awesome. While not horrible and to some degree more or less entertaining (in my opinion, of course) all these movies were light years away from their predecessors and they all suffered, among other things, from a storyline and screenplay that were garbage. Nevertheless, I think that all these guys (especially Ford and Scott) really believed what they said and we all know what the final outcome was.

    I do really hope this movie comes close to Empire and indeed it has the potential (from a production side point of view) with an effective director, the original writer (Kasdan), the original actors and so forth but I learnt not to trust all these positive comments because many people like Lucas or Scott really go out of touch as they age.

    Also, even if the trailer looks fantastic, like it is going to be the best SW ever, REMEMBER Prometheus.

  • November 4, 2014 at 8:57 pm
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    J.J’s legacy depends on the success of Star Wars VII, he knows there’s no room for self indulgence and he’s seen what happened to Lucas before him.

    If he truly does make a film better than Empire Strikes Back, he will be the new Spielberg.

    • November 4, 2014 at 10:32 pm
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      How about the old Spielberg?!? Where the hell is HE?!
      “Interstellar” passed on ….
      “Robopocalypse” in indefinate limbo ….
      SPIELBERG STINKS.

  • November 4, 2014 at 9:16 pm
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    “Better than Prequels? Definitely. Better than ROTJ? Probably. Better than ANH? Hmm…maybe. But better than TESB? Very unlikely, although you can never know…”

    Depends what you think of the movies. I think ROTS is the best but it’s not like the others aren’t right behind it. There are after all only 6 Star Wars movies. Even if you are 6th then you are one of 6. Obviously many people place lots of importance on various factors and how they apply that to their own rating which is why ESB gets marks now over ANH regardless that in terms of overall impact the original towers over the rest.

    I’d say based on those people who have automatically placed ANH and ESB in their top 2 for decades now they are not likely to change that anymore than they are going to change their minds about the other films.

    For many it seems that were SW “went wrong” was when Vader stopped being a died in the wool bad guy. The story of ROTJ and the prequels is about why Vader was what he was which obviously is thematically “against” the Vader of the first 2 films. For many that is likely the root problem they have. They just want Vader as the ultimate bad guy not just a man who made the wrong choices in life and is evil but also tragic because he could have been always a great hero.

    • November 5, 2014 at 9:31 pm
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      What an obnoxious thing to say. No… it’s not that we wanted Vader to be a badass since birth, we had grown up hearing that he was a good person. What we didn’t like about vader is that he was a whiney little b**** that was nothing like the Vader we saw in the OT… even when he did become evil. It was a huge let down for so many reasons, but the worst part of it is that it seemed to happen overnight… one day he’s a good guy and then all the sudden he’s like “hey, I’m evil now”. The reason? Because Padme dies of a broken heart… god! That’s like worse than titanic on the cliche scale.

      “I think ROTS is the best but it’s not like the others aren’t right behind it.” LOLZ

      • November 6, 2014 at 5:43 pm
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        totally dude, his fall to the dark side was pathetic, such a bad film. I’ve loved my girlfriends, but turn to the darkside because a sith lord said she’s going to die? nah, trust a sith lord? Maybe Anakin shouldn’t have been portrayed as the most intelligent jedi ever but they shouldn’t have made him thick as ****

  • November 4, 2014 at 9:22 pm
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    Lol, he is only saying this because he is still mad about threepio being dismembered in Empire.

  • November 4, 2014 at 9:23 pm
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    The love of Empire wasn’t so much that way at the time it was released given the way it ended. So like with Empire, time and the quality or lack-there-of of the fallowing movies will tell.

  • November 4, 2014 at 9:30 pm
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    “You are posting comments too quickly, slow down!”

  • November 4, 2014 at 9:32 pm
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    BETTER BE!!! 6 Billion dollars should make a better movie then something from 1977

    • November 5, 2014 at 12:55 am
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      Wut?

      Are you saying…

      A. Budget defines the quality of a movie.

      B. Episode VII has a $6 billion budget.

      I’ll say it again. Wut?

      Also, FWIW, “than” not “then”.

    • November 5, 2014 at 2:37 pm
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      $6 billion?!?!?!

      The whole SW franchise cost Disney $4 billion.

      Do you have anything leftover from whatever it was you were smoking when you posted that?

  • November 4, 2014 at 10:05 pm
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    Storage hunters uk, is possibly at the old army airfield location used in episode 7, I think anyway, can anyone confirm this?

  • November 4, 2014 at 10:28 pm
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    *whrr* *clk*
    Anthony Daniels is talking out of his wrinkled arse.
    *whrr* *clk*

    • November 5, 2014 at 12:10 am
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      Can’t hurt to put some degree of trust into a genuine SW vet who’se been around since the first movie, and who’se life pretty much revolves around the franchise…

      Saying it’s better than ESB, that’s quite a promise. But you’d think he recognizes a good story when he sees it, and the cast & crew he’s being surrounded with.

      Unless he’s the kind of person who’d make empty promises just for the sake of hype building… Which i doubt. He should know how insane the expectations are and sounds pretty convinced it’ll meet them. Right now he’s in a lot more knowledgeable position to speak his mind than us.

  • November 4, 2014 at 11:17 pm
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    Maybe a short in the old circuit board
    Theres still a lot to do in this movie. Before Star Wars was edited, it was a mess. Saying the story is told during editing has some true aspects.
    But this sounds like there is some certain element that really makes everyone confident enough more than just general praise of your own work. Like if there is some new revolutionary element.

    • November 5, 2014 at 9:53 am
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      And something that very well could make everyone confident, would be the script, which is also probably the most important aspect.

  • November 4, 2014 at 11:50 pm
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    He’s rude but he’s not a liar! He’s never been a liar so I have high hopes for VII.

  • November 4, 2014 at 11:58 pm
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    Well, he would say that. Mind you, I do have a feeling episode 7 will be damn close to OT quality- it has to be.

  • November 5, 2014 at 12:03 am
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    Every artist will always claim that their latest project is the “best ever”: best record ever, best book ever, best film ever. Every single artist, w/o exception.

    Therefore, to call this “encouraging” is naïve, to say the least. But to think that ONE man’s opinion (over an unfinished product, as it were) is good enough to guarantee that Ep. VII will be better than V…well, sorry to whoever thinks so, but that is beyond stupid.

    • November 5, 2014 at 3:45 am
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      I agree, he just finished filming. What the fuck else would he say?

      “…well, its better than the prequels but not as good as the originals..”

      Why the hell would he say something along those lines? Of course he’s gonna say its great. Especially if he wants to be involved with further SW films.

  • November 5, 2014 at 12:07 am
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    Is thith that space movie about space peoples?
    Ain’t got no tiiime for bird thex ….

  • November 5, 2014 at 12:16 am
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    It probably will be better if you could remove all bias. But to overcome all the nostalgic feelings is nearly impossible, especially for so many clinging on to their childhood.

  • November 5, 2014 at 12:41 am
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    I’ll make my judgement when I see the movie. It’s the only time when one can really make those sort of claims.
    However, given the direction that I see the SW franchise going, I don’t think so.
    Now let me prepare by watching hunger games and divergent…

  • November 5, 2014 at 12:43 am
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    Ford is happy with the script because he finally gets Han killed off

  • November 5, 2014 at 2:01 am
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    Kevin Smith technically didn’t say he liked the prequels. He said that he understood why kids dug the prequels and compared it to people who saw Jedi when they were kids and loved the Ewoks while adult fans at the time couldn’t stand them. Kevin Smith is also a huge Star Wars fan and it would be his dream to work on a Star Wars film one day so I think he was being PC to not piss off Disney/Lucasfilm. Disney might not have made the prequels but now that they own the rights it still is bringing in money for them

    • November 5, 2014 at 2:53 am
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      I specifically remember Smith babbling like a child the day Episode 2 was released, going on about how it was the great Star Wars of old. His opinion doesn’t hold a lot of weight for me…

  • November 5, 2014 at 2:28 am
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    The Empire Strikes Back was ahead of it’s time really.

  • November 5, 2014 at 3:21 am
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    I’m just hoping it doesn’t suck.

  • November 5, 2014 at 3:58 am
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    I believe that Anthony Daniels believes what he’s saying, the fact that he hated the factory sequence speaks well for him.
    Very curious to know what he Really thinks about Lego’s “the Empire Strikes Out”;
    Maybe he needed to pay a few bills.
    Anthony’s opinion should count for something though.
    If you think about it he really started the Star Wars Saga, if it weren’t for him, ‘Threepio would talk like a shady used-car-salesman, and the whole movie would have gone downhill from there.
    C3PO was SO close to being Jar Jar Binks, (i’m not hating here, Jar Jar was a out of place character)
    Anthony looked at his outfit and made it work. He really dodged a bullet. thus allowing us to remain interested long enough to meet the main character.

    Honestly it really is too early to call; but so far things haven’t gone really wrong. There’s still plenty of time to screw up though.

    At any rate, this is gonna be better than most other “blockbusters” were being presented with.

  • November 5, 2014 at 4:21 am
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    I want the pace of A New Hope, the imagery of Empire and the action of Return Of The Jedis.

    • November 5, 2014 at 7:18 am
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      I love A New Hope, but it drags a bit on Tatooine, with slow buildup, after the initial action sequence until around the time Han shows up. I would’ve loved to have seen a few quick scenes interspersed involving the Rebels (mostly Wedge and Biggs) and/or the Empire (Vader and Tarkin).

    • November 5, 2014 at 9:18 am
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      Gotta Go Pace of Empire, Imagery of Empire, and Action of Return of the Jedi 😀

  • November 5, 2014 at 4:31 am
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    and in Five years time Mr Daniels will bitch about it

  • November 5, 2014 at 9:18 am
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    Gotta Go Pace of Empire, Imagery of Empire, and Action of Return of the Jedi 😀

  • November 5, 2014 at 9:55 am
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    Something that very well could make everyone confident (which they seem to be), would be the script, which is also probably the most important aspect.

  • November 5, 2014 at 11:50 am
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    1983 (VI) – 1999 (I) = 16 years

    1999 (I) – 2015 (VII) = 16 years (Take 2)

    Will we get Episode VII or another Episode I?

  • November 5, 2014 at 12:07 pm
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    I’ve been covering movies online since the days when the “Star Wars: Special Editions” were only a rumor. During the production of “The Phantom Menace,” I had a lot of contact with people working on and around the film, and if I had to characterize the attitude that most of them had, it was “I don’t know what we’re making.” There were plenty of people who seemed nervous about various elements or characters or ideas in what they were making. This time around, every single thing I’ve heard has been, “Holy cow, I think we’re doing this right,” and this Tweet from Daniels is just the most public example of that.
    Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/c-3po-star-anthony-daniels-says-star-wars-episode-7-is-better-than-empire-strikes-back#wCHMRX3SBo4shZef.99

  • November 5, 2014 at 1:42 pm
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    To be blunt.

    He doesn’t say it WILL be better than Empire (see article headline).

    He says MIGHT

  • November 5, 2014 at 4:18 pm
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    Has anyone with the knowledge and know how re-edited TPM removing Jar Jar’s scene’s or at the least drastically cutting the cretin’s screen time.

    • November 5, 2014 at 4:47 pm
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      Yes, The Phantom Edit, it’s free and can be found on youtube. I think Kevin Smith called it a viable alternative to theatrical cut, but i’m not sure if it was Kevin who said it. It was someone respected in the SW community who recommended it.

      Personally though and this is just me (a nobody) talking, the version with jar jar outed actually works less, pacing-wise.
      IDK because i only watched the beginning, but the pacing kinda’ felt like a highlight reel.
      Jar Jar was not the worst thing about Phantom, removing him didn’t help much (it helped a little, but yeah, i still prefer VI)
      But if you want a cut version of Phantom, “The Phantom Edit” is apparently the one to go to.

  • November 5, 2014 at 9:48 pm
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    ESB is the most overrated film in whole saga. ANH and ROTJ is much better.
    But i have some doubts that without Yoda, Obi-Wan, Vader, Sheeeeev Palpatine, Wedge and other vivid characters, Episode 7 will be able to become the best in the entire Saga.
    Yub-nub.

    • November 6, 2014 at 8:29 am
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      Really? Jedi over empire? Yub nub over…I am your father? The timeless bits aren’t even close to equivalent

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