Hello everyone!

Well, today I finally got to doing what I've been waiting years for. I'm having a SW marathon! Episodes I through VI, in sequential order, all in one day. I'm so excited.

So here's how this is going to work... every time something important in the films happens, or there's something I have something to say about, I'll comment on it here.

Like now. Darth Sidious, aka Senator Palpatine, made his first appearance (as a hologram). It still amazes me how well he was able to deceive everybody around him so fully. He made everybody in the Senate, on Naboo, not to mention the Jedi, believe that he was a good guy. Although he is thoroughly evil, you can't help but admire his skills.

Now the most important person in the whole Saga makes his first appearance - Anakin Skywalker himself. He seems so innocent, and it's hard to believe that he would become one of the most evil men in the entire galaxy, and that he would single-handedly kill thousands of his own kind. Seeing him in Episode I, after having seen every other episode (this is my first viewing of TPM after Ep. III came out) makes me realize just how much he changed throughout the Saga.

To the end of the movie, now. There goes Qui-Gon. It's sad that such a great, important character would die at the hand of someone like Maul. He deserved a better death than that. Besides his tragic death, you can't help but love the battle in which he died. How can you beat 4 battles going on at once?!?!

Well, now on to Ep. II, AOTC. And how everyone has changed! "My goodness, you've grown" is right! Obviously, with a different actor, Ani would look different, but I think Obi-Wan made the biggest change (physically, anyways).

Our first look into the Kaminoans (from Dex) is very bleak. They make them sound so materialistic and greedy. ("It depends.... How big your pocket book is.") Knowing about them, this seems like an unfair description.

Then... "Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is." Definitely the best quote in the Saga!!

Now Anakin and Padmé's talk in the meadows of Naboo. When Ani talks about how government should work, I always get chills. This is a great example of GL's genius, in the way he perfectly foreshadowed Anakin's turn to the dark side in his views of dictatorship (even though he didn't think it was dictatorship, just the right thing).

I find it so beautifully tragic that so much of Anakin's darkness spawned from a desperate trip to save his mother from death. His intentions were extremely good, and it's too bad that he had to start down a path of destruction and pain by killing all the Tusken Raiders.

And so it begins... Palpatine gets his "Emergency Powers". So delicately did Palps get his way, by manipulating Jar-Jar into presenting this idea in the Senate. It's so horrible. If only nobody had given Palps those E.P.'s, everything would have turned out so differently.

Padmé professes her love for Anakin, right before they were supposed to be executed. I love the use of music in this scene. The "Across the Stars" song going into its big crescendo right as they enter the arena is so powerful. I love it!! I have to say this is one of my favourite scenes in the entire Saga.

"Oh, this is such a drag! Oh, I'm quite beside myself." 3P0, 3P0. 

Then some great Clone Wars scenes and our first sight of the Death Star!! Pretty cool, I have to say. I really liked the way they filmed the war sequences. The awesome zooming and panning looked really cool, especially with all the blaster bolts and dust flying everywhere!

Now AOTC ends as the Clone War begins. The scene with all the early Star Destroyer ships taking off was breathtaking. I loved it. Then Ani and Padmé's marriage. Even without knowing what's going to happen, anyone would say, "wow... that was a mistake."

Now I start Episode III, ROTS, which is rated PG-13 for "sci-fi violence and some intense images".  To begin, I need to say that the title crawl erks me. I never liked how they started it with "War!" That just bothers me for some reason. But the opening battle, however, is absolutely awesome! I have to say, this is the best action sequence in the entire Saga. Also, I love the droids' new attitude's! They're awesome!

Padmé tells Anakin she's pregnant. He's clearly confused and scared, but happy at the same time. He doesn't know what to do! I think that at that moment he might have realized that he was in deep, dark (no pun intended) trouble.

Wow. Anakin just said, "You die in child birth." Absolute, and in the present tense. This certainty disturbs me.

Anakin and Padmé are now talking about the War and politics. Padmé says that they may be "on the wrong side", that maybe "the Republic has become the very thing they were fighting to destroy". I love this scene. It helps us understand just how desperate both sides of one side, the Jedi and the politicians, are getting, and how tender their relationships have become.

The whole Darth Plagueis story came into play, at the Opera House. Palps so delicately told this story in a way that he knew Anakin would fall for it. Palps is just too brilliant for his own good, I tell you! And Ani, I'm sad to say, is not smart enough for his own good. So much for the Jedi being "selfless". If Ani is any indication, it's the exact opposite!

Now comes one of the most powerful moments in the entire Saga. When Padmé and Anakin look across Coruscant at each other, and sense each other, they both start to cry. This, I think, is the turning point of the Saga. This is when Anakin decides to ally himself with Palpatine, and to betray the Jedi, which is why he started crying. And I think Padmé started to cry because she, too, had realized this.

Sidious's true form is revealed, right before he kills Mace Windu. ("Power! Unliiimiteeeed POOOWERR!!!") Then Anakin becomes Darth Vader, and he is sent to the Jedi Temple, as Sidious orders Order 66. I must say, that however sad and tragic this sequence is, it's my favourite scene in all the six movies. It's so powerful and heartbreaking, and it essentially brings one whole era to a close, and another to life. 

The Galactic Empire is formed. "So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause." That is one of my favourite quotes in SW. It sums up so much, in so few words.

Wait... wait. What?? Anakin's killing Padmé? I thought the whole point of him turning to the Dark Side was to save her. Now he's throwing all that away? Honestly, Anakin gets so confusing.

And Yoda... I was so disappointed with Yoda. Why wasn't he ready when Sidious blasted him with Force lightening? But then he steps it up a notch, and actually puts up a fight. Then the two get into that awesome throwing contest which ends in Yoda's flee. I was really upset when I first saw this, as I never thought Yoda would give up like that.

Pop! Pop! Pop! There goes Vader's limbs! So horrible, yet we knew it would happen. And why wouldn't Obi-Wan go down there and finish him off? I'm sure Obi-Wan knew that Anakin could, and probably would, survive, so why wouldn't he go down there and make sure he was dead? I don't know.

Luke is born, then Leia. They're so cute! Considering that she had just delivered her two babies, I find it incredibly hard to believe that Padmé "lost the will to live". Yes, she had lost her husband and love, but she wouldn't willingly die knowing that she had two children out there. Also, she truly believed there was good in him, so why would she give all that up?

Obi-Wan goes to Tatooine, with the knowledge that his old master will be his master once more. I think Obi-Wan totally gave his life up at that moment, when he agreed to watch over Luke. This self-sacrifice means so much, and he clearly was devastated by Anakin's choices.

One last note. I absolutely loved the fact that Padmé was buried with Anakin's necklace clasped in her hands. His love was buried with her, which I'm sure would have meant so much to her.

Well, that's it for this blog. I'll be back in about six hours with Part II - The Original Trilogy!

May the Force be With You, and Happy 30th Anniversary!