Episode III movie poster
Monday, May 30, 2005
Star Wars: Episode III review
DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM...SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!
So I went to see Episode III of Star Wars, the last film in the "prequel" Trilogy series. In short, it was better than Phantom Menace (Episode I) and Attack of the Clones (Episode II), but nowhere near as good as the original trilogy. Sure the special effects are better, but the story and the acting in the modern Star Wars films leave a lot to be desired. Perhaps it is because the original trilogy holds such a special place in my heart from having watched it so many times growing up. I just can't get into the new films as much.
About the Story:
Episode III's story line was the best of the prequel trilogy. This may be because it focuses on a serious and someone dark theme - the transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. I did like how the plot evolved causing Anakin to question his Jedi masters when they put him in certain positions he felt to be unethical. Anakin became confused about whom he should trust and the motivations of the Jedi council. Upon learning the identity of the elusive Sith lord (Palpatine), he attempted to do the right thing by turning him in, but his Jedi training would not allow him to accept the execution of Emporer Palpatine by Mace Windu. After all, Palpatine had become very friendly with Anikin.
Through most of the film Palpatine had been egging Anakin on to disobey the Jedi council. It was no secret that Anikin was dissatisfied with his mentoring. This was a major theme during Episode II. In that film, he expressed on numerous occasions that he felt he was being held back. True, his abilities were great and his skills strong. What he was lacking was the emotional stability to progress any further toward the title of Jedi Master. Anakin refused to see this and instead took the attitude that his mentors were jealous of his exeptional skills. Palpatine agreed with Anakin, telling the young Jedi what he wanted to hear and pretending to befriend him. Obviously this was all manipulation. The secret emotional attachment of Anakin to Senator Amidala was another strong factor causing Anakin's emotions to get the better of him. His premonitions of her death created much fear in him. He could not resist the idea that learning the secrets of the Dark Side of the Force may be able to prevent her death.
There were other sub-plots as well. The capture of General Grievous, the politics in the senate and the continuation of the clone wars. These were all secondary though.
Special Effects:
The special effects in this movie were out of hand. Every shot in this film had some kind of CGI something going on in the background or the foreground. Look out the window behind the dialoguing characters and you'll see a highway in the sky full of spaceship traffic. Maybe there are computer generated robots or aliens in the room talking with the characters. There was always something going on. These CGI guys are really starting to show off now with all this grutuitous stuff.
The battle scenes were unreal. Whether in space or on some planet somewhere, there was just waaaaay to much to focus on. This movie must be watched several times just to grasp the awesome computer graphics. And then there are the lightsaber battles. They are much more exciting than those in the original trilogy, but suffer a little from Matrix-ism. That's okay I guess... these are Jedi masters. Nobody needs to tell Obi-Wan that "there is no spoon" if you know what I mean.
The sounds were really cool as well. I consider sounds to be special effects... they're just auditory rather than visual. Sounds are a very important part of making the unreal that much more believable. Many of the sounds in sci-fi films like Star Wars a are not things you have ever heard, but they follow the rules of sound that we are used to. All except that "no sound in space" rule. That one has gone out the window long ago as far as sci-fi space movies are concerned.
What I didn't Like:
Well, there was some goofiness in this movie. I have to admit that the comic relief was less corny than in Episode I or II. They still managed to throw in a Tarzan vocal coming out of a wookie swinging on a vine. Then there was that iguana thing that Obi-Wan rode on. That was pretty dumb. Then there was Natalie Portman's dialogue. I think she has the potential to be a great actress, but these love story lines they give her make me sigh and shake my head in disapproval. At least the Han Solo - Princess Leia thing worked. What was up with General Greivous' wheezing and why were his innards so unprotected?
I also had a problem with they way they felt the need to tie EVERYTHING together. It was just too neat. Why did Yoda have to know Chewbacca? I don't even really know the neighbors at the end of my block. Why did Obi-Wan have to be the reason for Darth Vader becoming "more machine than he is man" as explained in A New Hope (Episode IV)? Why did something have to cause the emporer to be come all wrinkly and pale and why was he so goofy and Mad-Hatter like when he entered Dark Side mode? The other thing I noticed is that they use any excuse to show off some new location. A lava planet, a forest planet, a planet that looks like a refrigerator case in a florist shop. True this was done in the original movies, but it just seemed more like a "look what we can make on a computer" type of thing. The Darth Vader "Nooooooooo!" thing was just stupid and he looked like Frankenstein's monster at one point.
What I Did Like:
As I said before, the special effects (though sometimes a bit overboard) were cool as were the sounds. This movie had a better story. I liked the serious and somewhat dark nature of this film. I liked the young Jedi in training that tried to protect senator Organa. I liked Greivous' four lightsabers at once fighting technique. Yoda was awesome... you know what I mean if you've seen the movie. The vehicles were really cool and started to evolve into the Empirial look we are used to seeing in the first group of films. The blockade runner made an appearance, albeit slightly modernized. They should have done this with all the "new" Star Wars films... slightly modify the old look instead of making the stuff from the prequel look more technologically advanced than the stuff in the original trilogy.
This movie is fun to watch; I've seen it twice so far. It is definately on my "DVDs to buy" list.
So I went to see Episode III of Star Wars, the last film in the "prequel" Trilogy series. In short, it was better than Phantom Menace (Episode I) and Attack of the Clones (Episode II), but nowhere near as good as the original trilogy. Sure the special effects are better, but the story and the acting in the modern Star Wars films leave a lot to be desired. Perhaps it is because the original trilogy holds such a special place in my heart from having watched it so many times growing up. I just can't get into the new films as much.
About the Story:
Episode III's story line was the best of the prequel trilogy. This may be because it focuses on a serious and someone dark theme - the transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. I did like how the plot evolved causing Anakin to question his Jedi masters when they put him in certain positions he felt to be unethical. Anakin became confused about whom he should trust and the motivations of the Jedi council. Upon learning the identity of the elusive Sith lord (Palpatine), he attempted to do the right thing by turning him in, but his Jedi training would not allow him to accept the execution of Emporer Palpatine by Mace Windu. After all, Palpatine had become very friendly with Anikin.
Through most of the film Palpatine had been egging Anakin on to disobey the Jedi council. It was no secret that Anikin was dissatisfied with his mentoring. This was a major theme during Episode II. In that film, he expressed on numerous occasions that he felt he was being held back. True, his abilities were great and his skills strong. What he was lacking was the emotional stability to progress any further toward the title of Jedi Master. Anakin refused to see this and instead took the attitude that his mentors were jealous of his exeptional skills. Palpatine agreed with Anakin, telling the young Jedi what he wanted to hear and pretending to befriend him. Obviously this was all manipulation. The secret emotional attachment of Anakin to Senator Amidala was another strong factor causing Anakin's emotions to get the better of him. His premonitions of her death created much fear in him. He could not resist the idea that learning the secrets of the Dark Side of the Force may be able to prevent her death.
There were other sub-plots as well. The capture of General Grievous, the politics in the senate and the continuation of the clone wars. These were all secondary though.
Special Effects:
The special effects in this movie were out of hand. Every shot in this film had some kind of CGI something going on in the background or the foreground. Look out the window behind the dialoguing characters and you'll see a highway in the sky full of spaceship traffic. Maybe there are computer generated robots or aliens in the room talking with the characters. There was always something going on. These CGI guys are really starting to show off now with all this grutuitous stuff.
The battle scenes were unreal. Whether in space or on some planet somewhere, there was just waaaaay to much to focus on. This movie must be watched several times just to grasp the awesome computer graphics. And then there are the lightsaber battles. They are much more exciting than those in the original trilogy, but suffer a little from Matrix-ism. That's okay I guess... these are Jedi masters. Nobody needs to tell Obi-Wan that "there is no spoon" if you know what I mean.
The sounds were really cool as well. I consider sounds to be special effects... they're just auditory rather than visual. Sounds are a very important part of making the unreal that much more believable. Many of the sounds in sci-fi films like Star Wars a are not things you have ever heard, but they follow the rules of sound that we are used to. All except that "no sound in space" rule. That one has gone out the window long ago as far as sci-fi space movies are concerned.
What I didn't Like:
Well, there was some goofiness in this movie. I have to admit that the comic relief was less corny than in Episode I or II. They still managed to throw in a Tarzan vocal coming out of a wookie swinging on a vine. Then there was that iguana thing that Obi-Wan rode on. That was pretty dumb. Then there was Natalie Portman's dialogue. I think she has the potential to be a great actress, but these love story lines they give her make me sigh and shake my head in disapproval. At least the Han Solo - Princess Leia thing worked. What was up with General Greivous' wheezing and why were his innards so unprotected?
I also had a problem with they way they felt the need to tie EVERYTHING together. It was just too neat. Why did Yoda have to know Chewbacca? I don't even really know the neighbors at the end of my block. Why did Obi-Wan have to be the reason for Darth Vader becoming "more machine than he is man" as explained in A New Hope (Episode IV)? Why did something have to cause the emporer to be come all wrinkly and pale and why was he so goofy and Mad-Hatter like when he entered Dark Side mode? The other thing I noticed is that they use any excuse to show off some new location. A lava planet, a forest planet, a planet that looks like a refrigerator case in a florist shop. True this was done in the original movies, but it just seemed more like a "look what we can make on a computer" type of thing. The Darth Vader "Nooooooooo!" thing was just stupid and he looked like Frankenstein's monster at one point.
What I Did Like:
As I said before, the special effects (though sometimes a bit overboard) were cool as were the sounds. This movie had a better story. I liked the serious and somewhat dark nature of this film. I liked the young Jedi in training that tried to protect senator Organa. I liked Greivous' four lightsabers at once fighting technique. Yoda was awesome... you know what I mean if you've seen the movie. The vehicles were really cool and started to evolve into the Empirial look we are used to seeing in the first group of films. The blockade runner made an appearance, albeit slightly modernized. They should have done this with all the "new" Star Wars films... slightly modify the old look instead of making the stuff from the prequel look more technologically advanced than the stuff in the original trilogy.
This movie is fun to watch; I've seen it twice so far. It is definately on my "DVDs to buy" list.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Fun day out at the range.
Recently I had a really fun day at the range. My Dad and I went to the Calverton rifle-pistol range out on Eastern Long Island. I hadn't been to this outdoor range in about 10 years or so. Since then, they have made it look a little nicer than I remember. We went on a weekday so it wasn't so packed... the shooters "ran the range" as there was no dedicated Range Officer.
I fired my 92FS and did poorly for some reason. I don't know what it is about that pistol, but I just can't use it nearly as well as the 1911. All that means is that I have to shoot it lots more (smiles). I left the 1911 at home that day but I brought the CX4 Storm. I'll say it again... that thing is ACCURATE. I had to shoot some stuff out at about 75 feet to make it fun. I was shooting a soda bottle someone left out at the far end of the handgun backstop. I even managed to tag it while it was tumbing through the air from a previous shot.
I guy from a few stalls over came and asked if he could try my Storm. He said he was thinking about buying one. I let him try it and he liked it. Then he offered to let me try his Bobcat, a clone of the HK MP5. I had been eyeing that thing since he got to the range and accepted his offer. The MP5 shoots 9mm pistol rounds and can be seen in movies like Lethal Weapon and any thing else where there are SWAT teams or Navy S.E.A.L.s fighting close quarters battles and shorty AR-15s / M16s are not suitable. Anyway, he had a bunch of stuff on this thing. He had some kind of long barrel and shroud, a vertical fore-grip, a light with pressure switch, an a $350 Trijicon ACOG reflex sight. The dot sight worked pretty well... but $350! I fired it well, but it had more recoil than I expected from 9mm rounds and felt like its internals were rattling around. Maybe all the attachments were vibrating or something. I also didn't like the vertical foregrip. It felt very foreign and tended to unbalance me a little. Still, it was a lot of fun. I wouldn't drop $1400 on that pistol caliber carbine though. Besides, I like my $700 Storm better.
The real fun was getting to shoot my Dad's M1 Garand. This rifle was used in WWII and the Korean War by American armed forces. It is a classic. It fires the Springfield 30.06 rifle round. My Dad had not taken it out in a while, but wanted me to try it as I was planning on purchasing a .30 caliber rifle (this one) and he wanted to see what I thought about a high power rifle round. You know what I thought? I loved it! It was a lot of fun to fire something out at a target 600 ft away and hit it. Actually, I was not shooting paper targets, but some leftover stuff people had placed out on the berm to shoot at. Using the iron peep sight setup I did pretty well. We had some problems with the cycling of the action. It wouldn't travel rearward far enough to eject a spent case, so i had to cycle it by hand. Seems the gas tube port was fouled. Nothing a little cleaning won't fix.
So I had a great day and am looking forward to the arrival of my DS Arms STG58 which I have since ordered. It is the Austrian version of the Belgian FN-FAL chambered in 7.62 x 51 NATO (or .308 Winchester, depending on what you'd like to call it). Yup... only 6-8 more weeks before I get it. I can make it... I can make it.
I fired my 92FS and did poorly for some reason. I don't know what it is about that pistol, but I just can't use it nearly as well as the 1911. All that means is that I have to shoot it lots more (smiles). I left the 1911 at home that day but I brought the CX4 Storm. I'll say it again... that thing is ACCURATE. I had to shoot some stuff out at about 75 feet to make it fun. I was shooting a soda bottle someone left out at the far end of the handgun backstop. I even managed to tag it while it was tumbing through the air from a previous shot.
I guy from a few stalls over came and asked if he could try my Storm. He said he was thinking about buying one. I let him try it and he liked it. Then he offered to let me try his Bobcat, a clone of the HK MP5. I had been eyeing that thing since he got to the range and accepted his offer. The MP5 shoots 9mm pistol rounds and can be seen in movies like Lethal Weapon and any thing else where there are SWAT teams or Navy S.E.A.L.s fighting close quarters battles and shorty AR-15s / M16s are not suitable. Anyway, he had a bunch of stuff on this thing. He had some kind of long barrel and shroud, a vertical fore-grip, a light with pressure switch, an a $350 Trijicon ACOG reflex sight. The dot sight worked pretty well... but $350! I fired it well, but it had more recoil than I expected from 9mm rounds and felt like its internals were rattling around. Maybe all the attachments were vibrating or something. I also didn't like the vertical foregrip. It felt very foreign and tended to unbalance me a little. Still, it was a lot of fun. I wouldn't drop $1400 on that pistol caliber carbine though. Besides, I like my $700 Storm better.
The real fun was getting to shoot my Dad's M1 Garand. This rifle was used in WWII and the Korean War by American armed forces. It is a classic. It fires the Springfield 30.06 rifle round. My Dad had not taken it out in a while, but wanted me to try it as I was planning on purchasing a .30 caliber rifle (this one) and he wanted to see what I thought about a high power rifle round. You know what I thought? I loved it! It was a lot of fun to fire something out at a target 600 ft away and hit it. Actually, I was not shooting paper targets, but some leftover stuff people had placed out on the berm to shoot at. Using the iron peep sight setup I did pretty well. We had some problems with the cycling of the action. It wouldn't travel rearward far enough to eject a spent case, so i had to cycle it by hand. Seems the gas tube port was fouled. Nothing a little cleaning won't fix.
So I had a great day and am looking forward to the arrival of my DS Arms STG58 which I have since ordered. It is the Austrian version of the Belgian FN-FAL chambered in 7.62 x 51 NATO (or .308 Winchester, depending on what you'd like to call it). Yup... only 6-8 more weeks before I get it. I can make it... I can make it.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Thursday, May 05, 2005
My Beretta CX4 Storm
"Man that thing looks weird... I'd never want something like that!" That was my reaction upon seeing Beretta's pistol caliber carbine named the CX4 Storm. Geez, the name was even corny! After seeing the Beretta Neos a while back, a ray gun looking .22 cal pistol, I thought "here we go again." Actually the Storm looked less like a sci-fi space gun and more like something that should be on a rifle rack in Tim Burton's version of the Bat mobile. All black plastic and swoopy lines. You can thank the designers over at Giugiaro Design in Italy for the look of both the CX4 and the Neos. Yup... definitely too silly looking for me to take seriously enough to consider buying. The Beretta 92FS I own is great, but this Storm is a little too weird... right?
So one day I am at my local range and I see a guy come in with a soft case that obviously had some type of pistol caliber carbine in it... no high power rifles allowed at this indoor range. Maybe it's a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 or a Hi-Point carbine? Then the thought of that weird Beretta carbine popped into my head, but I pretended not to be interested. After all, that gun just looks weird. Well pretty soon I noticed some Beretta 92 magazines getting unpacked out of the guy's range bag and he had no pistols for them to go in. That could only mean one thing - he definately had a Storm in that case.
I went back to shooting my 1911 and could hear that Storm firing two stalls away. I started to get curious and found myself standing behind the guy while he was shooting. I noticed ne had a red dot sight on it and was working on getting it zeroed. I tried to be subtle though and ran back to my stall whenever he picked up the screwdriver to adjust the red dot. Didn't want to get caught looking at something I was telling myself I would never want.
I packed up my stuff and as I was getting ready to leave he saw me looking over. He gave me a big grin, cocked his head to the side and said, "Wanna try it." I said nah, I was just checking it out. He then said, "Yeah... everyone always looks at this... c'mon." He quickly showed me the controls, loaded 5 rounds in a mag and handed the carbine over. I then proceeded to send all 5 rounds fired into the center of the target a the end of the range. I thanked him very much and offered him the use of my Kimber Custom TLE II (a 1911 style pistol in .45 caliber), but he said he has a 45 already. I left the range with a grin thinking, "how could I have looked down on that Beretta carbine without trying it?" I was hooked now, I had to have one. It was comfortable, accurate and easy to use.
I started researching the Storm online, reading the positive reviews and nodding "yes" in agreement. I decided I would buy one with my 2004 tax refund from Uncle Sam. I started having second thoughts about it though. I could get a pistol caliber carbine for much less. The Storm cost about the same as a handgun... and I'd be getting a whole rifle. Plus it was a Beretta and I already had plenty of compatible 92FS magazines and 9mm ammo around. Sure it would cost some bucks, but I already knew I would like it. I decided to go through with it, but didn't make it to tax time. I bought one for myself in March of 2005 and I am happy I did. There was a little hassle with the gun store under charging me by $100 and then asking me to come back and pay the difference. I am also still having some static with them related to an incorrect magazine included with the Storm when I bought it. Hopefully it will work out though. The CX4 Storm also came in a hard case with a cleaning kit, sight adjustment tool and a single side rail (in addition to the integral slide-out front rail).
Anyway, the carbine is great. My first target with a brand new rifle yielded a single ragged hole (OK... there were a few fliers, but not many). I duplicated this performance at the range's distance limit of 50 feet. I was very satisfied. Not much kick at all out of this thing, follow up shots are quick and it is ACCURATE. No need for a red dot. The iron (plastic) sights work great and are a long and short range peep sight setup that is fully adjustable.
Ammo went quick that day. I started loading up my pre-ban mags with 10 rounds at a time instead of 15 just to pace myself. I was having too much fun! Not one malfunction and I couldn't miss with the thing. My Father and Brother have tried the Stom and they both like it... the three of us have slightly different tastes in firearms, but all agree that the Storm is "a good one."
Disassembly for maintaining the Storm is super-easy... no tools required. Pull the mag out, cock the hammer back (be sure it's unloaded and leave it cocked back), push out the center retaining pin, pull the two halves apart, pull the bolt all the way to the rear, remove the cocking handle, and slide out the bolt assembly. That took about 4 times longer to type than it does to actually disassemble. Looking at it in pieces, you'll notice that the Storm is mostly plastic... I say polymer... makes me feel better about it. The bolt slide rails, the trigger, the HAMMER and the outer shell are all polymer. On each part of the rifle, there is some metal with the serial number engraved (lower half, upper half, rail attachement area, barrel, and bolt assembly).
The cheesy plastic cleaning rod included with the Storm works okay, but it is almost the exact diameter of the chamber. I've found I can't use a lot of patch when cleaning with it. Hoppes No. 9, a brush and patches for the barrel, CLP to clean the bolt assembly, a little grease on the rails, STP's Son of a Gun or Armorall for keeping the plastic outer shell looking nice.
So the gun I said I'd never own is now part of my collection and I do not regret it at all!
So one day I am at my local range and I see a guy come in with a soft case that obviously had some type of pistol caliber carbine in it... no high power rifles allowed at this indoor range. Maybe it's a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 or a Hi-Point carbine? Then the thought of that weird Beretta carbine popped into my head, but I pretended not to be interested. After all, that gun just looks weird. Well pretty soon I noticed some Beretta 92 magazines getting unpacked out of the guy's range bag and he had no pistols for them to go in. That could only mean one thing - he definately had a Storm in that case.
I went back to shooting my 1911 and could hear that Storm firing two stalls away. I started to get curious and found myself standing behind the guy while he was shooting. I noticed ne had a red dot sight on it and was working on getting it zeroed. I tried to be subtle though and ran back to my stall whenever he picked up the screwdriver to adjust the red dot. Didn't want to get caught looking at something I was telling myself I would never want.
I packed up my stuff and as I was getting ready to leave he saw me looking over. He gave me a big grin, cocked his head to the side and said, "Wanna try it." I said nah, I was just checking it out. He then said, "Yeah... everyone always looks at this... c'mon." He quickly showed me the controls, loaded 5 rounds in a mag and handed the carbine over. I then proceeded to send all 5 rounds fired into the center of the target a the end of the range. I thanked him very much and offered him the use of my Kimber Custom TLE II (a 1911 style pistol in .45 caliber), but he said he has a 45 already. I left the range with a grin thinking, "how could I have looked down on that Beretta carbine without trying it?" I was hooked now, I had to have one. It was comfortable, accurate and easy to use.
I started researching the Storm online, reading the positive reviews and nodding "yes" in agreement. I decided I would buy one with my 2004 tax refund from Uncle Sam. I started having second thoughts about it though. I could get a pistol caliber carbine for much less. The Storm cost about the same as a handgun... and I'd be getting a whole rifle. Plus it was a Beretta and I already had plenty of compatible 92FS magazines and 9mm ammo around. Sure it would cost some bucks, but I already knew I would like it. I decided to go through with it, but didn't make it to tax time. I bought one for myself in March of 2005 and I am happy I did. There was a little hassle with the gun store under charging me by $100 and then asking me to come back and pay the difference. I am also still having some static with them related to an incorrect magazine included with the Storm when I bought it. Hopefully it will work out though. The CX4 Storm also came in a hard case with a cleaning kit, sight adjustment tool and a single side rail (in addition to the integral slide-out front rail).
Anyway, the carbine is great. My first target with a brand new rifle yielded a single ragged hole (OK... there were a few fliers, but not many). I duplicated this performance at the range's distance limit of 50 feet. I was very satisfied. Not much kick at all out of this thing, follow up shots are quick and it is ACCURATE. No need for a red dot. The iron (plastic) sights work great and are a long and short range peep sight setup that is fully adjustable.
Ammo went quick that day. I started loading up my pre-ban mags with 10 rounds at a time instead of 15 just to pace myself. I was having too much fun! Not one malfunction and I couldn't miss with the thing. My Father and Brother have tried the Stom and they both like it... the three of us have slightly different tastes in firearms, but all agree that the Storm is "a good one."
Disassembly for maintaining the Storm is super-easy... no tools required. Pull the mag out, cock the hammer back (be sure it's unloaded and leave it cocked back), push out the center retaining pin, pull the two halves apart, pull the bolt all the way to the rear, remove the cocking handle, and slide out the bolt assembly. That took about 4 times longer to type than it does to actually disassemble. Looking at it in pieces, you'll notice that the Storm is mostly plastic... I say polymer... makes me feel better about it. The bolt slide rails, the trigger, the HAMMER and the outer shell are all polymer. On each part of the rifle, there is some metal with the serial number engraved (lower half, upper half, rail attachement area, barrel, and bolt assembly).
The cheesy plastic cleaning rod included with the Storm works okay, but it is almost the exact diameter of the chamber. I've found I can't use a lot of patch when cleaning with it. Hoppes No. 9, a brush and patches for the barrel, CLP to clean the bolt assembly, a little grease on the rails, STP's Son of a Gun or Armorall for keeping the plastic outer shell looking nice.
So the gun I said I'd never own is now part of my collection and I do not regret it at all!
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