Stargate

Roland Emmerich was a celebrated director of small-budget science fiction films when he teamed up with American actor/producer Dean Devlin to make the high-kicking Jean-Claude Van Damme film Universal Soldier in 1992. The movie was a box-office success, and Emmerich followed it up with the interstellar action flick Stargate, a surprise hit that spawned a television series. His sci-fi blockbusters Independence Day (1996, with Will Smith) and Godzilla (1998, with Matthew Broderick) and The Patriot (2000, with Mel Gibson) placed him solidly in the class of big-time movie makers.

Studio Lions Gate
Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation is a Canadian entertainment company that originated in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Dean Devlin producer
Oliver Eberle producer
Ute Emmerich co-producer
Mario Kassar executive producer
Joel B. Michaels producer
Ramsey Thomas line producer: pre-production
Peter Winther associate producer

The unexpected box office takings of this sleeper sci-fi hit no doubt gave other sci-fi projects the green light and so 1995 saw more than the usual number of SF flicks. For that alone it must be thanked by special effects aficionados. Post-Stargate sci-fi movies seem to offer little else - witness the team behind this film, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin's next effort: Independence Day

Total lifetime grosses
Domestic: $71,567,262
Foreign: $125,000,000
Opening Weekend: $16,651,018

Stargate received mostly poor reviews gaining a 43% rating on review collection website Rottentomatoes.com. Most of the negative reviews focused on the overuse of special effects, thinness of plot and excessive use of clichés with Roger Ebert going so far as to say, "the movie Ed Wood, about the worst director of all time, was made to prepare us for Stargate." However the positive reviews stated that it was an "instant camp classic", and praised the film for its special effects and entertainment value, with Chris Hicks of the Deseret News calling it "Star Wars meets Ben Hur

Synopsis: Two very different men join forces to unravel the mystery of a stargate, an ancient human transmitter, discovered in the Egyptian desert. Once activated, it enables scientists and the military to travel light years from earth, to a strange and alien world, where the visitors must overcome an enigmatic ruler

TPRD-240

Michael Cassamasse
TPRD-240
01-25-09

My favorite movie genre is science fiction, and for television it is drama.
I enjoy science fiction movies because they allow me to escape from the reality of the real world and have fantastic adventures. I imagine myself flying across the universe in an extraordinary space craft and exploring new worlds. TV dramas like heroes. Heroes may be called a sci-fi drama. With ordinary people who develop extraordinary powers and how they deal with those powers in there every day lives. As a young child I would always read comic books and wish I had powers like some of the superheroes. Star wars being a classic sci-fi movie, can also classified as a space opera.

I like cinematic languages like story, visual elements, and acting. First you need to have a good story otherwise I will not be interested at all. A movie with a story I am not interested in, is probably a movie I will not see on my own. Secondly I enjoy over the top special effects. I like things blowing up, I believe every man loves a good explosion, and I am no different. Car chases, gun fights. Once again what guy does not enjoy a good gunfight? Lastly there has to be good acting, nothing kills a movie like horrible acting.

I enjoy good sci-fi movies for there outlook on the future, and what science may bring to use at some point. They have anything from instant teleportation, to flying around space in a space ship or fighting giant space battles. My all time favorite movie is the empire strikes back. I enjoy a good drama on TV for there ability to use drama to tell a compelling story. Something about a good drama just sucks me in. I am not very big on drama in my own life, but on TV I just love it!

Return Of The Jedi

Michael Cassamasse

TPRD-240

Feb, 13. 2009

Return Of The Jedi

In my opinion the exposition for Return of the Jedi, would have to come from the scrolling text at the beginning of the movie. It gives us a run down of the events preceding, and a glimpse of what is to come.

The rising action comes late in the movie. It is the battle of endor, where the rebel forces and the empire have there final and deciding battle. It is over lapped with the fight between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Moving from the ground battle where they try and destroy the shield generators, to the giant space battle above, and the epic lightsaber battle between Luke and Vader.

I would have to say the climax would be when Vader kills the emperor, there is still more fighting to be done, but that is defiantly the turning point.

The falling action would be the rest of the space battle between the rebels and the imperial forces. Where the alliance finally destroy the second deathstar

The denouement is the giant party thrown on endor where we see the spirits of the fallen jedi masters.

There are too many major characters to list them all, but I will tell you about the top six. First the heroes also called protagonists. Luke Skywalker is the main protagonist of the Star Wars films Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He is portrayed by Mark Hamill.

Luke Skywalker plays a major role in the original trilogy as he learns the ways of the Jedi and becomes an important figure in the Rebel Alliance, leading the struggle against the Galactic Empire. As the son of the former Jedi Anakin Skywalker, he is heir to a family deeply powerful in the Force. Han Solo is introduced in A New Hope as a roguish space smuggler who becomes involved in the Rebel Alliance against the evil Galactic Empire. Over the course of this film and its sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Solo becomes a chief figure in the Alliance. Star Wars creator George Lucas describes him as a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good. A towering Wookiee, Chewbacca stands 7 feet 4 3/4 inches tall and is 200 years old. He is best known as the first mate of Han Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon. According to Entertainment Weekly he is one of the greatest sidekicks in film history. He is a flat character.

The bad guys or villains also called antagonists. First up Darth Vader, also known as Lord Vader, is the central antagonist in George Lucas's first three Star Wars films and Revenge of the Sith, voiced by James Earl Jones and portrayed physically by David Prowse in the original Star Wars trilogy. Vader is one of the most iconic villains of all time, and was listed as the third greatest movie villain of all time on a list by AFI. Emperor Palpatine abandons any semblance of democracy. His empire was based on tyranny, hatred of nonhumans, brutal and lethal force, and, above all else, constant fear. Jabba The Hutt serves as a minor antagonist throughout the initial series, where he is shown abusing his many cohorts, putting a bounty on Solo's head, attempting to kill Luke Skywalker and kidnapping Princess Leia for use as a slave.

I feel that the music in return of the jedi is both diegetic and nondiegetic, with the score or soundtrack being nondiegetic and adding to the Mise-En-Scene of the movie. At the same time there are times within the film that the music becomes diegetic. The cantina band and cantina band #2 played in the Cantina on Tatooine. The diegetic title for the first Cantina band piece is "Mad About Me". The liner notes for the 1997 Special Edition release of the Episode IV soundtrack describe the concept behind these works as several creatures in a future century finding some 1930's Benny Goodman swing band music, and how they might attempt to interpret it. This piece also appears on an all the outtakes Easter eggs on the DVDs from episode I and II and on the bonus disc of the 2004 original trilogy DVD set.

Robert Roten, February 6, 1997 "Star Wars" is back with some extra footage and better special effects, but since we've seen it so many times there are no real surprises. I envy those people who are now seeing it for the first time.

I saw this Sunday night at the Fox Theatre. The print was very sharp and clear. The colors were bright and dazzling. I don't know if this film is brighter than most movies, or if the projector light was set brighter for this film. The special effects were better than ever, having been reworked by director George Lucas' own special effects house, Industrial Light and Magic.

Some of the extra footage, like the scene with Jabba the Hut, should make the series flow together better, filling in some of the gaps, but several of the added scenes were not really needed.

Several people in the audience laughed at Mark Hamill's squeaky voice. I'd forgotten how young he was back in 1977. He really grew up during the series. I'd also forgotten about the solid acting by Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels and the others in the supporting cast. What's best about the film is that is ambitious. It is a sweeping epic with classical themes lifted from the teachings of Joseph Campbell, but it maintains strong central characters. "Independence Day," released last year, shares some of those virtues.

Audiences have always loved those kinds of movies, but until "Star Wars" came out, Hollywood had always relegated them to low-budget films "B" films like "Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers." When "Star Wars" first came out, I remembered thinking, "Finally, somebody made the movie I've been waiting for!"

There are those who hate the fact that Hollywood makes films that people want to see. They want every film to be an "art" film. They can't stand the idea of people having fun at the movies. A recent Newsweek article even made the argument that Lucas and Spielberg "ruined" the movies. What self-centered bunk.

I think art films are fine, but I'm very fond of entertaining movies like "Star Wars," "Forrest Gump" and "Independence Day" as well. I'm glad to see a few million people agree with me on that. "Star Wars" rates an A.

Robert Roten, February 6, 1997. Laramie Movie Scope: Star Wars.

A science fiction classic returns with a few new scenes. Retrieved Feb 13, 2009, from http://www.lariat.org/AtTheMovies/old/starwars.html