Small details that you missed or enjoy in the GL Saga

Great stuff! Those details you cite, and the way you explain them, are powerfully indicative of how masterfully GL crafts his worlds. This helpful metal droid is also the opposite of what Padme's husband is being made into in that same moment, also contrasting poignantly with the bulk of the movie (a sort of modern-day yet otherworldly grimdark masterpiece), its calming presence and appearance offering relief to the travellers (i.e., the viewers) who have stayed with the film text and come this far. If there were a subtitle for this part of the movie, it might be something like "A long time ago in a medical facility far, far away...."


* * *

The birth of the Skywalker twins: about as mythic as the birth of Darth Vader, their father; and as they are born, so their parents die. A sort of in-movie metaphor for the dying of the prequel light as it gives way to the fallen, found-future world of the OT. The strange and the lofty collapsing into the mundane and the sublimely normal: classical jazz to light pop. Snobby analogy, perhaps; but the world changes, sometimes gets a little cruder, a little more present-tense and immediate, leaving a desire and a nostalgia for what was. And if George doesn't capture that perfectly...

* * *

There's also a contrast (of sorts) within the prequels here. From the clickety-clacking sound of the Battle Droids and assorted Jar Jar hijinks in Watto's junk shop and the plains of Naboo, to a a serene, elegant, floating droid in gentle surroundings, not long after an operatic lava battle has taken place, calming a young woman in distress. In SW, contrasts are ever occurring and companions are everywhere; nothing and nobody is ever truly alone. 



You've spotted some nice details here. I had to highlight your middle paragraph -- brilliance!!!

(Seems I was sort of inadvertently deploying the same basic historical motif in my preceding commentary on the birthing droid and the stylistic/tonal difference between the trilogies).

And yes, the journey to Otoh Gunga, including Otoh Gunga itself, is very magical and Jules Verne-esque. In fact, Otoh Gunga feels like a very holy and sacred place, and unlike anything shown in the OT. It is where "the gods" (i.e., the Gungan Council) reside. Jar Jar even tells Qui-Gon that his service to him is "demanded by the gods". Jar Jar may have been banished, but he still has faith.

In keeping with so many human authorities and earthly disappointments (that SW holds a mirror to; for it is both mirror and allegory), we see quite clearly on Otoh Gunga that the gods themselves are corrupt and need to be reminded (by Qui-Gon) of Jar Jar's innocence and worth -- of the worthiness of innocence itself. If paradise turns out to be an improvement on an earthly existence, yet still somewhat harsh and limited, we all should hope to be as wholesome as Jar Jar and for a Qui-Gon to argue our case. 

Anyway, another neat detail in the ensuing battle on Naboo, being fought heroically by the Gungans, since displaced from the paradise of Otoh Gunga (in a preview of the way our Jedi heroes will be displaced from Coruscant and the PT itself) is Captain Tarpals whistling to the troops to retreat. I swear, I always used to think he was whistling with his fingers, albeit loudly. However, I was watching that part of the movie earlier, in High Definition, and I noticed for the first time he is actually blowing into a small shell-like device:



The level of detail in these films is just astounding.

Okay, so Tarpals is in close-up (i.e., this isn't a "way-into-the-background detail"), but it's literally a moment that lasts a few seconds, and it goes by so fast you can't consciously take it all in -- I obviously didn't! Pretty sure nobody else was doing this level of CG character rendering and animation in 1999. Goshdarnit, George!!!

Yes!!! And I can kinda "prove" (visually) how easy it is to miss. For instance, the screenshot I used above is from the 4K gallery for TPM on StarWarsScreencaps.com.

The 2K gallery, however, only has the following shot (of the close-up of Tarpals "whistling"):



Now, that looks superficially similar, and because you've seen the 4K one already, your brain now likely "sees" the whistle. But, in my opinion, it's nowhere near as readable as the 4K version. In the 2K shot, it looks more like Tarpals is scrunching his digits (his digital digits -- haha) together, or sticking his tongue out (as Jar Jar does earlier in the movie: i.e., visual precedent) and performing a weird whistling technique on his hand.

Interestingly, as I've just discovered, the whistle device was -- depending on your POV -- only officially acknowledged in 2017:

starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Gungan_whistle


So, forty years after Star Wars was born, it officially gained whistles. Or Gungan whistles.

It's kind of a weird thing to think about, but if a thing isn't noticed or itemised before it is, can it be properly said to exist?

"If an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist."

I don't think I've ever noticed Leia in the background here before, being chat up by a guy showing her dank anti-Empire memes.


And the acting the person as Paploo does in this scene had me in stitches this time.

Something about the way he keeps looking down at the lever, like some silly, playful puppy or something.

And amongst the commotion of this scene, I recently noticed one of the Rebel soldiers fall over backwards (bottom center), and I wanted to go back and see if he'd been pushed by a stormtrooper or something.

No, he tripped over the one laying behind him, haha. Now I'm just wondering if it was planned that way or not.

Rick Worley returns with this monster.
Every Time Star Wars Quotes Star Wars
youtu.be/AAAoqrCLC-E

As far back as the first time I saw TPM, I've always like that smirk Qui-Gon makes when Watto says, "I hope you didn't-a kill anyone I know for it." So gangster!

I like the little detail of Shmi saying, "I'm not gonna tell you again!" to Anakin. It's a nice snippet of real life, and shows Anakin isn't a weirdly perfect angel.

Yes! Which goes with


Which I'm sure is real.

Oh yeah, this is classic Hayden - and good chemistry, for that matter! 

ah, i've been noticing that for a long time. Probably since 2009 or maybe before. But it's one of those things that you might not notice at first