Opinions on the Star Wars prequels

[sdp]

I was still a kid when I watchedThe Phantom Menace: The most hated and controversial movie ever right? Well not only did I like it as a kid but I still do and I also think it's the best prequel. It gets a ton of undeserved hate and stupid little things are nitpicked and reacted as if they were this huge deal. Jar Jar Binks? I don't mind him too mucch, in fact I like his Goofy-like clumsyness in certain parts of the movie. Young Anakin? Great, I love the idea of this little boy being Darth Vader. Midichlorians? When I originally watched the movie I didn't even understand the implication of what this meant but the internet quickly made me realize and yeah it's not something I like but it's also not something that I go crazy about. Pod racing? Goes on for a little too long, not sure what people like about it, it's ok.

I like that they go to Planet Naboo and generally the story. I love the political parts as well. It felt like a good start that showed us what the universe was like before the dark times, before the Empire. Maul was cool, I didn't mind him dying he was a cool villain that maybe wouldn't have worked if he had been in other movies. Quigon Jinn is my favorite Jedi, easily no questions. The music is great and the last lightsaber fight was awesome and the internet has spoiled it for me with all the complains about it. Also really like the design of the Naboo Starfighter. R2-D2 origin? cool. C-3P0 as without armor? cool. I definitely have problems with it. C-3PO being created by Anakin? Such a bad decision. Anakin being a virgin birth? Not necessary and easily the worse than Midichlorians (which cocieved him I guess). Obi-Wan? I just don't care about him here, he's boring. Anakin flying the naboo starfighter? ugh. Blowing up the command center like the Death Star? ugh.


Attack of the Clones: I watched in my teens and loved it, I wasnt even hyped for the movie until the last few days. Now? I have a bunch of problems with it but I still like many moments from it. Jango Fett? Sure he's a cheap character pretty much being Boba Fett but I don't care, he's awesome. Darth Tyrannus? Loved him, and he made an amazing villain that could easily live up to Maul and there was potential to make him somewhat of a grey character after his awesome speech to Obi=Wan. Battle of Geneosis? Fantastic. Anakin? Liked how he lost his arm and the Sand People segment, very well done.Wish he hadn't died though or had gotten a slightly better death. Boba Fett? Ugh hate the idea of him being so young. Padme? So she's a princess and now a Senator? Ugh, they should've just picked one from the start. Boba Fett? Now we didn't really need to know a lot about him nor give him an origin story, it's ridiculous young Boba get's more screentime than adult Boba in the OT. The clone story/detective parts of the story? Awesome! Though they never resolve the mystery very well in the actual movie. Obi-Wan? The character never grew on me, liked that he now had a beard but he could never live up to Quigon and can't see him becoming the Obi-Wan I loved in the OT. Anakin? Terrible actor and dialog and what a bratty attitude, nothing likeable about him, he ruins the whole movie as much as the.....romantic elements? ugh, handled so badly, it's a disaster, ruins the movie. The politics? great again! Jar Jar? Why the heck is he a senator? I would've preferred to have him as slapstick who hung around the main cast. R2-D2/C-3PO? Ugh, totally unnecessarily to have them in this movie and they are 100% worse than Jar Jar, I don't care what anyone says. Yoda? I preferred puppet yoda of Episode I that everyone hates, his fighting with a lightsaber was awesome the first time I saw it but after that first time it's just ridiculous, I guess I could live with it if this had been a one off thing.


I graduated HS the day Revenge of the Sith came out I also wasn't too hyped but thought as soon as I saw the movie I would fall in love with SW again like I did with Ep. 2. I came out hating the movie while everyone else claimed that Lucas had been redeemed by this movie and how it was better than the OT with the exception of Empire. Of course all those opinions are gone now but for a good year or so the general consensus of the internet was that this was a great movie. I never liked it, I grew to like some parts later though. Order 66? Really? that's how all Jedi die? what a bummer. Killing Dook so quickly in the opening act without any consequences? lame, Anakin should've turned to the darkside while fighting him. Anakin's turn? Beyond pathetic so terrible, this should've been the focus of the movie, I still don't understand his turn. Padme's death? ugh. R2-D2/C-3PO? Somehow more annoying than in Ep.2. Griveous: The awesome looking droid from the posters? Is a wuss and is killed whithin seconds, as someone who didn't watch the cartoon I just saw a wasted potentially awesome character. Palpatine not getting an awesome reveal he was the Sith lord? Why?! Sure we all knew it was him but at least have a big reveal, he just randomly tells Anakin at the Opera scene. Now I like the dialog in that scene but not that there is no shock just everything is casually said and then the Jedi randomly find out. After the awesome build up of EP.1 and 2 they ruin it. Yoda and Palpatine being Kung-Fu jumping lightsaber duelists? That was the moment I thought this movie was trash from the first time I saw it. Windu's death? wasn't that bad, I liked it.


Now all the prequels have cool stuff in them but the love story and Anakin's adult actor are just terrrible as are the added scenes with the droids/yoda. They are far from bad though and I can sit through them without problems. They just don't hit the notes the OT does. My biggest problem like I mentioned is the time period, for me the Clone Wars had to had happened many many years before ANH, not just 10 or 15 like the canon now dictates. It doesn't make sense that the Empire was in control for such little time before the Emperor dies in RotJ. How did the Jedi become forgotten in only a decade or so, that's just stupid. Yoda goes from super agile to super old man in only ten years? lame.

[TigerClaw]

I have no problems with the Prequels, I enjoyed them, I'll never forget seeing the Phantom Menace with a friend at a midnight showing all those years ago.

[CyberCubed]

Its weird how lackluster Natalie Portman was in the prequels. She's a popular actress with tons of emotional well acted scenes in other movies, what happened here?

Its funny, usually Star Wars roles make someone hugely famous, but Natalie Portman is never remembered for her Padme but for her roles in other movies. I think that's how you know something went wrong here when a Star Wars role wasn't her most popular role in movies.

[chrisdude]

Originally Posted by Leo656

It seems like it might in some small part be influenced by how old a person was when they first got into Star Wars. I grew up "liking" it without having actually seen a lot of it, but I don't think I ever sat through an entire movie until I was like 12, when they re-released the originals on VHS and I borrowed them from my friend and watched them all. It kind of seems like if you were younger when you first saw them, you take it all more seriously and have more strict standards for them, and if you got into them around the age I did you're a little more loose with it. Not universally, just in general.

Like I see the stuff that's not great bout the Prequels, but I think when people obsess over it, they kind of willfully ignore how much stuff isn't great about the originals. There's good and bad in everything.

I saw the original when the special edition came to theaters. Which would make me ten years old. I watched the prequel trilogy as they came out, and Episode 3 released just as I graduated high school. It was after I got the prequel trilogy DVDs for the following Christmas that I rented the originals and watched the full series. So I didn't see Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi until I was 19.

I'm about to watch them all again, so I'll see how I feel at 28. They're good stories, but it's the coolness that I feel like I just don't see.

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Its weird how lackluster Natalie Portman was in the prequels. She's a popular actress with tons of emotional well acted scenes in other movies, what happened here?

Its funny, usually Star Wars roles make someone hugely famous, but Natalie Portman is never remembered for her Padme but for her roles in other movies. I think that's how you know something went wrong here when a Star Wars role wasn't her most popular role in movies.

It might be because she was like 18 and not very good.

[NinjaPug]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Its weird how lackluster Natalie Portman was in the prequels. She's a popular actress with tons of emotional well acted scenes in other movies, what happened here?

The dialogue from George Lucas happened. Every actor in the prequels had **** to work with.

[Shark_Blade]

Originally Posted by sdp

I was still a kid when I watchedThe Phantom Menace: The most hated and controversial movie ever right? Well not only did I like it as a kid but I still do and I also think it's the best prequel.

Agree! Phantom Menace is the best Star Wars movie ever imo.

I can list loads of things why I like it. Jarr Jarr is the only jarring (pun intended) thing I guess but I can easily overlook that.

Pros


- Duel of Fates : Most kickass epic song ever to be produced in SW history imo. Even better than the opening credits of Star Wars.





- Darth Maul > Darth Vader/Darth Sidious/Darth whatevers. He's lethal and dangerous, quick, pose a threat and look the most menacing. And he doesn't talk much or drawl or monologue on and on like the others that bores you to tears. Action speaks louder than words.




- First time ever 2 Jedis fighting together
- Liam Neeson is a great actor. When he talks I can't help but put my entire focus and attention on him. Very charismatic and gripping.





- Planet Naboo is beautiful. The city, the Palace, it's interior, magnificent.
- Costumes are excellent.




- Female empowerment with modern style: Queen Amidala. I love that ethnic groove (kinda chinese/japanese makeup) and fashion she got going, very unique and sophisticated.

- Story is straightforward back to basic saving damsel in distress (but the girl is not completely helpless or useless. No, Amidala was strong), yet immersive and enjoyable for me. And I guess I'm traditional in that sense, I love saving the girl kinda story.

And I'm sure there's loads other reasons to love Phantom Menace that I've yet to cover.

[Peanut]

So many bad posts in a roooooow.

Except Ninjapug. Dead on.

[TheBlueTurtle1]

I love episode 1-3. Nothing wrong with them. People just think it's cool to jump on some sort of hate bandwagon. They have done it with the Hobbit movies aswell. Which IMO are awesome and much more in depth than the LOTRs movies. Even tho I still love LOTRs, fellowship being my fav movie ever.

Anyway, George Lucas did exactly what he set out to do, and that was bring Star Wars to a new generation.

I agree they have flaws and some bits are a little(how should I say this) stiff?

The originals also have bad points, but fans shy away from those for some reason.

Long story short, I like all 6 movies, and I think people should just stop being so nit picky.

[Shark_Blade]

Wean McGregor is such a dedicated actor.

[Amaranthus]

I see Shark_Blade has made liking sh*tty movies his gimmick.

[Ninja Arnold]

I don't think the past of Star Wars turned out like some of us thought it would. Sometimes the backstory of a character doesn't need to be told. Boba Fett might have been better as a mystery. Still ranks in my top 20 of best movies. Its Star Wars so its good. Unless its bad. In this case to me the prequels are not as good as the first 3 original films. Attack of the Clones is my favorite because of characters. You get a cool Sith Lord and then there's Jango Fett. I might have liked episode 3 better if the Obi-Wan and Anakin duel took place earlier in the film, so we could see more of the Empire.

[Netkeeper]

I'll watch them if someone wants to watch them, but I don't really put them on for myself. Well, aside from Phantom Menace, but that's only because I like Qui-Gon Jinn. A lot.

I'm not particularly huge on Star Wars but the original trilogy was so much more interesting than these.

[Walkabout]

Hey look, I'm an 80's kid and have loved Star Wars since before I can remember.

I can't bring myself to say any of the prequels are great or even good though, they're pretty dire and WHY THE F*$K DID THEY HAVE TO MAKE ANAKIN SUCH A G$*AMN PUSSY??!!!???

There's cool bits in all three movies, but there's just so much wrong in them too...a whole lot of terrible acting.
I remember reading Carrie Fischer saying that people used to say the acting in the originals was wooden until they saw the prequels.

* Anakin is a whiny pussy the whole way through
* the dialogue and acting is overwhelmingly bad
* too much lightsaber silliness
* things like Midichlorians, younglings and padawans make me feel uneasy
* too many wasted action scenes instead of plot driven ones

[Foombamaroom]

Not gonna lie, I feel that if the Star Wars prequels weren't Star Wars prequels, I think I would've liked them more. I'm not gonna type a whole page like everyone else, but I'm gonna cover the main points that really bothered me, and then a summary of the biggest thing that the prequels did wrong.


Phantom Menace: This movie bad because it's so damn boring. The politics crap was just.... blegh. Kid-Anakin perturbed me very much, and the plot was just so goddamn stupid. The first 15 minutes and the last 30 minutes are okay to watch, but other than that, nope. Also, I don't really see why people love Darth Maul the way they do. Like, yeah, he was a badass, and probably the only other redeemable thing about this movie, but he wasn't really a 'character', just a boss battle.

Attack of the Clones was just unbearable. Instead of just politics, we get forced romanceand politics. I think this is the movie that really shows just how bad of a screenwriter Lucas is, because good ****ing god, his writing mixed with Hayden Christensen's acting is unbearable. I think Christensen's acting was also bad because of Lucas' directing, because Lucas had so much control over these movies and how the characters moved around. Plus, Lucas was able to take an actor like CHRISTOPHER LEE and turn him into a joke. It was just... Easily the worst out of the prequels. I find this kinda ironic because Empire is the second movie in the original trilogy, and it's regarded as the best, while this is the second movie in the prequel trilogy, and it's my least favorite. Same with how 3 is the typically the worst in the original trilogy, while 3 is the best in the prequel trilogy

Revenge of the Sith is a whole 'nother story. The first half of this movie is basically like the first two prequels AGAIN, except with a lot more action. Still bogged down by Hayden Christensen's acting, bad writing, bad directing, and so much CGI. But the second half of this movie? Holy ****.

I just watched all of these movies last night for Halloween as a marathon, because I needed SOMETHING scary to watch, and I was VERY impressed with the second half of this movie, especially with John William's score. While this movie can't hold a candle to the originals, I still love the emotion in the back half of this movie. The second Palpatine tells Anakin that he'll be known as Darth Vader is when the movie really became good in my eyes. I loved the attack on the temple, I loved Order 66, and I loved the music throughout the movie. But I think the main thing that really got me? Darth Vader vs. Obi-Wan.

That fight scene was amazing. As choreographed as it was, the music gave it this sort of tension that these two were brothers and that this was it: this is the battle we've been waiting for. And it really didn't disappoint. I also really loved the dialogue between Obi-Wan and Anakin at the end. "You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you!" You can literally feel the pain in his voice because THIS is when Obi-Wan died and became Ben Kenobi. And I honestly loved it.

Another scene that I feel gets really overlooked is the fact that they had Padme's death mixed in with Vader's transformation. I really liked that. It kinda symbolized the end of the Republic and the birth of the Empire, setting up the good vs. evil conflict we all know and love.

All in all, the prequel trilogy sucks as Star Wars movies, but they're okay by themselves. Revenge of the Sith was easily the best because when you go back and watch the original trilogy, I feel there are more moments that you can feel emotion to. Like this, for example.




However, my main gripe with the prequels? It's not an adventure. It's not real. The original trilogy used such great sets and characters, and they took these characters across the stars on an adventure. It showed good vs. evil. That was lost in the prequels. It didn't feel organic at all. It felt like this cheap sci-fi cheesefest rather than the fantasy adventure that Luke, Han, and Leia had gone on. The characters were unlikeable, too. The only one I liked was Obi-Wan, since Ewan McGregor was fantastic in that role, but that's it. If they had gone COMPLETELY dark like what they did with Empire, they would've been better, but the overuse of CGI and no human emotion to it made them so awful. That's why I liked Revenge more than the others: it HAS some emotion to it. Not as much as the originals, but some. Because when you watch ROTJ and watch the death again, it hits you hard. You see nothing but sadness. You see nothing but misery in Vader's eyes. And finally, he's at peace. I just hope the Sequel Trilogy can capture emotion, too.

[GoldMutant]

I will probably binge on a viewing of all the films before the new one, but in case anyone's forgotten, here's some of the greatest dialogue known to man.

I don't like sand, it's coarse and rough and it gets everywhere."

"From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!"

[ObiWanFan4life]

The prequel trilogy has its merits: The music is fantastic, the lightsaber duels are entertaining, Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid play Obi Wan and Palpatine well, and there's a better sense of scope than the originals. However, they suffered from an over reliance on special effects, bad writing, and bad acting/dialogue.

Though, to be fair, the original trilogy had hokey dialogue and spotty acting. However, whereas Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher had chemistry in those movies, the leads in the prequels were given crappy dialogue and poor direction.