Why the 'Star Wars' Prequels Are Better Than the Original Trilogy

[TheAlmightyPoe]

I never really understood what the motivation behind all the competition between the two trilogies, like what has been said previously, all six movies are apart of a big collective series, called STAR WARS.

 

I don't remember watching the OT movies for the first time, I remember though spinning around the loungroom with an X-Wing in my hand during the Battle of Yavin though, much to my Dad's dog's dislike.

 

I recently purchased the Blu-Ray complete set, and watched 1 through 6, personally, it became really difficult to watch 4, 5 and 6 due to the technological differences between the two, it's hard downgrading in quality visually when it comes to something that in essence was a sequel, but in certain aspects it matches the whole feel of the Rebellion.

 

Another thing that made it hard to stomach 4-6, was the fact that 1-3 were more complex, in essence it's just good vs bad, which personally I find to be very distasteful. In the prequel trilogy, it's not so simple, it's like looking out to the ocean, OT is the surface, and PT attempted to go deeper.

 

In my own opinion, I loved the PT over the OT, I'm a potentially pessimistic person by nature, so I enjoyed the more negative tones than the poorly generic "Herioc Ventures" made by a rag tag group of random people.

 

However, I understand a few things that people are complaining about, things like Jar Jar Binks(in some instances, not all, too much sometimes can be a bad thing.) Also the lack of a home ship like the Falcon, but understand this, the PT wasn't made to match the OT, it wasn't made to be like the OT, they're separate movies, the PT was made to show the fall of Anakin, it wasn't made to be like OT's lost twin brother.

 

Another nit-pick of mine is how people are complaining about the love between Anakin and Padme, saying that it's poorly done, I've watched the second movie, and the portrayal of their bond seems very much like majority of relationships I see among teenagers these days. In ROTS, I personally can feel their relationship getting much more serious, evidently in the fact that they're having a child, and that he's willing to leave the Jedi Order to have a normal life with her, remember in TPM how he said he wanted to be a Jedi and go to every planet?

 

That's another thing, Anakin was "whiny" because he grew up being attached to things, and the loss that follows can really hurt. I've lost my mother in a similar instance, and I have to say, I'd do exactly what Anakin did, slaughter the lot of them, and then subconsciously force part of my guilt for not being able to save her onto someone else and also bear with it myself, evident by how he says Obi-Wan is holding him back, and that he should be stronger. Remember how in TPM he claimed he was going to come back and free the slaves? Well guess what, he failed, he lost the one person who was there with him from the beginning, and he couldn't do anything about it.

 

His ambition to become stronger to prevent losing those he cared about is truly represented through out the movie, by what he says and is actions, he is also constantly trying to prove himself to people, namely the Jedi Masters, in particular; Obi Wan. Also one could say he's trying to prove things to himself.

 

Also, I don't really feel that Anakin was someone who was evil, he did what he thought was right, and in those few instances where he did things he knew weren't right, they probably haunted him, it tore him inside.

 

The main character for TPM was Qui-Gon Jinn, he was portrayed in that movie to show that not all Jedi had the mentality for no emotions, and that Anakin truly could have been the greatest Jedi if not for the other people involved in his life.

 

Another nitpick, I don't really see how what Anakin does at the end of TPM to be far-fetched, if that boy can handle a pod-racer then I'm sure he can handle a space flight, not to mention he did have support from R2. In my own opinion, I find it easier to believe a small fighter flying into a large hanger bay and destroying it from the inside instead of flying through a space trench and firing a torpedo into a hole, sounds immensely more like a metaphor for sexual intercourse than an actual space conflict.

 

Me and my girlfriend talked a lot about the movies when I watched all six a few weeks ago, and we pretty much came to the conclusion that it was because Anakin tried so hard to achieve things that he was in a way setting himself up to fail, because he was setting all these standards for himself which he couldn't meet. In the end, even though he wanted to save Padme, it was he in the end who caused her to let go of life.

 

I've probably missed a few other things, I've had a lot of this stuff floating around in my head as I've lurked these boards for the past few months, finally felt like posting, so yeah, my 2 cents.

 

Also, how anyone can watch the OT and say it's better is really pulling themselves, I can't keep a straight face anymore when I see this;

http://starwarsdotcom.com/star_wars/gallery/characters/pics/luke/esb_luke72.jpg

 

 

 

I too came with the conclusions you had. But the problem is, it takes speculating and reading into events. The actors showed emotion, but the truth behind their emotion was never revealed, it was all implied. that was the problem of the prequels.

[Setsugetsuka]

I guess at that point it folds down to each their own, as each person has their own way of how they go about watching movies. Personally I prefer going into detail with peoples motives and psych, whereas a lot of the OT was a more, I'm doing this cause it's a good thing to do, and only for that reason.

 

I personally think that there a lot of subtle things that people don't pick up mainly because they just want to see a movie as a movie, and not a completely thought out storyline with all these intricate details, which all in all, is a completely fair tactic. What isn't fair though, is imposing your views on someone else saying that they're wrong because they don't like what you like, in the most basic way of saying it.

 

(I like the small touches they put in movies, for example, something I didn't notice until today, in the movie Dodgeballs, starring Vince Vaughn, at the very end the chest has the words "Dues Ex Machina" written on it; DEM is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object. Irrelevant, but I found it interesting, and it goes to show that there a hundreds of small subtle cues that just fly over our heads because we instead just want to be captured in a moment.)

[GalenDurron]

I couldnt bring myself to read all of it, despite that, I think I can still safely reply with a simple: No.

 

What he said.

[Heley]

I was always of the view that the original trilogy was worlds better.

 

That being said, I watched the originals sometime last week, and came to the conclusion that actually, they're not better, not even slightly.

 

IMHO it boils down to people who were around when the originals came out, (I'm 23, but was around when the remastered versions came out, and honestly, I was obsessed, this is years before the prequels FYI) have a fantastical view of the original trilogy. It's common in society for people for people to remember "the good old'" days with an almost romantic fondness.

 

I honestly believe that this is the case. The prequels were a lot deeper, and had reasonably intelligent plot lines.

 

The originally trilogy is has so e real over the top cheese in them (DEATHstar anybody).

 

At the end of the day, both sets of movies are fantastic, and I enjoy all 6 of them. With the exception of Jar Jar Binks, the prequels don't deserve anything close to the amount of slating they get.

 

Just my opinion.

[achrystie]

I actually agree that the more complex premise of the prequels is better.

 

However, it's the "delivery" of that story, along with the poorly developed stories that run parallel (the love story, the transition from Anakin to Vader, etc.) that make the prequels pretty bad.

 

All the great ideas in the world are useless if the fundamental implementation is poor.

 

BTW, I'm glad you worked in some more USA bashing as well. ALL US citizens truly are stupid, as opposed to other places where the "enlightened masses" apparently dominate culture so fully that it must be a regular Utopia to live in their respective countries.

[SNEAKYSIX]

The original is still the best. has to be, the only thing thats dated are the hair cuts.

My girlsfriends son wouldnt watch movies that didnt have CGI he is 15. He didnt want to watch the original clash of the titans for poor effects. Yet these movies we grew up knowing, the effects in star wars were fantastic for their time and era. The added CGI later just completes them. The acting was far better with less wooden dialogue. A certain Anakin actor destroyed the last 2 movies and watched the last one to see him get a beating. Its just a matter of era choice not fact. I enjoyed the originals far better. (days before health and safety and beating each other in back garden with garden canes,,,, you will turn to the dark side)

Edited February 20, 2012 by SNEAKYSIX

[karnyboy]

I see all six as one big film, just different chapters, like Lord of the Rings, will never understand OT vs PT, just petty children from the 70s arguing with petty children from the early 2000s, I think both groups need to do some growing up.

 

I'm not form the 70's I am a child of the 80's and I still think the prequels are garbage. While each trilogy has it's faults, the original has memorable chemistry between characters and an all around fantastic display of emotion.

 

The prequels script and acting is so cheesy I may as well go read a shakespeare play and try my best to not put any sort of emotion into it, wooden is the right word.

 

Prequels have cheesy CGI portions that weren't needed EVER (Clone Wars droid factory scene, ROTS and Anakin jumping onto a tiny stupid lava droid)

 

In fact, the prequels have TOO MUCH CGI! It totally removes you from the immersion, I can handle CGI characters, I love that, I can't handle CGI back grouns for everything that make it clearly look CGI, I also hate when they do prequels now a days just because the film tech from the 70's is a lot different than the film tech now. Just look at the set designs in OT to PT, PT looks so prim and clean like a hospital and everything in OT looks rugged and gritty and real.

[Commanche]

Anyone who uses dialogue or acting ability to try to distinguish between the 2 trilogies should have unspeakable experiments done on them until the learn. In all 6 films it's ALL TERRIBLE.

 

The 4-6 had a huge effect on popular culture as it told a story of a farmboy from a backward planet change the galaxy with his pals.

 

1-3 was basically a way to cash in on the Star Wars universe by explaining how Palpatine became Emperor and Vader got his hat.

[Lyynk]

Never thought of it like this... I'll reserve my judgement on whether I agree or not, but good post and good read.

[TheAlmightyPoe]

I guess at that point it folds down to each their own, as each person has their own way of how they go about watching movies. Personally I prefer going into detail with peoples motives and psych, whereas a lot of the OT was a more, I'm doing this cause it's a good thing to do, and only for that reason.

 

I personally think that there a lot of subtle things that people don't pick up mainly because they just want to see a movie as a movie, and not a completely thought out storyline with all these intricate details, which all in all, is a completely fair tactic. What isn't fair though, is imposing your views on someone else saying that they're wrong because they don't like what you like, in the most basic way of saying it.

 

(I like the small touches they put in movies, for example, something I didn't notice until today, in the movie Dodgeballs, starring Vince Vaughn, at the very end the chest has the words "Dues Ex Machina" written on it; DEM is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object. Irrelevant, but I found it interesting, and it goes to show that there a hundreds of small subtle cues that just fly over our heads because we instead just want to be captured in a moment.)

 

The way you watch movies is very similar to mine. I personally love mind bending psychological thrillers. Where I can work on figuring out the ending before the main audience can. After watching the prequels i loved them. I was looking so deep into them and putting everything together without actually being given the information. In my head, the movies were awesome. Now, I watched them again a few weeks ago, and they were horrid. In TPM The plot is none to be seen, we're supposed to believe that qui-gon is a wise jedi, but he never does anythign wise. Obiwan is supposed to be a young rebellious padawan/jedi but all he does is whine the entire time. The trade federation was messing with some laws we never hear about. There is a prophecy of the chosen one, but where did this prophecy come from? Then you have the heroes try and put the entire world on their shoulders when they have no motive to do so. There are hundreds of jedis, but nope, its all up to quigon and his whiny sidekick obiwan. The movie doesnt make sense.

(its a beautiful movie tho)

 

Never going to talk about the second movie. flashbacks......haunt me.

 

And the third was a decent movie.

 

But the main problem with all of them is that we aren't given time to bond with the characters. Those special moments in which we are supposed to see, where the characters share an experience and become closer because of it, are all off screen events.

 

 

There is no reason to care for many of the characters....except jarjar.

 

Now, i hate jarjar like the next fan, but he is the only character that actually grew as the story unfolded. He was a clumsy useless gungan, who worked hard to become a hero who saved the day. He then later on became invested in politics, and forced the galaxy into the empire.

[Arkerus]

I was always of the view that the original trilogy was worlds better.

 

That being said, I watched the originals sometime last week, and came to the conclusion that actually, they're not better, not even slightly.

 

IMHO it boils down to people who were around when the originals came out, (I'm 23, but was around when the remastered versions came out, and honestly, I was obsessed, this is years before the prequels FYI) have a fantastical view of the original trilogy. It's common in society for people for people to remember "the good old'" days with an almost romantic fondness.

 

I honestly believe that this is the case. The prequels were a lot deeper, and had reasonably intelligent plot lines.

 

The originally trilogy is has so e real over the top cheese in them (DEATHstar anybody).

 

At the end of the day, both sets of movies are fantastic, and I enjoy all 6 of them. With the exception of Jar Jar Binks, the prequels don't deserve anything close to the amount of slating they get.

 

Just my opinion.

 

That's just...wrong.

 

 

The prequels are filmed with the utmost lazy direction possible. The actors are all cardboard, the CGI sequences are silly at best.

 

90% of the prequels are couch scenes when they weren't using CGI. Its almost laughable.

 

I can't say it any better than red letter media so I won't even try.

 

OK I'll try but you really need to watch red letter media.

 

I'll just say this. The Darth Vader when Lucas was in his prime is not the same Anakin he filmed in the trilogies.

 

The Darth Vader (Anakin) in the prequels is a whiney emo moron. That was not what Lucas described in the original trilogy. He was a good jedi, fallen from grace. What emo Anakin plays in the prequels is a grossly flawed idiot who you see "falling" from a mile away.

 

Everything about the prequels is awful, right down to the plot holes Lucas tried to fill in. Nothing makes sense. Everyone is an outright moron. There isn't even MOTIVE for half the characters.

 

Its just so BAD. Ugh.

 

 

Even beyond that, the film is just bad as a movie. None of the movies follow a tone. First its a kids movie, then its a comedy, then its an action films. Just all around terrible filmaking.

 

http://redlettermedia.com/

[TheRainstater]

@ OP. Very well thought out post. I have to agree that the over all story being told in episodes 1-3 was a far greater over all evolving story.

 

The only thing I did not like about the new ones was Jar Jar and that some of the acting... primarily that of the older Anakin was a bit lacking. He was kind of an emo. But I do really like the Clone Wars version of Anakin. I think the VO and animation is very well done and does a better job at telling us who Anakin was and really how power full he was.

 

 

FYI I am old enough I've seen the originals at the theater when they came out.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Paralassa
content

[Widow-Son]

While I agree the prequel backstory is more nuanced, I do not agree backstory makes something a better film.

 

The original trilogy has more nuanced characterizations. We actually identify with the main characters. The prequel trilogies do not have characters we can identify with. There's no "hero" with which to connect. So it's more akin to watching history rather than participating in that history.

 

Now if the backstory and the characterizations were both nuanced, and somebody other than George Lucas had directed, I think the films (prequels) would have been amazing. And if half the dialogue was thrown out.

 

To sum up the prequels: Action sequences = good. Characterizations sequences = atrocious.

 

YMMV

[TheAlmightyPoe]

While I agree the prequel backstory is more nuanced, I do not agree backstory makes something a better film.

 

The original trilogy has more nuanced characterizations. We actually identify with the main characters. The prequel trilogies do not have characters we can identify with. There's no "hero" with which to connect. So it's more akin to watching history rather than participating in that history.

 

Now if the backstory and the characterizations were both nuanced, and somebody other than George Lucas had directed, I think the films (prequels) would have been amazing. And if half the dialogue was thrown out.

 

To sum up the prequels: Action sequences = good. Characterizations sequences = atrocious.

 

YMMV

 

 

qft!!!!!!!!!!!

[MrSchmo]

Quick q about Episode 1

 

What does the Phantom Mence refer to? Does it have a double meaning? Or is it simply referring the darth Maul of another character.

[Arkerus]

While I agree the prequel backstory is more nuanced, I do not agree backstory makes something a better film.

 

The original trilogy has more nuanced characterizations. We actually identify with the main characters. The prequel trilogies do not have characters we can identify with. There's no "hero" with which to connect. So it's more akin to watching history rather than participating in that history.

 

Now if the backstory and the characterizations were both nuanced, and somebody other than George Lucas had directed, I think the films (prequels) would have been amazing. And if half the dialogue was thrown out.

 

To sum up the prequels: Action sequences = good. Characterizations sequences = atrocious.

 

YMMV

 

Yeah. I feel very similar to you. However, IMHO even the action sequences are cheesy and over the top.

 

Yoda frog saber = ridiculous and immersion breaking

most fight scenes = some good, some bad, all have utterly pointless sequences

Final fight between Obi Wan and Anakin = just plain stupid. Lava surfing? REALLY?

Edited February 20, 2012 by Arkerus

[Haajib]

Are you high?

 

The first movie was dull as dirt, the phantom was not darth maul, it was Qui gon, because his dull dialog made me wounder why i even paid to watch this movie in the first place?

 

The second movie has some of the worst romance crap i have ever seen in a 10 million + budget movie. The horrible acting, the worst dialog i have ever seen, it makes me sink into the sofa trying to escape from the crap i am watching

 

the third one, oh yeah the worst of them all. Clones with no feelings against droids with cartoon voices. the entire movieset was a bloody blue screen, and the action scene in the end, makes me wounder why it needed to be like 20 minutes? we already know how its going to end, and besides they fight again in the next movie, and they sure dont leap around like children all over the place in the death star.

[Enfuri]

If you look at the broad social themes that episodes 1-3 portray then there is a lot there. however, they are not a superior work of art.

 

Social themes aside, the prequel trilogy had worse acting, worse writing, worse plots, worse cinematography, worse general story telling, less emotional pull, and are just plain not as good as the original trilogy.

 

You can bring up the political commentary about the Cold War and present day political corruption/fall of democracy stuff but that does not mean that they were better movies. Like most works of fiction they reflect they attitudes of the times in which they were created but to say that one is better simply because the time they are reflecting is better is short sighted.

 

The prequels have a few things going for it but Palpatine's story and the elimination of the jedi is the only thing that is really compelling. Even in that there are lots of plot holes. Episode one is like one giant terrible plot hole. You can say that Palpatine's manipulation of the senate and rise to power is genius but thats pretty much a total of 10 minutes out of a 2 hour movie whereas the pod race/Tatooine sequence (which is a general waste of time from a story telling standpoint) takes up like 40 minutes.

 

Even if you look at it from the prospective of Anikan's story, the prequels tell his story in an incoherent and rushed way. His fall to the darkside is in many cases unbelievable. He goes from waking up that day to being a hero of the republic and goes to sleep that night after slaughtering hundreds of children all to save a wife who would surely love him and agree with his actions to do so.

 

The prequel trilogy does a good job at broad social commentary but fails when it comes to actually being good movies. The original trilogy was able to do both. So regardless of whether you think the time period is "better" the prequel movies are not.

[Arkerus]

Are you high?

 

The first movie was dull as dirt, the phantom was not darth maul, it was Qui gon, because his dull dialog made me wounder why i even paid to watch this movie in the first place?

 

The second movie has some of the worst romance crap i have ever seen in a 10 million + budget movie. The horrible acting, the worst dialog i have ever seen, it makes me sink into the sofa trying to escape from the crap i am watching

 

the third one, oh yeah the worst of them all. Clones with no feelings against droids with cartoon voices. the entire movieset was a bloody blue screen, and the action scene in the end, makes me wounder why it needed to be like 20 minutes? we already know how its going to end, and besides they fight again in the next movie, and they sure dont leap around like children all over the place in the death star.

 

But but but but LAVA SURFING!!!!!

 

And DARTH VADER! noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

 

Yeah, they were horrible.

[karnyboy]

It's common in society for people for people to remember "the good old'" days with an almost romantic fondness.

QUOTE]

 

If this were the case then the new Batman movies would not be so loved over the original Tim Burton pieces and the ones with <shudder> Joel Schumacher. Just because it's in the past doesn't mean it was or was not a great piece to begin with.

 

Good music and good movies are art, and art that is done correctly is timeless.

[BrandonSM]

Guys:

 

Note that DragonAgeOrigins is a professional troll on these forums. Just look through their posting history. I think this is the first DAO thread in a couple weeks that I haven't reported as trolling. All of them get closed and removed.

 

Don't feed it. Just debate on any other thread.

 

For liking the Prequels he is trolling?

 

People are entitled to their opinions.

[TheNightWatch]

I see all six as one big film, just different chapters, like Lord of the Rings, will never understand OT vs PT, just petty children from the 70s arguing with petty children from the early 2000s, I think both groups need to do some growing up.

 

Perfect, I was born in 91 was never a big fan of sw but liked it, anyway I like the prequels more I guess cuz in a futuristic setting the special effects make it more real but I guess if I was older and was there wen the first ever sw movie came out I'd maybe like it more since there was nothing like that at the time either way we get to play this awesome game out of everything so who cares

[KitRoakr]

Perfect, I was born in 91 was never a big fan of sw but liked it, anyway I like the prequels more I guess cuz in a futuristic setting the special effects make it more real but I guess if I was older and was there wen the first ever sw movie came out I'd maybe like it more since there was nothing like that at the time either way we get to play this awesome game out of everything so who cares

 

What you are describing is a classic case of being nostalgic with what you grew up with. The things that mark your childhood (which is usually a good thing) help you remember those less stressful days and if those markers are something you really enjoyed, then they become a part of your personal history. I was born in '77, so I am partial to the original trilogy. BUT! I still enjoy the prequels quite a bit, despite some of the things that I view as errors.

 

As a matter of contradictory fact! Qui-gon was my favorite character from Ep.I, but according to the original movies Yoda was Obi-wan's master and trainer. But that could be overlooked if you saw it as a generalized statement.

[Arkerus]

Red Letter finally did the 3d version.

lol.

 

Terrible movie. Awful. Awful. Awful.

 

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars-the-phantom-menace-3d/

 

 

Seriously. If you haven't watched the red letter media reviews, WATCH THEM.

 

The point out how absurd and stupid the prequels are. They are beyond terrible and wrap the whole way around to comedic stupidity.

 

"Doesn't Lucas realize that cluttering the frame up with &%$# is NOT what makes Star Wars good?"

Edited February 21, 2012 by Arkerus

[Arkerus]

What you are describing is a classic case of being nostalgic with what you grew up with. The things that mark your childhood (which is usually a good thing) help you remember those less stressful days and if those markers are something you really enjoyed, then they become a part of your personal history. I was born in '77, so I am partial to the original trilogy. BUT! I still enjoy the prequels quite a bit, despite some of the things that I view as errors.

 

As a matter of contradictory fact! Qui-gon was my favorite character from Ep.I, but according to the original movies Yoda was Obi-wan's master and trainer. But that could be overlooked if you saw it as a generalized statement.

 

You just poined out another of Lucas's incredibly stupid oversights. How about the fact that the title says he dispatched 2 jedi knights and in fact, Obi wan was not a jedi knight yet.

 

Total DERP. And why are the jedi knights experts in trade laws? WTH were they even doing there?

 

 

Then he (Palp) asks them to kill the jedis...but he needs them to live to get back to the planet...so his plan can work....but it could have worked if she just signed the treaty....head asplode.

 

So they try to kill them with gas, but open the door like 30 seconds later....wth.

 

Could please tell me who the main character of episode 1 was? Thanks. Oh, if you say Anakin, you're wrong. The main character can't be someone who has 0 control around them and accidently blows up a space station because he was along for the ride.

 

(I'm not picking on you because you said you like the prequels, I'm just making a point.)

Edited February 22, 2012 by Arkerus