Has George Lucas tried to defend Episode I-III?

[AbelMorvant]

I think you missed the whole Jedi must have no attachments to the world bit from the Prequels. If love isn't an "attachment" to someone in this world, then I don't know what is.

 

I actually kinda liked this aspect of the prequels though, I thought it showed and complimented the idea of being a different, more strict/stuffy era of the jedi order. I think it compliments the OT in the sense that when you go to watch the older movies, you feel that Obi-Wan and Yoda(especially Yoda) are worn out, desperate, and maybe have had time to think about a lot of the flaws of the Jedi order. This is just my personal opinion, and I'm not claiming it to be fact because it's not, just saying how I feel about it.

 

I felt that the Jedi had reached their peak during the PT era and has become too big and strict to the point of almost destroying itself. Not sure if I'm explaining that right, that's just how I feel.

 

That didn't exist, never was portrayed in the O/T movies. As the other stated, Luke stubbornly believed his father could be redeemed once he knew the truth, despite the protests of the very same people that taught him everything about being a Jedi.

 

Maybe I'm not reading this right, pretty tired right now as I've had a long day, but aren't you contradicting yourself right here? You say that the whole "jedi must not have attachments" thing wasn't portrayed in the OT, but then you describe Obi-Wan and Yoda pretty much protesting against Luke's attachment - Just like they do to Anakin in the PT.

 

Anyways, Original Trilogy > Prequel Trilogy any day of the week. Better, well loved heroes. The core set of heroes? How could you go wrong with that crew? They were great together!. Better villains who persisted in the movies and were not disposed of like a weekly TV show. Darth Vader truly was the menacing, relentless villain (pre-Nooooooooo version). Classic Star Wars vehicles (space or not). X-Wings, TIEs, Star Destroyers, the Executor, Death Stars, sheer variety of ships with the Rebel fleet, Y-Wings, Millenium Falcon, AT-AT, AT-ST, Snowspeeders, etc. Battle scenes just as good and are classic, hard to beat: Yavin IV / Death Star Trench Runs, Battle of Hoth, space battle of Endor. You got the asteroid chase and the speederbike chase on Endor.

 

The only real negative with the O/T was anything related to Ewoks, and that was restricted to ROTJ. The best SW movie of all is still with the O/T, even after all these years, and with the completion of the Prequels: Empire Strikes Back.

 

Totally agree.

 

While I don't think the PT weren't that bad and I don't hate them nearly as much as others and actually still find them entertaining, they were also pretty big disappointments. The only thing that bothers me about it is I think Lucas could have made them 16 times better than what they were, but like I said, I still like them - Just not nearly as much as the OT.

 

I honestly do like Episode 3 more than ANH - But I'm an eye candy type of guy. ANH, far better story, better acting, love the raw feel of it, but it just moves too slow for my taste - I don't think that's a terrible thing either, in fact I think that's why a lot of people really loves it because since it's slow, it also mean more focus on character development and relationships and I'm all down for that, but for some reason it just doesn't strike a chord with me enough to like it more than Episode 3. I'm not saying Episode 3 is a better made movie, I'm just more entertained by it.

 

I'll add one more thing, and that is that although I really like ROTS, I was really disappointed by actually starting to like Anakin in Episode 3. I know I'll get flamed for that but I thought we kinda started to see him actually being the hero like he was made out to be in ANH, and I hate that we didn't see more of that in at least Episode 2.

 

I just thought it was *** backwards that Anakin was fed up with things in Ep 2, but at the beginning of Ep 3 he's more heroic and even a little more patient. You could say that it was an age thing, but I thought it would have been better if Anakin remained patient, cam, etc. through his mother's death, fight with Dooku, etc. etc. etc. and in Ep 3 finally just snapped.

 

I liked the PT, but I'd love to see a remake, or hell, even read one from some fans. I started writing my own, but I'm still kinking out a lot of plot things.

[Runasriel]

Just my input;

As a fan of star wars, I feel compelled to type a few things out.

I do recall Ole Ben Kanobi telling Luke that his mother had died during birth, so I was not surprised that had happened.

 

After Good ol'e Ani turned Vader in the book series timeline he totally hunts Jedi! Exclusively Yoda and Ben! Or at least in the books that's who he wants.

I've enjoyed the stories, and the books filled alot about characters I loved, planets history and of course story.

 

I've read "A New Hope", "Empire Strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi". I've enjoyed Ep1-3 for the books, but GL did what he saw. I am happy and never thought him bad at his story.

 

As for the Han Solo thing... Who gives a crap who shot first? Han Solo is a smuggler... kill, or be killed...Make money. I loved his books as well! How he was basically raised by a female wookie and owed her a depth, in which saving chewie to pay the depth back only to make a new one... haha! Anyway... that was the first time I even heard about people being upset about the scene... man politically correct United States... *sad day* He (Han) is a true American! :-p

[Runasriel]

When I say Politically Correct America, I do mean people who are trying to make bullying a crime... this sounds just like that group...

 

And Han Solo is American meaning a Smuggler Cowboy who becomes hero... We all dream of being bad*** like him... I want a Spaceship with a teddybear who loves to rip android arms off when he gets beat in board games!

Edited March 19, 2012 by Runasriel

[AbelMorvant]

When I say Politically Correct America, I do mean people who are trying to make bullying a crime... this sounds just like that group...

 

And Han Solo is American meaning a Smuggler Cowboy who becomes hero... We all dream of being bad*** like him... I want a Spaceship with a teddybear who loves to rip android arms off when he gets beat in board games!

 

 

Hate to go off subject but I'm honestly just curious, why don't you think bullying should be a crime?

 

Wouldn't that help prevent a lot of the violence that happens in schools?

[Toonimator]

Just my input;

As a fan of star wars, I feel compelled to type a few things out.

I do recall Ole Ben Kanobi telling Luke that his mother had died during birth, so I was not surprised that had happened.

Where do you recall that from, since it's definitely NOT in any of the original films. Luke's mother is never mentioned AT ALL until he asks Leia about her in ROTJ. I recall many fans on message boards in the late '90s and early '00s, well before 2005, going on about how it was a given that Padme would die in Episode III. I think people pointed out to them the Leia lines in ROTJ imply she lives to raise Leia for a time, but it seems like it fell on deaf ears (or blind eyes, whatever). If it was in a book, it could easily be added to the pile of lies or 'certain POV truths' that Ben told Luke, especially if it was before Luke knew his true heritage. Telling Luke that his mother died in childbirth is about the same as saying Vader killed his father; if Padme HAD survived Ep3, she'd have gone into hiding on Alderaan in the Organa household, under an assumed name. The woman she was, the Senator from Naboo, would be 'dead' as far as the galaxy at large (and especially the Emperor and Vader) knew, which would make it 'true, from a certain point of view'. Then she could die offscreen between the trilogies and it'd work just fine.

 

Another filmmaker could've easily had Padme survive Ep3... TPM and AOTC establish Padme has a habit of using decoys and disguising herself as handmaidens and escort pilots, which would've been a nice foundation to use for the end of Ep3, for Padme to remain with Leia. She goes to Alderaan, living as a handmaiden to Queen Breha Organa perhaps, or hired on as a wetnurse/nanny for their new daughter Leia. Adopted parents often tell their children the truth eventually, so it's an easy assumption to make that Leia's parents told her at some point that the nanny she had when she was very young was her birth mother; we already have to assume that Leia both knew she was adopted and told at least Luke sometime offscreen, since she's not particularly surprised that Luke is asking her about her birth mother.

 

As for Padme's death, again that filmmaker could've implied it with a bit of dialogue perhaps, or some deft direction & motivation for Portman, showing that she's got the weight of all that's happened bearing down on her: forced separation from her newborn son, the betrayal of the man she loves, the destruction of the ideals she held, the fall of the government she served... basically her whole world was falling apart. That's enough to break someone, but it didn't have to be an immediate death. It could've been implied that she was now all but a shell of the woman she was, only surviving for her daughter, but that it wouldn't be enough to carry her through.

[Zaxem]

Or has he admitted they didn't turn out as great as he wanted them?

Because I don't see how anyone In their right mind could be satisfied with how Anakin was handled in those movies.

 

So yeah has he tried to address the criticism at all?

 

I Liked how anakin was in the movies well maybe not #1 but who even likes #1? but i loved him in # 3

Edited March 19, 2012 by Zaxem

[lokivoid]

Or has he admitted they didn't turn out as great as he wanted them?

 

Well he did admit / accept bad story telling / editing and plot during the private screening (though never openly stated it)

 

As for defending them, no he just thrown tantrum every time he was met with criticism. His latest tantrum was over the criticism around the Blu-ray editions. He came off sounding like a spoiled child kicking a screeming about it was "his movie and he could change it however he seen fit".

 

Here's quotes from lucas when he was making a name hope

"movies are art that belong to the people and should not be changed"

he was even part the group that opposed the colorization of black and white films

(how many times has he edited 4,5 and 6 so far?)

 

"movies should be about the story and not special effects"

(Ep1 - 3 was nothing but CGI special effects with little to no story/plot)

 

Guess he forgot about those statements after seeing the revenue from the first three films.

Edited March 19, 2012 by lokivoid

[Wolfninjajedi]

Well he did admit / accept bad story telling / editing and plot during the private screening (though never openly stated it)

 

As for defending them, no he just thrown tantrum every time he was met with criticism. His latest tantrum was over the criticism around the Blu-ray editions. He came off sounding like a spoiled child kicking a screeming about it was "his movie and he could change it however he seen fit".

 

Here's quotes from lucas when he was making a name hope

"movies are art that belong to the people and should not be changed"

he was even part the group that opposed the colorization of black and white films

(how many times has he edited 4,5 and 6 so far?)

 

"movies should be about the story and not special effects"

(Ep1 - 3 was nothing but CGI special effects with little to no story/plot)

 

Guess he forgot about those statements after seeing the revenue from the first three films.

 

Hmm...well like everything, things are subject to change and if you couldn't grasp the story that was in EP 1-3 then that is sad, its not hard to figure out.

[Darth_Urtani]

>people defending prequels

 

HAHA OH MY GOD MY SIDES!

[Toonimator]

Hmm...well like everything, things are subject to change and if you couldn't grasp the story that was in EP 1-3 then that is sad, its not hard to figure out.

It's not about not grasping the story, it's about Lucas putting special effects over story. The quote, often seen in the old Fox home video trailer for "From Star Wars to Jedi", was "A special effect is just a tool, a means of telling a story; a special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing." Too much of the PT was all about the flashy effects, and they didn't always serve the story. The OT threw in 'effects for effect' usually in less obtrusive ways, like an establishing shot of twilight outside Jabba's Palace...and there's a little critter running around who gets eaten. The important thing is the shot establishing that it's the wee hours, and all is quiet... the alien toad eating a snack wasn't the main focus.

 

Cut to the '90s, and we get a special edition pause in following Luke's landspeeder thru Mos Eisley to stare at a CG worker droid being pestered by and them smashing a CG probe droid. It wasn't an establishing shot, it was a 'Hey, let's pause and look at this unrelated gag showing that we can do CG characters!' shot. That's where George's change in thought started becoming obvious; then we had video-game obstacle courses in the PT (Droid Factory, Mustafar Duel) that were more about the CG environment than the part of the story they were telling. Comparing the Mustafar Duel to the Cloud City duel kinda highlights the change; Mustafar was swinging on ropes, running/climbing up falling metalwork, hiding behind pillars when the Magma Boss uses his Lava Wave ability, platform-jumping to lava-skimming hover-droids... with some story business at the beginning and the very end. Luke/Vader was about Luke's overconfidence and unpreparedness, and Vader toying with him and slowly wearing him down before dropping the bomb on him, and while there were changes of scenery and some obstacles for Luke to overcome, it didn't feel like a video game.

[westraz]

for a post called has George Lucas tried to defend ep 1-2 why is every talking about how they fell? lol you all or N U T S!!

 

I have seen post and your toobs where GL has said he don't care what the fans think as fans well be fans

 

I have seen posts that GL said JarJar is a genies (god I hope he did not say that)

 

so hope that answers the ops question

[Runasriel]

I don't think bullying should be a crime, I was bullied and in my opinion it put me where I am at today. I strived to be better than those guys and now I'm doing very good for myself. It also got my ready for an unfortunate life in the military, and (unfortunatly) jail time. Sorry it took me so long to post back;

 

And you are right it never mentioned ben kenobi telling luke about his mother. I apologize but for some reason I believed it did. Sorry.

 

Anyway I didnt read any more except for a few post! Have a good night everyone!

[Tiddles]

I enjoyed the prequels. They're certainly not in the same league as the Orginal trilogy, but they're ok.

That's how a felt before watching these reviews...

 

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/

 

I've watched those reviews more than I've watched the prequels.

[Captain_Zone]

I have been as fair as possible about the prequels. I will point out the good things and the bad things. The good things are the lightsaber duels and the special effects. Great stuff there. SOME dialogue was decent, but not very much unfortunately.

 

The bad points are a bit more numerous, so I'll just point out the glaring parts. The dialogue was (mostly) horrible. The character of Anakin came across as completely whiny and emo, not to mention borderline psychotic. Someone in another thread said something about Kira having no place in the Jedi Order.... well, honestly, neither did Anakin.

 

Episode II wasn't THAT bad, to me. Honestly the chase scene through the skies of Coruscant reminded me a lot of Lethal Weapon done Star Wars style. Even the line from Obi-Wan: "I'm getting to old for this...." lol

 

Episode I was the kiddy movie, and I took it as such. In that respect, the ONLY thing I really had a problem with in that one was Jar Jar. Yes, he was funny for nearly 3 minutes. Then he quickly moved into the "so annoying I would like to wipe out his entire race" category.

 

Episode III had so much potential, but was blown up by Lucas himself. The Emo Anakin was in full effect by this time, and I was kinda sick of his angst. For the record, I do NOT blame Hayden Christensen. He did what he could with what he had to work with. Which honestly wasn't that much. Also, Lucas was directing, and TOLD him to act that way. It seemed like the only guy in the cast that had any fun was Obi-Wan. He was constantly punking the bad guys after his initial punk out by Dooku. And honestly, the ending felt extremely rushed. I know that the movie was already really long, but some of the plot points especially near the end still don't sit very well. Padme having her twins and then "giving up because she lost the will to live" was garbage, imo. Ask any mother out there. Just because her hubby freaked out, went all Dark Side, does not excuse bad writing in that scene. Then there is the infamous "Frankenvader" scene....

 

Yeah, I'm stopping right there. For the record, the novelizations really do flesh out the Prequels, and I can see what he was TRYING to do in each scene. It just didn't translate very well onto the big screen, imo.

 

All that said, if I turn my brain off and just watch them as action movies while skipping through the bad parts, I enjoy them quite a lot.