Why does everyone hate the prequals????

[BrandonSM]

I'm sorry, my friend, but you're mistaken as to the identity of these people in the Jar Jar costumes. In reality, they're just like you - people easily wowed by special effects and bad cinema. Those of us who realize what awful movies the prequels are don't celebrate star wars anymore because we'd have to sit through the prequels and all the pointless editing Lucas does to the original movies year after year. Were the originals perfect? No, but were Lucas's changes needed? Absolutely not, and in most cases they didn't make the movies better, they just shove more crap on the screen.

 

Actually most modern Day Movies are like The Prequels.

 

 

People like you just expected so much because its called SW.

 

 

And now people wonder why there will be another SW Movie.

[reaperkeepet]

I won't say that I hated them... 1st one was pretty bad, 2nd and 3rd were passable in my opinion...

 

Really? I thought the 1st was the best out of them. Would have been better had the Jar Jar factor been subtracted by 99.9%. Last percent goes to him being electecuted.

[Vid-szhite]

Actually most modern Day Movies are like The Prequels.

 

This is why I don't watch movies anymore. I saw Transformers, realized how awful it was, and didn't see the other two. These days, the movies that sell the best are the ones with the prettiest explosions, not the ones with the best stories, editing, direction, or just straight-up film-making quality.

 

People like you just expected so much because its called SW.

 

Star Wars 4-6 are classics. Imperfect, but good movies that changed the world. Why should I have expected anything less than at least one decent movie out of the three prequels? They straight-up RUINED many established characters and had stories that made no sense, and didn't do anything to make us care. The Republic is never visibly affected by the Clone Wars. Coruscant looks exactly the same in III as it did at the start of I, even though the opening crawl says it's crumbling.

 

Darth Malgus does more to Coruscant in 5 minutes than the Separatists did in years.

 

And now people wonder why there will be another SW Movie.

 

If there is, I will only go see it if I see that George Lucas has had nothing to do with it. The man does nothing but obsess over how many CGI artists he can put on his payroll, and that's the reason he's delaying his live-action Star Wars series that focuses on the black market element: he wants several Full-CGI characters for no good reason, but it costs too much right now, so he's waiting for it to become cheaper.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

Actually most modern Day Movies are like The Prequels.

 

People like you just expected so much because its called SW.

 

And now people wonder why there will be another SW Movie.

 

Most modern day movies suck. And the prequels, as one of the first overdone CGI showcases, are largely to blame.

 

Thanks for giving me another reason to hate the prequels.

 

Edit: And blaming it on the Star Wars factor is a copout. Look at The Matrix. The first film was absolutely awesome. The third was complete garbage. The difference? Amazing, plot-driven, practical special effects vs overdone CGI showcase. Sound familiar?

Edited January 29, 2012 by PeepsMcJuggs

[Luminen]

I liked them. Love em even, though I'm a teenager, and saw the Prequels before the OT. Most of the people who hate the Prequels hate it because of all the change it had from the original. They introduced Midichlorians which kinda killed the mystical feeling, despite that they managed to keep the mystical side of the force intact pretty well. Jar Jar Binks was indeed a failure of a character.

 

Thing is the OT had their loopholes as well.... "Only Imperial Storm Troopers are this accurate..." You can't watch this part without laughing. They park the Falcon in an asteroid and walk out of the ship able to breathe, and not freezing to death. Not to mention Luke's NOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOOO learning Vader was his father was generally bad dialogue.

 

People hate the prequels because it was so much different from the OT. And Honestly I can't blame them for that, Star Wars had this mystical Force and unique story, and they traded in for a tiny bit of science in mystics, and losing a bit of story for more action. I like the prequels, mainly for the action and unique characters, but I respect the reasons others have for not liking it.

[OutOfSight]

I don't -hate- the prequels, I still have alot of fond childhood memories about them (I am talking about Episode I primarily). I simply think the old movies are superior.

If anything, the prequels retconned alot of lore for unnecessary reasons.

[yodajinn]

I don't hate any of the prequel movies, I enjoyed every one of them. They showed Anakins fall to the dark side, fear of losing his mother and Padme, the anger and hate he felt for the sand people for killing his mother and wanting to save Padmes life. It also showed how the phantom menace who was Palpatine gained control of the galaxy constructed the clone wars for his benefit and became emporer.

 

All three movies had great storytelling and awesome lightsaber battles. I can't wait for the movies to come out in 3D, I will be going to watch all six of them.

 

Thankyou George Lucas for creating the Star Wars universe and for making six great films

[Kharnis]

Watch Harry Plinkett's reviews to find out just what's wrong with them.

 

To hear me say it? What happens in Episode IV? Evil all-reaching Empire, Rebels have finally won a SINGLE victory against it by stealing the Death Star plans, but Darth Vader is right on their tail and they have to jettison the droids with the plans to Tatooine. Luke Skywalker, a farm boy out in the middle of nowhere, just happens to own the droids with the plans on them, so the Empire finds his house and kills the only family he has. With nothing left, he vows to become a Jedi like his father and fight the Empire with everything he's got. We all know how the story goes from there.

 

What happens in Episode I? There's a trade disagreement about... something. There's a blockade around Naboo to prevent them from getting... space supplies, I guess. The Blockade is completely useless because the good guys manage to break it with a single ship. The bad guys are completely useless and make terrible decisions. The Jedi eviscerate them with such efficiency that it becomes boring to watch, and the leaders are like "meh okay these jedi must be dead by now after a minute and a half, open the door and poke them to make sure."

This is getting tiresome. Let's play your little game, shall we?

 

What happens in Episode 4? There's a rebellion against...some empire. We don't actually see this empire, just a couple of ships and some dudes in white and green. Oh, and some other dude in black, who is either some really strong guy or a robot. Can't really tell. They're chasing this ship because it's got some plans. What plans? Floor plans? Battle plans? Seating plans? We don't know. What we do know is the bad guys are completely useless and make terrible decisions. The good guys try to take some cover, but the bad guys stand out in the open and get shot. A lot. But they just keep coming. Apparently, this empire never heard of ship boarding tactics.

 

Now, we don't know why the bad guys are obeying this dude in black. For the most part, it seems like they're following his orders just because, since it's obvious that they don't fear him (which is odd, considering this is supposed to be an evil empire. We know it's evil, because we're told this at the beginning of the movie).

 

Now, the good guys are just as stupid as the bad guys. We have some chick in white who's hiding from the other guys in white, but then she gets spotted and shoots one of them. Only one, though, because she immediately jumps up and tries to run, so she gets shot in the back. Did her gun only have one shot? Did it jam? Did she suddenly forget to shoot the others? Did she think she could outrun the laser bolts?

 

But then we meet the hero. Who buys some robots off of some wandering junk dealers. Who, for some reason, gets mad at the wandering junk dealers when one of the robots they buy turns out to be, well, junk. Because if you can't trust wandering junk dealers who pick up strange robots wandering around a desert, who can you trust? Oh, did I mention that the entire planet is a desert? Yep. The whole planet. And the hero and his family are farmers. Moisture farmers. Because apparently, you can farm water like a crop.

 

Turns out, the droids might be stolen. I know, we're back to that whole "if you can't trust wandering junk dealers who pick up strange robots wandering around a desert, who can you trust" thing, but that's neither here nor there. Now, this family of farmers think that they may have stolen goods on their hands, so they'll turn the robots over to the cops, right? Nope. The uncle tells the hero to get rid of any evidence that the robots are stolen. Clearly, this is an upstanding family here.

 

Oh, did I mention that both the hero and the uncle know who the owner of the robots are? Yep, turns out they're owned by "that crazy old man" who lives just down the street. Or something. Anyways, turns out that he knew our hero's dad. This makes the hero excited, because he never met his dad, so he wants to know all about him. The uncle, though, doesn't want to tell him, so he tells the hero to forget it. 'Cause as we all know, telling a bored, restless teenager to "forget it" is all that's needed to put the matter to rest, right?

 

But then, the robots run away! To go look for that crazy guy who owned them. So, our hero goes looking for them. Only he forgets where he is, and gets beaten up by the local gang. Fear not, though, because the crazy guy scares them off by making a noise. Yep, our hero got beat up by a bunch of guys who are scared of an old man making funny noises.

 

Crazy old guy takes our hero back to his home and tells him a story about how the hero's dad was something called a Jedi Knight, same as crazy old guy. And how dad was killed by the dude in black, who just happens to be the guy the crazy old guy trained, and who then went out to kill all the Jedi Knights. Then he taps one of the robots on the head and out pops a video message by the chick in white. Who tells him to bring the robots to her dad on another world. That's when crazy old guy looks at the hero with a crazy look and tells the hero to come with him. Because nothing says, "Hey, that sounds like a good idea" than going along with some crazy old guy you don't know. Then again, this is the hero who thinks buying stuff from wandering junk dealers and wandering alone into gang territory is a good idea, so who knows?

 

But then, drama and tragedy strikes! Turns out, the bad guys managed to find the junk dealers who had the robots (apparently, these are the only junk dealers on this entire desert planet because the bad guys found them rather quickly) and figured out who the hero's family is. Oh no! It seems this empire really is evil, because they go and kill the hero's family. Why they would do this when the bad guys didn't have the robots makes no sense, but I guess that's why they're the bad guys, right? Gotta do evil stuff to be evil, after all. Turns out, this was A Very Bad Idea, because this makes the hero all determined and stuff to go and fight the empire, and as we all know, history is replete with examples of farmers bringing down a huge empire. That was how Rome fell, after all.

 

So, they go to town. Not just any town, but a really bad town. Think downtown Detroit in the movie "Robocop," only worse. Naturally, crazy old guy thinks nothing about taking a naive and sheltered farmboy into this place. What the hell? The kid was stupid enough to buy off wandering junk dealers and go traipsing into gang territory, so this is right on par with what this kid does. Naturally, they get into a bar fight. That's when the crazy old guy whips out a sword made of light and cuts a guy's arm off.

 

Now, ignoring, for the moment, the fact that he's using a sword made of light, I should point out that these two are not only trying to stay out of sight of the bad guys, but the crazy guy is hiding from the bad guys, since his group was hunted down and killed by the bad guys. So, of course he would proceed to use a weapon that not only brings everyone's attention to them, but one that let's everyone know what he is. "Hey! I know that sword. Thought those guys were dead, though."

 

No problem, they carry on like nothing's wrong. And go talk to some shifty looking dude for a ride. Shifty dude is offended that they haven't heard of his ship, since it's fast enough to do some run in under twelve parsecs.

 

Wait a minute. A parsec is a unit of distance, not speed. No time to look at your neighbour and say, "Wait a minute. A parsec is a unit of distance, not speed," though, because shifty dude gouges them big time, since they have to get by the bad guys' blockade. Needless to say, this outrages the hero, and why wouldn't he be? They're trying to negotiate an illegal deal here, and shifty dude isn't being very honourable. Crazy guy agrees to the price, though, and promises to pay most of it now, the rest when they get where they're going. And shifty dude agrees, because much like buying stuff off of wandering junk dealers, if you can't trust someone making an illegal deal, who can you trust, right?

 

So, they make a deal to get a ride to the chick's planet. Which is under a blockade by the bad guys. At no point, however, do the hero or the crazy old guy say to themselves, "Is it really a smart idea to take the robot with the Important Plans into an area where the bad guys are, and thus may get the Important Plans if they catch us? And why haven't the good guys made copies of these plans, since they're so important? Oh well. Let's go have an adventure!"

 

Off they go! While they're doing things like getting shot at by the bad guys (who, despite having some reputation for accuracy, can't seem to hit shifty dude who's standing out in the open with no cover whatsoever) and scooting by the bad guys' really big ships, the bad guys decide to get where the good guys are located from the chick. Seems just asking her didn't do anything, so they threaten to blow up her planet. She tells them, then they blow it up anyway. It seems the idea of confirming if she was lying or not first didn't occur to them.

 

Wait. They blew up the planet with a laser. Lasers make things explode? That doesn't make any--never mind! Here come the heroes!

 

The heroes arrive too late, but that's probably a good thing, since, you know, the whole planet got blown up, so they weren't blown up with it. Only now they're getting pulled in to the really big space ship the bad guys used to blow up the planet with. I mean really big space ship. So big, it's as big as a moon. They decide to hide in the ship while the bad guys try to figure out just what this ugly piece of junk is doing in their landing bay. It seems, however, the bad guys are just as bad at looking for things as they are at shooting, because they completely miss the heroes and take it on faith that everybody jumped off it. No one bothers to ask, "Then why did this piece of junk fly here if no one was on board," though. It seems that evil empires aren't known for their ability to think things over. Which begs the question of "How did they ever come to power in the first place, let alone stay in power," but that's another story entirely.

 

Crazy old dude, deciding that he should probably live up to his name, decides to go off alone to let the heroes escape. I guess the sight of a crazy old guy who's wearing a dress isn't all that unusual a sight in this evil empire, because he's the only one who isn't in some sort of disguise at this point. Off crazy guy goes, leaving our hero and shifty guy alone. That's when they find out the chick is on board, and our hero, due to the fact that he grew up alone on a farm in the middle of a desert world with his old aunt and uncle and thus hasn't seen another woman ever, decides that she needs to be rescued. So, off our heroes go.

 

It's at this point that I should point something out to you. You're only a third of the way through the movie. Yep, a third of the way, and so far you haven't walked out, or thrown your popcorn at the screen while shouting, "Are you *********** kidding me?" Well done!

 

The second third of the movie goes by pretty quickly, but that's because it's basically the same thing over and over and over again. The heroes spring the chick from prison, and that's how you find out that, for a station that's as big as a moon, there's pretty much no one on board. Which is a good thing, because it means they don't get overwhelmed by infinitely superior numbers. Instead, they get to do some shooting. And running. And shouting. And some more shooting. More running. Shooting. A shout. Whoops! Turn around and run away, now. While shouting, of course.

 

Hurrah! The heroes arrive back at their ship. Which is being guarded. But wait! The guards (professionals that they are), abandon their posts to go watch their boss, the dude in black, fight crazy old guy with their light swords.

 

Wait. How can swords made of light block each other? That makes no sen--no time! Here comes the big fight scene!

 

Now, up to this point, we really haven't seen the dude in black do anything all that impressive. He makes statements like "don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force." Um...dude? They blew up a planet using only a laser! You're really going to have to step it up a little to even match, let alone surpass that feat. Yes, you can choke a guy without touching him. As impressive as that is, I'd like to remind you that they blew up a planet using only a laser!

 

So, this fight will really show us just how badarsed the dude in black really is, right? Um...not exactly. The two start swinging at each other like two five year olds who aren't quite sure what they're supposed to be doing. Or, maybe, like two old guys. Either way, you can practically see them counting time in their heads. "And one and two and lunge and two and thrust and...oh, crap! What was my next move? Screw it! I'll just do a nifty little spinneroo move here. Heh! Salvaged it."

 

Not exactly a rivetting fight. Yet, somehow, it was enough to pull a whole group of guards away from their posts. Even the one guy who's in every military group that no one likes and gets all the crap duties isn't told, "Not you, Bob. You stay here while the rest of us go check out the exciting stuff happening over here." I guess on this nearly empty station, excitement is so few and far between that two old guys swinging away at each other like they have baseball bats is enough to make them lose all military discipline.

 

Crazy old guy sees the troops show up, and sees the hero, shifty guy, and the chick all making for the ship. So, what does he do? Let's the dude in black win. Um...okay. Not sure how that helps in any way. The dude in black, not letting a golden opportunity go to waste, promptly cuts crazy guy in two. Only, crazy guy isn't there. Only his clothes are! So...lasers not only make things explode, but swords that are lasers can disintegrate flesh but not cloth? What?

 

No time to ponder this, because seeing his mentor of a couple of days getting killed makes the hero go all crazy with grief. "Hey, you kill my aunt and uncle who raised me? Fine. I can handle that and use it to make me grow up emotionally. But you kill this guy I barely know? Oh, now it's on!" Not to worry, though, because crazy old guy is now a ghost! And he tells our hero to (wisely, for the first time in the movie) run. I guess our hero hears voices on a regular basis, because this in no way phases him. He just turns and runs.

 

Cue the spaceship fight, where shifty guy and the hero get to shoot down a couple of fighters from the really big moon-sized spaceship. This is a rather impressive feat, since I don't know of too many farm-related activities that could successfully translate to operating competently a military-grade anti-aircraft weapon. Still, our heroes win, and off they go. But that's when we are given the truth of the matter: the bad guys let the heroes go! It's obvious, since they sent only a few fighters after them. Clearly, the bad guys are tracking the heroes. So, do they go to some place that's out of the way and nowhere near where the good guys are?

 

Nope. They fly right to the good guys, leading the bad guys to them. I'm sure at the time that seemed like a good idea.

 

So, now we've reached the final third of the movie. The climax. The exciting finish. They give the robot with the Important Plans to the good guys, who go over the plans and find...a weakness! Seems the really big moon-sized spaceship has an exhaust port that they forgot to cover, and that's all the good guys need. All they need to do is fly down this trench and put a torpedo into it. Some of the good guy pilots are looking at the size of this exhaust port and saying, "Are you kidding me?" But not our hero. He scoffs and tells everyone how he used to hit some vermin back on his desert planet from his civilian aircraft. Now, instead of looking at our hero and saying, "I'm sorry, but who are you again? And what are you doing here in our top secret mission planning," they look at him and say, "Oh. You used to fly a civilian aircraft, huh? Great. Here's one of our most advanced fighter aircrafts that's infinitely faster and more complex than your civilian aircraft. Despite the fact that we know nothing about you, and have no idea if you're more of a danger than a help, we want you along on this fight."

 

So, off they go, to fight the bad guys. It doesn't start off too well for the good guys, though. Oh, sure, they fly here and there, and can out manoeuver the fixed gun emplacements on the station, but they're not getting too far. Apparently, when you're attacking a spaceship the size of a moon that has only one weakness, flying willy nilly and shooting at things that aren't the only weakness doesn't do much of anything that's helpful to the good guys.

 

At this point, one of the bad guys goes up to the head bad guy and warns him that there is a possibility that the good guys could actually do something rather drastic, like blow up the station. Does the head bad guy take his subordinate's warning to heart? Nope. Instead, he turns to him and says, "I don't care that you're a trained professional whose job it is to study the enemy's tactics and figure out what they're up to. I know more than you do, despite the fact that I haven't seen any of the data you've collected and analysed. Now bugger off."

 

The dude in black, though, is a wee bit smarter, so he goes after the good guys with his own fighters. And that's when the good guys really get into trouble, because when the good guys go into this trench with the only weakness the station has, it turns out they don't have any room to manoeuver out of the way of the fixed gun emplacements ahead of them, or the fighters behind them. Yep, pretty much all of them get blown out of the sky. One guy comes close, but, as they say, close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nukes.

 

It's not quite as dull as it sounds, though. We get a lot of shots where you get to say, "Ooo. Look at the model spaceship fly down those wires to get blown up. Why, I can see the firecrackers from here. And that matte painting almost looks realistic, doesn't it?"

 

So, now it's up to our hero. He's the only one left. But he doesn't have much time. Apparently, despite the fact that they had a whole thirty minutes until the bad guys were in a position to shoot at the good guys' secret base, they decided that it didn't make any sense to immediately go for the only weakness this station had. I guess they don't get many opportunities to shoot up the surface of a moon-sized spaceship, so who can really blame them for taking the opportunity to do so while it was there. Unfortunately, that means that the hero is now out of time. He has to destroy this spaceship now, because it can now fire on the good guys' base.

 

He's getting shot at, he's trying to line up the shot, his attention is being drawn to several things at once (like, the fact that the dude in black himself is behind him), and he's out of time. But that's when the crazy old guy decides to talk to him again, giving him advice. So, what does our hero do? Why, he listens to the voice in his head, of course, and shuts off the only piece of equipment in his fighter that's specifically designed to do just what he's trying to do.

 

Somehow, though, this works. And that's when we find out that apparently, Newton's Third Law doesn't apply in a galaxy far, far away, because his torpedo performs a perfect ninety degree turn in less than two metres of distance. Before you have a chance to look at your neighbour and ask, "If this exhaust port was at the bottom of this trench, why did they bother flying down it where they had no room to manoeuver instead of just coming at it from above and thus not rendering their targetting computers absolutely useless," our hero flies away from the station just as it explodes in a glorious display of...sparks.

 

So, we've reached the end of the movie. The good guys have won. And, just in case you didn't quite grasp that, we have a ceremony where the chick gives medals to the hero and the shifty guy. And all the assembled good guys break out into applause, without once saying, "Hey, if you morons had've just flown some place else, we wouldn't have been put in this position in the first place."

 

The final credits roll, and the lights come on. And as you file your way out of the theatre, you look at your neighbour and say, "That was the greatest movie I've ever seen."

 

 

 

You know what? That was surprisingly easy. And fun. I wonder how everyone's favourite, "The Empire Strikes Back," would withstand some scrutiny?

[Smoke_Clouds]

^^ wow lol

 

if you cant see whats wrong with the prequels then we really have nothing further to talk about

[Kharnis]

^^ wow lol

 

if you cant see whats wrong with the prequels then we really have nothing further to talk about

 

I do see what's wrong with the prequels. Do you see what's wrong with the originals? Because if you can't, then you're right: we really have nothing further to talk about. It's about time you people take off your rose-coloured glasses and recognise that the OT wasn't some masterpiece of cinema. It was a popcorn movie that was a hell of a lot of fun for us as kids, and that's all. It changed the way movies were done because Lucas changed the rules, but the story is full of plot holes and illogical events that can't stand up to any kind of impassionate scrutiny.

 

But you're not going to be capable of that, are you?

[RandalFlagg]

Did that guy just watch episode 4 with a blank stare, mouth open and the sound off?

[Kharnis]

Did that guy just watch episode 4 with a blank stare, mouth open and the sound off?

 

Ah, so I take it that you can refute what I wrote, can you? Excellent. Please do so. I'm eager to see this.

 

Of course, if you can't, then the only thing you can do (without looking like a hypocrite, of course) is to admit that you are holding up the prequels to a much higher standard than you ever did of the original trilogy.

 

I suspect, however, your response will be something along the lines of, "Whatever, dude," and not actually doing anything to back up your statement. Which seems to be the typical response to anyone who challenges the prequel and Lucas hate.

[RandalFlagg]

Ah, so I take it that you can refute what I wrote, can you? Excellent. Please do so. I'm eager to see this.

 

Of course, if you can't, then the only thing you can do (without looking like a hypocrite, of course) is to admit that you are holding up the prequels to a much higher standard than you ever did of the original trilogy.

 

I suspect, however, your response will be something along the lines of, "Whatever, dude," and not actually doing anything to back up your statement. Which seems to be the typical response to anyone who challenges the prequel and Lucas hate.

 

 

I'm not saying the OT are perfect films but they are way better than the prequels. I mean what other movies have had such a cultural impact on the world? Its only natural that the public would expect something equal to if not greater than the originals.

 

The problem I have is that Lucas sacrificed story for over the top CGI. Look at videos of him filming the prequels, he just sits in a room filled with blue/green screens with only two cameras. Im sorry, it just takes me out of a movie when 90% of it looks fake and every dialogue scene had somebody walking down a hallway or looking out a window.

 

If you honestly think the dialogue, acting and story are on par with the originals then I respectfully disagree.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

Ah, so I take it that you can refute what I wrote, can you? Excellent. Please do so. I'm eager to see this.

 

Of course, if you can't, then the only thing you can do (without looking like a hypocrite, of course) is to admit that you are holding up the prequels to a much higher standard than you ever did of the original trilogy.

 

I suspect, however, your response will be something along the lines of, "Whatever, dude," and not actually doing anything to back up your statement. Which seems to be the typical response to anyone who challenges the prequel and Lucas hate.

 

Kharnis, what you fail to understand is people don't want to bother refuting what you wrote, because your nitpicking is so ridiculously nonsensical that it's pretty damn clear you lack a fundamental understanding of what makes a good movie. And it has nothing to do with the believability of moisture vaporators.

 

All of the Star Wars movies have plot holes. Nobody has ever thought otherwise. Fanboys for decades now have lovingly picked apart those plotholes, and found them all the more endearing as a result.

 

Ironically, your first few paragraphs actually illustrate why Episode IV was so much better than Episode I. As you pointed out in your silly sarcastic way, the opening scene established that the Empire was evil, the Rebels were good, that the Empire's troops, led by this guy in black armor named Darth Vader, were trying to recover stolen plans (which, as explained in the opening crawl, were for the Death Star, an armored space station capable of destroying a planet), and that the plans had been smuggled off the ship by a couple of droids.

 

The fact that you were able to glean all that information without knowing the significance of the Empire or the Rebels speaks to the cinematic quality of the film, not against it.

Edited January 30, 2012 by PeepsMcJuggs

[Kharnis]

I'm not saying the OT are perfect films but they are way better than the prequels. I mean what other movies have had such a cultural impact on the world? Its only natural that the public would expect something equal to if not greater than the originals.

 

The problem I have is that Lucas sacrificed story for over the top CGI. Look at videos of him filming the prequels, he just sits in a room filled with blue/green screens with only two cameras. Im sorry, it just takes me out of a movie when 90% of it looks fake and every dialogue scene had somebody walking down a hallway or looking out a window.

 

If you honestly think the dialogue, acting and story are on par with the originals then I respectfully disagree.

 

It may have been natural to expect it, but it was unrealistic. The original trilogy literally changed the way movies, not just sci-fi movies, were made. The public had seen nothing like it before. Lucas changed the rules when he made Star Wars, and he did it at exactly the right time. Everything he did in that movie he had invented specifically for that movie, and it became the standard of all movies that came afterwards. The prequels couldn't possibly have stood up to that kind of expectations, because movie technology is now at the pinnacle. Unless he was willing to somehow re-invent the way movies were made again (and the argument could be made that he did, in a way. The prequels were digitally shot for the first time in history, something that is once again the movie standard), there was literally no way the prequels could re-live that feeling people had when the original trilogy first came out.

 

Yes, the dialogue and story are on par with the originals. I just proved it in my rather lengthy (and yes, facetious) post "destroying" Episode 4. The only argument you have that has merit is the acting (and, I would add, the directing. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: George Lucas, you have no business being behind a camera. Stop it). Let's be honest, Mark Hamill was a bit of an over-actor. Same with Carrie Fisher. The only one who was any good at his craft at the time was Harrison Ford, and it's probably no coincidence that he was the only one who went on to any kind of fame and success outside of Star Wars. Hell, even Alec Guiness was very obviously phoning it in. Eventually, the others (including James Earl Jones and Billy Dee Williams) saw increased fame, but only well after the Star Wars run was done.

 

Portman, on the other hand? My God, was that a wooden performance. And Christensen? If anyone called his performance "wooden" they would be paying him a compliment. Sam Jackson was the wrong person to play Windu. There's a reason the roles he's most famous for are him screaming his lines. The calm, collected Windu was boring. We wanted the Windu who was fighting Palpatine with a look that said, "I'm going to rip off your arm and beat you to death with it, mother--" For God's sake, Christopher Lee and Liam Neeson were phoning it in just like Alec Guiness had done, and they were still out-acting everyone around them.

 

Bottom line? No, the prequels weren't the same quality as the originals. But they weren't the horrible piles of garbage everyone is making them out to be, either. The originals had just as many groan-worthy moments in them if you cared to pay attention. But even if the prequels were just as good as the prequels, we still wouldn't be able to capture that feeling we had when first seeing the originals. It simply isn't possible, and to expect to have been able to is our fault, not Lucas'.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Kharnis

[Kharnis]

Kharnis, what you fail to understand is people don't want to bother refuting what you wrote, because your nitpicking is so ridiculously nonsensical that it's pretty damn clear you lack a fundamental understanding of what makes a good movie. And it has nothing to do with the believability of moisture vaporators.

 

All of the Star Wars movies have plot holes. Nobody has ever thought otherwise. Fanboys for decades now have lovingly picked apart those plotholes, and found them all the more endearing as a result.

 

Ironically, your first few paragraphs actually illustrate why Episode IV was so much better than Episode I. As you pointed out in your silly sarcastic way, the opening scene established that the Empire was evil, the Rebels were good, that the Empire's troops, led by this guy in black armor named Darth Vader, were trying to recover stolen plans (which, as explained in the opening crawl, were for the Death Star, an armored space station capable of destroying a planet), and that the plans had been smuggled off the ship by a couple of droids.

 

The fact that you were able to glean all that information without knowing the significance of the Empire or the Rebels speaks to the cinematic quality of the film, not against it.

"I don't want to refute your nitpicking because it's nonsensical. In the meantime, here's my own nonsensical nitpicking of a film that is no worse than the originals, but my refusal to remove my rose-tinted glasses prevents me from seeing that."

 

Once again, your hypocrisy is showing.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

"I don't want to refute your nitpicking because it's nonsensical. In the meantime, here's my own nonsensical nitpicking of a film that is no worse than the originals, but my refusal to remove my rose-tinted glasses prevents me from seeing that."

 

Once again, your hypocrisy is showing.

 

See, Kharnis, this is why nobody can take you seriously. You insist that the only response you're going to get from others is "whatever dude," but when someone gives you a genuine, cogent response, you reply with "whatever hypocrite."

Edited January 30, 2012 by PeepsMcJuggs

[Kharnis]

See, Kharnis, this is why nobody can take you seriously. You insist that the only response you're going to get from others is "whatever dude," but when someone gives you a genuine, cogent response, you reply with "whatever hypocrite."

 

Then refute. It's not that hard to do. If what I wrote was wrong, refute it. You're a proponent of the "critical thinking" argument that's popular these days. Show how the original trilogy was so vastly superior that the prequels are garbage in comparison. This shouldn't be hard to do, if what you say is true.

 

Simply saying, "See? It even tells us in the opening crawl" isn't exactly a compelling argument when everything is told in the opening crawl of all movies. Including what the Trade Federation is, and what they're pissed about, who they're pissed at, and who was sent to hopefully settle matters.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

Then refute. It's not that hard to do. If what I wrote was wrong, refute it. You're a proponent of the "critical thinking" argument that's popular these days. Show how the original trilogy was so vastly superior that the prequels are garbage in comparison. This shouldn't be hard to do, if what you say is true.

 

Simply saying, "See? It even tells us in the opening crawl" isn't exactly a compelling argument when everything is told in the opening crawl of all movies. Including what the Trade Federation is, and what they're pissed about, who they're pissed at, and who was sent to hopefully settle matters.

 

My mention of the opening crawl was in direct response to your silly nitpick that we had no idea what the purpose of the plans were. And regarding refuting, I have no desire to refute what you wrote because I couldn't make it past the first few paragraphs without wanting to tear my eyes out. You possess a fundamental lack of understanding of why people dislike the prequels, and from that perspective, you create these long essays that have nothing to do with the price of tea in China. You then have this mistaken impression that because people don't want to waste their time refuting an essay you probably spent over an hour writing, that somehow makes your argument correct.

 

Let me put it in short terms for you. Star Wars followed a traditional story about the Hero's Journey. The action and story were easy to digest, the characters were likeable, and despite its flaws, it was a solid story about good triumphing over evil. The story was straightforward: the heroes had captured plans to the villains' superweapon, the villains attempted to get the plans, the droids escape with them, locate some allies that can help get the plans to their destination, the heroes get captured, escape, and use the plans to defeat the villains. Simple.

 

The Phantom Menace, on the other hand, lacked any sort of organization to its story. Lucas himself evidenced this by his disappointed reaction to his own pre-screening. The heroes go to chat about trade disputes, escape, go to an underwater city so they can get permission to travel through the planet, escape, make a pitstop on another planet to get repairs and watch a podrace, go to another planet to vote no-confidence in a Chancellor because he's corrupt, return to the first planet without help (thereby rendering the visit to the last planet entirely pointless), raise an army from that underwater city they visited earlier so they can act as cannon fodder to distract the droids while the Jedi distract the Sith guy so the queen and her decoy can capture the guy in the capital while the pilots go into space to get all shot up so the kid can accidentally blow up the ship that makes all the droids stop working. Not simple.

 

Okay, that wasn't in short terms. It's hard to talk about TPM's plot in short terms. Which is part of the problem.

Edited January 30, 2012 by PeepsMcJuggs

[GhostRiderLSOV]

The forum needs a "like" button.

PeepsMcJuggs, the only fault I find with you... is your avatar pic.

 

Because everytime I think of a wookie growling all that you type.

 

I enjoy reading your posts.

Because of your points, not the imaginary wookie voice.

Edited January 30, 2012 by GhostRiderLSOV

[TheLonelyTusken]

Can't we all just get along?

 

Originals were great.

 

Prequels were good.

 

Originals were better, but prequels were good.

 

Remember, too, everyone is entitled to their opinions people, in a debate like this, calling other people "wrong" is pretty childish.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

The forum needs a "like" button.

PeepsMcJuggs, the only fault I find with you... is your avatar pic.

 

Because everytime I think of a wookie growling all that you type.

 

I enjoy reading your posts.

Because of your points, not the imaginary wookie voice.

 

Then I'm doing it right. I was going for the grumpy, bitter old Wookiee look

 

Can't we all just get along?

 

Originals were great.

 

Prequels were good.

 

Originals were better, but prequels were good.

 

Remember, too, everyone is entitled to their opinions people, in a debate like this, calling other people "wrong" is pretty childish.

 

Actually, I'm 100% with you on this. I'm okay with everyone being entitled to their opinion. It's the folks that claim my opinion that the prequels are bad is somehow clouded by nostalgia that piss me off.

Edited January 30, 2012 by PeepsMcJuggs

[Haajib]

i hate them little kids everywhere in the prequels, the only part i liked was when Anakin slaughtered the children and they dident apear in episode 4-5-6

[GregMD]

the prequels really aren't that bad, star wars nerds just hate star wars for some reason. I know that sounds weird but they nitpick every single movie and hate like 75% of it yet they act like they're die hard fans or something.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

the prequels really aren't that bad, star wars nerds just hate star wars for some reason. I know that sounds weird but they nitpick every single movie and hate like 75% of it yet they act like they're die hard fans or something.

 

Oh great. Another Kool-Aid drinker.

 

Look, in your opinion, the prequels aren't that bad. In my opinion, they are. You don't have to love every single aspect of Star Wars to be a diehard Star Wars fan. I think the fact that I can hate the prequels, hate George Lucas, and still enjoy watching the unedited originals speaks loads about my status as diehard fan.