Why does everyone hate the prequals????

[PeepsMcJuggs]

They did silly poses which made no sense...and I think one of them attempted a force push after her lightsaber turned on for no reason lol.

 

That always amused me too. She just looked ridiculous. What the hell was she doing, telling her Padawan "Stop! Wait for the signal!"? "Stop! Or I'll saber your face!"? "Stop, or my mom will shoot!"?

 

Also even with obi, a few lightsaber scenes with ani and you can actually see obis actor laughing in the backround durring his serious fights with the droids while ani is trying not to crack a smile.

Ontop of this, I also noticed a few scenes were put in more then once. Such as obi getting shot at by the bounty hunter with a missle then again with the ships guns...exact same scene, and again with padanami or pandabear, or w.e her name is pressing some buttons after getting obis call.

Small things like that made me have less respect for the movies.

 

Heh, interesting. I never even noticed that. I might have to have a look at those scenes again.

[Mephane]

Actually, I liked the prequel movies, all of them (Though Ep2 is my favourite of those three).

 

However! I cannot forgive the very notion of Midichlorians, and refuse to accept they exist. I just ignore the lines in Ep2 and stick to Obi-Wan's explanation in Ep4.

[reaperkeepet]

That always amused me too. She just looked ridiculous. What the hell was she doing, telling her Padawan "Stop! Wait for the signal!"? "Stop! Or I'll saber your face!"? "Stop, or my mom will shoot!"?

 

 

Exactly who is this your speaking of?

[TheAlmightyPoe]

Well, everything else aside, I hate how the prequels managed to travel through time and destroy my childhood's favourite movies.

 

In no particular order:

R2-D2 can fly.

R2-D2 and C3P0 already know Obi-Wan.

Anakin was not the best starfighter in the galaxy, rather he just says "whoops" all the time and wins the day.

Darth Vader is not really a serious bad*ss, rather he is a misguided whiner who can be easily tricked into violently murdering children.

Darth Vader did not hunt down and destroy the Jedi, the matchstick droids did that.

The Force is not an ancient religion from legendary times, rather there were thousand of Jedi just 20 yrs ago!

The Jedi and the Force have nothing to do with mysticism, belief or training; rather it is all genetics and based on midichlorians (can you say "master race").

Lightsabres are nothing special, kids get them at age 5.

Luke was not too old to begin the training because he was in his early twenties, rather he was too old to begin the training because he was out of diapers.

The clone wars was not a war, it was a one-day skirmish, mostly involving droids and jedi.

Lightsabres are not only a Jedi's weapon, droids have them too!

 

Other really stupid things:

On Naboo there is no news service or independant communication capability to "prove" there is a blockade.

In any case the Republic doesn't even bother to look into it, despite the fact that the elected leader of an entire planet is making a plea.

On Naboo they elect their queens, and a 14 yr old can win the election.

Said 14 yr old queen hides guns in the armrests of her throne.

Wookies like to hide in trenches, but only up to the moment the invading army arrives, then they like to jump out into the oncoming blaster fire.

Luke and Leia's mother didn't die in some tragic way, she just willed herself dead because... I don't even know why.

Anakin's mom is the virgin mary. Really Lucas?

Virgin births are apparently pretty ordinary because no one bothers to comment or mention it again.

Nobody bothers to go and free Anakin's mom from slavery, despite the fact that her son is a living prophecy and saved an entire planet from invasion.

Greedo shot first.

________________________________

 

Really, I know that the first trilogy weren't the greatest films of all time, but back in 1977 that Star Wars film blew everyone away, it was just so much more awesome then anything that had come before it. By the time the prequels came around it was just another run-of-the-mill CGI action flick where story is an after-thought, there was just nothing special. I mean in 1999 we had The Matrix, Boondock Saints, Toy Story 2, the Mummy, and Galaxy Quest; all of which have better reviews than Ep. 1. I mean, if you can't get better reviews than an action comedy starring Brendan Fraser, that's just sad.

 

 

I disagree with one thing: Yoda calling Luke and anakin too old.

 

From the information given to us from the prequels, and the way yoda acted in the original trilogy, it seems more that Yoda just didnt want another skywalker going to the dark side of the force. It wasn't really age, he just didn't want to be responsible for another ungoldy sith.

 

Just how i took that line.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

Exactly who is this your speaking of?

 

This one. Wookieepedia tells me her name was Bultar Swan. I never even noticed the ridiculous over-the-head lightsaber ignition.

 

"Stop, in the name of love!"

Edited February 8, 2012 by PeepsMcJuggs

[RagnarokJC]

This one. Wookieepedia tells me her name was Bultar Swan. I never even noticed the ridiculous over-the-head lightsaber ignition.

 

"Stop, in the name of love!"

I remember groaning inwardly when I saw that part.

[reaperkeepet]

This one. Wookieepedia tells me her name was Bultar Swan. I never even noticed the ridiculous over-the-head lightsaber ignition.

 

"Stop, in the name of love!"

 

BAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I haven't watched that battle for years and now when you pointed those things out LOL. That's not even the worst part, look at 5:35 - 5:36. Do you not see the Jedi that doubly wings the lightsaber? I think they put the lightsaber in at the wrong part. LOL

Edited February 9, 2012 by Wekeltes

[JeedaiFiresaber]

This one. Wookieepedia tells me her name was Bultar Swan. I never even noticed the ridiculous over-the-head lightsaber ignition.

 

"Stop, in the name of love!"

 

It was stuff like this that made me inwardly groan while watching the prequels the first time. Or the battle droids in RotS suddenly having funny voices instead of the monotone we heard the last 2 films for NO REASON.

 

I took my wife with me to see RotS and at that time she was just getting into Star Wars and Star Trek (now she's near as big a geek as i am in geeky stuff) and I remember almost feeling embarassed at moments like that. Embarrassed I was showing her this being like 'hey i like Star Wars'...though she did enjoy the film enough at the time.

 

I have actually read this thread all the way from page 1 over the course of days and days (haha yay for downtime at work)... pretty much most points have been touched on. Really my problem is these films feel so unprofessional. Like all the bad fan films from the Internet you see, but in this case, AAA special effects.

 

It's like this was the first draft of the script, and they only ever did 1 take. That's how it comes off to me. I can't rage on Lucas, I don't hate him for it. I just think he doesn't even know what people like about Star Wars. I don't think even he cares, cause if you hear him behind the scenes he calls Lightsabers laser swords, and stupid stuff like that. These movies were made to showcase digital effects, and to sell merchandise. That's it.

 

EDIT actually thats a tradgedy itself. The man was an independant filmaker and wanted to retain the rights to his creation and hated 'hollywood'...and he's pretty much become what he dispised back in the day.

Edited February 8, 2012 by JeedaiFiresaber

[DSybert]

I feel a need to chime in here, not so much to defend the prequels as to illustrate that the originals aren't necessarily as fantastic as we like to believe.

 

The Diary of Luke Skywalker

Dear Diary,

 

Today my uncle and I bought some stolen robots, but it's okay. The little one had a video of a hot chick. Of course because I'm an idiot I took off his collar and now hes run away. I'll look for him tomorrow.

 

Dear Diary,

 

Today I went to look for my stolen droid, he got me attacked by sand people but it's okay because I met my new bff; Obi-Wan Kenobi. He told me everything I knew about my father for the last 20 years was a lie, but I believe him 'cause that's what you do with bff's. When I went home so I wouldn't get in trouble I learned my family had been slaughtered and burned alive, bummer. Now I've decided to travel far away and devote my life to this new Force thing I just learned about. Obi-Wan does it so it has to be cool. We met a pirate and his dog and he charged us an arm and a leg to fly us away, but it turns out the planet we were going to was blown up. Oh well, we got to save the hot chick and blow up Tie Fighters, I'm bummed that Obi-Wan died, but the hot chick was really comforting considering her entire planet got blowed up. Anyways after we saved her I got to fly a multi-million dollar fighter plane and blow up a battle station the size of a small moon. Thank God they only had like 12 fighters on board that thing to send at us. Anyways, Han, the pirate guy, yeah he had a quick change of heart and helped out. That's great too because I figure the all the money they gave him will go to pay off his boss, I'm sure that won't be an issue 6 years from now. Anyways after blowing the battle station up we had a party where me and Han got a medal, thank goodness no one is concerned about the massive military force that's going to kick our asses for that. Wow what a couple of days. i think I'll go make a Christmas special and chill for the next few years.

The end.

[JustTed]

I feel a need to chime in here, not so much to defend the prequels as to illustrate that the originals aren't necessarily as fantastic as we like to believe.

 

Yeah they are.

 

It's the prequels that are garbage.

 

Dear Diary,

 

Today I went to look for my stolen droid, he got me attacked by sand people but it's okay because I met my new bff; Obi-Wan Kenobi. He told me everything I knew about my father for the last 20 years was a lie, but I believe him 'cause that's what you do with bff's. When I went home so I wouldn't get in trouble I learned my family had been slaughtered and burned alive, bummer. Now I've decided to travel far away and devote my life to this new Force thing I just learned about. Obi-Wan does it so it has to be cool. We met a pirate and his dog and he charged us an arm and a leg to fly us away, but it turns out the planet we were going to was blown up. Oh well, we got to save the hot chick and blow up Tie Fighters, I'm bummed that Obi-Wan died, but the hot chick was really comforting considering her entire planet got blowed up. Anyways after we saved her I got to fly a multi-million dollar fighter plane and blow up a battle station the size of a small moon. Thank God they only had like 12 fighters on board that thing to send at us. Anyways, Han, the pirate guy, yeah he had a quick change of heart and helped out. That's great too because I figure the all the money they gave him will go to pay off his boss, I'm sure that won't be an issue 6 years from now. Anyways after blowing the battle station up we had a party where me and Han got a medal, thank goodness no one is concerned about the massive military force that's going to kick our asses for that. Wow what a couple of days. i think I'll go make a Christmas special and chill for the next few years.

The end.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

Edited February 8, 2012 by JustTed

[PeepsMcJuggs]

BAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I haven't watched that battle for years and now when you pointed those things out LOL that whole scene is so gay. That's not even the worst part, look at 5:35 - 5:36. Do you not see the Jedi that doubly wings the lightsaber? I think they put the lightsaber in at the wrong part. LOL

 

It is my sincere hope that from this day forth, whenever you guys watch that scene, you'll think of

.

[reaperkeepet]

It is my sincere hope that from this day forth, whenever you guys watch that scene, you'll think of

.

 

Nope. More like

Edited February 8, 2012 by reaperkeepet

[covu]

I am seriously so sick of everyone bashing on Hayden Christenson. I am tired of it. You are all entitled to your opinions, don't get me wrong. You all have a right to believe what you want, but I cannot look at any of this whining without knowing the root cause;

 

the character of Anakin was bad.

 

I've heard very good things about Christenson's acting in other films such as Life as a House and Shattered Glass. He does not strike me as anything like a bad actor.

 

You all hate him because he is the face of Anakin Skywalker, and the Anakin Skywalker we got in the prequels was a whining, self-righteous, pretentious kid (after Ep. I).

 

And that is solely Lucas' fault. That is solely Lucas' bad directing. He has actually gone on record, there is footage of him, telling Hayden "be whinier." He SAYS THIS. And what's Hayden supposed to do? Tell George Lucas off?

 

Please, I beg you. Watch some of the behind-the-scenes for AotC and RotS. LOOK at Hayden's face. He looks annoyed, confused, and troubled whenever Lucas gives him acting directions. This isn't because he's a bad actor, it's because Lucas told him to act badly, because Lucas didn't give anyone else creative freedom.

 

You want more proof? Natalie Portman. Please don't try to tell me Natalie Portman is a bad actress. She's gotten numerous awards. She is critically acclaimed as an actress or films like Closer and Black Swan. Then why is her character so dry, uninteresting, and just generally horrible in Star Wars?

 

I'm going to bold/underline/italicize this.

 

The Director Sucked.

 

You think you could do better spending months walking around a totally green or blue room with nothing to interact with?

 

I just.... I'm sorry. I'm asking you; hate the character, hate the films, hate what Lucas tried to do. But please don't hate the people who were forced to put up with his horrible directing skills. They tried to work with what they were given and really they were given nothing.

 

QFT

 

I not a huge fan Hayden Christenson, but I have to say he did the best job he could with the poor material provided by Lucas, Hayden is just the scapegoat with everything that went wrong in the prequals even with the one he wasn't in.

[Keihryon]

I've never thought hayden was a "great" actor, but he is better than people give him credit for. I saw one behind the scenes where he practically had to beg lucas to do another take. I saw Life as a House before ep. 2 and I couldn't help but think that lucas told him to bring that exact character out. I barely remember Jumper, and never seen Shattered Glass. But I think him being forced to act so poorly on teh SW movies has actually hurt his career.

 

Ever hear Ewan talk about those movies? He wishes he had listened to his uncle and not done them.

Edited February 9, 2012 by Keihryon

[info_man]

No. I think hayden from what I've seen him in, is a bad actor. Although looks shouldnt mean everything in acting by any means...when I just see his mug while he's acting, I dislike his character already on some level...then he manages to screw it up and then I really dislike him. It seems every movie he tries to act tough or a cool guy, he fails hard at it. I'm sure him in sw left a bad taste in my mouth in general over him...but I really believe he's a bad actor.

You're right though, it was lucas fault. It was his fault for hiring him.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

QFT

 

I not a huge fan Hayden Christenson, but I have to say he did the best job he could with the poor material provided by Lucas, Hayden is just the scapegoat with everything that went wrong in the prequals even with the one he wasn't in.

 

That's rather silly, actually. It doesn't matter if Hayden did the best with the material he was given: his character annoyed the crap out of me. I'm sure Lucas is largely to blame, and I do love to blame Lucas, but that doesn't make me unjustified in criticizing Hayden Christensen when, at the end of the day, it was his face in front of the camera saying those lines like a creepy stalker.

[ElCapitaan]

So I recently got a bad case of the Midichlorians. Thank goodness my doctor gave me a shot of penicillin for it. I feel much better. Wow, was that a rough STD or what.

 

Reducing the theory behind the force to symbiotic organisms, that grant access to the force, was stupid and banal. Lucas was afraid, due to his political leanings, that the force was too much like a religion. Being who he is, and not just leaving it up to people to make up their own minds on the matter, he had to explain it away in a rather feeble manner.

 

For that, and inane dialogue, I despise the prequels. Lastly, Darth Maul, the most dynamic antagonist in the series, should have been allowed to hinder the protagonist from beginning to end. Killing that character off in the first movie was a fatal mistake.

[solidus_snake]

I personally believe that most people hate them for fairly dumb reasons i.e. not being the last 30-45 minutes of Revenge of the Sith.

 

Anakin, to me, was one of the most understandable and relatable characters in the series. He grew up as a slave, a horrible life, and the only kindness he ever knew was from his mother. He joined the Jedi, partly to free his mother and fight injustices like slavery. Yet despite his training and power, she dies and there wasn't really anything he could do. He was angry at himself for not being powerful enough, or quick enough to save her. He was angry at the Jedi Council for not trusting him, and angry at Obi-Wan for not listening to him and (to him) arbitrarily holding his growth in power back (power, he rationalized, that could have saved his mother).

 

 

Next, he's plauged by visions that his wife (secret wife, that is) will die in childbirth. Now he's faced with losing the SECOND person to ever love him in addition to his child. That would push most people to the breaking point and its understandable that he'd do anything to save them. Unlike most Jedi, who are loyal to an ideal Anakin was loyal to people. Then of course there's the tragedy in that trying to prevent his wife's death, he brought it to pass and only at the end, when he was completely under Palpatine's thumb did he realize how badly he went wrong and how utterly manipulated he was.

 

 

Yes, the prequels did have their fair share of stilted dialog and wooden acting but those things also existed in the original trilogy as well. Since that didn't get in the way of the classics for me, it didn't bother me with the prequels either. The use (or overuse) of CGI is a matter of personal preference IMO.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

For that, and inane dialogue, I despise the prequels. Lastly, Darth Maul, the most dynamic antagonist in the series, should have been allowed to hinder the protagonist from beginning to end. Killing that character off in the first movie was a fatal mistake.

 

Well, Lucas has a known track record of underestimating the appeal of the villains he creates. He assumed both Vader and Boba Fett would just be token villains, until the audience proved him wrong.

 

This is a consistent issue with him: sure, he created Star Wars, but it's pretty clear he doesn't actually understand why its so popular.

[Girwen]

Cant say i hate them but i can say they are nothing compared to 4-6. If you ask me the story just doesnt really flow very well. That and i never much cared about the characters in them.

[BrandonSM]

TCW has been going good for the Prequels. Making them seem allot more meaningful. And dare I say it, but even Jar Jar has improved. His character actually has a point in the TCW tv show.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

TCW has been going good for the Prequels. Making them seem allot more meaningful. And dare I say it, but even Jar Jar has improved. His character actually has a point in the TCW tv show.

 

That's just another ding against the Prequels, really. When you need a cartoon to fix the problems of the movies, there's something fundamentally wrong there.

[jarjarloves]

That's just another ding against the Prequels, really. When you need a cartoon to fix the problems of the movies, there's something fundamentally wrong there.

 

exactly. you could get rid of all three prequels and just have The Clone Wars and it would make more sense.

[Metaphasic]

Here are my thoughts on the differences between the originals and the prequels, which I believe are more basic reasons for the difference in success between them.

 

The original movies had a lot a white in it. Even the interior of the death star and the star destroyers were replete with it. Not only were the storm troopers white, but the empire locations were more grayish than black. Vader stood out because he was the one constant black colored element. The original movies also had better, and more, characters: Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, 3PO, R2, Vader, Kenobi, Yoda, Lando, Jabba, the list goes on. Heck, we even grew to know the Falcon as a 'character'. And what's noticable is that they all had decent interaction with one another. They had dynamic relationships. The on-screen portayals were mostly light-hearted, even in the presence of bad circumstances. The original had better humor, like 3PO getting his head banged up while on Chewies back, and not able to do anything about it. That was funny. And you know what? 3PO and R2 were able to accomplish comic relief without actually doing anything but be there for situational elements, and of course Daniel's awesomely dry wit. They didn't have to TRY to be funny.

 

The prequels were dark. Too much of it. Not just in mood, but in setting. It really detracted from any sense of darkness about a given character. They had fewer truly memorable characters: Kenobi, Anakin, Padme, Qui-Gon, Palpatine, Dooku, and yes, as much we hate him, JarJar. These characters also had very limited interaction, and with a more limited subset of the rest. Little to no humor was present. So much so that not even 3PO and R2 could save it. They had to use JarJar, which was so badly overdone, he lost all the humor he was supposed to create.

 

I remember watching each movie as it came out, in the theaters, and again years later. To this day, I still cannot form an emotional attachment to Anakin as I did with Luke and company. The prequals were supposed to expand the current story by telling of things past, but to me, they just seemed to tell a non-related, loosely-associated story.

 

Add to this everything posted previously...

[reaperkeepet]

That's just another ding against the Prequels, really. When you need a cartoon to fix the problems of the movies, there's something fundamentally wrong there.

 

Hehe, if it wasn't for TCW the prequals would be more lost than they already are.

Edited February 9, 2012 by reaperkeepet