Mark Hamill on the Prequel Trilogy
- Thread starter LJones41
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Well done Mark, voice of reason.
If people don't like the prequels, there's nothing wrong with having an opinion but to attack a child for simply playing a part in a movie, that's beyond low.
Yeah, I totally agree with Mark on this, it's one thing to simply say "I didn't like the prequels" but to threaten people like the way Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best were threatened, and for them to be treated the way they were was appalling, and when I see things like that it makes me almost ashamed to be a Star Wars fan, it's fine to really like something and analyze the crap out of it, but at the end of the day the Star Wars franchise is just another series of films (and tie in merch), and if you can't separate that from real life then you quite clearly need to be speaking to a professional.
Yeah apparently the experience really screwed up his childhood, I wouldn't be surprised if he hates Star Wars with every fiber of his being. It's sad that only Hamill has really defended Lloyd, would think some of his cast mates would have issued some statements over the years, I haven't really found anything other than what Hamill has said in his defense however.
Yeah I don't get the depth of the hate really, I wasn't a fan of the prequels either, but any blame for how they came up short I lay at Lucas feet, He basically surrounded himself with Yes Men, because he didn't want to be challenged or reigned in, he just wanted people to delegate things to. I read as of last year Lloyd was in a mental facility, hopefully he has gotten out and is trying to build a life at this point
I don't feel the level of hate, but I do understand it better than I do the Legends canon change hate, the TFA hate, or the Rebels hate.
I think the better explanations I have heard have come from older fans who had seen the original trilogy when it came out, and that the prequels did not feel connected in a meaningful way. Of course, that can be disputed, but I at least have a measure of understanding for that point of view. I have also defended the prequels in some aspects (Padme/Anakin romance in AOTC for instance) so I can kind of see that side of things too.
Finally, I agree with the point that any blame rests solely at Lucas' feet. I don't hate him for it, nor do I wish him any ill-will. He made the films he wanted to make, but that doesn't mean I have to like them or enjoy them.
As for Jake Lloyd, I truly hope he gets help for what is going on with him.
I hear people say this all the time, but just don't understand where it comes from. He directed the film's himself, yes, but he had just as much creative control over the prequels that he did the originals. How many filmmakers(especially in the 80's) own their own films. And all six films+the special editions were made by the same Lucas film/ILM veterans.
I grew up with the originals on VHS, saw the special editions in theatre, and saw the Prequels in theatre, all of which to cheering crowds. I never even knew I was supposed to hate them until probably around 2009-2010 when I started to see people complaining about them online. I always thought they were great...one of the very few instances of me going to the theatre to see a film more than once.
I know alot of people liked the prequels, and alot of people didn't, of course, this being the internet, the negative people are going to drown out anyone else. Personally, I don't hate Lucas either, I wish him nothing but the best, and thank him for what he has created for us to enjoy. Like I said earlier, I think he just got too attached to what he had created, and wasn't really willing to bring people on board that could help him flesh out things. Personally, I simply think his biggest misstep in the prequels was that he got caught up in the visual minutiae of his universe and because of this, things like story progression, character development and dialog suffered, things that people could have helped him with and still left the grand scope of his story intact. I actually do think the core story of the prequels is a good one, and the broad strokes story wise are done mostly well.
The main difference between the OT and PT Lucas isn't that he owned them, but that he still had studio oversight and financial restrictions. Financially, Lucas was in a much better position to dictate the PT, than the limitations that he had with the original Star Wars especially. Lucas would often describe them as "unfinished" as he couldn't do all that he wanted to do.
This is why the PT also sees an increase push towards digital filmmaking because Lucas really wanted to advance the technology to present these films. I've heard these films described as "experiments in digital filmmaking" because of the limits Lucas wanted to push past.
There are so many influences on Lucas that changed over the years, but I don't think Lucas saw SW as the masterpiece as audiences thought it was. So, the PT reflects more of the story he really wanted to tell from the get go, rather than how the original films ended up.
I think a large part of the frustration with the prequels, and hence Jake Lloyd, is the portrayal of Anakin; there was just too much nice kid in TPM, and too much angst and not enough swagger in AOTC and ROTS. I think if adult Anakin had been portrayed more like a stereotypical high school jock, or more specifically, someone like Maverick or Iceman in "Top Gun", people would have been more receptive. I think it comes down to people wanting to positively identify with a movie character, live vicariously through them, *be* them, and in Anakin’s case - who really wants to be him? Instead of whining about Obi-Wan or the Council, had Anakin just not given a sh*t, it would have helped his character a lot (I think The Clone Wars portrayal is pretty good).
Also, his path to turning to the dark side is weak. Lucas chose the “mommy’s boy” and “nobody understands me” route, and had he come up with a much more powerful and logical character arc, the movies would have been better received, IMHO. Unfortunately, the seeds just weren’t there in TPM; 8-year old Anakin was just too nice. He needed to be shown he was a dick (or maybe a bully?) as a kid for the adult Anakin to work. Turning that nice kid into Darth Vader was just a bridge too far. I understand what Lucas was attempting, but I don’t really buy it. So that taints people’s views of the prequels, and zero in their frustration on Jake Lloyd. It’s too bad; as I recall from TPM DVD behind-the-scenes auditions, he was still the best choice of the boys shown.
Also, his path to turning to the dark side is weak. Lucas chose the “mommy’s boy” and “nobody understands me” route, and had he come up with a much more powerful and logical character arc, the movies would have been better received, IMHO. Unfortunately, the seeds just weren’t there in TPM; 8-year old Anakin was just too nice. He needed to be shown he was a dick (or maybe a bully?) as a kid for the adult Anakin to work. Turning that nice kid into Darth Vader was just a bridge too far. I understand what Lucas was attempting, but I don’t really buy it. So that taints people’s views of the prequels, and zero in their frustration on Jake Lloyd. It’s too bad; as I recall from TPM DVD behind-the-scenes auditions, he was still the best choice of the boys shown.
^^^^
Yeah, but NONE of that should lead to him or ANYONE being stalked/ridiculed/threatened. It's JUST some movies made to entertain and make profit. Just goes to sadly show some people take some things WAY too seriously. As for Mark HamilI; he comes across here as a real class act.
^ I think he could have started off with the nice kid and still make his fall work.
It just amazes me to hear how far some people take their dislike of things like the PT. It's fine if you don't like something, but it's just unbelieveable to me that people could actually take that dislike so far as to actually harass and stalk a kid, who was just doing what he was told.
As for Mark Hamill, I can definitely understand him not wanting to rip on George Lucas. He might have made some questionable creative choices, but everything I've seen and heard from and about him makes him seem like a really nice guy personally.
It just amazes me to hear how far some people take their dislike of things like the PT. It's fine if you don't like something, but it's just unbelieveable to me that people could actually take that dislike so far as to actually harass and stalk a kid, who was just doing what he was told.
As for Mark Hamill, I can definitely understand him not wanting to rip on George Lucas. He might have made some questionable creative choices, but everything I've seen and heard from and about him makes him seem like a really nice guy personally.
Maybe they should have cast Haley Joel Osment. Then Anakin could have been that cliché kid that is smarter than all the adults around him. Qui-Gonn, Amidala, and Yoda would go to lil Ani for advice. Wouldn't that be great?
NOoooOo, instead we get stuck with just a regular boy who really misses his mum. Yeah, I guess that's objectively bad....
Racer_X said:
That kind of misses the point of the whole turning to the dark side thing. The holy Original Trilogy (PBUI) said that Anakin was a good man before he fell, as opposed to a dick all along. Everyone always says he should have been this little asshole but that's not the story.
Yeah, and I think making him a nicer guy would have also made his fall to the dark side even more tragic. I think having him fall so quickly in RoTS was a mistake, I really think it should have been a much slower descent over the course of at least AoTC and RoTS. I know we got a bit of that with the Sand People, but there should have been more of that over the whole movie.
His story really is tragic. He's sort of torn between two father figures after losing Qui-Gonn and his mum. Qui-Gon was a good father figure with good intentions for Anakin. He died. Anakin then spends the next ten years being raised by Obi-Wan and the Jedi on the one hand, who have his best interest, but tell him everything he doesn't want to hear. On the other hand he's raised by Palpatine, who tells Anakin everything he wants to hear. He loses his mom and gains a beautiful wife. She's his prized possession and he loves her. by the time of Episode III, Anakin has a really warped view of himself, the Jedi, etc. Palpatine's been working on him for 13 years. You know the rest.
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