Why Do People Hate the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy?

[Reverend]

I may not like the characters of the PT but the visual designs are fantastic and feel more thought out than some of the characters. I prefer the Naboo designs over the Millennium Falcon, but that's just me. The visuals are among some of my favorites in science fiction.

Lucas is first and foremost a visual storyteller, so it's no coincidence that the best place to look to understand his intent is not the script (because by his own admission, he's a terrible writer and hates the process), but the images, the framing, the designs and the edit. Think back to some of the most iconic, emotionally powerful moments in the franchise and you'll find a lot of them have hardly any or very minimal dialogue and are supported mostly by the Lucas's visuals and Williams' score.
Luke and the sunset, Luke at the burning farm, Obi-Wan's sacrifice, the final trench run, Luke vs. Vader (both times), the cave vision, duel of fates, "Padme's ruminations", Order 66 and of course the "birthing" scene.

I think you might mean "The Scouring of the Shire."

That too.

 

[LJones41]

You clearly missed the backhanded nature of my post. Stating "everyone hates the prequels", is an understood meme at this point. Because so many fans (famous and and normal) have been vocal regarding their complaints.

By the same token however, the sequel trilogy has demonstrated it has a bad case of sequelitits. Where the film's play out like "greatest hits" from the OT and high priced fanfiction.

TL;DR: My comment about EP IX having yet another Death Star, was the punchline, with the PT hate comment being the set up.

Take a chill pill, mate.

No thanks. And I wish you had been a little more clear in your views.

 

[Prax]

It's quickly becoming no longer cool to bash the prequels.

 

[Smellmet]

It's quickly becoming no longer cool to bash the prequels.

I never have done. I've always enjoyed them.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

No thanks. And I wish you had been a little more clear in your views.

That's the thing about comedy and lampooning. If you have to explain to the audience what the joke and punchlines are, then it's not funny.

 

[suarezguy]

Really, in what way?

Notably Zahn usually has the Big Three coming to Mara, Kardde or Bel Iblis and asking for help or being rescued by them (and Kardde is shown as never wrong and a more successful if not cooler character than Han and Bel Iblis a better politician than Mon Mothma). As for upping the ante it seemed Luke was making some profound discovery about the Force most books, especially awkwardly in Courtship of Princess Leia.

 

[fireproof78]

You clearly missed the backhanded nature of my post. Stating "everyone hates the prequels", is an understood meme at this point. Because so many fans (famous and and normal) have been vocal regarding their complaints.

By the same token however, the sequel trilogy has demonstrated it has a bad case of sequelitits. Where the film's play out like "greatest hits" from the OT and high priced fanfiction.

TL;DR: My comment about EP IX having yet another Death Star, was the punchline, with the PT hate comment being the set up.

Take a chill pill, mate.

Not possible. Star Wars is serious business! (puts on serious business face)



Also:

 

[Reverend]

A factor a lot of people miss is that when Lucas wrote Star Wars he initially made it *way* too big and so wound up chopping it into three acts, making ANH out of the first act. The problem though is that the first act didn't have a climax, so he "stole" the climax from the third act (that would later become RotJ.) In that sense RotJ wasn't the movie that was being unoriginal since the battle over the Death Star was initially conceived as taking place then. That they ended up keeping it there was mostly an artefact of Lucas making his first movie not knowing if the second and third would ever see the light of day.

Also the point of the movie isn't the Death Star itself, it's the Emperor. The station is mostly there in the story as a symbol of the Empire and it's evil.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I'm not so sure I buy the whole "made STAR WARS too big so had to break it up into 3 movies" mantra Lucas has spouted for so many decades. Mostly because when you look at ESB & RotJ, they're really thin, story-wise. ESB gets away with that a little more, because it looks and acts cool, but there's not a lot of story in it, as there was in ANH. Seems more like George's overcompensating for something with his "oh! My script was SO big ..."

 

[Set Harth]

On a slightly different matter, the name of the character, Padme, struck me as a bit odd. The name sounded like an invitation for sexual harassment.

Yes, the Jedi manipulating Anakin to spy on Palpatine "off the record" was totally "peace and justice."

So in other words, fire Robert Mueller ASAP?

 

[Reverend]

I'm not so sure I buy the whole "made STAR WARS too big so had to break it up into 3 movies" mantra Lucas has spouted for so many decades. Mostly because when you look at ESB & RotJ, they're really thin, story-wise. ESB gets away with that a little more, because it looks and acts cool, but there's not a lot of story in it, as there was in ANH. Seems more like George's overcompensating for something with his "oh! My script was SO big ..."

All of the major drafts are out there in the wild so you can go read them yourself. If you can't be bothered, well that's you're own lookout matey.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I just might! ... I just might, at that ...

 

[Skulkin' Vulcan]

The easiest way to explain why I hate the prequels is to just watch The Clone Wars animated series and compare the two. Clone Wars deals with the same subject matter as the prequels, same characters, same themes, basically just filling in some additional material - and does it vastly better, starting with Anakin being portrayed as a likable, heroic, attractive, dynamic, reasonably intelligent guy who just has a fatal flaw of excessive hubris which keeps him from having his guard sufficiently up against the dark side.

A better-portrayed Anakin also helps a lot with Padme and Obi-Wan. She doesn't seem like a dolt for marrying a rapey creep who acts more like a child than a man. Obi-Wan's great friendship with Anakin now makes sense, and the battle on Mustafar would have emotional resonance, if it were between the two characters from The Clone Wars series (damn, why can't I ever see that version of the battle?)

If the prequels had been like that, they would have been among my favorite movies of all time. The premise is interesting and full of great potential. That is probably the worst part - these movies should have been not just good but classic.

Well anyway, Dave Filoni will keep making series for the indefinite future, which is some degree of compensation I guess. I have this recurring fantasy of him creating animated specials that go over the material in the prequel movies, and do it all right this time. He wouldn't even need to change the plot elements much at all. It's more in the execution.

 

[Prax]

While Anakin is much more likeable in TCW, he's far less interesting than the Anakin in the prequels(or original clone wars series, or the books like Labyrinth of Evil/Revenge of the Sith/Rise of Vader that came out around 2005).

On the other hand, while Obi-Wan is very likeable in the prequels, he is insufferable in TCW. He has his moments, but most of the time he's pompous and arrogant, and should stop talking.

The true glory of TCW is the clones, and Ashoka. My favorite stories, and the only ones I have gone back and watched more than twice are the Umbara Arc, the "Ashoka is framed" arc, the order 66 chip arc, and the last arc about Yoda. I think Obi-Wan is near totally absent from these. My favorite Obi-Wan episode would have to be the one where he and Anakin get ransomed with Dooku on the pirate planet. He is fun to watch there.

TCW Padme can get annoying sometimes, too, but they didn't use her all that much. I really liked Padme in the older clone wars series.

Dave Filoni - George Lucas = Rebels

 

[fireproof78]

he's far less interesting than the Anakin in the prequels(or original clone wars series, or the books like Labyrinth of Evil/Revenge of the Sith/Rise of Vader that came out around 2005).

Agree on the books but not on the PT.

 

[LJones41]

A better-portrayed Anakin also helps a lot with Padme and Obi-Wan. She doesn't seem like a dolt for marrying a rapey creep who acts more like a child than a man. Obi-Wan's great friendship with Anakin now makes sense, and the battle on Mustafar would have emotional resonance, if it were between the two characters from The Clone Wars series (damn, why can't I ever see that version of the battle?)

I'm honestly supposed to take this seriously? I get it. You don't like the Prequel Trilogy. But could you have at least thought up a better reason to dislike it than this?

One of the reasons I never got into "The Clone Wars" is because it seemed determined to rush Anakin's descent into evil. There were moments when he became a borderline juvenile delinquent, which I believe didn't jibe well with his portrayal at the beginning of "Revenge of the Sith". And for some stupid reason, this is exactly what many fans wanted him to be. Are these fans really afraid at the idea that someone who is decent is capable of becoming a monster? Which is how Lucas portrayed him? Because guess what? Anyone one of us can become a monster.

And I never thought it was necessary to flesh out the Clone Wars itself. To me, the war was nothing more than a tool utilized by Palpatine to rise in power and bring down the Jedi.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm honestly supposed to take this seriously? I get it. You don't like the Prequel Trilogy. But could you have at least thought up a better reason to dislike it than this?

One of the reasons I never got into "The Clone Wars" is because it seemed determined to rush Anakin's descent into evil. There were moments when he became a borderline juvenile delinquent, which I believe didn't jibe well with his portrayal at the beginning of "Revenge of the Sith". And for some stupid reason, this is exactly what many fans wanted him to be. Are these fans really afraid at the idea that someone who is decent is capable of becoming a monster? Which is how Lucas portrayed him? Because guess what? Anyone one of us can become a monster.

And I never thought it was necessary to flesh out the Clone Wars itself. To me, the war was nothing more than a tool utilized by Palpatine to rise in power and bring down the Jedi.

Sorry, I already feel like this descent to the Dark Side was rushed in the films. I at least felt like I got some of the good of Anakin in the Clone Wars.

Also, I do agree on the Clone Wars being nothing but a tool of the Sith. One of the more interesting parts of the novel is the description of the plots and schemes to put the Clone Wars in place.

 

[Reverend]

The Clone Wars being just a means to an end for Sidious doesn't mean there's any shortage of interesting and worthwhile stories to tell against that backdrop, which is pretty much all it was even in the series that bore it's name. There were plenty of battles and nefarious plots, sure, but with no real context as to the larger conflict. we got very little development of the war itself. Which is good, because the war wasn't the story; the characters were.

 

[LJones41]

The Clone Wars being just a means to an end for Sidious doesn't mean there's any shortage of interesting and worthwhile stories to tell against that backdrop, which is pretty much all it was even in the series that bore it's name. There were plenty of battles and nefarious plots, sure, but with no real context as to the larger conflict. we got very little development of the war itself. Which is good, because the war wasn't the story; the characters were.

You're probably right. But I really saw no need for a movie or series about the war, when it was basically a political tool that Palpatine used.

 

[Reverend]

You're probably right. But I really saw no need for a movie or series about the war, when it was basically a political tool that Palpatine used.

Need? What does "need" have to do with telling stories about space wizard samurai?