On IMDB the prequels have average ratings of 6.6, 6.8, and 7.7 out of 10, respectively. On Rotten Tomatoes they have critical ratings of 57, 67, and 80 percent, and audience ratings of 60, 60, and 65 percent. So, despite all the bashing they get, the numbers indicate that most people like the prequels. Obviously popularity doesn't prove quality, but it seems to me like there's a discrepancy between the amount of bashing they get and the overall opinions of the general public. I think sometimes movies get a reputation for being more unpopular than they actually are, and this is a good example.
Are the Star Wars prequels really that unpopular?
- Thread starter TalkieToaster
- Start date
They are unpopular with a certain segment of fans. For most people they are considered fun Star Wars movies...period. Younger people, for the most part, are more familiar with the prequels than the original trilogy.
Funnily enough, I almost traumatized my six year old son recently by trying to watch the OT with them. We got about ten minutes in and he started crying because the Clones were bad. He told me that this wasn't Star Wars and made me turn it off.
Funnily enough, I almost traumatized my six year old son recently by trying to watch the OT with them. We got about ten minutes in and he started crying because the Clones were bad. He told me that this wasn't Star Wars and made me turn it off.
Wow, I hope you didn't show him RotS!
The Clone Wars animated series seems like more his thing.
They're popular. They're just not good
There is no way this could possibly be true.
This. It's not exactly uncommon in general. It's just more painful with beloved franchises.
People who love Star Wars have seen it too many times to like it any more.
People who like Star Wars haven't seen it in 10 or 20 years.
I watched the Rifftrax of all 6 movies for Star Wars Day last week.
Those guys are mean.
"Putting Sam Jackson in this movie is like using a gun to open an envelope."
One thing I never noticed before in my last 70 viewings of Star Wars A New Hope, is Carrie Fisher pleading with Tarkin not to blow up Aalderan in an English accent... I mean wtf?? Where the #### did that come from? And where the #### did it go?
People who like Star Wars haven't seen it in 10 or 20 years.
I watched the Rifftrax of all 6 movies for Star Wars Day last week.
Those guys are mean.
"Putting Sam Jackson in this movie is like using a gun to open an envelope."
One thing I never noticed before in my last 70 viewings of Star Wars A New Hope, is Carrie Fisher pleading with Tarkin not to blow up Aalderan in an English accent... I mean wtf?? Where the #### did that come from? And where the #### did it go?
Of course the other possibility is that review "scores" on aggregators may not be quite the scientific guide to popular opinion that some people think they are.
She only does it around Tarkin, not around Vader or anyone else. She was mocking him, I think - and drops the accent instantly when she realizes what he's about to do.
For Episode I, ok. For Episodes II-III, blame George Lucas, Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman (in that order) for completely failing to emotionally invest us in the trilogy's 'hero' or in his doomed romance.
I blame Ben Burtt.
My bashing comes mostly from the disappointment of The Phantom Menace, which started from the title, and Jar Jar Binks and kid Anakin deflated things. But also little stuff, which didn't reasonably match what was told in ANH & ESB, like how Obi Wan's training of Anakin wasn't because Obi Wan was arrogant and believed his own abilities too much, but that he was carrying on Qui Gon's wishes. Or Anakin already being a good pilot when he meets Obi wan (his first fighter battle was an accident).
I think they got progressively better, with ROTS really being the kind of tone that i wished the other movies were like. The opening sequence of ROTS has to be the best of all 6.
I had been waiting for these prequels back in 1983, and the year 2000 seemed so far away.
I think they got progressively better, with ROTS really being the kind of tone that i wished the other movies were like. The opening sequence of ROTS has to be the best of all 6.
I had been waiting for these prequels back in 1983, and the year 2000 seemed so far away.
As someone who dislikes the prequels, I do have to somewhat agree with that statement.
The way the camera pans over a supposedly quiet area with two starfighters, then slowly moves into a very busy area....with the accompaniment of John Williams' music throughout the sequence.
Also, I do have to laugh(?) and applaud at Lucas for putting Natalie Portman in her leather outfit in Episode II, when he was against 'sexing' up Carrie Fisher in A New Hope. (Note: Carrie Fisher was, IMO, very attractive in Episodes 4 and 5).
Well, he didn't start crying but he did make me turn it off and kept telling me the clones were good.
The only movie we've watched so far was TPM. I was six the first time I saw SW (when it was released) but I think we'll have to wait a while longer to watch the OT together.
In addition to the story issues, and the lack of "fun" heroism, I think there was simply too many CGI type effects. The original trilogy was innovative.. every single film-making department had a hand n the overall effect that the films had, and somehow it all came together.
The people that did the CGI in the prequels did a fantastic job, but even with all that great work, the simple fact is that there was too much of it, and the human eye is less willing to embrace these effects as seeming real if it is the only technique. The original films used every trick in the book starting with things that had a real physicality to them, such as unique sets, distinct locations, and awesome, finely detailed models, and with the idea that these things could be a bit dirty and gritty made it all seem just so real. Often, in the prequels, the CGI background would be very impressive, but the eye couldn't be fooled because it was almost all CGI, all the time, like when Anakin and Padme step into that tunnel just before the droid factory and the aliens are in the walls.. since it all was fake-y the scene certainly wasn't as creepy or interesting as the producers thought.
The people that did the CGI in the prequels did a fantastic job, but even with all that great work, the simple fact is that there was too much of it, and the human eye is less willing to embrace these effects as seeming real if it is the only technique. The original films used every trick in the book starting with things that had a real physicality to them, such as unique sets, distinct locations, and awesome, finely detailed models, and with the idea that these things could be a bit dirty and gritty made it all seem just so real. Often, in the prequels, the CGI background would be very impressive, but the eye couldn't be fooled because it was almost all CGI, all the time, like when Anakin and Padme step into that tunnel just before the droid factory and the aliens are in the walls.. since it all was fake-y the scene certainly wasn't as creepy or interesting as the producers thought.
There's another context too...the one that makes the original series teflon against criticism and held on a pedestal by fans and casual fans alike..their popularity is golden. By comparison a 60% rating is hardly anything to get excited about.
RAMA
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Carrie Fisher insisted that she wear more feminine costumes in the VI (which ultimately led to her famous slave bikini) because she thought her wardrobe was too masculine in V. She wanted a powerful statement of femininity, which is quite true and what she got (and it speaks about the difference between a man in charge telling her to do it, and her own agency to make that decision for herself).
Portman's a feminist herself like Fischer and found no problems with the outfit because she felt that Padme was a realized human whom the audience could empathize with, while still simultaneously being able to hold her own with a blaster, much like Leia, and not just a piece of eye candy.
Isn't feminineantifeminism another word for selfloathing?
I think the fact that the prequels remain a point of discussion more than fifteen years after Episode I speaks to their popularity.
