Both SW and ESTB are considered culturally significant enough to be slated for preservation by the National Film Registry. So I think it's at least clear that even within the mainstream, the impact of the OT significantly outpaces that of the PT.
Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens
- Thread starter cooleddie74
- Start date
There's probably something to that. But there was really something fundamentally different about going into a movie theater from a world without Star Wars and coming out after seeing it. It was a phenomenon that was almost unique in cinematic history, and that can't be recreated or recaptured. I don't hate the PT, but as far as I am concerned all the Star Wars worth talking about came out in the Carter administration.
I think there are many reasons for hatred, some warranted, and some not. Some are overblown (seen many of those, especially at Jar-Jar) and get reiterated again and again ad nauseum, so it feels repetitive and whiny (I say this from experience and not directed at one person or group). But, I find some opinions about the same thing with any number of Star Wars topics (Ewoks seem to be the choice OT target).
That said, at 15 years old, watching TPM, I left just feeling bored. It wasn't a Star Wars movie to me, and still really isn't. The next two were better in their story telling, but not by a whole lot. ATOC was decent enough for me, but ROTS left me just with this irritation and a desire to watch ANH.
I agree that the PT tried to some things differently than the OT, and in some ways I applaud the effort. But, the one thing that drags it down for me is the characters. I feel no attachment, no connection to them, except for intellectual, that makes me thing of them as real people or to care what happens. Anakin's fall should be tragic but the way it is presented it is a tragedy for the rest of the galaxy, but it doesn't feel personal at all for Anakin. I honestly bought the love story more than I bought in to Anakin's fall to the Dark Side.
All that said, I do love Naboo, the lightsaber duels and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The visuals are great and art department introduced some fantastic ideas.
tl:dr I don't hate the PT but I certainly find them lacking.
Star Wars....brought to you by the Carter administration. You're welcome, America
Last edited:
Whatever one thinks of Episodes I, II and III two things that seem to unite the Star Wars community both old and new school are that Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid are two of the best things about the Prequel Trilogy. If any two actors put their all in their roles and knocked it out of the ballpark in pretty much every scene of the three films, it was Ewan and Ian.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Palpatine/Darth Sidious were amazing to watch even if you didn't like the story or the other actors surrounding them.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Palpatine/Darth Sidious were amazing to watch even if you didn't like the story or the other actors surrounding them.
Uuuuun-limited....POW-WUH!!
I don't think anyone came out of the Prequels looking flawless, but I agree that Ewan came closest. He seemed to get better and more comfortable in the role as the series progressed. I'd love for him to play Kenobi again in a better written film.
Maybe if the Sequels do well enough and Lucas isn't around anymore they'll remake the Prequel Trilogy with better writing.
Why? There's no point in remaking 3 movies just because a small minority of vocal fans hate them.
I was 17 when TPM came out and I absolutely loved it. I was blown away by the visuals and the action. But more importantly, it was NEW STAR WARS and seeing the Jedi in action for the first time. It was so much more exciting than the OT because it was new and not something I'd already seen a hundred times.
I did think Jar Jar was stupid, but there were so many individual pieces in the movie that were so iconic; the opening seeing Jedi in action for the first time ever, the battle droids, the first appearance of R2, the pod race, seeing Coruscant, Duel of the Fates, the ground battle, everything with Darth Maul and Sidious...
I agree with every complaint about the Prequels, but I still love them. Nothing can overcome my deep abiding love of Star Wars. That being said, I have yet to see the Holiday Special...
I did think Jar Jar was stupid, but there were so many individual pieces in the movie that were so iconic; the opening seeing Jedi in action for the first time ever, the battle droids, the first appearance of R2, the pod race, seeing Coruscant, Duel of the Fates, the ground battle, everything with Darth Maul and Sidious...
I agree with every complaint about the Prequels, but I still love them. Nothing can overcome my deep abiding love of Star Wars. That being said, I have yet to see the Holiday Special...
I definitely agree with a lot of them. Jar Jar was stupid, the dialogue was mostly crap, and Lucas really didn't know how to direct the actors well, but I have never seen any of them as justification for the deep, abiding, "George Lucas raped my childhood" hate.
I agree 100%. Ive noticed a lot of younger people, for who the prequils were their first outing in SW, say the same thing.
Nothing can overcome my deep abiding love of Star Wars. That being said, I have yet to see the Holiday Special...
That WOULD kill your love of SW.... its horribad.
This. We have enough damn reboots in the film industry whether they're good and called for or not. The Prequels are seriously flawed movies that don't live up to the Original Trilogy, but they don't need to be rebooted from scratch just because some fans don't like them.
They are what they are, warts and all. They tell the backstory and got the job done as flawed as it was.
Having been around enough forums to hear both sides of the argument, it comes down to a feeling that GL was telling people that what they liked about the OT was wrong and the the PT was what he meant to do with OT. Of course, we already have the Special Edition demonstrating that he isn't satisfied with the OT as it was.
In many ways, the frustration comes from being told this is what Star Wars always was and should be.
Its obviously a matter of individual taste, but that's the general feeling I have picked up from various reviews over the year.
I agree with most of what J.T.B. said here. The boldfaced part is especially salient. To be blunt, people who did not experience the transition brought about by the original film really have no frame of reference with which to appreciate it. Even the more recent blockbusters such as Titanic and Avatar don't represent that kind of quantum leap in the movie-going experience.
I really don't believe there's anything to the idea that fans of the OT are overlooking its faults, though. Hard-core fans are most likely more acutely aware of the faults than anyone. It's more along the lines of the faults paling in comparison to the strong points. And while ROTJ is certainly the least of the OT, I still think it is worth talking about at length; my opinion against it has softened over the decades.
I really like this aspect of the PT, myself. My problems have always been more with the execution of how it is presented, rather than per se the inclusion of the political content. Frankly, the PT would probably have benefited from Bail Organa being a more prominent character in the first two episodes.
Honestly, now that Disney is making standalone films and the potential for this actually exists, I'd kinda really love to see McGregor as Obi-Wan in a sort of Yojimbo-style film set on Tatooine.Uuuuun-limited....POW-WUH!!
I don't think anyone came out of the Prequels looking flawless, but I agree that Ewan came closest. He seemed to get better and more comfortable in the role as the series progressed. I'd love for him to play Kenobi again in a better written film.
The one Jar Jar fan I've spoken to says that he can relate to Jar Jar. Mostly he sees Jar Jar as being someone that is picked on and bullied for his clumsiness and that can be related to by someone who has experiance that growing up. That Jar Jar can become a hero of sorts (a General and a Representative of his species) gives him hope, that even the kid that gets picked on all the time can amount to something.
Though for reasons he can't quite explain, he loaths C-3PO since 1977.
Though for reasons he can't quite explain, he loaths C-3PO since 1977.
I don't know. For story a man quickly came up with on the fly when he couldn't secure the rights to Flash Gordon, all in the hope of further advancing the fields of special effects, sound systems, computer graphics, 3D technology, computer gaming and education. Not to mention initiating a few side projects such as THX, ILM, Lucasarts, Pixar and Photoshop, to name a few; I don't think he did to badly.
When you weigh all that, directing, which ironically he'll be foremost remembered for was something that he merely dabbled in. And what does he get for his visionary efforts? what's the first thing out of the mouths of the masses? The prequels suck, Jar Jar sucks, you suck.
And we wonder why he said fuck it and sold to Disney; Good for him. We couldn't have done a better job had we smashed him over the head with a statue reading In Gratitude.
When you weigh all that, directing, which ironically he'll be foremost remembered for was something that he merely dabbled in. And what does he get for his visionary efforts? what's the first thing out of the mouths of the masses? The prequels suck, Jar Jar sucks, you suck.
And we wonder why he said fuck it and sold to Disney; Good for him. We couldn't have done a better job had we smashed him over the head with a statue reading In Gratitude.
Agreed.
I salute George. I worship at his alter. He made three films I didn't like all that much because no one questioned or challenged him. Aside from that, he did so much for film, popular culture, and for generations of kids and their imaginations. And he's a pretty decent human being.
I have no issues with George, personally-hard to hate someone you don't know personally. I just disagree with the direction he wanted to take Star Wars, and hey, it was his product and he can do whatever he wants with it. I still saw and own all six films so I guess the jokes on me.
The thing of it is, and I think this lies at the heart of my issue, is the potential that was there that was missed. Kind of like the Hobbit films in that there was so much there, and yet it didn't quite hit all the right beats for me, especially with the characters.
I know its easy to armchair quaterback but that's just how I feel about it. It has nothing to do with the man himself.
The thing of it is, and I think this lies at the heart of my issue, is the potential that was there that was missed. Kind of like the Hobbit films in that there was so much there, and yet it didn't quite hit all the right beats for me, especially with the characters.
I know its easy to armchair quaterback but that's just how I feel about it. It has nothing to do with the man himself.
Last edited:
This guy gets it.
I agree. The political content is crucial to Palpatine's rise to power. And I would have loved to have seen more of Bail Organa.
