Star Wars: Question on ROTS?

[MacLeod]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

Poor FX in the original SW triology, sorry but the space battle in ROTJ, is far superior to the one at the start of ROTS, which looks artifical.

 

[Capt_Pickirk]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

Poor FX in the original SW triology, sorry but the space battle in ROTJ, is far superior to the one at the start of ROTS, which looks artifical.

THIS

At the beginning of ROTS it looked like I was looking at the opening animation of a PS1 game.

 

[Set Harth]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

The originals are absolute classics. Some of the finest sci-fi/fantasy films ever made. They hold up spectacularly, and always will, because they are timeless.

The "originals" include ROTJ, the first prequel, which gets a pass due to association with its superior predecessors.

 

[Set Harth]

The enemy forces might still mow down clones that are the same species as them, or even are them, genetically, but I'll bet it would be an effective psychological weapon.

Yes, I'm sure the enemy would have trouble mowing down troops that looked just like them.

And World War II never happened.

Clone Storm Troopers were actually not a concept that originated with the prequels. Zahn pretty much started using them in his novels, although the cloning technique used in his trilogy differs considerably.

Stormtroopers were first said to be clones in a magazine released in 1978.

 

[RandyS]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

Of course it is. I've done it several times since 2005. Aside from the fact that you are watching the story in chronological order, you have the advantage of saving the best for last.

Well, except for the Ewok nonsense, of course.

 

[The Wormhole]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

I tried this years ago, before Episode 3 was released. Meaning I watched Episodes 1 and 2 and then jumped into the OT. Sure, I was missing a chapter of the story, but I still found that the series just doesn't hold if you watch the movies in that order. Fact of the matter is, the prequels were made with the belief that you'd have already seen the original movies. It's the original movies that provide all the background, explanations, and introduces you to the universe. The prequels assume you already know all that. Not to mention, you'd have a certain plot twist in Empire ruined for you if you watched the prequels first...

 

[Forbin]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

Where were there ever "archaic" effects in the OT? An occasional matte box showed perhaps, but "archaic"?

 

[captcalhoun]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

i watched TPM and AOTC, then went and saw ROTS at the cinema, then watched ANH, ESB and ROTJ and enjoyed it all.

but then, i'm not a prequels hater and i don't think Lucas raped my childhood, so what do i know?

 

[sojourner]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

The "originals" include ROTJ, the first prequel, which gets a pass due to association with its superior predecessors.

I don't understand this.

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

It's impossible. Any DVD or blu ray player will prevent you from watching Episodes I-III before IV-VI. That's a technical limit.

 

[Kelthaz]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

or would it just be impossible to watch something with such archaic visual effects after watching something with spectacular visual effects

Don't worry. The prequels don't look that bad.

 

[-Brett-]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

The "originals" include ROTJ, the first prequel, which gets a pass due to association with its superior predecessors.

I understand not liking ROTJ, but it was in no way a prequel.

Words have meanings independant of what we want them to mean.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

Watching the OT will simply reinforce what garbage the PT is, unless you think eye candy is all that counts in a movie, and such things as acting and writing are irrelevant.

But you should check out The Clone Wars TV series (not the micro-episodes, the one that has half hour episodes.) It's what the PT should have been.

 

[Biffette]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

Well if you've been watching the prequels and enjoying them, it is impossible to go into the original trilogy with a blank slate but that's okay. You will find ep IV to be somewhat slow and dull, but if you keep in mind how old the movie is and that it had the responsibility of setting up the groudwork for all Star Wars since, you will be fine. And the movies pick up a bit after that one. Think of it as your classic original, and all the rest as "dressing."

ETA: I suspect you will find the difference in pacing much more jarring than any special effects.

 

[Gaith]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

i have a couple weeks off soon so i'm pondering what i can look forward to.

ok, here's my situation: i saw the original trilogy when i was a young kid, an age of around, 7 or 8. i can barely remember them or any scenes at all. recently, i've been spending time watching the prequels, and especially, ROTS. with this in mind, is it possible for me to go back and watch the originals with my 'blank slate' after watching the ultra modern and CGI'ed prequels? how do the originals hold up now?

or would it just be impossible to watch something with such archaic visual effects after watching something with spectacular visual effects?

thanks

​

 

[MacLeod]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

I find thaat in general FX is secondary in a film. Story/Characterisation are more important, people will forgive poor FX if the above is there. However it doesn't matter how good the FX if the story/Characterisation is lacking.

 

[DWF]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

The complaint that the Star Wars movies have been about nothing but special effects has been around ever since the originals came out.

'The Empire Strikes Back'

By Judith Martin
Washington Post Staff Writer
May 23, 1980

To call "The Empire Strikes Back" a good junk movie is no insult: There is enough bad junk around. And surely we're getting over the snobbery of pretending that it is undemocratic to recognize any hierarchy of culture, as if both low and high can't be appreciated, often be the same people.
But when light entertainment is done well, someone is bound to make extravagant and unsupportable claims for its being great art. You will hear that this sequel to "Star Wars" is part of a vast new mythology, as if it were the Oresteia. Its originator, George Lucas, has revealed that the two pictures are actually parts four and five of a nine-part sage, as if audiences will some day receive the total the way devotees now go to Seattle for a week of immersion in Wagner's complete Ring Cycle.
Nonsense. This is no monumental artistic work, but a science-fiction movie done more snappily than most, including its own predecessor. A chocolate bar is a marvelous sweet that does not need to pretend to be a chocolate soufflé; musical comedies are wonderful entertainment without trying to compete with opera; blue jeans are a perfect garment that shouldn't be compared with haute couture. There are times when you would much rather have a really good hot dog than any steak, but you can still recognize that one is junk food and the other isn't.
"The Empire Strikes Back" has no plot structure, no character studies let alone character development, no emotional or philosophical point to make. It has no original vision of the future, which is depicted as a pastiche of other junk-culture formulae, such as the western, the costume epic and the Would War II movie. Its specialty is "special effects" or visual tricks, some of which are playful, imaginative and impressive, but others of which have become space-movie clichés. But the total effect is fast and attractive and occasionally amusing. Like a good hot dog, that's something of an achievement in a field where unpalatable junk is the rule.

 

[Neroon]

ReadyAndWaiting, you need to try a bit more restraint on starting new threads on similar topics. Much of what you're posting really can be covered in existing threads. It isn't necessary to have every little facet have its own thread.

i have a couple weeks off soon so i'm pondering what i can look forward to.

ok, here's my situation: i saw the original trilogy when i was a young kid, an age of around, 7 or 8. i can barely remember them or any scenes at all. recently, i've been spending time watching the prequels, and especially, ROTS. with this in mind, is it possible for me to go back and watch the originals with my 'blank slate' after watching the ultra modern and CGI'ed prequels? how do the originals hold up now?

or would it just be impossible to watch something with such archaic visual effects after watching something with spectacular visual effects?

thanks

​

And you can stop with this kind of response, please. Add some kind of content but don't just post some picture or emoticon or what have you.

 

[InklingStar]

ReadyAndWaiting, you need to try a bit more restraint on starting new threads on similar topics. Much of what you're posting really can be covered in existing threads. It isn't necessary to have every little facet have its own thread.

Perhaps we need a Star Wars subforum? With six movies, two animated series (one currently airing), a multitude of books, comics, and games, and 3D releases and a live-action series on the horizon, Star Wars certainly has just as much to talk about as Stargate, if not more.

Anyway, it's sometimes hard to tell where one topic begins when threads are merged. Perhaps an edit of the OP of the merged topic might be helpful.

On topic, I do not see a problem with watching the saga in chronological order. People who say that you must see them in release order are biased I think, because that is how they saw them. As a child in the late 80s and early 90s I somehow saw the originals all out of order, starting with ANH, then RotJ, and only later TESB. By now though I have seen them so many times it really does not matter. The order you watch them only matters once.

I prefer to read CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia in release order but sometimes just for fun I will read them in chronological order. Each reading offers a different perspective. Star Wars is the same way. Watching them 4-5-6-1-2-3 you get the introduction of the Jedi in retrospect and the twist of Luke's parentage. Watching them 1-2-3-4-5-6 introduces the Jedi in their prime and the twist this time is Anakin's fall and the reveal of Sidious. The only way to see them without any spoilage at all might be something like 4-5-1-2-3-6, with the prequels as a flashback between TESB and RotJ.

 

[Set Harth]

Re: Star Wars: Is it possible to watch the prequels before the origina

I understand not liking ROTJ, but it was in no way a prequel.

Words have meanings independant of what we want them to mean.

I didn't mean it was literally a prequel.

I meant that there was a drop in quality due to unfortunate choices.