Star Wars: With or Without Episodes 1-3?

[Joe Washington]

I've enjoyed watching again and again Star Wars Episodes 4-6 covering the story of Luke, Han, and Leia. When I first heard that they were going to have Episodes 1-3 be based on the story of Luke's father Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, I was excited and interested in seeing it. But after seeing that trilogy, I wonder if it was worth watching at all. Some of what happened in the Anakin trilogy was the stuff you can already learn from the Luke/Han/Leia trilogy. The rest was new but not really necessary. George Lucas could have taken the most important events of the Anakin trilogy and turn them into flashbacks to be placed in Return of the Jedi to reveal Darth Vader's past as the showdown with his son draws near.

My opinion is that Star Wars is better off without Episodes 1-3. What's your opinion?

 

[Goliath]

I concur.

 

[Gaith]

how does this not have a poll?!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

People like whatever they like. A whole lot of people have paid to see the PT, and continue to do so.

That said, the only two SW films that interest me are Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Noooooo!

Without - I find the prequels mostly unwatchable.

 

[EnsignRicky]

I love Star Wars, so with. It pretty much doubled my fun.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The prequels had nothing to add, except to show us that Yoda could get down with a lightsaber.

 

[Broccoli]

With, why not?

I like parts of the prequels. I think they tell an interesting story, but it just has a terrible execution.

 

[DonIago]

^Until better prequels come about (which on some levels wouldn't be hard to do), I'll agree with this.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I liked the PT better than the OT.

 

[InklingStar]

I grew up watching the original trilogy, but I first saw the prequels in theaters as a young adult. I like them all, but I actually like the prequels better overall. (Save perhaps ESB). I think the story is much deeper than the originals.

 

[Thestral]

With. At the least, for Jedi Liam Neeson and some great lightsaber action.

Basically what Broccoli said.

 

[Dream]

I thought the PT was okay.

But the entire cast from the PT could never beat the trio+Vader in the OT.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I agree with what Broc said as well.

 

[FPAlpha]

About the only thing that really touched me in entire trilogy was the Order 66 scene with the death of the Jedi and the sad music playing and the epilogue of the PT where we get to see a few glimpses of events starting that we see in the original trilogy.

Everything else i can live without and i hope that if i ever have to show a kid Star Wars i can pull out the original trilogy first and give them a good start (though i'll admit that kids will find the PT pretty awesome too with its childlike humor, action scenes and grand battles).

 

[DarKush]

It's hard to say, after the fact. I mean, I was so stoked when I heard Lucas was going to do more Star Wars and like many fans I had long been intrigued by the Clone Wars and Anakin's fall, so I wanted to see all of that. I wasn't jazzed by all of the prequel films (really disliked TPM, but I liked the other two, though they are not without flaws). However, I have to admit that they changed my perception of the originals. I can't look at Vader the same way again. He's diminished.

But I'm glad for a lot of what we got in the prequels, such as more Palpatine, some cool Jedi, Darth Maul, Duel of the Fates, Count Dooku, Battle of Geonosis, and the Republic comics, both Clone War series, and finally seeing The Duel.

I don't think you need to watch the prequels to get the originals. The originals tell a better, more tightly knit story. However, the curious can't leave the prequels alone.

 

[Skellington]

I haven't seen The Phantom Menace, but liked both episodes 2 and 3 despite the complete charisma-vacuum that was the Christensen / Portman pairing. Episode 3 was a fine movie in it's own right, telling as it did its own story and alluding as it did to the fall of the Roman republic.

 

[Mach5]

With. I had lots of fun watching all three prequels, and they in fact made me love the originals even more.

 

[TheLobes]

As far as Im concerned the one saving grace of the prequels is that they are so utterly awful I cannot connect them with the original movies. The prequels are so different in terms of technical aspects (direction, dialogue, tone, style, plot) and in context aspects (character, technology of the SW universe) that I just think of them as totally seperate.

Can i really watch ANH and think 'hey, its Anakin Skywalker years after that Mustafar thing'? No. This isnt just me being a dick, its just that the two characters, and the worlds they inhabit, are totally different. You can argue that its canon or whatever, but Im sorry, that just doesnt fly. The prequels are totally seperate films which happen to include words found in the originals, like 'Yoda' or 'sith'.

This is why I dislike the 'remastered' editions so much. Even forgetting about the glaringly bad stuff, putting 21st century CGI into 1970's movies sucks because we can pick up the difference very easily, and it destroys our belief in the story and the world of the story.

Look at the original Terminator movie. Lots of the special effects look ridiculous now, but they fit in with the feel of the movie, because so many other cues let us know the film was made in the 80's, even something as small as clothing or hairstyles! When you go from the plastic puppets of Mos Eisley to the fake CGI Jabba, it screws up the movie because your mind is aware of the incongruity and it breaks your suspension of disbelief.

Ironically, if the prequels had been only a tiny bit better, they would have ruined the originals for me. As it is, they dont ruined them at all, just as a really awful piece of fanfic wouldnt.

 

[TrekAlliance92]

Personally, I enjoy the prequels. A New Hope/Episode IV will always be my favorite, but I really enjoyed I-III, especially Phantom and Clones. Are they perfect? No, but I enjoy them as creative, sci-fi action/adventures nonetheless. I've got the Blu-Ray on pre-order and will be watching them 1-6 all the way through over a couple of days.