Hello,

 

Allowing a child to run a death race is unwise, even if the only desire is to achieve a goal. The best information suggested the child was unsuitable to the task. So even if we are to believe QuiGonn enjoys endangering young children for his own benefit, allowing the child to run the death race is a hard decision to justify.

And thats Obi-Wan says something like, "There is a reason your not on the council, master." When debating with Qui-Gon.

And thats Obi-Wan says something like, "There is a reason your not on the council, master." When debating with Qui-Gon.

Hello,

So the defense of the scene is that Qui-Gon is incompetent. Which is evidently the case, but hardly makes for a good movie.

Well the prequel movies of course were going to be HUGELY difficult. They had piles of what seemed to be nearly impossible things to overcome.

The fighting scenes were old in the old movies, how to modernize them in today's over the top action, without breaking the story line. Of course the lack of training for Luke, and Vaders injuries made the perfect cover there.

The technology would be another, why are they wearing and using equipment that we already have improved upon in those originals, and how do you take that backwards? Well the beaten down worlds showing technology mostly at a stand still (Millenium Falcon is old but still can compete with modern tech for example), the "far far away" where equipment can be futuristic in some area's but behind in others, and the retro look (ships esp), helped out here. So many things were put in because they look great on film but don't make sense from a realistic point of view (death Star for example).

Beyond that, I was ok with the first chapter, but it wasn't great, nor did it meet my expectations. Worth watching, sure, worth re-watching again and again, not really. Seemed to be the most kid friendly movie of them all, even over ep 5's ewoks (which I think I remember hearing were only used because casting a wookie planet was too hard). There's always been humor (espec with the two droids), and I think the Gungans just seemed a bit too forced to make it more kid friendly and commercially successful. I understand the need to show the backstory, but maybe they could have done the first 1/4 of the story of young Anakin and bumped it up 10 years for the rest of that one.

2nd was better, had to push the love story, and maybe went a bit more into that than needed. 3rd I think finally went back to the action never ends feeling of the first few and is one of my favorites of the entire series.

I'm not a stickler for who said what when, who shot first, what slight hue change happened with who's lightsaber, or distance vs. time in parsecs (though the han solo books worked to correct that). No sci fi movie has a perfect story line without any plot impossibilities or questions, but for one as wide spanning as Star Wars, they do a great job overall (outside of the Christmas special lol).

dude, the prequels are horrendously bad in so many ways. But if I have to resume them in a short manner.....

"You are my enemy!!" anything with acting THAT wooden is bad. End of.

"I have the high ground Anakin" yup, 'cause that sure as hell worked for Maul didn't it?

and having Anakin go "uhhhh my love is dead, lets kill children" which basically is episode 3 in a nutshell, is a considerably less than epic descent to the darkside that most of us were expecting for Vader.

some great concepts really poorly executed, and some pathetically poor ideas, executed abismally, is why the prequels were so horrendously bad.

I do somewhat like the prequels, but not as much as the originals for the following reasons...

• Mediclorians - Ruined the "mystical" feeling of the force with pseudo science blabber.
   
   
  
• Its all padme's fault? Really Lucas? - A logical intelligent person would not have left the bumbling idiot Jar Jar Binks in charge of representing the interest of an entire planet. No Way. Because of this Palapatine rises and everything goes bad. Bad Writing any way you slice it and a complete disappointment to "how it all came to be" for the original films.
   
   
  
• Total CGI = No tangible feel to the films. - Sets gave the original films a great look. The prequel films were mostly CGI and looked GCI. I seriously dont think CGI had advanced far enough for this to be used yet. Look at Sin City, made much later, its totally CGI and you cant even tell.
   
   
  
• Jar Jar - Hated the character from the start. An obvious comic relief forced into the seriousness of the plot. All films must have comic relief to balance the writing, I get that, but the Jar Jar character was just too much comic relief and gave the first films an unbalanced "kiddy" feel.
   
   
  
• C3PO goes bad comedian? - In Episode II You hear 3PO says things like "Im beside myself" "Ive lost my head" "This is such a drag" or something to that effect. Throughout the prequels 3PO's jokes were not funny and again, forced comic relief. In the original films 3PO's comic relief was very subtle and, most importantly, genuinely funny. Remember at Hoth when he thinks Han locked him out of the hanger bay and he simply says "Typical" THAT is funny, not "Im naked" when he sees himself for the first time in Episode 1, thats just "eye rolling/shaking the head/facepalm" humor and kills the seriousness of that epic Jedi fight.
   
   
  
• Anakin and killing the kids - Anakin, under Palpatine's orders, goes to the temple and kills everyone, including a memorable scene when he kills the younglings. After that he visits Padme, then goes and kills the separatist leaders and finally gets his evil sith eyes. Um...no. Sorry. Once he killed the kids, he should have been fully turned. Nothing more evil than killing a bunch kids. The very idea that he would kill a bunch a of kids THEN go and have a confab with his wife in a calm and collective manner is nonsensical writing or editing or both. THAT killed Episode III for me.
  

Worst line in all the prequels?

Episode II - Anakin and Obiwan chase a bounty hunter into a cantina.

Anikan - "I think he is a she and I think she is a changeling"

Obi-wan - "In that case be extra careful"

Extra careful? Seriously?

I hate to say it, but Lucas seemed to have just lost the "magic" writing and directing of a galaxy far far away.

Worst line in all the prequels?

 

Episode II - Anakin and Obiwan chase a bounty hunter into a cantina.

 

Anikan - "I think he is a she and I think she is a changeling"

 

Obi-wan - "In that case be extra careful"

 

Extra careful? Seriously?

 

I hate to say it, but Lucas seemed to have just lost the "magic" writing and directing of a galaxy far far away.

Lucas was never a "magical" director (at his best, he was mediocre), and he never wrote good dialogue. Not even in the original trilogy.

That is incorrect. Qui-Gon is a gray Jedi and believes whatever is necessary to achieve a goal he'll do it. There was a reason why He wasn't on the council.

The movie never states why he is not on the council. It made it seem more like he had a bit of a rogueish air about him. the fact he defies the orders/wishes of the council is made out to be why he's not on the council himself.

there is absolutely nothing in the movie about 'grey jedi'. he makes really STUPID decisions in the film.

He takes a child into a warzone on naboo. he lets the same child run the pod race. he goes to only ONE junk dealer for the part he needs. and i quote 'we'll try the SMALLER dealers first'

He's written all over hte place to move the plot where it's supossed to go.

Lucas was never a "magical" director (at his best, he was mediocre), and he never wrote good dialogue. Not even in the original trilogy.

Why you stuck up, half witted, scruffy looking, nerf herder!!

Why you stuck up, half witted, scruffy looking, nerf herder!!

Hehe! And sadly, that was one of the better lines. Mostly, I suspect, because of Ford's protest.

Excellent posting to the original poster of the thread. I have to agree 100%. It was never the movies that changed, nor the writing or his vision. It was us, the generation that first saw Star Wars in the theaters as kids. We grew up. His movies were always supposed to be geared towards families to enjoy and kids.

I enjoy them all still while my son, of whom is 10, is fully enjoying every aspect of them. I also plan on taking him to see all of them in the theaters while they are being re-released in 3D. I think it is all part of the experience of the universe that was created to see them on the big screen.

Love it or hate it, it was the audience that changed. Not the movies.

Excellent posting to the original poster of the thread. I have to agree 100%. It was never the movies that changed, nor the writing or his vision. It was us, the generation that first saw Star Wars in the theaters as kids. We grew up. His movies were always supposed to be geared towards families to enjoy and kids.

 

I enjoy them all still while my son, of whom is 10, is fully enjoying every aspect of them. I also plan on taking him to see all of them in the theaters while they are being re-released in 3D. I think it is all part of the experience of the universe that was created to see them on the big screen.

 

Love it or hate it, it was the audience that changed. Not the movies.

Well said!

Looking at most of the vitriol being spewed in this thread, all I can think of is: and thus, those of us who choose to find joy and happiness in our lives are smothered under a torrent of hate.

There is absolutely no defending the prequels. If you like them fine... I don't and actually for the reasons the poster mentioned. Jar Jar was the main reason.. stepping on poop... not funny. His speech... horrible. Explaining the force with metaclorians or what ever it was... ridiculous. The force didn't need a scientific explanation. The NOOOOO scene he talks about... just didn't sound right... But mostly all that was wrong in the prequels is mostly in the first movie. I've heard that Lucas lost a lot when he got a divorce because his wife did the editing. I think that is the main problem with the prequels.. a lot of things needed to be edited out and changed. Someone even made a version called "The Phantom Edit" because the editing was so poor.

the original poster may have thought the prequels were better than the originals but I totally disagree. I'll take the models over computer generated effects any day. The plot, acting, acting lines, editing... all of it made the originals far better than the prequels which I don't even consider good movies.

I'll finish with this proof. How many one liners do people like to say from the originals when compared to the prequels? I can't think of any from the prequels unless they are mocking them.

I'll even point out that the latest Indiana Jones movie was horrible too! George Lucas had a great idea at one time but his ideas and changes to the original three have all been horrible.

He had Indiana Jones I, Star Wars IV and V.. and his fall began with Star Wars VI which was an OK movie. That is his claim to fame.

First things first let me start this off; I love the prequels. If you're here a troll here to try and piss me off or someone who's just going to rage with no direct purpose then leave, because your replies will be ignored. I understand why many people do not like them; there is bad writing, weak acting, silly characters, and much much more. But I feel the real reason why people hate them is because (and I'm sorry I have to use this term, its the only way I can describe it) hipsters have invaded Star Wars. People hold the originals in a higher regard than the prequels, and why? Because they were there first. Hell, even calling them the "originals" is a little pretentious don't ya think, as if the prequels are some cheap knock off made by a fan and posted on YouTube. When you look at the big problems with the prequels and compare them to the originals you see the SAME EXACT problems. For example...

 

Writing: We all know two things about George Lucas; firstly, he has a brilliant and wild imagination in which he created a wonderful universe that we all love and secondly, that he cannot write dialogue for a damn. Especially love scenes. Its almost awkward to watch Anakin spew his heart out to Padme (I'll touch on the acting in a little bit, I'm not putting all that blame on Lucas). But the same goes for Leia and Luke (Incest George? Seriously?) and eventually the much, much older Han Solo. You can't attack the writing of the prequels without mentioning it was equally as bad as the originals. People also point out that there are numerous loopholes. Does anyone remember how Return of the Jedi ended? They killed the Emperor. They took the most powerful empire in the galaxy and removed its leader creating a giant gaping wound in the stability of the galaxy. Now any Moff or Admiral with enough support from his troops can attempt to seize control. Or maybe one of those crime syndicates? Maybe the Hutts band together (highly unlikely I know) and they attempt to take over the galaxy. In short they may have caused an even bigger problem then they had to begin with. Great happy ending huh?

 

Acting: One scene that gets pointed out a lot for both cheesiness and its bad acting is Vader's final scream of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" at the end of Revenge of the Sith when he finds out Padme is dead. His very purpose of living, the love of his life Padme, was now dead. Super cheesy right? Not the best acting? Anyone remember when the bomb was dropped that Darth Vader was ACTUALLY Luke's father? Luke, who had believed his father was a war hero of the Clone Wars, a valiant Jedi Knight, had his entire world destroyed. His purpose up to that point had been to avenge his father with the death of Vader. Now he didn't know what to do. What was his reaction? "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Like father like son I guess?

 

Silly Characters: Alright now almost everyone can agree that if they go to see TPM in 3D that Jar Jar is going to annoy the crap out of them. The Gungans are probably THE most hated species in all of Star Wars lore, simply because of one clumsy Binks. In fact, on a thread discussing possible planets to add someone mentioned Naboo and many people said that would be a horrible idea just because the Gungans might be included. No one could possibly like the Gungans expect for a little kid, right? I can attest to that. When TPM was originally released I was in first grade and rushed to see it, dragging my parents to the movie theatre. Guess what? I absolutely LOVED Jar Jar Binks. I thought he was hilarious. I laughed at every stupid thing he did on screen. I can still see Liam Neeson grabbing his tongue, that had me in stitches. Is there anything comparable to the Gungans in the prequels? Perhaps those furry little teddy bears? The Ewoks were ridiculous. I loved them and wanted one of my own when I first saw ROTJ, but watching it now I realize they're ridiculous. I loved every second of screen time they got though. All this leads me to finally why I believe people hate the Prequels....

 

 

Most of the hardcore Star Wars fans can remember the first time they saw A New Hope. The older generation can remember when it was only called "Star Wars" and they saw it in theaters. How old were they when they first saw it and loved it? Teens maybe? Thats the oldest I'd say. In the TV show they show perfectly what I'm saying; Eric Foreman loved it while his dad Red thought it was stupid. Everyone saw them when they were younger and all the faults got looked over, the same way that when I think back to playing PS1 the graphics were amazing and now my phone has better graphics. Every fault was perfect. Then when they heard that new Star Wars movies were out they got all of their friends to see it, and they were appalled. These new movies had so many faults! The acting was horrendous! What the hell are Gungans?!

 

Those of us who saw the prequels at a young age will tell you, looking back they were amazing. But when we found a Star Wars community so adamantly against them we conformed.

 

It all comes down to people being just a bit pretentious; the originals ARE better, because they saw those ones first. Those were their early memories. The same way that I look at the Clone Wars TV show and hate it is the way that you look at the prequels. I understand it completely. All I wanted to do was offer my defense of movies that I grew up watching. Thanks for taking the time to read all this (and sorry it was so long)

Original poster: could not have said it better myself.

All of your points are very good, and as 2nd generation member of the Stars Wars community I agree entirely that whatever faults the ‘prequels’ had, most of the ‘originals’ had too. George Lucas is good on many things, but there is no doubt that there are fields that can be improved (e.g. dialogue writing, consistency in lore, Gungans/Ewoks).

This may seem sacrilegious to some, but I personally prefer the ‘prequels’ to the ‘originals’. Why? No, it isn’t superior lightsabre duels or modern computer animation (many of my favourite movies are from the 50s and 60s; so much for computer animation...). I just find the overall story of Ep. I-III far better, and much deeper than that of Ep. IV-VI.

Why?

Prequels: the story of how the Old Republic fell, through indirect and ingenious political manoeuvring à la Machiavelli of the believed extinct Sith. It is the story of the cause, beginning and end of the most epic war in the movies (and, no, as a 2nd generation Star Wars fan, I do not like the ‘Clone Wars’), and the eventual fall of the Jedi Order. The thought, planning and execution of the destruction of the Galactic Republic, was, in many ways, very realistic and logical (anyone who has studied in depth the fall of the Roman Republic know what I am talking about). Fair enough, if you would like an ‘everyone lived happily ever after’-end, then Ep. III is far too dark.

Originals: the story of how the unlikely hero against all odds (and common sense) manages to defeat the evil Empire. It isn’t as much about deeper long-term developments casing intergalactic change, but the classic straightforward epic of the hero (Luke) and his friends going against a seemingly invincible foe (the Empire), and prevail (i.e. destruction of the First Death Star), but they must then question their very identity and everything they believed in (Ep. V), followed by the inevitable victory for the ‘good guys’ through sheer heroism (and a few alien teddy-bears...). Still a great story following the classic epics (Homer would have been proud), and although I prefer the ‘prequels’, I still love Ep. IV-VI.

Just my personal opinion.

There is absolutely no defending the prequels.

Your point of view is not the only valid one in existence.

From the beginning, i seen the original trilogy when i was a kid and the prequels when i was a kid/teen. I loved everyone one of them at the time and still do now, why people hae so much hate is beyond me.

The only 2 things i have to question about the movies is:

1. The weird love scenes between anakin and padme (episode 2 in specific) and his fluctuating blob hormones. "your the closest thing to a father i have obi wan", 5 mins later...."HE'S HOLDING ME BACK ROAAARR".

Ok....

2. The CGI on the droid tanks as they go over the hill to engage the gungans. I can see they are cgi, heck they havn't even had a skin or animation put over their model.

Nothing against them apart from that.

What i wish to clarify is why people rage at "what is this trade federation story all about?"

Let's see shall we. They block off all trade into the planet of Naboo, not allowing ships in or out without permissions, why? because lord sideous wanted them to. His plan was to become chancellor originally, so what better way to do it than have the queen back him up on his vote for chancellor. So thus after amidala escapes with the jedi.....pick up anakin all that stuff, he tells her to do a vote of confidence, thus opening up the position of supreme chancellor to candidates, includign sideous, which he inevitably gets in as he can easily persuade people as he's the most scheming sith lord there is. That is the main plot, plus the droid army is key to the seperatists in episode 2. so episodes 1 purpose is to allow the audience to get to know the characters and get an idea of the events to follow and who we are all dealing with on the goodside and badside.

Don't hate any of the movies. I suppose some people need to stop analysing things too deeply or they will hurt themselves.

EDIT: on a personal note, Episode V is my favourite specifically because of the ending with the rebel fleet and the beginning (and yoda ). Why have a big star destroyer when we can have an even bigger one?!??!?

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/5357-The-Phantom-Menace-13-Years-Later

Worth the watch, it puts into words the feelings most of us have about the prequels, but are unable to properly articulate.

"your the closest thing to a father i have obi wan", 5 mins later...."HE'S HOLDING ME BACK ROAAARR".

See, those conflicted feelings make perfect sense to me. I love the emotion Anakin is expressing (or TRYING to express) in Padme's chambers on Coruscant in AotC. He starts off talking about how important Obi-Wan is, how great he is, then rapidly segues into his faults as a teacher and how Anakin feels like he's not getting the respect he deserves from clearly the most important person in his life. It's a very real, human kind of emotion. The only flaw in that scene is that it is, as you said, expressed awkwardly (not that Anakin is awkward about expressing his emotions, but that the scene is awkward about allowing that expression to come forth.)

If you defend the prequals you're defending Jar Jar.

Unacceptable.

Love it or hate it, it was the audience that changed. Not the movies.

Nah. Lucas's young and fresh creativity of Star Wars changed.

I can go through the originals and criticize them as well. I do find a few that I always disliked, like the over use of "this is rouge two" line in ep 5 or ewoks in ep 6, but those moments/lines I did dislike dont even come close to the obvious /facepalm moments in the prequels.

I mean come on, even as objective as you can get, you cant honestly say the prequels were just as cool or cooler than the originals.

Nah. No way.

If you defend the prequals you're defending Jar Jar.

 

Unacceptable.

did you read the intial post? i said i dont like jar jar now. but as a little kid i loved him to death

So tell me something then...in the OT does it ever explain why there is a Rebellion, in detail?(In ANH I mean) Of course not, at least with the PT they somewhat try to explain why such and such happened(and also give a reason for a Rebellion to be formed) rather then a Rebellion appearing out of nowhere.

(Sorry, don't know if the questioned was answered just quoted from Page 5)

The Force Unleashed explains why the Rebellion formed. And plus it's an evil dictatorship, no one wants to live like that.

for me, the originals are better.

the prequels were over-hyped, but when i first watched the prequels - early teens - i loved them. but now i find that when i re-watch eps 1&2 that they arent all that great. Eps 3 and 5 are my favorites. I had a high amount of expectation for episode 3, as episodes 1 and 2 had just created more questions than answers. But episode 3 really delivered all the answers i was looking for.