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Why the 'Star Wars' Prequels Are Better Than the Original Trilogy


DragonAgeOrgins

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No, I mean it as a general statement. For example, the viewpoint of the average 10-year-old child wouldn't and generally shouldn't be held in the same regard as that of the average 30-year-old.

 

How about the 30 year olds that have yet to prgress past the mentality of a 10 year old?

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Why not take the reviews seriously, though? Well, as seriously as any other review.

 

And before I go any further, let me say: I'm not a Star Wars fan. I don't get excited about the toys or books or movies. I shake my head in incredulity at the fanbois that dress up in stormtrooper armour or Darth Maul paint to go to the movie. I can take SW or leave it. I'm the "Dark Side" - a Star Trek fan. :eek:

 

But that's important because it lets me remain objective about Star Wars.

 

That said:

 

Mr. Plinkett is right. Absolutely right. Every point he makes, although presented with a great deal of humour, is spot-on.

 

The prequels are very different from the original trilogy in that the story not only is pathetically thin but is at the same time so full of glaring plot holes it seems like Lucas had an eight-year-old write them.

 

That, combined with poor character development (virtually none), and things that seem to flatly contradict things established in the originals (Kenobi: "And he was a good friend." vs. the Kenobi/Anakin relationship in the prequels where Obi-wan spends most of the time angry with or annoyed by Anakin, for example; or the fact that R2 seems to have forgotten that he could fly by the time we get to ANH in the timeline), makes the prequels pale in comparison to the original trilogy.

 

So no, the prequel trilogy - which was all about CGI effects, barely-characterised characters we don't have a reason to care about, and highly-coreographed lightsabre fights that were devoid of any meaningful relevance - is in no way superior to the original trilogy - which was all about coming-of-age, personal and interpersonal conflict, romance, moral struggle and redemption.

 

I am typing THIS as hard as I can.

 

 

I'll just say it anyway because I've already posted in this thread...

 

I don't care if you think everyone's opinion is valid and the world is made of butterflies and rainbows...If you think the prequels are better movies that the original trilogy, you need your head examined. You don't even understand what makes the movies good so don't post in here. The op ed from yahoo is so off base its almost funny. Political "games" aren't even why the prequels COULD have been good. Lucas missed the boat so hard it almost circled around and kick him in the rear.

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There isn't even much message to the new movies. They didn't make me or anyone I know feel particularly uncomfortable about their role in society. The Trade Federation and Republic didn't mirror much of anything. Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson didn't leave a lasting impression the way Alec Guinness and Harrison Ford did, and Christopher Lee didn't have enough screen time to lend the kind of awesome James Earle Jones did to the original trilogy. FX were not new by 1999, and the fact is, if you're going to write a story with "nuance, complexity, or intellectual ambiguity" it needs to be written well to be considered a good story (Unless you're Cormac Mccarthy and bludgeon your readers with punctuation abuse and stupidly brutal social commentary until they think you're a genius) and Star Wars is about as straightforward a premise as it gets.

 

Agreed. In the final duel between Obi Wan and Anakin in Revenge of the Sith, there's an impassioned exchange between the two characters that's always struck me as unintentionally amusing. It goes something like this:

 

  • Anakin - "You're either with us or against us!"
  • Obi Wan - "Only a Sith deals in absolutes."

Seems Obi Wan didn't watch his own movie very carefully. The more nuanced viewpoint in the prequel trilogies is Palpatine's, if you really listen to what he says to Anakin. The Jedi are the inflexible moralists -- the group that install a spy in the Chancellor's office, the group that (in the person of Mace Windu) declare that the Chancellor must be summarily executed rather than stand trial, the group that see fit to censor certain "dangerous" teachings, the group that proscribes romantic love -- the group that's so wonderfully approachable that their Chosen One doesn't even feel comfortable speaking honestly with them about his problems.

 

The anti-Bush agenda in Revenge of the Sith (whether you agree with it or not) seems tacked on, hamfisted and haphazard, after 20+ years of Lucas' hardline stance that the Dark Side is unequivocally evil. To the extent that Episode III can be said to have a political message, the political message is the very opposite of what the OP's article claims; it's a cautionary tale about moral relativism. The guy who claims that good is a point of view turns out to be the devil himself; the guys who claim that their enemies are evil turn out to be right -- and the dupe who believes the devil ends up as a widower and an amputee.

 

Whether Star Wars can work as a vehicle for nuanced political commentary is a valid question, but it's clear to me that the Prequels fell well short of the mark.

 

What made Original Trilogy so great, in large part, is that it wasn't trying to be deep. A story doesn't have to be intricate or socially conscious to be great. People may forget, but in the '70s, a straight forward adventure-yarn Romance (and by that, I don't mean romantic comedy or chick flick) was a breath of fresh of air. Gritty was passe in the 70s, done to death. :p

Edited by Invictos
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How much money a product makes is not an indication of its quality.

 

There were over a million pet rocks sold.

 

Ok then take TPM that just came out in 3D, opening weekend: 22mil, domestic gross: 40mil, worldwide: 86mil

 

Ok if the prequels are so bad, then why did so many people watch it?

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Ok then take TPM that just came out in 3D, opening weekend: 22mil, domestic gross: 40mil, worldwide: 86mil

 

Ok if the prequels are so bad, then why did so many people watch it?

 

I dont wish to insult the intelligence of those individuals...

 

Twilight was theatrically released on November 21, 2008, grossing over US$392 million worldwide

 

Suppose you would say Twilight was a good movie too?

 

Lets go insulting....... Jack and Jill made $142 million dollars worldwide.... 2percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes; suppose that movie was good too right?

Edited by Darth_Malevolent
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That is a very wrong statement. Yes, we hate the PT. But the Prequels have made more money than the OT could have imagined.

 

I don't doubt that what you say is possible, even plausible, but I do wonder where you came to that conclusion. Are we talking about total gross revenue? Box office sales during each trilogy's original run only? Absolute dollar amounts or amounts adjusted for inflation?

 

It's just hard to imagine that in ~11 years, the prequels have managed to gross more than the originals grossed in ~30 years of releases and re-releases, video tapes and DVDs. In any case, it's hard to say that sales' figures mean anything in this particular comparison. Even leaving aside the question of financial success versus artistic merit, the prequels owe their success, even their very existence, to the originals.

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I dont wish to insult the intelligence of those individuals...

 

Twilight was theatrically released on November 21, 2008, grossing over US$392 million worldwide

 

Suppose you would say Twilight was a good movie too?

 

Lets go insulting....... Jack and Jill made $142 million dollars worldwide.... 2percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes; suppose that movie was good too right?

 

Never seen em, so wouldn't know. In the end, its all opinion of what people like and don't like.

Edited by Wolfninjajedi
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Never seen em, so wouldn't know.

 

Okay, well they were crap. Which shows, whether something is good or crap..... crap finds a way. And my opinion is shared with 98 percent of the ppl on Rotten Tomatoes and majority of the professional reviewers for magazines and websites such as IMBD

 

TPM though making 80mil, doesn't mean they're doing anything right..... Jack and Jill did everything wrong and made 140mil...

Edited by Darth_Malevolent
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Okay, well they were crap. Which shows, whether something is good or crap..... crap finds a way. And my opinion is shared with 98 percent of the ppl on Rotten Tomatoes and majority of the professional reviewers for magazines and websites such as IMBD

 

TPM though making 80mil, doesn't mean they're doing anything right..... Jack and Jill did everything wrong and made 140mil...

 

So...im suppose to take your word for it that they are crap? Your also comparing a movie, that hasn't been re-released or re-done or what have you so it can't get a second chance at making any money so we just got to go by the 140mil it made when it was in theaters. Unlike TPM which has gotten hated on, slandered, and re-released again only to still make a good profit anyway.

Edited by Wolfninjajedi
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So...im suppose to take your word for it that they are crap? Your also comparing a movie, that hasn't been re-released or re-done or what have you so it can't get a second chance at making any money so we just got to go by the 140mil it made when it was in theaters. Unlike TPM which has gotten hated on, slandered, and re-released again only to still make a good profit anyway.

 

Obviously not which is why I told you where I gotten my references, and if your saying Twilight hasn't been slandered you're vastly mistaken. Besides, so much media on Star Wars that if they release Star Wars- Ewok Christmas Special in theaters in HD and a remake Im certain will make atleast 20mil worldwide... to my knowledge they havent made a Twilight MMO, or Twilight toys, or had a Brisk commericial that I know of

Edited by Darth_Malevolent
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Obviously not which is why I told you where I gotten my references, and if your saying Twilight hasn't been slandered you're vastly mistaken. Besides, so much media on Star Wars that if they release Star Wars- Ewok Christmas Special in theaters in HD and a remake Im certain will make atleast 20mil worldwide... to my knowledge they havent made a Twilight MMO, or Twilight toys, or had a Brisk commericial that I know of

 

Well there are Twilight fans out there even if the series has gotten slandered on.

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Well there are Twilight fans out there even if the series has gotten slandered on.

 

Exactly my point with Star Wars.... doesn't mean TPM was good, but Star Wars has its fans

 

like Adam Sandler has his fans which is why he grossed 140mil worldwide

 

Or twilight grossing 400mil worldwide

Edited by Darth_Malevolent
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Exactly my point with Star Wars.... doesn't mean TPM was good, but Star Wars has its fans

 

like Adam Sandler has his fans which is why he grossed 140mil worldwide

 

Or twilight grossing 400mil worldwide

 

If there are fans of something, usually that means its good to them so it would seem TPM has enough fans that it made that much money. So as a whole there are SW fans who like TPM and went to see it.

Edited by Wolfninjajedi
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If there are fans of something, usually that means its good to them so it would seem TPM has enough fans that it made that much money.

 

Giving too much credit to film itself rather than the series, if the original New Hope was redone in its original form in HD and put into theaters Im certain would match if not double that amount

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Giving too much credit to film itself rather than the series, if the original New Hope was redone in its original form in HD and put into theaters Im certain would match if not double that amount

 

Very likely yes, but if they haven't released the other movies yet TPM right now is a stand alone in the theaters. It may be apart of the series, but in theaters its alone and theres so many people hating on it, then why go watch it?

Edited by Wolfninjajedi
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Ok...so your saying that the people paid to watch a movie they hate when they could have just not gone and seen it?

 

Yes, especially ppl with children, and Star Wars fans

 

After Transformers 2 being a racially awkward convoluted piece of crap, ppl still went to see 3

Edited by Darth_Malevolent
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  • 3 months later...

Ok I liked the prequel films I really did, but the guys who started this discussion is deeply mistaken. Although the prequels were good there were A FREAKING LOT OF PROBLEMS. The problem with The Phantom Menace is that there is almost no character development in it and the story could of been a lot better. Attack of the Clones was the worst of the Star Wars movies because Hayden Christensen pretty much became the new Jar Jar Binks with his horrible acting and the lack of effort put into writing the script for the movie. The problem with Revenge of the Sith was because the stunt and fighting coordination was god-awful and just like Attack of the Clones most of the acting was bad. As a matter of fact the scene where Windu fights Palpatine is one of the worst scenes I've ever seen in film. However, The Phantom Menace had really good fight scenes and acting. Attack of the Clones introduced some very unique characters, and had a great ending. Revenge of the Sith really made Anakin's fall to the Dark Side feel tragic and sad, and had a good story.

Whoever started this conversation really has no idea what he's talking about because the original Star Wars movies would have been perfect films even without the special effects.

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