I know this won't be popular but I like TPM better that II or III. I thought the story was better I didn't really care about Jar Jar even though everyone wants to hate him. I just took him as the R2 or Chewie of the new movies when I saw it. I should also state that Jedi is my second favorite from the OT. Look in Episodes 2 and 3 we had an extemely weak bad guy called Count Dooku. I don't mean to say that Chrisopher Lee is bad but having an old man play your big villian was horrible. I love, love, love Darth Maul and I would have paid to see him and Vader get it on. It was stupid to kill him in episode 1 and the villian they brought in did not match up. Edited February 8, 2013 by SeannyDuke

I can see where you're coming from homebread. Now I don't know if I would go as far as to say it's better than Episode III, but I think it gets too much hate overall. Here are the things I like about it:

 

- The color palette, or the way the filmed it, is more congruous with the original movies. From a "look and feel" perspective it looks like one of the older movies.

- The lightsaber duel at the end is flat out the best lightsaber duel in any of the movies.

- Pod racing sequence is one of the better action sequences overall. Not as good as the space battle at the beginning of III or end of VI.

 

I think the main thing with the PT is that is was too heavy on the political intrigue. It's a bit of a catch-22 because the political intrigue is what really set the stage for the Emperor's rise. Not sure if there could have been a better way to show it in the movies, but so much senatorial debate and maneuverings is incongruous with what we identify as Star Wars and so from that perspective alone the PT has a different feel to it.

Edited February 8, 2013 by bigray

PM does get more flak than it really deserves, in my opinion anyway, but that goes for all the prequels. I do still think it's the weakest of the three though.

 

I don't mean to say that Chrisopher Lee is bad but having an old man play your big villian was horrible. I love, love, love Darth Maul and I would have paid to see him and Vader get it on. It was stupid to kill him in episode 1 and the villian they brought in did not match up.

 

I can see why you'd like Maul even though he is just a tool of Sidious and does nothing on his own, still I can see why you'd like him. Are you sure your problem with Dooky is that he is an old man though? Just find it somewhat curious considering the main villains in the original trilogy is a pair of old and slow (though still very powerful) men (just like Dooku) and in small part a big chunk fat called Jabba

 

- The color palette, or the way the filmed it, is more congruous with the original movies. From a "look and feel" perspective it looks like one of the older movies.

- The lightsaber duel at the end is flat out the best lightsaber duel in any of the movies.

- Pod racing sequence is one of the better action sequences overall. Not as good as the space battle at the beginning of III or end of VI.

 

I think the main thing with the PT is that is was too heavy on the political intrigue. It's a bit of a catch-22 because the political intrigue is what really set the stage for the Emperor's rise. Not sure if there could have been a better way to show it in the movies, but so much senatorial debate and maneuverings is incongruous with what we identify as Star Wars and so from that perspective alone the PT has a different feel to it.

 

Can't say much about the look and feel because honestly, I haven't really thought about it with the prequels or the original trilogy.

 

The lightsaber duel in the end of PM is indeed amazing, rarely mentioned when people talk about PM, guess they forgot it due to bad stuff? The pod-race on the other hand I'll have to disagree with, it was OK the first time I saw it but after that it's just too long and not all that interesting and that stupid race even got longer in the home-media releases, just don't get it. Honestly when I do watch PM I skip most of the time on Tatooine.

 

What I get from critics isn't really that the political stuff was bad (personally I kind of like that angle, seeing how Palpatine did get control) but more of an issue with how the characters are written, how likeable they are, and structuring "issues" like a clear protagonist and antagonist. The of course there will always be the matter of it being far too over-hyped when it came out with everyone expecting far too much

Phantom menace was actually quite epic in parts. Anything involving Qui Gon as a master was amazing as it was brand new and exciting. Darth Maul was the best sith apprentice of the prequel trilogy. Jake Lloyd was actually fairly decent as young Anakin. It featured interesting planets and had great music. All in all a great film.

I know this won't be popular but I like TPM better that II or III. I thought the story was better I didn't really care about Jar Jar even though everyone wants to hate him. I just took him as the R2 or Chewie of the new movies when I saw it. I should also state that Jedi is my second favorite from the OT. Look in Episodes 2 and 3 we had an extemely weak bad guy called Count Dooku. I don't mean to say that Chrisopher Lee is bad but having an old man play your big villian was horrible. I love, love, love Darth Maul and I would have paid to see him and Vader get it on. It was stupid to kill him in episode 1 and the villian they brought in did not match up.

 

lol the only part of the movie i didn't like was the pod racing scene felt like it took way to long as far as jar jar binks goes i didn't mind him didnt care for him either didn't feel like he ruined the movies like everyone else thinks he does

Phantom Menace is actually my favourite Star Wars of all time. I was about 6 when I saw it and it hooked me into the franchise. I actually loved Jar Jar as being a child his comedic actions really appealed to me. I think because of that I still find him quite funny. On top of that, Darth Maul was as menacing a character as there could have been, but I loved him because of it. My fanboyism went to such extremes that when my parents gave me the original trilogy for that Christmas they signed it as 'Darth Maul'. I actually turned to them and exclaimed "Did Ray Park send this?"

 

Looking back though, I can still appreciate the Phantom Menace with more adult views.

The political intrigue was just about comprehended as a child but I can appreciate it a lot more as a plot device as an adult/teenager. It's a lot smarter than any of the Originals which in comparison had the lines of good and evil very distinct.

The CGI and cinematography was excellent for it's time and still holds up today. The ground Battle of Naboo is still my favourite scene of the movie. The music, the sounds and the images all tie together so well and it's like that for most of the movie.

The characters are complex (and acted well) which certainly wasn't appreciated as a child, since I spent more time with my OOM/Darth Maul action figures than Obi-Wan. For example, Shmi brings to the table a mother's perspective which has never been seen in the Star Wars universe. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon show very different outlooks showing different Jedi perspectives and Jar Jar just wants to find his place in the world.

 

So yep, give me the Phantom Menace any day.

over all I enjoyed TPM. even Jar Jar made me laugh I'll admit. there where no scenes that where absolutly cringe induceing at the very leasy (unlike say the romance in AOTC)

The acting and dialogue was atrocious in ep 1.

 

"Are you an angel"?

 

You've got to be *********** kidding me. Are we really gonna watch pseudo romance between Padme and little boy Anakin?

 

Maul was a terrible villain. He was so one dimensional in the movies and had a few lines of dialogue. Dooku is a much better villain.

 

Final fight scene was both cool and stupid. Obi-wan could have totally made it through those laser doors if he bothered using force speed, which is something both he and Qui-Gonn used at the beginning of the movie to escape those droids with shields.

The acting and dialogue was atrocious in ep 1.

 

"Are you an angel"?

 

You've got to be *********** kidding me. Are we really gonna watch pseudo romance between Padme and little boy Anakin?

 

Maul was a terrible villain. He was so one dimensional in the movies and had a few lines of dialogue. Dooku is a much better villain.

 

Final fight scene was both cool and stupid. Obi-wan could have totally made it through those laser doors if he bothered using force speed, which is something both he and Qui-Gonn used at the beginning of the movie to escape those droids with shields.

 

Dooku is clearly not a ninja, and isn't played by Ray Park. Hence he isn't a good villain. Although I agree that Maul could've had much better and more lines.

 

The "pseudo romance" isn't that big of a stretch. Padme was 15 and Anakin was 10. So, no.

 

Obi-Wan was tired out from the lightsaber fighting, hence he couldn't use Force Speed. Maul could've killed Obi when he jumped, like Obi-wan did to Anakin in Ep. III.

 

Personally, i liked Ep. III best. Such an epic duel at the end.

Dooku is clearly not a ninja, and isn't played by Ray Park. Hence he isn't a good villain. Although I agree that Maul could've had much better and more lines.

 

You don't have to be a ninja to be cool. Dooku obviously can't jump around because the actor's hella old, but if you watch TCW, Dooku > Maul anyday.

 

The "pseudo romance" isn't that big of a stretch. Padme was 15 and Anakin was 10. So, no.

 

Yeah trying hitting on a 10 year old as a 15 year old. It's *********** creepy IRL, and it's creepy in the movie. Also, she doesn't look 15 in the movie. She looks like she's in her early 20s.

 

Obi-Wan was tired out from the lightsaber fighting, hence he couldn't use Force Speed. Maul could've killed Obi when he jumped, like Obi-wan did to Anakin in Ep. III.

 

Personally, i liked Ep. III best. Such an epic duel at the end.

 

They all got a moment's rest when the laser doors were separating all 3. He could've used force speed.

 

And yes, Maul totally should have been able to see Obi-Wan's attack coming, but stood there like an idiot. Another dumb thing about that fight.

 

That is some seriously funny and truthful ****. I'm watching the ep 2 review now lol.

All 3 are equal parts of awful and terrible. Probably some of the worst acting and directing I have seen in major box office films. Red letter media already covered it so I don't need to go into detail.

 

(In defense of the actors, they were working from a garbage script.). George Lucas was and always has been a hack. The original trilogy was saved by his friends who took out his ridiculous ideas. They were given next to no credit.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Arkerus

All 3 are equal parts of awful and terrible. Probably some of the worst acting and directing I have seen in major box office films. Red letter media already covered it so I don't need to go into detail.

 

(In defense of the actors, they were working from a garbage script.). George Lucas was and always has been a hack. The original trilogy was saved by his friends who took out his ridiculous ideas. They were given next to no credit.

 

You forgot to put "In my opinion" in that post. Believe it or not, not everyone is wired the same way, and it might be more shocking to know that they can form their own opinions about things rather then having their opinions formed by someone else.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Wolfninjajedi

All 3 are equal parts of awful and terrible. Probably some of the worst acting and directing I have seen in major box office films. Red letter media already covered it so I don't need to go into detail.

 

(In defense of the actors, they were working from a garbage script.). George Lucas was and always has been a hack. The original trilogy was saved by his friends who took out his ridiculous ideas. They were given next to no credit.

 

The point of entertainment--which is what a movie is--should be to entertain. I was entertained watching the prequels so it got it's job done. Not every movie needs to be Citizen Kane.

I think Episode I is better than 2, but not better than 3. The Revenge of the Sith suffered by being stuck wtih the plots of 1, 2, 4, 5, 6. We knew pretty much how it was going to go down and it was just a matter of letting it happen. Episode III did that competently. By contrast Episode I was the least constrained of the prequels and it shows. Episode II really suffered from having to do too much in too short a timeframe.

I think that if you know a little bit about what happens before and after the movies they make alot more sense, like the blockade of naboo, that wasn't explained in the movie but it was explained in books. The Clone Wars (tv show) fills in alot about the events between two and three, like anakin's gradual fall to the dark side, if you just go watch the movies and nothing else, he falls almost immediately. The TV show goes in depth on it. Also: the prequels have so much time elapsing between each movie and the original trilogy didn't have those big gaps in time.

 

I like to view the prequels more as the rise of the emperor because he was controlling both sides of everything, he got the no confidence vote on Vallorum and won supreme chancellor, he was granted emergency powers (among other acts and laws between the movies), and in the end he pretty much had effective rule over everything, the most powerful jedi known, and a clone army at his command.

 

Just because it "doesn't make sense" doesn't mean you have to tell everyone else it sucks and have to change their opinion to match your's.

The point of entertainment--which is what a movie is--should be to entertain. I was entertained watching the prequels so it got it's job done. Not every movie needs to be Citizen Kane.

 

And I was not entertained because they were terrible. None of them even make sense when paired up against the original three.

 

All the comments made in movie and character judgements the viewer (a reasonable viewer) created when they watched the original trilogy don't make a bit of sense when paired against the new movies. The clunky dialogue, the complete butchering of Anakin and the absolute stupidly of the Jedi order is mind numbingly difficult to watch.

Edited February 12, 2013 by Arkerus

And I was not entertained because it they were terrible. None of them even make sense when paired up against the original three.

 

?? Made sense to me.

And I was not entertained because it they were terrible. None of them even make sense when paired up against the original three.

 

This is just stupid. Why do you feel the need to compare them to the originals.

 

If we compared every movie we've ever watched and will watch to the best movies that were ever made, nothing would be considered good. But that's simply not true.

 

And the movies made enough sense that a kid could follow it, so if you couldn't make sense of it's barebones plot/characterization, I dunno what to tell you.

And I was not entertained because it they were terrible. None of them even make sense when paired up against the original three.

 

Made sense to me, if you look deep enough and have any textual comprehension a skills you can even see references to the original trilogy in the prequels.

Alot of the prequel suffered terrible ideas and poor story writting, not terrible movies on there own but terrible story telling, more so when compared to the originals. Probally too many Yes, Men in the GL camp when they wrote these movies.

 

Terrible Ideas and storyline short cuts (which woulod be a no-no in a literature class)

 

Padme's death was ridiculous

Anakin being conceived like Jesus

Anakin's turn from good guy to kid killer was a bit too much too soon.

Even order 66 just kinda wrapped things up very quickly

 

There is no clear cut protagonist for episode 1.

 

Its obvious that Luke is the hero is episode 4.

He meets all the critera for a main hero,

 

Luke starts off as just a farm boy, finds out he can be a jedi, meets the typical anti-hero companions, leaves the starter area (this very important for character growth), Rescues the princess and saves the day.

 

Farm boy to Intergalactic Hero in one film. Classic Hero.

 

Now EPISODE 1, Who is the Hero?

 

Qui-Gon?

Characters are supposed to resolve some issue during the course of your story, i dont really think he does that. He just passes the torch to obi-wan and dies, no really conflict resolution.

 

Obi-wan?

Maybe, but he doesn't even have that many lines and the entire movie, he stays in the ship on tattooine. He does kill Darth Maul, but it little signiface becasue there is no history between them and its not like Obi-wan and we hardly explore the relationship between Obi-wan and Qui Gon.

 

Anakin?

No way, he does not show up untill half the movie is over and though he does save the day and leave the planet, he never changes. Luke was a nobody turned hero, Anakin was heroic and brave from the begining and saved the day by winning the POD Race,

 

Jar-Jar or Padme?

They both over come obsticals and both leave there home planet only to return as heros.

Edited February 11, 2013 by kirorx

My favourite parts of the movies are as follows.

 

Episode 1 - Obi Wan and Qui Gonn vs Darth Maul with particular emphasis on the Obi Wan and Darth Maul sequence. When I first saw that I was blown away with the energy and co ordination of it.

 

Episode 2 - When the Jedi rescue Anakin, Padme and Obi Wan. First time we'd seen that amount of jedi on screen at once and it just shouted coolness when they went into their ready positions.

 

Episode 3 - Difficult one this, no scene screams out at me although Ewan's acting when confronting Anakin at the end was probably the best acting in the three prequels.

Empire Strikes Back all the way

EP 1,2 and 3 are pure marketing tools

I enjoyed them, but nothing like ESB

Alot of the prequel suffered terrible ideas and poor story writting, not terrible movies on there own but terrible story telling, more so when compared to the originals. Probally too many Yes, Men in the GL camp when they wrote these movies.

 

Terrible Ideas and storyline short cuts (which woulod be a no-no in a literature class)

 

Padme's death was ridiculous

Anakin being conceived like Jesus

Anakin's turn from good guy to kid killer was a bit too much too soon.

Even order 66 just kinda wrapped things up very quickly

 

There is no clear cut protagonist for episode 1.

 

Its obvious that Luke is the hero is episode 4.

He meets all the critera for a main hero,

 

Luke starts off as just a farm boy, finds out he can be a jedi, meets the typical anti-hero companions, leaves the starter area (this very important for character growth), Rescues the princess and saves the day.

 

Farm boy to Intergalactic Hero in one film. Classic Hero.

 

Now EPISODE 1, Who is the Hero?

 

Qui-Gon?

Characters are supposed to resolve some issue during the course of your story, i dont really think he does that. He just passes the torch to obi-wan and dies, no really conflict resolution.

 

Obi-wan?

Maybe, but he doesn't even have that many lines and the entire movie, he stays in the ship on tattooine. He does kill Darth Maul, but it little signiface becasue there is no history between them and its not like Obi-wan and we hardly explore the relationship between Obi-wan and Qui Gon.

 

Anakin?

No way, he does not show up untill half the movie is over and though he does save the day and leave the planet, he never changes. Luke was a nobody turned hero, Anakin was heroic and brave from the begining and saved the day by winning the POD Race,

 

Jar-Jar or Padme?

They both over come obsticals and both leave there home planet only to return as heros.

 

Not that I like the prequels all that much, but this isn't 1950 and you don't need a single protagonist. A New Hop is also a massive cliche of the stereotypical hero story that has been done to death a million times over in the thousands of years literature has existed. It's why that movie was panned when it came out.

 

There's no single protagonist in the LOTR movies either, and those are all excellent.