Now I say this without blaming this reason as the 100% reasons the prequels were underwhelming, but I believe this is a big reason behind it.

 

Which is .... the Jedi are the problem.

 

In the original trilogy Luke was trained in an nontraditional way. Luke was like this regular guy who was told that he could be awesome if he had some faith and and confidence in this grand energy that exists through-out the universe. An energy that when explained didn't seem implausible to the audience. His performance was to be expected because we knew nothing about the Jedi's other than that they were good guys.

 

With the prequel we got into the background of what Jedi are actually like.... and they're pretty dull. Qui-gonn-jin and Obi- wan are exactly what a jedi is supposed to be. Even listen to the Jedi code, "There is no emotion, there is peace"

 

This one line can tell you all you need to know about the way Jedi are going to be portrayed... forever. Actors thrive on emotions. The way to capture a scene based on their reactions, tones and vibes they give out to the audience.

 

Luke could do that, because as I mentioned he was trained in a non traditional way, every major reaction/ memorable moment he had in the movies was an emotional response. Could you imagine him not screaming when Darth Vader said he was his father? Because that's what a traditonally trained Jedi would do. A traditional Jedi wouldn't be happy about Darth Vader being his dad but all that would escape his lips would be a soft "No" and just like that the scene would lose all its drama.

 

Is there a solution to this problem? Yeah, scrap the old Jedi code. It's a noble thing to follow but in terms of entertainment to old school Star Wars fans and the general population, it doesn't make for good acting or captivating characters.

 

 

 

nope no emotion what so ever. none, not a bit.

absoluitly zero.

 

 

why one could even say there's NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! emotion

I wasn't aware that the SW franchise was in jeopardy....it is?

 

That being said really? No emotion?....

 

 

 

There is lots of emotion...you are taking the "There is no emotion, there is peace" too literally.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Wolfninjajedi

 

There is lots of emotion...you are taking the "There is no emotion, there is peace" too literally.

 

I've almost given up on telling people that.

While I do agree that an over-emphasis on Jedi and Force-users in general is likely a problem with the new trilogy (and has been a huge issue with the greater expanded universe for years), your reasoning is nothing but laughable.

I don't personally believe that the story, or the jedi code was the biggest problem with episode 1-3. For me the story and action scenes where good enough to warrant paying the ten to fifteen dollars for a movie ticket, what did it in for me was the bad acting. Don't get me wrong it was not all bad but the kid who played a young anakin was extremely flat. I hate to say anything bad about someone so young but there have been plenty of child actors with more emotion and better deliveries. With a title like star wars you would think it would have a budget that never ends, yet it seems like the casting could of been much better in some areas. Edited February 16, 2014 by Sabeatiany

Even listen to the Jedi code, "There is no emotion, there is peace"

 

This one line can tell you all you need to know about the way Jedi are going to be portrayed... forever. Actors thrive on emotions. The way to capture a scene based on their reactions, tones and vibes they give out to the audience.

 

The Jedi Code doesn't mean purge all emotion. It doesn't mean become a static, unchanging, boring character. Like Superman was in Man of Steel.

 

/Ducks

 

It means to not allow your emotions to get the better of you. Read the other lines. "There is no chaos, there is harmony". Yoda talked about this in Episode III, or he at least inferred it. That emotions let loose are a path to darkness, and we see that over and over in converted Sith or Dark Jedi. Obi-Wan was filled with emotion when he struck down Vader on Mustafar (read the novelization by Stover; he's filled with torment since he has to kill the man he calls a brother), but he didn't let it dictate his actions or hinder his moves. That's why he won and that's the Jedi philosophy.

I wasn't aware that the SW franchise was in jeopardy....it is?

 

That being said really? No emotion?....

 

 

 

There is lots of emotion...you are taking the "There is no emotion, there is peace" too literally.

 

Wasn't saying it was in jeopardy was just saying that people have been waiting for Star Wars movies akin to the original trilogy. Also I know there are scenes in the movie where something big happens like the Anakin V Obi Wan fight and the Darth Maul V Obi Wan. Emotional scenes, but you're completely missing my point. MOST of the time the Jedi deliver lines of dialogue in a monotone and neutral tone. Look at Mace Windu, Qui-Gonn, and Obi- Wan for the majority of their screen time. I'm not taking it literally I'm just pointing out that following a code that encourages people to suppress emotions doesn't make for good and captivating acting. Also I'd like for you guys to keep in mind that during that outburst in Ep 1 it seems that Obi Wan was drawing on the dark side of the force as he let his aggression and grief take control of him. Which is good, I'd like to have more of that and less of Qui-Gonn fighting.

 

I don't personally believe that the story, or the jedi code was the biggest problem with episode 1-3. For me the story and action scenes where good enough to warrant paying the ten to fifteen dollars for a movie ticket, what did it in for me was the bad acting. Don't get me wrong it was not all bad but the kid who played a young anakin was extremely flat. I hate to say anything bad about someone so young but there have been plenty of child actors with more emotion and better deliveries. With a title like star wars you would think it would have a budget that never ends, yet it seems like the casting could of been much better in some areas.

 

I never said it was the biggest problem, I said it was one of the big problems. There are alot of problems with the prequels and another one I wanted to mention was if we're going to have jedi we need other characters there too. There was no Hans Solo, Chewbacca or Leia in the prequels. Which is another big problem IMO.

 

 

 

 

The Jedi Code doesn't mean purge all emotion. It doesn't mean become a static, unchanging, boring character. Like Superman was in Man of Steel.

 

/Ducks

 

It means to not allow your emotions to get the better of you. Read the other lines. "There is no chaos, there is harmony". Yoda talked about this in Episode III, or he at least inferred it. That emotions let loose are a path to darkness, and we see that over and over in converted Sith or Dark Jedi. Obi-Wan was filled with emotion when he struck down Vader on Mustafar (read the novelization by Stover; he's filled with torment since he has to kill the man he calls a brother), but he didn't let it dictate his actions or hinder his moves. That's why he won and that's the Jedi philosophy.

 

No. No. NO . I'm not here to discuss the books. I'm here representing a Star Wars fan that has seen the movies and enjoys them. Now that's not to say that I haven't read any of the books it's just that Star Wars fans come in all ranges and I think a trilogy closer to the Original Trilogy instead of the prequel trilogy would be more successful, pull more people back into the universe and open up the franchise to many more possibilities. Star Wars TV show? Another trilogy? Perhaps Darth Bane etc etc.

 

I know that the code doesn't mean PURGE all emotion, just to control them instead of them controlling you and if you have people trying to act like that all throughout a movie, it still has the same effect with is dialogue delivered in a pretty monotone way. I.E The prequels. I know there are times in the prequels were Jedi DO show emotion.. I KNOW, but every other time that they're in a room talking or whatever the lines they say are said in a sort of neutral and dull tone. Compare that to Luke in the Original trilogy, you constantly saw him expressing himself. Even when Luke was a Jedi knight in EP 6 and went to rescue Han there was an intimidating tone in his voice. He was calm and neutral but menacing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TL;DR Look I'm just saying it's much more entertaining to watch a movie where the main characters, act affected and react emotionally to the events that are going on around them.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Annihilan

Star Wars: Episode IIV: The Undecided Title

 

Directed

 

By

 

J. J. Abrams

 

 

Surgeon General's Warning: Product contains excessive Lens Flare which may blind the viewer

I don't think we should be too worried, since the Jedi aren't going to be the the only people in Star Wars.

 

Don't forget, we've also got Han, Lando, and (hopefully) Chewbacca to look forward to, as well as any potential new interesting characters to counterbalance the Jedi. Besides, assuming they use the EU as guidance or inspiration, the post-ROTJ Jedi (with the exception of Kenth) are way cooler than the Clone Wars Jedi--Mara Jade, Kyle Katarn, Corran Horn, Kyp Durron, etc. Even if they don't use them per se, they could always have proxy characters with more or less the same personalities and roles.

It's worth noting the entire Jedi Code is part of the EU.

 

I sincerly doubt George Lucas even knows it

Maybe understanding the code would help but I saw emotion in the Jedi.

 

I.E.

 

Yoda and Obi-Wan when they found the younglings killed. They were upset you could see that. That is showing emotion.

 

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan got mad at Qui-Gon. That is showing emotion.

 

. Obi-Wan and Yoda. When Ob-Wan showed his stubbornness to train Anakin even against the wishes of the council if he had to. That is showing emotion.

 

Obi Wan being upset that he had to fight Anakin whom he considered a brother. You could see the emotion he had during the fight and at the ending. He didn't want to have to fight Anakin but he did but you can see clearly he was upset and at the end you could hear the hurt in his voice.

Edited February 17, 2014 by ScarletBlaze

Mace mother****** Windu....or am I the only one that melds the first 20 minutes of Pulp Fiction into everything Mace says?

 

Anyway, the prequels were underwhelming not because of the Jedi, or the Code. The line "There is no emotion, there is peace" is taken way to literal, unlike the Sith Code were yeah...that's what they are all about.

 

The Prequels are underwhelming because, they were half assedly(yeah, I'm making up words) written. Poor, poor direction on how the lines were to be presented, which lead to: bad acting. Which I don't get, because none of these actors have sucked so royally in any other movie they were in.

 

J.J is better off not trying to cram 100 pounds of **** in a 5 pound bag, kinda like how Revenge of the Sith was, and keeping away from the childish, cheesy, corny, cliche crap.(i.e all of Episode 1...and most of 2)

Maybe understanding the code would help but I saw emotion in the Jedi.

 

I.E.

 

Yoda and Obi-Wan when they found the younglings killed. They were upset you could see that. That is showing emotion.

 

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan got mad at Qui-Gon. That is showing emotion.

 

. Obi-Wan and Yoda. When Ob-Wan showed his stubbornness to train Anakin even against the wishes of the council if he had to. That is showing emotion.

 

Obi Wan being upset that he had to fight Anakin whom he considered a brother. You could see the emotion he had during the fight and at the ending. He didn't want to have to fight Anakin but he did but you can see clearly he was upset and at the end you could hear the hurt in his voice.

 

 

Go back and read my posts I know there are times in the prequels where they showed emotions, but it was few and far between. Especially when compared to Luke's journey, where while not an emotional roller coaster seems far more human and natural than the way the Jedi in the prequels acted. I would imagine the audience which is going to be made up of mostly people who aren't fanboys to to be more human, more emotional, not less.

 

Jedi don't purge emotion they control them, there's a difference I know, but while acting you should strive to show the emotion that the scene is portraying. Like, every scene.

 

Compare the scenes from EP 1 to EP 4.

 

You can sympathize with Luke and feel his frustration with just like regular growing up stuff like, I wanna leave home, I wanna go out and find my own place in the world, Oh man I gotta help my uncles with drones etc. etc.

 

Do you give a **** about the trade dispute, or the suffering of the Naboo people? Or the uniting of Naboo and Gungan to free their planet from the trade federation? Does it register in your mind that those things are supposed to be important?

 

This is partly on the Naboo queen also written in as a complete monotone, boring, uninteresting character, but qui-gonn and obi-wan in the first movie the way they speak and interact not only with each other but with everyone else is not entertaining. Yeah Obi-wan has an outburst of emotion, great now we know he's not a robot.

 

Luke is facing minimal problems and yet the audience cares more about that than major things like, starvation or whatever the Naboo were dying from, the jedi order having the sith revealed to them, war etc.

 

Of course another problem was the movie was poorly written as well yes, but Jedi essentially are just uninteresting characters, unless they ascend to become Jedi in non-traditional ways.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Annihilan

well, and since this is gonna be post ROTJ era, sometime after Luke's Jedi Academy is set up, so yeah...your gonna have Jedi, who show emotion, fall in love, etc...and stray away from the Dark Side.

Yoda and Obi-Wan when they found the younglings killed. They were upset you could see that. That is showing emotion.

 

He was trying to hide his real emotion - LAUGH

Edited February 17, 2014 by iankalo

Compare the scenes from EP 1 to EP 4.

 

You can sympathize with Luke and feel his frustration with just like regular growing up stuff like, I wanna leave home, I wanna go out and find my own place in the world, Oh man I gotta help my uncles with drones etc. etc.

 

Actually in this part I wasn't sure I liked Luke. He seemed to be complaining about what his responsibilities were and yet he was going to be a Jedi. How can someone want to ignore their responsibilities.?

 

Do you give a **** about the trade dispute, or the suffering of the Naboo people? Or the uniting of Naboo and Gungan to free their planet from the trade federation? Does it register in your mind that those things are supposed to be important?

Yes I did. As it had to do with people. Maybe I can see things from a different perspective than most but when the people of Naboo were suffering I cared about what was happening to them.

 

This is partly on the Naboo queen also written in as a complete monotone, boring, uninteresting character, but qui-gonn and obi-wan in the first movie the way they speak and interact not only with each other but with everyone else is not entertaining. Yeah Obi-wan has an outburst of emotion, great now we know he's not a robot

.

 

He actually showed a few emotions in this movie. His anger at his master, his sadness when his master was killed, his stubbornness when the council didn't want him to train Anakin. Furthermore, they were supposed to be trying to come to some sort of diplomatic solution for Naboo so I am not sure about you but having emotional outbursts at that time would not have been the right thing to do.

Luke is facing minimal problems and yet the audience cares more about that than major things like, starvation or whatever the Naboo were dying from, the jedi order having the sith revealed to them, war etc.

 

This is your opinion as I stated I cared more about the Naboo people than Luke's temper fits about having to do something he didn't want to do. He reminded me of a child trying to get out of things instead of being a man and facing his responsibilities.

 

Of course another problem was the movie was poorly written as well yes, but Jedi essentially are just uninteresting characters, unless they ascend to become Jedi in non-traditional ways.

 

 

 

Again your opinion. To me the Jedi were interesting minus a few things I disagreed with. I saw their emotions and what they were trying to do. People don't show emotions all the time.

Edited February 17, 2014 by ScarletBlaze

All the Jedi are dead OP. I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead, every single one of them.

 

[insert irony here of people whining about Anakin being over-emotional...]

Edited February 17, 2014 by Beniboybling

The star wars franchise needs redeeming? That's news to me.

All the Jedi are dead OP. I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead, every single one of them.

 

[insert irony here of people whining about Anakin being over-emotional...]

 

And not just the men.... but the women and the children.

And not just the men.... but the women and the children.

I slaughtered them like animals!

I slaughtered them like animals!

 

Not going to lie I loved that scene, that was to me one of the better moments of Episode 2 the music helped it even more with the Imperial March being played. I have issues with Episode 2 but that scene is not one of them.

Not going to lie I loved that scene, that was to me one of the better moments of Episode 2 the music helped it even more with the Imperial March being played. I have issues with Episode 2 but that scene is not one of them.

Indeed, it is also one of my favourite scenes.

Actually in this part I wasn't sure I liked Luke. He seemed to be complaining about what his responsibilities were and yet he was going to be a Jedi. How can someone want to ignore their responsibilities.?

 

 

Yes I did. As it had to do with people. Maybe I can see things from a different perspective than most but when the people of Naboo were suffering I cared about what was happening to them.

 

.

 

He actually showed a few emotions in this movie. His anger at his master, his sadness when his master was killed, his stubbornness when the council didn't want him to train Anakin. Furthermore, they were supposed to be trying to come to some sort of diplomatic solution for Naboo so I am not sure about you but having emotional outbursts at that time would not have been the right thing to do.

 

 

This is your opinion as I stated I cared more about the Naboo people than Luke's temper fits about having to do something he didn't want to do. He reminded me of a child trying to get out of things instead of being a man and facing his responsibilities.

 

 

 

 

 

Again your opinion. To me the Jedi were interesting minus a few things I disagreed with. I saw their emotions and what they were trying to do. People don't show emotions all the time.

 

 

I'm glad you were able to enjoy those scenes as I wanted to but could care little to nothing for them. Also you're right maybe I'm posting in a biased way but it's because I'm trying to show what regular joe schmo and his kid are going to see and be entertained by.

 

You say you didn't like Luke because he was being immature in the beginning of EP 4? You're right he was, and every pre-teen, teen and young adult that went to go see it could relate with him. The general audience needs to connect with the character. This should be a movie made for the masses, have something everyone can enjoy the original trilogy did that . The only thing kids liked about the prequels are the light saber fights. Which is terrible because Star Wars can offer such a rich story as well as some kick- *** action, but not when NEARLY every scene involving Jedi is delivered like they're giving a sermon.

 

Now I say this and I know someones going to point out BUT THERE WAS EMOTION! OBIWAN GETS PISSED, ANAKIN GETS PISSED ETC ETC. Ok I get it but those are few scenes in a 2 hour long movie.

 

Anyways as I was saying above, Joe Schmo and and his kid aren't going to be overly entertained by trade disputes, politcal strife and the jedi code. They need something more grounded, something more akin to EP 4, 5, 6. I'm not saying take out the Jedi, I'm just saying have Jedi that are closer to Luke as main characters instead of closer to Qui-Gonn.

 

Also of course Luke is going shy away from responsibility and be kind of immature, he was 17. The point was we go on this journey with him from a boy to becoming a man.

star wars: Episode iiv: The undecided title

 

directed

 

by

 

j. J. Abrams

 

 

surgeon general's warning: Product contains excessive lens flare which may blind the viewer

 

If I might make an observation, but i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, viii, ix, x.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Fyurii