Rogue One - Why was Vader seem so much more impressive than Prequel-era fighters?

[JUMBO PALACE]

His fighting style, likewise, mirrors this by being subdued yet efficient. It shows that Vader wastes no energy, because the half dozen people in front of him pose no risk to him, he will kill them and he will do so without even trying very hard.

Pretty much this. Plus the fact that he is a quadruple amputee who lives in an iron lung probably has something to do with his lack of flourish as well. There isn't much space to move around in that hallway either.

I am surprised to see the OP applauding the choreography in the prequel trilogy. Phantom Menace had a pretty decent fight with Maul, but after that it got completely ridiculous with the weightlessness of the lightsabers and all the acrobatics. I've seen pretty universal criticism of the saber duels but that may just be my experience.

 

[EbonBehelit]

No the stupidest part of the entire prequel set up was the continued use by the Jedi's 'bringing balance to the force'. Now correct me if I am wrong but a balance of something means equal weighting on both sides, in this case the force having a dark and light side, if the Universe has hundreds of Jedis, (the light side) then surely the only way to bring balance to the force would be to either bring in a whole bunch of Sith Lords to make up the difference or kill off a huge number of the Jedi and well that's kinda what happened, leaving essentially Obi wan and Yoda on the good side and Vader and Palpatine on the other, i.e balanced.

Your talking about a Universe that has a group of light saber handling, mind reading, object manipulating space wizards who are the go to guys when the shit hits the fan but they are so dumb they don't understand what 'balance' means?

That'd require something a bit more nuanced than a "Jedi good, Sith evil" mentality, which the films never stray from. It's a shame really: there's a lot of room for adding a few shades of grey to the Force. The old EU/games looked into this kind of thing sometimes.

What?

Thrawn isn't Force Sensitive. What the hell are you talking about?

Not only that, but I'm pretty sure Thrawn liked to drape some kind of Force-nullifying creature around his shoulders to render force-sensitives powerless in his presence.

 

[EbonBehelit]

Yeah, well I think the start of RotS was a quite effective display of Anakin's actual prowess as a pilot. Which wasn't anything to sneeze at.

Being quite a formidable duelist counts as a trait. And yeah, I agree, killing him on the spot was a character moment.

I'll give you that one. I'm still having difficulty of wrapping my mind about the concept of any human being thinking this is possible.
(I mean, come on, have her die of throat damage due to being Force choked. Bam! You got your drama and it doesn't look stupid.
That's actually what they did in the novel version)

Anakin being an ace pilot by the time of RotS is totally fine, since he's an adult at that point and had been fighting in the Clone Wars for a while.

Anakin didn't need to have the 'vision of Padme dying' to motivate him towards the Dark Side, imo. Anakin was supposed to be a noble but prideful soul that was gradually worn down from having to watch those he cared about die needlessly due to his lack of power.

I personally think the Jedi should've been partially responsible for what happened to Padme. Perhaps they become suspicious of Anakin and - having discovered his relationship with Padme - then coerce her into spying on him? Then an irrational/unstable Anakin could catch her in the act and 'compel her' to snitch on the Jedi - damaging her physically in the process. She then realises the truth in Obi-Wan's warnings and decides to flee incognito to Alderaan at the end of the film, with Palpatine spinning this however he sees fit. This would make Anakin turning on the Jedi a little more believable, and would also be consistent with Leia having memories of her mother in RotJ.

Yes, you are. Yes I haven't. Yes, I kind of do.
Y'see... I don't want to waste hours of my life on having a nerd tell me that I shouldn't enjoy the silly space fantasy movies I like. I can bring out my nerd glasses (figuratively speaking) and take apart the original trilogy as well, if we're going to go full pedantic. But I don't want to. I'll just turn my brain off and have some dumb fun. The prequels have their flaws (namely, acting; the first time I heard them with the original English voices I couldn't believe my ears, they were bleeding so damn hard; it was also the last time I watched them undubbed). But the combat scenes are engaging, the effects are good, the fight scenes are well done and lightsaber duels are just awesome in more ways than one, from elaborate choreography to the way they are filmed (unlike most modern action movies, you can clearly see what the flying dutchman is going on). And the groan you're getting from me is well-deserved, because everyone and their dog and their dog's fleas go to "watch Mr. Plinkett's reviews" argument.

Fair enough.

I mean, I do still kinda Like Episode 1. It's a bit of a mess but as you said, it's a fun light action movie that one can easily switch off and watch. The podracing scene is fun no matter how many times I see it.

Attack of the Clones is a total tirefire though.

 

[Kyrian007]

Thrawn also seems overpowered, controlling an entire army with the Force.

What?

Thrawn isn't Force Sensitive. What the hell are you talking about?

Not only that, but I'm pretty sure Thrawn liked to drape some kind of Force-nullifying creature around his shoulders to render force-sensitives powerless in his presence.

He did and didn't control an entire army with the force. He recruited Joruus C'baoth (an insane jedi clone) to use battle meditation to aid his army. The thing around his neck kept C'baoth from mind controlling him.

So he didn't, and wasn't force sensitive. But in a way he kind of did indirectly control (mostly just aid, but direct as well) an army with the force.

 

[Rangaman]

Ehhh...yes and no? On the one hand, Duel of the Fates (and the fight that accompanies it) are the two best things about The Phantom Menace.

On the other hand, every other lightsaber fight in the prequels (and to an extent, that one) looks fucking ridiculous. Yoda's fight scenes in AotC and RoS are some of the most hilarious and ridiculous bullshit put to film.
The more grounded lightsaber fights in the original tri...fine, that one fight in Empire looks better simply because it's not as stupidly OTT.

 

[MrBoBo]

Ehhh...yes and no? On the one hand, Duel of the Fates (and the fight that accompanies it) are the two best things about The Phantom Menace.

On the other hand, every other lightsaber fight in the prequels (and to an extent, that one) looks fucking ridiculous. Yoda's fight scenes in AotC and RoS are some of the most hilarious and ridiculous bullshit put to film.
The more grounded lightsaber fights in the original tri...fine, that one fight in Empire looks better simply because it's not as stupidly OTT.

The fights in the Clone Wars cartoons were pretty great.

 

[Rangaman]

The fights in the Clone Wars cartoons were pretty great.

I wouldn't know. All I've seen of The Clone Wars is that shitty CG movie.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

The fights in the Clone Wars cartoons were pretty great.

I wouldn't know. All I've seen of The Clone Wars is that shitty CG movie.

Clone Wars starts a bit rough with that movie, but when it hits its stride in season 2 its pretty awesome. It also goes a long way in fleshing out why Anakin turns into a paranoid, prideful asshole that would conceivably fall to the Dark Side. That said it also shines a spotlight on just how slack-jawed retarded everyone in the galaxy must be to not figure out Palpetine is an evil bastard.

Homestly the best reason to wtch the show is the Clones theselves since their voice actor manages to use tone and inflection to make them all sound distinctive if not unique and they're great fun to watch.

 

[MrBoBo]

The fights in the Clone Wars cartoons were pretty great.

I wouldn't know. All I've seen of The Clone Wars is that shitty CG movie.

I'm referring to the 2D cartoon from the Samurai Jack guy, these were made before it went CGI, which was a different dude.

 

[MrBoBo]

Ehhh...yes and no? On the one hand, Duel of the Fates (and the fight that accompanies it) are the two best things about The Phantom Menace.

On the other hand, every other lightsaber fight in the prequels (and to an extent, that one) looks fucking ridiculous. Yoda's fight scenes in AotC and RoS are some of the most hilarious and ridiculous bullshit put to film.
The more grounded lightsaber fights in the original tri...fine, that one fight in Empire looks better simply because it's not as stupidly OTT.

The fights in the Clone Wars cartoons were pretty great.

Clone Wars was even more ridiculous than the prequels. I mean, it had Yoda on horseback, Obi-Wan and Anakin dropping thirty stories from a transport ship, and a Jedi slicing a ship in two with one motion of his saber. The lack of an interesting story made those fights boring. I heard that it gets better in season 2, but I have no desire to rewatch the whole series. I last saw it fully when it originally aired.

I disagree, the meduim it's used for (i.e. cartoon) fits. And the choreography and what not is far better than the jumbled mess of the movie. It actually makes use of the hard light 2d plane layered upon each other which live action can't do.

Someone in a stylized cartoon landing 30 feet works, someone in live action against a backdrop green-screen of a cartoon doesn't.