Say something nice about the Star Wars Prequel. If you can.

[snowfi6916]

Liam Neeson.

The lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin at the end of RotS.

And the fact that Samuel L. Jackson told George Lucas that he would only play Mace Windu if he had a purple lightsaber.

Other than that...

 

[Tselis]

It's been said many times before, but the music was the best part. At least for me it was.

 

[Lt_Bromhead]

Liam Neesom.

I repeat: Liam Neesom.

And in ep's 2 & 3 Euan McGregor as well when he loosened up a bit.

This pretty much beat me to it =)

However, I feel the need to repeat it a couple more times just to make sure the point hits home;

Liam Neeson. Liam Neeson.

LIAM NEESON!

.... Liam Neeson?

 

[SadisticBrownie]

They really did have some badass actors. Looked nice too, and RotS was actually a pretty good film.

 

[McFlabbergasty]

It took me a while to come up with an answer.

I thought some of the music was nice, particularly in ROTS.

Even then, though, my opinion of most of the tracks has been tainted by the fact that I will forever associate them with George Lucas' three-stage fecal blast-off into a galaxy of rancor shit.

And the very, very beginning of the Anakin vs. Obi-Wan fight had a rare bit of emotion. Once again, the music did a lot to facilitate this, IMHO.

But then Ewan and Hayden started swinging glowsticks at each other and it became just another "Epic" Prequel Lazersword Duel.

 

[Thatguyky]

It's really not that hard to think of anything (imo). Let us see here... Pod Racers, Crazy awesome lightsaber duels (Attack of the Clones lightsaber duel was "meh" though), the modern effects are always nice, the music! (Duel Of Fates ftw!), most battles seemed A LOT more intense, the "roger roger" from the droids seemed cool to me when I was younger (still kind of is), and finally Natalie Portman. She's just so damn smexy! Can't really go wrong there.

I honestly never really hated the pre-quels, and no I don't hate Jar Jar ( He's definitely not my favorite character or even relatively close though...) In my opinion, I think people got maybe a little TO attached to the originals, and were not really willing to accept different ideas or changes that came with the pre-quels (just a thought).

 

[keideki]

Neither Han Solo nor the Falcon were in the prequels. The music was good. The light saber fights were... fast paced? That is the best I can come up with.

 

[DisasterSoiree]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that not only was the political aspect of the prequel trilogy handled masterfully, but it was far more involving than similar material seen in the first three films (Calrissian's bargain with Vader, the intricacies of Jabba's throne room). Perhaps my feelings towards it are slanted by my interest in real-life politics, but I thrill to the idea of seeing the inner workings of a space-based polity. And that's not just limited to Star Wars; my favorite Trek movie, The Undiscovered Country, opens with a lengthy roundtable session that could have come straight out of George Lucas' playbook.

Quite a few of the criticisms one reads about The Phantom Menace rail against the inclusion of the convoluted plot about the taxation of interstellar trade routes. I enjoyed it in 1999 and I do to this day. It's a real motivation for what happens in the film, as against the relatively hackneyed notion that the villain does what he does because he's a villain. It makes perfect sense and it sucked me in as a moviegoer and a Star Wars fan.

... Too bad the rest of the film, Darth Maul excepted, didn't come close to capturing my interest in the same way

 

[Zoraste]

The fight with Darth Maul. Every second of it.

The duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker.

Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan. By the time he reached Episode 3, he looked and sounded more like Alec Guiness than Alec Guiness did.

The Pod race. Yeah, sue me. I loved the chariot race in Ben-Hur, and TPM provided the same sort of thrill with aliens and pod-racers instead of Romans and chariots.

Samuel L Jackson and Christopher Lee in their roles as Mace Windu and Count Dooku, respectively.

Getting to see Yoda fighting in his prime. Bring the flame all you want, but Yoda was a legendary Jedi, and it was nice to see how he managed to earn such a reputation for himself.

Ian McDermid having brilliant fun hamming it up as Palpatine.

Order 66.

The effects. Say what you will about the script and the characters, but George Lucas pretty much defined how films integrated real footage with CGI, and every film since then that has used CGI has done so with techniques pioneered in the prequels.

The direction. Again, scripts and characters aside, Lucas framed and filmed some absolutely stunning shots for the prequels. He'll always be divisive as a writer, but as a director he's still got as keen and artistic an eye as ever.

Introducing digital film to Hollywood with Episode II. Lucas said at the time that it would prove a revolution for film-makers, allowing indie projects and smaller scale films to still realise fantastic visions. The success of such films as District 9, Cloverfield and Monsters proves him rather cogniscient in that regard.

The music. John Williams builds on his original Star Wars work magnificently.

The fact that the sci-fi community still won't shut up about how much it hates the prequels. At this point, it's all faintly pathetic. Star Trek was just as terrible (in my opinion, worse) a prequel, yet no-one goes on about that to the same degree.

The plot in general was good. I really enjoyed the political emphasis in the prequels.
In fact, episode 3 is easily my favorite of the series. IMO its one of the better conclusions to a trilogy.

edit; The bitching when it comes to jar jar is just a bizarre overreaction as far as I'm concerned. He's fairly prominent in phantom menace, but then he all but disappears. If people were worried that star wars pandered to kids to much, then Darth Vader's slaughtering of the younglings by the third movie should have laid those fears to rest.

Yea im about to get a ton of heat from the 35+ crowd . . . sorry guys

Have to agree with this. All this pathetic bitching about Jar Jar really is dramatically overblown.

I agree with more or less all of these statement, but I have to agree that Vader's Big No at the end of Episode 3 paled in comparison to the Novelisation's ending, wherein he attempts to kill Palpatine in his rage and grief, but is no longer powerful enough to do so, forcing him to submit to being Palpatine's apprentice, since he has nobody else left in the Galaxy and he is too vain to just die.

Now THAT is an ending.

 

[Offworlder_v1legacy]

Lian Neeson was in it, I like Liam Neeson, Liam Neeson was awesome as Qui Gon-Jinn, Qui Gon-Jinn is one of my favourite Star Wars characters. Peace.

 

[Sakeretsu]

Okay real Fact: being quite young i saw the movies in chronological order starting from phantom menace and ending in return of the Jedi.

I for my part had an increasing curve in liking the films and their universe.
Since i did not have that nostalgia of the original ,I really enjoyed the prequels (I was also around 8 when i saw my first one) the CGI visual were gorgeous the overall universe was well set and the action sequences were great .

When i came upon the originals I appreciated the much deeper story and involvment with the Char(actors) ,but i though the visual were lackluster which was good because my more mature age made me like that deeper epic storytelling.

I can honestly say i loved all Star Wars Movies ,and think i am quite lucky to be able to say that!!!

 

[Callate]

Qui-Gon Jinn was a fairly engaging character. And the scene with Jin and Maul separated by the force field in the middle of their fight was interestingly handled.

Unfortunately, I would much rather have followed Qui-Gon Jinn than Annakin for another two movies, and the fact that that brief scene with no dialogue was more thoughtful than 99% of the movies' dialogue really says something.

 

[BanthaFodder]

as one of the two people on Earth who actually likes the prequels (not more than the original trilogy), I can safely say:

the music is fantastic. Duel of the Fates is easily in the top 5 songs in the entire saga.

Obi Wan and Qui Gon vs Darth Maul is one of the best lightsaber duels of all time.

people tend to overlook the great performances (Ian McDermod, Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Frank Oz, Anthony Daniels, Ray Park, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, etc.)

I love how dark Revenge of the Sith gets. Anakin goes to the dark side and EVERYTHING goes to shit. everyone in the original trilogy talks about how horrible the Empire was and how they killed all the Jedi. and now we get to see how evil they are. they aren't waging war, they're conducting full-blown genocide. hell, even Yoda, the great warrior, is nearly killed.

Darth Vader rising from the slab. yeah yeah, the "NNNNOOOOOOOOO" is silly, but I absolutely love that scene. you can feel the pain in his voice. the only other time he sounded that emotional was when he was about to die. Darth Vader, this unshakable, mechanical wall of a person, the cold, emotionless, embodiment of evil is shaken to his core. and then we see him on the bridge of his Star Destroyer. not a word. he's lost. gone.

there's plenty of bad things about the prequels, but there IS good in them, I know it.

 

[IKSA]

Darth maul and Qui-Gon Jinn I just really like those chaters.

 

[BanthaFodder]

I agree with more or less all of these statement, but I have to agree that Vader's Big No at the end of Episode 3 paled in comparison to the Novelisation's ending, wherein he attempts to kill Palpatine in his rage and grief, but is no longer powerful enough to do so, forcing him to submit to being Palpatine's apprentice, since he has nobody else left in the Galaxy and he is too vain to just die.

Now THAT is an ending.

I was thinking about all the changes, the ones that I liked (updated Emperor in Empire, Boba Fett's voice, etc.), the ones that I wish to cast into the Pit of Carkoon (Vader's "NNNOOOOOO" in Return of the Jedi, random CGI characters in Jabba's Palace, etc.), and I got to thinking, what positive changes could be made?
one of which was re-shooting the birth of Darth Vader, and my vision is actually startlingly similar to that.
basically like this:
"Lord Vader... rise..."
*Imperial March plays, Darth Vader is raised on the slab*
"Lord Vader... can you hear me?"
"...yes master..."
"good... you have done well, my apprentice... the Sepratists have been slain... you have brought justice to the galaxy..."
"but what of Padme'? is she safe? is she alright?"
"...I'm afraid that... in your anger...you killed her."
*Imperial March reaches a crescendo as these words are spoken*
"no... no... THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE... SHE WAS ALIVE, I FELT IT..."
"search your feelings..."
*Vader's breath quickens, he shudders as the realization cuts through him like a lightsaber*
"..."
*the Imperial March slowly builds again, Vader begins destroying the medical equipment while still bound to the slab. the nearby doctors begin clutching at their throats as the life is squeezed out of them*
"..."
*Imperial March continues to grow, Vader breaks free from the slab, pauses for a moment, then sinks slowly to his knees, his head hung in unimaginable sorrow. his breathing slows down to normal*
"...Lord Vader."
"...yes... master..."
"come... there is much work to be done."
"yes, my master."
*CUT*

it does kinda annoy me when the entire climax of RotS was just things getting worse and worse and worse. the Jedi are exterminated, Yoda is almost killed, Anakin gives in to the Dark Side, Padme' dies, and then, in the middle of all this sorrow, all this destruction, "NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

 

[Zen Toombs]

I actually kindof enjoyed the Star Wars prequels. They were no masterpieces, but I liked them.

Although I will say that

Awesome Scene

would have been much better than

 

[Scorekeeper]

I liked the prequels. Granted, I won't say they were good, but they were still enjoyable. What I liked are as follows:

1) John Williams' soundtrack
2) Casting decisions (Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ian McDiarmid, Christopher Lee, etc.)
3) Artistic design regarding planets, species, technology, etc.
4) The overall plot, not counting plotholes
5) Lightsaber choreography

 

[ElPatron]

Choreographies and the special effects.

The duel with Darth Maul is so badass.

 

[floppylobster]

Neither Han Solo nor the Falcon were in the prequels. The music was good. The light saber fights were... fast paced? That is the best I can come up with.

Hate to say it but the Falcon's in Episode III.

 

[Charvale]

I loved seeing the Jedi Council.

For the first time, ever since the scene in "Empire Strikes Back" where Yoda mentioned having his own council that determined who was to be trained, we were privileged to see just who was apart of that council. Oh, and Samuel L. Jackson as a Jedi was positively awesome, just like with Liam Neeson as Qui Gon Jinn. Two of my favorite actors in one movie, what's not to love? I also have to love the fact that they finally managed to show The Clone Wars in the beginning, and how it ended with them becoming the first Galactic Empire.

The deaths of the Jedi in Episode 3 actually gave more weight to the original Trilogy simply because there were dozens if not hundreds of Jedi from children to adults, and in "A New Hope" they were all but extinct. Just... Wow!