What Ruined the Star Wars Prequels? (If you didn't like them?)
- Thread starter Wonderland
- Start date
though jar jar as comedic relief was bad it wasn't the end of the world.
for me it was the acting (and possibly the script combined) specifically Anakin, he killed me, like physical discomfort. thats it, some of the characters should have been changed but in general it was bad.
for me it was the acting (and possibly the script combined) specifically Anakin, he killed me, like physical discomfort. thats it, some of the characters should have been changed but in general it was bad.
I'm not. And you know why? It's in the OP.j-e-f-f-e-r-s said:
This is for the people who didn't like them. Yourself, Testecull and TheBelgianGuy are the derailers here.
The Phantom Menace
- The pioneering combination of live action footage with extensive digital CGI work, moreso than any other film seen at that time bar the Matrix.
Technical - Nice and all, but it's special effects. Not story based.
- The Pod racing scene acting as a shout out to the Chariot racing scene in Ben Hur. Everything from the design of the pod-racers to the chaotic nature of the racing.
Shout-Out (Ben Hur)
- The dual with Darth Maul. Every. Fucking. Second. Of. It. From the iconic way the hangar doors open to reveal him, and the way Duel Of The Fates starts playing over the top, to the way he slowly ignites his double-bladed lightsaber (first canon appearance!), to the impeccable choreography where he fights off two Jedi Knights, and every single participant comes off as a total bad-ass.
Shout-Out (Errol Flynn)
- The depiction of the Jedi Order as an actual order, not a collection of pensioners collecting dust in various parts of the wilderness.
The Jedi Movement was crushed...
Attack Of The Clones
- The pioneering use of digital movie cameras, a technology used for the first time on AOTC, and now used extensively throughout the movie industry.
Again, Technical. Already had that one.
- Jango Fett
Who? (Made no impression on me at all. Boba is a one-shot idiot who's there as a mook in Ep 6)
- Christopher Lee as Count Dooku
Raul Julia as Bison - Doesn't make StreetFighter a good movie.
- The Jedi rescue towards the end, where after four movies, we finally get to see how truly awesome the Jedi Order were when called for.
Do we? All I remember was a lot of people dancing with swords...Was there anything other than physical effects from an Order that relies on peace?
- Ewan McGregor channelling the spirit of Sir Alec Guiness.
OK, you get one point there. Doesn't make up for him whining all the way through Phantom Menace
- Anakin's attempted rescue of his mother, and subsequent slaughter of the Sandpeople.
Yeah...Mr Anakin...why were we watching him slaughter kids in a children's movie again?
- For the first time seeing how much of a badass Mace Windu is.
Personal Opinion: Samuel L Jackson was dropped into that role and carried it purely on his reputation. His acting was abysmal.
- For the first time seeing how much of a badass motherfucking Yoda is.
[HEADING=1]NO[/HEADING] You really can't believe how fucking atrociously Yoda's character was decimated by that fucking scene. He's always taught that size isn't important. And the battle against Doku was all about size. It ruins his character. It just turns the mystical Order of the Jedi into fucking Highlanders
- Anakin's twenty seconds of dual-wielding lightsaber awesomeness.
Ballet - I've seen more realistic fight scenes in West Side Story.
- Seeing the politics of the Republic coming into play, in a surprisingly enjoyable way.
Really? Politics is exciting for kids? Especially when dumb bunny is made a Senator for no reason?
- The ending, where we see Palpatine presiding over the Clone Army, and the clear reflection of the later Imperial Army.That's a cut-scene.
Revenge Of The Sith
- The Battle Of Coruscant. Coruscant is a walking paradox, so I'll just say Shout-Out: Bladerunner
- Ian McDermid's brilliantly hammy turn as Palpatine, and seeing him reprise his role as the Emperor with barely concealed glee.Ham is good? Does that make Flash Gordon the best film of all time?
- Order 66. Every single, tear-jerking second of it.
Seriously? It's a kid's movie and you're watching him kill kids. Are you shitting me?
- Ewan McGregor no longer challenging the spirit of Sir Alec, and instead revealing himself to be a clone of the famous actor.
Oh give me a break, he's not anywhere near as talented as Sir Alec or he'd be Sir Ewan by now.
- General Grievous. Much as he was derided, his lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan was fan-fucking-tastic. THE FORCE DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!
- Battle of Kashyyk. Endor Mark 2
Thank the stars. I count maybe two points that aren't applicable to awful films as well. Hell, Meet The Spartans can use some of those "likes"
But they're not, are they? Ever. Why? Is there a massive conspiracy against them? Or is it just that your personal taste isn't shared by the vast majority of fans?
And there's no evidence/points coming from the "like " side apart from "I liked it".
So you're discrediting our not liking it because...?
OK, Episode 1 versus The Matrix and Episode 4 versus The Island of Doctor Moreau - which one wins?
Or better:
vs.
First four minutes. Which one is more exciting? (Ep 4 is losing 1.5 minutes due to the crawl as well)
Going back through your list, you have technical excellence (OK - Ep 4 was also technical excellence), Two actors doing well (OK), Shout-outs(Meet The Spartans), over-choreographed sword battles(Love or Hate) but nothing on the story, or the dialogue or the effects (Hold on? It was technically excellent but you can't remember any effects?)...
You've just described why I might like Gremlins 2 (Including Christoper Lee), but does that make it a good movie and immune from criticism? No...it's not aged well and it has some dodgy moments.
It has a set-up, a main character and a pay-off though - which is more than the prequels ever had.
Any time you ask someone about the prequels, it's almost always "GREAT LIGHTSABRE BATTLES" but ask them about the romance and it's "oh...I ignore that."
Funny how that doesn't happen (except maybe the Ewok battle) in the sequels.
If you want to like it, fine. To us, it was a kick in the face to what better writers had been building on for some time - and Lucas still won't let us see the original print.
Which is what he stood in front of congress and complained about originally.
Even young Lucas wouldn't have liked the prequels. And that's possibly the worst damning I can give them.
Here's a thing for The Star Wars Prequels Fans: 10 simple "Yes or No" questions.
1) Does the main character not appear until half way through the film?
2) Is the main character really annoying?
3) Would you stumble on recommending this film as a "must watch" to a friend who does not like the genre?
4) In the first ten minutes, do the main characters not say anything memorable?
5) In the first ten minutes, are the main characters not shown as "good" people, rather than just competent? (Save the Cat)
6) Does one of the good guys go directly against his own code?
7) Is something explained "to camera" for the audience?
8) Is something only explained in a later film, but referenced all the way through the film? (What the Jedi actually are)
9) Is there a part of the film you can point to as "better off cut"?
10) Is the film reliant on a film made before it for characterization?
Bonus: Is there a mistake in the film that you have ever dismissed with the line "But X was brilliant"?
If you've got more than 7 "Yes" answers, why would you watch this film normally?
1) Does the main character not appear until half way through the film?
2) Is the main character really annoying?
3) Would you stumble on recommending this film as a "must watch" to a friend who does not like the genre?
4) In the first ten minutes, do the main characters not say anything memorable?
5) In the first ten minutes, are the main characters not shown as "good" people, rather than just competent? (Save the Cat)
6) Does one of the good guys go directly against his own code?
7) Is something explained "to camera" for the audience?
8) Is something only explained in a later film, but referenced all the way through the film? (What the Jedi actually are)
9) Is there a part of the film you can point to as "better off cut"?
10) Is the film reliant on a film made before it for characterization?
Bonus: Is there a mistake in the film that you have ever dismissed with the line "But X was brilliant"?
If you've got more than 7 "Yes" answers, why would you watch this film normally?
Here's another question. Describe the following Star Wars characters WITHOUT saying what they look like, what costume they wore, or what their profession or role in the movie was.
Describe this character as if you were explaining it to a person who has never seen Star Wars. (taken from RedLetterMedia review)
The longer the description, the stronger the character. Now...go.
Han Solo
Qui-Gon Jinn
C3PO
Queen Amidala
Describe this character as if you were explaining it to a person who has never seen Star Wars. (taken from RedLetterMedia review)
The longer the description, the stronger the character. Now...go.
Han Solo
Qui-Gon Jinn
C3PO
Queen Amidala
The terrible acting. And the terrible scripting. But the most unforgivable sin was killing off my three favorite characters like they were nothing: Jango Fett, Mace Windu, and Kit Fisto. Alas. Their deaths might have been turning points in the plot...but that honestly is not reassuring considering the plot was a little silly anyway.
Oh -only the dull plot, uneven pacing, over-reliance on CGI, plot holes, lack of believable character motivation, plodding camerawork and uninspiring visuals, dull characters, Jar-Jar Binks...There's more, but that's enough for starters.
1) Pointless characters
2) The need to explain everything
3) The ruination of characters from the original trilogy
4) Some of the acting is just HORRIBLE
5) Introducing new characters just to kill them off because they weren't in the original movies
It's been years since I've seen the prequels so that's all the complaints I can name offhand. To be fair all that I can remember from the prequels is from the stuff that is played out in Star Wars Battlefront 2 and that the Jedi fights were pretty awesome.
2) The need to explain everything
3) The ruination of characters from the original trilogy
4) Some of the acting is just HORRIBLE
5) Introducing new characters just to kill them off because they weren't in the original movies
It's been years since I've seen the prequels so that's all the complaints I can name offhand. To be fair all that I can remember from the prequels is from the stuff that is played out in Star Wars Battlefront 2 and that the Jedi fights were pretty awesome.
Damn rules of conduct post getting in the way and making me do a captcha because someone else posted (which was me) and making me double post...
Nothing to see here! Just a ranting man
Nothing to see here! Just a ranting man
George Lucas deciding he and only he could direct those movies. The reasons ESB and RotJ were better was because other people had directed them, had better cinematic vision than he ever could. His ideas are great, but in the implementation department he went WAY over the top.
And probably Jar Jar Binks. But at the end of it all, Jar Jar is part of the reason Palpatine gets to be Emperor so I guess it works out. Still I would have rather seen him pushed out the airlock like in Robot Chicken.
And probably Jar Jar Binks. But at the end of it all, Jar Jar is part of the reason Palpatine gets to be Emperor so I guess it works out. Still I would have rather seen him pushed out the airlock like in Robot Chicken.
How? did it just create a 'so bad they're good' attitude? for me they just ruined them, escpecially the segment for the episode 3 review about lightsabers, I just realised how shallow and poor they were.Nimcha said:
the lack of emotional attachment. You can overcome poor acting and some terrible dialogue if you invest in the characters. Even in the first Star Wars the final act destruction of the Death Star felt a little tagged on, but by that point you had followed the characters through the story.
The prequels had a tendency towards too much being squeezed, with the core story line often forgotten and too much happens on screen that would have been fine to happen off it. The entire discovery of the clone army was not essential to the story, the second film should've been the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. Instead its knocked off centre stage. We know the Empire wins the war (who cares how that happens), its the story of Anakin becoming the greatest then worst jedi that we don't know.
So pretty much George Lucas is the point im trying to make here. THe best Star Wars film was either Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back, one was totally rewritten while the other saw Lucas write the Story and then help to make it. The script and direction all came from other people for Empire.
The prequels had a tendency towards too much being squeezed, with the core story line often forgotten and too much happens on screen that would have been fine to happen off it. The entire discovery of the clone army was not essential to the story, the second film should've been the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. Instead its knocked off centre stage. We know the Empire wins the war (who cares how that happens), its the story of Anakin becoming the greatest then worst jedi that we don't know.
So pretty much George Lucas is the point im trying to make here. THe best Star Wars film was either Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back, one was totally rewritten while the other saw Lucas write the Story and then help to make it. The script and direction all came from other people for Empire.