ZeLunarian said:
Imagine if episodes 4,5 and 6 were released after 1, 2 and 3?
I feel secure in saying, that all these hoards attacking these movies would have completely different opinion. on the matter.
It was a grand fantasy action show. if anything it's the fans' fault for getting overly worked up over a movie. AS IF IT ACTUALLY MATTERS... ... And i've been hearing far too much of this kinda talk the past week. Its no good ):
It is kind of interesting how worked up people get about the prequels. Yes, they're very bad movies, but most of the hate from them comes from the things surrounding them, and their interaction with the original trilogy.
1) Expectations. It's Star Wars, hopes were sky high. They could have been Decent Movies and people would have been disappointed that they weren't Great Movies.
2)The Director. Lucas had complete control over the prequels rather than merely steering other directors in the original trilogy. When he cocked up these three films it weakens the original trilogy. Rather than being a well-made piece of art by a talented man they become reduced to a simple quirk of nature, brought about by other people covering up his crap.
3)Ignoring the original trilogy. People had ideas of what should have happened based on what the original trilogy said. When these events didn't occur...it just seems odd. Other things seem so at odds with the originals it seems like Lucas didn't even understand what made them so good in the first place. To crib from RedLetterMedia, think of lightsabers. They're awesome because they're mystical, and unknown. There are 4 lightsabers in the entire original trilogy (Vaders, ObiWans, both of Lukes), compare that to the hundreds in the prequels. It takes away the magic. Original Obi-Wan explicitely says how he was irrational and impatient as a student. We don't see that in the prequels, in fact, quite the reverse. Obi is patient and wise, Qui-Gon is the irrational dude. Episode I gets it backwards.
4)Degrading the originals. This is the biggest sin. Rather than ignoring bits of the original, the prequels actively take good ideas, contradict them, and grind them into the dust. The bodged together training in IV (with the prove, blast visor and sabre) become standard practice in II. That's not cool. And then there's the deal with the clones and stuff.
Imagine watching V. You see this cool, unknown dude in kickin' rad armour with a sweet ass jetpack. Who is he? WHAT is he? Why is he so awesome? Oh wait he's a clone of some kiwi dude...boring. Imagine IV, Kenobi's Force speech. "It binds us, guides us, connects us" oh wait no...midi-chlorians.
It's not just that the prequels are bad. They make changes to the plot that retroactively weaken the original trilogy. That's why everyone is so pissed.
