Author Topic: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?  (Read 10918 times)

Offline Brian

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So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« on: October 20, 2005, 11:47 AM »
Now that we're all wrapped up with our Saga, at least on the movie side of it (most likely), are you happy that Star Wars was revisited in the prequel movies?  I've read some comments over the years that some people feel they shouldn't have been made, been made differently, or should have left certain things undone.  Overall, are you happy we got more Star Wars movies, do you think they fit in with the Original Trilogy?

I've seen comments over the past few years that we "shouldn't have seen Yoda have lightsaber/fight", we "shouldn't have seen Palpatine with a lightsaber/fight", "shouldn't have seen Anakin/Vader as a kid", "shouldn't have seen little Fett", "no Midichlorians", etc, etc.  Are there any statements like that you would make, things you kind of wish we wouldn't have seen...for whatever reason.  Maybe it tainted your vision of the character/story in some way, or just didn't seem right.

I think overall I'm glad we had the prequels.  It brought Star Wars back to the forefront for a few years, and overall I liked the movies....especially Revenge of the Sith.  Aside from this latest movie, I don't know that the previous prequels really "fit" with the OT like I would have hoped/liked, but now as an overall Saga I can appreciate it more.  I can honestly say that I don't often watch TPM or AOTC on DVD, but I do like them both.  I sometimes try to think about it clearly if I like them as movies, or just because "its Star Wars".  There are definitely aspects of both that I like a lot, and some parts that I really don't care for.  Overall though, it has been nice to extend this Star Wars ride a little longer, and I'm definitely glad we can an installment like ROTS that helps to bridge things together...or even as a stand alone film, answer some "backstory" questions of our favorites from the OT.  I did/do enjoy the prequel trilogy, and I think the only thing that held me back from enjoying it more overall was that I didn't seem to have quite as much connection with the characters (as with OT).  Some of that might be nostalgia or just a general preference for the cast of characters in the original movies though too.  I can say that I was really excited about each prequel movie as it came out, and I saw it, but with the exception of ROTS, my excitement over them faded a little over the months/years.  I still like them, but like I said, don't really get the inkling to watch them much.  Anyways, I guess what I'm asking, what do you think of the Prequel Trilogy?  Are you glad it was made?  If not, what would you have rather seen?

Offline Ben

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2005, 04:19 AM »
I get a little wishy-washy with my opinion on them. Granted, I was happy to see new Star Wars movies, but I just feel that TPM and AOTC were wasted opportunities.

That and these movies took themselves too seriously with all this mythological nonsense and political intrigue, so it makes them more than a little boring.

I understand the reason for having Anakin as a child in TPM, but maybe (as said in another thread here) it could have been a cartoon series. I guess showing him as a good kid makes his fall to the Dark Side that much more tragic than if Lucas had started the tale with Anakin as a late teenager.

And AOTC was totally treading water. I really wanted the whole thing to be about the Clone Wars, but I guess you have to explain why both sides have huge armies. And they have to have a reason to fight.

I also thought having both Dooku and Maul was a mistake. Either one or the other. I was talking to Darby about this once, and he was of the opinion that Dooku should have been the bad guy in TPM, doing away with Maul entirely. I thought Dooku should have been excised, and a toned-down Maul as the baddie.
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And I thought the midichlorian thing wasn't necessary. Pre-TPM, I thought of the Force as this thing that certain people were just sensitive to. It never entered my mind that little lifeforms would be the reason the Force worked. I guess I saw it more as a religious thing rather than biological.

I might be the only person in the world who didn't have a problem with Shmi's "immaculate" conception. I still wonder if Palpatine's master created Anakin, but that's just more retconning on Lucas' part more suitable for a comic book, IMO.

Yoda fighting- I think it was just to get people to see AOTC. I don't really have a problem with it other than that. It was nice to see Yoda wield a lightsaber a prove that size doesn't matter. (It's too bad more women I meet never took that to heart.)

Overall, I'd have ditched the episode numbers entirely, and added another flick between AOTC and ROTS since there's so much story and character evolution that could have been told. As any decent writer should realize, nothing drives character evolution better than conflict, and with a war that's being fought across a ******* galaxy, that would have been an excellent opportunity to show Anakin's skill and arrogance, not to mention his and Obi-Wan's friendship that was glimpsed only briefly in ROTS. They went from student/master to brothers between films, and I don't think a few short cartoons can do it justice, and as awesome as the CW cartoon was, it didn't meet that expectation of mine. It made some attempt in the second season, but it still didn't live up, IMO.

Plus, with another flick, we could have seen Clones kicking ass and a few huge battles that are the hallmark of Star Wars movies.
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Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2005, 05:23 PM »
I'm happy I got to see the prequels, real happy - but to be perfectly honest, I'm not very proud of them sitting in my collection, especially lined up beside the original trilogy...

From TPM to ROTS, the acting goes from terrible to decent, for the most part... say what you will about the acting in the OT, but I find the PT to be traumatic at times, because the acting is so bad... plus, the writing is really horrible, for the most part, and the pace is inconsistant in the most retarded ways, the story itself is all jumbled up with plot holes and what not, etc, etc, etc...

TPM is easily one of the most disapointing movies I've ever seen. Really. It alone makes me wish, at times, that the PT was never made...

At the start of the movie, I was digging TPM, and was thinking it'd be 'Pretty damn good', because I was really digging the relationship that Obi-Wan had with Qui-Gon, and the way they handled negotiations... but my feelings for TPM changed once Jar Jar showed up - the whole 'Exqueese mesa!' **** got so tired really, really, really fast... I felt like I was going to vomit several times throughout the film. Padme was garbage, Jar Jar stepping in 'Poo Doo' was ridiculous, the whole midichlorians bull**** was disgusting to me, Yoda looked like ****, somehow, Maul was underplayed, The Battle of Naboo was nonexistant, Obi-Wan's defeating Maul was underplayed, Qui-Gon was underplayed, Anakin and his dialogue combined made for pure ****...

I'm very bitter about TPM, obviously.

AOTC was 'Better', but still full of junk... ROTS was 'Even Better', and thankfully had less junk...



« Last Edit: October 25, 2005, 05:27 PM by Angry Ewok »

Offline Greg

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2005, 01:23 PM »
I like all of the prequel movies, better than the OT. I don't really have any reasons, but I just do.

Offline Commander Cody

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2005, 08:05 PM »
Happy?!? Not at all! They suck so much. Episode 1 is my favorite, and Episode 3 is my least favorite. The acting is embarressing, the FX are distracting and the story makes very little sense. Lucas shat on the franchise.

Offline Rob

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2005, 12:38 PM »
I am glad they were made.  I wish Lucas had handed the directing reigns to others like he did with ESB and ROTJ.

The direction and acting were so uninspired that it got embarassing at times.  Episode III was on the right track, but it still had many of the flaws (even if they weren't as magnified) that the first two displayed.

Offline TheBlackDog65

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2005, 10:33 PM »
I enjoyed the prequels, and the entire saga.  That's why I collect those little toys.  However, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, and movies like that they are not.  For me Star Wars is pure entertainment for escape and I enjoy it for that. I think I like the OT  because I grew up with them (12 in 1977 to 18 in 1983).  My 11 year old son loves the Prequels because he grew up with them.
Overall the prequels were okay, not great not good. To put it into a more pop culture term, "They are what they are" though they could have been so much more. That is where I agree that Lucas should have hired someone else to direct it.
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Offline JohnH

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #7 on: December 3, 2005, 12:57 AM »
The prequel trilogy is god's gift to mankind, and if you don't agree you're a ******* idiot.

...

Sorry...matkatnadam took over my keyboard for just a minute there.

they could have been so much more.

My thoughts exactly.  While the overall PT ended up being a big disappointment (despite a strong finish with ROTS) and didn't nearly live up to its potential, I'm still glad I was able to see three new movies in the Star Wars saga.  There were just too many mistakes made for me too take them too seriously though.  Lucas should have stayed as far away from the director's chair as possible and let someone with some talent do that job.  He's a great storyteller but a horrible writer and terrible with actors.  The stories were good and there were some good characters, but the execution was horrible and the end result were two very dry and uninspiring movies plus a good movie with a handful of dull and uninspiring moments.  And I hold a bit of a grudge against the PT...without it, Crazy George never would have had reason to make his abhorrent changes to the OT. 

So, am I happy with it?  Nah, not necessarily, but I'll still pop in a DVD from time to time.  :)

John

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #8 on: December 5, 2005, 10:07 AM »
Happy?!? Not at all! They suck so much. Episode 1 is my favorite, and Episode 3 is my least favorite. The acting is embarressing, the FX are distracting and the story makes very little sense. Lucas shat on the franchise.

OH, MY, GOD! Someone who completely agrees with me. :o
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Offline Commander Cody

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2006, 07:41 PM »
I don't know why ROTS was lauded by everyone. It is definately the weakest of the bunch storywise, acting-wise and FX-wise. Not that the FX were necessarily bad, there were just too many scenes with FX in them. And by too many I mean EVERY FUC*ING SCENE! >:(

Offline Ryan

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2006, 03:19 AM »
I don't know why ROTS was lauded by everyone. It is definately the weakest of the bunch storywise, acting-wise and FX-wise.

How so? Not that there is anything wrong with feeling that, but what do you think made it the weasest story and how was the acting worse?
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2006, 10:08 AM »
I don't think you can knock the acting. An actor can only preforem as good as the director allows and ROTS's problems lie so far deeper than acting. I think the story is whact kills the movies, everything else just follows suit because without a good story, you can't tell one.

For me, the entire PT's story was week because:

1, it dumbed down to the audience. The entire prequel trilogy's immediate threat, the federation, was a collection of incompitant baffons who built an army about as threatening as Gilligan.

2, it destroyed the Jedi myth established in the OT by making them no more flawed than you and me. It worked for Luke because he starts out as you and me, but he was working toward something different.

ROTS was the accumulation of the week plots couplted with the most pivitol moments inthe SW universe. Not a good combination.
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Offline Guttersnipe

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #12 on: March 4, 2006, 02:07 PM »
I think that George was doomed to fail. Here is my reason:
Everyone expected the prequels to make them feel the same as they did when they saw the first trilogy when they were children. This was impossible, it was never, ever going to happen and when it didn't the whole thing got blasted, ripped apart, dissected and analysed.
Now is that the films fault or the over protective viewer who will never have their expectations matched?

Did anyone do this kind of analysing when they were 9,10,11 or however old they were when they first saw the OT. Vader was bad because he was bad, I know I didn't analyse every single line of dialogue, every movement or every motivation or whether his lightsaber swapped hands mid duel.

You have to remember that it was not the same as seeing something for the first time like when the Star Destroyer chased Tantive IV across the screen.
The FX in the OT was innovation and cutting edge at the time and the PT still is progression in a film making field, but perhaps people are more jaded now, less able to be fooled than the 9 year old and seeking FX that DON'T look real instead of reveling in what are arguably most believable FX ever seen so far.

IMO CG is being bettered in every new film that is being released, look at the CG in TPM then ROTS (also LOTR to King Kong) and you can see that in the what is it, six or so years how far it has come.

Anyway, enough waffling. Am I happy? YES, the whole SW phenomenon has allowed me to relive my childhood through toys etc. and experience it with my family as my daughter has now inherited my Geek.
Only today I have been trekking around toy shops looking for a General Grievous (with no luck I might add).
The films could have been a little better in places but I am now 31, but to my 4 year old daughter, they are the best films she has seen.

Offline dafoo

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #13 on: March 8, 2006, 05:52 PM »
GL may have been doomed to failure, but that's just for living up to the hype.  He didn't have to help the failure along by slapping us around with horrid dialogue and characters that speak like Jar Jar. Just imagine Episode I just having the Gungans speaking normally.  It instantly raises that movie!

Sure there are a TON of plot points I'd love to see changed as well. Such as: making the jedi seem like something tough (they die so easily), cloning Darth Maul, keeping Windu around till the end and not making Yoda seem like such a whimp.

All-in-all I'm glad they were made, just sad at the quality.  They were capable of so much more.  I'm happy GL doesn't want to do anymore because of how poorly he did the PT.

I wouldn't mind GL allowing some of the better EU books to be made though.  As long as he has no say in the dialogue!
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: So, Are You Happy with the Prequel Trilogy?
« Reply #14 on: March 9, 2006, 09:43 AM »
I think you can narrow down to the exact reason why the PT was less that the OT. Gary Kurtz. Seriously. If you study how the films were made, you'll clearly see what Gary did to make ANH ans ESB the genius films they were. I'm not discounting GL's talent. SW would not be without him. However, Kurtz was the one who challanged George, made him better. There are many example where George wanted to do things one way and Gary said, that way doesn't work for this reason, you really need to do it another. There was almost none of that in the PT, and you can see that on the screen.
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