The Prequels are More Well Liked Than You Can Possibly Imagine

Its true, my kids love the new stuff too.

I suspect at least part of the Star Wars Moments thing is that many people our age saw that thing and just go ‘oh hell no’ and don’t bother with it. At least, that’s what I did.

I’m buying all six movies because it is the only way to get the extras. I don’t want Episode I or II. Unfortunately I am being forced to buy them.

By today’s standards, the Star Wars prequels are OK movies, but that’s not saying a lot. It’s when compared to the classic ones that we get to see the horrible messes they are, combined with the fact a lot of assumptions on backstory events based on tidbits from the original trilogy were sometimes better than what we got in the prequels.

The only way I can enjoy The Phantom Menace is by watching the edited version, I think it’s called The Phantom Edit.

*I* don’t even visit Star Wars.com anymore and unsubscribed from the newsletter a long time ago, so maybe a lot of fans of the original trilogy haven’t been around to vote for their favorite scenes.

Midi-chlorians and Jar-Jar. The prequels suck. ‘Nuff said.

I see nothing wrong with Midi-Chlorians since they aren’t the force and Jar Jar is fine. Try again.

Here’s my piece on Midi-Chlorians: http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/22114

The prequels definitely had some awesome moments. I actually saw episode I 12 times in the theatres when it came out (yes, I am a bit ashamed to say that now). But seriously, when compared to the original series and thinking about how much better these movies COULD have been, it makes me sad.
George Lucas should have directed the first movie and then let others direct the next two like he id with the originals and for CHRIST SAKE lay off the god damned CGI!

Bryan, i will totally agree with you that not nearly as many people hate the prequels as claim to. I’m not quite sure why the prequels have become the Edsel of our generation (speaking strictly of public opinion) but it’s largely not merited. Having said that, there are still legitimate issues that people like myself had with Episode I in particular. You can’t say “Jar Jar is fine” as to dismiss the easily supported popular disdain for the character. He is, IMO and that of many others, the most annoying character in the entire film franchise, and drags down every scene with him in it. Jake Loyd is near the top of that list as well. Besides that, there are a whole heap of dull moments in each of the prequels, and i find myself skipping scene after scene when watching with my kids. You as a screenwriter should be able to acknowledge how poor the pacing is at times, and how sluggish the exposition can be.

Posting anything good about the prequels on the internet is like chumming the water for sharks.

One trilogy doesn’t need to “win” over another and it disgusts me how often Lucasfilm will–wittingly or not–pit them against each other. That there are people who love Eps I-III shouldn’t be seen as a threat.

I thought Jar Jar was fine because I thought my feelings about him had been made clear over the years: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/221398/in_defence_of_jar_jar_binks.html

Personally the only problem with the prequel trilogy is Anakin’s psychological fall to the Dark side is too quick and seemed as if an overnight fall disregarding him avenging his mother among the Tusken Raiders. I mean he cuts off Mace Windu’s wrist crying “What have I done?” And Palaptine says: “Become my Apprentice we’ll help save your wife.” Anakin then goes and kills off children with no hesitation of thought.

Last thing that bugged me is that the whole Forbidden love theme was a poor choice of George. Sure movies have to find a way to separate lovers, but in the original trilogy is seemed like a good thing that the Force is run through families. Why else would the expanded universe stories have Luke allow Jedi to get married and him getting married himself?

Other than that the Prequels are beautiful with the CGI technology. The cast is well chosen. And although the prequels influence a more political side, people have to remember Star Wars is all politics. You didn’t truly focus on politics because expressing you’re voice would lead to deadly consequences, so Civil War broke out. That being said the Prequels keep the fan base alive within Star Wars today and deserves recognition.

I largely agree with Joseph. I think the trilogy would have felt more balanced if they showed an already grown up Anakin from the first installment of the prequels, wrestling with the dark side all along. He really does turn from hero to supervillain in the space of about an hour, and his motivations were not convincing.

The point of Phantom Menace was to make them feel unbalanced in a careful way. Why should we care how bad the dark times got if we haven’t seen how bright they were in the first place? By Attack of the Clones, we’re seeing the Republic in shambles already. And as a myth, to ignore Anakin’s boyhood is a missed opportunity. The story of Anakin Skywalker is sooooo much more tragic when it’s coupled with the well-intentioned little boy who grew up to be a monster. It’s a cautionary tale. And it helps us understand who he is. I understand that a lot of people didn’t want to understand who Anakin was, but I did. He was always my favorite character in the classic trilogy and seeing his tragedy unfold in the prequels, from the Boonta Eve podrace to the Battle of the Heroes on Mustafar, I was riveted.

Thanks for the Jar Jar link Bryan, but the role of the “clown” was largely filled by the droids in the original trilogy, and done so without being anywhere near as annoying as Jar Jar. I think people find him so repulsive is because he changed the tone of Ep 1 so much that it didn’t even feel like the Star Wars films that we knew and loved growing up. The Ewoks, who themselves were integral catalysts weren’t as irritating. I think if you were more honest with yourself, you will realize that you defend the prequels for personal sentiment, not because of its film making mastery.

I think I’ve admitted that plenty. But I think people also ignore some of the more beautiful aspects of the filmmaking. Yes, the pacing in Phantom Menace is a little wonky, but the visual storytelling is masterful. Look at even just the moment when Anakin has to put out the fire on his pod, we’re riveted by what he’s doing and the only thing communicating the story is solid prop and story design and intense, competent editing. There are thousands of moments like this in the prequels (this is just the one that pops out at me from Phantom Menace at the moment.)

Agreed one hundred percent, Bryan, and for that reason i will continue to watch the movies at least once a year and raise a mighty brood of Star Warriors!

I’ve gone back and forth on these films. When they first came out my love of Star Wars drove me to see them multiple times, and I just accepted and love them. As the years went on and I watched them again as they came out on video/dvd I had a chance to fall out of love. And I fell hard, soon I was watching these films taking nerd-rage notes and arguing with friends about them. And as time went on again I revisited, but this time I was older, a little wiser. I realized the things that caused me to fall out of love were very small, and they were just story telling problems. I tossed out my notes on continuity, because the continuity is not perfect, but it isn’t completely wrong, just different from what I thought it would be 15 years ago. And I started to forgive what I saw as mistakes, and realized it was just new. But there were still things that bothered me, and it appears to me (and I have no idea how much truth is in this) that Lucas had no one that would tell him when an idea was bad, or something didn’t work. I just think if someone had said, “George, Jar Jar is fine, but maybe we should tone him down(which they did in ep2). And maybe we should not make fart jokes.” In other words, I loved them for what they were, I hated them for not being what I wanted them to be, and I now enjoy them (almost love them again) for the parts that are really quite good.
I also think most people hate them because there is no Han Solo.

I was actually congratulating you on a successful Troll Job, but was then assured you were being serious.

Let me see if I can distill your three points into something my simple brain can understand.

The popularity of the prequels DEFIES IMAGINATION because:

1) LITERALLY A HUNDRED people bought them. (At least 0.0000014% of the Earth’s population. Or 1/3 of the people that bought something at my Mom’s yardsale last week. Or 25 people for every Academy Award THE MATRIX won over Phantom Menace*.)

2) A movie that is “allegedly hated by everyone” has one more specific example people apparently hate enough to complain about. Weird.

3) Some people who care enough about Star Wars to visit a specific mini site to cast daily votes dislike the original three movies MORE THAN YOU CAN EVER POSSIBLY IMAGINE.

*Correction: although THE MATRIX did win 4 academy awards that year, Phantom Menace failed to be nominated in one of those categories (Editing. Go figure…), technically saving it from a fourth loss.

**In defense of the Prequels, I will say that Ewan McGregor was fantastic in Moulin Rouge.

Kyle J, I’m not sure why you’re proud of your note taking-nerd rage. If you do this often, you should seek help. And Auto-reply, you obviously didn’t comprehend what Swankmotron was saying about linking posts to amazon, or you’re just trying to belittle it to support your own feeble argument.

What feeble argument did you think I was trying to make?

I was trying to read his points and apply them to his headline assertion–that the 3 prequel movies were more beloved that any of us had dared imagine.

While I did take a smarmy tone because it amused me, the point was:

We actually learned almost nothing from point #1 outside of the fact that 100+ purchased those movies. Swank-mo-tron himself admits that the small sample size and environmental skew of his links negate any accurate projection onto a larger audience.

We learned:

a) Some people have purchased the Prequels. (Which we already knew.)
b) It’s definitely at least 100, and it’s logically a lot more. (Which we already knew.)

We inferred:

c) The author feels passionately about the Prequel movies. (Which we already knew.)

None of these three things offer any support for the headline claim that the popularity of the Prequels was any different than anyone imagined (unless someone was imagining it sold less than 100, not counting subsequent Amazon returns.)

The headline of the article says “READ ME! THERE’s INFORMATION IN HERE THAT DEFIES ALL THE COMMONLY HELD BELIEFS THAT EXIST ABOUT THE POPULARITY OF THE PREQUELS.” But it doesn’t. it just presents more anecdotal snippets that tell us nothing new.

The Matrix stat was just for fun.

Auto-Reply,

The information from the Star Wars website is new information. And I think all of my points (obviously) are valid supports of my point. I think it’s obvious to anyone interacting with large amounts of Star Wars fans (like I do) that the only people who truly despise the prequels are a very vocal minority on the Internet. And that steretypical friend, like a conservative brother-in-law. Most people are either ambivalent or enjoy them.

Also, the Matrix movies are garbage. Well, I only saw the first one and thought it was garbage, so I didn’t waste my time with the sequels.

Bryan, this is a weak article and your replies are weaker. Stop trying to convince people to like something they don’t and focus on writing stuff that will bring something new to the table of fan discussion and debate. You’ve done it before, these prequel opinion pieces are so tired and pointless.

You sound like my retarded uncle trying to defend why he feels poo is edible. Just because he loves it doesn’t mean he can convince people to feel the same.

I’m going to guess based on your response that you didn’t read the piece, Derek.

This article isn’t trying to convince anyone to like the prequels. The article is to convince people who don’t like the prequels that there are PLENTY of people out there who do. There’s nothing in here about WHY the prequels are good. I

I read it and all the comments. It reads like a “See, I’ve been right all along, they’re good!” rather than an article that actually brings any new/interesting material to the debate… which would be impossible anyways, since the debate over the prequels is pointless as the prequels themselves.

Well, thanks for chiming in on a debate you see as pointless.

I think you missed this part: “…and focus on writing stuff that will bring something new to the table of fan discussion and debate. You’ve done it before…”

Sorry to tell you that I think you can do better.

The prequels are…intoxicating.
Yes.
They are.

I love the prequels. I have always loved the prequels. In point of fact, they are what made me an avowed and vociferous, fiercely passionate, and ardently, emphatically devoted SW fan; I far and away prefer them for their marvellous complexity, their mesmerizing beauty, their compellingly evocative shades-of-grey complex take on the galaxy and events unfolding in it, and to those in it….and yes, I love Jar Jar, he is a beautiful, pure soul who wishes only to do good and help in the galaxy….he is wholly open, honest and utterly devoid of treachery, duplicity and manipulation – which cannot be said for others in the galaxy, and would only that there were more like Jar Jar *in* it – then ‘twould have been a far better place for that.

The prequels delight, enchant, endlessly fascinate and compel me….they inspire me as nothing else has ever done, or ever could….they have moved me to the greatest and most enjoyable creative pursuits I’ve ever taken on, and been part of. I love Jar Jar, the droids, Anakin *every* single step of the way….the beautiful, poignant, seemingly-doomed but inherently-saving Love Story….the costumes, the writing, the acting, the directing, the story, *everything*….to me, they are perfection. To those who would so bizarrely and unfairly seek to troll, villify, dismiss or denigrate me for holding such opinion contrary to theirs – I would point out that I am not asking you to agree. In fact, if you disagree and hold your opinions, then by all means keep to your own corner of the Internet and don’t spoil the happy places where I espouse this prequel love, appreciation and admiration….I don’t spoil what you enjoy, so kindly have the simple common courtesy to grant PT lovers the same respect in turn.

Of course, having said that, I am of course all too unfortunately aware, from painful and scarring past experience, that the trolls, denigrators, negative nay-sayers, basher contingent, etc. – seemingly they are all too often, if not always, flat-out incapable or wholly unwilling to grant even that tiniest modicum of respect. So be it….then you who berate, deride and dismiss show your true colours, and the lacking measure of you as people and as “fans”. You damn yourselves with such conduct, whereas the rest of us hold ourselves above it, and thus rather better than it accordingly. We love what we love, and there can be no more positive or fulfilling thing than that in all the world. And if such naysayers would also seek to (very erroneously) claim that PT hatred is rampant, far and wide….well, this simply is *not* the case….

For through all the costuming nd cosplay work I have done, I can personally vouch for the fact that – well, the number of people who have *ever* come up to me, over these years, and had anything the least bit negative, dismissive or derogatory to say of the PT, or of CW, as well – I can count them on the fingers of *one* hand. Whereas those who have always come up to me expressing only joy, positivity and appreciation for the PT and CW – they *far* and away outnumber….thousands by now, absolutely no doubt of it, and they’ve only the best to say and I’ve encouraged a great many of them to be fellow like-minded appreciative fans, to boot. We may not shout and berate as loudly as the negative nellies, but we far and away outnumber them. And in that, we can be absolutely certain, and take the full measure of pride and satisfaction accordingly.

This is the first time I’ve been moved to comment here on this SW blog, though I have kept close and grateful tabs on it all this time….ever since my dear friend lazypadawan mentioned it a while back as something to check out, I regularly have been – daily, ever since. Because he is clearly a like-minded fan, and for that we are all of us sincerely appreciative! And, to be sure, I suppose I also simply felt the need to comment, at least upon this posting – to offer him what reassurance I can that he *is* very much right, and he absolutely can rest contented, wholly assured in that. Don’t let the haters get you down, man, because they’re on the way out in this world….let them futilely rage against it though they might, their time is over. SW is so much better than them – *we* are so much better than them! Take heart, my friend….you are never alone in this….none of us are.

Bryan?

Booooooring!

I personally don’t understand the continued tinkering with this series, however, I don’t hate the prequels Lucas made… I just don’t care for them – certainly not the way I love the original 3 films. But since the release of the new trilogy there is one issue that really burns me and perhaps one of you fellow SW fans out there can explain it to me or show me how my math is off (which it might very well be) so bear with me here:

• TPM is set about 30 years before ANH.
• In TPM the Anakin character is a child of 10yo.
• That makes Vader about 40 during ANH.
• RotJ takes place about 5 years after ANH.
• That makes Vader about 45yo during RotJ.

My problem is that we see the then 77yo actor, Sebastian Shaw, as the unmasked Vader at the end of RotJ even though Vader’s retroactive age is established to be about 45yo. Now I realize a film can fudge the age of an actor plus or minus a few years, but you can’t get around a 32 year age gap.

My question is: Considering all of the nips and tucks to the OT since 97 to make the two trilogies align properly, how the hell did Lucas screw up the age of the character who is central to the ENTIRE saga? My feeling is that is why they added Hayden Christensen to the end of RotJ… to cover this huge continuity error.

Pls tell me I am mistaken about this. Pls tell me I am missing a crucial piece of info.

I love the prequels. I think each one is really fantastic and each Star Wars film is unique but still within the same paradigm of storytelling. No Star Wars film is perfect, but the I-III are really no more awkward than IV-VI.

The OVERREACTIONS of the further updates to the Saga proves a point (we all new they where coming) that I’m been standing by for years, there is a fraction (usually from my generation, I’m 38) of so called Star Wars “fans” that are nothing more than LOUD, whinny, cynical, ignoramuses that can’t get past there own childhood and move on! The O-OT has been released, after must whining and threats to Lucas and his children! NOT COOL! I own them and I watch them, they look fantastic! The best they have ever looked in any home video format. Go watch them and let the TRUE Star Wars fans enjoy the whole six film Saga!

I have noting but the HIGHEST RESPECT and ADMIRATION for George Lucas! He has giving me Star Wars, and for that I am forever in his debt! Thank you George! Seeing ALL six films countless times, I look forward to any additions or enhancements Lucas see fit to put into HIS films! The wait is almost over! Less then two weeks now for the bluray set!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE all the films! As I stated before, I find Episodes I-III to be more engaging. There is more to sink your teeth into. The characters and story have more depth, more layers, even though I grew up with Episodes IV-VI (which I love) Episodes I-III are much more interesting!

The prequels were magical to me. People love them. someone bought all those prequel dvd’s when they came out. The internet is just fueled with negativity because the majority of bloggers are just losers with no life. We here on this site are different because we are looking for positivity and we found it!

Growing up loving the Star Wars films, I thought that episodes I – III would be a big let down. But I was very wrong. And now I actually prefer the prequels as they are simply more engaging. So much so that the original trilogy seems a bit dated. But don’t get me wrong, I still have much love for them, it’s just that i’d love to see the orginals remade (even though that will never happen). But as for people not liking the prequels – no matter how amazing the films were they would never live up to everyones high expectations. As far as im concerned Mr Lucas did a very fine job. Now im off to watch them all over again!

For me, there are moments in the prequels that I love more than anything from the original trilogy. The Darth Maul/Qui-Gon/Obi-wan battle. The pod race. The death of Mace Windu. Hell, even the trailer to Episode I stands by itself as a monumental achievement. For me, overall though, the originals are better. But thank you for this piece. I didn’t realize that so many people actually love the prequels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC4LUCKLU2E

Why is that when someone writes an article in praise of the PT, someone else will assume that all STAR WARS fans dislike it, and accuse that person of trying to manipulate their opinion of the two trilogies?