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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

PT Prequel nostalgia. Yes, it's a real thing.

Discussion in 'Prequel Trilogy' started by squir1y, Feb 12, 2014.

  1. squir1y

    squir1y Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 1, 2003
    Your parents were Star Wars geeks too? That's pretty epic!
     
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  2. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    I was 27 for TPM and 30 for AOTC and still have some nostalgia. The hype was amazing; the little Ani poster with the Vader shadow, the Amidala Pizza Hut commercial, the cups and soda cans with the images. I bought them up along with the action figures and the costumes. I was excited to find out where Anakin Skywalker had come from and I saw both TPM and AOTC several times in the theater.

    With ROTS, I was in the hospital having my oldest son when it premiered, and I ended up hating the movie anyway but I was still sad to see that era pass.
     
  3. Ambervikings91

    Ambervikings91 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 1, 2012
    seeing the prequels in the theater is one of my fav childhood memories
     
  4. Jango_Fett21

    Jango_Fett21 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 9, 2002

    You're definitely not. Last September, I attended a panel at the first-ever Salt Lake Comic-Con that was full of people who grew up on the OT and who very much appreciate and love the Prequels.
     
  5. Minez01

    Minez01 Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 12, 2005
    Same as above comments. I saw TPM in the cinema when I was 10 I think. Never having seen a Star Wars film in cinema, when the big blast of sound happened at the start of the opening crawl sequence, I just remember thinking "this is the best moment of my life."

    So the prequels will always hold a more special place in my heart than the originals. They're the real Star Wars for me. The OT was just the back (or front) story!
     
  6. Ord-Mantell70

    Ord-Mantell70 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2009
    I guess the one thing I'll remember the most about the PT Era was trying to catch that first TPM teaser trailer on the Internet in early November 1998, with that poor dial-up connection...

    Virtually impossible to stream it properly for at least 15 days !!!

    Like anakinfansince1983 pointed above, such an uncontrollable level of hype back then (late 98/early 99)...Never seen before and never repeated since then for any movie.

    I do feel some nostalgia for the PT movies, but even more for those pre-release periods I'd say, 1997-1999 especially. We all knew everything was coming ahead...
     
  7. Han Burgundy

    Han Burgundy Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2013
    Although, in adulthood, I value the OT more as works of cinema, the nostalgia I have for the PT and the era of my life that they represent will always be special to me.

    The PT films came out when I was 6, 9, and 12. I can't tell you how much of my elementary school life was spent watching and rewatching the Battle of Geonosis. I remember watching extended portions of the film in slow-motion so I could savor every second of the special effects.

    Attack of the Clones especially... those 3 years between II and III were really special. That was when I went from a Star Wars fan to an obsessor. That's when Knights of the Old Republic, my main non-movie love and a game that was very much a lovely hybrid of the look and feel of AOTC and the OT, was released. That game, and It's sequel, really impacted my life in a lot of ways. The Star Wars universe, from a kids perspective, felt so bright and full of promise during that time, It was before the darkness-obsessed era of ROTS, and after the fuzzy, unsure "welcome to the prequelverse" era that immediately followed TPM. AOTC, when it came out, was bold, it was big, and it was everything a 9 year old could have wanted from a movie. Even when I watch it now, I try to put my mind back in that place just a little bit, and the film becomes that much more joyful for it.
     
  8. Alexrd

    Alexrd Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2009
    The marketing campaign for TPM was so huge and memorable that I doubt we'll ever see something like that ever again.
     
  9. Ord-Mantell70

    Ord-Mantell70 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2009
    "I know what you mean..." :cool:

    Same with me when re-watching ROTJ. It was the OT movie I had been expecting the most back then (was 12 in 1983), and therefore the one that really blew my mind and filled many expectations on theater (despite the Ewoks...). Although not my favorite overall since then.

    I guess it's really here, with those kind of feelings, that nostalgia is particularly relevant. When you try to recapture, even decades after, the way you felt just before, while, and after you saw the movie for the first time onscreen.


    "Never say never again..." (I'm thinking about something like Avatar's sequel for example)

    But I agree it will be very hard to top TPM pre-release buzz and hoopla, merchandising tie-ins, and overall full-on mania. Even Lucas himself admitted they had gone too far on the marketing side ...
     
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  10. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 25, 2008

    I had a great deal of trouble embracing both ANH and TESB. ROTJ was the first SW movie that I really embraced. And yet, it's now my least favorite SW movie.
     
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  11. Shadow_imperium

    Shadow_imperium Jedi Master

    Registered:
    May 14, 2004



    To get it right out of the way, I'm an OT fan, I like the Saga, but I'll always prefer the OT when it comes to watching. That said, I have (recently even) a huge amount of nostalgia for the PT era. The build up to Ep.1, going to a midnight showing with my friends dad, a summer of playing podracer on the 64, and being the only one to have Darth Maul's figure...for about 2 months. AOTC brought it all back, despite a year or so of indifference. I remember searching high and low for the cereal/helmet promotion, grabbing the sneak preview figures, reading insider like it was holy scripture. I stayed off forums and such, didn't want to be spoiled(that would come 2 years later), once again I got to see it at midnight, this time with friends, hell of an experience. between II and III I stuck with SW, read Republic/Clone wars comics, played Battlegrounds with the clone expansion (The final game of many LAN parties), watched the Tartakovsky series religiously. ROTS came, and it was different, I still grabbed the sneak peek figures, and was in line the day the main line of toys was released but there wasn't the same fun it had been. Do to work I wasn't able to go to a midnight show, but my friends, great group they are waiting to see it with me two days later. It was a different experience, we all thought that was the end of the films, a couple of us read EU so it wasn't quite the complete stop it was for others. The PT for me is my growing years, some of the best years I've had, with some amazing people. So yes, despite my feelings about the films today, (I'm not here to argue or "Hate"...if people love them, more than the OT, then more power to them, I'm not bothered, It's all Star Wars) I can look back with great fondness to the time the Prequel films were released.
     
  12. The_Phantom_Calamari

    The_Phantom_Calamari Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 10, 2011
    I was seven years old when I saw The Phantom Menace in theaters. I'd grown up to that point watching the OT on VHS over and over and over again at home, and when I came out of the theater after Episode I, I was similarly blown away. I remember actually being shocked when Darth Maul killed Qui-Gon, even though most of the adults could probably tell it was coming.

    I didn't even know the movie was being panned on a wide scale until probably a week later when my parents got tired of me blabbing about it all the time, and told me everyone else hated it. Good times.
     
  13. Ord-Mantell70

    Ord-Mantell70 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2009

    Ok.

    I saw ANH and ESB respectively at 6 and 9 years old when they came out. Was too young to really appreciate the first one I guess. But was fairly impressed by ESB in 1980 (saw it 3 times, had my share of toys), nevertheless hadn't really become a Star Wars aficionado at the time. It really started for me a couple of month before ROTJ's release over there (summer 1983), when I saw the first pictures on movie magazines. All the story just resurfaced from limbo, and I became from then on hooked by it and the movies. Especially with that slight shift towards Vader's path/tragedy in ROTJ, and the cryptic references to the backstory throughout the movies.

    Then I resaw the first 2 with that new perpective, and they became cult to me, especially ESB.

    Needless to say I was so anxious to see the PT as soon as late 1983 actually...Couldn't believe we'd probably have to wait at least 7 years to finally see them (if they were to be made).
     
  14. Alexrd

    Alexrd Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2009
    It wasn't, specially when it came out.
     
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  15. MOC Vober Dand

    MOC Vober Dand Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 6, 2004
    I'd say 'mixed reviews' would cover the initial reaction.
     
  16. SithStarSlayer

    SithStarSlayer Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2003
    Midnight premier of (now its not) the last Star Wars film ever, was pretty epic.
     
  17. Jango_Fett21

    Jango_Fett21 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 9, 2002
    I will forever cherish the experiences and memories of seeing all 3 Prequels in theaters on the day(s) they opened (TPM at 9 pm on May 19, 1999, and AotC and RotS at midnight on May 16, 2002 and May 19, 2005 respectfully), so there's a fair amount of nostalgia there. I also still have my 3D glasses and souvenir cup from when I went and saw TPM's 3D re-release (making it the only Star Wars film I've seen in theaters twice).
     
  18. GGrievous

    GGrievous Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 6, 2005
    Not to mention the rise of the world wide web. StarWars.com, iirc, was created in 1996, but its activity skyrocketed in the late 90s because of TPM.
     
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  19. Alexrd

    Alexrd Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2009
    I remember downloading TPM trailer at 56kbps (probably even less).
     
  20. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    I got my first 'Net compatible computer in 1997 I believe. My first Web searches were for information on TPM.

    I never downloaded trailers though. That computer only had 8 MB of RAM.
     
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  21. Maul95

    Maul95 Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 6, 2013
    Same here, only that I found out many years later. Since my parents also liked it and there was no PT hate phenomenon in my country (fortunately :cool: ), I grew up thinking TPM was as loved and acclaimed as the rest of the saga; I had absolutely no clue it was hated by part of the fandom. Sweet innocence...
     
  22. GGrievous

    GGrievous Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 6, 2005
    Can anyone believe that Lucasfilm only used $20 million to advertise TPM? Granted, it's 1998-1999 dollars, but still nothing compared to what studios do nowadays. I'm sure LFL knew about the hype, which also helped the film.
     
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  23. The_Phantom_Calamari

    The_Phantom_Calamari Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 10, 2011
    As a seven-year-old watching TPM in theaters, there really was something magical about it that wasn't present in any other movie I can remember seeing when I was in that age range. Though it certainly isn't fair to characterize all the prequel detractors this way, I think a significant number of the more extreme ones had simply grown out of Star Wars by the time Episode I came out, and just didn't want to admit to themselves that they were the kind of person that could happen to. I get and sympathize with the complaints about the acting and dialogue, but if you ever find yourself complaining that a Star Wars movie isn't "adult" enough, I start to wonder...

    Anyway, I also remember seeing Attack of the Clones when I was about 10. My abiding memories from that experience were feeling palpably overwhelmed during the chaotic battle scenes after the clones arrived on Geonosis, and hearing the entire theater break out in cheers when Yoda went into action. That's the only time I remember the latter happening to such an unrestrained, unapologetic degree during any theater screening I've ever been to, young or old(er).
     
  24. Jarren_Lee-Saber

    Jarren_Lee-Saber Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 16, 2008
    I pretty much saw the Saga as an adult so I have no nostalgia for any of them.
    And the only one I saw in the cinema was TPM 3D, and it was a bad experience cause there was about 7 kids behind me jabbering the whole way through :(
     
  25. Among the Clouds

    Among the Clouds Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 18, 2001
    I wasn't born until a couple years after the OT was completed. Nevertheless, the impact of those films could still be felt. My family liked Star Wars, and we watched them when they came on basic television on weekends from time to time. I always "liked" Star Wars, but not to the extent that I did once the trilogy was remastered and re-released on VHS in 1995. That's also when the toys were being made again. I got the casettes and then was hooked. I became a hardcore collector even as a kid, and my love for Star Wars has not withered since. In the years since the PT ended, I've had periods where I don't think much about Star Wars, but then I get back into it from time to time. I still collect the merchandise, though not to the extent that I once did. And I, too, have fond nostalgia for the PT. I was just finishing middle school when TPM came out. By the time AOTC came around, we had just gotten the internet at my parents' house. Sure, it was dial-up, but it worked. And me and my brother were very much into following the news and promotion that led up to its release. I was in college when ROTS came out, and was on my own for the first time. The whole thing of being there for the midnight release with my FX lightsaber in hand, as well as being at the midnight release for the merchandise about a month prior with my aunt... that's all very fresh in my mind. Sure, Star Wars figures and collectables have come a long way since then, but I have fonder feelings for some of that "older" stuff than what they put out now. I'm sure when Episode 7 comes around, it'll be very fun to follow the news. There have been many movies I have loved since then that have been fun to be excited about, but none like Star Wars. Not to mention, if I have children of my own in the coming years, it will be a part of their lives as well.
     
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