PT How have people who troll the prequels affected your love of the movies?

The PT was just one big disappointment to me. Especially Phantom Menace, which except for finding Anakin and Palpatine becoming Chancellor was entirely a wasted episode. I wanted to see the Clone Wars, Anakin the good man and friend, young Obi-Wan and the fall of the Republic. What I got was a boring race, stupid kid Anakin, Jar Jar and the Gungans and a plot that took a bunch of books to make sense of. I was 14 at the time and it just seemed bad. I liked the Lightsaber fights though. The worst part of the PT was it didn't really gel with the hints we go from old Lucas interviews and the films themselves.

The Clone Wars cartoon did go a good deal to making me not hate the Prequels. I think they are still a disappointment and flawed, but now can see the good qualities in the era.

If you like them, that's ok, but all I ask is that you don't take all criticism as "bashing."

 

I don't think the trolling has affected my levels of enjoyment per se.

I was 28 when The Phantom Menace was released and me and the soon to be Mrs T went to see it twice at the cinema, including opening day. (Even that was a bit of an anti-climax in these days of huge multiplexes. I think we had the day off work and went to a midday or early afternoon screening, which was virtually empty. Huge contrast to the queues around the block for my small hometown cinema back in 1977, 1980 and 1983!).

Enjoyed the movie but of course it didn't quite have that magic that you experience as a kid. As others have said their were some superb set-pieces, Pod Race, Duel Of The Fates and a great overall Star Wars feel but of course the acting, script, Anakin moppet, Jar-Jar, and Maul's death were a bit of a let down to me. I can still watch it quite happily now though, it's just about accptance.

The theatrical trailer still gives me goosebumps. It's that which I remember most vividly in the build-up to the release. The Lucasfilm logo, and the Gungans coming out of the swamp and the throne room/Jedi soundtrack motif, all these glimpes of EVERYTHING!

I've revised my view on all the PT movies over the years and again, like most AOTC is probably my least favourite. Even that has some great Star Wars moments and propels the story towards ROTS. It's all a bit of fun after all...

 

Well I grew up with the original trilogy, and yet I loved the prequels. I really became engaged with the characters, and despite the claims that the characters are cardboard, I really connected with all of them and was feeling kind of sad when EIII was coming out knowing its the last time Ill see them. McGregors Obi Wan, Mace, Anakin, Padme, the list goes on. So I always enjoyed the prequels a lot, I think its a great tragic story with great arc. General movie viewers hate prequels with passion, but that doesnt affect me. If I like steak , I like it because it tastes good for me, I simply like it. Im not going to suddenly dislike it because a lot of people say it tastes horrible

 

I don't think that any type of criticism of the prequels (whether it was civilly and thoughtfully presented or whether it was more of the troll//hater/"bashing" variety) has ever actually affected my enjoyment of the films themselves. I was a kid in the 70s/80s, but I enjoy all six films pretty much equally, with each of my two very faves (ESB and ROTS) representing each trilogy.

However, I do think that the widespread disdain for the prequels on the internet did initially affect my posting when I first joined the JCF. This is the first internet forum I've ever joined and I was wary at first of saying that I enjoyed them as I didn't want to be mocked. It took me a little while to realize there were lot of others here (including "original generation" fans in my age group) who also like them!

 

Again, I see the mistake that many have taken in speaking on behalf of all SW fans. The above quote mentioned the phrase "people". Which group of people is this person speaking for? All SW fans? Or those fans who had expected the PT to be just like the OT? Why would fans expect the PT to have the same spin in theme/tone as the OT, when the two trilogies tell different stories . . . with different outcomes?

 

I think , since those original movies had been with us and others so long, that people grew to love them so much, and had so much time to develop their own ideas of backstories that nothing would ever satisfy them. Its like with music bands, people will love , let say, GunsNRoses, but no new material ever would reach the expectation level or match the original songs in peoples minds

 

The "lack of a similar feel" criticism doesn't resonate with my personal experience at all. I've heard it said so many times that I understand there must be a sizeable group who did feel that way, but it wasn't my experience. I mean, I can see some differences in tone or type of story being told, but to me, those also exist within each trilogy, not just between the trilogies. To me, all six films feel equally "Star Wars-y," (as hard as that it is to define exactly), so I enjoy them all.

 

I do think the original has a more mythical feel to it, perhaps a tiny bit like the Conan movies. We dont see many creatures, and some creatures are rather inferred than shown, like the Crayt dragon, which creates a very different, eerie and mythic feel to it. Sp I do think theyre somewhat different in feel and tone, and the PT does look sleekier, cleaner and have a deeper and more serious story which is amazingly mixed with child humor, but I would never think thats a problem, its just natural two different trilogies, one set i peaceful time, one set in dark times, have different feels

 

I agree with Pensivia that there is a difference of feel within each trilogy, let alone between them. They are, in many ways, 6 very distinct films. I would argue, though, that different character dynamics and different visual effects do set the two trilogies apart in terms of feel.

 

I love all six films even though I have problems with four of them. And some of these problems are so bad in my opinion that they take a little away from the Saga. But even with these flaws my love for this epic tale of space adventure has always remained strong. And though not perfect, they have reached a form of perfection. That may sound contradictory, but it's true. Because when something is so great and loved so dearly by so many people even when it's full of flaws, that's surely perfection on some level. Star Wars is my addiction and I will never stop consuming it.

 

Agree. My favorite is Empire, but it has a huge headscratcher in the form of the length of Lukes Jedi training. As I said before I do find enjoyment in nitpicks of my favorite stuff, be it stupid characters, odd plot holes, whatever... BUT in no way does that detract from my enjoyment of the films themselves. Recently saw the trailer for Star Wars: Detours and I am sad to see it will not see the light of day in the near future. Good nitpicking can be a form of parody ( as opposed to bashing) but its all good fun to me.

The point is a flaws in a movie do not break it, though when pointed out they may make you smile. A good movie allows for suspension of disbelief so when the fridge logic is pointed out you can chuckle and still enjoy the movie ( least ways I can )

 

feel free to educate yourself then. u can easily do a search on the internet for negative reviews and critiques of the PT that are well thought out and make perfect sense.

 

Speaking as someone from the 40+ generation who grew up with the OT, I can identify up to a point with the "my childhood dreams" argument regarding the PT, in the sense that, when ANH came out, it made our collective jaw drop because it was something that was essentially never done before. The OT is pretty much the first time the space opera genre was brought to the big screen. Moreover, it was combined with hard sci-fi stuff, and the special effects at the time were simply out of this world. I think that for many of us old-timers, the OT was such a cult that we came to adore even the imperfections (and sometimes outright grotesque rubber puppets) and I for one was very much annoyed by the sleek CGI stuff of the PT. I wanted Yoda's ears to wriggle properly, for God's sake!

However, I also admit that it's much more difficult to make a good space opera movie in this time and age when there's so much more competition, and I not only acknowledge the PT as being great movies, but also want to say kudos to G. Lucas for capturing the imagination of a whole new generation of moviegoers.

Now I said that I can identify with the "my childhood dreams" argument, but only UP TO A POINT. When it comes to trolling - by that I mean real trolling, i.e. not people who come up with fair criticism of the PT or the OT, but people who rant on and on and on that "it's not Star Wars" and who won't let you go until you agree with them - well, for starters that's unacceptable as a matter of principle, secondly, it's pointless, thirdly, it's unfair, and lastly, I don't see why anyone should ever be influenced by that. Talking with someone who doesn't like the movies you like is usually an interesting and fun conversation. Talking with a troll, whether in real life or on the internet, doesn't even begin to make sense. So to answer the original question, no, trolls don't influence my opinion of the PT. I hope they don't influence anyone else, especially those among us who think the PT is the best thing since sliced bread, and I think the moderators are doing a stellar job at keeping them out of these forums

 

Really?

Why not just form your own opinions about art?

Why listen to and read about people who can't do it for themselves

That isn't education

 

Frankly, I can't differentiate between when someone is trolling or when they really hate the prequels. But one thing is for certain. All of the countless debates I've been in and read through, all of the Red Letter s*it I've watched, all of it has only reinforced my view that we'll never fully agree on something. And it's allright. Some people even find The Godfather boring as fu*k for example.

Through all of this I like to think that I've learned more about classical film structure, narrative and character development. But those things only matter if you're dissecting the film frame by frame to try and give it some sort of an objective value. And I can appreciate when a film hits those notes, and I can also see where the PT seems to have missed them. Watching the SW saga through objectively tinted glasses, I can say for myself that I see a lot of the same flaws creeping up in all six films.

But it just doesn't matter, I like how Lucas has envisioned his story, I find the characters interesting and deep, I enjoy the action and drama and even misplaced humour. And again, the same goes for all six films.

 

Thats right, I mean theres no denying the problems are there, Red Letter Media actually is right in a lot of what theyve pointed out, but despite that, I still enjoy it. I personally love the characters, love the overall tragic story of the prequels. Its a fairy tale, not everything has to be detailed as far as logic, its the overall story that counts, not dwelling on specifics, rethinking it or opening up the hood to study it. For me its important that the movie does have fairy tale-y look and quality to it, and most importantly that, for me, the trilogy has heart, something that is sorely missing from most of the movie made in the past decade. Ill take heart and emotion over logic or carefully thought out plot anyday

 

All the prequel hate, and the reasons people give, only let me know that these films are not accessible to most people. It lets me know more about society's perception than it does about the films.

 

Understood being a better word maybe?

 

I only read the book - have of which was not even about the Corleone family, but some woman in Vegas

Well said.

 

Accessible:
easily understood.
"his Latin grammar is lucid and accessible"
synonyms: understandable, comprehensible, easy to understand, intelligible;
formalexoteric
"his accessible style of writing"