PT Are the prequels more appreciated now then they used to be?

Since episode 7 come out i noticed there are alot more people supporting the prequels now, i dunno whether that was always a thing but i didn't notice it quite as much as i do now days,

 

Yes, I think so. Episode 7 helped put the prequels in perspective and maybe reminded people (including myself) of the prequels' strengths that they might have previously taken for granted.

I think part of it is also that the generation who were kids when the prequels came out have grown up now and are making their voices heard more in online discussions.

 

I think that those that don't like the prequels are and always have been a vocal minority. That being said, I believe that as the years go by, we'll see more and more people warm up to the prequels (which, as you pointed out, we're seeing now) and see all of the episodes as one big saga---which is how they were intended to be.

 

ten years of endless of bashing and malicious criticism is running dry and getting tiresome so people are looking more and more at the positive.

 

I don't know. When they came out everyone had SW fever again. Toys sold out by the dozen, people waited in line to see them (me included) and merchandise was everywhere. Now they just seem to be a footnote and mostly remembered with either hate or indifference.

 

It's more like fifteen. That said, whether prequel bashing is dying down or it isn't (and why wouldn't it be -- aren't those with an axe to grind, happy, by now, that "George Luca$" no longer has creative control and Disney are giving them everything they ever dreamed of?), we have more serious matters in the world to contend with; like the rise of Donald Trump and far-right politics, income inequality, global warming, and the increasing threat of nuclear war.

 

I'm not sure about pre- and post- 7 feelings, but I think the prequels are becoming more accepted as time goes on.

I mean, the younger generations seem to accept them when they watch them for the first time, and the older generation that perhaps didn't like them (saw them when they came out) is getting old and will eventually die.

 

I think that it has died down now, or almost died down... After an uprise of heavy bashing against them before the release of TFA, it was almost non-existent before and after the release of Rogue One... I think that since fans have now two new Star Wars movies in less than 2 years, they now spend more time discussing about those two recent entries (as well as the new TV series and comic books), and they are now spending less time about the older movies...

Regarding Trump, I've been thinking a lot about it for some time... It's a bit out of topic here, but Trump is really the perfect example of the "ugly side", if I can call it this way, of our societies and in people in general, as well as in Star Wars fandom.

What I mean is, when some fans bash and attack personally Lucas and say stuff as "George Lucas raped my childhood", mocks everything about him, like his beard, his belly, his glasses and the way he dresses for more than 15 years, and then say that this bashing was almost "justified and deserved" since fans finally got "what they wanted" with TFA from Disney, it's not different at all from what Trump does and says everyday, whether it is about what he said regarding his political adversaries, women in general or about immigrants, or his bad tweets, etc.

Trump has perfectly demonstrated that in people, there's a terrible and scary part, a desire to humiliate and mock about others. As Meryl Streep perfectly summed it: "Disrespect, invites only more disrespect. Violence, invites more violence".

 

There are still some haters out there. I was reading some answers to a question about prequel haters on the Quora question and answer website. Someone said something to the effect, "If you like the prequels, for whatever perverted and disgusting reason, you better expect to hear why you're wrong". Seriously?! That really burns me up. Why can't people just agree to disagree and leave it at that.

 

That must be a Trump fan out there...

 

I don't know to be honest. But perhaps, there may just be some truth to that?... *shrug*
From the two films we've got (to enjoy?) so far, I'd most definitely say that Rogue One has very much, 'reenergised'(?) the prequel story in a way if you will. In particular Revenge of the Sith.

 

So true. It's much more like Clone Wars the TV show now. If an episode wasn't a homerun oh well - there is a new one next week. The Prequels were such a huge event that went way beyond the release of a movie. It was a borderline religious event, like Moses bring out new stone tablets.

I agree that appreciation for the Prequels is increasing. They're no long half of Star Wars, but a part of it. And we're seeing how important their influence is on the new movies and TV shows. One of my favorite things about Rogue One is how matter of fact characters, ideas, and designs from the Prequels are used in the movie. It works really well.

 

This is the effect of new movies. Just as the prequels drew lots of fans back into the world on a regular basis (and that fell off a while after ROTS) the same happens again.

So you notice it more.

Also what's happened is that for some of those people who didn't love the PT they have found that they also don't love the new movies.

Now whether they despise them or like them or whatever is broken into different groups but some love the new movies and others don't as much.

For many who were really into TFA the rush wore off and after R1 they realized that it was better for them.

TFA seems to be falling into a category that is more like "Yeah I get what they wanted to do but we hope that future movies actually move the story forward."

A lot of people still like it but are also realistic about what it's aims were. Even those who despise the PT usually accept the scope of the stories ambitions as being the good thing about them. More and more they have to accept the story because it's the basis of the new canon. So they accept the stories but not the execution because it didn't give them whatever it is they wanted.

There is that group of the above that love or like TCW and can't accept that Lucas actually did exactly what he wanted there and in the PT.

Now in comparison I would say TFA's execution was fine overall for a regular movie but nowhere near the scale of any Lucas movie or R1 for that matter. Whether RJ can get near that level we'll see.

 

Anecdotally I'm not seeing any significant change. Just read an article about Alien: Covenant, for instance, and the comment section managed to work in several digs regarding Lucas and the prequels. Will be interesting to see what things look like after a decade or so of Disney's Star Wars.

 

It requires a certain level of intelligence to accept opposing points of view as valid. The person you are referencing apparently has A) no perspective and B) lacks the ability to accept anyone's opinion that doesn't fall in line with his/her own. They'd like to view themselves as the most intelligent when it comes to film, but in reality all they are are big children acting the part of film snobs in relation to children's space movies.

Meanwhile Alien: Covenant looks like a tired retread of Alien/Aliens, as opposed to its very original predecessor, Prometheus.

 

I love the dumb theory all the PT haters use. "The reason TPM made all that $$ is because people had to watch it again to make sure it was bad."




Really?

TPM made over $900,000,000 in 1999 money without 3D or IMAX.

 

I'd expect that in the comment section about Alien: Covenant. I'm not sure if younger people are aware of Alien in the same way they are Star Wars. So the people writing about Alien are more likely to be in a certain age range, and are the same ones that have hated the Prequels since 1999 and would give an arm for a Blu Ray quality transfer of the 1995 VHS release of the Original Trilogy.

Qui-Riv-Brid -- What i missed most in TFA was the scale we had in the Prequels. I'd argue no movie since the Prequels has created the same level of scope and detail in creating environments. Those three films and the Clone Wars did a lot to define the Star Wars universe. Anyone of the prequels probably brought more designs to screen than the entire Original Trilogy. For better and worse TFA felt much more like the Original Trilogy. The depth of the prequels, the craft, imagination, and how much those movies try to convey is much clearer now than it used to be.

 

In my experience, you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy on the internet than in comments sections.

 

I would argue that CW being such a great show was a major contributor to the changing opinion of the PT. Also TFA being a rehash didn't satisfy a lot of people who wanted more originality. TFA was in my opinion a good rehash but for a lot of fans who wanted something new the PT was a way to look back on both the failed and successful new aspects that George tried out for the SW universe. With more youth coming into the SW fandom though it will be interesting to see how that opinion does change though.

 

Yep, typical studio unnecessary back-paddling. They can't have a profitable and original story/expansion of a fictional universe. They need to pander the vocal minority that wants more of the same at the cost of said originality... Time will take care of the forgettable and unoriginal entries, but sadly the chance for originality will be lost.

 

Yes, I appreciated that R1 featured Bail Organa and Mon Mothma, played by the actors (Jimmy Smits and Genevieve O'Reilly, respectively) that played them in the prequels. Given the various digs and semi-digs Disney has taken at the prequels, I wouldn't have put it past them to recast the characters, just as another little "nyah, nyah."

 

Just to add a bit more to this thread:

There might be a slight turning of the tide, but I could match your anecdote with plenty of my own, so yes. Also, if a film as grand and magnificent as "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (one of the finest science-fiction films ever made, IMO) can still be denigrated and dismissed by a fanbase after almost forty years -- and crappy, hammy, made-for-TV melodramas elevated in its place -- then I don't necessarily hold out great hope for some sea-change attitude toward the prequels (online, at least). Of course, I can't entirely see into the future, either, so I'm willing to admit I might he advancing an overly-pessimistic view. Still, few things thrill me about the ST and SW fanbases, and if "always two there are", then maybe the derision toward the first and best of the ST features anticipated what would happen to the prequels long ago. Incidentally, Gene Roddenberry's last words about the direction his creation went in, after a screening of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", just days before his death, were practically word-for-word what Lucas said about TFA: "The fans will like it."

Yep. An impressive horde for 1999. TPM was also a record-smasher when it came to VHS and DVD. Heck, it even scooped another $100 million (a bit more) on its 3D theatrical release in 2012, even though it wasn't released in China, where other 3D releases, like "Titanic" and "Jurassic Park", made a healthy chunk of change.

And then there's the fact that Lucas sold Star Wars and his film companies to Disney in 2012 for $4 billion. An amount of money that seems unlikely without the prequels and all they did to expand the mythology and the market presence of Star Wars in the 21st Century.

 

You know i have heard people say Disney take digs at the prequels but i don't see it personally.

I get the idea that maybe they favor the OT more for various reasons but at the same time i don't think it would make business sense for Disney to take digs at the prequels, mostly because they are canon and they still make Disney money.

I actually feel that what Disney have done with integrating the prequels into the new movies is the best thing to do because lets be honest if they want to make an obi wan movie with ewan mcgregor at some point then they can't throw digs at the prequels like that.

 

Talk about grasping at straws.

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So True.​

 

Personally, for me I do appreciate the prequels MUCH more. The unoriginality of Ep 7 and Rogue 1 really made me realize what a true visionary Lucas was. Does it make me forgive him for his massively flawed work and terrible direction, of course not. But I do see a admirable effort on his part to grow the universe he gave birth to so I do look back on them with a more objective eye.