| Author |
Topic:
Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
MasterEric
Registered:
Dec '07
|
Date Posted:
3/11 9:35pm
Subject:
Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
I looked through the thread index and didn't see anything there, and think I'm in the right forum  :
Another thread I was reading through sparked this line of thinking and I was wondering what other people thought. As far as I know the prequels were reviewed positively, as in above average, though certainly there were mixed reactions and differences of opinion. So speaking of critics, would the prequel's have been recieved on the whole more favorably, perhaps even critically acclaimed, (like more oscars etc. no "razzies" or whatever they're called) if the Original films had never existed? (as blasphemous as such an idea is  ) I always think of The Lord of the Rings movies (which I'm a huge fan of) as a possible alternative to how the prequels, *could* have been recieved by "the establishment".
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Alley_Skywalker
Registered:
Sep '05
|
Date Posted:
3/11 11:11pm
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
|
I think it’s rather double sided. On one hand, if the OT was not around it would take out the sentimental bias in the reviewers who obviously grew up with the OT and, IMO, have somewhat of a bias toward its “genius” because of the associations that come with the OT and make it so much better. However, the PT did get a starting boost from the OT, especially at the box office, from just being SW films.
-----signature-----
Knight of the Fanfic Order (trained by oqidaun) Master to bmwgurl17 & CodyMonKenobi Facades: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/24152038/p1 Proud Obi/Ani 'shipper <3 "To the health of lovely women...and their lovers!" -- Dolokhov, War And Peace
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
KYP_DURRON85
Registered:
Apr '03
|
Date Posted:
3/12 9:19am
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
|
I think Star Wars wouldn't be as popular as it is...*cough* now. But the children. The children would love it. Especially if it would've feature more Jar Jar and less politics.
-----signature-----
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Master_Starwalker
Registered:
Sep '03
|
Date Posted:
3/12 9:39am
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
|
I don't know that there would be 'the Prequels' as I'm not sure they would have made it past Episode 1.
-----signature-----
"When we do appear we can be killers, but we can also be healers. Thank the Force for that." - Obi-Wan Kenobi
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
EMPEROR_WINDU
Registered:
Nov '02
|
Date Posted:
3/12 3:38pm
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
They would have been received better by critics and the bashing of Jar Jar in TPM wouldn't have been so strong without a huge fanbase anticipating the film for about five years or so.
The movie (especially TPM) wouldn't have made as much money at the box office as it did, although TPM didn't gross almost 440 million domestic by the Star Wars name alone. No movie makes that much money if it has nothing positive to offer. So yeah, I think AOTC and ROTS would have still been made and they would have been more favorably received.
Remember that back in the late 70s and early 80s the OT was not well received critically at all.
-----signature-----
Champion of the 6th installment of the 2004 Jedi Draft  YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
MissPadme
Registered:
Jul '98
|
Date Posted:
3/12 6:19pm
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
The critics would have fallen all over themselves! Are you kidding me?
If there were no SW films in the late 1970s and 1980s, then visual effects would have been stuck in the 1960s and the blockbuster would've been defined by Irwin Allen and to a lesser degree Steven Spielberg. The visuals alone for the PT would've seemed centuries ahead of everything else.
Without the first set of SW films, there would not have been:
Indiana Jones
E.T.
Back To Future
Batman
Forrest Gump
Jurassic Park
Independence Day
Titanic
Harry Potter (movies)
LOTR
I'm guessing most of you were not alive in 1977 and therefore cannot fully appreciate how radically different ANH was from any other movie that preceded it. Had the first film been TPM, 1977 would've happened in 1999 instead.
--MissPadme
-----signature-----
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
EMPEROR_WINDU
Registered:
Nov '02
|
Date Posted:
3/13 6:50am
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
I don't think the critics would be falling all over themselves over the PT I just said it would be received in a more positive light. I agree that those movies you listed succeeded the mantle of blockbuster from the OT, but I think it's fairly obvious that waiting 16 years for a new set of movies based off your favorite childhood set of movies is destined to disappoint some people.
Clearly more people enjoyed the PT than did not based on the money they earned alone, but there's no way the OT didn't hurt the PT in terms of critical reviews.
-----signature-----
Champion of the 6th installment of the 2004 Jedi Draft YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
zombie
Registered:
Aug '99
|
Date Posted:
3/13 9:18am
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
|
I think if anything the originals let critics give the films more of a chance, because they entered theaters already willing to like the films. I think theres definitly an argument that the OT created the expectation of higher standards, so I guess you could argue that without the OT critics would have lowered their standards and thus accepted more of the PT but this, IMO, is not a good thing.
-----signature-----
I'll swallow your soul! --------------------------------- If you're gonna die, die with your boots on! -------------------------------- author of The Secret History of Star Wars http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Manisphere
Registered:
Aug '07
|
Date Posted:
3/14 7:36am
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
Master_Starwalker posted:
I don't know that there would be 'the Prequels' as I'm not sure they would have made it past Episode 1.
I second that. I doubt there ever would have been an Episode II without our dogged belief that the next prequel will be better.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
MasterEric
Registered:
Dec '07
|
Date Posted:
3/14 1:23pm
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
- Date Edited:
3/14 1:27pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
MasterEric
|
I'm not sure on the quoting policy here, didn't see anything but to be on the safe side I'll just say this is to address the posts of Master_Starwalker and Manisphere:
So you guys don't think Episode I would have been good enough for a sequel on its own? If you guys had gone into TPM with no expectations other than that for a regular movie, you don't think TPM would have been good enough to see a sequel? (don't mean to put you guys on the spot, just trying to understand your viewpoints)
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Manisphere
Registered:
Aug '07
|
Date Posted:
3/14 1:46pm
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
|
To be fair, the Darth Maul fight sequence might have been enough to keep movie goers interested in seeing Jedi Vs. Sith in the next movie. I can't flat out say there wouldn't have been a sequel. But outside of Maul if there was no OT I'm not sure people would care about what they were seeing. Not knowing all we know about the wondrous and mystical nature of the Force and Anakin's whole arc leaves the audience having to invest in solely in the world of TPM. And to me, that movie wasn't good.
But, if the OT never existed TPM might have been better because Lucas wouldn't have had supreme control. And getting the money for AOTC would be much harder for Lucas than funding ESB was. Either way TPM lacked the mystical "magic" of the OT in almost every way.
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
Alley_Skywalker
Registered:
Sep '05
|
Date Posted:
3/15 12:22am
Subject:
RE: Would the Prequels have been reviewed by critics more favorably without the OT looming over it?
- Date Edited:
3/15 12:23am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Alley_Skywalker
|
Is there anyone here who saw the PT before the OT?
I just wanna know 'cause in my experience, those who saw the PT first don't usually put the OT so much higher over the PT.
Now admittedly, I watched the PT backwards starting from ROTS and seeing the OT after I finished the PT. Now, the OT felt a little flat for me personally actually.
So...I'm pushing out the hypothesis that maybe this whole PT vs OT is kind of effected by which trio you saw first? IDK, just brainstorming on the subject here.
-----signature-----
Knight of the Fanfic Order (trained by oqidaun) Master to bmwgurl17 & CodyMonKenobi Facades: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/24152038/p1 Proud Obi/Ani 'shipper <3 "To the health of lovely women...and their lovers!" -- Dolokhov, War And Peace
|
|
|
Quote Reply |
Active Topic Notification |
Private Message |
Post History
|
