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

That's me!

 

I don't think Disney are anti-prequel, yeah they may be focusing more on OT elements but overall i think they been pretty smart with how they have integrated prequel elements into TFA and RO.

I do think Disney are trying to be careful with the prequel elements though by integrating them in a way that keeps everyone happy.

 

Because that’s all we got from 1999-2012. But you weren’t complaining back then, were you?

Give the Walt Disney Company some credit. They really brought STAR WARS back in a major way. I can tell you that, for me and many other people, the closest thing SW has ever had to a true dark age was that period from 2005-2012. George Lucas kept on insisting that the live action films were forever done for (to the point of making grandiose proclamations about how his will dictated that no more STAR WARS films would ever be made), the last three of which had disappointed a significant chunk of the moviegoing public. There was that whole ruckus between him and the fans over the changes he seemed to make every 2-3 years that nobody but him seemed to like or think were necessary. Certainly, that god-awful television pilot which he inexplicably put into theaters did him no favors. It really just got to the point where I was done with STAR WARS. I still considered the original trilogy to be great, but as far as I was concerned, that was the extent to which I cared about SW…and I know many other people felt the same. I mean, if you believed Lucas, there were never gonna be any more movies anyway. Just the cartoon show. I guess kids and real hardcore fans cared about the cartoon show, but I honestly don’t think that most average fans really gave a damn.

To the extent that STAR WARS was ever in danger of becoming a dead franchise, it was during that period that began in 2005 and ended with the sale to Disney. Ironically enough, it also ended up almost perfectly coinciding with the biggest dark age that STAR TREK has ever had.

I think that’s about right. Disney realizes that, at best, the prequels are incredibly divisive, so for the moment, they’re sticking to elements that they know everyone loves.

As I’ve said, what I’d really love to see them do is embrace the core of what made the original trilogy great, while also reinventing it and taking it into a new direction.

 

I wouldn't worry about that. Disney is going to milk this thing dry. They're likely going to be dipping and dabbing all over the timeline.

 

You can't turn the clock back. If fans are displeased with what Disney is doing? They still have the six films by Lucas to enjoy. The Anakin Skywalker saga. For me personally, TFA left me slightly concerned as to just what they had in mind for the franchise. Rogue One however, ascertained that if they get the right team together for these films we'll get a quality Star Wars film

 

If someone says they don't like the PT, I don't mind; everyone's entitled to their own opinion. If someone says they think the three PT films are the worst movies ever made, I respectfully suggest they watch a few episodes of MST3K for much better-fitting candidates for that classification. And if someone compares the PT to infanticide, I just walk away because such people have lost all reason and perspective and should be ignored.

 

I can't wait for the bootlicking when Disney inevitably reboots the OT I can just see people foaming at the mouth talking about a "new direction", "imagining", and "artistic license".

Really is our culture so debased people defend the corporation in matters of culture?

 

I wouldn't care less if they rebooted the OT. The anger over reboots/remakes has always baffled me. Good, bad, or ugly, nothing will ever replace the original films, and their impact is the stuff of legend.

If you don't support a reboot, fine, skip it and enjoy what you always had. Nobody is forced to watch any reboot of a film or series they adore. Just ignore it.

 

Maybe I overestimated the popularity of TCW from 2005 to 2012, but I thought it had been keeping the franchise alive during that time.

I don't know how I'd feel about rebooting the saga, it could be a good thing if it keeps both trilogies consistent. It could also end up destroying Star Wars. I say for now, leave it alone. There's still plenty of time for Disney to explore the PT era, and other eras as well.

 

I don't see Disney remaking Star Wars anytime soon, I could see an episode 10,11 and 12 before I could see a remake.

 

Emperor Ferus IMO it is perfectly reasonable to expect that an animated TV show would have naturally attracted a smaller audience than the live-action movies, most notably amongst adult demographics.
That said, I think TCW was incredibly well loved, especially amongst the hard-core fan base. Just look at the outcry over its cancellation back in 2012/2013.

 

Everyone happy how? What prequel elements show up in the Disney films? They are making at least one Star Wars film a year and so far they have made 2 OT films and plan to make 2 more OT films. Fans such as myself get nothing. Waiting years for Battlefront 3 after the fair and balanced greatness of Battlefront 2. Battlefront 3 gets canned and EA does an OT only game. Clone Wars gets canned for OT inspired Rebels. I personally think Rebels is ok though since David Filoni does both show. It's just frustrating what Disney is doing. It's such a huge sandbox to play in, but they want to rehash the OT and OT characters over and over.

 

Disney's SW projects have been around for 2 years and some change. You're really acting like they've done nothing but OT era stuff for 20 years and counting.

The PT era dominated for what, 15 years; that's the better part of two decades. Seems PT era lovers got a lot of attention for a very long time; 4 films, TWO clone wars series, and countless EU offerings.

Lets give it time.

 

I think most people have (thankfully) moved on. I'm not a huge PT fan, but if others enjoy it good for them. I can understand the bashing that happened when the films were first released, but after awhile it's like "ok, you didn't like them, let it go".

Honestly I don't think many people outside of boards like this care or think about the PT that much in general. SW was a cultural phenomenon back in the 80s, so for people who grew up then (like me) the OT is always going to be a big cultural reference point. I freely admit that some of it was Lucas catching lightning in a bottle, and in retrospect that was always going to be hard to do a 2nd time regardless of what one thinks of the PT.



Also, no one should be surprised that Disney has focused on the OT and the "OT-feel" for their projects. For better or worse the OT is remembered as a great landmark of cinema by most people (and it doesn't hurt that us folks who grew up during the OT are in or close to our peak earning years right now). The PT, fairly or unfairly, isn't nearly as well thought of by the general public.... and it takes more than people who post on this board to sell a billion dollars worth of tickets.

That being said, I think once Disney establishes their reputation when it comes to SW films (which they arguably have already done) they'll be able to revisit any era and be successful.

 

The true test for Disney will be if they ever do a true standalone spin-off movie that takes risks similar to what the Episode One did. There wasn't much familiar in that.

A "reboot" kind of ends things and starts over. People like to know what they get from Star Wars is a continuing story.
It might not matter anyway. I can't imagine movies and the industry in general being that significant ten years from now, even though twenty years ago I would have thought that about 2017.

 

Yeah, I'm gonna say you're 1000% incorrect there.

 

Well looks like it might not take as long as we thought:

Jason Ward‏Verified account @MakingStarWars 5h5 hours ago

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"The Last Jedi" looks like the "Star Wars" prequels took "Game of Thrones" on a date and they had a baby called "The Last Jedi."

 

I always thought people love all SW equally, fans just love to exacerbate things to the extremes like always. Though I see more people who grew up with the PT and/or TCW expressing more and more their love of these movies which is good because it means the fandom didn't die and is still active. As for reboots, I don't see that happening any time in the near future, in 20/30 years from now all bets are off but since I'm not interesting in reboots in general I'll probably pass this one and stick with what we already have and TV shows/comics.

 

Yeah, the day an actual reboot/remake happens is the day I stop following Star Wars. At that point you really are dealing with fan-fiction.

 

Rouge One already felt like high budget fan-fiction film to me. The very idea of the spin-offs don't excite me, but hopefully I'll get at least one I love.

 

There's truth in your last remark, but the first part, no offence, is a tad naive; even without the existence of the Internet. You can't just expect to slap the label "Star Wars" on something and everyone is in universal adoration of it. Doesn't really work for anything in life.

And yes, I realize that's an argument those less enamoured of the prequels have used plenty of times before; which is a-okay. I sympathize with them a smidgen. It's really true -- especially now -- that Star Wars has become fragmented and disjointed, with any number of fingers in the pie, to ever be thought of as one thing whose components can all be equally embraced.

I mean, obviously, if people want to do that, fine. Though, there's also the view that attraction and admiration aren't entirely "conscious" matters, as it were. We are choosy creatures; and not necessarily by choice!

I see where you guys are coming from, and yet...

One could argue that TFA is a reboot/remake of sorts. Or, to use J.J. Abrams' euphemistic concession, "a reminder".

So, as long as Disney aren't remaking one of the earlier movies beat-for-beat, pixel-for-pixel, I guess there's a lot they can technically get away with.

Yeah, I know -- that sounds incurably smug, doesn't it? But I'm just illustrating that the terms "reboot" and "remake" are fuzzy by definition; and what is and isn't a reboot/remake/rehash/reminder is largely in the eye of the consumer.

This, too. I'm a fan of the Star Wars world, but not that much of a fan. I sense everything coming out of Disney for the foreseeable future is going to feel like "high budget fan-fiction", to me. I tried, desperately, to give them the benefit of the doubt, twice over, already. But you know the saying: Fool me once, shame on you...

 

I don't think I expressed myself correctly so forgive me. Yes, people will have their own preferences, I know that. Some will love the OT best others the PT and some just one movie but it's okay as long as they don't act high-and-mighty about it. What I meant is that you don't see most people holding a grudge against the movies for the next decades, most moved on with their lives and as the numbers showed people still watch them, even the PT. I can understand why it's not for everybody, there's even people who don't like SW (shocking I know), criticisms is good in my book. People who can't let go of their hatred for those movies or the man behind them (which is an important lesson in SW) are the one who are spreading the myth of the unloved and forgotten PT, not those who debate healthily about what worked/didn't work for them. I think this is an important distinction.

Hence why I am not so enamored with it as others are. Every SW movies/TV shows brought something new on the table, something to expand the GFFA and I think GL was very good at showing there was life beyond his characters, especially evident in the PT. It has never been about "reminders" of what SW represented for people for me, yes there were echoes and rhyming of situations which are inverted/paralleled in the OT but I found the overall picture was different enough so there was no sense of déjà vu like I had so many times in TFA. The constant need to replicate situations from the OT (trash compactor scenes, Skywalker villain which kinda makes his arc the most obvious arc of all and his relationship with his master which if I didn't read supplementary materials would be interchangeable with Vader/Palpatine, the totally not Death Star and the not-Yoda who just parroted what he said bringing no new light on my comprehension of the Force and of course rebellion 2.0 vs empire 2.0), and if you want to know more about this republic or the state of the Galaxy, read the books. There's still things I like such as Finn and anything about the Force which would probably be answered in VIII if rumors are any indication, Rey and BB-8, the plot not so much. I'm not waiting for much honestly, I'm mostly here for background stuff but if RJ can me care about the plot, that would be a feat and I will applaud his efforts.
As for RO, great world-building but I never thought the theft of the Death Star plan was the freshest story ever and some characters and their motivations really didn't work for me. None of the announced spinoffs really makes wanting more, I think TV shows are making a better job with their stories even if there's some repetitive storylines.

 

My feeling is that people who feel strongly about the prequels either way--love them or hate them--are (a) minority. That goes along with the point that the prequels initially received both benefit of the doubt and excessive scrutiny from the hardcore fanbase. It cuts both ways. As someone else kind of said above, most people are probably somewhere in the middle on the films, largely because they don't think about them all that much. (Although there are a lot of memes that probably don't help.)

As far as the new films, aside from some of the obvious holdovers like X-Wings and so forth, the idea of them being 'OT films' is interesting. Of course they have a lot in common, but if one looks at the whole prequel era (including the Clone Wars to some extent), that was George Lucas making something kind of different out of Star Wars. Without commenting on that, the new films are just Lucasfilm getting back to the original template. Hopefully, the stories themselves will be striking out into more new territory, but even the prequels have lots of parallels and holdovers. The main difference, I think, is in tone and feel.

I don't expect anymore prequel-era films/shows anytime soon because as others have pointed out, we had about a decade and a half of just that. So that context isn't lacking for time and attention. But I do think that at the moment, Lucasfilm is generally making good creative decisions, and hopefully future installments will combine the best of all Star Wars.

 

Well, absolutely -- with all of the above, I couldn't agree more. Tastes differ, unhappy people and bitter malcontents should probably try moving on, and there is increasingly enough Star Wars for everyone. All those, that is, who like the series in some way, shape, or form to begin with; because, as you also said, there are those who don't. I feel I have always "half" occupied the other category. Were it not for the PT, I don't know if I'd be especially awed by any Star Wars project; which perhaps goes to the core topic of the thread. The prequels are more appreciated than ever by me; and if no-one else has much revised their opinions, too bad... at least they are good and interesting to me.

TFA and R1 are competent entertainments; but also fairly middling, in my view. And, if anything, while the world-building of R1 is an order of magnitude better, it has the more plastic narrative of the two. Fan fiction, to me, is just about nail-on-head. Neither seems to possess much "inner necessity"; both lack the inventive opulence, wry lyricism, and storytelling verve of all the "Lucas" installments, in my opinion. But I single "Rogue One" out for special criticism because, of the two, it seems the most egregiously overblown. I did try going in with an open mind, but the stuffed, lurid apocalyptic catastrophizing the picture freely and haughtily engages in -- with obvious commercial calculation -- is, in my opinion, at deep aesthetic odds with the original; which it seems dog-determined in ripping off homaging at practically every other turn. ROTS, as it turns out, was much, much better at pulling off the same thing. What could have been a breezy, energetic heist movie about "rebel spies", is instead a loud, jumbled waltz following a bunch of ad-hoc commandos through "EU"-ish modded Star Wars/Call Of Duty/Farcry land; culminating in a contrived, poorly-shaped land-and-space battle that annihilates the more subtle human backstory implied by the original film. But a lot of the fanbase loves Death Stars, X-wings, and a fluidic Darth Vader in "Beast Mode", I suppose.

More snobbery from me.

"My apologies".

 

http://www.starwars.com/news/hayden...-40-years-of-star-wars-at-celebration-orlando
So we can finally put ye olde 'Disney is burying the PT' rumour to bed then. And get this, supposedly autograph and photo-opp slots sold out within hours. So much for 'everyone hates the PT'.