Are these the prequels YOU expected?

I take pride being the only (semi)-basher that I know of for whom the major story points and the general shape of the prequels are EXACTLY what I expected and wanted.

I knew it would start with Anakin as a young boy. Given the tone of Jedi, and GL's satisfaction with that movie, that outcome--and the general tone of Menace in particular--was inevitable.

I knew that the center hunk of Anakin's story HAD to be a love story.

I knew the series would only have Vader at the very end. It only seems natural and right.

Nosir. This boy's has no complaints with what has happened in the prequels to date. HOW it's been realized, scene by scene, that's another story, and another thread.

 

I think we need an Episode 0 to satisfy all the complainers about TPM's lack of introudicing the elements of Star Wars...

 

My father took me to see A New Hope when I was 6 months old. I've been a Star Wars fan ever since. I do fairly enjoy the PTs but I do believe its different. But that is not a knock - I know this was going to be a history lesson. So instead of being blown away by a new world in the OT, it's like a bunch of "Oh! So that's how that happen" when watching the PT. It's impossible to recreate the same experience but its enjoyable nevertheless.

I believe the reason people knock the PT so much is that it doesn't fit what they imagined the story to be. So many had filled in the backstory how they wanted it to be and are disappointed GL envisioned it another way.

 

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They suck. The OT, now that is pure magic. They can never recreate the splendor, awe and magic when the OT came out. Back then, we had no spoilers. We just had to wait, and it was good. Even the marvel comics of star wars were great at the time. No need to explian things, no controversies. It was pure fun and easy storytelling. Now it is another story, now we have this big expanded universe that you need to follow in order to be on top of events, with some of it being very hokey, underwhemling or in some case outright over the top, and I am not talking about the cartoon series. At least those did justice to the franchise with Knights of the Old Republic video gmae. The PT regardless of whtever GL says, does not fit with the OT. If he was going to do the PT this way, he might as well redone the OT. Thats why I think many people loved Lord of the Rings. I'm not talking about people who know the story from the book, but people who went to see the movie for the first time and became exposed to the story. Can you believe that I can watch those movies over and over and not get bored. When I pop the first prequel movie, and Jar Jar says "Messa me Jar Jar Binks" or Yipeeeeeeeeee or Okay dokey or the best one "Roger Roger". I shut the it off. When I look at Attack of the Clones, and I hear, " We would live a lie" "I love you, my life has been dying little by little since I met you" and yoda I don't know what he's doing the air. I just take the dvd out and say, " What a load of junk." The technology used in the movies does not give it any justice. I'm old school, and the PT don't cut it. Yeah, ROTS will be like the Phantom Menace. It will make a ton of cash because it is billed as the last star wars movie ever, but the series like one magazine was quoted as stating will go down as the biggest letdown in the history of movie making.

 

This topic covers the prequels as a whole. Therefore, I'm moving it to Saga.

 

I would have hoped more people would have gone into this films without expectations. The personal imagination will always be greater than the reality. IMO, half of the reason why these films didn't go over well with the fandom is because people had 20 some years to create their own version of what they think was. Rather than appreciating them for what the prequels were, they hated them for what they thought they should have been.

 

I expected them to be good. They weren't, so I don't like them. It's as simple as that.

 

I really hate doing this, but Saga really is about ALL SIX MOVIES. I'm moving this thread to AotC.

 

the prequels are good to me because of george lucas i guess i will always enjoy his films no matter what

 

No, they aren't what I expected, but I like them.

When I pop the first prequel movie, and Jar Jar says "Messa me Jar Jar Binks" or Yipeeeeeeeeee or Okay dokey or the best one "Roger Roger". I shut the it off. When I look at Attack of the Clones, and I hear, " We would live a lie" "I love you, my life has been dying little by little since I met you" and yoda I don't know what he's doing the air. I just take the dvd out and say, " What a load of junk."

So why did you buy the DVDs and why do you keep watching them?

 

When I was a kid, I just kind of pictured some ships flying around and Darth Vader fighting jedi. Thats about it...

I think it's safe to say I'm very pleased with the PT, because I honestly didn't know what to expect.

 

So, you started out as a "basher" and then you saw the light?

Thats like saying..."..so you started out really smart, and then you regressed to the intelligence of a tadpole?"


And to answer the topic. I have to say "no"...these weren't the prequels I expected. But...I never really thought about the prequels that much as I was growing up, anyway.

 

Thats like saying..."..so you started out really smart, and then you regressed to the intelligence of a tadpole?"

That's pretty much a blatent insult to anyone who likes the prequels.

The prequels aren't exactly like I imagined them to be, although the young Darth Vader is much the way I imagined him to be.

I've been more than happy with them, however.

 

I am 16 years old, making me in the...6th grade I think when TPM came out. I started liking the OT when I was about 8 years old after hearing my older cousin who collected the action figures tell me this old guy shot lightning out of his fingers, so I figured he was a pimp. I got the VHS tapes pre-1997, so I have the good ole vesions as well as the new DVDs.

The Prequel Trilogy is good. The two things I like about both movies so far is Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. I truly think the best actor in the PT so far is Qui-Gon, he played his part wonderfully and had little "corny" dialogue. Obi-Wan was wonderful in the first movie (Aside from looking a little...sissy-ish), but he didn't have all that many lines.

Anakin in AOTC is okay, I enjoyed the movie. Natalie's acting is okay, but I really, really hated her acting in TPM. It was horrible. Gungans also pissed me off. Jar-Jar wouldn't have been so bad had he not been given so many lines, I wish the fart scene and a few other words he said were just cut all together and replaced by other, better footage of real people. The character needs to exist, but needs to be a lot less stupid.

I think that sometime in the next few years ILM should redo the whole gungan/droid battle, since it looked really cartoony. In a few years it will look MUCH more realistic, if redone.

 

actually ep 3 really fits into what i thought the prequels would be to a t. the others especially ep 1 kind of threw me even though i knew some kind of trade federation would appear. it was really the editing and lack of good dialogue that i didnt like, but it softened me for ep 2 so i enjoyed that better

 

That's pretty much a blatent insult to anyone who likes the prequels.

Amazing, isn't it? You would think people would be mature enough not to insult each other over a movie of all things.

 

Devilanse it always amazes me how tolerant bashers are to other people's opinions!(sarcasm) No matter what we may say in the end of the day our opinion is not fact. When I was kid in the 80's I just thought the prequels would explain why Anakin became Darth Vader, and it would show Obi-Wan as a young jedi knight! I am 26 now and very pleased with the prequels. oh and vong333 did Lucas rape your childhood?!

 

"Are these the prequels YOU expected?"

No, not at all.

Like everybody who saw the CT I imagined something for what happened before the movies, leading up to them. My imaginations proved to be way off.

While this might sound negative, it absolutely isn't, for me at least. The PT surprised me a lot, in a good way. George came up with things that I could never have come up with. He put very interesting twists on some aspects of the CT.

I also think it's good that the PT looks and feels different than the CT - otherwise the criticism would claim he just copied the CT. It's definitely something new, which makes things much more exciting.

By the look of the trailers, RotS seems to be somewhere inbetween, where it should be. It'll turn out very different from what I expect(ed) also, and I'll be glad.

 

Honestly, these prequels are absolutely NOTHING like i expected them to be.

And even more honestly, i thank George Lucas for that everytime i watch these films

- O_F

 

I'd have to say that the PT is not what I expected, although I didn't really expect anything until the weird day I found out they were making Episode 1 (now that was a weird day).

I'd have to say they didn't really live up to my expectations in some aspects, especially AOTC, but in other aspects they largely surpassed them.

But the answer is that they are NOT what I expected, at all. That's the strange thing about Star Wars: each movie is quite unique, and the characters seem so different, yet the same from movie to movie. It's quite interesting actually. In comparison, look at the LOTR trilogy, the characters are the EXACT same characters from movie to movie, Aragorn in FOTR is the same Aragorn as in TTT, Legolas is the same everywhere, etc. and it just feels like one 11 1/2 hour long movie. As for Star Wars, look at Luke in ANH and compare him to ESB, it's like a totally different guy...yet he's still Luke. That's the magic.

Unfortunately, IMO, although some of that magic still exists in the PT, a lot of it feels like it's been lost. Especially with Anakin and how his character changed so drastically and inexplicably between TPM and AOTC. Oh well...

 

That's pretty much a blatent insult to anyone who likes the prequels.

No...it was pretty much sarcasm...and you pretty much didn't get it. One question...why is it acceptable for a "gusher" to post this:

So, you started out as a "basher" and then you saw the light?

...without anyone batting an eyelash?

I look forward to seeing an answer.

Amazing, isn't it? You would think people would be mature enough not to insult each other over a movie of all things.

What? And miss out on all the fun?

Devilanse it always amazes me how tolerant bashers are to other people's opinions!

I've found that the regulars who post in the "Basher sanctuary" thread are far more tolerant, and open minded about other opinions than anyone on any "I love the PT" threads.

 

Gush, Bash, Gush, Bash, Gush, Gush, Bash, Bash...

Pretty much sums up most of the threads anymore.

I'm with TwilekJedi, my expectations were a lot different than what we received, but I'm not dissapointed at all. I can't even imagine some of the things GL came up with, pretty good storytelling if you ask me. (Gush...)

 

No matter how exciting the scene is laid out... No matter how well the dialogue is written... No matter how believably the story is acted... There will always be a feeling of inevitability and pointlessness to the PT. They feel like half-movies, and are by no means as great as they could (in my opinion) be.
So to answer the question... NO. These aren't the films I had envisioned... But that seems to be the problem with these prequels. Everybody had an idea of what to expect.

DarthNuisance makes an interesting point, although I disagree. Think of it as a greek tragedy (which in a certain sense it is. Not greek though. You know what I mean) where everyone knows the story because it's been around for hundreds of years. The drama is all in the telling. Another modern version of this is Titanic, which, I admit with some embarassment that I love. It's an awful movie, but like SW it plays to such universal themes and emotions that I don't really care. Anyway, you get the point. If it's well done, everyone knowing the ending can work for you, not against you. Lucas seems to be mostly doing this with humor, ("You'll be the death of me" or whatever) which is maybe a mistake. Titanic was a little more sucessful, in that there is a palpable dread underlying everything that goes on because you KNOW what is coming. I think Lucas may have gotten a little confused about whether he wanted to keep people in suspense or not, which has made the PT a little al over the place in terms of foreshadowing. But thats just sense of it.

Also, I disagree that they should have introduced Anakin as a Padawan -- I think it was inportant to understand all that stuff about his mother and his having a real life before becomeing a Jedi, etc. And also, just to introduce him in a way that made sense. BUT -- I think that means he should have been trained starting as a teen. If they had cast Hayden as, like, 16, that would have made sense. And then it really would have been a, "he's too old to begin the training thing." I think that would have worked well, and it would jive well with the OT. And you could jump right into the all of the teen angst and rebellion stuff. Plus, way more believable crush on Padme. (And you wouldn't have to sell the idea of a gun-toting 14-year old queen.)

 

Eh, I really don't care anymore. TFN.net has more or less cooled any passion I had for these movies. The wankiness of the fanbase did more to destroy the magic for me than any changes Lucas made.

The thing that irritates me the most is the labeling. I hate when people automatically call me a "gusher" because I like the prequels. Um, no. Yeah, I do slightly lean more toward the PT in preference, but I'll tear them apart and point out their flaws, too, possibly even more than I do the OT. And even though I like the PT, I'll admit the OT was probably better made. So where does put fans like me?

The problem with SW is that ALL of the fans are overzealous about most anything. The negativity can also become rather discouraging after awhile. I actually had a guy PM me and get on my case for liking AOTC, insulting me right and left, telling me my opinion automatically became invalid because I said I liked AOTC. I mean, WTF? Some people need to get over themselves.

When it comes down to it, some (not all...) gushers and the bashers need to get a handle on things. Insulting a movie you don't like is one thing. Directing the same vitriol at another is something entirely different. A person isn't stupid if they hate a movie that you like. They just have differing opinion.

 

No they are not they are much better then what I expected. I could never have come up with what GL has. At the end of the day I really enjoy the PT. I also enjoy the OT and OT:SE. I enjoy Star Warsa whole. Once Ep3 comes out there will not longer be a PT and OT to me it will become the Star Wars Saga.

Six different movies about one family and all the people they know.