Saga Best PT/ST opening episode: TPM or TFA? *POLL included*

TPM by a mile, no my a million billion mile!

 

TPM is my favorite PT film and I love the PT so what does that tell you? Yes the TPM is way better than TFA.

 

I'd say TPM. For one, the music itself was absolutely beautiful and original. TFA's music was far less creative in my opinion.

TPM launched a trilogy of galactic proportions.

TFA was great, but it's scope looks to be very similar to ANH.

 

These two films approach their duties as trilogy openers in different ways.
One is a prologue, the other a continuation.
One tells a grown-up story in a fairytale kind of way, the other tells a fairytale in a grown-up kind of way.
One pleases the inner child, the other pleases the inner adolescent.
One is a melodrama, the other a melodrama.
One is highly philosophical, the other highly emotional.
One is more quirky, the other more streamlined.

Both are loved by me.

 

TFA every time.

 

I like the way you put that Lulu Mars.

 

Kylo is a better villain than Maul, but Sidious is a better villain than Snoke. Sidious has a cool scheme to become Chancellor of the Republic and Kylo has clear motives for his actions while Snoke and Maul are poorly-developed and seem to just be there to fill certain tropes.

 

It's interesting that you consider Kylo's motives well established. I adore that character, but I actually have no idea what he's after.

 

I don't think Kylo really knows what he's after either, which is probably why so many people identify with him.

 

The Force Awakens > The Phantom Menace.

Of course, The Phantom Menace is my second least favorite SW movie...topped only by Return of the Jedi. Still, I gave both these a 7/10.

I gave TFA an 8/10. It's number 4 on my favorite SW movies list, despite the major flaws.

 

the force awakens. only prequel i enjoy is revenge of the sith.

 

I don't love TFA as much but I did like this little analogy...

 

I think "charscterized" would have been a better word for what I was trying to say. Maul was a non-character who the concept artists gave an awesome look and fighting style to while Kylo is very much a character but wears a cheap mask.

 

This

 

TFA was slightly disappointing, but still a great movie. Visually, it wasn't much of a step up from ROTS while TPM at the time was a huge leap from the OT. That's a reason why I gave TPM such an advantage.

 

it's hard to say, and probably too early to pick...
i loved TPM when it came out. being 12 years old at the time probably had a lot to do with it, but it is still my favorite of the PT.
TFA is the better made film in my opinion, but it's hard to say which one i've enjoyed more. it will be easier to decide after the rest of the ST comes out.

 

I've just been struck by a thought (there's a first time for everything, I know). For those on these boards who are also fans of British SF show, Doctor Who, the Star Wars fan dynamic is now very similar to Doctor Who fandom. Those of us who like the original trilogy only, or even just the first two films are like Doctor Who fans who believe in a Golden Age of the show which pretty much came to an end in about 1977 (ironically about the time Star Wars first arrived). This group (which I identify with) often believe that the show (Doctor Who) was at its very peak when Tom Baker was in his early prime in the title role.

Prequel lovers are like fans of the Sylvester McCoy era of the original run of Doctor Who; this was an era much derided in its time by many fans, and screen SF fans in general, because of its cheap production values and question marks about the acting and characterisation of the cast. However, those who championed it, sited the era's willingness to take risks and eventual turn to darker, more ambiguous territory. It's McCoy era fans, just like it is prequel fans for Star Wars, who seem to have a higher proportion of those who are critical of each's respective modern incarnation.

Finally, those who think TFA is as good, if not better than SW has ever been, are like those who champion the return of DW; higher production values, 'meta' references and a more prominent feminine presence are things the new incarnations of both 'franchises' have in common.

Anyway, sorry for the thread hijacking, but the comparison just struck me upon encountering this thread.

 

To me, The Phantom Menace is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The Force Awakens is filmed better, it has a better story, INFINITELY better acting, better environments, a better bad guy, no Jar Jar Binks.

After the disappointment of the PT to me, TFA re-invigorated my Star Wars fandom.

That's all I ever wanted and I got it.

 

TPM by a long way. Vastly superior in terms of the script, acting, humor, chemistry between actors, tension, effects. Almost everything & most importantly, sheer entertainment value. Which in the end is the purpose of these types of movies.

 

I liked this better when it was my post. Anyway, interesting results so far

 

Yup, paraphrasing is fun!

 

TPM. It looks so different from the originals. It feels new. TFA is too familiar for a new era.

 

Well there are many ways to look at this.

You could see how well the first film fits with the other two.
But that isn't possible with TFA as those don't exist yet.

How do they work as set up?
Again since the films after TFA don't exist yet, it is hard to answer that. TPM does it's job mostly well. It establishes a republic that has seen better days, a senate that is totally corrupt and a Jedi order that is rather flawed. Some of that comes back later. But I also think that Lucas didn't make full use of the three films that he knew he would make. Like introducing Dooku and the seps in TPM.

The characters are established and some stuff is set up that pays of later. But the problem I had with just TPM is that Qui-Gon is too dominant. Most of the characters interact with him and not very much with each other. Padme and Obi-Wan hardly speak, Anakin and Obi-Wan meet but little else. He is also the character that gets the most character work and Obi-Wan is pushed to the sidelines with little to define him as a character beyond the obedient pupil role he is in.
But at films end, Qui-Gon is dead and the central anchor of the film is gone.
It would be sort of like making ANH with Obi-Wan as the central character and ending it with the MF leaving the DS.

As for a movie that is meant to make me interested in seeing the next film?
TFA wins here hands down. After that I am very interested in seeing the next one and is very curious about will happen next. After TPM I still wanted to see the next film but I had no real urgency to do that. And I could predict several things that would happen next.

Purely as films?
TFA again, the directing, the acting and some of the writing is better. TPM does a much better job with the setting up the political plot, despite some issues. TFA does a very rushed job of setting the scene and it reuses too much. SKB is the biggest problem here.

I will give TPM that it had bigger ambitions than TFA, that Lucas was trying to try some new stuff. I give him credit for that. It might not all have worked.
TFA is in some ways "safer" and plays more to nostalgia, not that TPM isn't guilty of that too.

But the end result is what matters and TFA is plain better to me and more enjoyable to watch.
I only saw TPM once in cinemas, TFA I saw twice and I hardly do that these days. Too expensive.

Bye for now.
Blackboard Monitor

 

Not even close in my opinion... TFA is a much better film than TPM.

TPM was a poor setup for the trilogy to come. Aside from the mostly wooden acting, stilted dialogue, or the confusing and uninteresting plot, the movie wastes a lot of time. TFA is certainly not a perfect film. I'll admit that TPM was much more imaginative and willing to take risks which I appreciate. The music and imagery was more memorable as a result. However beyond aesthetics, TPM fails miserably as a movie. Entire segments of this movie make no sense and even when it shows flashes of brilliance, it has to ruin them with silly JarJar gags such as Anakin's first meeting with Padme or the battle of naboo (a glorified slapstick comedy routine).

One thing I loved about TPM was how different everything looked. George did an awesome job of conveying the golden age of the Republic before its fall. I enjoy seeing the gradual change through the prequels from the sleek and shiny Naboo starfighters to the rigged and warlike ARC-170 starfighters in ROTS which remind me of the x-wings of the originals. This was something I missed in TFA. It feels like Disney tried so hard to recapture the "magic" of the originals that they let go of any real innovation. It's disappointing to see that almost nothing seems to have changed much in the galaxy after the defeat of the Empire. Still the same old x-wings, TIE fighters, star destroyers, etc.

Still, as an opening TFA is a far more competent film than TPM in almost every way.

 

What segments didn't make sense to you out of curiosity? Cause the movie made good sense to me.