Since Eps. VII to IX are a no-go, aren't the prequels kind of pointless?

Way back when it was first revealed that ANH was actually episode IV in a nine-part series, I thought that there had to be a very good reason for GL to tell the story out of order.

I figured that events in Episodes I - III must a) have a close connection to the events in Episodes VII - IX or b) focus on a different but parallel story arc than that resolved in the OT. Otherwise, why tell the story in such a backwards way? What new info about Episodes IV - VI could be revealed in the prequels without contradicting or simply rehashing what we already know?

It made sense to me that, in addition to the rise of Vader, some event -- a character leaving on an important mission, or some seed of a bigger plot -- would be depicted in the prequels and then lead to a climax several generations later involving Leia and Han's offspring.

Now that the Post-3 are confirmed as not happening, we are left with three movies whose only purpose is to set up (and of course, be compared to) three other movies we all love. The prequels have been mostly enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but I still feel like I'm getting icing after already eating the cake.

It's interesting to note that GL himself has commented (on the OT DVDs) that he initially had no real intention of making the prequels. The whole "Episode IV" thing at the beginning of ANH was meant as shorthand to imply a larger story. He never thought audiences would hold him to finishing the story!

 

i never heard about it being a 9 part series

 

Actually, at one point, it was thought to be *12* parts! GL gave many early interviews about the 9-film saga. I recall reading a brief outline of the story in a book called ICONS, where the author spoke with GL and got him to spill the beans...

 

according to gary kurtz ep 9 wouldve seen the emperor being killed. but yes i agree with sapno krei the prequels do feel kinda pointless when all is said and done since we already know how it ends, except for ep 3 the prequels have been pretty much filler

 

The prequels would have really been pointless if VII-IX were made with the storyline they had planned, as it would have been almost the same story as the OT would have been. Anakin starts as a Jedi, falls to the Dark Side and becomes a Sith, Luke does the same, then VII-IX. It would have been too much.

 

The prequels are half the story of one full story.

Without them, we end up seeing the redemption of someone we never met.

I think the classic trilogy wasn't as meaningful without the prequels.

 

I agree with that.

 

The PT is anything but pointless. We see the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire and we see Anakins rise and fall from Jedi to Sith.

 

Episodes 7-9 don't have Luke leaving the Jedi Order, and turning to the Sith. These episodes are more about Dark Jedi, then about Sith (Remember the Sith are dead, Vader ended them when he killed Sidious, and then died himself). 7-9 don't have to be made, however i think Master Lucas himself wanted to see the Star Wars come full circle, and so did we. The importance of 1-3, was to give us a reason why Anakin would turn good at the end of Return of the Jedi, and if he was once good, why did he turn bad. All reasons that we didn't know the anwers to.

 

7, 8, and 9 were condensed into RotJ

 

Here's the thing. GL always made a big deal about having to write a back story before writing ANH. Pretty unique concept, huh?

Well, not really! If you think about it, ALL stories have a back story of some kind! (The Titanic had to be built before it could sink. John Hammond had to become rich before he built Jurassic Park. Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler really had to screw up before getting kicked out of the University and starting the Ghostbusters. Morpheus had to be awakened from the Matrix before he could find Neo.) But do those stories need to be told as their own separate film? Not always.

To me, the prequels feel like the deleted scenes you might find on a DVD. They may be interesting, and fill in gaps in the story, but when all is said and done, they don't really change or enrich the final film. Watch the deleted scenes of any movie by themselves, and you don't get the full story. In the end, they only have value when viewed reintegrated into the film.

On the other hand the Classic Trilogy stood on its own quite well, and revealed the basic back story in such a way that felt complete yet mysterious at the same time.

I realize I'm sounding m like a basher, but I don't mean to be. I'm just more than a little disappointed that the prequels are the end of the saga, rather than a fresh beginning.

 

An additional thought: For my money, this backwards storytelling and the long wait for Episode III will only have been worth it if ROTS reveals something so *big* that it forces us to recontextualize everything that has been shown before (including in Eps. IV - VI).

Some examples I can relate of movies accomplishing this are MEMENTO, THE SIXTH SENSE, and THE LIMEY. MEMENTO is especially relevant because, like STAR WARS, it presents its story backwards (MEMENTO spoilers follow).

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In MEMENTO, the hero has short-term memory loss, so he forgets things every few minutes or hours. The movie plays through scene-by-scene backwards, with the beginning of one scene hooking up to the end of the next. At the end (actually the beginning), we learn that the hero was his own worst enemy, and he had been lying to himself to keep himself from accepting a painful truth.

I don't have much confidence that George Lucas will do something that cool with ROTS. Call me a pessimist, but hey, maybe I'll be surprised.

 

personally , i get so much more enjoyment out of the ot after seeing eps 1-2 and knowing what i know of episode three.. having now actually seen anakin grow up and where he came from it just adds depth to the sympathetic side of the darth vader character that for me previously was lacking.

 

Basically, with the PT, the whole thing is the story of Vader.

If GL made 9 movies... what is it a story of?

If they made the last three NOW, all the main characters would be old. that's the REAL reason they're not makin another one. Not to mention, GL is old and tired, the actors probably wouldn't do it.

So, there you go.

 

Basically, with the PT, the whole thing is the story of Vader.

I wonder if the previous poster was right -- that the Emperor was not supposed to die until a generation later, in Episode IX. Would Vader even still be alive then, or would Han and Leia's kids have done it? Would it be satisfying to see anyone other than Vader kill the Emperor? Hmm...

It's debatable whether a Vader/Anakin-less series would be worth watching. If the popularity of the EU books (none of which I have read, BTW) is anything to go by, I think the answer would have been yes.

 

*Well, not really! If you think about it, ALL stories have a back story of some kind!*

BUT none of them had the ultimate villain, let alone villain who was once a young, innocent slave

 

Not sure if you know but Chewbacca had to agree to do 7,8,9 to be able to star in Episode 3.So just maybe?

 

If GL made 9 movies... what is it a story of?

The Skywalkers. That's what the 9 part Star Wars was originally going to be about.

 

It's possible that there could be a TV show that deals with the post ROTJ timeline.

 

The prequels are half the story of one full story.

Without them, we end up seeing the redemption of someone we never met.

I think the classic trilogy wasn't as meaningful without the prequels.

agree with you I do
its the backstory that enriches the already established characters and the whole story...makes it more meaningful and tragic

-Mel

 

"Without them, we end up seeing the redemption of [bsomeone we never met.[/b]"

I think the redemption is weaker now because of how unlikeable Anakin is in Episode II. It was better when you didn't know Anakin in Return of the Jedi.

 

I dont think he is unlikable.
he is just a torn person

-Mel

 

I will concede that watching Vader's death scene in ROTJ now feels even more tragic than before I had seen the prequels.

But I've never had a problem with Vader's tale being told in full. Just with the odd way it was told.

I'm actually sort of jealous of younger kids, because they will be able to watch the series chronologically for the first time, with all the surprises and drama intact. They'll always remember the story that way, while we "old folks" will always remember it the other way around.

So, while I feel that releasing the series backwards had no point, it won't matter once ROTS is out on DVD, because then the series will be a whole entity on people's shelves. And maybe 50 years from now people will have forgotten that Episodes IV-VI came out first...

 

its not like telling you the ending first will take away from telling you the rest of the story.
okay I love Babylon 5 (SW for the small screen) and it used a lot of foreshadowing things. the interesting thing was HOW did it all come to this.

-Mel

 

Why wouldn't he make the PT? Just because we already know what is going to happen does NOT mean we don't want to know what led up the events in the OT.
Think of it, we see how Anakin became a Jedi and fall into the dark side and be reborn as Darth Vader. We also see how the Jedi Order was in the Republic days, the rise of the Emperor, and the extinction of the Jedi Order.
So, the PT is actualy requiered in my book

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