PT State why you love the Prequels!

I'll throw in the symbol of falling. In the OT everything is about consumption, Vader trying to consume his children, The Falcon being consumed by the Death Star, the space slug, etc. In the PT there is A LOT of falling from heights. In Anakin's case he does it on purpose, like when he jumps from the speeder in AOTC over Coruscant.

 

It's so well written and the story, oh my god the story! I just love them so much. I think one of the major factors for me is how unique the prequels are, and how wonderfully flawed the characters are written and how they all collectively contributed to the rise of evil. As Trisha Biggar said, the Prequels is when the universe is 'At the height of the culture', the amount of beauty and diveristy in them is breath taking.

I also found it so refreshing to witness a time period where evil was not predominately ruling the galaxy, it was the 'good guys' (so to speak) who were in charge, something we don't see in the OT and, unfortunately, the sequel trilogy. The fall of the Republic/Jedi was a masterful story. Seeing all the self destructive choices the characters made throughout the PT were all incredibly pain inducing to watch, as the audience we are given the unique position of people who already know where everything eventually leads to, making us witness the story through painful irony.

I absolutely love the amount of depth and literature the Prequels have. It is written like a true Shakespearean Tragedy which I admire and honestly I don't find the dialogue bad at all. I found the language choices used in the PT were reflective of the era they were in, a cultured medieval period, which was why I did not find ANY of the dialogue choices bad. The music was beautiful and the best John Williams has ever done.

One of the big main reasons why I will always love the PT is that it brought us the legend herself Padme Amidala. I found her story so beautifully tragic, a young girl who was thrown into leadership roles and politics at the tender age of 14, and henceforth always giving her life to the people and public. However, the one time she dared to be selfish, the one time she dared to do something for herself,it resulted in pain and anguish beyond belief, and at the end of it all, caused her own demise. (Also im a sucker for her relationship with Anakin I thought they were great)

I don't think we will ever get a trilogy as deep, grey and thought provoking as the PT. They are truly in a class of their own and I am sure as the years go on the PT will be seen as literary masterpieces and intricately woven stories.

 

Fantastic post! I certainly agree about the melancholic beauty of the PT. Still amazes me how Lucas made something so bright and fantastic on one level while simultaneously offering such a cutting exploration of SF heroism. I also doubt we'll see anything like it again.

 

I don't think I can say the PT was well written, in fact I don't think it's an unpopular belief to say they are darnright awful, but it doesn't bother me. They are magical. They feel like they take place "once upon a time" before everything went down the toilet. I am in the happy place where I can see all the flaws but still appreciate and love them.

 

Watching the evolution of the Empire, the crumbling of the Republic, the character arc of Palpatine, and the Jedi Council in action. This is all stuff that really gives the OT more depth and opens up the universe. Wasn't the biggest fan of Anakin's story, but the macro story was great.

 

For me it's simple, I've always loved a good story. That's pretty much my only requisite for consuming any type of fiction in any medium. George Lucas knew how to tell one hell of a story. When it comes to film, I don't think anyone else has ever come close. The way he tells his story is unlike anyone else. Every tool available to a director is on his pallet, and he uses them all to tell stories about character. I've never had lighting or sound or motion speak to me about the depths of a characters soul quite like I have in Star Wars. It's like every frame is equal to a page in a sprawling epic novel. I generally believe reading a novel allows one to understand a character better than film ever could; to allow one to get inside that character's mind in a more personal way. Lucas' Star Wars films are the only ones that make me question that.

 

I haven't said anything here yet because I haven't known where to start. But yes, the story. Not only is it's scope impressive and daring, but the way it all comes together and works like an intricate, finely tuned clock with every gear in just the right place. This is one aspect of the writing.

And the character studies. The second aspect of the writing. Bottomless wellsprings of inspiration and reflection that continue to grow over time. Each character it's own meditation on being human.

The script aspect of the writing. I think the writing here defies labels or description. It's the prefect fit for what these films are, naturally. These undefinable films. And I couldn't imagine it any other way. That's why I'm glad Lucas didn't "hire a pro like Kasdan to polish it up!" I think that would've completely destroyed it and thrown off the harmony. It's all Lucas* and the world didn't know what to do with it. Which is why I also don't think we'll see another blockbuster like these again, any time soon, sadly.

*(Not sure in which ways Hales contributed with AotC).

And even beyond that; the facial expressions, the music, the character dynamics, everything comes together to form this mystifying meldey unlike anything else.


And to echo @gaarastar58, I dare say I think the prequels approach a certain kind of perfection in their own quirky way. By that perhaps I mean I love them in a way a parent loves their child. I adore and champion their strengths, and I also see their weaknesses as potential strengths, but even when I can't I do that I have come to a place where I can laugh with them and not at them. It's the raw humanity underneath it all that counts. For me, anyway,

Jar Jar is the key to all of this.



And for the record, all this goes for the OT, too.

 

In addition to everything that has been said: Exposition. Yes, I mean it After so many modern blockbusters where things just happen for now reason and characters refusing to communicate like normal beings it's refreshing to revisit the movies where events move from A to B in a logical progression and the characters care to explain thins to themselves and the audience. Not to mention, there're usually some interesting interaction or subtle characterization touches you can notice if you pay attention instead of just bashing acting or clunky dialogue.

 

Best thing about the prequels was seeing the Jedi in action so much, especially in lightsaber duels. Not a whole lot of that in the OT and ST.

 

Right! I think what's also so brilliant is that I watched the PT when I was a kid and of course I loved it to death. It had everything a kid could want, except for ROTS ofc which was just gut wrenching to watch as a child. However, now that I'm older and have rewatched them there are so many hidden symbols, motifs, messages, stories and meaning behind scenes and characters in the film and it's so enjoyable to discover and dissect them all.

It's brilliant that George has created a trilogy that can be heavily enjoyed by kids, and also be greatly appreciated by older people/adults due to the complexity of the characters and story.

 

There are simply no other works of art that are anything like them. Whatsoever. Stylistically, they are quite unique compared to every other movie of their nature that has come out since.

These three films tell an incredibly grand, stunningly beautiful story in the most fascinating and wondrous fictional world I’ve ever seen. The imagery is just unbelievably imaginative and leaves me in awe constantly no matter how many times I view them. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention just how much the incredible score adds to the visuals.

Watching these first, makes me all the more excited to see the following three episodes next! They truly complete the story, while also being an epic of their own. Each prequel film is a satisfying watch and a unique experience itself.

The only things that I don’t love about them are tiny nitpicks compared to how much I get out of them every single time. I even love Jar Jar.

 

The way i see star wars, the PT has a more complex and better story to tell with flawed execution at points compared to OT which had a much simpler tale of good vs evil with almost flawless execution. Yet its the prequel movies i find myself watching more often

 

The Padme - Anakin love scenes.

Only joking. It's the story charting Palpatine's rise and seeing Obi-Wan as a young man that I really enjoy. And Qui Gonn is exactly what I imagined a Jedi Knight to be so I'm happy watching him on a loop.

 

For me, the Prequels added a layer of depth we never seen with Star Wars before. The OT was all about a band of freedom fighters trying to topple a totalitarian regime, here we get the calm before the storm. We get to see what the Republic was like before the rise of the Empire along with the Jedi in their prime but the main meat is the Clone Wars, unlike the Galactic Civil War, this is a full scale war between two factions with an equal amount of soldiers, ships, and resources.

 

removed

 

Padme's Costumes
Obi Wan Kenobi
Anakin and Padme's romance
Natalie Portman's acting
Ewan's acting
Hayden's acting
Liam Neeson
Jar Jar Binks
The deleted scene where we found out Padme was the mother of the Rebels
The memes made from it.

 

Nice.

 

Its such a rich universe, and more importantly, George didn't give a damn what you thought. "Oh hey yeah lets just skip the whole war and make it into a CGI TV show. We'll start making at the same time as RotS, so it will come out 4 years after the movie so people will have to go back watch the whole thing to understand the whole story." And he actually did it. The ABSOLUTE madman.

That's what I love when people complain about these movies. George had a plan, you just decided to ignore it.

 

Im an escapist and the PT (as well as all the related tv, books, comics, games etc..) gave my imagination enough fodder to get lost in for years. The fact that it was part of the same OT universe that I had got lost in as a kid made the experience all the more fun.

 

I agree with @lookameatbag. After seeing the OT I was curious about how Darth Vader was before he became Vader, and also about the back story of Obi-Wan. After seeing the prequels I got a more complete overview over the full story. We can actually see the charcters evolve towards the ones we see in the OT. I've never been a huge fan of Hayden Christense, but I admit he did a fairly good job at evolving Anakin towards the dark side.

The prequels also showed us how the jedi order used to be before they were nearly extinguished.

 

Love the PT because there are historical explanations about the end of the Jedi era ... the rise of the empire is more clear (better than the disney "new order") ... and there are really good fights with lightsabers ... =)

 

The action
The Story

 

I love the complex plot
I love the worldbuilding
I love the CGI
I love the lightsaber duels and the other action scenes
I love the darker tone
And most of all, we got TCW out of it.

 

Agreed. I remember watching AOTC for the first time and seeing the Jedi arrive on Geonosis. It was awesome to see all of them fight, but it also struck me this was the beginning of the end. Bodies were piling up on the arena. Peace keepers acting as peace makers hit the Order hard.

 

Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan. =)

But other than that, I absolutely love George Lucas's scope of the galaxy for the prequels. It really felt like we were just along for the ride while George the storyteller brings us from the start to the end. Sorta like "Cosmos", Star Wars version.