PT The True Critical Reception of the PT

Do you reckon that the Prequels were far better recieved by the general critical community than the fan community?

Here are the RottenTomatoes and iMDb scores:

TPM: 57% critics, 60% audience, 6.6/10
AOTC: 67% critics, 60% audience, 6.8/10
ROTS: 80% critics, 65% audience, 7.7/10

And yet some fans would have you believe that the films were universally panned and some of the worst films ever made...

 

TPM was actually at 61% initially. The 3D reviews don't count in my eyes.

 

That is merely representative a tiny sliver of perception regarding PT. Many do strongly dislike it and that's okay.

 

yeah they do have a lot of fans but they also have their detractors. Like most films

 

For some reason I always remember Ebert and Roeper giving ROTS two thumbs up.

 

Except this is a pretty good indicator regarding the overall opinion in the general audience to the films - something which fandom often blocks out. I mean if you asked some people the Prequels are objectively terrible films and are universally panned - this is certainly not what the facts say.

 

I think it says that on the original DVD? Or maybe my mind's just making things up...

 

Hundreds of thousands of views (IMDb) are more than enough to make a good statistical approximation of the audiences' general feelings towards the films, even though it's still a tiny fraction of all the people who've seen them. But based on that I can conclude that they were pretty positively received and definitely not panned.

 

I remember watching the episode where they reviewed it. It always comes to mind when this topic comes up for some reason.

 

Probably cause it's looked upon as film prestige, and it is somewhat shocking that any of the PT movies, even the best one of ROTS, could gain that when compared to their OT counterparts.

 

On rotten tomatoes u need should click on top critics not all critics.. if u do, tpm gets a 40 percent and aotc gets a 42 percent. all critics counts people who do not review for major publications or well known websites.

 

Except I don't think top critics are any more important than the other critics which is why I included audience scores.

 

You have forgotten the mentality of the PT fans. That we who think the OT is far superior are fools and can't imagine the splendor and glory that is the Prequel Trilogy. That Jar Jar is a triumph of cinema comedy, and Hayden gave a better performance than Mark Hamill. That the story is and always was "The Tragedy of Darth Vader." That the Special Editions are improvements and not vandalizations of three classic movies. But most important of all is that they believe that people love the Prequels and would gladly prefer to watch them over the OT. They secretly hope that the new films fail at the box office and are delusional in their desire to see their unorthodox views of PT quality vindicated.

MOD Note: This is skirting the line of PT bashing. Tone it down

 

Are you a scientific miracle (being able to read minds) or simply projecting you own - quirky - imaginations into other people's heads? In case it's the latter, there is a very popular rule: Films, not fans.

The OP was talking about the "general critical community", not some randomely selected "Top Critics". If you're only interested in "newspaper critics" [and want to avoid multiple reviews (3D)], consider Metacritic. But wait, AOTC and ROTS both have higher scores than ROTJ (which is even matched by TPM), so it might not be your cup of tea

 

In 1999 I was not on the internet in any kind of way. I had no clue what the critics were saying about the movie. I just new I liked it, and went back to see it multiple times.

I am sure some of the critics have good, well rounded, legitimate and intelligent critiques.

However, I am of the opinion that the movie suffers from the phenomenon that the internet has created where some things, not just the prequels, are overly criticized as part of a mob mentality where those same people would have never had such a nasty opinion of the film if the internet wasn't involved.

 

*Shrugs* If some want to believe and rejoice in such 'stats' have at it. It doesn't mean many do not dislike the PT though but it isn't a war, guys.

 

Do these people really exist? If so they sound like they are the mirror opposite of those people who would say something like this:

"You have forgotten the mentality of the OT fans. That we who think the PT is far superior are fools and can't imagine the splendor and glory that is the Original Trilogy. That C3PO is a triumph of cinema comedy, and Mark gave a better performance than Hayden Christenson. That the story is and always should be "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker." That the Special Editions are not vandalizations but improvements of the three classic movies. But most important of all is that they believe that people hate the Prequels and would gladly prefer to watch the OT over them. They secretly hope that the new films don't "fail" at the box office like the PT and aren't "All-CGI" and are delusional in their desire to see their unorthodox views of the PT's "terrible" quality vindicated by them being completely ignored in the new movies. Boba Fett will not be Jango's clone. Hayden will not appear as Anakin again and even better if the theatrical versions of the OT do come out they will be declared the "real" versions of the films so that in one feel swoop when TFA comes out we can wipe out both the SE's and PT at the same time!"

The thing is that I find that these kinds of extreme OT fans are just that. OT fans. While the fans of the PT are actually fans of all 6 movies. Those kinds of OT fans actually aren't so hot about ROTJ either. So out of 6 movies they love 2 can stand ROTJ and some even can stand ROTS.

Now here is the question I always ask. What are the chances that the people who love or like all 6 movies will enjoy the new ones as well and what are the chances that those who only really love 2 of the 6 films will enjoy the new ones?

I think the answer is pretty easy.

For myself as a child who saw Star Wars in 1977 at the age of 5 and loved the OT and then at 27 watched The Phantom Menace and loved the PT I say that I am almost certainly to at least like if not love the new movies starting with The Force Awakens. I can guaratee you for certain that if for some reason I totally hate and despise and shudder at the sight of TFA I will state that at the time, talk about it for a while and then in short order I will stop talking about it in a hateful tone. Will only see it once anyway and certainly will not get the BD. I will certainly not go on and on about it for decades as the SE despiser's not have for 18 years and counting.

When these movies come out and the prequels aren't ignored and in fact embraced in the sequels what are those people going to do?

The SE's will still exist (hopefully along with BD's of the original versions) and sooner or later HC will appear in the ST as Anakin's Force Ghost (my guess is in IX when Luke's work is done).

 

So why do you always take the side of people who hate the PT?

 

they did, i've still got it on VHS

and Ebert gave TPM a Really good review. ATOC he didn't like the dialogue and thought the non-digital projected version was fuzzy.

 

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-1999 3.5 stars out of 4

I love his open which really sums it all up so well:

If it were the first "Star Wars" movie, "The Phantom Menace" would be hailed as a visionary breakthrough. But this is the fourth movie of the famous series, and we think we know the territory; many of the early reviews have been blase, paying lip service to the visuals and wondering why the characters aren't better developed. How quickly do we grow accustomed to wonders. I am reminded of the Isaac Asimov story "Nightfall," about the planet where the stars were visible only once in a thousand years. So awesome was the sight that it drove men mad. We who can see the stars every night glance up casually at the cosmos and then quickly down again, searching for a Dairy Queen.
"Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace," to cite its full title, is an astonishing achievement in imaginative filmmaking. If some of the characters are less than compelling, perhaps that's inevitable: This is the first story in the chronology and has to set up characters who (we already know) will become more interesting with the passage of time. Here we first see Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda and R2-D2 and C-3PO. Anakin is only a fresh-faced kid in Episode I; in IV, V and VI, he has become Darth Vader.
At the risk of offending devotees of the Force, I will say that the stories of the "Star Wars" movies have always been space operas, and that the importance of the movies comes from their energy, their sense of fun, their colorful inventions and their state-of-the-art special effects. I do not attend with the hope of gaining insights into human behavior. Unlike many movies, these are made to be looked at more than listened to, and George Lucas and his collaborators have filled "The Phantom Menace" with wonderful visuals.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones-2002 2 stars out of 4

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith-2005 3.5 stars out of 4

He ends the review with this:

I said this is not necessarily the last of the "Star Wars" movies. Although Lucas has absolutely said he is finished with the series, it is inconceivable to me that 20th Century-Fox will willingly abandon the franchise, especially as Lucas has hinted that parts VII, VIII and IX exist at least in his mind. There will be enormous pressure for them to be made, if not by him, then by his deputies.

 

if u count the average fan on the street's review as equal to the the review of a critic from time magazine or rolling stone or some other major publication, then why even make this thread?

 

Hayden will not be in the ST. Disney will not go there. I can see Vader appearing as a Force Ghost to scare someone with what happens when the fall to the Dark Side, but any advisor spirit role will most likely go to Yoda. Hopefully puppet Yoda.

 

??? Did you even read the first line of this thread? And I'm not being sarcastic, but...

DarthPhilosopher: "Do you reckon that the Prequels were far better recieved by the general critical community than the fan community?"

And what's wrong with believing that the average Joe's opinion is equal to someone's over at time magazine? Of course I appreciate that the latter probably has more experience, has seen more films and is probably a more reliable source of information on films you've never seen before. But I don't believe OP had "top critics" in mind when he created this thread.

 

Yeah this

 

You do realize that HC was at GL's wedding right? You do realize that last year he was in China promoting the movies TV debut for Lucasfilm?

http://www.1905.com/video/play/728583.shtml?listid=728583

Do you really think for one second that Anakin will not be in the ST at least once in a trilogy with his children and their kids?

Please.

Vader as a Force Ghost? Vader is gone. Anakin is back. That is the story. He's appeared in every movie. Sure Yoda will appear likely in VII. As I said don't expect Anakin until IX but if he appears multiple times all the better.