PT State why you love the Prequels!

World Building, World Building, World Building

Naboo, Mos Espa, those amazing shots of the Coruscant skyline, Kamino, Geonosis and the Coruscant nightlife scene.

You know I wish we got a live action TV series based on Coruscanti Organized Crime during the clone wars and the early Imperial era. Something like the planned Star Wars 1313 game. Would have prefered that much more to any sequel trilogy.

 

I don't know if you know this, but a show like that with the working title Star Wars: Underworld was actually planned during George Lucas's tenure, though it never ended up being produced. Apparently, multiple seasons' worth of scripts exist in the Lucasfilm vaults. Several TCW episodes as well as the cancelled 1313 video game drew from those scripts.

 

Oh, I would like to add a comment about Rogue One and Solo. which was absent from the previous post (quoted above). By far, Rogue One, was the best NON GL movie that REALLY felt like GL had a huge involvement in it. Rogue One was just a joy to watch (which I have done on Digital HD and Blu-ray like over 50 times so far).

And Solo? For me, far better than any of the Sequel films. Just a fun movie to watch.

 

My apologies.

 

The prequels have the George Lucas stamp all over them -- that's an excellent reason to love them, in my opinion. GL's vision and style are all up in it. He introduced a visual vocabulary that defined turn of the century film making. He didn't ruin my childhood -- no!! He reassured and reinforced my love of STAR WARS. To George, I give all due credit.

 

The Prequels were my Generations SW. I was a SW Fan since 1999 and I was 12 when Ep I was 7released and I was 18 and almost finished school when Ep III was released (I was in due of two more exams during the premiere). The Prequels followed me on my wholr journey through puberty and growing up and manifested my LOVE SW, made me start collecting SW literature and had a big inpact on my hole life.

I have to say: I wouldnt be the same person without them. So many messages in them I could take out for me to follow during my life.

Beside that they are just amazing films: great story, amazing world building, fantastic music. They give the OT so much depth and lore. They enhance the entire GFFA and gave us many many great EU Stuff. Beside that they gave us CW and TCW.

 

The most dynamic and complex conflict we've seen in SW to date, the intricate internal evolution of how a Republic willingly becomes an Empire, the fall of Anakin Skywalker through love, conflicting loyalty, arrogance, and choice instead of some MacGuffin like a Kyber Crystal that corrupts, amazing battles, lightsaber fights, the best locations, complex relationships, and films that contain so much variety:

TPM- Light-hearted, space adventure dealing with classic good vs evil theme, coming together for greater good, and don't underestimate those that look incapable (Anakin, Padme, Jar Jar)

AOTC- Mysterious neo-noir dealing with corruption, espionage, terrorism, and civil war with love and loss as the heart of the film

ROTS- Sprawling grand epic with George going out on a bang as war, betrayal, and tragedy enwrap the fates of Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan. The Jedi and Sith are at war, not only for the galaxy, but for the soul of one man.

 

Well...believe it or not...when the OT came out, I was NOT allowed to go see it.

My parents believed that sci-fi/fantasy was silly, and I was the ONLY kid I knew who had NEVER seen these films. Worse, my mother, who was mentally ill and hadn't seen them either, filled my head with what garbage they were, so I'd go to school trashing something I had never even seen. (No wonder I was the kid they pinned the "kick me" sign on.) I literally did not see a SW film until the rerelease of the OT. So, for me, the prequels were MY Star Wars, the ones I got to go to the theater and discover along with everyone else, the ones I made friends sitting out in the line-up in tents with.

I can't believe TPM was TWENTY YEARS AGO.

****, I'm old.

 

Cause they GOAT as duck.


EDIT: Typos on phone. Oh well. Imma keep it.

 

I was wrong...

TPM is a great movie... I'll start with the good...

The visual effects

I like the contrast of color to the drab tone of color with the OT. TPM is very colorful, vibrant...Speaking more to the film's visuals, the CGI in the film isn't used sparingly and yet it holds up fairly well. The OT is a difficult act to follow, using mostly practical effects, it has aged nearly flawlessly. TPM was a special effects CGI spectacle and yet it holds up better than most films of that era and even beyond that era. TPM still holds up fairly nicely even by the standards of today, placing it along side other timeless classics such as the original Star Wars film. Also, speaking more to the aesthetics of the film...the film had a seemingly modern feel and look to it over the OT. Technology and aesthetic design seemed to look superior and more modern than it was in the OT...

The difference of technology isn't so difficult to understand given a little thought and consideration... Even after the CGI-abomination that was the re-imagined OT, notice that everything looks old and dirty and worn. It's not that technologies don't exist, it's a sign of economic decline associated with 30 years of living under a totalitarian dictator. Dictatorships don't govern well. And entire story of SW is based around a glorious Republic that governed well, but was messy and imperfect (as democracies tend to be). An ambitious tyrant took over, and the oppression began stifling the economy. This is why the ships and speeders and tech in the PT look shiny, new, work efficiently. Meanwhile, the tech, ships, speeders, and such are all shoddy and in need of constant repair in the OT. Because 30 years of decay. Also the aesthetic quality of technology in the PT making it look more modern or "high tech" doesn't necessarily mean that is the true case... It's simply a difference of aesthetic design.... and the aesthetic of which things are designed can differ from planet to planet within the galaxy, just as much as the level of technology a planet possesses...

This also explains why the army may have used droids at the time rather than people. We already saw sophisticated intelligent AI in TPM, so it wasn't a far stretch that droids could be used in an army at that time. Perhaps clones became a cheaper or more reliable alternative...

Jar Jar...
Again, even by today's standards, the CGI behind Jar Jar isn't all that dated. The character itself provides a contrast of tonality that we rarely see in the Star Wars universe. There are other characters quite like Jar Jar,. He can be loud and a little flamboyant but his performance much like the visual scheme of the TPM provides audiences with a strong contrast to the rugged, serious, insipid tonality of the first trilogy and it's characters...

Also, you'd have to be a terrible person to not empathize with the actor within the role who never took his life due to the negative reception of the role...

Anakin destroying the enemy in space
This scene wasn't as terrible as I remembered. It's already been established that Anakin has racing skills and is quite a competent pilot. This will later continue to service the story as Anakin pursues his star fighter career with the academy. Anakin crashes his fighter inside of the enemy's ship and has a shot that no fighter could target from the outside.

Darth Maul is not a punk
Darth Maul was actually incredibly skilled, taking on two jedi masters at once. This is not an easy task, and no other sith that I can remember has done this on film. He fought with two jedi for what seems like about an hour in their time... in one of the most skilled and incredible saber duels every filmed. It wasn't that Darth Maul was a weak sith, it was that he was out numbered and out witted in the end...

Pod Racing

Although it's a long sequence in the film, it doesn't take away from the film. It was a major special effects achievement in it's day and it continues to entertain and wow people with the same energy and brilliance today as it had 20 years ago... This is also a necessary scene as it shows how skilled of a pilot Anakin is.

Obi Wan as played by Ewan
This has to be one of the best casting choices in history. Even for most of those who don't enjoy the PT they will agree that the casting for Obi Wan couldn't have been better and more convincing.

The bad....

Anakin's acting and dialogue between Padame is still very awkward, lacking chemistry...
"Are you an angel"? I mean, yikes... not to mention the severe age difference for their age... he is 9 and she is 14... It comes off awkward and the romantic chemistry between the 14 year old and a little boy just isn't there... Though, perhaps it wasn't intended to be there yet until AOTC... Still, their scenes together are awkward.

Given that the actor who portrayed young Anakin was bullied for his role... Anakin delivers in many of his scenes, with a few falling flat, or feeling wooden or un-organic. Anakin's acting, even as a child actor for me, it is distracting and one of the weaker points of the film. Though, over all his acting is acceptable and it doesn't drag the film down.

The Yoda puppet looks absurd...
This however was corrected with future releases of the film. With the original we at least got Frank Oz's performance. Though to be honest the CGI updated version in future releases was in my opinion an improvement in every way over the original puppet in TPM.

Minichlorains...
What? What are those... written into the script by the creator himself, this could be one of the most difficult things to accept about the film. However , one can look past the many questions caused by adding minichlorians to the star wars universe or simply take the idea at face value.

Over all I couldn't possibly rate this film any lower than an 8 or 9 out of 10.

 

They inspired this

 

Absolutely gorgeous. It's crazy to think, but you wouldn't have seen that back in 2015.

 

I especially love the TCW Pic! Just amazing!

 

You have the whole mural in that quality?

 

Beautiful <3 THE WHOLE SAGA...LOVELY! The Ep VIII is great, I miss Han on the TFA one. Most special IMO are the Anthology and Cartoon Parts. Great!!!

Hoping for a BIG HD Version during the weekend. Maybe that get on my wall!

 

So much I could say on this...

The story is powerful and thrilling, and provides one of the better sociopolitical allegories in blockbuster films. The score is amazing (especially ROTS which is my favorite film score of all time). There's a magically personal quality to them, and a very entertaining tonal variety. The worldbuilding is easily the best in the SW films (barring maybe ANH), and the visuals are really unique and powerful. I quite like Hayden's performance as Anakin along with Ewan's as Obi-wan and McDiarmid's Palpatine, and Portman while not amazing as Padme (and somewhat hampered by some writing choices in ROTS) still brings a decent enough presence to the character. The dialogue is hokey, but imo its hokey in the same vein as the OT, and that doesn't really bother me. The tonal progression from the innocence of TPM to the utter darkness of ROTS gives them so much rewatch value. And the action sequences are some of the best and most brilliantly realized I've ever seen.

Best trilogy of the saga.

 

I love the depth of the story, and it never fails to amaze that so many fans don't even understand the events and still look for answers to questions that have already been answered.
I love the sprawl and the timespan it covers; it's a true epic.
I love the deep tragedy; the Jedi, Ani and Padme, the inward fall of the Republic. It's perfectly dark.
I love the music, of course. Williams went all out, and my only wish is for a Battle of Geonosis re-score.
As mentioned, I also love the variety in feel between each episode.
I love the vast majority of books, games cartoons and comics that came out for these films.
I love the vibrant colors and the world building.
I love the sheer ambition of the thing. Lucas was bold to sell the rise of the villain, the fall of democracy and the flaws of religion to a mass audience.
The mysteries of the prequels (and the SW saga as a whole) really gripped me as a younger man, and I've been obsessed ever since.

 

The story is absolutely amazing!!
John Williams delivers some of the most powerful scores ever!!

 

I love the prequels because they made TCW and great novels possible.

I like the whole visual experience of TPM. I love music in AOTC and all of them. I like the darkness of ROTS, minus the choking at the end. Great duel.

 

Because before the prequels I had a limited expectation of what SW could be. Actually watching the trilogy unfold was like a whole new brand of movie art more than just a franchise continuation.

 

I don't.

But I understand why some would. The worldbuilding is nice (especially in TPM), there's some nice piece of music, costumes, the way the story flows (Palpatine's manipulation, Anakin's fear of loss). It's just the execution that is terrible.

 

Hayden has awesome hair in RITS.