PT Was anger toward the prequels more intense in 1999 or 2012?

Back when the PT films were released, there were two sanc. here. One for Gushers and one for Bashers.
The reason was that people could not discuss what they liked about the PT films and why without others derailing the threads and the opposite was also the case. That people could not discuss what the did not like and why without others derailing those threads.

There was bad behavior from both sides because the fan-base was divided and both sides had declared open war on each other and confused anyone in the middle for being the enemy.

These sanc. allowed a somewhat calmer discussion, people could explain why the liked/disliked something without getting told they were wrong/stupid/mindless etc.

Things are calmer now and that is for the better, that likes and dislikes can be talked about with the need for sanc.
But I do remember back then that there were some posters that called for all Bashers to be banned, that no negative threads or criticism should be allowed.
In all, things are better now.

Bye.
Blackboard Monitor

 

I think negativity, at least vitriol, to the films, had pretty substantially decreased around 2008-2012 compared to 2001-2004.

Back around 2001-2004 the only recent huge disappointments were Batman & Robin and the Matrix sequels (while the first Matrix and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and for some Spider-Man 1 and 2 were said to be how films should be), then later fans became as or more disappointed by other, later films, the Matrix and Pirates sequels, X-Men 3, Spider-Man 3 and Superman Returns and Wolverine and The Amazing Spider-Man and then later The Hobbit films and Snyder DC films, a lot of fans realized that big disappointments/letdowns are while disappointing also pretty common, frequent rather than shocking, so much negativity around so many different things ironically does moderate itself.

 

The period from Revenge of the Sith up until the release of the RLM reviews was probably the best time I experienced on this site. So many great discussions fueled by posters who no longer post here for a variety of reasons. There were still lively debates and disagreements, but generally it seemed the old "basher/gusher" conflict had cooled and a Star Wars fan was just a Star Wars fan. Preferring the O-OT was no big deal, nor was thinking that ROTS was the magnum opus of the series. Snark and posting for likes didn't quite rule the day then, or at least not in the prequel and saga forums.

Then RLM hit, and every discussion seemed to come back to those reviews for a time. Then Disney's acquisition hit, and suddenly you couldn't even praise Doug Chiang's concept art without having snark thrown your way from a prominent ST forum poster. That was a wild time in fandom. I wish I could go back then and proclaim that a cute little baby Yoda who throws up cookies is the direction to go. People would've been utterly furious at the suggestion.

 

I don't like Baby Yoda at all.

There are dozens of us!

 

That would have seemed too absurd to ever happen.

 

It is an interesting, maybe unusual aspect of complaints about the prequels that many people who dislike them do admit, some even actually emphasize, that McGregor, Portman, even Christensen were really good in other roles (though that happens less often with Christensen with him having fewer other roles period), that goes some way to supporting that their negativity isn't thoughtless or all-encompassing. While when people don't bother to consider the actors' other roles that is some indication that their criticism is more petty.

 

I never heard anyone say a negative word about The Phantom Menace in 1999. The crowd I saw it with on opening night seemed to love it. It was only when the VHS came out in 2000 that a friend of mine said he didn’t like it because it was too childish, and I was dumbfounded by that notion.

 

Most crowds don't boo or voice their displeasure too loudly. Once you get them away from the theater, that is when you will hear opinions.

 

@darth-sinister some of them may have changed their tune later, but when I say they seemed to love it I mean I’ve never experienced such a joyous audience reaction to a film in my life. They cheered all the way through it and gave it a huge applause at the end.

 

When I first watched TPM the first and foremost reaction I had, was that I couldn't believe I was watching a new Star Wars film on the big screen. That giddy feeling stayed with me for a number of screenings:



It took me a while to adjust to the reality (my reality), that not every Star Wars film is a great masterpiece of cinema loved by fans and critics alike. The OT by then had reached legendary status, and when the SE was released in cinemas the movies were praised to high heaven (despite some criticism of the changes). So, after a while it became clear that new Star Wars was not the cool kid on the block. That was The Matrix, and later LOTR and Harry Potter for the younger audience. I went through the various stages of grief before settling on the opinion that the PT are flawed films, that despite those flaws really expanded on Star Wars universe in new and interesting ways.

 

If you're talking about opening weekend, then yes. But people had negative feelings and thoughts. There are stories of people walking out with mixed feelings. You can see similar ones going back to TESB.

 

Yeah I mean it was the midnight premiere, so naturally the crowd was pumped. And I don’t doubt that there were some less positive feelings afterwards. I’m just saying I never encountered them until a year later.

 

I remember the earliest feedback I heard on TPM was "on par with Jedi," which was meant as muted or slightly faint praise. ROTJ was by far my favorite, however, so I wasn't phased by the reaction and found the film to be even more of an "event" than I expected. That slice of time that was 90s theatrical Star Wars remains an awesome memory for me. Probably the last time it was just about pure fandom without being bothered by all the bickering and fan posturing.

 

I actually saw it for the first time on video-cd. It was one of those bootleg copies that was filmed in the cinema. At that time there were still months between the U.S. release and the European release, and I just could not wait to see it. Luckily it turned out that all the so called scoops "Supershadow" was sharing were all BS.

 

I saw TPM in London and that was well over a month after it had opened in the US.
Because in 1999, there could still be a few months between a film opening in the US and here in Europe.

And the crows was fairly quiet, a few cheers at the start but at the end, pretty silent.
And had heard/seen enough mixed reviews so my expectations were pretty low.
And I left with a "Meh, ok I guess"

Bye for now.
Blackboard Monitor