Star wars prequel

#3
#3
Bad acting and dialog, which was campy in the first set grew old and tiresome. the character development of Anikan left a lot to be desired. It was like he went from being a sweet innocent child to being a total douchebag by adolescence, all while under the training of Jedi Knights.

And Jar Jar...definitely Jar Jar.
 
#7
#7
The defining moment for the prequels for me was when child Anakin "accidentally" blows up the trade federation with the ship on auto-pilot.

The repeated "whooooaaaa" and "that was cool!" pretty much did me in.
 
#8
#8
I have to say for story line and action, Episode 3 was about the best.

When it comes to goofy droids saying dumb things in squeaky voices and really, really, really bad acting by Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman, I drew the line. They tried to drag the entire first three into somewhat kid friendly movies with laughable moments and comic relief characters. And utterly failed in the process.

Other than the items I listed above, Episode 3 was probably the best of the series IMO.
 
#9
#9
I think it's simply George Lucas isn't as great as we thought he was, and to me the prequels are nothing but a big showing of how he let his ego almost ruin a franchise. I mean look at what he did to the prequels, and most of what made us hate the 4th Indiana Jones movie were all his ideas. In interviews since it's pretty clear he is either completely oblivious to all the problems of the prequels and why most don't like them, or he simply covers his ears and refuses to listen.

It's no coincidence to me the film in the series considered the best (The Empire Strikes Back) wasn't directed by him.

What really sucks to me is how they all wasted what I thought was an outstanding casting choice in Ewan McGregor as a young Obi-Wan. He nailed the part for the most part but the horrible dialogue and direction was something even a great actor like him couldn't overcome. I've said it before but I really hope they make some stand alone Obi-Wan movies that take place between Episodes 3 and 4 and let McGregor try again with a better director.
 
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#10
#10
Star Wars has always been kid-friendly and had silly jokes. It's crazy how much more I notice that as I get older. My problem is that Jar Jar was totally terrible in the first one (unlike a C3PO who was silly and not terrible), and then they tripled down on his stupidity.
 
#11
#11
Star Wars has always been kid-friendly and had silly jokes. It's crazy how much more I notice that as I get older. My problem is that Jar Jar was totally terrible in the first one (unlike a C3PO who was silly and not terrible), and then they tripled down on his stupidity.

They only did that to Jar Jar because he was originally intended to be the ultimate bad guy, the one pulling the strings.
 
#12
#12
1. Story - it was dumb and boring..very dumb. It would be like documenting my job for 2 hours then have 30 minutes of my weekend of fun scattered throughout the film.

2. Acting - It was terrible. Lucas wrote a script so bad that even good actors looked awful

3. Anakin's actors. Both awful..Hayden couldn't (and still cant) act his way out of a wet paper bag

4. Jar Jar

5. CGI. Most of the movie looks like a video game cut scene. That Gungan battle, anything with storm troopers..not that it looked bad..but it looked hokey.

6. Jar Jar

7. Hayden

8. Fight scenes. Maybe I was just used to no fairy twirling highly coreographed lightsaber battles from the original trilogy, but I found the fight scenes highly forced and full of unnecessary ballet moves.


A pro though was the space battles. In the 3rd episode that was pretty gnarly. But of course Hayden's acting throws a monkey wrench into any enjoyment of those scenes.

We all should have known better considering what George Lucas was involved with after RoTJ..:
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Beverly Hills Cop 3
Howard the Duck
Willow


He did do Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade which was pretty good but then ruined everything with that Crystal Skull business.
 
#13
#13
They only did that to Jar Jar because he was originally intended to be the ultimate bad guy, the one pulling the strings.

I believe that's just a theory that Jar Jar was the ultimate bad guy. Hindsight 20/20, it could have saved the trilogy, if Jar Jar was the villain, as it would have explained his clueless ways in The Phantom Menace.
 
#14
#14
1. Story - it was dumb and boring..very dumb. It would be like documenting my job for 2 hours then have 30 minutes of my weekend of fun scattered throughout the film.

2. Acting - It was terrible. Lucas wrote a script so bad that even good actors looked awful

3. Anakin's actors. Both awful..Hayden couldn't (and still cant) act his way out of a wet paper bag

4. Jar Jar

5. CGI. Most of the movie looks like a video game cut scene. That Gungan battle, anything with storm troopers..not that it looked bad..but it looked hokey.

6. Jar Jar

7. Hayden

8. Fight scenes. Maybe I was just used to no fairy twirling highly coreographed lightsaber battles from the original trilogy, but I found the fight scenes highly forced and full of unnecessary ballet moves.


A pro though was the space battles. In the 3rd episode that was pretty gnarly. But of course Hayden's acting throws a monkey wrench into any enjoyment of those scenes.

We all should have known better considering what George Lucas was involved with after RoTJ..:
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Beverly Hills Cop 3
Howard the Duck
Willow


He did do Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade which was pretty good but then ruined everything with that Crystal Skull business.

Pretty much all this, though I do think the lightsaber battles from The Phantom Menace are still pretty awesome (mostly because of Ray Park). The ones in the next 2 were too forced and choreographed. Also there's a problem to me in the prequels where old dudes like Yoda and Dooku are jumping around like superheroes, but old Obi-Wan in A New Hope is moving around like an old man.

And yes, WAY too much obvious CGI.
 
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#15
#15
Pretty much all this, though I do think the lightsaber battles from The Phantom Menace are still pretty awesome (mostly because of Ray Park). The ones in the next 2 were too forced and choreographed. Also there's a problem to me in the prequels where old dudes like Yoda and Dooku are jumping around like superheroes, but old Obi-Wan in A New Hope is moving around like an old man.

And yes, WAY too much obvious CGI.

The saber fight in A New Hope looked like two kids playing with sticks.
 
#16
#16
Pretty much all this, though I do think the lightsaber battles from The Phantom Menace are still pretty awesome (mostly because of Ray Park). The ones in the next 2 were too forced and choreographed. Also there's a problem to me in the prequels where old dudes like Yoda and Dooku are jumping around like superheroes, but old Obi-Wan in A New Hope is moving around like an old man.

And yes, WAY too much obvious CGI.

After Darth Maul killed QGJ, and Obi-Wan lost it, the fight between those two was phenomenal. One of the best scenes of the series.
 
#17
#17
Pretty much all this, though I do think the lightsaber battles from The Phantom Menace are still pretty awesome (mostly because of Ray Park). The ones in the next 2 were too forced and choreographed. Also there's a problem to me in the prequels where old dudes like Yoda and Dooku are jumping around like superheroes, but old Obi-Wan in A New Hope is moving around like an old man.

And yes, WAY too much obvious CGI.

Ray Park is a unsung hero.

The prequels never had the Sith capture the menace that Darth Vader had. That was a problem. I am hoping that Kylo in the new film will bring that menace..and from the PG13 rating, I am assuming he will.
 
#18
#18
I would agree with pretty much everything said in here. Not much to add as far more reasons.

As an aside, I have been introducing my 4 and 2 year old boys to Star Wars over the past couple of months. I've yet to show them the prequels. Mostly we've watched New Hope a few times as that's the one that holds their attention the most. We have watched Empire and Jedi at least one time each though.

While we haven't watched the prequels, We have watched the first 4 seasons of the Clone Wars cartoon which is much much much better at developing Anakin's character than the prequels were. They love Anakin (and Asokah). Since we haven't watched Sith yet I haven't really tried to explain that Anakin is Darth Vader (who they also love). They don't even understand DV is Luke's father yet. I kind of want them to figure it out on their own instead of me spelling it out for them. It's funny because they will ask questions like "is Anakin a good guy?" Yes, "is Darh Vader a bad guy?" Yes.

One thing that is hard to explain to them is time line. In Clone Wars the clone troopers are good guys but in New Hope (and the Rebrls cartoon which we also watch) the very similar looking Storm Troopers are bad guys. They also think of Young "General" Kenobi as a different person than Old "Ben" Kenobi in much the same what Anakin and Luke Syywalker are different people.

It's really fun to see such young kids experiencing Star Wars for the first time. I was around 4 or 5 when I first saw New Hope which was right around the time Empire was hitting theatres. It's wild to think how much more material my kids have to enjoy.
 
#19
#19
Ray Park is a unsung hero.

The prequels never had the Sith capture the menace that Darth Vader had. That was a problem. I am hoping that Kylo in the new film will bring that menace..and from the PG13 rating, I am assuming he will.

I think the only reason the originals weren't PG-13 is because that rating didn't exist back then.

Just think,

A New Hope all the choking scenes by Vader and Obiwan lops off a 'persons' arm and it's shown bloody laying on the floor.

Empire had quite a bit of choking and other deaths as well as Luke getting his hand cut off.

All of that would have earned PG-13 today.
 
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#20
#20
The prequels never had the Sith capture the menace that Darth Vader had. That was a problem. I am hoping that Kylo in the new film will bring that menace..and from the PG13 rating, I am assuming he will.

I would say that Kylo is just as evil and as ruthless as Vader, considering his kills practically mirror Vader's in a New Hope.
 
#23
#23
So if Lucas handed you a treatment for Episode 1 what would you tell him to change?

I would start with Anakin's immaculate conception and the metichlorians. Ditch that. Also make him a little older. Maybe like 10-12. No way he builds C3PO either.

Next is Jar Jar. If you really want him in there, fine. But tone down the slapstick and don't have him in it for more than the second Act.

In the pod racing scene ditch the two headed commentators. That came across as very silly.
 
#24
#24
So if Lucas handed you a treatment for Episode 1 what would you tell him to change?

I would start with Anakin's immaculate conception and the metichlorians. Ditch that. Also make him a little older. Maybe like 10-12. No way he builds C3PO either.

Next is Jar Jar. If you really want him in there, fine. But tone down the slapstick and don't have him in it for more than the second Act.

In the pod racing scene ditch the two headed commentators. That came across as very silly.

No jar jar. No midichlorians. Better actors.
 
#25
#25
No jar jar. No midichlorians. Better actors.

They had a pretty solid slate of actors actually. Except for maybe the kid that played Anakin.The director didn't get the best out of them.
 

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