Why are the SW Prequels horrible?

POSTED BY: V
UPDATED: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 16:00
VIEWED: 13816
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JONUS

Monday, March 13, 2006 4:45 AM

Shattered Glass was great. People should also check out 'Life as a House'. It's an outstanding film.

I'm a Jedi.
I'm a Ringer.
I'm a BROWNCOAT.

ORPHEUS

Monday, March 13, 2006 4:52 AM

I really hate calling myself a prequel apologist, but I really did kinda love Episode 1. At least, enough so that I can forgive things like Jake Lloyd being annoying, Gungans being a completely useless race, etc. It's easier for me to watch Phantom Menace as it's own movie rather than as the first part in the Star Wars story. But the thing is, it's not it's own movie, and that's the only thing that I think brings it down. It has to stand up to the golden standard set by the original trilogy, and it just can't.

As far as Attack of the Clones goes, it would be a perfect movie if the whole Anakin/Padme subplot had been reduced, or even played down. Plus, why even include Boba Fett at all? Jango Fett I have no problem with, but why completely destroy the backstory that the expanded universe writers have set for Boba? Just because he's George Lucas, he thinks he can break whatever continuity he wants, regardless of what the fans think?

And for all the grandiosity that Revenge of the Sith gave us, would a proofreading of the script have been THAT painful?

____________________
"Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?"

MATTCOZ

Monday, March 13, 2006 6:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Roland19:
Quote:
Originally posted by mattcoz:
"But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters."
Dude, you actually know how to spell "Tosche"? That's kinda weird.
No offense.

Heh, I'd like to take credit for that, but I looked it up.

CYBERSNARK

Monday, March 13, 2006 3:42 PM

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http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=8&t=16704
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I'm unabashedly critical of Ep III, moreso than either of the other two prequels. RotS is just bad.

I'm not just saying that as a fan of the original, I'm saying it as a fan of movies in general. I mean, even compared to the other movies of the franchise, this has so many "break my suspension of disbelief" moments.

Did the other movies have gravity in space? No (check out ESB, with the Falcon perched near-vertically on the back of the Star Destroyer: Han and the Falcon's passengers were able to remain fully upright). Was Ian McDiarmid's performance so TOtally OVER-the-top and HIS-TRI-ON-IC in any of the others? No (check out RotJ, where he plays Palpatine's menace straight and understated --controlled and deliberate in his movements and gestures. His performance in TPM and AotC? The same even, controlled calculation. RotS is an anomaly).

And the CGI in general was horrendously overdone. Understand, I'm not bashing CGI in general, but a good movie blends both CGI (for long-range action and stunts) and live-action animatronics (for close-ups). There should've been an animatronic Grievous for the in-close stuff, instead of the CGI model's constant pantomime and cartoonish hand-wringing (if he'd had a mustache, he'd have been twirling it). Same with Yoda: the walking/foghting is one thing, but when he's just sitting in his chair, the puppet has more realistic facial expressions ("realistic" does not mean "mobile" --when was the last time you spoke to someone who was constantly pulling Jim Carrey-esque facial contortions?).

The lact of sets and costumes didn't help anyone's acting.

There's also Anakin's too-fast turn to the Dark Side --I could almost hear a switch being flipped. I wanted to see a slow transition as he became Palpatine's apprentice, not a Jekyll & Hyde insta-morph.

Don't forget Grievous' falling victim to "bad guy syndrome," whereby a hyper-competent and highly-trained/skilled warrior can get mowed down by a less-competent hero for no other reason than that he's the bad guy (compare the Jaffa from SG-1 with the stormtroopers in the original SW trilogy for a "control" example). Check out the Clone Wars cartoons to see Grievous dealing with five Jedi and a squad of elite ARCtroopers. The guy's dangerous.

And there's the way it manages to retroactively ruin even the original trilogy. The original movies draw almost all of their impact from the revelation of Luke's parentage and the presence of his sister. These hit Luke like a ton of bricks, and they must hit the audience the same way (it's the only thing that forgives the mediocre acting and dated effects).

Episode III instead telegraphs that Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, and he (Darth Vader) has two children: Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.

Finally, Lucas himself comes across in interviews and behind-the-scenes material as being the anti-Joss and something of a jerk. He admits that he doesn't write good dialogue, but implies that we (the viewers --the people who made him famous to begin with) aren't worth the effort it would take to get a proofreader. He also seems to (admittedly, gently) bash actors in general, saying how he'd prefer to do a fully digital film, with no real actors (and their inevitable "flaws" --like not being able to always nail the scene in their first take).

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

LANCER

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 2:52 AM

ok ok ok, the movies where shallow but wernt super awful, I have a problem with the end to EVERY prequel fight scene, Obi vs Maul end was lame, even though it was a super fight the end product was terrible, Mace vs Jango was the worst end of all, after how he faught Obi and even killed that beast it was a sick and discusting way to end it. Dooku vs Anikin was bad, he like outa nowhere wins even though him and Obi where losing befiore the knockout. Obi vs Grevious...i aint gona go their, lastly Ani vs Obi was a great fight, but with a terrible end, why didnt Anikin jump higher? is he that much of an idiot?

ADAMWANKENOBI

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 4:18 AM

My main problem with the Star Wars prequel trilogy is that it completely humped up continuity in several places:

1. Why does Obi-Wan not remember R2-D2 in ANH, despite the fact that R2 was around him frequently in the prequels?

2. Why does Owen Lars not even remotely remember C-3PO, despite the fact that he had lived with him for TEN RUTTIN' YEARS in AOTC?!?

3. Leia remembers her mother and Luke doesn't in ROTJ, despite the fact that they were only with their mother for a few seconds, and LUKE spent the most time with his mother, not Leia. If anyone should even faintly remember their mother, it should be Luke.

4. Obi-Wan's line in ESB of: "That boy is our last hope." What? But didn't Obi-Wan witness the birth of Leia as well?

5. Obi-Wan's ESB line of "You will go to Dagobah. There you will learn from Yoda - the Jedi Master who instructed me." What? I thought Qui-Gon did. Now, I understand that Yoda trains every Jedi at a young age, but Obi-Wan says THE Jedi master who instructed him.

BTW cybersnark, in ROTS, they were in the upper atmosphere of Coruscant. That's why there was some gravity.

JONUS

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 4:32 AM

I think George Lucas is a fantastic writer but a horrible director. Actors need good direction. Look at Natalie Portman - she's a terrific actress but she didn't shine in Star Wars. Hayden Christensen - everyone thinks he's a atrocious actor. But watch 'Life as a House' or 'Shattered Glass' and he's very good. Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson still did great jobs because they already have 10+ years of experience. It's the younger actors that need direction and Lucas simply can't direct his way out of a wet paper bag. I'll admit he did a terrific job on 'A New Hope' but he had to have gone senile over the 16-year break between Episodes VI and I. Jar Jar? Midi-chlorians? Darth Maul getting whacked and replaced by an 80-year-old Sith? Jango dying after being in only one movie? No Qui-Gon in Episode III?

I'm a Jedi.
I'm a Ringer.
I'm a BROWNCOAT.

N0SKILLZ

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 4:35 AM

I have to say that video sucked. But it is Georges Fault. They just should of had Joss do them. Woulda been much better! Just like X3 would be if Joss got to write and/or direct. Not thats its not gonna be cool, just not live up to the last 2

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RAF Lakenheath

ADAMWANKENOBI

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 5:20 AM

Quote:
They just should of had Joss do them. Woulda been much better!

Hell yeah!

CHRISPV

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 7:18 AM

I advocate starting an immediate cloning program so that we might have dozens, nay hundreds of Josses in Hollywood so that they can do every film produced.

Just imagine, Michael Bay becomes a thing of the past, like polio or smallpox...

Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal, Fox!

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