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Is the PT really all that bad?

Discussion in 'Prequel Trilogy' started by rvtv, Jan 25, 2018.

  1. Sir Puke

    Sir Puke Rebel General

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    I love the prequels, but I was a kid when they were being released. So they were really Star Wars to me. Plus lightsabers and lightsaber duels are my favorite part of Star Wars and there are so much more of that in the prequels than the other movies, so that's a big plus as well!
     
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  2. SunnyD

    SunnyD Rebelscum

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    IMO I think for the most part they're pretty bad. Of course, when I was a kid, I didn't mind them, but I still liked the Original Trilogy better. I could never just put my finger on specifically why I preferred them, though. It only occurred to me later that The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were the only two movies in the saga (this was pre-ROTS) where I would actively skip entire chapters of the movie because they were boring. That sort of thing never happened when I was watching ANH or Empire. Clones is the worst offender of the three. So much of that film is just boring pointless dialogue. I could watch Luke meet Han for the first time in ANH over and over, but completely skip Anakin and Padme's scenes on Naboo in Clones and not bat an eyelash.

    That said, the Prequels are not completely worthless. There are a lot of great elements in each movie, especially artistically, but unfortunately I just don't think George's writing ever lived up to the grand ideas he had. George is a great creative type, but I don't think he's that great of a writer.
     
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  3. Keri Ford

    Keri Ford Clone Commander

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    IWatching the Phantom Menace again the other day after having been watching a whole lot of MCU movies I was struck by the difference. The Prequels are not successful action movies, they are not fast paced, they are not exciting for the most part. Yet I admire the Prequels more than MCU movies, I find them more imaginatively rich. Lucas I think has a strong 1950s aesthetic sense where there was ham acting kooky but extravagant visuals. Another thing that struck me is abundance of aliens, the creation of alien characters I know a lot of people have problems with cgi but for me it more than pays off in creating weird and wonderful creatures, I'm a big fan of Watto , likewise scenes are lingered over for their sense of wonder, the underwater city of the Gungans, it is no surprise that Lucas was involved with Indiana Jones with it's lost kingdoms and adventure and wonder. I'll take this over action any day.
    I like the characters in the Prequels, I like the world building. Lucas is an individual and in a lot of ways I suspect that the Prequels expressed his vision more closely than the OT, its odd, individual, it has flaws but it is full of character.
     
  4. WookieNookie

    WookieNookie Rebel General

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    If I'm doing a Star Wars movie marathon, it's Episodes 1 & 2 that I find really hard work, all the other films I find enjoyable although Episode 3 has many issues.

    From a writing point of view they are badly made and a major disappointment, the acting is hit and miss, jokes childish and from an special effects point of view they have not aged well at all. It's not all bad through the action sequences are some of the best in the whole saga and the design work great. Also the music continues to be epic.

    Missed opportunity in my mind, you never really have a set of strong core characters to follow through the series. Yoda & Obi Wan have a limited role in 1. Anakin changes actor after the first film, Qui Gon is killed off and Jar Jar is dropped. Padme seems to get ignored in Episode 3. Also importantly the threat in terms of the main villain is different for each film, Maul, Dooku and then Sidious.
     
    #204 WookieNookie, Jan 16, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2019
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  5. CTrent29

    CTrent29 Rebel Official

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    Is the PT really that bad? No one can answer that question on behalf of every Star Wars fan. Everyone can only answer for him or herself. Even if you count the numbers of those who provided a positive or negative answer on this blog, this question will never be truly answered. It's subjective.
     
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  6. Kylo Solo

    Kylo Solo Force Sensitive

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    I like the prequels mainly for the Clone Wars, who doesn't? Lol.

    Seriously, tho. The prequels are okay, I enjoy watching them. I would rate them as 3, 1, 2. I like them cuz the special effects are better than that of the OT. Granted that the OT didn't have anywhere as close to the level of special effects the PT had when Lucasfim was making them. I'd say I like the OT better cuz it seems more, Idk if this the right word, but mature. Each era added into the Star Wars universe are special in their own right. I'd say its definitely worth watching them and reading. I've really only read the ROTS novel by Matthew Stover and it was superb. Sort of enjoyed it better than the movie, lot more detail. I think when I show my kids that I'll show them the OT first, then the PT, stand alones, then ST
     
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  7. daRinze

    daRinze Force Sensitive

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    Once more : did special effects on earlier films aged well, for example, the DS 1 explosion, the Alderaan explosion, the Tantive 4 boarding by the stormtroopers...
    SW has always been a must in special effects, at the time the movies were created. Remember in TPM we are given the first scene ever filmed with a digital camera, at this time it was an actual challenge from George Lucas.
    Complain about that twenty years after is unfair. UNFAIR. It's as silly as "I don't like Charlie Chaplin movies because the image is black and white".
     
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  8. deadmanwalkin009

    deadmanwalkin009 Force Sensitive

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    I think it's reasonably fair to judge the movies like that since it's apart of a saga. If they were a one and done type of release than that's a different story. So far PT has been released in 3 different mediums, VHS, DVD and Bluray (4, if you count digital, 5 if you include some scenes being re-created in video games). Not a single one of those mediums George attempted to update the CGI in the PT. I can't blame the DVD versions because they were being released the same time as the VHS but when George re-released the PT on bluray, he could of used that time to update the visuals of the PT but he didn't. Yes he changed Yoda in Episode 1 to a CGI Yoda instead of a the original puppet Yoda that was featured. George had plenty of time to mess with OT by adding and taking away sound effects and inserting CGI scenes into the movies but he couldn't take them time to update the CGI in the PT? There's no excuses, he had the tech back in 2009/2010 to update the visuals but he didn't. If you compare the changes he made in the OT vs PT, it's pretty much non existent compare to the OT. PT has barely received any changes and or updates in the 20 years of its existence.

    EA's Battlefront II PT characters look better than their movie counter parts. So yes its far to judge the dated cgi by today standards where video games look better than the movie itself and when George could of done something make it more future proof. I struggle watching the PT on my nice 4k TV because it pops the CGI out even more and it looks horrible. Terminator 2: Judgement Day came out in 1991 and that movie was one of the first movies to use CGI and Jurassic Park came out in 1993 used CGI mixed with puppets/animatronics, but yet both of those movies still hold up pretty well today and Jurassic Park CGI is still more convincing than some movies that are being released today. Yes Episode 1 was one of the first movies to shoot digitally but doesn't mean it has to stay with the early 2000s visuals. There's been more than enough time to update the visuals and the tech is/was available but George didn't want to take the time with it. I'm hoping when ever Disney/LFM re-release the PT and OT that they update the visuals in the PT because it needs it bad especially since we got TVs that are now enhancing the visual of movies and shows as a standard feature.

    Also, Charlie Chaplin came in 20th place in a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest. (true or not, it's still funny)
     
    #208 deadmanwalkin009, Jan 17, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2019
  9. Messi

    Messi G.O.A.T.

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    My main issues with the special effects are:

    - Clonetroopers: they look incredible artificials. OT and ST troopers look real, obviously;
    - Yoda: He doesn't look the same old frog from the OT and TLJ;
    - CGI C3P0: Looks fake in that factory droid, and also the scene is lame.

    I think the effects works much better in TPM than the other two movies.
     
  10. KeithF1138

    KeithF1138 Force Sensitive

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    I disagree, the whole sequence in ANH after R2 and C3PO arrive on Tatooine until they are brought to Luke's moisture farm is total yawn fest. Have fell asleep many a time during that sequence.

    I do think that I have said this before. PT has 1 major over all issue. Poor to awful dialogue in some places. Particularly Anakin lines. If only GL had someone else be in charge of the dialogue. Minor in comparison is Padme in ROTS and not using captions for aliens. OT did that much better.
     
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  11. deadmanwalkin009

    deadmanwalkin009 Force Sensitive

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    That is true. Also if I recall, George has stated that a physical Clonetrooper armor doesn't exist.

    I agree. I totally skip those scenes when I re-watch ANH. I also find most of the ewok scenes in ROTJ boring too. I generally skip their scenes until they get caught. and brought back to the village.
     
  12. SunnyD

    SunnyD Rebelscum

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    I think this is a weird paradox since, yeah, a lot of stuff in TPM looks way better than the other two prequels, but some of it looks so much worse. It's probably due to TPM being shot on some weird film/digital hybrid while the Clones and Sith were pure digital.
     
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  13. Too Bob Bit

    Too Bob Bit Jedi Commander

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    I was always under the impression AOTC was the first of the films to employ digital filming technology. The tech was practically invented for it!

    What I know has been said about TPM is that it actually contains far more practical effects that any of the OT films, so it could be the reason for any perception that the effects look 'better' than those in the rest of the PT.

    (Although even as I write this I do vaguely recall that maybe some of TPM made use of early digital filming technology for some shots, but if it did it was for a very minor part of the film)
     
  14. SunnyD

    SunnyD Rebelscum

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    That's true, but additionally I think AOTC and ROTS did a lot less location shooting and relied more heavily on digital environment construction than TPM did.
     
  15. Too Bob Bit

    Too Bob Bit Jedi Commander

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    Yes. That's probably part of it as well.
     
    #215 Too Bob Bit, Jan 17, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2019
  16. SunnyD

    SunnyD Rebelscum

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    I can really only remember one specific real location from AOTC, and that's only because I've been there.
    50327591_382436885864858_2049985940465647616_n.jpg 49661453_331523891036957_3753483267001548800_n.jpg
     
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  17. Too Bob Bit

    Too Bob Bit Jedi Commander

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    Somebody should have told those two people they're stood in the wrong place!
     
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  18. SunnyD

    SunnyD Rebelscum

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    No worries, I went and did my own rendition of the infamous line right after taking the picture :p
     
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  19. TheDarkTight

    TheDarkTight Rebelscum

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    They're pretty bad but I recently watched Phantom Menace and it was better than I remembered. I wish the Gungans didn't speak basic though. Subtitles would have taken the goofiness out of the movie. "Killing" Maul will always be considered a mistake, even with his resurrection and all the fun stuff that has come with it.

    I'll never be able to respect Attack of the Clones.

    Revenge of the Sith is obviously the best but it's still kinda bad.

    The story was there, the direction just wasn't.
     
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  20. General Kenobi

    General Kenobi Rebel Official

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    That is too cool, how was the visit?
     
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