re: Why did the Star Wars Prequels Suck?

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Interestingly, Episode 1 brought the 2 best aspects of the entire prequel films.

1) Darth Maul

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Other than looking cool, what do we know about Darth Maul at the end of Episode I?

We have no idea who he is, what his motivations are, etc. Hell, he only has like four lines in the entire movie.

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2) Musical piece during the Maul-Jedi fight at the end

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Dual of the Fates is an awesome piece of music. That doesn't make Episode I a decent film.

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How is Episode 2 better than 1?

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It has a protagonist.

It has plot portions that actually matter for the rest of the Saga.

I'll go to my grave arguing that II is "better" than I . . . relatively of course.

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Did I miss something?

A New Hope establishes that a lightsaber is "the weapon of a Jedi Knight"

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And the rifle is the weapon of the Marines. That doesn't mean we should expect the Commandant of the Marine Corp to parachute into a warzone guns blazing.

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And the rifle is the weapon of the Marines. That doesn't mean we should expect the Commandant of the Marine Corp to parachute into a warzone guns blazing.

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I think I get your point now.

Yes, I think Yoda was above that and they didn't need to have him pop a lightsaber out and flip all over the set with it. Same with the Emperor in III.

I thought you were saying that it was dumb to have all the Jedi in the arena scene in II to have them. Like a couple of them should have had different weapons.

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Obi-Wan is still a padawan and kills a Sith. And you get to see who his master was. That makes is extremely important

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And it took an hour and a half of trade negotiations to get there.

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I've now watched all 6 movies and I just need help understanding why they sucked.

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#1 - The Director

#2 and beyond:

Acting
Plot
Dialogue
General purpose of existence
CGI
"It's so dense"
Characters
Long periods lacking protagonists/antagonists
"I like sand"
Little children getting too much screen time
Jar Jar Binks and Anakin accidentally saving the universe via derps
All the new characters are unlikable asshats
Nonsensical devices and set pieces that were completely irrational and nothing a real person would do
The gungans
Trade Federation is boring and nobody cares
Bastardizes everything we like as a cheese-ball nostalgia grab
Ridiculous light saber fights of no consequence
No real female eye candy other than robotic Padme who has no character
The droid army
Qui Gon is a drunken idiot that screws everything up


Probably could make a whole other list if I was a masochist that wanted to re-watch it.

3 isn't bad. But 1 and 2 have no main character. 2 has no story arc. The CGI is way too in your face and distracting. The slapstick humor doesn't work. There's a different villain in every movie. The acting outside of Ian Mcdiarmid and Ewan Mcgregor is pretty bad. The dialogue (especially romantic) is HORRIBLE.

The best thing IMO is the action. The battles in all 3 are pretty good. And the pod race is great. But it's not enough to save them.

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Episode III is the best of the bunch but still suffers from subpar dialogue and we witness the most undeveloped turn of any villain ever (much less arguably the greatest villain in the history of film.)

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Agreed with all your points.

Episode III was pretty good for me because it does tug at the heart strings a bit at some points, like when Order 66 is executed and the end where it shows how everyone gets to where they are for episode IV.

I thought Ewan McGregor was a perfect Obi Wan too especially when you consider that Lucas wasn't exactly getting the most out of his actors/actresses.

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Screw those sell-outs for doing those movies and not having the balls to tell Lucas his movie sucked and they need a better script and do more than just stand in front of a green screen jerking off.

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You can only do so much when the director is shite and he has a producer who is nothing but a yes-man. None of those actors/actresses had accomplished anything meaningful at that point in their careers. What kind of pull or influence did they have? Samuel Jackson yes, but he will play any role.

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Your continued use of the word "tremendous" does absolutely nothing to enhance the gravitas of your shittyass post.

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Pretty obtuse of him.


ETA my bad, wrong thread

Well, unfortunately they are always going to be compared to the greatest movies of all time.

Do I think they're on the same level, no. Are they still good movies, absolutely.

One of the main complaints was that the CGI was overdone. Do I think there could have been a few more practical effects? Sure. But if anyone is honest, those films are flicking beautiful. Lucas was so far ahead of his time it's not even funny. Those films made in the late nineties/early 2000s still look better than some films today, and nothing will come close to how much ingenuity there was in the prequels. Lucas changed the way films are made, edited, and the way we do effects. For the better.

For those who say there is no point to Episode One, you're wrong. It sets up everything we know about the the Tragedy of Darth Vader. It sets up Anakin's beginnings as a slave, which are a big reason for his struggle with authority. It introduces Obi Wan as the exemplary Jedi and how an unlikely, reluctant relationship is formed between he and Anakin (which unfortunately is underused conflict later in the films) and established Palpatine as manipulating from behind the scenes waging entire wars to further his political power, and demonstrating even powerful, wealthy people (Viceroy of the TF) fear and respect him.
Star Wars is the Tragedy of Darth Vader. And it starts for very good reason with him as a child, a whines little a-hole, just like most of us were. It's all part of Lucas's theme of humble beginnings, seen over and over in Star Wars. It shows people have the capacity for great hgood and great Evil.

While they were all ultimately disappointing because they weren't as good as the OT, they're still good films and bring completeness and depth to Star Wars as a whole. People who say they suck are just disappointed because they think it should be done differently and focus on the negatives rather than the positives, but it's not your story. Sorry.