What Ruined the Star Wars Prequels? (If you didn't like them?)

[viranimus]

Honestly? the Fanbase. The films were alright. They certainly are not able to merit all the aggro the generate.

Think about it, without the new films, the biggest think people like about the franchise right now, the Sith, would essentially be unknown to the largest part of the population. (sure there was always a dark side, but it was the prequels that fleshed out the backstory for the dark side)

Adults who were fans of the original ones not only could not let go that the purpose of the films was to introduce the franchise to a new generation, not to placate the old one. But Nerdrage won out and because of it, the second and third films were never allowed to live up to their potential for too much fear of the fans not liking them and never given anything resembling stable footing.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

George Lucas's ruined Star Wars. However my favorite review of the newer Star Wars films released starting in 1999 with Episode 1 the Phantom Menace and onward are covered very well by Red Letter Media.

Part 1 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI]
Part 2 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG1AWVLnl48]
Part 3 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdQwKPVGQsY]
Part 4 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOlG4T1S2lU]
Part 5 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvp1r2UpiQ]
Part 6 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORWPCCzSgu0]
Part 7 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIWKMgJs_Gs]

Love these and they do sum it up so well.

It does fail in every factor of movie making, doesn't it?

 

[Ninonybox_v1legacy]

I never had a problem with them really, but that's only because I was never a huge star wars buff, and a major fan of the original trilogy. I was able to take the movies as they where without any bias.

 

[breadsammich]

What really bugs me is when people confuse a bad movie with a bad prequel/sequel. I honestly think that the acting/amount of cgi, which seem to be the biggest complaints, are at an adequate level. I do agree that Hayden Christiansen did a poor acting job. But I honestly would like to know if there had never been a Star Wars before, and these were the originals, would people be complaining? No, I don't think so. I think it would be the next Summer blockbuster. A guilty pleasure movie that you go to see for big explosions and flashy sword-fights.

I realize that they are poor prequels, but they really aren't bad movies in their own right.

I say leave them alone and focus the rest of our energy on stopping Lucas from ruining the originals. But really it's too late for that, isn't it?

 

[FalloutJack]

Was it the acting? Writing? Jar Jar Binks?

It was the fake feeling to me.

If I just say "Yes", will that count as a viable answer? See, it's entertaining as far as movies go, but it doesn't belong as prequels. Not epic enough.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

The structure. So many more exciting ways it could have been made. Why do fifty different things have to happen in Episode 1? Why does nothing have to happen in the Anakin plot of 2? 3 was slightly better in this respect, but the Obi Wan parts still seemed pointless.

 

[Olas]

The fact that they could never be as innovative as the originals both from a special fx standpoint as well as conceptually as a story. Plus they had to live up to the expectations of fans who spent over a decade building off of each other's love of the originals.

Viewed objectively I think they'd stand as a pretty decent trilogy of sci-fi flicks.

 

[notimeforlulz]

The only interesting character was obi-wan, and he wasn't on screen enough.

The rest: too much talk, too much story not enough characters. Anakin is actually done really well in the clone war animated (3D) show. He's a completely brutal soldier who can bring himself to kill when obi-wan can not; and even that doesn't make him evil, it just makes him brutal and without remorse.

If they had made anakin into this semi-sociopathic vision of death in the movies, and not some emotionally vulnerable wimp, the prequels might have worked.

 

[sms_117b]

The CGI, the overuse of green screen sets, the romance seemed completely false, the story NEEDED the Expanded Universe to make any sense, half the acting was so lazy, the other half was poor.

Best thing to come from Star Wars, Neeson and McGregor (pardon the spelling) coming to mainstream audiences.

EDIT: I never used to have a problem with them, I defended them on several occasions, here and in real life, then I watched them all again in October....not been on their side since.

 

[Ragnarok185]

The idiotic Fanboys.

 

[CODE-D]

I only dont really care for the 2nd one as not much really happens except ....ugh.....love.

but 1 is my fav and
3 has the best action of the series.

 

[Lazier Than Thou]

I used to think I liked the prequels, but it never really sat well with me. The only parts I really liked were the light saber duels. I thought they were very well done, but they really leave you wondering about what's going on in the original trilogy. Why did Vadar lose all of his stylish moves? How could he have been beaten by a kid trained in a few days? Why was it so important that a 10 year old couldn't be trained by the Jedis because of whatever reason, but a young adult could?

Honestly, you can't make good prequels. It just doesn't work. You're taking familiar characters and, by definition, making them less interesting than they were before just so you can make them as disinteresting as they were when the movie first started.

A lot of people have linked to the Red Letter Media review and it's all absolutely true. There didn't seem to be any characters, none of them were fleshed out in any fashion that left a mark. None of them mattered, none of them made an impact. They weren't profound, nor did their eventual fall surprise or hurt. They were just boring, which is the worst critic that I can really throw at a movie.

For me, it was always just about people jumping around with flashy swords, because there wasn't a story. At least, not one that's very recognizable.

 

[Deef]

I seriously suggest you go watch the 'RedLetterMedia' reviews to see exactly what ruined these movies.

This comment is aimed both at people who defend these movies and anyone who just isn't sure.

The reviews are longer then the movies themselves haha.

How about no? Furstoval, I'm not going to watch a review longer than the movie it is reviewing, and secondly, why can't people accept that some people, myself included, liked the prequels despite them focusing more on explosions than exposition?!

Because even if you liked the prequels, the reviews are still funny as all hell.
In my opinion they were better than the films they were reviewing.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I don't want to go into detail so I'll just say everything. Feel free to watch these for the details you seek. Even if you like the movies, watch them anyway, they are hilarious.
http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/

 

[Cowabungaa]

The over-used of CGI and whiny Anakin mostly. I could've looked through the rest, but not those.

It's why A Phantom Menace is my favourite Star Wars prequel. It has the least amount of CGI of the three and Anakin is still a little kid instead of that emo bastard. Also pod racing, that was awesome.