#4 is SO true. You wouldn't think such a cast could stink cause they're all fairly talented. But Lucas seems to have the ability to suck the talent and life out of anything.
@Texemosis It's also a quick screenwriting shortcut that allows Qui-Gon to quickly verify that Anakin is all about the Force without a lot of time consuming character development. But it's not the only one of those in the prequels . . .
The original 1977 release didn't have "Episode IV: A New Hope" at the top of the opening crawl. When the original trilogy was re-released on DVD a few years ago, the original '77 version was included as a special feature, and it's just like that, no "Episode IV".
You could have done 5 just on the 'villains journey' of Vader: in the original films, he was evil, with a tiny sliver of good hiding in his core. The Prequels gave us this crap-ass fall from grace where if he had just told ANYONE what was going on in his head he wouldn't have turned. And some promise to Palpatine in his office seals his fate for all time? Makes him kill his friends and a bunch of kids? He went from the 'black knight' archetype to a whiney "it's not his fault, he had a bad life" caricature.
Someone finally agrees with me about the Yoda duel, I have heard so many people say it was one of the best parts of the film but it was so outside of the character that had been established for Yoda.
Thank you for mentioning Hayden being a GOOD actor in a HORRIBLE movie! I thought I was the only one who noticed he was the ONE person giving a worthy performance. The dialogue was just that bad, but he delivered it as well as it could be. This might have ruined an otherwise promising career, I hope someone seeks him out for a re-making role like w/ Robert Downey Junior.
Lucas deciding that the intimidating second banana was the Chosen One and the Most Important Guy in the Universe was one of the biggest plot mistakes in history. Yes, Vader was scary, and popular-- That doesn't mean he has to be IMPORTANT in the grand scheme of things. Luke was much more interesting as a farm boy who becomes a hero than as heir to the all mighty force, tacked on later.
Face facts: What did the old Trilogy give us back in it's day? A revolution in cinema which many film makers these days try to imitate but could never rival. What did the Prequels give us? An inspiration to film makers to make endless and needless prequels to other movies.
I felt the biggest thing was the fact that they completely and utterly destroy the redemption of Vader when he offs the emperor at the end of Return. By having Anakin strike down defenseless kids in cold blood, and not even showing the slightest reprehension before doing so, he destroyed the coolest villain from any movie I've ever seen. Darth Vader goes from the greatest bad-ass ever, to irredeemable monster. Destroying Vader is by far the most stupid thing George has done. Worse than JarJar
Actually not many fans like myself who grew up watching Star Wars did not know how powerful Yoda could be hence the fights that he had and lets face it him doing back flips and bad ass things kind of proves one of his first lessons to Luke never judge a book by its cover and showed why he was the Jedi Grand Master. I personally liked the Yoda fights because it showed his ability and strength.
I was lucky enough to see the original Yoda puppet in person. One of the special/practical effects guys from the original films retired to the Caribbean and took some props with him. He started a little museum that I stumbled upon by pure chance while on a cruise.
I thought the light saber fight between Yoda and General whatever was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen. My wife at the time was laughing hysterically during that scene. I tried to be respectful, but in hindsight, I'm shaking my head at that scene.
You know? You've really changed how I feel about the Prequels, Steve. Prior to this, I sort of tolerated them. By no stretch of the imagination are the Prequels good films, but I thought "Eh, I didn't go to the Prequels for a good movie, I went for sharing the Star Wars experience with friends and family." But the fact that the cast was wasted and that, yeah, this IS backstory to the main trilogy, makes me a lot more disappointed in them. Thanks for openin' my eyes, man. May the Force be with you.
It's been years since I downloaded them, but I once torrented the original cut of the theatrical version of the films and watched them all, and A New Hope definitely did NOT have Episode IV on the space-floaty marquee. Not sure it even had A New Hope on it. If only he had called it Episode I, human history may have turned out so different...
@SycorTheosPhilos I've considered it. I haven't quite found my way into it yet. For now, I'm trying to do a good number of these Five Stupid Things specials about things I do actually like, just kidding them or pointing out silly things about them, so this series doesn't get too negative.
The best thing about the prequels ARE the redlettermedia reviews about them! They still make me laugh, no matter how many times I watch them... I also love how they made Plinket sound and act like a satirical representation of Buffalo Bill...Classic!
+bergenheis You took the words straight out of my mouth! Whenever I think about it, the plot and the characters were so memorable in the Original Trilogy, If those two things are memorable then I'd consider the films successful. The only thing memorable about the prequels were the sword fights, which I can admit were pretty cool, even the parts with Yoda. But putting Yoda in a sword fight completely defeats his purpose, even those sword fighting scenes with Palpatine, Totally against his purpose too, he didn't speak very kindly of lightsabers in ROTJ! I could go on for days about the stupid prequels lol
episode 1 - a movie aimed at kids episode 2 - non stop CGI with laughable acting episode 3 - quite good, a less of a disappointment of the previous two
Good job picking 5, the list is endless... I think the most stupid thing about those films was that nobody had the balls to tell Lucas it was shite when he handed the script. I don't know how so many people who know cinema way more than I do can agree to be part of this.
I like the prequels to an extent because it goes into more depth about Anakin and Obi-Wans relationship and the rise of the empire and fall of the jedi. I feel like some fans needed a bit of closure to really understand who Darth Vader was. That's why I enjoy them just as much as the original eps.
except the relationship that old Ben describes in the originals was not the one the prequels showed us. the prequels show that Anakin was never "a good friend"...he was a whiner who obi wan never wanted to train in the 1st place...and the originals Ben says Yoda taught him...but in the prequels? nope...it was...Qui gon jinn. if anything the prequels didn't pay tribute to the vader character at all. it shit all over the guy.
The prequels show me one thing that has to do with star wars: How Anakin or Darth Vader kills the jedi and how the Empire started. The Movies are crap, I know that. They could have been better if someone else who had a mind directed them don't get me wrong the star wars prequels could have been great, were they? Nope. Which is a shame. I thought they were ''ok'' when I first watched them. When I watch them more, I noticed why so many people hate them so much. I don't currently mind them as I like ALL the star wars movies. Prequels are just not as good as the originals but they're ''ok''. Just had to many mistakes.
^^^so what. He was relatable and interesting...and we cared about him. Nobody cared about anakin except for the fact that we knew he'd be darth Vader I guess
I'm using Siri for this cause I'm lazy. OB one in Newhope said that Aniken was a good friend but in the prequel's organic and does is complain and when OB is in the conversation and I can does not seem to be too fond of him.
@xxa455xx That's a reference to the notion that Star Wars was the fourth episode of something. The first film wasn't referred to as "Episode IV: A New Hope" until it was re-released in 1981, after The Empire Strikes Back had been released with "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" at the beginning of its opening crawl.
The Prequels do exist and are part of the official star wars saga. people can deny it but are lying to themselves. The Prequels exist and are pretty good. Suck it!
@Texemosis I don't have as much of a problem with them as some. The worst part about being able to just give someone a blood test to see how much of the Force they have is that it makes the lack of acceptance of the Force among most characters in Star Wars, Empire, and Return of the Jedi even more nonsensical. Either the Force is this ineffable, quasi-spiritual thing, or it's generated by microorganisms and can be exactly measured.
Mr: Plinkett: And this is where the movie begins to fall apart. The Star Wars you knew is now a burnt husk of its former self. Just like my pizza rolls from last night.
Coming up with five is easy; coming up with five that I can talk about entertainingly is a little harder. I could come up with ten or fifteen or five hundred, sure, but it would soon degenerate into a late-period Lenny Bruce routine.
True. You'd think since he gave himself three films to plot out the fall to the dark side, he could have come up with something a bit less rushed. It also bothers me that Anakin was such a sullen dick in episodes two and three. He just never seems that good and heroic in the first place, and he's still so young when he becomes Vader that it's not like some epic tragedy has taken place. It's more like Obi-Wan's moody teenage apprentice makes the choice everyone expects him to make.
Morgoth from Angband Since getting the blu ray set I do find myself watching the prequels more, so I guess so. I watched AotC just the other night and skipped over the Naboo scenes. What a fucking waste of celluloid. Unfortunately the Obi wan and Jango Fett fight on Kamino suddenly became more ridiculous, right behind C-3PO's head swap side story. Everything else I can live with and enjoy immensely.
The real worst things about the prequels: With #1 being the most flawed 1. The cheesiness and child's appeal -Which was also a big problem in Episode 6 2. The plain dialogue -Mainly problematic in episodes 1&2 3. The awful love chemistry -Only in the 2nd but by far the worst part 4. The plot details of the 1st -Meaning the treaty & overused space battle 5. The outdated CGI -Mainly bad in the 1st but also a bit in the 2nd
+peterthesneakybastar The dialog is so bad. There is an interview with either Carrie Fisher or Harrison Ford talking about the making of Star Wars and one of them said to Lucas something to the effect of "you can write this shit, but I have to say it." some things never change.
I was more or less indifferent to the first movie, since the plot was predictable and Anakin's youthful puppy love caused me physical discomfort but it had some excellent music, some impressive battle scenes, particularly the droids trouncing the Gungans, and introduced my favorite character of the entire series, then Senator Palpatine. The Clone Wars was interesting, again, not because of Anakin, although some of the banter between him and Obi-Wan was fun, but because of Palpatine. Basically, and this goes for the third movie as well, the story became about the political machinations of the future Emperor as he strangled the life out of a thousand year old democracy. Having Christopher Lee play Count Dooku was also a plus. I suppose that it would be fair to say that, for me anyway, Palpatine was the main character of the prequels, Anakin/Darth Vader be damned.
@BrotherAlpha You're right that Jake Lloyd didn't do well at all, but there were problems with that character beyond the casting. It's hard to imagine even the most precocious child actor being able to do much with lines like "Yippee!"
I'd like to see a story about the formation of the Jedi and Sith. Before they invented lightsabers. Not necessarily movies, but at least a book or three.
Are the prequels flawed? Yes. Are they awful movies? By no means. I actually really enjoy them and have watched each movie 20 times or more. That being said I do agree with some of the points brought up in this video.
Jar Jar is my favorite character.The reason is that he goes from being an outcast from his people, then over time becomes the general of his peoples army, then on to the ambassador.He evolves as a character in the series almost as much as Anakin.
@BrotherAlpha Dialogue has always been one of his weaknesses. He's also rather an uninspiring director, both when it comes to actors and, despite the abundance of meticulously crafted special effects, visually. Compare his films to those of Steven Spielberg, or even to J.J. Abrams's Star Trek, and you'll notice a huge difference in camera movement, camera placement, staging and blocking of scenes . . . Dialogue is far from his only, or even his worst, weakness as a filmmaker.
@BrotherAlpha I've seen quite a few, though not nearly as many as I'd like. The list of those I haven't seen but want to seems to grow by the day. This is all a matter of opinion, of course. Obviously you appreciate things about Episode II that I don't. And perhaps we have different criteria for judging whether a film is good or bad.
+Aguvika While I am glad you liked it, I don't. I didn't NEED or WANT to see Darth Vader's fall. I already had it explained: Was once a Jedi Knight, until he was seduced by the Dark side. The prequels didn't clear anything up for me, all they did was make me confused for why Obi Wan would Consider Anakin a friend.
I wouldn't say it was perfect, either. I catch shit from both Star Wars and Star Trek nerds for talking about how silly they both are, but loving them nonetheless. I dig the hell out of the original trilogy, but it's beyond me how anyone can take them as seriously as a lot of the diehards do.
Because he's above that sort of thing. I always imagined a lightsaber battle with Yoda would go something like this: Sith swings lightsaber at Yoda. Lightsaber cuts off before contact. Sith, looking bewildered, reactivates lightsaber and swings it again. Lightsaber cuts off before contact. "Learned nothing have you", Yoda says. Cut to Sith in Jedi custody.
Agree on the 'Han Solo' thing. Many people may not notice it but Han Solo is the biggest X-factor in the Star Wars Original Trilogy. Removing him is like removing Tom Hagen from The Godfather. I do hope we have a Han Solo-ish character in the upcoming sequel trilogy.
+Socialist Party of UA-cam Nothing in Star Wars is a new idea, its all just been repackaged. Joseph Campbell talked about these types of myths and archetypes many times when he was alive.
@xorthan It would mean changing the story a LOT when it comes to the prequels. But sure, I wouldn't bet against it ever happening. George Lucas won't live forever, and Hollywood's creative well is continually on empty, it seems. Star Wars will be revisited at some point, either in the form of remakes or further sequels. Hopefully the people creating those new films will be talented artists. But the studio won't care one way or the other.
I always look forward to your posts. It's nice to read posts as well written as yours. I only respond to these though because "Sweet is the scene where genial friendship plays the pleasing game of interchanging praise." Shakespeare was an internet freak too:p
Jar-Jar is the Star Wars equivalent of Invader Zim... "Weren't you banished to Foodcourtia? Shouldn't you be... frying something?" "Oh, I quit when I found out about this." "You quit being banished?!"
Oh, come on: the prequels weren't that bad. I love Star Wars, but look at it objectively: was the original trilogy that great? No. The dialogue was terrible and so much of it was just....bullshit. Again, I love Star Wars, but the films are flawed (like most movies). Just take them for what they are: entertainment. If the films had been reversed in release, we'd be bitching about the original trilogy in the same way.
***** When did I devalue the originals? All I said was that the originals had dialogue that was as bad as the prequels. The original Star Trek had cheesy parts but that doesn't stop me from loving it. The originals were great but they had flaws. The dialogue isn't great. But again, that doesn't stop me from loving them. Hell, I have between 400 and 500 Clone/Stormtrooper figures as well as a large collection of Imperial vehicles. What you're doing is bullshit. You're acting as if you can't love both trilogies. It's people like you that made Lucas sell the rights. You do nothing but complain about movies that were just meant to be fun. They're not political movies trying to make life-changing impact on your life. They're just films, for fuck's sake.
@SycorTheosPhilos It is an interesting idea. I'll see if I can come up with anything for it. And if I do, I'll be sure to give you no credit whatsoever for the concept. But I kid.
@BrotherAlpha The political intrigue? It wasn't exactly the Manchurian Candidate . . . I dunno. I found Episode II mostly just incredibly dull. And when it wasn't dull, it was insulting and stupid, like Yoda's lightsaber duel, or Anakin's massacre of an entire village followed by Padme's non-reaction.
@BrotherAlpha I wouldn't say they're THE worst films ever. Episode II would definitely be in my bottom 5, but sure, I've seen worse films. BTW, I just read your "People vs. George Lucas" review, and I think we agree on that one. I found it entertaining but unnecessary overall, which puts it one up on the prequels, at least. I'd hoped for a bit more self-awareness from it, maybe a bit more acknowledgement of how silly it is to get that upset over a bad movie . . .
@BrotherAlpha Low-budget dreck like, say, Manos: The Hands of Fate, often gets brought up when people talk about worst movies, but I'd take something like that, or something like an Ed Wood movie or a Roger Corman film, that is bad in an entertaining way, over a big-budget project like Episode II that literally had every possible advantage a filmmaker could ever want, and still came up with something that, to me, plays as flat, dull and pointless.
@ThanatoselNyx Until I saw the first Twilight film, I think Yoda's lightsaber duel was the stupidest thing I've ever seen in a film. And I've seen The Matrix.
star wars fan here: completely agree with every point made. You summed it up into words perfectly, especially about jarjar, han solo role, and wasted cast. but hey, hollywood accomplished their goal (monnnneeyyy) so thats all they cared about. thanks forr the vids too, always excited to see a new vid from ya!
I think the whole point of yoda having a lightsaber was to show that even he still learned lessons. You have to remember these are prequals not a equals
If we HAD to pretend that STAR WARS was "episode 4", how about telling us how Princess Leia got involved in the rebellion, and the exciting adventure of stealing the plans to the Death Star? Instead, we had to pretend that Darth Vader was of major importance to the entire universe, instead of a scary secondary villain.
Agree with them all but 3 in particular. Why do Jedi's have to be so boring? If Luke would've seen those movies, he would've dreamed of being a Dentist in stead.
I don't mind the prequels. Well the first two are a bit shit with redeeming scenes, but Revenge of the Sith is easily up there with the best Star Wars has to offer.
Star Wars Prequels would have been better as a trilogy of movies that don't connect so closely to A New Hope but rather events that happen much before with a third movie ending in Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi finding Anakin.
There are two main problems with the prequels, besides the mountain of other problems. The first is that George Lucas had developed the "King Midas Syndrome", and thought that if he wrote, directed, and did the screenplay for the prequels, that it was a sure fire bet and would be as successful as the original trilogy, regardless of what he put into them. The other main problem is that unlike the original trilogy, a majority of the sets in the films were virtual sets leaving the actors with nothing to interact with resulting in those wooden performances. At least in the original trilogy, the actors were on actual sets, interacting with people in costumes, and animatronic puppets. But, that's just my opinion.
You might say stale performances might be a flaw in terms of film quality but as far a star wars story goes I was actually happy with it. It gave a very professional and serious output from the characters and as far as seriousness goes the performances were fine. I actually felt Samuel L Jackson gave a very strong performance in this movie. I'm sure the shitty dialogue made it hard for people to appreciate this. Now there is an acceptation with Hayden's performance in Attack of the Clones. It may not have been his fault but I think we can all agree his character sounded weird and very unnatural. Other than that I like performances and so did a number of movie critics.
I found the sight of the pre-Vader Anakin crawling legless out of the river of magma worth the price of admission. Well, the price of sitting in front of HBO, anyway.
I don't dislike the prequels so much as I despise how Lucas went around and fucked up the originals. He took live action puppets and replaced them with cartoons. He added stuff that didn't need to be added, changed things that didn't need to be changed, and generally screwed everything up. And forget how fans like myself hate the Special Editions, they are an absolute INSULT to the talented and hardworking staff that made the originals.
When SW came out, it wasn't titled anything other than "Star Wars". It wasn't called Ep IV or New Hope or any of that. It was just "Star Wars." All the relabeling came after. I don't even remember Ep IV coming out until sometime after ROTJ. It was just "Star Wars," "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."
Episode 2 was boring and political but necessary I suppose. The prequels as a whole, however, were not bad. People want the exact same glory they felt from the original trilogy in the exact same way. PEOPLE WANT THE EXACT SAME THING AGAIN BECAUSE THEY ARE UNCREATIVE. THe stories were not bad.
1. Agreed Jar-Jar sucks in TPM 2. A person can change his mind about fighting with a light-sabre, i loved it that the leader of the Jedi order could fight 3. sorry but i'm so glad they had no Han Solo 4. the only really bad lines are the love scenes 5. bull crap the Prequels are about the Rise of the Empire and the rise of Anikin Skywalker (the 3 movies are about him) You are what i like to call an OT lover, YOU ARE NOT A TRUE STAR WARS FAN. people like you that say the PT should not be needs to, as paraphrasing Palpatine: "Embrace a larger point of view." get your head out of your ass and re-watch them in order 1-6 and this time PRETEND LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE, doing this seeing them as if for the 1st time you might change your mind (but people like you never do)
I never understood why until I saw this. I like the way you structured and explained yourself. (Mind you I saw the movies from 9 y.o to 15 y.o when I had no knowledge of a good storyline.) Overall concept was great, execution and delivery, not so much.
What really disappointed me what that they had the chance to turn Anakin into a well received Tragic Hero comparable to greek myths but instead they turned him into a whiny spoiled little brat. Obi-Wan says he hasn't gone by that name but by Ben since before Luke was born and clearly he had. I always hated that. BTW I liked Jar Jar
My boss let me out of work so I could stand in line for hours to buy tickets for my team. Then the Nemodians spoke, and we tensed up a bit. Then we met Jar-Jar, I'll never forget the "Oh Crap" look my buddy and I gave each other. Why....Just Why?
Steve, am I understanding you to say that the Ep IV moniker was tacked on to A New Hope after the fact? Because I recall seeing it there all along (in the original theater run.)
#4 is SO true. You wouldn't think such a cast could stink cause they're all fairly talented. But Lucas seems to have the ability to suck the talent and life out of anything.
@Texemosis It's also a quick screenwriting shortcut that allows Qui-Gon to quickly verify that Anakin is all about the Force without a lot of time consuming character development. But it's not the only one of those in the prequels . . .
The original 1977 release didn't have "Episode IV: A New Hope" at the top of the opening crawl. When the original trilogy was re-released on DVD a few years ago, the original '77 version was included as a special feature, and it's just like that, no "Episode IV".
You could have done 5 just on the 'villains journey' of Vader: in the original films, he was evil, with a tiny sliver of good hiding in his core. The Prequels gave us this crap-ass fall from grace where if he had just told ANYONE what was going on in his head he wouldn't have turned. And some promise to Palpatine in his office seals his fate for all time? Makes him kill his friends and a bunch of kids? He went from the 'black knight' archetype to a whiney "it's not his fault, he had a bad life" caricature.
Steve: There was no need for one more movie, let alone three!
2018: I have some really bad news...
And the "rescue" of the chancellor seems really tacked on, as if Lucas went "Oh yeah, Annikn was supposed to be a heroic friend of Obi Wan!"
Someone finally agrees with me about the Yoda duel, I have heard so many people say it was one of the best parts of the film but it was so outside of the character that had been established for Yoda.
Thank you for mentioning Hayden being a GOOD actor in a HORRIBLE movie! I thought I was the only one who noticed he was the ONE person giving a worthy performance. The dialogue was just that bad, but he delivered it as well as it could be. This might have ruined an otherwise promising career, I hope someone seeks him out for a re-making role like w/ Robert Downey Junior.
Lucas deciding that the intimidating second banana was the Chosen One and the Most Important Guy in the Universe was one of the biggest plot mistakes in history. Yes, Vader was scary, and popular-- That doesn't mean he has to be IMPORTANT in the grand scheme of things. Luke was much more interesting as a farm boy who becomes a hero than as heir to the all mighty force, tacked on later.
Face facts:
What did the old Trilogy give us back in it's day? A revolution in cinema which many film makers these days try to imitate but could never rival.
What did the Prequels give us? An inspiration to film makers to make endless and needless prequels to other movies.
I felt the biggest thing was the fact that they completely and utterly destroy the redemption of Vader when he offs the emperor at the end of Return.
By having Anakin strike down defenseless kids in cold blood, and not even showing the slightest reprehension before doing so, he destroyed the coolest villain from any movie I've ever seen. Darth Vader goes from the greatest bad-ass ever, to irredeemable monster.
Destroying Vader is by far the most stupid thing George has done. Worse than JarJar
Actually not many fans like myself who grew up watching Star Wars did not know how powerful Yoda could be hence the fights that he had and lets face it him doing back flips and bad ass things kind of proves one of his first lessons to Luke never judge a book by its cover and showed why he was the Jedi Grand Master. I personally liked the Yoda fights because it showed his ability and strength.
I was lucky enough to see the original Yoda puppet in person. One of the special/practical effects guys from the original films retired to the Caribbean and took some props with him. He started a little museum that I stumbled upon by pure chance while on a cruise.
I know right?! I was pretty sure Steve was going to START the episode with his catch-phrase, "the hardest part was picking five."
That was surgically concise and brutally true. Your final point takes down the prequels' right to even exist, and you nailed it. Bra-vo.
In a world of Hypotesis, I wonder how Peter Jackson could have did this trilogy, after a plot rewritning by his collegues.
I thought the light saber fight between Yoda and General whatever was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen. My wife at the time was laughing hysterically during that scene. I tried to be respectful, but in hindsight, I'm shaking my head at that scene.
The best thing about the Star Wars prequels, was the Cartoon Network attack of the clones series.
Well done Steve.
You know? You've really changed how I feel about the Prequels, Steve. Prior to this, I sort of tolerated them. By no stretch of the imagination are the Prequels good films, but I thought "Eh, I didn't go to the Prequels for a good movie, I went for sharing the Star Wars experience with friends and family." But the fact that the cast was wasted and that, yeah, this IS backstory to the main trilogy, makes me a lot more disappointed in them. Thanks for openin' my eyes, man. May the Force be with you.
I agree with the video except for point number 5: I think a back story can be great ... If you do it well.
Must have been hard to pare the list down to just five.
Down to 50 would be a challenge
That was the part that drove me CRAZY! Especially the Boba Fett part. Why go back? Why couldn't Boba just be some random bounty-hunter?
I like the prequels. Sure, they're not nearly as good as the original trilogy, but they still have they're high points.
It's been years since I downloaded them, but I once torrented the original cut of the theatrical version of the films and watched them all, and A New Hope definitely did NOT have Episode IV on the space-floaty marquee. Not sure it even had A New Hope on it.
If only he had called it Episode I, human history may have turned out so different...
@SycorTheosPhilos I've considered it. I haven't quite found my way into it yet. For now, I'm trying to do a good number of these Five Stupid Things specials about things I do actually like, just kidding them or pointing out silly things about them, so this series doesn't get too negative.
The best thing about the prequels ARE the redlettermedia reviews about them! They still make me laugh, no matter how many times I watch them... I also love how they made Plinket sound and act like a satirical representation of Buffalo Bill...Classic!
I know practically everybody haaaaaates the prequels but I still love Revenge of the Sith.
I think the fist are terrible movies however I love them to death
I don't hate the prequels
+bergenheis You took the words straight out of my mouth! Whenever I think about it, the plot and the characters were so memorable in the Original Trilogy, If those two things are memorable then I'd consider the films successful. The only thing memorable about the prequels were the sword fights, which I can admit were pretty cool, even the parts with Yoda. But putting Yoda in a sword fight completely defeats his purpose, even those sword fighting scenes with Palpatine, Totally against his purpose too, he didn't speak very kindly of lightsabers in ROTJ! I could go on for days about the stupid prequels lol
I agree...the Prequels need a stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder.
Who's, "scruffy-looking?"
episode 1 - a movie aimed at kids
episode 2 - non stop CGI with laughable acting
episode 3 - quite good, a less of a disappointment of the previous two
Good job picking 5, the list is endless...
I think the most stupid thing about those films was that nobody had the balls to tell Lucas it was shite when he handed the script. I don't know how so many people who know cinema way more than I do can agree to be part of this.
I like the prequels to an extent because it goes into more depth about Anakin and Obi-Wans relationship and the rise of the empire and fall of the jedi. I feel like some fans needed a bit of closure to really understand who Darth Vader was. That's why I enjoy them just as much as the original eps.
except the relationship that old Ben describes in the originals was not the one the prequels showed us. the prequels show that Anakin was never "a good friend"...he was a whiner who obi wan never wanted to train in the 1st place...and the originals Ben says Yoda taught him...but in the prequels? nope...it was...Qui gon jinn. if anything the prequels didn't pay tribute to the vader character at all. it shit all over the guy.
The prequels show me one thing that has to do with star wars: How Anakin or Darth Vader kills the jedi and how the Empire started. The Movies are crap, I know that. They could have been better if someone else who had a mind directed them don't get me wrong the star wars prequels could have been great, were they? Nope. Which is a shame. I thought they were ''ok'' when I first watched them. When I watch them more, I noticed why so many people hate them so much. I don't currently mind them as I like ALL the star wars movies. Prequels are just not as good as the originals but they're ''ok''. Just had to many mistakes.
Dwayneo18 Remember that charater Luke Skywalker yeah.. he was whiney
^^^so what. He was relatable and interesting...and we cared about him. Nobody cared about anakin except for the fact that we knew he'd be darth Vader I guess
I'm using Siri for this cause I'm lazy. OB one in Newhope said that Aniken was a good friend but in the prequel's organic and does is complain and when OB is in the conversation and I can does not seem to be too fond of him.
@xxa455xx That's a reference to the notion that Star Wars was the fourth episode of something. The first film wasn't referred to as "Episode IV: A New Hope" until it was re-released in 1981, after The Empire Strikes Back had been released with "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" at the beginning of its opening crawl.
The Prequels do exist and are part of the official star wars saga. people can deny it but are lying to themselves. The Prequels exist and are pretty good. Suck it!
1 word.... MIDI-CHLORIANS!
Midi-chlorians took out all of the magic and mystery of the force.
I liked Midi-chlorians it showed how much data the Jedi lost.
dickhead
DRUGS
Eric East the midichlorians aren't the force, they are just the Cells to connect with the force.
If you want a continuation of the Star Wars story, check out the Expanded Universe, and then you'll see why more movies are needed.
You don't need to like the prequel's to like the expanded universe which by the way it's no longer Canon
@Texemosis I don't have as much of a problem with them as some. The worst part about being able to just give someone a blood test to see how much of the Force they have is that it makes the lack of acceptance of the Force among most characters in Star Wars, Empire, and Return of the Jedi even more nonsensical. Either the Force is this ineffable, quasi-spiritual thing, or it's generated by microorganisms and can be exactly measured.
Mr: Plinkett: And this is where the movie begins to fall apart. The Star Wars you knew is now a burnt husk of its former self. Just like my pizza rolls from last night.
Mr plinkett is awesome.
Coming up with five is easy; coming up with five that I can talk about entertainingly is a little harder. I could come up with ten or fifteen or five hundred, sure, but it would soon degenerate into a late-period Lenny Bruce routine.
True. You'd think since he gave himself three films to plot out the fall to the dark side, he could have come up with something a bit less rushed. It also bothers me that Anakin was such a sullen dick in episodes two and three. He just never seems that good and heroic in the first place, and he's still so young when he becomes Vader that it's not like some epic tragedy has taken place. It's more like Obi-Wan's moody teenage apprentice makes the choice everyone expects him to make.
Not gonna lie, I like ep. 3. It was very emotional and led to a greater insight of Vader's past. The best of the prequels
I don't even watch the OT anymore! I just cycle through Episode 1, 2 , 3 & repeat. It's wizard!
TheLeatheryman So you really prefer the prequels?
Morgoth from Angband Since getting the blu ray set I do find myself watching the prequels more, so I guess so. I watched AotC just the other night and skipped over the Naboo scenes. What a fucking waste of celluloid. Unfortunately the Obi wan and Jango Fett fight on Kamino suddenly became more ridiculous, right behind C-3PO's head swap side story. Everything else I can live with and enjoy immensely.
TheLeatheryman I can only really watch 'scenes' from the PT. I tried re-watching them again recently, and I just couldn't get through them.
The real worst things about the prequels:
With #1 being the most flawed
1. The cheesiness and child's appeal
-Which was also a big problem in Episode 6
2. The plain dialogue
-Mainly problematic in episodes 1&2
3. The awful love chemistry
-Only in the 2nd but by far the worst part
4. The plot details of the 1st
-Meaning the treaty & overused space battle
5. The outdated CGI
-Mainly bad in the 1st but also a bit in the 2nd
+peterthesneakybastar The dialog is so bad. There is an interview with either Carrie Fisher or Harrison Ford talking about the making of Star Wars and one of them said to Lucas something to the effect of "you can write this shit, but I have to say it." some things never change.
...ONLY five stupid things?
I was more or less indifferent to the first movie, since the plot was predictable and Anakin's youthful puppy love caused me physical discomfort but it had some excellent music, some impressive battle scenes, particularly the droids trouncing the Gungans, and introduced my favorite character of the entire series, then Senator Palpatine.
The Clone Wars was interesting, again, not because of Anakin, although some of the banter between him and Obi-Wan was fun, but because of Palpatine. Basically, and this goes for the third movie as well, the story became about the political machinations of the future Emperor as he strangled the life out of a thousand year old democracy. Having Christopher Lee play Count Dooku was also a plus.
I suppose that it would be fair to say that, for me anyway, Palpatine was the main character of the prequels, Anakin/Darth Vader be damned.
@BrotherAlpha You're right that Jake Lloyd didn't do well at all, but there were problems with that character beyond the casting. It's hard to imagine even the most precocious child actor being able to do much with lines like "Yippee!"
I'd like to see a story about the formation of the Jedi and Sith. Before they invented lightsabers. Not necessarily movies, but at least a book or three.
Knights of the Old Republic talks about how the Sith were formed, but the Jedi I am not sure, havent completed the game yet.
Are the prequels flawed? Yes. Are they awful movies? By no means. I actually really enjoy them and have watched each movie 20 times or more. That being said I do agree with some of the points brought up in this video.
Jar Jar is my favorite character.The reason is that he goes from being an outcast from his people, then over time becomes the general of his peoples army, then on to the ambassador.He evolves as a character in the series almost as much as Anakin.
@BrotherAlpha Dialogue has always been one of his weaknesses. He's also rather an uninspiring director, both when it comes to actors and, despite the abundance of meticulously crafted special effects, visually. Compare his films to those of Steven Spielberg, or even to J.J. Abrams's Star Trek, and you'll notice a huge difference in camera movement, camera placement, staging and blocking of scenes . . . Dialogue is far from his only, or even his worst, weakness as a filmmaker.
Yoda's lightsaber duel was EPIC! You're out in left field on that one my friend.
EPIC!
@BrotherAlpha I've seen quite a few, though not nearly as many as I'd like. The list of those I haven't seen but want to seems to grow by the day.
This is all a matter of opinion, of course. Obviously you appreciate things about Episode II that I don't. And perhaps we have different criteria for judging whether a film is good or bad.
Oh come on! Jar Jar's beautiful!
I liked the prequels.....it helps explain Darth Vader. I bet there will be a lot of hate for force awakens as well.
+Aguvika You were right :P
+Aguvika While I am glad you liked it, I don't. I didn't NEED or WANT to see Darth Vader's fall. I already had it explained: Was once a Jedi Knight, until he was seduced by the Dark side. The prequels didn't clear anything up for me, all they did was make me confused for why Obi Wan would Consider Anakin a friend.
Well you were certainly wrong, lol.
The prequels do not line up with the original trilogy story wise
Exactly!! At All !!
I have hope. It's still to early for anything other than wild speculation, but the early signs since the sale have been encouraging.
I wouldn't say it was perfect, either. I catch shit from both Star Wars and Star Trek nerds for talking about how silly they both are, but loving them nonetheless. I dig the hell out of the original trilogy, but it's beyond me how anyone can take them as seriously as a lot of the diehards do.
Because he's above that sort of thing. I always imagined a lightsaber battle with Yoda would go something like this:
Sith swings lightsaber at Yoda.
Lightsaber cuts off before contact.
Sith, looking bewildered, reactivates lightsaber and swings it again.
Lightsaber cuts off before contact.
"Learned nothing have you", Yoda says.
Cut to Sith in Jedi custody.
Agree on the 'Han Solo' thing. Many people may not notice it but Han Solo is the biggest X-factor in the Star Wars Original Trilogy. Removing him is like removing Tom Hagen from The Godfather. I do hope we have a Han Solo-ish character in the upcoming sequel trilogy.
+Ernesto Nuguid I think "Poe" is shaping up to be sort of like him.
One of the things I hate about the prequels is that the droids all seem to have the personality of a cowardly buffoon, why?
Good point last time I checked robots never had emotions.
Graphic Gamers
Last time I checked robots couldn't think freely "cough"C-3po"cough".
The wise old man being mistaken for a fool is an ancient fairy tale trope.
+Socialist Party of UA-cam Nothing in Star Wars is a new idea, its all just been repackaged. Joseph Campbell talked about these types of myths and archetypes many times when he was alive.
@xorthan It would mean changing the story a LOT when it comes to the prequels. But sure, I wouldn't bet against it ever happening. George Lucas won't live forever, and Hollywood's creative well is continually on empty, it seems. Star Wars will be revisited at some point, either in the form of remakes or further sequels. Hopefully the people creating those new films will be talented artists. But the studio won't care one way or the other.
I always look forward to your posts. It's nice to read posts as well written as yours. I only respond to these though because "Sweet is the scene where genial friendship plays the pleasing game of interchanging praise." Shakespeare was an internet freak too:p
Jar-Jar is the Star Wars equivalent of Invader Zim...
"Weren't you banished to Foodcourtia? Shouldn't you be... frying something?"
"Oh, I quit when I found out about this."
"You quit being banished?!"
Oh, come on: the prequels weren't that bad. I love Star Wars, but look at it objectively: was the original trilogy that great? No. The dialogue was terrible and so much of it was just....bullshit. Again, I love Star Wars, but the films are flawed (like most movies). Just take them for what they are: entertainment. If the films had been reversed in release, we'd be bitching about the original trilogy in the same way.
my thoughts exactly.
*****
"Well, look at you, a General!"
"Get on outta here, ya pirate!"
*****
It's lame dialogue. Lucas has never been able to write good dialogue. But lame dialogue aside, I love both trilogies.
*****
When did I devalue the originals? All I said was that the originals had dialogue that was as bad as the prequels. The original Star Trek had cheesy parts but that doesn't stop me from loving it. The originals were great but they had flaws. The dialogue isn't great. But again, that doesn't stop me from loving them. Hell, I have between 400 and 500 Clone/Stormtrooper figures as well as a large collection of Imperial vehicles.
What you're doing is bullshit. You're acting as if you can't love both trilogies. It's people like you that made Lucas sell the rights. You do nothing but complain about movies that were just meant to be fun. They're not political movies trying to make life-changing impact on your life. They're just films, for fuck's sake.
Piss off abaddon5
Darth jar jar's true influence will be revealed in the special edition in twenty years.
Shattered Glass is a really terrific film.
Oh, hell yes. The Plinkett reviews are genius.
@SycorTheosPhilos It is an interesting idea. I'll see if I can come up with anything for it. And if I do, I'll be sure to give you no credit whatsoever for the concept.
But I kid.
@CyborgAtheist Totally. The Plinkett reviews of the Star Wars prequels are genius. Hilarious AND sharp film criticism.
@BrotherAlpha Why? Isn't that just another way of saying I didn't like it?
@BrotherAlpha The political intrigue? It wasn't exactly the Manchurian Candidate . . . I dunno. I found Episode II mostly just incredibly dull. And when it wasn't dull, it was insulting and stupid, like Yoda's lightsaber duel, or Anakin's massacre of an entire village followed by Padme's non-reaction.
@BrotherAlpha I wouldn't say they're THE worst films ever. Episode II would definitely be in my bottom 5, but sure, I've seen worse films. BTW, I just read your "People vs. George Lucas" review, and I think we agree on that one. I found it entertaining but unnecessary overall, which puts it one up on the prequels, at least. I'd hoped for a bit more self-awareness from it, maybe a bit more acknowledgement of how silly it is to get that upset over a bad movie . . .
jar jar binks is the chewbacca of the prequels. Deal with it.
CESSKAR Chewbacca was a hardworking animal, that protected han solo. Jar Jar was a retarded, annoying bunny rabbit that killed droids on accident
@BrotherAlpha Low-budget dreck like, say, Manos: The Hands of Fate, often gets brought up when people talk about worst movies, but I'd take something like that, or something like an Ed Wood movie or a Roger Corman film, that is bad in an entertaining way, over a big-budget project like Episode II that literally had every possible advantage a filmmaker could ever want, and still came up with something that, to me, plays as flat, dull and pointless.
@ThanatoselNyx Until I saw the first Twilight film, I think Yoda's lightsaber duel was the stupidest thing I've ever seen in a film. And I've seen The Matrix.
@SycorTheosPhilos How dare you promote my work without my permission!
Are we Facebook friends? Because if we aren't, we should be.
The sequels done by Disney managed to outdo the prequels in crappy things.
False. The Sequels are objectively greater than the dumpster fire of the Prequels.
star wars fan here: completely agree with every point made. You summed it up into words perfectly, especially about jarjar, han solo role, and wasted cast. but hey, hollywood accomplished their goal (monnnneeyyy) so thats all they cared about.
thanks forr the vids too, always excited to see a new vid from ya!
I think the whole point of yoda having a lightsaber was to show that even he still learned lessons. You have to remember these are prequals not a equals
If we HAD to pretend that STAR WARS was "episode 4", how about telling us how Princess Leia got involved in the rebellion, and the exciting adventure of stealing the plans to the Death Star? Instead, we had to pretend that Darth Vader was of major importance to the entire universe, instead of a scary secondary villain.
What about this line "I wish I could just wish my wishes away!"
ZoldierrZzz It's the dreaded Hayden Christensen epidemic, using the same word twice or more in a sentence!
I wish I could just wish my wish wishes wish awish.
No it wasn't, we'll not for me. If it is, I'll bring it back when I get back from holiday :)
Oh, Steve, hold me like you did by the lake on Naboo, so long ago when there was nothing but our love, no politics, no plots, no war...
Agree with them all but 3 in particular. Why do Jedi's have to be so boring? If Luke would've seen those movies, he would've dreamed of being a Dentist in stead.
I don't mind the prequels. Well the first two are a bit shit with redeeming scenes, but Revenge of the Sith is easily up there with the best Star Wars has to offer.
no hassle No way, Revenge was the worst of the three.
ColdCutz you are very much in the minority in thinking that then.
no hassle If you have to dwell on that fact to make yourself feel better then be my guest.
ColdCutz
It's a fact! Deal with it!
no hassle That's what I JUST SAID! Or can you not read?
The prequels could've been great if Lucas had realised that he is not a great film maker, but a guy who had a pretty good idea once.
Star Wars Prequels would have been better as a trilogy of movies that don't connect so closely to A New Hope but rather events that happen much before with a third movie ending in Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi finding Anakin.
There are two main problems with the prequels, besides the mountain of other problems. The first is that George Lucas had developed the "King Midas Syndrome", and thought that if he wrote, directed, and did the screenplay for the prequels, that it was a sure fire bet and would be as successful as the original trilogy, regardless of what he put into them. The other main problem is that unlike the original trilogy, a majority of the sets in the films were virtual sets leaving the actors with nothing to interact with resulting in those wooden performances. At least in the original trilogy, the actors were on actual sets, interacting with people in costumes, and animatronic puppets. But, that's just my opinion.
You might say stale performances might be a flaw in terms of film quality but as far a star wars story goes I was actually happy with it. It gave a very professional and serious output from the characters and as far as seriousness goes the performances were fine. I actually felt Samuel L Jackson gave a very strong performance in this movie. I'm sure the shitty dialogue made it hard for people to appreciate this. Now there is an acceptation with Hayden's performance in Attack of the Clones. It may not have been his fault but I think we can all agree his character sounded weird and very unnatural. Other than that I like performances and so did a number of movie critics.
I found the sight of the pre-Vader Anakin crawling legless out of the river of magma worth the price of admission. Well, the price of sitting in front of HBO, anyway.
Yodas duel was one of the parts of the prequels where I heard people cheer.
I don't dislike the prequels so much as I despise how Lucas went around and fucked up the originals.
He took live action puppets and replaced them with cartoons. He added stuff that didn't need to be added, changed things that didn't need to be changed, and generally screwed everything up.
And forget how fans like myself hate the Special Editions, they are an absolute INSULT to the talented and hardworking staff that made the originals.
When SW came out, it wasn't titled anything other than "Star Wars". It wasn't called Ep IV or New Hope or any of that. It was just "Star Wars." All the relabeling came after. I don't even remember Ep IV coming out until sometime after ROTJ. It was just "Star Wars," "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."
Episode 2 was boring and political but necessary I suppose. The prequels as a whole, however, were not bad. People want the exact same glory they felt from the original trilogy in the exact same way. PEOPLE WANT THE EXACT SAME THING AGAIN BECAUSE THEY ARE UNCREATIVE. THe stories were not bad.
1. Agreed Jar-Jar sucks in TPM
2. A person can change his mind about fighting with a light-sabre, i loved it that the leader of the Jedi order could fight
3. sorry but i'm so glad they had no Han Solo
4. the only really bad lines are the love scenes
5. bull crap the Prequels are about the Rise of the Empire and the rise of Anikin Skywalker (the 3 movies are about him)
You are what i like to call an OT lover, YOU ARE NOT A TRUE STAR WARS FAN. people like you that say the PT should not be needs to, as paraphrasing Palpatine: "Embrace a larger point of view."
get your head out of your ass and re-watch them in order 1-6 and this time PRETEND LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE, doing this seeing them as if for the 1st time you might change your mind (but people like you never do)
Preach dude
I never understood why until I saw this. I like the way you structured and explained yourself. (Mind you I saw the movies from 9 y.o to 15 y.o when I had no knowledge of a good storyline.) Overall concept was great, execution and delivery, not so much.
What really disappointed me what that they had the chance to turn Anakin into a well received Tragic Hero comparable to greek myths but instead they turned him into a whiny spoiled little brat. Obi-Wan says he hasn't gone by that name but by Ben since before Luke was born and clearly he had. I always hated that. BTW I liked Jar Jar
See, I'm actually confused. How is Jar Jar racist?
Hmmmm ok then I can see where people draw that conclusion. I don't see it racist but I can totally see where people come from
Sebastian Vera Lucas married a black chick.
personally i enjoyed seeing vader's origans from a aspiring young jedi to the evil dark cyborg sith Lord.
My boss let me out of work so I could stand in line for hours to buy tickets for my team. Then the Nemodians spoke, and we tensed up a bit. Then we met Jar-Jar, I'll never forget the "Oh Crap" look my buddy and I gave each other. Why....Just Why?
Steve, am I understanding you to say that the Ep IV moniker was tacked on to A New Hope after the fact? Because I recall seeing it there all along (in the original theater run.)
That's like saying "of the three shits my dog took today, I like this one the best."