Star Wars Episode I: is it that bad!?

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I would agree that the music is fantastic and that Episode II was worse. The worst thing about the Phantom Menace was that it set the horrible foundation for the next two films.

Also it really shouldn't exist because it had basically nothing at all to do with the next two films, it just set up characters that were completely different/didn't need setting up in II and III.

Qui Gon died and didn't do anything.
Palpatine became chancellor I guess.
Obiwan and especially Anakin were completely different.
Padame didn't do anything.
Jar Jar was barely seen again.
Midichlorians.
 
I've always loved the making-of that came on the DVD, it is the best part of Episode 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8sBsnYNucM

It shows how much of a disaster the whole thing was right from the start of production., I'm not sure how they got away with including it with the movie as it paints it in such an awful light. My favourite is the part around 54min where Lucas and Co. watch a rough preview of it for the first time and realize how bad a movie it is.
 
chalkitdown1 said:
I've always loved the making-of that came on the DVD, it is the best part of Episode 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8sBsnYNucM

It shows how much of a disaster the whole thing was right from the start of production., I'm not sure how they got away with including it with the movie as it paints it in such an awful light. My favourite is the part around 54min where Lucas and Co. watch a rough preview of it for the first time and realize how bad a movie it is.
Click to expand...

I may have gone too far in a few places
 
I watched both it and Ep II recently.

I think Episode I does have moments where you can see the Star Wars glory, but for the most part it's mostly saddled with too much exposition and long and incredibly boring scenes. The whole gungan thing (not just Jar Jar) isn't very good either.

Episode II on the other hand didn't feel like a Star Wars movie, but an incredibly bland mid-2000s sci-fi movie that's bloated and way overbudget.

I imagine Episode III is more of what made Episode II so bad, but I don't remember much in terms of details about it.
 
xaszatm said:
Are the Hutts more powerful than the Jedi? In this corner of the galaxy, yes. It's like Al Capone. Do you really think America was perfectly fine with him because he got away with his crimes for so long? Remember, he was so good at not getting caught that he could only be put away for tax evasion. The Hutts are similar. A vast criminal enterprise who are really good at avoiding the noose. And you can't just go kill the Hutts. Not only do you risk a costly war, you have to deal with the fallout. Who replaces the leaders? How do you go about the economy? How do you ensure the wellbeing of the slaves you freed? As sad is it is, Qui-Gon Jin couldn't really do anything here about the slaves as a whole.

The problem you are having is that you are trying to make this as black and white as possible. And I don't blame you, the series itself is guilty of this. But stop trying to turn the Jedi Council into this "must be good" standard and think of them as a futuristic knight order. While chivalry was a code for the order in theory, in practice what was important to the order came first. So for members of the Jedi Council, the priorities would be the survival of both the Council and the Republic it protects. And that means that things that don't mesh well with the Jedi happen, especially when it occurs far from their home base.
Click to expand...

Al Capone wasn't a slaver. The Jedi are presented at every turn as a noble organization. We don't even see any Jedi go as far as lament the situation. Obi Wan and Qui-Gon don't have an argument about it. They don't wrestle with it as all. The Jedi shouldn't be an organization that says "Oh well."

They don't actually seem to care about slavery or using a clone army or separating a boy from his mother. We almost never see them act in a noble way in the prequels. We mostly see them act selfishly or fight for self preservation. Lucas just says they are noble and expects us to take his word for it.

All of the characters just sort of blurt out their motivations, everything said said nothing is actually shown. It's bad writing.

If you want to make the movie about the fall of the Jedi. About how their moral compromises lead to Palpatine's rise in power, awesome. That would be a great angle actually. But instead it's never even considered. The story just sort of meanders from action sequence to action sequence with no central theme or even characters to hold it together.
 
So as far as I can tell the only reason Episode I exists is to explain how Palpatine became Chancellor. But that just leaves me with one nagging question; just how the hell did Vallorum become Chancellor?
 
All of the prequels are really bad, but I'm in the minority it seems that prefers II to I.

Sure, it has super wooden acting, and painfully written romance...but it has scope and stakes.

Episode I felt so...slight. Like you're coming off the original trilogy where it's a galactic civil war with battles on planets and all sorts of shit going down...and then came Episode I and it's pod racing, and silly aliens, and even the big battle just feels ridiculous because of all the gungan crap. It was like ewoks but worse. I get that it's the beginning of the story, but it didn't feel like a space epic to me.

Episode II on the other hand at least felt grand in scale. There all sorts of crazy planets, space battles, giant clone armies, monsters, tons of Jedi fighting, spies and mysteries, etc. Mind you the movie is pretty fucking bad, but I would pick Episode II over I any day of the week (although the final dual in I is pretty rad, not gonna lie, and beats all the fights in II).
 
It is not, but Lucas' incredibly dull directing skills ruined it, as with the other prequels. You've got interstellar badass Maul, cool name, cool face, cool saber, and you manage to put him in the most cadaverically paced duel in the history of duels. A good action director would've made these movies 10x better
 
Putting aside the stuff like jar jar, acting, gungans, etc

the worst part of Episode 1 is that it took an entire movie to tell the story.

Anakin as a kid should have lasted no longer than 30-45 minutes, and then move onto him doing Jedi Shit, then Episode II as the catalyst that started the Clone Wars, then episode 3, more or less as it is
 
Yeah, it's pretty bad. Of the 3 the main conflict is the most contrived, it has a really crappy kid actor, and do I have to mention Jar Jar? It's not like that's a compliment to the other two. It's really hard to find anything good about these movies outside of some entertaining lightsaber combat.
 
It's enjoyable in spite of itself. I'll watch it if it's on TV. There are some neat set pieces and, as you said, the visuals and the music are fine. (CGI was only really gross during the field battle against the droids) Gungans and Anakin fucking suck, though. They just blow.

Ep. II is worse by a distinct margin, which limps across the threshold from mediocre to shit. The fucking romance scenes. God damn. Lucas was on some shit when he wrote half that movie.
 
I still probably have more nostalgia for Episode I than any of the original trilogy. I recognize its problems and know it's not as good as the OT, but I still really love the movie. Haven't watched it in a little while tho.
 
It is the best of the prequels by a country mile.
 
i personally love it

the pacing was great and i felt part of the adventure (love the pod racing bit)

the only reason i didnt episode 2 and 3 were because the casting of anakin skywalker and i just didnt feel they were substantial
 
I liked it when I was young, and I still think it's the best of the prequels. Sure, parts of it are stupid - jar jar, etc. but it's got some cool design, some good battles, and ewan mcgregor and liam neeson are awesome, if not used to their full potential.
obviously, nowhere as good as the OT, but I think it's better than 2 and 3.
 
Dead said:
Putting aside the stuff like jar jar, acting, gungans, etc

the worst part of Episode 1 is that it took an entire movie to tell the story.

Anakin as a kid should have lasted no longer than 30-45 minutes, and then move onto him doing Jedi Shit, then Episode II as the catalyst that started the Clone Wars, then episode 3, more or less as it is
Click to expand...

I'll take it further and say we didn't need to see Anakin that young. He could have been a late teen in the Jedi Academy when we met him. Throw in a short monologue about how he's one of the most powerful apprentices in a long time, but he has a troubled past of growing up in slavery. Boom, done. Someone in a thread months ago made a good comparison to the blueprint of X-Men: First Class. Reference the childhood but stay focused on the young man and his relationship with Obi-Wan.
 
No, it's not 'that' bad. It's better than it gets credit for, for sure. I don't hate it and found some enjoyment in it, more-so as a kid. However, Episode 2...is awful.
 
If you take out the general plot and Anakin, I quite like the movie. I don't even mind Jar Jar!

The story itself is abysmal, as is Jake Loyd. Of the prequels, I like the look of Ep I the most, and it has the best saber fight. Pod-racing was pretty cool too. So no, I don't hate it as much as other people but it's definitely got serious problems.
 
Gotta start rewatching them all before Episode 7.

I loved Episode 1 when I was a kid. Watched it a billion times...
 
There are plenty of bad movies that some people seem to like. Transformers made billions. Why are people compelled to keep having these sympathetic Star Wars prequel conversations? Because there are a lot... I guess if you want to get the ep7 hype train going you gotta go back and mentally reconcile with those inexplicable prequels.
 
Episode 2 is actually much worse than the Phantom Menace but they are both pretty poor films.

None of the prequels are particularly good.

rude said:
The entire series is more or less the same quality. I suppose the acting is better in the originals, but I don't see it when people talk about the disparity between the original and the prequel trilogies.
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This is totally ridiculous. Go and watch the Plinkett reviews, They do a very good job of explaining how wrong you are.
 
The best setting in the history of cinema, if you ask me.
But also Kid Anakin, who is still not as bad as Adolescent Anakin, random idiocy, and Jar Jar.
 
Damn so many people who started with the prequels as a kid. I guess it was to be expected, I'm getting old lol. Seeing as I much preferred Episode 2 to 1, could this be an age thing? (probably not as only one person in this thread agrees with me, well and imdb and rottentomatoes). As someone who grew up with the original trilogy as a kid, the Phantom Menace was so... well it had the star wars logo but that was it really. Gungans, trade organizations, some obnoxious toddler that's supposed to be Darth Vader. Nothing had to do with anything. The only thing that made me smirk was the prophecy of bringing balance to the force, at least that foreshadowed something dark, and then it was immediately ruined by midichlorians and virgin birth nonsense. Episode 2 at least was important. Anakin believably (a bratty chosen one that can't even save his own mother) turning to the dark side with hints of the imperial march, the fabled clone wars, jango fett, establishment of the empire. All of this at least was connected to the original trilogy and did what a prequel should do: set up events building up the universe. Also lots of Coruscant. If it's at least important to the story I can look past the hokey romance.
 
It had the potential to be as good as Episode VI, but it took some wrong turns that where mentioned at great length at this point.

It still has elements I enjoy:
  • I find the Droid Army charming.
  • It has the best lightsaber fight in the Star Wars Movies (There are some that are better in The Clone Wars and Clone Wars)
  • Maul has a great design
  • Tatooine provides for some great sets

It sadly also sets up the worst part of the Star Wars Saga up to now named Episode 2 and has stuff that gets my blood boiling in no time:
  • Midichlorians
  • Young Anakin
  • JarJar
  • the writing in general
  • the overall story has huge potential, but also marks the worst possible outcome
  • Most of the design clashes with everything I expected from Star Wars
 
I don't get the it doesn't mean anything we got:

an adventure with Anakin as a young boy it shows how experienced and good he is at a young age.

We got to see Obi in training and see him come to be as a Jedi

We get to see Luke and Leias mother operate as The Queen of Naboo and show she's beave and courageous like her children

We see the start of the Emperor and how manipulative he is

We see Yoda in charge of the Jedi console and how they were reluctant to take Anakin as he would be Vader.

We get to see what the Jedis actually do before shit goes to hell this Treaty conflict and protecting the peace are things we can assume Qui and Obi would have continued to do

I dunno like I said I think the silliness is also akin to reflect Anakins age and how it's a more light hearted time In he Galaxy before shit gets serious. More in line how jow Harry Potter starts off more whimsical and light and then gets dark and serious
 
I never realized how much Jar Jar was hated. I don't really like him or hate him. Even when I was kid I never really focused on him. But no the movie is not that bad. Episode 2. Now that's fucking bad. But none of the prequels match up to the original movies.
 
xyla said:
It had the potential to be as good as Episode VI, but it took some wrong turns that where mentioned at great length at this point.

It still has elements I enjoy:
  • I find the Droid Army charming.
    [*]It has the best lightsaber fight in the Star Wars Movies (There are some that are better in The Clone Wars and Clone Wars)
  • Maul has a great design
  • Tatooine provides for some great sets

It sadly also sets up the worst part of the Star Wars Saga up to now named Episode 2 and has stuff that gets my blood boiling in no time:
  • Midichlorians
  • Young Anakin
  • JarJar
  • the writing in general
  • the overall story has huge potential, but also marks the worst possible outcome
  • Most of the design clashes with everything I expected from Star Wars
Click to expand...

What? That visibly choreographed fight was terrible

The best...

308397-return-of-the-jedi.jpg
 
MilkyJoe said:
What? That visibly choreographed fight was terrible

The best...

308397-return-of-the-jedi.jpg
Click to expand...

That one has much more emotional depth, but as a fight in itself, Maul vs. Qui Gon and Obi Wan is the best one that realizes the potential of a Jedi Lightsaber battle (yet) - yes it is choreographed, but the use of the force, different battle styles, a fast pace but not badly edited put it above all of the other lightsaber battles in the movies.

It's not over-choreographed like the ones in Ep 2 and 3 and also doesn't use CGI for the actors and the costumes don't hold the actors back.

There are still battles from The Clone Wars like
Maul
and Savage vs.
the Imperator
and the whole setup and the following fight of
Pong Krell
vs. the Clones, that are better realized than anything we've seen in the movies, but maybe that's only my opinion.

The Maul fight still stands as one of the few redeeming qualities of Ep I for me.
 
I liked Episode I much more than VI, that is the second worst episode by far.

The Qui Gon/Kenobi vs Maul fight was one of the best of the series by far, you only notice the bad choreography if you watch it in slow motion so whatever.
 
Episode I is a movie thats bad at worst and mediocre at best. It did have its moments and it maintains a good enough pacing even though the story's opportunities are wasted. Its sequels are far worse in every way. The only reason this is the movie thats stigmatized at a regular basis is because of the landscape and context that surrounded it at its time of release. It was the first Star Wars movie to come out in over two decades. It was an opportunity for fans to finally re-experience that high, and it failed to deliver.

Episode II and III are worse but they came off of an already bad movie so the expectations were already set.
 
The music was good but on the whole it sucked, I remember seeing it in the cinema being super hyped as a kid, what a shame. I got more enjoyment out of the crappy PS1 spin-off game.
 
Ugh, it's horrible. I'd probably recommend the Plinkett review for the definitive analysis of everything that's wrong, but a few of the things I hate about it.

  • The plot is a mess. Palapatine's machinations to get in power are intriguing, but the whole attempt at writing political conflicts are awful, the Trade Federation is stupid in concept and execution and there's so much shit that doesn't need to be there, like the Gungans, the Pod Race, Midi-fucking-chlorians, the lightsabre battle that ends up in some gigantic generator, and so on.
  • Showing Vader as a young boy might have been interesting in theory, but the execution is horrible. It's not Jake Lloyd's fault (Lucas is an awful director of actors), but the script is fucking diabolical ("Yipee"), he is immaculately conceived and he wins the final fucking space battle by accident! From a background perspective there was no need to have a child Vader in here at all, and the trilogy should have begun with him as a young man training to be a Jedi, whose strong morals and sense of righteousness is slowly worn down as he is corrupted by and eventually turned to the Dark Side.
  • Everyone is useless. The Jedi Order are crap, Qui-gon is particularly stupid, the chancellor is an idiot (who is apparently dethroned due to one vote from thousands of representatives) and the Trade Federation can't even do one job properly (why remove all of their forces from Naboo except for one space station?!). Palpatine's grand scheme is probably the most interesting part of these films, but for the most part he only succeeds because of everyone else's complete incompetence.
  • The dialogue is really fucking bad and all of the actors seem like they're phoning it in. The whole world feels utterly fake and sterile as well, thanks to Lucas' love of CGI and green screens which means it has aged very poorly.
 
the best thing about this movie is the orchestra choir at the end/Maul fight.

Eveything else is garbage (the race wouldn't be that bad if it weren't for the stupid racing commentator and anakins bullshit during the race)
 
What exactly is the whole big deal over the midoclorines? I assumed it was how Jedi knew you had the correct genes/traits in your to wield powers?
 
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