Rabbi_Vole
Banned
It was a ham-fisted attempt to explain something that they didn't need explaining.
A lot of the fun was the mysterious spiritual aspect to it.
Star Wars Episode I: is it that bad!?
- Thread starter Christopher
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It was a ham-fisted attempt to explain something that they didn't need explaining.
A lot of the fun was the mysterious spiritual aspect to it.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
The music video for Backstreet Boys' Larger Than Life was a better space opera than The Phantom Menace.
Space atheists 1-0.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
It looks excellent and some of the shots might be some of my favorite special effects from the 90's (no cheeseball bullshit) but it has no tension whatsoever and from an action setpiece standpoint it's extremely boring.
For an example of a good intense technical sword battle, look at Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The battle progresses through various styles and acts, the characters get more and more frustrated or confident, and there's emotional baggage on the characters' faces. In Star Wars there's basically a lot of very fancy fighting and then the scene where Qui-Gon dies. That's it. There's no build up, investment, or "oh no!" moments. This describes The Phantom Menace as a whole.
Devil's advocate
Member
TPM isn't the worst movie i've ever seen and neither are the other prequels. They are, however, some of the most baffling.
Never before or after have i seen a movie that made me wonder wtf the creators were thinking so often. After ep1 i left the theater with the strange feeling that i had just seen a movie that had almost nothing to do with star wars. It didn't help that the only noteworthy thing that happened was that anakin was found and obi wan decided to train him. Everything else is basically fluff.
Never before or after have i seen a movie that made me wonder wtf the creators were thinking so often. After ep1 i left the theater with the strange feeling that i had just seen a movie that had almost nothing to do with star wars. It didn't help that the only noteworthy thing that happened was that anakin was found and obi wan decided to train him. Everything else is basically fluff.
It creates a Dragon Ball Z Power-Level angle, which is unnecessary for a power based on faith. Even so it is official confirmed, that Jesus had an Evangel-Cloires-Level of over 9000. So i give Lucas credit for having this reference.
The best thing coming from the sequel is the great Pod-Racing F-Zero-Cone for Nintendo 64!
BlueDogAnchorite
Member
I always liked the idea of Midi-chlorians.
The problem that some people have with it is that the Force to them should be mysterious and have no scientific explanation on why some people are "Force-Sensitive" or not.
I disagree, and think this is more of a measuring stick and doesn't exactly explain the whole Force concept. I think the Clone Wars tv show did a better job at explaining it. I never really had a problem with it.
Christopher
Member
Exactly I have no problem either it's a shitty explanation but it gives some answes to questions that people might raise. I just thought it helped the Jedi not waste training and resources as they can sense/feel the difference in individuals.
The acting on Anakin in Episode II is so so ...so bad. Episode one is just a fun Jedi adventure that shows what "peace keepers" normally end up doing so it was good to see the average day before the choas.
Gungans are no different than wookies, ewoks or any other shitty race they come up with
BlueDogAnchorite
Member
As for Episode II, even though I love that movie, it's my least favorite due to the badly written romance, Anakin and Padme dialogue. But loved the world building he did with this one. Episode II is the weakest of the Prequel trilogy.
I know I am in minority on here but I never really found the Gungans annoying.
One of the things that Clone Wars TV show explained lot better is how Midi-chlorian are the practical, and biological side of the force which is separate from the mystical side of the Force.
freethought
Member
The Maul fight is just another example of the inconsistency between the OT and the PT. In the OT lightsabers have weight, it's a two handed weapon that's capable of delivering a heavy blow. In the PT they have no weight and can be easily controlled on one hand.
Now obviously this is just a result of the duels in the original films being modelled after old samurai movies and the new duels drawing from Hong Kong cinema. But as far as the canon goes, what made all the lightsabers get so heavy?
Now obviously this is just a result of the duels in the original films being modelled after old samurai movies and the new duels drawing from Hong Kong cinema. But as far as the canon goes, what made all the lightsabers get so heavy?
Christopher
Member
Well I'm also assuming the Jedi art has been practiced and well trained / versed in so the heaviness in the weight of the saber could be due to lack of activity with it in decades
Not Spaceghost
Spaceghost
I used to think it wasn't that bad
Then I rewatched it recently AFTER watching every other movie.
IT REALLY IS THAT BAD
The movie's big issue is just how absolutely boring everything is, every character looks bored out of their mind, almost all the big moments are extremely poorly paced and come off as a slow and awkward mess (the exception being pod racing) even the duels are mechanical as hell and the choreography feels really off. Hell even the palace scene with the naboo troops and stuff fighting back the droids feels boring.
The compounded by a bunch of little things makes for a very uninteresting and drab moment.
If you ask me the best moment in the series is actually Anakin manually repairing his pod racer during the race, you actually feel tension during that moment.
The reason given is that the energy field that contains the plasma oscillates rapidly with a lot of force, so it's not that the blades are heavy, it's that there are a lot of opposing forces while you're trying to move the lightsaber.
I imagine it'd be kind of like the force of two magnets repelling each other, just all the time so it's almost like the blade pushes back while you push down on it.
Then I rewatched it recently AFTER watching every other movie.
IT REALLY IS THAT BAD
The movie's big issue is just how absolutely boring everything is, every character looks bored out of their mind, almost all the big moments are extremely poorly paced and come off as a slow and awkward mess (the exception being pod racing) even the duels are mechanical as hell and the choreography feels really off. Hell even the palace scene with the naboo troops and stuff fighting back the droids feels boring.
The compounded by a bunch of little things makes for a very uninteresting and drab moment.
If you ask me the best moment in the series is actually Anakin manually repairing his pod racer during the race, you actually feel tension during that moment.
The reason given is that the energy field that contains the plasma oscillates rapidly with a lot of force, so it's not that the blades are heavy, it's that there are a lot of opposing forces while you're trying to move the lightsaber.
I imagine it'd be kind of like the force of two magnets repelling each other, just all the time so it's almost like the blade pushes back while you push down on it.
freethought
Member
Yea, but the point is they don't weigh anything in the prequels and they do have weight in the OT so what happened to the physics of lightsabers in the intervening years?
You are absolutly right about it. The emotional side of the battle is very weak, while it could have been that much more. I still think that the choreography and the fight itself manages to put it above the fights in IV V and VI though.
If I would have to point out the most important, meaningful lightsaber battle of the Star Wars movies, I'd probably say V or VI.
I hope we can get a combination of both with VII. The Clone Wars already showed what's possible there and I think JJ can shoot a nice battle without to many cuts and edits that still contributes something to the overall story and is involving too.
Christopher
Member
I wonder if the galactic senate be back in JJs films...it's just such a mystery as what he's gonna do it's exciting really
boiled goose
good with gravy
best lightsaber fight in the series though
Fancy Clown
Member
Best saber fight of the prequels for sure. Of the series? Hell no, it can't touch the Darth/Luke Empire Strikes Back fight.
BlueDogAnchorite
Member
I hope he does. But either way it wouldn't prevent me from enjoying the new movie if he doesn't though.
brickarts295
Member
I'm getting my Blu Ray saga today, haven't seen the film in quite some time. I was with the prequel so I don't actually dislike the films. But I do agree that overall, Episode 1 and 2 are the least favorite Star Wars movies.
brandonh83
Banned
Was about to get the Blu-ray saga, but with VII out soon (!!!) and the Disney acquisition, there's no fucking way they won't continue to milk it, so I imagine there will be new options soon with new stuff.
Fermbiz
Gold Member
GrooveCommand
Member
I never fully understood why there's so much vitriol with ep1. Which is weird because I always felt that its spirit was so much closer to the original trilogy.
If episode 1 was garbage then I can't even imagine what episode 2 and 3 are. They are much worse.
If episode 1 was garbage then I can't even imagine what episode 2 and 3 are. They are much worse.
IAmRandom31
Banned
I don't mind the occassional Episode 1 watch. The acting is atrocious as it is throughout the prequel series, but not as bad as I remember. Jar Jar was just too active, too talkative. Same could be said about C-3PO but Lucas had the sense to shut him up and make a joke out of it often throughout the original series.
Phantom Menace does have the most satisfying ground battle of the series though, as well as one of the best lightsaber fights in the series. So its a fun watch. It also has the badass pod racing section.
Episode 2 is just utter trash.
Episode 3 is I'd say ... as close to good as the prequel series can get. Especially the last hour or so.
Phantom Menace does have the most satisfying ground battle of the series though, as well as one of the best lightsaber fights in the series. So its a fun watch. It also has the badass pod racing section.
Episode 2 is just utter trash.
Episode 3 is I'd say ... as close to good as the prequel series can get. Especially the last hour or so.
Qui-Gon was the most useless, garbage Jedi master in the entire series!
Yes, episode 1 is god awful.
As someone else here said the only thing it was good for was introducing podracing, which is actually pretty fun to watch and to play in video game form.
Dreams-Visions
Member
wut
Stopmotionkai
Neo Member
If we can remove jar jars antics, or at least tone them down and get just rewrite the script one more time, there is a great movie hidden inside phantom menace.
Things i liked.
1.battledroid designs and trade federation ships.
2.darth maul and the lightsaber fight
3.liam neeson for days
4.the set designs and costumes ( queen amaidalas especially)
5.pod racing ( though i would have cut it to add more room for character development.)
6. All the music
Things i disliked
1.the dialouge at times is flat
2.the humor that involves cg characters
3.not showing the siege of theed, or the suffering of its people
I fucking love star wars, all of them. I grew up watching both trilogies at the same time and though the prequels have a ton of faults, it wasnt as if the ot was perfect either.
Things i liked.
1.battledroid designs and trade federation ships.
2.darth maul and the lightsaber fight
3.liam neeson for days
4.the set designs and costumes ( queen amaidalas especially)
5.pod racing ( though i would have cut it to add more room for character development.)
6. All the music
Things i disliked
1.the dialouge at times is flat
2.the humor that involves cg characters
3.not showing the siege of theed, or the suffering of its people
I fucking love star wars, all of them. I grew up watching both trilogies at the same time and though the prequels have a ton of faults, it wasnt as if the ot was perfect either.
Gnome Scat
Member
They're all terribad.
Nerdkiller
Membeur
I think MovieBob has a good reason as to why fans feel the way they do over what is basically an average movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0KI-jyJlj8
It's certainly better than the Amazing Spiderman movies for one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0KI-jyJlj8
It's certainly better than the Amazing Spiderman movies for one.
Yeah I got that vibe as well. Episode 1 feels like a strong effort, a failed one, but a genuine attempt. It's like once it was panned he said 'fuck it, it's ruined' and gave up on Episode II.
Christopher
Member
Man Anakin is so awful in the next two I just watched is this actor / character never happy he always has a sour puss on his face it's so odd the direction Lucas took him... No build up just always pissed off
MrRudiMentary
Member
Music is god-tier, sets and costumes and the like are great too. The action set-pieces are rad. But the story is boring and overly complex, the characters are one-note, the dialogue and acting is painful and the entire plot hinges on foreshadowing for three movies we've already watched. Probably holds the record for the worst direction of the most good actors in a movie.
5/10 would rather watch than Attack of the Clones
5/10 would rather watch than Attack of the Clones
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