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[DarkLordMalik]

Let me start by saying that I have zero nostalgic feelings towards the series. I am not a huge Star Wars fan either, although I saw the original trilogy back when it was released on DVD, I never really became a fan of the series.

That said, I have always enjoyed the Star Wars movies and the original trilogy was great in that regard. The movie was so ahead of its time (1977) and still stands the test of time. That said, while I have seen the original trilogy, I never saw the prequels and the newest TFA until now.

I re-watched the series in its release order.

Stars Wars Episode IV-VI

On a rewatch, the original trilogy holds up very well. But it is also clear now that the trilogy isn't perfect. There are some pacing issues that can make the movie drag for far too long but it is pretty enjoyable overall and definitely deserves all the praise it has gathered over the years. In term of the original trilogy, The Empire Strike Backs is arguably the best of the lot followed by A New Hope. The weakest in the trilogy is definitely Return of the Jedi.

I have to also give credit to George Lucas because he knows how to create and establish characters. He takes his time with character development and even if takes a while, his characters are well developed and fleshed out by the end of the series.

Star Wars Episode 1-3

I have heard a lot about the hate these prequels have received over the years, and I think majority of it is unwarranted. The overuse of CGI is a valid complaint but the prequels have a lot going for them. I really enjoyed the character development of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and was happy to see R2-D2 kickass. The prequel also has some of the best Lightsaber duels in the series and some nice action sequences. It is dragged by a love story that feels forced and wooden at times. Having watched the whole prequel trilogy back to back, I think George Lucas focused on establishing the characters and scenarios too much in the first two movies, which were also one the reason why they sucked so much. But the payoff is what makes Revenge of the Sith a great movie. While I wasn't a fan of the the first two movies, I absolutely LOVED Revenge of the Sith and found it a great conclusion to the trilogy. It had some great sequences and lightsaber duels and the acting was also the best out of the prequels.

Star Wars: TFA

After having seen the original following by the prequel trilogy, I started watching TFA with high expectations. Sadly, the movie did nothing but disappoint me greatly. It was basically a rehash of the original Star Wars trilogy completely with new un-interesting characters. I have seen a lot of fans praising Poe as a character and he had such a limited screen time and next to none character development. I fail to understand why he is so popular? As for the main protagonist Rey, she is arguably the best part of the movie here. I couldn't stand Finn and the way they revealed his character. Out of the thousands of Storm Troopers, why did Finn have such a change of heart? To me, it just doesn't make any sense at all but maybe the answer lies in the upcoming sequel.

As for the villain, TFA has arguably the weakest villain in the series. He is worse than Darth Maul from TPM. What were they thinking? They tried to imitate another Darth Vader and even showed him worshiping the mask of Darth Vader (cringe scene), but he never came close. The end set piece was also greatly disappointing. Rey somehow starts learning her Force powers out of nowhere and is able to duel with a Sith Lord? How does this even make sense in Star Wars universe? It is a shame that they got away with it while people took a shit on the prequels. To me, TFA lies in the same category as the first two movies in the prequel. It is bad and just made to feed on the nostalgic of the fans of the original trilogy. Atleast George Lucas tried to do something new with the prequel trilogy.

My overall ranking for the whole series would be.

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Revenge of the Sith
4. Return of the Jedi
5. The Force Awakens
6. The Phantom Menance
7. Attack of the Clones

 

[Blueboys1306]

I sort of have similar thoughts to you, but I wouldn't rate TFA so highly in your ranking list. I'd probably put it either last or 2nd last just ahead of AOTC.

 

[Branduil]

I really enjoyed the character development of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker

What character development?

I sort of have similar thoughts to you, but I wouldn't rate TFA so highly in your ranking list. I'd probably put it either last or 2nd last just ahead of AOTC.

Insanity. AOTC is one of the worst big-budget movies of all time, let alone Star Wars.

 

[Dennis]

The prequels also has some of the best Lightsaber duels in the series

wat

 

[CloudWolf]

Interesting rating. I'd put Revenge lower though. For me it's Empire > A New Hope > Return > The Force Awakens > Revenge > Phantom > Attack of the Clones.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

wat

Crazy people still exist. News at 11

Seriously, lightsaber battles in the prequels were flashy but that was all there is to it. There are moments where they literally just stand there and twirl in front of each other.

So glad they actually put some thought into the choreography in TFA.

 

[Dennis]

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Force Awakens
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. The Phantom Menance
7. Attack of the Clones

 

[DarkLordMalik]

What character development?

Obi-Wan started as an apprentice in TPM, then has Anakin as his apprentice, leading to becoming a Jedi Master and the final duel with his own apprentice. All of it was great to me and it took 3 movies but it was worth it.

Similarly Anakin was revealed as a child prodigy leading to him becoming a Jedi and finally succumbing to the Dark Side. Terrible actor aside, the character development was again good here, atleast to me.

Crazy people still exist. News at 11

Seriously, lightsaber battles in the prequels were flashy but that was all there is to it. There are moments where they literally just stand there and twirl in front of each other.

So glad they actually put some thought into the choreography in TFA.

Maybe I just like flashy effects

Anyways, if this choreography results in the end fight of TFA, then no. It wasn't exactly better.

 

[Forerunner]

wat

Someone going to post it so...

However, Maul vs Obi Wan/Qui Gon was quite good.

 

[Ushojax]

What character development?

Anakin goes from innocent Space Jesus to angry murderer to even angrier murderer. It's like poetry.

George teased us with some interesting concepts that should have led to Anakin becoming Darth Vader but instead he just made him the only person stupid enough to be fooled by Palpatine. He essentially becomes Darth Vader by accident. Anakin should have genuinely believed in the Empire, in a strict regime that would bring order to the galaxy, prevent cesspools like Tatooine from being run by slavers and gangsters. He should have believed that the power of the dark side was the only way to end the Clone Wars and unify the Republic and Separatists under Palpatine's rule.

Those things are hinted at but never really made to define Anakin. He's just an angry psycho who gets tricked into murdering a bunch of people.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Obi-Wan started as an apprentice in TPM, then has Anakin as his apprentice, leading to becoming a Jedi Master and the final duel with his own apprentice. All of it was great to me and it took 3 movies but it was worth it.

Similarly Anakin was revealed as a child prodigy leading to him becoming a Jedi and finally succumbing to the Dark Side. Terrible actor aside, the character development was again good here, atleast to me.

Almost none of his motivations make sense though. His entire fall to the dark side is based on him believing that the man who had tried on multiple occasions to kill Padme was suddenly going to save her life. Why would he ever trust him? Not to mention the fact that he had lied to his face and deceived him for his whole life. And had coerced him to kill a man in cold blood. And she was actually never in any danger and he was paranoid over a nightmare which some of the wisest people in the galaxy were advising him to ignore.

 

[munchie64]

As for the villain, TFA has arguably the weakest villain in the series. He is worse than Darth Maul from TPM. What were they thinking? They tried to imitate another Darth Vader and even showed him worshiping the mask of Darth Vader (cringe scene), but he never came close. The end set piece was also greatly disappointing. Rey somehow starts learning her Force powers out of nowhere and is able to duel with a Sith Lord? How does this even make sense in Star Wars universe? It is a shame that they got away with it while people took a shit on the prequels. To me, TFA lies in the same category as the first two movies in the prequel. It is bad and just made to feed on the nostalgic of the fans of the original trilogy. Atleast George Lucas tried to do something new with the prequel trilogy.

So to get this straight:
- A plot point created for a flashy lightsaber fight is a better character than one with emotions and development.
- The fact that Kylo Ren's entire point was that he couldn't reach Vader no matter how much he tried to was bad.
- A hero who believed fully in the force taking on a hurt, insane, untrained apprentice is more impossible than all other shit that's happened in this world.
- The great reaction worldwide and the $2 billion was carried mostly by fanboys looking for nostalgia.
- George "Anakin Created C3PO" Lucas was more original with his "poetry" and therefore automatically better.

Interesting.

 

[Enthus]

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Force Awakens
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. The Phantom Menance
7. Attack of the Clones

This is basically my list as well, though TFA and ROTJ get switched depending on my mood.

 

[Boem]

Star Wars: TFA

After having seen the original following by the prequel trilogy, I started watching TFA with high expectations. Sadly, the movie did nothing but disappoint me greatly. It was basically a rehash of the original Star Wars trilogy completely with new un-interesting characters. I have seen a lot of fans praising Poe as a character and he had such a limited screen time and next to none character development. I fail to understand why he is so popular? As for the main protagonist Rey, she is arguably the best part of the movie here. I couldn't stand Finn and the way they revealed his character. Out of the thousands of Storm Troopers, why did Finn have such a change of heart? To me, it just doesn't make any sense at all but maybe the answer lies in the upcoming sequel.

As for the villain, TFA has arguably the weakest villain in the series. He is worse than Darth Maul from TPM. What were they thinking? They tried to imitate another Darth Vader and even showed him worshiping the mask of Darth Vader (cringe scene), but he never came close. The end set piece was also greatly disappointing. Rey somehow starts learning her Force powers out of nowhere and is able to duel with a Sith Lord? How does this even make sense in Star Wars universe? It is a shame that they got away with it while people took a shit on the prequels. To me, TFA lies in the same category as the first two movies in the prequel. It is bad and just made to feed on the nostalgic of the fans of the original trilogy. Atleast George Lucas tried to do something new with the prequel trilogy.

Let me just say that I think it's fine you dislike TFA - opinions are opinions after all. But what I thought made TFA work much better than the prequels was this: the biggest fault of the prequels in my eyes was always that it was plot over story. It felt like Lucas writing this intricate plot of exactly how Palpatine would come into power, what the clone wars were, how the jedi fell, and how Anakin turned. In turn the movies resulted in being a constant stream of plot exposition, interrupted by fairly boring CGI action scenes. The most important aspect - the characters - are mostly ignored. They're just there to move to their designated places to move the plot forward. The acting is wooden, the writing is worse. They just didn't feel like what Star Wars should be about, to me. Again, I know some people really like them and that's totally fine - but that's my biggest problem with them.

TFA tried to get back to the simplicity of the original story, which really had as much (as little) depth as an Indiana Jones film - there's good guys, there's bad guys, and this entire fantasy world serves as a backdrop for this small group of characters and their personal stories. The fantasy world and it's history itself isn't the focus of the story at all - it's all about the personal emotional journeys of the characters on their weird adventure. It's basically the opposite of what George did in the prequels and what made the originals so beloved. It's not that I'm against deep, intricate Sci-fantasy stories, but they need to be executed well, and the prequels simply weren't. A boring mess, to me.

I agree that the fanservice/ep 4-referencing gets a bit too heavy handed in TFA. I hope they cut down on that in future movies. But the rest, the parts that count, totally work for me. Finally there's some mystery and wonder back in these movies, and finally it's about a story about just some smaller characters in a large and weird world, instead of the other way around. The villain was one of my favorite things: surprising, unlike anything that came before (in the movies, not familiar with the EU), and it's an interesting and well-thought out character. Yes, he's not a crazy powerful magic voodoo ninja endboss. He's not supposed to be - that's what makes him interesting. Compared to the villains in the prequels he's just much better: Darth Maul was just a silent guy with devil make up who did ninja moves, SIdious was a CGI dracula-robot without any personality beyond being eeevil, etc.

It's all different tastes, but TFA feels like it's made by people who understand what makes Star Wars fun in the first place better than George Lucas did. It's just a bummer they felt like they had to mirror the originals so closely in order to get there, but that's a bullet I'm willing to take if it means I get to actually enjoy myself when watching a new Star Wars movie in the cinema.

 

[Branduil]

Obi-Wan started as an apprentice in TPM, then has Anakin as his apprentice, leading to becoming a Jedi Master and the final duel with his own apprentice. All of it was great to me and it took 3 movies but it was worth it.

Similarly Anakin was revealed as a child prodigy leading to him becoming a Jedi and finally succumbing to the Dark Side. Terrible actor aside, the character development was again good here, atleast to me.

You're just describing career changes here. I'm asking what the development of their actual character was.

 

[Transistor]

So to get this straight:
- A plot point created for a flashy lightsaber fight is a better character than one with emotions and development.
- The fact that Kylo Ren's entire point was that he couldn't reach Vader no matter how much he tried to was bad.
- A hero who believed fully in the force taking on a hurt, insane, untrained apprentice is more impossible than all other shit that's happened in this world.
- The great reaction worldwide and the $2 billion was carried mostly by fanboys looking for nostalgia.
- George "Anakin Created C3PO" Lucas was more original with his "poetry" and therefore automatically better.

Interesting.

Pretty much nailed my thoughts.

I'm so glad that TFA contained no links to the prequels in any way.

 

[ramparter]

The Force Awakens is the best imo, only Empire Strikes Back comes close. I'm talking pure quality.

Nostalgia and other unnecessary factors(like time of release) not taken into consideration.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

Almost none of his motivations make sense though. His entire fall to the dark side is based on him believing that the man who had tried on multiple occasions to kill Padme was suddenly going to save her life. Why would he ever trust him? Not to mention the fact that he had lied to his face and deceived him for his whole life. And had coerced him to kill a man in cold blood. And she was actually never in any danger and he was paranoid over a nightmare which some of the wisest people in the galaxy were advising him to ignore.

One of his Nightmare came true when his mother died. Maybe he feared the same would happen to Padme, and he loved her dearly.

It could have been more fleshed out here instead of the rushed job that Lucas did though.

So to get this straight:
- A plot point created for a flashy lightsaber fight is a better character than one with emotions and development.
- The fact that Kylo Ren's entire point was that he couldn't reach Vader no matter how much he tried to was bad.
- A hero who believed fully in the force taking on a hurt, insane, untrained apprentice is more impossible than all other shit that's happened in this world.
- The great reaction worldwide and the $2 billion was carried mostly by fanboys looking for nostalgia.
- George "Anakin Created C3PO" Lucas was more original with his "poetry" and therefore automatically better.

Interesting.

- If by emotions and development, you mean the forced tears that Kylo Ren had to muster when he was talking with Han Solo, then I don't know what to say.
- Darth Vader's mask just felt like a point that they inserted so that they could show in a trailer and make the fans excited. How did he even get the mask that was likely burned back in ESB.
- Just because you have a lightsaber in your hand doesn't mean you can start dueling with an actual expert. They never showed Rey training like that IIRC.
- Before The Force Awaken, The Phantom Menace was the highest grossing Star Wars movie and set new box office records and made more than 1 billion worldwide. Just saying.
- Better than Disney who creates movie to sell to audience and plays it safe.

 

[Ushojax]

- Better than Disney who creates movie to sell to audience and plays it safe.

Let's not pretend George Lucas didn't heavily plagiarise ANH himself when it came to making the Phantom Menace.

A blond-haired young man with a talent for piloting bumps into an on-the-run princess (sorry Queen) from a faraway planet, is taken from his desert home by a bearded old Jedi and ends up destroying a giant space station on his own. Self-plagiarism is part of Lucas' vision for Star Wars, hence the 'poetry' meme.

 

[Roders5]

Well at least I can add you to the list of 'people I'm glad have no input into future star wars movies'.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

One of his Nightmare came true when his mother died. Maybe he feared the same would happen to Padme, and he loved her dearly.

It could have been more fleshed out here instead of the rushed job that Lucas did though.

Yeah and the scene after her death basically exemplifies why I hate the character so much. His understanding of mortality and death is laughable. His mental capacity never seems to progress past like 5th grade level. Which is why he manages to fall for Palpatine's bullshit.

It's incredible that even with three full length movies the entire reason the prequels exist (to show Anakin's fall) still feels rushed.

 

[Forerunner]

Yeah and the scene after her death basically exemplifies why I hate the character so much. His understanding of mortality and death is laughable. His mental capacity never seems to progress past like 5th grade level. Which is why he manages to fall for Palpatine's bullshit.

It's incredible that even with three full length movies the entire reason the prequels exist (to show Anakin's fall) still feels rushed.

I find it funny that The Clone Wars does a better job at Anakin’s character development than the movies. TWC actually makes Anakin a believable character and you can see why he went down the path he did.

 

[Branduil]

Yeah and the scene after her death basically exemplifies why I hate the character so much. His understanding of mortality and death is laughable. His mental capacity never seems to progress past like 5th grade level. Which is why he manages to fall for Palpatine's bullshit.

It's incredible that even with three full length movies the entire reason the prequels exist (to show Anakin's fall) still feels rushed.

Well the first prequel is completely wasted in that regard. It's impossible to reconcile Episode I Anakin and the one in Episodes II and III as even the same person-and it has nothing to do with the change of actor.

 

[Ushojax]

Yeah and the scene after her death basically exemplifies why I hate the character so much. His understanding of mortality and death is laughable. His mental capacity never seems to progress past like 5th grade level. Which is why he manages to fall for Palpatine's bullshit.

It's incredible that even with three full length movies the entire reason the prequels exist (to show Anakin's fall) still feels rushed.

Yeah, George utterly failed to make Anakin a tragic figure. He was supposed to be a noble Jedi who fell into darkness yet from the start of Episode 2 onwards he is a complete prick. There is nothing tragic about a repeated child murderer or his moron of a wife who has no problem marrying him despite him admitting to killing children in cold blood. Why would the audience want this asshole to be redeemed? He deserved to burn to death.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

Let's not pretend George Lucas didn't heavily plagiarise ANH himself when it came to making the Phantom Menace.

A blond-haired young man with a talent for piloting bumps into an on-the-run princess (sorry Queen) from a faraway planet, is taken from his desert home by a bearded old Jedi and ends up destroying a giant space station on his own. Self-plagiarism is part of Lucas' vision for Star Wars, hence the 'poetry' meme.

Hehehe.... That's true

Still it is not like I like TPM. TPM + AOTC are terrible movies but they set up for the potential in ROTS, which I liked.

Yeah and the scene after her death basically exemplifies why I hate the character so much. His understanding of mortality and death is laughable. His mental capacity never seems to progress past like 5th grade level. Which is why he manages to fall for Palpatine's bullshit.

It's incredible that even with three full length movies the entire reason the prequels exist (to show Anakin's fall) still feels rushed.

I feel like AOTC could have been used to better develop the character of Anakin and that should have been the point where he succumbs to the Dark Side. It just happened so quickly at the end of the last movie that majority of it never made any sense.

I should also add that I hate the whole Padme and Anakin love story. It was really cliched and the worst part of AOTC--and the reason why it ranks so low for me--is the entire first half where they meet and fall in love. That was terrible writing.

As much as people might hate my opinion, the only movie that I enjoyed out of the prequel was RotS and I have explained why. I also disliked TFA but it doesn't mean I am not looking forward to the upcoming sequel. I am really interested to see what happens but as a starting point of a new trilogy, I found TFA weak.

 

[Number_6]

- If by emotions and development, you mean the forced tears that Kylo Ren had to muster when he was talking with Han Solo, then I don't know what to say.
- Darth Vader's mask just felt like a point that they inserted so that they could show in a trailer and make the fans excited. How did he even get the mask that was likely burned back in ESB.
- Just because you have a lightsaber in your hand doesn't mean you can start dueling with an actual expert. They never showed Rey training like that IIRC.

Ren is not an expert. He is not a replacement Vader. He is a wannabe. People who are disappointed that Ren wasn't as powerful or threatening or boss as Darth Vader missed the point.

He is a new sort of villain for SW. We have the chance to watch him grow and learn parallel to the heroes.

 

[Branduil]

Yeah, George utterly failed to make Anakin a tragic figure. He was supposed to be a noble Jedi who fell into darkness. There is nothing tragic about a repeated child murderer or his moron of a wife who has no problem marrying him despite him admitting to killing children in cold blood. Why would the audience want this asshole to be redeemed? He deserved to burn to death.

Anakin turning to the dark side because of a stupid ruse is both dumb and completely inconsistent with his later characterization as Darth Vader. Vader is basically a space Nazi who completely believes that what he does is necessary to "bring order to the galaxy." The PT should have therefore been about the "disorder of the galaxy" and how this causes an extremely talented Jedi to wrongly believe that the only way to bring order is through the dark side.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Hehehe.... That's true

Still it is not like I like TPM. TPM + AOTC are terrible movies but they set up for the potential in ROTS, which I liked.


I feel like AOTC could have been used to better develop the character of Anakin and that should have been the point where he succumbs to the Dark Side. It just happened so quickly at the end of the last movie that majority of it never made any sense.

I should also add that I hate the whole Padme and Anakin love story. It was really cliched and the worst part of AOTC--and the reason why it ranks so low for me--is the entire first half where they meet and fall in love. That was terrible writing.

As much as people might hate my opinion, the only movie that I enjoyed out of the prequel was RotS and I have explained why. I also disliked TFA but it doesn't mean I am not looking forward to the upcoming sequel. I am really interested to see what happens but as a starting point of a new trilogy, I found TFA weak.

Yeah, I just don't think he payoff in RotS is very good because the buildup is shit and does nothing to convince me of his fall. The only reason I place it above the other two prequels is because he is a terrible character and gets rekt by Obi-Wan at the end just like he deserved.

 

[Ushojax]

I still can't believe they cast a teenaged Natalie Portman as 10 year-old Jake Lloyd's love interest. Everything wrong with the story starts with that decision, at least if they were both teenagers they could have started the romance in Episode 1 and had some meaningful interactions.

It's just bizarre how Lucas expects the audience to buy that a young Queen who is shown to be vastly more mature than the little boy Anakin, would feel some kind of burning passion for him in the 10 years they spent apart before AOTC.

Anakin turning to the dark side because of a stupid ruse is both dumb and completely inconsistent with his later characterization as Darth Vader. Vader is basically a space Nazi who completely believes that what he does is necessary to "bring order to the galaxy." The PT should have therefore been about the "disorder of the galaxy" and how this causes an extremely talented Jedi to wrongly believe that the only way to bring order is through the dark side.

100% agree. Lucas obviously wasn't completely oblivious because he cast Anakin as a slave on a backwater shithole of a planet, but that depressing experience is never used to push Anakin towards the dark side and the Empire. He should have joined Palpatine because he believed it would bring justice to places like Tatooine and stop people from going through what he did. The fact that Anakin was a slave for 10 years is almost completely ignored and never really shown to be that bad. Same with his mother being kidnapped and tortured by sand people. All the justification for a wilful transformation into Darth Vader was there but it was all wasted.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

Ren is not an expert. He is not a replacement Vader. He is a wannabe. People who are disappointed that Ren wasn't as powerful or threatening or boss as Darth Vader missed the point.

He is a new sort of villain for SW. We have the chance to watch him grow and learn parallel to the heroes.

Yes, it is possible that the sequels build him up to something great. We will find that out soon enough.

Anakin turning to the dark side because of a stupid ruse is both dumb and completely inconsistent with his later characterization as Darth Vader. Vader is basically a space Nazi who completely believes that what he does is necessary to "bring order to the galaxy." The PT should have therefore been about the "disorder of the galaxy" and how this causes an extremely talented Jedi to wrongly believe that the only way to bring order is through the dark side.

Somewhere along the way, George Lucas forgot how he wrote the original characters and just changed everything. There are a lot of inconsistencies between the original and the prequels. But I have explained that I am not a fan of the series. I don't pay attention to every little bit of details/changes. I just enjoyed RotS for what it was and didn't care much for what it did to the series.

Basically I was more forgiving to the changes as a non-fan but I can understand why the die-hard fans hated the changes.

I still can't believe they cast a teenaged Natalie Portman as 10 year-old Jake Lloyd's love interest. Everything wrong with the story starts with that decision, at least if they were both teenagers they could have started the romance in Episode 1 and had some meaningful interactions.

It's just bizarre how Lucas expects the audience to buy that a young Queen who is shown to be vastly more mature than the little boy Anakin, would feel some kind of burning passion for him in the 10 years they spent apart before AOTC.

That was shocking to see in AOTC, lol. What was Lucas thinking?

In the original trilogy, Luke and Leia become siblings while it is clear when watching the original that it wasn't mean to be the case. The characters weren't written to be siblings and from what I have read, it was another change made by Lucas.

 

[Ferr986]

As for the villain, TFA has arguably the weakest villain in the series. He is worse than Darth Maul from TPM. What were they thinking? They tried to imitate another Darth Vader and even showed him worshiping the mask of Darth Vader (cringe scene), but he never came close. The end set piece was also greatly disappointing. Rey somehow starts learning her Force powers out of nowhere and is able to duel with a Sith Lord? How does this even make sense in Star Wars universe? It is a shame that they got away with it while people took a shit on the prequels. To me, TFA lies in the same category as the first two movies in the prequel. It is bad and just made to feed on the nostalgic of the fans of the original trilogy. Atleast George Lucas tried to do something new with the prequel trilogy.

I disagree here. Kylo being weak after all is what mades him aa interesting villain for this new trilogy.

First, he's not a Sith Lord. He is still an apprentice, Snoke even says so. The point of Kylo is that he wants to be Darth Vader so hard and he is full of himself, but he is still not ready, he's not done with his training even if he think he is, and also he¡s insecure as shit about the light and dark side.


And Rey is a very powerful Force user, even if she's untrained. Snoke says "there has been aan awakening" , that's Rey. They probably should make it more of a tie instead of Rey full winning, but take into account that: 1) Kylo was a mess emotionally after killing his father (well, he's always an emotional mess, remember when he goes apeshit when shit goes bad for him) 2) it has a Bowcaster wound in his chest, remember how strong that shit was 3) he's an apprentice 4) he's full of himself, and that never bodes well.

There's a lot of potential for character development with Kylo right now.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

100% agree. Lucas obviously wasn't completely oblivious because he cast Anakin as a slave on a backwater shithole of a planet, but that depressing experience is never used to push Anakin towards the dark side and the Empire. He should have joined Palpatine because he believed it would bring justice to places like Tatooine and stop people from going through what he did. The fact that Anakin was a slave for 10 years is almost completely ignored and never really shown to be that bad. Same with his mother being kidnapped and tortured by sand people. All the justification for a wilful transformation into Darth Vader was there but it was all wasted.

The kid spent his childhood building droids, playing with kids his age, and participating in high stakes pod racing.

Pretty sure my first part-time job was more traumatic than his slave life.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

I disagree here. Kylo being weak after all is what mades him aa interesting villain for this new trilogy.

First, he's not a Sith Lord. He is still an apprentice, Snoke even says so. The point of Kylo is that he wants to be Darth Vader so hard and he is full of himself, but he is still not ready, he's not done with his training even if he think he is, and also he¡s insecure as shit about the light and dark side.


And Rey is a very powerful Force user, even if she's untrained. Snoke says "there has been aan awakening" , that's Rey. They probably should make it more of a tie instead of Rey full winning, but take into account that: 1) Kylo was a mess emotionally after killing his father (well, he's always an emotional mess, remember when he goes apeshit when shit goes bad for him) 2) it has a Bowcaster wound in his chest, remember how strong that shit was 3) he's an apprentice 4) he's full of himself, and that never bodes well.

There's a lot of potential for character development with Kylo right now.

Thanks for the explanation. It will be interesting to see how they write this new trilogy. I am really stocked for what's in store and I hope they deliver.

What I am missing right now in the new trilogy is an Obi-Wan like character. He was my favorite. Hopefully Luke can be the Obi-Wan of the new trilogy.

 

[Boem]

The kid spent his childhood building droids, playing with kids his age, and participating in high stakes pod racing.

Pretty sure my first part-time job was more traumatic than his slave life.

That reminds me, wasn't Greedo one of his childhood friends? The one who ends up cheering for him during the podrace, and is there while Anakin is building his pod earlier? I'm almost 100% sure there was a deleted scene or something where he's called by name, but it's been years since I looked into this stuff.

#poetry

EDIT: Ha, found the deleted scene from Phantom Menace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP5defnEQ8A

Baby Vader vs. Baby Greedo. Now that's a Battlefront character pack I want to see. It's canon!

 

[NateDog]

I've been watching 1-6 (originals, then prequels) over the past few weeks for the first time. I echo a lot of your feelings towards the originals. I didn't think RoTJ was great, was a lot of filler in it that felt so out of place compared to the first two but all of the final sequences with Vader, Luke and Palpatine were superb.

I didn't like the prequels much honestly. I thought Liam Neeson was actually good in TPM which surprised me but I didn't feel there was any character development in the movie at all, especially with him and Obi Wan (who was too perfect seemingly, and that was sort of fixed in AoTC as you could see him being so strict to the code and everything else made him a little dull and unwilling to take risks at times). But the amount of CGI used was too much. I know a lot of people love its OST but I didn't really notice it much so I will rewatch it almost for that (although not sure how much more Jar Jar Binks I can put up with again).

Attack of The Clones was fucking dreadful. Anakin just seemed like an asshole for the whole movie and it felt so jarring after TPM because in that he seemed like a confident but sweet kid. His "turning" or leaning towards the dark side was way too forced and obvious. The love story was irritating and grating. Also I couldn't get to grips with the look of the ships and cities, they were way too shiny and futuristic (to me, anyway) and didn't fit in. At least Jango Fett was cool I guess.

I just watched Revenge of The Sith last night and did enjoy it a bit. I felt Anakin's portrayal was better (still could have been improved, but it was much better than that in AoTC) and seemed more in tune with TPM. His fear and general anxiety and wavering between each side seemed more realistic and understandable and his being caught between two sides was done well. The way the Jedi were destroyed was pathetic to watch as was some of the fighting (as usual). Ian McDiarmid was great as Palpatine at first I felt, and then when he "revealed" himself he just seemed to go off the deep end (and those facial expressions when fighting were bizarre). Didn't think Anakin and Obi Wan's fight really lived up to what it could have been and I thought the location choice for it was awful (it was way too bright and red). I thought seeing Anakin being turned into Vader was going to be awful but still can't help but feel it was cool as fuck seeing it all happen and just watching him do that walk around afterwards.

VII is out tomorrow here so I'm looking forward to watching it again after having seen all these 6 movies. Should be able to judge it better but I know I enjoyed it and thought it was a superbly-paced movie when I saw it and I am sure I'll still feel the same way.

 

[Emerson's Essentia]

I enjoyed TFA in the theaters and thought it was the best SW movie (though, admittedly, I'm not much of a fan and always considered the bar for the series pretty low).

That is, until I watched it again a few days ago. Talk about a made-for-theater experience. This movie falls almost completely flat for me without the hype and audience behind it. I fell asleep watching it. Holy crap.

Not going to call it "bad" or anything, but my hype for EPVIII is severely diminished.

 

[TM94]

I can understand why people like Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith.

But I'll never understand how anyone could enjoy Attack of the Clones, it's a total trainwreck of a movie.

 

[Vashetti]

Kylo is not a Sith Lord.

 

[sphagnum]

That reminds me, wasn't Greedo one of his childhood friends? The one who ends up cheering for him during the podrace, and is there while Anakin is building his pod earlier? I'm almost 100% sure there was a deleted scene or something where he's called by name, but it's been years since I looked into this stuff.

#poetry

EDIT: Ha, found the deleted scene from Phantom Menace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP5defnEQ8A

Baby Vader vs. Baby Greedo. Now that's a Battlefront character pack I want to see. It's canon!

That's not Greedo. There is a deleted scene where Anakin gets in a fight with young Greedo though because Greedo calls him a cheater.

Anyway OP, good on you for forming your own thoughts instead of automatically joining the prequel hate fest that erupts everywhere else.

 

[Boem]

That's not Greedo. There is a deleted scene where Anakin gets in a fight with young Greedo though because Greedo calls him a cheater.

Anyway OP, good on you for forming your own thoughts instead of automatically joining the prequel hate fest that erupts everywhere else.

Yeah, that's the video I linked?

 

[sphagnum]

Yeah, that's the video I linked?

Yeah, that part's Greedo, but the Rodian cheering for Anakin at the pod race isn't him.

 

[PhantomZone]

TFA was a very weak film, if I wanted to watch Episode IV all over again I'd watch Episode IV and not a rehash.

 

[DrunkShogun]

Anakin goes from innocent Space Jesus to angry murderer to even angrier murderer. It's like poetry.

George teased us with some interesting concepts that should have led to Anakin becoming Darth Vader but instead he just made him the only person stupid enough to be fooled by Palpatine. He essentially becomes Darth Vader by accident. Anakin should have genuinely believed in the Empire, in a strict regime that would bring order to the galaxy, prevent cesspools like Tatooine from being run by slavers and gangsters. He should have believed that the power of the dark side was the only way to end the Clone Wars and unify the Republic and Separatists under Palpatine's rule.

Those things are hinted at but never really made to define Anakin. He's just an angry psycho who gets tricked into murdering a bunch of people.

This so much. The way he reacts to killing mace was him basically accepting there's no way he can get out this situation so might as well go all the way. I personally felt it should have been him going to any means to win which would push him off the Jedi code.

 

[Dash_Riprock]

I have a sinking feeling OP is Lucas incognito...

 

[QuantumZebra]

I sort of have similar thoughts to you, but I wouldn't rate TFA so highly in your ranking list. I'd probably put it either last or 2nd last just ahead of AOTC.

1. Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. The Force Awakens
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Guardians of the Galaxy


I can't fathom how anyone in their right mind could consider the prequels "good" or even decent.

They were absolute trash.

Hell half the posts in the "What's the worst movie you've seen in theaters" thread were the prequels.

But opinions and all, I guess.

I have a sinking feeling OP is Lucas incognito...

You might be onto something.

 

[Chip N Chance]

Im a pretty big Star Wars fan, but for what ever reason have yet to watch the prequels. Even though i was at the right age when they were released, even then i thought they looked lame and for kids. So for what ever reason they just went under my radar. I loved the originals and adore The Force Awakens. I really do need to go back and watch those movies. Something about when the prequels came out, i just was going through a weird change in taste and started doing other things. I collected the Pepsi cans before it came out lol. Thats about it. All the games before them though i was way into and even saw the special editions in theaters around 97ish.

Should i watch them?

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

For me Empire is hugely in front, ANH is in second place. TPM is last and AOTC isn't far behind it. But in the middle, where I'd rank ROTJ, ROTS and TFA is hard for me to say. I consider them all to be roughly in the same ballpark as each other as star wars experiences that have a lot to like, but also a chunk of mediocre stuff.

People shit on the prequel duels a lot but they're definitely entertaining until you get to the crazy long one in ROTS which is just too indulgent for its own good. Ep4 duel has good emotional stakes but the choreography is so stiff that it's hard to enjoy it a lot, honestly.

 

[old manatee]

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Force Awakens
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. The Phantom Menance
7. Attack of the Clones

 

[QuantumZebra]

The Force Awakens is the best imo, only Empire Strikes Back comes close. I'm talking pure quality.

Nostalgia and other unnecessary factors(like time of release) not taken into consideration.

Yep.

If I cut nostalgia out of the equation, then TFA is first and Empire 2nd.

I'm still in shock as to how anyone could like the prequels. Even ROTS, the one people claim to like, was full of trash.

"You're breaking my heart!", "You underestimate my power!"

Ugh. Awful.

 

[Dash_Riprock]

Im a pretty big Star Wars fan, but for what ever reason have yet to watch the prequels. Even though i was at the right age when they were released, even then i thought they looked lame and for kids. So for what ever reason they just went under my radar. I loved the originals and adore The Force Awakens. I really do need to go back and watch those movies. Something about when the prequels came out, i just was going through a weird change in taste and started doing other things. I collected the Pepsi cans before it came out lol. Thats about it. All the games before them though i was way into and even saw the special editions in theaters around 97ish.

Should i watch them?

Watch them, but remember that any backstory you came up with in you head is probably 10x better than what you'll actually see.

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. A New Hope
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Force Awakens
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. The Phantom Menance
7. Attack of the Clones

Switch RotS with TPM and thats my list.