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[LegendofLex]

Why do people not like the prequels?

Oft-cited reasons, in order of priority:

- Bad scriptwriting delivered through badly acted and directed performances
- Overuse of (often pretty bad) CGI and green screen makes the films feel less grounded
- Being a Jedi and using the Force feels trivialized compared to the OT (and now TFA)
- Space battles are generally poor/non-existent
- Lack of focus which makes it hard to identify with the struggles of the protagonists

 

[excelsiorlef]

I've seen TFA thrice now. I'm ready to rank.

Empire
Jedi
Force
Hope
Sith
Clones
Menace

Almost a poem there lol

 

[Perfect Cha0s]

Why do people not like the prequels?

I could further break this down but it would take a while, so I'll summarize it my two main sticking points:

1. I don't care about, or actively dislike, almost all of the characters.

2. I find them incredibly boring and uninteresting.

Their very existence doesn't elicit strong negative emotions in me or anything, but I find them to be completely throw-away movies.

 

[BocoDragon]

Last I checked the Viet cong didn't beat the Americans with sticks and stones, and they certainly weren't teddy bears.

It's almost like its a space fantasy version of that conflict

Anyway, the Vietnam war is the impetus for that scene. Lucas was never shy about that.

 

[Giolon]

*devilface.gif*

 

[Loris146]

Episode 1 and 2 I can understand even though I dont hate those myself.

3 I legit dont understand how you could "hate" it if you like Star Wars in general. I get it not being anywhere near your favorite but to truly hate that film doesn't make much sense to me

Bad acting , bad plot , bad dialogues , cgi everywhere. Anakin's turn to the dark side is poorly written in my opinion ( and this was supposed to be the core of the movie ) . It has some cool action scenes but yeah i didn't like ROTS at all

 

[Obliterator]

Bad acting , bad plot , bad dialogues , cgi everywhere. Anakin's turn to the dark side is poorly written in my opinion ( and this was supposed to be the core of the movie ) . It has some cool action scenes but yeah i didn't like ROTS at all

Acting is vastly improved especially Anakin, plot isnt bad at all imo, best cgi use in the prequels but yeah still a bit much, and Anakins turn to the dark side is a bit rushed I agree.

But it has some really good highs that more than make up for its deficiency imo. The Opera scene alone is top tier Star Wars imo

 

[Sharpeye]

Here is my outlandish fan theory, Kylo and Rey are the reincarnations of the Son and Daughter from the Clone Wars Mortis arc.

Spoiler

There is a near zero percent chance of this coming true

 

[Sephzilla]

Acting is vastly improved especially Anakin, plot isnt bad at all imo, best cgi use in the prequels but yeah still a bit much, and Anakins turn to the dark side is a bit rushed I agree.

But it has some really good highs that more than make up for its deficiency imo. The Opera scene alone is top tier Star Wars imo

I really don't get what everyone sees in the opera scene. the only memorable part of it is that somehow Ian McDiarmid got away with doing the slow evil bad guy turn and line delivery four times and nobody apparently noticed.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

5
4&6
7
3
1






2

 

[Inferno313]

We're ranking again?

ESB > ANH > TFA > ROTJ >> ROTS > TPM > AOTC.

Goddamit, top of the page.

 

[Lord of Castamere]

The more I think about the more I really really want a Kylo Ren vs Anakin Skywalker scene in Epi8. Hc with better direction and writing belittling and debating Kylo in a Sith temple would be grand. Plus I want to see how they handle the two fighting styles. If Snoke = Pleagus, it'd be a good way to start tying things together. It's also a better way to mirror Luke's training than Rey doing it.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Why do people not like the prequels?

Dull camera work, bad acting, messy script, lack of a solid protagonist and a solid villain, cringey dialogue, unconvincing CGI.

 

[OctoMan]

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




6. Phantom Menace




7. Attack of the Clones

 

[Cross-Section]

3:2
6:1
4:7

 

[excelsiorlef]

I really don't get what everyone sees in the opera scene. the only memorable part of it is that somehow Ian McDiarmid got away with doing the slow evil bad guy turn and line delivery four times and nobody apparently noticed.

Anakin's turn hinging on some ridiculous pregnancy death dream is terribad

 

[kingocfs]

We're ranking again?

ESB > ANH > TFA > ROTJ >> ROTS > TPM > AOTC.

Goddamit, top of the page.

Yes.

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




6. Phantom Menace




7. Attack of the Clones

 

[BocoDragon]

Bad acting , bad plot , bad dialogues , cgi everywhere. Anakin's turn to the dark side is poorly written in my opinion ( and this was supposed to be the core of the movie ) . It has some cool action scenes but yeah i didn't like ROTS at all

I say this as someone who likes ROTS, I don't begrudge anyone who doesn't. The ability to enjoy it depends on your ability to embrace a vision of Star Wars as a big air-headed Saturday morning cartoon. It's clearly not a grown up's film.

If I could choose a Star Wars film, I'd go for a reasonably mature ANH/ESB/TFA style affair... But part of me kind of enjoys that there was an entry like ROTS that's this colourful and totally fake videogame spectacle, complete with a cartoon villain like Grevious.

 

[Fata1moose]

1. Empire
2. A New Hope
3. Force Awakens: Since it's pretty much A New Hope
4. Return of the Jedi: Too many Muppets
5. Revenge of the Sith: Has some nice elements, I wish they had the OT aesthetics on the ships for the whole movie that they showed in the last 10 minutes.
6. Phantom Menace: End dual
7. Attack of the Clones: Garbage.

I really wish the prequels had the Republic fighting in pristine X-Wings and A wings and then in Revenge of the Sith they switch to Tie fighters while the other ships are decommissioned, then it would have given framework for the rebels fighting in salvaged ships in the OT, would have been cool.

 

[Sotha_Sil]

1. ESB - Will always be the GOAT. Has two of three best moments in series (Yoda/X-Wing and Vader/Luke).

2. ANH - Lack of Ewoks. Great introduction to all the characters. Needs ceremony scene to be cut.

3. ROTJ - Without Ewoks and dance celebration, easily second and maybe first. Has best scene in series (Luke/Vader/Emperor) and best space battle yet. Jabba's palace Blu-Ray edits unbearable.

4. TFA - Quality production, but ultimately forgettable despite the good casting. Felt it was too fast-paced, very little emotional attachment.

5. ROTS - Not really any better than the other prequels, but a few well done scenes (Order 66).

6. TPM - It's not AOTC. Anti-cheese edit removing 40+ minutes actually make this much better.

7. AOTC - Just dreadful from start to finish.

 

[Obliterator]

The more I think about the more I really really want a Kylo Ren vs Anakin Skywalker scene in Epi8. Hc with better direction and writing belittling and debating Kylo in a Sith temple would be grand. Plus I want to see how they handle the two fighting styles. If Snoke = Pleagus, it'd be a good way to start tying things together. It's also a better way to mirror Luke's training than Rey doing it.

Kylo would have to get powered up quite a bit. Episode 3 Anakin is insanely over leveled compared to him.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Truncated reasoning, so don't expect a stellar write-up, but I hate lists, so...

1. Empire - The essential Star Wars movie. Great imagery on Hoth, great space battles, Vader taking center stage and being a menacing badass throughout the movie. Luke growing into a more capable character. Perfect setup for the next movie with his loss to Vader at the end and the crushing realization of Vader being his father. This movie is the poster boy for the series.
   
2. Force - Relies a bit too much on setup, and paced a bit too quickly, but overall a very solid movie with gripping action scenes and characters you end up caring about. Single handedly redeems Storm Troopers through Finn and his stun baton buddy. Of course it's the most visually appealing movie in the series, too, being released in 2015.
   
3. Hope - It started it all. Luke is a great protagonist, and we're given enough backstory to want to see more of the universe. Vader is a threatening unknown in this one, and the sense of mystery surrounding him, and the force in general, is pulled off really well.
   
4. Revenge of the Sith - The entire movie has a sense of foreboding because you know everything is going to hit the fan, and it does. Anakin finally becomes an interesting character. Grievous is a cool villain.
   
5. Jedi - Great ending, Luke is cool in this one. Jabba the Hutt/Slave Leia/Boba Fett sequence is kind of lame, unpopular opinion, I know. Endor is visually appealing, but the Ewoks are also pretty lame.
   
6. Phantom Menace - Wastes too much time on politics. Wastes too much time in general. Pod-racing and the fight at the end are amazing, though. Jar-jar isn't as bad as everyone says he is. He's no goofier than C3PO, he's just a lot dumber. Darth Maul is underutilized but a conceptually amazing character, at least visually.
   
7. Attack of the Clones - Why they didn't make the plot of the Clone Wars cartoon this movie instead, I'll never know. Dooku is the most interesting villain conceptually and they do a terrible job explaining who he is and why he matters. Kamino and everything surrounding it was fascinating, however. Jango Fett was also pretty cool.

 

[Comfort Jones]

Why do people not like the prequels?

Literally everything but the music?

The script, the acting, the lack of characters that even sorta seem like interesting people, horrifically dull camera work, everything looks aged as fuck thanks to the ridiculous overuse of sterile cgi, Vader is turned into a whiny idiot who never at any point seems like he'd live up to Obi Wan's description of "a good friend", etc etc etc.

Like i get why people might be disappointed with TFA but if you're telling me you think the prequels are better you're basically saying you don't care about actual film making involved in your films. Just throw it on a green screen with the exact same sort of shot for every scene of dialogue, fuck it why not it looks "different" thus Lucas has a vision guys.

 

[Trigonometrize.]

1. A New Hope: My favorite movie of all time. The scene where Luke, Han, and Leia are screaming with joy at being alive and C-3PO is mourning their deaths already and cursing himself is emblematic of what a fun movie it is. I could watch it forever.
2. Empire Strikes Back
3. Force Awakens
4. Return of the Jedi: Two acts of crap minus the scenes with 3PO becoming a god. I always found them funny. Then shit gets good with Luke vs Vader round 2.
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. The Phantom Menace
7. Attack of the Clones

It's really a question of which bad movie to put above the other bad movies.


As for for the TFA v. ANH comparisons: it shares some broad plot strokes and even a few ideas (similar MacGuffin). But once you step down to the character level and their respective arcs, the comparison falls apart completely.

And that's where it matters most with Star Wars. If Rey was literally Luke, and Kylo was literally Vader, and Poe was literally Han, etc., then hell I'd probably really dislike the movie. But the only two comparisons are blowing up the death star at the end with a trench run and desert planet with the droid running around our MC. When your problem with the story is a repeat of a macguffin, the thing that is literally defined by being unimportant despite its prominence, then it's probably a pretty flat criticism. The more I've thought about it the more the ANH comparisons just annoy me.

 

[prag16]

I just don't see the Ewok criticism. Is it just because they look fluffy and cute? They're indigenous to Endor and (I felt) fit in well with the story/action. They're actually quite funny and entertaining in many scenes. Not saying it's all done perfectly but they've never bothered me.

I just don't see the Gungan criticism. Is it just because they look goofy? They're indigenous to Naboo and (I felt) fit in well with the story/action. They're actually quite funny and entertaining in many scenes. Not saying it's all done perfectly but they've never bothered me.

...

Just kidding. But seriously, the ewoks are completely useless. You can remove them entirely and lose absolutely nothing other than a bit of comic relief with the whole 3PO worship concept. Having them turn the tide against the empire's war machines just didn't work for me at all, even as a kid. I read they were originally conceived as grotesque reptilians, but were changed probably for merchandising reasons.

 

[Calabria]

I don't know how people put TFA in top-3 let alone no.1

Bottomline is that a great movie needs a great protagonist or a great villain, this movie has NONE

 

[phanphare]

Why do people not like the prequels?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6bEs3dxjPg

 

[Obliterator]

I just don't see the Gungan criticism. Is it just because they look goofy? They're indigenous to Naboo and (I felt) fit in well with the story/action. They're actually quite funny and entertaining in many scenes. Not saying it's all done perfectly but they've never bothered me.

...

Just kidding. But seriously, the ewoks are completely useless. You can remove them entirely and lose absolutely nothing other than a bit of comic relief with the whole 3PO worship concept. Having them turn the tide against the empire's war machines just didn't work for me at all, even as a kid. I read they were originally conceived as grotesque reptilians, but were changed probably for merchandising reasons.

The Gungans are bad but nothing tops the Ewoks. Take all Ewoks out and ROTJ is soooo good

 

[WadiumArcadium]

I don't know how people put TFA in top-3 let alone no.1

Bottomline is that a great movie needs a great protagonist or a great villain, this movie has NONE

It has two great protagonists and a great villain instead.

 

[Lothars]

I don't know how people put TFA in top-3 let alone no.1

Bottomline is that a great movie needs a great protagonist or a great villain, this movie has NONE

It has both. Finn and Rey are great protagonist and Ren is a great villian.

 

[Obliterator]

Empire and ROTS are my 2 favorite SW movies so hearing Episode 8 is going darker is music to my ears

 

[Inferno313]

I don't know how people put TFA in top-3 let alone no.1

Bottomline is that a great movie needs a great protagonist or a great villain, this movie has NONE

I can disagree, but accept the opinion of someone who didn't like the movie for a myriad of reasons... But to dislike it because of the characters? They're the single best aspect of the movie.

 

[30yearsofhurt]

We're ranking again?

ESB > ANH > TFA > ROTJ >> ROTS > TPM > AOTC.

Goddamit, top of the page.

This is about spot on.
I would only question if TFA is actually better than ANH but it's too soon to make that call.
How people can think that any of the prequels can be in the top 4 is something that psychologists should look into cause those people are cray cray.

 

[Sephzilla]

I don't know how people put TFA in top-3 let alone no.1

Bottomline is that a great movie needs a great protagonist or a great villain, this movie has NONE

Kylo Ren is easily better than Tarkin or Vader in A New Hope though.

 

[TrueBlue]

I think it's unfortunate that the introduction of the Ewoks coincides with the slowest part of the movie. It kinda compounded any negative reaction that the audience may have had.

The Jabba sequence escapes this, despite probably being a little bit too long as well.

 

[Giolon]

Alright, I'll add a bit of my reasoning for each to show I'm not actually just trolling:

1) ROTJ - Has speederbikes, B-Wings, Ackbar, Jabba the Hutt, an absolutely incredible score, and the most impactful lightsaber duel of the whole trilogy.

2) AOTC - I love everything about Coruscant in this movie (especially the retro future vibe), and I greatly enjoy Obi-wan's detective story and the Kaminoans. The coliseum battle is a lot of fun too. This movie has my all time favorite scene of any Star Wars movie (the shot when the Clone Troopers shoot down the droid ship and it crashes back to the planet and everybody's fighting in a dust cloud). Padme and Anakin's shitty love story can't bring all of this down.

3) ROTS - Obi-wan and Anakin's duel is great (silly lightsaber flourishes notwithstanding), and mostly everything with Palpatine is great. That Yoda/Palpatine fight is one of my favorites, and the troopers executing Order 66 gets me every time.

4) ESB - I've always found this movie to be fairly slow and boring. It's all about character moments and yada yada. That's all well and good, but what I really love about ESB is the Hoth battle. Robot dinosaurs? The 8 year old in my says YES!

5) ANH - I mean, this is the set up for all of it, right? The Mos Eisley Cantina, Obi-wan's explanation of the Force, X-Wings, landspeeders, Jawas - this one gives us the set up for everything. It's really basic though.

6) TPM - Darth Maul fight. Pod Race. Jedi melting doors with lightsabers. Droidekas. There's a lot of fun stuff in this movie. Jar Jar never bothered me all that much. He's a dumb character, but it's not like he's the only dumb character that's ever existed, let alone in Star Wars.

7) TFA - The lightsaber battle at the end is great, the Millenium Falcon flights are fun, Han Solo's back! and the whole cast of new characters is fun to watch hanging around and interacting with each other. However, the new music was dreadfully unmemorable, the alien design too often looks like it's cribbing from Lord of the Rings, and I had an unshakable feeling that I was just watching fan fiction for most of the movie. Another, bigger Death Star again? Really? It's fun. It's fine. I don't dislike it, but it also didn't entirely connect with me the way even aspects of the prequels did. I would've rather had Thrawn.

 

[marrec]

Anakin's turn hinging on some ridiculous pregnancy death dream is terribad

Well it doesn't entirely hinge on that, Palpatine also convinces him that the Jedi are going to betray the senate and seize power for themselves.

 

[phazedplasma]

I don't know how people put TFA in top-3 let alone no.1

Bottomline is that a great movie needs a great protagonist or a great villain, this movie has NONE

Welp Jedi is pretty bad for about 75% of the film so its rather easy for TFA to be ranked 3 out of 4

 

[marrec]

Alright, I'll add a bit of my reasoning for each to show I'm not actually just trolling:

1) ROTJ - Has speederbikes, B-Wings, Ackbar, Jabba the Hutt, an absolutely incredible score, and the most impactful lightsaber duel of the whole trilogy.

2) AOTC - I love everything about Coruscant in this movie (especially the retro future vibe), and I greatly enjoy Obi-wan's detective story and the Kaminoans. The coliseum battle is a lot of fun too. This movie has my all time favorite scene of any Star Wars movie (the shot when the Clone Troopers shoot down the droid ship and it crashes back to the planet and everybody's fighting in a dust cloud). Padme and Anakin's shitty love story can't bring all of this down.

See you ROTJ apologists, it's only barely better than AOTC.

 

[UnforgivenTwin]

I like how people say Ren was a bad villain and he should have been more like Vader. If he was more like Vader he would have been called a ripoff, uninspired,and boring. I think it's impossible to please Star Wars fans.

 

[Calabria]

Kylo Ren is easily better than Tarkin or Vader in A New Hope though.

no way. Darth Vader is iconic in the first movie. He pretty much defines The Dark Force, Sith Lord, etc; anything else afterwards just pretty much copycat

 

[Sephzilla]

Well it doesn't entirely hinge on that, Palpatine also convinces him that the Jedi are going to betray the senate and seize power for themselves.

I hate how unbelievably stupid Anakin is in Episode 3.

Palpatine gets into his head and convinces him that the Jedi are about to take over, Anakin then discovers that Palpatine is the motherfucking godfather of Sith lords, and then still inexplicably defends Palpatine when the Jedi go in to take out the head honcho bad guy they've been looking for this whole time. Then on top of that he goes from "what have I done" to slaughtering younglings in 9 minutes of screen time.

no way. Darth Vader is iconic in the first movie. He pretty much defines The Dark Force, Sith Lord, etc; anything else afterwards just pretty much copycat

Vader is a glorified muscle character in A New Hope. He has no characterization, no depth, after killing Obi-Wan he has no further importance to the plot (that's his only importance to the story at all). He's not even the main villain of the movie. Everything that made Vader awesome and iconic happened in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Vader is only one or two steps above Darth Maul tier in A New Hope.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Well it doesn't entirely hinge on that, Palpatine also convinces him that the Jedi are going to betray the senate and seize power for themselves.

There's also the fact that Anakin is extremely arrogant and the council repeatedly dismisses and distrusts him for asinine reasons, all while Palpatine has his eyes on getting the chosen one on his side. Padme may be the catalyst for his turn, but it's far from the only reason.

I like how people say Ren was a bad villain and he should have been more like Vader. If he was more like Vader he would have been called a ripoff, uninspired,and boring. I think it's impossible to please Star Wars fans.

With a franchise this huge it's literally impossible not to upset anybody.

Ren was great because he wasn't an exact copy of Vader. When we saw Vader he was a 40+ year old man with a ton of history and accomplishments under his belt. We get to see Ren earlier, while he's still in training, while The First Order doesn't respect him as much and his faith in the path he chose is still wavering. We're watching him develop. Where he'll go from here is a relative unknown. I think Ren might surpass Vader from a purely literary standpoint, even if Vader was more menacing.

 

[marrec]

no way. Darth Vader is iconic in the first movie. He pretty much defines The Dark Force, Sith Lord, etc; anything else afterwards just pretty much copycat

Ren is better than any of the villains in the first movie. He manages to be more menacing but also more nuanced, as marked by when he takes the helmet off.

When he force stops a fucking laser blast I almost shat myself.

Finn, Rey, and Poe are all fantastic and better than anyone in ANH aside from Han which... I mean, how can you beat Han?

Oh ya, Han's here too.

 

[prag16]

The Gungans are bad but nothing tops the Ewoks. Take all Ewoks out and ROTJ is soooo good

It's ridiculous, but I honestly think editing out the ewoks and changing NOTHING else vaults ROTJ from below ROTS on my list right smack in the middle of the ESB/ANH/TFA conversation at the top.

EDIT: To Surfinn below me; the Gungans are worse in a vacuum. But the ewoks are ultimately worse because they put a damper on an otherwise great movie. TPM (while I'm not a prequel hater; I still somewhat like the movie) has issues that go far beyond the gungans and Jar Jar. Agree to disagree about ewok "charm" and "world building". IMO they're compeltely 100% worthless and useless.

I don't know how people put TFA in top-3 let alone no.1

Bottomline is that a great movie needs a great protagonist or a great villain, this movie has NONE

What the... The characters are GREAT in TFA. It's what allows the movie to transcend the couple lame plot devices and ANH retread aspects.

 

[Surfinn]

I just don't see the Gungan criticism. Is it just because they look goofy? They're indigenous to Naboo and (I felt) fit in well with the story/action. They're actually quite funny and entertaining in many scenes. Not saying it's all done perfectly but they've never bothered me.

...

Just kidding. But seriously, the ewoks are completely useless. You can remove them entirely and lose absolutely nothing other than a bit of comic relief with the whole 3PO worship concept. Having them turn the tide against the empire's war machines just didn't work for me at all, even as a kid. I read they were originally conceived as grotesque reptilians, but were changed probably for merchandising reasons.

Except Ewoks aren't even in the same league of the Gungans. Ewoks have a physical, real charm to them and I felt like they fit into the universe well. They're a part of the world building and had a ton of great interactions with the main characters. You can take out entire chunks of lots of SW characters and scenes that don't contribute to the story/main plot, but you lose personality. I actually LIKE the Ewoks, to rephrase. I can understand NOT liking them, of course, but not all the hyperbole that's often attached to their very existence..

 

[Obliterator]

Anakin's turn is a bit rushed but I think its important to remember his lust for power. Its a mjor part of his character and Palpatine plays on that. Its several things that make Anakin fall not just one

 

[Loris146]

There's also the fact that Anakin is extremely arrogant and the council repeatedly dismisses and distrusts him for asinine reasons, all while Palpatine has his eyes on getting the chosen one on his side. Padme may be the catalyst for his turn, but it's far from the only reason.

Oh god the council was awful in the prequels. They seem so stupid ...

 

[marrec]

Anakin's turn is a bit rushed but I think its important to remember his lust for power. Its a mjor part of his character and Palpatine plays on that. Its several things that make Anakin fall not just one

Lucas fucks it up, but the foundations for the turn are solid. An arrogant angry young man who believes the Jedi council is holding him back but also cares deeply for those close to him.

Makes total sense, but the sequences needed work and more fleshing out.

Oh god the council was awful in the prequels. They seem so stupid ...

Yeh honestly I'm glad they lost, no one that stupid should be in power.

 

[Calabria]

I can disagree, but accept the opinion of someone who didn't like the movie for a myriad of reasons... But to dislike it because of the characters? They're the single best aspect of the movie.

maybe my problem is that I saw TFA right after The Revenant, like basically after I finished The Revenant I walked to the next cinema and saw TFA, so everything just don't compare, the characters, the scenery, the brutality, etc. TFA looked so amateurish compare to The Revenant.