• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Star Wars (again): To what extend has your appraisal of the Prequel Trilogy changed since the Sequel Trilogy?

My opinion of the prequels is...

  • Night and day, I now see what Lucas was doing and love him for it.

    Votes: 10 8.9%
  • Much changed, I appreciate the consistency and some of the drama a sight more now.

    Votes: 15 13.4%
  • Yeah they're the better of the two for sure.

    Votes: 37 33.0%
  • Look at my humorous star wars themed gif to compensate for my lack of input!

    Votes: 4 3.6%
  • I prefer the sequels.

    Votes: 5 4.5%
  • I dig the prequels even less, the sequel trilogy brought something to the table the prequels lacked.

    Votes: 3 2.7%
  • The sequels are hot stuff, I wish they'd retconned the prequels entirely along with the EU.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I think the Prequels are bantha poodoo, just as I did 15-20-odd years ago. Nothing changes this.

    Votes: 25 22.3%
  • I love the prequels, regardless of the sequels, maxi big da force.

    Votes: 13 11.6%

  • Total voters
    112

Tschumi

Member
Prequels: Ep 1 - Phantom Menace; Ep 2 - The Clone Wars?; Ep 3 - The Whatever of the Sith
Sequels: Ep 7 - The Force Resurgence; Ep 8 - Rogue One Jedi New Force User Kid; Ep 9 - The Final Fleet

I've watched a few youtube videos taking down the Sequel films recently - pure schadenfreude - and while the inconsistencies and consistencies of their messages are very interesting, one thing that they seem to have all grudgingly admitted whilst taking dumps on the sequel trilogy is that the prequels had, at the very least, consistency and universe building that puts the Disney flicks to shame.

power remake GIF
revenge of the sith episode 3 GIF by Star Wars

Luke Skywalker Milk GIF by Star Wars


I wanna know how y'all feel about this. With hindsight, with knowledge of what someone different would do with the Star Wars IP, how do you feel about Jar Jar and co now?

Disclaimer: Nuance is okay, you can think Jar Jar is stinkowhiff but dig Clone Wars if you want. You can enjoy Luke's fight in [I have no idea, the second Sequel film, I think], if you want. I didn't, why couldn't it have been real?

A note on poll options: I typically try to give three tiers either way and a neutral option.. i added the last two to help people who don't wanna rant.
 
Last edited:

bitbydeath

Member
I don’t like either.
Prequels are too political and the sequels aren’t even telling a consistent story.
 
Prequels were dumb.

Sequels were just fucking boring. I remember sitting in my Star Wars Xmas jumper at the cinema for TFA and an hour in looking around at the audience thinking "is it just me? Or is this... not very good.?".

Scene were Han Solo is being threatened by the wee Scottish lad "Kanja club!" was the moment I knew we were in the hands of amateurs.
 

Doczu

Member
I love the original trilogy and the prequels with a slight bias towards the OT. But i was a kid when the prequels started, so in my mind these 6 movies are great. Now i can say that i see the flaws in the prequels, but still i don't get the hate towards them. Ok, AoC is the weakest imo, BUT stack it with the Clone Wars series (Lucas last love letter) and the prequels get fantastic.

Sequel trilogy is... well not for me. Too much re-hashing of the OT for member-berries,
"Made for target and by a pr team", changing og characters. Yeah i'm an old man yelling at the sky.
 

sol_bad

Member
if a mod could correct my lametastic spelling of 'extent' in my thread title i'd appreciate it


that's cool. why?

I just think the newer movies are better in every regard.
Better story, better directing, better colour grading, better cinematography, better acting, better themes and I like that the melee fights are choreographed more realistically.
The only positive that the prequels have is that the last fight in episode 3 was epic.
That's not to say I don't like the prequel films, I still enjoy them.
 

nush

Member
I've only seen the prequels once and that was the theatrical release, that was enough for me. At least the sequel started with the impression of this is real Star wars, then it was downhill from there. Rogue One is fucking great though and better than the other 6 mainline saga follow on movies. The prequels at least got better through extended media, there's no way you're fixing the perception of the sequel trilogy like that.
 

ZehDon

Member
The Disney Trilogy has zero impact on my perception of the prequels.

Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are still pretty bad movies with some decent enough highlights (Duel of the Fates, Darth Maul, etc.). Revenge of the Sith is still a good movie, but doesn't reach the highs of the original trilogy. The Disney Trilogy is utterly lifeless at best, and a middle finger to Star Wars as a whole at worst. There is not a single highlight across all three Disney films - literally not a single thing worth revisiting either ironically or unironically. Rogue One is a different story, but its not apart of the trilogy.
 
Last edited:

Tschumi

Member
I just think the newer movies are better in every regard.
Better story, better directing, better colour grading, better cinematography, better acting, better themes and I like that the melee fights are choreographed more realistically.
The only positive that the prequels have is that the last fight in episode 3 was epic.
That's not to say I don't like the prequel films, I still enjoy them.
i 'ppreciate you. for ur chutzpah in saying that.

I Appreciate You Dj Khaled GIF
 
Last edited:

Fox Mulder

Member
They’re still shit. I’ll only watch the original trilogy and they even butchered those over the years with stupid changes. It’s pathetic you need fan edits of the fucking Star Wars trilogy.
 

Lupingosei

Banned
Prequels at least were creative. Lucas and his team tried new things and introduced new characters.

The only new thing in the sequel trilogy was a cavalry attack in space.
 

Griffon

Member
Prequels had some more world building and wasn't about just redoing the exact same shit as the original trilogy. It had a vision.

The execution was very poor, but potentially the prequels in the hands of a competent director would've been good movies, whereas Sequels had no chance in hell to even scratch that.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
The prequel trilogy has some corny as fuck writing but actually had a coherent plot over the 3 films that tied logically in to the original trilogy. It also had some tremendous actors and even Hayden Christiensen did well with what he was given.

Revenge of the Sith is also one of the best films in the entire series, I just wish they had an extended cut where they add half an hour of screen time as things move quite quickly.

The new trilogy is pure eye porn in terms of lightsabers and stunning vistas and tries to go hard for the nostalgia porn also, but it all falls flat because it’s obvious what they are doing. The writing is shit, the plot over the three films is diabolical, Ray is immediately one of the most powerful Jedi of all time with 0 training. In the first movie Kylo Ren really should have pummelled her ass hole. Episode 9 was GoT final season level of bad for me. Until that point I thought things were going to be wrapped up properly (Ray’s lineage, the Knights of Ren, Snoke) all turned out to be a massive shit stain.

Rogue One is great though.
 

Doczu

Member
The new trilogy is pure eye porn in terms of lightsabers and stunning vistas and tries to go hard for the nostalgia porn also, but it all falls flat because it’s obvious what they are doing. The writing is shit, the plot over the three films is diabolical, Ray is immediately one of the most powerful Jedi of all time with 0 training. In the first movie Kylo Ren really should have pummelled her ass hole. Episode 9 was GoT final season level of bad for me. Until that point I thought things were going to be wrapped up properly (Ray’s lineage, the Knights of Ren, Snoke) all turned out to be a massive shit stain.

Rogue One is great though.
What Are You Doing Reaction GIF


But i agree. The Sequels are pretty and shallow. Just like porn.
 
The prequel trilogy has some corny as fuck writing but actually had a coherent plot over the 3 films that tied logically in to the original trilogy. It also had some tremendous actors and even Hayden Christiensen did well with what he was given.

Revenge of the Sith is also one of the best films in the entire series, I just wish they had an extended cut where they add half an hour of screen time as things move quite quickly.

The new trilogy is pure eye porn in terms of lightsabers and stunning vistas and tries to go hard for the nostalgia porn also, but it all falls flat because it’s obvious what they are doing. The writing is shit, the plot over the three films is diabolical, Ray is immediately one of the most powerful Jedi of all time with 0 training. In the first movie Kylo Ren really should have pummelled her ass hole. Episode 9 was GoT final season level of bad for me. Until that point I thought things were going to be wrapped up properly (Ray’s lineage, the Knights of Ren, Snoke) all turned out to be a massive shit

 

Shubh_C63

Member
You know how a good gaming company not just panders to their fans but constantly makes games that can attract new players.

Lucas did the same with Prequels. I am 29 years old and I wouldn't be a huge SW fan if wasn't for the wuuududududu this is pod racing or everything that was Phantom Menace. It was meant for parents to take their children to movies, not man childs like me.

SW 7 & 8 were not meant for hardcore fans but to create a new audience. SW 9 is the biggest shameful production of anything I have ever seen, just embarrassing for fans and everyone involved because it had no heart due to the whining before. (I would still love to see The Last Jedi director do more with some critical changes)
 

nush

Member
There is not a single highlight across all three Disney films - literally not a single thing worth revisiting either ironically or unironically.

Just one enduring meme and that was from the trailer.

EllipticalImmaculateBarnowl-small.gif


Which ironically works for your post. That's one more than Avatar has.
 

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
All those poll choices and they dont have mine.

Didnt love the prequels and didnt hate them. My opinion didnt really change due to the sequel trilogy.

Sequel trilogy was also average.
 
I think problem with prequels was, the audience arrives at the wrong point in the story. Should have started with Clone Wars.

Palpatine's rise to power would make a great show. Imagine HBO Rome, but in Star Wars land. I think Lucas was trying to fit too much narrative and the politics take away from the Star Wars'ness.

The true test of prequel Vs sequel is the soundtrack. Prequels are chock o block with classic Wars anthems. I can't remember a single music cue from the sequels. John Williams was inspired just as much as the audience was by the shit that JJ and co were shovelling him.
 

fatmarco

Member
The true test of prequel Vs sequel is the soundtrack. Prequels are chock o block with classic Wars anthems. I can't remember a single music cue from the sequels. John Williams was inspired just as much as the audience was by the shit that JJ and co were shovelling him.
Exactly. You can describe the difference between the trilogies just by that alone.

One is retreading old ground and creating nothing new, and is a confused mess, and therefore the music comes across as uninspired and unmemorable with absolutely zero individual identity.

The other however is constantly treading new ground. Whether it's good or bad or sort of irrelevant, it has something different to say, a different story to tell. Whether you rate those movies or not, it has an actual idea and theme behind it. The music feeds off of that, and subsequently it is arguably the best of the three trilogies soundtracks because of it.
 

SinDelta

Member
I remember the whole theater going ballistic when Yoda took out his lightsaber to face Count Dooku and save Obi-Wan and Anakin. The prequels had a consistent story arc for all their flaws, and glorious memes which are still funny today.

Now with the sequels, the only time we had something like that was cheering as the opening credits for Force Awakens rolled in because seeing the new Star Wars sequel in those first few moments was literally a dream come true. Alas.
 
Last edited:

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
I like the consistent vision and the singular storyline. I know Lucas had writers help him with the prequel scripts but it was always his ideas. The sequels are entertaining for their action, but the story really has no through line and you can tell that they are just throwing ideas against a wall to see what sticks. Unfortunately a lot of bad ideas stuck. They should have had Kasidian write 3 treatments to base everything off of them, or they should have just made what Lucas sold them just for consistency. I think all 3 main actors in the sequels were great, but they just had a bad story to deal with. Daisy especially as I think they kept changing who her character was and her backstory even into filming the final movie.
 

ZywyPL

Banned
I loved the prequels since day one regardless (especially The Phantom Menace), they add a lot to the original trilogy, basically explain all the events and connections that led to what happenes in the OG movies, like who the Darth Vader is, what's the story behind him, how he became who he became, who's the Emperor, how the Empire was established, how come Luke and Leia are siblings but were separated the whole time and never knew about each other, Obi Wan's and Yoda's exile, the clone army, literally all "loose ends" of the original trilogy are showed and explained in the prequels. The acting is great too, I mean, that's why we have all those absolutely amazing memes two decades later. The music was awesome as well, much more dynamic. I honestly could never go back to the original trilogy after the prequels, while the story itself is timeless, the OG movies feel dull and put me into sleep in comparison.

The sequels on the other hand, I never liked them and probably never will, the first one was just OK, but that's because they re-used many themes from all previous movies, it was a "been there done that" kind of movie, nothing more, but the next two, I honestly don't even remember them at all honestly, totally forgettable, there were red ninjas and a scene when Luke creates a hologram of himself with ATAT's shooting it, those are the only things I can recall from the movies because they were cool, the rest of the movies was nothing but a lot of pointless illogical BS going on, no consistency, a total mindfuck. The acting was bad, the actors are totally unlikable, not convincing at all, they were trying way too hard, hence the poor end result. Bottom line is, if you watch all the movies in the correct order, when you go through the first 6 everything makes perfect sense, is tied together, but when you'll go through all 9 you as yourself why the last 3 are even there?
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
Poll has too many choices -- anyhow, "prequels and sequels both suck" is the correct answer.

I would, however, like to say that The Phantom Menace--while sucking in so, so many ways--is in fact the best of the prequel films. It's bad, but at least tries (real locations and sets, gradual plot development, fun Star Wars-y bits like the pod race, etc). The follow-up films just phoned it in feeling like a cheap video games, with so much damn green screen that Lucas should have been shot.
 
Last edited:

Fbh

Member
Overall not really.
I still think they are pretty bad movies with terrible dialog, dated visuals and cringe/corny stuff every 5 minutes.....but at the same time I also think they have enough good elements to make them fun to watch. As opposed to the sequels which are just terrible all around and give me zero desire to ever rewatch them.

If anything I think the sequel re-enforced what was good about the prequels: They actually felt unique and different.
The prequels gave us a different look at the world of star wars, we got to see more large cities with dense populations, nice looking locations like Naboo and kashyyyk, cool new ships, new "regular" enemies in the form of droids, fun new concepts like podracing and double sided lightsabers, a different status quo for the galaxy with the Jedi still around, etc.

The prequels are just OG triligy redux, but with worse characters and a worse plot.
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
I'll say it again. Star Wars ended in 82. Everything after that doesn't exist.

This, in sky high neon writing, pasted on the side of a passing star destroyer.

Both prequel and sequel trilogies were completely unnecessary and were only made for the money. The actual story was done and dusted in three movies. Everything else is a dull as fuck prologue, and a messy, pointless epilogue.
 

Dirk Benedict

Gold Member
This, in sky high neon writing, pasted on the side of a passing star destroyer.

Both prequel and sequel trilogies were completely unnecessary and were only made for the money. The actual story was done and dusted in three movies. Everything else is a dull as fuck prologue, and a messy, pointless epilogue.

I feel the Sequel Trilogy was the greater of the Two, when we talk about unnecessary movies. In the end, hey did FUCKALL. At least the Prequels led up to something of actual substance. The Original Trilogy. So at least it has that going for it.
 
The prequels were still bad but they are bad in an interesting way. Lucas surrounded himself with "yes" men and swung for the fences for better or worse (mostly for worse) but at least he had a vision. It should have been much more character focused and ditched most of the galactic politics trash. It also goes to show that its better to leave some things up to the viewers imagination.

The sequel trilogy is largely aimless shit. Sure, they took some risks by totally shitting on the good Star Wars movies and the characters but nobody had any real vision for where they wanted to take the story beyond the movie that they were currently working on.
 
Last edited:

FunkMiller

Gold Member
Only until Villeneuve's Dune trilogy finishes.


Dune's too esoteric to pull in a big enough audience for him to get a sequel out of it. I don't see it doing a whole lot better than BR 2049 to be honest, especially with it going straight to VOD. I just hope he manages to nail the first book as best he can.
 
Top Bottom