Star Wars Ep1-3 vs 4-6?

This thread assumes you’ve seen all five Star Wars movies, including AOTC. If not, consider yourself warned: SPOILERS!

That said, which series do you like better, the OT (Ep 4-6) or PT (Ep 1-3)?

While Episode 3 hasn’t come out, most of us who’ve seen the OT have a general idea of what’s going to happen: Empire gets created under the Emperor, Anakin becomes Vader, Jedis die, Yoda & Obi-Wan skedaddle, twins are born. While there may be some surprises (Palpatine/Dooku/Qui-Gon/Yoda/Watto being Annie’s pa), I’m pretty sure that by the end of the movie, the galaxy becomes what we see in ANH.

I know 1-6 are part of one series, but for comparisons sake, let’s make them old vs new. Besides, other than the droids and Yoda, there’s not a lot to link the two trilogies (and even those have some serious continuity issues). Of the main characters, it’s not like Anakin and Obi-Wan bear a lot of resemblance to their OT characters.

So, which series do you like better and why?

I think Episode 3 has the greatest potential of them all. just for the scene of Annikan walking through the jedi temple slicing down little jedi kids.
As for me, the classic trilogy is the winner now, as it is the one i grew up with (going to Empire when i was 2 is the first movie i remember going to)

I think it’s kinda unfair to post this before Ep 3 has even started shooting, let alone made it’s way into theaters.

I will bet that the majority of posters will say the original trilogy, Ep 4-6.

As for me, I’m not saying, until after Ep3 comes out.:cool:

Okay, then compare Star Wars and Empire to Phatom and Clones. Two vs Two.

Weren’t there going to be episodes 7-9 at one time? I thought I heard something about this, but my ears could be lying.

Only in the wet dreams of everyone who has ever worn a costume to a Star Wars premiere.

I think the two trilogies, so far, tie in fairly well with each other. Phantom had little connection to the older films, but Clones has kind of taken Phantom and connected it to New Hope and Empire, and so forth.

One common element have been planets:

Tatooine: I, II, III, IV, VI
Coruscant: I, II, III, VI
Alderaan: I (mentioned), II (Organa), III (probably), IV

I also think that, before its all said and done, we’ll see Naboo turned into Dagobah. If that speculation is right, we’ll see that world in: I, II, III, V, VI.

I would suspect that we’ll see a prototype super-laser weapon in III that will be used on Naboo, creating Dagobah, thus establishing another tie between the Classic and New films. Naboo is a very wet world, a series of islands. It is also the only other world to appear more than once, and a major setting with links to the Skywalker family history, so I think this is why Lucas added the Death Star to Episode II during the post-production reshoots of Episode II.

I think in III we’ll see Tarkin.

In other words, I see the series beginning to mesh together rather nicely. I’ve been quite pleased with the series, both trilogies and as a whole, so far.

As for which trilogy I prefer: Obviously, the Classic Films. The characters were more engaging, and the stories less dense. The action wasn’t as awe-inspiring – but it was still better. The two best lightsaber duels continue to be the one in Empire and the one in Jedi (no other duel in the series, aside from the supposed one between Obi Wan and Anakin in III, can come close to the emotional resonance of this duel – particularly the beautiful panning shot across the lower half of the throne room after Vader learns that Leia is Luke’s sister.)

Kirk

I dunno, I’d have to see it again but I always found the saber duels in ESB and ROTJ to be low points. They just seemed rather dull to me. I wasn’t particuliarly looking forward to the duel in TPM but wow… that made the movie for me. I liked it much better than the end 4 way duel in AOTC as well. It’s probably cause Ray Park is a trained martial artist.

Thing is, Ep 3 will not be immediately before ANH. Assuming Luke and Leia appear as mere infants (I still think they shouldn’t be twins, to fit the timeline more elegantly, but no matter), about 18 years will pass before the Death Star becomes operational. I can imagine in Ep 3 that Palpatine/Sidious declares himself Emperor, but the Senate won’t be formally dissolved until the beginning of ANH. The machinery will be put in motion, but trying to “rush” it so the Empire is firmly in place by the end of Ep 3 invites even more timeline inconsistancies.

Possibly the best way to ensure the Palpatine/Sidious is in a position to declare himself Emperor while the Senate is still intact is for him to be viewed as a hero by winning the “Clone Wars”, in whatever forms they take, and being voted imperial powers. The Senate is obviously filled with cowards and idiots, willing to go along with any dumbass motion (they supported Jar-Jar, for God’s sake!). Problem is, Lucas has this apparant middle-aged dislike for moral ambiguity, i.e. letting Greedo fire first, so any hint of a heroic Emperor is probably out.

OP question: Original Trilogy, of course, before Lucas got all revisionist.

And, apparently, in Lucas’s, too. Or has he changed his mind yet again?

Whilst I have preferred and no doubt always will prefer the original trilogy, my overall favorite scene comes from the weakest film. For me, you’ll have to go a long way to beat the three way battle between Maul, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in TPM.

I mean - the music alone

pan

“Problem is, Lucas has this apparant middle-aged dislike for moral ambiguity”

No matter how the Emperor will be made Emperor in the actual film, they’ve already said from oblique sources that Palpatine declared himself so. Hence, if they do go that route, its no fault of G. Lucas.

I don’t think some superweapon will be used against Naboo to turn it into Dagobah. You’lll notice Dagobah was quite intact - not blown to peices, and lacking giant pits tha we could see. That said, I view the destruction of Naboo as a possibility, just not by a big laser.

Why is everyone wondering about how Palpatine will become emperor? We’ve already seen it: It happens in AotC, at Jar-Jar’s nomination. He’s given “special executive powers” for the duration of the crisis. All he has to do now, is ensure that the crisis doesn’t end. At about the time that the Dooku-guided separatists are defeated, the Rebel Alliance of the original trilogy will have arisen, and Palpy will claim that they’re the clear sucessors of the Separatists, and the crisis is therefore not yet over.

There’s also the matter of the title and the dissolution of the senate (in Ep IV), but those are minor details, since he already has all of the power.

I know I’m pretty much alone in saying this, but I never really saw what all the fuss was about for Ep 4-6. I’ve only just seen AOTC but (IMHO) I think it’s best of the lot - if the series was released in order then AOTC would probably be widely regarded as the best, it seems the people who review it compare it to the old trilogy, which is mainly remembered as being ground-breaking. As the new ones haven’t been ground-breaking in terms of setting and special effects they’re not getting as good reviews.

Also, Eps 4-6 never really left me wanting to know what happenned in the next one - ANH just ends, TESB just leaves me wanting to know what happens to Leia and SOLO, and ROTJ has a big party and everyon’es happy. But with AOTC I (would if I hadn’t seen the old trilogy) want to know what the republic does, what Tooku does, what happens to Obi-Wan, Annakin, Padme, etc., what the clone army is used for, what this big weapon that looks like a planet does, etc, etc.