Defend this assertion. What qualities do the SW prequels have, that distinguish them from awful?
By my lights, they are (a) not worth my time or money to see, in their own right, and further (b), by association, make the original movies less interesting and enjoyable. That’s pretty terrible. I could probably think of some movies that have as much negative value, but very few that are worse.
The Clone Wars a cartoon made for kids explicitly handled his turn to the darkside way better than the films, it is also far more thoughtful and mature. Every time Anakin slips to the darkside not only is it justifiable in story, but we the audience agree with him. It happens gradually bit by bit, kill a guy with a saber from behind that is threatening the ship, force choking a despicable character etc. We also see more of the darkside of the Jedi org.
The issue of the clones being disposable cannon fodder was fully explored, we even see clones wondering what will happen to them when the war ends.
No, they were really, really awful. And I say that as someone who owns the Lost in Space movie on DVD.
I have only one question (and my on-line researches have so far failed to yield any positive results): will there be Y-Wings?
No Y-Wings, no see movie.
Oh, balls. Who am I kidding?
I guess you would want on the these!
These days, people say Space Jam or, yes, Lost In Space were awful. In that context, yes, the prequels were awful. You’re just saying the same thing said above about how The Phantom Menace would have been seen if it weren’t Star Wars. You’re lumping it in with the Spy Kids movies, or some of the Buddy sequels.
Not actually awful movies. Just basic made-for-TV quality movies.
I don’t know much about Star Wars, never had an interest. However I can’t wait to play the upcoming video game Battlefront. Just looks like a ton of fun.
See, that was the bit that really got me the most in the prequels: the Republic has a army of slaves bred only to fight and die for a cause not theirs, but at no point is it acknowledged that OWNING PEOPLE BRED TO BE KILLED ON YOUR BEHALF is straight up supervillain shit. When they get them, though, the Jedi Council act more like they scored a free fridge on Craigslist. I mean, it isn’t even a moral quandary for them, they’re just Hey, check it out, free death slaves! Look, Lucas, if you write a story where a bunch of shitheads have war slaves to fight their battles, said shitheads are the fucking bad guys.
Everyone in this thread should read the Mr. Plinkett Review of The Phantom Menace
Not only is it hilarious, but it’s incredibly insightful. If you want to know why these are bad movies, Mr. Plinkett will tell you in detail. Never mind the girl trussed up in his basement.
Star Wars, great movie when I was like 10. Now? unwatchable shit.
Empire Strikes back, great movie when I was young, now? I have no idea.
That festering pile of ewok shit was a festering pile of ewok shit then and it still is now.
what I suffered through of the prequels was worse than some of the shit that syfy comes up with by a considerable margin.
Buffy the jedi slayer boy would have to turn this movie into 97 minutes of bloodbath to make the red wedding look like a 5 year olds birthday party in comparison to even begin to spark an interest from me.
Has this string of shit managed to produce even a single movie that wasn’t just an extended plot hole paved with shitty dialog and amazing effects?
I might kinda of agree with the OP on this.
Here’s the problem.
Star Wars basically gave us something we had never seen before 1977. A summer blockbuster scale Akira Kurosawa samurai film shot in space against the backdrop of an interstellar war.
Almost 40 years later, Star Wars has been such a dramatic influence on sci fi and cinema culture in general, I have trouble imagining what Episode VII can possibly be about that won’t feel like something I’ve already seen a dozen times, but now with Star Wars stuff.
One of our fellow Dopers is a friend of Mike Stoklasa, the guy who makes the Plinkett videos.
You should really watch Half-in-the-Bag and Best of the Worst on their web site. Really great stuff.
Every time I see that review the part of Anakin Skywalker not showing any understanding to what is going on looks to me like a big “Han did not shot first” last minute Lucas change, made to soften what I think was the original plan: to show that Anakin Skywalker was falling already for the Dark Side.
IMHO the original plan was to show how Anakin was aware of the dangerous situation and instead of accidentally being sent into space, accidentally getting into the enemy’s space station and accidentally destroying it; it does look to me that Anakin did all that by being aware of what was going on.
I do think that Lucas just was afraid to show a little kid (another reason why it should had been a slightly older actor) discovering how his powers were enhanced by being enraged. I do think that a missing scene showed that Anakin did use the force to find that his master was dead and then he had a very good reason to blow up the evil space station.
Can not show a kid falling like that, so we got the cop out as canon. :mad:
wrong thread 
And you’re really, really wrong. And citing owning yet another not really that bad, just not very good either movie as proof just shows how wrong you must be in every statement you could make on the subject.
The last movie got 80% on rotten tomatoes. But I guess that people here are going to tell me every single one of those 80% are morons?
and yes I know the first one in 77 got about 400%
I am thinking about a wonderful, magical night in America. It was the night before the premiere opening of The Phantom Menace.
There was actually a TV show about it. About it being the night before Star Wars returned to us, in all its gallant glory. There were interviews with the stars, there were film clips, there were behind the scenes factoids, OMG, it’s STAR WARS, STAR WARS IS BAAAAAACK!
There was much speculation about the first character in the history of film to be completely computer generated. Whole lotta buzz. Many questions! An actor had played him on set, but the actor had worn a funny hat, and all the other actors talked to the HAT, not the actor. IIRC, it was Ahmed Best, but I could be wrong. And towards the end of this amazing, pyrotechnic TV special, some rappers came out and did a song about Jar Jar Binks.
Jar Jar Binks.
Ooooooh, ghod, Jar Jar Binks.
I was expecting something along the lines of a CGI alien, something you couldn’t do with practical effects. And I suppose I got it. I suppose this movie really NEEDED a snail-stalk-eyed duck monster with wings for ears and a ludicrous racial slur of a persona, the likes of which has not been seen since Stepin Fetchit died. Any movie needs a little comic relief, sure, but Jar Jar dragged the movie in some rather questionable directions.
Nobody wanted to be Jar Jar Binks for Halloween. And I note that no rappers have ever again raised the Anthem of Jar Jar Binks.
Be careful what you wish for.
There’s an old joke about how pizza is like sex, in that even when they’re really, really bad… they’re still kinda good.
I think you may have confused movies with either pizza or sex. 
Hahaha, that’s so fucking accurate!
Actually, there is some concern about why an army of free death slaves pops up right when the Republic needs them… but by then, they NEED them, and apparently, they just happened to have all these spaceships and tanks and stuff lying around for them to USE, and, well, begun, these Clone Wars have, and all that.
Afterwards, I wondered two things:
Why did the Jedi Council just pick it up and run with it? Certainly, after the initial slam, they had a little time to think and plan and wonder, “Who set all this up for us, and is it wise to continue in this vein?”
Did the Kamino cloners ever get paid?
In other news, I am hearing a lot about this new Kylo Ren character, the one with the laser crossguard on his red lightsaber. I am going to laugh like hell if he goes over with audiences as the new Jar Jar Binks.