# What did George Lucas do right in the prequels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085 "2010-12-22T17:42:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/21 "2010-12-22T20:40:34Z")
> [@iamnotbatman](#): > > He did nothing right. Obligatory [link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI) to pretty much the best thing ever. He did away with your #3. btw. You beat me to it. This guy is great, I enjoy his reviews more than the films. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/22 "2010-12-22T21:05:59Z")
Casting Ewan McGregor was a great move; while he had nothing to do in Episode I, in the second and third films he was sensational, even though his character wasn’t especially well written. “You were my brother!” was pretty much the only moment in ANY of the three films that had any emotional resonance. And the music was great. Other than that the movies were just terrible. I disagree with the comment sentiment that Revenge of the Sith was any good; it wasn’t. GargoyleWB is absolutely correct; the prequels are every bit as terrible as Uwe Boll’s awful shit, except the production values are more in line with a real Hollywood movie rather than a Boll shitfest. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/23 "2010-12-22T21:08:21Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Casting Ewan McGregor was a great move; while he had nothing to do in Episode I, in the second and third films he was sensational, even though his character wasn’t especially well written. “You were my brother!” was pretty much the only moment in ANY of the three films that had any emotional resonance. I disagree in a small way. Not about McGregor’s performance, but that there was no other emotional resonance. He did a lot with a little in both 2 & 3. I have the distinct feeling that Obi-Wan knew in his gut that he was no longer on the side of the angels, because there were no longer angels to support. ---
**Author:** ![dasmili](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@dasmili](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmili)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/24 "2010-12-22T21:29:08Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Still there’s a point in Aotc where Lucas reaches a point of utter brilliance. When Obiwan is captured by Dooku, Dooku tells him how some force is acting from the shadows to gain control over the Republic, and he, Dooku, has decided to sabotage the Republic lest it falls in sinister hands. Dooku appears here as a tragic hero (Windu can go stick his pimp laser in his ass, his character is only second to Jar Jar in lameness) that made the choice of destroying the very thing he has sworn to protect, sullying his name for ever, for a deed nobody would or could see as the rightful and heroic thing to do. > In short, he is the unsung hero of the new trilogy, one that will go down in history as a traitor. In opposition, it also shows the Jedis as an inept authoritarian body with their heads up their asses. This crucial plot point is essential and a lot of the things we took for granted in the new trilogy (and in the OT) have to be seriously reconsidered (like, maybe the Separatists are the good guys here and protecting a rotting Republic is not the heroic thing to do). This is the kind of stuff you look for in such epics (it’s almost as big as Darth Vader revealing he is Luke’s father) > > BUT > > Lucas ruins it all by having Dooku dismiss that two minutes later as an attempt to shake Obi Wan’s confidence. What was the fucking point for him of saying all that stuff if it is to dismiss it right after, even more so, why burn the cover of Darth Sidious (my this whole Darth thing is another stupidity the new trilogy was fond of)? > But , more importantly, Lucas had reached there a plot point absolutely fascinating, and it seems he was incapable of understanding what he had in his hands and just poured shit all over it. That’s the true regret I had in the new trilogy, that they reached such a high point and then, just tumbled down. I thought at the time that this is one of greatest missed opportunities I have ever seen in a movie. Lucas had the chance to turn all of our expectations on their heads, and add some complexity that the prequels sorely lacked. ---
**Author:** ![tingbudong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tingbudong/32/520_2.png) [@tingbudong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tingbudong)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/25 "2010-12-22T21:42:43Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > The hunting of the Jedi sequence is beautifully shot. Agreed. The utter bewilderment on their faces as their clones mow them down one by one is fantastic. I also quite like how Lucas not only abandons the character of Jar Jar, but makes him indirectly responsible for the creation of the Empire when he chaired the motion to grant Palpatine extended war-time powers. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/26 "2010-12-22T22:33:22Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Uhhh, he got the numbers in the right order? Well, no. He even screwed that up. Instead of simply calling the fourth movie “Star Wars:The Phantom Menace”, he called it “Episode I”, as if we couldn’t figure out it was a prequel. He then changed the original Star Wars to Episode IV. Now when someone comments on the fourth movie you have to ask “Episode IV or the fourth episode?” ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/27 "2010-12-22T22:33:27Z")
Watching Yoda do the light sabre thing ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/28 "2010-12-22T23:02:50Z")
> [@akira5822](#): > > Watching Yoda do the light sabre thing Mr One-Hour-TPM-review-guy has some interesting thoughts on why this was an incredibly bad idea. Along the lines of weakening the dignity of the character. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/29 "2010-12-22T23:05:14Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Mr One-Hour-TPM-review-guy has some interesting thoughts on why this was an incredibly bad idea. Along the lines of weakening the dignity of the character. They said the same thing about the Pope. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/30 "2010-12-22T23:05:52Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Mr One-Hour-TPM-review-guy has some interesting thoughts on why this was an incredibly bad idea. Along the lines of weakening the dignity of the character. He addresses all of the points in the OP. Everyone who hasn’t seen them should stop what they are doing right now and watch all 8+ hours of his reviews. They are hilarious, thorough, and unbelievably insightful. It’s the final word on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/31 "2010-12-22T23:08:50Z")
> [@iamnotbatman](#): > > He addresses all of the points in the OP. Everyone who hasn’t seen them should stop what they are doing right now and watch all 8+ hours of his reviews. They are hilarious, thorough, and unbelievably insightful. It’s the final word on the subject. Just watched half of the Phantom Menace review, it’s pretty good,. Though the guy feels the need to throw rather lame black humour jokes every five minutes, that sucks a bit. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/32 "2010-12-22T23:14:01Z")
> [@iamnotbatman](#): > > He addresses all of the points in the OP. Everyone who hasn’t seen them should stop what they are doing right now and watch all 8+ hours of his reviews. They are hilarious, thorough, and unbelievably insightful. It’s the final word on the subject. I tried, i couldn’t stand them. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/33 "2010-12-22T23:21:35Z")
> [@iamnotbatman](#): > > He addresses all of the points in the OP. Everyone who hasn’t seen them should stop what they are doing right now and watch all 8+ hours of his reviews. They are hilarious, thorough, and unbelievably insightful. It’s the final word on the subject. I wanted to but I can’t listen to his voice. I don’t know if that’s how he really sounds or he’s just putting it on, but I can’t listen to it. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/34 "2010-12-22T23:27:09Z")
To each his own. For a while now it’s been my new favorite voice after the “ASIA” voice from SNL celeb jeopardy, and the “EXTRA BIG ASS FRIES” voice from idiocracy. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/35 "2010-12-22T23:29:03Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > He then changed the original Star Wars to Episode IV. You do know that “Episode IV: A New Hope” was added to Star Wars in like 1980, right? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/36 "2010-12-22T23:37:04Z")
My mistake, 1981: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The film was originally released as _Star Wars_, without _Episode IV_ or the subtitle _A New Hope_. The 1980 sequel, _Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back_, featured an episode number and subtitle in the opening crawl. When the original film was re-released in 1981, _Episode IV: A New Hope_ was added above the original opening crawl. [source](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope#Releases) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/37 "2010-12-22T23:37:31Z")
yes, he said way back that the first movie was actually episode 4. He also said he was going to do 9 movies total but then he later denied ever saying there would be 9 - the other 3 movies would be episodes 7,8 and 9. There are books that cover events after episode 6, just no movies. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/38 "2010-12-22T23:59:07Z")
The visuals in the prequels were excellent. The sets and props. And Palpatine was oozingly evil. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/39 "2010-12-23T00:11:46Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > You do know that “Episode IV: A New Hope” was added to Star Wars in like 1980, right? I didn’t know it was that early, but I knew it wasn’t released as Episode IV. The point still stands though, adding the episode number just confuses the matter. I agree that this is a minor nit to pick, but if I get started on all the real stuff I didn’t like about Episodes I-III, I would be here all day. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085/40 "2010-12-23T00:11:54Z")
I had/have a huge problem with the prequels that I’ve actually never seen covered. I’m sure it has been, but _I_ personally have never seen or heard anyone talk about this, maybe because I can’t wade through all the gnashing over Jar Jar and such to get to it. But the problem is . . . there is NOTHING at stake. We already know how everything turns out. We know Anakin’s story the very first time we see him on screen as a little kid-- we know he becomes a great pilot, and then a dark lord, and we know exactly how he dies; we’ve seen it. And it’s really just not that interesting to watch unfold from that standpoint. It’s like watching a week-old sporting event on your buddy’s DVR when you already know the results. Guarantee most people can’t get through it. He should’ve made 7, 8, and 9 and left the first 3 up to our imaginations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-george-lucas-do-right-in-the-prequels/565085.md?page=3)