I liked the giant fish in TPM. I’m a sucker for a good sea monster.
I liked the pod race as a self-contained action sequence, but it really wrecks the pacing of the film over all. And they needed some major character derailment to get Anakin in the driver seat. Qui-Gon cheats at dice to get a minor child to compete in a race that we’re explicitly told no human pilot has ever survived. That’s seriously fucked up, and you kind of have to ignore that it ever happened to continue like Qui-Gon as a character.
An excellent point. Then again, the film that it pulls you out of kind of sucked, so I think I liked it for that.
But you’re right: it’s great action, it’s crap storytelling.
I you view the series as basically being the story of Ewan MacGregor fighting to investigate and staunch the Sith from taking over the universe - just to fail - it isn’t bad. If you view it as an ensemble piece or as being the story of Darth Vader, then it’s crap. A 2.5 hour or 3 hour cut of the 3 movies would probably be pretty good.
Personally, I appreciated the fairly realistic world-building and intrigue that developed over the course of the trilogy. Granted, most people didn’t seem to like that as it took away from the fun/adventure spirit of the originals. The second and third movies, while maybe not comparing particularly favorably to some of the better actiony political thriller movies, are still entertaining. Outside of the Annakin romance, they aren’t bad films, just bland.
Midichlorians could have been an interesting idea, but they clashed too hard with… everything. If you had set up the Jedi as more of a clinical force-wielding, possibly somewhat corrupt organization that adorns itself in a light religious facade instead of a straight up temple run by too-wise-for-you morons, the use of Midichlorians to measure force would have served as a useful contrast from the universe we see in the original trilogy.
It would be a clinical, jaded way to view this magical, taoist philosophy, perhaps highlighting Obi-Wan and Anakin as people who actually try and follow the philosophy (and thus establishing Luke as the redemption of the Jedi, a powerful force wielder who uses the light side and follows the actual philosophy).
But I guess this is more “fix the prequels” instead of “things it did correctly.”
One thing I will give Lucas credit for, is that he learned from his mistakes. Sure, Episode II was bad, but it wasn’t bad in the same ways as I, even though it could have been (in addition to the ways it actually was bad).
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Obi-Wan mixes it up nicely with Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones.
Darth Maul was one badAssMotherFucker!
Not so sure about that. The Ewoks? :roll eyes:
Then we got Jar Jar. :roll eyes sumMore:
Limiting myself to only talk about the things that were good, since pointing out the bad things has been beaten to death:
- Ewan McGregor was a great young Obi-Wan
- The characters of Qui-Gon, Mace Windu and Count Dooku are pretty cool/had potential
- Darth Maul looked great, and “Duel of the Fates” is awesome
- Likewise, “Battle of the Heroes” is awesome
- The word “younglings” makes me giggle whenever I hear it
And Gob Bluth would have annihilated the Nimitz.
I wasn’t a fan of the prequels by any stretch, but there were many aspects of the plot that were decent and could have been quite good with a little connective tissue.
Anakin being brought before the Jedi Council, for example. The debate about Anakin’s fate would have been so much more powerful if Dooku had been present as a Council member: he takes up for Qui Gon and champions Anakin, perhaps to the clear annoyance of Yoda; from the start, Anakin has a respect for Dooku that carries over to the next two films. Maybe before Qui Gon and crew return to Naboo, there’s a little scene between Dooku and Qui Gon talking about dissatisfaction with the Jedi order. Wouldn’t take up but a minute of screen time, and doesn’t change the established plot one bit. But the story would be enhanced by the deeper character relationships experienced on-screen.
I’d credit the prequels with wanting to be more ambitious by taking some interest in the politics of the Republic and trying to make political maneuvering a driving feature of the plot. The relentlessly somber tone, while not particularly fitting for a space opera based on Saturday matinees, created an adult, moody atmosphere in a few places. Palpatine was a good character for the most part. Ewan McGregor was very good considering what he had to work with in many scenes. Christopher Lee was criminally underused, but great when on screen.
There. I’ve said some nice thing about the prequels. Must go take a scalding shower now.
You beat me to it. :mad:
Obligatory link to What If Episode I Was Good.
I love the costume design.
Okay, I hate to nitpick subjective opinion, but can you tell me what was cool about any of those characters?
They were played by highly skilled actors, I will grant you that. But it is difficult to even describe Qui-Gon Jinn and Mace Windu as “Characters.” They move about on screen and say and do things, but what are their characters? Especially Mace Windu - is he impatient? Patient? Sad? Angry? What are his strengths and weaknesses? He’s no character at all, really, and if he wasn’t in the films it would barely have made any difference.
Qui-Gon and Mace Windu display little emotion and don’t seem to have coherent motivations. Windu has no character at all. Qui-Gon is singularly obsessed with Anakin, but we’re never really given any insight to that and the distraction of the totally illogical, incoherent invasion-of-Naboo plot gets in the way. Qui-Gon is supposed to be a good guy, but he lies, manipulates, and places people in hideous danger to further his ends. You’re left unsure what to think of him.
By way of comparison, please compare Qui-Gon to Morpheus, as played by Lawrence Fishburne, in “The Matrix.” The two characters are superficially similar; they are both supernaturally talented warriors who are preoccupied with finding a Messiah. Both are middle aged veterans who take on mentoring roles.
“The Matrix,” however, offers a clarity of purpose and character. Morpheus’s entire story is about finding Neo and confirming he is the Messiah. (I know the term of art in the movie is “The One,” but it’s a Messiah figure so I’m going to use that all around.) That’s the point of the movie, and by concentrating on the finding of the Messiah, the Wachowskis allow the viewer to learn about and understand what Morpheus is about as a person, because all his words and actions move the plot in a logical fashion and reveal, in a manner consistent with that plot, the character of Morpheus. He is a man of absolute faith, for whom doubt and skepticism are openly rejected. His faith makes him vulnerable but it provides him with the strength to carry on. It also informs him interactions with all other characters, causing conflict with those who lack faith. Morpheus is, if anything, a fanatic, or a zealot. He’s a good guy, but his fanaticism causes conflict with others and tests the loyalty of his underlings, while at the same time giving him power over them and a sense of authority and mentorship.
Qui-Gon is… uhhh… I mean, honestly, I’m not sure. He sets upon Anakin as the Messiah, which is fine, but the rest of “The Phantom Menace” doesn’t really have anything to do with that story, and his attachment to Anakin doesn’t develop beyond his decision that Anakin is the Messiah. He is supposed to be a mentor but acts unethically and stupidly. I don’t really get him at all.
See, same thing.
I would have LOVED to know who the hell Darth Maul was, but we’re never told. He does look cool. But why is he there? What’s his objective? IT’s not even clear to me why he’s on Naboo at the end of this film. When he was chasing Amidala, was he trying to kill her? If so, why is his concentration at the end on fighting the Jedi? Does he have a problem with Qui-Gon?
Like, wouldn’t that be cool if he had a backstory with Qui-Gon? When he says he’ll finally have his revenge… revenge for what? But you’re never told and oh, he’s dead.
Episode I did have a great trailer…
I liked the overall plot, hated the execution-- the dialogue, lack of character development, in-your-face love story, bad acting, the over-abundance of goofy aliens in TPM, etc. Everything everyone else has said.
The Clone Wars was great. Watching it helped me to actually like Anakin, and it dug deeper into a lot of stuff that helped me appreciate the story much more. You got to see the Jedi council as deeply flawed and morally challenged. You got to see that Anakin didn’t just turn dark because he was in love with Padme. It gave some insight into what it meant for Anakin to be “the chosen one.” And after watching The Clone Wars, when I re-watch the clones execute Order 66 in Ep III, it’s a real punch to the gut; these guys fought in the trenches with the Jedi for three years, became friends with them, earned their respect, etc. So when Commander Cody orders the clones to shoot Obi-Wan, it was a “Holy shit” moment that I didn’t have before watching the Clone Wars.
So I guess, The Clone Wars, while not one of the prequel trilogy, was part of the prequel universe, and that, to me, was the best thing about the prequels.
I did see in the theater. Ask yourself: What was the point of such a long segment? Getting your pulse racing isn’t a valid plot justification.