Are the Prequels Even Worth Watching Once?
When you want to examine the creative circumstances of the PT
[to put it mildly]
If you want to find out what went wrong
[to tell the truth]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PT
watch the every PT movie with the audio commentary and after that the documentaries that came with the 2-Disc DVD Sets (The Beginning, From Puppets to Pixels, Within a minute).
Rogue One is redundant. Just play the first mission of DARK FORCES.
The hallmark of a corrupt leader: Being surrounded by yes men.
‘The best visual effects in the world will not compensate for a story told badly.’ - V.E.S.
‘Star Wars is a buffet, enjoy the stuff you want, and leave the rest.’ - SilverWook
[Haarspalter said:]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PT
He was thinking the same things he was thinking when he made the OT if you ask me. But there were no longer any constraints or people to reign him in.
I think if George could have, he would have made the originals exactly like he made the prequels.
[Haarspalter said:]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PTHe was thinking the same things he was thinking when he made the OT if you ask me. But there were no longer any constraints or people to reign him in.
I think if George could have, he would have made the originals exactly like he made the prequels.
I doubt that. He had practically no constraints in ESB and ROTJ as he held the rights to the sequels and was doing them with his own company. Even in ANH he had mostly free hands since the studio did not seem to care about the film prior to the release.
I would say it is mostly that in OT he actually had good ideas and was open to feedback from his collaborators.
真実
There were many instances in the OT where he was told he couldn’t do something, they didn’t have a way to shoot it or it just wasn’t practical or they didn’t have the money or whatever. Marcia and Gary and others definitely checked some of his whacky ideas, doctored his scripts, etc. Gary and Kersh were pretty much in charge of Empire while Lucas panicked about losing his money.
Of course, George Lucas played an enormous role in creating and bringing Star Wars to life, and he deserves credit for all of that. But all people, including those of us who criticize him, have our strengths and weaknesses. I think his weaknesses were restrained and covered up by others, but you do see them pop up throughout Return of the Jedi. Cutting corners with cheap production values, burping and excrement humor, pandering to children, breaking the fourth wall. It’s all there in Jedi, once in awhile between other really terrific scenes.
Then there are the prequels where that stuff just makes up the whole movie, when people aren’t sitting around or standing and talking at least. The wild shifts in tone and inappropriate humor, if you can call it that. People don’t develop those traits as they get older. You don’t go from making realistic sound films to suddenly deciding its fun to have CGI characters stepping in **** or cut from a scene with kids being murdered or burned out skeletons to slapstick comedy sequences with robots smacking each other. A grown adult just doesn’t do those things, and so it’s clear to me at least that George Lucas has the mind of a child and always had the mind of a child.
In some ways, that was a strength and made him and his films successful. In other ways it was a negative, and is what made the prequels and special editions unmitigated failures.
That is a misconception I would say. When you read the transcripts from meetings between Lucas, Kasdan and Kershner during the ESB pre-production, it is obvious Lucas dismissed many feedback and ideas coming from either of them. Many of those ideas were not good in my opinion anyway. However, he did keep the good ones, which shows that he actually had a different mentality back then. And judging from his absence in these transcripts, Kurtz wasn’t even involved in these sessions.
Saying Kurtz and Kershner were in charge of ESB is rather silly. Lucas had pretty much everything under control. Even during the principal photography when minor changes were made to the script, Kershner actually phoned Lucas and he approved them.
And anyone would panic when time and cost of principal photography is doubled. Even major studios would freak out, let alone newly founded independent film company. I think Kurtz was quite rightfully fired for that.
and so it’s clear to me at least that George Lucas has the mind of a child and always had the mind of a child.
Maybe you should go watch THX1138.
真実
[Haarspalter said:]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PTI think if George could have, he would have made the originals exactly like he made the prequels.
It shouldn’t be underestimated that Lucas’ creative judgement became heavily influenced by his fatherhood since the early eighties. Ewoks anyone? During the Phantom Menace production phase, his son Jett was at age of 4 to 6. Jett inspired him to create Jar Jar Binks’ name. Phantom Menace became so childish because he wanted that Jett enjoys the movie. During the Clones production phase his two daughters had to live trough puberty —> Anakin & Padme romance. One of Lucas’ daughters had a crush on N’Sync so Lucas wanted to put them into the Geonosis Arena battle as backround characters. Lucas’ alibi “I make movies for children” can be changed to “I make movies for MY children”.
Rogue One is redundant. Just play the first mission of DARK FORCES.
The hallmark of a corrupt leader: Being surrounded by yes men.
‘The best visual effects in the world will not compensate for a story told badly.’ - V.E.S.
‘Star Wars is a buffet, enjoy the stuff you want, and leave the rest.’ - SilverWook
Are the Prequels Even Worth Watching Once?
When you want to examine the creative circumstances of the PT
[to put it mildly]
If you want to find out what went wrong[to tell the truth]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PTwatch the every PT movie with the audio commentary and after that the documentaries that came with the 2-Disc DVD Sets (The Beginning, From Puppets to Pixels, Within a minute).
From Puppets to Pixels is both boring and depressing.
[Haarspalter said:]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PTI think if George could have, he would have made the originals exactly like he made the prequels.
It shouldn’t be underestimated that Lucas’ creative judgement became heavily influenced by his fatherhood since the early eighties. Ewoks anyone? During the Phantom Menace production phase, his son Jett was at age of 4 to 6. Jett inspired him to create Jar Jar Binks’ name. Phantom Menace became so childish because he wanted that Jett enjoys the movie. During the Clones production phase his two daughters had to live trough puberty —> Anakin & Padme romance. One of Lucas’ daughters had a crush on N’Sync so Lucas wanted to put them into the Geonosis Arena battle as backround characters. Lucas’ alibi “I make movies for children” can be changed to “I make movies for MY children”.
I’ve often thought his brain turned to mush when he became a parent.
It seems like people are really embracing the new characters. In fact, the big question people ask me now about Star Wars is, “Are Finn and Poe gay lovers?” And really how the f*ck would I know? My second husband left me for a man, so my gaydar isn’t exactly what you’d call Death Star level quality. ----Carrie Fisher
I have a hunch that Episodes 8 and 9 are going to really do some heavy lifting to redeem to a degree the prequels, and I’d recommend checking out the anti-cheese edits next time you have an urge to see one of the prequels.
With that being said, I agree that the Clone Wars really did do Anakin more justice than the prequels ever did.
Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.
I can’t imagine EP 8 and 9 redeeming the prequels in any way, no matter how good they are.
The prequels can’t be redeemed. They can only be melted down into slag and have the few trace amounts of precious metals present extracted.
The prequels can’t be redeemed. They can only be melted down into slag and have the few trace amounts of precious metals present extracted.
There is still good in them, I can feel it.
Of course there’s good in them – the trace elements I talked about.
Sorry, I didn’t read past that first sentence, it was a good opening.
I was scrolling through facebook and noticed someone had done a fan-made saga trailer.
One of my biggest problems with the prequels is that George decided to shoot 2 and 3 on glorified HD video cameras and they look terrible compared to the other films.
I was scrolling through facebook and noticed someone had done a fan-made saga trailer.
One of my biggest problems with the prequels is that George decided to shoot 2 and 3 on glorified HD video cameras and they look terrible compared to the other films.
And now they can’t be re-scanned at 4K like film can. Ooops!
[Haarspalter said:]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PTHe was thinking the same things he was thinking when he made the OT if you ask me. But there were no longer any constraints or people to reign him in.
I think if George could have, he would have made the originals exactly like he made the prequels.
I doubt that. He had practically no constraints in ESB and ROTJ as he held the rights to the sequels and was doing them with his own company. Even in ANH he had mostly free hands since the studio did not seem to care about the film prior to the release.
I would say it is mostly that in OT he actually had good ideas and was open to feedback from his collaborators.
Irvin made ESB what it was.
End
Folk forget Lucas’s only success was directing a new hope! His other films are shite as well! Well American graffiti was okay and gave birth to happy days lol
[Haarspalter said:]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PTHe was thinking the same things he was thinking when he made the OT if you ask me. But there were no longer any constraints or people to reign him in.
I think if George could have, he would have made the originals exactly like he made the prequels.
I doubt that. He had practically no constraints in ESB and ROTJ as he held the rights to the sequels and was doing them with his own company. Even in ANH he had mostly free hands since the studio did not seem to care about the film prior to the release.
I would say it is mostly that in OT he actually had good ideas and was open to feedback from his collaborators.
Irvin made ESB what it was.
End
I love people who think the director is the only person responsible for the success or failure of a movie.
[Haarspalter said:]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PTHe was thinking the same things he was thinking when he made the OT if you ask me. But there were no longer any constraints or people to reign him in.
I think if George could have, he would have made the originals exactly like he made the prequels.
I doubt that. He had practically no constraints in ESB and ROTJ as he held the rights to the sequels and was doing them with his own company. Even in ANH he had mostly free hands since the studio did not seem to care about the film prior to the release.
I would say it is mostly that in OT he actually had good ideas and was open to feedback from his collaborators.
Irvin made ESB what it was.
End
I love people who think the director is the only person responsible for the success or failure of a movie.
So the exec producer is. Yeah hitchcock, Sergio leone, coppola films etc weren’t down to direction!
I was scrolling through facebook and noticed someone had done a fan-made saga trailer.
One of my biggest problems with the prequels is that George decided to shoot 2 and 3 on glorified HD video cameras and they look terrible compared to the other films.
And now they can’t be re-scanned at 4K like film can. Ooops!
To me it’s more the fact that those cameras’ sensors were only 2/3", or less than the area covered by regular 16mm, nevermind regular 35mm.
I’m sure George considered this ahead of AotC, but he probably figured the drop in frame area was worth it just so he could abandon film for digital.
Since shooting digital was such a new thing in general back in 2000, this also meant abandoning the 2x anamorphic lenses used to shoot the OT and TPM on 35mm (aka true CinemaScope) for spherical lenses.
Those are my two biggest problems: the smaller frame size and the lack of anamorphic lenses.
[Haarspalter said:]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PTHe was thinking the same things he was thinking when he made the OT if you ask me. But there were no longer any constraints or people to reign him in.
I think if George could have, he would have made the originals exactly like he made the prequels.
I doubt that. He had practically no constraints in ESB and ROTJ as he held the rights to the sequels and was doing them with his own company. Even in ANH he had mostly free hands since the studio did not seem to care about the film prior to the release.
I would say it is mostly that in OT he actually had good ideas and was open to feedback from his collaborators.
Irvin made ESB what it was.
End
I love people who think the director is the only person responsible for the success or failure of a movie.
So the exec producer is. Yeah hitchcock, Sergio leone, coppola films etc weren’t down to direction!
Kersh was a huge part of what made ESB great, arguably the biggest. But Kasdan still wrote the script, and GL had more control than most EPs, though not nearly as much as on ROTJ. Not to mention Kersh was no auteur. I’d say there were a number of talented directors who GL could have hired that would have made just as good a film. On the other hand, GL was intent on being more controlling on ROTJ (and making it faster and cheaper), so it is unlikely any director he would have hired wouldn’t have been willing to completely roll over for him. I’d say ESB is what it is because GL had just the right amount of input, and not any more.
[Haarspalter said:]
If you want to find out what George Lucas was thinking when he made the PTHe was thinking the same things he was thinking when he made the OT if you ask me. But there were no longer any constraints or people to reign him in.
I think if George could have, he would have made the originals exactly like he made the prequels.
I doubt that. He had practically no constraints in ESB and ROTJ as he held the rights to the sequels and was doing them with his own company. Even in ANH he had mostly free hands since the studio did not seem to care about the film prior to the release.
I would say it is mostly that in OT he actually had good ideas and was open to feedback from his collaborators.
Irvin made ESB what it was.
End
I love people who think the director is the only person responsible for the success or failure of a movie.
So the exec producer is. Yeah hitchcock, Sergio leone, coppola films etc weren’t down to direction!
Kersh was a huge part of what made ESB great, arguably the biggest. But Kasdan still wrote the script, and GL had more control than most EPs, though not nearly as much as on ROTJ. Not to mention Kersh was no auteur. I’d say there were a number of talented directors who GL could have hired that would have made just as good a film. On the other hand, GL was intent on being more controlling on ROTJ (and making it faster and cheaper), so it is unlikely any director he would have hired wouldn’t have been willing to completely roll over for him. I’d say ESB is what it is because GL had just the right amount of input, and not any more.
Irvin taught Lucas I think that’s why he had him direct it?
That is a misconception I would say. When you read the transcripts from meetings between Lucas, Kasdan and Kershner during the ESB pre-production, it is obvious Lucas dismissed many feedback and ideas coming from either of them. Many of those ideas were not good in my opinion anyway. However, he did keep the good ones, which shows that he actually had a different mentality back then. And judging from his absence in these transcripts, Kurtz wasn’t even involved in these sessions.
Saying Kurtz and Kershner were in charge of ESB is rather silly. Lucas had pretty much everything under control. Even during the principal photography when minor changes were made to the script, Kershner actually phoned Lucas and he approved them.
And anyone would panic when time and cost of principal photography is doubled. Even major studios would freak out, let alone newly founded independent film company. I think Kurtz was quite rightfully fired for that.
and so it’s clear to me at least that George Lucas has the mind of a child and always had the mind of a child.
Maybe you should go watch THX1138.
Then you’ll see just how much of a fluke ANH was haha
All three of the Star Wars movies were very much George Lucas films. He nearly went bankrupt trying to get Empire made. The idea that he had little to nothing to do with the creation of Empire is inaccurate. He didn’t have complete creative control on the first two, but he was definitely the driving force.
The Person in Question
If you read Pollock’s skywalking he certainly did pass on ESB to his mentor and he is actually quoted saying that he ‘hates directing’. Hence why he misused so many quality actors in the prequels because he was so engrossed in his then ‘latest technology’ which dominated these films.