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A topic that might upset the entire forum; (I'm sorry)

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“Nobody hated the Prequels, until the internet told them too.”

Recently, I’ve have seen a bunch of videos that debunked why the overall feel of the Star Wars Prequels was so bad to begin with when they first came out. And not only that, on how George Lucas was being heavily discredited by the internet trying to prove he didn’t do anything in making the original Star Wars film when it was in production. Keep in mind, this atmosphere was at the time before the Disney acquisition.

Some said that the Prequels divided the entire Star Wars Community, when there’s evidence where it is most likely that wasn’t the case.

Ever since the release of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, the fans have started to come around and started showing the prequels the appreciation that I believe they should have gotten in the first place, in which they did, at-least until the internet influenced by the wrong type of Star Wars fans, disagreed with them.

Also, there is a mountain of evidence that proves that George Lucas was heavily involved in the creation of the original Star Wars, and all the production staff that worked alongside him to turn his vision into a reality, shows that he didn’t screw over Star Wars, the company that bought LucasFilm and the franchise did, Disney.

Considering the situation, I began wondering about one question that has plagued me for months.
Should George Lucas somehow fight to bring LucasFilm back under his control, even though the environment around the films, the fans wasn’t friendly at the time?

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EvantheKidDS said:
George Lucas was being heavily discredited by the internet trying to prove he didn’t do anything in making the original Star Wars film when it was in production.
Also, there is a mountain of evidence that proves that George Lucas was heavily involved in the creation of the original Star Wars

Exhibit A

fuck

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Bobson Dugnutt said:

EvantheKidDS said:
George Lucas was being heavily discredited by the internet trying to prove he didn’t do anything in making the original Star Wars film when it was in production.
Also, there is a mountain of evidence that proves that George Lucas was heavily involved in the creation of the original Star Wars

Exhibit A

fuck

I think I should be more clear, like I’ve seen debunking videos from Nerdonymous and Anomaly Inc respectively.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olqVGz6mOVE
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2AmolUSZi8XikNWZBsc_So0AWIubJf86

What I’m getting at is that, I think that George was trashed by the Star Wars Fanbase which in effect most-likely lead to the Disney Acquisition. Even though the evidence in Anomaly Inc’s series is a bit vague, there is a small-yet-reasonable amount of people that enjoyed the prequels until the rest of the fans “silenced them.”

And other pieces of information in “Revenge of the Prequels” indicate that the Star Wars Fan Community really split after the Sequel Trilogy came out, not when the Prequels came out. George Lucas had an idea for how it should’ve worked, while the producers of the Sequel Trilogy were making the films on a kind-of whim.

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I don’t see the point of this thread. It paints the community with an incredibly broad brush, as though we all hate George, which we don’t. And it reeks of passive aggressiveness for no good reason, as though you think you’ve “got” us somehow.

I’ve heard all the back and forth arguments over the years about the role George played in the making of the films. And I’ve listened to people’s perspectives on what it was like when the OT and the prequels were coming out. I’ve heard all of this before, and I can safely say that no, the internet didn’t invent the idea that the prequels were bad after the fact.

The prequels, especially the first two, got a very mixed reaction when they first came out. As the novelty of the films wore off, the common sentiment about them shifted more toward the negative by the late 2000s. It was inevitable that the pendulum would shift back towards the positive eventually, especially since we now have the sequels to compare them to.

RedLetterMedia were wrong when they called George Lucas “the second luckiest man in show business.” But people who worship George as this auteur who can do no wrong are equally mistaken. George was the visionary, but the work of those around him to refine that vision and bring it to life shouldn’t be downplayed. As usual, the truth lies in the middle.

There’s nothing concrete to suggest that George chose to sell Lucasfilm because of people hating the prequels. He once made an offhanded comment that he was tired of his work being attacked, but considering his age and his desire to spend time with his family, him selling Lucasfilm was likely inevitable. I know George wanted Disney to use his sequel ideas, but by 2012, there was little to no chance he was going to make the sequels himself. And I hate to disappoint you, but George would never come back to run this franchise, no matter what they offered him. I have no doubt he’s enjoying his retirement with his family.

Also, I know it sounds like you discovered his channel recently, but I don’t recommend bothering with a guy like Anomaly Inc. I’m familiar with him, and he has some serious issues, and just overall isn’t a good person.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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I kinda figured starting this topic was a bad idea. Sorry for what I said.

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EvantheKidDS said:

I kinda figured starting this topic was a bad idea. Sorry for what I said.

It’s alright, don’t worry about it.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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He doesn’t seem like a troll, just young

Reading R + L ≠ J theories

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EvantheKidDS said:

“Nobody hated the Prequels, until the internet told them too.”

Recently, I’ve have seen a bunch of videos that debunked why the overall feel of the Star Wars Prequels was so bad to begin with when they first came out. And not only that, on how George Lucas was being heavily discredited by the internet trying to prove he didn’t do anything in making the original Star Wars film when it was in production. Keep in mind, this atmosphere was at the time before the Disney acquisition.

No, not really. Most of the YouTube videos I have seen that purportedly “set the record straight” are little more than revisionist history and completely disingenuous. The creators seem less interested in accurately documenting the Star Wars community during the prequel era than appealing to a specific target market dissatisfied with the current direction of the franchise.

Some said that the Prequels divided the entire Star Wars Community, when there’s evidence where it is most likely that wasn’t the case.

Having lived it, I can entirely confirm this was indeed the case. For the first time ever, websites such as theforce.net had to enforce bans on their forums and began moderating based on response to the films rather than explicit language. Other sites, including this one, were deemed to be havens for those unhappy with the prequels and felt unwelcome (or banned) on TFN and StarWars.com. In fact the terms “basher” and “gusher” were commonly thrown around in 2005, like “reylo” and “tfm” is thrown around today. Make no mistake, the response to the prequels was as divisive to Star Wars fandom as the sequels have been.

Ever since the release of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, the fans have started to come around and started showing the prequels the appreciation that I believe they should have gotten in the first place, in which they did, at-least until the internet influenced by the wrong type of Star Wars fans, disagreed with them.

I disagree. I believe the reason for this renaissance of the PT is largely due to the generation of kids who grew up with them now have a voice both online and in the media. Yes, the less than stellar response to the ST has somewhat galvanised this voice, however, I also believe that many fans, like myself, are able to accept the prequels because they now only make up 1/3 of the larger saga rather than half of it.

I also predict that in the next 5-10 years there will be a similar resurgence in ST appreciation as the kids first introduced to Star Wars through Rey and Kylo Ren come of age. It’s like poetry. It rhymes.

Also, there is a mountain of evidence that proves that George Lucas was heavily involved in the creation of the original Star Wars, and all the production staff that worked alongside him to turn his vision into a reality, shows that he didn’t screw over Star Wars, the company that bought LucasFilm and the franchise did, Disney.

Lucas has always been acknowledged as the visionary creator of the original trilogy. Any claim that this was ever in doubt in Star Wars fandom is a fallacy. However, with the poor response to the PT, the question began to be asked about the influence other creators may have had on those first three films. Michael Kaminsky’s “The Secret History of Star Wars” is a good example of this. Until this point, Lucas was largely seen as a film making genius, particularly by the fandom. However, with the advent of the prequels (and to a lesser extent the SEs) that idea began to change and is itself indicative of the disappointment Star Wars fans had with the direction of Star Wars at the time. Contemporary documentaries such as “The People vs George Lucas” demonstrate this sentiment, as do the countless forum posts on this website and many others dating back to the early 2000s.

Considering the situation, I began wondering about one question that has plagued me for months.
Should George Lucas somehow fight to bring LucasFilm back under his control, even though the environment around the films, the fans wasn’t friendly at the time?

In short: No.

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Kellythatsit said:

snip

 
That is an accurate and concise account of how I remember that era of the “Fan Wars”, and so well articulated too.

Like many others I was banned from TFN back then, and like many others I too joined other Rebel sites like Outer Rim Sieges, MF, and also this forum for a brief time. The fandom really took a knock from that split, even some other TFN moderators from the different sections were booted out in that purge of fans. And make no mistake, it was a purge of anyone who wanted to simply talk about unaltered OT cuts, or was in any way critical or questioning of the SE, the PT, or George rewriting history at the time of the Prequels finishing.

Don’t listen to some idiot YouTube channel like Nerdonymous, who has openly demonstrated a heavy dislike and range of issues with the unaltered theatrical cuts of the OT and anyone who wants to see them again, or other agenda/hate-for-clicks to tell how you their bullshit version of history. Read it for yourselves here. And on any of the other surviving fan sites from that time.

Even a quick read through this below on some of that history, and also through the remnants of TFN threads from the time (the few that haven’t had posts removed, been heavily edited, or even disappeared), and you’ll soon see the picture of what Kellythatsit described so well in her post above:
 

An Index & Help Thread for _Original Trilogy Discussion_…

 

Other websites / communities supposed issues with the OT•com - or the OT / unaltered OT…

 
• How do others see the originaltrilogy•com community? (2012 thread)
 

A reminder that websites such as TFn and the official Star Wars forums etc were once places where site staff or moderators would threaten members with bans for simply discussing the unaltered theatrical cuts of the Original Trilogy - let alone highlighting some of Lucas’ / Lucasfilm’s disingenuous claims and conflicting statements, the re-writing of Star Wars history in official sources, constructive criticism of the Prequel Trilogy, or talking about the PT seemingly contradicting what was previously established in the OT, and so on…

Also, a number of preservationists, fan editors, and people making other fan-made projects (such as documentaries) over the years here on the OriginalTrilogy•com have received death threats, threats in general, and ‘threats to life’ - unless they ceased work on, or distribution of, their freely-available projects. These threats were made from other Star Wars fans / zealots who see such projects on here from this community… as somehow insulting or derogatory to George Lucas, the wider Star Wars fandom, or to their own beliefs.

Beliefs such as preservations of the unaltered theatrical versions of the Original Trilogy should no longer exist or be seen, or that fan edits desecrate George’s ‘vision’(s). Or fans seemingly deeply offended - even triggered to anger and threats - by cited articles, projects, and documentaries from fans here chronicling a more complete and accurate history of Star Wars… than that of the re-written, somewhat selective, and retconned version of history often found in official or licensed content and sources from Lucas / Lucasfilm.

OriginalTrilogy•com is a site to openly talk about the revered original cuts of the 3 iconic Star Wars films and its full, factual history.
 

We hope you enjoy your time on here - as thousands of others already have, currently do, and will - in the future to come. 👍

 

• OT.com = TFN? (2006 thread)

• When was the turning point for TF.NET? (2009 thread)

• Understanding the saga - A perspective from T.F.N (2006 thread)

• Sick of Star Wars Prequel bashing… (2014 thread: TFn)

• TheForce.Net? Anything Wrong? (2006 thread)

• Moving in from the Basher’s Sanctuary (2006 thread; re TFn - the censoring, suppression, and then purge of OOT fans from JCF)

^ “OT•com people are crazy”, “you guys are ungrateful”, “you guys are getting what you deserve”, “most people like the SE anyway”

• Who’s worse, TFN or the official site, starwars.com? (2008 thread)

• The new look official Star Wars site is up (2007 thread)

• Starwars.com survey (2007 thread)

• **** the official site (2008 thread)

• Starwars.com closes its forums (2011 thread)

• starwars.com 2011 purge (2011 thread)

• StarWars.com Archive? (2012 thread)

• Shut Down 2011 continues : Star Wars Galaxies (2011 thread)

• Official Star Wars Facebook Page (2011 thread)

• Hello I’m new and have a question (2007 thread; official Star Wars forums)

• Has anyone noticed… (2004 thread; SW boards vs MF•com)

• MagnoliaFan on MF.com (2005 thread)

• Magnoliafag and Dickter (2005 thread: MF•com)

• OT.com is so loved… (2004 thread: MF•com)

• Fan Edits getting “trolled” by new kids on the block (2015 thread; MSW)

• MF’s Report into MSW’s apparent actions (2015 thread; MSW & MF•com)

• PrequelTrilogy.com - A new forum for a new era . . . (2016 thread)

• The mirror universe originaltrilogy.com (2017 thread: PrequelTrilogy•com)

• …and WE get the bad rap!!! (2011 thread; a different face of fandom - YouTube…)

• What happened to Supershadow? (2005 thread)

• Hilarious fan-site, but could it be a fake? (I’m guessing you know which one already…) (2010 thread: Supershadow)

• 666-The anti-originaltrilogy.com (2009 thread: TheGunganCouncil)

• Worst of Wookiepedia (2009 thread)

• Dealing with People Selling Fan Projects (2017 thread)

• I’ll never understand the attitude of people who oppose the release of the unaltered Original Trilogy (2020 thread)

• The 'Naysayer Guide’ by people who DON’T want an unaltered theatrical release of the Original Trilogy… (2021 thread)

• Why are people like this? (2023 thread; re some fans who do not want / believe the unaltered theatrical cuts can be restored)

• Quit Whining (2006 thread; just one example of people joining up on here to vent their issues & frustrations with us…)

• A topic that might upset the entire forum; (I’m sorry) (2022; a 180° retcon of history; via agenda-led youtube views taken as fact!)

• How to Watch Star Wars, Part Two: The Special Editions Are the Movies, Get Over It (2023; narrow-minded bad faith argument)

 
And then re-read Kellythatsit’s beautiful and succinct post again.

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Kellythatsit put this all very nicely so I’ve nothing to say. I will just mention that it’s really funny to see how awful and crass old forums used to be in the Wild West days of the internet, when ideas like flame wars were a thing and social media didn’t exist.

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Oh man, I forgot about words like “flaming” and “flame wars”. These words sound so stupid in 2023. Let’s all agree to pretend we never said them.

Anyway, to throw in some more useless anecdotal evidence, yes - the Prequels were very controversial in the early 2000s to maybe around 2013 or so, at least on Star Wars Internet forums. Just go to any old school Star Wars Internet forum (including this one) and read posts from around 2001-2010 (if they go back that far) and you’ll find that almost every other thread is some heated argument about the Prequels. As Kellythatsit mentioned, there was even an entire stupid terminology used back then to describe both sides of the argument (“bashers” and “gushers”, oh god it’s embarrassing to even type those words now) because the phenomenon of arguing about the Prequels was so common.

Anyone who tells you otherwise, or tells you that the Internet loved the Prequels until Red Letter Media came along or anything similar is blatantly wrong.

Off the Internet, it’s much more difficult to gauge popular sentiment. But I recall that in the early 2000s the prevailing sentiment of popular culture towards the Prequels (or at least Phantom Menace) seemed to me at least to be mostly negative and prone to mockery.

For an example of early Prequel criticism (so early it was actually written before the Phantom Menace was released to the general public), see this 1999 review by Eli Roth (complete with dated 90s lingo), and also look at the comments section: http://web.archive.org/web/20000305191203/http://www.leisuresuit.net/Webzine/articles/starwars_rev.shtml

You’ll notice that even in 1999 - before the movie was even released to the general public - and a decade before RedLetterMedia, all the usual anti-Prequel talking points of today are fully present (over use of CGI, juvenile tone, Jar Jar, under-developed plot, breaking continuity with the OT, dull acting, etc.)

Regardless, I’ve met people in their late 20s that genuinely were surprised to learn that there was ever widespread dislike towards the Prequels on the Internet. There’s obviously a generational aspect to this, and I can understand why younger people might be skeptical about this, since it’s so different than the prevailing attitude today.

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Channel72 said:

Regardless, I’ve met people in their late 20s that genuinely were surprised to learn that there was ever widespread dislike towards the Prequels on the Internet. There’s obviously a generational aspect to this, and I can understand why younger people might be skeptical about this, since it’s so different than the prevailing attitude today.

I’m 36 and I thought the positivity towards the prequels was mostly sarcastic/ironic. How could it be anything else?

ROTJ Storyboard Reconstruction Project

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Many critics also gave the Prequels a tough time, for a long time. Lucas even game them “they don’t understand the films” before George switched that same argument onto the fans later on.

From the Phil Tippett on the Special Editions: “They’re shit” + £2b for George to direct the Prequels thread:

oojason said:

Some reviews of 1999’s The Phantom Menace - from around the time of release…

  1. www.nytimes.com/1999/05/19/movies/film-review-in-the-beginning-the-future.html & https://archive.is/xBuLk
  2. www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/star-wars-phantom-menace-review-752675
  3. https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-1117499730
  4. www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-101886
  5. http://edition.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9905/13/review.phantom.menace/
  6. www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-may-18-ca-38249-story.html
  7. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/reviews/phantommenacekempley.htm
  8. https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,990986,00.html
  9. https://www.salon.com/1999/05/19/star_wars_2
  10. https://nypost.com/1999/05/18/mechanical-says-jonathan-foreman
  11. https://nypost.com/1999/05/18/sexless-says-thelma-adams
  12. www.theguardian.com/film/1999/jul/16/11
  13. www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Force-Wavers-in-Phantom-Animation-amazes-2765274.php
  14. https://slate.com/culture/1999/05/dark-side-lite.html
  15. www.villagevoice.com/1999/05/18/all-droid-up
  16. www.indiewire.com/2013/03/read-eli-roths-unearthed-scathing-1999-review-of-star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-100146
  17. www.chicagotribune.com/ct-xpm-1999-05-18-9905180282-story.html
  18. https://web.archive.org/web/20010806145242/http://www.film.com/film-review/1999/11853/27/default-review.html
  19. https://nymag.com/nymetro/movies/reviews/64/
  20. www.decentfilms.com/reviews/starwars1
  21. www.ew.com/article/1999/05/21/star-wars-episode-i-phantom-menace & https://archive.is/CIyl8
  22. www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-1999
  23. www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/star-wars-episode-phantom-menace-review-daring-beautiful & https://archive.is/iCalh
  24. www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/07/26/the_phantom_menace_1999_review.shtml
  25. www.reelviews.net/reelviews/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace

IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915
LetterBoxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace
RottenTomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars_episode_i_the_phantom_menace
MetaCritic: www.metacritic.com/movie/star-wars-episode-i---the-phantom-menace
ICheckMovies: https://icheckmovies.com/movies/star+wars+episode+i+-+the+phantom+menace

 

Some reviews of 2002’s Attack Of The Clones - from around the time of release…

  1. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/parents/moviesguide/archive/20020524a.html
  2. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-attack-clones-review-752674
  3. https://variety.com/2002/film/reviews/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones-1200549814
  4. www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones-97836
  5. https://edition.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/15/ca.s02.review.clinton.star.wars/index.html
  6. www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-attack-of-the-clones-review-20151202-story.html
  7. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/entertainment/movies/features/starwarsfeature.htm
  8. www.ign.com/articles/2002/05/14/review-of-star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones
  9. www.salon.com/2002/05/16/attack_clones
  10. https://nypost.com/2008/08/10/send-in-the-clones-2
  11. www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/empire-original-attack-of-the-clones-review
  12. www.theguardian.com/culture/2002/may/10/artsfeatures
  13. www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Just-another-Clone-Episode-II-trumps-2835067.php
  14. www.slantmagazine.com/film/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones
  15. www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/starwarsepisodeiiattackoftheclones
  16. www.myreviewer.com/DVD/38087/Star-Wars-Episode-II-Attack-Of-The-Clones-2-Discs-UK/38135/Review-by-Jitendar-Canth
  17. https://observer.com/2002/05/an-old-dog-no-longer-barks
  18. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/05/AR2005050501750.html
  19. https://nymag.com/nymetro/movies/reviews/6012
  20. https://decentfilms.com/reviews/starwars2
  21. https://ew.com/movies/2002-rewatch-star-wars-attack-of-the-clones
  22. www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones-2002
  23. www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-clones-review-pleasant-surprise/
  24. www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/films/reviews/n_s/star-wars-episode-ii.-attack-of-the-clones.shtml
  25. www.reelviews.net/reelviews/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones

IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt0121765
LetterBoxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones
RottenTomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars_episode_ii_attack_of_the_clones
MetaCritic: www.metacritic.com/movie/star-wars-episode-ii---attack-of-the-clones
ICheckMovies: https://icheckmovies.com/movies/star+wars+episode+ii+-+attack+of+the+clones

 

Some reviews of 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith - from around the time of release…

  1. www.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/movies/some-surprises-in-that-galaxy-far-far-away.html
  2. www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/star-wars-revenge-sith-review-752673
  3. https://variety.com/2005/film/reviews/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith-2-1200526059
  4. www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith-105698
  5. http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/20/review.sith/index.html
  6. www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-revenge-of-the-sith-review-20151202-story.html
  7. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2017-2005May18.html
  8. www.ign.com/articles/2005/05/11/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith-2
  9. www.salon.com/2005/05/18/star_wars_iii
  10. https://nypost.com/2005/05/16/lucas-strikes-back-at-last-as-thrill-ride-sith-fills-the-darth-dearth
  11. www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-sith-review/
  12. www.theguardian.com/film/2005/may/13/starwars
  13. www.sfgate.com/movies/article/When-Sith-sticks-to-Darth-it-s-brilliant-When-2634181.php
  14. https://slate.com/culture/2005/05/later-vader.html
  15. www.slantmagazine.com/film/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith
  16. http://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/20157
  17. www.scifimoviepage.com/revengeofsith.html
  18. www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2005/05/18/sith-the-promise-fulfilled/fa4fca80-6aa1-44a3-a80e-de41899e8b2f
  19. https://nymag.com/nymetro/movies/reviews/11989
  20. https://decentfilms.com/reviews/starwars3
  21. https://ew.com/article/2005/05/18/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-sith-3
  22. www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith-2005
  23. www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-sith-review-disappointing-slab &
  24. www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/05/09/star_wars_episode_3_2005_review.shtml
  25. www.reelviews.net/reelviews/star-wars-revenge-of-the-sith#

IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt0121766
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith
RottenTomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars_episode_iii_revenge_of_the_sith
MetaCritic: www.metacritic.com/movie/star-wars-episode-iii---revenge-of-the-sith
ICheckMovies: https://icheckmovies.com/movies/star+wars+episode+iii+-+revenge+of+the+sith

It is difficult to describe the sheer hype and marketing campaign around The Phantom Menace in the years leading up to the actual release of the film. It was almost as if the film was just a byproduct of the whole campaign.

A lot of companies invested a lot of money into Star Wars licensing and deals on the back of these hotly anticipated new Prequel Trilogy films, which only added to the hype and marketing campaigns and never ending merchandise and tie-ins. And they obviously didn’t get their money’s worth in a lot of cases. I think I remember at the time George coming out “they don’t understand the films”, and “bold and stylistic choices” shortly after that corporate backlash and under-performing merch sales of TPM. Though he did still have a further two films to make.

I think most fans, and even the harsher critics, thought TPM was a blip, a misstep. That Lucas would correct the shortcomings and issues in the next film. Ooops!

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These threads are quite interesting time capsules! Lots of disliking, but lots of liking too:

https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/episode-3-was-disappointing-on-many-levels/id/2260
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Things-you-DID-like-about-Episode-III/id/2336
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Things-you-DID-NOT-like-about-Episode-III/id/2335
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/My-review-of-Episode-III-minor-minor-spoilers/id/2261

Of course, this is just for ROTS, but it was the only PT movie that was released when this forum was operational. Interesting perspectives. Many thanks for oojason for those index threads.

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I remember watching Episode 1 in 2000 or so and holding it to the quality of the other three movies that existed at the time. I was 13. Then Episode 2 came out and only then did I really start to feel like something felt off about Star Wars. I think it was the one-two punch of nonsense plot and bad CGI, which was noticeably off even at the time (Keep in mind that Gollum appeared on screen in the very same year).

I distinctly remember seeing a review for Episode 2 in the newspaper and reading that it was the weakest Star Wars movie to date, and that cemented the idea that just because it was a Star Wars movie doesn’t mean it would necessarily be good. Before that point I had bought into the idea that Star Wars was a monolithic entity leaping fully formed from George Lucas in 1977 and each movie was in fulfillment of an intricate, mythic tale. Episode 2 shattered that naive belief and made me realize that there likely never was a story for Episodes 1-3, and that George Lucas was just making it up as he went along.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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I didn’t get home Internet until late 2007, and I never followed Star Wars news/discussions when online at the school/library before that point. So while I can’t say I hated the prequels prior to 2008, with each prequel I watched in/around the time of release, the sense that something was amiss with the filmmaking grew, and with it dissatisfaction. I distinctly recall the ennui I felt towards SW in the interregnum between first seeing ROTS and first encountering prequel criticisms online.

Here’s a hot take that might upset a subset of the forum: Fans haven’t “started to come around and start showing the prequels the appreciation that they should have gotten in the first place”. It’s almost exclusively the fans who always loved the prequels unironically continuing to love the prequels unironically, be they the gushers from the days of yore or the kiddies who’ve grown up on them now adding their voice to the echo chamber.

“The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution… There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”

― Leo Tolstoy

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Superweapon VII said:

Here’s a hot take that might upset a subset of the forum: Fans haven’t “started to come around and start showing the prequels the appreciation that they should have gotten in the first place”. It’s almost exclusively the fans who always loved the prequels unironically continuing to love the prequels unironically, be they the gushers from the days of yore or the kiddies who’ve grown up on them now adding their voice to the echo chamber.

The only thing I can say in terms of appreciating or reevaluating the Prequels, is that the Disney Sequels at least made me appreciate how George Lucas really tried to make his Prequels different from the OT in terms of story, aesthetics, locations, plot, themes, etc. The Sequels came off to me as mostly soulless regurgitations of the OT synthesized by a particularly boring AI (with the partial exception of TLJ, which presented an entirely different form of sucking). This made me at least appreciate Lucas’ desire to actually tell a story, rather than just shamelessly capitalize off of the OT.

And yet, sadly, the Prequels still seemed to suck the few times I rewatched them over the years; they just suck in very different ways than the Disney films.

The core issue is Lucas has some really inspired ideas, but sucks badly at writing (a fact he admits on multiple occasions) and seems to have a very different philosophy about the fundamental nature of Star Wars than a significant percentage of the original OT fanbase, as well as a significant percentage of the people whose creative input shaped the OT.