Andor and Rogue One: The Secret to Prequels That Elevate The Original
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLMwoFHRMXg - a 7 minute video from the under-rated The Writer’s Armoury youtube channel.
The blurb: ‘Andor doesn’t just lead into Rogue One it elevates it. This video breaks down how star wars’s Andor adds emotional depth, unforgettable character sacrifices, and masterful storytelling that redefines what a prequel can be.’
I was going to post this insightful and resonating video in one of the ‘general Disney+ era’ threads - though it does have relevance and agency also in discussing the Prequel films… especially the Prequel films… given their standing amongst many an old-skool OT fan. So, here it is. Hope you enjoy. Maybe someone out there is listening? 😉
A few things often overlooked by many younger fans who grew up with the Prequel Trilogy at the time of release…
(who may not understand some of the backlash against the PT films and George from ‘older’ Star Wars fans at the time - other than ‘they were mean to George’ and mistakenly casting blame on those critical of him for somehow ‘making George sell Lucasfilm’)
• Not only are there considerable discrepancies, retcons, and jarring issues between what was shown in the Prequel Trilogy in comparison to what had previously been stated and established in the beloved Original Trilogy films for some ~20 years prior:-
Original Trilogy vs The Prequels: inconsistencies, retcons, plot holes and discrepancies… : 50+ issues list
• There is also much of the Star Wars lore and history thrown out, altered, or retconned… for the new Prequel Trilogy. Some 20+ years worth of various material - all official and approved Lucasfilm - which expanded the Star Wars galaxy and engaged fans the world over that time who were all keen and eagerly wanting to know so much more about the Star Wars Universe. All that was thrown out George’s much-changed Prequel films; for content that was poorly explained - or was inconsistent to what had been previously established:-
Pre-PT era lore | an OT & EU scrapbook resource | additional info & sources welcome
• As well as the PT seemingly being so lacklustre at standing alone as actual films themselves… they require some 20+ years of numerous ancillary material to somehow ‘make the films better’. This is something obviously subjective - not everyone agree the ancillary material does achieve that - and is considered somewhat akin to ‘clutching at straws’ for many… in that no amount of ancillary material attempting to filling in the holes, ‘addressing issues’, ‘fixing problems’, or featuring content, that should have likely been… in the actual Prequel Trilogy films themselves.
• You then also have George quickly attempting to divide and gaslight fans because he could not accept the criticism and backlash that came his way for the Prequels; including his tone-deaf casual generalisations such as ‘younger fans love the PT - older fans do not’ type of comments - often ignoring that a number of younger fans also did not like the PT, and a number of older fans did actually rate them:-
• As well as George retconning and re-writing the official Star Wars history with some disingenuous comments and since debunked claims - to say nothing of underplaying or downright omitting the contributions of a number of people involved in the making of the Original Trilogy films:-
George Lucas: Star Wars Creator, Unreliable Narrator & Time Travelling Revisionist….
• George supressing the unaltered theatrical cuts of the iconic, pioneering, and landmark Original Trilogy… for his later ‘vision’ - whether that was his ‘vision’ for the 1997 release, 2004 release, 2011 release, or 2019 release. Despite none of the SE cuts being the vision of the two actual directors of two of the films that form the Original Trilogy - something George admits that only a director should be able to change. Yet was willing to do that for the 1997 vision; aka an admitted ‘test’ re CGI for the then-coming CGI-heavy Prequel films. Including, the many hypocritical statements re the importance of preserving films, culture of that time, and of film history in general:-
• And finally, albeit subjective, the Prequels were considered by many just not to be very good films - regardless of the sheer hype, marketing, and advertising campaigns by George for the Prequels to promote them - even employees involved in the promotion of the film acknowledged they made promo material that resembled a Star Wars movie that fans wanted - and not representative of the film they would soon actually get. Not good films at all. For many, that hasn’t changed - and likely won’t.
That is such a pity. What is often forgotten is that us ‘older’ fans eagerly anticipated the PT - wanting these films to be good, great, inspiring even; to sit right along up there with the Original Trilogy and the EU lore. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t to be.
Something the recent Season 2 ‘Light & Magic’ documentary never seemed to mention… was the poor quality CGI throughout the Prequel Trilogy films - along with the reasons for that. This was quite a jarring omittance by ILM / Lucasfilm - and very much in contrast to their highlighting and underscoring of the limitations practical effects (and the supposed end of practical effects) when CGI was starting to take off as covered in Season 1 of their L&M doc.
So, this is an attempt to highlight some of those issue-laden CGI scenes throughout the Prequels… (all in one centralised thread).
Poor quality CGI and CGI-affected shots & scenes in the Prequel Trilogy films…
Whether the CGI issues were physics-defying, just poorly executed, or somehow unfinished yet - still passing QC (quality control), having that familiar weightless/mass-less CGI effect, or overuse / density of CGI occurring in scenes to the point where the viewer has little to focus on, or the CGI not ‘interacting’ or blending with the human actors, or simply the quality of CGI helping take the viewer out of immersion of viewing the film.
Which is all quite surprising given George himself saw this technology as having reached the levels ready to achieve what he couldn’t previously do with practical effects or CGI effects for what he had in mind for the Prequel Trilogy films…