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Do you like the PT ?

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When i watch the PT it does not feel like star wars . I dont enjoy it that much why becouse it has no Darth vader, luke leia , solo , and no space battles .

So who like the PT ?
May the force be wth you .........
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I like them, but by no degree or extent that I love the OT. They are OK and I mostly like the more in depth look at the Jedi. Like many of my fellow posters here, I do think it could have been much better. I'm sure you will get a many posts which will proclaim their absolute hatred of them. I tolerate them for the few moments that I think are good, i.e. Ewan as Obi Wan.
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Coulda sworn this has been brought up in almost the exact same way rather recently, but here ya go:

I walked out of the theater at the end of TPM feeling blown away by the lightsaber battle. Lucas wasn't bullshitting on that "The Beginning" documentary when we was telling the vfx people about the lightsaber battle needing to be even more exciting than the podrace. Speaking of the podrace, I don't remember that being terribly exciting at all. It has been 7 and a half years, but I don't remember anything on tatooine really doing anything for me. Probably the redundancy of going back there when we'd already been there in not one but two movies of the original three, that's what was getting to me. I liked how the whole movie was basically centered around naboo, this new planet we've never seen before.

But it was the only new planet we saw.

Yes, it's neat to see Coruscant expanded from just that one shot at the end of ROTJ's SE, and to find out how it's name is actually pronounced, but let's not forget that we didn't even get hung up on mentioning the names of planets in ANH and Empire. It was part of the lived in feel of those movies. Notice I don't mention Jedi. Well, that's because the battle at the end of TPM felt like a retread of Jedi's battle, there was no way I could get that comparison out of my head. This time it was a big land battle and a small space battle instead of the other way around.

I'd already finished about a third of the novelization before I saw the movie itself on opening day and somehow the writing didn't seem as hokey when I reminded myself that I was reading the novelization. Seeing it up on screen was a bit different I'm afraid. I did at least get the feeling of really stepping back to a time 30 years earlier in that galaxy far, far away. Maybe that's just because of how....different everything was. Yes, I know in retrospect it really wasn't different in the right ways, but I digress.

Another thing that's always been in the back of my head about the entire PT is the problem of making these movies so long after the originals. Heck, ROTJ was a little past its time, but TPM was 22 years past its time. Even forgetting that, I'd been hearing about these prequels in one way or another since '94, and the fact is that they just didn't deliver. All the many things I've pondered on recently just didn't come to mind back in '99, so to remove myself and remember how I felt back then is a little complicated now. Like I've said before, I've understood the notion of Lucas seeing only SE and PT since the day the TPM trailer was released. But those SE's didn't have an effect in every single shot, so even the SE's are still quite different from the PT. I still looked at TPM as the first new star wars movie in 16 years, SE or no SE. I mean, I was 13, almost 14 at the time, and I'd grown up on the original versions, not the SE's. To some up how I felt leaving the theater, I wouldn't say I was dissapointed, just underwhelmed.

It's funny, I've been going through my Star Trek movie dvds and thinking about the stretch of time from Star Wars in '77 to TPM in '99. I grew up on both Star Wars and Star Trek, but Star Trek was pretty much it for me at least until the trailer for TPM was released in fall of '98. Star Trek had started to show signs of suckage by that point anyway, and I'm sort of happy to say that the last of the movies I saw on the big screen was First Contact on opening night. It was probably one of the most memorable moviegoing experiences of my middle school years. I mean, the whole audience applauded at the end! Anyway, another reason I bring up Trek is ILM. They worked on all the movies 1-8 except for 5 and 1 (but even 1 had John Dykstra so it earns some points). 6 was one of the first movies I ever saw in a theater, and I saw 7 and 8 on the big screen as well. Let us not also forget Wrath of Khan and Search for Spock, movies ILM contributed to in the years before and after ROTJ, respectively.

So ILM fed our appetite for space adventure movies in the years between the Star Wars trilogies. Lucas and Spielberg must've really needed ILM for Last Crusade. Either that or Paramount didn't want them for Star Trek V. In any event, and this is the point that I'm really getting at, how many times did we hear about how much money Lucas was saving on TPM's effects budget just because he owns ILM? Yea, they found the time to work on other big movie projects during the PT, but there is the feeling that a lot of their work went to waste on what were not the best Star Wars stories that could've been told. Lucas simply relied on them too much instead of finding an interesting way to tell his story the way the makers of the OT did. I mean, break down for me the percentage of shots in the OT involving effects and then do the same for the PT. Not much more needs to be said on this.

The other thing to be addressed is the matter of "kidifying" Star Wars, something that ROTJ was first accused of. On the audio commentary for ROTJ, around one of the last scenes at Jabba's Palace, Lucas says that people tend to take Star Wars too seriously when it's really just Space Opera. No one's really arguing that point, they were arguing that ROTJ is all kidified but Lucas dodges the question by throwing something irrelevant in as an answer. Well, I went into TPM without any blinders on, and it seemed fairly kidified to me. The meal conversation scene was just awful and still is. The podrace had some impressive "ooo, wow, look how real that looks" moments, but besides that it did nothing for me. The lightsaber battle was the only real drama of the film's end.

Jumping ahead to AOTC, well, I already knew just about everything that was going to happen when I saw it with my friends on opening day, but that should never stop you from enjoying a movie.

I laughed through some of the more "important" parts.

That didn't stop me from seeing it several times that summer. Hey, what can I say, it's Star Wars.

By the time ROTS rolled around, I think I had somewhat of an idea of what the Harry Potter fans must feel like when they see the movies having already read the books (I haven't read any of the HP books). By that point, the EU had become a whole lot better than the movies and it just felt like Lucas was adapting from it and not the other way around. If not that, it definitely didn't feel any better than the EU which in turn was no where near as good as the OOT.

And notice how there's this huge public interest in TPM and ROTS and much less in AOTC. TPM because it was the first in 16 years and ROTS because it might've been the last and, more importantly, it was the prequel to the original movie from '77. That's why I'm happy to say that my last big screen viewing of ROTS was at the Uptown, the only theater in D.C. to show Star Wars on May 25, 1977.
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what annoyes me is that PT fans think its better then the OT ! Ya right
May the force be wth you .........
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Originally posted by: SW
what annoyes me is that PT fans think its better then the OT ! Ya right


Now that is utter craziness. Those people should be locked up.
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As movies, hmmnnnyeah they are ok... As part of the Star Wars universe, it's crap I try to ignore. It's like shitty EU material to me, it's canonical but still...
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Originally posted by: ferris209
Originally posted by: SW
what annoyes me is that PT fans think its better then the OT ! Ya right


Now that is utter craziness. Those people should be locked up.


And YOU have the power to do that!
Well, at least for a few days
Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
Hyde: Fezzy, man, it's Star Wars.
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Yes, I liked Episodes 2 & 3 more or less since I saw them in the cinema, I used to think Episode 1 was a bit crappy but I hadnt really watched it much since I bought the DVD and have watched it more, recently and like it alot more.
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Episode II is great, Episodes I & 3 are OK too, but in my oppinion they're worse than the old movies
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I would never say the PT is better than the OT, but to be honest, I think the PT has glimmers of extreme creativity and some great cinematography, but hampered by bad actors, a rusty and CGI-awed director, and rather bad unedited script. If Lucas had just had someone who could pull the reigns on him, and a concrete story/continuity editor, he could have had the greatest two sets of trilogy in sci-fantasy cinema!!! But something happened. Don't know for sure what, but it was not good. Lucas was too focused on the wrong elements of SW rather than what counted in the first place.

What do I like about the PT? Certainly the SFX were a notch up, but they're starting to look dated within only a few years! I think TPM, on a technical level is better than the other two, but still a mish-mash of lost opportunities.
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Originally posted by: Wookie Wedgie
I would never say the PT is better than the OT, but to be honest, I think the PT has glimmers of extreme creativity and some great cinematography, but hampered by bad actors, a rusty and CGI-awed director, and rather bad unedited script. If Lucas had just had someone who could pull the reigns on him, and a concrete story/continuity editor, he could have had the greatest two sets of trilogy in sci-fantasy cinema!!! But something happened. Don't know for sure what, but it was not good. Lucas was too focused on the wrong elements of SW rather than what counted in the first place.

What do I like about the PT? Certainly the SFX were a notch up, but they're starting to look dated within only a few years! I think TPM, on a technical level is better than the other two, but still a mish-mash of lost opportunities.


I think Lucas should have walked into a board room with top notch writers and an excellent director. Told them about what he wanted and then scurry off Skywalker Ranch, only to emerge again at the pre-release screening of the PT's. I think that the writers and director would have come with a lot better stuff in a heart beat, because they would know what was expected from them not only from Lucas, but from the fans. I don't think Lucas had much in mind, but the idea that these would boost his retirement.
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Looking back on it all, I see this:

Star Wars '77 is a classic because the special effects aren't the whole frackin' movie. The same goes for the sequels but here's something I've noticed.

By all accounts, Lucas's only real involvement in Empire was writing the story and financing it. Ok, so then we get what's probably the greatest sequel of all time, but there's a price. Lucas realizes he doesn't just have some inexhaustable amount of money, so he cuts back on Return of the Jedi while also failing to make the best possible script. 16 years later he decides to sit down in the director's chair just so he can make the PT. Anyone think this might've been because he didn't feel like paying a director????
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Is this topic automatically generated by a robot every month or something?
"Among many things I have to be thankful for are you, the fans. I know that some of you haven't liked every single thing that I've done with the saga, and that you have a strong sense of ownership over all things Star Wars. But take that passion and devotion and channel it into a creative project of your own."
-George Lucas
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Originally posted by: ricarleite
As movies, hmmnnnyeah they are ok... As part of the Star Wars universe, it's crap I try to ignore. It's like shitty EU material to me, it's canonical but still...


WHAT? The PT is considered canonical??? Are you sure about that? I always thought it was EU , and fairly poor EU at that.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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I don't enjoy or like them nearly as much as the original trilogy.

In fact next time I watch them all, I'm skipping the prequels. Star Wars would be cooler if they'd never been made. Just leave it IV, V, and VI. Sure it wouldn't make sense that they'd be numbered that way, but so what?

They could have invested in official prequel novels instead. Then our imaginations could put a positive spin on everything.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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The OT should be number 1-3 anyway how can GL link EP 3 to 4 when there is no empiror in ep 4?. It confusing becouse he only comes in ep 5 and 6 must be GL idea.
May the force be wth you .........
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Originally posted by: SW
The OT should be number 1-3 anyway how can GL link EP 3 to 4 when there is no empiror in ep 4?. It confusing becouse he only comes in ep 5 and 6 must be GL idea.


He's mentioned in Episode IV. Don't tell me you're one of those people who need everything spelled out for them and can't use your imagination once in a while...
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Originally posted by:TheCassidy

He's mentioned in Episode IV. Don't tell me you're one of those people who need everything spelled out for them and can't use your imagination once in a while...


I think he is just saying that The Emperor/Palpatine plays a major role in the PT, and then you shift to ANH, and he is only mentioned once, and watching it as a Linear story, you begin to wonder why this guy isn't in this 4th Episode, other then being mentioned? Yoda not being in Episode IV is OK, because you never know what happens to him once he says he goes into exile, which I thought Lucas was smart not to put in that deleted Dagobah Scene. I don't really think it is about spellling everything out, I think everyone here has to look at it now the way Lucas wants it to be watched, 1-6, and it is very jarring at times because he didn't write or film them that way. I have said this before but if Lucas wanted us to enjoy the saga 1-6 as a linear story, then the last we should see of Anakin is him burning up and ObiWan walking away on Mustafar, so the viewer thinks he is dead, and it atleast makes you wonder who this Darth Vader guy is in Episode IV?



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Originally posted by: CO
Originally posted by:TheCassidy

He's mentioned in Episode IV. Don't tell me you're one of those people who need everything spelled out for them and can't use your imagination once in a while...


I think he is just saying that The Emperor/Palpatine plays a major role in the PT, and then you shift to ANH, and he is only mentioned once, and watching it as a Linear story, you begin to wonder why this guy isn't in this 4th Episode, other then being mentioned? Yoda not being in Episode IV is OK, because you never know what happens to him once he says he goes into exile, which I thought Lucas was smart not to put in that deleted Dagobah Scene. I don't really think it is about spellling everything out, I think everyone here has to look at it now the way Lucas wants it to be watched, 1-6, and it is very jarring at times because he didn't write or film them that way. I have said this before but if Lucas wanted us to enjoy the saga 1-6 as a linear story, then the last we should see of Anakin is him burning up and ObiWan walking away on Mustafar, so the viewer thinks he is dead, and it atleast makes you wonder who this Darth Vader guy is in Episode IV?


Yeah, I get that - but by that rationale where is Jabba in Episode V? Where is Boba Fett in Episode III? At some point, trying to make the different episodes dovetail in people's minds become ridiculous. I'm content to enjoy them in their historical context without trying to ascribe to much meaning to them.

It's entirely possible to enjoy the Prequels as the Prequels, and the Original Trilogy as the Original Trilogy.

And to his original point about not liking the PT because of no space battles? The opening of EP III was thrilling! I think it's high time Star Wars fans unclenched their assholes for a while.
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Originally posted by: TheCassidy
Yeah, I get that - but by that rationale where is Jabba in Episode V? Where is Boba Fett in Episode III? At some point, trying to make the different episodes dovetail in people's minds become ridiculous. I'm content to enjoy them in their historical context without trying to ascribe to much meaning to them.

It's entirely possible to enjoy the Prequels as the Prequels, and the Original Trilogy as the Original Trilogy.

And to his original point about not liking the PT because of no space battles? The opening of EP III was thrilling! I think it's high time Star Wars fans unclenched their assholes for a while.



I agree about overanalyzing the films, but the Emperor is a main character where Jabba & Boba Fett are just secondary characters who can come and go. I honestly believe that all the PT hate you hear is solely from the treatment of the OOT, or the lack there of a great quality release of the OOT.

Of course you will always have the section of fans who hate the PT. But I honestly believe if Lucas put out a great quality OOT DVD set this year with the PT movies & SE movies, I think alot of fans will finally have a choice in what movies they want to watch in great quality and what movies they don't want to watch. I know so many SW fans who were not big fans of ROTJ, but never hated the movie, but I guarantee if Lucas would have changed ANH & ESB back in 1980 to fit in the ROTJ story, and never release the original versions, you would have the same split amongst fans. And then you would have had threads that say, "Do you like ROTJ?"
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Now that Lucas has released a somewhat suitable version of the OOT on DVD I do hate the SE a lot less.


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Alot of you dont like the PT like me but are still looking farward to buying the saga box set .
May the force be wth you .........
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Mainly because of the possibly stunning special features, and the OOT remastered ( this is not likely, but you never know).