Originally posted by: Nobody
In a way, I think you just described why I dislike the second two films a lot more, especially Sith. They include/attempt a lot more meaty ideas... and fail, to varying degrees of awfulness, at all of them - ESPECIALLY the most important ones. That, to me, makes them vastly more painful to watch. They put on parade exactly how terrible at storytelling they are. And many of those moments are classic plot points (a checklist of things we have been waiting for, as an earlier poster put it), which I would much rather not see at all, than see butchered. The Phantom Menace, meanwhile, aims lower, and comes out cleaner for it. It might not be better made, or have more "artistic" value to it, but at least it's not pretentious.
In a way, I think you just described why I dislike the second two films a lot more, especially Sith. They include/attempt a lot more meaty ideas... and fail, to varying degrees of awfulness, at all of them - ESPECIALLY the most important ones. That, to me, makes them vastly more painful to watch. They put on parade exactly how terrible at storytelling they are. And many of those moments are classic plot points (a checklist of things we have been waiting for, as an earlier poster put it), which I would much rather not see at all, than see butchered. The Phantom Menace, meanwhile, aims lower, and comes out cleaner for it. It might not be better made, or have more "artistic" value to it, but at least it's not pretentious.
Like I said, ROTS is not without its faults... the dialogue is still terrible in parts, Anakin's turn to the dark side occurs too quickly, and some scenes/characters are there purely to appease the fans and give them eye candy (e.g., Chewbacca, Kashyyyk). However, as a story it's the best conceived of the PT. That's not to say it was delivered well on screen (although I think it showcases some of the best performances in the PT), but it is a movie that can be enjoyed by people outside of the Star Wars fan base.
That being said, I understand what you're saying about The Phantom Menace. In a sick, weird, twisted, diabolical way it was the closest movie to Star Wars (ANH) in the entire PT: light-hearted, adventure-filled, innocent fun.
I will also say this for TPM: when I left the theatre after seeing it for the first time, all I could think about was buying a lightsaber. I guess it must've done something right
