Originally posted by: zombie84
Classic bullshit fan wankery trying to convince the world that the prequels are deep. Aside from the preposterous reading-in of unintended meaning (ie that the visual reference to Triumph of the Will in ANH shows that the rebels are morally hollow and thus foreshadowing their defeat in ESB--WTF??) that characterises prequel fans, this guys seems to be unable to wrap his head around the fact that people understand the majority of the subtextual and intellectual construction of the prequels but still think they suck because the dialog is shit, the characters annoying and the drama mostly absent. His basic argument comes down to "the films are eloquently layered intellectually and therefore that makes them great"--and while Lucas' job at building themes, subplots and a complicated world in which the prequels are set is commendable, these successes are destroyed by the failure of the larger foundation to provide captivating characters and thus engaging films. It really amazes me that fans are so deluded. You know what I've noticed is that all the prequels fans appreciate the films on the intellectual basis that they are densely-layered (counting mythology and history references gets them off it seems) but of course the more important issue seems to have completely escaped them that these qualities don't mean shit because they are the icing on the cake, the cake being captivating characters and plot. Nobody gave a shit at what symbols or "symphonically mirrored themes" were in Star Wars because everyone was too wrapped up in the wonderful characters and touching drama to care--we found those qualities on repeat viewers and they enriched and already-rich story. Conversely, this same quality has led many prequel fans to think the OT is shallow because the intellectual references and convoluted symbolism of the PT suddenly gives way to *gasp* character and story. Eventually though everyone has to graduate from junior college and realise that Battlefield Earth and Troy have the same densely-layered thematic construction as the PT despite being totally lacking in interesting character and story portrayal as well.
Originally posted by: Davis
Wow. All this time I thought Ep. II was complete crap, and it's actually a sophisticated masterpiece...
link
Wow. All this time I thought Ep. II was complete crap, and it's actually a sophisticated masterpiece...
link
Classic bullshit fan wankery trying to convince the world that the prequels are deep. Aside from the preposterous reading-in of unintended meaning (ie that the visual reference to Triumph of the Will in ANH shows that the rebels are morally hollow and thus foreshadowing their defeat in ESB--WTF??) that characterises prequel fans, this guys seems to be unable to wrap his head around the fact that people understand the majority of the subtextual and intellectual construction of the prequels but still think they suck because the dialog is shit, the characters annoying and the drama mostly absent. His basic argument comes down to "the films are eloquently layered intellectually and therefore that makes them great"--and while Lucas' job at building themes, subplots and a complicated world in which the prequels are set is commendable, these successes are destroyed by the failure of the larger foundation to provide captivating characters and thus engaging films. It really amazes me that fans are so deluded. You know what I've noticed is that all the prequels fans appreciate the films on the intellectual basis that they are densely-layered (counting mythology and history references gets them off it seems) but of course the more important issue seems to have completely escaped them that these qualities don't mean shit because they are the icing on the cake, the cake being captivating characters and plot. Nobody gave a shit at what symbols or "symphonically mirrored themes" were in Star Wars because everyone was too wrapped up in the wonderful characters and touching drama to care--we found those qualities on repeat viewers and they enriched and already-rich story. Conversely, this same quality has led many prequel fans to think the OT is shallow because the intellectual references and convoluted symbolism of the PT suddenly gives way to *gasp* character and story. Eventually though everyone has to graduate from junior college and realise that Battlefield Earth and Troy have the same densely-layered thematic construction as the PT despite being totally lacking in interesting character and story portrayal as well.
I think that's it exactly. The PT has a lot of mythological references? That's nice. That doesn't excuse the fact that the movies are crap. I don't know. For me, they're just so distractingly bad they're not even entertaining.