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Why we hate the prequels at OT forum.

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Any takers.  I am fresh out of rants as to why i hate them, maybe i will just say Hayden Christensen was awful.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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I don't hate them.

I find them inferior to the OT (especially ANH and ESB) but I always liked parts of them.  And as I have found prequel fanedits to my liking, I enjoy watching them once in awhile.

It definitely helps to not think too much about the wasted potential and possibilities in them.

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Honestly I find them deeply flawed movies, but there are days I'd rather watch a bad Star Wars movie than most other entertainment. Especially Phantom Editors cuts made 1 and 2 actually watchable.

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Trying to note things that haven't been beaten into the ground:

The second I saw those "wacky" robots frenetically fighting outside of Mos Eisley, I freaked out.  And I'm talking about opening night '97 SE, here.  It was so infantile, crass and vulgar.

My heart sank in despair, and I just thought, "What the fuck is this?!?!"  That bit alone established that this "enhancement" gimmick was a nightmare.

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I started to wonder recently if Hayden is just an awful actor or if it was simply a case of bad scripts, poor direction, too much cgi, and they miscast him as Anakin. 

What actor would have made an Anakin in his twenties or thirties believable and relevant to the character referenced in the oot?

I mean assuming you had a good script and a competent director.  Someone who knows to use CGI correctly in a means of telling a story and not in an end to itself.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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It would have to be an unknown, like Hammil was, but with a charismatic spark like Ford had.

 

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Darth Id said:

Trying to note things that haven't been beaten into the ground:

The second I saw those "wacky" robots frenetically fighting outside of Mos Eisley, I freaked out.  And I'm talking about opening night '97 SE, here.  It was so infantile, crass and vulgar.

My heart sank in despair, and I just thought, "What the fuck is this?!?!"  That bit alone established that this "enhancement" gimmick was a nightmare.

Er, what?  This thread is about the prequels.

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I don't hate the prequels because I have no emotional involvement with any part of them. I've only seen Phantom once and from what little I actually remember, it was bad on every level.

Story - Weak, cobbled together, and directionless.

Acting - Elementary school terrible.

Visually - Too much going on at once, too distracting from the already poorly-written story.

Characters - No emotional connection what so ever.  Several were nothing more than marketing tie-ins for toys and Halloween costumes, while the rest were just cartoons aimed at children.

I never bothered with the last two films, so I have no thoughts one way or the other.   

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I don't hate them but I do strongly dislike them.

Mostly because they were a wasted opportunity. You can argue that you can never beat expectations that have been brewing for over a decade, but you could at least make a movie that made fans hairs on the back of their neck stand on end. Or, you could cash out and deliver a soul-less meandering special effect with no depth.

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There are a few moments in ROTS when Hayden actually works both as Anakin and Vader.

Forget the lines and buzz droids for a moment but when he's in the cockpit shooting up spaceships he forgets to speak like a stoppy ten year old.

Why wasn't there more of that stuff and less moping around and dancing with fluorescent tubes?

He smiles, he delivers his shit lines with a degree of confidence and you could almost imagine he could be friends with someone...even Obi-Wan.

When he keeps his mouth shut he can pull a really chilling pissed off face too.

He was really terrible in AOTC and awful beyond words in the key scenes of ROTS but I feel sorry for him (the actor not the character).

Mark's career didn't really go anywhere much after Star Wars.

He had his voice work and his comics but in terms of screen acting that was it but he will always have the holy trilogy to fall back on.

After Jumper (which seemed to underline everything PT detractors already suspected about the guy) I can't see Hayden going anywhere and to be fair he didn't write the shit he had to say or direct and plan the things he did on screen.

People forget that Mark was not entirely unknown before Star Wars.

He'd been on the small screen for quite a while.

He was probably more well known than Hayden.

It's not his fault that TPM was so crap that he got cast instead of Leonardo, he wasn't even in that one.

My friend Paul is a dead ringer for Hayden and he would like to have words with Lucas because he's had so much stick for being compared to that crap actor off Star Wars.

Poor Hayden.

Poor Paul.

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skyjedi2005 said:

I started to wonder recently if Hayden is just an awful actor or if it was simply a case of bad scripts, poor direction, too much cgi, and they miscast him as Anakin. 

What actor would have made an Anakin in his twenties or thirties believable and relevant to the character referenced in the oot?

I mean assuming you had a good script and a competent director.  Someone who knows to use CGI correctly in a means of telling a story and not in an end to itself.

I think Hayden was possibly cast because visually he looks a little like a younger version of the Vader we see in Jedi (it's the slightly lazy eye).

As to who could have made a better Anakin Skywalker ... how about Chris Evans? He basically plays himself in the movies I've seen him in - cocky, fallible, the "loveable rogue".

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I don't remember the prequels. Can you remember well enough all the films you've seen in your life ?

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miker71 said:

skyjedi2005 said:

I started to wonder recently if Hayden is just an awful actor or if it was simply a case of bad scripts, poor direction, too much cgi, and they miscast him as Anakin. 

What actor would have made an Anakin in his twenties or thirties believable and relevant to the character referenced in the oot?

I mean assuming you had a good script and a competent director.  Someone who knows to use CGI correctly in a means of telling a story and not in an end to itself.

I think Hayden was possibly cast because visually he looks a little like a younger version of the Vader we see in Jedi (it's the slightly lazy eye).

As to who could have made a better Anakin Skywalker ... how about Chris Evans? He basically plays himself in the movies I've seen him in - cocky, fallible, the "loveable rogue".

This thread might interest you.

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miker71 said:

skyjedi2005 said:

I started to wonder recently if Hayden is just an awful actor or if it was simply a case of bad scripts, poor direction, too much cgi, and they miscast him as Anakin. 

What actor would have made an Anakin in his twenties or thirties believable and relevant to the character referenced in the oot?

I mean assuming you had a good script and a competent director.  Someone who knows to use CGI correctly in a means of telling a story and not in an end to itself.

I think Hayden was possibly cast because visually he looks a little like a younger version of the Vader we see in Jedi (it's the slightly lazy eye).

As to who could have made a better Anakin Skywalker ... how about Chris Evans? He basically plays himself in the movies I've seen him in - cocky, fallible, the "loveable rogue".

Chris Evans...yeah I know

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Going to the theaters is expensive and i have not seen more than perhaps 50 films in my life theatrically if even that.  I know there are rich people who see a movie or two a week. But i have seen most films on tv, home video like VHS or DVD.

But i do have clear recall of every film i have seen especially if they grabbed my interest and entertained me.

Or were so horribly bad that you simply cannot forget.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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I enjoyed TPM in the theater.  It's not a very good movie, but I enjoy watching it... it's fun.  The visuals in AOTC are fun to look at, but it's an even worse movie... I have a hard time sitting through it.  ROTS I saw once in the theater and haven't been able to sit through again, although I probably will one of these days.

I don't hate any of the prequels.  They aren't generally my cup of tea, but that's just personal preference.  BUT, as long as the OOT is unrestored, I will RESENT the prequels because they are being used as the excuse for many of the horrendous changes to the OT. And why on earth a truly classic movie should be so slaughtered to conform to a deeply inferior movie, is beyond me. My resentment will end when the OOT is given a decent restoration and release.

"Close the blast doors!"
Puggo’s website | Rescuing Star Wars

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Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

I enjoyed TPM in the theater.  It's not a very good movie, but I enjoy watching it... it's fun.  The visuals in AOTC are fun to look at, but it's an even worse movie... I have a hard time sitting through it.  ROTS I saw once in the theater and haven't been able to sit through again, although I probably will one of these days.

I don't hate any of the prequels.  They aren't generally my cup of tea, but that's just personal preference.  BUT, as long as the OOT is unrestored, I will RESENT the prequels because they are being used as the excuse for many of the horrendous changes to the OT. And why on earth a truly classic movie should be so slaughtered to conform to a deeply inferior movie, is beyond me. My resentment will end when the OOT is given a decent restoration and release.

I agree that the special editions and prequels are one of the reasons i harp on how awful the prequels are, because all i got was the gout to remember three great legendary films by.  No theatrical re-release of restored prints.  that would have made an awesome 30th ann for star wars.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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A B C said:

I don't remember the prequels. Can you remember well enough all the films you've seen in your life ?

I deeply envy you, ABC.  I wish like hell I could forget them.

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TV's Frink said:

 

Er, what?  This thread is about the prequels.

Yeah, uh, whoops.

I tend to conflate the PTs and SEs.

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I would think the main reason the prequels are hated around here (or at least just strongly disliked) is that they are the films we got when we could have had something awesome.  

We never go the clone wars, we got a skirmish or two.  We never got to see Anakin looking forward to his son and wanting to give him his lightsaber when he got old enough.  We never really got to see 3PO using Bocce to program binary load-lifters.  The lists have been compiled in numerous places elsewhere in this site.

Instead, we get a slave issue that never gets resolved,  disposable villains and a central love story that involves the princess character falling in love with a psychotic murderer.   

My good friend Warbler said it best with: *sigh*

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"I enjoyed TPM in the theater. It's not a very good movie, but I enjoy watching it... it's fun."
I think this sums up the prequels for me. Wait, there's more than one?

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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-Jar Jar

-Padme/Anakin romance

-Anakin's lame turn to the darkside

-Padme losing the will to live

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I did'nt like Episode 1 that much Episodes 2 and 3 are better than Episode 1. I saw episodes 1 ,2 and 3 in the theater when they where 1st released

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kenkraly2007 said:

I did'nt like Episode 1 that much Episodes 2 and 3 are better than Episode 1. I saw episodes 1 ,2 and 3 in the theater when they where 1st released

That was just as germane as my post!

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Sluggo said:

We never really got to see 3PO using Bocce to program binary load-lifters.

Really, Sluggo?  That was what you were waiting for with bated breath to see?  ^_~

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.