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Have any of the actors from the original movies ever commented on the prequels?

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Have Mark Hamill or Harrison Ford or anybody else ever commented on them?

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Hamill definitely has (my searches aren't retrieving anything... hard query)  It was along the lines of hey George's imagination is a wonderous place to visit.

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Here are some articles:

Mark Hamill talks Prequels:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,614847,00.html

http://www.theforce.net/episode1/story/mark_hamill_talks_episode_i_episode_ii_the_phantom_edit_and_conventions_71154.asp

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/07/16/mark_hamill_confesses_his_crush_on_natal

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/7805467/ns/today-entertainment/t/mark-hamill-cant-escape-star-wars-spotlight/#.T_JJZHAZe-s

 

Dave Prowse on Hayden:

http://starwarsinterviews1.blogspot.com/2010/01/dave-prowse-interview.html

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Back in September of '04, I distinctly remember my roommate and I catching something on vh1 called "When Star Wars Ruled the World." As you might've guessed from the timing, it was all an excuse to (albeit quickly) pimp the dvd set in the last moments (Ben Burtt says something like "oh, I'm looking forward to the dvd release, just because of the quality").

Anyway, another thing they bring up in the last moments is, of course, the prequels. Now, remember this was a vh1 documentary and, as such, had very quick back-and-forth sound bridge editing, but Mark Hamill definitely says (and I'll try and type this the way it sounded) "I saw the new movies, aaaaaaand, they're not Star Wars."

I wish I could just find the clip somewhere to show you guys so you could actually hear how he says it. He doesn't have a harsh tone in his voice or anything, quite the opposite. There's that very cautious way he says "aaaaaaand" like he's thinking "oh, I don't want to piss anyone off with what I'm about to say." The way he says "they're not Star Wars" is as gentle as can be.

Like I said, all of this goes by in like two seconds, but afterwards you process what you heard and you're like "...... MARK HAMILL said the prequels AREN'T STAR WARS." Obviously they're weren't any hard feelings from George. I mean, the guy invited him to Celebration V. In fact, I might just be reading too much into Mark's comment.

And who knows what he thought of ROTS!?

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Anthony Daniels:
[George Lucas'] devotion to digital effects overbalanced the films. Too many digital funky characters become a little bit wearing. The storytelling always gets subsumed.

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That article leads me to wonder what bridges exactly did Prowse burn?  He claims to have been unaware of the "I am your father" secret until the film's premiere, yet Lucas supposedly cut off most contact after he leaked that secret.  I know first instinct here is to accuse Lucas of being paranoid, selfish, egotistical, or whatnot, but does anyone really know why Prowse was cut off?  This question probably merits its own thread, but I don't feel like starting one.

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darth_ender said:

That article leads me to wonder what bridges exactly did Prowse burn?  He claims to have been unaware of the "I am your father" secret until the film's premiere, yet Lucas supposedly cut off most contact after he leaked that secret.  I know first instinct here is to accuse Lucas of being paranoid, selfish, egotistical, or whatnot, but does anyone really know why Prowse was cut off?  This question probably merits its own thread, but I don't feel like starting one.
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/78-interview-with-David-Prowse-spoilers-he-reveals-Vader-is-Lukes-father/topic/12132/

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/David-Prowse-Banned-Not-Paid-Royalties/topic/11712/

I was going to put the thread title and link it that way but lazy right now.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6lrrgZJ8p1r2ucux.gif

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/7405/cooly.gif

http://twister111.tumblr.com
Previous Signature preservation link

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There was a Starlog interview after Jedi was out, where Prowse talked about how he was blamed for a script leak to the press, and the resulting unpleasant atmosphere on the set towards him.

I could be wrong, but I don't think he was among the announced guests at the 10th anniversary celebration.

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Where were you in '77?

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A more interesting question to me is what the prequel actors thought of the prequels.  I highly doubt that Hayden Christensen gives a s$*t about them, and Natalie Portman is in no way, shape, or form a fan of the series.  In fact, she never saw the originals before her performance in Episode I and I personally doubt that she ever took the time to watch them (*cough* stuck up "Indie" starlet *cough*).  It's well known Liam Neeson considers Qui-Gon to be one of his weakest roles, and Jake Lloyd definitely suffered years of torment, abuse (and reportedly small royalties) from being little boy Anakin. 

Even MORE interesting is what the OT actors who also were in the PT thought of the Prequels. As Evan1975 already showed with Anthony Daniels, even he, a constant of the entire "saga", has negative words against the PT, which I personally found shocking!  I feel that Ian McDiarmid mostly enjoyed his greater (and arguably more "serious") role in the PT than his one film appearance in "Jedi".  Deep down, I reckon that Frank Oz probably didn't enjoy the PT as much, since he lost the physical acting aspect with the move from the puppet Yoda to his CGI "successor" after TPM (and now the Yoda puppet in I has been erased in the vein of Sebastian Shaw's Old Anakin and Clive Revil's Original Emperor!).  

-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars.  Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me? 

-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.  

-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten! 

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I'm not sure being a fan of the franchise is a requirement. Several Star Trek actors aren't exactly into it beyond the work they put in on their respective series.

Some actors never even watch the finished film they appear in. As much as we might love a character they potray, to the actors it's often "just a job".

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Where were you in '77?

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 (Edited)

Ewan McGregor has always been pretty upfront that he thought the prequels weren't as good as the originals. He's gotten in trouble a couple times because of this.

Terrence Stamp bashed Episode I. It seems he expected to actually be acting, instead of reciting lines to a wooden post in a blue screen stage.

Liam Neeson was so upset after the preview of Episode I he ranted that he was giving up acting forever because he couldn't stand the crappy movies he was being put in (that year, he was in both The Haunting AND Episode I). He later reconsidered.

Hayden Christensen has been very diplomatic, but he's said that he didn't get the script for Episode II until the week before filming and he was really worried that he wouldn't be able to make it believable. According to a less reported anecdote--but highly believable one--his reaction to a friend was "I'm fucked." And he was.

Interesting that Daniels would have negatives views. In mean, understable, and he's always had a sort of "complicated" love/hate relationship with the series, but I hadn't heard him be completely honest before.

 

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Never do bloated CGI heavy adaptations of novels Robert Wise already made a better movie out of, I always say. ;)

Terrance Stamp was pretty much wasted in a bit part.

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Where were you in '77?

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Fang Zei said:

Back in September of '04, I distinctly remember my roommate and I catching something on vh1 called "When Star Wars Ruled the World."

Anyway, another thing they bring up in the last moments is, of course, the prequels. Now, remember this was a vh1 documentary and, as such, had very quick back-and-forth sound bridge editing, but Mark Hamill definitely says (and I'll try and type this the way it sounded) "I saw the new movies, aaaaaaand, they're not Star Wars."

I wish I could just find the clip somewhere to show you guys so you could actually hear how he says it. He doesn't have a harsh tone in his voice or anything, quite the opposite. There's that very cautious way he says "aaaaaaand" like he's thinking "oh, I don't want to piss anyone off with what I'm about to say." The way he says "they're not Star Wars" is as gentle as can be.

Poke around YouTube.  I've seen pieces of the show posted there.

My outlook on life - we’re all on the Hindenburg anyway…no point fighting over the window seat.

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zombie84 said:

Ewan McGregor has always been pretty upfront that he thought the prequels weren't as good as the originals. He's gotten in trouble a couple times because of this.

Interesting that Daniels would have negatives views. In mean, understable, and he's always had a sort of "complicated" love/hate relationship with the series, but I hadn't heard him be completely honest before.

Terrence Stamp bashed Episode I. It seems he expected to actually be acting, instead of reciting lines to a wooden post in a blue screen stage.

Liam Neeson was so upset after the preview of Episode I he ranted that he was giving up acting forever because he couldn't stand the crappy movies he was being put in (that year, he was in both The Haunting AND Episode I). He later reconsidered.

Hayden Christensen has been very diplomatic, but he's said that he didn't get the script for Episode II until the week before filming and he was really worried that he wouldn't be able to make it believable. According to a less reported anecdote--but highly believable one--his reaction to a friend was "I'm fucked." And he was.

"Look at the moons!"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z08pO0nDCPA

I like when he laughs at the title of Ep II. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwL8wlBMflA

Those tidbits about Neeson and Christensen are interesting.

“Grow up. These are my Disney's movies, not yours.”

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darth_ender said:

That article leads me to wonder what bridges exactly did Prowse burn?  He claims to have been unaware of the "I am your father" secret until the film's premiere, yet Lucas supposedly cut off most contact after he leaked that secret.  I know first instinct here is to accuse Lucas of being paranoid, selfish, egotistical, or whatnot, but does anyone really know why Prowse was cut off?  This question probably merits its own thread, but I don't feel like starting one.

 

Theres actually an untold story about Prowse that I haven't seen on the net before and was related to me from a friend who helped on the Men Behind the Masks tour, a convention tour of Prowse, Bullock, Kenny Baker, Mahew etc that happened during the mid 90s.  This came from a conversation with the other cast members.

Prowse as you known was fond of talking to the press but there was a female member of the press (he may not have known she was press) he had taken a fancy too.  So he decided to take her on the tour of the set, the carbon freezing chamber set!

Now before Empire came out, the real big secret of the film wasn't so much the Luke/Father aspect, but that Han Solo doesn't make it to the end of the film.  Somebody caught Prowse bringing this women to the set and the rest is history.

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I also heard that there was a falling out between Ray Park and Lucas.  Supposedly he had voiced opposition to perceived racism in TPM and Lucas then axed him as fight choreographer from the following prequels.

Heard similar things about the guy that played Captain Panaka.  That he found Jar Jar racist and refused to be in AOTC.

But I never found anything in print to verify that. 

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I know there were some pictures of the carbon freeze chamber printed before the movie was out. Whether they were officially sanctioned I have no idea.

IIRC, there was mention in the Alan Arnold making of book about someone at the lab making stills from the dailies, and selling them to the press.

Empire was supposed to be a closed set with tight security. Somebody dropped the ball if Prowse walked in with an unknown woman on his arm and admitted her. Then again, Prowse is a pretty imposing fellow!

Was Han getting frozen actually leaked to the press?

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Where were you in '77?

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Ray Park didn't do the fight choreography, Nick Gillard did, and he continued in the following two films.

Captain Panaka dude wanted too much money to come back. This is what I remember TFN reporting back in the day. The Star Wars films have never operated like normal films would--where a returning actor likely would be paid more. So they wrote him out and replaced him with a character that is...his brother or something? I forget what the explanation was. But he looks and acts similar, except he isn't the same guy, technically.

Interesting story about David Prowse. The story I've heard is simply that he gave away a couple seemingly harmless tidbits, but he wasn't even supposed to be doing that. He does have an ego and is also a bit self-promotional, and I guess he just got on Lucas' bad side.

Personally though--what's the point of all the secrecy when you release the novelization of every single Star Wars film in April? People who want to know all the secrets will have been given them by Lucasfilm 6 weeks before the films open.

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Fang Zei said:


Back in September of '04, I distinctly remember my roommate and I catching something on vh1 called "When Star Wars Ruled the World." As you might've guessed from the timing, it was all an excuse to (albeit quickly) pimp the dvd set in the last moments (Ben Burtt says something like "oh, I'm looking forward to the dvd release, just because of the quality").

Anyway, another thing they bring up in the last moments is, of course, the prequels. Now, remember this was a vh1 documentary and, as such, had very quick back-and-forth sound bridge editing, but Mark Hamill definitely says (and I'll try and type this the way it sounded) "I saw the new movies, aaaaaaand, they're not Star Wars."

I wish I could just find the clip somewhere to show you guys so you could actually hear how he says it. He doesn't have a harsh tone in his voice or anything, quite the opposite. There's that very cautious way he says "aaaaaaand" like he's thinking "oh, I don't want to piss anyone off with what I'm about to say." The way he says "they're not Star Wars" is as gentle as can be.

Like I said, all of this goes by in like two seconds, but afterwards you process what you heard and you're like "...... MARK HAMILL said the prequels AREN'T STAR WARS." Obviously they're weren't any hard feelings from George. I mean, the guy invited him to Celebration V. In fact, I might just be reading too much into Mark's comment.

And who knows what he thought of ROTS!?


That's weird because I have that on DVD and I don't recall him saying that. I'll have to check it out again, I suppose. :-/

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I remember Harrison Ford making one comment about the Prequels in the VH1 Special, "When Star Wars Ruled the World" in 2004. He said (I am paraphrasing), "And now George is making the new trilogy, or the unfunny trilogy!" As he smirks.....

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 (Edited)

I took the oot actors comments on the sw prequels in the same way i did the original trek actors and their  thoughts on star trek the next generation.

Some of whom later confessed next gen was a good series in its own right, but i wonder how many did that so Paramount would not cut them off as they made money doing the convention circuit.

Mark Hamill was right  the prequels are not genuine star wars movies.

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