Another problem with the Plinkett reviews is that they made people forget about the suppression of the original versions and think that the prequels were fans’ only grevience with Lucas, so Disney felt a lot of pressure to make sequels that didn’t resemble the prequels and no pressure to release the original versions of the movies. I wish Plinkett reviwed the Special Editions in additon to the prequels.
I don’t think we can be sure that the popularity of these reviews led to the ‘play it safe’ nature of the TFA. Mr Plinkett did state in his Star Trek 2009 review that J.J. should direct them though. Disney probably just read the general mood of the fandom at that stage. To test this theory he needs to do a 70-minute video about the state of the Special Edition changes, and we know he’s not a fan because of that interview with Alexandre Philippe.
I rewatched the TPM review last night, and criticism of the SEs are right there, with mention of all the needless CG shit Lucas inserted to fill up the screen.
Gods for some, miniature libertarian socialist flags for others.
In his TPM review, Plinkett said, “I don’t care if it’s explained in a book because I can’t read”, yet when Episode VII was announced, some EU fans were hoping that it would begin where the EU timeline ended and argued that if anyone was confused by all the EU characters and Chewie being dead, they should read the EU books, and I was thinking, “but Plinkett can’t read”.
In his TPM review, Plinkett said, “I don’t care if it’s explained in a book because I can’t read”, yet when Episode VII was announced, some EU fans were hoping that it would begin where the EU timeline ended and argued that if anyone was confused by all the EU characters and Chewie being dead, they should read the EU books, and I was thinking, “but Plinkett can’t read”.
Well, I don’t know how to read either, so I understand Plinkett’s frustration. But I feel like the backstory for Episode 7 is basically equally as removed from where Episode 6 left off as the EU, such that it requires the same amount of backstory explanation as the EU anyway, so there’s really little difference.
I mean, what’s the difference between requiring background info about “Intergalactic bio-tech aliens ransack Galaxy, a moon falls on Chewie, Han & Leia have kids, etc.” vs. “New Empire led by new Palpatine rip-off appears, Han & Leia have evil son, Luke is depressing now, Han is a smuggler again, a ‘Resistance’ exists for some reason, etc.”
I mean the Episode 7 backstory basically requires the same amount of homework anyway in order to make sense of what’s presented in the movie, so it probably would have made little difference if Disney actually just kept the EU and dropped the audience off in the middle of it some time after the Yuzhaan Vong (too lazy to Google correct spelling) f’d up the entire galaxy.
i dont like them there are some jokes about rape and a lot of women sexualization in it i know there are in the movies but that is not excuse
idk
I rewatched them about a month ago. There’s some good jokes and I agree with some of their points. Before those videos I hadn’t really seen a long form review of a movie like that, so it was very new at the time. Also the first time I saw them I didn’t really understand why people hated the prequels so much, so seeing those reviews helped me understand the criticisms. I do enjoy a lot of Red Letter Media videos, although I think they can be too cynical sometimes.
All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph!
Some great criticism presented in mostly funny ways. They’ve aged poorly in places but still hold up as solid video essays beyond the extreme character. RLM have really built a solid brand in the years since. I enjoy their reviews and Best Of The Worst series.
Probably paved the way for a lot of youtubers and long form video content. At the same time I think Plinkett inspired a bunch of dreadful imposters who do the act without the self-awareness. That is unfortunate.
I thought the work put into the reviews and breakdowns of each film per video showed a true passion for the franchise, which is respectable. Very thorough analyses of the prequels, while still being really funny. And the Revenge of Nadine was the cherry on top. RLM is run by people with actual filmmaking experience, and as a result, the quality/craft of those videos were far higher than anything on youtube at the time. The only other reviews of the prequels I though were comparable were from Confused Matthew.