Prequels or Sequels; Which do you prefer - and why? — Page 2

The Sequels for me too. For much of the same reasons given on the previous page by others here.

They are just more fun movies to watch, that doesn’t make them actually fun to watch, but they are more fun to watch than the Prequels. The story is obviously unplanned as a Trilogy when you get to TROS, yet overall it is simply more engaging a Trilogy overall. With a feel and tone more in line with the OT - and unlike the Prequels, the Sequels don’t go out of its way to have baffling discrepancies and contradictions to the OT films.

And thankfully nobody thought the Original Trilogy should be changed further to make it fit in more with a new later Trilogy! lol That small but growing number of toxic and abusive Prequel fans really put those Special Edition fanatics from years ago to shame.
 

With better cinematography and settings, better writing overall, more energy throughout, better acting, more relatable characters with believable choices and actions, set design with better use of CGI and blending in with the sets, better editing (TROS ‘breakneck’ feeling apart). It had grit, tone, atmosphere, and actual stakes. Four things the Prequels sorely lacked. As well as featuring the OT main three characters, as disappointing as it was not to have all three together on screen at the same time, one last time.
 

I wouldn’t watch either Trilogy given the choice. For me, Andor, Visions, Rogue One, Solo (Han Shoots First!), and Bad Batch are all more preferable and more enjoyable to watch.

I agree with pretty much everything Caston said; I’d pick the sequels too. I don’t “like” any of these; but my favorite movie after the originals is the Force Awakens(It’s much lower though), and I like that way more than I like any of the sequels. The middle episode is the low point for both trilogies, and it’s an insanely low point.

The prequels are more damaging overall also, for the reasons mentioned above(the stupid changes made in 2004 to better “fit” the originals with them) and just the fact they were supposed to be the important backstory. Episodes 7,8 and 9 can very easily be ignored. But like it or not, Empire has Episode V in its opening and VI in Jedi. (Depends which version you watch for SW, even prior to the special editions)

Also, I really hate how George Lucas tried to reframe the saga as “The Tragedy of Darth Vader” when the originals were clearly written for Luke to be the main character. This isn’t a big thing for which trilogy I prefer, merely a reason I hate the prequels and what they did to the series.

Both trilogies ruin a lot of characters, so I’m not sure which is the biggest offender. My head tells me the new ones, but because the prequels take place before the originals, I’m inclined to say those.

Six or seven years ago, I may have gone with the sequels, as they were still coming out, and I would’ve pointed to the overall superior acting, darker tone, more practical effects/more seamless CGI, and the presence of Hamil/Ford/Fisher. But now, with over three years having passed since the end of the sequel trilogy, I find myself not feeling that much when I look back on that trilogy.

With the prequels, despite their numerous and obvious flaws(wooden acting, at times poor dialogue, questionable pacing, overuse of CGI, rushed plot movements, continuity errors with the OT), there are still things about them that excite me to this day, 24 years after TPM and 18 years after ROTS.

1. Despite the subpar execution, there IS a compelling story being told throughout the trilogy: the story of a Jedi falling to the dark side, and the story of a man manipulating a Democracy into kneecapping itself and handing him the power to transform it into a fascist dictatorship, while using said Jedi to accomplish this task. This story is compelling enough that it still motivates people to try to salvage/fix/improve it via fan edits two decades later. The story told in in the ST was compromised by the lack of a single vision at the top. I wonder if people will care enough about the ST story twenty years from now to still be making fan edits of it.

2. The Sequels showed many new worlds/planets, but some of them were obvious retreads of worlds we already know(there is little to distinguish Jakku and Pasaana from Tatooine, Crait[and to some extent Ahch-To] are love letters to Hoth, and Takodana[forest planet from TFA where Rey gets taken] feels a lot like Endor) and the ones that aren’t weren’t defined or fleshed out enough to be very memorable. The Prequels gave us a handful of new, immediately recognizable locations in SW lore. The forest planet of Naboo(home planet to Padme and Palps and site of the Trade Federation dispute), Coruscant(cyber-punk city planet, government capital, home of the Jedi), Kamino(obscure water planet where the Clone Army was created), Geonosis(Separatist headquarters), Mustafaar(fire planet, location of Obi-Wan/Anakin dual). Even the Wookie planet of Kashyyk and Utapu(where Obi-wan fights Grevious) are memorable. The world-building in the prequels is just much better. (To be fair, I will say the one really interesting and well-defined new planet from the ST was Canto Bright. It didn’t fit the TLJ, it felt like something from a different film, an unnecessary distraction, but it was a genuinely interesting world that I could totally see as the setting of D+ series or EU novels or something.)

3. The Prequels have a bunch of genuinely iconic visuals - the Pod Race, the Dual Of The Fates, Maul’s character design, Queen Amidala’s costumes, the silhouette of Anakin and Padme kissing as they’re moved into the arena on Geonosis, the Clone Army marching at the end of AOTC, Anakin with the two sabers on either side of Dooku’s head, the Order 66 montage, the Obi-Wan/Anakin Dual, the mask being put on Vader’s head for the first time, etc. Apart from any questionable dialogue or plot points any of these things might entail, they are visually, in terms of cinematography, classic, indelible images that stick in your(or at least my) mind. I struggle to think of any equally iconic visual moments from the ST, off the top of my head.

4. The Prequels introduced three indispensable pieces of music to the SW canon - Dual Of The Fates, Across The Stars(Anakin/Padme theme), and Battle Of Heroes. Anakin’s Betrayal and Padme’s Ruminations are good too. I honestly can’t, off the top of my head, think of any new, classic piece of music from the ST.

5. The Prequels introduced a handful of memorable new characters - Qui-gon is one of my favorite characters of the whole saga(and Neeson’s performance is the best of the prequels for me), Chancellor Palpatine is an interesting character when he’s not too over-the-top campy(I know he’s not really new, but we only saw The Emperor in ROTJ), and Maul - even though he’s a costume more than a character - is awesome. Also, the fact that people have complained for two decades about Christopher Lee/Dooku not getting more screen time is a good argument that he too was a good character. Finally, I may be in minority, but when the deleted scenes(addressing the senate, her family on Naboo, the negotiation with Dooku, the Rebel Alliance stuff in ROTS) are taken into consideration, I think Padme is a compelling character too. Even Windu - though there’s a little too much SLJ in him - plays an important role as the most hardline against Anakin and the conservative counterpoint to Qui-Gon’s maverick. I think the only genuinely memorable new character from the ST was Kylo and even he is very flawed, despite Driver’s great performance. Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, and Domhnall Gleeson were all wasted, imo.

I’m not as down on the Sequels as all that makes it sound, but with a few years’ distance, this is how I feel. OT over both though.

The Sequel Trilogy for me also. For pretty much the reasons Caston did above, and others previously highlighted on the 1st page. WookieeWarrior77 makes a solid point too about the OT being changed so the Prequels fit better, and are more damaging to the OT. Changing the OT made little sense, other than it being a “free test” for the coming Prequels, and a poor and lazy attempt to “tie them together” after in 2004. Although it did remind me how jarring the PT was in comparison, as well as half-assed ideas such as introducing the “Chosen One” prophecy and “midichlorians”, the countless and needless contradictions featured in them.

The Sequels didn’t really do that nearly as much, or have such a negative effect. Sure, far too many mystery boxes and unanswered questions, and lack of overall cohesion, but didn’t take me out of the films in the way the Prequels do. Maybe the ST is just more “meh”, empty, less substance? The ST did makes more of an effort to continue on from the OT, which PT certainly didn’t even attempt to gel with half as much.

Those racial stereotypes in the PT too, man, they really do stand out. Cinema can date badly, but those 3 films were made in the last 25 years. Speaking of dating badly, many of those “dense” PT effects could do with being reworked. Time for a “Special Edition” of the Prequels, as has been suggested in other threads? The ST too. I’ll stick with the fan edits for if I ever want to watch either trilogy again.

Someone elsewhere on here made an interesting point: since TROS finished up the third trilogy, the Prequels are now only one third of the whole “Saga”, whereas before they were obviously a half, and so were simply more focused on beforehand? For some of us, instead of half the Saga being bafflingly and disappointingly poor in comparison to the OT, it is closer to two-thirds? Simple, but likely something to that?
 

I’ll echo what has already been said in this thread: the Sequels over the Prequels for me too, but would also prefer to watch Andor, 2003 Clone Wars, R1, Visions, later Bad Batch and Rebels, than either the ST or PT. I’m hoping the coming Acolyte series joins that list.

Prequels, it introduced so much that is SW now. The PT had cohesive story, knew where it was going. The Sequels had potential and I like TFA, TLJ, but TROS I have to turn my brain off and ignore how insipid it is.

Prequels for me.

Prequels are fun to think about but not as fun to watch.

Sequels are not fun to think, but still fun to watch (for me, at least).

So I prefer the sequels.