What do you think of The Prequel Trilogy? A general discussion. — Page 20

The prequels complete the story, and I think Revenge of the Sith is easily the best Star Wars film. I’m as obsessed with them as I ever was with the originals. The amount of visual connections they make to the originals enhance both trilogies, and the originals take on so much more thematic meaning and emotional impact as a result of it all. TPM is always where I start my Star Wars rewatches, because it sets the stage for everything that follows. From that story through to the end of RoTS, there’s an increasing sense of dread looming in the distance as I can’t help but feel the inevitable tragedy coming closer and closer. The sadness of that is endlessly captivating, and the little taste of hope right at the very end spurs me to continue on and make it to the happy ending at the other end of the circle. Because of these prequels, the saga becomes almost like a loop I can travel through over and over.

If nothing else, I’m just happy they were allowed to be made in such an uncompromisingly personal way. They don’t follow the conventions of modern storytelling in films at all, and for that they’re precious and timeless (though I think this sentiment does apply to the original trilogy as well).

You know, I don’t think Darth Vader really should be depicted as agile in the cybernetic suit. Vader in the OT - particularly during the ESB duel - was more like this methodical, slow-moving, unstoppable force that just keeps slowly advancing forward. I know people won’t like the comparison, but I think Vader was somewhat designed to invoke similar fears that someone might experience watching horror movie icons like Jason Vorhees or Michael Meyers just silently walking forward like an unstoppable hulking mass. Rogue One certainly capitalized on this aspect of Vader’s aesthetic. I mean, Vader basically lives in a dark tower on a Mordor planet - an idea going back to the 1970s, pre-dating Rogue One by decades. He was never meant to be agile like Darth Maul. He’s meant to be a slow, imposing, unstoppable hulk. These physical mechanics are inextricably tied to the design of his suit.

^ I guess the problem everyone noticed is that Prequel Anakin is just so different. Hayden Christensen’s physique and lightsaber swordplay is really not suggestive of Vader in any way. Hence, the emergence of this idea that the cybernetics fundamentally limited Vader’s movement - an idea that seems kind of absurd given the existence of things like General Grievous. Or forget Grievous - we have an 80 year old Count Dooku doing backflips. Even Yoda in ESB had very limited physical mobility, but was implied to be extraordinarily powerful.

But I guess Force powers in Star Wars constantly waver between the mental and physical, causing a lot of thematic dissonance. Yoda can lift small starships with his mind, but Jedi training also includes learning space fencing and space kung fu. You’d think being able to lift a multi-ton metal X-wing with your mind would imply mastery over physical forces that would enable you to kill anyone instantly, thus making martial arts or lightsabers mostly useless. Star Wars tries to justify the sword fighting with this implied rule that two Force users can’t necessarily just kill each other with the Force. But Vader as a villain/monster was designed for an environment where no other Force users exist, so he works better as a hulking monster than a master swordsman who does backflips.

I’ll admit when I first saw “The Phantom Menace”, I was very surprised to see that Lucas chose to begin that trilogy with a 9-year-old Anakin as a slave boy. Initially the idea seemed rather strange, but when the moment came where he has to leave Shmi behind, and then his following interrogation by the Jedi Council, I had a general idea of how the new master plan was going to unfold. What I didn’t expect was Lucas going so far as having Anakin kill Younglings (that struck me as overkill, pardon the pun), but thankfully he kept it off-screen to maintain a lower rating…at least for the time.

I’ve heard the prequel bashers repeatedly condemn the love story between Anakin & Padme, but I don’t think they’re looking at it from the right perspective. Just as the tone of the original trilogy was modeled on the serials of the 1950s, Lucas went back even further and chose to model the prequels’ style on stories from the 1930s. So while it is a little cheesy, that’s by deliberate design. And besides that, stop to really think for a moment: what was your first love experience like? Were you confident and strong, sure that you knew exactly how to handle everything, and how it would all turn out? My personal guess is that for 99% of people in the world, their honest answer would be “no”. Anakin started off as an insecure slave who wanted to become a Jedi so he could save his fellow slaves, especially his mother. But once he joins the Jedi Order, his would-be master dies because of a Sith apprentice, and Obi-Wan takes up that duty. But hard as he tried, Kenobi was more of a stern brother to Anakin, who really needed a loving and supportive father figure. If he hadn’t been murdered, Qui-Gon would’ve been that for the boy.

Ten years pass, and not only has Anakin gone through all the changes of puberty with the emotions to accompany them, he’s also suffering nightmarish visions of his mother back on Tatooine. His desperation to save her drives him to defy the Council’s orders, and he makes it to Shmi barely in time for her to die in his arms. This is the catalyst for what will ultimately end with him being “more machine than man”, as he allows his rage to take over to him slaughtering the entire Tusken Raider camp. He feels remorse later, and Padme tries to comfort him, but he still fears a loss of total control. His words to Padme prove it: “I’m a Jedi. I know I’m better than this.” And then later, when burying Shmi, he makes a personal vow: “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, Mom…but I promise I won’t fail again.”

Flash forward another three years, and not only has Anakin become a full Jedi Knight, he is now one of the most heralded leaders in the Clone Wars. Beings from across the galaxy have dubbed him “The Hero Without Fear”, but in fact the reverse is true: he still carries plenty of it inside of him. And when his nightmares return regarding his secret wife Padme (a fact he longer wants to keep from others) start to haunt him, he seeks out the worst person imaginable for advice: Chancellor Palpatine. Upon hearing the legend of “Darth Plagueis the Wise”, Anakin is slowly convinced the only way to save Padme and their unborn child is to abandon the Jedi way of life, and surrender to the Dark Side. But his decision costs him dearly, as he loses his friendship with Obi-Wan, becomes a mass murderer, loses the majority of his body in the flames of Mustafar, and is finally led to believe that he killed his own wife and kid.

Regarding “Revenge of the Sith” and Anakin’s fate in general, George Lucas once described it as “Star Wars Goes to Hell”, and I definitely see his point. Its an epic tragedy of a man who keeps losing one thing and person after another, until all that’s left is enslavement to a sadistic Emperor who cares for no one else. Its only when Luke is tortured nearly to death by the Emperor for refusing to kill his own father, that Anakin musters enough strength to destroy the man who held him prisoner for over 20 years. And it was all because his son showed him the value of sacrifice, refusing to accept the darkness even to spare someone else he loved.

Was he all torn up about the death of his child if he gloats to Luke about him having a twin and wants to turn her to the darkside in Return of the Jedi. He let Luke fall from Cloud city and cut off his hand in Empire. Dad of the year material clearly. The prequel tries to make him sympathetic and fails.

The only time I liked him in the prequel was in Phantom Menace he was not whining or acting petulantly, he was kind and generous. He was heroic. The Hayden portrayal ruins him.

He never is shown as a good friend or good star pilot. Never a cunning warrior, there is no zeal to join the Clone Wars he never was even given a choice. He was taken as a child.

The Anakin not being smooth because he is an awkward young man who grew up around celibate monks, who expressly forbid attachment is on point though. As is the arrogance of the other Jedi projected on him because they believe he is the chosen one and he has taken that to heart. Much is expected of him, and he isn’t allowed to grow up normally.

Moviefan2k4 said:

I’ve heard the prequel bashers repeatedly condemn the love story between Anakin & Padme, but I don’t think they’re looking at it from the right perspective. Just as the tone of the original trilogy was modeled on the serials of the 1950s, Lucas went back even further and chose to model the prequels’ style on stories from the 1930s. So while it is a little cheesy, that’s by deliberate design. And besides that, stop to really think for a moment: what was your first love experience like? Were you confident and strong, sure that you knew exactly how to handle everything, and how it would all turn out? My personal guess is that for 99% of people in the world, their honest answer would be “no”.

That’s one way to look at it, and a common positive spin from those who enjoyed the Prequels. But the obvious snarky response is that this is basically a nicer way of saying “it sucks, but it sucks because of an intentional artistic decision, therefore, it doesn’t suck.”

The OT was modeled after the sci-fi/adventure serials of the 1930/40s (not 1950s necessarily), but it was never quite as cheesy as those black and white serials. Star Wars 1977 made more concessions to sci-fi as a genre than the old 1930s serials ever did, and elevated the material with break-through special effects and a fantastic cast. The Prequels, on the other hand, simply ported some of the dialogue conventions of classical romance as an homage (and as stylistic “sauce” to cover up the bad taste of Lucas’ self-admitted inability to write natural dialogue). So, while the Prequel dialogue was obviously modeled after certain conventions of classic cinema, it’s still grating to watch regardless.

^ Yeah, I mean, those 1930s/1940s actors were trained to enunciate in that style. When Natalie Portman does it in her bland modern American accent it just sounds horrible. She sounds like people I went to school with struggling badly with a school play. (I’m also from Long Island.) I’ve heard that the Prequels are a lot easier on the ears for people who don’t speak English as a first language. But Natalie Portman is a fantastic actress in other films, so clearly she wasn’t receiving any direction here and Lucas obviously saw nothing wrong with her performance or he just didn’t care.