Honestly, to describe the current trend, the prequels are “trendy” and “cool” now but not as great filmmaking. Whether it’s as a guilty pleasure, or “so bad it’s good”, or analyzing and breaking them down, or justifying them, or just liking them flaws and all, or whatever - a good chunk of these millennials are enjoying them for what they are in a much more honest way than those who attack the ST/OT in defense of them.
You’d be surprised at how much terrible stuff from those movies have become a part of the cultural consciousness. They’ve made almost every line in those films quotable and memorable through memes. Jar Jar, Watto, Sebulba, and the Nemoidians are iconic for how ridiculous and stupid they are.
And the weird thing is, they’re not laughing at the movies. They genuinely adore them in a way that’s hard to explain, almost in spite of those flaws. Because of them, kind of.
What’s “cool” to them is the notion that you aren’t letting general “uptightness” ruin your nostalgic feelings from when you were kid, but taking the films as they are. I think a lot of it has to do with the shift in “cool” as a word going from outspoken and edgy to chill and spontaneous. Idk how much of it has to do with stoner overtaking punk, but it’s there. And not to mention, that in an age where everyone and their mother is a pseudo-film-scholar, being able to do write-ups about something objectively bad and getting interesting material out of it is just what is considered fun now.
It’s definitely a waste of time and energy, but young people are maturing much later in life. “30 is the new 20” as they say. And people in their 20’s are what drive current trends in pop culture and the internet. Being a geek doesn’t have a negative connotation, and liking something unpopular is just “in.” I’m all for it honestly. Aside from the troll we’ll definitely feed here or there, I think it’s pretty harmless.
…
This is not everyone who likes the prequels of course, but I think it’s why it’s more accepted in mainstream now in recent years to say you like them.
If you like the prequels, that’s cool. It can be a little awkward on a site devoted to the original films
Why ? Without the OT there can be no PT (and most PT fans I know are just SW fans, they love every single movie… but they still think the OT to be superior 😃).
(and the most interesting subforum of this site is the one devoted to fanedits, especially PT fanedits)
You’ve obviously never shouted Go Packers! in a room full of fans of the opposite team. 😉
Where were you in '77?
How was there a gif from “The Car Hater” and I didn’t know about it??
This is becoming more of a trend for people to say. I think it’s a combination of the passage of time and the Disneycation of all Star Wars materials.
I never felt the prequels were horrible in every way-particularly since most everything was fleshed out or smoothed over by EU material.
VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader
The pesky whipper-snappers who grew up on crap like Twilight and Harry Potter moved into other fandoms. Since they are easy to please the creators have little incentive to make good stuff when they can half ass any old garbage and make the bucks. They ruined Doctor Who and they tried to ruin Star Wars.
What the hell do you have against Harry Potter? Also, I have a Chrome plugin that replaces the word “millenial” with “pesky whipper-snappers”, so ignore the edit.
The generation that grew up with these films has grown up and wants to prove that the films they loved when they were younger are still good. People have a hard time liking things that they think are bad. I for one think that TPM is a bad movie but I love it regardless. Not a fan of the other two, though.
Get a picture of a rancid gungan. Headline, “When Did The Star Wars Prequels Become Cool?!”
Some gungans got rancid?
Yousa might’n be sayin dat.
Rogue One is redundant. Just play the first mission of DARK FORCES.
The hallmark of a corrupt leader: Being surrounded by yes men.
‘The best visual effects in the world will not compensate for a story told badly.’ - V.E.S.
‘Star Wars is a buffet, enjoy the stuff you want, and leave the rest.’ - SilverWook
They never became cool. The problem with the prequels are: they came out at a time of a whole new generation of fans. The newer generation won’t appreciate the original trilogy like we do and we see the prequels as a desperate attempt for George Lucas to make a little money.
They never became cool. The problem with the prequels are: they came out at a time of a whole new generation of fans. The newer generation won’t appreciate the original trilogy like we do and we see the prequels as a desperate attempt for George Lucas to make a little money.
The PT covered pretty much the majority of my childhood, and I’ve always preferred the OT. All of my friends at school did. I think we were too young to really care about old vs new. Granted the SE did make the OT seem much newer (I was the only kid that owned a copy of the OOT). But I don’t think that appreciation of the OT is the problem, and you definitely didn’t need to have experienced them in the 70’s/80’s to prefer them over the PT. Maybe it was unique to my experience, but my classmates enjoyed the OT and “old” films like the Indiana Jones movies just as much as we enjoyed current film series like the PT, LOTR, POTC, etc.
Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.
I think there’s something inherently stupid about the idea that everything holds up over time as long as you watched it at a young age, and by the same token inferring that young people can’t appreciate films that are older than they are. Kids buy into all kinds of garbage, that’s just part of life. Fads pass and franchises gather dust. But generally people mature and develop a taste for things that are well written and well acted, the key ingredients in any sort of lasting cinema whether it’s a landmark or not.
Arguing that there is actually some kind of hidden quality to a series that is panned for the most obvious reasons is laughable, like all these other pointless top 10s that make such absurd claims, which are about as ridiculous as that ring theory gibberish. If you like bad movies then just have some dignity and say it instead of writing sellout articles and pandering to fanatics.
^Doing ridiculous, dumb things is fun though, and I think that’s what a lot of people are missing. You start turning it into a lecture about “dignity” or “film appreciation” in the traditional sense, and you just miss the point.
We’re in a meme-loving, internet age with irony being almost every millennial’s favorite thing. The fact that the prequels are panned and are considered bad films, just makes them want to like the prequels more. It’s all in spite of the reception the prequels got, and “how” they should think and feel as adults, that compels them to exercise their creative mental gymnastics with analyses and headcanons, or continue to make elements of those films prevalent in pop culture.
https://www.redditgifts.com/exchanges/manage/#/exchange/prequel-memes-2017/
Quote: “Join fellow Prequel fans in exchanging gifts representative of the Star Wars prequels. Finally, you will take the high ground to send and receive happiness around the universe.”
By the way there is still something quite weird about the “take the high ground” joke and meme, because it means “to be better” (I saw it in French back in 2005, “j’ai le dessus Anakin”, which means exactly that) and seems to have been taken litterally as “I stand on a higher ground as you do so I win”. As if to mock the PT dialogues there was a need to even make fun of something that is not that ridiculous.
Not related to that but to the topic there is something very cool about the PT, and it’s called Clone Wars (and some parts of The Clone Wars as well).
^Doing ridiculous, dumb things is fun though, and I think that’s what a lot of people are missing. You start turning it into a lecture about “dignity” or “film appreciation” in the traditional sense, and you just miss the point.
Sure, for dumb teens posting “I am the Senate” jokes or whatever. They’ll get over it. But this was supposedly a journalist writing a real article, so they are supposed to be making a better argument than the same old re-digested shite. Then again ScreenRant is a joke, so what can you really say.
there is something very cool about the PT, and it’s called Clone Wars
Only if you think boring videogame cutscenes are cool.
I think there’s something inherently stupid about the idea that everything holds up over time as long as you watched it at a young age, and by the same token inferring that young people can’t appreciate films that are older than they are. Kids buy into all kinds of garbage, that’s just part of life. Fads pass and franchises gather dust. But generally people mature and develop a taste for things that are well written and well acted, the key ingredients in any sort of lasting cinema whether it’s a landmark or not.
This.
I was born in '87. I watched and liked the prequels when they were still relatively new. I also used to watch and like a great many movies and TV shows I now look back on as unadulterated crap (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show; Mutant X; most of Andromeda; the Friday the 13th movies; etc.). Conversely, I also love a great many films I never would’ve appreciated in my teens (most anything by Ingmar Bergman, for one). While it does hurt to an extent to see something I once dearly loved turn to shit with the passage of time, I don’t feel any need to pretend that it isn’t shit.
there is something very cool about the PT, and it’s called Clone Wars
Only if you think boring videogame cutscenes are cool.
Eh, for once I have to agree with Mala. TCW (the TV show, not the movie) is actually good is spite of its source material.
Because of the poor way she worded it, I thought she was referring to the parts shown in AOTC and ROTS.
Because of the poor way she worded it, I thought she was referring to the parts shown in AOTC and ROTS.
You can’t read properly you angry old man 😄
Stop making a fool of yourself and go have a rest 😉
By the way there is still something quite weird about the “take the high ground” joke and meme, because it means “to be better” (I saw it in French back in 2005, “j’ai le dessus Anakin”, which means exactly that) and seems to have been taken litterally as “I stand on a higher ground as you do so I win”. As if to mock the PT dialogues there was a need to even make fun of something that is not that ridiculous.
Not related to that but to the topic there is something very cool about the PT, and it’s called Clone Wars (and some parts of The Clone Wars as well).
I’m not entirely sure I understood your comment about the high ground, but I think you’re saying that the phrase “take the high ground” is a metaphor for being better or superior and that it’s laughable that in RoTS it seems to be used literally? But in truth, the metaphorical meaning of the phrase comes from the literal meaning of the words; specifically in reference to combat. In combat (ancient or modern, one-on-one or army vs army) being higher than your opponent has a great many advantages. It’s why castles are almost always built on hills or cliffs. Obi-wan absolutely meant it literally when he said it to Anakin.
Thanks for the explanations from the prequel gang. I don’t always understand it but I appreciate it. And it’s awesome.
I still like The Phantom Menace. The Gungan city, the saber fights, the Jedi in general, Obi-Wan. All wonderful Flash Gordon fun.
I cannot watch II and III. My kids like Clone Wars so I keep thinking I’ll show them the prequels. Can’t. Do. It.
So don’t be quite so fast to dismiss prequel love as just nostalgia. IMHO.
I am totally annoyed that we have hundreds of episodes of a show featuring prequel main characters, but OT characters can only be “very special guest stars” on Rebels. PT fans have no idea how good they have it. 😉
– Bill
Never tell me the odds.
I’ve softened on the prequels ever since the new movies started coming out. When it looked like the series was over forever it seemed like a bigger deal, but now that Star Wars movies are going to continue indefinitely, I’m not bothered by three of them being pretty bad, in much the same way that I don’t get angry about a bad James Bond or Star Trek movie.
I don’t think that they are even very bad. They just aren’t… Good. Sure some of the dialogue is awful, but there’s worse. It’s bad enough to keep them from being good, but not so bad that it makes them terrible. They are terrible if compared to esb, but that’s not saying much not many movies can survive that comparison.
I don’t think that they are even very bad. They just aren’t… Good. Sure some of the dialogue is awful, but there’s worse. It’s bad enough to keep them from being good, but not so bad that it makes them terrible. They are terrible if compared to esb, but that’s not saying much not many movies can survive that comparison.
I’ll bite…
I’d argue there are MANY films as good or better than ESB. And I say that as someone who for a very long time held ESB as far and away my favorite film ever (some other films have caught up with it in my favoritism but it’s still easily in my top 5 or better). But there’s a reason it’s rarely included on lists like the AFI’s top 100.
Second, the prequels are BAD movies. On so many levels that I can’t begin to understand people who try to argue they’re not. It doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person or stupid or any awful thing like that for liking them. I love lots of bad movies. I have a real soft spot for 50’s B movies and I unabashedly love Godzilla and other giant monster movies. But I can acknoweledge that many, even most, of those movies are bad movies by any reasonable criteria. I can understand why people criticize them or don’t find them enjoyable. Doesn’t stop me from loving them inspite (or often because) or their badness. But I’d never try to argue Plan 9 From Outer Space is some brilliant piece of high art with numerous layers or depth and meaning. THAT would be preposterously silly. Just like that ring theory nonsense…
I’ve softened on the prequels ever since the new movies started coming out. When it looked like the series was over forever it seemed like a bigger deal, but now that Star Wars movies are going to continue indefinitely, I’m not bothered by three of them being pretty bad, in much the same way that I don’t get angry about a bad James Bond or Star Trek movie.
I get exactly what you mean, however 3 bad movies in a row that “technically” are at the start of the series is a lot to swallow and forgive in the larger picture that at this stage is still only 7 movies (not including RO since it’s not part of the actual episodic series).
But yes, with the PT no longer being where Star Wars “ended”, it’s not such a sour point anymore and the more good movies made on the other end of the series, the easier it will be to forget and not really care about the whole PT debacle (especially with plenty of fan edits to help make them somewhat watchable).
Regarding the prequels suddenly somehow becoming “cool”, to me it just smells of a bunch of millennials (read - not all of them by any stretch) trying to justify having childhood nostalgia and love of the PT. There’s nothing wrong with that but for them, they cant continue to love these movies if they are generally considered to be bad, cringeworthy movies so they’re trying to find creative ways on “explaining” how they are in fact “cool” movies if you would only understand it from a certain point of view… 😉
.Val
canofhumdingers said:
But there’s a reason it’s rarely included on lists like the AFI’s top 100.
Star Wars (the original/ANH) is number 13 on AFI’s top 100 list, and most people seem to agree ESB is even better.
