The Prequels, Episodes I-III. What did you like about them?

I dislike the Star Wars prequels as much as most fans. But, like Vader, I still see some good in the shows. Not enough to save them, but the prequels had their moments. So, this thread is about, "What did you like?"





For me?

I liked the look of the Naboo starfighters quite a bit. They were different from what we were used to and fit the pageantry associated with Naboo's culture (from looking at the Queen's costumes and face painting).

I actually like the story behind the prequels. Palpatine's Machiavellian politics and rise to power, and Anakin's slow fall to the Dark Side. I thought the actual story is really incredible. The presentation of that story is where it fails, in my opinion. The story, though, is quite intriguing and more complicated and involved than I would think at first. It's a well thought-out tale (that was just not presented that well at all).

I like how Lucas directed the R2-D2 scene in The Phantom Menace. That little droid is a brave little thing!

I liked how the Clone Army was thought of as the "good guys", and then the troopers became the "bad guys". They're the bad guys in the original trilogy, but they're the Republic's troops in the prequels--the good guys.

The fight between Jango Fett and Obi-wan Kenobi, both in the asteroid ring and on the water planet was, for me, the best fight scenes in all three of the prequels.

I thought Darth Maul was just down right cool. I think they should have kept him throughout all of the prequels. He should have been the last test for Anakin before turning to the Dark Side. Anakin should have had to defeat him to become Darth Vader and take his place at the Emperor's side.

There's more, but let's see what things it was you liked about the prequels....

The #1 thing I liked from the prequels: The Naboo starfighter. Cool looking ship. Reminds me of a manta ray & a sports car.
After that?
Naboo,
Darth Maul - I was sorry to see him get introduced & discarded all in two hours.
McGregors Obi-Wan,
The Gungen city,
Obi-Wan vrs Jango/the whole Kimino sequence
the Art Deco look of Couriscant (sp?)
the Pod Racing sequence

Jar-Jar.... Unlike nearly everyone else, I don't hate Jar-Jar. I don't love him either, but..... I (almost) like him. He's just goofy & mostly there to amuse the kids. I can accept that. Besides, he's nowhere near being the worst aspect of these 3 films.

Obi-Wan, first and foremost. Considering how quickly he's cut down in ANH, I really enjoyed getting to see his character shine.

Also the lightsaber battles. A lot of folks disliked the wuxia feel as compared to the original duels, and sometimes they did go a bit far, but nevertheless I enjoyed them.

very little unfortunately
the only good performance came from Senator Palpatine when he was manipulating the senate
sure the double lightsabre was cool but Maul didn't impress me, especially when he ended up being expendable. I thought super spinning power yoda was flashy but stoopid (I can justify why Yoda might have the Taz Devil Spin but its still stoopid)
and I liked Amidala's elaborate costumes

SailorNash said:

Also the lightsaber battles. A lot of folks disliked the wuxia feel as compared to the original duels, and sometimes they did go a bit far, but nevertheless I enjoyed them.

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Wait until you see The Force Awakens. You haven't seen a lightsaber duel until you've seen that film. For the first time, in any Star Wars film, the sabers are presented as the horrible, gritty, deadly, weapons of death that they are. The lightsaber fights are vicious.

The lightsaber fights were all that was good in the first three.

Water Bob said:

I thought Darth Maul was just down right cool. I think they should have kept him throughout all of the prequels. He should have been the last test for Anakin before turning to the Dark Side. Anakin should have had to defeat him to become Darth Vader and take his place at the Emperor's side.

Click to expand...

I don't get the love for Darth Maul. I mean, he looks cool, but he doesn't seem very menacing. When Darth Vader enters a room, he owns that room. I don't get that feeling from Darth Maul at all. Plus, double-bladed lightsabers are dumb, and gave us a decade of equally dumb double weapons in D&D.

I agree that the story behind the prequels is pretty cool though, with Palpatine manipulating his way to power and seducing Anakin. I just wish Lucas had handed off actually writing and directing that story to someone more competent.

The Phantom Menace also gave us this:
[video=youtube_share;hEcjgJSqSRU]http://youtu.be/hEcjgJSqSRU[/video]

Episode 2 was the best one for me, it had everything I waited 20 some years to see, Yoda with a lightsaber, army of Jedi with lightsabers blazing, Mandalorian warriors, Anakin goin darkside, The Clone Wars.

And 3 had Yoda vs Emperor so that was pretty kool, it was a pretty lightsaber duel heavy movie, which was cool with me,

Apart from the obvious, I like that they spawned Darths & Droids. Summon Bigger Fish!

Well if you had to ask me...

Darth Maul - What a cool looking villain, and that double lightsaber was boss. Was really stupid to kill him off so quickly. He should have been a recurring villain throughout the series.

Qui-Gon Jinn - Liam Neeson was the best thing in The Phantom Menace, even though I think his character was totally unnecessary.

Shmi Skywalker - For what is a small supporting role, Pernilla August gave her role as Anakin's mother heart and poignance.

Clones - Surprisingly, the backstory on the clones and how they were made was really interesting. I actually didn't fall asleep with that piece of exposition.

Ian Mcdiarmid as Palpatine - Especially in Revenge of the Sith. He just does over the top evil so well. That evil cackle he lets out is classic.

John Williams - Duel of the Fates, Across the Stars and others. I just thought this was some of William's best work in Star Wars.