The Problem with Star Wars

[Endur]

Movies Ratings
Star Wars Fantastic. Original. Visionary. Iconic. One of a kind.
Empire Strikes Back Great sequel. Better than the original for technical effects and darkness of story.
Return of the Jedi Good closing to the trilogy. Ewoks were over the top.

Phantom Menace What was this movie about? I walked out of it barely understanding it.
Attack of the Clones More feeling lost in this movie, although we're getting closer.

My analysis is that if you took away the light sabers, nobody would recognize the two trilogies as being connected. The mysteries in Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are convoluted and not explained to the audience well.

As a result, I don't feel like Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones are part of the Star Wars Trilogy. They feel to me like spin-off novels rather than part of the core Star Wars universe.

If I was rating movies on 1-4 stars, I would give Star Wars 4 stars, Empire Strikes Back 3.5 stars, Return of the Jedi 3 stars, Phantom Menace 1 star, and Attack of the Clones 2 stars.

 

[John Crichton]

Phantom Menace What was this movie about? I walked out of it barely understanding it.
Attack of the Clones More feeling lost in this movie, although we're getting closer.

My analysis is that if you took away the light sabers, nobody would recognize the two trilogies as being connected. The mysteries in Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are convoluted and not explained to the audience well.

As a result, I don't feel like Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones are part of the Star Wars Trilogy. They feel to me like spin-off novels rather than part of the core Star Wars universe.

Hmm. I assume you are a fan of the OT based on your ratings, please correct me if I'm wrong. I'll also assume that you've seen them enough to have a decent familiarity with them.

To that end, I really don't see where you are coming from. The prequels visually are somewhat unfamiliar because of the clean look in many points but at the same time the dialogue and set-ups should be very familiar. Take the pod-race for example. Folks typically either love it or loathe it. However, it echoes of the original trench run pretty closely in parts and it's very obvious (at least to me).

As to the mysteries of the first two prequels, they directly reflect statements and causes from the OT. I'm geeking out here on this stuff but not being able to recognize the universes as one is a subjective thing but I had no issue accepting the new films as part of the Star Wars mythos. At least in feel, tone and plot.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

And am I the only one who finds it interesting how pretty much everyone who speaks in support of these films points out how EVERYBODY ELSE loves them, too (whether by mentioning how everyone else in the theatre was excited, or pointing out how much money they've made, or all the awards they've garnered)? What's that all about?

It's probably just a reaction to the base assumption of a lot of rabid netgeeks that the last 2 SW flicks objectivly sucked, and pretty much everyone thinks so, a 'fact' supported by the rantings of wanna be filmmakers, high school kids who took an art class, etc. I'd say it's the other way around actually, most people who didn't like them tend to speak of how everyone else didn't like it, factually they sucked, etc.

I mentioned what I precieved to be the crowd reaction when I saw clones because when I saw them I don't recall a lot of people walking out of the theater talking about how much Clones sucked, or how bad the dialog was, etc. Most of what I overheard people talking about was how cool the Yoda fight was*.


*no claim that this is a statisitical validation of my view that they were enjoyable movies.

 

[Angcuru]

I agree that one of the big reasons that 1+2 weren't as good as the original triliogy is that we didn't have an arrogant scruffy scoundrel to add some humor to them. I.E. Han Solo.

Just when the drama and special effects started to be overpowering, throw in a funny face or quote from Han you you save the film for another 15 minutes or so. Without that humor, the trilogy wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining.

In 1+2, you have constant drama and special effects bombarding you with a complete lack of comedy, with the intended comical character i.e. JarJar having the reverse effect. Replace JarJar with a StarWars-ized Dirty Harry and you save the day. Jedi can't cut it? Whip out the biggest blaster in the galaxy.

Also, Lucas has definitely lost his touch. In writing as well as directing. So much of the dialogue in 1+2 seemed Forced upon the characters, and Adolescent Anikin was too much of a whiner.

 

[mojo1701]

Also, Lucas has definitely lost his touch. In writing as well as directing. So much of the dialogue in 1+2 seemed Forced upon the characters, and Adolescent Anikin was too much of a whiner.

So was adolescent Luke.

 

[Victim]

I agree that one of the big reasons that 1+2 weren't as good as the original triliogy is that we didn't have an arrogant scruffy scoundrel to add some humor to them. I.E. Han Solo.

Agree.

 

[mojo1701]

Perhaps someone who came with Anakin in Episode I, and was a troublemaker with a heart of gold when he was a kid, and grew up as a somewhat-respectable person who saved young Anakin's life during the Battle of Naboo, so that Anakin could blow up the Droid Control Platform...?

In Episode II, he would've been on break from his studying at the University of Coruscant and got tagged along with Anakin and Padme.

Episode III... he turns melodramatic with the turn of Anakin.

Ok, so Episode III's the only one I haven't figured out.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I think it works better with Anakin as a loner, and Obi-Wan being his only real friend. It makes the events of Episode III all the more tragic and you don't have to add in another character and take the focus away from the more important parts.

Of course, I'd love to have had a Han-like character in the prequels, but I'm just not sure how one would FIT without feeling completely tacked on. At least Jar Jar has his place by Ep II.