Re-watching the prequels

Like many I hate the prequels, and haven't watched any of them for years. However with the new films coming out, I thought rather than sulk it would be better to try and 'condition' myself to watching new Star Wars films again in preparation. I also bet the new films make reference to things in the prequels, we're kidding ourselves if we think these new movies are just for our generation, so I should really know them better. Maybe they're not as bad as I remembered? So yesterday evening I watched The Phantom Menace.

I must admit, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It does feel like a Star Wars film, especially the opening 15 minutes or so. The opening crawl, spaceships, lightsabres, droids, can't really complain so far. However, it wasn't all enjoyable. Jar Jar is fully deserving of his hatred, he is even more slapstick than I remember. The originals were funny in places, Jar Jar is like watching Tellytubbies. Doesn't suit the film at all and ruins certain scenes. Also, the CGI is terrible. They made this film 5-10 years too early, it's far too ambitious and it looks really dated already. However overall, it was certainly watchable. The story isn't terrible, most of the acting isn't terrible, I didn't even hate Anakin (although he is annoying in a couple of places.) Here's a quick summary:

The good
- The story is OK
- The music is great, John Williams never fails
- Natalie Portman

The bad
- Jar Jar, nuff said
- The CGI looks terribly dated already
- Ewan McGregor is a good actor but doesn't suit this role

I think they should 'reboot' the prequels like they are with every other old film these days, remake them with better CGI and without some of the crap. It has the potential to be a good film, it's just let down by a few things.

I'll update again when I've watched Attack of the Clones, which from memory is the worst one.

edd_jedi said:

I'll update again when I've watched Attack of the Clones, which from memory is the worst one.

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The "worst"? Jesus, picking a 'worst' between the prequels is tough!

They are all painful to watch, and i wont be doing so again lol

Edd- let me get the Phantom Edit and Attack of the Phantom to you.

They are professional re-edits of the film and the commentary is amazing.

They drastically change the films.

It's more than polishing the third/ but it's a masterclass in the power of editing.

It worked for the original first cut of Star Wars in 1977

Grant_C said:

Edd- let me get the Phantom Edit and Attack of the Phantom to you.

They are professional re-edits of the film and the commentary is amazing.

They drastically change the films.

It's more than polishing the third/ but it's a masterclass in the power of editing.

It worked for the original first cut of Star Wars in 1977

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Sounds good mate! I'll have a look for them

i've not seen them for awhile, went on holiday to san diego and saw episode one a few days before it came out here in the uk.

from what i remember ...
jar jar really annoying and unfunny
too much senate crap...boring!
far too much cgi
thought the darth maul character was really cool but so pissed off that they killed him off so early
fight scene at the end was the best part of the film.

episode two...
the whole queen amidala stayed the same yet the kid was somehow now a grown man annoyed me
too much love story
yoda doing back flips just pissed me off and i walked out of the cinema

didnt bother with episode three

I'm sure you guys have seen them before but redlettermedia nailed the prequels for me. Very funny and great observations. the guy seems like a loon but had me wetting my self at times.

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace/

Caswellbot said:

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace/

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Its not a quick watch, but time just floats away; one of the funniest and most honest film reviews I've seen... not necessarily a family watch, but me the missus and my 14 year old son have just been rolling around laughing at it :lol: :lol: :lol:

Good luck with Episode 2, I think I need to leave it at least 15 years before watching it again.

I love Episode 3.

SAVORY100 said:

Caswellbot said:

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace/

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Its not a quick watch, but time just floats away; one of the funniest and most honest film reviews I've seen... not necessarily a family watch, but me the missus and my 14 year old son have just been rolling around laughing at it :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Ha ha yes sorry I should have said its not really one for kids and it about an hour long. Lol. It is pretty darn funny though!

I don't hate the films as such, I'm more angry that they could make such a arse of them, the first 15 mins of TPM as said showed such promise then it just spiralled down quickly.
For me watching them back only Ian Macdiarmid comes out with any dignity, I think he plays the dual characters to a tee.
Too much bands points to mention.
Did you know most of the budget went on birds of prey to keep the woodpeckers off Hayden Christensen?
Hench the Atari st520 used for the cgi.
Help us jj Abrams your our only hope.
R A N T O V E R!! :lol:

Also while we're off topic a bit, how come no ones came up with a jar jar piñata?
But a one that takes a good beating, and I don't know shouts and screams a bit, :twisted: you could have the sticks like lightsabers.
I'm copyrighting this now btw.

Blasphemy

Maybe ive got more of an attachment to Episode 1 in particular as the hype was amazing. Id give it a 50/50 of viewing pleasure.

AOTC was and always will be the worst SW film ever, although it could be matched by TFA :wink:

ROTS is the best of all 3 and does a great job of telling Anakins fateful journey to the DS.

Edd, please dont give Disney and ideas of remaking them, there are already enough reboots around and its getting boring :shock: :lol:

On another note i would love to see the reactions of some people if Disney wanted to remake the OT-never say never guys....

Maybe ive got more of an attachment to Episode 1 in particular as the hype was amazing. Id give it a 50/50 of viewing pleasure.

Your right there mate, the 1st time I saw the anakin with vaders shadow poster I nearly screamed in excitement, too much hype maybe, set up for a fall?

Can't believe no one has mentioned how bad Hayden Christensen (and to a lesser extent Jake Lloyd) were - for me the acting was just so substandard - even from Mcgregor and Portman were not at their best

I'm not the original one to say this but, when anakin floats the fruit away from padma over the table, and spouts some crap, you can see her trying not to laugh.
No vineer in here, proper wood.

itfciain said:

Can't believe no one has mentioned how bad Hayden Christensen (and to a lesser extent Jake Lloyd) were - for me the acting was just so substandard

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I haven't got to the films with him in them yet, abuse to follow

I actually really liked TPM when it came out. The sea monsters, pod race and 3-way lightsaber duel at the end were superb. Looking back though (I've seen it fairly recently as my boys still watch them), it's not that great. Still quite like it though, and makes me feel nostalgic. As for Jar Jar, he was irritating, but I didn't hate him.

Didn't like 2 at the time. Went with a bunch of friends and they all came out saying Yoda vs Dooku was amazing- I hated it! Thought Yoda was ridiculous And as for the love scenes- good grief! The script and acting were just embarrassing. Lucas should have got a really good writer in the help and someone to help direct those scenes as they were actually really important! Kinda liked the Obi-Wan vs Jango and the Geonosis battle as quite a lot of shots were very 'war film' and worked well. CGI clones though :roll:

Sith was by far the best overall IMHO. The acting improved and the dark tone worked well. Ian McDiarmid was really superb 8) Still had horrible CGI clones though! Some of the time they looked great, but the bits where they had their helmets off were truly terrible.

Everything I've seen/read about TFA points to it being a proper modern version of the original trilogy- hopes are high! The prequels just didn't fit that description, as Lucas changed the way he made them from the ground up, and insisted on writing and directing their entirety. Didn't work

Good point about how the prequels were made, too much cgi, where's the stormy going to bang his head!
JJ Abrams said he wanted to do it properly with sets and and costumes, I think bb8 is a prime example of that.