They are all movies that have individual moments that are good, but as a whole are a mess.

As a person who grew up with the prequels, it is kind of hilarious seeing people in my age group(fucking millennials) starting to dig in and defend these movies. This year I've seen a lot of articles written in defense of the prequels, especially on the A.V. Club. Those people are idiots who can't get past their childhood.

I am sure by now we all know the Mr. Plinkett Star Wars prequels reviews so I don't need to link them. If not then go watch them. About the only redeeming thing about the ROTS is that fight scene at the end. Besides that I don't think they are wroth much.

No, I don't like any of them, but I also don't think they're as bad as people make them out to be.

I also think George Lucas gets way too much shit. He's a terrible writer, on that I think everyone can agree. But he's still a pretty good director and a great humanitarian. The man sold his life's work for 4 billion dollars and gave every penny to charity for Christ's sake, who gives a shit if he made a few movies that were pretty lousy? John Carpenter churned out shit for the last 10 years of his career too, and somehow he's still the internet's greatest hero.

No. I don't like them, but I wouldn't say I hate them either. Don't get me wrong, I think they're all terrible movies, but I feel like saying I hate them implies they elicit some sort of strong emotional response from me.

They don't.

I do love watching the Plinkett reviews for these movies though. I like those more than any Star Wars movie.

I guess I liked the last twenty minutes of Episode 3.

...that's it.

The Phantom Menace is a pointless movie and Darth Maul is a shit villain.

Attack of the Clones is the best of the prequels but it's a low bar; Obi-Wan's story is far more interesting and the end just shits the bed.

Revenge of the Sith is two hours of sound and fury that feels absolutely unearned because any and all character growth exists outside of the realm of the movies.

I was 7 years old when Star Wars came out and loved it. Would I have felt the same if I was 35 or whatever when the first prequel came out? Rhetorical question without an answer obviously but the point is that a generation of kids grew up with Star Wars and when the prequels came out, they were adults and the prequels, frankly, were meant for kids, just like the originals. I was disappointed with the movies but would hesitate to judge their merit as the movie wasn't made for me. Huge miscalculation targeting kids with the prequels but hey, it worked the first time.

But there's way more to judge films by other than just "these weren't for me." The prequels lack a serious amount of craftsmanship that the originals had.

I definitely agree with people who say to watch the Plinkett reviews to validate your dislike for things in those movies. Very informative

I'm of the opinion that there's two and a half good Star Wars movies. I kind of hate everything surrounding the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. I was 9 when The Phantom Menace came out and I saw them all in theaters so I don't think age is an issue here.

They're far from great movies, and even as a boy I found Anakin and Padme completely insufferable. That being said, I tend to focus on what I like about everything, and I liked Obi-Wan's arc through all the movies and enjoyed the action scenes and bad guys. I'm of the opinion though that all of the Star Wars movies are overrated. The prequels are treated a bit worse than they actually are, and the originals are treated like they're a touch better than they actually are.

You could probably cut all three movies together into something really great, but holy shit those movies plod.

By and large, I pretty much agree with what you said. As I remember it, the first two are a cringy drag to get through, but Revenge is a pretty good movie.

I also felt Hayden Christensen's acting was improved in the third film over the second. I don't know what acting workshop he attended between his two movies, but I wish he'd taken it sooner.

As an 11 year old, I thought Phantom Menace was the greatest thing ever. Without Phantom Menace, I would not be a huge Star Wars fan. The prequels get a lot of hate, but I'm fairly confident that any Star Wars fan in the 20-30 age demographic can attribute it to the prequels... I don't remember any of my 11 year old friends having a problem with the acting, Jar Jar Binks or pod racing. As an adult, I can see a lot of flaws in the prequels that rightfully warranted criticism, but I would argue that the targeted audience for the prequels was not adults. The prequels created a new generation of fans and moved a lot of merchandise.

You could make the same argument for the Clone Wars series. I have never had any interest in watching the cartoon, but recognize I am not the target audience.

Thoughts?

I pretty much only like the original movie. Empire Strikes Back is alright too. The rest I do not much care for. But even with that said, Phantom Menace is the worst one by far.

They're all right. I dunno. I like Star Wars just enough to enjoy watching the movies but nowhere near enough to tear into their good and bad qualities.

Nope. Wow! This honesty thing's pretty easy!

Phantom has Darth Maul; unfortunately it also has "Annie". They cancel out, boring movie.

Attack has Christopher Lee - and believe me, this would take a lot to walk back for me.

Luckily, Attack of the clones doesn't shy away from a challenge and produces a terribly developed love plot (who,wouldn't love a mass murderer and committer of infanticide?) and an uninteresting main one (I wonder if this Super Evil (TM) hood guy has a connection with the only other old dude besides Dooku?)

Then Fett kills a Jedi like it's no big deal and I smile a little. Best of the prequels...?

Sith practically opens with Dooku saying "snuff films do not exist" before being beheaded. Strong start.

Tries to develop more between Anakin and Padme, but I guess the acting Gods said "naw" and that falls flat.

Anakin has some bad dreams and reasonably concludes that seeking the holy grail of The Force is the answer.

Palpatine: "Anakin, meet carrot-on-stick. Carrot, meet sucker." Anakin turncoats quicker than Starscream.

"UNLIMITED POOOOOWER!"

Mega-super-secret plan spanning millions of people and corruptible soldiers is enacted perfectly without any flaws. Yoda can tell when you're feeling a little down but gets no bad vibes from any Republic soldiers who will one day have to murder him and their Jedi comrades/friends? The shame with this one is since they're all clones, you could explain this away by saying psychological manipulation was used to suppress memories of these orders until the proper code word ("Order 66") is spoken; I guess they figured telling everyone and their mother about a covert plan being carried out around people who supposedly have the power to know when "shit is up" would go fine.

It's revealed that the guy who liked child murder in the previous movie is still prone to it now... shocker.

Obi and Annie meet for their duel and Anakin strangles Padme and causes her death; I guess he did this because he was already on the dark side, but then why is the first thing he asks in the Vader lifesuit is whether Padme is okay? You can't tell me the suit isn't a visual symbol of his evil and malice.

Obi and Annie have the sickest fight ever complete with an awesome theme that will head many a Dragon Ball Z AMV.

Despite seemingly having a sequence which is un-ruinable, they manage to sneak in my pick for worst dialogue in all the prequels: "Anakin, can't you see that the Sith are evil?" "From my point of view, the Jedi are evil." Oh, good. That's straightened out, thanks.

As far as I remember, credits roll over Anakin's legless, burning body.

Other contender for best of the prequels, which is a lot like being happy about coming 4th in a gold championship tournament.

@donchipotle: Darth Maul is a shit villain

A shit villain with a sweet double lightsaber and cool spinning kick attacks. Just so we're all clear.

So what you're saying is that Darth Maul is the Boba Fett of the prequels? Because both were shit villains that people love for some reason that makes no sense because both of them are bad.

I'd consider myself a Star Wars fan, but my god is the original trilogy overrated. They're little more than fun action movies, which isn't a bad thing. The prequels are also fun action movies. Biggest difference is there's no Harrison Ford to balance everything out in the prequels.

@poobumbutt: It'd be pretty easy to summarize IV through VI like that as well though.

@donchipotle: Darth Maul is the Boba Fett of the prequels

Actually yea now that I think about it.

Boba Fett isn't the main villain so he gets a minor pass, just being a villain-for-hire. Dude goes out like a bitch, which is actually the perfect way for him to die. Both are cool looking characters that have a mysterious backgrounds (oooooh) and get little screen time, so they are automatically cool by law. The stars that burn the brightest last half as long, or something.

@galmactual: Darth Maul isn't the main villain either.

@mike: I mean that Darth Maul is the big baddie in Episode 1. He is the right hand of Sidious, who is the main villain I guess, and he gets the big lightsaber battle. His fight scene is the climax of the film, compared to Boba Fett's "fight scene" that is basically him tripping into a big mouth.

Hmm so they both meet their supposed end by falling into a big hole...

@donchipotle: Darth Maul is one of the best characters in the prequels because he doesn't talk.

Where is the option where I say "The acting in Episode 2 is so bad it nearly killed me" because re-matching those movies (for the first time) recently reminded me that oh god was the script and acting terrible. But... here is where I must confess, I kind of enjoyed the Phantom Menace. Kind of. I laughed when I saw the queens terrible outfits, I got excited when I heard the classic star wars music (Which I had not heard in since the theatrical release of episode 3) and I enjoyed the final battle with Darth Maul. Oh no, I don't like maul, I just like the sound of lightsabers clashing...and the idea of a laser staff is kinda cool to me. And finally, Episode 1 probably has the least cringe worthy acting of the 3 prequels. My reasons are flimsy, but that's all I got.

Tatooine is sparsely populated. If the homing trace is correct, I will find them quickly, Master. At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge.

All three are godawful movies. I like Phantom Menace the most because I was 10 when it came out but they are all terrible movies and not at all comparable to the original trilogy.

@donchipotle: Yeah, I know. That's what, two lines? The point is he pretty much never has to spew out any of George Lucas' dialogue

@donchipotle: Clone Wars kinda ruins his mystique by making him talk a bunch more, with a different actor voicing the lines :(

Revenge gets bonus points because Palpatine made me laugh a lot. But besides that they are not very good movies.

i like the phantom menace but hate attack of the clones and don't remember revenge of the sith

but also i wouldn't consider myself a star wars fan really

@sirfork:

That doesn't make him a good character. There's nothing interesting about Maul in Phantom Menace beyond the appearance. The only reason he's 'liked' is because of the fight scene near the end because by that point audiences had suffered through terrible comedy, lifeless visuals, and actors so bored that they're acting like they're in a middle school production. Everything in Phantom Menace is shit, including Darth Maul.

Even if youliked some parts of the prequels, you have to admit they were terribly told stories. Story tellig is an art...but it is not that hard to do as long as you have something to say. Lucas didn't really put on screen what he wanted to say, so the films are muddled.

My big issue was I don't care about Anakin. I don't care about how he became Vader....that is not interesting at all except in how Obi wan screwed up to make him. What was interesting and what was really a compelling question was, "How the fuck did Obi Wan fuck up that friendship. What did he do...sleep with Anakin's wife?' We cared about Obi Wan! Ep 1 through 3 should have been focused on Obi Wan

Disclaimer: I have not seen them since each one originally came out in the theaters. The prequels weren't as good as any of the original trilogy but I did enjoy them.

@donchipotle: I never said he was a good character. I never said he was interesting. I never said anything in Phantom Menace was good. I said he's one of the best ones because as far as I'm concerned, the person who says less of stuff like "I don't like sand. It's rough and gets everywhere. Not like you. You're everything soft....and smooth" or "I TRULY...DEEPLY...LOVE YOU" is much more tolerable. I'll take a lifeless shell of a character do cool flips and swing his double sided sword over a character who says lines like that any day of the week.

@donchipotle:

Everything in Phantom Menace is shit, including Darth Maul.

That's a totally understandable point of view, but I will never be convinced that Darth Maul isn't cool. Actually, y'know what, Darth Maul isn't even that cool, double lightsabers are cool. We need a double-bladed lightsaber poll.

The only way I can watch the prequels at this point are with Rifftrax. They are bad, poorly-written movies where otherwise talented actors are reduced to wooden marionettes in front of green screens while CGI bullshit happens.

That said... I think the simmering, resentful anger they still inspire in some corners of the Internet a decade later is petty and juvenile at this point. Get over it.

No. They're bad. The third one is the least bad and it has some pretty good moments but overall no. Bad.

A friend reminded me recently of the 'immaculate conception' bit in Phantom Menace. Like, what? WHAT? I'd somehow forgotten about that.

Ughhhh the worst.

The Phantom Menace hit during the right time in my childhood, and as such it will always have a fond place in my memories. There's no denying that it's a very different movie from the original trilogy, and the complaints directed towards Jar-Jar and the midi-chlorians and the like are well earned. Still, a lot of the hatred it receives seems predicated on it not living up to the virtually impossible expectations at the time.

@mike: Anakin might have been one of the worst actings on the prequels but, let's be fair, the prequels had a bunch of good actors that were also bad, specially when compared to their usual work. There's not much that they could do shooting a whole movie in front of green screens while reading poorly written lines and getting shitty acting direction.

I recently watched all six movies after not watching any of them since 2005. I must be blasphemeous and say that I enjoyed Revenge of the Sith the most of them all.

I like them in theory. I never watched any of the films, though I played LEGO Star Wars a lot and read about the ring theory.

Alright, controversial opinion time.

I absolutely love the Star Wars universe... but I think the majority of the films are kinda crap. The only one I would enjoy sitting down to watch these days is Empire Strikes Back. Also I firmly believe that having your audience read three paragraphs of text to setup your film is just sloppy storytelling. Can you imagine going into any other movie and being handed a small pamphlet to read first to lay the groundwork for it?

There have been some fantastic stories told in the Star Wars universe. In books and videogames.

I have no problem with them. But I was 11 when episode 1 came out. I do prefer the original trilogy though. After all I saw them dozens of times before 1 came out.

Phantom Menace was so bad, I'm not sure I could judge the others fairly. It tainted them too much.

I liked them growing up, and by the time Revenge of the Sith came out had ended up being all too cool for school and loving that while hating on the others. Then at some point I started to really hate the stupid acrobatic duels from the prequels compared to the more measured originals.

And now I recognize there are parts of all three of the prequel movies I enjoy, and parts that I don't, but I don't really hate any of them. Jar Jar especially is the thing that people almost unanimously loathe and I just don't care enough to hate the guy. He's silly, whatever, it's Star Wars. And not even original Star Wars. Who cares.

Things are a lot more fun when you can selectively not give a fuck about canon. Lucas didn't "ruin" Star Wars. No one really can.

Sure, and I did judge the film(s) as "disappointing", I just meant I was not going to argue with a 7 year old (or anyone for that matter) about how the movie he loved was absolute shite. My Mom is the one who took me and my brother to the theater to see the original Star Wars and looking back on it, she didn't seem too impressed and maybe laughed a little at my easily entertained 7 year brain as I sat in the back seat on the way home from the movie theater shooting down tie fighters and making little laser blast noises.

One side note, I was actually asked to leave the theater when I went to see The Phantom Menace as I was booing loudly. First and only movie I have ever done that at but man, I just was shocked at how bad it was....the stereotyped portrayals of the greedy jew alien and the jamaican alien were what sent me over the edge. My poor friends were just horrified by my behavior and sort of hid their faces as I was escorted out...of course, an hour later when they eventually came out the first words out their mouths were "dude, that movie sucked!".

I wonder how much correlation there is between the age of a viewer when they first saw the prequel films and how they feel about those movies today? Everyone who I know who grew up watching Episodes IV, V, and VI thinks the prequel trilogy is straight garbage.

The prequels are a cinematic tragedy on a magnitude unmatched in cinematic history never before and never again will you see such potential squandered by poor decisions and writing. There are little to no redeeming qualities in all three movies and they should be wiped from existence like the blight they are. Lucas selling to Disney was the last possible way to salvage anything of value from the franchise aside from the Lego toy sets. Fuck the prequels and fuck Lucas.

*sigh*

I feel better now. I have to get that out every few years because if I didn't I don't know what I'd do.