Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
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I found Revenge of the Sith to be the best of the Prequel Trilogy; while the movie is long (they all are), I can't think of any scenes that were dragged out too long (like say the Pod Race in Ep 1) or failed to contribute to the plot and was just wasting screen time (like say 90% of Jar Jar Binks' appearances). Attack of the Clones had that really long and awkwardly done romance thing (and romance isn't bad if it's done well, like say the romance between Leia and Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back; but the romance between Anakin and Padmé was just awkward) -- Hayden Christiansen just can't do romance -- but Lucas came to accept this criticism and the romance in RotS was much shorter than in AotC. Yes, it was just as cringeworthy, but it was important to have it to show that Anakin was still very strongly in love/emotionally attached to Padmé because it's this emotional bond that ultimately leads to his fall to the Dark Side. But the scene was brief -- it served its purpose, then moved on.Originally Posted by Ode to a Grasshopper
I'll give Lucas credit where it's due, yes, he made mistakes in the prequels, but he took the criticism on board and showed signs of improving on them in each successive movie.
e.g.
+ In TPM he was criticised for Jar Jar Binks who just wasted screen time. In AotC Jar Jar Binks appeared very briefly, and his appearances contributed directly to the plot. No more rude table manners, falling about or sniffing farts -- he appeared with Padmé in the beginning and was reunited with Obi-Wan and Anakin, then he was later manipulated by Palpatine and helped him create the Empire (or at least its foundations). In RotS Jar Jar only appears once -- at Padmé's funeral procession. And he had 0 dialogue.
+ AotC was criticised for the badly done romance between Anakin and Padmé - this was significantly reduced in RotS and was more directly relevant to the plot.
+ AotC also had the worst light sabre choreography in all the SW films ... very showy, swingy, fancy... and unrealistically ridiculous. Like Yoda hopping about while barely taking a swipe at Dooku (what a waste of energy/effort!). This was greatly improved in RotS... in Kasshhyyyk (sp?) when Yoda jumps, he beheads the Clone Troopers with one swift cut. When fighting Palpatine, every leap/strike made contact with Palpatine's blade. He wasn't pouncing just for the sake of pouncing like on Geonosis (which was so damn stupid). The fighting form of Obi-Wan and Anakin was much better too -- their showdown on the Invisible Hand was way more enjoyable to watch than the Geonosian showdown. TPM still had the best sabre fights IMO, but that may have been because they had Ray Park (Darth Maul) - a martial arts practitioner - to help.
+ The Pod Race was criticised as being way too long and boring. It would've been better if done as one lap. This was somewhat improved in the Coruscant chase scene (thought parts of that are kinda implausible); but in RotS there are no overtly drawn out and pointless chasing/racing scenes, rather they were incorporated into the story/action which made them more exciting and helped to progress the plot rather than stalling it (e.g. Obiwan/Anakin trying to get aboard the Invisible Hand, Obi-Wan chasing Grievous)
I actually found Revenge of the Sith to be better made than A New Hope, I rate it as my third favourite Star Wars movie after Return of the Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Totally with you on all points Gok. Well said. In My mind all six are just one movie with different chapters. I cant say I hate any cause its all part on the one movie. But I do love certain chapters...Acts more than others
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Regardless of the flaws in his films, Lucas at least _tries_ to tell a good story with his films (which are Eps 1, 2, 3 and 4 -- eps 5 and 6 were directed by Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand respectively); and as you said, they're treated as different chapters within the same story. Lucas makes mistakes, but he takes them onboard and makes an effort to improve on some of them. While Lucas uses loads of special effects, he's ultimately still trying to use them as a tool to tell a story, rather than making stories to tell special effects.
...which is more than what I can say for Michael Bay's work on Transformers.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
I don't think Lucas can tell a good story. He was lucky enough with Star Wars & TESB to be surrounded by people who could criticise his work. By Jedi, he was just surrounded by 'yes-men'.
The prequels are an over plotted mess that leave me cold.
With no central 'audience relation' character, we are not really invested in the movies.
Star Wars had Luke in that role.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Yeah I really can't respect lucas as a good storyteller anymore, while I'm sure it was his intent once to tell a good story about the rise of Darthvader, what we actually go was a huge rather illogical mess, where things are forced to happen to push the story along. Very little about Anakins turn to the darkside feels natural. it all feels like it's being forced by poor script writing. In the same way as many of the conclusions the characters draw during the films like "He went in there to hide" or "I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi" are hard leaps to to accept, even for Jedi.
I'm not sure George Lucas is a better storyteller than Michael Bay anymore, it's just that Bay's movies seem to be blatantly proud of not having a plausible story.
Bingo, that's the biggest problem with the prequels.
That said I will always love how well colour coded the Star Wars prequel universe is.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Okay, I'm not saying that the prequels were fantastic movies or anything, but what I'm saying is that - as Lord_Zed put it - there was the intention and effort to tell a good story about the rise of Darth Vader. And he did try to do that, and at a fundamental level, the prequel movies do succeed in doing this. I'm not saying that Lucas is a great director -- if you ask most people their favourite Star Wars films are typically either The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi, the two films that Lucas didn't direct! But I'm saying that despite his failings, Lucas at least makes an effort to tell a story -- it's not the best effort -- but it's an effort nonetheless. If you strip away all the fancy bells and whistles explosions, special effects etc., the basic story still stands... for better or worse. You strip away the bells and whistles from Transformers, and what do you have?
To put it simply, if trilogies were toys...
+ Star Wars: The Original Trilogy - this would be a damn fantastic toy. Great value for money, awesome articulation, clever intuitive engineering/transformation, non-intrusive gimmicks... just all round awesomeness. e.g. most Classicsverse figures
+ Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy - it's an okay toy, but not fantastic. Transforms from robot to alt mode well enough... one or both modes looks kinda odd. You'd rather not pay full price for it. e.g. most Movieverse figures (especially larger/boxed ones)
+ Michael Bay's TF Trilogy - loaded with awesome gimmicks that look really impressive on the shelf with a "Try Me!" feature. You buy this toy and bring it home -- for a while the gimmick is actually pretty fun to play with. Then you realise that the rest of the toy is kinda lacking... e.g. Combiner Class Devastator (that was a one month wonder ;p (and yeah, I got roped in too - glad I got the toy on sale though (still feel ripped off but)).
The Star Wars prequels may have been a less than ideal expansion of the Star Wars universe, but the Transformers Trilogy (esp parts 2 and 3) really felt more like the kind of stories you made up when playing with your toys as a child with your friends.
"Wop wop wop wop wop, here comes Blackout and - BOOOOOM! - he's attacking the humans!"
"Fight back! A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! (<--machine gun noise)"
"Ping! Ping! Wa ha ha! Your weapons are useless! KABOOOM!"
etc.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
The People vs George Lucas. Very interesting (and amusing) documentary if you get the chance and a copy.
Oh, and Han shot first.
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain
Rank 3 - Basic Member
When i look back at it - yes the Phantom Menace might have been bad in some aspects but I was young and impressionable then and I am a big fan of Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, the Naboo Starfighters and Sebulba's Podracer. Everything else in the movie though is pretty lame.
But boy do I love the imperial vehicles in the original trilogy!
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