The prequels gave me this glimpse of a living universe filled with a working political system, a Jedi Order etc. Of course, we can’t really get that in the OT because the rebels are fairly isolated from the rest of the galaxy. I enjoyed the prequels because of the sword of Damocles that’s hanging over everybody. We all know everything’s going to go to hell in a hand basket but the characters don’t. They go about unsuspecting till it blindsides them. I find Palpatine fascinating. His machinations really sucked me in and as a poli sci/literature major, I loved the political disintegration along with the Greek tragedy aspects of it.

I hate black/white stories. The prequels are definitely not that. There are so many grey areas: Anakin’s many faults, the Chancellor’s shifting identities, the Jedi who’re so blind to the embodiment of evil that’s living right next door etc. I mean, for most of the prequels, the Republic/Jedi don’t even know who the true evil is! By the time they do, it’s too late..The flaws of everyone in the prequels that lead to their tragic ends is fascinating to me. This lack of gray area is probably why ANH is my least favorite of the originals. However, Empire is amazingly gray and I loved the darker themes.

I loved the originals for very different reasons. The way I see it, I love the prequels for the themes and I love the originals for the plot. And I don’t feel that I could love either fully without the other. If I had seen the originals first and seen Vader’s redemption, it wouldn’t have impacted me as much if I hadn’t known where he came from. The inevitable collapse of the Empire, the death of Palpatine wouldn’t be as satsifying. There are several silly things in Star Wars like the Ewoks and the Gungans but I just focus on what I like. As someone who would have never watched Star Wars without having seen the prequels, I hate seeing people bash it.

I liked it. I was 22 years old when I saw the whole Star Wars. I wasn’t a kid like some people derisively say that the prequels were made for. I don’t care about CGI or even lightsaber duels. I couldn’t name much of the ships/technology. The romance is secondary to me. But the characters and the themes of the prequels were what resonated with me. As for the originals, nothing beats the father/son storyline for me as I am a sucker for redemption tales. Nothing gets me like the last moments of ROTJ. This was super long winded but I had to say my piece.

In fact, they don’t read like any type of sonnet! Shakespeare wrote 14-line, iambic pentameter sonnets with an alternating rhyme scheme, save for the last couplet.

And even if they did read like Shakespearian sonnets, would that have really fit? Can you imagine Hon Solo rhyming moments before he shoots first?

I know this is a picky point, but I think it just goes to show that a detailed look at this analysis reveals less of an argument and more of a shot at attention.

I’d like to congratulate Eric Ellenberg, Kevin, JJ Alexander, DeepJedi and OTLover on their well written, keen comments. Much like the Jedi during the final days of the Republic, you all are truthful and honest to the end despite the Lucas Empire you were sworn to love mass-producing disappointment.

Boba Fett is not a clone.

I still like the original films; the prequels are anathema to me.

Your argument fails.

Point 2: You’re right, and the battle between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Darth Maul is one of the greatest fights in films I’ve ever seen. But after Darth Maul dies, there aren’t any ‘real’ Jedi battles. It’s all just people fighting Dooku – one of your ‘old men’ Jedis, and CGI messes with expressionless actors. After the battle with Darth Maul, the lightsaber battles cease to be interesting or well choreographed and just feature people holding a lightsaber while jumping around on wires an unusual amount.

Point 3: The story is never actually explained. Why is there a separatist group? Who are the Trade Federation? Why are these separatists attacking the Republic? Why is the Republic attacking the separatists? What exactly is this dispute about? Why does the senate vote to give Palpatine ‘emergency powers’ to pass a measure that they would never agree to pass in the first place? Just what the hell is a Sith? Just throwing politicians into a story doesn’t make it a story of political intrigue, you have to actually explain why these events are occurring. Everything in the plot is just a contrivance to move the story forward. Sure, you could look around on the internet to find out what these things are, but they were never in the movie. The movie outright refused to explain itself. I can’t begin to tell you how much this plot resembles swiss cheese. Again, this has nothing to do with attachment to the original trilogy, a badly written story is a badly written story.

Point 4: If you think this is a typical movie love story that contributes to the plot, I can’t help you. I dare you to name another movie that has as awkward and contrived a love story as these movies. At what point does she fall in love with him? Before or after he commits mass murder for the first time? Maybe it’s when he’s talking about becoming a traitor and instituting a dictatorship? People who think this passes as any kind of a romance have clearly never experienced a romance themselves, or even seen a movie that does one well. They are in love because the plot requires them to be, nothing else. It makes no sense because there is nothing about Anakin’s character that is in the least bit likable.

Point 5: It really actually creates a divide between the original trilogy and the prequels, because they don’t add up. Nothing seems to fit together. Huge plot devices in the prequel films are never mentioned at all in the originals. Where was Qui-Gon in the original movies? Why did nobody mention him? Why did Obi-Wan specifically say that he was trained by Yoda? What about this ‘prophecy’ that is so important in the prequels, why does nobody ever mention that?

But you’re right, we shouldn’t ruin the movie for the people that it was made for. It wasn’t made for the millions of Star Wars fans that have made George Lucas rich and gave him the ability to make these movies. It certainly wasn’t made to be a classic, award winning movie for critics and movie lovers. No, you’re right – it was made for kids. This entire series of movies was made to sell new games, new toys, and other new merchandise to a new set of walking wallets to fill George Lucas’ pockets.

What ignorance? If anything Lucas’ craft in filmaking was just as good and pehaps slightly better (at least in storytelling) with the Prequels.

Eric Ellenberg is wrong. The Prequels are ALL ABOUT cinematic achievement. Really the only thing interesting George at the moment is DIGITAL FILMMAKING. The podrace segment was a great experiment in it, and it came off FLAWLESSLY. I think the CGI of the Clone Troopers and Droids on Geonosis came off FLAWLESSLY. I don’t know if I think that Episode III’s complete reliance on the new digital tech was even good, but that’s what it was.

Heck, even the new Clone Wars cartoon is all about establishing Lucas Animation as the standard-bearer in animation. PIXAR was a George Lucas creation for pete’s sake, and now Lucas Animation is making INCREDIBLE strides.

The biggest fault of George Lucas is, in fact, his ignorance of the craft of filmmaking when it comes to the Prequels. It didn’t matter to him to make a great story. What mattered to him was telling the story he thought should be told, and using his fancy new toys to do it. He’s always been about the visual art. Turn off the dialogue and just let the music and visuals become an opera for the mind.

Star Wars has always been very simple for me. One: Lightsabers? check. Two: John Williams’ score? check. The rest is all gravy.

The love story *was* lame and unbelieveable; there was nothing *to* love about Padme, not when she first walked into Wato’s shop or as a Queen decked out like a Christmas tree. The idea of justifying the naivety of the Anakin and Padme relationship on the grounds that they were just ‘kids’ (at 20 and 24) is a joke. There was enormous scope for this romance to develop far more intelligently with Ani’s Jedi-instructed disassociation from intimate attachments coupled with her likely worldly experience but nothing realistic was developed. They were like two 14 year olds holding hands in the school playground not knowing what to do or say and slowly discovering that they had nothing in common. There was more sexual chemistry developing between Luke and his *sister* in the first two films than was evident between Padme and Ani in their entire romance.
I haven’t the space or the patience to go on but suffice to say that the only quality that prevents the final two SW films from being *poor* films is the extraordinary art direction and SFX. This is so special that it would be insane to dismiss them as anything beyond outstanding and breathtaking but sadly effects do not a movie make. I can admire the lizard creature OB1 rides on as a technical and artistic marvel of silver-screen wizardry but why was it there? It’s just one obvious example of visual padding in films with little else to recommend them.