New Documentary Is Wrong: The ‘Star Wars’ Prequels Are Just Plain Bad

HeatStreet ^ | August 29, 2016 | Emily Zanotti

[C19fan]

A new documentary is challenging Star Wars fans to unlearn what they have learned about the awful prequels that ruined our childhoods and stole our innocence about future Star Wars films.

Not that I’m bitter.

Anyway, a handful of prequels fans decided a few years ago to crowdfund The Prequels Strike Back, a documentary that is supposed to give people a fresh new perspective on The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, based on scholarly commentary from no less than arts expert Camille Paglia and Jonathan Young, a Joseph Campbell scholar.

[wafflehouse]

you dont think thats a pretty good characterization for most tyrants?

[MichelleWSC3]

I agree the last 2 Prequels were bad, but “The Phantom Menace” wasn’t really that bad

[wafflehouse]

The Virgin Birth angle was disgusting.

actually, its pretty fascinating.. if you take this as an obvious allegorical clue and look at the story, its kinda like the story of Christianity as seen from a Jewish viewpoint..

[wafflehouse]

The first 3 released were good, solid racist neo-fascist propaganda targeting teenage boys

huh?

[wafflehouse]

there are bad things about the prequels, but i think anakin was done perfectly. he is SUPPOSED to be flawed, fragile, and not the sharpest tool in the shed. without those qualities, he would have had no reason to turn to the dark side of the force.

darth vader is a little dumb.. if you cant see that you should watch the movies again and think about what you would do in his situation. he makes BAD decisions

[wafflehouse]

The next two, Anakin is just a moody, unlovable, dick. It violates my “suspension of disbelief” that a good-looking princess, with lots of options, would pick him as a love interest.

hmm.. hot chick falls for douche bag.. that doesnt sound realistic at all

[PAR35]

The closing scene in the first one was straight out of Triumph of the Will; the theme of the second one was a black guy would sell out his best friend for a white woman. And the third one was the young white guy fighting the black guy to the death so good would triumph over evil, with a subtext that the genes from the black father might cause the young hero to turn bad (foreshadowing the Obama presidency).

[Kommodor]

The “romantic” dialogue between Anakin & princess whatsis is some of the most cringe-worthy stuff I’ve ever seen.

[HamiltonJay]

Yes, but that is 1 time.. if you interpret it that way.. someone with such darkness gnawing at his soul I would expect to show flashes of evil now and again... perhaps when he thinks no one is looking... YOu really don’t get this inner angst that is supposed to be broiling just under the surface anywhere in the character... if he’s struggling between light and dark for his very very soul, the dark is going to flare out now and again, even if discretely.

[HamiltonJay]

No one is saying he isn’t flawed, what I am saying is if he’s got a battle raging inside him for his eternal soul, the evil side is going to flash out here and again... he can’t just be the goodie two shoes, until some pivotal moment...

This is the most powerful person in the force known, supposedly, he is literally the force giving itself form via virgin birth... IF the light and the dark sides of the force are fighting for control of him.. and this battle is raging within him... the struggle would a demon that would be part of his entire life... it may finally snap one way or another after a major event, but the character never seems to really be in a struggle, the battle raging within him is never really portrayed... If throughout the films Lucas had given little flashes of this evil creeping out... Anakin manipulating someone to get his way, being cruel for no real reason, other than the fact he can, to a rival... etc etc... the eventual snap would be more believable...

The entire, obedient lapdog until finally coaxed over by the would be emperor may make it a more simple story... and move blame away from Anakin directly and place it on the person who tempted him.. but you never sense this angst in the character... this struggle would be one of the biggest parts of his character... imagine two diametrically opposed cosmic forces literally battling each other for control of your soul... not metaphorically, LITERALLY... Anakin in the last 2 should have been far more of a tortured soul than he comes across... I think it would have made for a much better story as well.

[Vince Ferrer]

The best part of the prequels was Palpatine and his political manuverings to become emperor. Every prequel was driven by him, yet the other characters were oblivious until it was too late. This is all too real in totalitarian governments, but I have never seen that kind of story arc done that well in a movie

[Conan the Librarian]

The problem is that folks look at the series as 6 different movies.

There are all one story, in 6 segments.

It’s the long sad story of the decline and rise of Anakin Skywalker.

The whole is much better than the parts.

[Disambiguator]

It’s the long sad story of the decline and rise of Anakin Skywalker.

I much preferred The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

[left that other site]

You’re shakin’ my confidence daily!

[Rockingham]

The success and brilliance of the original Star Wars movie was due as much to the disciplined teamwork of the Hollywood studio system as it was to a flash of genius from George Lucas and innovations in special effects. As his next project demonstrated -- the painfully bad dud Howard the Duck -- Lucas is not a naturally gifted story teller. He needed the restraint provided by forced collaboration with studio overseers who could say no to bad or self-indulgent ideas, trim bloated budgets, polish up clunky scripts, and edit over-long scenes in the cutting room.

For the three Star Wars prequels though, Lucas's financial success and team of yes men at Skywalker Ranch liberated him to indulge his opinions and whims. Instead of good stories, Lucas provided movie goers with bigger and more frenetic stories that overwhelmed the human element. His toy maker licensing partners were pleased though at the wide array of characters, machines, and scenes that could be modeled and sold to kids eager to hold in hand what they had seen so fleetingly on the screen.

Lucas did quite well financially from the prequels. Like studio bosses of old, he can say that even if the prequels were not great art, they made him lots of money.

[JoeFromSidney]

ALL the Star Wars movies are bad....they basically are just bad Spaghetti Westerns in Space.

True, but I really enjoyed the first one. The rest stunk!

[Rockingham]

The story in Star Wars had deeper sources and was based largely on Joseph Campbell's The Hero With A Thousand Faces, a highly regarded comparative analysis of the hero figure in mythology. Appearing after a long run of grim crime drama movies laden with antiheroes and during a period of national economic and military decline, the escapism of Star Wars was deeply appealing. And unlike prior science fiction movies, the bad guys had the bright shiny stuff and big weapons, while the good guys were a bedraggled odd lot with inferior old equipment long past shininess. For a country that felt itself on the downslope in the Cold War, Star Wars provided a lift like Olivier's Henry V did for the British during WW II.

[minnesota_bound]

#6 They then break into song and sing “Why must I be a teenager in love”

Each time we have a quarrel
It almost breaks my heart
‘Cause I’m so afraid
That we will have to part
Each night I ask the stars up above
Why must I be a teenager in love

[minnesota_bound]

George Lucas was clutching his pearls when reading the article....
While sitting on a $4 billion plus pile of money.
All that talent and money from past movies and he puts out these 3 bad sequels. Now on to Indiana Jones 6!

[xp38]

If one wishes to give the most credit for Star Wars I would give it to John Williams. Lucas really lucked out when Spielberg suggested him after he had done so well with Jaws. Probably no movie has been transformed into what it was meant to be by the score than the first Star Wars. There was a news clip years ago which showed a bit of the film without music and with. It was like night and day.