Star Wars prequels ruined the originals...

[Sandman9580]

Everyone seems cold and emotionless, unless it's over the top stuff like Christansen growling "I HATE YOU!!!".

Yeah, I loved it when his chin was trembling. Oh man, he was just SHAKING with hate!

Charmless is the perfect word to describe them.

[Earth 2 Chris]

The thing about the prequels that gets me is the lack of charm. The characters seem like they are just reading lines of dialog, not acting and reacting to their situations. Ewan McGregor is the one bright spot in the series. Liam Neeson could have also been, had he stuck around. Natalie Portman is a fine actress elsewhere, but horrible here. I wonder if Lucas forgot how to direct actors. Everyone seems cold and emotionless, unless it's over the top stuff like Christansen growling "I HATE YOU!!!". Very little seems sincere. It's as if the whole universe is fabricated.

The same feeling carries over to the Clone Wars cartoon. Despite some decent episodes I've seen, the feeling of thrilling adventure is gone. I think it may be the lack of a Mark Hammil's gee-whiz enthusiasm, Harrison Ford's rogush smart-arse, and cynical and forceful Carrie Fisher.

Chris

[HardyGirl]

The only prequel I saw was Attack Of The Clones, and I hated it. Too much CGI, that whole fighting Yoda thing...anyway...I like the originals, (well maybe not Empire), but I like the story in the other 2. I also love the fact that George Lucas did all those special effects w/ the models and blue screen and made it look so cool! He had real vision and ingenuity, and those movies still hold up today. So the others simply don't exist!

[MIB41]

I don't think these films can be watched except in the order they were made. There is too much relied upon from "chapters" 4-6 that you need to know, in order to follow the prequels. The story telling and revelations are done with an understanding of what is already known in the original three. Hence the word "prequel". Watching in "chapter order" only reduces the suspense in the later stories. Would it really need to be such a dramatic moment in Empire for Darth Vader to tell Luke he is his father when the viewer has a working knowledge of that four films back? And let's not even get into the massive plot mistakes. How would kids today be able to understand how Obi Wan has adventures with the droids for three films, then suddenly knows nothing about them in the fourth installment? And then you have Obi Wan's convoluted story to Luke about Vader's origin in chapter four. Kids watching this in order would sit there slack jaw and say, "I don't get it." So, if anything, watching them in chapter order only reveals what a mess Lucas made of the series.

[Sandman9580]

What would be interesting is to have someone that has never seen any of the movies watch them in chronological order and get their opinion.

Yeah, that's kind of what scares me: plenty of kids today love the prequels and the Clone Wars cartoon, and think the originals are lame and "old". My only hope is that with maturity comes finer judgment and discretion. Only problem with that is...

He also broke one basic rule of great villains - Never give out too much information. Leave something to the viewer's imagination. Well we got that in New Hope and Empire. But by Jedi, Vador looked like Jonathan Winters.

...sometimes what you see as a kid, you just end up accepting forever. I first saw the OT on video, all at once, when I was like 4 years old. So I just accepted that that's how Darth Vader was. Now, I honestly can't tell you if Lucas made a misstep with that because "nostalgia" may be clouding my view. (I actually think seeing Vader revealed like that is very powerful, but if I had been waiting years between the movies, I dunno, maybe I would have been really let down.) My point is, with things like the Ewoks and giving it a happy ending and making it more toy-friendly, I have to agree -- as much as it pains me to -- that the "prequel Lucas" we all know and love was probably first glimpsed in Jedi.

But I still love it. And kids who love the prequels will one day be adults, and will probably... still love the prequels.

[Cmonster]

've actually been on SW kick lately watching the originals and day dreaming about all the adventures I had with the toys growing up.
Sammy

I did that about a year and a half ago... It was called "Hunter Prey".

SC

[DavidCoppola]

What would be interesting is to have someone that has never seen any of the movies watch them in chronological order and get their opinion.

I personally hated the prequels. It's like, ok, how much over the top CGI can we cram into these movies? I could have cared less for any of the characters in them, if you want to call them characters.
The only sequence I found entertaining was the "arena" fight in the 2nd one. It was like an homage to Ray Harryhausen. But even Ray, back in the 50s, could still have done better with old school Tech and Stop Motion animation.

[vulcan2074]

I'm a huge fan of the original SW movies. So to keep my sanity, I think of the new ones as it's own entity. I've actually been on SW kick lately watching the originals and day dreaming about all the adventures I had with the toys growing up.
Sammy

[MIB41]

I'm even more harsh than that. In the entire series, I only like two of the films - Star Wars and Empire. Both incredible pieces of science fiction. I will always stand behind those films because they were (and still are) unique works. Jedi started the decline for Lucas though. He began seeing these films as a big advertisement to push his toys and gave little thought to story. The prequels are indisputable proof that Lucas had plenty of help and input when making New Hope and Empire. When given complete creative control, his vision is little more than a puff piece. He also broke one basic rule of great villains - Never give out too much information. Leave something to the viewer's imagination. Well we got that in New Hope and Empire. But by Jedi, Vador looked like Jonathan Winters. And if that didn't hurt enough, we then got a snotty brat who grew into this monster through the prequels. Just a complete collapse of an original idea.

[Cmonster]

Star Wars prequels? Huh?

What are you talking about?

SC

[Brue]

what prequels?

[Mikey]

The new Star Wars movies don't ruin the originals for me in the same way as Enterprise don't ruin Star Trek Classic.

Meaning, Enterprise is a crapfest and in my mind doesn't exist.

[david_b]

"Return of the Jedi" ruined 'the originals' for me.

Actually watching Family Guy's 'It's a Trap' has been theraputic for me..

And MUCH more fun to watch than the original movie.

I mean, seriously, how does one top 'Empire Strikes Back'..??

It would be an extremely daunting task..

The Prequels..? I borrowed/watched the third one on DVD on my laptop over in Kuwait because I was bored one evening.

david_b

[Sandman9580]

My enjoyment of the original trilogy sort of depends on my pretending the prequel trilogy doesn't exist. I look at it like The Godfather Part III -- the badness of that movie shouldn't take away from the fact that the first two were brilliant.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Weird. I know a few folks who've experienced something similar with more than a few different remakes and such. I've never had it happen to me; no matter how bad the new incarnation of something is, it doesn't affect how I feel about the old stuff.

Don C.