Star Wars prequels-why all the hate?

[phil]

The Pod Race in Phantom Menace is a perfect example of how to stop a movie dead in its tracks.

[Hector]

Triple good grief...

[Hector]

The ESPN announcing “duo” in the PM Pod Race scene is so cringe worthy, good grief...

Farting at 1:50, double good grief...

Argh...

[palitoy]

Personally, I think all the concepts and ideas are actually pretty interesting, it's definitely different to the original trilogy and handled well. they'd be great movies.

However, it's all in the execution, the dialog is bland as is the action, the environments seem flat and bland. The merchandising elements also seem crassly in your face, I remember walking out of "Attack of the Clones" and thinking I'd just watched video game levels.

[Klosterheim]

Darth Maul fighting on Naboo was really cool.

I have become used to all the other Prequel components.

It was fun seeing the Slave 1 in space combat, it was one of the good highlights.

It's just that some things do not connect with the Original Trilogy, but I give the Star Wars Prequel Films a pass on that. Almost any movie or TV series can be torn apart. Any contradictions will stand out.

The end product does put some characters in a bad light, so the audience can ignore the Prequel storyline or choose options like trying to fit all the plot's new information into a satisfying whole, giving reason and explanations to anything that does not match up to the audience's perspective and actual stated Original Trilogy story facts.

I would have loved it if they would have had a Sequel Trilogy right before and in between the Prequels.

I think it would have been so cool to have had Harrison Ford play Han Solo in the time period of when he made Air Force One! That would have looked incredible!

Then Harrison Ford could have still came back again for The Force Awakens.

[Brue]

Because they are an original idea and not a "Clone" (pardon the pun) of the original trilogy like the sequel movies are....

They are not an original idea. The preface to the novelization of Star Wars sums the entire prequel Trilogy in a single page. That page is enough.
They attempt to tell backstories of existing characters. Also not original.

The new trilogy does very much borrow heavily from the original trilogy. It is intentional, because that is what fans wanted - BUT they also wanted -nay -needed a fresh start. So while you see the original trilogy reimagined, it also sets up a new generation.

[Iron Mego]

Why all the hate?

I decided I was being too hard on them, and it would be OK to rewatch them with Eleanor (age 11).
This time going into it with a positive attitude and low expectations, it should have been OK.

Nope. It is terrible. IF you had seen them before the originals and you were a child, they would be fine. 4th graders I taught at the time of its release liked lots of action, colorful scenes, and fun (albeit 2 dimensional) characters. The kids ignored plot and dialogue, and felt no need to fit it into the story.
the
1. Teenage Anakin
2. Trade war dispute central plot
4. Immaculate conception and Mitichlorians
5. CGI that at the time was bad because it didn't feel organic and it was overused. Today it looks like the CGI qualifies it for MST2K.
6. Overuse of Jar Jar and other CGI over the top characters (not Jar Jar alone)
7. Bad dialogue, especially Anni/Amidala
8. Flying R2, Vader made 3PO?
9. Wasted talent - there were good actors (even Christiansen was good in a previous film), but they all came across flat or ridiculous
10. And the worst part: 9/10 year old anakin. (his friends and the pod race were awful too)

So basically it had a very poor story, poor character development, poor directing, bad dialogue, and it pooped on the original trilogy.

This. All of this.

[Brue]

Why all the hate?

I decided I was being too hard on them, and it would be OK to rewatch them with Eleanor (age 11).
This time going into it with a positive attitude and low expectations, it should have been OK.

Nope. It is terrible. IF you had seen them before the originals and you were a child, they would be fine. 4th graders I taught at the time of its release liked lots of action, colorful scenes, and fun (albeit 2 dimensional) characters. The kids ignored plot and dialogue, and felt no need to fit it into the story.
the
1. Teenage Anakin
2. Trade war dispute central plot
4. Immaculate conception and Mitichlorians
5. CGI that at the time was bad because it didn't feel organic and it was overused. Today it looks like the CGI qualifies it for MST2K.
6. Overuse of Jar Jar and other CGI over the top characters (not Jar Jar alone)
7. Bad dialogue, especially Anni/Amidala
8. Flying R2, Vader made 3PO?
9. Wasted talent - there were good actors (even Christiansen was good in a previous film), but they all came across flat or ridiculous
10. And the worst part: 9/10 year old anakin. (his friends and the pod race were awful too)

So basically it had a very poor story, poor character development, poor directing, bad dialogue, and it pooped on the original trilogy.

[ProfessorArturoLived]

A hero's fall from grace is only tragic if they are ever a hero. They lost me a soon as the virgin birth of Anakin and midichlorians were mentioned. They never recovered.

[Madcap70]

Because they are an original idea and not a "Clone" (pardon the pun) of the original trilogy like the sequel movies are....

[phil]

Agreed. The Prequels don't work because you never like Anakin. Starts as unlikable kid then becomes a creepy teen stalker and finally a child killing sociopath. His scenes with Padme makes my skin crawl. There's no tragic once noble hero's fall from grace and you never like him. It also messes up the original trilogy because the character is now unredeemable.

Exactly! Even knowing Annakin's fate it would have made a difference if he had been at all likeable to begin with. I think the biggest problem with the prequels is that Lucas could do whatever he wanted. Some times creative people need a bit of control.

[Werewolf]

The curveball had to be in the performance, Anakin should have been your favourite character.

so there was no real downfall for him, just someone pushing his buttons to bend him to the dark side.

Agreed. The Prequels don't work because you never like Anakin. Starts as unlikable kid then becomes a creepy teen stalker and finally a child killing sociopath. His scenes with Padme makes my skin crawl. There's no tragic once noble hero's fall from grace and you never like him. It also messes up the original trilogy because the character is now unredeemable.

[Gorn Captain]

I liked parts of the prequels, and I'll still watch them. They suffer from the fact that Lucas doesn't have great storytelling abilities, and did his best work when a veteran screenwriter helped steer the ship. Once George ruled on his own, I found his lack of skills disturbing.
At the time, I thought that Lucas ruined parts of the prequels with inappropriate slapstick humor, like C3PO losing his head and screwing it on another droid. Little did I know what was to come later on...

[thunderbolt]

The curveball had to be in the performance, Anakin should have been your favourite character.

agreed, if it was truly the first time we meet these characters and know nothing of them then Ani should be likable and then gradually have him crash and burn. He came across as a smug brat from the get go, so there was no real downfall for him, just someone pushing his buttons to bend him to the dark side.

[Hector]

I wanted to like them. I tried to convince myself after watching Phantom Menace that I liked it. As time went on however, I find them unwatchable.

The story seems not planned out to fit with the original trilogy. I mean, if someone who had never seen any of them tried to watch them in order, they destroy the shocking reveal in Empire.

The acting is very flat. How can actors that are great in every other movie, such as Ewan McGregor, be this unwatchable? Possible because they weren't given proper direction. Probably because they were trying to act in a giant green room to a green tape mark on the wall. I feel no emotional connection to anyone, and I can't even tell who our protagonist is. It probably should be Obi-Wan, but is it? It's not Anakin, not Jar-Jar, not Qui-Gon so I guess it falls to Obi-Wan, but it's not played that way.

The effects have aged poorly. The backgrounds look very artificial. There are complete sequences that might as well be cut scenes from a video game. And furthermore, the world doesn't even look like Star Wars. As much as I think Rogue One is boring, it LOOKS exactly like the Star Wars universe from the original trilogy.

I don't hate the prequels. It's actually worse. I'm indifferent to them. They've stirred as much emotion to me as 2016's Ghostbusters did. I have no connection to it at all and it might as well not exist.

Having said all that, I have movies that I know aren't good, and maybe they're even flat out bad movies, that I like despite their flaws because I find them entertaining or fun or whatever. I have an emotional connection to them. And there are plenty of movies that the masses love that I can't stand.

Like what you like.

Spot on...