The Filoni Menace - DUEL OF THE BAD TAKES | Sam's Channel 

I live and die by this saying "the truth poorly told is equivalent to a lie" no matter how great the idea, it just wasn't presented in the way they intended and thus why it rings hollow.

I love where Filoni’s going with it. But I don’t think it works because the scenes with Anakin and Qui-Gon are very rarely heart to heart conversations to make their teacher-student relationship work.

It’s the mark of a good critic when you can put into words feelings I’ve had, but have had trouble expressing. You’re still one of the best!

"Sam's channel...?" *takes a puff of cigar* "I haven't heard that name in years...."

The audience can't be expected to leave the the theater and look up the sound track and see the track is called "Duel of the Faiths". The name of a track can't be used as a crutch to convey this theme.

6:19 as a star wars fan, the prequel criticism has actually faded away in our fandom. It’s been replaced by hatred for the new Sequel trilogy. And people like Star Wars theory (who’s thumbnail is in your video) have contributed to making people’s opinion shift, and making them think the prequels are Shakespearean Masterpieces. While most critics and film enthusiasts still recognize the inherent flaws of the prequels, the echo chamber that is the Star Wars fandom, has forgotten.

Really good video Sam, well written. Good to see you back making more videos.

Perfectly put, I was thinking this when I saw the clip. I thought it was nice that Filoni could put across Lucas' intentions very well in words that Lucas failed to do in both writing and directing. I can definitely see that Lucas wanted to have this come across in the movie but Filoni being the only person I've heard have this take just further proved that Lucas needed someone else to direct these films because it really doesn't come across in the movie.

You haven't seen Clone Wars yet? Get on that but fair warning, half of it isn't that great but the half that is good is so good that it's worth watching. Also great vid Sam! It's nice to see some voice of reason in the Star Wars fandom!

I do really like Filonis perspective on the duel but I do agree that Episode I itself doesn't really convey it. I still think it's there, especially with the time given to Ani and Qui Gons relationship in the film but it's nowhere near fully realised enough. If you haven't seen TCW, I do recommend it as it really feels like an original trilogy-esque series that just happens to have prequel era characters in it. Also, what do you think of the Mandalorian so far, Sam? I think it's great. Outside of the sixth episode.

It’s good to have guys like Filoni who can see the nuggets of *potential* gold in a thing like Phantom Menace, and even expound on them in the way he does. I found him diving into that interpretation an incredibly compelling listen. But to act like it’s *there* when it’s just *not* is beyond misleading. I think you’re point at 5:30 gets to the heart of the matter- Odds are Filoni has just spent too much time ensconced in writing the setting of the prequels and having had this take on it in his head as “part of events” that it became difficult to separate it from what was actually in the film.

Haven't watched the whole video yet, but I think the initial take of filoni is entirely unfair to obi wan and also takes away the agency of anakin and completely forgets that it was ultimately anakin's choice (and Lucas/writers) to do what he did. Yes there can be big influences in a person's life but he had all the opportunity he would not have had in his previous life as a slave and he still went to the dark side. Plus there's no way of knowing if anything would have been different if Quigon had lived, for all we know it could have been a worse outcome. Hell, maybe the whole universe and anakin would have been better off if Quigon had left him on tatooine. It seems arbitrary to assign one moment as the catalyst or turning point when in hindsight you could argue that for any moment in his life now that you know how things turned out. But I would say from a thematic point of view the duel was definitely symbolic of two different opposing paths and philosophies duking it out and symbolizing a shift of balance or a foreshadowing of things to come but I'd be hesitant to be overly specific about it in regards to anakin and his future choices. There is always the danger of reading too much into things after all Edit: after seeing the whole video, yep definitely agree with pretty much all points and it's fun to see another perspective

I don't understand how it's a 'bad take' though. I agree the prequel movies are not very good and didn't establish what Filoni is saying very well, which is why it seemed like revelation to fans. But the fact that he had to spell this out to fans 20 years later, doesn't make it in any way wrong. It simply highlights how poorly made the prequel trilogy was.

3:50 Here we have the Prequels in a nutshell. All of them have great ideas, concepts, and themes, but they fail in the execution. George Lucas should have done with the Prequels what he did with two-thirds of the Originals: be the ideas man, but let others direct the films.

“Star Wars fans will always care more about canon and continuity than how successfully a film achieves its ambition through genuine craft.” This. So much this! It really is frustrating especially when people hail Revenge of the Sith as a masterpiece when it’s pretty mediocre and fails to make Anakin’s fall relatable and human. As for the topic at hand, though I generally agree with you, I have always thought Filoni’s explanation was the case for the duel, especially when considering Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s arguments and conversations about Anakin in Coruscant (it is understandable that it didn’t resonate considering most people are half asleep during that planet :D). But personally I always thought it held up. Maybe that’s just me because I read up on it when I was like 12-14 and my critical thinking wasn’t really developed, but on the other hand a friend of mine who knew little to nothing about Star Wars understood this without any of my input too. She thought the editing where it cuts between Anakin and the duel made it clear too. I don’t know, maybe it’s just a matter of opinion.

It's hard to talk about Star Wars nowadays cos once you say what you think about it, everyone will jump on you for that. The only Star Wars I care about is the original trilogy, and that's basically what I need from it, I'm not a Star Wars fan. I'm a pop culture guy who likes some Star Wars stuff

Waffling incoming, let's go. I disagree with Dave Filoni's thoughts on this. (Appreciate it if anyone wants to read this, it's been bugging me for a while.) The idea that Qui-Gon was somehow better than the rest of the Jedi for valuing love, I don't see it. I see it all over the fandom, but I don't see it at the source. I keep seeing this Hot Take that the Jedi needed to embrace love and that forbidding attachment was wrong of them--when it was attachment that turned Anakin into Vader in the first place. Attachment, as defined by George Lucas, is greed. The fear of loss that would drive you to burn a city down for one person to spare yourself the pain of losing them. The jedi didn't undervalue love itself. As Anakin says, compassion--unconditional love--is central to a Jedi's life. In The Clone Wars, this is illustrated really well. You got Jedi being compassionate out the wazoo on that show, as well as Anakin being selfish and refusing to deal with his feelings. I don't really see any good examples in TPM of the other jedi lacking care and compassion vs. Qui-Gon. Obi-wan's "pathetic lifeform" comment seemed like teasing imo, and even if it wasn't, the first thing _Qui-Gon_ does when he meets Jar-Jar is insult his intelligence. From what I can see, Qui-Gon didn't free Anakin because of compassion, but because he believed he was the chosen one. The council decided against training Anakin because they deemed him a bad fit for the Jedi Life and uh...well they ended up being right didn't they? 😬 Which brings me to...why did Anakin fall? Because he didn't have Qui-Gon? Not exactly. Anakin fell because Palpatine got his hooks in him, encouraged his attachment to Padme, told him he was hot shit and the Jedi were holding him back. He fell because he never learned to let go. Could Qui-Gon have changed that? I dunno. I think that's rather a stretch. Anakin made his own choices, chief among them refusing to take the Jedi's teachings to heart. Plus it seems very weird to me to say that Qui-Gon 'knew Anakin needed a father figure' as if kids with single moms are destined to be maladjusted or something? I don't know what to make of that comment. It doesn't seem in line with his character at all. He's gonna be the father Anakin needs by dropping Obi-Wan like a hot potato? 🤔 Weird dad flex but ok Anyway I have accidentally written a whole ass essay so let's leave it there lol. 🤘

Hi Sam, I'm Sam! (that's if your reading this, only really did that to amuse myself) Anyways, I agree that while Faloni's take is interesting and I don't doubt that it may of totally been Lucas' intention for the scene, the directing and writing conveys none of Faloni's interpretation. Qui-Gon never comes off as a fartherly figure to Anakin, he never has a heart-to-heart with the boy (hell, he only has one scene where he shares one with Obi-Wan). Liam Neeson's performace is the same as the rest of jedi, cold and detached, so we're never shown him being more emotionally driven than the rest, we're only told that he is. The script also fails here, from what I can gather he only freed Anakin and took him to the jedi because he is "the chosen one" not because of his apparent attatchment to him. To prove this point further he only takes him on as his apprentice because no other jedi will, not because he cares for him. Anyway, another great video that will probably be torn apart and missunderstood by the fans who treat this series like catholic dogma, keep up the great content! :D

The double standards of prequel apologists are astounding. The people who worship them now were in diapers in the early 2000s, and when they criticize the sequels, I wonder, where is that shovel they used to dig 90 feet down into the dirt to squeeze those themes and twist those films into being comprehensible and make sense?

"Far better sequel trilogy" *Spits out drink*

I think its ultimately unfortunate that there isn't more crossover with film fans and Star Wars fans. I think the reason Ep IV captured so many warm eyes in the 70s is because of the innovative filmmaking. Lucas took the whizbang flash Gordon stories of yore and gave it a new life; and then Kershner took the story of Star Wars EVEN further. Its the reason I love the force awakens AND the last jedi. Both made advances in their own way :D You ought to check out Just Write's take on TLJ for an in-depth look at this recent discourse. Always good to see you, Sam!

I really love this idea people have that George Lucas is some kind of secret genius when pretty much every film project he's embarked on post-Star Wars has gone either horribly wrong or been completely forgotten.

Dave filinoi in my opinion actually understands Star Wars however I do understand where you’re coming from believe me and your not entirely wrong.

While I love what *Filoni* said, and tend to believe that it's what *Lucas* was going for, as you say, _it is just not there on the screen._ Your description of his directing as _"soulless"_ is completely spot-on IMO. You see it in the BTS of his films, as well as hearing it from the actors. He directs a film as much as someone with a bicycle _walks_ their bike. Yes, the bicycle and the person are moving together. But a very important part of the process is missing. I'm in my early fifties. In fact today is my birthday.¹ I was 10 years old when *Star Wars* came out in theaters. That film and *The Empire Strikes Back* have been _such_ a big deal to me my whole life. But unlike some fans, I don't see *Lucas* as this infallible demigod. Quite the opposite in fact. When I think of those two films, I think of all of the work by all of the incredibly innovative and talented people that made those films happen. There's a reason *The Empire Strikes Back* is considered the best. *_Lucas_*_ didn't direct it._ From the *John Williams* score, to the incredible special effects invented just for this film (much of which was wiped out with the special editions). And the miraculous save at the eleventh hour by *Lucas's wife* when she re-edited the film. It just goes on and on. *Lucas* had some really interesting and fun ideas. He essentially took a very classic storytelling formula and added some sriracha. But that's as far as it goes. *George Lucas* and *Gene Roddenberry* are two examples people who have been given virtually *sole credit* to something that so many others had a hand in creating. And I don't just mean in the way that someone who sets up the lights has a hand in a film. But people who challenged their ideas. People who actually fought for a different idea and saw it come to fruition. We later saw what happened when these people who were given sole credit were then given *free reign* as well. With *Roddenberry,* we ended up with _Encounter at Farpoint_ and the first two seasons of _STAR TREK TNG._ And as we all know, *Lucas* gave us the prequels. Because they were the only ones responsible at that point. ••✸•• *¹* ─ _"Hooray"_ for me. 😐

Dave Faloni says it in the way that Lucas envisioned. He gives a incredible take on it.

meh, okay, I've been watching a lot of Kung Fu cinema... and I GET THE IDEA of what fight wanted to tell in the prequels but you're right Lucas didn't convey it. One film I've been going back to Snake in Eagle's Shadow, young Jackie Chan and fights by Yuen Woo-Ping. it's not a great film, and the fights look like dance choreography, but it's light heart episodic nature does give you an idea through fighting build character.

Nothing makes me hate star wars more that the people that argue about star wars. I used to love the series. Now because of the discourse I'm completely over it.

It's a good day when Sam uploads again :')

Dave Filoni is certainly entitled to his opinion and its not a bad analysis but yeah the movie couldve done a better job to carry it forward.

Great work. It makes sense now. I wish it was explained to me instead of "fans who care know who that is". "You gotta know what a crumpet is before you understand cricket!"

You've got the incredible ability to verbalise what I find I have trouble articulating in these online discussions. Excellent video.

Very well said, Sam! I feel this needed to be said. I just rewatched The Phantom Menace last night and I get and admire Filoni’s take, it was poorly conveyed in the film itself. I gather that a lot of the love surrounding the Prequels nowadays stems from the Clone Wars TV show. Which to be fair is a fantastic show and adds a lot to that time period within Star Wars and makes me appreciate the era the Prequels takes place in much more. The Prequel movies themselves are still not good movies.

Do check out the clone wars, it fixes nearly all the problems with the prequels.

Sam should be an Avenger. His ability to make any video great is so good that it borders on being a superpower.

I highly doubt it's a "take" or an opinion from Dave. Being he's been close to George on a creative collaborative level. You don't think George had that conversation about that duel with Dave? One thing about Dave he doesn't just shoot whatever out of his mouth. He's very respectful and has a mentor student relationship with George. The conviction of this explanation by Dave gives the impression this was George's intent. Not his opinion. Now did George do a good job conveying that very thing in the movie ? Nope. But I don't doubt the intent

I’ll be honest. I don’t agree with Filoni’s take on the Duel. Like you said that’s not well conveyed at all. BUT I also disagree with you that Qui-Gon is illustrated similar to all the other Jedi. Frankly he’s the most emotionally engaging character until Episode 3. It’s made incredibly obvious that he does not give a shit about the council’s way, and he shows a distinct compassion for those in-need that Obi-Wan struggles to understand.

Dave floni is really great and plus he understands Star Wars more then anybody

Dave Filoni has to be one of my inspirations to look up to because he work on Star wars the clone wars and now working on The mandalorian show. Btw Sam whenever you have the time to check out the Clone wars tv show it's really great show if it's from a certain point of view.

You always do great work, Sam. Please keep them coming!

HOW HAVE I NOT SUBBED TO THIS CHANNEL YET? Nice work dude, good to see you still make videos. Keep it up!

Most of this video I can understand, and i agree with it. However, when you say "far better sequels" in the context of people defending the Prequels over the Sequels directly after addressing the fact that it was an opinion is pretty hypocritical. Is it an opinion or are the sequels superior?

Christ, thank you. I saw those tweets about how Filoni's interpretation should have been obvious to anyone who can analyze movies and I wanted to curl up inside myself to hide from the pretension.

Finally, a good star wars video

Glad to see more content! Love your work, dude.

Is it perhaps an ironic statement that the sequel trilogy is "Far better" then the prequel?

The Phantom Menace is awful but that is an interesting analysis even if I disagree.

Nice video as always, man! Would love to hear your thoughts on the MCU Spider-Verse movie. You’re always the most interesting commentator on all things Spider-Man so I’m curious as to what your thoughts are on a film that hasn’t even been confirmed yet. Keep up the great work man! Cheers

Totally get what you're saying. The prequels are an awful mess of ideas that never quite come together. But at the same time, I find them oddly fascinating because there are a lot of interesting ideas buried among the mess. You can see what Lucas was trying to do if you look close enough. But of course execution is another thing entirely. On the other hand, the Disney sequel trilogy, while executed well, at least from a technical standpoint, is far less clear to me what it is trying to accomplish, if anything. And so in this nightmare hellscape world that we live in where nothing makes any sense, I find myself gravitating towards the prequels more and more.

This is a good video, thanks for sharing your perspective, It was more educational than i expected.

I'm not a deep fan of star wars but I love looking into the parts that interest me. I'm only curious do you think that in the prequels they did everything they could to portray what they tried to show or they just didnt go far enough above and beyond?

Honestly I think Filoni has done the most damage to Star Wars then anyone. He was the main reason why the old expanded universe got destroyed, he is currently destroying the new canon, he wildly misinterpreted characters like you wouldn’t believe (Anakin, mace, General grievous, Quinlan Vos, Yoda, Luke and many other)

The prequels are not entirely good films no matter how much story lore we get from everywhere else. However Sadly this is what happens when disney really didn't knew what to do in the sequel trilogy and how much of mess of political drama it became. I still stand by that 7 is a great film and how most changes disney did aren't bad in the canon. Ya the prequels have good idea that expanded to a lot of things I myself enjoy but can people for once not drag their agendas and actually think what is being said. Even I am getting sick of it.

The Prequel Fanboys trying to make the Prequels our to be misunderstood masterpieces are SO fucking annoying!

Wonderful video! I think you're absolutely on the money.

Perfect. While I was pretty moved by his speech and while watching the Duel I have his words in my head now, I agree that the film itself did not present this DIRE FATE of Anakin regarding Qui Gons life or death. Good work!

The problem I have with Filoni's take is more or less the same as yours. It's an overly forgiving interpretation that doesn't seem to have much (if any) grounding within The Phantom Menace itself. I wouldn't be surprised if it was derived primarily his relationship with George.

I'm gonna disagree a little bit. I re-watched phantom menace recently (this was before i saw dave filoni's take). Qui-gon was trying to essentially be the father anakin never had. Liam nesson (i think thats how its spelled) who i think does a great job as qui gon (even with so so direction) is very caring and acts very fatherly towards obi wan and especially anakin. His talk with shimi also gives me a similar feeling. He wants be there for this is (which he was not obligated to do) I feel dave filoni is right with his interpretation and its not as poorly executed as you make it seem. To be fair this is probably due to liam's acting and not the direction but i still think its one of the few things in phantom menace that works. (Sorry for re-post)

Yeah. It's super annoying when creatives don't hand-hold the audience enough. People were so busy bitching about Jar Jar, they probably wouldn't have even noticed if the duel of the fates was spelled out explicitly. I'm beginning to think you all deserved the sequels and their incessant exposition.

Filoni ruined the clone wars era, read the Star Wars: Republic comics and watch 2003 Micro series (the books and games are also fun but i feel that may be too time consuming), both are superior to TCW

I can't stand this. I can't stand how people will nitpick the shit out of the prequels but just ignore the exact same issues in the originals! Filoni is spot on and it did not fall flat. For some, maybe it did. I don't care. I've caught this subtlety myself before Filoni's speech. Of course some pseudo snobby film critic like you has to come around and shit on everyone's parade. "The film fails to realize this subtext because of poor filmaking." H--how???? This is all subjective. It failed for YOU as a view but for me and so many others it did not. OVERLY CHOREOGRAPHED DANCE???? Why does this shit have to be explained!?!??! 1. They're jedi who have quick reflexes and can sense each others moves 2. It's realistic sword fighting but just sped up. 3. NO SUCH THING AS OVER CHOREOGRAPHED The biggest problem with this video is it just mindlessly regurgitates silly prequel criticism that don't hold up when examined. You don't really prove anything you just say "This didn't work" "this fell flat" "this is poorly edited" As George Lucas once accurately said: "Most film critics are cinematically illiterate." I couldn't even finish this video because it's so annoying how you present this has objective. Edit: And yes, the prequels are misunderstood gems. Older fans were just nostalgic for the OT and then forced their view on everyone else on the internet as film critics. Critics hated the OT and the prequels. Star Wars under George had the same consistent quality. We will forever love them and elevate them as the best. You can't change that. "What if I told you they were all wrong?" *SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH* You can't tell people they are wrong about an opinion on a space movie.

So Sam, what did you think of The Rise of Skywalker?

Excellent video, Sam! You're really great at articulating your thoughts. I wish George Lucas was just the executive producer for the Prequel Trilogy. After watching the Clone Wars, I think it's safe to say someone like Filoni could have made something better and more emotionally-resonant with George's concepts and ideas. The prequels just do not work, and like so many bad Star Wars movies, people seem desperate to cling to any idea that vindicates their love for them. There's nothing wrong with liking something flawed, but treating the prequels and sequels like masterpieces of filmmaking just seems narrow-minded given all their flaws. It's subjective of course, so I guess that's just my opinion. I think I just wish people were able to treat Star Wars less seriously and just have more fun with it. I personally really only care for the original trilogy (especially the original and Empire), but I don't swear revenge on people who don't share my opinions. I just move about my day.

This is a good take on a bad take on a bad take on a bad take on a bad movie. Great video!

Sam you failed! You can't talk about Star Wars without throwing shade at a certain fandom, you can't say what you have to say without being offensive towards any group.

Excellent video as always man

Yeah, as if those who defend the Sequel Trilogy are any better, they pretty much do this death of the author thing ALL the time to defend them, projecting themes and making interpretations that those films didn't earn. MovieBob's god-awful take about "TLJ is a loveletter to Star Wars Fans!" is a prime example. I was into the video and agreed, but "Far better Sequel Trilogy" kinda lost me ...No, I'm sorry, if I walked into Rise of Skywalker completely blind without having seen any poster or trailer, and I saw "Palpatine is back from the dead" casually told in the opening crawl, I would've left the theater and asked my money back. The Sequels are a disorganized mess that made shit up in they went along. The prequels are still not good films for the reasons brought up, but the *writing* of the Sequels reached new lows and they milk nostalgia the way you said in the old Attack of the Clones review: "No, look! Look at Palpatine! This is tots Star Wars! We understand it! This is tots the end of the Skywalker saga! Look at Lando, look at Chewie's medal! Come see it! Look at how we repeat similar scenarios of the OT films! Come recognize it and clap!!" And frankly the better acting and effects makes it worse to me, I wish they were used in scripts that knew what they were doing. I'm sick of films like Prometheus/Covenant or the Jurassic World films wasting talent on braindead scripts.

The Clone Wars series WAY better than the OT-rehashed Sequel Trilogy.

Well... no wonder this video hasn't really made the rounds. It's a bunch of nonsense that feels more like someone who is simply criticizing the movies from the perspective of RLM and regurgitating their points in a half baked manner. You say that there is no scene whatsoever selling the Fate of Anakin because it keeps skipping to Jake Lloyd having a good time, but you absolutely ignore the funeral scene where Qui-Gon's body is being burnt and Palpatine, the man who trained the Sith that killed him, is standing right there in the room with the Jedi, Anakin and Obi-Wan along with Padme, whom he is standing right next too. After the question is asked, "Who was killed, the master or the apprentice?" it camera pans over to Palpatine in the most ominous way it can indicating that Anakin's life would henceforth be manipulated by this man. You seem to not understand the over theme of naivete within the movie itself. I mean holy Christ, the reason why it comes off more as a fun romp than anything else is because its a movie meant to appeal to kids largely but ultimately has a number of thing's going on in the background indicating that there is a LOT and I mean LOT of hidden dark subtext indicating that the villain has won. Remember the celebration song at the end? That's the Emperor's theme sped up. As they're celebrating, the future Emperor himself is standing there, just having recently been elected Chancellor in a landslide victory. You also say that this surrogate father part of the story was never explored to any meaningful degree... and yet every singular time we see Anakin interacting with Qui-Gon he is attentive and respectful as well as truthful. He is primarily attempting to help Anakin understand basic thing's not only about the Force but also speaks to him when he brings Anakin with him to Naboo in a way that a parent would speak to a child, in a sort of stern fashion indicating that "you do as I say, and you will be safe." There is all kinds of ways in which this is delivered that you're just straight up ignoring. It's interesting that you begin this video fairly strong in a fashion where I think you might be talking about the merits of either side and talking about the problems that both sides have, and yet all of this amounts to nothing more than prequel bashing of a movie that is in all honesty, pretty good. Several times throughout you make unnecessary and completely irrelevant comments about thing's that either do not affect the quality of the film as if it does or you just straight up make thing's up regarding what we actually see in the movie. It's funny that you call this "A bad take, about a bad take, about a bad take" when the reality is, your take is just straight up bad.

“Far Better Sequel Trilogy” I’d like to disagree. Disney has ruined Star Wars. Unpopular opinion, I know. But Rey isn’t as compelling as the story of Luke, or the fall of Anakin and how Obi-Wan failed him. Yeah, the prequels did it terribly, but at least it was coherent. The sequel trilogy almost feels like three different movies with no overarching story. Episode 7 was A New Hope. They set up Snoke as the big baddie, and demonstrated that Rey, with no training, could properly use the force and a lightsaber, which is something Luke couldn’t do until his years of training in between Episode 5 and Episode 6. Finn was a compelling character, with JJ even hinting at him being force sensitive. The whole ‘defecting stormtrooper’ story is so fresh and something we haven’t seen much. Well, Rey finds Luke after denying a blaster from the legendary Han Solo (Harry Potter and the audacity on this bitch) and having seen the very same legendary Han Solo getting killed by his son, with Leia consequently hugging Rey instead of Chewbacca because Rey is more important I guess Episode 8. Rian Johnson is taken in, and proceeds to “subvert expectations.” First thing we see is Luke Skywalker, the happy go lucky, optimistic Luke Skywalker who brought Vader, a man who’s slaughtered millions, back to the light, holding his father’s lightsaber, reunited with it once more. And then he throws it off a cliff, and is revealed to be a cynical, angry and hateful old man. Nothing can explain that, not to mention him trying to kill Kylo Ren over a bad dream. Rey further proves to be the most overpowered character in Star Wars, Finn is turned into the funny black guy, and Snoke is killed. The BAD GUY IS KILLED. THE BIG BAD GUY IS KILLED. So much potential, thrown out like an unwanted puppy. Now, onto episode 9. Rey is Palpy’s granddaughter, which makes no sense. Palpy has children? And it’s a clone of Palpy? The first order uses TREADS (christ) on their bikes, the Wayfinder and that dagger (that has done terrible things, Rey says, while holding a lightsaber that slaughtered countless children in Order 66). And then, the best part is it all happens in under a day. Palpatine rises and is defeated by the ever-so great Rey in under a DAY. What took Luke years took Rey just a measly day. There’s no proper coherent storyline other than “Rey is strong female independent main character” It’s sad to see, but it’s true.

You lost all credibility when you said "far better sequel trilogy"

Honestly the prequel hate is dumb, especially in the past 5 years. You can have your opinion, but here you are regurgitating old outdated arguments on why you think TPM is bad and thus your viewers will be regurgitating these ideas as well.

However flawed, the prequels are superior to the sequels.

All this made me think is that could have been really great if executed properly. Still doesn't change my opinion on the prequels

Great video!! I can absolutely see all of your points, and agree with most of them. Most importantly I appreciate your emphasis on how to have an actual discussion without flying off the handle with black and white thinking lol. I disagree that the sequels are better--but that's just based on what I value in a story, really. I have a higher appreciation for the (yes, deeply flawed) prequels than the sequels because I care about the underlying story. To me, the heart of star wars is tangible in them. Whereas the sequels started out promising and then nosedived into "this is very pretty and i can see what they were trying to do, but these characters just do not do it for me." Add on the sting of sidelining Finn and I'm just content to pretend they never happened. But it's not like I think people who like them are bad people. We just want different sauce on our star wars.

You gotta love the irony of this guy stating in this video that putting yourself on a pedestal of superiority over someone else with regards to entertainment is not right and yet, now, all this man does is exercise his own toxic sense of superiority regarding entertainment and film on his Twitter page. I used to really enjoy his thoughts and content but after hearing some of the things he's said recently, I respectfully will not continue to support someone who expresses their opinions in this way. Yes, you absolutely have the right to express your opinion. But don't do it in such a way that it makes you look like you're trying to be smug or high and mighty about it.

I agree, it doesn't earn that subtext at all even tho it always felt quite obvious. The prequels are obviously extremely flawed. Just a shame that the sequels are even worse than the prequels in this regard, extremely inconsistent and illogical writing with themes that don't hold up. The prequels at least had a through line and world building that made sense and gave us more context about the galaxy in the OT. The sequels have no world building, sense of scale, government structure, consistently acting characters, logical goals for characters etc. I highly disagree that they're "much better".

How can you say the sequels were better than the prequels? The prequels had their problems but at least we knew what they were leading up to and the pay off was pretty decent. The sequels were a disconnected mess full of identity politics and reliance on nostalgia.

prequel bad filmmaking bad

Quite odd that you want to discuss "characterisation" when Lucas has already explained that it is a visual story not a literary one. I can only presume that you're the kind of person who thought Lucas tried to make the PT "more character focused" like the OT, and failed, rather than intentionally choosing to make a story in broader strokes, to complement the OT, not just mimic it. But your hot take is that neither Filoni or Lucas understand what the PT should have been, or was trying to be, as you do? Does that sound likely? Interesting that you consider the sequels trilogy "far better". Is that the mystery boxes that meant nothing, or the abrupt changes in direction, or child slaves playing with Luke dolls? Perhaps you don't really understand SW as well as you think. Funny that you mention people shouldn't be quick to form an opinion, and yet still end up doing so. As you rightly say, there's a lot of "pretentious bollocks" on movie making. Did you ever stop to think *why* Lucas made the prequels as he did, or did you just make your mind up?

These really aren't bad takes. It isn't a bad take about a bad take about a bad take. It's not a mind-numbingly wrongheaded perpetual flux that both groups love to lose themselves in. It's not like that at all. The film honestly does earn that interpretation. The film doesn't fail to realize this subtext at all as the subtext is there and there isn't poor filmmaking. Huh? The Characterization of the central heroes aren't ambiguous and half formed at all. Qui Gon is the wise yet reckless Jedi Master that does things on his own accord. Obi Wan is the learning Jedi Padawan that has the real voice of reason at times and is more level headed then anyone else. And Anakin is the curious excitable young kid who wants to help free himself and his mom from slavery and wants to go on adventures too. There isn't a lack of introspection and people can still get inside their heads long enough to interpret stuff. Including this intricate surrogate father-son dynamic. Qui Gon's thinking is always explained, he is pretty independent in the Phantom Menace and constantly goes against the Jedi Council as they don't always make the best decisions. His rejection of the Jedi Council is made explicit as again he doesn't think they are reliable as they make mistakes...it's why he decided to train Anakin himself when they refused to take him in for training. Lucas's direction isn't soulless and Liam Neeson isn't looking lost and it doesn't leave much to be desired. Quo Gon-jJinn doesn't come across as cold and detached from the audience though. No he's not doing it so Star Wars can happen, he's doing it because of the chosen one prophecy. Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't a sidenote, he's one of the main characters too that plays a large role in helping out, and he doesn't quietly get abandoned halfway through the movie. We are told stuff about Obi Wan Kenobi such as that he's obviously Qui Gon Jinn's apprentice and that he's still a padawan and we are shown his personality which is all we really need to know about him in Episode 1. All of this is supported by the film's not inept visual storytelling and it's not lifeless editing as with the song titled "duel of the fates" and how it's clear that Qui-Gon not being the teacher of Anakin does obviously change things with how different Obi-Wan is to him....it's clear that it was a duel for Anakin's fate. Cutting to Anakin in a spaceship going "yippie!" is fine and doesn't negatively affect anything in fact if anything showing that only reinforces that the fight that's taking place at the same time as that's happening is about Anakin's fate that hangs in the balance. Yeah there is a reason...but some of the audience did pick up on these ideas. Nope what it does in it's execution is a lot. It doesn't come across as three men we barely know having an overly-choreographed ballet dance with glow sticks. Anakin and Obi Wan and others weren't really underdeveloped though in the Prequel Trilogy...but yeah the Prequel trilogy is flawed but it isn't bad. It was already compelling fiction in the Prequel Trilogy. Improving...not fixing as the prequel trilogy story on it's own was already good. They aren't bad at making a defensive case for it at all. Yeah because they have been misunderstood gems...and those that have seen how good they are this whole time and newer people who now see how good they are are rising up. Not just that but to prove that the Prequel trilogy isn't bad. And No, the Sequel trilogy is not at all better then the Prequel Trilogy let alone far better. The film honestly does convey all that. Eh...not always as a lot of fans care more about if the films are good or not. Well it clearly is meaningful. The subtext of the fight sequence in the Phantom Menace does work on the fundamental basic of film language. It does well align well enough with what the movie has shown us in it's imagery, told us about it's characters through dialogue, or inferred through design direction costume editing or sound mixing. It is pretentious to some degree...but for some people it is true. Yeah it was with the help of the other prequel films which was the intention...it's kind of like foreshadowing in a way. I don't think people were meant to get it with the Phantom Menace on it's own...it's more of a hindsight thing and how that causes you to view prior scenes differently now. Nope the Prequels were misunderstood all these years and that's not the fault of the filmmakers. But yeah more actual discussion about this kind of stuff would be great.

5:37 no its not