The Star Wars prequels have had the short end of the stick for years. Today, I'm here to tell that they're not only quite good, but they are secretly brilliant. Don't believe me? Watch.
Everytime I rewatch The Revenge of the Sith it hits me so hard because I feel for Anakin and I could see so many moments where if things played out a little differently he could have dodged his fate, but He can't change what's going to happen and it feels perfectly in his character to make the mistakes he did.
this. it's a "if only" story. if only someone was aware of Palpatine's manipulations with Anakin. if only the jedi council was less set in their ways. if only someone else had reached out a helping hand. if only Anakin had more people he could trust/trusted him. if only obi-wan wasn't so far up his own ass and looked at what was right in front of his face. if only he and Anakin were actually friends (they weren't, and I'm ready to debate chapter and verse anyone who says they were, obi-wan might have THOUGHT they were the best of friends but anakin's feelings toward him were VERY different) who could honestly confide in each other.... just one of these factors being different could have changed so much
that what makes Anakin fall to dark side to tragic. Also form his point of view he felt he had no choice. How ever he only realized what the dark side is truly about when he in his suit and its too late. One can not use the dark side for end justify the means unless you ends are truly evil. Because the dark side will take you father than you plan to go and keep you longer than planed to stay.
Episode 3 is the best Star Wars film to date. Hayden was a phenomenal Anakin and Vader. So grateful he had the courage to take that role, the most legendary villain in film history, and nailed it. 💯
He's also back for Ahsoka now. I'm very excited about that. I already liked the show, but it just got ten times better in my opinion (yeah, yeah I probably should have expected he'd be back)
Episode 3 is my favorite as well. Definitely not digging Ashoka though. The cinematography is excellent in some episodes, but I feel like the heroes are unlikeable and I’m almost rooting for the bad guys.
Plus so many people leave out the context. They make it sound like Anakin says it out of nowhere, when in reality it was just a natural progression of the conversation they were already having
Hayden Christensen is Anakin/Vader. I find him unusually compelling to watch. I think Anakin is the immaculately conceived embodiment of the Force, with physically and existentially limitless possibilities, but he's also just a young man. I actually like the clunky dialogue of "hating sand" we can all think back to some of the cringe inducing things we have said to beautiful young women, when we were in our teens. It shows that despite Anakin's incredible potential with the force, it doesn't help him with interpersonal relationships. Contrast this with the absolute master of manipulation in Darth Sidious, and Anakin is completely out of his depth. I love the theory that Qui-Gon would have been the master to see Anakin through to becoming a man, and a balanced user of the force. I don't know if I even like Obi-Wan Kenobi, he is pragmatic, neat, organised, and goal focussed, as opposed to people focussed. Man what a story haha
I always defended the Sand line. While I typically agree that the dialogue between Anakin and Padme was usually awkward unintentionally, I always understood the sand bit to be deliberately so, just because of how unprompted it is. Dude was crushing super mega hard and wanted to start a conversation, but was socially stunted (from being both a slave and a Jedi) and had no idea what he was doing so just kinda grabbed the first thing to come to mind. Of course it was disjointed. Talking to women is awkward for most young men, and Anakin was unfortunately at a disadvantage more than most his age.
As a Star Wars who was first introduced to the Lego Complete Saga game and the prequels, I'm proud that the trilogy is gaining more appreciation, (especially after the sequel trilogy), i never understood the prequel hate, was surprised to see on the internet how hated they were, I never found them to be bad movies, I understand people not liking Jar Jar (I never hated him tho) or Anakin/Padme scenes, but overall they have more good things than bad one, I think I have seen all the Star Wars documentaries and interviews with George Lucas, each time I learned more about history, philosophy and mythology that made me appreciate the saga and Lucas more, this really deserves more views, greetings from Venezuela.
¡Gracias por tus comentarios Jesús! Yo tampoco odié a Jar Jar y al mismo tiempo al aprender más sobre la creación de la saga la he llegado a apreciar como nunca. Saludos. 👋
Honestly I was introduced through everything including most of the Legends EU to that point before the prequels, watched them day &Date in theaters and NEVER heard anything other than Jar-Jar hate bad about them until AFTER the Sequels started releasing... I think it was echo-chamber exclusive for quite some time.
I also let pop reviews sway me on the prequels. I still liked them, but accepted that they were "bad." I decided to make my own edits of them and discovered, or rediscovered, an awesome respect for the story and storytelling, and I realized almost all the criticisms were not just unfounded, but factually inaccurate. These are masterpieces.
@@Acrocanthosaurus that's not how this works, you have to prove a single one of their criticisms is right. But, since you're so woefully unaware of how burden of proof works, and it's so monumentally easy to utterly burn down your apparent idols, the RedLetter media reviews are among the worst offenders. Here's an easy one: they complained about how Anakin put on a child sized helmet in the final battle. He didn't. It was large on him, and children's heads are disproportionately large compared to their bodies. But the helmet was still visibly much larger on his head than the other pilots. RedLetter just makes shit up like that. Now your turn, give a SINGLE criticism of the prequels that is actually accurate to what actually happens in the film (90% are just factually inaccurate refuted by the actual events in the films.) You won't, but I'm interested in seeing what you dredge up. I've only seen one, ever. Let's see if you know it. You don't. But it will be fun to see you try.
@@SnakeWasRight Actually the burden of proof is... never mind. I've decided to go and rewatch the Plinket review and see if there is anything they say that is wrong. Been awhile since I enjoyed the edgy brilliance. Back in a minute.
Star Wars isn't restricted to looking-like, being paced and filmed like the original movies... the only reason why the original movies have that washed-up oppressive "rebel" vibe, is because that is the particular look, pace and vibe of that time-period in the star wars story in that particular tune and place, not because that is what star wars is supposed to be. Star Wars doesn't (and shouldn't) begin and end with the pacing, look and vibe of the original trilogy, as if that's all star wars can and will ever be, and the prequels and e.u. proved this. I only wish disney would understand that so that we could get something new and exciting, like we used to get all the time when George Lucas was in-charge, before "ⲧⲏⲉ ⲱⲏiⲧe sⲒaνⲉⲅς ⲟf ⲙⲓⲥⲕⲉⲩ ⲙⲟυsⲉ" bought it.
I love everything about the Prequels. Always have, and always will. They are George Lucas' purest vision of Star Wars, and incredibly deep movies. Most so-called SW fans don't even understand what SW is actually about. I saw TPM 19 times when it was originally released. I wish they remastered it for UHD with a DNR free transfer. It could look so good. My favourite is AOTC, as it is romantic, thrilling, but not as heartbreaking as ROTS, which destroys me each time I watch it. The Prequels rule! This is a thoughtful and wonderfully put together essay. Great job!
When people complain that Star Wars characters don't sound like normal people. What they really mean is that they don't sound like contemporary Americans. The big influence of Kurosawa films was George Lucas's experience with the films. He described how he was watching these movies and he doesn't understand all the Japanese cultural context on display, but he understands they have this whole other world they are living with it's own history and customs. Despite the cultural barrier he could still relate to the story and characters on a human level and still enjoy it. This is a big part of what he tried to accomplish with Star Wars. If you saw Episode 4 before the prequels and heard Luke mention the Clone Wars, you may have no idea what the Clone Wars are, but you can certainly believe Luke does and that it is an integral part of the history of that Galaxy Far Far Away. A big part of why he did this is that by giving Star Wars an alien culture with it's own history, customs and context the story could have appeal to any culture at any time because you're more focused on enjoying the universal human experience put on display than figuring out the references.
I think everyone hating the prequels is more of a representation of soy nerd culture where it's cool to hate everything. The prequel is a perfect tragedy which the common man will not understand because it isn't the pretty "superhero wins in the end" story. It's more complicated which is closer to how life actually is.
I've always loved the Prequels movies a lot, but for so many years, it seems like everyone around me hated them with a burning passion, so I felt like I was alone in my love for them. But when I asked why they hated them so much, no one could ever give me an answer, it was usually just "because they are bad" which told me nothing. So I could only assume they hated them cuz it was the "cool thing" to do and because others hated them. So it's actually nice to finally see people show appreciation and love for these movies.
Star Wars isn't restricted to looking-like, being paced and filmed like the original movies... the only reason why the original movies have that washed-up oppressive "rebel" vibe, is because that is the particular look, pace and vibe of that time-period in the star wars story in that particular tune and place, not because that is what star wars is supposed to be. Star Wars doesn't (and shouldn't) begin and end with the pacing, look and vibe of the original trilogy, as if that's all star wars can and will ever be, and the prequels and e.u. proved this. I only wish disney would understand that so that we could get something new and exciting, like we used to get all the time when George Lucas was in-charge, before "ⲧⲏⲉ ⲱⲏiⲧe sⲒaνⲉⲅς ⲟf ⲙⲓⲥⲕⲉⲩ ⲙⲟυsⲉ" bought it.
They will never be ready, because most people just want the same stuff in different packaging over and over again, as they got with the garbage Disney sequels.
@@Alienadin can't blame Disney when the gave Rian Johnson creative freedom with the Last Jedi, a film that actually tried to do something different. Then people didn't like that and complained about it and then we got The Rise of Skywalker. Can't have it both ways
I love the prequels, the acting was good, actually, and I unironically liked the dialogue, my only problems with it are Padme's reason to fall in love not being explained and minor details like people doing their hair too fast offscreen
@@billthedoritoguy4770 In the Clone Wars Anakin has been knighted and is an adult, in Attack of the Clones he's supposed to be a whiny teenager and he is
@@martalaatsch8358 Padme's reason to fall in love wasnt explained? The movie lays it out pretty obviously, l thought. Sure, Anakin is KINDA a creep in Ep 2, but is not his fault. Its not like he has much experience Mackin on the fly honeys, so to speak. lol Plus he knows what he feels for Padme is Forbidden by the jedi, so of course he would sound a bit awkward at times. But what draws Padme to him and causes her to fall for him is how he's just an avalanche of honesty and emotion, which is something I'm sure she rarely is around as a young Queen. I'm sure ppl are very Regal around her, and tell her what she wants to hear. Anakin does not do that. This is proven when a few times she asks him something and he answers honestly, and she's surprised by it, if not even a little offended by his answer, but hes just being honest. He doesnt know how to lie, and the 1 or 2 times he tries, she's able to read him like a book and he comes clean right away. That can be intoxicating for a young woman, muchless a woman who had been queen since she was a child. In fact, they both had very unusual childhoods and were able to take solace in each other.
I was pretty young when the prequels started coming out and still in elementary school when it finished and honestly, as a kid, there was no way I wasn’t gonna like it. It had Jedi, lightsabers, spaceships, blasters and the force, all a young boy could ever want or need. One thing I do definitely enjoy as an adult is the political plot, as trade disputes, political corruption and the fall of a grand democracy into an authoritarian empire ruled by a dictator as one of the main impetuses of the film is something that’s beautifully allegorical to events from real world history
The Phantom Menace made the same mistake The Last Jedi did. Lost the goodwill. Even the best movies have flaws, plot holes, but the more we love the movie, the more we overlook the holes. But lose our goodwill, our trust, and now we have a skeptical eye, watching and waiting, defenses up, for you to 'mess up' our movie. I still say The Last Jedi would not be so hated if it didn't, very early on, have Luke throw the lightsaber over his shoulder, like 'here's what our hipster director thinks about your precious nerd wars'. From that moment on, our defenses are up, and we are waiting for and anticipating disappointment. But back to the Phantom Menace. Opening night, and you are remembering the last Star Wars you saw was ALMOST great. Return of the Jedi's final act is 3 fold. A space battle with mind blowing effects. Luke fighting for his soul against the Emperor and in some ways Vader. And the empire defeated by teddy bears. or as i described it. Edge of my seat. Edge of my seat. Disappointed sigh. Edge of my seat. Edge of my seat. Sigh, this silly crap again. So opening night, Phantom Menace. Here's the crawl. So excited. 2 Jedi. cool. Is that Obi Wan? Sweeeet! And then.... Jar jar, and your good will remembers the Teddy bears, and goes 'UH OH'. And now you are looking for and bracing yourself for silly crap. Then, Darth Maul, lightsaber battles, you've gotten my good will back, defenses back down... nope. An hour of child acting and some racing nonsense. again 'UH OH'. And now we start noticing flaws, holes, etc. Then the second movie, where after all these years we finally .... get to hear of all obi wan and Anikin's great adventures in an elevator one minute scene. It takes a seven season fill in show to redeem part two and make it beloved, but at the time, they never really get us back on board till the third one, and that confrontation with Palpatine and Mace Windu.
People always bring up I don't like sans as Anakin being weird, but in the context of the scene it makes total sense as Padme is quite literally talking about her experience growing up and laying on the beach guessing bird names. It's two people sharing their youth experiences.
Finally someone who speaks my talk. No movie is perfect, but there are a lot of reasons to love the Prequels and how they build up the first trilogy. There is not much I would change about Star Wars. Not even Anakin's cheesy love dialogue in Ep2. To me it makes sense that a teenager who is not allowed to have a relationship doesn't know how to talk to a woman, but feelings get the best of him. Also I loved Yoda kicking ass with a lightsaber. Even if you are strong and the force and wise to the fullest, how could you become a grandmaster training Padawans when you can't even defend yourself? Years before I did not like the politics being part of the movies, but it makes total sense, that a corrupt but genius politician would fit into a war setting and the creation of an Empire. Thanks to George giving me the Star Wars I love.
I watched the prequels for the first time a few months ago and i honestly enjoyed them, i always see people say that you can only like them if you grew up with them, and while i definitely agree that they are incredibly flawed, i found it hard not to appreciate them and i honestly really didn't find them that bad. The OT is still better but the prequels are good in my opinion, not masterpieces, but good.
I'd rather have a 5-second-gag from jar jar rather than the 2-hour-long carebear-montage in Return of The Jedi, or the awkward lightsaber-duel in A New Hope, or the messy pacing of Empire Strikes Back making you feel like you're watching 4 movies at the same time. I just want to remind everybody ragging on the prequels that if we are going to criticise the prequels over every little thing and call them "cringy" because of small-scenes that you can easily cut-away without missing the story, THEN I AM GOING TO CRITIQUE THE UNSKIPPABLE 2-HOUR-CAREBEAR-MONTAGE IN RETURN OF THE JEDI!!! 😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤 AND I ACTUALLY LIKE EWOKS, BY THE WAY!! What say you in your defense? *ignites crimson blade burning with the rage of a thousand prequel-fans getting sidelined by the ⲏⲟⲒⲒⲩⲱⲟⲟδ ερsⲧⲓ̀ⲉⲛ γeω-ⲙⲟυsε megacorp* -KSHHHUMW- What say ye in thy defense!? 🔻😤🖍️
It takes a decently sized IQ to even understand and appreciate the prequels for what they are. A caveman can enjoy the OT because it lacks depth, complexity, and the same degree of detail that the PT possesses.
Twenty years ago, I would have gotten really arrogant, and told you how wrong you are. These days, I'm really not all that interested in dividing us into pro and anti prequel, sequel, whatever, teams. I do disagree with your assessment... and also agree, in a way. I've also really enjoyed your video. I think the real problem with the prequels, is the "Hidden" in your video's title. They prequels touch on many complicated, interesting, and important themes. The problem is, they fail, as movies, to effectively explore those themes, and failed to connect audiences to many of them. Honestly, I think that's a big part of why the Clone Wars was so great. Some of the best story beats in the clone wars were George Lucas's ideas, but then those ideas were taken, expanded, and crafted into better executed stories, by Dave Filoni. When I see the prequels, I don't see hidden brilliance, so much as unrealized potential. That's okay. That doesn't take away from how much they mean to those that love them. If anything, I look at the fans of the prequels, and feel a bit of jealousy, that the films didn't connect with me, in the same way.
The prequels are excellent breeding ground for spin-off shows, video games, comics, and novels. The action in the prequels tell a story of their own and enhances the experience.
Yep. What you are looking at is a genuine cult. It sounds funny, it sounds silly, but this is what this is. They genuinely HAVE to use religious thinking to make this garbage work in their brain.
People complain that Anakins dialogue is awkward but that is the point he is an awkward young man that knows nothing about women or romance, in Episode 3 you can see he's gained a lot of self assurance. Also the Prequels had far more practical effects than the Original Trilogy did.
My only real problem with the prequels, was George's decision to essentially neuter Jar Jar after "The Phantom Menace". In that film, he was clumsy, but not stupid. By contrast, "Attack of the Clones" showed him willingly aiding in Palpatine's schemes, and in "Revenge of the Sith", he was practically a cameo.
Film is Literature, it doesn't mean that all film is on the same level, some is pulp, some is philosophical, some are mythological, some are political, some are popular culture, and on and on, and some are hybrids; George Lucas hybridized much of this in Star Wars.
I just watched the prequels, and came away from them with mixed emotions. I hadn’t watched them since my teens, and because I’m older now I was able to see the complexities in the storytelling a lot clearer. I’m glad you addressed the dialogue, as I was unaware of its intentionalities. I was watching them thinking Lucas had to have known this dialogue is stiff and lifeless, right? Makes more sense now. I still feel like there is a clear disconnect in the prequels though. The pacing and over the top action scenes/cgi clash with the storytelling and dialogue. There’s some pretty dark/deep themes here with Anakin’s story, but it seems thrown off by the overall tone of the movies. Slightly darker, more visceral, and a slower pace would have nailed it. Either that or lightening up the story a bit to match the fast paced action movie style. Just some thoughts fresh after watching them.
It took decades for me to realize the prequels were hated. I'm still not convinced they were really hated. Rather, I suspect the criticism originated largely from movie critics and media outlets of the time. I might be wrong about that, but I'm certain the Star Wars prequels are worth it for the massive exercize in worldbuilding alone. Most of what we remember from Star Wars today was created by, or in relation to, the prequel movies.
I am a kid of the early nineties. I grew up on watching the OG first and i was the primary target audience for the Prequels. Maybe is because i was soo fond of history, especially Roman History but i never failed to NOT appreciate the Prequels. Are they perfect? Nope. But neither is the OG. Too many "fans" are just old babies who believe star wars should never have been anything but episode 4. Is not a surprise to notice how many of these "starwars purist" were so on board with the GODAWFUL "sequel" trilogy especially The Farce Awakens. What all the reviews given by supposed "SW purist" they were slobbering all over JarJarAbrams until it was uncool. Then they reverse their note. That trilogy made me loose respect for a lot of "critics". The moment somebody jingled shiny keys in their faces they bowed down in reverence.. I watched that garbage. ONCE. It took me a while to understand what was bugging me about it. But when i finally understood i decided not to watch ANYTHING SW produced by Disney. I made an exception for RogueOne. Everything else. NOT WORTH it. Souless, plotless, planless. Sorry no amount of baby yoda, cameo and weird deaged CGI will make me interest in shows that botched their entire canon universe for a marvel joke. The Prequels and The OT had a plan, a vision and then executed it. Disney's garbage is grift.
To be honest.ever since i saw the prequels.i loved them and the original trilogy or special edition and even today at the age of 34 i still love the prequels because of the storytelling.yes i still love the original trilogy.but the prequels did them justice by explaining the entire Backstory.
I recently watched AotC for the first time after constantly hearing that it was a bad movie and that the dialogue was bad. In my honest opinion, the dialogue made sense for what it was trying to do, and for better or worse, Haydens unfamiliarity with the role of Anakin kind of played into what he was supposed to feel and how he was supposed to act. Honestly, he played Anakin very well for his first go around
The Prequels are oddly my favorite parts of the story. The Originals were more handcrafted in feel, but the Prequels took the chance to tell a genuine tragedy, which I find engaging. In their flaws, they are charming. A HELL of a lot better than the drivel Marvel is putting out.
A great video on a general overview defending the prequels. In particular, the side by side comparisons with shots was really interesting, and I always enjoy seeing what parts of Star Wars were influenced by what. I am glad that there is some course correction on the rampant prequel hate that surrounded their release. I love Phantom Menace, and saw it several times in theatres, and it was difficult to listen to it get beaten up for so long. That said, I think that part of the reason that I love Phantom Menace is that it's clear that Lucas is making exactly the film he wants to make. His enthusiasm radiates from the film. I feel like the public blowback from Phantom Menace may have humbled him, and he was less ambitious with Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, as the cinematography and storytelling are far less experimental. I do think that auteur analysis is a good lens to consider Star Wars through, though it may be worth considering whether those methods were effective at getting the audience in the right place. Your section on dialogue in particular may have glossed over the dangers of taking the approach that Lucas did. In particular, writing very stilted dialogue might be an interesting homage to older cinema, but it means that it runs the risk of failing to get the audience to connect with Anakin, or building a convincing relationship between him and Padme. As a storytelling mechanism, it was an extremely dangerous approach to take, especially because the movies had to share their runtime with a B plot that had nothing to do with Anakin's journey. The tragic effect is that Anakin is ultimately a character that I really don't like after the first film, and his journey is far less interesting to me than the fall of the Republic. His characterization as an emotionally unstable nineteen year old makes him very hard to root for. I have heard it suggested that Anakin's characterization is based off of James Dean's character, Jim Stark, from Rebel without a Cause and I find it a very appropriate comparison. Rebel without a Cause unambiguously paints Jim as the victim of a system that he does not fit into, which seems to be the approach that Lucas is taking with Anakin. But, like Jim, it's also clear that the disasters and misery that's being created is the result of his choices. He chooses the easy way out, and people suffer for it. And while I buy this comparison, I don't think Lucas wanted the audience to loathe Anakin as much as I did by the end of Attack of the Clones. Of course, I don't speak for everyone. Discussing the emotional effect of cinematic choices is a more personal and subjective topic. But I really do appreciate the video opening the door to discussion about the specific choices made in Star Wars, why they were made, and what kind of effect they were driving at. Thanks for the video! Looking forward to diving into more!
Great video but I think the dialogue is great too. It's there to assist the visual storytelling, kinda like music. What's happening on screen is the beat and the dialogue, the score and sound effects are the lyrics. Things like "NO!" being said at certain key moments. And if people want to see Lucas write more conventional dialogue, they should watch American Graffiti and see how good he is. TPM- Anakin says it when his podracer screws up at the race, this race changes everything and he's still at the starting line. Obi-Wan says it when Qui-Gon is stabbed and when Qui-Gon finally passes away in his arms, the death of Qui-Gon changes the fate of the galaxy drastically. AOTC- Padme says it when her body double is blown up (I'll add more to this later in this comment). Anakin says it multiple times when he has visions of his mother dying, he has to let go but fails to do so. Yoda hears Qui-Gon say it while sensing Anakin's rage and sorrow as he slaughters the Tuskens, Anakin's inability to let go will destroy so many lives and here is the first taste of his time as Vader. Obi-Wan says it when Anakin disobeys his order to take Dooku together, Anakin's arrogance grows and his desire for power alongside his inability to let go is a huge flaw in his character. Padme says it when a clone trooper wants to take her to the forward command center but Padme wants to help Anakin, further cementing their love for each other. ROTS- Obi-Wan says it to Anakin when he wants to save a clone trooper because he can't save everyone and later on in the film, Obi-Wan is away and can't tell him no. Mace Windu says it to Anakin because he doesn't want Anakin to see such a close friend potentially being killed in battle. Palpatine says it to Windu before firing Force Lightning at him and manipulating Anakin to side with him. Anakin says it to Windu before cutting off his arm, setting him down the path of becoming Vader and he even receives his new name in the same room. Bail says it when he sees clones gun down a Padawan, which makes him commit to the idea of a rebellion. One of the Separatists says it as Anakin slaughters them, Anakin is so far gone that he feels nothing as an unarmed man begs for his life and he even kills the guy without a second thought. Padme says it to Anakin to deny that she had any knowledge of Obi-Wan sneaking onto her ship but Anakin's mental state is erratic and he won't listen to reason and he ends up Force Choking her. Vader says it after Palpatine tells him that Padme is dead, he did all of this sin for nothing and now he must become a slave to Palpatine and the Empire. ANH- Leia says it twice in one scene, first when Tarkin tells her they want to test the Death Star on Alderaan and again after she gives him Dantooine as a location for the Rebel base but Tarkin still proceeds with the attack anyway, the destruction of Alderaan is a tragic loss of life. C3PO says it when he fears that his friends may be destroyed in the trash compactor. Luke says it after Obi-Wan dies, first he lost his aunt and uncle and now he's lost his mentor, there's no one left to guide him. Luke says it after Han asks him if he and Leia would make a good couple, Han has fallen in love with Leia but Luke, not knowing that they're siblings, loves her romantically too. ESB- Han says it when Leia lists reasons why she thinks he should stay and he wants her to admit that she loves him, their romantic tension is strong throughout the film. Han says it to Chewbacca when he makes a mistake as they try to repair the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive, failing to repair it is why they end up going to Lando in Cloud City. Yoda says it as Luke takes something away from Yoda as he rummages through Luke's box and again when Luke wants to leave to find Yoda, the Jedi master is testing his patience and he's not doing well in this test at all. Yoda says it again in his hut because he believes Luke isn't ready due to his impatience and he's proven right when Luke leaves to rescue his friends despite not being strong enough to confront Vader. Yoda says it yet again after Luke asks him if the dark side is stronger, he's seeing the same temptations in Luke that he saw in Anakin all those years ago. Yoda seems to say it a lot in this movie lol, he says it to interrupt Luke and stop him from asking so much questions because he needs an open mind to learn. Yoda then says it again before giving his famous "do or do not, there is no try" line. C3PO says it multiple times before being shot on Cloud City. He also says it again multiple times when Chewbacca sticks his head on backwards, with the backwardness being an obvious visual about how things have been flipped on their head when you compare ANH to ESB. He says it again after Han is frozen and Chewbacca attacks some stormtroopers in retaliation. And finally we get Luke saying it after hearing the truth from Vader. ROTJ- A Gonk droid says it while being tortured, a mirroring to Leia being tortured in ANH, Han being tortured in ESB and his later freezing. Yoda says it after Luke asks if it's unfortunate that he knows the truth but Yoda thinks it's unfortunate that Luke will rush to face Vader and that his training is incomplete. Leia says it after Luke tells her that he has to face Vader, she fears for her brother after what happened last time. Luke says it after Palpatine goads him into picking up his lightsaber to strike him down but Luke is able to resist for now and he gives in after more goading, the battle between him and Vader has Luke's light and darkness fighting for control. We then get Vader saying it before redeeming himself and saving Luke. The final no in these 6 films is when Luke responds to Anakin telling him to go without him, Luke wants to save him but Anakin reminds his son that he already has. You get major "NO!"s like Obi-Wan seeing Qui-Gon lose, Qui-Gon while the Tuskens are slaughtered, Vader after finding out what happened to Padme, Luke seeing Obi-Wan die, Luke finding out the truth and Anakin saving his son and the minor ones emphasise the importance of the word so the major ones are more impactful. Also on Padme seeing her body double die, this is quite important. TPM has a lot of duality, two Jedi (Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan), two Sith (Sidious and Maul, two Queens (Padme and decoy), two Neimoidians (Gunray and lackey), two peoples (the Naboo and the Gungans), two slaves (Anakin and Shmi), podracers with two engines, an announcer with two heads, Mauls double-bladed lightsaber and even at the celebration, Yoda is beside a Jedi who looks like a fleshy and scarred version of himself. This theme of duality is talking about how there's always two parts to something. Like with the two peoples example, the Gungans are seen as lowly and primitive while the Naboo are seen as highly and advanced but it doesn't matter how advanced the Naboo seem to be because one cannot exist without the other. Their separation is why they were vulnerable to attack in the first place, without trust for each other, they weren't able to come together and stop the invading army before they were able to take over. Jar Jar seems to be a clumsy buffoon but he was able to prove himself by helping the two peoples reconcile and work together. Palpatine appears to be a kindly Senator who wants to help but in reality he's the cunning Sith known as Darth Sidious. At the start of AOTC, two Senator Amidalas arrived on Coruscant and one of them has just died. The one that dies is dressed in white, colours symbolising innocence and peace and the one that survives is dressed as a fighter pilot, making her a warrior. Also this fighter pilot attire is very reminiscent of Anakin's Jedi robes. The warrior half of Amidala is mourning the diplomat half, Corde apologising to Padme for her failure is echoing the themes of how the current system is failing the people and Padme's response of "no" shows how she is currently in denial of the sorry state of the Republic despite what happened 10 years ago. By the time of ROTS, she'll fully realise that "the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists" after seeing "thunderous applause".
With Lucas the sound editing is the highlight, I think he makes dialog banal on purpose to accentuate the sound effects. Much like how Kubrick made the dialog in 2001 as boring as possible, because he was essentially making a silent movie.
You should probably give Rick Worley some credit for this video considering you took so much footage directly from his video and just slightly reworded some of his points.
I will forever stand on the ground that Phantom Menace is good, it just gets bogged down by Jar Jar Binks being too much of a comedic relief character and nothing else.
Extremely well put together material! And one thing that will always set the PT and OT apart from the sequels was that George Lucas had a story to tell and it flows from the prequels to the originals. The man loves Star Wars and you can tell. The sequels were made as a cash grab with an incoherent story that changes between movies and disregards the trilogies that came before.
I've come to appreciate the prequels more over the years. I think what did it for me was all the adjacent storytelling of The Clone Wars. Even the game Jedi: Fallen Order did its part to improve Order 66. Expanding the story this way was just plain genius
for me the issue with the prequel are in execution of the sotry. the reason OT works so well is that there were people to tyell Lucas No and show him a better route to his goal. tyhe PT he didn't have that. too many yes men. the Clone wars helps alot in this issue
I have always loved the prequels and considered them some of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I never let other peoples’ opinions sway me into thinking that they were “bad” or “poorly written” or even that they ruined what the originals had created. In fact, I love them even more for being different. George Lucas risked making these movies to tell a cohesive story, one that ends on a happy note with episode 6 and a very heartbreaking note with episode 3. Your video simply has convinced me to love the prequels even more! Thanks so much for your hard work delving into these masterpieces!
They were never secretly brilliant... they were openly brilliant to everyone who hadn't just discovered that they could get attention on the internet by complaining. As much as channels like RLM like to pretend to be clever about the Star Wars prequels, the films were received so well that they spawned a couple of decades of exceptionally well-received games, merchandise, books, comics, and spin-offs. You can't get that kind of commercial success if you release three successive flops... Even the fact that people meme the prequels so much shows how much cultural impact they still have to this day.
Palpatine is more like Octavius than Hitler. Hitler was just a corrupt politician taking advantage of situations, nothing special or uncommon. Hitler believed his own lies but Octavius was deeply insidious and machiavellian. Octavius was never deluded, he had no ideology other than remaining the first citizen.
I absolutely agree with you. It's my fave too. It's pure Star Wars. Love it to bits. I don't care what others say. It's a piece of art. Each frame of AOTC is a million times better than the entire sequel wanna-be Star Wars Disney trilogy catastrophe put together.
The problem about these movies is they did not develop the story between Anakin and his wife. Why should I care about his wife? When you don't have enough screen time for that story. To develop Relationship And when she dies, you should care, but you don't. If you like them more power to you, I think they're terrible just facts are facts. Only one good movie came out of it. And And that's terrible, I'll have way more fun time. Watching the sequel trilogy or we watching the original Sorry, not sorry.
There are two things I hate about the PT, and there's one thing I hate about the SE OT. Three things I hate from six movies. Not bad for such an epic saga!
I think the fall of the Galactic Republic may have more parallels with the fall of the Roman Republic than the Roman Empire. In the case of the Roman Republic, it was initially controlled by a senate with two consuls, but later, along with civil wars, Octavian was able to concentrate power around him, becoming the emperor Augustus. I don't think the Roman Senate had much influence in the empire compared to the Republic.
Love for prequels is a case of trauma. Children who had horrible parents insist they were actually great parents. No way. The prequels are some of the worst movies ever put to film. The writing is atrocious, and no one can seriously be moved by any of the acting.
But seriously it's not just nostalgia, there are simply peoples who likes them and peoples who don't, there are peoples who watched them for the first time as adults and like them
@@MatteoPicone-yy7pk I have a friend on the spectrum who likes those movies. And I think these movies and most of the shows are made for a certain group of "on the spectrum" people. For those who enjoy acting and storytelling, those movies and shows are just awful to watch.
George Lucas needed two things (saying as someone who likes old movies): 1 actors that would challenge the writing (the way Harrison Ford did when he changed the I love you to I know). 2 people in the background willing to help with his dialogue problem: his wife edited the first movie, the writer that came in for the second movie etc. And there were people who did fix this in written form (the novels of the prequels which I can no recommend enough and even the animated clone wars series aided in the quality.) Loved Everything else, even the politics people hated came from Dune and it can work. Jar Jar would have worked as a sith I think. And I don't see this as his fault as much as his fame preventing him being challenged and getting a bunch of yes men. Visually it was a beautiful movie. It had amazing world building, Palestine's manipulations, vastly improved fight scenes, some solid arcs (obi wan especially) and amazing new characters (Qui Gon especially). I may prefer the books for dialogue but everything else was solid.
The yes men point was debunked, even in the OT nobody challenged George, read the books about the making of Star Wars instead of trusting plinkett, Rocket Jump or other superficial youtubers who regurgitate the same points with a different taste for easy money. The "I know" part is called improvising, very common in movies, like the Heath ledger applause in the dark knight
Sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about. 1. Actors challenged the writing. Christopher Lee, for example, adamantly refused to have his character beg for his life, because he firmly believed that Dooku would rather die with dignity. And Lucas listened. Just like he listened to his good friends Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg whenever they told him "nope, George. Sorry, but this won't work. You'll have to find something else". 2. Regarding Harrison Ford. Yes, he improvised that line. He also openly admitted he was wrong when he said "you can _type_ that shit, George, but you just can't *SAY* it!". The complete quote is: "that's what I kept telling George. However, when I watched the finished movie on the big screen, it worked! Everything made sense! I was wrong and George was right! Of course he was right! It's his story, after all. He knew was he was doing". 3. Lawrence Kasdan did very little rewriting on TESB. He polished the dialogues a bit here and there, but that's pretty much it. 4. Marcia Lucas was not the only one who edited ANH. The film was mostly edited from scratch by Lucas himself, after the piss poor job done by John Jympson, the first editor. But it was so much work and Lucas had so little time left that he had to ask his then-wife Marcia, Paul Hirsch, and Richard Chew to give him a hand. And the 4 of them edited the film exactly the way Lucas wanted this time around, with him as the chief editor. You've got to remember that Lucas, while being open to criticism and suggestions, always had final say. Besides, Marcia herself debunked the myth according to which she allegedly "saved Star Wars in the edit". 5. Lucas was not surrounded by "yes men". As I said, he always welcomes constructive criticism and is totally open to suggestions, even if he has final say. Want to know who was a yes-man? Gary Kurtz! He couldn't say 'no' to Irvin Kershner, which is why TESB went way behind schedule and way over budget, forcing Lucas to take out a loan to finish the film. That's why Gary Kurtz was let go, and interestingly enough, he almost got himself fired on Return to Oz for exactly the same reasons. Listen, I won't deny the fact that the prequel movies are incredibly flawed, but there's no need to lie in order to get your point across.
@@Megrez-Alberich I didn't lie. That's what I was told. And how do I know you are any more correct when you're just from the internet comment section which seems even less credible?
@@barbarabaker1457 Because what I said is well-documented. Harisson saying that he was wrong to criticize the dialogues. Marcia Lucas saying that while she did help make some scenes work better and more naturally, she definitely did *NOT* "save Star Wars in the edit". Gary Kurtz being let go for going over budget and beyond schedule on TESB, and then claiming he left on his own accord because of creative differences, etc.
@@Megrez-Alberich Then explain why the dialogue is the biggest problem with the movies and why these movies dropped so significantly in quality despite him still running the show, even if the world building and larger ideas were still brilliant. Also having read the third book, clearly they Could have been written better.
The prequels are my childhood and I will always love them. The Clone Wars TV shows and Tales of the Jedi now make them even better especially the second clone wars series.
As time has gone on I've learned that I'd much rather have the prequels than the sequels. And in fact, they're very good movies. Thanks for this video!
great video. but the scene where anakin and obi wan are using force push against each other is the scene that resembles the painting you mentioned. not the scene of him crying
TRUTH: As a big Star Wars fan,it I very accurate I grew up with the prequels first because George Lucas really put his heart into them. The prequels had the most unique narrative that ties together with the originals. FACT: The sequels really botched up what could been an amazing conclusion in addition to the prequels.
I do have to say that I feel more connected to the prequels as opposed to the sequels. That's had to not agree on. Once Disney took over it didn't have the same Lucas feel.
The prequels were a good story with poor execution. I loved The Phantom Menace and still do, but I can still acknowledge it's short comings. I also think it's the best of the three. However, George failed to make it clear what "Balance of the Force" means, and he did not have enough people around him during the planning to tell him when stuff was not working. Anakin's immaculate conception was a mistake that distracted from the actual narrative. It's irrelevant to the story and sets Anakin up as being "special and chosen" when he faces struggles that any normal human would also face, just with extra powers. I do appreciate the political portion of the narrative more now. Reading the books helps. And it is a failing of the films that you have to read outside material to really appreciate them. I watch a lot of films from the 40s, so it's a style of dialogue that I really like and appreciates. But through that lens the dialogue is still not particularly good. Jar Jar is one of the most beautifully rendered CGI characters ever done. The script book includes lines that 100% justify him as a character and it's sad those lines were cut to be replaced with poodoo jokes. But yeah, they were absolute Shakespeare compare to the sequels.
The prequels were made from passion, the sequels were made from greed and desire for money. It doesn't matter how "bad" people think the prequels are, they'll outlast the sequels because they're genuine and authentic.
At first i didn't really like the Prequals but after how Disney treated Star Wars, I learned to appreciate the prequals even more, re-discovered how ingenious George Lucas vision on telling a story of the fall of the Jedi. The Jedi lost from their blind ignorance. Its amazing how Palpatine took power out in the open. How the Jedi just ignored Anakin, did not taken better care of his needs.
No kidding. If we are honest, it’s all really Yoda and the Jedi councils fault. They epically failed the republic. They told Qui Gon and Obi Wan both they weren’t to train Anakin, but after they said they’d do it anyway they just let them? Nah-uh, that’s poor leadership. You know what Obi Wan, you can’t just do whatever you want, and if you have a problem with it then your out of the order. There was a Sith Lord in front of their faces the entire time and they couldn’t figure it out until it was way too late. You can’t help but feel somewhat sympathetic to Anakin, I mean the force was literally speaking to him in his dreams and his masters were like like oh cmon you gotta let that shit with your mom go it’ll only lead to the dark side. Kid was a slave the first 9 years of his life and had to leave his mom who took care of him that entire time for the Jedi order who keep telling him to just let it all go. Fuckin brutal.
@@ryanb107 Obi Wan was more like a brother then a father to Anakin. If Qui Gon was still alive I think he would have been better suited to be Anakin teacher and he would have filled the father absence. Anakin wouldnt have easily fell to the Dark Side if Qui Gon was around.
The fact there is a legacy of hate for the prequels after Disney has come and demolished the entire franchise brick by brick never fails to astound me.
Call me crazy but ep 2 is the best of them. Sith is too much focused on connecting dots. Menace is good but tame. The last hour of ep II is great, the clone factory, anakins loss, geonosis Arena and clone war Start all great all in this little time.
well done, great analysis. To me the missing element of these prequels is that the actors weren't very cool, like Harrison and Carrie. These nerdy brits are barley likable.
Im not even going to watch this video. Just watch the confused matthew reviews of episode 1 to 3 and if you are german watch : "Star Wars Prequels - wie sie wirklich hätten sein müssen" von Elfenbeinturm Media. The Prequels are just NOT Star Wars. Literally so much is different, wrong or makes no sense that I for myself don't consider them as part of the real story. Because the OT already gave so many informations about what happened before and it doesn't match anything in the Prequels. The Jedi alone are so different from the OT. Yoda and Sidious both never had a light saber, the Jedi only care about trade or politics and ignore the slaves in Tattoine or other planets. It's not even coherent in itself.
