Red Letter Media

[frozen_runner]

Ironic because your same criticism can be thrown at the original trilogy fans who are obsessed with hating the prequels.

Nah. I remember seeing TPM in theaters. After the Special Edition, excitement was high. Everyone wanted more of ANH, ESB, and RotJ. Some people hated the changes in the Special Edition and were worried it was just going to be more of the bad elements from RotJ.

I can't express how disappointed I was by TPM. I was in the Denial stage of grief on my way out of the theater. "I-it was pretty good, right?" I liked a lot of elements of it (the soundtrack, designs and cast especially, and some of the broad ideas were good), but it set in over time how unexpectedly bad it was. I refused to see AotC and RotS until later on DVD. Hated AotC and thought RotS was bad despite being better than the other two. (I chalk that up to Lucas getting the story inevitably closer to ANH, where everything was more solid in concept.)

The prequel reviews were a hit because they articulated and formalized a lot of the complaints people had about the movies but had never thought deeply enough about to talk about them that way. The prequels were very popular despite being badly-written and -directed. That created some measure of resentment in an audience that felt the other fans were crazy or idiots. The RLM reviews created an outlet for those feelings. They didn't create any of them, though they did point out a lot of weak points that hadn't consciously occurred to many.

 

[Kit Marz]

Seriously, where does this idea people only dislike the prequels because of RLM (or South Park?!?) even come from? Gen X'ers didn't need to be convinced that these movies sucked. What made the Plinkett reviews stand out was critiquing them beyond midichlorians (which everyone hated, although I personally thought they were an intriguing idea) and Jar Jar (who everyone wanted to burn at the stake).

I was was a kid to early teenager when the prequels came out and remembering thinking that they were bad movies. The original trilogy was in heavy rotation in my house growing up and was really excited to watch the prequels. When I didn't like them, I thought maybe I would like them more if I watched them again, but I didn't.

I agree that it's weird that there are people who say RLM is responsible for the prequel hate when 1999, 2002, and 2005 me didn't even know who Mike Stoklasa was and couldn't cause me to dislike them then.

 

[Mola Ram]

I was was a kid to early teenager when the prequels came out and remembering thinking that they were bad movies. The original trilogy was in heavy rotation in my house growing up and was really excited to watch the prequels. When I didn't like them, I thought maybe I would like them more if I watched them again, but I didn't.

I agree that it's weird that there are people who say RLM is responsible for the prequel hate when 1999, 2002, and 2005 me didn't even know who Mike Stoklasa was and couldn't cause me to dislike them then.

While I'm no fan of Scott Kurtz, I really wish he hadn't put a paywall around PvP. That comic goes back to 1998 or so, and there are strips contemporary to all three of the prequels that perfectly demonstrate what people -- Stars Wars fans in particular -- thought of them at the time.

 

[Doctor of Autism]

RLM being responsible for prequel hate makes no sense when you remember some of the Prequel actors were mocked and harassed long before the prequel reviews came out.

 

[mlanguishi]

Nah. I remember seeing TPM in theaters. After the Special Edition, excitement was high. Everyone wanted more of ANH, ESB, and RotJ. Some people hated the changes in the Special Edition and were worried it was just going to be more of the bad elements from RotJ.

One of my favorite moments in all this was this trailer during the ESB SE.

When they showed the Tatooine cheering scene the crowd roared, I barely noticed the Jedi Rocks crap, but looking back, phew..

Those 'few new surprises' were great trailer moment.

I liked TPM well enough at the time, and still do. ROTS is clearly the best. AOTC is kind of a mess, they went with the 'investigation' angle and it just didn't work well. The Jango vs Obi-wan asteroid fight was top notch though. Sadly t he way they filmed it with too-early digital cameras will always make it fuzzy and dull looking without major AI work, and we know how that'll be.

The one I was in denial for sure with was TLJ. Thought yeah, it was good. At this point I'm so done with SW I don't know if I'll even watch the OT again.

 

[Picnic_Boy]

The prequels are a retarded best friend. The sequels are a nagging wife.

 

[Stab You in the Back]

I have literally seen some of them in /r/prequelmemes defend the "I hate sand" scene and I'm convinced now that all the irony-poisoned appreciation of those movies our generation made has brainrotted the youth.

Anakin is supposed to be awkward. He's a teenager who spent the last decade hanging out with a bunch of chaste knights.

The dialogue is perfectly fine for what its trying to convey.

 

[Mola Ram]

Anakin is supposed to be awkward. He's a teenager who spent the last decade hanging out with a bunch of chaste knights.

The dialogue is perfectly fine for what its trying to convey.

It certainly conveyed the idea, "This dialogue is written by, for, and about absolute retards."

 

[Coolio55]

Robert Rodriguez visited the Ranch one day in the early 2000s and completely abandoned how he did film making to embrace the green screen bullshit and even told the union to get fucked all because he was so enamored with Lucas

Oh, fuck me. I never knew that but it makes far too much sense to be fake.
Still, Spy Kids is great fun and I refuse to take that back.

Spoiler

Sharkboy and Lavagirl is appalling but in a really good way

 

[I'm a Silly]

White Wolf paperback of his original screenplay for City on the Edge of Forever.

https://archive.org/details/harlanellisonsci0000elli
[bc I didn't find it on libgen]
-- and I know a story I'd like to share if I can find it in print, but it was something Ellison told [only verbally AFAIK] about Shatner

We've seen plenty of times when influencers decide to criticize something and people will latch on to it, especially if it makes them look as smart contrarians. The prequels had a huge hype for sure but most movie goers and critics didn't care about it and were reasonably satisfied with what they've seen.

My father and I discussed the movie on the trip back from the theater and were gobsmacked that Obi-Wan wouldn't deal the coup de grâce in order to spare his old friend and knightly opponent a slow, painful death. That shit was horrifying/hilarious: horrifying if it were a real event/hilariously bad writing which made OWK look like a bigger villain than Vader. This was a real impression on two people without a social media filter.

Anyway, sucks that such cool designwork was wasted on a bunch of confused distasteful movies.

As an outsider to the SW fandom, I have long appreciated the production design and subsequent licensed products for the inventive ways in which the original designs were reinterpreted as pleasing graphics on children's backpacks and the like. This seemed to be in bolder relief during the time of the prequels, as though there had been a storehouse of ancillary fan art from which to draw inspiration built up during that specific interregnum.

 

[Absolutego]

Nah. I remember seeing TPM in theaters. After the Special Edition, excitement was high. Everyone wanted more of ANH, ESB, and RotJ. Some people hated the changes in the Special Edition and were worried it was just going to be more of the bad elements from RotJ.

Remember how hype we were about Maul and his dual lightsaber? And he wound up in like 5 minutes of on-screen footage.
I understand to a degree that he was made a real character in the cartoons but dear God is he emblematic of the prequel's problem overall. Spectacle stapled onto the thinnest premise possible.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

bro we were roasting these movies in 2005 on Geocities and Livejournal blogs.
RLM didn't make us think that. If anything, they consolidated a decade's worth of anon internet hate into a single video series.
The prequels fucking suck. I don't care that Disney's version of Star Wars is a different flavor of bad, Lucas was/is a total hack.

Millenials may be a generation of gay people, but none of us were faggy enough to say "George Lucas raped our childhoods."

 

[Absolutego]

Millenials may be a generation of gay people, but none of us were faggy enough to say "George Lucas raped our childhoods."

Saying a movie trilogy was shit isn't "raping our childhoods" and there are a disturbing amount of people who can't differentiate that, RLM and South Park included.
It was a pretty good series of movies that didn't pan out once the guy partly responsible seized control of them. Touch grass. Talk to people IRL.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

Saying a movie trilogy was shit isn't "raping our childhoods" and there are a disturbing amount of people who can't differentiate that, RLM and South Park included.
It was a pretty good series of movies that didn't pan out once the guy partly responsible seized control of them. Touch grass. Talk to people IRL.

 

[Flexo]

This is one of the times where i wish someone could just interview George Lucas about his writing or universe making because its odd to even have the episodes be about those parts of the story and not all about 3.

SFDebris' 12 part documentary on the making of the prequels (not counting intro and coda) is probably the closest we'll ever get to it.

Hermit's Journey

Special Videos

sfdebris.com

But good stuff. I recommend it if you're really that interested. Heck it even gave me a bit of appreciation for the prequels and dampened my hate a bit so trust me when I say it is very fair in its honesty and analysis.

 

[Well Intentioned]

This idea (ironically amplified by RLM) that Lucas became some huge egomaniac by the time of the Prequels is just hogwash. Everyone justifiably seemed super intimidated to work on them.

Lucas is pretty well known as an auteur director. It's why he created LucasFilms in the first place, lol.

https://www.lucasfilm.com/who-we-are/our-story/

Lucasfilm was born out of necessity. Following the release of his debut feature, THX 1138 (1971), filmmaker George Lucas was eager for creative independence.

You don't break ranks from Hollywood just because.

Millenials may be a generation of gay people, but none of us were faggy enough to say "George Lucas raped our childhoods."

This explains your constant focus on Gen X as a boogeyman (no, I'm not of that generation, I just find you bringing it up constantly weird.)

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

This explains your constant focus on Gen X as a boogeyman (no, I'm not of that generation, I just find you bringing it up constantly weird.)

Because everyone thinks they're the cool, smart generation. Well, people did listen to them and Disney Wars is the result of a decade of Prequel whining.

 

[Mola Ram]

Because everyone thinks they're the cool, smart generation. Well, people did listen to them and Disney Wars is the result of a decade of Prequel whining.

Don't worry kid, someday you'll have an ulcer and sciatica too.

 

[Prester John]

One of my favorite moments in all this was this trailer during the ESB SE.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=K8My-ttURow
When they showed the Tatooine cheering scene the crowd roared, I barely noticed the Jedi Rocks crap, but looking back, phew..

Those 'few new surprises' were great trailer moment.

I liked TPM well enough at the time, and still do. ROTS is clearly the best. AOTC is kind of a mess, they went with the 'investigation' angle and it just didn't work well. The Jango vs Obi-wan asteroid fight was top notch though. Sadly t he way they filmed it with too-early digital cameras will always make it fuzzy and dull looking without major AI work, and we know how that'll be.

The one I was in denial for sure with was TLJ. Thought yeah, it was good. At this point I'm so done with SW I don't know if I'll even watch the OT again.

TPM is fine. Looking back at the prequels, what exactly do I not like about them? For me, it's anything involving the Anakin love story. There was no chemistry or passion; it took me out of the movies. TPM had child Anakin so there was no love story.

 

[mlanguishi]

TPM is fine. Looking back at the prequels, what exactly do I not like about them? For me, it's anything involving the Anakin love story. There was no chemistry or passion; it took me out of the movies. TPM had child Anakin so there was no love story.

Yes, the 'love story' part just didn't work, even in ROTS. I cringed

Anakin Skywalker: You are so... beautiful.

Padmé: It's only because I'm so in love.

Anakin Skywalker: No, it's because I'm so in love with you

But, overall were ok. Sand thing didn't even bother me much.