Inevitable question: DO you like or hate the Star Wars prequel trilogy?

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

I thought they were moderately ok, but the OT is infinitely better in terms of story, characters and general atmosphere. Gary Kurtz was right in saying that people loved Star Wars based on the characters and stories.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

They are an abomination unto the Lord.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Mixed opinion.

Revenge of the Sith is actually a pretty good movie which surpasses Return of the Jedi IMO.

The Phantom Menace is boring and bland as hell with annoying characters (Jar Jar/Young Anakin) too boot.

Attack of the Clones is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, even though it does have its share of weaknesses. Mainly the overly drawn-out and clichéd Padmé/Anakin romance subplot.

[Mr. Smith]

Mixed opinion.

Revenge of the Sith is actually a pretty good movie which surpasses Empire Strikes Back IMO.

Attack of the Clones is boring and bland as hell with annoying characters (Padawan Anakin/ Young Boba Fett /Padme) to boot.

The Phantom Menace is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine (thanks to Qui Gon Jinn and Darth Maul) even though it does have its share of weaknesses. Mainly the unintriguing politics and Jar Jar

Something like this.

[Goldwater]

Not as bad as their reputation would make you think, not as good as the original trilogy.

[Orser67]

I love the original trilogy. I liked the prequel trilogy, especially the third one. I'm ok with people not liking the prequel trilogy, but I hate when people act like they're the worst movies ever or say that George Lucas ruined their childhood by releasing those movies.

[dead0man]

I agree with the consensus.  They aren't horrible.  I don't even mind Jar Jar or Wooden Christenson.  My biggest beef was that they aimed it, especially the first one, at 8 year old boys instead of 16 year old boys.  Things aimed at 16 year old boys aren't always good, but the batting average is a lot higher than things aimed at 8 year olds.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I never saw any Star Wars movie except the original first two movies.

[RI]

The prequels aren't as bad as people think, but the originals aren't nearly as good, either.

[7,052,770]

Mixed opinion.

Revenge of the Sith is actually a pretty good movie which surpasses Return of the Jedi IMO.

The Phantom Menace is boring and bland as hell with annoying characters (Jar Jar/Young Anakin) too boot.

Attack of the Clones is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, even though it does have its share of weaknesses. Mainly the overly drawn-out and clichéd Padmé/Anakin romance subplot.

Agreed on all 3.

[OSR stands with Israel]

The Phantom Menace got ruined by too much Jar Jar and Young Anakin Skywalker but I enjoy the first 20 minutes  of it and I really enjoy the Darth Maul Dual in the end.

Attack of the clones was the worst Star Wars Movie due to the love story, horrible acting, and bad plot. Only scenes I like was the Yoda vs Dooku scene and the Imperial March at the end of movie when Sidious sends the Clones to war.

Revenge of the Sith was my favorite Star Wars movie as it was the darkest Star Wars movie, Ian Mcdiarmid did an amazing job as the Sidious, was filled with Lightsaber Duals(espically Anakin vs Obi-Wan and Sidious vs Yoda), Order 66 was very sad but they did a great job showing it on screen.

[retromike22]

As time goes by, I like The Phantom Menace more and Attack of the Clones less. Like many people, I thought The Phantom Menace was just too "light" compared to the original trilogy, but now I see that it had to be that way in order to show how far the society had changed. "An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age." Jar Jar is still annoying, and I often think that if he had been a tougher character (a warrior or pilot perhaps), then he would have continued to be a main character in Attack of the Clones and made that film less boring.

I don't mind the Jedi being serious, because that's how they should be. But what always bothered me about the prequels was how Padme was too perfect. She wasn't a common person caught up in the big events, and so much of the dialogue in the movie was just too formal. Anakin was a slave, but based on the way the movie treated him he didn't seem like one. He should have been sad or angry, and have been living in horrible conditions not some apartment.

But I loved the lightsaber battles and most of the plot.

Attack of the Clones.... there's just something weird about the plot. It starts out as a mystery "Who wants to kill Padme?" and then another mystery "Who ordered the clone army" and I often feel that there's not enough of an explanation that it's Count Dooku. Additionally I wish that Palpatine=Sidious had been revealed to the audience at this point just to give a climax to this mystery plotline.

The Anakin-Padme dialogue is horrible. A problem that it has, along with several scenes in the prequel trilogy, is that scenes occur that have characters talking, but not doing anything. They're just sitting down and talking, as if it's a conference meeting. As opposed to the casual Han-Leia conversation while she's trying to fix part of the Millennium Falcon, hurts her hand, and Han holds it. You see, she's doing something and not just having a meeting with Han.

But I really like the first 30 minutes and last 40 minutes of this movie. I love the Coruscant chase and glimpse of the seedy areas, and the arena scene is fun. I love the lightsaber battle too.

Revenge of the Sith is great. It almost feels like it's by a completely different director. I love almost everything about it, but especially the last half hour.

Some of the Anakin-Padme dialogue is still off, but it's mostly short. An odd problem I have with this movie is that it doesn't feel like the opening battle ended, we just cut to the next scene without a resolution. I really needed a "All forces retreat!" and "The Republic has won!" scene here. General Grevious somewhat reminds me of Darth Maul, but I feel that as a cyborg alien who also has lightsaber skills, he's pretty cool. The Anakin-Obiwan lightsaber battle is a bit too long though, but I suppose that was what the director assumed the fans would want. And I wish Grand Moff Tarkin was in a few earlier scenes and with some dialogue.

On the whole:

The Phantom Menace: B+
Attack of the Clones: B
Revenge of the Sith: A+

[Leinad]

Kind of like Season 4 of Community. Okay, not as good as the first three, but not as bad as some people think.

[DemPGH]

Dislike. I'm not a Star Wars guy, but I have to admit that eps. IV, V, and VI are classic, epic, etc. Having said that, I watched ep. I (and was very underwhelmed), part of ep. II (it dragged), and skipped ep. III. It all felt forced and like it was a whole other trilogy, I guess. I didn't feel the connection at all to the ones I grew up enjoying, and that's probably the biggest reason why I don't really care for them.

[The Mikado]

They have many good ideas that were rather poorly executed, but overall are more a victim of people misremembering the quality of the original movies. As much as you can complain about Hayden Christensen's acting (which has more to do with having impossible-to-deliver dialogue than any actual problem with his delivery), do you remember Carrie Fisher's acting in the original trilogy? She was horrendous and was one of the main characters with tons of screen time and yet everyone gives her a pass for some reason.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Dislike. I'm not a Star Wars guy, but I have to admit that eps. IV, V, and VI are classic, epic, etc. Having said that, I watched ep. I (and was very underwhelmed), part of ep. II (it dragged), and skipped ep. III. It all felt forced and like it was a whole other trilogy, I guess. I didn't feel the connection at all to the ones I grew up enjoying, and that's probably the biggest reason why I don't really care for them.

Episode 3 makes up for all the bad things in the other two movies

[Tetro Kornbluth]

They have many good ideas that were rather poorly executed, but overall are more a victim of people misremembering the quality of the original movies. As much as you can complain about Hayden Christensen's acting (which has more to do with having impossible-to-deliver dialogue than any actual problem with his delivery), do you remember Carrie Fisher's acting in the original trilogy? She was horrendous and was one of the main characters with tons of screen time and yet everyone gives her a pass for some reason.

This is an excellent point. Let's be fair, the prequels were never going to live up to expectations. And people get angry at Jar Jar for the same reason they get angry at Ewoks - it reminds them that this is a series of movies for young children.

[DemPGH]

Yeah, they're very kid friendly, but I thought Carrie Fisher was fine. It's space opera. She strikes me as a white collar Sigourney Weaver. I also think IV, V, VI have a much better arc with better development of the central characters and their relationships. They really build well on each other if you can get past the kiddie stuff and the more annoying elements.

Dislike. I'm not a Star Wars guy, but I have to admit that eps. IV, V, and VI are classic, epic, etc. Having said that, I watched ep. I (and was very underwhelmed), part of ep. II (it dragged), and skipped ep. III. It all felt forced and like it was a whole other trilogy, I guess. I didn't feel the connection at all to the ones I grew up enjoying, and that's probably the biggest reason why I don't really care for them.

Episode 3 makes up for all the bad things in the other two movies

I've heard that, but I'm in no big hurry to go back and catch it. Maybe if I'm bored enough or get curious about it.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

They have many good ideas that were rather poorly executed, but overall are more a victim of people misremembering the quality of the original movies. As much as you can complain about Hayden Christensen's acting (which has more to do with having impossible-to-deliver dialogue than any actual problem with his delivery), do you remember Carrie Fisher's acting in the original trilogy? She was horrendous and was one of the main characters with tons of screen time and yet everyone gives her a pass for some reason.

This is an excellent point. Let's be fair, the prequels were never going to live up to expectations. And people get angry at Jar Jar for the same reason they get angry at Ewoks - it reminds them that this is a series of movies for young children.

The Ewoks were cool though.  They had a moderately interesting fantastical society.  Jar Jar Binks was just a lone boring idiot.

and midichlorians arrgggh

[bedstuy]

The screenwriting is atrocious for every prequel movie.  It has none of the things that makes a script good.  All the plots are complicated and boring.  They don't flow from one action to another, it's rather just a series of scenes that happens sequentially with a bit of exposition in between.  The characters are boring and devoid of personality.  And, the dialogue is laughably bad.  Just from a film-making perspective, these are bad movies.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Some other things that made the originals so much better:  the music, and the fact that the creatures are built rather than just lifeless CGI.

[courts]

They have many good ideas that were rather poorly executed, but overall are more a victim of people misremembering the quality of the original movies. As much as you can complain about Hayden Christensen's acting (which has more to do with having impossible-to-deliver dialogue than any actual problem with his delivery), do you remember Carrie Fisher's acting in the original trilogy? She was horrendous and was one of the main characters with tons of screen time and yet everyone gives her a pass for some reason.

This is an excellent point. Let's be fair, the prequels were never going to live up to expectations. And people get angry at Jar Jar for the same reason they get angry at Ewoks - it reminds them that this is a series of movies for young children.

except the ewoks are great

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Dislike. Although I also seriously dislike Return of the Jedi because I see it as a big wasted opportunity (another Death Star? Ewoks? An hour of rescuing Han Solo from a slug who never really had anything to do with the actual villains of the series?).

Re: the prequels... There were just too many missteps and too many things going on. They lacked focus.

Obi-Wan should have been the main character struggling desperately to keep Anakin on the path to good. But Obi-Wan doesn't actually grow or change much from film to film.

Padme should have been given an actual reason to fall in love with Anakin.

Darth Maul should have lived through to the beginning of Revenge of the Sith and taken the role of Count Dooku, who I don't really even understand as a character. Maul as Dooku would have helped centre the trilogy and would have given main-character Obi-Wan something personal to fight for.

Obviously there are other problems, but most of all the films lacked an emotional core. There is nothing whatsoever to care about in Attack of the Clones.

[wolfsblood07]

I voted "Like", but I am not a huge fan Star Wars.  I enjoy the films for what they are.  To me, the original film is a stand-alone classic.  There is enough good story in the original trilogy to keep me entertained.  As for the prequels, it was cool to see how Darth Vader became who he was, and pretty shocking how he went from good to bad.  But overall, it's not something I treasure.  I like it.
The problem with many sequels and multiple film franchises like the Harry Potter series, is everything gets dragged out and it becomes repetitive.  And it becomes a chore to keep straight all of the major and minor characters and back story.  I generally like the first film the most, and see diminishing returns in subsequent films.
And I have no desire at all to see any of the future Star Wars films.