Agreed. (and because that is also too short, let me say, your sig rules Mactopia. There was I time when I could recite that whole Henry V speech from memory. Note to self: Haven’t yet rewatched Henry V on my big screen TV. Put on to-do list.)
Of course it doesn’t just let you say “yes” -
The proper line would have been “Yes, Imperious Leader”
thats what ill say from now on
Lately I’ve been typing my short reply, like “yes”, and then hitting the space bar a half dozen times and then adding a period (.)…works like a charm.
See? .
For me 1-3 were just a let down. Everyone I knew that was a Star Wars geek were losing their minds with excitement over the prequels. And I was too - my expectations were so high - and the point could be made that the movies could never live up to the expectations…but then Serenity came out - and let me tell you- Browncoats are insane the and the level of excitement about that movie bordered on Obamaesque. And that movie fully lived up to the expectations of most fans I’ve talked to. So I think that Lucas dropped the ball on 1-3. He had the opportunity to enrich the universe he’d created and instead he cheapened it imo.
The thing I think that bothered me the most was that it was impossible for me to relate on an emotional human level to the characters. One - I think because of all the CGI - I mean literally almost none of the sets were real physical sets. It was all not there - there was no texture to the world at all. And that leads to my number two - the acting. Those actors had nothing to react to 90% of the time - that had to be really difficult. And they were being directed by a man who basically sucks at directing. I mean - the man can create an awesome universe like no one else - but when it comes to directing (from what I’ve heard) he sucks.
I also think that - for me - the character of Darth Vader was ruined for me. I can’t watch 4 and 5 the same way anymore because now instead of seeing a villain I see poor little Anakin Skywalker.
I’ve always thought that to really true to what Vader had become, Lucas should have been more explicit in the murder of all the Padawans by Anakin/Vader…it would have been tough to watch, (and I’m not saying really graphic stuff but just more emotional emphasis), but a lot more honest to the character to see the same kind of rage/whatever we saw him release on the Sandpeople when he attempted to rescue his mother…[sarcasm] but that would have offended Hasbro and Toys R Us, I’m sure [sarcasm]…much easier to put in an amphibian with a funny accent, I guess.
Three words “I hate sand”
Way to destroy my childhood GL. Once you get past the dialog, weak acting, and nine year old Anakin then I love the prequels for what they were. Besides the acting, Episode 3 totaly rocked my world. The final duel in that movie is something I’d been dreaming about since I was nine years old and I read about Vader and Obi-wan dueling over a volcano in StarLog Magazine. That scene totally exceeded my expectations and made the prequels worth it IMO.
It’s funny though, the quality of BSG has really made me jaded about the prequels and my SW fandom in general. I don’t even care about the Clone Wars movie coming out in Augest. I guess I’m just burnt out on SW after the prequels. I find that sad, because this is the first time in 23 years that I don’t care about Star Wars.
It’s STAR WARS!! You’ll be there, trust me.
I know… You’re right of course. I’m just not super hyped like the Prequels. Where as with BSG I’m on pins and needles every week and then I’ll be dieing during the hiatus. At least Clone Wars gives me something to do while waiting for the final 10 episodes of BSG. 
That’s a good thing. Don’t believe the Hype!! Just sit back and enjoy the animated goodness.
Frelling A dude….Frelling A.
In my opinion, lucas missed out on a huge opportunity with these prequels. Everyone knew the back story of Vader would be dark, but GL tried to have these prequels as lighthearted as possible. Sorry, but frak that. He should have started out with Anakin as a respected Jedi Knight, and have his path go towards the dark side from there. And it shouldn’t have been one thing, but a hundred different reasons for why he fell to the dark side. Was I the only one disappointed to see only the last 20 minutes of episode 3 be devoted to the fall of Anakin? Frak, it should have been two whole movies, not a popcorn break.The only good things about the prequels are really just the action sequences. They had a huge opportunity to build up the series, but instead, opted for more of the same (or lesser than.).
Which is why I have probably been digging the KOTOR games and story recently. They are new and entertaining, which is more than I could say for episodes 1-3.
I love the KOTOR era. The Tales of the Jedi comics is probably my fav. series. I was blown away when they took the lore from that series and made KOTOR the game. KOTOR 2 rocked too. I just wish they would’ve finished making that one instead of rushing it out the door.
Episode One did suffer from being to kid oriented. I seem to recall Lucas admitting that Jar Jar was created for his kids. Sadly, Lucas may have to many “yes” people around him and not enough people reminding him to focus on character development, acting, and great story telling versus gimmicks like Jar Jar and having special effects carry the movie.
With all that said, I do feel like Episode One was beaten into the ground. If it had been a fresh franchise, people might have been more forgiving. Instead it was bringing back a franchise many love and knowing Lucas had the money and time to make something awesome made the okay Episode One a let down. I really wish Lucas would have pushed for better acting and a stronger script with less gimmicks. The basic concept is excellent, it was just the execution that hurt it.
Episodes Two and Three were better, but when stacked against the original series, there is a sense of the some of the magic missing. I think Empire was under rated and Jedi was touch over rated, but all three I would say ended being better than any of the first three epsidoes. The one thing that was great was seeing the CG Yoda. Most of the fighting scenes with Yoda would not have been possible or would have looked odd back in the days of Episodes 4-6.
I still hope Lucas goes back on statement of not doing 7-9. Considering the actors for 4-6 have aged, they maybe ideal for 7-9 since I heard it was supposed to feature more mature of the lead characters.
Jeebus! The poor bastards are going to carry THAT around for the rest of their lives? What’s the number for Child Protective Services in California?
Marin County Department of Social Services Child Protective Services
10 North San Pedro Road, Suite 1002
San Rafael, CA 94903
(415) 499-7153
Let us know how it goes
LMAO
Notice how i didn’t mention JARJAR in my post earlier…
That’s because I try to bury those memories deep into my subconscious. Oh yeah, don’t even get me started on the Prequel C3PO mess…
Actually, I think that the one thing that they got right was that we didn’t meet Anakin as a Jedi. We had heard Kenobi tell Luke that when he met Luke’s father he was a great pilot, but he was amazed at how strong in the force he was. He also told Luke that he thought he could train Anakin, and that he was wrong. I think we should have met Anakin about a third or halfway through Ep. 1 (after meeting and establishing a young Obi Wan) as a hot shot, cocky pilot (think a darker Han Solo) who winds up fighting alongside Kenobi. He’s from a backwater part of the galaxy so he escaped notice of the Jedi, and now he’s too old to train (in Yoda’s opinion). Kenobi decides to take him under his wing anyway, and his descent begins.
I agree, his fall should have taken two whole movies at least, and at the same time we should have been shown an Anakin Skywalker who was something of a bad-ass right from the word go, not a child and then a whiny, emo teenager. Anakin Skywalker’s fall should have been a tragedy of the largest type, but in order for that fall to have emotional impact, we have to really care about him in the first place, and Anakin as written didn’t do it for me.
It’d be very hard to make a 7-9 movie. Look at all the eu books and those are only the adult novel section( excluding videogames, jr novels ,and comic books etc. etc)
I’m content with Starwars continuing on in TV shows. Between Clone wars and the Live Action show , it’s good to see Star Wars fans create the new content instead of George Lucas (who seems to have lost of bit of his…magic… or energy idk).