major let downs of the new trilogy

[Knights&Darths]

I personally think the musics did play a vital role in making Star Wars a legend, I really can't say the same about those in the new movies. The acting is so

[LadyCrimson]

What was really a let down is:

Acting/writing/direction. Although I think it should be just writing/direction, since there were many fine actors in the films - Lucas is just horrible at getting good performances, and always has been. Partly I think, because Lucas is always more into creating his effects and environment than the actor performances. Let's face it, I love the originals, but it's not like Harrison Ford or Carrie Fisher did their finest acting work in those films.

 

Who wins for worst performance is:

Hayden. While he did best after he turned "evil," something about him really annoyed me overall. I agree about the Emperor turning comical - but he did fine as the Senator and thus I can't rate that a 'worst' performance; more like worst direction. Lucas: "More evil cackling and grinning, McDiarmid, more more!"

 

The worst ideas lay in:

That one's hard for me to pick, because there's elements of everything, but if you include the quality of suspension of disbelief, I had to go with story set up. There were too many little inconsistincies and too many truly illogical moments that either made you laugh or shake your head, taking you out of the fantasy.

[Dark Wastl]

None of those, with the possible exception that the first movie was more kids oriented.

 

I wouldn't rank them on par with the old trilogy, though that doesn't mean much as I don't have any movie ranked close to the original Star Wars movies. The prequels have some cringe-worthy scenes, but nothing out of ordinary.

 

I always like it when people say Hayden Christensen did a bad job, because he made Anakin a whiny brat, well, duh, that was exactly what he was supposed to do.

 

If there is one thing missing, it's the personal stuff. It's really obvious in the space battles. Wedge, Biggs, Prokins, Lando, Luke, you cared about these characters, there is no such feeling for the minor role good guys in the new movies. But that might just as well be nostalgia, who knows...

[Gorth]

Big let downs...

Acting/Writing/Directing. I've been told that Hayden "wooden boy" Christensen actually can act, just not in any SW movie. I also found it hard to reconcile the facts in my brain, that Padme is the same actress as Matilda in Leon (which she played very well). Even if the story is badly told, it could have been much less painful with some decent directing of the actors, some of which are quite good in other movies >_

 

Worst performance...

Hayden Christensen. If the guy can act, then I hope he got paid well as he can't really use his role in the SW movies as a reference (if I were him, I might even consider a name change). He is just the tip of the iceberg though, as the only decent performance was by R2-D2.

 

Worst idea...

The move from story telling to techdemo for the newest CGI gadgets. Some kids might get a kick out of the battle scenes, but the story, which is not particularly good to start with, is so badly told it makes you cringe (Episode III was the first movie I've been to where people started leaving the cinema in droves before the end).

 

I hope Lucas hires story writers and directors for future projects

[Plano Skywalker]

I hope Lucas hires story writers and directors for future projects

 

Lucas is a "big picture" kind of guy. That is where he excels....world building, special effects, overall concept.

It is his micromanaging that lacks and comes across as corny or extremely self-indulgent.

 

The Empire Strikes Back is head and shoulders over any of the others in my view and it was neither written nor

directed by GL. The overall world and storyline were his but the details were left to others.

 

That is what I would like to see with the upcoming TV show but I doubt it will be the case.

[SamuraiGaijin]

What realy let me down ...

- music - I didn't think the music was bad, but it wasn't ground-breaking (Star Wars won the Oscar because it was great music, and the concept of a classical score throughout the movie was not the norm)

- younger audience - with exception of Episode I, I didn't think this was really the case - heck, even Disney and Pixar animated fils have "inside jokes" for us old farts

- acting /writing / directing - I generally agree that the acting wasn't so much the problem as the directing. George is most beneficial to a project when he's "hand's off" - case in point - Episode V

 

Worst performance ...

- Hayden Christensen - then again, I don't know if anyone could have pleased us with a the Anikan / Vader transition - I'm sure there are some young actors out there that could have done a better job, but Star Wars fans - especially the older ones - came in with a preconceived notion of how the character "should have been" - the problem is complex, and I'm not sure the blame lays squarely on Hayden

- Natalie Portman - while there were times when I felt like she was there purely for window dressing (Episode II), I can't say I was disappointed.

- Ian McDiarmid - he had some of the best lines in the trilogy "we'll be watching your career with great interest", for instance ... Palpatine was supposed to be mysterious - it's hard to pull off mysterious when you're not the main character. If you're doing your job right, the audience doesn't really know your motives ... if you're doing it poorly, the audience wonders why the others haven't figured it out yet

 

Worst Ideas ...

- creatures, aliens, technologies - if anything, I think GL went overboard, but the only true disappointment was Jar Jar Binks (I did take some pleasure in how easily he was manipulated by Palpatine in Episode II).

- character development - it's hard to fault a prequel too much here ... you already know how the story will end

- story setup - I figured out as a Game Master for the Star Wars Role Playing Game that there is a formula to making a story "feel" like Star Wars. I don't think they succeeded ... but as I said before, Star Wars fans are a demanding bunch ...

 

... "do or do not, there is no try" ... "You want the impossible"

 

... "I ... I don't believe it." ... "That is why you fail."

Edited February 25, 2007 by SamuraiGaijin

[DAWUSS]

I wonder how long it will be before George decides to re-do the prequels, like he did the OT...

[Wolfmann]

I wonder how long it will be before George decides to re-do the prequels, like he did the OT...

 

Interesting point. I thought about this after AOTC came out - it was unfinished, unpolished and you could just see it screaming for "Special Edition" treatment in say 10 years (which Lucas is still young enough to reap the benefits of the bucks he'll charge us for producing something that it should've been on release). As a business man, he's brilliant - as a director and writer...he needs to take some lessons.

 

For all the development time that he took, he really did a horrible job of the prequels. Or did he?

 

If you look at it from the style and genre of saturday morning serials like Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon...etc...he actually did a pretty good job. And if you look at all the movies, TV shows, merchandise...the Empire his movies has created is immense. Far bigger than the sum of their parts.

 

With that said...Revenge of the Sith wasn't the worst in the trilogy. Attack of the Clones and A New Hope are tied. Empire, for it being a middle sequel, is probably the best...but Phantom Menace and Return of the Jedi are both pretty good.

 

Let's face it...when you use unknown actors, you take a risk and not all your Hayden Christiansen's can turn out to be Harrison Ford's. All the other main actors, from Ewan MacGregor to Ian McDermid are excellent actors - and this time left with shoddy director that didn't vette his storyline enough. If you look at all the special edition behind-the-scenes looks Lucas more or less, aside from Rick McCallum and Nick Gillard, has surrounded himself with kiss ass yes-men. They all hover around him, and he dictates, and they don't offer counter points (it's sad because you know any one of them is hanging on to him, thinking he'll in some way just "see" them as talent and throw money at them).

 

Still...it's a multi-billion dollar empire and the crappiest of these movies are immensely better than any of the Star Trek movies - with two exceptions (Wrath of Kahn, and First Contact).

Edited February 26, 2007 by Wolfmann

[Purgatorio]

All of the above.

[Xard]

There wasn't enough booty

Edited February 27, 2007 by Xard

[JediMasterWeasel]

Big Letdown

 

Acting/writing/directing - The horrible Anakin/Padme love story is what decides this for me. The lines couldn't have been worse and the acting of those lines couldn't have been worse. Most everyone in the whole trilogy seemed so monotone and bored.

 

Worst Performance

 

Hayden Christensen - Although Jake Lloyd (little Anakin) was far worse in my opinion. Hayden got a little better in RotS, but he still could've stood for quite a bit of improvement.

 

Worst Ideas

 

Story Setup - Having Anakin be so much younger than Padme, having an entire plane elect a 14 year old as their queen, and as I have said, the horrible love story setup makes for a seriously dysfunctional story.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

having an entire plane elect a 14 year old as their queen, and as I have said, the horrible love story setup makes for a seriously dysfunctional story.

 

... you never really know her age anyway, but goddamnit, you are so right.

[Guest The Architect]

All of the above.

 

 

You beat me to it.

 

Jar-Jar, Jake Lloyd as Anakin, the fake Queen Amidala in TPM, Jar-Jar, the Gungans, Jar-Jar, the over-elaborate/corny lightsaber duels (except for the awesome one in TPM, ignoring the nonsensical way Darth Maul was killed), Jar-Jar, the fake, cartoon-like Disney CGI, Jar-Jar, the crappy romance plot and Lucas

Edited February 28, 2007 by The Architect

[Gorgon]

Minuses : Seemingly endless hours of child actors and teenage romances. Mediocre acting across the board. Jar Jar Binks.

 

Pluses : The Emperor and Yoda in Revenge of the Sith. Obi Wan in Attack of the Clones.

[Guest The Architect]

Could you see yourself convincingly saying many of those cheesy lines that were present in the OT?

 

Damn it! Bloody one hour edit limit!

 

Could you see yourself convincingly saying many of those cheesy lines that were present in the PT?

 

That's better.

Edited February 28, 2007 by The Architect

[DAWUSS]

There wasn't enough booty

 

 

That is why Lucas fails, because he doesn't understand that the more the booty, the better the movie!

 

 

So THAT's what made KOTOR II so successful, the whole Exile prancing around in her underwear and the ability to have her wear a skimpy dancer outfit for about 70% of the game...

[Knights&Darths]

Mentioning Jar-Jar would have been pointless, most people hate him. Personally, I didn't like him, but I never felt the urge to bitch about the actor.

 

I think girls would agree that with the guys in TSL there was much less teasing than in KotOR, I kind of remember Revan and Carth would carry on some hot conversations, romancing a Cathar was somewhat kinky too, there's only a faint trace of that with the Exile. Why are non-canon genders privileged?

Atton was supposed to be more forward though.

 

"Oh, it's nothing too complicated. It'll just take a while.

Unless you want to be crammed in an access hatch with me for a day or two."

"I'll take my chances with the jungle."

"Suit yourself. You don't know what you're missing."

 

[astr0creep]

I personally think the musics did play a vital role in making Star Wars a legend, I really can't say the same about those in the new movies. The acting is so

[Omelette]

The greatest damage ever dealt to the saga is the rise of Vader.

 

3 films. We waited and suffered through 3 horrible pieces of crap for a single moment that was even crappier than anything that came before it.

 

Nn... NOOOOOOO!

 

 

The reason I loved the character of Darth Vader was that he was sort of a mystery to me. The fact that we don't see his face is what makes the character so much better, but that's just me.

 

Seeing the process of how it was he became this dark lord was just something that ruined the allure of the character and the presence he had. From now till the end of my days, no matter how hard I try and erase it from my mind, I will always remember little Anakin Skywalker inside the helmet and know that it's his burnt up carcass in there and not some great big mystery that had me actually scared when I was small and my father showed these wonderful movies to me.

 

It might not have been a problem if the story was written much better, if the script was just a little tweaked to actually have thought-provoking dialogue, or perhaps less CG in each and every shot, then maybe these movies could have been saved. I for one actually enjoyed the "cheasiness" that was the OT. Men in costumes, built props, it just made everything seem a bit more real.

 

But the biggest offense for me was when George Lucas decided to make Chewbacca a CG character (much like the rest of his aliens) instead of putting a man in a suit. Chewy was always a favorite character of mine. And seeing him ripped away and made in a computer generated image just crushed me.

 

The lightsaber fighting was up to date and faster than it was before, but the flashy lights and sparkle just couldn't save these three films.

 

Character development, that's what made everyone love the first three films. Everyone knew a guy that was like Luke, a sassy girl that was like Leia, and a bad boy like Han when they were growing up or living life every day. Because we cared about these characters, we felt compelled to care for the movies (that and it had a nice story, too). Star Wars was like a breath of fresh air to the melodramatic garbage that was being shown at every single theater, dealing with depressing themes and things no one really wanted to pay money for and instead could watch on their T.V. sets at home via a soap opera.

 

But I have ranted long enough. In short: OT=Good. NT (new trilogy)=Bad.

 

Enjoy

[DAWUSS]

Yeah, Darth Vader shouting "No" was pathetic. I think what made it pathetic was because we all had the image of OT DV in our heads, and that sure as hell didn't fit the bill...

[Dark_Raven]

Since it was so lame, Vader might as well have said O NOESSSSS!!!

[Weiser_Cain]

KOTOR was better

[Guest The Architect]

KOTOR was better

 

So was TSL, even with the cut content.

[DeathScepter]

Jake Llyod and Hayden Christensen(mainly in Eps. 2 and some in 3) are the biggest weaknesses of The NT.

 

 

 

 

To me, Anakin should have been equal to Vader in all aspects.

 

 

 

 

Vader in the OT is an intelligent leader of a vast Military that was a badass.

 

 

 

Therefore NT should have shown how he gotten to the top of the Military and how he developed into a badass.

[mappalazarou]

The Romeo and Juliet thing was the worst thing George could have done - Now when I see Vader all I see is a little boy crying for a new girlfriend.