I’d argue that the prequels were excellent, Shakespearian-level stories that pioneered the VFX of their time, but suffered from sometimes ridiculous dialogue and a director that wasn’t good at working with actors (especially inexperienced actors).
If George had a writing/directing partner to help smooth stuff out and still had his ex-wife in the editing room, the prequels would probably have been damn near masterpieces.
Phantom Menace is a story that never needed to be told that does nothing to advance the plot of the series.
Attack of the Clones had no real plot.
Revenge of the Sith was… okay. Would’ve made a decent middle movie in the Prequel trilogy that we should have gotten, which began with the Clone Wars, because there is no reason whatsoever to see Anakin as a child.
I know lots of people weren’t even alive when TPM came out and thus have childhood memories of the prequel trilogy and give them more slack, but they are in no way Shakespearean masterpieces.
They don’t need to be. Star Wars is pulpy fun and that’s awesome. But they need to be coherent, and the Prequels are miles worse than any other Star Wars content ever made (not counting holiday special).
I’d argue that the prequels were excellent, Shakespearian-level stories that pioneered the VFX of their time, but suffered from sometimes ridiculous dialogue and a director that wasn’t good at working with actors (especially inexperienced actors).
If George had a writing/directing partner to help smooth stuff out and still had his ex-wife in the editing room, the prequels would probably have been damn near masterpieces.
Phantom Menace is a story that never needed to be told that does nothing to advance the plot of the series.
Attack of the Clones had no real plot.
Revenge of the Sith was… okay. Would’ve made a decent middle movie in the Prequel trilogy that we should have gotten, which began with the Clone Wars, because there is no reason whatsoever to see Anakin as a child.
I know lots of people weren’t even alive when TPM came out and thus have childhood memories of the prequel trilogy and give them more slack, but they are in no way Shakespearean masterpieces.
They don’t need to be. Star Wars is pulpy fun and that’s awesome. But they need to be coherent, and the Prequels are miles worse than any other Star Wars content ever made (not counting holiday special).