Star Wars IV: A New Hope compared to Star Wars I: Phantom Menace

[Robert]

So, my 9 year old nephew is this total star wars fan, with the lego and the wii games and the who knows what else.
So once in a couple of months he comes over to him and we watch the Star Wars movies 1 by 1.
We did A New Hope last night. (yes, we started with episode 1, not with 4, his choice, I know Lucas agrees, all the fans disagree, I thought it was a refreshing approach and wondered how the saga would be like if I would look at it myself from 1 to 6).

While watching the movie I just had this one urgent question, and I hope there's some 'true star wars fan' on board here somewhere who can answer.
Ok, Phantom was a bad movie, apart from the eye candy. (which btw doesn't bother 9 year olds at all!)
But how can people who LOVE New Hope and Emperor that much claim that the prequel saga sucks?

Did you see A New Hope in the past 20 years? This movie sucks in every possible way!
The acting is wooden beyond belief. Ben Kenobi is no 3% of the wise old jedi compared to qui gon.
Darth Vader scary? Buwhwhahaha, don't be serious, once again the acting totally ruins it.
Of course I'm leaving out that 30 year old films have no pace and weird hair and bad eye candy, we can't take that into account. But the story line.... it's so predictable.

I can see why people love the series, and of course in those cases the wooden acting may be unimportant. (May I recall saying "I have a different opinion" to Obi Wan while floating on the lava )

But it's seriously impossible to say that the prequal saga sucks compared to the original trilogy. Everything that sucks in 1-3 already sucked in 4-6 equally. And 3CPO is Jar Jar Binks. Face it, it's the same annoying character just in a different skin.

So this one question: those who hate the prequel series compared to the original trilogy, no, two questions:
1. did you see the original trilogy recently or are you just comparing it to the memory of your 9-year-old being who saw it 30 years ago?
2. WHY on earth is the original series better? Did you see luke's acting? It's like he's pooping all the time with his eyes wide open! The only partly believable character is han solo, though even his character sucks big time.

[giblets]

The acting is wooden beyond belief. Ben Kenobi is no 3% of the wise old jedi compared to qui gon.
Darth Vader scary? Buwhwhahaha, don't be serious, once again the acting totally ruins it.

You're simply wrong. Choking people is scarier than, say, some guy with face paint and horns.

Predictable story line... why is it that movies I've already seen are so predictable when I watch them again?

I was eight years old when I saw the Phantom Menace and I still thought it was crap compared to the originals... YOU'RE WRONG.

[Wiglaf]

Perhaps Plomp should start a Star Wars review contest, that seems like it would be a good way to hear the best uncensored arguments about the quality of the prequels. Make the prize your retarded 9 year old and we might even get another whiz bang submission from OzzyKP to settle this matter once and for all with his impeccable wisdom and logic.

[Kuciwalker]

It is terrifying that someone so wrong can actually exist in this universe.

[MikeH]

Han shot first!

[Robert]

You're simply wrong. Choking people is scarier than, say, some guy with face paint and horns.

Maybe he would've been more scary if he wouldn't have talked. The talking was the worst.

Predictable story line... why is it that movies I've already seen are so predictable when I watch them again?

I didn't say predictable is bad, I said that it was as predictable as the prequal.
Everything in Hope was on par with Menace and Clones, imho. Revenge was even slightly better, unfortunately Bale talked during it and his wooden acting is so laughable.... "In my opinion the jedi are evil" LOL

I was eight years old when I saw the Phantom Menace and I still thought it was crap compared to the originals... YOU'RE WRONG.

But WHY are the originals better?
Keep in mind: I'm not saying that the prequels are better, I just fail to understand why 'fans' always seem to whine about the prequels while the originals are equally bad....

Wiglaf: Perhaps Plomp should start a Star Wars review contest, that seems like it would be a good way to hear the best uncensored arguments about the quality of the prequels.

We don't need to censor anything overhere on Apolyton, the biggest trolls overhere censor themselves using the edit option

[DinoDoc]

But WHY are the originals better?

Lack of:

[rah]

Not all of us were 9 when the original came out.
A lot of it was that prior, most SF movies were grade B atrocities (with just a few exceptions like Forbidden Planet)
TV the decade prior was Lost in Space and the original Star Trek.
With that type of experiences, Star Wars was a huge event with (at the time) great special effects.
And yes while the plot was a tad predictable, it was a tried and true one that has been used in 100s of books.
But most importantly, it was different than almost everything that had been done prior.

The prequels were all eye candy just like almost every other movie offered. It was nothing different or special.
And then top it off with JAR JAR and young Anakin to annoy everyone and you are left going "so what"

[Lorizael]

Yours is an argument that's been made before, Plomp, but there are a couple of things Star Wars fans point to in defending the originals.

One is style. The originals take place in a gritty, beat up world that feels lived in, while the prequels, even when we're on Tatooine, feel shiny and clean.

Another is the characters. Han Solo is a fantastic character with a number of very excellent lines. Yoda is awesome, and better in the originals because he's enigmatic.

Another line of defense is the emotion of the originals. I know Jedi is not everyone's favorite, but for me, personally, nothing beats the raw emotion of Luke and Vader's lightsaber duel at the end. While Obiwan and Anakin's duel in Sith comes close, and Maul's duel in TPM is quite the visual spectacle, they just don't have the same oomph for me.

Finally, while the originals are somewhat predictable plot-wise, they don't have egregious, unforgivable plot holes in them. The prequels - Clones in particular - are riddled with them. Clones is almost painful for me to watch.

Oh, and one more things: relationships. The back and forth between Leia, Luke, and Han is a lot of fun. The three of them have chemistry together. And in the end, we understand why Leia and Han fall in love. In the prequels, we are given no such pleasure. We are told that Anakin and Amidala love each other without actually seeing that romance or any sort of chemistry develop on screen, unless you count the ridiculous sequence on Naboo.

And Jar Jar. ****ing Jar Jar Binks.

[Hauldren Collider]

Obligatory

[Kuciwalker]

Yours is an argument that's been made before, Plomp, but there are a couple of things Star Wars fans point to in defending the originals.

The first being that his criticisms are just objectively false.

Star Wars is a masterpiece of cinema and a thorough implementation of the classic heroic plot. Darth Vader is literally one of the greatest film villains of all time. The idea that you thought his acting was terrible implies that you are an idiot and/or the Dutch dub of Star Wars is terrible.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Plomp

Star Wars saga in total is dreck. Ages horribly. All it had going for it at the time was the unique special effects and action style missing in films of the time. Now that every movie is a Michael bay production the Star Wars saga is a big nothing burger save for those aflicted with some nostalgia.

The poor reviews of SW 1-3 were as much a reflection of the times and raised expectations of the action genre as it was how horrible an acutal writer Lucas was finally recognized as.

[Hauldren Collider]

I don't know what the hell makes you think the original trilogy was horribly written. Watching it again last year after not seeing it since I was 10, I was surprised by how good it was.

[Hauldren Collider]

I was eight years old when I saw the Phantom Menace and I still thought it was crap compared to the originals... YOU'RE WRONG.

Same here. QFT.

[Lorizael]

I don't know what the hell makes you think the original trilogy was horribly written. Watching it again last year after not seeing it since I was 10, I was surprised by how good it was.

Yeah. Especially lines like these:

But I was going to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!

You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done.