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-   -   Are the Jedi too powerful in the prequels? (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/423617-jedi-too-powerful-prequels.html)

Jadow 05-21-05 02:59 PM

Are the Jedi too powerful in the prequels?
 
this is one of my gripes, I think the Jedi are too powerful. Compare the lightsaber battles in the originals, these were humans with a few special powers having sword fights.

In the prequels, they're flying around like bugs doing all kinds of crazy moves that detract from the action if you ask me. I don't care for all the acrobatics at all.

Let's look at another situation. In ROTJ, when Luke battles with rancor, he has a throw a rock to hit the button to bring the door down on the rancor's head. I can't imagine Anakin or any of the other Jedi's having that much trouble, they'd just flick their wrist and the rancor would be flying across the room.

Overall, I guess it's about the biggest thing that bugs me about the prequels.

Josh H 05-21-05 03:03 PM

No, I like it, shows how powerful they were and how big a deal it was they were all killed, and sets up how powerful Palpatine was.

The fights are lesser in the OT because all you have is old Obi-Wan, crippled Vader and Luke who was never fully a jedi knight, much less a Jedi master in the films.

bboisvert 05-21-05 03:09 PM

The only Jedi you see in IV-VI are either:

*untrained
*old
*in a life-support suit

I have no problem with the flipping/flying that happens in I-III. I think it helps to show what was lost when the Jedi order was destroyed. And how far Luke still has to go to reinstate the order after RotJ.

matrixrok9 05-21-05 03:13 PM

I had a problem with Yoda not kicking Dooku's ass in episode 2. I kept thinking that Yoda was so badass since he trained Luke to be a jedi and was the one the Jedi's left in the universe. In episode 2 all he does is just spin around and couldn't even finish Dooku. I know he had to help Ani but he should have finished Dooku like in a second to get him out of the way ASAP.

Jackskeleton 05-21-05 03:27 PM

Dooku cheap shotted in the fight. I agree with bboisvert. They did it perfectly.

Kube 05-21-05 03:41 PM

I know what you mean by them being "too powerful". It's harder to relate to them when they can fall for miles without hurting themselves. They can jump up higher than the six million dollar man. There's a part of me that liked thme better when they were simply better or more complete or more in touch versions of ourselves.

The jedi are too powerful in that they are over confident in themselves and their own assesment of the situation. They put too much stock in their own traditions and prophecies. They are blinded to what is going on. To be fair to them, seems like many, many planets missed the boat on Palpatine too.

Patman 05-21-05 04:22 PM

It's too bad that Lucas & Company never cared to fix the lack of inertial movement whenever the Siths and Jedis do their flips and jumps, as they don't look natural at all. And also, when OB1 was riding that creature in his skirmish with Grievous, the movements also looked like bad stop action photography at times. Why can't they get this right?

shaggy 05-21-05 05:37 PM


Originally Posted by Patman
It's too bad that Lucas & Company never cared to fix the lack of inertial movement whenever the Siths and Jedis do their flips and jumps, as they don't look natural at all. And also, when OB1 was riding that creature in his skirmish with Grievous, the movements also looked like bad stop action photography at times. Why can't they get this right?

The Jedi and Sith flips are awesome looking. I agree with the creatures, they never look very good, It was was much better in Sith. Its not just Lucas and Co its everyone. The same scenes look terrible in Lord of the Rings. Lord of the Rings looked so natural, the effects were used so well, but whenever characters were jumping on your riding creatures it looked bad. Especially in the final battle in return of the king, it takes me right out of the film,

mikehunt 05-21-05 08:48 PM

well, considering luke wasn't nearly as well trained as the majority of jedi we see in the prequals I have no issue with them
now the clone wars cartoon versions were a bit over the top, but the live action jedi were fine

maxpower 05-21-05 09:14 PM

I don't know if they were more powerful...but what bothered me is when windu and the other three went to arrest the emperor. He took out 2 of the jedis in the bat of an eye. Made them no better than the imperial redguard...

IanH 05-21-05 09:30 PM

By the time of Episode IV the Jedi arts had become a lost art. They've nearly become extinct. In Episode I it was obvious Jedi were much more powerful back then. They were able to jump and fall from great heights, run at incredible speed, pilot machines with computer like precision and use their light sabers with much more skill. That didn't bother me.

But aside from some of the deficiencies in the special effects what I had a problem with were some of the Jedi's that didn't look very convincing as Jedi knights; starting with AOTC. Its obvious Ewan, Hayden, Sam, and some of the other principals had some martial arts training like Kendo but the others looked awkward and unathletic. Its like Lucas told some extras "Okay here's your "lightsaber" now wave it around like you know what you're doing"

sharbhund 05-21-05 09:34 PM

I don't buy the argument that the reason for the lame fights in the OT is that Obi-Wan was too old to fight. Age didn't slow down Yoda or Dooku in II and III. Basically it comes down to the fact that fight choreography has changed a lot in the last 20-30 years.

IanH 05-21-05 09:36 PM


Originally Posted by maxpower
I don't know if they were more powerful...but what bothered me is when windu and the other three went to arrest the emperor. He took out 2 of the jedis in the bat of an eye. Made them no better than the imperial redguard...

Yeah, they just stood there waiting for Palpatine to skewer them. That was not well done and it looked rushed. They could have shown them blocking and parrying a bit and then get killed but they just stood there like idiots.

As for the Red Guards too bad we'll never see what they could do. They couldn't be incompetents and be the Emperor's personal guards. And they were up against Yoda. Are they a special breed of clone trained in some of the Jedi arts or are they another type of warrior? Maybe someone who knows Star Wars beyond the 6 movies knows the answer.

Sernov 05-21-05 09:37 PM

Jedis in the prequels were just that, actual Jedis. During the originals, I never knew the scope of the powers of the Jedi because all you saw was ObiWan, Luke and Vader. The Jedi battles in the prequels are the one thing it has over the originals.

Watching IV today and I noticed a line by Solo while Luke was training with ObiWan on the Falcon. It shows by this time, even people like Solo weren't aware when he says something along the lines of "nothing is better than a blaster".... well we all see how useless they are against a well trained Jedi.

IanH 05-21-05 09:41 PM


Originally Posted by sharbhund
I don't buy the argument that the reason for the lame fights in the OT is that Obi-Wan was too old to fight. Age didn't slow down Yoda or Dooku in II and III. Basically it comes down to the fact that fight choreography has changed a lot in the last 20-30 years.

I agree absolutely thats true. But I always felt that Jedi's were more powerful "back then" even before I saw Episode I and thats why it didn't bother me when I saw more powerful Jedi.

Panda Phil 05-21-05 09:43 PM

Hmmm, maybe Lucas needs to go back and redo the fight scene in Episode IV. Speed things up and digitize Darth and Obi-Wan so that they're bouncing all over the docking bay walls. Boy wouldn't the fanboys just LOVE that? ;)

sharbhund 05-22-05 12:05 AM

While he's at it, he can replace Alec Guinness with an aged Ewan McGregor.


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