DrunkLastKnight

Yeah Makes you wonder what happened to some of the races in 4, 5, 6

Dunno if they still exist or not in the gap between 3 and 4

kitkat

Yep. I watched each prequel once, in a theater, and that's it for me. I ignore them, and I don't let them ruin the OT for me.

I was in Jr. High when Star Wars came out and I remember well the magic of the whole experience. It was such a cinematic thrill, and everyone was a fan. When PM was coming out I could feel stirrings of the old magic in anticipation. A friend of mine got us tickets for the first showing on opening day, and when the fanfare came up over the scrolling titles I got goosebumps - it was 1978 all over again. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last long. It had sort of been a dream in the back of all our minds to one day see the other six installments. Two hours later, that dream was dead. Oh well. I'm just grateful I was around to experience it the first time. It was fun!

Sonny Corinthos

The Valeyard

And here's one for you:

DieselsDen

Exactly. Continuity is fine and dandy, but as with superhero comic books, too much emphasis on history (past or future) can strangle plot and characters. We don't need to be explained every concept or element of STAR WARS 4, 5 and 6.

Doughboy

Exactly how I feel. They exist in my mind, but I don't consider them canon. Hell, with all the plotholes and contradictions in ROTS, there's really no other way to view it.

What's unfortunate for me is that I still really dig Episode II. Always have. But TPM is dreadful and ROTS gets worse every time I see it, so where does it leave that film?

BigDan

I both agree and disagree with this.

Yes, the original movies are still the original movies. They haven't changed and should be as good as they always were. However, I think it's natural that when a viewer is given new information, they quite often view old information in a different way. And this new information can change one's perception of the old information. In a manner of speaking, the new movies can impact one's feelings towards the old movies.

In the same way that watching a "twist ending" movie a second time will result in a different viewing experience the first time through, it's only natural for a viewer to integrate the additional knowledge gained in a sequel or prequel when viewing the original movie afterwards.

Of course, I think my views toward the original trilogy have changed more due to my own changing tastes over the years rather than the prequels themselves.

Terrell

Which I believe confirms what I stated. It impacts how you view things or feel about things. It didn't impact the films themselves though.

I still love the original trilogy. Even if I had hated the prequels, which I don't, I still love the originals as much as ever. I do find it a bit funny that fans of the originals suddenly jumped off the fan bandwagon because of disappointment in the prequels.

Count de Monet

What's so funny about that? And besides, it was hardly "sudden." The Special Editions are what started the backlash. The Prequels only made a bad situation worse.

riley_dude

Me too. All the theories in magazines and online where much better than the actual prequels.

mndtrp

The prequels haven't done anything to me in regards to the original trilogy. I like all of the movies the same as I did when I first saw them. I guess I'm just not as wrapped up in it as some people.

caligulathegod

I agree, the buildup was fun. There's no way they could have lived up to what we expected.

The prequels had sucked the life out of my love of the original Trilogy. Over the holidays I spent time transferring my laserdiscs over to DVD and was even going to put some deleted scenes and such on them. In the course of my research, I found that many other people had done it before me with better results. One gentleman has actually taken the 2004 DVD and completely recreated Star Wars "Classic" as it was in 1977. From the opening crawl (sans "Episode IV A New Hope"!) to Aunt Beru's original voice (edited in from the original mono mix) to actually painting out the added CGI elements frame-by-frame and either dropping in or superimposing elements from the laserdisc and color correcting the entire film, it is an incredible experience. It actually brought a tear to my eye to see Star Wars as I remembered it in as good quality as the 2004 DVD. The sound is from the 1993 laserdisc which has a mix as close as possible to the original 70mm mix as exists. Some lines were taken from a mono mix from a 1985 PAL broadcast such as
+ All Beru lines
+ Stormtrooper: "It's secure, move on to the next one."
+ C3PO: "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations ..."
+ Stormtrooper: "Close the blast doors!"
+ Luke: "Blast it, Wedge, where are you?"
It's about as close as we'll get to a true remastered release of the original version other than Lucas doing it himself.

He's also done the "Classic" treatment for Empire and just finished Jedi test burns. I hope to be getting a copy of those soon.

He also did a documentary called "Deleted Magic" consisting entirely of deleted scenes and alternate takes presented in the order of the film. It's probably as close as is possible to get to the "Ranch Edit". It includes a widescreen recreation of Declan Muhulland's Jabba scene that used bits from the 2004/SE added scene with CGI Jabba painted out and Declan reinserted from various sources (most of which were fullscreen) such as the VH1 doc and the Behind the Magic CD Rom. Yeah, it's a bit rough in spots, but it's still really cool. We get some Darth Vader scenes with Dave Prowse's real voice and different lines. Also, there is a recreation of the original edit (or as it was originally scripted) of the Death Star trench sequence. It is amazing how different it was and how Star Wars was really saved in the editing. There's no bit about the Death Star about to destroy the moon of Yavin just seconds before Luke destroys the DS, and Luke goes into the trench twice. The second run was after Darth Vader had been knocked out. It's damned near a film editing school in a single scene.

Now that I've seen how Vader supposedly came to be, I can go back to my OT Classic and enjoy them as I remember them.

zero

I dont see how its a threadcrap, a good portion of SW threads usually end up arguing the same points over and over again. Almost always coming to the same conclusion...

Such as..

I like/hate/dont mind Jar Jar
I like/hate/dont mind Ewoks
Greedo shot first
"Luca$, Luca$, Luca$"
IMO (insert any comment made about the prequels/OT/SE-T)
"Nooooooooooo"
"My childhood was raped and Luca$ killed my puppy"
The Phantom Edit
etc etc etc...

Jackskeleton

"You weren't there at the beginning. You don't know how good it was! How important!"

coli

I think the original SW is getting knocked down a peg by newer fans who watch it in 1-6 order. When they get to Episode IV, ANH is a different movie than watching it first like most fans did before the PT.

Newer fans are now watching it as the continuation of Anakins story, but the problem is in the original he wasn't Lukes father yet! There is such a dramatic shift in special effects, they feel the effects after Episode III to IV are outdated. They feel the lightsaber duel is slow compared to the PT, and they want to see Yoda and The Emperor in it, cause they are the stars of the prequels. I feel they are watching the whole movie in the wrong context, cause it is really about Lukes journey, not Anakins struggle in the original, cause Vader was just a really cool bad guy in 1977.

I feel that the original SW has gone from a classic to the older fans, to just another episode to the newer ones, cause they are looking for things in the movie that just aren't there, cause the story of Luke/Vader father son conflict wasn't really shown in the SW movies til the end of ESB.

It is sad, cause I feel Lucas has demeened the one true SW classic movie he directed, thus to sell his new vision of Anakins Story and watching them 1-6. Kinda ironic isn't it?

Save Ferris

wasnt there a 'fan edit' of TPM out there (taking out jar jar etc)? Did they do all the prequels? Are they worth seeing?

Count de Monet

The primary so-called "Phantom Edit" is a very interesting experiment and I think the final result is somewhat of an improvement (after all, how could it get any worse?) Jar Jar is not completely taken out of the film but is cut down to the bare minimum and for what's left, Jar Jar's infamous broken English is now dubbed with an alien language and he is subtitled with more elegant dialogue. The same thing is done for the Neimoidians. I seem to remember that some of young Anakin's worst moments were trimmed as well.

Josh H

I like the prequels, but I was underwhelmed as well. Poor dialog and acting (worse than the OT) aside, my main problem was they didn't delve enough into Anakin's character and why he turned. They made a huge mistake starting the prequels with a whole movie of Anakin as a kid, this should have been handled in flashbacks, and they could have spent more time on adult Anakin. Then they could have developed his character more and had him go to the dark side more gradually and for better reasons.

As it is now we see he was just a whiny, immature and insecure young man who's greed and thirst for power made him go to the dark side. It's just not very sympathetic and takes some power away from his redemption in ROTJ.

Terrell

Who said anything about backlash. I said fans of the original trilogy no longer love the originals because of the disappointment in the prequels. The originals are still out there to be enjoyed as they've always been, despite the special edition. But they can't enjoy them because of their disappointment in the prequels.

Though it's no skin off my back. Star Wars needs to lose about a third of it's self-obssessed, possessive whiny fanbase anyway. It was just a comment on the times.

Um, no it wasn't. I've seen it. It was a thousand times worse than TPM could ever hope to be. Lucas should have hung his butt out to dry.

Jackskeleton

Yeah, cause telling people what to and what not to post is clearly the best way to keep things civil...

This thread is exactly for those who enjoyed or didn't enjoy the prequels and other projects because that's the topic of the thread. "Has those changed the way you view the original trilogy" Atleast that's how I read it.

coli

Putting aside movie quality, and how Lucas approached each trilogy with CG, the key factor for me is the characters from the OT.

That has always been the appeal to me and Lucas gets an A+ for characters and how they played their roles in the OT. Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, Vader, Yoda, Lando. Kenobi, and even the two droids, really carried each movie, because you believed they were that person. They weren't the greatest actors, except Guinness, but they 'played the role' meaning you couldn't picture anyone else playing that part.

The humor in the OT is always underrated, especially in ANH & ESB, it wasn't just comic relief, it was perfect cause the humor was used in the situation as they would argue between themselves. Han & Leia arguing in the Millenium Falcon in ESB, Han, Luke, and Leia, all bickering at each other as they scramble to get out of the death star in ANH.

The PT characters are all Senator, Princess, Jedi, and Chancellors, there wasn't one character who was just like you and me, no one you could identify with. The PT characters all had to be staunch, because they were either a padawan, and had to respect their elder, or the higher ranked of the two, so they had to set an example. In ANH, Han, Leia, and Luke could go just go at each other and be themselves cause they had the freedom to do that. The PT tried to use humor in other ways, using side characters like Jar Jar just to get a laugh, rather than the main characters reacting to the situation.

My whole point is that is why for me personaly, even though I still think ANH & ESB are the only classics of the saga, the OT is more fun to watch because you love those characters, cause you could picture yourself as one of them, and with the movies having a good mix of action/humor, you never get tired of watching them.

Terrell

Well, if you read the thread title it's kind of hard only to discuss the originals, because he clearly asks do consider Star Wars only 4-6. Because of the way he asks that question, you have to talk about the prequels also, because regardless of how you feel about the prequels, Star Wars now consists of 1-6. However, as I said earlier, the best thing for people who don't like the prequels is to ignore them and move on. Obssessing about the prequels, especially now that they are over, is pointless.

Terrell

Well, I think you have proven a long held opinion by many coli, including me. The people that hated the prequels didn't want new Star Wars films that were different. They wanted new Star Wars films that were exactly like the originals, which in my opinion was pointless. I'm glad we got something that was a bit different.

kitkat

I just wanted them to be good movies.

coli

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terrell

Well, I think you have proven a long held opinion by many coli, including me. The people that hated the prequels didn't want new Star Wars films that were different. They wanted new Star Wars films that were exactly like the originals, which in my opinion was pointless. I'm glad we got something that was a bit different.

In some ways, you are totally right, I think even if the quality were better than many feel today about the PT, I still think they wouldn't have loved the PT, but probably not hated as much.

I think if Lucas would have went totally serious with the PT, instead of injecting Jar Jar & C-3PO humor just to get a laugh, and said to the public, "This is about the end of the republic, the tragedy of Padme & Anakin, and the purge of the jedi, if you guys are looking for 3 more 'fun' movies, please don't even come to the theater. But I think Lucas wanted it both ways, in trying to make it fun, when it was definitely a much more serious story and characters than the OT, and that is why fans were perplexed by the juvenile humor in TPM.

The PT was a much more complex story, which was very interesting, especially TPM, if you can get through all the kiddie humor, cause Palpatine's ascension to rule the galaxy is one of the few things done very well by Lucas. But Lucas tried to sell to the younger audience, which he didn't do in ANH & ESB, and that is why alot of the older fans got fed up, and the overall story of the prequels, other than Anakins tragedy, was totally overshadowed by discontent.