Ignoring ROTS and the OT, which of just TPM and AOTC do you like better?

the Phantom Menace, all the way.

Gotta agree with Rogue588 on this one, TPM wins this race because of Darth Maul and the final duel (still the best in any of the movies, IMHO.)

Same here. I think I saw someone once say that Lucas tried too hard with AOTC to please the fans after the initial backlash after TPM. While AOTC certainly has some very good parts, TPM just seems a little "better" for some reason. While the fan reaction to TPM was certainly an overreaction, I think Lucas should have realized the only real problem with TPM was the hamfisted direction. Lucas is an incredible worldbuilder, always has been, but he just doesn't always have the technical chops.

I've watched TPM on DVD more than AOTC and I've only seen ROTS once so far. I feel ROTS is the best of the PT by far, but TPM seems to be the easiest to watch.

As much as i love the Darth Maul scene,i still prefer AOTC over TPM.

AOTC by a mile. Darth Maul is the only truly good thing about TPM.

It's a waste of a movie. We didn't need two hours on little Ani. They should have just told that story in flash backs in AOTC (which should have been the first movie) and had the second movie show anakin's seduction to the dark side in more detail, and ended with him being pre-suit vader, and then had the third deal more with the killing of the jedi and Anakin becoming truly evil and ending the same way as ROTS.

even with Jar Jar, I'd go with TPM. AOTC was too Bladerunner and generic-feeling for me. The romance stuff was god-awful. There's plenty from each that I really can't stand.

AOTC. Aside from Duel of the Fates, TPM was very mediocre. AOTC had its share of cringe moments but it actually managed to make the movie entertaining for a majority of its run time.

Very little Jar-Jar, no Jake Lloyd, no fart and poop jokes, no Gungans, and no "Yipee" nor "Now this is podracing". AOTC wins. End of argument. Though the 3-way lightsaber duel in TPM was easily better than the criminally short battle in AOTC.

Technical chops is the one thing Lucas has in spades. Lucas is as good as anyone working today when it comes to effects, action, visual storytelling, camera work, etc. Probably better than most save Spielberg and a few others.

Lucas has two problems. One, he's not good with dialogue and screenplays. That was the big weakness with all of the prequels. However, Episode III was far and away much better in this regard, which resulted in a very good film. Two, Lucas is not the most proficient with actors. Though you have to wonder how big of a weakness this really is, considering Lucas got good to very good performances out of actors in THX 1138, American Graffiti, Star Wars, and even with some of the prequel actors. People always point to bad performances to show Lucas' weakness with actors. They conveniently forget this is a director who has done very good work with actors in the past. You can't pick and choose just to support an opinion.

Now, I wouldn't say Lucas is anywhere near the best actor's director. In fact, I wouldn't even call him an actor's director. But he's also nowhere near the worst at working with actors. Though when judging all of his talents by comparison, he's weak in that particular area. The amount of bluescreen work probably impacted some performances more than Lucas' direction did.

The problem with these films lies with the screenplay and it's weak dialogue, and with the fact that Lucas really had no story planned for these prequels in great detail. So he made a lot of it up as he went along.

Having said all of that, none of the films were truly terrible as some claim. Though I can see how someone may have been disappointed in them. People expect truly great things from Star Wars. These were the most anticipated films in history. Because they weren't up to that level of anticipation and excitment, they received more backlash than they otherwise would have.

Having said all of that, Episode III was a damn good film.

AOTC. Hands down. No comparison.

AOTC for me.

2 reasons - Too much Jake Loyld and Jar Jar (who reminds me of Michael Jackson now).

AoTC by far. I actually watched TPM recently, and for the first time actually enjoyed it (yes, I don't know why, but I'll repeatedly watch movies I didn't like).

But AoTC by far. The kid still annoys me, Jar Jar is still obnoxious. The adventure story isn't actually that bad, but Darth Maul, despite being a cool looking character, isn't really that interesting to me. He doesn't really do much of anything, isn't really much of a character, and really just looks cool swinging lightsabers around. AoTC had great action, but also had a story I found interesting. Overall, I just find AoTC far more entertaining, that and Yoda doesn't look so freaking awful like he does in TPM.

That's what I meant Terrell, I just shouldn't be posting so early in the morning. Though, if you want to get technical, the folks at ILM are the one with the technical chops. Lucas may know where he wants everything, but I somehow doubt he's got his hand on the mouse and digital pens there at the ranch making everything fit together.

Anyways, your point about the dialogue and such is the one I was trying to make in my half-awake stupor.


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dick grayson
You compare AOTC to Blade Runner like that's a bad thing? Do you not like BR, or do you think AOTC just ripped off to much?

Don't mean to be picky, but I just watched BR last night on my Criterion LD. I need to get that thing on a DVDR before I lose it to rot, even with it's flaws, it's still too good of a film to lose.

Yep, TPM by far for me. AOTC had some great scenes, but it felt rather disjointed and non-Star Wars-ish to me, and I'd rather watch Jar Jar and Jake make fart jokes for twenty minutes rather than sit through that Naboo picnic "romance" scene in AOTC. And basically, Liam Neeson's screen time in TPM was replaced by Christiansen in AOTC--not a step up, IMO. I also agree the Maul lightsaber fight was the best out of all 6 movies.

I think EPI sucked a little less than EPII.

AOTC. Easily.

1) There's hardly any Jar-Jar

2) You can't top the last 45 minutes of AOTC. You just can't. Best 45 minutes (in a row) of ANY Star Wars film.

Personally, I found AOTC to be the nadir of the entire series, both OT and PT. I voted for PHANTOM MENACE easily.