It wouldn't be better if it was about a Jedi Master using his special set of skills to find his daughter taken to be sold as a sex slave to Jabba the Hut.
sharebetter than the disney ones
shareI enjoyed The Force Awakens more than The Phantom Menace.
shareAce_Spade, you'd've said the same thing if you'd seen A New Hope, as well, except you would've loved that MORE.
I do love the original Star Wars more. A lot more. What's your point?
shareMy point is that you're saying that you enjoyed a lame rehash of A New Hope (TFA) which was basically a Greatest Hits compilation MORE compared to an original movie like The Phantom Menace, which was world-building and told a different story, even though it didn't do it very well.
The Original Trilogy aside altogether, I actually like the Prequels MORE than most of the shitty Disney stuff that's come out in recent years, basically because the Disney crap DOESN'T take risks and just plays it safe, and rehash old plotlines. At least the Prequels tried something new.
Oh, I see your point now.
And, yes, I liked the "Star Wars 2015 Remix" more than The Phantom Menace. I could vomit a bunch of paragraphs going point-by-point why I prefer TFA to TPM, but I'll just say that I find the energy, tone, and entertainment of TFA more than TPM. TFA is unoriginal and clearly has a committee's fingerprints all over it. It also does a bunch of stuff to Star Wars lore/canon that is...stupid. BUT The Phantom Menace makes me cringe left-right-and-centre and it also does a bunch of stuff to Star Wars canon that is stupid.
The sequel trilogy is making me appreciate that Lucas was trying to make something original and failing at it. But he was still failing pretty miserably. For popcorn value, I go with TFA. Originality isn't the only factor here, especially when it brings me battle droids and Jar-Jar.
It's not a perfect comparison, but I would rather listen to Jimi Hendrix's cover of All Along the Watchtower than Rebecca Black's Friday. Jimi's not being "original", but his treatment of the material rocks. Friday is a new song, but it sucks.
Again: Lucas is a genius and I have a lot of respect for that man and his visionary accomplishments. The prequel trilogy is not one of them.
Fair enough, but I found TFA's "committee fingerprints" to be very off-putting, and not part of a natural organic creative thought process. It seems to be a blight on a lot of big blockbuster movies these days.
I can understand that. I thought TFA was fun enough that I could ignore it. Every now and again I'd remember, "Oh, they just put x-wings in because fans love x-wings," but for the most part, I thought it was solid film. With the prequels, I can't ignore the flaws because the movies are bad enough that they aren't distracting at all, or if they are, it's very, very rarely.
shareThe prequels tried something new ? What was that , make some of the worst star wars films ever made in TPM and AOTC? I really enjoyed TFA, most people did , hence the high audience and critic scores on numerous outlets, far better than TPM by a long way.
shareWrong. IMHO, TFA and TLJ are the worst Star Wars films ever made, and TROS will join them.
TLJ I wont argue with on that one, TFA was a comfort blanket , a familiarisation to get things going again, it was fun , it was familiar , but it still had its own story , it could of been built on , but ill never ever forget my utter disappointment at watching TPM and AOTC, story wise they are actually the best stories and some of the visuals are great, but the way it was put together was poor, but hey, if you like your Jar Jar each to there own.
shareI thought TFA was better than any of the prequels despite TFA being a rehash of Star Wars and I disliked the rehashed plot.
shareToo many people feel this way. Deep down they know TFA is shit but give it a pass because it reminds them of the 1977 film they loved, even as they acknowledge it as a completely
uninspired rehash.
Being a rehash can still be a cool movie. The Spy Who Loved Me is a beat by beat rehash of You Only Live Twice, yet The Spy Who Loved Me is revered as one of the best Bond films. And it was made only a decade after the movie it rehashed.
shareApart from the fact that TFA was crap on its own it dosen't have the excuse of being part of a non chronological film series like the Bond films.
It's a complete rehash/soft reboot of something it at the same time tries to pass itself off as a direct sequel to.
The Bond films (at least up until Die Another Day) are chronological. They just have a looser connection as the plots for each film are more independent than other film series.
That said, TFA would have been more acceptable had it been the launching point for a cohesive sequel trilogy. They fucked that up by giving each director free reign without a solid plan for the trilogy ahead of time.
"The Bond films (at least up until Die Another Day) are chronological."
The Bond series until the Craig era had been famously non chronological in order of appearance.
The fist Bond Film Dr. No was based on the fifth novel and the second film was the fourth novel.
TFA still would have been a poorly written, mediocre film even if it didn't simultaneously rip off and undermine the OT.
The chronology of the Bond film series is not the same as the chronology of the books. In the book series, From Russia With Love occurs before Dr. No. In the films, Dr. No clearly occurs before From Russia With Love as Dr. No is referenced in the film version of From Russia With Love.
The films have their own chronology.
The point is that apart from some loose references between films the classic Bond films are self contained, non direct sequels to one another in any way that is at all comparative to the main Star Wars films which are direct sequels with over arching narratives.
Edit: Which further emphasizes why TFA fails so spectacularly from narrative standpoint , let alone the many other reasons why it's terrible.
Same.
shareIt’s funny because the whole subplot of winning the pod race to pay for the engine always reminded me of a 70s era Disney type movie with some kids on the beach needing to win a dune buggie race for some reason.
shareThe prequels sucked. So did the sequels. Fact.
shareSome critic (maybe in Rolling Stone if memory serves correctly) said of Phantom Menace that it was "a movie that everybody saw but that no one wants to remember." I concur, though the other two prequel trilogy films and especially Revenge of the Sith aren't nearly as deserving of the drubbing they've received over the years.
shareI actually consider AotC and RotS to be worse films on average. PM had the WORST things in it (Jar Jar and lil' Annie) but if you subtract those two aspects of the film, what remains is far far better than anything that comes after. It has the best Jedi action, Qui'gon, Maul fight, and a general authentic Star Wars feel. The next two are thoroughly embarrassing and have little to like at all. I cannot understand the love for RotS. Many people rank it top three or as their favorite of the franchise.
share