What I Love About The Star Wars Prequels Part 3

What I Love About The Star Wars Prequels Part 3

I recall something said by Tom Hodges at the “Why We Love The Prequels” panel at Celebration V last summer.

“I do art expos for children and you ask them what their favorite Star Wars film is, nine times out of ten it’s going to be one of the prequels. This is their generation of films. If you look at it from that standpoint, and think about when we were kids, it’s the same thing. If The Phantom Menace came out in ’77, it would have had the same impact.”

That is one of the very many quotes that motivated me to write these three essays displaying the brilliance and wonder of all three prequel films. These films, that are put down by many original Star Wars fans around the globe, have had a critical impact on the minds of the youth and have captivated their minds just as the original trilogy captivated the minds of the original fans. If you saw the prequels at a young age like I did, you would have certainly been sucked into all it’s great mythology and universe like no other films before it, allowing you to indulge yourself in the whimsical world Mr. Lucas and his team have worked so hard to conceive. These films, like them are not, have not only gotten me into Star Wars, but many other young children of the decade as well, allowing us to experience the groundbreaking original films that defied cinema years earlier. The CGI in the films blew us away like the stop motion spaceships and puppetry blew the original fans away. History repeats itself but in a different manner. The lightsaber duels and Clone Wars battles knocked us off our seats like the AT-AT battle and Death Star Battle knocked the original fans off their seats. You see, no matter how much a film is put down, there will always be those who see the films at a young age and are amazed in all it’s glory. For Star Wars has things that adults like and children like, things within both epic trilogies. Yes people, some fans actually do like Jar Jar Binks, for he was meant to be the comic relief and humor during some of the darker moments of each film. Star Wars has things all people can relate too, things people can enjoy within both trilogies. The stellar starships, the planets and their mechanized enviroment filled with the most outlandish of creatures, and the stories, stories of the characters, stories that would lead into the classic films.

Let’s go back to 1933 with the release of one of my all time favorite films, King Kong. It took them many months to render all the stop motion, superimpose the film and even get Kong to roar like he did in the film. None of it happened overnight. This would inspire many stop motion artists like Ray Harryhausen to do the same in many ’60s epics like “Jason and the Argonauts.” And it wasn’t easy for Mr. Lucas to do all the crazy special effects and imagery in the original films. As said by many historians of the original trilogy, everything on the set of the original Star Wars was falling apart, nothing was working, and even the original landspeeder chase scene through the dune sea was a horrible projector effect. But after all that hard work, they got the job done right, and got it the way Mr. Lucas wanted it. Now you are probably asking yourself what all this has to do with the prequels. Well, the CGI characters and surroundings aren’t very easy to make and render either. You have to design the characters, use silicon material through a computer device, and all of it could cost hundreds, thousands of dollars. It could even take several days just to make a character’s mouth move. All of this groundbreaking art, displaying in all 3 prequels, helped other filmmakers following in Mr. Lucas’s footsteps. Just think of all those exemplary characters in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films or the Harry Potter films. They are all done by CGI and most of the backgrounds and settings are through green screen or made within a computer as well, but people seem to rave more about them more than they do the Star Wars prequels. Y es, sure, the special effects in the prequels aren’t the best special effects since sliced bread, and believe me, they are not that realistic either, but they revolutionized the special effects companies like ILM and and all their luminosity. The effects in the prequels, in my opinion, aren’t meant to look the best, but that’s the point. You have to use your imagination. You have to expand your craniums and make these effects look dazzling, just as the original fans did with the effects in the original trilogy.

It’s all through the power of imagining and being sucked into a certain story that makes it really good to someone. What might be the best film ever made to some might be a travesty to another. Heck, some people might think Batman and Robin is a masterpiece and think The Dark Knight is a dog turd and vice versa. And like I said before, the prequels will continued to be despised even when I am done with this essay, but along with haters, there are lovers, ones who can analyze the films, break them down into tiny bits and point out what was really remarkable about them. The prequels did have some of the most remarkable moments, not only in the Star Wars saga, but films in general. It’s all how you look at it. I enjoyed and will continue to enjoy these films, no matter what the RedLetterMedias of the world say about them, for along with dog doodoo, as some people point out about some of the elements in the prequels, there is gold, shining moments, moments that myself and other people will say, made the prequels stand out and make them truly remarkable films that defined a generation. One scene in the prequels, in particularly, I thought to be not only compelling, but very unique, showing how one man ultimately turns into the villain we love to hate in the classic films. The scene on Mustafar where Anakin Skywalker burns at the end of the lava river, in my opinion, symbolizes the death of Anakin’s humanity, the death of Anakin Skywalker himself, the death of the rebellious, kind loving jedi we seen through the first two films and the Clone Wars series. When Anakin burns, he ultimately becomes Vader, no longer a nice guy, a tyrannical monster, sadistic in the suffering of others in his quest to kill the Emperor and take the galaxy as his own. That scene alone, made the entirety of the prequels worthwhile for me, that was the scene that ultimately made me love the prequels. Yes, sure, it was a gruesome, horrifying scene, but it answered the very question I wondered from the very start I saw Anakin in Episode 1, recalling how he would become Vader. How did a nice guy like Anakin get into that black suit? That was not only a question that stuck out in my mind, but many other people’s minds as well. And it, along with many other questions were answered in the prequels. The prequels are meant to explain things, as all prequels are. They are meant to open the doors and show why one thing is the way it is or why somebody is the bad guy. The Star Wars prequels, and all prequels in general, help make the story more a whole, more like one film, so when all the films are released, we can watch the films, starting with the very first of the prequels and work our way up, ending with the last of the original films. Then, my friends, the story makes a hell of a lot more sense than it did before. The Star Wars prequels tackled this perfectly. They made me appreciate the original films a lot more.

I am proud to be a fan of Star Wars because of the prequels. These films, as the original films did, made me relate these stories to the stories of the Bible, mythology, folklore, even other films that me and many other film nuts have come to cherish. It is with the prequels that the morals and values of the original films are more powerful. The scene where Vader kills Obi-Wan in Episode 4 was more powerful. It was through the prequels that we understood who Obi-Wan really was, the true master of Anakin Skywalker and one of the pivotal heroes of the Clone Wars. When he dies, and speaks to Luke through the rest of the film with the power of the Force, it makes Obi-Wan more than the average old mentor to the main antagonist. With all his character development through the prequels, we see his experiences as a Jedi, a Jedi Master, all his teachings and motives, something he teaches to Luke, which allows him to continue his ways as a Jedi, to help redeem Vader and bring and end to the Empire. This would also help Luke become the founding Jedi Masters of the New Jedi Order in many expanded universe novels, because of what he learned from Obi-Wan, and we get to see how Obi-Wan got to the point he did in Episode 4 through the prequels. The death scene of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker was also saddening at the very end of “Return of the Jedi.” With his backstory in the prequels, we see Anakin and all that he went through, AS WELL AS THE SCENE WHERE IT IS EXPLAINED WHY HE WAS IN THE SUIT TO BEGIN WITH. Through the entire saga leading up to that point, we seen Anakin’s battle, for power, revenge, and in the end, redemption. He won this battle, though he died in the end, but he died with dignity. His death meant something more, because we knew who Vader really was. He wasn’t Vader at all. He was still that podracing whizkid from Tatooine. He was a character trying to find his place in the universe, was manipulated by pure twisted evil, and had to find himself again to overcome this evil. You could just cry when Anakin died in that scene. With the prequel films, we know who he really is, not just a bald headed guy within a life support suit. He was a character with a rich and tragic backstory. Adding Episodes 1, 2, and 3 makes the character of Darth Vader less of a bad person, just a person fighting a never ending battle against true evil, trying to rise from the ashes of his previously fallen self. And those aren’t the only scenes in the original trilogy that are enhanced with the developing noir in the prequels. Seeing Luke and Leia being born in Episode 3, really was a sorrowful scene, but at the same time, bittersweet. Seeing the characters we know and love from the original films being born from a character we know and love from the prequels films, really made the biggest difference, for we now know where Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia came from, we know who their mother is. We know why they grew up not knowing of each other’s existence. You see, with a great character, there is a great backstory to that character, showing how the character got to the point we know and love him as, and in my opinion, the prequel films are filled with just as many rich and prominent characters as there are in the original films. The Star Wars saga in general has many glorious characters from Quinlan Vos, Darth Revan, Darth Bane, Cad Bane, Bane Malor, Aurra Sing, Asajj Ventress, Jaxxon the Rabbit, all with a story to tell, all with meaning. Even the great icon in Han Solo has an interesting backstory, showing he is more than your average ordinary smuggler that shoots Rodians and calls kids cocky.

And if you think the prequels aren’t that iconic and didn’t leave an impact, then why do you think people do parodies of them on such hit shows like Robot Chicken? Why do you think people make tribute videos of the prequels or music videos showing many of the prominent scenes of the prequels? Why do you think people dress up like Darth Maul, or Jango Fett or Clone Troopers at the release of the latest Star Wars films and comic conventions? I see a lot of brilliance within the second trilogy, things that not even the original trilogy could topple. There were things that I thought blew my mind when I first saw these films, things that I have never even seen on film before. I though the prequel films were astonishing when I first saw them thoroughly, for they were the thing that made me a Star Wars buff. However, after a while, I became aware of the controversy and poop that was thrown at them by many fans, expecting epics just like the original films. Their ranting and raving really made me debate whether I actually still liked these films, and if they really were the monstrosities the critics made them out to be. When the new Star Trek movie came out in 2009, a visual and illuminating masterpiece that made me a die-hard Trekkie, a lot of people compared this prequel/reboot to the last three Star Wars films.

“I enjoyed this a lot better than the last three Star Wars films” said many critics and movie buffs alike.

But then, ironically, I came across this site, a site where people could talk about the diversity and wonders of the Star Wars prequels, showing that they really were great films and left an impact different from the first trilogy. It wasn’t until the release of RedLetterMedia’s reviews of the prequels that I decided to let it all out about why I liked these films and why I think they stand out from all films in general. It was through writing these 3 essays that I came back to my senses and my love for the prequels returned. The stories were great, the acting was science fiction (what do you want sci-fi romance to be like), and they had just as many memorable moments as the original films did. Those who don’t remember much about the prequels probably didn’t watch the films that many times, for when you watch them again and again and again, they can really grow on you, and that is when things can really begin to stick out. The characters of Qui-Gon Jinn, Darth Maul, Jar Jar Binks, Shmi Skywalker, Mace Windu, Count Dooku, Padme Amidala, General Grievous, Jango Fett, and the many other characters in the trilogy are diversely eminent images in the Star Wars universe, and the many worlds and spaceships seen in the films make the galaxy far, far away more appealing, more outreaching, more epic. It was through the prequels that I learned to love films, films with a good story, good characters, and morals and lessons that can inspire a lifetime. Basically, the prequels not only got me into Star Wars, but also science fiction, fantasy, and worlds that were originally conceived in people’s minds, worlds that we see develop in all sorts of different motion pictures. And the prequels inspired me to make my own stories, stories of great warriors and treacherous villains wanting to overthrow the protagonists and his allies, perhaps take over the world and start a crippling empire. Someday, I hope to make a Star Wars story of my own, with new characters for people to relate too, new settings for people to be blown away by, and a story that people will come to love and enjoy. It’s amazing what a person can tell through the art of storytelling and making movies. I have come enjoy what I love to do today, I enjoy making stories and gallant characters wanting to bring balance to society, because of the impact Star Wars has had on my life, the impact of the prequels. The impact of films and media as a whole.

What I am trying to get out with these essays is that you don’t have to like the prequel films, but you have to admit, they did a lot of things right as they did wrong. They did things that the original films did not, as the original films did things that the prequels films did not, that is what makes it all the better, makes the stories displayed in Star Wars unique and expressive. Look into these films more and you can see things you never seen before, perhaps things will make better sense to you overtime. The prequels films did things that other film makers never even dreamed of, things even George Lucas didn’t even dream of up until that point. Like Carrie Fisher said, they relate Lucas to himself, as we see the primitiveness of the original films evolve to the sweet “erraticness” and astonishment of the prequel films, as George Lucas is able to do things he wasn’t able to do before, the exact reason he made Star Wars the way he wanted it to be in 1997. Look at these films in greater detail and you can really see the hard work and dedication that actually went into them, the character development and the struggles that will lead to the struggles in the original trilogy. There is plenty to love about the prequels, things that really distinguish them from the classic films. These films are what made Star Wars one of the most beloved science fiction tales ever told. With the prequels, we see things unfold, things that will make us want more, things that will make us enjoy Star Wars much more. Like Mr. George Walton Lucas himself said, “We were always dreaming of how it was going to be.” In other words, they did it the way they wanted it to be done. Lucas envisioned Star Wars the way it is from the very start. It was overtime that he developed the sci-fi fantasy into the way it is today, as all storytellers unfold their awesome storybooks of different perils and conflicts. And hate George Lucas all you want, but either way you put it, he did leave an everlasting impact on film, not only with Star Wars, but with other fields he worked so hard to incept. We wouldn’t have films the way we do today if it wasn’t for George Lucas, sound systems like THX and special effects companies like Industrial Light and Magic making us go deaf and making our eyes bleed everytime we go to see a blockbuster movie. He also made this impact with the prequels, inspiring others to follow in his storytelling footsteps. Maybe films like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Avatar, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the Spider-Man films, the X-Men films, Iron Man, Abrams’ Star Trek and Christopher Nolan’s Batman films would have never been made if it wasn’t for Lucas’ contribution to film with the prequels. He inspired others to make stories just as good, make prequels as well, make films that will leave an everlasting impact. Films that can influence the individuals of tomorrow. Among us might be the next Steven Spielberg, or James Whale, Robert Wise, or Stanley Kubrick, slowly building up stories that will make all people bite their nails and scream in theaters for generations to come. The Star Wars prequels, no matter how you look at it, had something to do with that.

Thank you for listening to my opinion on these films, for I truly believe the Star Wars prequels are more than three dog turds. They are films, rich in universe and divergence, and I could watch them over many other films out there today. I enjoy them and will continue to enjoy them, and they will inspire me to write the many stories I want to write in the near future, stories of futuristic material and the most intrepid of fierce heroes and creatures. I have the prequels to thank for getting me into Star Wars, getting me into science fiction, getting me into film. I take these films seriously and believe them to be underrated, deserving a lot more credit than they get. Surely, they are not the best films ever made, but they are far from terrible. They are far from decent. They are groundbreaking and make the original trilogy shine more. May the Force be with these prequels. Always.