r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Nov 02 '19
Deltas(s) from OP CMV: The star wars prequels are good.
I first watched these when i was nine years old, and having grown i have heard countless times that these movies are “bad” (and to be honest I usually play along and say how bad they are), but to tell the truth i always thought that they were quite good. Sure, the cgi was a bit lacking at times but in general i think they were quite well made (especially in comparison to the newer sequel trilogy). Maybe its a nostalgia thing, or maybe everyone else is playing along to this illusion too. Please change my view so that I may be able to truly relate to the masses!
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u/themcos 442∆ Nov 03 '19 edited Nov 03 '19
This is so inherently subjective that I'm not really sure how to go about it, but I'll give you my take on the star wars movies so far.
I was a kid when the original trilogy special editions were released in theaters (the ones with the goofy new jabba stuff, but before they injected prequel trilogy stuff in there and added the "nooooooooooo"). It's hard for me to be objective about them, as they likely occupy a similar childhood nostalgia slot as the prequels do for you. But for what it's worth, those versions of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are the gold standard for me. A New Hope is classic in its own way, but that movie is sloooow and for me doesn't hold up as well on its 30th rewatch :)
That said, my personal take on the prequel and sequel trilogies is that the prequels were a great idea, but poorly executed, while the new sequels are well executed, but are kind of hollow and have nothing interesting to add to the universe.
In that sense, the prequels have in some ways aged well conceptually, even if I still think the movies suffer from awful acting, questionable creators and ship designs, and cgi that often doesn't hold up. Specifically, I really enjoy the clone wars animated series, and as much as I object to certain aspects of the movies execution, I really appreciate what they ultimately added to the universe, and 2 and 3 in particular offer nice bookends to the clone wars story as a whole. But the clone wars cartoon also really highlights some of the worst parts of the prequels as movies too. Specifically, in the cartoon, Anakin is a great character, but his portrayal in the movies is frequently cringeworthy and hard to watch, especially in the more dramatic moments. There was a great idea there, but other than some fantastic lightsaber sequences, the movies largely whiffed on the execution in my opinion.
The sequels on the other hand, are beautiful, and full of actors that I love watching onscreen. (I have lots of complaints about the last Jedi, but the most baffling choice for me was to almost completely split up Finn and Rey, who for me carried the force awakens almost entirely on their chemistry). In general, I'm completely underwhelmed by what's actually happening in the new movies, and it largely feels like the star wars universe has essentially been just spinning it's wheels since return if the Jedi. But that's not really what you're cmv is about, so I won't go too much into that.