r/prequelappreciation

I definitely don’t remember Jar Jar being SO involved in almost every scene, probably because I was younger and just turned my brain off when watching anything on a screen. Almost felt like someone adding in their OC for no reason. I do want to say however, I think the movie still holds strong and I hope others share my LOVE for the Darth Maul fight and choreography. I think the pacing is really good, maybe could have done without the 6 different fish, one or two would have sufficed. I remember people complaining about how BORING the politics are but I never found that topic to be dragged out or super boring, it explained and moved the plot forward. Probably a post better for Letterbox, but also wanted to see if anybody else watched it again and had a different perspective from their original watch and if it was more positive or negative.

Through the years I've constantly seen people say how midichlorians are the Force or how the Force comes from midichlorians. Even in the Red Letter Media review of TPM Plinket says how George ruined Star Wars by having Qui-Gon explain that the Force is microscopic organisms. And from there people form this nerrative that midichlorians demistify the Force.

Now I don't know why people perpetuate this nerrative but all of this is factually wrong. Midichlorians are not the Force and the Force doesn't come from them. In the movie Qui-Gon says that they are microscopic life forms that live inside the cells. And that through them people can communicate with the Force. They're like a conduit. They're a piece of world building that explains why some people can use the Force and others can't or why someone would be stronger than someone else.

They don't explain what the Force is or where it's coming from. And they don't demistify the Force. If anything Obi-Wan explaining that the Force is an energy field in ANH demistifies it way more than midichlorians.

I don't know why people keep pushing this nerrative and false claims. Didn't they watch the movie? It's literally explained there. And it's not even hard to understand.

I have mostly only watched the movies and I read a few books when I was a kid, but I’ve always kind of understood Star Wars a certain way, and have noticed more things as Ive watched the movies as I get older. I do see things online tho (mostly here on Reddit actually) that makes me wonder if I have it wrong?

So idk I thought maybe I would lay it out here, and maybe we could discuss how wrong I am? Idk I think it could be a cool conversation anyway

The Force is like a living creature. It’s god-like but it’s not a god. Like it doesn’t have an identity, but it is an all encompassing life force. The Force wants to be “balanced” or “zen” or however you want to think of it. The dark side is almost an infection of sorts in the living creature. A cancer.

Things like despair, fear, hatred, anger, domination etc. create “bad energy” “bad vibes”. The dark side. That’s why the Sith are always so worried about starting wars, enslaving people etc because the more despair, hatred, and agony they can breed the more powerful they can become. They want everyone to live in fear, distrust, despair, and anger, they literally feed off of it.

The Jedi started out as monks who learned how to communicate with the force and realized that the force “wants” to be “balanced”. So they took it upon themselves to serve it. That’s why Jedi aren’t just peacekeepers, but ambassadors, scholars, healers etc. They strive to create peace, understanding, prosperity etc. and in return they can “use” the force to achieve this.

By the time of the prequels however, instead of serving the force, they have mostly started using the force to serve the republic. The Republic started out as a good thing, but over time has become corrupt, bureaucratic, and infiltrated and influenced secretly by the Sith. This is part of why their ability to use the force is diminished. They serve the corrupt Republic, not the Force.

Ultimately this is exploited to destroy them.

But Qui gon was still an “old school” jedi who was actually trying to listen to the force. If you pay attention to him in ep 1, he talks a lot about “the living force” and being mindful of the present, “the will of the force”. He’s actually trying to listen to what the force is telling him, rather than using it to discern what actions will give him his preferred outcome.

He’s telling both Anakin and Obi Wan to not spend so much time and effort looking into the future, keep your attention here and now. Like “stop trying to look into the future and play god, but listen. Listen to god and have a conversation with him, let him tell you what you need to know” (I know force doesn’t equal god but you get my point)

Because of this, he often butts heads with the council. He doesn’t serve the jedi, he serves the force.

(I also like how Yoda criticizes Luke for always staring off into the horizon, dreaming of the future. Almost like he learned the error of the Jedi’s prequel-era mentality and is criticizes that in Luke)

Anyway I guess that’s how I kind of think of the fall of the Jedi and the nature of the Force, and the motivations of the Sith. How far off base am I?

Cause of May the fourth, I’ve decided to just make this month Star Wars day. I watched the prequels, finished Maul Shadow Lord twice, picked the final season of rebels back up (halfway through it rn) but I cannot stop thinking about Anakin and Darth Vader. As an adult (and when I spark up), I’ve realized things in the prequels I didn’t know were actually there or gained more appreciation for what was. Never hated these films. Watched them all in theaters as they released. Over the years, I did accept some flaws in them but now I’m seeing some of them aren’t even really there. An example is the acting style. Like some scenes may feel very w/e depending on what being said, but overall it just feels like theater/operatic type of acting. Never had a problem with the acting overall tho tbh. It always felt pretty obvious that many characters speak the way they do because of this OR because so many of the main characters are SUPPOSED to be ZEN. Never have I had an issue with “I don’t like Sand” or “I’m overwhelmed, sir”. None of it. Lines like these are self explanatory especially the sand one.

However, there’s a level of depth and subtext of the character arcs/development/characterization to everyone particular to Anakin too of course that is so vast.. it blows me away. Like… I already knew Darth Vader was film’s greatest villain and possibly character (ironically, this is the case BECAUSE of the prequels yet nobody wanted to acknowledge that. He did not have this depth in the OT), but man was GL on fire with this guy. Bringing it back to not liking sand or being creepy/weird with romance… how did people expect this mf to behave or even feel? He was an ex slave (something that comes with a myriad of emotional and mental issues) who had to leave his mom & was never given the proper time to process those emotions or even allowed to be “normal” before being part of the Jedi order. I won’t call being part of the Jedi as a form of slavery but it was a form of emotional bondage especially because of where the Jedi were at the time. Something that I’m sure could be deduced from a certain POV depending on what day you caught Anakin in his later years lol Though they weren’t clear cut no flaws good guys, they still were good guys with vast knowledge and wisdom.. there were just caveats to it which shows in how they handled Anakin. Looking at Padme in a creepy way (which she spells out makes her uncomfortable) makes sense! He doesn’t know any better!

I could be here all day regarding the amount of shit he was carrying, thinking about, and being tortured by when RotS is happening (I’ve already thought about it at great length), but I’ll just say that you didn’t need The Clone Wars to understand. Nothing against the show; it’s fantastic and mind blowing. This also makes me see why I have always been so drawn this movie over any of the other ones. Also, it helps that it’s incredibly entertaining. These prequels are so epic in scope and so cool. Genuinely one of the coolest things ever. They’re also visually quite beautiful and have the best combat scenes. OT had good fights, but Obi Wan’s unecessary twirl in 4 is sillier than anything in the prequel battles. I don’t even understand yoda jumping around in combat as a criticism; it’s mind numbingly fucking stupid. QGJ & Obi Wan vs Darth Maul is easily the best fight in the franchise aside from Anakin vs Obi Wan. Anyway, hope you guys are
having a great day from one Star Wars admirer to many. May The Force Be With You.

So, growing up when I didn’t have a critical eye I enjoyed every movie I saw for the most part. I liked the phantom menace but found it boring in certain parts.

When I became a teenager I saw the massive hate for the prequels from the internet in the 2000s and 2010s and let it influence my opinion. I’m sure this is a common thing for zoomers. I now thought the phantom menace was bad and clearly George Lucas didn’t understand his own creation any longer.

Well just a couple hours ago I rewatched it for the first time in many years. I went in fully expecting to at best ironically enjoy the movie and at worst say it sucked. I’m pleasantly surprised to say it’s just a straight up good movie.

90% of the criticisms I expected to have… I just didn’t.

The acting is by no means ground breaking or award winning but not at all bad. It’s perfectly fine acting and I don’t get why people slam the acting. (I’m aware attack of the clones gets most of the hate in this regard but this is about episode 1.)

The plot is actually really easy to understand and follow, even for me, a tik tok addicted zoomer. I was able to understand the plot, it’s not hard to follow or messy. Hell it’s not even boring, this is very basic political drama, in addition to a simple plot about freeing anakin and how will he be trained.

The meme criticism I always hear is “there’s no main character.” I expected to at best wave the criticism away by saying it’s an ensemble. But… the criticism is just flatly untrue. It’s pretty clearly Qui Gonn. He has the most screen time, it’s who we follow from beginning to end. We are following the story of a man just trying to do his job and help a kid out. Sure it’s not a massive sweeping arc, but it’s grounded and real.

Also I’ll say it, child anakin is great. Child actors in general are rarely as good as their adult counterparts but honestly Anakin felt pretty real. His actor is so overhated and undeserving of criticism. He did a good job for any child actor and I honestly think he for the most part brought Anakin to life.

Jar jar. He’s there. I expected to hate him and find him annoying but honestly I don’t have too much of an opinion. He has some eye roll worthy moments I won’t lie, but he also had some oddly endearing ones. I’m pretty neutral on him and that is much better than what I thought I was going to say.

Also the lightsaber fights are really good, not nearly as over the top or illogical as I recall, I don’t have a problem with over the top fights either but phantom menace light saber fights felt relatively grounded and I never felt like anyone did anything that didn’t make sense in context. They are just really fast.

The movie is cheesy, but I like that. It’s full of heart and it’s just a good movie. A worthy addition to the canon and I’m sorry for blindly assuming otherwise.

Look I never saw Star Wars, and the only thing I knew about it was "luke I am your father."

I've always been a Star Trek and Doctor who fan and was always intimidated by the franchise and, frankly, the fandom.

But my friend who is a huge fan and I made a deal, I will watch Star Wars and she will watch Harry Potter.

Part of the deal is that I will sit with a notebook and write whatever comes to me while I watch the movies.

So here I am after the original trilogy and the first of the prequels trying to make sense with what I just witnessed.

Don't get me wrong, I like it so far. It's crazy but really good, and I can already see that it will be my new hyperfixation for a while but man!!

I'm gonna put some of my unfiltered thoughts about the movies so far.

P.s. My friend said I could skip the first and second movies straight to the third because nothing happens in them, If this is a movie nothing happens in, I don't want to imagine what's going to happen in the third movie.

*The 4th episode:*

R2d2 gets me.

Ponchos and robes/capes are like the galactic fashion standard for those who want to look normal but manage to present themselves in the most suspicious way I've ever seen?

Between princesses, crazy old wizards, two droids who may or may not belong to the princess and a strange boy who bonded far too quickly with strangers, oh and not to forget the power plant full of Imperial soldiers! Han Solo rethinks all the decisions he made to get to this point and comes to the conclusion that maybe he should have let that flyhead eliminate him.

Leia is something special, what the hell is that pose?!

Obi-wan is giving "I'm an old man with zero fucks left to give, I'm gonna go and fight throughout the galaxy wearing my pj's. At least I'll die in comfort."

Okay what Ben did was such a Boss move, like you give an epic one-liner to your old student about how no matter what he does I will still win and then you lose the fight on purpose and you do it in such a way that he can see for sure that you lost to him on purpose (talk about insult to injury) and then somehow you just disappear in front of his eyes and make him doubt everything and all you leave behind is your beloved bathrobe! What an icon, what a character. That's it! It's decided Obi-Wan Kenobi is my favorite character.

Why didn't Chewbacca get a medal???

*The 5th episode:*

wow r2dr is like the worried mom waiting for her son to come home and at the same time c3po is like that uncle from home alone comparing Kevin to the glasses he forgot at home.

Can everyone just use this lightsaber? They don't need the force?

R2d2 is going through it.

Yes, argue with the invisible ghost, he seems to know what he's doing.

Did Yoda really tell Ben I told you so when the fate of the galaxy depended on it??

The fuck you mean "I know", who the hell says that to I love you?!

Wow this motherfucker really just cut off Luke's hand, at the same time told him to join me and then dropped the news that he was his father.

The fuck is this movie?!??!

*The 6th episode:*

Luke is in his emo faze I see.

Someone wants to explain to me who the hell is that weirdo in the robe that looks like a raisin and talks like he forgot his dentures at home?

Okay, so even from the grave, Obi-Wan continues the tradition of throwing things at Luke as if he were talking about a shopping list and not changing his whole worldview!!? Yes, you have to kill your father, there is some emperor who wants to make you part of his boy band, and by the way, you have a twin sister who was separated from you at birth and just so you know, she is Leia, good luck.

As a small person I say go tiny bear, pop that motherfucker straight in the kneecaps, we stan a short king.

I understand that one of the things you learn in the jadi swamp school is how to ruin someone's version of reality in a few short sentences, truly a remarkable skill.

Why doesn't anything in these movies have any kind of context!?!

Lando my love, your the only person in this movie with any kind of common sense, you must be protected.

*The 1st episode:*

that's Obi Wan Kenobi?!! He's so small!! What is Liam Neeson doing here??

Can I say something about the hair? Am I supposed to say something about the hair?

Suddenly I understand why Luke had absolutely no survival instincts or a sense of stranger danger. obi-wan is just as bad, if not worse, and saw no need to fix this issue. Which is still better than master Nissan, who seems to encourage it.

No, but like obi-wan and his master are so calm and zen about everything no matter what happens that in this point I'm afraid to ask what the hell they do on a regular basis.

R2d2 my love!!!

that's Anakin?!?! He's so sweet! What happened??

Child endangerment thy name is Jinn.

Okay Mad Max: A Star Wars-style Cars Collision Course is not what I expected from this movie.

Okay, so according to Jinn, these midi-chlorians are the mitochondria of the force and they talk to you... I'm just gonna leave that right there.

Obi-wan is still a fucking badass ever with that awful ponytail and that weird ass braid which I'm not gonna comment on.

*edit: OK, I've finished the second movie and oh boy do I have a lot but a lot of thoughts. At this point I don't think I want to know what happens in the third movie. But anyway, here goes.

The 2nd episode:

OK, I can't deal with this. A second ago, obi-wan was this crazy old wizard in the desert that turned into a ghost that dealt emotional damage on the living because he felt like it. After that, he suddenly turned into a charming, awkward weirdo with an awful ponytail. And now he's this gorgeous sluty wine aunt of a space monk with luscious mullet hair. Your killing me here obi-wan kenobi, too fucking beautiful.

Obi-wan sure did loosen up between Luke and Anakin. Where's the guy that said to Luke "come with me on a galactic joy ride to blow up the government, random farm boy with no fighting experience", and the dude that tells Anakin "no man, you got to follow the rules and do what the council tells you to"

Anakin will be like "Calm down nothing will happen it was her idea, don't you trust me?" and Obi Wan will be "That's exactly why I'm not calm right now Anakin".

Obi-wan just jumped out of the fucking window to get that droid like it owed him money, and is expecting us to believe that he's the responsible one here. If that's true, I'm worried about Anakin.

Obi-Wan is the older brother who insists on reminding his younger brother at every opportunity that he is a child. He is also the hysterical mom who grabs everything she can get her hands on the moment she gets in the car with her son who just got his license.

Obi-wan kenobi is such a fucking mood. Like yes, I'm going to sass the hell out of my padawan and send him to find the assassin on his own while I get myself a drink to stay sane. Oh, is that a drug dealer? Well, I'm going to mind whammy him to rethink his life choices. Then he'll go, yes I'll just casually cut down someone in the middle of this very crowded nightclub, I'm sure no one will notice. And all of this happened in less than five minutes.

Obi-Wan and the bodyguard see their two idiots walking towards the horizon and know that this whole thing will end in a disaster and that their only hope is R2D2.

Obi-wan is like "I have no idea what the hell is going on right now, but I'm going to pretend that I do until I figure this out" Meanwhile, he has absolutely zero ability to keep a straight face and I won't be surprised if his eyebrows will just jump off his forehead on their own.

Anakin, subtle you are not.

Obi-wan is in a dystopine si-fi horror with a full-blown army of clones, while Anakin and Padmé are frolicking in the fields in their slow burn/fast burn romance.

Boba Fett just gave Obi-Wan one of the most bombastic side eyes I've ever seen.

Ok emo boy, your giving me whiplash. at first you're all dramatic about being good at fixing things, from there you move on to blaming Obi Wan and then you admit you're a mass murderer and all this while your voice breaks. It's actually kind of impressive.

Obi-wan kenobi sassing back and forth with saruman, never thought I'd see the day.

No but Dooku will be "Obi-wan don't you trust me?" and at the same time makes alliances with the enemy, builds an army to go againstthe jadi, captures him and generally gives off bad vibes. yes totally trustworthy, how could I ever think differently.

No jadi or any character from those movies will survive a horror movie with their nonexistent survival skills.

That "Good Job" came from his fucking soul, man.

Obi-Wan tells Anakin to wait, so they'll take him on together and automatically Anakin goes at him alone and loses in seconds just to leave Obi-Wan to fight alone. Obi-Wan just has this look of I should have seen this coming, don't know what i was expecting.

Everyone's a gangsta until yoda arrives.

Please tell me that Anakin and padmé don't think they're subtle, this is just ridiculous.