I've read a lot of posts from people who say they watched the prequels as kids and think they're much better than people give them credit for being. Look at how many rank Episode 3 among their favorites, and notice that most of those who do were born in the '90s. I've read more than a few "Phantom Menace is actually great" posts.
If we ignore those people, and pretend that no one likes the prequels, realize also that the original Star Wars films are treated like sacred texts by fans, and the majority of those who watch the prequels were first indoctrinated into the fandom by being shown the originals, and being told "these are the great ones."
Lastly, and probably most importantly, when the originals came out they were ground-breaking, and they came in an era when going to the movies was still a big deal. Movies ran for a year or more, there was very little watching at home, etc. An entire generation of kids grew up saturated by Star Wars, and Star Wars was our childhood. Those films altered the Hollywood landscape, and are deeply rooted in pop culture. The prequels were not loved at the time, mostly because they are genuinely bad films, but also because of the aforementioned nostalgia. They never took root in our culture as did the originals.
If you look at the 9 films simply as films, and judge them solely on merit-- plot, pacing, characters, etc.-- episodes 7, 8, and 9 are the superior films. Again, the first film is its own entity, and it's excellent in many ways that the other 8 aren't, but it's also a product of its era and I think it will be seen like, say, the first Terminator film. Smaller, grittier, old-fashioned, but quite effective. Empire is very good, and has some great moments, Return of the Jedi less so, but they both lack the depth of the recent films. They're much better suited for children than are the new ones, but don't pack the punch that the recent films do.
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BillySlater (4241)
5 years ago
The sample size of however many "TPM is great" posts you have read would be miniscule. That is pretty much anecdotal evidence. If nostalgia played a great part in how people rate the PT, we would see some massive discrepancy between how people rated them, then and how they are rated now. The ratings of critics and audiences alike on the PT are pretty much uniform between then and now. And using ROTS as some kind of proof as an example of nostalgia is laughable, since its almost universally considered the best of the three and its the youngest of the three (has lesser nostalgia than the previous two).
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FilmBuff (7263)
5 years ago
The point is that the films are *all* recent, and nearly everyone who watched the prequels also watched the originals. It's also significant that the prequels are terrible films. (Also note that Revenge of the Sith is objectively the worst of the nine Star Wars films.)
The original three films benefit from having come first. It's nostalgia and primacy that cause some people to think of them as superior to the new ones.
Those who can put aside nostalgia, and who aren't fringe activist boycotters, and judge the films merely on merit will be hard-pressed to deny that the three recent films are better.
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BillySlater (4241)
5 years ago
You are trying to justify why people like the OT more than the NT. Maybe people like them because they like them. Why does it have to have some kind of negative justification like "nostalgia"? Just because you disagree with their opinion.
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FilmBuff (7263)
5 years ago
I'm not giving any negative justification for anything. This started as a discussion of how the attempt by a few activists to boycott the films for non-existent political content that only they perceive has unsurprisingly failed. I pointed out that I believe that years from now, when the films are judged on merit rather than nostalgia, I believe the general consensus will be that episodes 7-9 are the best-made films of the series. That's it. I'm not arguing with anyone's opinion (other than those who think episode 3 isn't the worst of the 9, of course), and just having a generally friendly discussion.
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Keelai (34973)
5 years ago
"The point is that the films are *all* recent,"
There is a huge difference between seeing a movie when they were released and seeing them years after they were released. The difference is that the original viewers are watching them in a context which will never be understood by the later viewer. For example, a 20 year old who grew up watching sci-fi with good SFX will never understand the shock that a person had seeing Star Wars for the first time in 1977.
"It's nostalgia and primacy that cause some people to think of them as superior to the new ones."
Not really. The originals were literally shocking to watch when they first came out because nothing like it existed before. I literally heard gasping throughout the theater when the Death Star flew across the screen in the opening moments of the movie and that was after I was shocked by the opening credits. Also, the sound "moving" across the theater was something that was brand new - Dolby stereo - that I never experienced . I literally became a fan within the first 5 minutes of Star Wars. I already wrote in my previous post other reasons why Star Wars is such an important film.
Movies didn't last a year in the movie theater. Star Wars was unique because people repeatedly went back to experience it. Movies were rereleased after a few years.
I like the prequels too and disagree that they are bad even though I agree that Phantom Menace has flaws. I consider the prequels and OT to be completely different types of films which is probably why I can enjoy them even though other fans don't. The OT is more of a popcorn flick. Both trilogies were different experimental films which I appreciate.
The Disney films are just a money grab. No art. No originality. No ambition. No attempt to make them good. Bringing back Palpatine is absolute laziness. Rey is tortured by Kylo and then watches him kill his father so she falls in love with him. That's stupidity!
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