"Turn to the Dark Side"

[rhoenix]

This video is apparently a supercut of Star Wars episodes 1,2, and 3, with quite a bit of editing performed. I haven't watched it at all yet, but apparently all the Gungan, pod-racing, and Jar-Jar nonsense is completely gone, so that's at least a start.

A synopsis:

A reimagining of the Star Wars prequel trilogy edited into a single compelling movie, based on the structure conceived by actor Topher Grace. As a critique of episodes 1-3, many large plot pieces have been removed or changed to strengthen the core relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. More than 100 video and audio edits heighten the main character's tragic fall from grace.

The video:

[Lys]

But, but, the pod racing was awesome. In fact, the pod racing was the third best part of The Phantom Menance, and is directly responsible for the best part: Star Wars Episode I Racer for the N64. (Second best part was the truel against Darth Maul.)

[rhoenix]

But, but, the pod racing was awesome. In fact, the pod racing was the third best part of The Phantom Menance, and is directly responsible for the best part: Star Wars Episode I Racer for the N64. (Second best part was the truel against Darth Maul.)

Speaking as a Buddhist, every time I saw Jar-Jar, I wanted to imagine that he's standing in my path, claiming to be Buddha.

As for the pod-racing... I get what the intent was for it to be shown, but every time I saw it, it honestly felt way too much like the narrative was trying to say "lol remember how Luke wuz aw-sum at flyeing becuz Force? lol well his dad IS THAT TIMES ELEVENTYTHOUSANDMILLION". I am completely okay with that being removed.

[Lys]

What I got from it was principally that Anakin was mechanically inclined to the point of genius and that his latent force sensitiveness gave him near Jedi-level reflexes without any training. I thought that was a neat way to establish both those character traits, and I found the race itself fairly entertaining. Though I will say it could have been done better, in particular having Anakin have engine trouble at the starting line to give everyone else a head start was laying it on a little thick. Way I would have done it is have him start the race dead last, throwaway line about how he got nervous during the qualifiers and barely made it in. Encouraging pre-race words from Qui Gon and Amidala, he grows confident, and the race progresses more or less as it goes on screen, with Anakin climbing further and further ahead as the race goes on.

Honestly a lot of the problem in Episode 1 was Lucas laying it on too thick, as if the audience was too stupid to get it. We got that Anakin was incredibly force sensitive when it was established that normal humans can't pod race, we didn't need midcholorians. We got that he's a genius with machinery when he built a high performance race car out of a junkyard, we didn't need to have C3P0 thrown in. We got that he's a great pilot when he survived and won a pod race that killed nearly everyone else, we didn't need him to win a space battle too. Especially because the space battle doesn't even make him look like a good pilot, but instead like a lucky idiot. To a certain extent I get what rhoenix is getting at, for a lot of Episode 1 you can almost see George Lucas sitting just outside the edge of the screen, fidgeting and nervously going, "Did you get it? Did you get it? You got it right? Please, tell me you got it? I'm not sure you got it, maybe I should show you again."

It's a sharp contrast to say, this scene where everything we need to know about hyperspace travel is explained within 30 seconds of dialogue:

[youtube][/youtube]


Also the video you linked to got deleted, probably on account of copyright violation. I'm afraid that re-editing three movies goes quite a ways past fair use.

[rhoenix]

To a certain extent I get what rhoenix is getting at, for a lot of Episode 1 you can almost see George Lucas sitting just outside the edge of the screen, fidgeting and nervously going, "Did you get it? Did you get it? You got it right? Please, tell me you got it? I'm not sure you got it, maybe I should show you again."

Pretty much - all of the prequel trilogy fell too much into what I call the "shiny object trap," in which the movie attempts to show you neat spectacle for its own sake, rather than because there's a point in having it there. The facts that Luke got his mechanical talent and force talent from his father makes sense, but it wasn't shown well. The facts that his father was basically swept up into galactic-level insanity before he was even a teenager has the makings of a good story, but that journey wasn't shown with a child's sense of wonder at all.

The midichlorians thing also broke my system of disbelief pretty well, since it seemed to fly right in the face of what had been established before - it attempted to add more explanation to the Force that basically invalidated previously-given information on it, instead of elaborating upon it.

In short, the prequel trilogy fell into the "good story idea, bad execution" I see happen with quite a few modern movies... as well as fan fiction.

[rhoenix]

Also the video you linked to got deleted, probably on account of copyright violation. I'm afraid that re-editing three movies goes quite a ways past fair use.

Bah, pity - I was hoping to watch it when I got home tonight. Ah well.

[Lys]

I can agree that the execution throughout the prequel trilogy was lacking, but The Phantom Menance is the only bad one. There were issues with Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, but I consider them both to be decent enough films. If I were to cite all of my favourite parts from Star Wars, a fair number come from the prequels: the fight against Darth Maul, the banter between Anakin and Obi-Wan, Anakin's return to Tatooine, the first fight against Dooku, the Battle Above Courscant, Order 66, Kenobi vs Skywalker.

[frigidmagi]

Speaking as a Buddhist, every time I saw Jar-Jar, I wanted to imagine that he's standing in my path, claiming to be Buddha.

I didn't know you were Zen...

[rhoenix]

I didn't know you were Zen...

To be honest, I just go with the concepts that resonate with me personally. More than half of that stuff happens to be from the Zen side of things, but enough eclectic stuff isn't that I don't bother with the designation.

In a more immediate reply, to paraphrase a line from Kill Bill: - "If, on your journey, should you encounter Jar-Jar, Jar-Jar will be cut."

[Lys]

I always found Jar-Jar about as annoying as C-3P0, and consider it a mercy that there was no scene that featured the both of them talking. The problem with Jar-Jar in Episode 1 is that there was far, far more of him that there ever was of C-3P0.

[rhoenix]

I can agree that the execution throughout the prequel trilogy was lacking, but The Phantom Menance is the only bad one. There were issues with Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, but I consider them both to be decent enough films. If I were to cite all of my favourite parts from Star Wars, a fair number come from the prequels: the fight against Darth Maul, the banter between Anakin and Obi-Wan, Anakin's return to Tatooine, the first fight against Dooku, the Battle Above Courscant, Order 66, Kenobi vs Skywalker.

I admit to being surprised. In my mind, The Phantom Menace... menaced the subsequent two films with it's phantom so as to taint them good and properly with its baggage.

Many of the same aspects present (duty, honor, family, etc.) were shown better in the original trilogy, I thought - the fight scenes might not have been as technically good, but the storytelling was much better, which was enough for me.

I always found Jar-Jar about as annoying as C-3P0, and consider it a mercy that there was no scene that featured the both of them talking. The problem with Jar-Jar in Episode 1 is that there was far, far more of him that there ever was of C-3P0.

That's more amusing - I considered C-3PO much more tolerable than Jar-Jar, but then, there weren't many things that annoyed me about C-3PO, though there certainly were with Jar-Jar. Your mileage of course may vary.

[Lys]

I should point out that while I don't consider the The Phantom Menance a good film, I do enjoy it, and indeed was very much surprised to find that so many people hated it. Of course I was also a child when I first saw it, so my critical abilities may have been undeveloped at the time, and good first impressions with respect to movies tend to stay with you.

[rhoenix]

I should point out that while I don't consider the The Phantom Menance a good film, I do enjoy it, and indeed was very much surprised to find that so many people hated it. Of course I was also a child when I first saw it, so my critical abilities may have been undeveloped at the time, and good first impressions with respect to movies tend to stay with you.

That's completely fair - I myself have a soft spot for the original trilogy, since I saw them when I was a child as well. It's entirely possible there's a combination of nostalgia and memory that makes me more forgiving of the original trilogy than the Prequel trilogy.

Even so, even after watching both again as an adult, the original trilogy just seemed to have better storytelling overall.

[Lys]

I watched the original trilogy as a child too. To be specific it was Special Edition VHS Box Set localized with Spanish subtitles. I think we got it as a Christmas present so probably early 1998. I was very excited because one of my class mates loved Star Wars and I had heard good things about it, including a bunch stuff that wasn't exactly canon. For example I was long under the impression that Vader's injuries were due to crashing his star fighter, because that's what my friend told me, and it made sense.

My sister and I would watch the movies repeatedly over the following couple of years. Though Return of the Jedi more than the other two, since that was the one we liked best, mostly because it's the least scary of the three. If I recall correctly, my sister really hated Dagobah so she liked The Empire Strikes Back the least. Whereas I liked A New Hope the least because I couldn't take the sight of Luke's burnt out homestead and his aunt and uncle's skeletal corpses. Can't say I was a fan of the whole trash compactor scene either. So it was with the context of me being a child and Return of the Jedi my favourite Star Wars film that I went to see The Phantom Menace in the cinema. You can see why my reaction was far less negative than that of the older fans.