"Why the Star Wars Prequels deserve more love" By robblu (https://pastebin.com/u/robblu) URL: https://pastebin.com/BAjiHrW8 Created on: Wednesday 7th of September 2016 03:21:47 PM CDT Retrieved on: Saturday 31 of October 2020 03:26:00 AM UTC Why the Star Wars Prequels deserve more love abitfuckedupmate: People love to slag off these films. And I have absolutely no idea why. Sure, the original trilogy truly changed cinema history and made a big impact. But the prequels are just as good if you ask me. Even a slightly bit better. And I will explain why. Rise and Fall of Anakin Skywalker The very core of the trilogy was seeing how Anakin ultimately went from a Jedi to Darth Vader. People complained about the fact that we saw him as a child, and that he was too “whiny” and “immature” and what have you when we saw him older. But they failed to grasp the very nature of the character. This is somebody who was born a slave and knew nothing but being a slave. He was kind and generous however, fiercely devoted to his loving mother and knew how to take care of himself young as he was when he was first discovered by the Jedi. Then he got the chance to become a Jedi, after discovering that he was the Chosen One in restoring balance. He got a big ego out of it make no mistake, and he felt extremely impatient. But he was still a good man. He worshipped the ground Padme walked on because she was the first woman outside his mother to be kind to him. Then his mother died, and his devotion to Padme increased twice in size. He ended up slaughtering his mother’s killers and started flirting with fhr Dark Side. And it was a fatal error. His impatience, his desire to keep his loved one safe; it made him vulnerable to Paltapine and he seized upon the opportunity to groom him. And when he becomes Darth Vader, all of his “flaws” begin to overpower his positives, and his transformation is complete when he believes he killed Padme. The prequels did a great job of showing how such a noble man who was once highly respected ended up becoming the monster he was. We all know there was still good on him, the presence of Luke brought that out of him. But the prequels did a damn good job of showing the darkness crush the goodness. Relationship of Anakin and Padme On the topic of Anakin’s fall, I just want to bring this relationship up. Was the dialogue a little cringe worthy at times? Absolutely. But that was the whole damn point. Padme was elected Queen at the age of fourteen. She had two terms and became a Senator of the Republic. She was highly devoted to her work and had to stay away from her own personal life so she could be taken seriously. Anakin was a slave who was recruited into the Jedi Order (narrowly might I add) and was told that he couldn’t become attached to anybody so he could control his feelings. These two were emotionally stunted and immature when they started spending time with one another. They were smart in all other areas, but this they lacked experience. They were the only ones who truly got each other because they saw one another as an actual person. That’s why it was quite fast when they fell in love. Because they have never known anybody else. These two were like teenagers, and the whole exciting “taboo” nature of it was all part of the appeal. It cost them both dearly at the end, and the tragedy of this relationship cannot be stressed enough. But it absolutely fit with what the prequels were going for, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Out the darkness came the light (Luke and Leia). Bonus points for the fact Padme was older than Anakin and she was the one initially resistant to his advances. How many films when it was the other way about with the younger immature girl chasing after the older successful man? Star Wars broke through that stereotype with its prequels. That’s right. Star. Wars. Padme Amidala Moving on from the relationship and onto Padme herself, here is one of the most strongest female characters ever written. I could go on and on, but I will try and keep it short. She was: - Elected as Queen at the age of fourteen. - Didn’t want to fight but if it couldn’t be avoided, boy you bet she would be in the battlefield. - It absolutely killed her to see her people suffer. - She made peace with the Gungan people. - She was no no on an army, because it would mean another war would happen and she’s had enough of that. - Reluctant on dating Anakin because of what it would mean for the pair of them. - Fought in a battle that killed many Jedi. AND LIVED to tell the tale. - Formed the seeds of Rebellion (ala deleted scene) basically setting up the original trilogy - Refused to go down the dark path with Anakin. Not only was she repulsed by his actions, she choose democracy over dictatorship. EVERY. TIME. That’s a character I can strongly root for here. Development of Obi Wan Kenobi It’s quite simple really. Obi Wan Kenobi is a legend, but like Anakin he didn’t start off like the old man he was in a New Hope. So we go nearly thirty years back to see how his journey began to the man he died as, and it’s just as compelling as Anakin’s. He starts off completely condescending to people he considers “lower” than himself, and Qui Gon Jin is still teaching him. He feels Obi Wan could pass the trials, but he needs more life experience and to be more “free” and do his own thing than follow the rules blindly. And he learns that lesson in The Phantom Menace, enough so that he takes Anakin on. And the pair develop a strong friendship that we see in the following two films. Obi Wan begins to take more risks in general, but he also grows wiser. He accepts that Anakin is no more in RotS and confronts him. When Padme dies giving birth to twins, I feel the development of his character is complete when he makes the decision to look after Luke Skywalker from afar as Old Ben. “Another pathetic life-form” he said a long time ago. But now, he sees the potential in everybody. Because Anakin proved that to him, it just so happens that potential was corrupted to be something twisted. Doesn’t mean Obi Wan is going to let it happen again. And he doesn’t. Palpatine: Worthy Villain Truly, if there was a Big Bad in the series it would be Paltapine himself. Not only was he the Emperor who corrupted Anakin to the dark side, but he was the goddamn master mind behind everything that went on. The Trade Federation? Him. The Cloning Army? Him. Order 66? Oh yes, definitely him. And the brilliance of it? Nobody even suspected until it was too late. He waited for the perfect opportunity when everything was in a state and nobody could have rose up against him even if they tried. It made him so much more menacing than how he appeared in the original, where he only appeared briefly at the end. This was a dangerous man you did not want to fuck over, as Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, Yoda, the Republic and the Jedi Council found out only too late. Memorable Characters Which brings me to the subject of memorable characters. Starting with the villains, we had: Darth Maul - His lightsaber was fucking awesome and extremely unexpected. His red face alone is imprinted upon your memory. Count Dooku - Well, he was played by Christopher Lee (RIP you talented man). That alone makes you remember him. General Grevious - Hmm, the idea of a gigantic robot who uses four lightsabers and sounds like he’s got a bad smoking habit isn’t likely to forget me. And then we have the “good” characters, I.e Jar Jar Binks - Love him or loathe him, he gets the conversation flowing. Mace Windu - Played by Samuel Fucking Jackson, and wields a purple lightsaber. Need I say more? Padme Amidala - Already went on length about why she is so awesome. Soundtrack John Williams is a genius, and his soundtrack for the prequels are brilliant. Here is only five of his tracks which I consider to be the very best: Augie’s Great Municipal Band https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aAs7Wxvc1_o Duel of the Fates https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qzVBqBosf5w Battle of the Heroes https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o–bLEobBFY Across the Stars https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9nk_WHHTQtY Padme’s Rumination https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oiops8V–2A Overall This turned into a bitch of an essay, so I’m just going to keep the rest short. I feel that most of the CGI holds up well. I think Revenge of the Sith is honestly the best Star Wars film and is overall just a brilliant film that came out in the 00’s. I find something new everytime I rewatch, and everytime an entry like The Force Awakens is released I watch the prequels and feel something different about it. It’s a beautiful tragic story about the Golden Age of the Galaxy before things went to shit, and I really feel everything in these films reflects that so well. It starts off so innocent and happy, but gradually descends into the fall of everything pure and innocent in the world and in enters a much darker one. These ARE great films, and I’m sick to the back teeth of them getting bashed needlessly. In some people’s cases, it’s just to look cool in front of their friends. Like sheep basically. And that bothers me.