Let's get this shit settled once and for all.
Phantom Menace was a movie with great ideas and great potential and the only reason people dislike it is because of 3-4 really, really bad decisions.
>Liam Neeson is awesome
>the design of trade federation droids isn't all bad, especially droidekas
>Naboo is pretty cool in general
>Coruscant is cool
>Jedi temple and jedi council
>podracing wasn't all bad
>Ewan McGregor was pretty good
>Darth Maul
>Pretty cool structure of the movie, what with going to the different planets, etc.
And then you have the shitty child actor, midichlorians and gungans. Admit it, without those 3, The Phantom Menace would have been a great movie.
Would it still be about boring trade shit?
>>63440234
It's a movie that has no plot, events just happen and it ends.
>>63440234
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq559Vzc5MA
lucas hacked out and it was shit
i thought ep 1 was the dopest shit when it came out and i didn't really mind it next to 4-6
now attack of the clones, that was some bullshit
perhaps phantom menace should've been one huge standalone movie? let the audience fill in the gaps themselves, you know
I thought it was agreed that Attack of the Clones is the worst one
>>63440234
I love The Phantom Menace.
Preach, brother!
>>63440234
I want to punch you in the dick, as hard as I can. I can't believe there are actual prequel apologists out there.
>>63440271
Every movie has no plot, events just happen and it ends.
>>63440234
Great ideas, great potential, even great scenes do not a great movie make. TPM, and the other two Prequels, all have fine ideas, but they fail in executing them in the form of good movies
>>63440234
>>Liam Neeson is awesome
>Ewan McGregor was pretty good
They, like everyone else in the prequels is an emotionless robot.
>Naboo is pretty cool in general
>Coruscant is cool
They're super bland. No one cares about them. Ralph McQuarrie did not work on the prequels and it shows. Without him, they make bland urban landscapes, or bland European inspired worlds.
>podracing wasn't all bad
Pointless filler and adds nothing to the story and can easily be written out. Lucas just wanted an excuse for video games and toys.
>Darth Maul
Massively under used. Should not have died. Should have stayed alive until Ep III.
>Pretty cool structure of the movie, what with going to the different planets, etc.
It's really messy.
TPP has some serious issues; its about shit that seems only relevant until the next film, anakin being jesus is kinda weird, podracing was cool but dragged on a bit, Jar jar was an annoying as shit character when he could have been more interesting than slapstick relief, and as awesome as that moment when maul reveals himself to the jedi scum was, the fight transitions to some weird as fuck place that feels completely disconnected to the palace they where just in. But it had great moments too.
Attack of the clones is complete shit though.
I liked the prequels better.
>So fuckoff m8.
>>63441411
>Massively under used. Should not have died. Should have stayed alive until Ep III.
YES! If anything, Maul should've killed Qui-Gon and managed to slip away -- which would set up a good revenge plot between Maul and Obi-Wan.
inb4 RLM babies
>>63441411
>>63442791
you're forgetting about the fact THEY SPOILED THE FUCKING LIGHTSABER STAFF IN THE TRAILERS
it was literally like terminator 2 all over again
>>63441402
Except this is completely wrong
FUCK OFF WITH THIS MEME
THE PREQUELS WERE BAD
PHANTOM MENACE WAS THE WORST
EVERY NORMIE AND THEIR GODDAMN MOTHER KNOW THIS
YOU MAKING A FUCKING THREAD ABOUT IT 16 YEARS AFTER IT CAME OUT ISNT GOING TO CHANGE THE ENTIRE WORLDS MIND
FUCK
OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
>can't mind trick a flying jew
>>63440234
>Liam Neeson is awesome
meh
>the design of trade federation droids isn't all bad, especially droidekas
Having your villian army be totally useless is an awful decision for a movie, even 9 year old me realized that.
>Naboo is pretty cool in general
Not really. It's just some boring city with like 9 people and some grass around it. I guess Gunga city could have been cool if we saw more of it.
>Coruscant is cool
Boring space bureaucracy of pointless dialogue.
>Jedi temple and jedi council
People sitting in chairs deciding on what to do about stuff they don't know about
>podracing wasn't all bad
Long as fuck and didn't tell us anything other than that Anakin won so that the movie could continue
>Ewan McGregor was pretty good
meh
>Darth Maul
meh
>Pretty cool structure of the movie, what with going to the different planets, etc.
Yes. They were going to different places. It wasn't 12 Angry Men. I'll give you that.
>The design of the props and choice of actors aren't that bad
>ergo the entire movie is redeemed
This isn't quite how it works
>>63440234
D R O P P E D
>>63443275
II was the fucking worst though. Bar none.
>>63440264
>muh burgermerican meme
>>63441377
>>63443275
Holy shit, i don't even care that much about Star Wars but OT fans are truly autistic manchildren, it's pathetic
>>63440234
Let's get this shit settled once and for all.
>Liam Neeson is a boring cunt
>the design of trade federation droids look like it's from a cartoon, especially droidekas
>Naboo is a earth ripoff and should of been alderan
>Coruscant sucks until the episode 2 chase opening
>Jedi temple and jedi council were boring
>podracing wasn't all bad but was unfitting in a Star Wars film
>Ewan McGregor was pretty boring
>Darth Maul was wasted
>Pretty wasted idea for the structure of the movie, what with going to the different planets, etc.
>>63443435
First one was a tumblr newfag. Second was meme'ing.
>>63440234
So what you're saying is, without the things that make up almost 100% of the movie, it would be a good movie?
Describe who Qui-Gon Jinn, Darth Maul or Princess Amidala are without naming their profession, explaining what happens to them, describing what they look like or which actor plays them.
Have you legitimately tried doing this? Now read below.After you've completely failed at doing this, try the same for Luke, Han, Leia or 3P0. That's why everyone hates the prequels.
>>63444268
Fuck contrarians that disagree with the Plinkett reviews
They were on point and completely right.
>>63440271
That goes a bit far. It has a plot, but the structure is flawed (the chancellor sending Jedi Knights to mediate in the troubles on Naboo, whom later return with information what's going on, but the chancellor doesn't bother, and the whole plot makes no sense, but again, that doesn't mean there's no plot). I'm gonna have to side with RLM on this one: the biggest problem with TPM is the characters.
But not because there's no ''main character'', but because they are badly designed, especially due to preestablished lore. Obi Wan is different from how Yoda described him in ESB. Quo Gon, whom I don't mind as a character per se, does get in the way of vital Anakin/Obi relationship development. Padme was a weird soulless character. The only character that makes sense is Jar Jar, who happened to be a good friend.
Nah, it still would have sucked balls. The prequels never should have been about Anakin in the first place, or at least not starting with his childhood. Should have been more about him and Obi going on adventures and Anakin slowly losing his mind to the dark side. It also should have shown the actual fall of the Jedi Order in an interesting way other than them all just dying in a single scene that takes 30 seconds.
>>63440234
Neeson was a non character who only made hilariously questionable decisions and jumps in logic. He's so keen on using the mind trick on wato for example, scamming him for parts in exchange for currency wato can't use but still wants anakin to compete in this dangerous podracer fight for a incomprehensible bet.
Also he delivered the midochlorian speech.
>>63444448
Pretty much this. It should have started off with Anakin as a young Jedi, and progressed to Vader just stomping shit in episode 3. Parading him around as a cunty mopey kid was just awful.
>>63444448
Prequels should had been about the Clone wars and just that, Obi Wan and Anakin meeting each other.
For pottery, I would like had seen Anakin or Obi Wan tricking Jabba to justify the "He’s using an old Jedi mind trick."
>>63444653
except hutts are immune to jedi mind tricks, luke tried that already dingus
>>63444603
>incomprehensible bet
Even 10 year old me realized this. Not in the sense that I was a kid and couldn't grasp what was going on, but that I was a kid who knew exactly what was going on and it didn't make any sense. When people under the age of 16 can spot serious plotholes and inconsistencies, then there's something seriously fucking wrong with your movie.
>>63444679
Not exactly, he said that the tricks just work on weak minded fools and they won't work on him. They never say Hutts are immune to those tricks, just that Jabba isn't weak minded. (But maybe he was when he was young and learned from this mistake).
Star Wars is such a wasted potential, every movie after the original 3 is just following the same idea. They should have done a totally new story, there's a huge universe for them to explore and they just keep focusing on the same shit. Empire/sith bad guys, rebels/jedi good guys, and most of the main cast somehow linked back to the characters from the original.
>>63440264
>muh too dumb to comprehend the deep political commentary embedded in the phantom menace
>>63444777
trips of truth.
>>63444777
>look at me i can shitpost on the internet!!!!
>>63444448
>>63444611
>It should have started off with Anakin as a young Jedi
This is spot on considering how bad the storyline for meeting him and having him join was.
He some slave kid who was of no use to anybody and part of a bet that shouldn't have taken place by someone who shouldn't have been there. Qui Gon should've traded the rolls royce of a estate ship they flying for a functionaland conspicuoustoyota corrolla type ship. Why does that matter? Because it would be the right and smartest thing to do. Instead Qui Gon decided to cheat the Wattoo with using useless money with his mind trick so he might as well be stealing the part.
Then he wants to free Anakin and his mom but makes a bet that involves life and death with Anakin instead of using his mind trick again. Then after Anakin wins, Qui Gon still doesn't get his mom (and nobody does after even though they have the money and the means) and he decides he's the Chosen One (a plotline never explained) and should be trained as a Jedi even though literally everyone votes against it
>>63440234
No, the fundamental flaws are that it's underwritten and meandering.
For example, what is the Trade Federation's main goal? All we get from the movie itself is that they're unhappy with space taxes and want a treaty to legally invade Naboo. So is it just a protest, or do they want to take over the planet, or is there some financial gain? There's a bunch of possible explanations but none of them are laid out, which is an issue since it's the central plot of the film.
As for meandering, the section on Tatooine is something like 1/3 of the film. There's a huge amount of time spent sitting around in Anakin's house and following his podracing adventures. The Naboo story and political story come to an absolute halt. Then they get off Tatooine and do some politics, then go back to Naboo again (taking the little kid with them for some reason) and finally save the day.
I disagree with the Plinkett reviews where he says the movie fundamentally doesn't make sense. It potentially makes sense, there's just gaps in the explanation of what's going on.
>>63444777
Wasted double trips.
>C-Span in space
>deep political commentary
>>63444777
agreed, anon. the fall of the empire was always going to be some political work of art
there's no way an army couldn't have taken down a galaxy, it had to have been taken over from within, intellectually...
unfortunately redditlettermedia fags fail to understand that
>>63444895
actually the 3 consecutive numbers that were in fact the same at the end of my post ID confirms i am right. get rekt faggot
>>63444201
>should of
>>63444876
The trade federation aspect is so dumb that they realize this and change the villains to the "separatists" and the "confederacy" the very next movie
>>63444982
i'll have you know im doing an economics undergrad degree now and my inspiration was the phantom menace. san hill and his devious ways at the top of the intergalactic banking clan helped plant the seed of thought in my mind that never quite left
>>63445007
poetry
wait was padme the queen and the "queen" was a decoy? why was padme a senator next movie?
>>63444982
Im fine with the trade federation being an inciting incident for the separatist movement... Just too bad they completely ignore the separatist movement except to be the guys with robots. Imagine if the whole fiasco was morally grey and a point of conflict for the jedi.
>>63444865
The mind trick doesn't work on watto, that's why qui gon needed to resort to the bet. Its kinda flimsy, sure, but its not as bad as you're making it out to be.
>>63444876
Well, we see the trade federation guys taking orders from what is clearly the Emperor, so we know that what they're doing is part of a greater plan. I wish the plan had been something that could have been divulged in that film instead of over the course of the next two, since it makes TPM feel pointless without the trade federation's motives (and the emperor's plan) clearly established. The fact that it turned out to be "manipulate a senate we've had no time to understand or relate to" didn't help in retrospect either.
>>63445106
Term limits for the position of queen. Senator is the next logical step. Especially with her being instrumental in putting her mentor sheev in the chancellor seat.
![ln6[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/uI70gXv.jpg "ln6[1].jpg")
>>63444268
Qui-Gon Jinn is a maverick who does things his own way and gets what he wants even if it goes against what he's "supposed" to do, but he does have a good heart and is willing to help out those in need.
Darth Maul is an assassin, almost like a hired gun, a badass rogue who is incredibly skilled at fighting. He hates Jedi and wants the Sith to rule the galaxy.
Princess Amidala believes in democracy and nothing will get in the way of her belief. She is headstrong, perhaps a little naive, and too young to do her job (which I won't mention.) She is willing to put herself in danger to fight for what she believes in.
Now fuck off, RLM shill
>>63444982
Unfortunately similar problems continue in Episode II. When you read the opening crawl it sounds like the start of the story: the separatists are lead by Count Dooku and war's brewing. But then literally half the film is about Padme running away to Naboo because she might be assasinated. It's as if Episode IV had the same opening crawl but started with Princess Leia hiding on Alderaan and then the actual plot starting 40 minutes in.
In fact the separatist war, which was already set up in the opening crawl, begins at the very end of the movie. It's like, a load of meandering plots to get almost nowhere.
>>63445170
Yeah, we see that there's a bigger bad guy, and like you said we know next to nothing about him, making the whole film a pointless mystery. Even watching in retrospect, it's absolutely pointless since you could just start with Palpatine being the Chancellor, that doesn't need a whole movie to explain.
>>63443409
Welcome back! I was wondering where you went
>>63445126
>Im fine with the trade federation being an inciting incident for the separatist movement
Except they explained how any of that logically occurred and progressed outside of the movies. In the movies, we see the trade federation wanting to wage all out war over trade taxes? They are being controlled by a shadowing figure giving them something in return so magnificent to their organization it's worth waging war with the fucking government? Then apparently the senate is corrupt and star systems don't want in.
I remember seeing the animated clone wars episode where they kidnapp palpatine that came out before the movie then watched the movie and noticed how everyone else felt like there was an entire scene missing. Jorge was really expecting people to see and read the extraneous media between the movies to get the movies more.
>>63440234
Give the plot more motivation then some poorly explained planetary trade embargo and it would be salvageable.
>>63445170
>term limits for the position of queen
It's been so long since I've seen the prequels. Is this shitposting or more retard logic that's actually in line with everything else in the films?
>>63444966
>dubs
truly the king.
>>63445312
Queens are elected on Naboo, get over it
This happened on Earth too in like Spain or somewhere
>there are no proper space battles in the prequels
literally wat, the most memorable star wars scene is the death star trench run, not lightsaber fight #45
guess making characters to carry those battles is difficult though, better to just fill the screen with 10000 ships
>>63441402
Well, usually those events form some kind of dramatic meaning, some kind of impactful connection. If someone just filmed you one day as you got out of bed, got to work, made dinner and went to sleep it might not be very interesting to watch. On the other hand, if you woke up in an alley as a bum, got a job opportunity in the morning, suddenly revealed yourself to be a genius analyst, instantly was promoted to head of accounts and went to sleep as a wealthy men then that could be interesting. Because in that latter chain of events something meaningful transpires. There's a story unfoldning, a development. The events are stocking up in some meaningful direction.
TPM is a shit.
>>63445312
Queen is the title they give to their elected head of state, I think. The movie has no real justification that I can remember for a 14 year old to have recently been elected queen of a state, but there's a reasonable EU one I think.
>>63445367
The Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth elected kings from among members of the nobility, I think.
>>63445404
>The opening of Episode III
>The bit where Anakin destroys the droid control center
>Jango vs. Obi-Wan in space
>>63445292
If anything, the old Clone Wars cartoon doesn't work because Episode III is worse in comparison. In the cartoon Grevious is a killing machine and a genuinely threatening bad guy. Then in Episode III he's a cartoonish coward who always runs away (and a jedi he almost killed in the cartoon doesn't seem to give two shits about him). In the cartoon Anakin matures and becomes much more responsible, but then he's back to being a whiny kid in Episode III.
>>63445471
>The movie has no real justification that I can remember for a 14 year old to have recently been elected queen of a state, but there's a reasonable EU one I think.
You know, with other movies you would just say "it isn't explained/it isn't important/it's in the subtext/make up your own mind", but with Star Wars you just say "it's in the EU"
Does no one have any imagination anymore? Does everyone need to have every little thing in the movie explained to them step by step, piece by piece? Or are they just really digging deep to find something to complain about
>>63440234
Say whatever you want about the movie but that poster is fucking nice
>>63445367
So they knowingly and willingly elected a 14 year old girl. How is that not even worse?
>>63445471
Polish-Lithuanian is correct, back in the middle ages.
>>63445247
No normal movie goer or even a turbonerd would be able to come up with that if asked on the spot. How long has it been since the first Plinkett review? Took you that long huh? RLM was 100% right and you know it.
>>63445528
I wasn't justifying it one way or the other (although it does come across as strange, which is fine, this if science fiction, its allowed to challenge expectations), simply stating that I'm pretty sure its explained in the EU and not in the film.
>>63445594
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret,_Maid_of_Norway
>>63445657
It's not hard if you think about it for more than the two seconds the video allows you
My mate asked me the very same question in a pub and I was able to answer him quickly
>>63445724
I know, I was just making a comment on people's inability to come up with their own answers, which is an ability I feel is necessary to be able to fully enjoy television and cinema
>>63445657
Having watched TPM again recently it's actually pretty easy.
Qui Gon has a strong sense of morals and is willing to bend the rules to do the right thing. He's a kind father figure and mentor as seen in his behaviour towards his apprentice and Anakin.
Darth Maul is the typical strong silent type and seems totally dedicated to his cause. He's very animalistic and agressive.
Amidala is indeed boring, but she obviously cares about her people and is a conscientious ruler who hates indecisiveness in the face of a crisis. She wants to sort out problems and experience the world herself rather than be a distant.
