Apart from the ones mentioned in the video, the biggest mistake was making Anakin a 9 year old boy. He should have been a teenager, with already manifesting anger issues, compounded by his telekinetic Force abilities, probably making him into something of a bully, though maybe a well meaning one. That could have been some serious foreshadowing, and could have made Qui-Gon's decision to train him even more questionable.
I think you're bang on with the world-building. Someone, I don't remember who, put it this way: Star Wars had been a mixture of cultural influences and it made for a philosophical, wholesome space adventure. But then George Lucas wanted to be a big boy and let his characters talk about politics and stuff. But he also wanted to sell kid's toys. And he wanted to deepen the Skywalker storyline. These are three movies. You can't combine Andor, Paw Patrol and Family Matters.
Anakin's turn to the dark side is what I find the most frustrating in the trilogy. There's no gradual temptation, you really don't feel any of the tragic vibe that could have been there because things are so badly brought about. It's a total disbelief when a minute ago he was participating in his arrest, and suddenly he's a sith lord.
To me, the worst thing about TPM is that it doesn't know who it's for. Many people dismiss it as kiddie, but it's difficult even for adults to follow the plot.
The problem with medichlorians is not that it turns a mystical thing into a scientific explanation; it's that it is done in mid-res, in the _fourth_ movie and completely out of the blue. There is not even a hint of that idea in any of the previous three; which are aptly considered the core of the saga. It's as if Lucas getting older went away with the seventies' new age orientalist fashion (using the concept of Chi as The Force) and wanted to make his space samurai fantasy more sci-fi, beyond the mere wrapping of spaceships and robots it had. Had he done this from the start, when Obi-Wan explained the Force to Luke (like "The Force is an energy field created by microscopic entities that are found in all living things. They bind us and bind the galaxy together.") then there would have been no problem. But doing it so far out in the story, and with no clue of it, it's Lucas breaking his own canon. And for those who prefered the mystical idea to any pseudo-scienty one, it was more than jarring.
I understand that Lucas originally wanted to explain the Force with midechlorians. It was a bad idea in the '70s and he was talked out of it. In the 2000s, there was no one to tell him "no." I HATED that he reduced that mystical element of the original movies to a scientific explanation. Aside from then opening Pandora's box with questions like, "If I got a blood transfusion from a Jedi, would I then have The Force?" and all of the scientific pursuits that would have inevitably resulted in universe; it just made The Force less compelling from a story perspective. Something you can't measure or quantify, but you can use to do amazing things with, something that defies scientific explanation, is just so much more compelling and interesting.
@@valinn13 That's your opinion. You are perfectly entitled to it. Me however, I'm not bothered one way or another, if it fits the setting and the storytelling. That particular aspect makes no real difference to me. The mystical version defines SW as pure fantasy, like The Lord Of The Rings but set in space. Medichlorians brings SW back towards a more sci-fi genre. I happen to like both genre. What I like a lot less however is when the original setting and concept is so jarringly changed and for no good reason. As far as those who said no to Lucas; Lucas was wrong to listen to them. In that, I agree with Francis Ford Coppola. He was told the opening speech sequence in Patton was a bad idea. he was ordered to remove it. He did... until the day the copies were sent to theaters, when he put it back in. The rest is history. As Coppola said; "Never let anyone else tell you what is a good or a bad idea."
nope. midichlorians are an attempt to explain a mystical thing. it can be both. It says more about jedi believing in a form of "science" they can measure than anything to undermine mysticism. Lucas mentioned he'd been looking into quantum physics and was interested in how science could only go so far towards explaining things. The whole point is that when these priests were part of huge government they had systems for measuring magic, but later once the government has fallen apart they make it clear how they think of the weird magic that binds us all together.
Episode I is my wife's favorite Star Wars movie (I know, I know...); mine is Empire. We watched Episode I over the summer, for me, it was the first time in probably 20 years. I pointed out to my wife, "how is this lush technologically-advanced planet dying due to being blockaded by trade? Don't they have farms? Don't they have their own medicines? The WHOLE planet can't survive on its own?" I told her that all it needed was one scene where they have little Tiny Tim in a space hospital bed, "When is help gonna come? It hurts so much, mama! It hurts!" to at least give us a hint of what's going on, and to establish the stakes. As it is, Amidala and her counselors say throughout the movie "people are dying..." but we never see it. We don't see anyone starving, dying, anything. They also mention detention camps, but we don't see any of those either.
The issue with the writing is that, for every scene and situation, we’re lacking key contextual detail - or the detail supplied contradicts itself. - what is the Trade Federation trying to achieve? A treaty? Who does that help? - why can’t Quin Gonn pay for a taxi from Tatooine? - why can jedi run really fast, but only sometimes? It’s hundreds of such moments which sever any emotional engagement.
I rewatched it recently because my 9-year-old boy wanted to. My love for him far exceeds my hatred for this movie so I did it. It was unbearable. There’s so much I’d want to rewrite if I could, and there are so many options for how to do it well. Maybe an advantage of AI will be allowing people like me to make our versions easier.
A theory I've heard, but I don't know if it's true is that what George Lucas and the writers were going for with Jar Jar is that they were going to have him be Darth Plagueis and the Jar Jar alias was just a cover-up kind of like what Palpatine did with being a politician while secretly being Darth Sidious. The theory goes on to say that he was going to be revealed as Darth Plagueis later in the trilogy, but the strong dislike for him in the first movie made them scrap the idea. People that promote that theory say that his stupid behavior was to just throw people off his scent and that he seemed awfully powerful to just be some regular guy given that he was able to easily take out multiple droids without even trying.
That was always my favorite fan theory too but IIRC it was confirmed false. I hope if the whole series gets a proper remake one day, they go with the Darth Jar Jar idea. I think if you have a series with a 'Scrappy Doo' type character like this that the audience unexpectedly despises, it's often a great move to turn them into a villain, people will love to hate them. Just sidelining characters like Jar Jar is a missed opportunity, the audience would cheer to see them turn heel and get the stuffing beaten out of them by the heroes.
@@xeroprotagonist Lucus can say it was confirmed false, yet there are clear details in the movie itself that hint at this, like Jar Jar being weirdly jedi levels of acrobatic and sneaky that even a droid in the background seems confused as he watches Jar Jar move and jump off screen.
@@xShadowChrisx He could just be really acrobatic, and/or benefit from slapstick superseding physics. Physicality alone doesn't hint at being magic, much less also being evil.
@@xeroprotagonist Regardless of whether the theory was confirmed or denied, simply watching the prequels from the perspective that Jar Jar is, in fact, the dark master behind everything elevates them several degrees from the trash they otherwise represent.
This is the best succinct breakdown of the major issues with this film. It really is too difficult to make it through. And I don't think either of its sequels are much better.
You are a great wit. "Probably because they read the script" or "his Looney Toons routine". I agree. I remember seeing that first prequel film. It was BORING. Shallow tiring characters that go nowhere. Even the end scene where it should have emotional buildup - bored me. In Empire Strikes Back, when Luke gets angry he goes from well choreographed fighting to just losing it and rage fighting. In this prequel we go from well choreographed fighting (death scene) to well choreographed fighting. Turns out Lucas wrote a first draft on legal paper. Didn't change a thing and just filmed it. Can't imagine why that failed. And, he did it for the other two prequels as well. "I hate sand"
Top of the list for me every time: Plot point after plot point undermines and rewrites the originals at best, or at worst create such plot holes in them that they’re rendered silly. Some examples: 1) Midichlorians undermine and rewrite the mystical nature of the force. 2) The character of Qui-Gonn should have been Obi-Wan, based on his rebellious and self-assured nature. Kenobi effectively has no arc into the wise sage he is later. 3) The Jedi being a centrally controlled special forces organization with thousands upon thousands of well-documented members stationed around the Republic undoes the interesting “space atheism” present in Episode IV. 4) The value of the Republic is never shown and is weak and bloated from the start with nary an attempt at communicating its importance. I could go on-and don’t get me started here on the other two.
It might be a bit of a jump, but they could have written young Anakin showing some of his anger and pride like the young Casval (who later becomes the iconic Char Aznable) in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. He's fighting for a good cause and to protect those he loves, but he shows hints of the ruthlessness that will eventually come to define him.
I haven't seen the prequels since... I dunno, when did Episode Three came out? The biggest issue is definitely the world building and lack of emotional investment. As you point out, and as has been pointed out a million times, compare the openings of A New Hope with Phantom Menace: a clear "good guys are in trouble, the bad guys have more power" versus what, trade routes? Taxation? Jedis coming to discuss and have a meeting? Jeez.
For me there was several reasons why The Phantom Menace did not work so well: 1: The acting and scriptwriting for Anakin Skywalker. While you can make the argument that plenty of characters here also suffered from this Anakin suffered the most given the decision to cast an inexperienced child who clearly struggled to pull off a performance that didn't come off as kinda embarrassing as opposed to having a teenager that could have pulled it off good enough to be relatively passable and make the romance between Padme feel more natural than the awkward mess we got thanks to George's baffling decision to make Anakin a child here as opposed to being a teenager. The script Jake Lloyd was given also didn't help either. 2: Wasting Darth Maul. The movie built up Darth Maul to be this ominous, dangerous alien looking Sith with a cool looking dual lightsaber weapon who came off as a total badass and had a lot of potential as a major villain for the trilogy, similar to Darth Vader. Instead, for whatever reason, George "killed" him off in the movie and i say with quotations because he did come back in The Clone Wars with a bigger role but was basically treated as being dead for over 10 years and instead his role was then given to Count Dooku who was just randomly thrown into the trilogy with a backstory that feels shoehorned and could have been handled better if he was introduced as a major character in TPM. 3: Politics written and handled in a way that felt like missed opportunity. I know people like to make fun of how convoluted and hard to understand the politics is in the movie and while i will admit it could have been written a bit better by making the wording more simpler so the casual viewer can understand things a bit easier truth be told by the major issue here is how disconnected Anakin is from the politics because of him being a child even though it could have been an interesting opportunity to explore and see characteristic details that would set him on the path as Darth Vader. We could have had a story where Anakin is a teenage padawan under Dooku's apprenticeship and who has strong morals about helping the galaxy and those suffering, given his own experience as a slave, with an interventionist ideology and constantly butts with the Jedi Council over what he sees an inefficient, inept leadership in the Galactic Republic doing nothing in regards to the Naboo blockade thanks to all the pointless bickering and filibustering that halts any government actions and feel like the Jedi should intervene outside of the republic's jurisdiction to fulfill the Jedi's role in protecting the planets as part of their peacekeeping duty, which causes some conflicts between him and other Jedi and plants seeds for him eventually becoming Darth Vader. The fact we never get this at all is not only a major problem with the movie but the entire Prequel Trilogy since it wastes a story that could have perfectly showcase how and why Anakin became Darth Vader without needing supplement material and spin-offs of the PT trilogy to understand it.
Darth Maul is a big one. What’s his deal? Does he have a goal? Why does he bother fighting the Jedi on Naboo? By that point Palpy’s goal was already well on the way to being accomplished. Compare him with Vader in Sta Wars (1977). Vader’s goals are simple. Retrieve the Death Star plans, track down the Rebels. They were established, simple and relatable. What’s Darth Maul’s goal on Tatooine? Why is he sent to Naboo? Why does he fight the Jedi? No motivation, no goal.
I agree 100%.But it was a decent popcorn flick: It should have been a straight to DVD summer film. My biggest gripe was the midi-chlorians nonsense... It completely ruins the "chosen one" trope.
nope. midichlorians are an attempt to explain a mystical thing. it can be both. It says more about jedi believing in a form of "science" they can measure than anything to undermine mysticism. Lucas mentioned he'd been looking into quantum physics and was interested in how science could only go so far towards explaining things. The whole point is that when these priests were part of huge government they had systems for measuring magic, but later once the government has fallen apart they make it clear how they think of the weird magic that binds us all together.
I recently watched Transformers One and its interesting how it avoids the 3 writing mistakes you cited. Similar to Star Wars, Transformers is also a franchise set on space and planets. 1) World-building - In the opening scene only, we see a flashback of Cybertron, how it originated and its history but it does not feel like a boring info dump scene. Its just the right amount of history to invest the audience. We also have an energon crisis which unlike the trade routes crisis directly impacts Cybertron and our main characters. 2) Engaging characters - Unlike Phantom Menace, where most if not all characters feel one-dimensional, almost every character in Transformers One is engaging. We have our main protagonist, Orion Pax or Optimus Prime who wants to change Cybertron for the better despite being a lowly miner. Then we have Megatron who can be compared to Anakin because he too has a downfall into evil and there is a lot of foreshadowing in the movie. Megatron's transition to villany might feel slightly rushed but its still made emotional and compelling. Then Airachnid can be compared to Darth Maul - a formidable secondary antagonist and unlike Darth Maul, Airachnid is used an interesting and effective side villain with proper screentime and role in the movie. 3) Weak/Forced Conflict - Yes, maybe Transformers One suffers slightly from this issue because there are some co-incidences that drive the plot but still most of the time you have the characters being strategic and resourceful while battling the villains. I know this is a bit off-topic but I think still worth comparing how another space genre movie can avoid the 3 writing mistakes you pointed out.
As far as giving Anakin a dark moment that hints at what's to come, I seem to recall there was a deleted scene of him fighting with another kid. Done properly, that could have bern such a moment. Something along the lines of: 1. The other kid tries to take some trinket from Anakin that Shmi gave him, and they start to wrestle over it. 2. The trinket gets broken, which enrages Anakin but causes the other kid to lose interest and start walking away. 3. Anakin (perhaps unconsciously) lashes out with the Force to trip the kid, hurl something at him, etc., and the kid gets hurt. Reasonable situation for a kid to be in, and it would serve as the starting point for the trend of Anakin letting his anger get the better of him when a loved one is involved.
With what the sequel trilogy has given us imo it makes all of the previous Star Wars films really about the rise and fall of Palpatine rather than any Skywalkers etc.
You still remain as one of my favourite TH-camrs, especially for critique! Your videos are insightful and thoughtful whilst remaining down to earth. Kudos! Definitely a top tier analyser among the likes of Schaffrillas and I Hate Everything.
Because they're still bad, but looking back you can see all the ways they could have been so much better. George Lucas having nobody above him to rein in his worst impulses took a large toll on the prequel movies, while the OT turned out well because he had more experienced writers and producers capable of telling him to keep the gold and throw out the silt. The Disney trilogy, on the other hand, is misbegotten on a conceptual level and the scripts would have been far better utilized to line a birdcage than to make motion pictures for thinking adults. In short, the prequels had a lot of good ideas that were poorly executed, where the Disney movies expertly pulled off some of the worst ideas ever typed onto a screenplay.
The prequels are my fiancé’s only foray into the Star Wars universe and that’s just bc they came out when he was a kid. So there’s def a nostalgia factor! He liked the movies, but I think he would have loved that world if he’d been introduced to the first one, like I was. A New Hope gave me my love of science fiction/fantasy ❤️ My aunt gave me her copy of the original novelization and I read it over and over! Then this stupid Shih Tzu we were fostering ate it. Still hate little dogs bc of that 😒
Darth Maul: "It's over, Obi-Wan! I have the high ground!" Obi-Wan: "You underestimate my power!" Darth Maul: "Don't try it!" *Obi-Wan jumped up and landed safely, shocking Darth Maul* Darth Maul: "Wait, I had the high ground! How did you-" *Gets slashed and fell down the reactor shaft*
Spaceballs Alternate: Obi-Wan: "Sorry Maul, you were reading the script for the third movie." Maul: "Wait what?" reads script. "You know it was the title that got me. I thought we Sith got to win. My bad. Well this is going to hurt."
What frustrates me the most about the prequels, is that no matter how many I've watched since I was a kid, I still don't know what the whole scheme was supposed to be? Even as an Adult, I just simply can't follow, I don't remember anything. Meanwhile, I can explain everything what happened in the original trilogy with great detail. It is especially frustrating, because they found great actors, everyone seemed to be passioned about the project... But it is all sooooo boooring :(
5:50 The scene with the giant sea creatures was interpreted by at least one reviewer as a George Lucas inside joke. Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” usurped Episode 4’s status as all-time box office champion after Ep. 4 overtook Spielberg’s “Jaws” (“There’s always a bigger fish.” 🙄) Lucas’ alleged friendly jab at Spielberg was predicated on the idea that Episode 1 was going to beat E.T.…but the bigger fish turned out to be a dinosaur-“Jurassic Park.” Oops 😬
Objectively I agree with every problem you mentioned, but I also have the benefit of nostalgia, since this was the first ever Star Wars movie I heard about, and saw, when I was a kid. I remember class mates talking about it, and I'd never heard of it before that. Mom rented it on VHS and we watched it together. Episode II was the first Star Wars movie I saw in theaters. I can still remember the high after coming out of the movies with my two class mates, while we re-enacted the fight between Yoda and Count Dooku.
Dammit! You timed this video right before I was gonna do a Phantom Menace review! (I usually like to gain my own opinions before doing reviews but it’s another Brandon video so oh well.)
>> Little psychopath explodes a space station with 100000 living beings inside. Now this is podracing! >> There are not enough darkness, not enough foreshadowing
The way I would rewrite Phantom Menace is to have Qui-Gon see a vision from the witches on Maul’s home world. While having Maul just constantly observing Anakin in the background covered by hood. Maybe Maul could be secretly helping Anakin out of some troubles.
As someone who really likes the Prequels, I do have to say I understand where you are coming from as a fellow writer. World building, if not done right, can either make the world feel smaller or too broad for a cohesive story. Take, for instance, the Dark Universe and the DCEU. They tried to do too much world building in such a short amount of time, and look how that turned out. Characters are the driving force of a story. If they aren't interesting, how are we supposed to be invested in the story. Conflict also needs to mean something, because if it doesn't, what's the point? Overall, it's a great analysis, and I love hearing it from someone like you. Also, for Anakin's turn, there is some foreshadowing with Yoda sensing his future, and Maul didn't push Obi-Wan in with the Force to toy with Kenobi, and Kenobi beat him so easily because the Force's speed is astronomical.
One of the problems for me is that there's just too many things going on at the same time at the end; land battle, space battle, Jedi fight, AND Padme running around. Constantly jumping around between them just gets frustrating. I think they should've just cut out the entire space battle. We didn't need to see Anakin doing special stuff, he already got his spotlight with the pod racing, and we definitely didn't need him to save the day accidentally. The Naboo fighters could've been move to the land battle to be used as air support, fighting against droid ships. The droid army control could've easily been given to Nute Gunray so that when Padme captured him he could be force to shut down the army. We still get all the major plot points but in a less distracting format.
Out of all the things I will always love Dave Filoni for, the top has to be redeeming Darth Maul as a character. Bringing him back in Clone Wars/Rebels and fleshing him out, giving him actual motivations and a personality and an arc was cleansing. The Clone Wars also did wonders for Obi-Wan, Padme and Anakin as characters as well. CW Anakin actually is a likeable character whose fall to the dark side is tragic. Calling those two shows the best thing to come out of the Prequels is easy, but that doesn't make it any less true.
I wonder if The Good Bad and the Ugly could serve as a positive counter example for worldbuilding. The civil war was a more dynamic backdrop with Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes quest for gold.
It’s kind of unimportant as far as the story goes, but what always bothered me most about phantom menace was the over choreographed lightsaber duels. It just felt over the top and that it was just there for the spectacle
This helped figure out what went wrong with this movie. I like to overall plot and themes of the prequels, but it lacks a lot the punch. Can you cover the “Attack of the Clones” next?
It didn’t seem to have a narrative thrust. The blockade started things off, but then they invaded. Why? If it’s a trade dispute, why invade? What was the goal (other than Palpatine’s manipulations)? The Trade Federation didn’t have anything to gain. Speaking of Palpatine … how does the senate go from shutting Padme down when she’s describing the plight of her people to voting to oust the chancellor because he hasn’t done anything to help her people? The much love lightsaber duel at the end also makes no sense to me. Why watch Maul there? If the plan was for this invasion to be a way for Palpatine to usurp power, he’d already accomplished that goal. Why was Maul sent there? Why was he fighting the Jedi? What was his purpose? Once the vote of no confidence is held, there’s no reason for Maul to be there other than to have a fight with no stakes for him. As soon as Palpy’s assertion to power is started, there’s no reason to invest time and effort into the Trade Federation’s invasion as the whole goal of it was for it to end with Palpy in power. There is no reason for the fight other than the to see dance choreography with glow sticks. Also, Anakin as a slave. He and his mom have a comfortable home with privacy, plenty to eat and Anakin has enough spare time and unsupervised access to build his own droids and podracer - which is like a formula one race car. The slave life doesn’t look bad at all. So why include that? Unless you’re going to show them living in slave quarters, under the whip, with no freedoms or possessions, and having to be subject to demeaning tasks and experiences, what was the point? He’s a kid with a race car in his back yard that gets to race in a what appears to be at least a semiprofessional setting. That’s not slavery, that’s nine-year-old wish fulfillment.
You hit the nail on the head, I agree with what you said. I hate the glow sticks dancing, now tell me about part two and three please. wheres your channel?
a) the blockade turns to invasion because of Palpatine's manipulations, not because it's a good idea. (arguably, Palpatine is escalating the situation because the Jedi/FEDs were sent in to stop it). b) the senate goes from members requesting leadership draw things out, to a member calling for a "a vote of no confidence" in that leader. this is clearly explained in the movie. The point is that the conflict is going to be drawn out by congressional bureaucracy (and corruption), so padme asks to recall the speaker of the house. c) Maul was there because trade federation failed to kill these jedi at the start. I think it's clear these jedi have competently messed with his plans already, and Palpatine is a bit of a confident bad guy who wants to kill his goody two shoe opponenents. Plus there is a hint in Maul's one speaking scene that the sith are excited to reveal themselves to the jedi order (i assume because it will cause fear and chaos and confusion in that group). d) the original script described anakin as filthy. It's a filmmaking failure that slavery ends up looking kinda awesome rather than awful. but he was making this for kids. the point wasn't you only turn into darth vader if you're dark and damaged and hurt. I think the point he wanted to make is: you can be kind of a rad kid with all these opportunities, and still turn out the worst.
Great one! Actually, the most frustrating part about the prequels was to discover how much cool stuff Lukas ended up cutting out (especially evident after reading the novels on each movie). But still, prequels are good and you can make about 5 times more videos on the writing problems of the sequel trilogy 🙃
In the original trilogy (some may argue only the original two movies), George Lucas had many people who believed in his vision, but also weren't intimidated by his success. By the time the prequel trilogy came about, anybody who had a notion that they had an idea better than George Lucas only had to look at his success and compare it to where they were and "knew better" than question the master. Everybody who writes or engages in creative work needs to listen to others and know how to weigh their advice.
Episode VII had charismatic characters, snappy dialogue, and was actually well written. It's major problem was it just cribbed the story structure and plot from the original film.
Boy I remember how disappointed I was watching it in cinema. I very much agree with Darth Maul: he's set up as this invincible killer, but spends the whole movie walking around looking mean. And he kills one guy in a fair fight. That's it.
At least everyone forgets the virgin birth thing. Apparently midiclorians impregnated Shmi, according to what she told Qui-Gon. I loved the original trilogy so I was at the midnight showing of Phantom Menace and I almost walked out at that point. I agree with the Auralnauts fan edit. Midiclorians are just another name for heroin in the Star Wars universe.
I ran a Star Wars tabletop RPG campaign that was built on the premise of the prequels. I literally just went - what if I took the plot for the prequels, and had the characters make decisions that actually made sense, and actually advanced their goals. But in preparation for this, I rewatched the prequels, and Phantom Menace was so much worse than I even remembered, and I remembered it being bad. The worst part of Phantom Menace was the entire middle 45 minutes where they wander around Tatooine and do NOTHING. Half that movie is spent doing nothing at all. The pod race was like 5-10 minutes long and I was literally like "wait I don't remember what happens after this" 20 minutes later I was like "oh god this is why I don't remember, when does it ennnnnd" So yeah the worst part of the prequels is that I think there was a spectacular Star Wars trilogy that you could build around the idea of Palpatine manipulating the Jedi into a civil war while pushing Anakin toward the dark side. That is a great idea. But George should've gotten someone else to do the writing, directing and editing. Even if he threw in some Lucasian dialog to keep some of that weirdo flavor. It could've been so much better if it was properly constructed.
As a little kid, this was one of the movies I watched the most on VHS. I liked the fun scenes, like the fights and the pod racing. The rest I thought I was too young to understand. As an adult, yeah, the movie has too much talking about things that we don't care about
Nothing happens in the Phantom Menace that matters. If the prequels started with Anakin and Obi-Wan riding up the elevator in Attack of the Clones, nothing would be lost.
Was surprised they messed up the obvious move in keeping maul alive after killing quigon (however you spell his name) it sets up pushing anikan killing him later on and taking his place next to the emperor ending the trilogy leading into lukes journey in the original trilogy.
The most frustrating part for me was the acting/script. The kid actor who couldn't act, Jar Jar's acting (and his lines), and countless others was just bad.
I think the most frustrating thing about Star Wars now is how they have character assassinated the Jedis into making them more evil instead of glimmers of hope like in the original. Episode I problem is everything seems so cartoonish and you can’t take anyone serious. I think they should have made Anakin little older so you can see him having some issues from the beginning but also showing his potential as a Jedi.
The worst thing for me was that the ridiculous character of Jar Jar Bink, together with the inconsistencies in the story that you pointed out, made the film an uninspired children's film for six-year-olds.
I will defend Jar Jar forever. I saw TPM on opening Saturday in a full afternoon showing. The kids loved Jar Jar, they laughed at everything he did. George accomplished his goal with Jar Jar, like so many others I hated the character but I wasn’t the intended audience for that character. My least favourite scene is the pod race. The breakdown in the middle of this short race, it’s just a cliche hero comes back from impossible odds to win.
If we relied on the opinions of little kids to determine quality, a PB&J and chickie nuggies would be considered fine dining. Besides, "It's supposed a kids' movie!" is and always has been a total cop-out, and absolutely fails to gel with the fact that an appreciable chunk of the film is focused on dry, boring political disputes like C-SPAN footage with space monsters.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty please Watch it, it’s writing torture, that movie ignites a flame of frenzied rage when I remember its contents, good lessons possibly for the channel🤷💯
Lucas had a lot of backstory to fill after three movies of Episodes IV-VI. He had painted himself into a narrative corner, and then exacerbated things by taking it all the way back to little Anakin. I don't think George ever learned the lesson, "Kill what you love."* Also, the whole midi-chlorians thing? I think it was intended to stick a thumb in the eye of real-life Jedi cultists, of whom Lucas never approved. ='[.]'= *Be strong and cut some of the "cool" stuff you invented, because it won't all work in the finished product.
I think the prequels were honestly such a missed opportunity. This is one of a very small number of films where I would actually be really curious to see if someone could reboot it and do a good job. The pieces of a very compelling story are in there, but there's so much tonal dissonance and fluff mixed in that it really missed what it was going for. If they had gone for it being a political thriller, it probably would have worked pretty well, but especially in Phantom Menace, there was obviously a lot of stuff put in there that was mostly for children and/or to sell toys that doesn't really fit with the story they were trying to tell. I think you can really see it when you compare to Revenge of the Sith, which was comparatively more streamlined and tonally consistent, and overall, widely considered a much better movie--almost certainly the best outside of the original trilogy, and I've seen it occasionally ranked as one of the top movies in the franchise overall.
why do we always take older movies and decide that whatever they did right has to be a reference for what is supposed to be done right in future installments? phantom menace had good action sequences to which nothing in the older movies comes close, they had good war drama that unfolds in a more strategic pacing rather than focusing on individual characters. the first duel between obi wan and vader in ep4 was a complete joke and the other duels in the trilogy weren't that much ahead. then it's also hard watching the flirting in the og trilogy without cringing. as for qui gonn his fatal flaw was the fact he believed science was everything, that high medichlorian count equals being good, and the humble frame in which the kid grew he was safe from ever going evil, but the kid did a breaking bad anyway
Aside from Jar Jar, one thing that has never stopped bugging me was that we're supposed to accept that an entire race elects 14 year old girls to be empress of the whole freaking planet! With a fairly short term of office. And why is "queen" an elected position?? None of this was ever elaborated on, and it feels like Lucas screwed up when he made her "Queen" Amadala and forgot that she had to be integral in the next two movies.
The other thing I felt needed explanation is why any of the Jedi would consider the "bring balance to the force" prophecy a good thing. There's hundreds/thousands of light side jedi and only 2 sith, why would they want to bring any kind of balance to the situation. The Jedi are winning. It's what made Qui-Gon's decision to want to train Anakin also strange. If you believe in the prophecy then Anakin should be a feared Chosen one the jedi would not want to see rise to power.
I watched it, and I don't think it is bad, it is just mid. It's all just there to set up the subsequent two movies after it, which I think are much better in my opinion, especially Revenge of the Sith, which was a massive inspiration for my current novel.
TO BE FAIR, midichlorians aren't the force, they are attracted to it! I know everyone gets this wrong for a reason though: the movie was too vague in that explanation. So not only did Phantom Menace explain too much, it did so badly. Oof.
Ur making me realize what ep 1 should've been about. A talented boy with issues from being raised without a father. No Quaigon, no midichlorians, no "force dads" and no "I want mama!" Just Ob-1 wondering what he's supposed to do with this runaway who won't go home, but comes in handy now and then, hence realizing, "phuc me, this kid is force sensitive!"
Hi. I subscribe to all what you said. Another thing is the lack of continuity. How can you link episodes 1-3 showing an army of advanced robots to the episode 4. Inevitably you wonder why the empire does not use them when they attack Hoth in the episode 5. Why does r2d2 fly in episode 2, when there is nothing like that in the original trilogy. Why does not r2d2 or obi wan remember each other in episode 4? Lukas should have given a retro futurist look and better continuity. A bit like Alien Romulus, which despite its flaws respects the look and feel of the original Alien. Otherwise you are spot-on regarding the other subjects.
Somehow it's still fun to watch. Jar-Jar saved that whole movie. If you take him out of it that movie would be boring. Now do video on Episode 2 Attack of the Clones.
I like this movie but it’s no more than a 6/10. All these criticisms really brought it down for me but that Duel of the Fates was awesome. Really helps decides what happens to Anakin.
I still prefer the prequels over the sequels. GL at least had the foundation of a decent story that could've worked with proper writing and execution (and not surrounding himself with yes-men) and others have put forward ideas on how they could've been better, but the sequels didn't even have a plan and was constantly shifting in style and tone, I don't even know how I would fix those movies that doesn't involve completely rewriting at least 8 and 9.
The prequel were far from perfect, but at least, unlike the sequel trilogy, they weren't bogged down with lectures on post modern political and social issues.
But ... the writing in the original trilogy wasn't really that different. At which point was Star Wars actually good? I feel that it had potential but it never really got a good execution.
Hoping to have a new Bad vs Good video up within the next couple weeks. Been super busy lately, but it's on the way--stay tuned!
Thank you, those are my favourite!
I relly like your channel. Sad that Phantom Menace was a huge let down.
It was all Darth Jar-Jar's fault
This guy gets it. 😂
That would have been a better story than we actually got.
Apart from the ones mentioned in the video, the biggest mistake was making Anakin a 9 year old boy. He should have been a teenager, with already manifesting anger issues, compounded by his telekinetic Force abilities, probably making him into something of a bully, though maybe a well meaning one. That could have been some serious foreshadowing, and could have made Qui-Gon's decision to train him even more questionable.
Darth Maul: "It's over Obi-Wan! I have the high gr-"
* Obi-Wan flips over him and slices him in half. *
* Cue Curb Your Enthusiasm theme. *
I think you're bang on with the world-building. Someone, I don't remember who, put it this way: Star Wars had been a mixture of cultural influences and it made for a philosophical, wholesome space adventure. But then George Lucas wanted to be a big boy and let his characters talk about politics and stuff. But he also wanted to sell kid's toys. And he wanted to deepen the Skywalker storyline.
These are three movies. You can't combine Andor, Paw Patrol and Family Matters.
Anakin's turn to the dark side is what I find the most frustrating in the trilogy. There's no gradual temptation, you really don't feel any of the tragic vibe that could have been there because things are so badly brought about. It's a total disbelief when a minute ago he was participating in his arrest, and suddenly he's a sith lord.
To me, the worst thing about TPM is that it doesn't know who it's for. Many people dismiss it as kiddie, but it's difficult even for adults to follow the plot.
George Lucas himself dismissed it like that
A roast of Phantom Menace and you don't even mention the horrific dialogue 😂
part two is worse, the lift scene drove me mad hearing anakin say master 100 times in a row in 5 minutes
The problem with medichlorians is not that it turns a mystical thing into a scientific explanation; it's that it is done in mid-res, in the _fourth_ movie and completely out of the blue.
There is not even a hint of that idea in any of the previous three; which are aptly considered the core of the saga. It's as if Lucas getting older went away with the seventies' new age orientalist fashion (using the concept of Chi as The Force) and wanted to make his space samurai fantasy more sci-fi, beyond the mere wrapping of spaceships and robots it had.
Had he done this from the start, when Obi-Wan explained the Force to Luke (like "The Force is an energy field created by microscopic entities that are found in all living things. They bind us and bind the galaxy together.") then there would have been no problem. But doing it so far out in the story, and with no clue of it, it's Lucas breaking his own canon. And for those who prefered the mystical idea to any pseudo-scienty one, it was more than jarring.
I understand that Lucas originally wanted to explain the Force with midechlorians. It was a bad idea in the '70s and he was talked out of it. In the 2000s, there was no one to tell him "no."
I HATED that he reduced that mystical element of the original movies to a scientific explanation. Aside from then opening Pandora's box with questions like, "If I got a blood transfusion from a Jedi, would I then have The Force?" and all of the scientific pursuits that would have inevitably resulted in universe; it just made The Force less compelling from a story perspective. Something you can't measure or quantify, but you can use to do amazing things with, something that defies scientific explanation, is just so much more compelling and interesting.
@@valinn13 That's your opinion. You are perfectly entitled to it. Me however, I'm not bothered one way or another, if it fits the setting and the storytelling. That particular aspect makes no real difference to me. The mystical version defines SW as pure fantasy, like The Lord Of The Rings but set in space. Medichlorians brings SW back towards a more sci-fi genre. I happen to like both genre. What I like a lot less however is when the original setting and concept is so jarringly changed and for no good reason.
As far as those who said no to Lucas; Lucas was wrong to listen to them. In that, I agree with Francis Ford Coppola. He was told the opening speech sequence in Patton was a bad idea. he was ordered to remove it. He did... until the day the copies were sent to theaters, when he put it back in. The rest is history. As Coppola said; "Never let anyone else tell you what is a good or a bad idea."
nope. midichlorians are an attempt to explain a mystical thing. it can be both. It says more about jedi believing in a form of "science" they can measure than anything to undermine mysticism. Lucas mentioned he'd been looking into quantum physics and was interested in how science could only go so far towards explaining things.
The whole point is that when these priests were part of huge government they had systems for measuring magic, but later once the government has fallen apart they make it clear how they think of the weird magic that binds us all together.
Episode I is my wife's favorite Star Wars movie (I know, I know...); mine is Empire. We watched Episode I over the summer, for me, it was the first time in probably 20 years. I pointed out to my wife, "how is this lush technologically-advanced planet dying due to being blockaded by trade? Don't they have farms? Don't they have their own medicines? The WHOLE planet can't survive on its own?" I told her that all it needed was one scene where they have little Tiny Tim in a space hospital bed, "When is help gonna come? It hurts so much, mama! It hurts!" to at least give us a hint of what's going on, and to establish the stakes. As it is, Amidala and her counselors say throughout the movie "people are dying..." but we never see it. We don't see anyone starving, dying, anything. They also mention detention camps, but we don't see any of those either.
The issue with the writing is that, for every scene and situation, we’re lacking key contextual detail - or the detail supplied contradicts itself.
- what is the Trade Federation trying to achieve? A treaty? Who does that help?
- why can’t Quin Gonn pay for a taxi from Tatooine?
- why can jedi run really fast, but only sometimes?
It’s hundreds of such moments which sever any emotional engagement.
I rewatched it recently because my 9-year-old boy wanted to. My love for him far exceeds my hatred for this movie so I did it. It was unbearable.
There’s so much I’d want to rewrite if I could, and there are so many options for how to do it well. Maybe an advantage of AI will be allowing people like me to make our versions easier.
A theory I've heard, but I don't know if it's true is that what George Lucas and the writers were going for with Jar Jar is that they were going to have him be Darth Plagueis and the Jar Jar alias was just a cover-up kind of like what Palpatine did with being a politician while secretly being Darth Sidious. The theory goes on to say that he was going to be revealed as Darth Plagueis later in the trilogy, but the strong dislike for him in the first movie made them scrap the idea. People that promote that theory say that his stupid behavior was to just throw people off his scent and that he seemed awfully powerful to just be some regular guy given that he was able to easily take out multiple droids without even trying.
That was always my favorite fan theory too but IIRC it was confirmed false. I hope if the whole series gets a proper remake one day, they go with the Darth Jar Jar idea. I think if you have a series with a 'Scrappy Doo' type character like this that the audience unexpectedly despises, it's often a great move to turn them into a villain, people will love to hate them. Just sidelining characters like Jar Jar is a missed opportunity, the audience would cheer to see them turn heel and get the stuffing beaten out of them by the heroes.
@@xeroprotagonist Lucus can say it was confirmed false, yet there are clear details in the movie itself that hint at this, like Jar Jar being weirdly jedi levels of acrobatic and sneaky that even a droid in the background seems confused as he watches Jar Jar move and jump off screen.
@@xShadowChrisx He could just be really acrobatic, and/or benefit from slapstick superseding physics. Physicality alone doesn't hint at being magic, much less also being evil.
@@teddyhaines6613 it kind of should considering we only ever see Jedi/Sith perform such feats and zero other gungans so it’s not a race thing
@@xeroprotagonist Regardless of whether the theory was confirmed or denied, simply watching the prequels from the perspective that Jar Jar is, in fact, the dark master behind everything elevates them several degrees from the trash they otherwise represent.
Glad to finally see Star Wars criticism other than overused arguments against the Sequels or The Acolyte. Like, we get it.
A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
Prequel memes have made everybody forget just how bad these movies are. I still think nothing was worse than the dialogue. Cringe, nearly every scene.
The sequel trilogy seems to have done more to make people forget how bad the prequel trilogy is.
This is the best succinct breakdown of the major issues with this film. It really is too difficult to make it through. And I don't think either of its sequels are much better.
You are a great wit. "Probably because they read the script" or "his Looney Toons routine". I agree.
I remember seeing that first prequel film. It was BORING. Shallow tiring characters that go nowhere. Even the end scene where it should have emotional buildup - bored me. In Empire Strikes Back, when Luke gets angry he goes from well choreographed fighting to just losing it and rage fighting. In this prequel we go from well choreographed fighting (death scene) to well choreographed fighting.
Turns out Lucas wrote a first draft on legal paper. Didn't change a thing and just filmed it. Can't imagine why that failed. And, he did it for the other two prequels as well. "I hate sand"
Top of the list for me every time: Plot point after plot point undermines and rewrites the originals at best, or at worst create such plot holes in them that they’re rendered silly. Some examples:
1) Midichlorians undermine and rewrite the mystical nature of the force.
2) The character of Qui-Gonn should have been Obi-Wan, based on his rebellious and self-assured nature. Kenobi effectively has no arc into the wise sage he is later.
3) The Jedi being a centrally controlled special forces organization with thousands upon thousands of well-documented members stationed around the Republic undoes the interesting “space atheism” present in Episode IV.
4) The value of the Republic is never shown and is weak and bloated from the start with nary an attempt at communicating its importance.
I could go on-and don’t get me started here on the other two.
It might be a bit of a jump, but they could have written young Anakin showing some of his anger and pride like the young Casval (who later becomes the iconic Char Aznable) in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. He's fighting for a good cause and to protect those he loves, but he shows hints of the ruthlessness that will eventually come to define him.
I haven't seen the prequels since... I dunno, when did Episode Three came out? The biggest issue is definitely the world building and lack of emotional investment. As you point out, and as has been pointed out a million times, compare the openings of A New Hope with Phantom Menace: a clear "good guys are in trouble, the bad guys have more power" versus what, trade routes? Taxation? Jedis coming to discuss and have a meeting? Jeez.
For me there was several reasons why The Phantom Menace did not work so well:
1: The acting and scriptwriting for Anakin Skywalker. While you can make the argument that plenty of characters here also suffered from this Anakin suffered the most given the decision to cast an inexperienced child who clearly struggled to pull off a performance that didn't come off as kinda embarrassing as opposed to having a teenager that could have pulled it off good enough to be relatively passable and make the romance between Padme feel more natural than the awkward mess we got thanks to George's baffling decision to make Anakin a child here as opposed to being a teenager. The script Jake Lloyd was given also didn't help either.
2: Wasting Darth Maul. The movie built up Darth Maul to be this ominous, dangerous alien looking Sith with a cool looking dual lightsaber weapon who came off as a total badass and had a lot of potential as a major villain for the trilogy, similar to Darth Vader. Instead, for whatever reason, George "killed" him off in the movie and i say with quotations because he did come back in The Clone Wars with a bigger role but was basically treated as being dead for over 10 years and instead his role was then given to Count Dooku who was just randomly thrown into the trilogy with a backstory that feels shoehorned and could have been handled better if he was introduced as a major character in TPM.
3: Politics written and handled in a way that felt like missed opportunity. I know people like to make fun of how convoluted and hard to understand the politics is in the movie and while i will admit it could have been written a bit better by making the wording more simpler so the casual viewer can understand things a bit easier truth be told by the major issue here is how disconnected Anakin is from the politics because of him being a child even though it could have been an interesting opportunity to explore and see characteristic details that would set him on the path as Darth Vader.
We could have had a story where Anakin is a teenage padawan under Dooku's apprenticeship and who has strong morals about helping the galaxy and those suffering, given his own experience as a slave, with an interventionist ideology and constantly butts with the Jedi Council over what he sees an inefficient, inept leadership in the Galactic Republic doing nothing in regards to the Naboo blockade thanks to all the pointless bickering and filibustering that halts any government actions and feel like the Jedi should intervene outside of the republic's jurisdiction to fulfill the Jedi's role in protecting the planets as part of their peacekeeping duty, which causes some conflicts between him and other Jedi and plants seeds for him eventually becoming Darth Vader.
The fact we never get this at all is not only a major problem with the movie but the entire Prequel Trilogy since it wastes a story that could have perfectly showcase how and why Anakin became Darth Vader without needing supplement material and spin-offs of the PT trilogy to understand it.
Darth Maul is a big one. What’s his deal? Does he have a goal? Why does he bother fighting the Jedi on Naboo? By that point Palpy’s goal was already well on the way to being accomplished.
Compare him with Vader in Sta Wars (1977). Vader’s goals are simple. Retrieve the Death Star plans, track down the Rebels. They were established, simple and relatable.
What’s Darth Maul’s goal on Tatooine? Why is he sent to Naboo? Why does he fight the Jedi? No motivation, no goal.
I agree 100%.But it was a decent popcorn flick: It should have been a straight to DVD summer film.
My biggest gripe was the midi-chlorians nonsense... It completely ruins the "chosen one" trope.
nope. midichlorians are an attempt to explain a mystical thing. it can be both. It says more about jedi believing in a form of "science" they can measure than anything to undermine mysticism. Lucas mentioned he'd been looking into quantum physics and was interested in how science could only go so far towards explaining things.
The whole point is that when these priests were part of huge government they had systems for measuring magic, but later once the government has fallen apart they make it clear how they think of the weird magic that binds us all together.
I recently watched Transformers One and its interesting how it avoids the 3 writing mistakes you cited. Similar to Star Wars, Transformers is also a franchise set on space and planets.
1) World-building - In the opening scene only, we see a flashback of Cybertron, how it originated and its history but it does not feel like a boring info dump scene. Its just the right amount of history to invest the audience. We also have an energon crisis which unlike the trade routes crisis directly impacts Cybertron and our main characters.
2) Engaging characters - Unlike Phantom Menace, where most if not all characters feel one-dimensional, almost every character in Transformers One is engaging. We have our main protagonist, Orion Pax or Optimus Prime who wants to change Cybertron for the better despite being a lowly miner. Then we have Megatron who can be compared to Anakin because he too has a downfall into evil and there is a lot of foreshadowing in the movie. Megatron's transition to villany might feel slightly rushed but its still made emotional and compelling. Then Airachnid can be compared to Darth Maul - a formidable secondary antagonist and unlike Darth Maul, Airachnid is used an interesting and effective side villain with proper screentime and role in the movie.
3) Weak/Forced Conflict - Yes, maybe Transformers One suffers slightly from this issue because there are some co-incidences that drive the plot but still most of the time you have the characters being strategic and resourceful while battling the villains.
I know this is a bit off-topic but I think still worth comparing how another space genre movie can avoid the 3 writing mistakes you pointed out.
As far as giving Anakin a dark moment that hints at what's to come, I seem to recall there was a deleted scene of him fighting with another kid. Done properly, that could have bern such a moment. Something along the lines of:
1. The other kid tries to take some trinket from Anakin that Shmi gave him, and they start to wrestle over it.
2. The trinket gets broken, which enrages Anakin but causes the other kid to lose interest and start walking away.
3. Anakin (perhaps unconsciously) lashes out with the Force to trip the kid, hurl something at him, etc., and the kid gets hurt.
Reasonable situation for a kid to be in, and it would serve as the starting point for the trend of Anakin letting his anger get the better of him when a loved one is involved.
With what the sequel trilogy has given us imo it makes all of the previous Star Wars films really about the rise and fall of Palpatine rather than any Skywalkers etc.
You still remain as one of my favourite TH-camrs, especially for critique! Your videos are insightful and thoughtful whilst remaining down to earth. Kudos!
Definitely a top tier analyser among the likes of Schaffrillas and I Hate Everything.
I'm not suggesting that this would have been a good idea, but you COULD have titled the video "Phantom Menace? Yoooo more like Phantom Conflict!" 🤣
Or maybe, "Phantom Menace... or Phantom Conflict?"
still don't know how these movies started to be praised in recent years it's like gaslighting on a global scale
Nostalgia + recent Disney disasters
@WriterBrandonMcNulty truth. By comparison the prequel trilogy looks like a masterpiece compared to the sequel trilogy. 😂
Because they're still bad, but looking back you can see all the ways they could have been so much better. George Lucas having nobody above him to rein in his worst impulses took a large toll on the prequel movies, while the OT turned out well because he had more experienced writers and producers capable of telling him to keep the gold and throw out the silt. The Disney trilogy, on the other hand, is misbegotten on a conceptual level and the scripts would have been far better utilized to line a birdcage than to make motion pictures for thinking adults.
In short, the prequels had a lot of good ideas that were poorly executed, where the Disney movies expertly pulled off some of the worst ideas ever typed onto a screenplay.
The prequels are my fiancé’s only foray into the Star Wars universe and that’s just bc they came out when he was a kid. So there’s def a nostalgia factor! He liked the movies, but I think he would have loved that world if he’d been introduced to the first one, like I was. A New Hope gave me my love of science fiction/fantasy ❤️ My aunt gave me her copy of the original novelization and I read it over and over! Then this stupid Shih Tzu we were fostering ate it. Still hate little dogs bc of that 😒
@@MumRah Nah they're both bad, but the prequels have more memes and nostalgia so everyone thinks they're better
Darth Maul: "It's over, Obi-Wan! I have the high ground!"
Obi-Wan: "You underestimate my power!"
Darth Maul: "Don't try it!"
*Obi-Wan jumped up and landed safely, shocking Darth Maul*
Darth Maul: "Wait, I had the high ground! How did you-" *Gets slashed and fell down the reactor shaft*
Spaceballs Alternate:
Obi-Wan: "Sorry Maul, you were reading the script for the third movie."
Maul: "Wait what?" reads script. "You know it was the title that got me. I thought we Sith got to win. My bad. Well this is going to hurt."
What frustrates me the most about the prequels, is that no matter how many I've watched since I was a kid, I still don't know what the whole scheme was supposed to be? Even as an Adult, I just simply can't follow, I don't remember anything. Meanwhile, I can explain everything what happened in the original trilogy with great detail. It is especially frustrating, because they found great actors, everyone seemed to be passioned about the project... But it is all sooooo boooring :(
I think you nailed this one. It's just... dull and uninspired, like who cares at the end of the day?
5:50 The scene with the giant sea creatures was interpreted by at least one reviewer as a George Lucas inside joke. Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” usurped Episode 4’s status as all-time box office champion after Ep. 4 overtook Spielberg’s “Jaws” (“There’s always a bigger fish.” 🙄) Lucas’ alleged friendly jab at Spielberg was predicated on the idea that Episode 1 was going to beat E.T.…but the bigger fish turned out to be a dinosaur-“Jurassic Park.” Oops 😬
Objectively I agree with every problem you mentioned, but I also have the benefit of nostalgia, since this was the first ever Star Wars movie I heard about, and saw, when I was a kid. I remember class mates talking about it, and I'd never heard of it before that. Mom rented it on VHS and we watched it together. Episode II was the first Star Wars movie I saw in theaters. I can still remember the high after coming out of the movies with my two class mates, while we re-enacted the fight between Yoda and Count Dooku.
Dammit! You timed this video right before I was gonna do a Phantom Menace review! (I usually like to gain my own opinions before doing reviews but it’s another Brandon video so oh well.)
>> Little psychopath explodes a space station with 100000 living beings inside. Now this is podracing!
>> There are not enough darkness, not enough foreshadowing
The way I would rewrite Phantom Menace is to have Qui-Gon see a vision from the witches on Maul’s home world. While having Maul just constantly observing Anakin in the background covered by hood. Maybe Maul could be secretly helping Anakin out of some troubles.
As someone who really likes the Prequels, I do have to say I understand where you are coming from as a fellow writer.
World building, if not done right, can either make the world feel smaller or too broad for a cohesive story. Take, for instance, the Dark Universe and the DCEU. They tried to do too much world building in such a short amount of time, and look how that turned out.
Characters are the driving force of a story. If they aren't interesting, how are we supposed to be invested in the story.
Conflict also needs to mean something, because if it doesn't, what's the point?
Overall, it's a great analysis, and I love hearing it from someone like you.
Also, for Anakin's turn, there is some foreshadowing with Yoda sensing his future, and Maul didn't push Obi-Wan in with the Force to toy with Kenobi, and Kenobi beat him so easily because the Force's speed is astronomical.
One of the problems for me is that there's just too many things going on at the same time at the end; land battle, space battle, Jedi fight, AND Padme running around. Constantly jumping around between them just gets frustrating.
I think they should've just cut out the entire space battle. We didn't need to see Anakin doing special stuff, he already got his spotlight with the pod racing, and we definitely didn't need him to save the day accidentally. The Naboo fighters could've been move to the land battle to be used as air support, fighting against droid ships. The droid army control could've easily been given to Nute Gunray so that when Padme captured him he could be force to shut down the army. We still get all the major plot points but in a less distracting format.
Out of all the things I will always love Dave Filoni for, the top has to be redeeming Darth Maul as a character. Bringing him back in Clone Wars/Rebels and fleshing him out, giving him actual motivations and a personality and an arc was cleansing. The Clone Wars also did wonders for Obi-Wan, Padme and Anakin as characters as well. CW Anakin actually is a likeable character whose fall to the dark side is tragic.
Calling those two shows the best thing to come out of the Prequels is easy, but that doesn't make it any less true.
What frustrated you most about Phantom Menace (or the Prequels)? Let us know!
jarjar ofc
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty they wasted Zam Wesell
Either the bounty hunter shuffle involved in the failed Padme assassination attempt
Or sand, because of how it gets everywhere
How they suddenly got random praise out of nowhere in recent years.
@@Coroplocs-Chameleon I mean... People saw that there were worse thing than them. And The Revenge of The Sith is actually pretty great for me
I remember seeing it the first time around, it felt like an extended trailer for what was to come
The Phantom Menace answered a question I never once asked.
I wonder if The Good Bad and the Ugly could serve as a positive counter example for worldbuilding.
The civil war was a more dynamic backdrop with Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes quest for gold.
It’s kind of unimportant as far as the story goes, but what always bothered me most about phantom menace was the over choreographed lightsaber duels. It just felt over the top and that it was just there for the spectacle
Phantom Menace fan rise up!....hello...Hello!
I like how clone wars fixes Maul's charakter by bringing him back. His arc's in the show are really and they are adding a lot of charakter too him.
What frustrates me most about the prequels is the amount of people that still defend them.
This helped figure out what went wrong with this movie. I like to overall plot and themes of the prequels, but it lacks a lot the punch. Can you cover the “Attack of the Clones” next?
It didn’t seem to have a narrative thrust. The blockade started things off, but then they invaded. Why? If it’s a trade dispute, why invade? What was the goal (other than Palpatine’s manipulations)? The Trade Federation didn’t have anything to gain.
Speaking of Palpatine … how does the senate go from shutting Padme down when she’s describing the plight of her people to voting to oust the chancellor because he hasn’t done anything to help her people?
The much love lightsaber duel at the end also makes no sense to me. Why watch Maul there? If the plan was for this invasion to be a way for Palpatine to usurp power, he’d already accomplished that goal. Why was Maul sent there? Why was he fighting the Jedi? What was his purpose? Once the vote of no confidence is held, there’s no reason for Maul to be there other than to have a fight with no stakes for him. As soon as Palpy’s assertion to power is started, there’s no reason to invest time and effort into the Trade Federation’s invasion as the whole goal of it was for it to end with Palpy in power.
There is no reason for the fight other than the to see dance choreography with glow sticks.
Also, Anakin as a slave. He and his mom have a comfortable home with privacy, plenty to eat and Anakin has enough spare time and unsupervised access to build his own droids and podracer - which is like a formula one race car. The slave life doesn’t look bad at all. So why include that? Unless you’re going to show them living in slave quarters, under the whip, with no freedoms or possessions, and having to be subject to demeaning tasks and experiences, what was the point? He’s a kid with a race car in his back yard that gets to race in a what appears to be at least a semiprofessional setting. That’s not slavery, that’s nine-year-old wish fulfillment.
You hit the nail on the head, I agree with what you said. I hate the glow sticks dancing, now tell me about part two and three please. wheres your channel?
a) the blockade turns to invasion because of Palpatine's manipulations, not because it's a good idea. (arguably, Palpatine is escalating the situation because the Jedi/FEDs were sent in to stop it).
b) the senate goes from members requesting leadership draw things out, to a member calling for a "a vote of no confidence" in that leader. this is clearly explained in the movie. The point is that the conflict is going to be drawn out by congressional bureaucracy (and corruption), so padme asks to recall the speaker of the house.
c) Maul was there because trade federation failed to kill these jedi at the start. I think it's clear these jedi have competently messed with his plans already, and Palpatine is a bit of a confident bad guy who wants to kill his goody two shoe opponenents. Plus there is a hint in Maul's one speaking scene that the sith are excited to reveal themselves to the jedi order (i assume because it will cause fear and chaos and confusion in that group).
d) the original script described anakin as filthy. It's a filmmaking failure that slavery ends up looking kinda awesome rather than awful. but he was making this for kids. the point wasn't you only turn into darth vader if you're dark and damaged and hurt. I think the point he wanted to make is: you can be kind of a rad kid with all these opportunities, and still turn out the worst.
Great one! Actually, the most frustrating part about the prequels was to discover how much cool stuff Lukas ended up cutting out (especially evident after reading the novels on each movie). But still, prequels are good and you can make about 5 times more videos on the writing problems of the sequel trilogy 🙃
In the original trilogy (some may argue only the original two movies), George Lucas had many people who believed in his vision, but also weren't intimidated by his success. By the time the prequel trilogy came about, anybody who had a notion that they had an idea better than George Lucas only had to look at his success and compare it to where they were and "knew better" than question the master.
Everybody who writes or engages in creative work needs to listen to others and know how to weigh their advice.
Now the 3 reasons why it's a good movie:
1) Double
2) Bladed
3) Lightsaber
Darth Jar Jar would have saved the prequels and been the greatest plot twist in cinema history. It should have been canon.
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, Episode VII came along.
Episode VII had charismatic characters, snappy dialogue, and was actually well written. It's major problem was it just cribbed the story structure and plot from the original film.
Boy I remember how disappointed I was watching it in cinema. I very much agree with Darth Maul: he's set up as this invincible killer, but spends the whole movie walking around looking mean. And he kills one guy in a fair fight. That's it.
I love this movie but my only two gripes are the lack of a main character, and some missed opportunities
At least everyone forgets the virgin birth thing. Apparently midiclorians impregnated Shmi, according to what she told Qui-Gon. I loved the original trilogy so I was at the midnight showing of Phantom Menace and I almost walked out at that point.
I agree with the Auralnauts fan edit. Midiclorians are just another name for heroin in the Star Wars universe.
The word "somehow" has become Brandon McNulty's catchphrase! Somehow.
I ran a Star Wars tabletop RPG campaign that was built on the premise of the prequels. I literally just went - what if I took the plot for the prequels, and had the characters make decisions that actually made sense, and actually advanced their goals.
But in preparation for this, I rewatched the prequels, and Phantom Menace was so much worse than I even remembered, and I remembered it being bad. The worst part of Phantom Menace was the entire middle 45 minutes where they wander around Tatooine and do NOTHING. Half that movie is spent doing nothing at all. The pod race was like 5-10 minutes long and I was literally like "wait I don't remember what happens after this"
20 minutes later I was like "oh god this is why I don't remember, when does it ennnnnd"
So yeah the worst part of the prequels is that I think there was a spectacular Star Wars trilogy that you could build around the idea of Palpatine manipulating the Jedi into a civil war while pushing Anakin toward the dark side.
That is a great idea. But George should've gotten someone else to do the writing, directing and editing. Even if he threw in some Lucasian dialog to keep some of that weirdo flavor. It could've been so much better if it was properly constructed.
As a little kid, this was one of the movies I watched the most on VHS. I liked the fun scenes, like the fights and the pod racing. The rest I thought I was too young to understand. As an adult, yeah, the movie has too much talking about things that we don't care about
Nothing happens in the Phantom Menace that matters. If the prequels started with Anakin and Obi-Wan riding up the elevator in Attack of the Clones, nothing would be lost.
Was surprised they messed up the obvious move in keeping maul alive after killing quigon (however you spell his name) it sets up pushing anikan killing him later on and taking his place next to the emperor ending the trilogy leading into lukes journey in the original trilogy.
I think all of this proves one thing- It was never meant to be a good story; it was meant to sell toys.
The most frustrating part for me was the acting/script. The kid actor who couldn't act, Jar Jar's acting (and his lines), and countless others was just bad.
I've watched nine of your videos and I have to say, you're pretty good at this shit.
I think the most frustrating thing about Star Wars now is how they have character assassinated the Jedis into making them more evil instead of glimmers of hope like in the original. Episode I problem is everything seems so cartoonish and you can’t take anyone serious. I think they should have made Anakin little older so you can see him having some issues from the beginning but also showing his potential as a Jedi.
The fact that maul didn't come back is one of the mistakes
The worst thing for me was that the ridiculous character of Jar Jar Bink, together with the inconsistencies in the story that you pointed out, made the film an uninspired children's film for six-year-olds.
I love The Phantom Menace 🥲
I will defend Jar Jar forever. I saw TPM on opening Saturday in a full afternoon showing. The kids loved Jar Jar, they laughed at everything he did. George accomplished his goal with Jar Jar, like so many others I hated the character but I wasn’t the intended audience for that character.
My least favourite scene is the pod race. The breakdown in the middle of this short race, it’s just a cliche hero comes back from impossible odds to win.
If we relied on the opinions of little kids to determine quality, a PB&J and chickie nuggies would be considered fine dining. Besides, "It's supposed a kids' movie!" is and always has been a total cop-out, and absolutely fails to gel with the fact that an appreciable chunk of the film is focused on dry, boring political disputes like C-SPAN footage with space monsters.
@@cigoLxeL are you replying to a different comment? Nothing you say addresses anything I said.
The dialogue. The dialogue. The dialogue.
Thankfully, the writers of The Clone Wars series and Star Wars Rebels did Maul's character justice. Too bad his introduction couldn't
I always wondered if this movie is infamously bad as the Star Wars community says, no way it could be worse than the movie Trap
Haven't seen Trap, but Episode 1 is worse than I remember
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty please Watch it, it’s writing torture, that movie ignites a flame of frenzied rage when I remember its contents, good lessons possibly for the channel🤷💯
Would love to see your alternative script!
what bothered me was Anakin magical breath didn't make any sense to the story
Lucas had a lot of backstory to fill after three movies of Episodes IV-VI. He had painted himself into a narrative corner, and then exacerbated things by taking it all the way back to little Anakin. I don't think George ever learned the lesson, "Kill what you love."* Also, the whole midi-chlorians thing? I think it was intended to stick a thumb in the eye of real-life Jedi cultists, of whom Lucas never approved. ='[.]'=
*Be strong and cut some of the "cool" stuff you invented, because it won't all work in the finished product.
I think the prequels were honestly such a missed opportunity. This is one of a very small number of films where I would actually be really curious to see if someone could reboot it and do a good job. The pieces of a very compelling story are in there, but there's so much tonal dissonance and fluff mixed in that it really missed what it was going for. If they had gone for it being a political thriller, it probably would have worked pretty well, but especially in Phantom Menace, there was obviously a lot of stuff put in there that was mostly for children and/or to sell toys that doesn't really fit with the story they were trying to tell.
I think you can really see it when you compare to Revenge of the Sith, which was comparatively more streamlined and tonally consistent, and overall, widely considered a much better movie--almost certainly the best outside of the original trilogy, and I've seen it occasionally ranked as one of the top movies in the franchise overall.
Phantom menace is my favourite Star Wars movie, I’m going to watch this with extreme bias and subjectivity.
why do we always take older movies and decide that whatever they did right has to be a reference for what is supposed to be done right in future installments? phantom menace had good action sequences to which nothing in the older movies comes close, they had good war drama that unfolds in a more strategic pacing rather than focusing on individual characters. the first duel between obi wan and vader in ep4 was a complete joke and the other duels in the trilogy weren't that much ahead. then it's also hard watching the flirting in the og trilogy without cringing.
as for qui gonn his fatal flaw was the fact he believed science was everything, that high medichlorian count equals being good, and the humble frame in which the kid grew he was safe from ever going evil, but the kid did a breaking bad anyway
The movie had a ton of great ideas that never baked in the oven fully.
Are we still pretending that JarJar Binks wasn't a secret Sith Master?
Aside from Jar Jar, one thing that has never stopped bugging me was that we're supposed to accept that an entire race elects 14 year old girls to be empress of the whole freaking planet! With a fairly short term of office. And why is "queen" an elected position?? None of this was ever elaborated on, and it feels like Lucas screwed up when he made her "Queen" Amadala and forgot that she had to be integral in the next two movies.
The other thing I felt needed explanation is why any of the Jedi would consider the "bring balance to the force" prophecy a good thing. There's hundreds/thousands of light side jedi and only 2 sith, why would they want to bring any kind of balance to the situation. The Jedi are winning. It's what made Qui-Gon's decision to want to train Anakin also strange. If you believe in the prophecy then Anakin should be a feared Chosen one the jedi would not want to see rise to power.
I thought the prequels' villains looked cool but were very underutilized (Maul, Count Dooku, General Grievous).
I watched it, and I don't think it is bad, it is just mid. It's all just there to set up the subsequent two movies after it, which I think are much better in my opinion, especially Revenge of the Sith, which was a massive inspiration for my current novel.
TO BE FAIR, midichlorians aren't the force, they are attracted to it! I know everyone gets this wrong for a reason though: the movie was too vague in that explanation. So not only did Phantom Menace explain too much, it did so badly. Oof.
This is a bit unrelated, but I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on the 2023 Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie.
Ur making me realize what ep 1 should've been about. A talented boy with issues from being raised without a father. No Quaigon, no midichlorians, no "force dads" and no "I want mama!" Just Ob-1 wondering what he's supposed to do with this runaway who won't go home, but comes in handy now and then, hence realizing, "phuc me, this kid is force sensitive!"
The creepio saga makes the prequels amazing.
But the Maul fight is great (except for the end).
Nice to See that there are objectiv reasons why then prequels suck.
Hi. I subscribe to all what you said. Another thing is the lack of continuity. How can you link episodes 1-3 showing an army of advanced robots to the episode 4. Inevitably you wonder why the empire does not use them when they attack Hoth in the episode 5. Why does r2d2 fly in episode 2, when there is nothing like that in the original trilogy. Why does not r2d2 or obi wan remember each other in episode 4? Lukas should have given a retro futurist look and better continuity. A bit like Alien Romulus, which despite its flaws respects the look and feel of the original Alien. Otherwise you are spot-on regarding the other subjects.
Somehow it's still fun to watch. Jar-Jar saved that whole movie. If you take him out of it that movie would be boring. Now do video on Episode 2 Attack of the Clones.
The pacing for most of it was glacial. The political elements just ground it to a halt.
I like this movie but it’s no more than a 6/10. All these criticisms really brought it down for me but that Duel of the Fates was awesome. Really helps decides what happens to Anakin.
did you watch mr plinkett reviews for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
I still prefer the prequels over the sequels. GL at least had the foundation of a decent story that could've worked with proper writing and execution (and not surrounding himself with yes-men) and others have put forward ideas on how they could've been better, but the sequels didn't even have a plan and was constantly shifting in style and tone, I don't even know how I would fix those movies that doesn't involve completely rewriting at least 8 and 9.
I have less problem with the characters or the world-building than I do with the wooden direction and the clunky dialogue.
And yet…I love it
The prequel were far from perfect, but at least, unlike the sequel trilogy, they weren't bogged down with lectures on post modern political and social issues.
But ... the writing in the original trilogy wasn't really that different. At which point was Star Wars actually good? I feel that it had potential but it never really got a good execution.
Pod racing was fucking awesome. The Darth Maul vs. Obi wan and Qui-Gon fight was fucking awesome. The rest of the movie sucked GIGANTIC ass.