“This is how liberty dies … with thunderous applause.” – Padme Amodala
Amodala quotes this in the classic “Star Wars” movies known as the “Prequels.” “Star Wars” came out in the late 1970s with the first movie opening in the theatres called “A New Hope.” “Star Wars” continued to come out with two more movies called “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” The “Star Wars” series died out in 1984 and it lost its popularity for a decade until Episode 1 “Phantom Menace” hit the theatres in 1999, making “Star Wars” fans question whether it was good or bad. Most “Star Wars” fans thought the three new movies were horrible and a disgrace to the “Star Wars” franchise. Are they really horrible movies or do fans latch on to the past and refuse to like the brand new version of their movie series?
The Prequel “Star Wars” Series has three movies called “A Phantom Menace”, “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”. These films are filled with action, thrill, romance, and comedy. These are traits of a really good movie series, but somehow they are perceived to be a bad movie series. Students at Damascus High School have very strong opinions on this movie franchise. A Senior named Khushi Kapoor who is a movie buff is “open to watching any movie” but there were times where she watched the trailers to judge if it’s going to be a good or bad movie. Kapoor first watched the “Star Wars” franchise in 2020 in the timeline order rather than by release date. Kapoor’s first impression of the prequels was that she thought they were very boring and never finished them. However, the second time Kapoor watched them, she had a deeper appreciation of the prequels and claimed “the prequels don’t deserve the hate they get.” Kapoor claims this because she believes that George Lucas is not good at directing but is good at world-building. Kapoor said some of the dialogue came across horrible but was intended to provide a different message. Kapoor also wanted to point out that “Haydeen Christiensen was a newcomer [and] when it comes to acting… you need to have a certain level of experience [to do well in a movie] but now in [the] Obi-wan Kenobi [series] he wasn’t that bad!” But his ‘bad acting’ actually helps his character because “sure he comes off a little deadpan, but it adds to his character, I mean he’s an awkward guy, he
has been living with the Jedi Order his whole life.” Kapoor realized that “the original glosses over the flaws of the jedi order, they sugar coat it, but the prequels show the flaws and show the fact that they were set up to fail.” Kapoor brought light to the prequels and gave them props for storytelling elements that the O.G. series didn’t have.
Another DHS student, Junior David Landrinth, is a huge “Star Wars” movie fan. Landrinth’s favorite “Star War”s movie is “Revenge of the Sith” because he “grew up with it” when he was little. Landrith added that since ”[he] grew up with the prequels [he] naturally more inclined to watch them.” His first “Star Wars” experience was when he was three years old and thought they were “the coolest thing ever.” Landrith thinks that “they are good movies” but doesn’t think they are the best “Star Wars” movies but he “very glad that they are starting to get a better reputation among most people.” Landrith’s favorite thing about the movies is that they all “follow the same formula” but the difference is that the good guy becomes the villain.” Landrinth has always been “a sucker for the fallen hero story trope cause it always gets [his] brain turning on what could have happened that could have made it go right.” However, he doesn’t think they have the same spark the original Series has (they are nostalgic for Gen Z though).
The “Star Wars” franchise is welcomed by many different fans: die hard fans, mediocre fans, cosplayers, convention goers, etc. However, all these fans have their opinions but, what do the actual actors think about the prequels? Hayden Christinsen (the actor who plays Anakin Skywalker) in an interview in the Empire
magazine defends the prequels by saying “I think that those movies have held up well over time,” and “It feels like vindication for the work that we did. Everyone that worked on those movies thought that we were part of something special. We all wanted to do our very best work, and we cared a lot about it.” Hayden has been a part of the “Star Wars” franchise for over 25 years and is very proud of how the prequels came out. These are just a few of the actors who have an appreciation for this trilogy. Mark Hamill (who plays the original actor of Luke Skywalker) says in an interview for Vocal Media that he “was impressed the prequels had their own identity” that was a darker story that was less “campy.” The prequels do indeed have a rich “Star Wars” culture that even the actors love.
Throughout the interviews from students there was a common theme. It seems to be that the younger generation likes the prequels and the older generations love the original series and hate the prequels. Why is that? Kapoor believed that “different generations are drawn to different trilogies” and the movies aren’t exactly written for a certain generation fan base. Landrith wanted to take a different approach and talked about how the trilogies are made for different generations because his “dad likes the original trilogy more than [he] likes the prequels” and if someone watches the sequels as their first “Star Wars” experience they would be more inclined to like them better than the other trilogies. Overall the “Star Wars” series is made for everyone but some trilogies are attracted to different generations. In doing so, the Prequel “Star Wars” films are not as bad as everyone makes them out to be.
What is your favorite “Star Wars” movie series? Leave a comment below!
