How Do You Rank The New Trilogy Star Wars Films?

[Si Hunt]

I'm currently about to finish my journey through all six Star Wars films with "Revenge of the Sith". I won't reveal my revised thoughts on the first two of the newest trilogy yet, but I'd be very interested to know what other people think of "The Phantom Menace", "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith".

Please provide votes and opinions! Do you love them? Hate them? Have you changed your mind about any or all of them since release?

Si.

[SiHart]

They're wretched. All of them.

Especially so Sith which is just awful. Lets consider it- there's a chase scene at the start with so many ships on screen at a time that it becomes difficult to follow to the point of inconsistency. There's the previously feisty Amadala reduced to a simpering, weak character because she's pregnant (what this says about George Lucas' attitude to women I don't even want to think about). There's the stinking, horrid dialogue. The way Count Duckula is killed off quickly and easily now that he's not important to the story... the "NOOOOOOOOO!" moment. Haydn Christianssen being the most inspid and talentless actor in the whole of the Star Wars films.... I could go on all day, but I'll spare you. Basically I don't think this is the saving grace of the new trilogy. I don't think it was good at all.

The other two are a bit better. I quite like Clones.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Are you a big fan of the original three films Si?

Si.

[Dino]

I think the problem was George Lucas took too much control of writing, producing and directing.

Attack of the Clones was the only one he didn't direct, and it shows as it's the "best" of the three.
Lucasfilm employees were probably too frightened of being sacked and blacklisted to take George to one side and say "Come on George, this is crap!" (Colin Mochare was unavailable to deliver this verdict in person sadly...)

Even another writer being on board for Clones and Sith couldn't save them.
I missed The Phantom Menace when it first came out, but I had great fun playing the Playstation game which everyone says is one of the worst games ever made!

The last half hour of Clones is fantastic. But it's too little too late as the Sports pundits put it.

Not a case of "Never Seen Star Wars", more a case of "Wish I'd Never Seen The Three Prequels."

I used to love Star Wars as well. I hope it's as simple as I just grew old. I really do.

Haven't voted as there's no "Clones Er.. That's it" option.

[SiHart]

Not a huge fan. I enjoyed them, but they're not huge favourites of mine. Although I was just at the right age for them at the time they came out I never really got into them in the same way a lot of my friends did at the time. I remember watching Star Wars on the telly when it was premiered and liking it, but I never really fell in love with the films.

Si xx

[Dirk Gently]

Sith, Clones, Phantom for me. But it is close.

I'm a fan of the original & I think if you're not a big fan of the originals then you're more likely to dislike the latest 3.


As a related question: Am I the only person who watches these films in Chronological* order rather than the order they were made?


*I.E TPM, AotC, RotS, ANH, ESB, RotJ.

[Paul Monk]

I agree with Si, they're all terrible. Correction, the first 2 were so terrible that I didn't bother with Sith. And I'm a huge fan of the originals.

there's a chase scene at the start with so many ships on screen at a time that it becomes difficult to follow to the point of inconsistency

That was a huge problem with Clones as well. Its like Lucas has to fill the screen with as much as possible. Its like HUGE is everything (that may explain his attitude towards women that Si mentioned.)
I could list all the things wrong with them but I really can't be bothered.

[Llordllama]

Ditto what Dirk said about the order - Sith worked for me on so many levels; though i've gotta agree PadThai was better in Clones. I just liked the mythic elements coming together in Sith more.

Oh and shouting (as Count Duckula - thanks Sim - and Anakin duel) "He think's it's all over *head comes off* It is now!" made me laugh like a drain. Maybe I'm enjoying these on all the wrong levels.

Wouldn't "Chronological" order be TPM->AotC->RotS->ANH>SWCS->SBTMP->ESB->RotJ?Dirk?

[Perry Vale]

I haven't seen them for a while, but went for Clones, Phantom, Sith.

Sith is definitely my least favourite. When watching it at the cinema I remember feeling bored quite soon in to it, and realised why. I knew how it was going to end!

I'm surprised at the new ones being criticised for having too many ships on screen at once, haven't you seen Return Of The Jedi?

Haydn Christianssen being the most inspid and talentless actor in the whole of the Star Wars films....

Hard to disagree with that, and it reminds me of my other thoughts whilst watching 'Sith', and why it's my least favourite. He's just so bad, and the wrong choice. When you're hanging (basically) three films on a central character, make sure you get someone who can act!

[Dirk Gently]

Wouldn't "Chronological" order be TPM->AotC->RotS->ANH>SWCS->SBTMP->ESB->RotJ?Dirk?

Thanks, but what are SWCS & SBTMP?

[Si Hunt]

I hated "The Phantom Menace" when it first came out - it just felt too long, and computery, like the technology wasn't quite there yet. The big droids battle feels very unatmospheric, and unmoody. Jar Jar Binks didn't work at all - he wasn't funny, and again he looked very fake and CGI. But on re-watching, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this film. It FEELS very "Star Wars" - when you start with the two lone Jedi cutting down droids, and with the Emporer controlling everything, you wonder what else you can ask for? The pod race and the destruction of the droid control station are both excellently done. Even Anakin ("Yippee!") isn't as bad as it feels he should be. I lack others adoration of Ewan McGregor (he's just a little dull really) but Liam Neeson and Samuel Jackson made good Jedi. The underwater chase is brilliant too. It's not bad, just a bit experimental and unsure of itself.

By contrast I thought "Attack of the Clones" was brilliant. I remembered it from the cinema as being (i) buttock-grindingly long and (ii) quite soppy, but aside from the silly meadow scene, it's not really a love story at all - it's a story about the transformation through anger of a man from good to evil. And this film really does have a lot going for it - the chase through the city is well down and atmospheric; the sequence where Anakin slaughters the Tuscan Village is extremely powerful; the droid factory scene is breathtaking, as is the water planet. I didn't feel as wowed by the Clone Wars scenes as the makers felt I should be on the documentary, but seeing all the Jedi fighting in the arena was another "wow, what a good idea" moment, and I loved how you saw the different strands coming together, like the birth of the storm troopers.

So aside from some ropey acting (McGreggor is a little better, but Natalie Portman is still flat; Christenson has his moments as Anakin), I thought it was excellent. Much better made than the first film, it joins all the dots and feels very exciting. Yes, I really did enjoy this one. I'm wondering now what I'll think of "Revenge of the Sith" when I see that next week.

Si.

[Llordllama]

I love the meadow scene in Clones - why? Because it has giant space-llamas in it. The characters are peripheral to it. Clones is all about the space-llamas, and they deserve their own spin off series.

Not featuring Jar-Jar.

[Si Hunt]

I always thought they knew they went too far with Jar Jar, because he's in the whole of the first film, then gets relegated to a cameo appearance in "Clones".

Si.

[Llordllama]

Come on, the Clone Wars are all Jar Jar's fault - he's the one that makes the vote that gets Palpatine elected.

[Llordllama]

Star Wars Christmas Special and of course Space Balls the Motion Picture

[Dirk Gently]

I love Space Balls. Haven't seen it ages as my brother had it on video & i used to watch that.

[Llordllama]

I've always fancied watching the animated series. Nearest we'll get to Space Balls 3: The Search for Space Balls 2

[Dirk Gently]

Nearest we'll get to Space Balls 3: The Search for Space Balls 2

Followed by the sequel: Space Balls 2: Ah, there it is!

[Llordllama]

No hang on, just read some of the reviews of it - now I never want to see it!

[Wayne]

Sith, Clones, Phantom.

Sith is a no-brainer, but it's still more enjoyable by a mile than the other two. But then there's a lot of my favourite character, the emperor, who's by far the most deliciously evil Star Wars character by a mile. I love Vader, but even he's a bit of a pussycat by comparison.

Clones - Fairly unremarkable film, but not the worst film ever, either. Tipped just above average for me by the presence of Christopher Lee.

Phantom - Can't think of anything good to say about it. I think it's wank.

[Llordllama]

Phantom - 90 minutes of waiting for that fight with Darth Maul to begin. Other than that there's not much I ever remember about it (and only one of the 6 I've never bought on DVD!)

[Rob McCow]

I'm surprised at the new ones being criticised for having too many ships on screen at once, haven't you seen Return Of The Jedi?

Interesting point that - of course, Jedi doesn't have as many ships as Sith, but it does have about 10 times as many as the previous films. However, it's far better choreographed than any of the prequels. The ships move in patterns and formations, rather than everyone breaking away to do their own thing. And the bit where the Super Star Destroyer crashes into the Death Star is awesome and beautiful. Brings a tear to my eye every time.

Although what really makes it work is that there are characters on board the ships in Jedi that the audience can care about. Yes, even Admiral Ackbar!

[Dirk Gently]

Interesting point that - of course, Jedi doesn't have as many ships as Sith, but it does have about 10 times as many as the previous films. However, it's far better choreographed than any of the prequels. The ships move in patterns and formations, rather than everyone breaking away to do their own thing.

Oh yes, battles should be well choreographed. Just look at the mess the Germans made of the Battle of Britain, they just wouldn't follow direction & flew all over the place. It was complete chaos!

[Andrew Curnow]

I know I'm a little odd, but I'm with Chris in that I don't mind Jar Jar Binks - whether the plan was always for him to be inadvertantly instrumental in the rise of Palpatine in the second film, or whether that was a good idea somebody had which would retrospectively justify the character I don't know. But either way, I didn't have a problem with him in TPM.

And similarly, on the "being a little odd" front... My order of preference for the new trilogy is the release order - ie, 1st Phantom, 2nd Clones, 3rd Sith.

I'll at least try to justify that: Phantom Menace is not perfect by any means, but it tells a Terry Nation-style pageturner. It may not be art, but we keep watching because we want to know what happens next. From Jedi on ship, to underwater city, to palace, to desert world, to the Senate, then a finale on three fronts - a lightsabre fight, natives versus soldiers out in the fields, and spaceships in the skies above. The latter worked OK in ROTJ and works again here, and (for me at least) it prevents the audience getting too bored with each battle because we switch between them, mixing the widescreen spectacle of the space & land battles with the more personal individual duelling of the Jedi & Sith.

For me, Phantom is the most akin to the earlier films in that it's just a rattling good yarn - and although it's nowhere near as good, not even in the same league, it kinda reminds me of the original film in the rapid pace, and shift from location to location. It's a simple Good V Bad story, and works fine for me.

The other two films, increasingly as they go on, get bogged down in the need to get to the finishing post, and along the way they don't really do anything that exciting. It probably doesn't help that, although he's perfectly adequate, Hadyn Christiansen doesn't somehow light up the screen. We don't care about Anakin in film 2, nor in film 3, so there's no real attachment to his plight. Plus, I found the conveyor belt scene in 2, and the opening battle in 3, interminably draggy.

Sadly, film 3 could have been really brilliant - I'd imagined (or hoped for) something really grim, with Amidala trying to smuggle her newborn twins out of the city under the nose of Vader & the Emperor. Something akin to trying to escape Nazi Germany, with the net getting tighter and tighter. As it is, the film just never really seems to engage the audience, and the emotions that should be there just... just aren't.

BTW, just briefly going back to film 1 - it's impressive in one way that they are pushing the envelope, but what was the point of having fully CGI characters. Boss Nass would look much more convincing, ironically, if he was a man in a rubber suit than he does as a digitial character, and a lot of the CGI (despite all the "we had to wait for the technology to catch up with the vision" sort of hype we got back in 99) just never really worked.

So anyway, Kavell - Fenton - Parren. Er, I mean, Phantom - Clones - Sith!!

[Zbigniev Hamson]

The thing about the land battle in Phanton Menace that always struck me... what kind of bizarre technolgy are the Gungans supposed to have? They seem to be portrayed as a relatively primitive society, and yet they appear to have balls of pure magic (or something) to throw around with catapults, and magic purple shields that look nothing like any other shields that anyone else has. And their underwater city looks kind of bizarre and dreamlike too. Not that there's anything wrong with all that per se, it's just that it's all a remarkably different aesthetic to anything else in the series that it almost seems to be something out of another film entirely.

For the record I voted Sith - Clones - Menace. But in hindsight, and having read other comments here, I've decided that actually I would put Clones first and Sith second.