I actually agree with *most* of what's being said in that video.

I recently rewatched each of the prequels. While they are far from perfect, they have quite a bit going for them as well.

That vid is old news. Nice try, though, firebrand.

Yawn. Another tedious apologist and revisionist take that relies on specious logic and unprovable generalizations.Other movies are worse so this is good in comparison.We still buy toys so that proves the product is good.Some truly bad movies make a lot of money and sell a bunch of merchandise.Pirates of Caribbean and Transformers would be lumped together with Phantom Menace as examples.What is proven without a doubt now is that Star Wars now has such brand recognition that no matter how bad it is people will show up to watch it.Like people paying more for Starbucks coffee than they do for gasoline at the tip of a oil spike.Only proves the irrationality of the market not the entertainment or artistic value of the Star Wars prequels(which is essentially zero).

I can't really buy into an argument that tries to convince people they liked something that they didn't. It's going to take a hell of an argument to retroactively change someone's moviegoing experience.

That said, I can see the value of the comparisons... maybe not to people here, but to the "raped my childhood" crowd. It is essentially just an attempt to put these movies in perspective. Get people out of their superprotective fan mode and get them to look at the prequels as movies.

And therein lies the problem......... Many people can't make the distinction.

TPM is a disappointing movie, but in some regards it feels more like 'Star Wars' then AOTC or ROTS does, mainly due to the production design and music score. I find both to be much more faithful (relatively speaking) to the original trilogy than either of the other prequels. *ducks*

Please note that I don't excuse the wooden script, bad acting, sloppy editing, and cartoonish CGI used to realize the production design. All of those are still there and haven't gotten better with time.

At least the guy in the video recognizes that the Plinkett review is brilliant........

Of course, there will always be some people who are too stubborn to admit they overreacted to something so they'll continue to hold on to the resentment to feed their own egos.

Part of the trouble there is that people sell their own development short. By that, I mean that people let their experiences as (for example) a teenager determine their outlook on something for years, even decades after, despite the fact that they have grown in people and their tastes have evolved accordingly.

To speak for myself, Teenage Ken had sensibilities that were in some ways similar to those of 20-Something Ken, but in some ways drastically different. If the two were ever to meet, they'd find much to disagree about. Teenage Ken isn't necessarily stupid (well, he is, but that's not the point), but 20-Something Ken isn't simply going to take Teenage Ken's word for it when it comes to movies.

Ken, have you started blogging/publishing your critical essays on the prequels yet?

No, the project has stalled and the future is uncertain. I wanted to watch all six movies, then write about the whole series, but I got about a quarter of the way into the 1977 movie and reached maximum saturation. I still haven't gone back and finished the series.

I do have an assload of notes, which haven't been funneled into anything resembling a coherent piece yet. At some point, I'll get into those and maybe focus on the prequels exclusively.

I usually just point people to the Red Letter Media reviews. They say it better than I can, and they are much more entertaining than the films they review:

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace/

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones/

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith/

TL:DW - jump to 6:30 of the first review. The guy does something pretty brilliant; he asks four people to describe the main characters in TPM without talking about their looks, their wardrobe, or their profession. He goes back and forth between characters from the ANH and TPM, and the contrast is very telling. Try it yourself.

I don't see how that's brilliant, if someone asked me to describe the characters from say the LOTR series, I wouldn't be able to describe them without talking about their looks, profession, wardrobe etc.

It's not a great comparison, because people have had 35 years and/or countless childhood viewings to decide what they think of the characters in the original movie. Whittle down the sample population to people who have the same level familiarity with those movies as they do with the prequels and ask them. Otherwise, the question isn't terribly relevant to the point. The same people might be able to give you a more detailed description of Wolverine than of Michael Corleone.

That's my chief objection to the Red Letter Media reviews. While the guy has clearly done his homework and did a hell of a job producing the videos, his arguments heavily rely on the fact that he's preaching to a choir that will either not notice or not care when he evades potential counter-arguments. I'm not saying he wouldn't be able to rebut them, but I am saying that his arguments are weaker for not addressing them.

Saw another good attempt to explain the dismay and confusion of fans about the prequels,

http://peoplevsgeorge.com/

It's on Netflix atm.

It wasn't a scientific study; he asked his friends. But I'd take your bet. Hell, they could just watch Star Wars alone vs. the entire prequel trilogy, and I'd still take the bet.

It appears that Lucas is not just messing with Star Wars fans but taking his spleen out on his neighbors in San Francisco

http://www.movies.com/movie-news/george-lucas-grady-ranch/7883

This made me laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJlbPXZEpRE