The Star Wars prequels ("Phantom Menace," "Attack of the Clones," and "Revenge of the Sith") don't exactly have the greatest of reputations with movie fans. However, there is a subculture that absolutely adores them, including the likes of James Cameron and … Kanye West.
Empire Magazine has decided to bank on the nostalgic semi-reappraisal of the George Lucas’ panned prequels, via a starry cover story, to celebrate their 25th anniversary, which began in 1999 with the release of “The Phantom Menace.”
Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker, is interviewed and he says that, despite the “bumpy ride” he experienced during the time of their release, the newfound love for Lucas’ prequels is something that he’s very proud of:
It’s like vindication for the work that we did […] I think that those movies have held up well over time.
Empire’s Ben Travis writes:
While the backlash against the prequels was difficult to take, he’s pleased to see how beloved all three films are today
I’m not too sure about that. Sure, the trilogy got better after ‘Phantom Menace,’ but are we actually saying that these films are now “beloved” by the general public? I don’t think the full stink has dwindled yet. Some of it has, but not all.
Here’s what I believe is actually happening. There are so many fans out there who are genuinely upset with how the last Star Wars Disney trilogy turned out, putting a major dent on the entire franchise, that they would much rather rewatch Lucas’ original prequels on repeat. It’s pure nostalgia.
Mark Hamill has also stated that he found Lucas’ prequels more original than the Disney trilogy.
Of course, Lucas agrees with Christensen, Cameron, Hamill and Kanye. The filmmaker mentioned in a recent book, “The Star Wars Archives 1999-2005,” that the criticisms the films garnered were not warranted. (via NME)
It is presented very honestly, it isn’t tongue-in-cheek at all, and it’s played to the hilt,” Lucas said of the “Attack of the Clones” dialogue. “But it is consistent, not only with the rest of the movie, but with the overall ‘Star Wars’ style. Most people don’t understand the style of ‘Star Wars.’ They don’t get that there’s an underlying motif that is very much like a 1930s Western or Saturday matinee serial.”
It’s in the more romantic period of making movies and adventure films. And this film is even more of a melodrama than the others,” Lucas continued. “There’s a bit more soap opera in this one than there has been in the past, so setting the scenes up and staging them was more complex than it usually is.
Back in the summer of 1999, watching “The Phantom Menace” in a theater for the first time, listening to opening score, and the scroll going down the screen, it was great. What wasn’t great was the rest of the movie.
We all desperately wanted to love it, but the end result was, quite frankly, although visually stunning, narratively inert. Lucas tried to expand and build up a new world of characters, but we ended up getting Jar Jar Binks, and Jake Lloyd as young Anakin Skywalker, both cardboard characters.
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