i have watched the Star Wars prequels more times than most of you, and i can say with absolute assurance: they are bad movies, with bad dialogue, and ugly effects. yes, even the third one, which gets by mostly because the shock value of murdering a bunch of people makes it seem more serious.
The third one is clearly the best of the bunch. The first one does not need to exist or could have been cut down to like 10 to 15 minutes. The second one is, narratively, a disaster.
Cut the entire pod racing scene
Those are some fighting words and I agree.
i find them fascinating because of how thoroughly, weirdly bad they are, and i'm not saying you can't find fun in them, because you can. but any time people start saying they're "good" i feel like i'm going insane. it's okay for shitty, interesting art to exist.
It's not just okay, it's necessary :)
absolutely.
Thanks for saying this. I stay out of the Star Wars Wars because all I really want are 4K or even 2K discs of the original theatrical cuts of the first 3 movies.
Being a _Star Wars_ fan in 2025 is like that scene in _Amadeus_ where Salieri's and Mozart's pieces are played back to back, and Salieri hears Mozart's piece and is unwillingly transported by its unearthly transcendence and slumps in defeat, but then the emperor's like, great, both are equally good.
At last half the people out there don't understand what makes a piece of art good, they're just watching the crowd's faces to decide how they should react so as best to fit in, which is all they want, out of art, and also out of life.
Damn I thought you were talking about the original trilogy at first and I was nodding my head so hard.
sometimes I think the third one is the one I'm most angry at
It's the one that is mostly comprised of dutiful prequel slot-filing IMHO. At least Attack of the Clones has a weird film noir digression and random gladiator arena battle and shit.
It's also not "good," but it's weird and has interesting set pieces that aren't just "watch these pawns move into their predetermined places"
it's the one that comes closest to being an actual story with recognizable human emotions in it, which makes it that much more annoying when it's shit.
It's definitely the one I am the most tired of hearing about.
The concept of Star Wars is always better than the actual product. Never lives up to hype.
Bad movies, unpersuasive and BORING.
This is the correct take. If these movies are good movies then that is a meaningless term.
The third one is the worst one! Do people only like it because it's the only one that actually tells the story of Anakin becoming Vader?
There’s good ideas in the prequels! But he was past the point in money and fame for people to tell him the good ideas were crowded out by the dreck.
I was born in 91, and even as a kid I remember mostly being bored out of my skull by those movies
Episode I is actually important to me in that Jar Jar was the first time I realized that I was being pandered to as a kid
I assume it's just [gestures at the world] all the usual BS that is inspiring people to argue the prequels are Good, Actually today? (I agree that they are bad.)
i think it's just the recent rerelease of Sith to theaters? probably not a big deal, but it was a sentiment that would occasionally pop up on Twitter that always drove me bugshit.
yeah the rerelease plus the "tariffs are going to doom America" stuff, a potent combination.
Thank you for reminding me of how I'm going to start the Andor review this week! ;)
This is a thing that has existed in Reddit circles for years. One of the least harmful versions of people starting a joke and meming themselves into a radical belief
As someone who is not and has never particularly liked the prequels, they feel like they appeal to people who value lore more than anything else. They helped me solidify that I'm a movie fan far more than a Star Wars fan; they're not good *movies*, but oh, so much Star Wars.
Shuffling out of the theater after the first one *was* an unforgettable cinema experience, in its way.
"it's darker and that's better" really is just code for "It's cool when bad things happen and we see people kill each other, it makes me feel things and remember I'm a human being"
I feel this way about the sequels, but not the prequels. I’ve watched them all so many times, but goddamn, the sequels are just endlessly terrible.
I said this before, the prequels are bad movies, but good Star Wars movies. They get Star Wars mostly right. The sequels are competently made with great, practical effects, but extremely shitty Star Wars movies. Just a complete failure in this regard.
Would love to hear you explain what makes the prequels good star wars movies or what getting Star Wars right even means.
Hazarding a guess, a good star wars movie is one that's made during your childhood
I was a child when the prequels were made and saw them in theaters. I thought they were nothing special. My opinion hasn't really changed in the decades since.
I honestly never understand takes like these. To me, I think the prequels are just good movies, regardless of them being Star Wars. The sequels are just bad movies on their own. Them not understanding Star Wars and undermining the previous films certainly make them more frustrating, though.