Never seen these, i'm having a great time watching them, thanks for posting the url !
Something about the prequels that i never seem to see mentionned and that, to me, sums it all up, is that they're basically useless.
I mean, i don't care how good or bad the movies actually are (and god knows they're awful), when you think about it, their whole point was to tell the story of vader's past, right ? But really, who actually cares ?
Who cares about knowing that he used to be an annoying brat who won flying thingies races ? Who cares about the fact that he built 3PO or about how he later liked to roll around in the grass with natalie portman ?
The old movies gave us very little backstory about this whole jedi knight thing and vader's character, and that was cool. You had a sense of mystery, you felt that stuff had happened and it all gave dimension to what was now happening on the screen. Attempting to show us all of that could only mess that up and ruin some of the magic of the old movies.
Sure, i was all excited when i was 12 years old and the phantom menace came out and i thought it was the best movie ever. But now all i want is to ask why. Not why are the movies so bad, not why did they mess up their own story, or why did they try to shoehorn every fan loved character in so that the galaxy ended looking just as big as my street, or why did they make me want to throw up with so many special effectes or whetever...
Just why did they even bother telling us that crap ?
And the really depressing thing is that it started a whole fad of "prequel" crap. Suddenly every superhero needed to have his past explained, in order to "enrich" his character or something. I just never understood the point of all that stuff.
But oh hey whatever. I'll just laugh at the rest of that guy's reviews now.
the prequels were important so that there'd be awesome games like the pod racer ones and republic commando.
back then i thought it was pretty awesome too and i thought i didn't understand the point of the movies because i was young, but by the release of ep. 3 i realized that there really is no point.
The problem is that this is on the level that is constantly being overwritten by the Clone Wars series. The very existence of Ahsoka changes a lot of canon material. The Mandalorians' entire culture is changed in the T-level canon. It can heavily be argued that the Grievous in the comics is not Grievous at all, but a character that in a broad sense is only a barely-canon interpretation of the character.
This is true. Extended universe isn't part of the real continuity and can be ignored. Normal viewers don't even know about it's existence.
No, but maybe it would be cool hacking them into little pieces during a sword fight and sticking the laser sword into the leftovers as long as it takes until every molecule transformed to ashes. I guess a one way ticket torwards sun would do the same.
I missed the vast majority of it, and I've only played "Jedi Academy". I know, it's heresy on my part, but I just haven't played them.
Damn, well make sure you get around to it. I, myself have played Acadamy and Outcast many times, Outcast having a stronger story and stronger characters than Academy. I'd love to hear what you think of them.
Thing is, he's right, and supports the opinion extremely well.
It's not that bad movie. It's not very good movie either, but there are plenty of worse sci-fi and fantasy movies. Personally I believe that there wouldn't be that much hatred towards it if it wasn't a Star Wars movie.
No, but maybe it would be cool hacking them into little pieces during a sword fight and sticking the laser sword into the leftovers as long as it takes until every molecule transformed to ashes. I guess a one way ticket torwards sun would do the same.
Damn, well make sure you get around to it. I, myself have played Acadamy and Outcast many times, Outcast having a stronger story and stronger characters than Academy. I'd love to hear what you think of them.
I haven't played those ones, but i used to spend DAYS on the first jedi knight (dark forces II). I think it was the first game i ever owned.
I vaguely remember going "meh" at the newer ones, but i didn't really play them enough to get any more of an opinion on them.
It's not that bad movie. It's not very good movie either, but there are plenty of worse sci-fi and fantasy movies. Personally I believe that there wouldn't be that much hatred towards it if it wasn't a Star Wars movie.
Well...
The problem is that when you're announcing a sequel (or here, prequel) to something, you can't really expect people not to compare it to the original stuff, can you ? Especially not when this original stuff has had as huge an impact on popular culture as star wars has since the last 30 years or so.
So, well, sure, no one would have cared if the star wars™ brand hadn't been stamped on the posters... No one would even have heard of them.
It's just like Escape from Monkey Island, for instance : a pretty common opinion on these forums seems to be that the game is not that bad by itself, but just ain't a "proper monkey island game". See ? As soon as you claim to be part of a bigger series of books, movies, games or whatever, you'd better make sure you're gonna be at least as good as what came before, or at least try to be, instead of disregarding everything that made it cool and just throw up some big turd that you'll decorate with shiny special effects in the hope that no one will notice that you screwed up.
But isn't it way cooler putting someone into a spaceship and shooting them into the sun instead?! When thinking about it there should be a possibility so that the Poppers could riddle their way to some steering device and stop the course towards the sun, maybe then altering it automatically straight to alpha centauri. :O)
Taumel, you make a great villain with your "unescapable" death-plans that involve a lot of effort to kill the person in question and is, in fact, rather easy to escape from.
Well...
The problem is that when you're announcing a sequel (or here, prequel) to something, you can't really expect people not to compare it to the original stuff, can you ? Especially not when this original stuff has had as huge an impact on popular culture as star wars has since the last 30 years or so.
So, well, sure, no one would have cared if the star wars™ brand hadn't been stamped on the posters... No one would even have heard of them.
It's just like Escape from Monkey Island, for instance : a pretty common opinion on these forums seems to be that the game is not that bad by itself, but just ain't a "proper monkey island game". See ? As soon as you claim to be part of a bigger series of books, movies, games or whatever, you'd better make sure you're gonna be at least as good as what came before, or at least try to be, instead of disregarding everything that made it cool and just throw up some big turd that you'll decorate with shiny special effects in the hope that no one will notice that you screwed up.
Problem is that nothing could meet the expectations of the hardcore fans. But then again George Lucas didn't make those movies to 40 something guys who live in their mom's basement and spend their friday nights in comicbook store. Movies were mainly aimed for the youth and I think that in the target group those worked pretty well, because prequel trilogy and related stuff (Clone Wars movie and TV series) had been quite a success and sold a lot of Star Wars stuff.
I did like the original trilogy more, but I'm not purist, so I don't have problem thinking that Ahsoka and Jar Jar are part of the same canon with Han Solo and Darth Vader. Those are just different stories set to same universe. Same applies to other sci-fi stuff too, for example I thought that Voyager was average at best, but I have no problem seeing it as a part of the same canon as the Star Trek: The Original Series or The Next Generation, which I really liked.
Same applies to Escape. It's worst of the series, but I don't hate it or consider that it's not part of the canon because Ron didn't make it.
But isn't it way cooler putting someone into a spaceship and shooting them into the sun instead?! When thinking about it there should be a possibility so that the Poppers could riddle their way to some steering device and stop the course towards the sun, maybe then altering it automatically straight to alpha centauri. :O)
And then return back and conquer Earth with their new Alpha Centaurian space fleet. I'm starting to like this plan.
Problem is that nothing could meet the expectations of the hardcore fans. But then again George Lucas didn't make those movies to 40 something guys who live in their mom's basement and spend their friday nights in comicbook store. Movies were mainly aimed for the youth and I think that in the target group those worked pretty well, because prequel trilogy and related stuff (Clone Wars movie and TV series) had been quite a success and sold a lot of Star Wars stuff.
I did like the original trilogy more, but I'm not purist, so I don't have problem thinking that Ahsoka and Jar Jar are part of the same canon with Han Solo and Darth Vader. Those are just different stories set to same universe. Same applies to other sci-fi stuff too, for example I thought that Voyager was average at best, but I have no problem seeing it as a part of the same canon as the Star Trek: The Original Series or The Next Generation, which I really liked.
Same applies to Escape. It's worst of the series, but I don't hate it or consider that it's not part of the canon because Ron didn't make it.
Well, my point was mostly that you can't possibly expect people not to compare the two trilogies, and i'm sorry but in that case, it concerns much more people than the "hardcore nitpicking fans" (sure, those ones will always be impossible to please anyway). And sadly, i don't think that success means quality - especially when so much marketting is involved.
I try not to consider myself a purist, and i usually don't pay much attention to the whole "canon" thing as long as it still makes some kind of sense, so i don't care that much that Binks gets somehow associated with Chewbacca or whatever. I don't mind the idea of having, as you said, a different story set in the same universe. Heck, it actually MIGHT have worked if it had been done this way.
The thing is, it's NOT a different story. It doesn't even claim to be. The whole prequel's selling point was basically : "we're gonna tell you how it all began : how darth vader became darth vader and what led to the war and blablabla". They're supposed to be the up-until-then missing first chapters.
Now, even though it does bother me, i'm not really arguing for the whole continuity aspect here. When i first quoted you, i was really reacting to THIS sentence :
Personally I believe that there wouldn't be that much hatred towards it if it wasn't a Star Wars movie.
I'm not saying you're wrong in that sentence, but just that the whole new trilogy couldn't even exist as anything else than a star wars movie, and therefore can't really be judged without making any reference to the older stuff. That's why i took Escape from Monkey Island as an exemple : in the end, i pretty much agree with your opinion of the game, all i meant is that it HAS been (more so by some than by others, maybe, but still) judged in relation to the other games. You said it yourself : "it's the worst of the series, but..."
Well, my point was mostly that you can't possibly expect people not to compare the two trilogies, and i'm sorry but in that case, it concerns much more people than the "hardcore nitpicking fans" (sure, those ones will always be impossible to please anyway). And sadly, i don't think that success means quality - especially when so much marketting is involved.
I try not to consider myself a purist, and i usually don't pay much attention to the whole "canon" thing as long as it still makes some kind of sense, so i don't care that much that Binks gets somehow associated with Chewbacca or whatever. I don't mind the idea of having, as you said, a different story set in the same universe. Heck, it actually MIGHT have worked if it had been done this way.
The thing is, it's NOT a different story. It doesn't even claim to be. The whole prequel's selling point was basically : "we're gonna tell you how it all began : how darth vader became darth vader and what led to the war and blablabla". They're supposed to be the up-until-then missing first chapters.
Now, even though it does bother me, i'm not really arguing for the whole continuity aspect here. When i first quoted you, i was really reacting to THIS sentence :
I'm not saying you're wrong in that sentence, but just that the whole new trilogy couldn't even exist as anything else than a star wars movie, and therefore can't really be judged without making any reference to the older stuff. That's why i took Escape from Monkey Island as an exemple : in the end, i pretty much agree with your opinion of the game, all i meant is that it HAS been (more so by some than by others, maybe, but still) judged in relation to the other games. You said it yourself : "it's the worst of the series, but..."
Prequel trilogy is a different story compared to the orginal trilogy in the same sense like "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are different stories with very different atmosphere. Like prequel trilogy also The Hobbit is much more childish and lighthearted story. Also it's worth noting that prequel trilogy is story of Anakin and Padme, while original trilogy is all about Luke, Han and Leia and Anakin is just a supporting character.
Problem is that nothing could meet the expectations of the hardcore fans. But then again George Lucas didn't make those movies to 40 something guys who live in their mom's basement and spend their friday nights in comicbook store.
Is this the place you go to tell people they're nerds? Aren't you generally, you know, a bit geeky for being here in the first place? Protip: Football field is outside.
Movies were mainly aimed for the youth and I think that in the target group those worked pretty well, because prequel trilogy and related stuff (Clone Wars movie and TV series) had been quite a success and sold a lot of Star Wars stuff.
Alright, let's pretend for a moment that media for children requires a different, apparently more shallow appreciation of quality. Let's pretend that a movie that defies all the conventional reasons that movies are good is somehow improved by its target audience.
Then right, it's a movie for babies. That's why we have complicated space politics as the driving force of the stories. It's why they cast Samuel L. Jackson.
Oh, I'm not going to argue that the movies are primarily made for adults. They aren't primarily made for ANYBODY. These abortions that are often laughably referred to as "films" were made to cram every demographic possible into the movie. And it doesn't work.
Here's the thing: The Star Wars films aren't just subpar movies. They're just plain badly done, from the cinematography, to the writing, to the acting. The linked review actually goes through this in great detail(while also putting in a somewhat odd "sub-plot" about pizza rolls and kidnapped/murdered women, but whatever, that sort of dark humor is a bit of a fad with web video series I guess). It's really a well thought-out look at WHY the prequels are so terrible. Not just it sucks because they changed things, but it sucks because it shits on the qualities that make films GOOD, that. The Phantom Menace was falling apart not as a Star Wars film, but as a FILM IN GENERAL from the very first scene.
Watch the goddamn thing if you can find the time, because it comes out as being obscenely arrogant and closed-minded to go ahead and argue against something when you don't even listen to what the other side has to say about the matter.
Is this the place you go to tell people they're nerds? Aren't you generally, you know, a bit geeky for being here in the first place? Protip: Football field is outside.
I have nothing against people being nerds. Most people I know from academic world are bit geeky, but it doesn't prevent them from playing football, going to bar etc. I just don't understand nerd rage I see sometimes in the Internet. Most people have other more important things to do than spend their free time making lenghty videos how much some movie sucks.
Alright, let's pretend for a moment that media for children requires a different, apparently more shallow appreciation of quality. Let's pretend that a movie that defies all the conventional reasons that movies are good is somehow improved by its target audience.
Then right, it's a movie for babies. That's why we have complicated space politics as the driving force of the stories. It's why they cast Samuel L. Jackson.
Oh, I'm not going to argue that the movies are primarily made for adults. They aren't primarily made for ANYBODY. These abortions that are often laughably referred to as "films" were made to cram every demographic possible into the movie. And it doesn't work.
Here's the thing: The Star Wars films aren't just subpar movies. They're just plain badly done, from the cinematography, to the writing, to the acting. The linked review actually goes through this in great detail(while also putting in a somewhat odd "sub-plot" about pizza rolls and kidnapped/murdered women, but whatever, that sort of dark humor is a bit of a fad with web video series I guess). It's really a well thought-out look at WHY the prequels are so terrible. Not just it sucks because they changed things, but it sucks because it shits on the qualities that make films GOOD, that. The Phantom Menace was falling apart not as a Star Wars film, but as a FILM IN GENERAL from the very first scene.
Watch the goddamn thing if you can find the time, because it comes out as being obscenely arrogant and closed-minded to go ahead and argue against something when you don't even listen to what the other side has to say about the matter.
I don't think that the Phantom Menace is as crappy movie as people claim it is, but sure it's worst of the series. I watched it first time when I was in the army and after a week of training in the wilderness it offered much needed relaxation. It's not movie masterpiece, but it had enough action and special effects to make it entertaining.
I'm willing to listen arguments of the other side if those are made in the compact form. I don't have time or interest to listen extremely long rants. After all we're only talking about a movie series. I can understand why some people don't like the movie, but what I don't understand is why people go around preaching their hatred against it. Don't they have anything better to do? Star Wars was never meant to be more than light entertainment. I would say that not even the original trilogy has dramatic quality of Shakespeare and it doesn't even try to be that. It's just space adventure with nice special effects.
They're just plain badly done, from the cinematography, to the writing, to the acting.
I really like Star Wars (yes, all 6 movies, although I agree Phantom Menace is the worst) and can say pretty much the same about the original trilogy.
Seriously, the writing is just as bad... as is the acting.
That's not really what the movie is about though... otherwise it never would become the legend it is...
I don't think that the Phantom Menace is as crappy movie as people claim it is, but sure it's worst of the series. I watched it first time when I was in the army and after a week of training in the wilderness it offered much needed relaxation. It's not movie masterpiece, but it had enough action and special effects to make it entertaining.
"Stuff just thrown on screen" does not a good movie make. When there's too much noise on screen, there's no focus in the frame. It's cluttered and messy. I'll get more into that below.
I'm willing to listen arguments of the other side if those are made in the compact form. I don't have time or interest to listen extremely long rants.
It's hard to make any discussion compact, because what's wrong with the film goes down to the roots of almost every single thing in the frame at any given time, plus several production elements.
But I suppose I can try and make it more digestible.
-There is no central focus, and too much happens at once. In the climax of Episode I, you have Anakin attacking the droid control ship, gungans fighting droids, Amidala capturing the viceroy, and Maul's duel with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. These are four separate subplots, running against each other. Within any given minute you are cutting from tragedy to elated victory. No element is given the time needed to work on its own, because there's a million other things going on at once.
-What are our characters' motivations? Why are they doing what they do? Our first motivation is that
-The plot is full of holes and bad judgement on the characters' part. Why do they go on separate ships down to the planet? Why did the droid army land where they did when their target is on the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PLANET(notice that the fastest way to the Naboo is to go through the planet core. Why do the Jedi Council accept Anakin when there are big neon signs that scream DANGER DANGER DANGER. What is this prophecy of balance in the force, what does it say, why is it important? Why is Obi-Wan able to run forward at faster speeds with the Force in one scene, but doesn't use this power when trying to catch up with Maul? Who is the Trade Federation, why are they doing what they are doing, why are they working with Sidious? What has Sidious promised them? He can't promise political favors because that's kind of a secret. Why does he try to get that treaty signed, thus not allowing for a vote of no confidence in the current Chancellor, allowing him to assume power? I could go on and on and on. Each one of these might be negligible in themselves, but everything just piles up one after the other to create a convoluted mess that the movie makes no attempt to explain.
-The film sucks DUE to the special effects. The humanity is robbed from the film, because the entire thing was produced in a vaccuum. It was a sterile environment free from any diversity. What are the actors interacting with? George Lucas said it best before the Prequels were even a thing
A special effect is a tool, a means of telling a story. A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.
-And hey, how about that galaxy? In IV, V, and V, everything was battered. It was a real world that people had lived in. In episodes I, II, and III? Everyone has JUST built a new building. All devices shine with newness. Every car, surface, everything is just too perfect. In the original series, a sterile environment was that of the Empire, something that differentiated them from the real people. Ordinary guys like Luke Skywalker. Even on Tatooine, many things shimmer with that new car shine.
-Notice the beginning of Phantom Menace, and compare it to the start of A New Hope. In A New Hope, we start with a small ship being attacked by a large ship. A low angle shot is used to show the dominance of the Empire ship in this situation, we have an obscenely long ship showing the kind of disadvantage the rebels are against. We don't need to be told anything, we're shown. In The Phantom Menace, we get some random pilot asking for docking permission, we get our two robed...heroes, I guess, and we get to talking about trade and space taxes. Right, movie for babies. What do the bad guys want? In the first few minutes of Episode IV, we see Vader demand that he get back his plans for a space weapon. Nothing is communicated in Episode I's introduction, everything is communicated in Episode IV's.
After all we're only talking about a movie series. I can understand why some people don't like the movie, but what I don't understand is why people go around preaching their hatred against it. Don't they have anything better to do? Star Wars was never meant to be more than light entertainment. I would say that not even the original trilogy has dramatic quality of Shakespeare and it doesn't even try to be that. It's just space adventure with nice special effects.
Don't you have something better to do than disparaging those who have discussions on a discussion forum? I don't see how that's a more worthwhile passtime. You can have short posts, sure, but if there's not good conversational content then once you've read enough posts to get to the length of a longer, more robust post, you've read a lot of nothing in the same span of time. Now, perhaps your life is important and full of action and adventure and important things. That's great! But then why are you here, telling us to go out and do something more important, when it's obviously beneath you in the first place?
I think that Star Wars is something special. The American Film Institute thinks it is something special. Yes they're simple, but that's part of the thing that makes them so powerful. If something simple is done well, even amazingly well, it rises above just being "another action flick" or a "special effects blockbuster", and a person's opinion isn't validated by shunning it in favor of Shakespeare(personally I'd prefer an example from the same medium, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, David Lynch, or Jean Renoir.
Also, I think Shakespeare is overrated as a storyteller, though not as a man who can excellently establish the flow of his words. The man made jokes intended for the masses, including jabs(for instance) about farts and another characters' mother. The man was a genius when it came to organizing wordplay, though, and that's to be respected.
And I changed my answer accordingly once I noticed that you meant to say different thing.
"Stuff just thrown on screen" does not a good movie make. When there's too much noise on screen, there's no focus in the frame. It's cluttered and messy. I'll get more into that below.
It's hard to make any discussion compact, because what's wrong with the film goes down to the roots of almost every single thing in the frame at any given time, plus several production elements.
But I suppose I can try and make it more digestible.
-There is no central focus, and too much happens at once. In the climax of Episode I, you have Anakin attacking the droid control ship, gungans fighting droids, Amidala capturing the viceroy, and Maul's duel with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. These are four separate subplots, running against each other. Within any given minute you are cutting from tragedy to elated victory. No element is given the time needed to work on its own, because there's a million other things going on at once.
-What are our characters' motivations? Why are they doing what they do? Our first motivation is that
-The plot is full of holes and bad judgement on the characters' part. Why do they go on separate ships down to the planet? Why did the droid army land where they did when their target is on the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PLANET(notice that the fastest way to the Naboo is to go through the planet core. Why do the Jedi Council accept Anakin when there are big neon signs that scream DANGER DANGER DANGER. What is this prophecy of balance in the force, what does it say, why is it important? Why is Obi-Wan able to run forward at faster speeds with the Force in one scene, but doesn't use this power when trying to catch up with Maul? Who is the Trade Federation, why are they doing what they are doing, why are they working with Sidious? What has Sidious promised them? He can't promise political favors because that's kind of a secret. Why does he try to get that treaty signed, thus not allowing for a vote of no confidence in the current Chancellor, allowing him to assume power? I could go on and on and on. Each one of these might be negligible in themselves, but everything just piles up one after the other to create a convoluted mess that the movie makes no attempt to explain.
-The film sucks DUE to the special effects. The humanity is robbed from the film, because the entire thing was produced in a vaccuum. It was a sterile environment free from any diversity. What are the actors interacting with? George Lucas said it best before the Prequels were even a thing
-And hey, how about that galaxy? In IV, V, and V, everything was battered. It was a real world that people had lived in. In episodes I, II, and III? Everyone has JUST built a new building. All devices shine with newness. Every car, surface, everything is just too perfect. In the original series, a sterile environment was that of the Empire, something that differentiated them from the real people. Ordinary guys like Luke Skywalker. Even on Tatooine, many things shimmer with that new car shine.
-Notice the beginning of Phantom Menace, and compare it to the start of A New Hope. In A New Hope, we start with a small ship being attacked by a large ship. A low angle shot is used to show the dominance of the Empire ship in this situation, we have an obscenely long ship showing the kind of disadvantage the rebels are against. We don't need to be told anything, we're shown. In The Phantom Menace, we get some random pilot asking for docking permission, we get our two robed...heroes, I guess, and we get to talking about trade and space taxes. Right, movie for babies. What do the bad guys want? In the first few minutes of Episode IV, we see Vader demand that he get back his plans for a space weapon. Nothing is communicated in Episode I's introduction, everything is communicated in Episode IV's.
Well, I kind of like it and don't care that much about those flaws.
Don't you have something better to do than disparaging those who have discussions on a discussion forum? I don't see how that's a more worthwhile passtime. You can have short posts, sure, but if there's not good conversational content then once you've read enough posts to get to the length of a longer, more robust post, you've read a lot of nothing in the same span of time. Now, perhaps your life is important and full of action and adventure and important things. That's great! But then why are you here, telling us to go out and do something more important, when it's obviously beneath you in the first place?
I think that Star Wars is something special. The American Film Institute thinks it is something special. Yes they're simple, but that's part of the thing that makes them so powerful. If something simple is done well, even amazingly well, it rises above just being "another action flick" or a "special effects blockbuster", and a person's opinion isn't validated by shunning it in favor of Shakespeare(personally I'd prefer an example from the same medium, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, David Lynch, or Jean Renoir.
Also, I think Shakespeare is overrated as a storyteller, though not as a man who can excellently establish the flow of his words. The man made jokes intended for the masses, including jabs(for instance) about farts and another characters' mother. The man was a genius when it came to organizing wordplay, though, and that's to be respected.
I like Sam & Max games and I like the Soda Poppers, which is the reason why I started reading this thread. Then I made the mistake and made one casual comment about Star Wars and suddenly I was under attack. I have no interest to argue with you, just because I thought that some Youtube commentator was annoying. If it makes you feel better let's say that you win, because like you said I have better things to do. It's matter of taste and apparently you don't like the new movies, while I thought those were OK. No matter how long we argue it won't change. Besides I like stuff like Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5 more than Star Wars anyways.
I won't comment this Star Wars stuff again, but if you have something to say about Soda Poppers, I'm happy to discuss about it as long as it is a friendly and polite discussion.
If you ever think you miss the Poppers, i suggest you go to youtube.
This recharges annoyance/hate almost in a second.
Not particularly. It probably works better for people who didn't like the characters to begin with, though, and who have just grown to accept them. I always liked the characters.
It works quite perfectly for people, who after some time of absence might feel, Oh come on, maybe the Poppers weren't this bad. I' just tested it with a friend and it worked, scientifically approved. :O)
I like them fine myself. Can't say I love 'em, but my feelings lie much closer to that than anything resembling hatred. But I can see how others would find them annoying. (Deserving of so much frothing vitriol, on the other hand ... )
In any case, their story arc over the first two seasons was wrapped up with a decent sense of finality in 205. They shouldn't be brought back unless their presence is essential to whatever the given season's story happens to be. And really, guys, Telltale's aware of the massively unjustified collective aneurysm they would cause by bringing the Soda Poppers back. Why even begin to worry about such an utterly slim possibility?
It works quite perfectly for people, who after some time of absence might feel, Oh come on, maybe the Poppers weren't this bad. I' just tested it with a friend and it worked, scientifically approved. :O)
Yeah, dude, no. You didn't even have a control group. [/tongue-partway-planted-in-cheek]
Comments
Never seen these, i'm having a great time watching them, thanks for posting the url
Something about the prequels that i never seem to see mentionned and that, to me, sums it all up, is that they're basically useless.
I mean, i don't care how good or bad the movies actually are (and god knows they're awful), when you think about it, their whole point was to tell the story of vader's past, right ? But really, who actually cares ?
Who cares about knowing that he used to be an annoying brat who won flying thingies races ? Who cares about the fact that he built 3PO or about how he later liked to roll around in the grass with natalie portman ?
The old movies gave us very little backstory about this whole jedi knight thing and vader's character, and that was cool. You had a sense of mystery, you felt that stuff had happened and it all gave dimension to what was now happening on the screen. Attempting to show us all of that could only mess that up and ruin some of the magic of the old movies.
Sure, i was all excited when i was 12 years old and the phantom menace came out and i thought it was the best movie ever. But now all i want is to ask why. Not why are the movies so bad, not why did they mess up their own story, or why did they try to shoehorn every fan loved character in so that the galaxy ended looking just as big as my street, or why did they make me want to throw up with so many special effectes or whetever...
Just why did they even bother telling us that crap ?
And the really depressing thing is that it started a whole fad of "prequel" crap. Suddenly every superhero needed to have his past explained, in order to "enrich" his character or something. I just never understood the point of all that stuff.
But oh hey whatever. I'll just laugh at the rest of that guy's reviews now.
back then i thought it was pretty awesome too and i thought i didn't understand the point of the movies because i was young, but by the release of ep. 3 i realized that there really is no point.
This is true. Extended universe isn't part of the real continuity and can be ignored. Normal viewers don't even know about it's existence.
Doesn't he have anything better to do than whine about some movie? Movie can't be worth that much trouble.
Jedi Poppers would be so much cooler than original Jedi. :cool:
Little Peepers, Specs and Whizzer
Toiling at the soda works
Guzzling with tiny gizzards
Soda fountain's special perks
Then they run like human blizzards
More than simple soda jerks
Soda Poppers: More Than Jerks
If you'd watch the videos you'd see he's plenty busy with kidnapping women.
Sounds weird. I didn't watch that far because I got bored to all: "This is the worst movie ever, orginals were so much better" -stuff
No, but maybe it would be cool hacking them into little pieces during a sword fight and sticking the laser sword into the leftovers as long as it takes until every molecule transformed to ashes. I guess a one way ticket torwards sun would do the same.
Damn, well make sure you get around to it. I, myself have played Acadamy and Outcast many times, Outcast having a stronger story and stronger characters than Academy. I'd love to hear what you think of them.
It's not that bad movie. It's not very good movie either, but there are plenty of worse sci-fi and fantasy movies. Personally I believe that there wouldn't be that much hatred towards it if it wasn't a Star Wars movie.
Doesn't all that volcano lava do the same trick?
I haven't played those ones, but i used to spend DAYS on the first jedi knight (dark forces II). I think it was the first game i ever owned.
I vaguely remember going "meh" at the newer ones, but i didn't really play them enough to get any more of an opinion on them.
Well...
The problem is that when you're announcing a sequel (or here, prequel) to something, you can't really expect people not to compare it to the original stuff, can you ? Especially not when this original stuff has had as huge an impact on popular culture as star wars has since the last 30 years or so.
So, well, sure, no one would have cared if the star wars™ brand hadn't been stamped on the posters... No one would even have heard of them.
It's just like Escape from Monkey Island, for instance : a pretty common opinion on these forums seems to be that the game is not that bad by itself, but just ain't a "proper monkey island game". See ? As soon as you claim to be part of a bigger series of books, movies, games or whatever, you'd better make sure you're gonna be at least as good as what came before, or at least try to be, instead of disregarding everything that made it cool and just throw up some big turd that you'll decorate with shiny special effects in the hope that no one will notice that you screwed up.
At least i prefer thinking this way. ;O)
Problem is that nothing could meet the expectations of the hardcore fans. But then again George Lucas didn't make those movies to 40 something guys who live in their mom's basement and spend their friday nights in comicbook store. Movies were mainly aimed for the youth and I think that in the target group those worked pretty well, because prequel trilogy and related stuff (Clone Wars movie and TV series) had been quite a success and sold a lot of Star Wars stuff.
I did like the original trilogy more, but I'm not purist, so I don't have problem thinking that Ahsoka and Jar Jar are part of the same canon with Han Solo and Darth Vader. Those are just different stories set to same universe. Same applies to other sci-fi stuff too, for example I thought that Voyager was average at best, but I have no problem seeing it as a part of the same canon as the Star Trek: The Original Series or The Next Generation, which I really liked.
Same applies to Escape. It's worst of the series, but I don't hate it or consider that it's not part of the canon because Ron didn't make it.
And then return back and conquer Earth with their new Alpha Centaurian space fleet. I'm starting to like this plan.
Well, my point was mostly that you can't possibly expect people not to compare the two trilogies, and i'm sorry but in that case, it concerns much more people than the "hardcore nitpicking fans" (sure, those ones will always be impossible to please anyway). And sadly, i don't think that success means quality - especially when so much marketting is involved.
I try not to consider myself a purist, and i usually don't pay much attention to the whole "canon" thing as long as it still makes some kind of sense, so i don't care that much that Binks gets somehow associated with Chewbacca or whatever. I don't mind the idea of having, as you said, a different story set in the same universe. Heck, it actually MIGHT have worked if it had been done this way.
The thing is, it's NOT a different story. It doesn't even claim to be. The whole prequel's selling point was basically : "we're gonna tell you how it all began : how darth vader became darth vader and what led to the war and blablabla". They're supposed to be the up-until-then missing first chapters.
Now, even though it does bother me, i'm not really arguing for the whole continuity aspect here. When i first quoted you, i was really reacting to THIS sentence :
I'm not saying you're wrong in that sentence, but just that the whole new trilogy couldn't even exist as anything else than a star wars movie, and therefore can't really be judged without making any reference to the older stuff. That's why i took Escape from Monkey Island as an exemple : in the end, i pretty much agree with your opinion of the game, all i meant is that it HAS been (more so by some than by others, maybe, but still) judged in relation to the other games. You said it yourself : "it's the worst of the series, but..."
Prequel trilogy is a different story compared to the orginal trilogy in the same sense like "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are different stories with very different atmosphere. Like prequel trilogy also The Hobbit is much more childish and lighthearted story. Also it's worth noting that prequel trilogy is story of Anakin and Padme, while original trilogy is all about Luke, Han and Leia and Anakin is just a supporting character.
Alright, let's pretend for a moment that media for children requires a different, apparently more shallow appreciation of quality. Let's pretend that a movie that defies all the conventional reasons that movies are good is somehow improved by its target audience.
Then right, it's a movie for babies. That's why we have complicated space politics as the driving force of the stories. It's why they cast Samuel L. Jackson.
Oh, I'm not going to argue that the movies are primarily made for adults. They aren't primarily made for ANYBODY. These abortions that are often laughably referred to as "films" were made to cram every demographic possible into the movie. And it doesn't work.
Here's the thing: The Star Wars films aren't just subpar movies. They're just plain badly done, from the cinematography, to the writing, to the acting. The linked review actually goes through this in great detail(while also putting in a somewhat odd "sub-plot" about pizza rolls and kidnapped/murdered women, but whatever, that sort of dark humor is a bit of a fad with web video series I guess). It's really a well thought-out look at WHY the prequels are so terrible. Not just it sucks because they changed things, but it sucks because it shits on the qualities that make films GOOD, that. The Phantom Menace was falling apart not as a Star Wars film, but as a FILM IN GENERAL from the very first scene.
Watch the goddamn thing if you can find the time, because it comes out as being obscenely arrogant and closed-minded to go ahead and argue against something when you don't even listen to what the other side has to say about the matter.
I have nothing against people being nerds. Most people I know from academic world are bit geeky, but it doesn't prevent them from playing football, going to bar etc. I just don't understand nerd rage I see sometimes in the Internet. Most people have other more important things to do than spend their free time making lenghty videos how much some movie sucks.
I don't think that the Phantom Menace is as crappy movie as people claim it is, but sure it's worst of the series. I watched it first time when I was in the army and after a week of training in the wilderness it offered much needed relaxation. It's not movie masterpiece, but it had enough action and special effects to make it entertaining.
I'm willing to listen arguments of the other side if those are made in the compact form. I don't have time or interest to listen extremely long rants. After all we're only talking about a movie series. I can understand why some people don't like the movie, but what I don't understand is why people go around preaching their hatred against it. Don't they have anything better to do? Star Wars was never meant to be more than light entertainment. I would say that not even the original trilogy has dramatic quality of Shakespeare and it doesn't even try to be that. It's just space adventure with nice special effects.
Seriously, the writing is just as bad... as is the acting.
That's not really what the movie is about though... otherwise it never would become the legend it is...
"Stuff just thrown on screen" does not a good movie make. When there's too much noise on screen, there's no focus in the frame. It's cluttered and messy. I'll get more into that below.
It's hard to make any discussion compact, because what's wrong with the film goes down to the roots of almost every single thing in the frame at any given time, plus several production elements.
But I suppose I can try and make it more digestible.
-There is no central focus, and too much happens at once. In the climax of Episode I, you have Anakin attacking the droid control ship, gungans fighting droids, Amidala capturing the viceroy, and Maul's duel with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. These are four separate subplots, running against each other. Within any given minute you are cutting from tragedy to elated victory. No element is given the time needed to work on its own, because there's a million other things going on at once.
-What are our characters' motivations? Why are they doing what they do? Our first motivation is that
-The plot is full of holes and bad judgement on the characters' part. Why do they go on separate ships down to the planet? Why did the droid army land where they did when their target is on the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PLANET(notice that the fastest way to the Naboo is to go through the planet core. Why do the Jedi Council accept Anakin when there are big neon signs that scream DANGER DANGER DANGER. What is this prophecy of balance in the force, what does it say, why is it important? Why is Obi-Wan able to run forward at faster speeds with the Force in one scene, but doesn't use this power when trying to catch up with Maul? Who is the Trade Federation, why are they doing what they are doing, why are they working with Sidious? What has Sidious promised them? He can't promise political favors because that's kind of a secret. Why does he try to get that treaty signed, thus not allowing for a vote of no confidence in the current Chancellor, allowing him to assume power? I could go on and on and on. Each one of these might be negligible in themselves, but everything just piles up one after the other to create a convoluted mess that the movie makes no attempt to explain.
-The film sucks DUE to the special effects. The humanity is robbed from the film, because the entire thing was produced in a vaccuum. It was a sterile environment free from any diversity. What are the actors interacting with? George Lucas said it best before the Prequels were even a thing
-And hey, how about that galaxy? In IV, V, and V, everything was battered. It was a real world that people had lived in. In episodes I, II, and III? Everyone has JUST built a new building. All devices shine with newness. Every car, surface, everything is just too perfect. In the original series, a sterile environment was that of the Empire, something that differentiated them from the real people. Ordinary guys like Luke Skywalker. Even on Tatooine, many things shimmer with that new car shine.
-Notice the beginning of Phantom Menace, and compare it to the start of A New Hope. In A New Hope, we start with a small ship being attacked by a large ship. A low angle shot is used to show the dominance of the Empire ship in this situation, we have an obscenely long ship showing the kind of disadvantage the rebels are against. We don't need to be told anything, we're shown. In The Phantom Menace, we get some random pilot asking for docking permission, we get our two robed...heroes, I guess, and we get to talking about trade and space taxes. Right, movie for babies. What do the bad guys want? In the first few minutes of Episode IV, we see Vader demand that he get back his plans for a space weapon. Nothing is communicated in Episode I's introduction, everything is communicated in Episode IV's.
Don't you have something better to do than disparaging those who have discussions on a discussion forum? I don't see how that's a more worthwhile passtime. You can have short posts, sure, but if there's not good conversational content then once you've read enough posts to get to the length of a longer, more robust post, you've read a lot of nothing in the same span of time. Now, perhaps your life is important and full of action and adventure and important things. That's great! But then why are you here, telling us to go out and do something more important, when it's obviously beneath you in the first place?
I think that Star Wars is something special. The American Film Institute thinks it is something special. Yes they're simple, but that's part of the thing that makes them so powerful. If something simple is done well, even amazingly well, it rises above just being "another action flick" or a "special effects blockbuster", and a person's opinion isn't validated by shunning it in favor of Shakespeare(personally I'd prefer an example from the same medium, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, David Lynch, or Jean Renoir.
Also, I think Shakespeare is overrated as a storyteller, though not as a man who can excellently establish the flow of his words. The man made jokes intended for the masses, including jabs(for instance) about farts and another characters' mother. The man was a genius when it came to organizing wordplay, though, and that's to be respected.
Now LEGO Star Wars, that's where the good stuff is!
And I changed my answer accordingly once I noticed that you meant to say different thing.
Well, I kind of like it and don't care that much about those flaws.
I like Sam & Max games and I like the Soda Poppers, which is the reason why I started reading this thread. Then I made the mistake and made one casual comment about Star Wars and suddenly I was under attack. I have no interest to argue with you, just because I thought that some Youtube commentator was annoying. If it makes you feel better let's say that you win, because like you said I have better things to do. It's matter of taste and apparently you don't like the new movies, while I thought those were OK. No matter how long we argue it won't change. Besides I like stuff like Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5 more than Star Wars anyways.
I won't comment this Star Wars stuff again, but if you have something to say about Soda Poppers, I'm happy to discuss about it as long as it is a friendly and polite discussion.
Soda... POOPers!
Hahaha! I made a joke!
This recharges annoyance/hate almost in a second.
In any case, their story arc over the first two seasons was wrapped up with a decent sense of finality in 205. They shouldn't be brought back unless their presence is essential to whatever the given season's story happens to be. And really, guys, Telltale's aware of the massively unjustified collective aneurysm they would cause by bringing the Soda Poppers back. Why even begin to worry about such an utterly slim possibility?
Yeah, dude, no. You didn't even have a control group. [/tongue-partway-planted-in-cheek]