Why so much hate on the star wars prequels?

with the sequel trilogy beginning in December I decided to watch all the star wars movies, episodes I-VI. as i was watching attack of the clones, i started to wonder why the prequels got so much hate. i mean yeah, at some points the acting was pretty bad, but overall i think it was a thousand times better than the original trilogy. mainly because of the effects they used (CGI). but that i guess was another main reason why everyone hated it so much. the original trilogy was ok but to me it was kinda of hard to focus on the plot with all the old effects and costumes, with the only exciting parts being the light saber duels. and now J.J. Abrams is making my worst fear come true: out with the CGI and in with the costumes again. anyway i just i want to know the main reasons why everyone is so in love with the original trilogy and hate the prequels, i mean they had faster light saber duels and better effects after all.

To me the prequels were like watching really long video game cutscenes. Lots of flash to try and make a really boring story interesting. I wasn't that impressed by the effects either, to me a lot of the cgi just wasn't very convincing.

I prefer the prequels over the originals...I can appreciate the originals for what they are and the time they were made but the acting is crappy, the dialogue is cheesy and a 5yo could choreograph better lightsaber battles. But for a lot of SW fans the originals were a milestone of their childhood, so anything that comes after cannot compare. Yes, Jar-Jar is annoying, midichlorians were unnecessary and Anakin is a little bitch, I won't deny that but let's not pretend that if the originals were made today they would be seen as a masterpiece of storytelling because Star Wars and stellar storytelling don't really go together anyway.

That generational thing again.......just like with music.

To me the prequels were nowhere near as fun as the original movies.

"Back in my day music had really quality, not like this garbage the new kids listen to!" Which generation says this? All of them.

They looked pretty and honestly, I did enjoy them to some degree, but to say they're better than the prequels is just plain wrong. Objectively. Here, I'll let Mr. Plinkett spell it all out for me (I don't outright hate the movies, but at this point they're a guilty pleasure- these reviews explain exactly why the movies are bad).

Link to the reviews that OP needs to watch.

I'm pretty sure that after watching those, there's not a person on this planet who can argue that they're anywhere near as good as the original trilogy.

@watchdogsrules: You seem to have a very shallow view of movies, nothing wrong with that but it would account for the discrepancy between opinions in question. I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to movies and I thought they were just fine, not good and for sure not better than the original though. I am pretty excited for the new one.

because they're bad

They simply weren't good. Bad characters, awful writing, and unbelievable actions. The one exception being Revenge of the Sith which for the most part was pretty good.

I don't really get your negatives for the originals. Sure, you can say that the acting and dialogue was crappy in the original trilogy, but the acting and dialogue in the prequels is definitely far worse.

The action in the originals isn't as flashy, However, it was all used to advance the story and create tension between the characters. If you compare the end lightsaber fight of Phantom Menace to the lightsaber duel in Empire Strikes Back, it is a massive difference in storytelling and characterization. Phantom Menace is just dudes pointlessly fighting for 6 minutes for flashy action. The jedi don't really know who Darth Maul is and the audience doesn't really know who he is either. At the end, Qui-Gon dies, a crappy character that had no personality and little characterization. Empire Strikes Back duel is part of Luke's journey of overcoming the greater challenge and becoming a jedi. At the end of the duel, It is revealed that Vader is Luke's father. This is a shocking twist which adds greater depth to both Obi-wan and Vaders characters in the trilogy. It also completely changes Luke's perspective on Vader and his family history. Vader attempts to persuade his son to join the dark side, Luke commits a noble sacrifice of suicide instead of joining the monster that was his father.

Again, the prequels are flashier, but the emotional pay off and storytelling doesn't come close the original trilogy.

@JangoWuzHere: I felt absolutely no emotion watching any of the SW movies and it was never something I decided to watch because I thought the story was amazing...yes the SW universe has amazing potential but the originals weren't it. "No, I am your father" is one of the most cringe-worthy moments in movies for me...every Han Solo one-liner is right up that alley as well. That out of the way at least the battles in the prequels were flashy like you said...that fight between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon was quite enjoyable to me...sure I didn't really care about the characters but I didn't really care about Luke and his fate either.

My point is not that the prequels were good...my point is that the originals were also bad...all 6 episodes were entertaining enough for me and I quite enjoy SW related stuff but I don't understand why people feel that there's so much difference between the new and the old. Star Wars will never amount to more than "It would be cool to be a Jedi" to me...wouldn't be my first choice for story, plot, character progression...it just has an amazingly extensive universe and the concept is great.

Two syllables. Jar-Jar.

They are awful fucking movies with terrible plots, horrid dialogue and nearly nonsensical continuity.

They place special effects over quality movie making, unlike the first three films, which were labours of love from the whole team.

...........Because they're steaming piles of dogshit created by a talentless hack?

Because they're horrible! The only time I enjoyed them was when I was a kid. I can't help but cringe and grind my teeth at them now.

The original trilogy is FAR better than the prequels.....not even close.

No kidding. Even those who were kids a decade ago are starting to do the same thing.

As for the Star Wars movies, I thought all of them were cheesy as far as story and dialogue went. My main draw to the franchise was the big space battles.

To be honest, I think the ST: DS9 Dominion War space battles already topped those in Star Wars.

I agree that the original trilogy isn't THAT good. But dude...Star Wars (aka Episode IV A New Hope) was fairly freaking solid and Empire Strikes Back was ACTUALLY good.

And this is coming from someone who actually (mostly) doesn't mind the prequels. I think rthat people go way overboard with the prequel hate, and the original trilogy was never THAT good to begin with. But OVERALL, I'm still gonna say that the original trilogy was better than the prequel trilogy.

I prefer the prequels than the original but thats not saying much since I hated almost all of them

to over rated eh?

Yeah.

@Gamerno6666: For me many of the actors ruined it :p

The pre-quels had entertaining "parts" and set-pieces but on the whole they are horrible tragedies compared to the originals. I liked the Battle Droid army on Naboo and pod-racing in the first one, the beginning of the Clone Wars in the second one and the opening capital ship battle in the third one. But overall the acting was horrible the characters tended to be stupid and or whiny (especially Anakin in the 2nd), and overall they failed at telling solid stories like the originals.

I love all 6 movies. The writing is bad in the prequels but I still enjoy them and probably watch them more than the originals. Really hoping that Obi Wan spin-off with Ewan McGregor happens.

Nope. The prequels are simply worse. It's not a generational thing. Thinking the original trilogy is some kind of masterpiece is a nostalgia thing though.

Never really minded the prequels. Sure for me they weren't as good as the first three movies, but then again that was a pretty high bar to reach. The kid playing Anakin in the first movie was downright annoying to even listen to. Once you got past his poor acting and annoying voice. The rest of the movies weren't all that bad.

Have some bad acting at times and not all that great writting and plots. But I like them more so then the originals. Felt far more like starwars based in galazies then just simply a nurf hurder and his band of missfits.

they ranged anywhere between bad and mediocre when the bar was set very very high.

He only directed ep IV ANH. He didn't direct ESB or RotJ.

I guess most people just think CGI is cheap and over used.

Okay. I already knew that and I don't see what it has to do with my post, but thanks for the information.

Bad acting. Bad scripts. Bad writing.

Shitty writing, ridiculous plot points.. They made Anakin, the center point of the prequels, an insufferable jackass... He is not likable in ANY Of the movies.. People gave Jar Jar Binks shit but at least the movie set out he was meant to be a bumbling idiot that does embarrassing thing.. Anakin was a serious main character who was a bumbling idiot that did embarrassing things.. The third movie was the cherry on top of the turd sundae which really shows that Lucas can't do character development worth shit.. Anakin wounds a jedi to save the emperor, and then suddenly we see him fucking killing children the next scene? If people actually want to see what good writing looks like when it comes to a character falling read something like the Horus Heresy books.

Terrible acting, dialogue, various characters, pacing, writing, scripts, etc.

Only Episode 3 was close to decent.

I had a Star Wars marathon and watched all six. They all feel about the same (cheesiness) to me except for the original trilogy having an older cast while the prequels seem directed more at a younger audience.

The first movie has grown on me through the years. It's less CGI heavy and action focused than it's sequels, the villain doesn't get overused and I quite like the young Anakin Skywalkers story arc. A non logical story doesn't really bother me, as people have picked it apart to hell, the main problem is that it's a bit po faced, not really much in the way of fun characters.

The Hobbit movies (2/3) are much worse imo.

Well, recently I watched the original trilogy for the first time to get myself ready for the new one . Honestly, while I kind of see why they were so beloved, and how impressive they may have appeared back in the day, I can't really say I enjoyed them. I may have felt different if Star wars movies were a part of my childhood.

I love it. Even though now that I am a bit older I see where the hate is coming from, but I still think that most people are overreacting. I'd say its a pretty solid trilogy with some truly epic moments.

I loved em' all. Also I hate anyone who hates on Jar Jar Blinx, he was my dawg.

If you're looking for a good reason, watch the Plinkett reviews, which are way more interesting than the actual films. The top video is part one and part two below. There's much more where that came from. He did reviews for the other two movies as well.

Obvious troll is obvious

While I'm not a big fan of CGI I do think that it was used fairly well to show a lot of the star wars universe in the prequels. My main problem is the silliness of the three movies as well as the acting. The kid playing Anakin in the first one was pretty bad, but he's a kid so it's kinda hard to hold him to crazy standards. Hayden Christensen I'm far less forgiving of however as I he is older and just a bore. Beyond that the dialogue is written in ways that nobody actually speaks which is jarring to say the least.

It's not as if they are the worst films ever (people tend to get a little too into their own hatred of films imo), but it just let sooo many people down that a lot of people find it unforgivable.

I thought they had all of the cheese and none of the heart of the old ones. Hell, Lucas even made the original trilogy worse over the years.

CGI was the main thing that killed the prequels IMO. I remember watching videos of the actors through Episodes I-III saying that there was never a single day where they were not in a big green room. Personally, I think that is what made another main reason why the movies sucked which was the acting. It's hard to act when you are always told "Ok, this thing is now in front of you, wave your hand in this specific pattern" or "Act surprised" etc. The characters did a good job working together under the circumstances and deserve a lot more credit. If the movie had more practical effects and actual sets then I'm sure the movies would have been 10x better. Also, someone fucked up really bad in the Palpatine vs Jedi scene where he moves in super speed and stabs jedi in the back who were originally facing him with lightsabers in hand but magically started facing vases and walls. What the hell, did they see a spider or something?

I hated the prequels. I didn't even bother watching the last one.

Terribad dialogue.