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Been watching the original trilogy and TPM again this past week. The original trilogy has what one could consider stilted acting, banal lines and hideous one-liners from almost everyone. Coupled with Luke's whining, how did any of the critics panning EpII ever like the OT (or did they???) Makes you (or at least me) wonder...

Everytime someone makes a criticism of the prequel trilogy someone always comes back with a comparison to the original trilogy whether it be dialogue, acting, or whatever to justify it. Let's just be honest here. The true difference between the OT and the PT are the characters.

In the original trilogy there was something about the characters that kept your interest. I think it was that they acted more "human" or the characters had great chemistry when they were together. These new characters are not interesting in the least and I feel nothing for them. It's like the characters importance come AFTER the special effects and visuals. When that happens something is wrong. If Padme had died in EP1 or EP2 I wouldn't feel a thing because her character is so blah who cares. Same goes for Mace Windu, Jar Jar, Qui-Gon (didn't feel a thing when he died). None of these characters bring anything worthwhile to the movie. And when the characters aren't interesting you never get any sense of danger or excitement because you simply don't care for them. Everyone knows Anakin, Yoda, and Obi Wan's fate so there's really no sense of danger when they get in trouble because you know they're not gonna die.

And after all this it leaves you nothing to focus on but great visuals and action sequences. Everything else in between is just a filler until the next action sequence comes. All that in a nutshell is why I feel the prequel movies so far are mediocre CGI highlight reels with a Star Wars label slapped on'em.

[Robin Warren]

I disagree slightly with you AJ, the one character I DO care about is Obi Wan. I think he is just great, although he did not get a lot to do in the first episode, he certainly gets the spotlight in Episode 2. Even though you know he is going to live, you don't know at what cost.

[Eric Bass]

I'll have to agree on that one. Did any single scene in EpI even come close to Ben's death in IV? Heck I think I felt more when Biggs bought it in the trench than when Qui-Gon got run through. And personally, I never minded Luke's whining. He's just some punk kid in IV so I think it's rather appropriate, that and it makes it that much better in Jedi when he's all in black and single handedly annihilating Jabba's gang. Quite a bit of character development going on there. I'd even go so far as to say that by the time they escape the Death Star in ANH, Luke has already more or less quit his whining.

[Jeff Pounds]

I agree about Obi-Wan.

I've always felt that although the gist of the entire Star Wars saga is the rise, fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker, it is also about the failure and then redemption of Obi-Wan.

The OT left you with the feeling that Anakin's downfall was somewhat Obi-Wan's fault... and Obi-Wan did blame himself for it.

When Luke brings Vader back in ROTJ, both Anakin and Obi-Wan are redeemed.

So while we may know their fates, I can't wait to see how the actions of Obi-Wan and Ankain play out over the next two films.

[Jeff Pounds]

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I'd even go so far as to say that by the time they escape the Death Star in ANH, Luke has already more or less quit his whining.

Are you kidding?... Luke whines and pouts through the entire Dagobah sequence.

[Paul Jenkins]

Yes, I felt bad about Qui Gon's death in EpI, totally unexpected as well when I first watched it, I liked his character and think Liam Neeson was one of the best part of EpI. Just watched it last night, I really enjoy the film, regardless of how much people panned it.

EpI's characters were more formal, that was by design. I expect the characters in EpII to move more towards a less formal nature given the events unfolding. By III, with all hell breaking loose, I expect them to be the 'rebel' factor we see more of in the OT.

I'll reserve judgement until tomorrow, then post what I think of the characters, development and buy-in to what they are going through.

[Matt Stone]

I agree that the problem is the characters. Qui-Gon's death still doesn't do anything for me...but every time I see old Ben smile and disappear, I feel like Luke..."Nooooo!"

I can at least agree about Obi-wan. While I didn't care for his character too much in EP1 he got much better screentime and development in EP2. In the first 10 minutes you could already see Anakin and Obi-wan are at odds with each other, especially with Anakin's backtalking. I could also understand Anakin's frustration at Obi-wan. I know Obi-wan is Anakin's mentor but it seems more like he's over-protective and constantly riding Anakin instead of giving advice like a mentor should. This could also just be my perspective because I grew up with gung-ho Marine for a father and I can identify with it lol.

[Scott McGillivray]

This morning, our local radio station was promoting their midnight showing of Episode 2. While they were talking about it, the one DJ says that while lots of people complained and bashed Episode 1, the early reviews for Episode 2 were even worse! I have no idea where he got that info from!

Personally, I am really banking on Ron's review. I guess I will find out for myself tomorrow night!

[Eric Bass]

I'd blame Yoda for Anakin's training more than Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan 'graduates' from Jedi apprenticeship and then in the same 5 minutes takes on an apprentice? No way Yoda should have allowed that. 'Agree with you the counsil does, your apprentice Skywalker will be' was a bad call.

[Eric Bass]

I don't know if I'd say Luke whines thorughout Dagobah. He's definately impatient and complains a lot, but that fits his character.