Since I'm trying to be more prolific in my writing and because it's a good way to kill time while waiting for the workday to end, I've decided to do my first movie review for the new year...That movie is Star Wars: The Last Jedi. When I first watched it--in 3-D--I was loving life and I almost immediately proclaimed it one of the best entries in the franchise--right up there with Empire and Rogue One. After a few days passed and I read other reviews and discussions, I can see that I may have been initially too enthusiastic in my assessment. Now, I won't let the naysayers talk me out of saying it was a good movie. Given the chance I'd watch it again in a heartbeat, but I understand where they're coming from with the criticism...and even how some might outright hate the movie. I'd still give it at least 3/5 stars and more like 4/5. There is a lot of " amazing, CGI spectacle" especially in the side-mission that may not hold up on future viewings. These scenes reminded me of the prequels and that's what I really want to talk about. Strangely not to bury them, but to go on a little rant that I've wanted to go on for a long time.
Star Wars Prequels vs. The Hobbit
I should have written this ages ago when The Hobbit finally wrapped up, so I won't belabor my points too much. Almost everyone would agree that neither of these prequel trilogies approach the quality of their original predecessors--does that sentence make any sense? I guess you know what I mean. Since we're nerds and all we will sometimes debate which one was best anyway. For me, based on theatrical releases 'The Hobbit' movies would win. Phantom Menace sucks hard, The Clone Wars is far too underwhelming with the bad parts outweighing the good, and although Revenge of the Sith makes for a thrilling conclusion, it just can't salvage the rest of the series--and it's far from perfect itself. On the other hand, An Unexpected Journey never reaches the heights that it should have, The Desolation of Smaug is almost impossible to get through and jammed packed with silliness that could just as easily been omitted, and The Battle of the Five Armies--though again the best of the trilogy for me--tries too hard to connect with TLOTR when it doesn't need to. Adding extra characters or sticking them where they don't belong didn't help either.
So, what's the point of this--if any? Fan edits. If you haven't watched any of the Star Wars prequel fan edits, you owe it to yourself to remedy this. Several are available on YouTube and most whittle the bloated lackluster trilogy into one awesome--albeit very long--single movie. Most of them rely heavily on Revenge of the Sith which as I said, is already decent on its own--and cut the crap out of Phantom Menace, but at the end of the day they prove a good movie was there. Even "The Fandom Menace", which I believe was the first edit focusing only on the first film, makes it into something much better than its initial theatrical release. On the other hand, I don't think you can edit The Hobbit trilogy down and come up with anything better than it is. The silliness in the Hobbit runs through every film. If you removed it, the movie would be incomprehensible. With all of this considered, I say the Star Wars prequel trilogy is better than the Hobbit one...just don't watch the original versions.
Star Wars Prequels vs. The Hobbit
I should have written this ages ago when The Hobbit finally wrapped up, so I won't belabor my points too much. Almost everyone would agree that neither of these prequel trilogies approach the quality of their original predecessors--does that sentence make any sense? I guess you know what I mean. Since we're nerds and all we will sometimes debate which one was best anyway. For me, based on theatrical releases 'The Hobbit' movies would win. Phantom Menace sucks hard, The Clone Wars is far too underwhelming with the bad parts outweighing the good, and although Revenge of the Sith makes for a thrilling conclusion, it just can't salvage the rest of the series--and it's far from perfect itself. On the other hand, An Unexpected Journey never reaches the heights that it should have, The Desolation of Smaug is almost impossible to get through and jammed packed with silliness that could just as easily been omitted, and The Battle of the Five Armies--though again the best of the trilogy for me--tries too hard to connect with TLOTR when it doesn't need to. Adding extra characters or sticking them where they don't belong didn't help either.
So, what's the point of this--if any? Fan edits. If you haven't watched any of the Star Wars prequel fan edits, you owe it to yourself to remedy this. Several are available on YouTube and most whittle the bloated lackluster trilogy into one awesome--albeit very long--single movie. Most of them rely heavily on Revenge of the Sith which as I said, is already decent on its own--and cut the crap out of Phantom Menace, but at the end of the day they prove a good movie was there. Even "The Fandom Menace", which I believe was the first edit focusing only on the first film, makes it into something much better than its initial theatrical release. On the other hand, I don't think you can edit The Hobbit trilogy down and come up with anything better than it is. The silliness in the Hobbit runs through every film. If you removed it, the movie would be incomprehensible. With all of this considered, I say the Star Wars prequel trilogy is better than the Hobbit one...just don't watch the original versions.
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