movies/tv Prequel Trilogy vs. Sequel Trilogy (which Star Wars trilogy out of the two do you think is better?)

[AlicornSpell 146]

I think the Prequel Trilogy is a lot better. The Sequel Trilogy made the other two trilogies pointless, and the way that it ended is very insulting to the whole series. 

[Megas 28,101]

On an objective level

RotS>TFA>>>TLJ>TPM>>>RoS>AotC

Personally speaking

RotS>TFA>TPM>AotC>TLJ>RoS

RotS and TFA I still think are genuinely good films. I probably hate TLJ and RoS the most out of all of these, but as movies Attack of the Clones was the worst movie out of the bunch. Overall I still have to give it to the Prequels just because they tell their own story and offered something completely new to the Star Wars universe as opposed to the Sequels which just felt like a worse retelling of the OT, not to mention RoS ended the entire saga in the worst way imaginable, pissing both the people who liked and hated TLJ, as well as fans of the previous trilogies pleasing absolutely no one, as opposed to RotS which despite its glaring flaws(Anakin killing kids mainly. I understand why this sort of scene exists but it makes him irredeemable), it serves as a good conclusion to the prequels

Rogue One is still the best post OT Star Wars Movie, which, given it's a side movie and not part of the main saga, I think probably reflects pretty poorly on both of these lol

 

[Chadbacca 375]

While I did enjoy The Force Awakens despite being mainly a retread of A New Hope, the Prequel Trilogy has two things that the Sequel Trilogy ultimately failed at: A cohesive story and proper world building. It also helps matters that Star Wars: The Clone Wars did fix the issues people had with the prequels at the time, and it did give us who would become one of the best characters in all of Star Wars: Ahsoka Tano. Ergo, I have to give it the Prequel Trilogy hands down.

 

Edit: I should also mention that I was one of the people that actually liked The Last Jedi initially, but after The Rise of Skywalker, I eventually came to the conclusion with how much of a mess that movie was and the apparent lack of a proper plan for the Sequel Trilogy that I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy TFA and TLJ as much as I used to.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Chad327

[Misty Shadow 8,200]

The prequel films by far. The prequel films were lackluster, but at least they had some semblance of world building and story crafting. George Lucas needed to be surrounded by more people willing to tell him, "No.", but at least some of the stupid stuff he injected into the movies is unintentionally hilarious. The Disney films on the other hand...where do we even begin.  They started off okay, but things spiraled downhill quickly with their laughable mismanagement, putting a different director who admitted to not liking Star Wars in charge of TLJ. That movie made it obvious they didn't even have an actual plan for the trilogy before they admitted as such, since their primary focus was getting one movie out a year, ergo, raking in the money. 

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,825]

As much as I liked the sequel trilogy, Imma have to go with the prequel trilogy. The prequel did an excellent job at worldbuilding and setting up for the main trilogy. The sequel trilogy feels like it was setting up for a new generation but the execution was just not there. 

[Sir Hugsalot 9,367]

Prequel trilogy to me, even though let's face it... Lucas truly did not shine there and prequels suffered many issues. Let's face it, for vast majority of us prequels are great, because of nostalgia. CGI did not age well to say the least, dialogues are wooden and I don't think any actor would sell lines like "I hate sand" in believable way. Prequels are... pretty much my childhood and to this day I sometimes dream of owning my own lightsaber thanks to them ;D 

Sequels... I enjoyed them personally to some extent, but I can tell writing process was just chaotic mess from miles away. I don't like Palpatine being alive in ep IX as it was obvious lack of idea as to who can be made a villain (and privately I was happy Disney erased Palpatine's endless resurrections from canon until that happened). The interesting thing I've noticed is plenty of people who started their Star Wars journey with these do like sequels the most. And sincerely... it's fine. I love how Star Wars can connect generations and am more than happy to see people being sucked into the franchise by Kylo Ren, who despite all was amazing villain and I really dig concept of him being embodiement of conflict. I REALLY hope he will be given more depth in the future. 

[Astralshy 29,284]

For me it's prequel trilogy too. There were not perfect movies, it could easily be made a very extensive list of weak things, but I still prefer them. Not only but also for nostalgic reasons. So I enjoy them more than the sequel but less than the original movies. But to be fair, I'm also not a die heart fan of Star Wars, but I really enjoyed it too.

From what I've seen and heard so far this seems to go for great majority of Star Wars fans which is kinda interesting remembering how much backlash this prequel trilogy had back in the day.

[Oleks 1,994]

Watching 2 out of 3 sequels was a waste of my time, so the prequel trilogy is better, in my opinion, because at least I have some fond childhood memories about it.

Plus, it has my favorite SW character.

Spoiler

 

[Fluttershutter 2,917]

Prequels by far. They had a story.

The sequels were part remake, part reboot, part parody. 

[EpicEnergy 23,246]

I love the sequels more than I do the prequels, they have better aesthetics and better characters. My favorite Star Wars movie still remains Revenge of The Sith.

[Prospekt 11,035]

It looks like y'all are overwhelmingly choosing the prequels and honestly, I completely agree. The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones don't annoy me like they do with a lot of fans who prefer the original trilogy. There are flaws but they aren't as irritating as stuff like the entire Canto Bight subplot in The Last Jedi. And I'm aware that this is very cliché, but I do believe it's true: Rey is badly written. Finn is sidelined when he has the potential to be on par with Rey as another Force-sensitive hero who actually does important things.

I love Anakin's character arc in the prequels. It's even better when you watch The Clone Wars and see how it changes him. Some people think Anakin is just whiny and immature as an adult, but something about it just makes him seem more human, more believable. So it's more of a shock when you see how far he falls in Revenge of the Sith when he chooses the Sith and ends up turning into someone as ominous as the Darth Vader we know in the original trilogy and Star Wars Rebels. I love Obi-Wan's arc. I love Palpatine's rise to power (even though it's a bit ridiculous that he was able to hide his true nature from the Jedi as well as he did).

[Sir Hugsalot 9,367]

2 hours ago, Prospekt said:

It looks like y'all are overwhelmingly choosing the prequels and honestly, I completely agree. The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones don't annoy me like they do with a lot of fans who prefer the original trilogy. There are flaws but they aren't as irritating as stuff like the entire Canto Bight subplot in The Last Jedi. And I'm aware that this is very cliché, but I do believe it's true: Rey is badly written. Finn is sidelined when he has the potential to be on par with Rey as another Force-sensitive hero who actually does important things.

I love Anakin's character arc in the prequels. It's even better when you watch The Clone Wars and see how it changes him. Some people think Anakin is just whiny and immature as an adult, but something about it just makes him seem more human, more believable. So it's more of a shock when you see how far he falls in Revenge of the Sith when he chooses the Sith and ends up turning into someone as ominous as the Darth Vader we know in the original trilogy and Star Wars Rebels. I love Obi-Wan's arc. I love Palpatine's rise to power (even though it's a bit ridiculous that he was able to hide his true nature from the Jedi as well as he did).

Sincerely, it's true Anakin is whiny, but people seem to be biased by Darth Vader being a certified bad*** and rather stoic and charismatic villain who fills hearts of his enemies with dread. Even there they forget Anakin's softness as he gives up his life to save Luke and end Emperor's reign. Last thing he wanted from life is to look at his son with no mask standing in the way. He was no longer a menacing figure, but a father who wants to bid final farewell to the son he loves. Even with entire suit on he no longer instilled fear with his presence.

Anakin faced high expectations mixed with certain amount of disdain from some, Windu in particular was generally harsh towards him. Obi Wan despite all his greatness as a jedi wasn't capable of thinking "outside the box" - something necesarry to trian a troubled, insecure soul Anakin was. He wasn't Qui Gon - his mindset was restricted by rules of jedi order, the latter openly questioned. 

Anakin faced many common "teen" problems, not knowing how to face romantic emotions included. He got no father figure to guide him through those, instead he was pummeled with demands to just "let go" as if that's an easy thing to do. That was exploited by Sidious, who instead of calming Anakin, purposely made him more and more frustrated, guiding him towards the path of mental collapse. 

In many ways Anakin felt relatable to many of us as we were teenagers back then. Some of us felt misunderstood. Some of us were misguided. Some became edgy and rebelious in a very bad way. Anakin impersonated consequences of it. Bad writing in some cases aside his story was a very good one. Especially when clone wars got released and we had a chance to grasp how truly bad treatment of Anakin by the jedi council was. 

 

I think sequels held a lot potential (vague nonsense, I know...) but their biggest sin was absolute lack of any roadmap. As artistic freedom supporter I still think just letting directors do everything with no guidance was plain dumb idea. It just could NOT work, those 3 movies felt so detached from each other, and the last one in many ways felt like a passive agressive jab towards Rian Johnson. It's such a shame Rey became just another child who was lucky to be born into talented family, overall... I think that's the best way to sum up sequels: lost potential. I hope The Mandalorian and other works that are in the making will manage to make these movies feel less detached. 

[Cash In 23,091]

While both trilogies had their problems, I can definitely get much more enjoyment out of the PT. The execution had issues, but the overall story and themes were actually pretty good. I genuinely like Revenge of the Sith as much as the original films. The ST had good ideas, but a lot of them fell flat on their face, which is unfortunate. I think The Force Awakens was alright, but I could not enjoy the other two at all.

[Will Guide 21,371]

If you ask me the prequel films were vindicated by history and chances are no matter how terrible the sequel trilogy might be to a lot of people right now it too will get some love in the future

[Denim&Venöm 20,431]

The prequel trilogy. 

The sequels failed for the simple reason of Checkhov's lightsaber. An entire movie building for the return of Luke Skywalker. And it meant nothing. That's the theme of sequels. Meaninglessness. Everything you knew. Everything that was built up. Everything that was built up in the prior six films. None of it mattered. 

[Fluttershutter 2,917]

On 2021-05-30 at 12:04 PM, Denim&Venöm said:

The prequel trilogy. 

The sequels failed for the simple reason of Checkhov's lightsaber. An entire movie building for the return of Luke Skywalker. And it meant nothing. That's the theme of sequels. Meaninglessness. Everything you knew. Everything that was built up. Everything that was built up in the prior six films. None of it mattered. 

Chekov's lightsaber?

[BritishBrony2012 858]

I pick sequel trilogy, it maybe a silly reason but it has three of my favourite Star Wars Character, BB8, Porgs and D0. Believe sequels has alot of hate.

[Dreambiscuit 11,213]

The prequel trilogy is better by far. There’s always been a lot of backlash against the prequels because everyone wanted them to be the same as the original trilogy. But George made it very clear that he wasn’t going to take it in that direction, no matter how commercially successful that would be. The prequels were a personal project he wanted to make for himself and as a gift to the fans who wanted to see what came before Star Wars ANH. Whether or not they’re considered as good as the original trilogy, let’s keep in mind that George was in his early 30s when he made Star Wars, and in his mid 50s when he started the prequels. Not every artist is necessarily as sharp, focused and hungry as they were when they were young and in their prime, and maintaining his own established standards is a tall order as it is. People age, perspectives change over time, and the world becomes a different place. This is going to be reflected in their work, for better or worse. I think the prequels were fearless in that George told the story he wanted to tell, and wasn’t fettered by a board room checklist of what the latest demographic demanded. Disney doesn’t make a move without their team of bureaucrats calling the shots, and that too is reflected in the final product. The main difference with Disney is that despite a fandom desperate for a sequel, and the added punch of the original trilogy characters to put it over the top, they still treated it as a property to be exploited for monetary gain. George was about the art, Disney is about the money, and it showed. The sequel films took the main thing they had going for them, the classic characters, and relegated them to supporting, cameo or non-existent status; using them for promotion while the egotistic studio ‘fan boys’ (so-called) put their lackluster template characters first. I mean, what’s the deal? The very first episode sees Han bumped off, Luke nowhere to be seen and Artoo spending the whole movie under a freaking tarp! And despite a contract stipulation, by which Lucas’ story outline was to be used for the sequel trilogy, and upon which the sale of Lucasfilm was contingent, Disney ignored Lucas’ creative input in favor of what? A thin remake and a laughable mess that looks like it was scribbled on the back of a cocktail napkin, with absolutely no knowledge, understanding or fidelity to the original stories or characters. If they’d have cared at all about the fans who waited 32 years to see the classic characters again, they might have at least had the humility to consult the guy who invented them. Fans gobbled it up at first because they were desperate, but most of them caught on eventually. Unfortunately Disney continues to rely on the strategy that there’s a new sucker born every minute, which makes it very hard on the rest of us, who have lived and breathed Star Wars long before The Mouse ever got his hooks into it.