http://s30.postimg.org/d32nl9p3l/rbq_YRTN.png

 

 

Starting to work it out now. Feel free to send over any last rates.

 

 

While you wait to see how Buzzjack ranked, here's some journalists' ranking of the films:

 

The Wrap

Business Insider

Forbes

 

Looking forward to this Joe, hoping Phantom Menace doesn't come bottom and The Force Awakens wins despite being really recent :heart: :heart:

#7 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

HIGH: T Boy (10), Spinning Adam (9.5), Josh Josh Binks (9)

LOW: Explozian (1), dandy* (1), Jonjo (2.5) notfurlong (3), Rooney (3), Mack (3)

AVERAGE: 5.28

 

http://45.media.tumblr.com/a94fb31e0c7d99d038bab3f9b7946d2d/tumblr_nsl9zyqzoy1uqpywgo1_500.gif

 

 

 

When opening the rate I was never sure what the exact ordering of the films would be but always assumed Phantom Menace would be last as it's known infamously for being "the worst" Star Wars film, it's ranked last in every fan or journo list I've ever seen until now. But I always like a surprise.

 

I re-watched them all recently, so that I could go for a second viewing of The Force Awakens. I have to say, none of 1 - 3 were anywhere near as bad as I remember. And there are aspects that are great in Attack of the Clones. Firstly, there is the fight between Obi-Wan and Jango Fett in the rain, which I thought was brilliantly choreographed, atmospheric and slick. Secondly, there's the Yoda-fight, which at the time came as a surprise to everyone, as whilst being somewhat humorous, I think was seen, generally as a positive - though it doesn't quite gel with the older ideas of Yoda being a master of wisdom, rather than combat, which a lot of fans took issue with.

http://45.media.tumblr.com/5156ea71d792b859c2cde5fbf018b571/tumblr_nzjxrg3IGn1sbqrlmo3_500.gif

 

One of the other aspects of the prequels that I really enjoyed was the expanded mythology of the jedi, it was great to see more than just Yoda and Obi-Wan in action, even if we didn't get to spend enough time with a lot of them. Seeing dozens of Jedi's blue and green sprinting through the battle field at the same time, was a visual treat. I do, however, think Lucas got a bit too reliant to outdoing every last light-saber fest, see General Grievous in episode III.

 

With the few positives I can think of out of the way, let's have a look at some of the reasons this failed to impress Buzzjack. First and foremost, after finishing the episode, it feels rather pointless, as a viewer, you feel as though you've not really progressed in the story any further than you had at the end of Phantom. Which would be fine had they made the characters a bit more interesting and complex. Instead we're given a cardboard cut out romance, which is so terribly written, it was difficult to decide whether Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen could actually act or if they were just struggling with the script THAT MUCH. Luckily Portman redeemed herself some years later winning an Oscar, poor Christensen retired from acting.

http://49.media.tumblr.com/c7f6ec0651117d0df70263de31462ed5/tumblr_nsl9zyqzoy1uqpywgo3_400.gif

 

The reliance on CGI is also worse here than in Phantom, some of the landscapes are indeed beautiful and well designed, but it's a complete overkill, particularly the scenes on Coruscant, the city itself looked great but all the flying car business was just too much.

 

Mace Windu and his purple lightsaber seemed to divide opinions. You decide.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/f97d4fc50c783ca91d4befda4cd8e415/tumblr_mv6tt2VuTg1qffiy2o2_500.gif

 

 

I do love Attack Of The Clones but it belongs in 7th! The first hour of the movie is a plod and as has been mentioned so many times, the love story is horrific!

However I love it from when the battle stars in that like sandy arena thing and love the movie from there onwards :wub:

What a brilliant write up Joe! But yes a deserved last place for II, the weakest for me. I do like the Obi-Wan and Jango Fett fight but it's let down by so many other dud moments. It's not a bad film per se, but in comparison to the others it is lacklustre.

I thought Phantom would be last too, until I saw the first few rates. All films are 11/10 for me really, but this one was a tad less exciting. Did love the arena scene, along with Yoda vs Dooku, Jango vs Obi Wan and the scene with Obi and Anakin tracking down the bounty hunter but yeah I guess the love story theme covering most of the movie did kind of weigh down the action scenes a little. Mace Windu's impakting gif tho :wub:

 

But yay for my choice of last place being last place :cheer:

Edited January 11, 20169 yr by Rachel Spadzten

Clones is underrated though I still view it through the eyes of a teenager.

 

And as much as Christensen and Portman are clunky throughout, the scene where Anaking confesses that he killed the Tusken Raiders is one of my favourites in the saga. Such emotion.

The Battle of Geonosis is probably my favourite scene in a Star Wars movie, such a visual feast like you say *-*

#6 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menance

HIGH: Josh Josh Binks (10), Spinning Adam (10), Iz~ (10), UltraChristmas (9.5)

LOW: dandy* (3), Explozian (3), notfurlong (4), Severin (4), Jonjo (4)

AVERAGE: 6.39

 

 

 

Well done to the Phantom Menace not being last in one of these ranks, and comfortably, too! Upon my re-watch of this recently, I was really surprised at how many elements I managed to enjoy. The film as a whole, was a little, too ambitious unfortunately, where George Lucas lost a lot of the subtle magic of the originals. However, he upped the game in so many ways. Firstly, despite having very little dialogue, Darth Maul is one of the best villains Star Wars has offered. Though, as mentioned above, the the quirky lightsaber attempts have been a bit "done" at his point, Maul's double ended...lightsaber is the first time we'd seen anything other than the regular red/green/blue sabers. The twice-as-red weapon was at the time, something unique in the film itself, as well as the marketing in the run up to its release. Unfortunately, Maul met his untimely death at the end of the film, being sliced in half by Obi Wan, but not after taking down Qui-Gon Jinn beforehand. The battle, with all the force-field doors, and platforms, is a masterclass in on-screen choreography, and is probably one of Star Wars' most accomplished moments. One of the things that has not aged quite as well in the original trilogy (controversial time) is the sabre battles, which, now seem very clunky and slow. It's not just the Maul/Obi/Jinn battle, but in fact, there are about 4 climaxes happening at the same time at the end of Phantom - and the whole thing is pretty exciting...

 

http://31.media.tumblr.com/1967d6689fff4683b8b2c20ce448e27f/tumblr_mgjslp9ZEL1s0iu6xo2_500.gif

 

...It's just a shame about the rest of the film.

 

 

 

 

 

Firstly, the politics were easily confused and brought the film down a great deal. Even as a 27 year old, I find the opening scroll pretty confusing, which is not a great start for this kind of film. Even though she served a purpose for a (very boring) aspect of the plot and I really liked the Queen Amidala as a concept (costumes on point), her storyline just fell flat for me, even though Padme showed moments of hope, which were short lived, because it soon went into a terrible romance.

 

 

There's also the pod-race, which I always have to skip. Some people loved it, some hated it. It was nice to see Jabba, but that's about it. It took up way to much screen time, and felt like too much of a pointless CGI showcase.

But there is one thing that people see as the main reason for this film's critical failure, and that's, of course, Jar Jar Binks, a character that has just gotten even more annoying all these years later, he was created to "appeal to the younger generation", and it totally put off most of the Star Wars fans. What an insufferable fool.

Yay not last. I honestly find there's so much to love about it. Darth Maul is an outstanding Star Wars villain, we know so little about him and he's so menacing, I really love Liam Neeson's performance as a zen, careful Qui-Gon, Duel Of The Fates, the fact it's detached from the main story yet shows some connectors to the rest of it. The thing is, the Skywalker narrative throughout the rest of the films is so dominant yet I'm not a big fan of it except when it gets really good (like the confrontation in the Bespin shaft). Here, it's of so little relevance I can just ignore a 9 year old kid being a 9 year old kid for the rest of the scenes.

 

Great commentary Joe, I must say though, I find the Podrace one my favourite parts of the film, while I don't actually find any of it slow-paced compared to the middles of II and III it's a good high-octane sequence to ramp up that part of the film. I'm probably the only one, but I really like the deleted scene where they read out the names of many of the other podracers, for one it helps with immersion, for another it helps bring back memories of playing Episode I Racer family come to wish him well (and the two-headed announcers take great pains at telegraphing how awful it is, wife just got out of the hospital, tons of freaky alien kids cheering their dad on etc)

 

As for Jar Jar, I just find him hilarious. Always have really. He hardly screams 'kids marketing' to me, he's not even that nice to look at and it's like he's intentionally there to get people riled up. I of course love that. Plus I think now I've read into the Darth Jar Jar theory, I'm going to be looking at it all the time when watching Episode I and thinking 'yes, that does make a twisted sort of sense'.

Apart from Jar Jar the first film was a great start to the prequel trilogy. It was the film that started to put it all together so I'm glad it didn't finish last :D

I gave it a 10 but I think it is my 3rd least favourite of the franchise, in front of Empire and Clone Wars. I do feel Darth Maul needed more of an appearance though. And his double ended lightsaber!!

The thing with Jar Jar is that I genuinely struggle to even understand what he's saying most of the time, and when I do get it, it's just something useless or annoying. I should like him, I usually go for those hinge/under-appreciated characters but he is just horrendous.

 

This is going perfectly so far! III out next please ~

The thing with Jar Jar is that I genuinely struggle to even understand what he's saying most of the time, and when I do get it, it's just something useless or annoying. I should like him, I usually go for those hinge/under-appreciated characters but he is just horrendous.

 

 

Shannon from LOST :'(

I love Jar Jar shamelessly tbh. He was hilarious to a 10 year old me and I can even enjoy him ironically at 27. Is he annoying? Of course he is! That's the point! Pretty much every character bar Padme finds him annoying in the film. Even child Anakin throws shade his way.

I didn't mind Jar Jar at the time - I was a child! But I get why he was so hated. He was purely CGI and I think fans took issue with that, plus I don't know how much George Lucas really thought about the fans. Any franchise/artist/TV show etc. etc. is nothing without it's fans, he really made this film without thinking about them.

Annoying is one thing but Jar Jar Binks is borderline racist and he's even more cringe worthy now than he was 20 years ago

I also get borderline racist vibes from Jar Jar which put me off him, plus as a comic relief character, he was flawed as he simply was not remotely funny. And pointless, I mean after the first film, what's the point of him? (though I assume Lucas took the criticism on board!).

 

But yeah the Darth Maul/Obi Wan/Qui Gon lightsaber battle and Qui Gon and Maul in general were interesting characters and did save Episode 1, it also looks REALLY GOOD visually which always made it a better watch than Episode 2, which had Hayden Christensen, a weak villain Dooku (and a painfully underused one in Jango Fett) and nothing truly amazing until the battle of Geonosis.

 

Watching Phantom... back recently and I definitely understand how many view it as the worst though, overly complex plot and some quite laughable acting, particularly from the Queen (oh Natalie :drama:), plus the story put far too much weight on Anakin as this really special child when he's literally just a standard bratty kid, and not a particular likeable one either. Don't get me started on him 'accidentally' piloting a fighter and destroying the space station.

Edited January 12, 20169 yr by Chez Wombat

I also get borderline racist vibes from Jar Jar which put me off him, plus as a comic relief character, he was flawed as he simply was not remotely funny. And pointless, I mean after the first film, what's the point of him? (though I assume Lucas took the criticism on board!).

 

Yeah that seems to be it. They definitely planned to do some extra things with the character that got scrapped after the reaction to The Phantom Menace, the voice actor himself has gone on record as saying so. Anyone who hasn't read this, do so, it might be all bullshit but it makes a surprising amount of sense to me and explains his (limited) role in the other two films to an extent: https://www.reddit.com/comments/3qvj6w . It also explains why Dooku was such a weak villain, obviously all the new trilogy stuff they mention isn't going to happen but as a view into what could have been with his character it's enlightening. tl;dr of theory

Jar Jar was supposed to be the prequel trilogy's Dark Side Yoda, originally appearing annoying and idiotic but becoming cogent and a total bast*rd later, including fighting with Yoda at the end of II, but they waited far too long and didn't execute it right

 

 

If all of that is correct or even if it isn't (it might be giving Lucas too much credit), I won't say he was perfect, they made a few mistakes with his character, they didn't need to overdo the accent, they made him a bit TOO cringeworthy. I still like him though.

Ahh I missed this. Agree with the ranking so far though!

Yeah I hated Jar Jar Banks, found it so so annoying :drama:

 

I do love The Phantom Menace though and it is definitely one of my favourites of the franchise, the movie is really interesting and I love practically every scene. Also the lightsaber fight towards the end was incredible :heart: