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Mark Hamill defends the Star Wars prequels, angry with about how Jake Lloyd was treat

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richiek

steals Justin Bieber DVDs
I have plenty of issues with George Lucas. I really do. I don't despise the Special Editions; I despise his insistence that those be the ONLY versions anyone should see. I don't hate Jake Lloyd; I hate the way Lucas wrote and directed him. I even see so much potential in the prequels Lucas just squandered, but was later salvaged by more capable creators.

Star-Wars-Animated-Series-Clone-Wars-Rebels-Best-Episodes.jpg


You do know that Lucas was the primary creative force for the Clone Wars series, right?
 

Raonak

Banned
I retroactively appreciate Phantom Menace after watching Force Awakens.

At least the Phantom Menace actually tried doing something somewhat different instead of reshashing every single plotpoint from the original starwars for some cheap nostalgia bait.
TFA was a good movie, but damn, did it feel super safe in the plot department.
 

Archaix

Drunky McMurder
The prequels are complete fucking garbage, but the best performance by a child in history wouldn't have saved the first film. Lucas did an amazing job of turning quality actors into cardboard cutouts. It's a shame that people treated it like the actor playing Anakin was even on the top 100 problems of that movie.
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Who are "they"? The fans? Was there really that much vitriol directed at Lloyd personally?

I said back then that Anakin was the most insufferable part of that movie and I'm pretty sure I'd still feel that way upon a rewatch.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Lloyd caught a lot of really undue, personal hate. But it's not like many of the other actors could do anything with the painfully dull lines that they all had to deliver, either.
 

Jobbs

Banned
The prequels were abjectly horrible films.. The result of something that can happen only if someone who is completely inept at writing and directing somehow ends up at the helm. This is rare, and that's why large budget movies this bad are also rare. It's kind of amazing. They are not competently constructed pieces of film making.

But yeah, it's wrong to hate on Jake Lloyd. He was just a little kid who read George's shitty script as best he could.
 
Well, he's not exactly wrong. Just cause the prequels weren't really any good, doesn't mean fanboys have to threaten actors because they were in the films. That's just crazy and insane.
 

Surfinn

Member
Damn.. I had no idea he was in such bad shape, even after all the stuff I already knew. :( Hope he gets better.

I retroactively appreciate Phantom Menace after watching Force Awakens.

At least the Phantom Menace actually tried doing something somewhat different instead of reshashing every single plotpoint from the original starwars for some cheap nostalgia bait.
TFA was a good movie, but damn, did it feel super safe in the plot department.

If you're gunna make this surface level argument I don't think you get to use TPM as an example of not doing the bolded.

I think people forget how much shit was actually rehashed in EP1. But.. it's George Lucas so it's all original, right?
 

Surfinn

Member
I'm kinda thinking things turn out similarly for Lloyd even if the movie had been great.

Well assuming things would have gone the other way and he were actually respected for his performance in a positively received film, I seriously doubt he would have had the same problems (ie getting picked on, made fun of).
 

Zombine

Banned
The prequels are great, and they have only gotten better with the new EU, Clone Wars, and Rebels. I appreciate them, I appreciate how different the era is supposed to be and what Lucas was going for. I watch them regularly and still place Episode I high on my list.
 

KHarvey16

Member
I think it's a problem generally that any objection to specific criticisms is conflated with the act of defending something against all criticisms. Saying he "defends" the movie is true, but it doesn't let anyone on to the fact he's defending it only from criticism he considers over the top and not criticism generally. I think without saying otherwise people just assume the latter.
 

ultracal31

You don't get to bring friends.
I think people forget how much shit was actually rehashed in EP1. But.. it's George Lucas so it's all original, right?

This, a lot of people tend to cite "but original!" as their go to why EP1 is somehow better than TFA.

You can keep this then:

image_d499abf8.jpeg


On topic I'd say I don't even blame the actor behind jar jar for what happened with EP1 as like Jake he's only being directed by Lucas
 
Jake Lloyd did alright. It was Hayden who was bad... and I don't think that was his fault, based on some of his other roles
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
What problems does Mark have with Geoege?

Probably related to George being an infamously poor on-hands director with his actors and that he's atrocious at writing dialogue. At least, I would hope that would be the extent of it.
 

Bishop89

Member
Who are "they"? The fans? Was there really that much vitriol directed at Lloyd personally?
Yes very much so.
The hardcore fans are nuts.


And good on mark defending the prequels, they are really entertaining films. Some people are just hard to please
 

jstripes

Banned
I don't think we'll ever see nerd rage of that intensity again. It was incredible how much nerds were pissed.
"Raped my childhood" wasn't said in a cutesy half jokingly way back then, they were really that upset about it that they felt like the prequels(mostly The Phantom Menace) damaged them and their childhood memories to such a degree that it could only be equated to full-on rape.

What a time to be alive.

Were you asleep last year during the Ghostbusters mass tantrum?
 

Jobbs

Banned
Once again I gotta say I never understood the hatred for Child Anakin at all. He was a cool and talented kid.

Terribly written character and the acting was bad. While this was partly due to bad direction and editing, of course, when I see footage like this I have to wonder why he was cast. The third kid was better.

That said, the first movie didn't even need to exist. Nothing is accomplished in that movie except midichlorians. The villain they set up dies (at least until the cartoon said he's not dead, but that's irrelevant to the trilogy), Qui-Gon dies, Obi Wan does nothing, and Anakin does nothing. We could have started things out with episode 2 and not missed anything.
 
Didn't Ahmed Best also get a lot of crap for being Jar Jar? He wasn't a kid, but that's still sad if so.

Hey, I know where that guy lives! I used to date his neighbor when I lived in LA and ran into him a couple times, he's a nice fellow.

That said, the first movie didn't even need to exist. Nothing is accomplished in that movie except midichlorians.

That's the worst part of the movie! The most common trope of fantasy tales is the kid who doesn't come from noble birth proving himself worthy of Knighthood - saying it's "in your blood" and making it out to be so fucking dumb, to the point he was literally Jesus and his mom was impregnated by the Force or what the fuck ever was the worst thing ever done to Star Wars as far as the "canon" is concerned. Don't even get me started on the Jedi robes uniform bullshit. The second you start thinking about it, none of it makes any sense at all.
 

Surfinn

Member
Yes very much so.
The hardcore fans are nuts.


And good on mark defending the prequels, they are really entertaining films. Some people are just hard to please

He's not defending them. He's just saying the crazy ass criticism like "George Lucas raped my childhood" is absurd and stupid.

He even referred to Jake's lines as being "clunky dialogue".
 
T

thepotatoman

Unconfirmed Member
You do know that Lucas was the primary creative force for the Clone Wars series, right?

George Lucas is probably pretty good as a general creative force. The prequels did have a lot of potential, and I would credit him for being able to create the potential even if he squandered it.

Maybe if for the prequels he was a very hands on producer, instead of the director and screenwriter, the prequels would have been really good.
 

Ridley327

Member
But the way Hayden Christensen is treated is fair game, right ?

Despite actual video footage of George showing him the way he wants the lines delivered.

To be fair, Hayden Christensen already had several roles under his belt by the time he got Anakin and it was clear he was going to have a career beyond Star Wars, thanks to the praise he got for both Life as a House and Shattered Glass that served as bookends for Episode 2. Jake Lloyd more or less went straight from Jingle All the Way to Episode 1, and with the kind of venom he received, I don't doubt for a second that whatever acting ambitions that he had were cut short as a result.

I guess the difference here is that Christensen could clearly take that heat, but he had the advantage of being an adult actor. Kids like Jake are rarely that hardy.
 

Kenclops

Banned
The prequels were meant to show an age of innocence before the empire took over. As horrible as Jar Jar was, his goofiness was absolutely essential to the series.
 

KHarvey16

Member
That was a good amount of nerd rage, but it wasn't anywhere close to Star Wars prequel nerd rage.

I think that's because there were three prequels and that people who weren't super fans thought they were bad too. Ghostbusters was received as just a pretty average movie by general audiences without a vested interest.
 

Raptor

Member
If you're gunna make this surface level argument I don't think you get to use TPM as an example of not doing the bolded.

I think people forget how much shit was actually rehashed in EP1. But.. it's George Lucas so it's all original, right?

I dont remember feeling almost insulted at the sickening pandering at every turn while watching TPM, that movie has very different problems that of TFA.
 

Surfinn

Member
But the way Hayden Christensen is treated is fair game, right ?

Despite actual video footage of George showing him the way he wants the lines delivered.

I don't think he was treated the same, as far as I know. Jake had to grow up in grade school with the fact that he was a big part of the prequel criticism. Sure, they're both ridiculed online based on the fact that their performances were terrible (regardless of who was responsible), but Jake had to actually LIVE it during the most crucial/trying stages of human development/interaction.

I've seen Hayden in other things and although he's better I don't think he's a good actor, by any means.

But again.. this is all George's doing and decision making. He's the key to all this. Even when presented with clearly better alternatives (look up young Anakin auditions), he consistently made horrible decisions.

I dont remember feeling almost insulted at the sickening pandering at every turn while watching TPM, that movie has very different problems that of TFA.

You can make a compelling argument that TFA has more "callbacks", but not that TPM doesn't have nearly the exact same story beats of ANH. Which is what I had originally highlighted in your post. You can apply the exact same surface criticisms to both TFA and TPM in that regard.

But people are unwilling to recognize this fact because George Lucas was in charge of virtually all major creative decisions in regard to the PT. And naturally.. since he created SW, he couldn't have copied any of his previous films/done something unoriginal.. right?
 
I retroactively appreciate Phantom Menace after watching Force Awakens.

At least the Phantom Menace actually tried doing something somewhat different instead of reshashing every single plotpoint from the original starwars for some cheap nostalgia bait.
TFA was a good movie, but damn, did it feel super safe in the plot department.

I've read opinion this so many times that I think I'm just conditioned to yawn at it as an instinctual reaction.
 

Archaix

Drunky McMurder
The prequels were meant to show an age of innocence before the empire took over. As horrible as Jar Jar was, his goofiness was absolutely essential to the series.


Those carefree innocent days of child slavery and trade wars.
 

Doran902

Member
Good on Mark.

He was a child actor with bad dialogue with all his yippeeees and stuff but he did the job he was given.

As a kid I loved Phantom Menace, saw it in theatres for someones birthday party and loved it and owned the toys / games and didn't have any issues but having re watched them this year I could definitely see why an older audience would be super disappointed by Jar Jar and Anakin but that isn't the kids fault and the horrible people who came after him should be ashamed.
 
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