I completely disagree about nuanced acting to the point that I think you might be trolling

Nope, just an outspoken fan who enjoys the prequels and finds them quite enjoyable. Never been called a troll before...

To be honest, I wasn't sure if you were trolling myself. Calling the acting nuanced or even remotely good is pretty far out.

Nope, not a troll. I am also not a cynic and I am generally very optimistic.

I think the only issue with the prequels is the delivery of lines and sometimes direction. Lucas, I believe, was doing very intentional things with the script/dialog. If you notice the lines the actor are given they explicitly state the characters point of view of any given situation/scene. Now where have we heard that before? Oh yeah Obi Wan from EP VI. What we the viewer see on screen is the information that the characters know. In other words, what we see in the films shapes each characters point of view. Which is why Anakin in his fight with Obi Wan says from his point of view the Jedi are evil. That may seem out of place, what evidence does he have? So let's examine that. Anakin is taken from his mother at a young age and he clearly has a strong bond with her, he falls for Padme early, he is kept from seeing his mother by Obi Wan, he is being held back in his abilities by Obi Wan and the council, his mother dies in his arms and feels he was not strong enough to save her, he slaughters a whole village of tuscans, he looses an arm, he has a forbidden marriage that he keeps secret from the Jedi, he murders Dooku, he has visions of Padme dying, he is excluded from the arrest of Sidious, and he witnesses Mace try to kill Palpatine (note that he was not there to see Palpatine with a lightsaber kill 3 other Jedi Masters). All the while he is clearly being manipulated by Sidious who feeds his ambitions and fears. From all of that it makes complete sense that Anakin believes the Jedi are evil.

The majority of the dialog in the PT serves to force this idea that these characters are shaped by only what we see on screen and the lines of dialog spoken. This can also be the why Obi Wan is seemingly manipulative in the OT, because he has lived through all this before and has been witness to how perspective shapes reality.

Now all of this does fall flat because of the delivery of the lines and the direction at some points, but for me I find it a very interesting way to tell the story of Anakin. For me it ties it all together.

Also, my wife and I talk to each other the same way Anakin and Padme do, every day. So their dialog never bothered me. Their delivery does bother me as they both don't really seem to feel or believe what they are saying. But that is a case that I feel Lucas is more concerned about the words spoken over the delivery. Because I think Lucas is more concerned about the dialog over delivery I can hand wave the scenes of poor delivery and direction. I do it with other films as well, some filmmakers focus on different aspects of film making. I do it in my own games as well, so that stuff with the prequels never bothered me.

Lucas, as a director/artist, strikes me as your typical artist who is striving to create success and the freedom to do what they want unhindered. As a former professional artist I can very much identify with that need. I feel that was what he was working toward the whole time. And indeed he loathed being told what to do by the studios. I was the same way as an artist; I was courted by galleries but only if I continued to make a particular style of work. I have professional artist friends who experience the same thing. So that is my primary concern with the sale to Disney. The franchise goes from unlimited and unhindered creativity to making films that are more marketable. (Yes, yes, I know Lucas was a marketing machine, but I am specifically talking about churning out cookie cutter films) Specifically turning Star Wars into Marvel. At this point all the Marvel films are starting to blur together. Ant-Man could have been Iron Man in my eyes, it was only marginally ok. (However, the CGI on The Vision is the best I've ever seen I think [Avengers 2]) For that matter it seems other action films are trying to mimic the formula to varying degrees of success. Which just makes all blockbuster action movies seem the same and boring. But even then I am able to say to myself, "ok, this movie isn't really doing anything new but it sure is fun to watch! (Guardians of the Galaxy)".

But like I said I am an optimist so I am hoping for new Star Wars films that push the boundaries of filmmaking as Lucas did. I'll be there for the midnight screening and viewings the next day and the day after!

Yes yes I know I am in the minority but as has been said, many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view!

Inquisitor Tremayne - I disagree with a lot of what you wrote, but applaud and appreciate the time and effort you took to write it, thanks.

With that explination behind it, I can understand where you're coming from. My own is different (and my experiences with people different enough to weigh and view the delivery in quite the opposite manner), so I was a bit perplex by your first post and on how and why you see things as you do. You seemed more genuine than most when posting it, so I figured I'd give you the benefit of doubt, just think on it for a bit and say nothing until you actually prodded the troll question yourself. I'm still not sure what to respond, beyond that our frames of reference and how we view a film are radically different, but yours is at least as valid as mine. Props!

Word. And as much as I love the films, I still don't think they are better than a lot of other movies. Empire is clearly the best out of all of the 6, but I've seen far too many films to rank it above those films. Out of personal favorite I usually rank the saga (all 6) somewhere in my top five/ten. The Alien Trilogy is in my personal fav #1 slot! But as far as what I think the best films of all time are, I'm not even sure Empire would make it on that list.

Edit: As an aside, artists typically are aware of every little detail of their work. Which is why I view the PT from that particular view. Lucas clearly knows what he is doing and because he is aware then we can question why and examine the conclusions. Which the Ring Theory does well. That doesn't necessarily make them great movies, but to me, it makes them much more interesting films and I can appreciate them on that level.

Double edit:

Here's my top 10 of personal favs:

1. Alien Trilogy (first 3)

2. The Big Sleep

3. Amelie

4. Star Wars (all 6 of them)

5. Lost in Translation

6. Far From Heaven

7. LA Confidential

8. Me And You And Everyone We Know

9. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

10. Akira

So that is my primary concern with the sale to Disney. The franchise goes from unlimited and unhindered creativity to making films that are more marketable. (Yes, yes, I know Lucas was a marketing machine, but I am specifically talking about churning out cookie cutter films) Specifically turning Star Wars into Marvel.

This greatly concerns me as well, and I think it's already exemplified in Rebels. Lucas was willing to put the time and energy and budget into the background and make it almost as compelling as the foreground. Every episode of TCW has a new ship, a new species, or a new location that gets the full "long shot to closeup" treatment. Rebels blurs beyond the immediate foreground, and they almost never do a long shot because there's nothing to show. I expect Abrams' work will suffer the same, whether because the studio wouldn't budget for it, or because he just doesn't possess that world-building spirit that Lucas had.

I actually think this is a big deal for the RPG community, though maybe it's just me. What's compelling about SW (so far) is that you really can tell any type of story you want, from zombie thrillers to heart aching romance, and you can set them in places that have almost nothing to do with the mainstream story or the iconic characters. It's easy to do this because the background is so rich and varied.

Indeed. And the retort will be, "look at what they have done with Marvel." Other than it seems all superhero movies are starting to blur together, the Marvel films are becoming big blockbuster action films in the more traditional sense and very formulaic. Star Wars, to me, was always about creativity first over formula.

The reason I am optimistic about EP VII is because I think JJ really deep down tries to be a great artist and I am hoping that shines through. I'm not really a fan of his but I can appreciate the original work that he has created.