Pittman 1

Conner Pittman
Mrs. Pettay
ENG 111
10 December 2015
Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy Strikes Back
Comparing the first trilogy of Star Wars films with the most recent trilogy of Star Wars
films may seem simple for some, as nostalgia can be a great deodorant for the original trilogys
poor acting and major plot holes. But there was something magical about those original films
that remains in the hearts of many including mine. I remember the time I gazed upon the first
film in the original trilogy, Star Wars: A New Hope. My dad eagerly put the decrepit, worn out
VHS tape into the VCR. As the movie progressed, there were two boys staring at the screen
instead of one. Our eyes, wide with amazement, only blinked once or twice. Imperial AT-ATs,
landspeeders, stormtroopers, everything from the costume design to the characters made me fall
in love. Once the newer prequel trilogy of Star Wars films were released, I began to appreciate
the improved special effects and the deeper political backdrop that Episodes 1-3 shared.
However, numerous glaring issues with the continuity of the plot and the dialogue soured my
approval of the newer trilogy. Although challenging to compare, I believe that the original trilogy
of the Star Wars saga was superior to the prequel trilogy because it performed better at the box
office, won more awards, and had a greater impact on society.
The original trilogy saw much more profit at the box office as a collective unit. While the
third film of the prequel trilogy, Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith, earned the most out of all Star
Wars films for an opening weekend with $108 million, the original three films collectively

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earned more, even with their 40 plus years in existence (Box BoxOfficeMojo). In fact, a lot of
the newer films earnings were inflated because ticket prices have increased dramatically since
the original films were released. According to TheNumbers.com, Star Wars: A Phantom Menace
came out during a time where ticket prices were at least $5. When the first film was released in
1977, tickets were only around $2 (Adjusting BoxOfficeMojo). Ted Kemp, a pop culture writer
at CNBC, wrote that Star Wars performed exceptionally well compared to most other films
released in that year (Star CNBC). This to me shows more importance when accurately
judging a films box office success. If it compared well against other movies during that time, the
argument of inflation becomes less and less of an issue. The newer trilogy, however, saw a weak
performance when stacked up against other films released around the same time.
The box office performance of the second Star Wars film in the newer trilogy dipped
extremely below expectations. Many critics claim it was due to the abysmal reviews that The
Phantom Menace received. Many moviegoers didnt want to take the risk that it would be
another two and a half hours of Jar Jar Binks talking, says Rich McCormick, a senior editor of
The Verge (McCormick). Even with these doubts, Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones produced a
modest $80 million during opening weekend (Box BoxOfficeMojo). For its time, the second
film did not do very well. The third film in the prequel trilogy improved greatly by the numbers,
and also made up for its two lackluster predecessors and produced a strong performance
financially, said writer Sam Hill of WhatCulture.com. Earning nearly $108 million during
opening weekend, the final installment gave hope for the franchise, but it still could not make up
for the collectively strong earnings of $400 million between the original three films (Hill). The

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original trilogy still stands tall over the prequels in this category, and many other categories such
as cinematic awards.
Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Return Of
The Jedi, all from the original trilogy, received more Academy Awards than the newer films. In
1981, The Empire Strikes Back received the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, as well as
Best Cinematography (10 WhatCulture). John Williams has composed every Star Wars film to
date. He has created many classic tunes such as The Imperial March and Luke and Leia that
are almost universally recognizable to the general public (Hill). The award for cinematography
was widely accepted by movie buffs at the time. Alex Leadbeater, a regular contributor at
WhatCulture.com, cited the films unique take on the regular sci-fi film, creating a new genre of
film called the Space Opera, (Leadbeater). Return Of The Jedi continued the reigns of cinematic
awards with Best Sound Mixing, but this time also receiving Best Visual Effects (The
TheVerge). The six year difference between Empire and Return Of The Jedi helped to bring
newer technologies and better equipment for the film. The popularity of the franchise also helped
to raise its budget for the production of Return Of The Jedi. Even though the original films
earned more Academy Awards, one film from the newer trilogy got some much desired attention
by the Academy.
Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith received the Academy Award for Best Makeup, as well
as almost unanimously positive reviews from critics (10 WhatCulture). One of the major
factors that influenced its Best Makeup award was the amazing job done to actor Ian McDairmid.
They transformed the seemingly ordinary looking General Palpatine into the terrifying and
menacing villain that is The Emperor. Even with long-time viewers of the film franchise, it came

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as a great shock to many that General Palpatine was in fact Darth Sidious (Leadbeater). Critics
also cited that Revenge Of The Sith was the first Star Wars film to earn a PG-13 rating (The
TheVerge). All of these points seem to illustrate that if not for the final installment of the newer
trilogy, Star Warss legacy would be marred by the over the top CGI effects of The Phantom
Menace and the seemingly forced romantic entanglement between Anakin Skywalker and Padme
Amidala in Attack Of The Clones. Still, the prequel trilogy can not compare to the seven total
Academy Awards earned by the first three films (Star TheNumbers). It also can not compare to
the originals in the most important aspect of any film: its lasting impact.
Pop culture today would not be the same without the first three films of Star Wars. Even
with their flaws in the dialogue and the plot, they essentially created the eye-candy phenomenon
of outer space flicks. They combined memorable and likable characters such as R2-D2, C3PO,
Han Solo, Chewbacca, and the list goes on and on. The use of practical and real world effects
gave it that rustic and believable edge that many movie watchers appreciated (Star CNBC).
Matthew Barnes, my friends father and a lifetime fan of the Star Wars saga, explained that the
far away setting and the practical special effects of the original trilogy made it stand alone from
the newer films. He also believed that Star Wars had a greater sense of anticipation, and created
such a sensation, people were dying to see the next one. The original trilogy not only
popularized the blockbuster sci-fi genre, but it also created a system of earning huge profits off
of a brand long after the movie had been released (10 WhatCulture). Toy sales, costumes,
special editions, all of these are things that the movie studio can make money off of even when
the film has gone through its life cycle in the cinemas (. This blockbuster method of making a
film has its roots with Star Wars: A New Hope. George Lucas, the visionary behind the

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Star Wars saga, saw the franchise more as a brand. He didn't want to just make a set of great
films, but wanted the emotion that fans got out of watching the movies to continue with them
through merchandise, games, and memorabilia. According to Ted Kemp, he had changed the
sci-fi game forever as we know it (Star CNBC). Most would say George Lucas tried too hard
with the newer films to sell a brand more than a film, but years later critics of the prequel trilogy
have come to analyze a possible deeper meaning.
With the prequel trilogy, it seems that George Lucas secretly hid elements of parallelism
and symbolism throughout Anakin Skywalkers turn to the dark side. Rich McCormick of The
Verge thought that the prequels echoed scenes from the original trilogy, including when Darth
Vader was presiding over the Republic in Star Wars: A New Hope, and when a young Vader was
being evaluated by the Jedi Council in Star Wars: A Phantom Menace. These shots were literally
parallel from each other, where you see young Vader on the left and older Vader on the right.
Other examples like this also seemed to rhyme with each other, as Lucas put it (McCormick).
The clips reinforced Star Wars concept of time existing in cycles and the generational conflict
between good and bad (The TheVerge). In each film, Star Wars highlights a universal struggle
we all share with doing whats right and doing what everyone thinks is right.
The first three films proved it was the better of the two trilogies by doing better at the box
office compared to films released at the same time, won more Academy Awards in total, and had
a greater impact on society by stealing the hearts of millions. While the newer trilogy of films
improved on the special effects, the action sequences, and the lightsaber battles, the original
films had the heart and emotion to set it apart. Viewers could relate to the farm boy Luke
Skywalker and the rebel that was Han Solo. The original trilogy will forever be in the hearts of

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many adults and kids like me. It created the idea of movies being not just a film but a brand as
well. There is no definitive model or system to decide how a film franchise will be memorable. It
just gets remembered.

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Works Cited
Adjusting For Movie Ticket Price Inflation. Adjusting For Movie Ticket Price Inflation. IMDb,
08 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
Block, Alex. The Real Force Behind Star Wars: How George Lucas Built An Empire.
Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
Box Office History for Star Wars Movies. Star Wars Franchise Box Office History. Nash
Information Services, LLC. 11 Jan. 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Hill, Sam. 10 Problems Nobody Wants To Admit About The Original Star Wars Trilogy.
WhatCulture.com What Culture, 24 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Kemp, Ted. Star Wars: How The World Changed. CNBC. NBC Universal, 25 May 2007. Web.
17 Nov. 2015.
Leadbeater, Alex. 10 Reasons Youre Wrong About The Star Wars Prequels. WhatCulture.com
What Culture, 10 Sept. 2014. web. 17 Nov. 2015.
McCormick, Rich. The One Thing The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Did Very, Very Right. The
Verge. Vox Media Inc., 11 Sept. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Star Wars. Movies at the Box Office. IMDb, 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.