Michael: I want to ask a question about the prequels. The prequels have received a lot
of criticism. Do you think that the amount of criticism they've received is misplaced?
Especially if we control for bad acting and bad dialogue, if we take those two out, how
do you think the prequels stack up? Cass: I think it's time to love the prequels. We
are ready to love the prequels. Michael: Including The Phantom Menace. Cass: We're ready to love
all of them. Let me say a little bit why. Revenge of the Sith is actually, I think,
a terrific movie. It's not a flawless movie, but it's a terrific movie. So the volcano
scene is amazing, Anakin's turn to the dark side is extremely difficult to watch sometimes.
That's the only one, by the way, that I haven't seen all the way through with my now seven
year old boy. It's just too hard for a kid, and the fact that it's too hard for a kid
is in this case a tribute to its artistry. It's just done in a way that's emotionally
not dismiss-able.
Anakin: I hate you!
Obi-Wan: You were my brother, Anakin!
I loved you.
Cass: It's a tough movie in a good way. The fact, as we discussed, that there's such mirroring
of Return of the Jedi, that's fantastic. The closing scenes I think are really good. So
that's a strong movie. I think it belongs with The Force Awakens as two very, very good
movies, and probably Return of the Jedi also. Three very good movies. They're just short
of great, but as movies go, as part of our culture goes, they are real achievements.
Attack of the Clones I think is the most underrated of the bunch. To watch it now, it's really
fun. It has life and energy. The opening scenes are good between Obi Wan and Anakin. The Anakin
actor maybe isn't the best actor that American movies have ever seen. So okay, I think Attack
of the Clones is not hopeless, and visually there's so much going on. How did Lucas do
all that? If you look at even one scene for five minutes, there are just so many things
going on. The Phantom Menace is not the best of the seven so far, and it does have some
cornball dialogue and some excruciating stuff in it. It does have good scenes. The fight
scene with Darth Maul is excellent.
The pod racing scene is done very well, and some of
the scenes are visually pretty interesting. Little kids love it. I know one who loves
it. So I think it's all right. It shouldn't be disparaged, and I give Lucas for all three
a standing ovation for...the guy isn't cautious. He doesn't repeat himself. At least not as
much as he might have, and the three prequels go places that he hadn't gone at all. So I
think in a way this is one of our great cultural producers and I think he deserves a break.
He took quite a beating for the prequels, and he put a lot of effort and there's a lot
of good stuff there.