10 Reasons You’re Wrong About The Star Wars Prequels

8. You Have To Admire The Craft That Went Into Them

Star Wars Attack of the Clones George Lucas
Lucasfilm

The other week, out of the blue, my YouTube recommendations lit up with an hour-long documentary on the making of The Phantom Menace. "Why not?" I think. "Episode I is easily my favourite of the prequels, and who doesn't love a bit of behind-the-scenes hijinks?"

Honestly, the making of The Phantom Menace makes for some brilliant viewing. The documentary takes you all the way from the conceptual stage of development, to Jake Lloyd's casting as Anakin Skywalker, all the way through to the pitfalls of location-based shooting and the pioneering special effects techniques that were developed at ILM. (It also features Ewan McGregor having A Very Nice Time on set, which is also lovely.)

The main point here is that the prequels left an indelible mark on blockbuster filmmaking. Lucas wanted to push technological boundaries and while the use of blue screen was extremely dubious at times, the creative process that went into the prequels is easy to admire and better to explore.

If you find yourself with time to spare, definitely go check out the behind-the-scenes docs that accompanied the prequels. Not just because they're interesting, but also because they show a cast and crew having a blast on set every day. (Except for that one part where the podracers are all blown away by a storm - that wasn't a fun time.)

Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.