STAR WARS: Liam Neeson, Ian McDiarmid, And More Reflect On Critical Reaction And George Lucas' Wild Direction

STAR WARS: Liam Neeson, Ian McDiarmid, And More Reflect On Critical Reaction And George Lucas' Wild Direction

The cast of the Star Wars prequels have reflected on their experience working on the trilogy, including the Jar Jar Binks backlash, George Lucas' unique direction, and more! Check out their comments here!

By JoshWilding - Feb 12, 2024 06:02 AM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars
Source: SFFGazette.com

The latest issue of Empire Magazine (via SFFGazette.com) has put the spotlight back on the Star Wars prequels and, love or hate them, the movies do seem to have developed a newfound appreciation among fans over the past few years.

The publication caught up with several cast members, including Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, The Phantom Menace's co-leads as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his then-Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi (the latter obviously went on to play a major role in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith). 

In an excerpt shared from the issue, Neeson elaborates on how the vitriol aimed at Jar Jar Binks and actor Ahmed Best affected both him and McGregor. "Ahmed was so funny and inventive," the actor says. "Myself and Ewan were personally hurt and offended by the critical reaction to the character." 

McGregor, who has talked openly about the challenges these movies faced amid harsh reviews from fans and critics, still has many positive memories from the experience. 

"There are moments in any script that become like little pinnacles, that there’s an expectation that you hit emotionally. And that was one of them," he says of Qui-Gon's emotional demise. "I was so fond of Liam [Neeson]. He’s such a generous and wonderful man - playing it was super-easy, because he was right in the moment with me, and I was in there with him."

Of course, every great Star Wars movie needs a formidable villain to pit heroes like those against and, in the prequels, it was a younger version of Emperor Palpatine. 

During Revenge of the Sith, a confrontation with Mace Windu saw the then-Chancellor reveal his true colours, transforming into the monstrous Sith we know lies beneath the surface. The magazine asked Ian McDiarmid about that scene, prompting him to recall George Lucas' unique direction. 

"George [Lucas] kept hyping me up on that. I was screaming, 'ABSOLUTE POWER!' I said, 'Do you want me to do some quiet ones, because this is a bit much?' George said, 'No, go further, go further!' So I did, and he seems to have kept most of it - there’s no holding back there."

As for the most iconic line he believes he delivered in those Star Wars prequels, McDiarmid added, "The one that [fans] like most of all is, 'DO IT!' People just love it."

Hayden Christensen recently spoke about the way these movies have been embraced by fans and his big scene with the Jedi Younglings in Episode III. You can find out what he had to say by clicking here.

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HammerLegFoot
HammerLegFoot - 2/12/2024, 6:36 AM
Josh I know you get a lot of hate, but I appreciate you bro.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 2/12/2024, 7:19 AM
@HammerLegFoot - same here. Think he's responsible for atleast half of the output on this site, and without those articles we have less comment sections to shout in
AC1
AC1 - 2/12/2024, 6:44 AM
"UNLIMITED POWER!" is still such a goofy moment even in the best prequel, like Palps is trying to sway Anakin to his side by manipulating him into thinking the Jedi are evil and they're the real good guys and then he's cackling maniacally while literally screaming about being power-hungry and yet somehow Anakin still sides with him and decides that he thinks the Jedi are evil... Like wut?
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 2/12/2024, 7:23 AM
@AC1 - good point. Never thought about it that way. Maybe Anakin is fine with it because atleast Palpatine was upfront about amassing power, whereas the Jedi were lying about it?
Goldboink
Goldboink - 2/12/2024, 3:11 PM
@AC1 -
Anakin was already in the thrall of the dark side. It was the years of whispering prior to that moment that hooked him. That was meant to illustrate that by the beginning of the movie he was already a creature of Palapatine.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 2/12/2024, 8:49 AM
It's funny the hate that was leveled at those films. Everyone so excited for episode 1 and in the first 20 minutes we're like "this couldn't get any worse." Fast forward and then we got even stinkier crap when episodes 8 and 9 arrived.
Nothing like having worse crap to make the previous crap not so bad after all.
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 2/12/2024, 2:48 PM
Episodes 1 and 2 are rough to watch, but have some great individual scenes (Qui-Gon fighting Darth Maul) and lines. The last two-thirds of Episode 3 borders on being a masterwork.

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