Twenty years from now...

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2001)

...how will the next generation of Star Wars fans look at TPM, as well as the prequels?
Since 20 years have passed since Episode 1 was made in this scenario, and the prequels have been established for years as part of the Star Wars saga, would THESE fans complain about the same things people do today about TPM? I don't think so.
To me, by that time, the prequels will BE what Star Wars is to THAT generation of fans, and the backlash that exists now about TPM won't exist because Episode 1 will be what Star Wars is to them and what they grew up with, as well as the other five episodes. It will be excepted as having "the star wars feel," and so will the rest.
For us, 16 years went by, and all that "Star Wars" was to us was the OT. And now we have three new movies being made that cannot possibly mean what the OT means to us since the OT is a part of what we grew up with. Now that we're adults, TPM won't be looked at by most people who grew up with the OT as what Star Wars is and that it's as good as the OT(except for the few of us who look at it the way that I'm talking about in this scenario). The music is totally new to what we've become accustomed to as far as what we think of as being Star Wars music. The characters aren't who we've come to know and love for the most part, and it takes place at completely different locations.
But just think that when 20 years pass, the next generation of Star Wars fans WILL except these 6 movies as what Star Wars is since they'll see how it all flows smoothly together. Everything from the music, to the characters and their stories.
I just find the remark "It (TPM) just didn't feel like Star Wars to me," a stupid reason to complain about TPM. 20 years from now, this WILL be what Star Wars is to the next breed of Star Wars fans. It'll be what they grew up with and have come to know and love, just like the OT was to us. And just as we had new Star Wars movies made that got beef from a lot of fans, so would any other new Star Wars movie made 20 years from now.
With TPM, the acting is no better nor worse than the Old Trilogy. The lines are no more cheesier("I don't know where you get your delusions, laserbrain" etc.). The plot is actually more complex than the OT and just as deep if you actually understand the plot.
Star Wars hasn't changed. You have. For most every person that I've talked to that saw the OT as adults thought that The Phantom Menace was brilliant and imaginative. If other people in this category didn't, fine. But most of the bashers of this movie were kids when the OT was out, and they grew up with it. It's a part of their treasured childhood. And now, they're adults, and they walk into the theater with an adult point of view when watching TPM, forgetting that their opinion on the OT is completely from their childhood. One has to realize that when the OT came out, critics bombed those movies too. Episodes II and III will get bombed by the critics as well. Time needs to pass before these movies sink in as a treasured part of the saga like the OT is.
Key:
OT = Old Trilogy TPM The Phantom Menace