Though the Star Wars saga is known and beloved throughout the world, there is a near universal dislike for George Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith with most of the criticism levelled at Phantom Menace for its talk of politics, clunky dialogue Jar Jar Binks and Jake Lloyd’s performance as a young Anakin Skywalker.
Many of the original Star Wars cast has remained mum on the Prequel Trilogy in the years since it ended, but Mark Hamill has broken his silence on the reception the films received in an interview with Vulture. The Luke Skywalker actor expressed surprise at how much vitriol Star Wars fans aimed at the films, particularly towards Jake Lloyd.
“I couldn’t believe some of the things they wrote about the prequels, you know. I mean really, beyond ‘I didn’t like it’. I’m still angry about the way they treated Jake Lloyd. He was only ten years old, that boy, and he did exactly what George wanted him to do. Believe me, I understand clunky dialogue.” In the years since The Phantom Menace, Lloyd quit acting and went through a depression, culminating in a case of schizophrenia and a public arrest a couple years ago due to his mental illness.
Hamill also spoke about being courted to speaking in the documentary The People vs. George Lucas which explored whether Lucas had an artistic right as a filmmaker to change Star Wars how he saw fit or if the Star Wars franchise simply belongs to its massive fanbase. Many felt, however, that the documentary was a one-sided argument against the Prequels, and Hamill apparently felt the same way.
“I almost got hornswoggled into that documentary. They weren’t calling it The People vs. George Lucas at the time, but I could tell from the questions they were asking me that it was an open invitation to trash George. And I have issues with George, but I love that man. I would never, you know, I don’t talk outside the family. It’s just brutal. Its one of the reasons I would never let my kids be in show business. Wait till your 18 because its going to be an endless life of rejection, ridicule and unemployment.”
Do you agree with Mark Hamill that the Prequel Trilogy gets too much of a bad rap? Do you feel you were too hard on the prequels? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below…
Originally published February 2, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
