6) The Major Expansion Of The Universe
It’s a good thing that Lucas is so talented when it comes to world-building, because he sure does a lot of it in the prequels. In The Phantom Menace, you have Naboo and Coruscant, in Attack of the Clones Kamino and Geonosis, and in Revenge of the Sith Kashyyyk, Utapau and Mustafar, along with the many worlds glimpsed in the Order 66 montage.
The trips to all these worlds leave the universe feeling so much better explored, with Lucas taking advantage of the extra funds and effects capabilities at his disposal, and opening his Star Wars galaxy up so much more than he did with his original set of movies.
Because the design is so excellent and because the amount of detail makes the worlds feel so ‘busy,’ Lucas gives the impression that each corner of the galaxy is thoroughly lived-in.
5) That Cast
There are some usually great lead actors in the Star Wars prequels – Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson – who, unfortunately, largely appear to be phoning it in. Look down the cast list though, and you’ll remember the prequels aren’t just full of stars, but also supporting actors bringing flavor to characters that likely weren’t nearly as interesting on the page.
It’s an eclectic line-up of classy veterans and eccentrics behaving like pros: Brian Blessed, Terence Stamp, Temuera Morrison, Jack Thompson, Bruce Spence, Ralph Brown – kudos goes to Lucas for thinking to bring such relatively minor performers into these gigantic blockbusters.
Props go to Ewan McGregor from the main cast, too, for doing a convincing Alec Guinness impression and nailing the emotion of Obi Wan’s face-off with Anakin; there aren’t many actors who could draw such power from within opposite the wooden plank that is Hayden Christensen.