Star Wars: The Five Worst Lines in the Prequel Trilogy

These lines in the prequel trilogy are like poetry. Really awful poetry. Who the heck wrote this stuff?!

Star Wars is a much-beloved franchise. People around the world love it, and for good reason. Among its many strengths is the fact that it is endlessly quotable. Star Wars quotes are on everything, from t-shirts to mugs, to bodies (in the form of tattoos). Many have simply become a part of English apart from their origin as a Star Wars quote.

But not all Star Wars dialogue is made equal. The franchise has its fair share of dud lines that make very little sense. Others are just plain bad.

Worst Prequel Line #1

“Ex-squeeze-me, but de mostest safest place would be Gunga City.” – The Phantom Menace

Well, we are starting off this list just great with a Jar-Jar line. Jar-Jar is just not an amazing character. He’s OK in small bits, but the more you get the worst it is. This is overall a lot of Jar-Jar in this line and around it. However, I think what really gets me is the ex-squeeze-me part. It stops being an accident and turns into someone trying to do a cute voice. Really takes me out of it.

Worst Line #2

“Now this is podracing” – The Phantom Menace 

I think what’s so bad about this line is just the tonal dissidence of it. Sure it’s absolutely something a kid would say in a fun action movie chase scene. But this isn’t a chase scene. It’s a war scene. People are dying, and Anakin is killing living beings in his attack. His friends are in mortal danger and not all will survive. It’s not even a gallows humor kind of joke. The line is just kind of odd and out of place in the scene. It’s also iconic. Go figure.

Line #3

“You wanna buy some death sticks?” – Attack of the Clones

This line starts out not too bad. On the whole, it could be OK. But then they drop the name Death Sticks. Like… what? Who would name their drug that? It’s just so on the nose. It doesn’t help that the man doing the selling is named Elan Sleazebaggano and that Anakin and Obi-Wan are so obviously Jedi. The scene is a master class in unintentional comedy.

Line #4

“I don’t like sand” – Attack of the Clones 

Look, I’d love to say that comparing the woman you like to sand with a monologue about how you don’t like sand is a bad call. But you know what, it does work. A lot of the lines from Anakin’s and Padme’s romance are, fairly, lambasted. They are stilted and not really how people speak. Maybe they do a great job of conveying how a sheltered awkward Anakin would talk, but that’s up for debate. Of all of them, this just has to be the top worst line in the Prequels.

Worst Prequel Line #5

“Ooh, ikcy, ikcy poo.” – The Phantom Menace 

Why did Jar-Jar need to step in poop? Why was this a thing? It’s just a really bad bit with a bad bad line. Icky, Icky poo, indeed.

Let us know what your least favorite prequel line is, down in the comments!

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.