Original Trilogy – My interest and admiration for these films is renewed every time I see some new writing on them. Cracked podcast’s episode “Star Wars: A Cultural History” has the most insightful look on the series as a whole. From what I’ve read, most people like “The Empire Strikes Back” the most, and think that “Return of the Jedi” was the weakest installment. I didn’t mind the last Jedi so much, but I do wish that Stephen Spielberg had directed it. I would like to see how that would have turned out.
The Phantom Menace – I don’t dislike this one as much as most people do. I was nine when it came out, and I would have liked just about anything Star Wars at the time. I actually liked Jarjar; I had never seen anything like it at the time. I understand, now that I’m an adult, why the movie was a disappointment to just about everyone else, but I wasn’t aware that it was until I was 18. By then, other interests had taken over.
Attack of the Clones and
Revenge of the Sith – This is where Lucas’s disinterest in the series really starts to show. These movies were boring. Even when I was a kid, I didn’t like them very much. John Williams’s score is totally uninspired here; Hayden Christensen’s acting is as stale as a leftover taco shell. The origin of the name “Darth Vader” (Which I thought was a mix of the words “dark,” “wrath,” and “invader”)was the lamest christening ever. The only thing I was entertained by was Palpatine’s exagerrated reaction to Mace Windu’s confrontation, and even that likely for all the wrong reasons.
The Clone Wars – Didn’t see it. Don’t even know if it’s even considered canon.
The Force Awakens – In context of the catastrophe that was the prequel trilogy, I could appreciate this movie’s goal as being “not as bad as the last three.” Sure, it’s little more than a rehash of “A New Hope,” and I wouldn’t give it any higher than a C+, but I didn’t mind it all that much. I thought the J.J. Abrams vibes were very refreshing.
Rogue 1 – [TRIGGER WARNING: HOSTILE CRITICISM] This was the movie that convinced me to never go to the movies again. My attention span is not vast to begin with, and I was aching to get up and leave about ten minutes in. The few characters that interested me, the robot and the blind asian ninja guy, had obscenely little screen time. My opinion on this is about the same as Doug Walker’s opinion on the Digimon movie: It should be hard to make an action film boring. Solution? Put nothing but action in, and when you run out of action scenes, put filler in between them.
The Last Jedi and Solo – I actually saw neither of these films. My sister really liked TLJ. My brother hated it. I thought I might be the middle-man in this scenario, but my brother (and virtually everyone else)’s hatred of it dissuaded me from watching it myself. Now, I was actually afraid of what might happen at the theatre when “Solo” came out. I thought there might be protesters and rioters trying to stop people from seeing the movie. I was glad to not hear of any, so far, but at this point, I’m starting to find the politics surrounding the Star Wars franchise more intersting than the films themselves.
Post Merge: June 19, 2018, 03:42:41 PM
I actually consider Robot Chicken’s take on it more canonical than the films. My personal favorite thing to come out of the franchise is the “Star Wars Field Guide” by Terry Whitlatch and Bob Carrau. It’s a must-read for artists and biology nerds.
I haven’t played a ton of the games; Here’s what I did play and what I thought of it:
The Phantom Menace was okay but not worth replaying. I liked
Rebel Assault II;
RA1 was absurdly difficult.
Pod Racer was better than
The Phantom Menace, though needlessly complicated when it came to customising your pod.
Super Star Wars for the SNES were laughable cash-ins, showcasing LucasArt’s inexperience with making Video Games.
X-Wing Alliance had the stiffest windshield frames ever and, like
Pod Racer, was needlessly complicated.
Lego Star Wars, like most modern Lego “franchise adaptation” games, was a generic platformer. Honestly, the appeal of those games are lost on me. Lego was creative when they stuck to their own titles, but that, I guess, is a topic for another thread.
Anyway, wanna end on a good note: Go read the Shakespeare adaptations of Star Wars by Ian Doescher. I haven’t read them myself, but they look like a worthwhile alternative for anyone fed up with the direction the films have taken.
Topic: Star Wars (Read 4089 times)