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How many 'Bad' Star Wars movies could you take before you check out?

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We all have a version of what is a Bad SW movie. Let’s not get into defining it, but as a fan of SW how many bad films would it take before you stop going to see them?

I was thinking about this, and I have to say that I am going to see every SW film that comes out no matter how much I disliked it’s predecessors. Like many I disliked PT but I was back to see the next one in hopes it would turn around, I think even after a string of 6 or 7 bad SW movies I am still going to check out the 7th or 8th movie to see if things turn around.

I sure hope that is not how it turns out but I just can’t see me checking out of the franchise.

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A lot. I can’t really out a number on it. I’ve seen every picture so far and found something I really like about each one, even the PT which I was not crazy about.

I’m a fan. Full stop.

I guess when the stories have no SW familiarity at all would be when is stop or at least think about it.

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It died once already in 2005, and they gave that horse a good beating for a couple of years after. Now I’m not sure, it could go either way. I can still take or leave the bits that are too much, just like we’ve all been doing since 1997.

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I’m not really sure. I was just a kid when the PT came out. I watched them when I was like 14 and didn’t think too highly of them but didn’t feel angry that they were bad or anything.

I think once this “Episode IX” comes out, all future movies will be too far removed from the story I actually love (the OT), and I probably won’t care about them anymore.

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Like a great many things, it depends. I didn’t like Return at all and would have stopped there, but that was the end anyway for nearly twenty years. More fitting to the question would be the prequels. I saw Phantom, it was stupid, so I bailed on the franchise. It would have been permanent but once Lucas was no longer part of it, I gave it another chance.

I most likely won’t bail again. I’ve given the sequel trilogy a try and haven’t been put off the franchise, regardless of how I felt about either of them. Ron Howard directing Solo is, to me at least, a good sign that it will be worth seeing.

The future Rian trilogy may be another matter entirely. We’ll have to wait and see what he has planned. If the first film, as trailers and leaks come out, seems more of the same (poorly placed humor and silliness), I’ll probably only give them a glance on cable.

For the record, I’m not married to franchises the way some people are. I watch what I like and ignore the rest. I’ll always have Star Wars77 and Rogue One. If they never make anything I like again, it doesn’t affect how I view the two I love. I don’t battle franchises.

My super hero collection is the same way: two Batman films, one Wonder Woman film. WB/DC could make ten more and it won’t affect the three I own and watch.

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If I can put up with sh*t like the PT, than I can brave any STAR WARS movie DISNEY throws at me - except Solo. I’ll give that a pass for sure, but I’ll probably watch it on television in a few years time, no doubt.

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I had already pretty much checked out after the prequels, for several years. I barely gave a second thought to Star Wars and I’m not sure I watched any of the movies in their entirety for the better part of a decade from 2005 to 2015. Obviously I didn’t like the prequels and I was so put off by the changes to the originals that I never even finished watching the DVDs I bought in 2004 and didn’t even get the Blu-rays for a long while. I didn’t know about Despecialized or even the GOUT, and had no desire to dig out old VHS tapes, so Star Wars was basically dead to me for quite some time.

Then the hype around TFA “awakened” my dormant interest in the series. The movie itself didn’t quite live up to that hype, but it did lead me to discovering Despecialized and all of a sudden I remembered why I loved Star Wars so much as a kid. It really was like R2 lighting up at the end of TFA. So I’ve maintained my renewed interest in the franchise in the two years since, despite having mixed (though more positive than not) feelings about TFA and outright disliking Rogue One. I did really like TLJ though, so now I think the total tally of good-to-bad Star Wars movies is 5-to-4, an improvement over the 3-to-3 when Disney took over. That’s good enough in my book, especially since two of those five (SW and ESB) are still among my favorite movies ever. Nothing will ever change that. Not even if Disney completely drives the franchise into the ground, which after TLJ I feel is less likely to happen anyway.

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The question is, how many can the general public take before they get bored with it?

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Density said:

I had already pretty much checked out after the prequels, for several years. I barely gave a second thought to Star Wars and I’m not sure I watched any of the movies in their entirety for the better part of a decade from 2005 to 2015. Obviously I didn’t like the prequels and I was so put off by the changes to the originals that I never even finished watching the DVDs I bought in 2004 and didn’t even get the Blu-rays for a long while. I didn’t know about Despecialized or even the GOUT, and had no desire to dig out old VHS tapes, so Star Wars was basically dead to me for quite some time.

Then the hype around TFA “awakened” my dormant interest in the series… and lead me to discovering Despecialized and all of a sudden I remembered why I loved Star Wars so much as a kid. It really was like R2 lighting up at the end of TFA. So I’ve maintained my renewed interest in the franchise in the two years since.

This for me also (slightly abridged version of your post!).

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Mike O said:

The question is, how many can the general public take before they get bored with it?

So far, the answer is “infinite.” With no sign of that number getting smaller. Or three, since by my counting that’s how many bad movies there’s been so far.

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Creox said:

A lot. I can’t really out a number on it.

I’m a fan. Full stop.

This. And what seriously clinches it is this: fan edits.

I hated the SE’s (especially ROTJ:SE, and OG ROTJ was, and is, my favorite Star Wars film). I also greatly disliked the Prequels.

But since L8wrtr, Q2 and Hal9k have redeemed the Prequels for me; and Adywan and Harmy have recaptured the OT—Star Wars has been cemented as my favorite film franchise, hands down, bar none, full stop. There otherwise maybe could have been other film franchises to supplant it, like Star Trek or Harry Potter, but nope. Can’t be done. I will watch them all, and if any of them suck, I will just wait for an edit.

TV’s Frink said:

chyron just put a big Ric pic in your sig and be done with it.

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GlastoEls said:

chyron8472 said:

But since L8wrtr, Q2 and Hal9k have redeemed the Prequels for me

Which edits, might I ask?

My introduction to fan edits was Adywan’s ANH:R. After that, I went looking for Prequel edits and was satisfactorily redeemed with L8wrtr’s Shadow of the Sith and The Republic Divided edits. But there were changes made to his Dawn of the Empire edit that I really did not agree with.

Now, granted I don’t hate the theatrical Revenge of the Sith, but I kept looking and found Q2’s Fall of the Jedi Trilogy. His Episode III, among other things, leaves Anakin burning to death on the lava field and has Padme live long enough to move to Alderaan with Leia. The latter really clinched it for me, so that became my favorite Episode III, and not long after, I grew to like Q2’s Episodes I and II better than L8wrtr’s.

And at some point, either from the OT.com forums or from FE.org, I discovered Hal9000’s “9000 Series” trilogy of Cloak of Deception, The Approaching Storm, and Labyrinth of Evil. His Episode III (LoE) also features Padme not dying, as did Q2’s, so I keep both Hal’s and Q2’s trilogies—with Hal’s being a sort of Extended Cut comparatively (akin having both the LOTR extended cuts and theatrical editions). But I still prefer Q2’s.

TV’s Frink said:

chyron just put a big Ric pic in your sig and be done with it.

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I can ignore the ones I don’t like ie The Prequels. If Lucasfilm would just release the OOT, I wouldn’t give a crap about whatever changes they make to the SEs.

It seems like people are really embracing the new characters. In fact, the big question people ask me now about Star Wars is, “Are Finn and Poe gay lovers?” And really how the f*ck would I know? My second husband left me for a man, so my gaydar isn’t exactly what you’d call Death Star level quality. ----Carrie Fisher

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lovelikewinter said:

If Lucasfilm would just release the OOT, I wouldn’t give a crap about whatever changes they make to the SEs.

Harmy released the OOT, so I don’t. I may complain about the SE’s from time to time, but they have no effect on my loyalty as as fan of the OT anymore.

TV’s Frink said:

chyron just put a big Ric pic in your sig and be done with it.

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I think Chyron has the right idea. So long as the movie isn’t Holiday Special level bad, there’s something that can be salvaged.

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If I can survive the prequels and special editions, then I can survive anything.

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I checked out after the SE’s in 1997. I didn’t see ROTS until around 2011. I watched it a second time this year just to see if it was as awful as I remembered.

I’ve been interested enough in the new movies to see them in the theater, and they’ve for the most part been an improvement over the PT, but as bad as TLJ was, I can take or leave IX, and I think Solo is probably going to be terrible.

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There is no set number. They could make 10 movies I hate, but if I like a certain director or something, I’ll be back. Also, even if the movies devolve into complete crap, there will still be books, comics, etc. that don’t have to stick exactly to he events of the movies, so I’m okay with whatever.

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Actually, I was done after TFA. I still planned to eventually watch the next films but not in the theater. It would mainly be to confirm my suspicion of their being horrible. My wife dragged me to see TLJ. I’m usually fussier about movies so I didn’t want to rain on her parade if she liked it. We came out of the theater and I could see the disappointment written on her face. She has no intention of seeing IX in the theater and certainly not the (most likely) trainwreck of Han Solo.

The three Disney films all share the same flaws. Rogue One had a decent third act but that didn’t redeem the first two acts. They should have avoided EU-style tie-in stories and simply done a separate Rogue Squadron film. That’s what I’ve been dying for since ROTJ, more adventures set in the Galactic Civil War era but separate from the OT heroes.

I don’t anticipate the future films being any different. These are money-making concerns first and foremost and the films, despite all the griping from hardcore fans, remain tremendously profitable. There’s zero incentive for Disney to change anything until they start losing money. They’d be quite happy churning out Michael Bay-style lucrative garbage until the end of time. Quality isn’t something they’re optimizing for.

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jollyreaper said:

They’d be quite happy churning out Michael Bay-style lucrative garbage until the end of time.

Lol I can’t tell if you haven’t seen any of the new Star Wars movies, or you haven’t seen any Michael Bay movies, or both.

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jollyreaper said:

The three Disney films all share the same flaws. Rogue One had a decent third act but that didn’t redeem the first two acts. They should have avoided EU-style tie-in stories and simply done a separate Rogue Squadron film. That’s what I’ve been dying for since ROTJ, more adventures set in the Galactic Civil War era but separate from the OT heroes.

That’s exactly what RO is. Yes, it does tie in to ANH, but it still stars entirely new characters.

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Anakin Starkiller said:

jollyreaper said:

The three Disney films all share the same flaws. Rogue One had a decent third act but that didn’t redeem the first two acts. They should have avoided EU-style tie-in stories and simply done a separate Rogue Squadron film. That’s what I’ve been dying for since ROTJ, more adventures set in the Galactic Civil War era but separate from the OT heroes.

That’s exactly what RO is. Yes, it does tie in to ANH, but it still stars entirely new characters.

Not exactly. It is an EU-style tie-in by which I mean it’s taking a story from the OT and telling the other side of it in a way that feels redundant. It also introduces serious head-scratcher with Vader seeing Leia’s ship escape and then confronting her in ANH.

“I’m on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan.”
“Princess, please. I literally just saw you fly away from the battle on this very ship like ten minutes ago.”

While I have some sympathy towards wanting to explain how the Empire could have a flaw in their superweapon so great that a team of engineers with like an hour to look over the plans could spot it, the way they executed the plot point was awkward. Making it be protagonist’s father and having him on mountainous rain world and circumstances conspiring for him to have a final talk with her before dying in her arms and then the plans being in a robotic tape archive and all that. It felt cumbersome and like video game logic.

What’s interesting is that there’s actual canon explanations for what that first battle to get the plans was like. It’s in the radio drama and was elaborated on a little bit more with input from Lucasfilm. I think they did reference some of this when writing RO since there’s a battle to get the plans on the ground and everyone in the raid is killed after transmitting the plans into space which are intercepted by the Tantive IV.

I just felt the first two acts had too many characters, not enough focus and tried to hang on cool visuals rather than plot beats that made sense. But that’s just me.