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How many 'Bad' Star Wars movies could you take before you check out? — Page 3

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Michael Ward said:

ExNihilo said:

On the Original Topic:
I really don’t know how many. I want to say after TLJ, I’m out. But part of me knows I’ll see Episode 9.
TLJ felt like a punch to the stomach.
How many times can you tell me you hate me before I believe it?
Am I in an abusive relationship with Star Wars?
I’ll probably see EpIX because I’m a glutton for punishment.
But who knows, JJ could redeem it all!

When TPM came out, it didn’t bother me that is was terrible because it was just a movie, and it didn’t make me enjoy the previous movies any less. My reaction to TLJ surprised me. It actually made me mad. I had to remind myself it was just a movie and it didn’t matter.

I’ll probably see IX. I’ll see it in theater if either my kids or my wife want to go. I’ve actually seen TLJ twice because my wife didn’t go with us the first time, and she wanted to see it. But I’m not expecting IX to redeem anything. Hopefully it will be great, but TLJ will still stink if it is.

I wish everyone could enjoy Star Wars the way they enjoy Star Trek. No one ever worries about the bad ones spoiling the whole Star Trek series. The bad ones are just the bad ones.

We don’t agree on TLJ’s quality but I fully support you here. If you didn’t like TLJ, if it disappointed you, if you’re even a little mad that it ruined TFA or it ruined the ST for you, I got no problem with that.

If you think Rian Johnson or Disney or Star Wars hates you or ruined your life or ruined everything that came before it (especially the OT), then you’re being ridiculous.

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 (Edited)

TV’s Frink said:

If you think Rian Johnson or Disney or Star Wars hates you or ruined your life or ruined everything that came before it (especially the OT), then you’re being ridiculous.

True.

Unless one is simply being hyperbolic, which I had assumed was the case for ExNihilo but admittedly is often not so for a great many trolls who visit here.

TV’s Frink said:

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

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chyron8472 said:

TV’s Frink said:

If you think Rian Johnson or Disney or Star Wars hates you or ruined your life or ruined everything that came before it (especially the OT), then you’re being ridiculous.

True.

Unless one is simply being hyperbolic, which I had assumed was the case was ExNihilo but admittedly is often not so for a great many trolls who visit here.

I meant to address this before you posted again, but I wanted to say that I understood he was being hyperbolic. It was clear from the get go. I just take issue with being hyperbolic in that way (comparing it to abuse). It’s no different than the old “Lucas raped my childhood” nonsense and we don’t need it here.

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TV’s Frink said:

If you think Rian Johnson or Disney or Star Wars hates you or ruined your life or ruined everything that came before it (especially the OT), then you’re being ridiculous.

Obviously I agree, but I will add that I do understand people who feel one movie can ruin the series. When I was 9, I was terrified ROTJ might come out and be bad and that would ruin everything. Even in the mid-90’s when I was in my early 20’s, a bad prequel movie would have “ruined my childhood.” Fortunately, by 1999 I was less “ridiculous” as you say.

So I’m not trying to hate on anyone who let’s one bad movie ruin it all for them, but I do hope they learn not to feel that way for their own sanity if nothing else.

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TV’s Frink said:

chyron8472 said:

TV’s Frink said:

If you think Rian Johnson or Disney or Star Wars hates you or ruined your life or ruined everything that came before it (especially the OT), then you’re being ridiculous.

True.

Unless one is simply being hyperbolic, which I had assumed was the case was ExNihilo but admittedly is often not so for a great many trolls who visit here.

I meant to address this before you posted again, but I wanted to say that I understood he was being hyperbolic. It was clear from the get go. I just take issue with being hyperbolic in that way (comparing it to abuse). It’s no different than the old “Lucas raped my childhood” nonsense and we don’t need it here.

I offered a direct apology to you. Do you accept it?

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I gave up after Rogue One, so that’s five for me. Keep in mind that the only reason I saw that and TFA was because of the ten-year gap between them and the prequels. If not for that I’d have been done after ROTS.

The Person in Question

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I pretty much checked out a while ago and haven’t seen any reason to check back in. As far as I’m concerned, the whole thing can only ever be a zombie franchise until the movies that actually made it what it is - namely, the original unaltered films - are given justice. The longer it continues in this zombie state, the more irrelevant it becomes.

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Giving up is relative. I stopped going to see Star Wars films for myself after AOTC (and that was as a “they can’t all suck that bad!” gambit rather than a genuine desire), but I’ve seen some of the films after that anyway.

ROTS I saw because a friend had two free tickets and we had a history of going to see really crappy films together (Alien vs Predator, etc), and he wanted me to go, as a sort of lark. So I stupidly said “Sure” and man was that a step down from Alien vs Predator. We did not even get ironic enjoyment from that one.

Now I’ve got kids, and so I go when they want to go. What I’ve seen of the sequels hasn’t made me want to go back for myself, but I’ll likely go back one way or the other. Although if the sequels ever get anywhere near as bad as the prequels, I’ll probably just opt to wait in the lobby while the kids watch.

Project Threepio (Star Wars OOT subtitles)

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Collipso said:

Well, hyperspace tracking only became a thing in TLJ. I think that’d make RO and ANH a few days apart. Not only that, but Vader never knew if Leia was on board or not.

Likely did since it’s a consular ship, from the registry they know the planet and he’s looking for the ambassador. Which then raises the question of why use such a recognizable ship for a covert mission. Actually, it brings me to mind the Snowden debacle. The US forced down a consulate aircraft under suspicion that Snowden was onboard and should have been a bigger international incident than it was. You simply don’t do this. Given that they were operating under some of the last traditions of the Old Republic, perhaps it was a bluff they thought they could pull off.

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jollyreaper said:

Collipso said:

Well, hyperspace tracking only became a thing in TLJ. I think that’d make RO and ANH a few days apart. Not only that, but Vader never knew if Leia was on board or not.

Likely did since it’s a consular ship, from the registry they know the planet and he’s looking for the ambassador. Which then raises the question of why use such a recognizable ship for a covert mission. Actually, it brings me to mind the Snowden debacle. The US forced down a consulate aircraft under suspicion that Snowden was onboard and should have been a bigger international incident than it was. You simply don’t do this. Given that they were operating under some of the last traditions of the Old Republic, perhaps it was a bluff they thought they could pull off.

Leia was fucked already anyway, she opened fire and tried to deny it after. She’d be under arrest no matter what.

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hairy_hen said:

I pretty much checked out a while ago and haven’t seen any reason to check back in. As far as I’m concerned, the whole thing can only ever be a zombie franchise until the movies that actually made it what it is - namely, the original unaltered films - are given justice. The longer it continues in this zombie state, the more irrelevant it becomes.

This makes no sense to me.

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TV’s Frink said:

hairy_hen said:

I pretty much checked out a while ago and haven’t seen any reason to check back in. As far as I’m concerned, the whole thing can only ever be a zombie franchise until the movies that actually made it what it is - namely, the original unaltered films - are given justice. The longer it continues in this zombie state, the more irrelevant it becomes.

This makes no sense to me.

I dunno, maybe you need to dive down further into the zombie metaphor to get it. “Zombie franchise” describes a franchise that keeps shuffling along after the thing that gave it life and soul is simply dead, gone, and no more. Seems apt so far. The more numerous the zombies become, and the longer they are around, the easier it is to dismiss it as just another irrelevant monster, forgetting that it once had a life and soul of its own. Still very true. And the only way to kill it is with a shovel to the neck. Yeah, okay, I admit that part could use some work. But it’s still way better than a car metaphor.

Project Threepio (Star Wars OOT subtitles)

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I don’t care about the metaphor. He said he won’t watch any new Star Wars until we get the OOT. I guess yay for principled stands that won’t accomplish anything other than potentially depriving yourself of more good movies?

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Zombie Star Wars is episodes II and III. They totally buried it, but it kept coming back.

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 (Edited)

I didn’t say I wouldn’t see the new movies - in fact, I’ve seen all of them. Some parts I even liked somewhat: Rey is an interesting character, Rogue One had its moments (mostly near the end), and there were about 20-25 minutes of The Last Jedi where I was kind of into it. I’m just curious enough about what they might do that it’s worth spending an afternoon to find out, though I usually wait until they’ve been out for at least a week to avoid crowds.

But as I indicated, I have little involvement in what I’m seeing. I had a visceral distaste for TFA, the result of which is that I don’t have much stake in how the story goes from there, because it has to build on such a shaky foundation. So when I see everyone arguing about how Luke’s character was handled in TLJ, I just shake my head from a distance because I wonder why they didn’t see it coming earlier, like I did. That isn’t “my” Luke Skywalker up on the screen (and it wasn’t Mark Hamill’s either, apparently), so it hardly makes any difference what the details are.

Like I said, checked out.

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 (Edited)

Well when you said you checked out a while ago and haven’t seen a reason to check back in it seemed natural to assume it meant no new movies, especially when you then paired it with the supposed reason that the OOT isn’t available.

This is what I got from your post and why I said it made no sense.

But congrats on being a prophet regarding Luke in TLJ? Lol.

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Wait, so nobody’s killing anyone with a shovel? Is that what we’ve concluded now?

Project Threepio (Star Wars OOT subtitles)

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TV’s Frink said:

I don’t care about the metaphor. He said he won’t watch any new Star Wars until we get the OOT.

But we did get the OOT. Just not in a purchasable form from official sources.

I don’t see how the argument of not having the OOT yet makes sense at this point, given that the “guerilla restorationist” himself even actively posts on these forums.

TV’s Frink said:

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

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 (Edited)

chyron8472 said:

TV’s Frink said:

I don’t care about the metaphor. He said he won’t watch any new Star Wars until we get the OOT.

But we did get the OOT. Just not in a purchasable form from official sources.

I don’t see how the argument of not having the OOT yet makes sense at this point, given that the “guerilla restorationist” himself even actively posts on these forums.

Again, just taking the metaphor and running with it…

Let’s say your beloved Barbara became a zombie. You have memories of Barbara, photos, letters, even videos that can remind you of her. You got a chance to know Barbara, and for that you are forever thankful.

But the neighbor kid down the street just got eaten by Barbara. The only Barbara he ever knew was the zombie Barbara.

So when you’re asking if “we” ever got the true Barbara, that depends if you’re just talking about yourself or are including the neighbor kid down the street.

TL;DR: The OOT is more than just unavailable commercially. As far as the general public is concerned, it’s been replaced.

Project Threepio (Star Wars OOT subtitles)

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Of course not having the original movies matters. Yes, people who frequent this forum, or others who are willing to plumb the depths of online file distribution, can watch good approximations of them any time they want now. But the general public is still not able to go to a store and buy them, as they should be able to do, so for all intents and purposes they do not exist. And yet in spite of this unacceptable state of affairs, Disney shows a great willingness to keep producing endless amounts of new content with the ‘Star Wars’ name attached to it. The true versions of the films that started it all are nowhere to be found, but they cynically exploit the name in order to keep churning out new films to form a perpetual revenue stream for themselves. That none of these new films are particularly good just makes it that much more galling.

The movies that got us all hooked on the galaxy far, far away have essentially died as far as official policy is concerned - that is my point. Disney has the power to resurrect them, but they are either unwilling to do so, or just can’t be bothered. Star Wars should have been allowed to die in peace, to just exist for what it was without having to be continually revisited. And yet the commercial exploitation continues and shows no sign of ever stopping. George Lucas, for all his infuriating stubbornness, at least had personal and artistic reasons for doing what he did, misguided though it was. Disney, on the other hand, doesn’t care about anything except money. So when I say Star Wars is a zombie franchise, I am perfectly sincere in my use of the metaphor.

I don’t sit around fuming about it (though for a few days per year I may get pretty annoyed); note that this is the practically the first time I even bothered to post anything on the subject since TFA came out. But I’m under no obligation at all to consider any of what they do to be significant. Unlike producing entirely new works, a long stream of sequels tends to become decreasingly relevant in comparison to the ones that started it. I also do not like having alternate interpretations of characters or events foisted on me years after the fact. And so, because it is clear that what Star Wars means to me has little in common with what matters to those in charge of it, I have checked myself out of any involvement with the new material other than passive disinterest.

@Catbus: I would eliminate it with a shovel if I could, but it would probably just keep coming back regardless. 😉

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CatBus said:

chyron8472 said:

TV’s Frink said:

I don’t care about the metaphor. He said he won’t watch any new Star Wars until we get the OOT.

But we did get the OOT. Just not in a purchasable form from official sources.

I don’t see how the argument of not having the OOT yet makes sense at this point, given that the “guerilla restorationist” himself even actively posts on these forums.

Again, just taking the metaphor and running with it…

Let’s say your beloved Barbara became a zombie. You have memories of Barbara, photos, letters, even videos that can remind you of her. You got a chance to know Barbara, and for that you are forever thankful.

But the neighbor kid down the street just got eaten by Barbara. The only Barbara he ever knew was the zombie Barbara.

So when you’re asking if “we” ever got the true Barbara, that depends if you’re just talking about yourself or are including the neighbor kid down the street.

TL;DR: The OOT is more than just unavailable commercially. As far as the general public is concerned, it’s been replaced.

Except it’s more like Barbara is still alive but just got some work done, and she never did anything like eat anyone, she just acted a little rude a few times.