Anchorhead said:

Collipso said:
Neither Star Wars nor Empire ripped off any movie whatsoever.

That’s incorrect.
https://youtu.be/sx15aXjcDZg

http://www.moongadget.com/origins/index.html

I really don’t see how being influenced by a dozen old movies is in any way comparable to blantantly recycling story elements, structure, and visuals from the same movie series. The Last Jedi has a very similar structure to TESB in that it features rebels being chased from their base (albeit a lot slower), while a Jedi student seeks out a Jedi master, with the movie ending with the good guys narrowly escaping the bad guys. It even has a battle of Hoth, even though it has been moved to the end of the film, rather than the beginning, and some red salt to visually distuinguish it somewhat from TESB. It features the throne room sequence from ROTJ, which plays out in similar fashion right down to the bad guy’s betrayal of his master, with a battle with the Imperial Guards thrown in for good measure, and a twist where the bad guy stays bad.

Then there’s the ton of visual references. Here’s the ROTJ Death Star run, one of many examples (already referenced in TFA by the way):

I think the argument can be made, that the ST is a loosely based remake of the OT, and I think it would be considered as such, if it wasn’t marketed as a set of sequels featuring the classic characters. I think I would have liked the ST a lot more, if it had just been an honest reboot, rather than a loosely based remake thinly disguised as sequels.

Edit:

With my last statement, I think I may have actually discovered a way to enjoy the ST more on it’s own terms. I guess I should just consider it a loosely based remake, rather than true sequels to the OT. That actually makes Rey’s instant Force powers more pallatable, even if she’s still a rather bland character in my view, since a loosely based remake obviously doesn’t have to adhere to the in-universe rules.