logo Sign In

Thoughts on Star Wars Titles

Author
Time

I’m just gonna look at the saga films, but feels free to discuss the titles of any Star Wars content you want.

I don’t think I could pick a best Star Wars title, but I can definitely pick a worst: The Last Jedi. Now I’m not one of those people who hated the film, I thought it was pretty good (although it’s no exception to my rule of “movies shouldn’t be much more than two hours”), but that’s not what we’re here to talk about. I really dislike that title. Every episode up until that point had been entirely unique. No nouns were recycled. Then The Last Jedi comes along and now there’s a second film with Jedi in the title. It just feels so, so wrong in an intangible way. I guess it suits the film’s love of subverting expectations, but to me it’s equivalent of skipping the opening crawl. It just irks me to a probably irrational degree.

Had it been up to me, I think I would’ve called it The First Order Makes Chase. It fits the plot of the film as well the theme of retaliation second parts tend to have in the saga. Although I don’t want to adhere to closely to “poetry” if it becomes restrictive, I think it’s nice to have when possible. If we follow this logic, I’ve determined that the best title for IX would be…Rebirth of the Bendu. Not sure it’s actually the best, but within the context of matching Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith, it fits perfectly. I figure it’d be about Rey and Kylo uniting to revive the ancient order of the Bendu, Force-wielders who use both sides of the Force.

Now I’m guessing some people will say Attack of the Clones is a bad title because the Clones don’t technically attack anything, but given how vague SW titles are, I don’t have an issue with it, as it still fits the gist of the film.

On a different note, am I the only who kind of wishes we had a “Rise of” title? I’m sure many of you will say it’s too generic, but I like and think it would fit in incredibly well among the titles. I guess we could take my earlier suggestion and make it Rise of the Bendu, but really, the final chapter in the saga, or any story for that matter, should not have “Rise” in the title. It’s more appropriate for the beginning or middle of a trilogy.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

ray_afraid said:

I think The Empire Strikes Back is a good title, especially for a sequel, but I really don’t like any of the titles very much.

The more I think about The Empire Strikes Back as a film title, the sillier it sounds. People tout Empire as a darker, more serious film (which it is), but it may have the goofiest, most pulpy title of any SW film.

That said, it’s sufficiently vague which seems like something you’d want in a film title. Something like The First Order Makes Chase apart from being kind of boring, is far too literal. The goal shouldn’t be to summarize the plot in the film’s title, but rather to create intrigue. Viewed through this lens, The Last Jedi kind of works perfectly, begging the question “Who is the last Jedi?”

Author
Time

The Last Jedi is actually referenced in the first paragraph of The Force Awakens opening crawl:

Luke Skywalker has vanished.
In his absence, the sinister
FIRST ORDER has risen from
the ashes of the Empire
and will not rest until
Skywalker, the last Jedi,
has been destroyed.

A fitting title I must say! (Before the release of the movie everyone was speculating who were the last Jedi, was the title plural, when the answer was there all along)

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

Author
Time

“The Phantom Menace” is awful.

Author
Time

I honestly don’t have a problem with the title for any Star Wars movie.

Author
Time

Z6PO said:

The Last Jedi is actually referenced in the first paragraph of The Force Awakens opening crawl:

Luke Skywalker has vanished.
In his absence, the sinister
FIRST ORDER has risen from
the ashes of the Empire
and will not rest until
Skywalker, the last Jedi,
has been destroyed.

A fitting title I must say! (Before the release of the movie everyone was speculating who were the last Jedi, was the title plural, when the answer was there all along)

I wonder if the title for Episode IX is in the crawl from The Last Jedi?

The FIRST ORDER reigns.
Having decimated the peaceful
Republic, Supreme Leader Snoke
now deploys the merciless
legions to seize military
control of the galaxy.

Only General Leia Organa’s
band of RESISTANCE fighters
stand against the rising
tyranny, certain that Jedi
Master Luke Skywalker will
return and restore a spark of
hope
to the fight.

But the Resistance has been
exposed. As the First Order
speeds toward the rebel base,
the brave heroes mount a
desperate escape…

Author
Time

“spark of hope”

“Get over violence, madness and death? What else is there?”

Also known as Mr. Liquid Jungle.

Author
Time

I think The Last Jedi is a pretty cool title, but it’s just unfortunate that the film isn’t. If the film would’ve been completely different and I mean completely, the title itself is very intriguing and mysterious. Kind of like old EU, as it has been used by Marvel before.

Best:
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back (I have to say, this one also has the most kick-ass translation, “Empire’s Counterattack” (of course it sounds goofy in English but the translation to me is better than the original)
The Last Jedi (btw the new ones haven’t been even translated, damn you Disney)

Meh:
Return of the Jedi
Revenge of the Sith
The Force Awakens

Lame:
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
A New Hope

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.

Author
Time

pleasehello said:

ray_afraid said:

I think The Empire Strikes Back is a good title, especially for a sequel, but I really don’t like any of the titles very much.

The more I think about The Empire Strikes Back as a film title, the sillier it sounds. People tout Empire as a darker, more serious film (which it is), but it may have the goofiest, most pulpy title of any SW film.

But ESB as a film is also pretty pulpy and goofy (though admittedly not the most so in the saga). Attack of the Clones is easily the silliest title though (and silliest film for that matter, though for mostly different reasons).

That said, it’s sufficiently vague which seems like something you’d want in a film title. Something like The First Order Makes Chase apart from being kind of boring, is far too literal. The goal shouldn’t be to summarize the plot in the film’s title, but rather to create intrigue. Viewed through this lens, The Last Jedi kind of works perfectly, begging the question “Who is the last Jedi?”

The Last Jedi is pretty much the best title you could come up with for that movie. Really the only issue is that it breaks quite a few of the traditional SW naming conventions (at least three by my count).

Author
Time

Anakin Starkiller said:

What are the other two?

Missing the boat on the naming style for the second movie in the trilogy (a faction fighting), plus it’s the only film to say the title in dialogue.

Author
Time

Z6PO said:

The Last Jedi is actually referenced in the first paragraph of The Force Awakens opening crawl:

Luke Skywalker has vanished.
In his absence, the sinister
FIRST ORDER has risen from
the ashes of the Empire
and will not rest until
Skywalker, the last Jedi,
has been destroyed.

A fitting title I must say! (Before the release of the movie everyone was speculating who were the last Jedi, was the title plural, when the answer was there all along)

What are you talking about? The “last Jedi” in the TFA crawl refers to Luke, so it’s singular. The “Last Jedi” in the title of Episode 8 is plural (which is proven by several international translations of the title), so it HASN’T been there all along…

Author
Time

Star Wars fans never run of ways to critique the films!

The Phantom Menace
I actually like this title. It provides a bit of intrigue towards who this phantom threat is… the only problem is the film doesn’t deliver. If it had been more plotting and full of deception, it would have been a great title. Rank: 8/10.

Attack of the Clones
I really don’t like this title. For one, I’m not a big fan of “of the” titles. I’ve seen it pop up in fanedit titles and it feels lazy to me. Creates a very lead back, past feel. “The Clones Attack”, while not sounding as cool, works better as an exciting title. Rank: 2/10

Revenge of the Sith
Like AOTC, I’m not a huge fan… but it juxtapositions well against ROTJ so I’ll let it slide. It does feel a bit lazy however. And a revenge is never really established in the first place. Rank: 5/10

A New Hope
This really isn’t a good title. I know they needed a proper name once the PT was established, but this doesn’t do a great film justice. When you watch Episode 4, do you really it is best summarized as “a new hope”? I’m not sure what alternatives there could be, but this is certainly not it. Rank: 4/10

The Empire Strikes Back
Hollywood has been trying for 38 years to come up with a title this great, and it continues to fail today. Rank: 10/10

Return of the Jedi
I don’t have that much a problem with “of the” here, as the “Jedi Returns” sounds underwhelming for such an epic conclusion. And while the title certainly works, I don’t know if it fits the film just right. First, it is centered around purely the Jedi not the Rebellion. And worst of all, it spoils the ending. I think something like “The Last Stand” would have worked better here. Rank: 6/10.

The Force Awakens
When I first heard this title, I smiled. It was just great. My one dilemma is the impact within the film- is it only referring to Rey’s awakening? I think spending a bit more time there would be preferred, but that’s not something I can really mark off from the title. Rank: 9/10.

The Last Jedi
This title is memorable, but like ROTJ I don’t think it represents the film. Luke is only one part, not the driving focus (if say the Resistance were praying for Luke’s help, it might have worked). But at the very end, Luke says he will not be the Last Jedi. This is really annoying to me. And I get it. Subversion of expectations! But a title is more or less a promise that something will happen. AOTC didn’t end with Yoda announcing “the Jedi will have no need for an attack of clones”. It followed through. TLJ does not do that, so while it may sound cool it does not accurately do it’s job. And it uses a noun already taken. Rank: 3/10.

Oh, and Rogue One gets 1/10 and Solo 0/10. Both very boring titles, with RO coming out on top simply because it happens to have a cooler name.

Maul- A Star Wars Story

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I forgot to mention that just like the film itself, the title “The Last Jedi” pours salt in the wound TFA created by undoing the accomplishments of the heroes in OT.

Oh and “The Empire Strikes Back” sounds cheesy as hell, but it fits with the other films enough that I don’t care.

Author
Time

OutboundFlight said:

A New Hope
This really isn’t a good title. I know they needed a proper name once the PT was established, but this doesn’t do a great film justice. When you watch Episode 4, do you really it is best summarized as “a new hope”? I’m not sure what alternatives there could be, but this is certainly not it. Rank: 4/10

Someone suggested The Princess of Alderaan in another thread a while back. I quite like that as an alternative to ANH.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

OutboundFlight said:

The Last Jedi
This title is memorable, but like ROTJ I don’t think it represents the film. Luke is only one part, not the driving focus (if say the Resistance were praying for Luke’s help, it might have worked).

They weren’t? News to me.

But at the very end, Luke says he will not be the Last Jedi. This is really annoying to me. And I get it. Subversion of expectations! But a title is more or less a promise that something will happen.

That’s an oddly stringent way of looking at it. The title is about the idea of Luke being the last Jedi, and whether he will fulfill that title or not. Not to mention, he’s referred to by that title twice in TFA, and it’s not an inaccurate descriptor of him in TLJ itself - looking at it another way, he’s “the last Jedi” left, or worded differently “the last” of the “Jedi.” So really the title is a question (not a promise), saying “he’s the last Jedi now, will he be the last Jedi forever?”

Otherwise I agree with your rundown (except for maybe TPM).

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I like the title , it was also used in Star Wars twice before …http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Vol_1_49 and http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Last_Jedi_(novel) to me , the title has a legendary feel to it , like The Last Starfighter or The Last Samurai , The Last Unicorn etc .And the story heavily played upon the Legend of Luke Skywalker from the beginning of TFA on . I could not think of a more fitting or perfect title for the film .

https://screamsinthevoid.deviantart.com/

Author
Time

DominicCobb said:

OutboundFlight said:

The Last Jedi
This title is memorable, but like ROTJ I don’t think it represents the film. Luke is only one part, not the driving focus (if say the Resistance were praying for Luke’s help, it might have worked).

They weren’t? News to me.

Holdo had a plan. Evacuate the transports down to Crait. The entire Resistance plot line was riding on that. Luke, the last Jedi which the film is supposedly about, only shows up to effect the story at the very end.

For a short while, they do pray for help. But not specifically Luke, and when he arrives they are just happy he can be with them “in the end”. The last Jedi is not the focus on the resistance plot line.

There’s effectively four stories happening at once during the Last Jedi (Luke, Poe, Finn, Kylo) and the title only refers to one, with the rest only partially interfering at the end.

But at the very end, Luke says he will not be the Last Jedi. This is really annoying to me. And I get it. Subversion of expectations! But a title is more or less a promise that something will happen.

That’s an oddly stringent way of looking at it. The title is about the idea of Luke being the last Jedi, and whether he will fulfill that title or not. Not to mention, he’s referred to by that title twice in TFA, and it’s not an inaccurate descriptor of him in TLJ itself - looking at it another way, he’s “the last Jedi” left, or worded differently “the last” of the “Jedi.” So really the title is a question (not a promise), saying “he’s the last Jedi now, will he be the last Jedi forever?”

Otherwise I agree with your rundown (except for maybe TPM).

That is an interesting way to look at it. This might meander into opinions towards the film, but I personally think if this was the case they should of spent more time developing Luke and his successor (Rey). Without much of a reason for Rey to be a Jedi, it falls a bit flat for me. If the movie was about “will the Jedi end here?”, it should of spent more time exploring what if means to be a Jedi. Basically more of the second lesson.

For me, I kept wondering in the theater when Luke was going to show up. It frames the resistance in peril, which sets up the arrival of the “last Jedi”. So perhaps if the focus of the story was somewhere else I would interpret the title otherwise.

Maul- A Star Wars Story