Den

One of my problems with the ST stem from, I don’t really like the groundwork it set. You may make a point that it may be logical, but the way I see the heroes of the last trilogy regressing to their old roles, or at least very similar ones at that, I don’t really like that. That’s about my personal preference, which says the whole thing shouldn’t have existed in the first place. But who am I to say what should exist or what shouldn’t. The setup didn’t have to b like that, and the story might have well ended in ROTJ. What happened after that might have well been our imagination. (Can’t say for Legends as I didn’t read those)

You know, it’s like the 7th, Uttar Kanda of Ramayana. Go and see what happens there. Since it is a tale, they didn’t have to continue that way. Same for the ST.

Anyway, the setup, and also the way it is presented. Since a lot of plot beats I see here are very similar to the OT, I don’t really find anything that would actually make me latch onto this. Had this been presented more creatively that it may have felt like its own thing, I may have liked it, or at the very least have something to like about this. Novelty is a thing that I price a lot in a piece of work, and say what you want, the PT felt like it. It is a whole different aesthetic that made me latch to it, and also a story that is completely different from what I was presented before. There isn’t anything quite like it.

TFA was intentionally too similar to ANH, to “bring fans back”, but did TLJ have to be like that too? It may have been “surprising”, but too many plot beats from Empire, and inverted. I said it before in another post of mine, it comes off as written by someone who was too lazy to actually make a original story of his own. Just took the template of another story, and inverted some plot decisions. Very intelligent. TROS, you see where I am coming from. At least keep Palpatine dead so that Vader’s sacrifice has some meaning.

Technically, it is good enough. There nothing too amazing or bad to comment on. And the visuals are very good, I will give that. But it isn’t everything. My problem lies with the story that’s told. Simply, it doesn’t do it creatively enough. If it was very new, I am in. But this isn’t and that’s where it ends.

1. ROTS/TESB - Revenge of the Sith is the campiest of all Star Wars films. It’s the cheesiest, but the most awesome kind of cheese. It is dark and it is funny. It is fast. Not a moment to lose. And it’s awesome. And the way Anakin turned, to save Padme, I don’t think anybody other than Lucas could have thought of that kind of a thing in a Star Wars film. The film looks awesome too, in its own way. And it’s been my fav since childhood. TESB, it’s looks the best out of the original six, and the way it continued the story is awesome. And it’s the least campy out of the six. It has the widest “appeal” I guess. I mainly love it for how inventive it is as a sequel.

2. ROTJ - That, I was a bit torn. I don’t know whether put to this first or Rogue One, but I chose this, since the last act really send the other to ashes. I will say this, ain’t inventive as the predecessors, but a damn good ending. You can say, it’s kind of like my nostalgic favorite.

3. RO - I have a soft spot for films, no matter the story, that look visually beautiful. This one does. And the way it manages to explain why for heaven’s sake Death Star happened to have this flaw is great. The performances are the best of all Star Wars films too, I will say. Was kind of skeptical after TFA, but this managed to convince me about the direction Disney was taking. (Never saw Rebels).

4. TPM - I feel like the film attracted a lot of vitriol for how different it was from the existing Star Wars. I can’t see the performances or the characters any less memorable than the OT ones. It has a more pronounced East Asian influence, I am particularly talking about the look. And the film looks beautiful too. And I feel like it’s Lucas’ most self-indulgent film, and sort of reminds me of THX-1138. It’s slower, very unconventional way to start a story like this like that. But I appreciate it for that. Not to mention that the special effects hold up really well, and have their own quality to it. I always loved this film. I never minded Binks either. Only the slapstick was dumb. It might not have the same “drive” or attractive factor as the others ranked higher, but as a film itself, it works beautifully, especially if you’re into it.

5. ANH - This is the first. If this wasn’t successful in what it did, Star Wars, maybe, just maybe, wouldn’t have been what it is. For how significant it is as a film, I can’t deny that. I will admit I never used to see it much as a kid, maybe, I thought it was kind of barebones. Great film, though.

6. Solo - The first time around felt like barebones, and grew on me later. Happened with many, I guess. The overall story might be low stakes, and I felt they delved too much to the “details”. But the performances are very good too, but the film looks sorta drab. But a pretty average film in itself.

7. AOTC - The story is more driving than TPM, but the script could have been polished. Lucas’ attempts at Shakespearean dialogue just falls flat on it’s face, but unintentional comedy abounds. The rest is pretty good. Isn’t as well crafted though.

8. TFA - I was disappointed the very first time I saw it. It’s like, you have a story in three acts, and the two acts pass by, and the third act comes and shits all over the rest. To put it simply, everybody is back to square one. This ain’t a way to continue a story. And also, I don’t think I should judge a film by how technically “good” it is.

9. TLJ - Again, a very “well-made” film. But it didn’t have creativity enough to write a story on it’s own. Very similar to Empire, but the same plot beats, inverted, and voila! How original it is. I am surprised people failed to notice. I expected something new after the ANH-copy that was TFA, but it ended up a “twisted” TESB. And I have no problem with Luke as a hermit. But a lot of philosophy of his is giving lip-service to all what happened in the prequels, but some of them lost to catch on that. This is a good decision, but not the decision of him trying to kill Ben, even by “mistake”. The film whole feels like it was written with “be bold and surprising” in mind, but without baking the whole thing well. And it comes off as lazy the way it’s written.

10. TROS - Palpy’s back! I dunno.

As for the TV shows, I don’t know where I’d put them. I never watched CG CW, and Rebels, or Resistance, just heard some of what they did and it sounds good. I watched the Tartakovsky one, I watched Visions, and the two live-action shows. All of which I liked. Mando would be there somewhere around top. Boba would be above Solo, but below ANH, I guess. I can’t rank the cartoons, though.

Hello there. Been lingering around quite a bit here, a lots of cool stuff. What I’m mainly interested in is the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy, that we don’t really, officially get. Some of the restoration projects you folks here take up is amazing. Lots of cool fan edits, too, Adywan’s ones being my favourite of 'em. I wish they were official, as well as 4kXX projects. These are the best versions currently available for us the look at (I do admit I like, even love, the blue-tinted timing of Empire, but SW '77 is real faulty). Others like Harmy are great too. And talking about some little bits no one notices. Plus, I love Star Wars in general, so it’s a good place to talk about some stuff I want to talk about, ain’t it?