Carrie interviewing George in 2002. Best interview I’ve seen of him apart from the Bill Moyers conversation. He really opens up a great deal.
Technically the premiere of Revenge of the Sith but Mark with the giggles for the saga as a whole! He got it half right. Haha 🙂
The good old blender ranking.
Indeed. My rankings change constantly. For a long time they were IV, V, I, III, VI, VIII, II, VII, IX but things change!
The Phantom Menace is my current favourite as I’m becoming unashamed of my love for it. I seriously don’t mind Jar Jar stepping in poo doo or the Eopie tooting in his face. The stepping in poo doo was put in prospective for me by a little boy on YouTube laughing at the moment with his Daddy and I quite like the sound design of the Eopie’s nose wag. In all seriousness though I love how it’s a story of people helping people. Qui-Gon frees Jar Jar, Anakin helps the group earn the Hyperdrive Generator, Qui-Gon frees Anakin, Jar Jar brings the Naboo and Gungans together, and etc… It’s a lot of good cause and effect. I really love how there’s duality between the Force and Midi-Chlorians, the Jedi and Sith, Anakin and Selbulba, Sabe and Padme, and etc… I love how the film really gradually shows the beginnings of how society evolves and changes. Even little things like Qui-Gon touching Shimi’s shoulder show how the other Jedi have mostly all lost their compassion. It’s a very innocent film rooted in underlying cynicism, corruption, greed, and lust for power. I really love the world building and action too of course. The score is also my favourite in the entire series. I could truly talk about why I love this film forever.
The Empire Strikes Back is next. What hasn’t been said already? It’s the perfect sequel. I especially love all the scenes with Luke and Yoda and anything on Cloud City. Han and Leia’s relationship is quite lovely too. The spirituality of Dagobah I think is why I love it as much as I do. Plus all the Eastern influence.
Revenge of the Sith is next because of all the layers and how it shows the final breaking point of what turns a society and good person to do terrible deeds. It really shows how the Jedi have lost their way at this point in the narrative. There’s instances notably with Anakin and Padme where the dialogue isn’t perfect but I still love the story and can look past a couple of nitpicks. I also wish Padme had more to do. I really wish the deleted scenes with her and the Rebel Alliance were included. The Opera House scene is one of the best in the saga though.
Return of the Jedi is next because of my love for Luke and Vader. The moments they share are truly some of the highest and also best of the saga. The compassion Luke shows for his father is the core of major themes and values of these films. The scenes with Jabba’s Palace are also really fun and I love when Luke returns back to Dagobah. The Ewoks are also cute and I like how they show even the little guy can overcome the odds and for the clear Vietnam influence.
A New Hope. It’s typically been my favourite and it still is up there. I’m just feeling the ones above slightly more right now. I love how there’s a story that can be told before and a story told after. It’s so very open. Luke’s humble beginnings is very relatable. Binary Sunset is truly my favourite moment in the entire saga. I love The Cantina, Death Star, and Trench Run. Leia is also a bad ass and doesn’t need anyone to save her! You can’t forget Han, Chewie, C-3PO and R2 either of course. It’s truly a classic for a reason.
Attack of the Clones. For a long time I had mixed feelings about it but lately I’ve come to see I really like it and think it’s pretty good. It’s not perfect but it’s still interesting and a good time. I especially love how we see further the decays of society with the advertising and slums on Coruscant and how Anakin and Padme have to travel as refugees. While the love story isn’t perfect it does make sense. They don’t know what love is as he’s studying to be a Jedi and she’s a senator. They don’t know what this is supposed to feel like. So it won’t be smooth. I feel super uncomfortable when watching the fireplace scene but so did Padme. So I think that says all you need to know. It’s far from perfect but it’s still a good watch. I consider it to be like a light sympathy as it gradually builds to the epic climax and the beginning of The Clone Wars.
For the Sequels see above.
And the Spinoffs.
Rogue One has really grown on me these last couple of months and I think how it captures the spiritually aspect of Star Wars better than any Disney era Star Wars film is a big reason why. I love Chirrut and the scenes on Jedha. I’m one of the rare people who prefers the opening to the last act. Overall I appreciate how it has multiple callbacks to both the Prequels and Originals but tries to be its own story at the same time. Gareth Edwards and team truly did great job with this one.
Solo I’ve only seen once. I can’t really give a fair opinion but I enjoyed most of the new things. I especially really liked Qi’Ra and Drayden Vos. All and all it’s certainly entertaining at times but feels a bit too modern for my liking and not timeless. A problem more and more common with modern Star Wars though.
There you have it. My overall reasons for loving what I love.
Considering this ranking, I find your choice of username and avatar…curious.
My username doesn’t really reflect my current feelings as I currently have very mixed feelings about the Sequel Trilogy. The Last Jedi is the only one I can truly sit through as I enjoy most things with Rey, Kylo, and Luke and it’s overall really enjoyable apart from some non-Star Warsy dialogue, meta commentary, and humour. The other two are more difficult to watch as The Force Awakens I enjoy for Rey but is difficult at the same time to watch now as she’s connected to Palpatine even though the parallels point to something else. Context was thrown out the window in general for the parallels and ideas in this trilogy. They forgot context as to why certain moments worked to begin with. It doesn’t help that it’s more or less a beat for beat story remix of A New Hope. The Rise of Skywalker I can’t even make sense of. It’s entertaining I guess but that’s all it has going for it for me. It truly doesn’t understand the source material at all. Especially when it comes to the maybe two callbacks to the Prequels. It also doesn’t naturally continue The Last Jedi but acts as both a sequel to The Force Awakens and disconnecting itself from the former. The only really good thing is Leia having her own lightsaber and training with Luke but even that falls apart with context when you realise she trains Rey but not her own son. Rey also declaring she’s a “Skywalker” and ending up all alone when her clear motivation from the beginning of the trilogy was finding belonging is insulting. It’s also ridiculous how she does things just because the plot says so. I still mostly love Rey but it’s disappointing seeing what they’ve reduced her down to. And don’t even get me started on “Lightspeed Skipping” and 'Somehow Palpatine has returned". Needless to say this trilogy is full of highs and lows. The Last Jedi while it doesn’t always understand the source material at least to me feels like it’s trying to be bold despite being really good at hiding its clear story borrowing from The Empire Strikes Back. It does to its credit have callbacks to Attack of the Clones also though.
My current unpopular rankings.
Skywalker Saga:
The Phantom Menace
A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi
Attack of the Clones
The Last Jedi
The Force Awakens
The Rise of Skywalker
Spinoffs:
Rogue One
Solo
No respect or regard for the Prequels.
Diminishing Anakin’s legacy as the Chosen One.I don’t mind either of those.
Each to their own opinion. I just feel even if you don’t like something you should at least respect the established lore and canon rules of what’s been established. There’s ways that you can go about it that both respects it and pushes you to new and exciting areas. Pandering gets you nowhere unless it makes sense for the story to go in those places like say Darth Plagueis may have done.
Most satisfying:
Most things with Rey
More strong female characters.
Kylo Ren/Ben Solo.
Rey and Ben’s Bond.
BB-8.
Finn’s growth from running away anxious and becoming a respected member of the Resistance.
Luke’s lessons on Atch-To.
Rey pulling and using the lightsaber on Starkiller Base.
Overall each ot the characters are solid and likable.
Rey versus Dark Rey.
The Throne Room in The Last Jedi.
Han and Ben.
Leia using and having her own lightsaber.
BB-8’s thumbs up.
“Women always figure out the truth. Always.”
Cinematography.
Some world building.
Most Disappointing:
Rehashing the Originals.
No respect or regard for the Prequels.
Lack of character consistency.
No regard for established character developments, lore, and canon rules
Luke tossing the lightsaber.
Rey being a Palpatine.
Barely any development with the Knights of Ren.
Snoke having no purpose other than being some vessel for Palpatine.
Palpatine returning with no explanation.
No explanation to how Maz got the Skywalker lightsaber.
Most world building.
Finn not freeing the stormtroopers and giving them redemption.
Ben Solo dying.
Diminishing Anakin’s legacy as the Chosen One.
Rebels versus Empire 2.0.
No knowledge of the Jedi who left with Ben when he became Kylo.
Barely any R2-D2 and C-3PO.
The dozen or more plotholes.
Leia training Rey. It’s so beautiful and potent. Two strong women in a master and apprentice role is incredible! It’s something I’ve always wanted and didn’t know how much I truly needed it.
I also loved Leia and Luke training together. So exciting seeing Leia with her own lightsaber!
In general I think they handled Leia well for the most part given the circumstances.
Is it weird I found the planet killing Star Destroyers logical within the lore? It feels a natural progression from Death Star, not unlike the evolution and mass production of atomic weapons.
I find Starkiller Base more egregious because it’s big thing is “it’s bigger”. It becomes so big it’s unbelievable, and it’s a very stupid concept to make yourself a bigger target after two failed Death Stars.
Not sure it fits for me but you make a fair point.
I agree on Starkiller Base completely. It wasn’t needed. I did have a theory back when that Snoke was only using the First Order and Starkiller for a greater purpose. He’d then use the Knights of Ren who were hiding in the Unknown Regions waiting to invade. All while searching for answers to immortality. That’s why I thought in a way he used Starkiller and “died” to take himself out of the picture to divide the First Order and even Resistance further. Especially with his “You wonder why I keep a rapid cur in such a place of power. A curs weakness properly manipulated can be a sharp tool.” This all ended up meaning nothing. Except maybe the draining Life Force which maybe was for immorality.
I finally saw The Rise of Skywalker yesterday. It’s a flawed and lore crushing entry but also an entertaining popcorn movie. I think pertaining to established lore and canon it really doesn’t understand the source material but at the same time as of right now I find it to be a fun time if you don’t take it seriously.
Lore Crushing and Other Bits:
Rey being a Palpatine. It makes no sense for him to have a son within established lore. Namely in Revenge of the Sith for example he tells Anakin “I need your help son”. It’s very clear to me that he saw himself as a surrogate father. Maybe even as the father but that seemed to be more connected to Darth Plagueis. Rey’s lineage also felt like trying to pander to everyone and not stepping on any toes.
Palpatine using Force Lightning on the fleet. So, why exactly didn’t he do this over the Battle of Endor?
Force powers. They were really cool but within established lore context don’t make sense.
Planet Killing Star Destroyers - What?!
Knights of Ren? Not important.
How did Maz get the lightsaber? Not important.
Snoke? Pointless and possibly just a clone vessel for Palpatine?
Prequel references and bringing the saga full circle? Nope.
I’m sure there’s more I could say but I need to see it again to give an ultimate verdict. Right now, I found it to be entertaining on it’s own merits namely with Leia and Luke training, Leia training Rey, Rey and Ben, Lando, and some other bits but as a conclusion I find it’s a contradiction to lore and canon. It equally feels like it’s trying to course correct The Last Jedi at times which made it very wonky and like two different visions were clashing. Star Wars was always more than popcorn fun for me but that is now what it’s come to and I think I’m at peace with that. I can let go now.
I miss George.
If you’re in the US, Best Buy is currently having a sale for the 1TB PS4 slim for $199.
Oh wow. Thank you for letting me know that! That’s a great deal. I may have to splurge.
I’m not sure I have a least favourite country but my favourites are England, Russia, Scotland, Italy, Wales, Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark.
England - I love English culture ranging from the arts to football, history, royalty, and it’s sense of community within the different corners.
Russia - It’s more than bad stereotypes. There’s something incredibly spiritual about it. It’s also rich in the arts, culture, royality, history, and more. I love how it’s where Andrei Tarkovsky is from. It’s also incredibly beautiful.
Scotland - Scottish people tend to be very friendly and kind. Plus look no further than the Isle of Skye for dream holiday adventures.
Italy - The history, culture, food, and sense of family. It’s a beautiful country.
Wales - It’s beautiful and filled with medieval history with all of the castles.
Switzerland - It’s very beautiful and is right out of a storybook.
Denmark - Home of Lego. Enough said.
Sweden - Very beautiful, heritage, art, and lovely people.
Honourable Mentions: Ireland, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, and Kenya.
Stravinsky, rather.
Oops. Yes. I also always saw the Seven Samuari theme as more similar to the Main Theme or maybe it is The Imperial March.
I really need to upgrade to a PS4. Especially now that Shenmue 3 is out. I’ve been waiting decades for this and I don’t have the console to play it.
Here’s a great video that gives even more examples. The Dune Sea was inspired by Tchaikovsky for one.
But it does make me wonder if Lucasfilm actually has some psuedo-vocabulary they use for simple Huttese when writing alien dialogue for the actors/voice actors to speak, and the variations are just due actors pronouncing words slightly different or loose translations.
Ben Burtt invented Huttese for Return of the Jedi. He published a book with common phrases in a number of Star Wars languages years ago. So yes, Huttese has always been consistent.
I have this book somewhere. Brings back many memories. Haha
Maclunkey Culkin!
I find my rankings shifting lately in the lead up to The Rise of Skywalker. At the moment I think I’d say …
Skywalker Saga:
A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
The Phantom Menace
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi
Attack of the Clones
The Last Jedi
The Force Awakens
Spinoffs:
Rogue One
Solo
Andrei Rublev’s an excellently crafted movie, but it didn’t give me the static shock so many others seem to get from it. I dunno why. It’s very long, but so was Stalker, and I love that film. I also like Christian films with actual intelligence behind them. Yet I could only give it 8/10.
I can certainly understand that but also don’t give up on only one viewing if that’s all you’ve seen of it. If I’ve learned anything in watching his films is that the more you watch them, the deeper meanings you’ll find and new ideas and layers emerge. The biggest example I’ve found of this is Zerkalo. It’s personally his best work to me. Stalker was my first and I love it too. It’s truly an incredible film. I especially love Stalker’s Prayer about when we are born that we are soft but as we grow old we become hard. Truly one of my all time cinematic moments. I think while Andrei Rublev is certainly a Christian film in a lot of ways, I’d say try looking at it as an artist trying to keep their integrity during a difficult time. I think greater meaning will open up. The only film from his that I’ve struggled with so far is Solaris. I still need to watch it, Ivan’s Childhood, Nostalghia, and The Sacrifice. I owe a lot to Andrei and feel his presence often.
Andrei Rublev. It’s truly an incredible film. Words can’t give it the due it deserves.
The 1966 version? (I am not sure if they have remade this - like so many others?)
It is a film I have been meaning to view for a long time, yet have never quite got around to it. I think I really must rectify this as many people say good things about Tarkovsky’s film.
Yes indeed. There were two cuts. But I watched the preferred cut of Andrei.
I don’t think you’d be disappointed by doing so. Andrei Tarkovsky is a truly incredible filmmaker and artist. I feel a very deep spiritual connection with him. Ever since I saw Stalker earlier this year my life has changed in ways I never thought were possible. Stalker has left me scarred and haunted for reasons I don’t understand and don’t want to know. Andrei Rublev only adds to that feeling but in a different way. For me it has a way that makee the viewer feel hopeful and potency despite the tragedies. I don’t want to spoil anything but highly recommend it.
Andrei Rublev. It’s truly an incredible film. Words can’t give it the due it deserves.
Carrie Fisher’s brother reveals new details about Leia’s ‘Rise of Skywalker’ role: ‘She was going to be the last Jedi’:-
It aligns with what Mark said about her being trained by Luke as a Jedi in George’s Treatments for Episode IX before Luke passes on. That was a big theory of mine that it would be her children who bring Balance of the Force on a place like Mortis with Anakin while she’s left as the one to carry on the legacy in this realm. I wonder if they’ll repurpose this by making Finn the last Jedi.
Either way it’s really tragic and sad we will never see Leia’s true potential. I’m grateful though that we’ll see Leia in some compacity in The Rise of Skywalker. I hope it’s as satisfying conclusion as can be for her.
About The Young Idea: The Very Best Of The Jam
Paul Weller has such great lyrics.
Album: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band
Song: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da or Her Comes the Sun or In My Life
Edit: Wrong Thread.
TPM - No potty humour.
AOTC - Include the scenes at Padme’s parent’s house and have it written in ROTS that it would be too dangerous to leave Leia on Naboo with them.
ROTS - Include the deleted scenes of Padme and the Rebel Alliance. She deserves more.
ANH - The lightsaber fight.
TESB - No siblings kissing. Find another way to make Han jealous.
ROTJ - Have Boba survive on screen and track down the heroes on Endor. A final confrontation between Han and Boba to enter the shield generator would’ve been amazing.
TFA - I guess no Starkiller Base superweapon.
TLJ - Cut out the ‘Godspeed Rebels’ or at least find another way to wish the Resistance well, ‘Bastard’, Luke’s wonky walk after tossing the lightsaber, and the your momma humour.
