How would you binge Star Wars movies?
I would go by release order, up to Episode III. The newest ones managed to extinguish my passion and hope for the Star Wars, so I wouldn't watch them (maybe except Rogue One - that one was ok).
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Really? I thought the newest ones were much better than I-III, and I rather enjoyed VII.
I could see myself watching VII-IX again at some point, where as I have absolutely no desire to see I-III ever again.
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I'm not going to lie - I was young when watching I-III, so I'm a bit nostalgic about them. I understand some of the criticism regarding prequels, but that didn't stop me from enjoying them. Huge part of that was how they filled the galaxy with context/lore/background. In my eyes it brought the Star Wars universe to life. It was after that, that I got my hands on my 1st SW novel, and new worlds and adventures just started piling up from then on.
On the other hand, VII and VIII seem to me very bare in comparison. If the OT brought SW to life, and prequels expanded it, what did the newest trilogy bring us? So I tried looking - maybe interesting characters. Well, no. Captivating story with unpredictable turns? No.VII would be well received as a fan movie in my eyes, but nothing more. VIII had my attention when Luke started questioning the very basis of Jedi beliefs - but instead of using this opportunity, they did pretty much nothing with it. Admiral Waldo's drama for drama's sake "secret plan" which could not be spoken of until the very last moment certainly didn't help. Don't really want to drown you in my rant, so to sum it up - in VII and VIII I see 2 major faults: no vision (concept, idea for itself), and poor execution.
Can't speak much about IX, cause I don't even feel like watching it.
Actually, as much bad as I see in newest trilogy, can you tell me what is it that you enjoyed about it?
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VII, as you said, was fan service, but it was good, nostalgic fan service. It brought back the characters we knew and loved, introduced interesting new characters, and gave us a fun and enjoyable movie to go with us. It was very Star Wars - a grand space opera - which is really what I was looking for from it. I really enjoyed it.
VIII I thought was... okay. I remember feeling kind of disappointed by it in that I felt very "meh" about it overall. I think it was trying to be a new The Empire Strikes Back, but it missed the mark - it was no Episode V. I didn't have the issues with it that the people complaining about it online seemed to, I just thought it dragged at times and wasn't particularly interesting.
IX I thought was better all around, I certainly enjoyed it more than VIII. It returned to the sense of adventure, action, and excitement, it had better pacing, and was more interesting than VIII with some moments where I didn't know what would happen next. I thought it was pretty good.
Honestly, the best part of the new trilogy for me was that it acted as if the prequel trilogy never happened - no mention of midochlorians or whills and a return to The Force being this mystical force that unites everyone and everything. It brought back the notion that anyone could use The Force.
My issues with the prequel trilogy are that it introduced the single most annoying movie character I've ever seen in Jar Jar Binks (Olaf from Frozen is a not too distant second), it had awful acting in the form of Hayden Christiansen (his scene about his dislike for beaches because they get sand in your clothing was agonizing to watch), it gave us unbelievable characters (Queen Amidala is supposed to be this brilliant queen, but she left Jar Jar in charge and who in their right mind would do that? You mean to tell me that there was no one more qualified?), but worst of all it tried to de-mystify The Force.
The Force was great as this mystical, unifying force, this life spring, and came with the idea that anyone could become powerful in the Force if they connected to it. And then the prequel trilogy tried to explain it with psuedo-science, introducing midochlorians as the source of the Force and that you could tell how powerful someone was just by testing them for midochlorians. Gone is this mystical, unifying force - it's just things in your bloodstream. Gone is the notion that anyone could use the Force - it's genetic, and if you don't have the midochlorians in your blood then too bad. It's not about feeling the Force, connecting with nature, or any of the great stuff that Yoda taught in Episode 5 - it's all about being lucky enough to be born with it.
I totally understand enjoying them if you saw them when you were young - Episode 6 was my favorite episode when I was young because it was the most action packed, and I thought that Water World was a good movie. Revisiting them years later, I think the prequel trilogy is awful (maybe not as bad as Water World, but more annoying), but even Episodes IV-VI haven't held up as well. IV is really slow - the pacing is slow and drawn out, and what once felt grand now feels boring. VI is action packed but there's not much more to it - it shows Luke as a badass, and that's cool, but there's not much beyond the action and action alone isn't enough for me anymore. Episode V is still great - I didn't appreciate it as a child, but as an adult it's fantastic and still holds up incredibly well today.
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Lol, I guess I found the difference in our perspectives. You think that just 2nd one was meh, and I thought both 1st and 2nd were meh, and concluded 3rd one will be meh as well. VII trying to be a newer hope, and VIII trying to be empirer striker back screamed out to me as lack of ideas. Couple that with the fact that despite having more modern technology then back in the day, and they still can't make better new hope than in 1979 - which I agree is the weakest movie in the original trilogy. There seems to be no other word for the situation than failure. And if they knew they couldn't make it better, why did they try to do it at all?
Midichlorians - I don't hate them as an idea, but I don't think they're really needed, and if they serve to demistify the force for no purpose, then they should just go. They had potential though - e.g. Force as a source of all life left it in the living beings, as a form of connection to its creations. That way it could be both a mystical and physical thing at the same time. But no reason to make it power level measure, so in that regard, I wholeheartedly agree that it sucks. And that seems to be the problem, because not being a power level measure leads to not being important whether it's genetic of not, how much you have, etc.
Still, it just sort of kills the mood in Ep I, not being mentioned anymore in Ep II and III, so does it really spoil the entire prequel trilogy, or just ep I?
Jar Jar - I just tend to look at the rest of the screen whenever he's on it. Sort of tuning him out, you know? But if I had to learn to ignore a part of the movie to make it enjoyable, there is indeed something wrong with the movie.
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Yeah, I thought 7 was good - you're right, it was absolutely A Newer Hope and pure fan service, but being a fan I really enjoyed the fan service. 7 was getting the old gang back together, and I loved that, but there was some new stuff too - the new cast of characters, Luke being missing, etc. I liked the new cast, I liked the new threat. It was definitely derivative, and it was self aware of that in a good way, and I laughed along at it being A Newer Hope. Maybe it was just a new seeing Star Wars moving after so long, but I rather enjoyed it. I thought that 9 was better than 8 and concluded the trilogy in a good way, but not as good as 7.
I thought that midichlorians served to take away the magic and wonder of the Force, but more so showed that George Lucas has lost sight of what it was that drew people to Star Wars in the first place. They were completely unnecessary, and his idea of the Whills as these immortal beings that ride people like cars and control everything through the midichlorians - you have no free will, everything you do is the Whills controlling you and making all your choices for you, you're just a vehicle for their will - I find unpleasant and problematic.
I like that the new trilogy abandoned this idea, and went back to the Force being this mystical thing - that anyone, even a clone soldier, could become Force sensitive, it's not just passed down among the privileged few like a trust fund.
But it's not just that. It's also that Jar Jar being was incredibly annoying throughout. Teenage Anakin was agonizing to watch - alternating between whiny brat and worst actor ever. Amidala's decisions made no sense - seriously the worst queen ever. The drones make a poor villain. I found both Anakin's fall and Palpatine's rise unconvincing. I just felt like the prequels added nothing to original trilogy. Even when it was good, it was bad - like the spinning-top, lightsaber-twirling Yoda, which was awesome, but also completely out of character for Yoda. I feel like Yoda wouldn't engage in a lightsaber battle like a whirling dervish, he'd instead use the Force to disable his opponent and walk away. The Mandolorian handled it much better, in my opinion.
The general problem with prequels is that you already know what's going to happen, so the burden is to tell a story who's ending you already know in a interesting and compelling way, and I feel that the prequel trilogy failed to do so.
I think also now that I'm really short on free time I thus have a lot less tolerance for annoying characters. If they could excise Jar Jar Binks and Hayden Christianson it would make the movies a lot more bearable, but that's asking a lot. It's like how I love the first half of Frozen, but as soon as Olaf shows up it starts going downhill (not that he's the only issue, but he's the bulk of it).
My ideal Star Wars marathon would be watching just Episode 5 by itself and then reading the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn. :)
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Chronologically. From I to VI. With Clone Wars in between. :v
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Thanks for the train, AnikiSG.
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Nice train and thanks for telling us its Star Wars day. I haven't seen all the movies or series but I do enjoy it somewhat. I am still playing through Disney Infinity 3.0 and there are some good Star Wars campaigns in that game.
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Actually, this way the winners will get the games before May the 4th, meaning they can play the games on Monday.
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That is exactly my intention. Not much stay home and celebrating can be done for the winners if the giveaways ends far into May the 4th or after. However, I assumed that he was replying to MandalorTheDesperate who commented "May the First be with you!" before him.
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I'd really only do I to VI. Maybe some side content likes Rogue One and a few Clone Wars episodes.
Speaking of Clone Wars, the latest episode was amazing. Can't wait for the finale.
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Since there's no way in hell I would finish with 9, I'll .... watch the new season of Clone Wars instead.
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Here is a little train to help you stay home and celebrate Star Wars Day.
May the Force be with you
A little update for you guys..
I wasn't planning on bingeing the movies. Just making a poll to go with the train. I ended up spending the afternoon watching the original trilogy after the discussions start. And I think I'm just gonna stop right here.
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