Red Letter Media’s final thoughts on the state of Star Wars were pretty insightful: It’s become a container with a very specific aesthetic that Disney can pile an infinite number of things into: multi-quadrant science fiction blockbusters, preschool cartoons, carnival rides, political dramas, kids adventures, whatever.
It’s since stopped being a finite thing anyone can love anymore. When something becomes everything, it loses distinctness. That distinctness, whatever it was, is what early fans originally fell in love with.
Of course, those original objects still exist, but you have to specify them. You’re an “original trilogy” fan or an Andor fan or the made-for-TV Ewok movies fan†, but saying you’re a Star Wars fan is basically meaningless now. And for people who proudly wore that mantle, through eyerolls and ridicule, that’s a genuine loss.
† Teek from Battle for Endor has a posse.
Disney Star Wars: MCU.
They’re giving Jaxon a movie?
Who?
“Want to sell a lot? Just brand it Star Wars!”
The motivation for making a new show should be “We want to tell an amazing new story set within the Star Wars universe” but it’s actually “We want to make loads of money, therefore our new thing is going to be Star Wars.”
but saying you’re a Star Wars fan is basically meaningless now. And for people who proudly wore that mantle, through eyerolls and ridicule, that’s a genuine loss.
I remember explaining something similar to my partner (not about Star Wars) and about how this isn’t about “gatekeeping” (though it can become gatekeeping) but rather about this loss. I can’t remember exactly what it was about now, but it was some aspect of nerd culture that didn’t exactly become mainstream, but rather morphed to become mainstream.
I’ve only seen ‘Attack of the Clones’, so I guess I’m a fan of that.
Star Wars isn’t good, Andor and Mandalorian S01 are good.
That Christmas special is pretty tight if you live somewhere with legal weed.
I know what I’m looking for this holiday week!
Add Rogue One, as well
I rewatched it (several times, actually…) recently after Andor S2 and was just a little underwhelmed after years of remembering it through rose-tinted lenses. That’s not to say it’s a bad movie. Just kinda mid or slightly above average, which puts it far ahead of the rest of the Disney-era Star Wars movies. But next to the quality of Andor there are definitely some things that stick out.
Some critiques I have are pacing, unearned character flip-flopping when convenient, and supporting characters whose own motivations don’t go far beyond supporting the main characters.
It still has a special place in my heart and this isn’t to say other SW media is without flaw. I think Rogue One is a fun movie but its greatness lies in how it sets up the Andor series rather than anything it does by itself.
I definitely think the best way to appreciate it is immediately following the Andor series, which itself is best after a Rogue One watch, at least the first time around. I.e. Rogue One -> Andor -> Rogue One
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Mandalorian was hammy. I think people reeeeally want to pretend there’s something left in that wrung out dish rag of a franchise when there really isn’t.
the only redeemable quality the mandalorian has is the werner herzog cameo
And both of those definitely got the “popular series that drags on way too long” treatment.
Mando? Yes. Andor? No.
Andor was only two seasons though??
Andor S02 was great tho?
It was, Andor is great. However, The Mandalorian is at least one season too long, the third season isn’t even about The Mandalorian anymore, he was just a side character for a large part of it.
Mandalorian is definitely my guilty pleasure. I just like the setting so much. Book of Boba however fucked up hard, besides the Tusken Raiders arc, I keep looking if there is a fan edit of just the Tusken Raider scenes and haven’t found anything yet. It is really annoyiny how they had to interweave it with the Mandalorian.
Well, “dragging on way too long” is the main difference between a movie and a TV-show.
I guess everyone has their own cutoff point. I like works that are longer than movies but don’t go on for a bajillion seasons, especially if they actually seem like they want to tell a story. For me, it doesn’t even matter if the series is consistently good, I just don’t want to watch that much content for one show. Plus the longer it goes on without reaching a conclusion, the more likely it is that it’s just going to get canceled.
I suppose Andor doesn’t really deserve to get lumped in with the likes of Mandalorian here, considering that it managed to finish its story in two seasons.
honestly, Disney’s treatment of the franchise killed my life long love for it
Lucas had already taken it out to the woodshed several times.
The franchise has historically been at its best in the fallow years, when people were just tapping into the IP to tell their own stories.
But you can say the same of Trek, of Harry Potter, of Marvel and DCU. Any time the suits take over, content trends towards slop
LucasArts did some of the best Star Wars games. I loved Jedi Outcast, best jedi experience out there, and X-Wing Alliance thanks to the amount of ships the game gave you
Agreed… however, I do have a specially dark and bitter place in my heart for Disney. They have a rotten touch and ruin every IP they buy
I mean, I generally like their original work. Moana, Lilo and Stitch, The Incredibles, Zootopia - all very entertaining, creative, and packed with talented performances.
And they can even make solid kids action movies. Disenchanted, Hocus Pocus, the original Pirates of the Caribbean, Tron - it’s clearly within the capacity of the studio to make good films.
When they buy up these outside franchises and “Disney-fy” them, though… Woof.
disenchanted was disney? i thought that was primarily a groening project.
Disenchanted, the movie. Not the Netflix cartoon. The feature length movie is a sequel to Enchanted, a live-action parody of the traditional Disney Princess trope.
there’s also a movie with the same name, not to be confused with the Groening/Netflix show.
I thought Incredibles predated the Disney takeover? Otherwise I agree
The sequel came out in 2018 and was enjoyable
I’ve actually come to dread when they add a sequel to a good movie.
For every Terminator two there’s a Phantom menace.
I enjoyed the P.M., cool world building and lore going on. The new shit however has nothing new or cool.
For all their flaws at least the pt expanded the universe in a coherent and believable way.
For every Terminator 2 there are thousands of Phantom Menaces. It was one of very few good sequels to ever exist.
I have watched every single Star Wars movie in theatres since I was a kid and they released the special editions in theatres. But last Jedi was so bad that I didn’t even bother to go see rise of skywalker. Not just in theatres, i still haven’t watched it to this day.
You’re not missing out, in my opinion it was not a good movie in any sense.
I thought the first movie of the new trilogy was actually pretty good though.
There are valid criticisms of it but it was all around a solid start to the next chapter of the franchise.
Then the last Jedi happened. Fuck that. And then whatever the rise of skywalker is. Oh emperor palpatine is alive again for no reason at all, woo.
If they’d have just kept the expanded universe canon and moved forward with that then everything would have been fine. But no. Let’s have an aggressive needlessly secretive admiral lady ram a starship, because “believe women” somehow also means “women are incapable of lying” or whatever the fuck the point of that idiocy was.
It’s just so fucking bad.
People disagree on this often. I thought 7-8-9 was shit. However 8 was a special kind of shit. I think half of the movie was really good. The other half of it, was absolute dogshit. At least it wasn’t a “'memba” fest like 7 and 9. It tried to do original stuff, but it fucked up royally on the pursuit / canto arcs. And I’m not even talking about the hyperspace ramming.
However the Luke + Rey + Kylo arcs were genius. People hate it for the old man drinking aliencowtitjuice and being a bitter old man and for his sacrifice, but it’s actually very characteristic of him. And the mystery of Rey’s past and her connection with Kylo is very well done and explores things never seen before.
I wonder what the story behind this is. And whether Johnson had to make concessions for Disney.
I used to do a little camera work. #7 has my favorite shot/camera angle of the entire franchise. they told a lot of that story visually.
so you haven’t watched every single star wars movie in theatres since you were a kid
how will you learn how palpatine came back for reasons now?
Through Fortnite. I’m not joking, they did a promotional thing with Palpatine in Fortnite.
I don’t think anyone hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans.
Most of these nerd fandoms are desperately throwing money at endless inept projects until it finally gets less shitty.
There’s so much SW stuff that is complete trash.
The thing is, Disney made more shit instead of making less good quality. They just hoped something would stick. It’s what they do best.
I’m glad they got caught up in the streaming wars so they threw a ton of money around. There is zero chance that they will ever make something like Andor again.
The original trilogy is enjoyable, and The Empire Strikes Back stands out as the strongest of the three.
Andor is top tier, with Rogue One serving as a decent conclusion.
Beyond that, nothing else really leaves a lasting impression for me.
“Which did you like better? ‘Jedi’ or ‘The Empire Strikes Back?’”
“‘Empire.’”
“Blasphemy.”
“‘Empire’ had the better ending. I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader’s his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that’s what life is, a series of down endings. All ‘Jedi’ had was a bunch of Muppets.”
I absolutely love the Republic/Imperial Commando series by Karen Traviss which ended in a massive cliffhanger because Disney took over and didn’t allow her to continue.
Fuck Disney, all my homies hate Disney!
There are dozens of us!
Yeah, I just stopped paying attention altogether. The sequel trilogy is worse than the Holiday Special lol. I saw Rogue One and I was bored to tears. The Outlaws game requires an EA account to play. Star Wars is dead to me.
I saw Rogue One and I was bored to tears
Alright, hold up
Yeah out of all the meh Star wars and they go to rogue one? To me there’s only the originals, andor, and rogue one
The mandalorian is solid too.
Up until he gives the dark saver away for no fucking reason at all. That was stupid.
I like Rogue One, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why people love Rogue One. It’s a decent enough Dirty Dozen riff in a Star Wars Skin Suit, but it has terrible pacing, a story that didn’t particularly need to be told, unengaging leads (rewatch after Andor helps some but not entirely), and too much fan service. It’s nice that it allows some whisps of moral ambiguity into the Rebellion, and it’s absolutely saved by the climactic battle, but I do not get the universal and enthusiastic acclaim.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Episode 8 is better.
Isn’t Outlaws Ubisoft?
Lol rogue one is the best star wars movie of this century. Not saying its a good movie, just the best star wars movie
Really? You thought so? Perhaps I need to rewatch it.
It’s also a good movie
I really liked Andor, but that’s because it was trying to be a political spy thriller first, and a star wars show second.
Most Disney Star Wars is really in love with the fact that its Star Wars, to the point that it feels like a child smashing their toys together, than an actual show or movie
That’s why monopolizing is bad for IPs.
Nothing is more apparent with the child and the toys analogy more than what Disney has been doing with Marvel.
Disney Star Wars is really in love with the fact that its Star Wars, to the point that it feels like a child smashing their toys together
Mood.
In a similar vein, I’ve been calling anything post-buyout as “Disney fanfiction”. Some fanfiction is great! But it’s not canon.
I don’t care if it’s shit. I’ll pirate and watch every new show or a movie once, because that’s what I grew up with and that’s what comforts me
Fuck giving money to Disney though
Pirating out of spite is cool. Love that.
;_; Star Wars legends fan, I will continue to resent Disney forever for blighting one of my favorite franchises. But yeah new “Star Wars” content has ceased to excite me. When the acolyte came out and I saw the reviews I was completely unsurprised.
The sequel trilogy sucks. Nothing they (Disney) come out with comes to par with TOR which was for the few trailers it had, were the only thing that captured the essence and vibe of Star Wars since the original 2D Clone Wars animated show. The Mandalorian is alright but it has too many Disney aspects to it that remind of how they mucked up sequel trilogy. GL failed us and sold the franchise to this realms Jabba The Hut.
It stopped being any good after “Episode VI”. And before it, it was just a kids fairy tale in a space-themed Trenchcoat.
It always was a fairytale?
There are good and bad fairy tales. For me, Star Wars never was one of the first ones…
