Saga Last official Star Wars trailer shows how unnecessary "The Force Awakens" is

When Return of the Jedi was released in 1983, we all said that the saga was completed.

When Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005, we all said that the saga was completed.

And despite the fact that the prequels were released, there are still people, or OT purists, continuing to say that the PT was unnecessary and had no reason to exist since the saga was already completed back in 1983. And now the most ironic thing is that when the ST is about to be released, there are some people starting to say that the ST has no reason to exist. Come on people! We can always go further with Star Wars!

Even if I don't like the marketing approach and the pandering towards angry fanboys for The Force Awakens so far, it doesn't mean that I won't consider the ST to be unnecessary. I will still watch it with an opened mind.

Besides:

Since when the story should focus on Anakin only, or on Luke only? I see the story of Star Wars more as the story of the Skywalker family. You are forgetting the other main characters of saga that are part of the family and had major roles, as Leia and Padme. And for those of you who believe that the ST should focus on Luke story, this analysis of the latest poster released for The Force Awakens during D23 indicates us who is going to be the main character of the ST:

Spoiler

5 Things To Notice In Drew Struzan’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Poster


[...]

Rey Stands in the Middle

Screenwriter Daniel Kunka pointed out to me the juxtaposition of Rey “squarely in between light and dark side halves of poster.” Could this be a metaphorical positioning? It’s very possible that Drew just wanted to put the film’s main character, Daisy Ridley’s character Rey, front and center.
There’s also the fact that these three characters all have similar weapons raised in parallel fashion. It’s a good design element, and also a tidy reinforcement of this film as the beginning of the third major Star Wars trilogy. And the part of Rey’s staff that is silhouetted by the sun at her back sure does look a lot like a lightsaber hilt, but is that reading too much into things?
Link: http://www.slashfilm.com/drew-struzans-force-awakens-poster/

 

If "The Force Awakens" is unnecessary to the franchise, then so are "The Empire Strikes Back", "Return of the Jedi", "The Phantom Menace", "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith". Lucas could have ended the whole thing with the 1977 film. But he didn't. The other five films, along with the countless number of novels written and television series have proven that the Star Wars saga can be endless if Lucas, Disney or whomever want it to be.

 

i agree its complete. to me if you want to believe in the full saga by itself than just block out the upcoming Sequel Trilogy. Goes for everything, dont want to consider it canon? Block it out.

 

what do you not like about the TFA marketing ?

 

I figure the EU readers have happily dealt with the stories spreading beyond the 6 movies. It's no big deal.

 

35,000 years before the movies to 138 years after the movies. Yup. No real issue for the EU fans. Just having to start over really.

 

love it

 

I find it better if the saga has a beginning and an end. Which we already have. I feel it's more powerful, storywise, if there is ONE main plot, which would be The rise/fall/redemption of Anakin Skywalker... Even if GL had plans for a ST, or changed his mind every other day, what he said for years (that the saga was completed and it was Anakin's story) is the best approach for me. It makes more sense than having an endless Comic-like approach.
Also, the PT is more justified than the ST, simply because in the very first movie they mention some of the (very important) PT events: the Jedi as guardians of peace, A young Jedi being seduced by the dark side of the force, a more civilized age before the empire...

So, I would have preferred if the new movies were only spinoffs like Rogue One/ anthology stuff.... but still very excited about TFA, because I love the Star Wars universe, and I will do what I do for everything Star Wars: If I like it, I'll take it as (my very own) Canon, and if I don't, I'll take it as legends or whatever.

 

This could all be solved just by taking "Episode VII" out of the opening crawl. It's not really a continuation of the overall story of 1-6. It's like when they make sequels of horror movies and bring back the same conflict in a new form.

A proper continuation could be done, but it would require a direct focus on Luke, Anakin's force spirit, and any offspring. Lucas' plans to go deeper into the netherworld was more progressive from a plot standpoint.

Not really. Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi completed the themes that I read in Lucas' original story idea The Star Wars, which were not present in Episode IV. Without 5 and 6, there is no furry revolution, and very little to do with themes of loyalty vs duty and romance. The whole idea sparked from Lucas' work on Apocalypse Now, which spawned the Ewoks.

 

What about the larger theme of dissolution and reformation? Only the first half seems to have been dealt with re: the Jedi in the saga thus far.

 

Lucas is too old to be making Star Wars movies. Plus many fans have turned on him. It was wise for him to let it go and cash in. Im I the only one who listened to all 13 hours commentary on episodes 1-6?? Lucas repeatedly states its one movie, one story in 6 parts. That was his conclusion. Disney came with the carrot. Now they are telling THEIR star wars story and there is nothing wrong with that. I have only seen one Disney trailer with the black storm trooper and ball droid. I think Disney may have released 2 or 3 more trailers. I have not seen the others, because im not seeing the movie. Many fans are excited and ive heard tickets are selling. This was all DISney. No George. Disney will make maybe 40 to 50 Star Wars movies in the next 20 years. Will they lose their appeal due to over saturation?? Maybe, maybe not. George would never do these movies.

 

Because there's no such thing as a filmmaker over the age of 70

 

Prequels: Fall of Anakin and the Republic
Originals: Redemption of Anakin and fall of the Empire
Sequels: Legacy of Anakin and the Empire (perhaps Rise of the New Republic or some galactic government?)

Edit: Just realized there was already a post similar to this one. My bad! However, I think the point still stands. While the sequel trilogy may not be as Anakin-centric, I think it will still give us a taste of the events of the galaxy after ROTJ - which his own actions partially led to.

 

Really I just think of it now in terms of trilogy's. 3 Trilogy's. The first two make up the OS or Original Saga by George Lucas and the last trilogy (the ST) is still Lucasfilm movies the same dam way Willow and Indy are Lucasfilm movies.

I dont see what everyone else sees (or pretends they see) when I watch the TFA trailers. When I watch the trailers I see colorful CGI packed, fast past action. I see a direct sequel to the PT weather PT haters want to admit it or not. I see the Falcon doing barrel rolls, I see the camera spinning upside down like in a Matrix movie, I see J.J. Abrams the guy from the SW:The Legacy Revealed Documentary who says his kids see the story through the eyes of Anakin rather than Luke making a movie for George Lucas and his cranky fans in order to connect the PT and OT even more and make peace within the fanbase just like they got used to doing with weekly TCW Episodes. Thats what I see. I see whats actually going on.

I see they made the main badguy in the film a big play on the phenomenon of internet Darth Vader fanboys and extremism and i see that still it either goes over their heads or they ignore it because they would prefer to not think that LFL is finally making fun of them back. I see whats in front of me.

I see it for what it all actually is. I see everything going as planned. I see a direct sequel to 2005's ROTS. I see a Star Wars movie George Lucas will probably like better than TESB.

I see a movie thats bringing in MORE young people and PT & TCW fans and kids into the fan base and all its doing is making them coherently think/talk about and re-watch the PT and the SE of the OT in chronological order on blu-ray and digital HD.

I see George Lucas's vision and SW fans winning and bashers and haters and negative "fans" finally loosing. Thats what I see.

 

Its also important to note that the people ITT are apparently very ill informed that George Lucas did indeed ALWAYS have plans to leave the franchise with Disney since the late 70's immediately after Episode 4 came out in interviews and even a rolling stone interview that can be found in the GL quotes thread on these forums. You guys (and page two of this thread is a perfect example) are so much more worried about what you want SW to be and what you think SW should be, that you completely ignore/forget all the famous GL quotes from the decades of what he always said it is.

There is a rolling stone interview where he specifically states how around the time of his retirement he "hopes to leave it with Disney" as a sandbox for "other artists to play in". How could you guys forget things like this at this point in the game? Do you guys frequent other threads on here like the GL quotes thread or the how the ST came to be threads? Geez. Just someone had to say it.

P.S. Star Wars is the thing in my icon picture. The OS. made up of the PT and OT together. The father and the son. See them on the front of the box?

The ST is just that. A Sequel to it. A sequel with a lotta CGI

 

Quote please?

 

Name the two characters on the front of the Star Wars box and ill go get it for you from the thread pages. What two characters are those?

 

Star Wars is whatever the heck you want it to be. OOT, any of the OT versions, the PT, the ST, tens of thousands of years of history in the old EU, the couple thousands of years in the NEU. The PT/OT/EU DOTJ through the NJO series is SW to me.
What is the quote that states that Lucas wanted SW to go to Disney back in the 70's?

 

You didnt know that George Lucas planned 3 trilogy's, folded most of the ST ideas into ROTJ before making the PT and then finally gave the go ahead with the whole Disney merger? You have a silver star, go on over to the Lucas quotes thread in the Saga section and find it/read it for yourself. As well as the discussion around it on these forums. I always said EU lovers should know their real life SW history in terms of George Lucas the way they know and love those fan-fic "Legends" EU stories.

 

Uh yeah. I already knew that. The ST was to follow Luke's sister who was not Leia. The Emperor would show up in Episode 9 or whatever the last one was. But the wanting Disney to have SW back then in the 70's? Still waiting for that quote.
You said this in post 65

The bolded just so you know.

The EU is part of SW history. Still happened. Still have the books on my shelf. Lucasfilm released them. Pretty official if you ask me. What's so bad about people with different views? So people like the EU better than the movies? Insecure in your position perhaps? Want to erase 30+ years of SW history? I'm just enjoying SW to the fullest. OOT, OT, PT, EU, NEU, ST, etc. It's all SW. Bring it on!

 

Im still waiting for you to name the two characters on the front of the box in my icon. And yes George Lucas said (I believe the mag was rolling stone) in the 70's that when he reaches retirement age he intends to leave SW somewhere where "other artists can play in the sandbox he created" the quote gos something exactly like that. It was floating all around here and the internet during the time of the Disney sale/merger as well as all of the videos of Mark Hamil talking about the ST plans and PT plans in the 80's. If you would like to go find it its out there or if someone would post it that would be great as well because I dont have it off handed.

 

Why didn't you say that in the first place? I'm very curious to read it.

 

There is no such quote. Lucas did talk after the release of Star Wars in 1977 about retiring (from directing, as he did), and allowing other directors to play with the Star Wars universe and create new movies, in which he would barely be involved. That's exactly how The Empire Strikes Back started being made. But Lucas never talked about leaving the franchise to Disney, much less to sell the company.

The thing is, that changed once Star Wars stopped being an open series for different directors to play with creating different stories along the way, and became an ongoing Saga with a global story-arc . As that transformation happened , Lucas realized he DID want to be involved in the Saga, and that he DID want SW to be HIS story. And that's how Empire and Jedi became the second and third chapter about a story about Luke Skywalker and his father.

Once the OT was over, Lucas talked again about leting someone else to do the other trilogies (as he once had plans for them), but this never happened. There were no solid plans to make any more movies. But at that time, it was clear for Lucas that the OT was HIS story, and that if anyone else was going to make more movies, they would be someone else's vision.

When the prequels came, Lucas had somehow recovered and decided he did have a personal wish to make the prequels himself, as he did have a story planned and that story was appealing to him. And part of the fun for Lucas (always an innovative filmmaker who likes to change how the movies are watched) was to create a new trilogy that would merge with the OT to create a great overarching storyline about the Rise and Fall of Anakin Skywalker and his redemption through his son, and about the Revenge of the Sith through Palpatine and his ultimate demise.That was indeed possible because the climax of the OT was really about Vader-Luke and Palpatine as the big villain, and so it was possible to create a beginning that would lead to that (already made) climax naturally.

And when that happened, he stopped talking about different trilogies (each of them being a different story), cancelled the ST (promising several times over the years that it would never be made) and making sure that the six movies would be seen as one big story, created by George Lucas.

 

Let's at least be clear that there has always been a framework for a ST. People keep making allusion to Lucas' plans like there isn't a page of quotes at the top of the board. The first line of the first quote up top is this:

Sometime after this Lucas changed his mind and decided that the Star Wars saga was only the two trilogies and the focus was Anakin. Here's the thing through, a lot of people seem to have this concept of the story as this platonic form which Lucas made manifest through the first six films. A lot of posters here seem to think that the ST doesn't exist because George Lucas didn't decide to make it, making this really big assumption that Lucas' reason not to make it was because it wasn't part of the saga. It's kind of a circular argument that stems from a diehard devotion to Lucas. The reality of why he didn't make the ST is actually quite evident in the same interview quoted above:

This is coming from a man who only a few years earlier had a heart attack while making the first Star Wars film. One nearly killed him. You can understand how he had to be realistic about balancing his imagination with his physical limitations to make the films. So he cut back, paced himself and made the 'Anakin saga'' while also living a full life doing other things. It turns out he had that ST in him after all. Jett Lucas discusses here how he was already underway (relevant part starts at 8:30):



The argument that there's no room for a ST falls flat. George Lucas had one in mind from the beginning and was writing the ST right up until he sold to Disney. If you're a George Lucas purist then you have to acknowledge that there is meant to be a ST, because that is ultimately how he intended it.

That still leaves some people with the sentiment that the ST we'll be seeing isn't the 'real' one given that Disney and Abrams haven't used Lucas' original treatment. To that end I'd say that maybe we should discount a huge chunk of the OT because of many other people that had input into the writing, direction and editing of those films. Let's not discount that Lucas has still acted in an advisory capacity in the ST and that he's one of the people Abrams would go to for advice when directing his earlier works. I also doubt that the treatment Lucas made was thrown out in full.

That only leaves the the objection to the ST's relevance that it can't add anything to Anakin's story arc. Plenty of people have mentioned that the ST will address Anakin's legacy. There's also still the possibility of his story arc being added to via force ghosting. I suppose this won't do for those of you reluctant to accept the ST as part of the saga because in the grand scheme of things, Anakin is still not going to have the same relative importance to the ST as with the OT and PT.

It seems to me that Anakin's relative importance to the OT and PT is being overstated. A lot of you keep parroting "this is Anakin's story" and that it was resolved as if there's nothing else that was covered in those movies. This absolutely isn't true for the OT because that wasn't the plan when most of the OT was being made but it's not even really true when it comes to the PT either. Anakin's story is a thread which has been a main part of most of the films in the series so far but the fact remains the story has been about other people and events that aren't Anakin.

Obi-Wan gets more screentime in the PT even though it's "Anakin's trilogy". How is this possible if it's just about Anakin? Looking at it a different way; if the films were shot in a different order it would be a bit like people rejecting ESB and RotJ after ANH because arguably the films up until that point have been Obi-Wan's story. And they really were, form a certain point of view...

The Star Wars saga has had so many characters, themes and subplots that calling it just Anakin's story is really selling it short. It kicked off all those years ago as a story about an ensemble of heroes. That's how it will continue in the ST.

I don't expect that's going to change anyone's mind about accepting the ST. This thread seems to be a good example of the No True Scotsman fallacy.

I feel bad that some of you are missing out on the thrill of a new Star Wars film just around the corner.

 

Them making this movie is fine, more Star Wars is never a bad thing, my issue with it is they shouldn't have called it "Episode 7". Actually what they should do is rename/redesignate episodes 1 thru 6 as Star Wars: The Chronicles of Anakin Skywalker: Episodes 1 thru 6. That way they can be free to call other SW films episode 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on again. So TFA could be called Episode 1 again in a new saga. That's what they should do imo. Or i guess the saga itself could be renamed "The Skywalker Chronicles", then they could keep TFA as Ep 7, that could make sense too. Now that there are going to be Anthologies and spin-offs, they should consider doing this imo.