ST The Redemption of the TPM Bashers

The mega-box office success of TFA is the final, redeeming chapter in in the Jedi Council Forums' story of the PT Bashers.

The last film to rival the hype leading up to the release of TFA was the release of TPM back in May of 1999. When that film was released, some of us on this board were horribly disappointed and expressed our concerns about the film here. Contrarian opinions are the norm on most internet fan boards these days but back in 1999, it was considered high treason.

We were labeled "the TPM Bashers" and vilified and ostracized by other Star Wars fans for our 'disrespectful' opinions. The GALL of those TRAITORS!!! How DARE those INGRATES BASH our beloved Star Wars franchise!!! Funny thing was, we were convinced that we were the ones being loyal to George's original vision for Star Wars, not the other way around.

History now says we were the ones who were right all along. While the PT will always exist for anyone who likes them, the majority of Star Wars fandom act now like the prequel trilogy never existed. This includes fans like JJ Abrams and the film makers from George Lucas' old company, LucasFilms.

The evidence can be seen throughout TFA:

-- Lucas sold the Company with the outline for three new Star Wars scripts. Disney bought LucasFilms but scrapped George's scripts saying they wanted to write a film "for the fans."
-- The new film was shot on film and not digitally.
-- Thankfully, the Force in TFA was once again described in religious terms as something that "surrounds all living things" instead of being a product of biology.
-- The new film relied heavily on actual special effects and actual locations versus green screens.
-- The center of the action in the PT was the planet of Coruscant, Capital of the Republic. The planet was BLOWN TO SMITHEREENS in TFA.
-- The writer of ESB and ROTJ was brought back to co-write TFA.
-- The writers tended to under-explain things versus the PT's habit of over-explaining things.
-- The cliff hanger ending and the death of Han Solo signaled the series is once again focused on telling a simple adventure serial (in the grand tradition of the old Flash Gordon serials that originally inspired Lucas.)
-- and, last but not least, the film didn't take itself so doggone seriously. The fun returned.

So after years of being reviled, it's nice to see members of the old Basher gang (i.e. Quaff-Down Gin, Qui Gon Generic, Darth Sabe', cydar, TheChosenOne, Sith Acolyte, and many others I've failed to mention) be vindicated. We fought the good fight...and won the war over Star Wars.

 

Coruscant was not blown up in TFA. That was the Hosnian system.

Nevertheless, I still agree with the rest of your post.

 

Alrighty then.

Locked.