Saga What makes Star Wars special?

Why are you on Star Wars forum and not on a Star Trek, Firefly etc.?
(Get my drift? Not asking that question literally, but figuratively)

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Actually, I am on a Star Trek forum, a Firefly forum, and a lot of time on a Lord of the Rings forum too. It's all about building up interesting worlds that I wish I could visit.

But to answer your question about what makes SW appealing to me, it focuses on things that are important to me: spirituality, courage, morality, friendship, love, sacrifice, redemption, and forgiveness. And it makes all those things part of a mythology that is truly epic in scope. Doesn't hurt that it also throws in lots of excitement, fun, and eye candy, all of it set to possibly the greatest score ever by the immortal John Williams.

 

Hahaha. I knew somebody would be on all of them, but that's why I said figuratively. To tell the truth I am an all around fan as well.

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I prefer Star Trek but a bad experience on a Stargate board as basically turned me off bothering with fandoms much at all. The in-fighting is ridiculous.

I, too, like the aspects of depth in SW. They have great potential but I think the presentation and execution is much less sturdy than Trek's (through DS9). I love the music, planets, and the ships. I do wish they permitted depth to misguided ones NOT called Skywalker, though. Dehumanisation is not sound.

 

Jedi, lightsabers, the Force, the Falcon, Yoda, Vader, speeder bikes, AT-AT, carbonite, Rancor, Sarlacc, R2, John Williams, huge scenarios, friendship, the father's redemption, the Empire hunting the heroes....

OK, it's just the lightsabers....
I wish I had an orange saber....

 

Good vs evil. Adventure, Rebellion against the Empire and the return of democracy and the Jedi Order, Jedi, Sith, lightsabers, Sith, the Force, Luke, Han, Leia, the underworld, the planets, the aliens, the ships, the tech, the EU characters, alien species, planets, tech, etc. 35,000+ years of content, John Williams, the sound effects. the comedic moments, the relationships among characters, family, friends, force sensitives and non force sensitives, force sensitives and underworld characters. Everything.

 

1. I grew up with it.
2. It's a solid myth with swords and magic in space.
3. The sound, the imagery, the emotion!
4. Lucas went back to make more movies.

That's about i, I think.

 

It's hard for me to pick one singular thing. I think it must be a combination of a few things. Firstly, the escape that Star Wars provides is unparalleled by any other property. I'm a fan of other properties (and I post on numerous message boards outside of this one), such as Marvel, DC, Disney, Jurassic Park, and other miscellaneous franchises. But none has ever quite matched the sense of escape and engulfment that Star Wars does for me. Secondly, it's a sense of wonder. GL crafted something so unique and so special what with putting together a group of would-be heroes who are charismatic and pitting them up against evil set in a sci-fi/fantasy film on the backdrop of a mysterious galaxy set in outer space. And to me, that's one of the things that I think helps with the escapism and wonder... Star Wars is set somewhere far away, but it could be in our universe, and that makes it plausible to a young mind. It allows for much room for the imagination to roam wild and imagine what just may be taking place out among the stars. Finally, I would say the branching out of Star Wars to merchandise and collectibles and the sense of community it creates is another large factor for me.

 

The fact that there's room for anything and anyone.

It doesn't always take itself so seriously.

It encompasses decades in the films, and even centuries in the EU! So, there's a sense of history, much like in our world.

Sometimes you can actually get a sense of how it is to LIVE in the galaxy despite it being so far, far, away.
THAT's the funnest, for me.
For some reason, I don't feel that with other fictional universes.

 

lumpy.

 

Hard to narrow it down, but there are many characters I identify with and I do really enjoy the universe.

And wizards who are warriors too (yeah I know Yoda will chide me for that one), works in my book.

I am a part of LoTR and comic book forums. I came to Trek very late, so it's not something I relate to as easily as I do SW. I was on a variety of other fandom boards too which went kaput.

I always come back to Star Wars though. I doubt I'll ever outgrow it.

 

What makes star wars special to me? First off, it has a very unique universe that is huge, which contains tons of characters, stories and planets that all feel connected in one continuous story. The sense of adventure and fun also helps, with many memorable characters. The overall story of redemption and responsibility gives the films epic and relatable feel. I can't explain it, but the films, books, comics and games all have sense of a bigger universe and infinite possibilities and stories.

 

Hmm good question

The Universe. The driods, the different species, bounty hunters, smugglers, pirates, the Hutts, twelik slaves, the clones, the republic senate, the imperial miltary, various corporate organizations. Any in Star Wars that has to do with money, power and control. I wish there was more focus in this arena. But I guess the fans of fairy tales, wizard cults need their fix as well.

 

I love so much things about Star War.
First of all, relatable characters
Anakin: his struggle with his attachments, his shyness in love, his loyalty to people
obi-wan: his struggle to teach Anakin to be a good jedi as he knew Qui-Gon would, his friendship with Anakin, his guilt over what happened to Anakin
jar-jar: his clumsiness, his naivety and his kindness
Luke: his desire of adventure, his empathy and his recklessness

I love how it can be many thing. It can be fun, tragic, philosophical.
Its themes:
-to let go of people you love
-destiny/free will
-redemption
-politics

I nearly forgot to add the FANTASTIC music by John Williams. Sure, there may be other composers but I will always associate the movies to his music.

I am certain I forget many other things but at the moment, those are the main reasons why Starwars is so special to me, why I find them to be much more interesting than other modern movies and why I come back watching them over and over again.

 

This thread is why im one of the few that supports reboots or the retelling of Star Wars. Id really like the story of episodes 1-6. Its up there with Exodus, King David, King Arthur, Abrahams 12 tribes, Greek Mythology. These stories have been told in different formats, live action, animation, books, comics. Id love to see the Story of Star Wars episodes 1-6 put in one book or one graphic novel Or even a series of animated films. Id especially love to see a the galaxy from a different point of view. Episodes 1-6 mainly gives us the Jedi Sith point of view. Id love to see the saga from the battledriods, clones, stormys and rebel point of view. I just dont think we have seen everything there is to see in the Clone Wars - Rebelion era of Star Wars.

 

The magic fairy dust they sprinkled on cameras during filming.

 

With such a wast expanded universe, everybody can find something to relate to...which is awesome.

 

Star Wars was part of my life since i was 5. Of anything i grew up enjoy it was the best thing. The fact that it lived on and returned with the prequels was amazing , especially at that time of my life. It's also special because it's not just a fun adventure , there's a morality and spiritual side to it. It's deeper than other summer movies. I've always thought if Star Wars was any other movie Vader probably wouldn't have been Luke's father.

 

While I am a Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fan, I have been a Star wars fan longer, since I was very little.
I may even like Lord of the rings better but Star wars still has my interest. Unfortunately Lord of the Rings hasn't been expanded much, but with Star wars there is still new things coming out plus fan fiction to keep my interest.

Also this site is better designed than the onering.net site and seems a lot more active. I'll put it this way, this site is more fun to be on.

 

I'm here because other boards I visited back in the day are all pretty much dead. Posting here is mostly a mix of habit and nostalgia for me. Also I've found that getting too entrenched in fandoms can sometimes ruin my enthusiasm for the material, so that might be a reason why I don't seek out venues for the stuff that currently interests me more than Star Wars.

 

There are innumerable ways to answer the prime question. I'll pick one of the more general ones and contend that Star Wars offers a near-freakish, sublime marriage of art and entertainment. That is, it is both tremendously entertaining and very artistic, in a way that no other work of cinema, in my opinion, has quite managed to pull off. Obviously, this is a very general answer, with very general terms, but I sense I'm in good company on this one.

Here is something gifted to millions that is colourful, addictive, fun, mercurial, enigmatic, idiosyncratic, and grandiose. A thing that can be endlessly revisited and offers great scope for the imagination. It can be accessed, appreciated, pulled apart, and debated, and conflated with itself, and other works of art, on a seemingly limitless basis. I mean ...... who WOULDN'T want to talk Star Wars ... ????

To answer the more specific part of the question, I feel I'm here, and have been here all this time, in large part, because I consider the Star Wars prequel trilogy criminally underrated as art and entertainment, and therefore, underrated as an estimable work of fantasy/escapist cinema, and undervalued as a worthy addition to an envelope-pushing, mind-expanding venture begun in that pivotal filmic decade of the 1970s: an entirely old-new, genuinely-fake work of projected light and sound. An epic extrusion.

I find it a shame that a very big piece of the saga -- a glorious experimentation in deceptively-linear, actually-mosaic-like, fractal storytelling, from the saga's original creator, a misunderstood genius -- isn't better respected or more liked; and I also see that as an opportunity to toss a shiny pebble or two into those cold waters, or tell a new narrative: one in which other people realize it's okay to like and even adore something that others demand you hate.

This is just a hobby, really, and a chance for me, in whatever small way, to delight in language and expand my latent love of writing and waffling on. Admittedly, it's something that has slightly taken over my life, but I also hope I've used my time wisely here and not said much that's too harsh, indulgent, or obscene; or if I have, I hope I have consistently managed to manifest all three in one go.

And I feel like continuing for just a little while longer. Raise a bit more mischief before my time is through.

 

The same things that attracted me to Tolkien's Middle-Earth; belief in Good vs Evil, showing moral courage in the face of evil, making sacrifices to help others, plus varied and fascinating worlds. i also love John Williams's scores, some of the best film scores ever made, and light sabers!

I love swords; the making and craft of them and watching skilled sword fights. Light sabers brings an Old World feel or mythological Romance to SW to me..

 

Star Wars bewitches the viewer into a uniquely crafted universe with magical congruence in all its elements such as planets, costumes, folk customs, species, technology, weapons and transportation. It introduces original hierarchies such as Galactic political systems , Jedi Peacekeepers & Councilmen and Sith Rule of Two. It creates interesting Force dynamics in its two sides-light and dark-orientations which serves as the main vehicle for moral messages. It draws the viewer into hors-pair scales of conflict and spellbound adventures. It masterfully executes thematic content via symbolic immersing visuals, delightful plot curves and revolutionary insightful character lines.

Cryogenic said it best in his 'sublime marriage of art and entertainment' comment. For the juice I am being provided with by the Star Wars saga is tastier in both sensation and substance than anything else I have ever tried.

 

What makes Star Wars special?

For me, two things.

1.) The Imagery

It's beautiful and meaningful all along. There is just so much art that went into these films. There are many beautiful movies, but I think there are some Star Wars films that offer a simply breathtaking combination of production design, costume work, actor casting, cinematography and background music.

2.) The Way It Deals With Depth

Generally, there are two kind of films. Movies that are more or less brainless and empty blockbusters and movies that are decidedly more "intelligent". Star Wars is somewhere inbetween, imo. Star Wars deals with intersting things "in a broad way" (Ian McDiarmid) which is quite thought-provoking. Star Wars tells its more substantiall part of the story in patterns and ideas, rather than very explicit display.

Think about Anakin's slavery in Episode I. There are plenty of movies that deal with slavery in a very direct way, with lots of blood nd pain. They really push things on you. There is really no other way than to fell: "Well, this is terrible." - but that's usually also the end of the thought. It's self-explanatory, there is no room left to develop your own thoughts. Anakin's slavery is different, he doesn't appear terribly beaten - but he is still a slave. He's property. He's not allowed to live his own life. He blows up if he ever tries to move away. That kind of leads to thoughts about the nature of slavery and what it really means. Slavery doesn't need blood to be something to fight against, and it starts within ourselves.

Another example are the politics, especially in the Prequels. I've heard many complaints about the politics not being "realistic". They are not meant to be 100% accurate or identical with real world politics, they are meant to show patterns and schemes that might lead you to think. Why does the Trade Federation have a seat in the Senate if they are not real politicians? How is it that Palpatine profits the most from his own world being occupied? Why did the Senate vote for emergecy powers in Episode II?
If those kind of questions cross a 12-year-old's mind, it's absolutely everything that Lucas tried to achieve I feel.

Star Wars allows you to make up your own mind. It's truly thought-provoking, whereas many lauded "intelligent" movies tend to be "thought-intruding". They push thoughts on you. That's fine, but that's an experience that's not very palpable. If you're given the chance to create your own thoughts on something, to think further ... then it becomes truly enrichting.

I think Star Wars has achieved that, at least for me, and I think that's what George refered to "making the film 'about' something other than what it's really about.".