ST Too much use of the Force?

Laser deflection was in ANH on the Millennium Falcon when Obi-Wan was training Luke before he felt the "Disturbance in the Force" when Alderaan blew up. And Luke was doing it, and learning how to do it quite quickly. And don't forget about Obi-Wan vanishing when he was struck by Vader in the final duel. And talking to Luke after he died.

No, the Force has been with us since day one. It's a part of what makes Star Wars what it is.

 

In the article's defense, he was only talking about the case being made that the Force isn't real in the first movie. However he lost me when he said that Vader choking Motti and Obi-Wan disappearing could just be written off as suggestion and science. What a load of rubbish.

 

To Force or not To Force
Whether it is nobler to Force Choke
Or suffer the shock and bruising of Force Lightning!

 

I love Jedi and Sith but not to the exclusion of everyone else. There needs to be a happy medium for the ST.

 

To me, there needs to be a balance of the Force. Not between light and dark, but between itself and the other elements of the film.

Some people want a Sequel Trilogy with a foot in the Netherworld, with ghosts fighting it out for the fate of the galaxy who can't see them. Others want Han Solo clones in seedy cantinas blasting each other and not believing in a mystical energy field that had an order of prominent devotees for over 20,000 years.

But me, I like Star Wars as a great big melting pot. It's not one aspect, but all of them together, playing off each other. Jedi and the Force, the criminal underworld, futuristic warfare, politics and intrigue, alien species and alien planets. They all come together and crossover and interact in a way that makes them fascinating. Even in the original Star Wars (by which I mean A New Hope), this is present: Han and Obi-Wan offer radically different points of view to Luke, Motti pays for his brash disdain for the mystical, and Luke's faith in a high power is the decisive factor in a major military assault.

The Prequel Trilogy was quite Jedi-heavy, but arguably a lot of that was pre-ordained by the narrative. Anakin and Obi-Wan had to be the main characters. Anakin and Obi-Wan were Jedi Knights. The lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. The Force is their ally. Right off the bat, mind tricks and laser swords are the order of the day.

I'm aware this is getting a little grandiose, so I'll wrap it up. The Force is right at the very heart of Star Wars. It's the philosophical and spiritual core that, in my opinion, elevated the films beyond popcorn fair into something with deep cultural impact. But it works best when it is part of a greater narrative. Luke isn't just a Jedi, he's a freedom fighter for the Rebellion. Vader isn't just a Sith Lord, he's one of the top commanders in the Imperial Navy. Ben Kenobi isn't just a mystical mentor, he's a man who knows his way around the underbelly of Tatooine.

The Sequel Trilogy needs scoundrels and nobles and soldiers and scouts.* This is their chance for a greater representation than they got in the PT, and JJ et al should grab that chance wholeheartedly. But without a healthy helping of the Force, it just won't be Star Wars.

* Bonus points if you get the reference.

 

I'm guessing the writer was talking more about from the perspective of the characters existing in the universe, not from the perspective of viewers/moviegoers.

 

SW Saga Edition roleplaying game? I can't recall if the previous edition of the game had them as well.

 

Yeah, deflecting blaster bolts with the Force is the first thing we ever see Obi-Wan teach Luke to do with the Force. He even specifically called it the first step! If that's a problem, the Star Wars saga was good for all of about, what, half an hour?

I think Star Wars is best when Force and non-Force matters interact. We need to avoid intercutting between a "Jedi storyline" and a "secular storyline" and then realizing as we walk out of the theater that only like three people in the galaxy even know that half that movie ever happened. But chalking it up to "too much Force" is a misdiagnosis.

 

I know - it's like some people have never watched the films isn't it???

 

Correctomondo!

While the previous incarnations of the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars roleplaying game had those classes (among others), it was Saga Edition that stripped the game down to those four and Jedi as the base classes.

D20 represent!

 

The New Jedi Order of the ST should comprise of characters who have not quite mastered the Force on the same level as the Jedi of the PT. After all, practically every Jedi Master was wiped out by Order 66. It could take centuries before the Jedi of the ST even compare with the Jedi of the PT when it concerns their mastery of the Force. If this idea is given consideration, there is a lot of potential to turn the Jedi of the ST into some incredibly interesting and resourceful characters.

 

The sequels need the Force if they are to feel like a true continuation of the Star Wars saga, but not necessarily in the way that it has already been seen. The sequels don't necessarily need all of the telekinesis and flipping and lightning-fingers of the previous films in the same capacity, but they do need more advanced and forward thinking Jedi a la Qui-Gon Jinn, Luke Skyalker, and OT-era Obi-Wan and Yoda. The sequels don't need the rigid and constraining Jedi Order of the prequels (thematically it wouldn't even make sense to have an Order identical to that of the prequels), but instead an Order that is more accepting and in-line with Luke's mentality at the end of RotJ. The sequel Jedi need to accept and understand the failings of their predecessors and be able to transcend that, which the ending of RotJ and Luke's ability to reject the Dark Side and redeem his father seem to imply.

The sequels also need to delve further into the "ghost" aspect of the Force. Perhaps not in Episode VII, but definitely before the trilogy comes to a close. If the prequels were about the collapse of the "earthly" (for lack of a better term) Jedi Order and the originals were about beginning to restore order and transcend the restrictions of old, then the sequels should progress further and allow us and the characters to completely integrate with the Force.

 

I agree with the thrust of the article. The PT went overboard with the Jedi too soon. Something like the gladiatorial pit fight, with dozens of Jedi, would have worked far better at the end of the third movie as a "crap just got real/epic" moment. A way to both show the Jedi at their height, but also showing that it's not enough to stop their downfall.

And, like someone else mentioned, the only non-Jedi protagonists in the PT are Padme and Jar-Jar. This leads to things feeling very samey. Everything's s Jedi issue, done at the behest of the Jedi Council. There's very little that causes tension/friction inside the group of heroes. Compare that to the OT, with it's different KINDS of people, with their unique perspectives, and the fun that stems from it. Only Padme has a really different POV from the others, and she's unfortunately mostly relegated to damsel or political info dump status.

And, for my money, the PT sucked a lot of fun out of the Jedi. The Jedi in the OT were eccentric. Obi-Wan, the crazy old man living in the desert. Yoda, the odd, equally wise and sarcastic master living in a swamp. Both have flair and a rebellious streak. Yet, in the PT, they're regimented and bureaucratic, living in relative luxury in the middle of a city. While that may be part of the point in showing how the Jedi lost their way, it's not fun to watch IMO.

For me, fewer Jedi with more mysticism is the way to go. Make Jedi and the Force special again.

 

I think it was pretty inevitable that we were going to see lots of Jedi in the PT all things considered. How they were handled is a debate in itself...

I would certainly agree that 'business as usual' or rather 'as before' in a re-created Jedi Order in the sequels would not be the way to go. There will surely be the force and force-users in these upcoming films but maybe with a twist... We've seen Jedi; we've seen Sith; how about 'other'? Do Force Users necessarily have to fall into those two traditions?

 

the pt needed the jedi to be powerful. that was the point. it says "this is what trained jedi can do". the ot has barely any jedi left and yoda still lifts an entire starfighter and moves it! hopefully the st will have a return to the force powers of the pt but used a little less powerfully.

 

I am quite glad many of you folks ahd nothing to do with making SW films.

Where does it say blasters move at the speed of light? And even if they did the folks deflecting them use the Force to do so.

Too much Jedi? Too much Force? WTF do you people even watch SW films for then?

I do like that there will be stand alone films, with the example being Fett. Then perhaps Jedi and the Force will not be the focus and such. But if you are all "Forced out" or just sick of Jedi then boo hoo for you.

 

Indeed no Force might as well watch Star Trek or BSG.

 

And the article itself in the OP. Hahaha, piss off. What an ass

Hey, Mike Ryan is it? let me grab one line as an example. Which is the biggest problem ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ has to overcome: The prequels have us so desensitized to the Force, if they tried to recreate that X-Wing moment, it would be met with a shrug. “Ohhhh, you moved a spaceship. But can you run at superspeed while fighting with two lightsabers?” The Force as an entity is boring.

There are cynics in the world. And then there are people who try to sound cool by making cynical comments and are really just stupid. This fellow falls into the latter category.

 

Well...there is some mysticism in Deep Space Nine.

 

Yeah there is

 

RCR player myself

 

Or in Babylon 5.

Not to be blase about it, but to a certain extent, mysticism is where you find it. For me, there's more of it in the OT then the PT and that's one of the reasons I prefer the OT to the PT. Can the ST work without mysticism? Perhaps, but I think it will work better if there are at least some strands of mysticism worked into the more mundane aspects of the overall story.

 

Great stuff.....in the OT while the force/jedi were central to the story, things like the rebels struggle, space battles, and the rogues of the galaxy were just as central.

 

I always thought an X-Wing was just as iconic as a lightsaber.

 

I personally watch Star Wars for a combination of things, in which Jedi are a part. To much of a certain thing - in this case, Jedi and everything surrounding them - throws off the balance I enjoy. Especially given how cold, stodgy, bureaucratic, inflexible, and, honestly, stupid they are in the PT. Too much time is spent on people and an organization that, frankly, I didn't find entertaining to watch.

The PT desperately needed a dash of fun. It needed an element that disrupted the solemnity and seriousness of it all. And, to be fair, GL tried with Jar-Jar, but it's pretty obvious he missed the mark, and the series never recovered from that mis-step.