ST How Has the ST Affected Your Interest in Star Wars?

Do you mean the PT and OT? And that the ST doesn't add anything?

 

Then I completely agree with you.

 

That's great. That's how it should be. You shouldn't let anyone sway you from liking something if that's how you feel about it.

Well, now you're talking about other fans, which is not so great. You have a right to your feelings, opinions, and point of view. And they have a right to theirs. And we're all just here talking about those things. That's also how it should be.

It's actually far more nuanced than that. People like or dislike different things for different reasons. For myself, I love the OT, I like the PT, and I dislike the ST. The problems I have with the PT are the opposite of the problems that I have with the ST. And there are things about the PT and the ST that I think are some of the best things in Star Wars, while there are other things that affect my feelings about them overall. The OT has it's issues, as well, but it's problems don't affect the overall feeling I have about the trilogy as a whole. All of these things are nuanced and in the details. Many of the people here have no problem going into the details of what they like and dislike about the various Stat Wars films, you just have to be open to discussing them, and not get too worked up over opposing views. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.

 

Here, here.

I mean, I’m the odd duck more likely to watch ESB, ROTJ, ROTS, and TFA before I watch TPM or ANH, generally kind of regard AOTC as skippable save for a handful of scenes, enjoy Rogue One as it’s own thing that helps the Saga without neccessarily being a huge part of it, Solo as a fun little diversion but not much else, and TLJ as the only film I genuinely do not want to watch again...

...But is still rewatched the Praetorian Guard fight a few times, and I will always say that casting Tran as Rose was a brilliant move - one let down by the story, but brilliant casting nonetheless.

And yeah, I’ve got that weird dichotomy where TFA is maybe my favorite movie, with a slight caveat that it’s somewhat of a guilty pleasure because I think that ESB is clearly better as a film and that ANH is being copied by it. And a lot of that comes down to what I believe was genuinely the most original element of the ST when introduced, and someone that I think was ignored in TLJ to the overall detriment of the story: Finn.

I’m that guy. He’s my boy, he’s awesome, he’s original, and he adds a new dimension to the story in TFA that helps it avoid being a soulless remake of ANH for me... and his de facto demotion in favor of Kylo for significance in TLJ, accompanied by the refusal to make Rey a Skywalker, is what makes me think that the ST is in a downward spiral story-wise from TLJ that TROS may not be able to pull out of without rejecting ideas from TLJ.

And part of that is definitely based off of Kylo, or the way he’s handled by the films. I can forgive and forget how unoriginal the military situation is to some amount; yeah, it’s patheticlaly unimaginative and uninteresting, but if I’m here for the character stuff, than we have an issue. Kylo works fantastically as a loathsome villain... but is just horribly unsuited as the lone Skywalker grandkid or as a protagonist of any sort. He’s a fun madman, epitomizing the worst aspects of the family, and a fine villain for a female Jedi and a black male lead... but by himself, he defines the Skywalkers by their worst traits, and just doesn’t interest me when I’m being asked to think about “Ben Solo” instead.

To kin dof use anothe point here:

...It’s how badly Ben Solo compares to Jacen Solo that makes me just not give a damn about the character. Kylo Ren could be a better villain than Darth Caedus, and I’d be okay. But if it ends up that I traded Jacen, Jaina, Anakin Solo, Ben Skywalker, Cade Skywalker, and Ania Solo... for only Ben Solo... then I’m going to be upset.

 

My biggest hope is that TROS is good enough to let me watch TFA and it back to back and have some kind of context in which I can intellectually incorporate a better version of TLJ’s events thanks to TROS-derived context.

I’m rewatching TFA now on Disney +. And it’s amazing just how well it handled characters, chemistry, and drama, even with how derivative it is of ANH at times. This film has *heart*, and the characters are awesome...

...in TFA.

It’s just that TLJ stripped out or stagnated all the things that gave TFA even a little bit of freshness and exacerbated all the little weaknesses and vulnerabilities in TFA’s setup that the first movie had managed to rush past thanks to ts pacing and the strength of its character-based story. TLJ’s core elements of pretentious and shallow execution of counter-intuitive character beats for the bare handful of TFA characters it cared about killed the momentum and core appeal of the ST.

TROS needs to realize that and kickstart the Sequel Trilogy back into power.

 

I always thought that an ambitious and well read sotrygrouo would have been able to look at the old Legends EU and pick out things that worked well and didn’t need much help, things that had strong foundation and could be refined and perfected, and see what to avoid.

For instance, Thrawn seems to have been recognized as a character that could fit over perfectly, and he has, while a villain like Warlord Zsinj also seems perfectly adaptable (only his alignment would maybe need adjustment, unless you want to move him back in the OT timeframe instead of a Post-ROTJ landscape.)

The Inquisitorious arguably got improved in presentation and function. Meanwhile, Mara Jade always felt to me like she had a good start, but could use a more adventurous repackaging to improve on Zahn’s somewhat more chill and cool characterization, and I genuinely think that a romance with Luke could have been better done under a new regime.

At the same time, I’m glad that we don’t have Trioculus and the Glove of Darth Vader, and that the Republic Commando books are gone, even if the Delta Sqaud still lives.

The sad part about all this, though, is how much of the positive adaptations and improvements are *nowhere near* the ST proper. I thought Kylo Ren could be an improvement on the e idea of Darth Caedus, since he could be perfected as a villain without having to worry about making his pre-fall identity’s heroism work (because he didn’t have any)... but clearly LFL was enamored with the concept of a Jacen Solo character, but never bothered to see what worked with Jacen, and what had hampered Caedus. And I’d have to say that the OT3 and their families all seem far more interesting and engaging in Legends, and just... aren’t... now.

 

Well, you've said yourself that you don't mind the direction taken with the OT characters. And, that's a major obstacle to enjoying the ST, for some. That, alone, is a pretty understandable reason for a difference of perception about these films. It's really just about what someone's focus is and what resonates with them. And, I'd say it's the same for the creators. What they may feel strongly about, in the story they are telling, might not connect with certain members of the audience. We all just have to be honest, speak to what we feel, and remember there's never any guarantee that anyone will agree with us.