ST The Aesthetic of the Sequel Trilogy

EXACTLY! Your last paragraph says it all!

I think from the screenplay, and articles on what Lucas intended the First Jedi Temple to be, it indeed was supposed to have a more Jedi feel. Some kinda golden dome. Something spiritual and radiating a feel of magnificence. Almost PT era like.

I agree too much of the aesthetics seem too Earth like including the mannerisms and speech of the youth.

I would have liked to see a newer version of the PT aesthetics with remnants of the OT era still present in the background, but not dominant. For example, the Star Destroyer on Jakku, that was cool. But not openly just the OT aesthetics with no improvements, redesigns, or costumes etc.

I would have loved a planned/mapped out saga also which made it feel more like 9 connected episodes. Perhaps had an Imperial Remnant based on Coruscant showed that some people cared and came to save them , that would have been better.

Show us more worlds, more peoples and more of this GALAXY far far away. It feels too much like one backwater town. I wish we also saw a genuinely more diverse cast that fit into a proper story. E.g. like many different young Jedi of different backgrounds. And more species like Twileks, Pandorans etc.

I find the Stormtrooper helmets okay, but the uniforms look a little rigid. Like what's with the weird fixed neck position and stodgy look? The original trooper design and even the Republic era version was far more streamlined.

The universe feels far too gritty - both without the might of the Empire, and without the elaborate grandeur of the Republic era. And the spiritual majestic elegant grace of the Jedi, of a more civilised era is also not really showcased.

 

Luke didn't leave a hidden map. The rumors were that he went to the first Jedi temple.

And Lor San Tekka uncovered the last piece of the map on where the first Jedi temple was.

 

I had to get used to the aesthetic of TLJ. Initially, Canto Bight took me completely out of the movie because it didn't seem to match what I have come to expect in the Star Wars universe. After several viewings, it's finally grown on me, though I still find it inferior to Cloud City. Ahch-To felt both intimate and isolated. It was a perfect place for Luke to hide. The landscape is breathtaking, though I can see how some people would complain about it not seeming like a place away from our planet. Crait has grown on me as well. I initially found it a little too reminiscent of Hoth because of the white surface combined with the AT-ATs. I love the interiors of the Star Destroyers. Snoke's room works for me. It is simple but also scary.

I had no problem getting used to the aesthetic of The Force Awakens. I readily accepted every environment in that film. It did not challenge me in the way that The Last Jedi did.

 

Ya know I've heard quite a few people say they felt kinda odd about Canto Bight and all for different reasons (including yours). I understand what you're saying for sure. Canto Bight just seems pretty earthlike. The horse race and the gambling and betting and seeing all the aristocrats wear flamboyant attire. But I'd say there was enough Star Wars features to it to make it fit in the SW galaxy. One being the Canto Bight police uniforms, which were as Star Warsy as you could get

 

Wasn't it the other way round - Tekka had most of the rest of the map - with Artoo having the last piece?

 

I loved the Canto Bight aesthetic. Kinda PT feel to it.

Cloud City might be my favorite SW sequence aesthetically including the music as the approach, and suites and dining room. Or maybe Coruscant.

 

IDK; so far they haven't shown any really unique environments in the ST. Rogue One and Solo each delivered on new and exciting locations that were instantly SW to me. I don't think the saga handlers have any ideas on that end. The aim seems to be focused on evoking the imagery of past saga locations with a slight variation. True, as said above, Ach To is really the only locale we haven't seen before. Maz and her castle could be on Naboo ,as Tokadona looks very similar.

 

Right? Completely asinine.

Now, because of that same griping we're stuck with barely new environments drawn up with 70% inspiration drawn up from the OT.

And the vehicles as well, 30 years since ROTJ, they're still using X-Wings and Mon Cals; as opposed to 15 years they go from ARC-170s/V-Wings to TIEs and X-Wings; Or even from Venators to the Imperial class. Don't care if it isn't 'realistic' or not, this is SW not the real world, something meant to be an ESCAPISM from the real world for some people.

And I felt Canto Bight was a poor, poor attempt at a PT aesthetic, downplayed by the fact that the overview scenes last 2 seconds, you blink and miss them. In addition to the race scene and gambling scenes with champagne and tropical music.

 

And there in lies the problem for me. Many of us want the ST to look "Realistic" from a Star Wars perspective. You mention escapism! I simply cannot "Escape" watching the PT as for me it doesn't resemble anything remotely close to the GFFA that I grew up with, namely the OT.

By all means introduce the fantasy, it is science fiction after all, but for me the ST and anthologies do a great job recreating the original Star Wars feel, something which the PT completely failed to do IMHO with all its CGI, green screen environments and ridiculously flashy OTT spaceships / craft such as the Naboo Royal Starship, Solar Sailer and the Tribubble Bongo!

Perhaps I'm in a minority here, but I think the visuals of the Disney era are by and large spot on!

 

Please don't take this the wrong way but the OT is severely outdated. And you wouldn't want us to keep using WWII tech in a modern setting would you? I'm saying that to appeal to a sense of 'realism' not because I agree with a sense of 'realism'.

It's too bad you feel that way about the PT, but I think GL made it have that aesthetic by design. if you hate the PT for what it had, then you must hate a lot of modern day movies....The PT was meant to show the galaxy for how beautiful it could be when it wasn't focused on Rebels and Empires on planets more far out from high society, but now, because of such complaints we aren't gonna see more fantastical societies instead we'll get more 'Craits' or 'Tatooines'. Hosnian Prime didn't count for obvious reasons and I really don't know how you think that logic works with R1 or TLJ.

GL was trying to get HIS story to represent this, not keep it bogged down in stuff that practically rips off the past and renders it pointless.

Not dissing on the OT, its aesthetic works for the OT, but the ST should have its own feel. Much like the PT.

For example the bits where it was supposed to be shiny were more like a poor man's attempt at the PT; better yet at MOCKIGN the PT. DJ's ship and Cantonica, for example. I liked the Cop Speeders but that was about it.

 

For me the technological advances in the ST are about right given the fact the ST is set only 30 years after the OT. Are today's fighter planes, battleships, helicopters and tanks etc really that much different in appearance to those used back in the late 80's early 90's? Whilst I am no military historian my view is that to the layman the appearance of what we have now is not that radically different to what we had 30 years ago! Hence I'm ok with the miIitary technology of the OT and ST being similar. I guess I like the continuity of the technology, however totally appreciate it may not have moved on significantly enough for some.

Secondly I loved the new worlds of Crait, Jakku, Jeddah and Ahch-To. The fantastical worlds of Naboo, Mustafar and Geonosis which were so heavily CGI reliant just looked too fake and unrealistic in my opinion that I could not get immersed in them. For me they just didn't have that "real feel" about them. Dare I say it, but for me they almost felt cartoony!

Maybe I need to let go a bit and embrace change, but I for one am delighted with the aesthetics of the ST, however that's not to say I don't totally respect other people's views who see it differently and would like to see the GFFA evolve at a more rapid pace.