Saga What in Star Wars have you done a complete 180 on...?

I love me some cruciform swords. That's me on the left.

 

This was an opinion I formed before the film even came out, but I was completely against Solo. Seemed like an extraneous side movie focusing in on an era of Star Wars already being milked. I felt like it was uninspired to give the "cool guy" a backstory, whether he needed it or not. And recasting those iconic characters? Forget about it. Oh, not to mention all well publicized production issues along the way; this was shaping up to be a nightmare.

Then it came out and I was impressed. It jived relatively well with the existing canon (except for the presence of a new Falcon), and more than anything, the actors made it work. Chewie felt like a character instead of a prop. Han didn't start out as an invincible badass, and we got to see a meaningful growth that felt appropriate for his appearance by ANH. And even though I'm still conflicted on reviving Darth Maul in canon, seeing Ray Park return to the role was truly a spectacle. The film isn't perfect, but it's my favorite Disney Star Wars film, and to think that it was my least anticipated one.

 

I don't know that I'd characterize this as a 180, exactly, but I have a very different view of Han Solo as an adult than I did as a kid. There seems to be a popular (but not universal) view of Han as hyper-competent and incredibly smooth, and I think I grew up absorbing that. He was too cool for school and consequently I regarded him as the least relatable of the OT characters.

When I watch the films now, though...I don't see him that way at all. He gets frightened, he loses to the villains, he bumbles his way through high-stakes situations as awkwardly as Luke does. Han's a cool guy, sure, but he's also a big damn dork and I love him for it.

 

I do, too, and I think he particularly perceives himself that way in relationship to Luke, at least until we're a decent chunk of the way into ROTJ and Luke has sort of repaid Han for the rescue on Hoth. Now that I think about it, the scenes I find him the dorkiest in are mostly scenes where Luke isn't there for contrast.

 

I absolutely agree. I liked how they made Han more humanized than the walking stereotype of masculinity. It added a whole new perspective on the character. Beckett was also a nice foil. One of the most interesting side characters in the new films.

The trailer worried me that it would be Han joining a proto-Rebel group to fight the Empire but I was surprised by how little the Empire has an influence in the film. It was so refreshing to get antagonist factions that weren't Imperial or Imperial-inspired.

 

Chirrut is a great character but he worships the force but is not force sensitive per both the official Databank on star wars.com and wookiepedia

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Chirrut_Îmwe

 

you kind of just explained the long term appeal of Harrison Ford in his movie roles. Less so with Han Solo, but you can still see it. Indiana Jones and Jack Ryan are better example of a guy over his head, and the vulnerability underneath. Although Han undergoes a huge change near the end of ESB.

 

My 180 was Palpatine from 1983-2005. Did not find him interesting at all in ROTJ (and still don't find that iteration interesting.) Then, 16 years later, Palps returns to the big screen and he was my favorite part of the PT bar none. My anticipation for ROTS was driven more by Palps finally getting his big moment than it was about that duel.

That was also tied to a 360: back in the OT years, Anakin Skywalker (who we never really knew) was a fascinating character in concept - then AOTC happened and ugh... then TCW put Anakin back in the rights with me again.

I guess Ahsoka gets an honorable mention but since I didn't start out hating her, she was more a 90 degree turn than a 180. Just a very sharp 90...

 

As my personality and temperament have mellowed with age, I've reached the point where I'm able to watch the PT and focus on the things I enjoy and appreciate the aspects that I find well done, while not letting the stuff I don't like or find to be poorly bother me.

Franky, the biggest 180 I've pulled is how open I am to allowing Star Wars to be... well, open. When I signed up five years ago, I was a borderline OT purist excited for TFA. I've since come to more fully appreciate the different eras of the saga, and the larger franchise's capacity to dabble in different tones and atmospheres, with different narrative focuses, and scopes and scales of all sizes. I once would have been more than happy for Star Wars to remain in the relative timeframe of the OT, but now, what I'm most excited for is the prospect of the next films to go anywhere, any time, and explore anything.

 

I agree with this. Luke has always been perceived as the "everyman" of the SW films, but I actually think its Han.

 

Another personal 180 was The Wraith Squadron trilogy. First time reading it was "Waah? Where's Rogue Squadron? What is this switch and bait?" (And yes, I still think labeling those books "X-Wing 5, 6, 7" is wrong.)

By the end of that trilogy, I liked the Wraiths even better than the Rogues and found it to be one of the best introductions of fresh air into the franchise in a long time.

 

Maul surviving past TPM.
And the Clone chips. Really hits home how senseless the war was.
Clones that could be controlled to gun down their Jedi Commanders. Nothing better than Droids.
Really hit home after TCW S7. Palpatine was the only winner.

 

This might not be the thread for it, but I do wonder that the newer generations will hopefully be the most open towards Star Wars if they (Theoretically) have the most to work with in terms of what Star Wars is compared to older generations who were either it was just the OT or it was just the PT

granted I think EU fans might have had a advantage here being more open towards thing given that they had well...Expanded ...Universe to work with.

 

I'd say one of the things I did a 180 on would be my ability to watch random episodes whenever the mood strikes. I used to be hardcore (not just with SW, but all franchises) about watching each one in order from beginning to end-and not watching any other movies in between. Quite a commitment! But now that I'm older, and my kids are grade-school age, full time job, extracurricular responsibilities and whatnot, I simply have precious little time to watch anything I want. So nowadays I have to be much more selective about it. As an example, I just watched the entire ST in a row last month-and it took me two weeks! But two nights ago, I felt like a SW fix and I watched Solo. It was quite enjoyable. So I no longer have that "need" to do them all in order.

I also have done a 180 on my willingness to be open-minded about the continuity of story in the GFFA. I used to get really frustrated on little things like if a ship sounds different from one episode to another, or if certain cannon sounds are different in different films. But now, I don't really care-as long as the story and general main things are consistent.

 

I didn't like the Rey Palpatine twist the first time around, but it's really grown on me and now I think it works better than the other options. I love that after decades of machinations, Sheev's own descendant was chosen by the Force to end him and the Sith permanently and carry on the Skywalker Legacy.

 

AOTC - Loved it as a kid, started to dislike it to the point where I genuinely struggled to watch it all the way through, but the last few years I’ve loved it more and more each time

Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars - Used to love it, now I simply can’t watch it due to the animation despite having some great stories

Hondo Onaka - Loved him the first time I saw him... now I ABSOLUTELY love him

 

Didn’t like Rebels when it first came out. Love it now and think it’s the best Star Wars we’ve gotten (along with Rogue One) since Disney took over.

 

My 180 was on TPM.

For a long time it sat at the bottom of my personal rankings. The more I've watched it, though, it's now my favorite of the prequels. Jar Jar is still painfully annoying. The pod racing scene still goes a little too long. But overall, it hits the right notes in the right order at the right time. It does a great job giving new introductions to old characters. And strong introductions to the new characters, except for Jar Jar. I'm not sure how it changed, but what I used to see as a slow plodding movie filled with a bunch of contrivances, is now a solid movie that flows well, is not tonally inconsistent, and gives a solid opening to the trilogy and the saga on the whole. The contrivances are still there, and do require a bit of a stretch in suspension of disbelief, but they're not bad enough to affect the tone of the movie, or to take you out of the movie. While the dialog is not the greatest, it does a decent job of setting up the events of the movie and moves the plot forward. There are a lot of throw away lines, and most of the witty quips and one liners fall flat, but not enough to detract from the flow of the movie or scene.

 

Hondo is on my shortlist of SW characters I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see in a film, or live action in any capacity-one of those well-written, deep characters I never get sick of!

1. Thrawn
2. Ahsoka (so excited)
3. Hondo
4. Cad Bane
5. Ezra Bridger

I know this isn't a list thread...but that's my shortlist. Some of the best non-episode characters in the GFFA.

 

I second that. I still think bringing Maul back is a really dumb idea, but the execution was so good, I can't dislike it. His character post-TPM has become my gold standard for what a bad idea saved in execution looks like.

 

The only thing we haven't gotten that I want to see, is Maul vs Vader. The EU did it once or twice, but seeing it on screen? After Solo but before Rebels? Sign me up.
Maul in the Siege of Mandalore was great. His speech to Ahsoka. Him realizing what Palpatines plans were. He was as much a pawn as everyone else.

 

The fans. Used to like them, now I can't stand them.

 

I wouldn’t say I’ve done a 180 on it, but I’ve gone from “that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of, there’s no way he survived past TPM and it’s absurd to suggest otherwise” to “there’s no way he survived past TPM and it’s absurd to suggest otherwise, but if somehow he did hypothetically, it would make for some super awesome stories so it would almost be worth it.”

 

Yeah, that's pretty much where I'm at. People talk about the Holdo manoeuvre "breaking the universe", but this was worse imo. If being bisected at the waist doesn't kill a Force user, what will? Can we bring back Count Dooku as a head on a robot body? When Palpatine exploded, could he use the Force to reassemble himself? But darn it if Maul didn't become one of the most compelling villains in Star Wars post-robot legs.