When they talk about the Leia bikini, close your eyes! This is your only warning!
I don't think SW is a dying brand, old george is geting old, and he wants to retire real bad and become a billionaire monk, but millions of screaming fans won't let him, ever.
I agree completely with Ben about Star Wars being past its prime; of course it is still big in culture today, but I do believe that its age is beginning to show.
I also agree with Ben about the new game, The Force Unleashed. When I first saw the pics information about it I was excited, but it also bothered me at how "commonplace" the Force has become. Also, being a stickler on the cannonical story of Star Wars, I find the story premise to be slightly disappointing. There is supposed to be only a master and an apprentice for the Dark Side, so the idea of a secret apprentice of Darth Vader while the Emperor was still around bugs me.
My current opinion is that the Star Wars franchise may be aware of its own immenent demise and is either trying to cash in or further flood the market to remain a formidable media and cultural giant. However, I think this may just be weakening the overall strength of what Star Wars used to be: a unique and revolutionary story. The idea of the Force being too commonplace in The Force Unleashed can parallel the problem with the whole franchise losing its uniquness.
I also completely agree with Ben. I'm Brazilian, here the Star Wars fan culture, is TOTALY dependant of the features films releases, all other things, such as comic books, games and TV shows. Comic Books and games of star wars just have really little influence on the audience here, and the foreight TV shows have really low acceptancy, even the ones whos goes to the Big TV networks here, passes on alternatives schedules, as a summer special, or late at night. So the decision to let Star Wars going only in TV, by time will lower the fan base, specially in foreight languages (non-english) countries.
Star Wars, under it's current development, is heading towards a decline. The movies were very much lackluster in popularity and quality being more special effects eye candy with horrible acting. Honestly I don't believe that Lucas himself needs to be involved in any more full feature films in the future. The man obviously has issues with his vision at this point. However the new CGI comic series looks like it has promise. Without the possibilities of actors looking idiotic on screen and only having to do voice acting, it may be possible to actually tell a decent story. But then we have the huge question; "Will the CGI Cartoon Series be directed towards children or will it be directed towards young adults?" I believe if the storyline and animation is compelling towards the mid teens and older crowd then it will be a success. If they attempt to gather children in this as well then it will fail horribly.
Lucas Arts needs to rethink their demographic and realize that Star Wars is not for children like it was in the late 70's and early 80's. Children these days have seen Sci-Fi. They seen the special effects and the storyline. When Star Wars first came out it set the bar and started the genre of epic space stories. Present day has seen many attempts. It's no longer a novelty.
If they should ever do the Grand Admiral Thrawn Trilogy written by Timothy Zahn, they need to do it with a good sci-fi director and Zahn really needs to be in the script writing process. James Cameron comes to mind. They need to make sure Lucas is either heavily medicated or else completely not directing the project at all. The movie trilogy needs to be directed at the adult age group. 17-25. Dialog needs to be intelligent and relevant. Actors need to be chosen on their acting ability as well as their character visual portrayal. I personally think they should go with mostly no name actors to find new talent. That way we don't have preconceptions on existing movie roles.
Eh this turned out to be longer than I thought. But honestly Star Wars can become great again. It just needs better direction and management. Less fan service and better storytelling.
I remember seeing part 1 for the first time, after months of anticipation. When it was finished, my buddy and I looked at eachother and we knew it was turning bad... Neither of us wanted to say it, but when you look at the original trilogy it didn't compare in any way. My fantasy of the background of vader and all was better then the movie. This combined with the bad acting made it really dissapointing. Ofcourse there's always the die hard fan that doesn't want to admit it to others, and will keep on waving the flag.
If they make a cartoon out of it, i certainly will not watch it, and the whole clone wars was played out from the beginning...
They need to go back to star destroyers, corellian corvettes and nebulon-b frigates, less cgi and more models.
One of the things I love about Star Wars is the mysticism of the force. When Han first met Obi Wan and Luke, he thought they where nuts. And rightly so. Han trusted his eye's and his blaster. The force is not some flashy ability to be witnessed by all. It's a little understood and largely untaped power that exists beyond normal humanoid comprehension. That is why so few candidates are accepted into apprenticeship. Only those willing to devote their entire life will ever understand the majesty of it all. For the movie goers, trying to understand an unseen force stimulates thought and imagination.
I think the Force Unleashed is trampling the magic that, in no small part, breathed life into the Star Wars universe. It's turning it into a (dare i say it) Dragonball Z style power-fest. It's cheap gratification for the children who thought Jarjar was anything but a mistake. And all the youth who play these games will never gain an appreciation for the original Star Wars Trilogy experience that has yet to be matched by any game, movie or TV series.
What kilroy0097 said ("Star Wars, under it's current development, is heading toward a decline" ) was, from a certain (optimistic) point of view, right. But I say that it's been snowballing since Episode One.
Good bye Star Wars franchise. This is me washing my hands of you. I'll just keep my THX remastered VHS trilogy as a reminder of what Star Wars was before it became a whore.
On what dzmcm said about the force, I have to absolutely agree. One of things that made the Star Wars series so great was the mystery of the Force. We knew that only a select few in the galaxy had such a power and it's use was not common. People just don't go around like nothing is happening when the force is being used. It's mystical, wondrous and frightening. Your normal individual looks to the Force as almost a religion seeing the Jedi as a religious order (See Wizard's Guild in most fantasy novels).
Must like they are portrayed in the fantasy genre a Wizard's Guild is not only a powerful entity but usually also the Sages of the realm. They are wise and see the solution to problems that perhaps your normal leaders or people would not see. They are the teachers, the protectors and the keepers of balance and order. The Force is their trump card. They use their minds, their teachings and their normal skills to advise and deal with problems. The Force is only used when the odds are insurmountable and overwhelming. When the force is overused it absolutely gives a feeling of Dragonball Z.
The use of power for power sake. No longer are Jedi using their heads and their natural skills and training. They just fall back on The Force and fix the issue with a sledgehammer. What happened to Jedi being delicate and subtle? Perhaps that was point in the films. The overuse of the Force led to the destruction of the Jedi. The overuse of their powers leading to the very corruption and ego of the Jedi Masters. Perhaps Obi Wan really was what Jedi should be. Humble Monks of the order who use their powers only when necessary to achieve a greater good. The difference between a Monastery life serving their God to a Vatican life filled with wealth, pomp and circumstance.
So bring back the The Force of the original three movies. Show us that the Jedi are actually trained and intelligent beings that rely on their wits and brains first before resorting to their mystical magic. The Force should be a Swiss Army Knife in usage and not a Sledgehammer as it is portrayed in the new trilogy.
Cheers.
Edit Add: The Force Unleashed the game does in fact say in it's title that the force is going to be used a lot. However I believe that it's just an excuse to make money and show physics in a game. It in no way should lend to the genre of Star Wars nor should it be used as a comparable example of how the Force should be depicted in the story. It's just a game and as entertainment that means nothing to the storyline it probably does well. However if it's supposed to be part of the story then I will call it what it is which is shameful and nothing but a crap of a game.
