As a person who runs a geek-centric blog, and as a self-professed total Star Wars nerd, I figured I should take a moment to throw out my two cents on the whole Disney-purchasing-Lucasfilm thing.
Now, I remember when Disney purchased Marvel and everyone freaked out (including me) and we spent several weeks slogging through countless mash-ups of things like Spider-Man wearing Mickey Mouse ears and Donald Duck dressed as Wolverine. And then life went back to normal. So I'm doing my best to remember that latter part and skip right to the normality.
But I do have a few thoughts on this that I thought I should at least put out there and then move on. So here goes...
First off, after I had time to pick my jaw up off the floor, I came to the realization that I'm actually okay with all of this. And the following thoughts will explain why.
Disney can't ruin Star Wars for me, because it has already been ruined (for me, personally) by Lucas himself. I've had to turn my back on anything created post-Jedi and just pretend it doesn't exist. So if Disney makes some horrible Star Wars movies, what do I care? I'll just add them to the other pile of trash that I actively ignore.
This also gives me a glimmer of hope. Before Disney bought Marvel, their movies were not great. The first Spider-Man was pretty good, but that was about it. Then Disney bought Marvel and suddenly we had Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and then the greatest superhero movie I have ever seen (I'm not exaggerating), The Avengers. So just imagine if that happens to the Star Wars universe.
Other writers and directors taking a swing at a Star Wars movie who aren't George Lucas? Yes please. If you doubt that scenario, my I submit to you The Empire Strikes Back.
THE POSSIBILY OF AN ENTIRE STAR WARS THEME PARK!
And finally, I have been expecting a total of 9 Star Wars movies since I was 7 years old. And no matter how horrible the last trilogy was, that little 7 year old in me still gets excited about 3 more Star Wars films. Again, it gives me hope that if it's all done well, the whole thing can be saved. This is literally A New Hope for me. What if the new movies are brilliant? What if the characters and locations take us back to the same feeling we experienced in the first trilogy? Just the thought of that gets me excited, and no matter how bitter I am about the prequels, I'm still willing to dive in as a fan once more, ready to re-embrace Star Wars.
To sum up, I'm not going to join the haters who are crying about the death of Star Wars. I do honestly believe that it will live on and can only be improved from here on, by people who are ready to take a fresher look at my most beloved science-fictional universe. I may be wrong, of course. They could make it all completely suck even worse, but again, that'll just put me right back to where I am now, ignoring everything else outside of the original trilogy. But I'm hopeful that won't happen.
I guess we'll all see in the end. In the meantime, I'll try to keep my cool and calmly watch it all unfold.
How do you all feel about it? Share your thoughts!
I'm with you- change is inevitable, so one must embrace it. I didn't even flinch- I never do when there's a "reboot" or some licsencing property is sold off. What's the point? Like music & comics, we'll always have the stuff from our generation that we loved, and who knows- what if something fun happens?
ReplyDeleteI am definitely excited. More than I have been in a long time. I am just imagining the toys! What could be! WHOA! And here is a lark...Disney may actually one day remake the second trilogy. Make it more coherent. I am just excited for the possibility to see Luke, Han, and Leia back on the screen. Lucas already met with them...Wow!
ReplyDeleteI'm 100% on board with this.
ReplyDeleteI am very optimistic. I think the franchise is in great hands and I get giddy at the thought of a new Star Wars trilogy sans Lucas. I remember the optimism and excitement prior to the prequels, before we knew what a hot mess they'd be, I feel that again. The theme park possibilities, they boggle the mind. I hope they abandon the silly Avatar plans for Animal Kingdom and focus on building a proper Indiana Jones ride in Florida and a full blown themed land for Star Wars. I want a drink in the Mos Eisley Cantina. This is as natural a fit as Disney's acquisition of the Muppets or Pixar, it just makes sense. As far as Disney-Star Wars mash-ups, those have been a staple of theme park merchandise for years, and I welcome more.
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with ya, Reis! I don't necessarily want 7-9 to be about the Skywalkers but if that's where they go with it, I'll be there.
ReplyDeleteI really don't have a opinion on this as my love of Star Wars has really diminished over the years but my friend Scott is a huge Star Wars friend and he is not really liking this at all for various reasons but the biggest from what i can gather from my talk with him about is he is worried how they are going to handle using the characters and such.
ReplyDeleteWell said Reis.
ReplyDeleteI had a lengthy post about it on our blog.
Everyone has been asking me my opinion about it since I am way too obsessed with Star Wars.
You've summed it up nicely Reis (IMO).
ReplyDeleteAs for the New Hope that the new Wars movies will be better than what Lucas did with the prequels, lets hope so. There are a lot of talented writers, directors, etc. that are capable of making a Star Wars movie better that the original trilogy. On the other hand there are alot of writers, directors, etc. that are capable of making an absolutely horrible Star Wars movie. Lets hope that Disney, and mainly Kathleen Kennedy (who is taking over Lucasfilms) can get the right people together to make an awesome flic.
If you haven't already, I suggest you read the Making of Star Wars book by J.W. Rinzler. It contains behind the scenes stories never before published that tell the tale of how much help and input other artists and directors had over the original Movie. It wasn't all George Lucas that made that movie great. Unlike on the prequels where George just said "Do this!" and they replied "Yes sir" with no question. There was no one willing to filter out his bad ideas for the prequels like there were when he was making A New Hope, basically a nobody still. (of course he had American Graffiti).
I agree with you on the whole post Jedi business, most of the additions to the prequels were unneeded although some were cool. (Why didn't he make Jabba a hologram so Han could have just walked through him and not awkwardly bounced over him??). Again, nobody was willing to say "hey George, that kinda sucks."
I totally agree - if anyone has any apprehension, I will gladly refer them to the post-Disney Marvel films. As a matter of fact, I would love to see them take the same formula they have used with the Marvel films and have other character-driven films that tie in with further Star Wars sequels. Maybe I could finally get my Boba Fett film!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. Nothing but nothing could be worse than those horrid prequels. I'm kindof excited that we may actually get some good new Star Wars movies.
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