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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 8713404" data-attributes="member: 59082">Nice post, though I think you kind of disprove your premise almost immediately in basically admitting that the first two films were pretty magical (and half of the third, thus the original trilogy as a whole).As a slight caveat, I don't think the original trilogy as much gathered adult fans, if that's what you're saying, as the kids who grew up on it remained fans into adulthood. I think Generation X was the first generation to be a kind of puer aeternus...part of that is extending fandom into adulthood. But I don't think the films, when they came out, immediately spawned an adult fan base. Most of the adult fans of Star Wars grew up on it.Anyhow, I still think the original trilogy holds up as rather magical film-making - and that is partially because of the distinct signature of the world-building, as expressed through--at the time--unparalleled visual film making. Star Wars is Star Wars - it is its own thing. A major element of scifi and fantasy greatness is the distinctness of the world - not necessarily the novelty of the ideas taken individually, but whether it holistically feels distinct and real unto itself. Whether we're talking Star Wars or Star Trek, Middle-earth or Dune, the greats all "feel" that way.And you can generally only accomplish this feeling with a singular visionary - it is the feeling of a person's mind tapping deep into the well of imagination, and creating a new mythology. It isn't impossible to do it as a collective of creators, but rather difficult.This is why the Disney films don't feel like "real" Star Wars to me. Star Wars is ultimately George Lucas' baby, and once he was gone it veered into an homage, a re-creation. The prequels were bad, but they still felt like Star Wars in a way that everything after hasn't. IMO. I think what went wrong with the prequels is two things: One, Lucas became enamored with CGI special effects, so that they visually felt a bit "soul-less;" and two, he forgot that the world building and visual spectacle of the original trilogy was only half what made them so great; the other half were the characters, and the actors: Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, even Mark Hammill. Probably the best character in the prequels is killed in the first film (however you spell Liam Neeson's character); I also think Ewan McGregor did a pretty good job as Kenobi, but was hampered by trying to be Kenobi, so it felt like a good impression more than the "real" Obi-wan.I don't think it would be impossible to make new, great Star Wars films. And some of the more recent offerings have been, at least, pretty good. Rogue One was a good film, if not as inspired as the OT. From what I've read, Mandalorian is pretty good (I'll watch it eventually). But new, great Star Wars films would have to take a different route from the Disney films, which felt very creatively derivative in that they seemed to try to assemble bits and pieces of the Star Wars universe, throw in a few new twists, and create a kind of simulacrum of Star Wars. They don't feel like they did what Lucas did, which was dive deep into his own mind and draw from the endless well of mythic imagination.If I were in charge of Star Wars, I'd fast forward a few decades and start afresh. I'd probably imagine a lawless galaxy ruled by Jabba-esque warlords vying for control. Something emerges from the depths of space - a new dark evil, which embodies the Dark Side in a more profound way - perhaps even the origin of the Dark Side. Maybe an entity cast out into the void between galaxies thousands of years ago. The premise would be the Force emerging strongly through a variety of people on disparate planets who gradually are pulled together to form a new Jedi order. And, of course, one of them falls to the Dark Side.Or something like that. You can still have archetypal Star Wars characters, but you've got to make sure to cast them well (and at least the Disney castings were better than the prequels). The point being, still classic Star Wars feel, but not simply a recapitulation of what came before.</blockquote>

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