Why Star Wars Should Have Stopped
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- Опубліковано 3 лис 2024
- PART 1: Would everything had been better if the Star Wars franchise had stopped with Return of the Jedi? If there had been no prequels or Disney sequels? With my Return of the Jedi analysis, I will make the case for why Star Wars should have stopped.
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While Empire is almost certainly the best-made of the films, I've always felt fondest of this one. There's something about that ending that just gets me every time.
I've always been fascinated by how fond people are of ROJ. I like it, too, but definitely not on the same level as many fans. Most people get that way because it's the first film they watched, I don't know if that's your case. When you say the "ending", what part of it you mean? Vader saving Luke? Luke saying goodbye to his father? The Ewok party?
I saw the films as they came out in the theaters, so no, definitely not my first. Part of it was the sheer epic scale of the final conflict, but my little 13 year-old mind was utterly blown that Vader ended up being the hero. That was something I'd never seen before and could never have predicted. Joss Whedon made the observation, referring to Serenity, that it's easy for the hero to kill the villain, but it's more powerful for the hero to change the villain's mind. Luke doesn't achieve victory by being a better fighter, but by being a better person, and showing his father the value of compassion. I saw the original trilogy in a marathon screening at a local university back in the 90s, and when Vader grabbed the Emperor and dragged him away, the whole theater erupted into applause and cheers; people were on their feet with excitement. It's still one of my favorite movie moments of all time.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. As you'll come to learn in part 2 of this video, I wasn't that emotionally invested in Vader's transformation. I was even younger than 13 when I watched ROTJ (the 1997 special edition, that is) and I didn't feel like cheering and applauding. I liked it, but I couldn't imagine any other way the story could have ended. I mean, when the Emperor started electrocuting Luke...what else was going to happen? Obviously he wasn't going to kill Luke. So Luke would either muster his power and fight back, or Vader would intervene somehow. I don't claim to have rationalized it like that when I was a kid, but I certainly didn't feel the moment as I did Vader's reveal in Empire.
Joss Whedon's observation is correct. The problem is that Vader's transformation strikes me more as the mandatory plot mechanism than a the culmination of a character's arc. In that respect, it can't hold a candle to Han's transformation in the first movie. I don't intend to demean the story decision, but I wonder if that was really the best way of executing it.
It really is impossible to predict or quantify emotional reactions to things. I also loved Han's sudden return in New Hope, but the Vader twist was just so much more unusual that I found it thrilling. I don't doubt that people who saw The Force Awakens and were excited genuinely felt that excitement, I'm just baffled as to why. I honestly felt like that whole movie was a backhanded insult to Star Wars fans, implying they were so dumb as to buy into a virtual remake.
I agree, and everybody will react differently to the same emotion in a story, that's a given. It's hard to guess all the reason why so many people who saw the original movies could for for TFA. For some people, though, I wonder if it's a question of having a low bar for quality. It's not a perfect analogy, but imagine growing up eating only junk food. Obviously your standards for what's a great meal will be skewed, to say the least, so you might be more inclined to favor cheap thrills like the Disney sequels.
There's one thing I have to point out, Han wasn't a captain in the Rebel Alliance, he was the captain of the Millennium Falcon, which are two different things. Firstly, being a captain of something just says you're in charge. It doesn't automatically say you're literally the rank of captain. Also, as I'm sure Lucas doesn't understand at all, the rank of captain in the navy is totally different to the rank of captain in the army. The rank of captain in a navy is the equivalent of a colonel in the army, whilst a captain in the army is the equivalent of a 1st lieutenant in the navy
"Friends don't leave friends behind"
So much for that. Luke abandons everything after his nephew rightfully retaliates against Luke's assassination attempt on him.
Assassination attempt? Is that a TLJ spoiler (which I don't mind) or something you read/heard somewhere else?
Never been this early for a video like this. Woo~
Welcome, welcome!
Agree.
The movie is held together, and given most of its gravitas, by the score. Again.
When I first saw the film as a child I was disappointed. When I saw it again fifteen year, after my father died, the climactic confrontation with Vader made sense. As such it is the most moving film for me but I think, as you review of RO suggests, this is because of the emotion I bring.
The film diminishes the authority and importance of Leia. They could have hinted at the development of her Force powers.
I forgive the Ewoks. They are obviously there for the kids. But you’re review is right about the silly impotence of the Empire’s armed forces.
Thank you!!! I'm glad you brought up the point I made in the Rogue One video. I think it definitely applies to a lot of viewers. The emotional content of ROJ wasn't properly built up in the story, so the audience had to provide their own context to make it relevant.
Shame about Leia, and even Han for that matter. There was still room for development there. And agree on the score. It's second only to Empire's, in my opinion.
Only good Star Wars:
Orig trig,
Outline of the prequel story,
A smattering of clone wars episodes,
Literally nothing else.
just finish saying what you gotta say in one single video, dude, i will forget what you said now when you release the new one, so i'll have to rewatch this one afterwards, and i know that'll get you more views on your stats but it's a pain in the ass for your viewers to be honest
Noted!