I would too, except Episode III is decent to good. I couldn't bring myself to watch The Force Awakens, though.

@MirrorUniverse said:

I could live without the prequels and especially the Disney crap.

Well, why don't you? Nobody's forcing you to watch or even acknowledge their existence - you're the captain of your own canon, if you know what I mean...

The disney crap is the worst. I kinda dug the prequels sans Phantom Menace.

@The Midi-chlorian Count said:

@MirrorUniverse said:

I could live without the prequels and especially the Disney crap.

Well, why don't you? Nobody's forcing you to watch or even acknowledge their existence - you're the captain of your own canon, if you know what I mean...

Such common sense will almost certainly be ignored by the whiney OP.

No, but I can retroactively wish that Lucas had let others write and direct the prequels. Lucas had been one of the supreme executive producers in Hollywood history and had a knack for the business and marketing. He did not, however, maintain the creative spark or self-restraint that would have made the Prequels palatable.

I hate where Disney is going with the franchise; it feels like such a soulless, calculated commodity without even a hint of originality anymore. I expect that Last Jedi will be very dark and emotional, just like Empire was, and the fans will be in a tizzy. (Just as Kathleen Kennedy and Bob Iger wanted.) But I think Lucas truly loved what he created and if he'd just not let his ego supersede his judgment, we could still see the franchise under his guidance but with new ideas and new minds, guided by the franchise's original creator.

I'm a big proponent of sequels as long as the original creator is involved. Once that relationship ends, to me it's not even the same product anymore. I wish they'd ended after the prequels, but there is far, far, far too much blood in that turnip remaining and Disney will squeeze every last drop out of it.

@AlienFanatic said:

No, but I can retroactively wish that Lucas had let others write and direct the prequels. Lucas had been one of the supreme executive producers in Hollywood history and had a knack for the business and marketing. He did not, however, maintain the creative spark or self-restraint that would have made the Prequels palatable.

I hate where Disney is going with the franchise; it feels like such a soulless, calculated commodity without even a hint of originality anymore. I expect that Last Jedi will be very dark and emotional, just like Empire was, and the fans will be in a tizzy. (Just as Kathleen Kennedy and Bob Iger wanted.) But I think Lucas truly loved what he created and if he'd just not let his ego supersede his judgment, we could still see the franchise under his guidance but with new ideas and new minds, guided by the franchise's original creator.

I'm a big proponent of sequels as long as the original creator is involved. Once that relationship ends, to me it's not even the same product anymore. I wish they'd ended after the prequels, but there is far, far, far too much blood in that turnip remaining and Disney will squeeze every last drop out of it.

Its a goddamn shame really. After watching that Charlie Rose interview I got the distinct impression that Lucas got increasingly frustrated with the flak the prequels caught and was a contributing factor with him deciding to throw his hands up in the air and saying "fuggit, you think you can do better, go for it." and regretting it almost immediately afterwards. Lucas is a prime example on how success can ruin your creativity. Once you are king no one has the balls to tell you that have no clothes on and this is what hurt the prequels. The prequels have "good bones" IMO. It just needed a few cut back on some of this here and add some of this there and take that completely out here and they could have been as great as the original trilogy. A dialogue writer would have helped out the films IMMENSELY.

I do. The prequels weren't very good, as they had to live up to the originals. Disney is now overtly trying to kill the franchise, while more and more people are leaning away from it.

inb4 "then don't watch them!" I don't watch them. I didn't go to see Rogue One, and I won't be going to see Last Jedi, Obi Wan, Solo, or Episodes 10 - 12. As far as I'm concerned, my head cannon includes the original trilogy and select books.

@Ellison Havelock said:

I do. The prequels weren't very good, as they had to live up to the originals. Disney is now overtly trying to kill the franchise, while more and more people are leaning away from it.

inb4 "then don't watch them!" I don't watch them. I didn't go to see Rogue One, and I won't be going to see Last Jedi, Obi Wan, Solo, or Episodes 10 - 12. As far as I'm concerned, my head cannon includes the original trilogy and select books.

Ha ha! My curiosity gets the better of me though. However, TFA is the last SW film I paid to see in the theaters and will probably be the last. I refuse to support the insipid crap Disney is putting out. I will pirate them to take a peak though.

After The Empire Strikes Back would have suited me fine. Return of the Jedi is where the fun started to drain away.

I did enjoy The Force Awakens and Rogue One to some degree, so it seems Disney are at least trying.

@Ellison Havelock said:

Disney is now overtly trying to kill the franchise, while more and more people are leaning away from it.

I'm afraid I just don't see it. The movies are making piles of money and Disney's theme park will make a KILLING once the Star Wars area opens. I guarantee that The Last Jedi will easily cross $1B worldwide, and more likely $1.5B. Star Wars fever is bigger than ever and people are spending wheelbarrows full of dollar bills on the merchandise.

As cynical as I am, and as creatively bankrupt as I think the producers are, Disney knows EXACTLY what they are doing and they are nurturing the franchise and keeping fans engaged. Star Wars has longer legs than ever.

@AlienFanatic said:

@Ellison Havelock said:

Disney is now overtly trying to kill the franchise, while more and more people are leaning away from it.

I'm afraid I just don't see it. The movies are making piles of money and Disney's theme park will make a KILLING once the Star Wars area opens. I guarantee that The Last Jedi will easily cross $1B worldwide, and more likely $1.5B. Star Wars fever is bigger than ever and people are spending wheelbarrows full of dollar bills on the merchandise.

As cynical as I am, and as creatively bankrupt as I think the producers are, Disney knows EXACTLY what they are doing and they are nurturing the franchise and keeping fans engaged. Star Wars has longer legs than ever.

TFA cleared a billion domestically. Absolutely The Last Jedi will make that world wide. One thing Disney decided to take from the Extended Universe was it's penchant for coming up with overly dramatic cheese dick titles. DUN DUN DUN! THE LAST JEDI (cue in dramatic noir music).

@movie_nazi said:

@Ellison Havelock said:

I do. The prequels weren't very good, as they had to live up to the originals. Disney is now overtly trying to kill the franchise, while more and more people are leaning away from it.

inb4 "then don't watch them!" I don't watch them. I didn't go to see Rogue One, and I won't be going to see Last Jedi, Obi Wan, Solo, or Episodes 10 - 12. As far as I'm concerned, my head cannon includes the original trilogy and select books.

Ha ha! My curiosity gets the better of me though. However, TFA is the last SW film I paid to see in the theaters and will probably be the last. I refuse to support the insipid crap Disney is putting out. I will pirate them to take a peak though.

That's as fair as anything. Curiosity is as valid a reason to see a movie as anything else.

@AlienFanatic said:

@Ellison Havelock said:

Disney is now overtly trying to kill the franchise, while more and more people are leaning away from it.

I'm afraid I just don't see it. The movies are making piles of money and Disney's theme park will make a KILLING once the Star Wars area opens. I guarantee that The Last Jedi will easily cross $1B worldwide, and more likely $1.5B. Star Wars fever is bigger than ever and people are spending wheelbarrows full of dollar bills on the merchandise.

As cynical as I am, and as creatively bankrupt as I think the producers are, Disney knows EXACTLY what they are doing and they are nurturing the franchise and keeping fans engaged. Star Wars has longer legs than ever.

No, you're right. When I say, "Disney's trying to kill it," that's my over-reactive way of saying that I'm super unhappy with what's happening. If nothing else, Disney would like to milk the cow until there's nothing but bone dust left in a heap. Without hyperbole, I think Disney's plan for the franchise is going to railroad people into Star Wars Fatigue super quick.

It wasn't until after Force Awakens and Rogue One that I started to encounter more and more people that genuinely disliked the way Star Wars was going. You can call that anecdotal evidence, and you wouldn't be wrong. But trends are made up of individual statistics. One can't deny that "superhero movie fatigue" is a real thing, and the same will happen with Star Wars. The only problem is, it could with Star Wars faster than it did with Marvel, because people that are experiencing fatigue of superheroes may be less likely to jump on the annual Star Wars train after having seen several superhero movies per years for the past decade.

Star Wars won't ever truly die off, but people will grow sick of it, and Disney will retire it for a while.

@Ellison Havelock said:

Star Wars won't ever truly die off, but people will grow sick of it, and Disney will retire it for a while.

Maybe, but damn if Disney isn't the master of manipulative marketing. Just look at how they'll take a very popular kids' movie (Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid) and bring it out on DVD/Bluray for a "limited time." Then, after a couple months on the market they shove it back into their "vault," driving up the value of existing copies and creating demand for the next release in about five years' time. Artificial scarcity is key to their business.

You can see the gears turning already. They just handled Rian Johnson the next set of Star Wars movies, with the promise that he'll create an off-shoot. Disney is going to milk the classic characters--sans Han and Leia--until Hamill is too old or until they have established Rey as the new "ultimate Jedi." Then we'll see them put her away until she's older and develop films around a new generation. It's called "churn" and it's a way for them to market to each new generation of moviegoers.

After forty years, Star Wars still isn't dead. No, it wasn't milked this hard during the Lucas years. But he also didn't have the enormous marketing talent of Disney, the theme parks, and the avalanche of toys waiting to overwhelm the fans. After three solid years of Star Wars (TFA, Rogue, and now TLJ) I am seriously wondering if fans will ever beg for mercy. Unless Disney stumbles and lets the quality fall away, I just don't see the fatigue setting in. Too many people want to LIVE in the world of Star Wars (apparently their real lives must really suck), and Disney will keep them engaged for years to come.

@Ellison Havelock said:

No, you're right. When I say, "Disney's trying to kill it," that's my over-reactive way of saying that I'm super unhappy with what's happening. If nothing else, Disney would like to milk the cow until there's nothing but bone dust left in a heap. Without hyperbole, I think Disney's plan for the franchise is going to railroad people into Star Wars Fatigue super quick.

Kinda like what is going on with the comic book movies. IMO they have already been driven that into the ground to the point that I don't even want to see another comic book film.