Is there life after Star Wars?

[Guest]

It's something I've been thinking of after seeing The Phantom Menace and

with every new episode it just makes a little more sense.

I'm at a point right now that I'm not very interested anymore. Let George Lucas have it . Chances of it being a good movie are rather poor or nonexisting. I'm shure that a lot of you older fans can indentify with these feelings.

The problem is that Mr. Lucas will stick to his newfound vision(or total lack of it).

Hiring in a better writer then the man himself won't do much either. Just let him finish the job so that we can go on with our lives. And this is where it's getting interesting!!! Star Wars is dead!.... Long live Star Wars! Does it have to be over just because George Lucas said that Episode 3 will be the last one in the series? Will the Star Wars universe with its endless possibilities vanish into thin air forever? I mean, you got to give it to this man. He definitely earns credit for creating a wonderful vast world with knights, princesses, planets and fast vehicles. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we keep the concept (the Star Wars world)and do something totally new and different with it. Surprise us with every film, different director, different composer, different vision. After all, where is the magic of a Yoda that's been computer generated? I'm shure there are more then a few directors out there who were literary blown away the first time they saw Star Wars. Give them a chance if they are talented. I'm tired with the story, I'm NOT tired with the Star Wars universe, not by a long shot.

So what do you think, am I nuts? Is this threadworthy? Or do you think, hey, maybe he's on to something!!! Express yourselfs!

Alexcremers, who is now a guest.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,388]

There was life after Star Wars, life enough for 2 more films, named The Empire strikes Back, and Revenge Of The Jedi (later renamed Return Of The Jedi).

And that was basicly it.

Stefancos- who will pay to see Johnnies last Star wars score butchered 2 years from now.

[Elmo Lewis 7]

May 19, 1999. Star Wars becomes Coca-Cola.

George Lucas doesn't care if he makes a good movie or not, he just does what it takes to get fans into the theaters and subsequent money into his pockets. Good special FX, secretism to get fans hungry, and a very thought-out merchandising strategy.

However, I will pay. Yes, I swallow whatever Mr. Lucas thinks is fit to live in another galaxy for 2 hours, to fight with a lightsaber, to escape evil starships and to defeat robots. And since that is the Prequel Trilogy's only ambition, you can say it succeeded.

[Wojo 2,458]

Does it have to be over just because George Lucas said that  Episode 3 will be the last one in the series? Will the Star Wars universe with its endless possibilities vanish into thin air forever? I mean, you got to give it to this man. He definitely earns credit for creating a wonderful vast world with knights, princesses, planets and fast vehicles. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we keep the concept (the Star Wars world)and do something totally new and different with it. Surprise us with every film, different director, different composer, different vision. After all, where is the magic of a Yoda that's been computer generated? I'm shure there are more then a few directors out there who were literary blown away the first time they saw Star Wars. Give them a chance if they are talented. I'm tired with the story, I'm NOT tired with the Star Wars universe, not by a long shot.

You make some good points, Alex, but try not to forget about stuff like the Expanded Universe, which makes the six Star Wars films merely one chapter in the saga of a very large galaxy. The six films as they are present a grand story arc, the discovery, life, and death of Anakin Skywalker and how he affects the fate of the galaxy. This span of about fifty years is but a fraction of a vast and diverse history that goes back at least 70,000 years, and has been extended forward about thirty years or so past the Battle of Endor. Granted, a lot of the story elements of the EU seem quite stale, e.g., same characters, planets, plot devices, solutions, and situations recycled over and over, but that doesn't mean it's not without its share of good characters and situations, like Thrawn, Mara Jade, Katarn, and the events to be unfolded in KotOR.

But as for more films after Episode III, yea, no more. Let it be a double trilogy, or a sextology, or whatever you wanna call it, but don't bombard us with more films by different directors with different visions. Everything can get old and tiresome really fast, and pushing the envelope will put Star Wars there.

[Lurker 5]

There was life after Star Wars, life enough for 2 more films, named The Empire strikes Back, and Revenge Of The Jedi (later renamed Return Of The Jedi).

And that was basicly it.

Stefancos- who will pay to see Johnnies last Star wars score butchered 2 years from now.

Star Wars died with the release of Return of the Jedi. It showed signs of illness with the release of the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Neil

[Melange 448]

Aswell as "National Lampoons Tatooine Vacation" with Chevy CHase

[Rogue_Leader 2]

There was life after Star Wars, life enough for 2 more films, named The Empire strikes Back, and Revenge Of The Jedi (later renamed Return Of The Jedi).

And that was basicly it.

Stefancos- who will pay to see Johnnies last Star wars score butchered 2 years from now.

There was also life for several more SW films after Jedi. Sadly the series flatlined after Phantom Menace came out.

The life was there but the creativity sure as hell wasn't (Thanks George)!

-Rogue Leader who will also be paying to see JW's butchered SW score as well ...... as a friggin mattinee......... which is still a rip off.

[Guest]

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The biggest talent that a new director should have is knowing what George Lucas is doing wrong.

Alex Cremers

PS. I hope this quote will make it to CNN someday.

Alexcremers, who now killed all hope that one day George Lucas will ask him to follow up Mr. Williams to compose the new soundtrack of the next Star Wars movie.

[Justin 2]

Aswell as "National Lampoons Tatooine Vacation" with Chevy CHase

LOL LOL

Justin -Who would have liked to see that.

[Guest]

How would you guys react if George Lucas just said "Due to critisism of the first 2 prequels by members of the JWFAN.NET,I am CANCELLING Episode 3 altogether..."?No movie,no score,NOTHING!

K.M.

[Lurker 5]

I really wouldn't care Mark.

Neil

[Guest]

Hmm...not much of a differing opinion here. Wonder why that is?

I'll admit that the prequels have their flaws, but I would still like to see the current trilogy completed with Episode III. Do I expect to be impressed? Not really, but then again, I very well could be. I don't think the franchise took a turn for the better when TPM came and it made a barely noticeable climb with AOTC, but it's nothing like the classics. I think there's a shift in a target audience that's to blame for the dramatic change. ANH and TESB were definitely geared towards adults. Just look at the kind of chemistry between Han and Leia. That's nothing you'll find on Sesame Street or Barney. In ROTJ, the audience shift began with the inclusion of the Ewoks. If you take them out of the movie entirely (but keep the need for going to Endor--to blow up the shield generator), then you have something that credibly resembles ANH and TESB. They could have used the time wasted on Ewoks to include more adult-oriented scenes (along the lines of Leia being shot, but with much more dramatic turmoil that seems to make Han and Leia "seal the deal").

Let's look at TPM and AOTC. Dumbed down themes and dialogue. Even with a few aesthetic allusions to the classics, these movies don't seem like Star Wars. Star Wars started out as a movie series for everyone, not just kids. Adults got into ANH and TESB as much as kids did. "No, silly rabbit. Star Wars is for kids."

Beats me, though, to figure out why the audience shift happened. Was it Lucas' personal life or creative life that caused it? I know it's clutching at straws, but I hope he returns to form with Episode III and backs up his words about the darkness of it, by gearing it towards adults. It's the only way to close out the trilogy. If he didn't, then it'd be over for the kids, but the adults are still waiting for the prequel trilogy that was started with ANH and TESB for them.

It would be weird, but it would be interesting to tackle a SW movie.

[Justin 2]

How would you guys react if George Lucas just said "Due to critisism of the first 2 prequels by members of the JWFAN.NET,I am CANCELLING Episode 3 altogether..."?No movie,no score,NOTHING!  

Wishful thinking? If hundreds of fans and critics saying the films suck didn't stop him what makes you think 25 people from JWFan will?

Justin -Who realized Sir Mark wasn't entirely serious.

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

All-powerful technology will offset the story's lost thoroughness, that's the motto some one at ILM might be wrongly taking for granted. It could also be, dare I speculate, George Lucas is vastly aware that leveling the prequel trilogy with the high grade of the original trilogy is already a superhuman task for him, but practically for anyone it could be, so putting so much effort into visuals rather than cerebral core of the story may be reasoned by that. A world of difference in technology could have its share, too, but I would rather say that Lucas have grown a bit lazy and the world of difference in technology he exploits for creating the movies strongly abets thenceforth now-unessential liability for the strong story behind special effects. He's older, much different person swimming in the same old pool; today he sure knows he brought Star Wars to life so he may be assuming that everything he's doing does he unmistakably right.

Once finished Episode III could turn into a big disillusionment for him, although I believe he will try to outdo himself to make Ep.III his life-time feat. It may, nonetheless, never ever be able to segue into Episode IV, and if George Lucas has ever watched what he shot in 1977 as back-then called Star Wars, he could be very surprised to find out that pewter and gold don't fuse together well.

But I'm better off optimistic. And this is it. I WILL pay to watch it whatever my doubtfulness today.

[charlesk 0]

It was so weird that so much time passed without yet another debate about George Lucas...

I think Return of the Jedi is a good movie, with Vader saving his son. It was very powerful for me at least.

The first sign of decaying was when I saw the Ewok Parade... That was the first time it crossed through my mind that Lucas might be not as talented as I thought.

Very frequently, a writer writes stories that convey a message for themselves. SW warns about excess of power, about totalitarism, about excess of ego; which in my opinion are the very same flaws that Lucas has been showing nowadays...

Charles

[Justin 2]

Very frequently, a writer writes stories that convey a message for themselves. SW warns about excess of power, about totalitarism, about excess of ego; which in my opinion are the very same flaws that Lucas has been showing nowadays...  

Hahaha! Too true Charles...too true.

Justin - Starting Nielsen's 2nd Symphony.

[A24 5,156]

As I have said before, I have no hope for Episode 3.

George Lucas and fellowship just aren't the same people that made ANH and TESB. The screenplaywriters have changed, The special effects artists and methods have changed. John Williams's composing style has changed.

And last but not least George Lucas, tha man, has changed. Or maybe he hasn't?

I remember him saying that, if he had the technique, money and time, Star Wars would have been a different movie. By different he meant more of everything. More monsters and silly creatures, I'm sure. Boy were we lucky that Jabba didn't make it into the final print.( That luck changed too, ofcourse)

Anyhow, times have changed and so did Star Wars. If you don't want it to die then SW should be franchise-able. Let ambitious new directors do their "thang". I wanna see daring other perspectives. I wanna see other approaches like a really dark Star Wars. Perhaps Ridley Scott should do one. What about an arty Star Wars? Afterall, after Episode 3, the possibilities are endless.

__________

Alexcremers

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

John Williams's composing style has changed.

But ask me why. It could be the movies he's scored in past few years (1995+) have lost mightiness and vigor. Epic-proportions score for The Patriot or the Phantom Menace could have had great-old-Williams' scores written for them, but John would not have had to see the movies he's writing the music for. He would have had to be fooled, say, into believing he's re-scoring "King of Kings" or "Laura", the latter of which I believe would have made him outdo himself.

Roman.-)

[Duke6885 0]

Very frequently, a writer writes stories that convey a message for themselves. SW warns about excess of power, about totalitarism, about excess of ego; which in my opinion are the very same flaws that Lucas has been showing nowadays...

Charles

The old trilogy vs the new trilogy also shows that plot and character development will ALWAYS beat out special effects, no matter how cutting edge they might be.

[Morn 8]

How would you guys react if George Lucas just said "Due to critisism of the first 2 prequels by members of the JWFAN.NET,I am CANCELLING Episode 3 altogether..."?No movie,no score,NOTHING!

I'd start a petition that Williams write a score/symphony for it anyway.

They could have used the time wasted on Ewoks to include more adult-oriented scenes

The ewoks don't start teaching ABC's, they are just cute creatures. I mean, they aren't so childish that they won't work for adults.

I think Return of the Jedi is a good movie, with Vader saving his son. It was very powerful for me at least.

I totally agree. Err, well I think it's more than just 'good'.

[Guest]

I think Williams could pull off a cool epic score again. I mean...this is probably the most talented living-composer we're talking about here (sure, that's debatable, but take it to another composer's forum).

[Guest]

Beats me, though, to figure out why the audience shift happened.  Was it .

I was a kid when I saw SW,as most others who critisise the prequels now....

K.M.

[Guest]

BTW ,if there is only ONE score or any piece of music I want Williams to do before he retires or whatever,it has to be EP3.This is one thing I still really look forward to.I would be very sad if anything happened that prevented him from completing the SW saga music.

K.M.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

How would you guys react if George Lucas just said "Due to critisism of the first 2 prequels by members of the JWFAN.NET,I am CANCELLING Episode 3 altogether..."?No movie,no score,NOTHING!

K.M.

I would be upset at the loss of the score but the ending of the further degradation of the Star Wars name would offset my sadness greatly!

[Guest]

I don't care that much if the movie sucks,but you see,I really look forward to Williams last Star Wars score.

K.M.

[quaver 0]

As do I. Personally, while going to the movie theatre for the last two films, I've been more interested in the score than the plot!!! Star Wars will always be wonderful, but really, I hope George finally gets some sense and quits while he's...(I shouldn't really use the trem ahead!) But you get the idea right?