Be willing to let go of most of your feelings of nostalgia when watching this new sequel trilogy

The main problem I have with your argument is that you keep referring to nostalgia to support your claim. That is like if I said, "People only like the prequel trilogy out of nostalgia". Do you understand how unfair that comment is?

There are many films and television series that I loved in childhood that I can't stand watching as an adult. I even bought their action figures, toys, and other merchandise, but those franchises simply did not stand the test of time for me. Star Wars is one of the rare exceptions.

As an adult, I enjoy the OT for VERY different reasons than the ones for why I enjoyed them as a child. When I was a kid, it was all about the special effects, lightsabers, droids, space battles, and a lot of other fluff that I barely care for today. As an adult, none of that stuff resonated with me anymore. Instead the characters and story draw me in. I can relate to Han and Chewie's brotherly love and loyalty to one another. I can relate to Yoda being like my parents, teachers, and coaches who taught me to push myself (while becoming frustrated with them). I also can relate to the entire world seeming to be against Luke, and rooting for him (while wondering if he made the right decisions) to find his own path, despite the warnings of his wise mentors. These are recurring themes that resonate with people no matter their age. The characters, story and music are what drives my adoration.

People don't watch and love the Godfather trilogy out of nostalgia, but instead love the characters, plot, and storyline of the movies. The same can be said for many other classics, and ANH and ESB are most certainly classics (ANH and ESB were at one point both on the AFI top 100 list of greatest movies of all time, now I believe only ANH remains on the list).

I understand that my reasons for liking these films are probably going to be very different than other people's reasons, but I am just using myself as an example of why you should not stereotype the OT fanbase.

 

I love the photo. I think the characters scream star wars. I'll agree that it would be crappy if they don't include any old aliens, but I think they were just showing off some new ones.

Castles has some precedent in the old EU. Dooku and vader had castles. Keep in mind tatooine people lived in mud huts and ewoks lived in tree houses. I think any style can world if set on a specific world. I've always found star wars to be a space fantasy. I mean, it is they story of space wizards right?

On rotten tomatoes the prequels got 57, 67 and 80%. Imdb scores them at 6.6, 6.7, 7.7. The public, on the whole, like these films. I think they get maligned due to OT comparisons. All the OT movies are in the IMDB top 250. TPM and AOTC aren't the worse films ever made, they just can't compare to the OT.

I don't mind opinions. I think its fun to hash out the merits of the films and to say what we like or don't like. I only mind when people resort to ape like poo flinging and personal attacks rather than having a discussion.

For example I like "here are a few reasons I find the PT to suck hard" but hate "only idiots enjoy these obviously terrible films. They are bad and my opinions are fact.".

 

If strangers on an internet forum have the power to make you feel badly for liking something you like, you have bigger problems than the administrators of this site can help you with. What you're asking is absolutely ridiculous and immature. If you don't agree with someone's opinion that you read here, you have a few options; ignore it, respond respectfully, give feedback or flag it as abusive (if it violates the rules of the forum). Don't ever apologize for liking something you like but you have no reasonable right to protection from the opinions of others either. I don't hate the PT but I don't love it either. I love the OT and if someone here writes about their negative opinion of it, it doesn't diminish my love for it in the least. It doesn't make me feel any way in particular. I don't know how old you are but if you're older than 16, you should be able to hear someone else's opinion without it hurting your feelings.

 

I got into it with my teammates once. They're sort of people who decide they're going to watch Joe Dirt 5 nights in a row and declare it one of the greatest movies ever made. I once made a joke that about 40% of what my best friend says is Joe Dirt quotes. Another time they watched Friends with Benefits another time it was No Strings Attached and then there was the time they watched Wolf of Wall Street for THREE WEEKS STRAIGHT.

I'm not allowed to pick movies because I always have suggestions like "Frances Ha" or "Amelie" or "Safety Not Guaranteed"

My friends are complete and utter morons and because of this they aren't graduating college in four years, but it's who they are and hey Joe Dirt actually is kind of funny.

 

It's all subjective, but I wasn't talking about myself and even if I was. So what?

 

Sometimes you need Fellini's 8 1/2 and sometimes you need dog balls stuck to a porch.

 

Yeah, I don't know.

 

My Brother (who is 18 years older than me) introduced me to the OT on VHS when I was really young. I remember first watching ANH and it being the only movie I was actually really interested in. I've loved SW ever since now for the ST I'm ready for something new n' fresh but a little familiar at the same time. What really matters to me is the personal struggles and as JJ and the cast have said TFA is gonna focus on the characters that's what's important I want that emotional investment. No matter what anybody tells you first impressions are important. I want to go to the cinema knowing I'm seeing something fictional but as I start to actually watch the movie I want them to make me believe it. Make me think that their struggles are real and what is going on and the universe is real if only just for a couple hours. That's what all the best actors and movies do they make you believe it. You get sucked into their world and forget about all your problems and worries even if its just for a little while. If the movie makes me feel like I believe even a little bit of it it will be a success to me.

 

I know one thing the PT is better than Battlefield Earth

Sometimes people like to see Kid Rock's atrocious acting.

 

I think the disdain for the SE can be summed up in three words... "Han shot first"

Were it not for that change, the rest would have been welcomed. mostly, they were minor changes that updated the special effects to "make it modern", and while I didn't think it was necessary (I still think the original Star Wars... no episode number, no expectations... holds up fairly well) it was Lucas' choice...

Lucas, however, had a much grander vision.. there were things he wanted to do that simply weren't possible when he made the original movie. Hell, he created ILM to do all the things that needed to be done, and accomplished so much more than anyone thought was possible... that was one of the great things about the movie, it was just revolutionary...

However, IMNSHO one of the things that made the SPFX so staggering was their subtlety. Fantastic things happened in the background, and they were just there, like they belonged. The effects accentuated the story, but the story was still the main factor... somewhere along the lines, I think he went a little overboard with the things that could be done, and the effects became a more major element in some places than the story they were trying to tell... Jar Jar and the population of Kamino were entirely CGI, and while Jar Jar actually worked, he was more of a spoof than an actual character, and the movement of the Kamino were still a little stunted... the point is, they were done for the sake of showing off the effects, it wasn't a case of the story calling for them to be done.

In the end, the bitterness comes from Lucas doing what he wanted with his property, and inviting us in to his home to see it, and some people looking at it and telling him he should have painted the walls a different colour... it's his house, we are just guests

My friend... there are some people that are only happy when they are miserable... if they don't have something to complain about, they go find something. Personally, I have better things to do, and I just try to enjoy the movies for what they are, not what I wanted them to be... if I wanted them to be different, I would go and make my own. Until I do that, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on...

There are also those who think bashing critical elements of a film make them sound more intelligent. It's kinda like when someone mentions a band, and if you say, "Yeah, I like their older stuff" you sound like you have a clue, even when you don't...

Life is too short... enjoy the ride

I was 7 in '77... I remember the commercial "Even in a galaxy far, far away, friends don't let friends drive drunk"

I ate it all up... and I wanted more in any format... I remember watching the Holiday Special... I actually freakin remember watching it. I remember hearing about it, being excited about it, and watching it with my brother...

I need to call him... haven't talked to him in months... oh nostalgia, you are a bittersweet friend...

My 7 year old self loved it... still does...

I am an artist... some of the things that would drive me nuts would be where I would spend days toiling over a hand, getting it just right... just so... and people would say, "oh, that's nice" I would go NICE?!?! Do you know what I just did there???? Then I would do this silly tattoo pattern in like 20 minutes, and people would gush over it saying how great it was...

Artists create what they do because that is what they do... putting it out for public consumption is hard, and rejection goes to the core of you, because what they are rejecting is the child of your labor.

At the same time, people like what they like... some love mac and cheese, some love artichoke hearts... to each their own, embrace diversity and stand firm on what you love... it brings you joy, and don't let anyone take that away

People have the right to like or dislike anything they want to based on whatever criteria they choose... I drink coffee, regardless of how bad it is for you in the long run... I don't do decaf, diet soda, cable rated porn or "near beer"... that's my choice... some people love them, my mother swore she loved Diet Coke "just for the taste of it"... never understood it, but I loved her, and we just sat and drank different sodas and talked about the things we did agree on

 

Yes... absolutely...

My love for SW was born as a 7 year old boy sitting next to his father in a theater... that first movie is what I loved, and everything else has simply built on it. Now, I understand that others got to it at different points in their lives, in a different order than I did... but for me, if there was nothing more than that original film, much less the OT, I would love it just the same. For my generation, it holds a much different place in our heart... not more important, not more special... different...

The top 10 movies of 1976 were: TAxi Driver, Rocky, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Carrie, Marathon Man, Bugsy Malone, Network, The Omen, Bad News Bears... and Logan's Run at a distant 10th (King Kong and The Man who Fell to Earth made it in the top 15)

SW was... it was just so different. I can't explain it to a generation who has grown up with SW, or goes to theaters with 15 screens. In those days, drive-ins were around (talk about the BIG screen... IMAX jr) and most theaters had 1 screen, possibly 2.

Today, a movie will be in theaters a week or two, then go to DVD. VHS came to America a month AFTER SW came out, and it was years before it was common in homes. TV had 3 main stations (NBC, CBS and ABC) and HBO had only been out a couple years... and still wasn't common...

SW was an event... it was in theaters for 44 weeks, every showing sold out with lines wrapped around the building...



This wasn't isolated... this was everywhere, all across the country... all across the world...

Then there were the toys, the "cool kids" got the good ones, I was lucky to save my lawn mowing money to buy a few action figures and the new Marvel comic...

There was no internet... The Atari 2600 wouldn't even come out until later that year... The most popular song on the radio was Hotel California... and something happened...

Yeah... if there had never been a PT... no EU... not even ESB or RotJ... yeah, it would be the same

 

Seeing TIDMADT's picture of people waiting to see ANH makes me sad, because that theatre is one of the many old theatres on that street to close in the past decade.

 

Funny enough, it's nostalgia that gives me what little tolerance I have for the prequels.

I grew up with Star Wars. I saw ROTJ during its theatrical run and watched ANH and ESB whenever they were on TV and then constantly once we got the VHS videos. I watched The Droids and Ewok cartoons and the Ewok movies when they aired, and I had tons of action figures.

I was in high school when the SEs were released, and even though I hated a few changes (Greedo shooting first, Jedi Rocks), I thought the good outweighed the bad and I saw all three movies a bunch of times in theatres.

When TPM came out, I was high on hype and nostalgia, and I saw it several times in theatres. I was willing to look past the bad things (which there were a lot of) because Jesus, it was NEW STAR WARS. As the high wore off though, I began recognizing all the things wrong with that picture. I hoped that AOTC would be better.

AOTC certainly LOOKED better when the trailer came out, and I was again high on hype and nostalgia when it was released. But again, after a few viewings it too began to look, to be diplomatic, not good. Surely ROTS would be much better and somehow retroactively "save" the trilogy.

ROTS came and the cycle repeated, except this time I recognized the flaws right off the bat. I was blown away by some of the visuals, but it was overall an overlong mess.

Still, these were NEW STAR WARS movies, so I watched them every so often with the others over the next decade. And with each viewing, I found myself cringing at the same things over again, shaking my head in disbelief at others, and overall just not enjoying the movies. The pacing, the dialogue, the overuse of CGI, and the overall shallowness of the characters and their relationships just made it difficult. Don't get me started on the bad story logic. The duel in ROTS should have been a great one that rivaled the duel in ROTJ, but it just felt like an overlong video game demo. I came to realize that TPM was probably my FAVORITE of the bunch because, despite its flaws, it was the only one that felt like a Star Wars film.

I won't fault people for liking what they like, but let's not kid ourselves into believing that the only reason my generation hates the PT is nostalgia and amped up expectations.

 

you know when you watch star wars for the first time as a young person you don't necessarily go right away to understanding the director's intention witch is Why governments fall because of the concept of greed and the obvious parallels of and ww2 and viet nam era mentality. George is smart by creating a star wars universe that will be interesting for the whole family first, and evey fan is supposed to know this. you don't go and watch the pt or ot with "oh man this film will be pg13 -nc17 cool!" if star wars was meant to be for adults only, a couple of those 6 films would be perceived as a horror film. its meant to educate people first, and for a good reason.

 

No, my generation doesn't "hate" the prequels... and you second gen kids shouldn't either. For all the hype and hoopla, the reason we hate the prequels is that they failed to live up to our expectations... which, in the end, is a sad reason to hate them...

I say take a long ride, enjoy the beauty of a sunset, ride until you find a bridge... ride up to the bridge... and then get over it

 

You would be dumb to expect the real feeling of the OT back since key there was also situational factors aside from its brilliance. We are not gonna see anything new here other than new Star Wars characters and new stories. Nothing we see here will shock the world or influence the movie industrie like the OT. And tbh, bringing us a new Star Wars trilogy with the OT feeling but a new and fresh story and characters is the best they can do. And so far they are letting my believe they are doing a great job with it.

 

Yes. Great movies stand the test of time, plain & simple. The Godfather, Star Wars, Superman, Rocky, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters are all movies I loved as a kid that hold up just as well today. Why should Star Wars be any different?