Can the Magic of Star Wars be Recaptured?

Are you saying that eps. 7 and 8 have been made by a committee? You're going to have to back that up because everything we know about the BTS of those films has said otherwise.

 

Oh, that did make me laugh. I don't have to back anything up. Believe whatever you want; it really doesn't matter to me.

 

The point where it became impossible to make a good star wars movie ever again was when Lucas fired Gary Kurtz during the production of ESB over budget issues. He was the only person who made the franchise great in the first place. Even though I still like ROTJ and feel it's part of the story, it still angers me that we could have had something better had Kurtz stayed on the franchise another few years.

 

Considering that Gary Kurtz wasn't involved in the PT, and the two stand alone films, I cannot give him sole credit for the saga. I don't think he deserves it.

 

I'll admit that Lucas was the creative force behind the franchise, but I disagree.

Kurtz was a tempering force in ANH and ESB, keeping Lucas from going off the rails with the more stupid ideas in his head from affecting the final product. Once Kurtz was fired, we saw everything start to nosedive: ewoks, making Luke and Leia twins, Jar Jar Binks, midichlorians, Anakin building C-3PO,Anakin and Padme's romance, Boba Fett being related to stormtroopers, endless space politics, boring jedi councils, Yoda knowing Chewbacca, making every single scene CGI, etc. If Kurtz was kept involved after ESB we wouldn't be in the mess we are right now, with eight bad films in a row, and a toxic fandom forcing actresses out of social media.

 

As a Star Wars fan, I refuse to be in any way tied to those "who force actresses out of social media". Don't lump me with a-holes like that. They are NOT fans, they are felons.

 

I didn't mean any personal offense against you, I apologize for that.

But I believe the reason why star wars has such a toxic fandom problem is that we have endured decades of mediocrity after the promise of ESB's greatness. First we were denied a perfect trilogy, then the trilogy was taken away from us, then another trilogy got added on that was an offense against filmmaking, and then corporate greed sweeps in and dumps in a free-for-all.

Star Wars went downhill once merchandising took over the story; Lucas was upset that his precious toy revenue was being eaten into by Empire's production setbacks. Gary Kurtz was focused on making a great movie and paid the price in now bowing down to the merchandising gods. So for the third installment Lucas chose the worst possible director possible (fourth or fifth choice) only because he could get the film done on time. It's a tragedy: Ralph McQuarrie simply quit rather than work on toyetic Ewoks, Hamill and Fisher hated Marquand's direction, Marcia Lucas filed for divorce, and it ended the franchise's attention to quality.

It has been reliably bad ever since.

 

Can you recapture the magic?

You can only be a virgin once...

 

The magic never left.

For me, it's as strong as it ever was, if not stronger. I was very young in 1977, so I grew up with Star Wars. I can't remember a time before it really. My feelings are mixed regarding the prequels, but the hype before The Phantom Menace was one of the most memorable times of my life. It was just so huge. I saw each of the prequels multiple times in the theater, and even though I didn't like them as much as the Originals, even strongly disliked certain aspects, Star Wars never lost it's magic for me. I still loved it.

I was worried when Disney purchased Lucasfilm. I just didn't know what to expect. I was readt for a new direction, but was this the right way? I greatly enjoyed the hype before The Force Awakens, but I was a little worried going in. My concern was unwarranted. The Force Awakens blew me away. I liked it much more than the prequels, and even though I still consider the Originals better, the future looked brighter than ever.

Fast forward to now. I consider it a great time to be a Star Wars fan. More movies are planned, they're making a live action series, and even building multiple theme parks. The magic never left. I guess you could say it took a little dip during the prequels, but that is just for me. I believe the vast majority enjoy all of Star Wars.

I sympathize with anyone not liking the current movies. My advice would be not to worry. I doubt they will stop making Star Wars movies anytime soon, and with everything they have planned, there should be something for everyone.

The saga is just beginning. Star Wars will go on. We won't live to see the end.

May the Force be with you.

 

Without sounding to negative I'm not sure the magic of Star Wars can ever be fully recaptured. Before you hang me for that statement let me explain.

For me and from what others have mentioned magic and mystery is always so much more prominent in your childhood. We all have our favourite childhood film, toy, movie and moment.

When we watch the trilogy we grew up with we are instantly transported back to the halcyon days of our childhood and this is what makes that trilogy so magic in my opinion.

For me nothing will capture the magic of the OT as that's the period I grew up in, however for those that grew up in the 00's the PT no doubt holds those same feelings of SW magic.

So basically for me anyway I believe the magic of SW has a direct correlation with your childhood memories and experiences.

Finally as someone else alluded to earlier in this thread the OT (and PT to a degree) also didn't have to compete with the vast amount of sci-fi movie media we have today. The OT when launched with all its merchandise was like nothing else, hence the hysteria back then that will probably never be repeated today.

 

Yes.

 

I disagree. I believe the franchise had reached that point with the release of "The Force Awakens".

 

I definitely agree with what you are saying, because a big part of my love for Star Wars is rooted in nostalgia - but that is purely a subjective thing.
Objectively, Star Wars had a massive impact, so when I think about "the magic" I tend to think more about "what it achieved at the time" rather than my own personal affection for it looking back.

If you get what I mean.

For me, "the magic" is when something comes along in a certain area and totally changes the rules of the game.
For example, I'd compare it to what Monty Python did with comedy. Before that, comedy on TV was just like a stage show being filmed - it was just routines and sketches or situational comedy with a camera in front of it. Monty Python took the fact that what they were doing was actually being filmed and edited together and made that whole process part of the gag. They intentionally broke up the format that had been established and - although I'm sure there were other people dabbling in similar things - they are the ones who came along and did it best, and most thoroughly, and made it mainstream.
Same with the Beatles and recorded music. Whether you like them or not, and regardless of the fact that there were obviously lots of other bands pushing the boundaries of what could be done in a recording studio at that time too, you can't deny that The Beatles were the ones who came along and just did that so comprehensively that they moved the goalposts for everyone else. For almost a decade they were the band everyone was trying to keep up with.

It's hard to imagine a lot of what came after could exist - or would be the same - without the thing that changed the game

That's how I think of the magic of Star Wars - it came along and took all these other elements of mythology, fantasy, westerns, Kurosawa etc and threw them all together to produce something genuinely original and perfectly formed.

Which kind of brings me back to my post earlier on in this thread - you are only a virgin once. For example, you can't do a lightsaber again. If any movie has a weapon which is a blade made of light - it is immediately derivative of the lightsaber. Moreover, I can't imagine it being any better - the hilt looks like a cool thing to hold, the way the blade was realised, the sound design... it is all just aesthetically pleasing. And so much of Star Wars was like that, it just kind of appeared perfectly formed.

So, for me, trying to recapture the magic of Star Wars just becomes confused with repetition within Star Wars, or cheap imitation outside of Star Wars.
Ironically, to truly recapture the magic would be to do something completely new and original which isn't Star Wars... because that's already been done.