Is the PT really all that bad?

Quite.
Which is why, to me, it makes no sense to speak of ideas like tossing CW or SOLO into the main saga.
They don't operate on this same narrative form - they're not supposed to. Their whole point is to be different from that saga and be something fresh and interesting.

SOLO comes pretty close as it still operates on themes and moral narratives in a way that other side films like CW and RO don't (which was one of the reasons that I loved SOLO so much - not only was it a good romp; it actually adopted the SW saga form for the most part...which side films haven't done before), but it doesn't fit in the same narrative tangent. It's an entirely different parable than the one in the main saga, and it doesn't address the two-tier parable form that the saga does (which you noted as the social and personal and comes to us as ethical and moral; respectively).

SOLO gives me hope, though, that once the main saga wraps up, that the unique form of the saga won't be lost forever; that it will continue on in some series afterward. It gives me hope because it showed me that they can do it in side films, and have some interest in it beyond the main saga.
Here's to hoping!

Cheers,
Jayson

 

I'd also say there's quite a bit of value in treating the spinoffs separately from the main saga.

1. It helps the main saga films feel more special.

2. It helps the spinoffs feel more fresh.

3. It allows Star Wars to grow and expand into tons of different genres that probably wouldn't be as accessible if they were just trying to adhere to one type of storytelling- we've seen more of an emphasis with war movies and westerns with Solo and Rogue One, but imagine if some future films leaned hard into other genres like horror or comedy? The GFFA is huge, and I'd love to see it expand to its potential.

 

Mr Del Toro, Ms Kennedy on line one....

 

Tentacles!! Tentacles everywhere!!

 

Bor-Gullet but done RIGHT!

My dream is still a GDT Star Wars monsterverse. Small stories about things like the rancor, wampa, Sarlaac...

 

For sure, I love Star Wars but they've been treating monsters like the edgy kid who thinks they like Lovecraft but are actually just into hentai.

The tentacle stuff is fine and all, but what they represent- complex, incomprehensible beings beyond humanity's understanding or power- should be the focus. The Solo one probably came closest, with Bor being second in that at least he had a Lovecraftian effect on Bodhi.

But, like, don't be afraid to make them a little scary. If anything, even with all the big tentacle monsters in Star Wars, probably the closest we've come to Lovecraft is whatever was in the Dagobah swamp. Sometimes, less is more.

 

Make it a dianoga trilogy and I'm sold.

 

GDT would correct that IMO.
He loves monsters and what they represent.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 7, 2019, Original Post Date: Mar 7, 2019 ---

A GDT produced show similar to Tales from the Crypt about Star Wars monsters?

 

Hmmmm, 'TAILS from the Crypt'? I could get into that. Take my money and give me nightmares, Disney+

 

All three prequel movies were better than The Last Jedi.

 

Tails from Krayt?

 

I believe that the prequels are the best thing that has happened, they are great and I am happy that more people are appreciating them now.

 

It’s funny how all the hatred towards the prequels has been transferred to the ST.

I personally consider the PT to be a guilty pleasure.

 

I think the ST has helped put the PT in perspective for many fans (I'm one of them). While I still have major problems with Anakin's arc, the character, and the actor who played him in Episode 2 and 3, I have come to appreciate the Overall Story/Arc of the PT after seeing how the ST had no plan. I finally understand what Lucas was going for in the PT, and do agree with him that the story ended in ROTJ, as the story 1-6 story is complete. There is a lot of irony regarding Lucas selling the franchise and the unintended consequence is that fans like me gave the PT a second look.

 

Welcome to the club that myself and dozens of other people tried to tell you guys years ago..lol

 

And when the next trilogy starts for the next generation, people who hated the ST will look back and say "maybe it wasn't so bad" slowly coming to the realization the movies were never actually made for them.

 

I don't really think it has anything to do with the movies being made for a certain generation, I think it's all about the storytelling and execution. I still don't think the PT are good movies, but I have to come understand the story that Lucas was trying to tell compared to the story (or lack of story) that Disney is trying to tell. Both movies have their problems (The PT has execution problems) and (The ST has story/arc problems), and now it is a lot easier to see them for what they are when you stand them next to each other. I like R1 and Solo (because they are standalone movies and don't have to jive with the Saga narrative) so it really goes against the narrative that each new set of movies are made for a new generation. It's a shame because if Disney got their story-group in order from the beginning and had more of this planned out, I think the ST could have been really good. I think if Lucas hired a director and screenwriter for the PT, I think it could have been a much better Trilogy because there is a really good story arc in there.

 

Lucas started the ST before selling to Disney.
His development was a treatment that was a variation of TLJ with a few things of TFA.

He wanted 7 to be a film where Luke is hidden away, disillusioned, grouchy, and refuses to help, and has to train a young girl named Kira on a remote planet with a special Force connection, planned on killing Luke in 9, and the story would be focused on Kira; not Luke.

He was planning to write the whole ST around the revelation of the Whills and tear down the "chosen one" iconography of Star Wars in the trilogy by exposing that the Whills decide fates for humans and are the Force and communicate it to our bodies through midichlorians; that, as he says, "We're just cars, vehicles for the Whills to travel around."

As to planning...the ST has more planning than the OT.
The OT, by all accounts, kept switching what the story plan was right down to the edit room.


Cheers,
Jayson

 

The Secret History of Star Wars is a book worth reading.

 

I would have loved to see George Lucas’ Sequel Trilogy. It all sounds so ridiculous but it would be in line with a lot of the high fantasy book series that are popular these days.