A Star Wars Story

Here’s the thing — I like the new Star Wars movies. A lot. If I had to put all of the Star Wars movies in order I’d start with the original IV-VI trilogy, then the newest films and then the I-III prequels. I almost cried at the end of The Last Jedi and I think that Rogue One is a great movie, Star Wars or not. That being said, after watching some of the original Star Wars movies again on TV I started wondering — do the new Star Wars movies including The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi spoil the story/message of the original ones?

“Tell your sister you were right.”

Star WarsThe original films, known as A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, essentially follows Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as he goes from farm-kid to Jedi Knight while at the same time alternately battling the evil Darth Vader and trying to save his and Vader’s soul from the dark side. Battles are fought and sacrifices are made, but in the end Luke and the rebellion against the evil Empire win the day by destroying a new Death Star, killing the Emperor and turning Vader back to good which restores order to the galaxy. In the expanded editions of the movie, the ones that were re-released in 1997 with additional footage, there are scenes of celebration from around the galaxy of people cheering the demise of the Empire and the return of the Republic at the end of that trilogy.

Even if the original films didn’t originally have this galactic-wide celebration, none-the-less at the end of Return of the Jedi there is the sense that for the most part, if the Empire hasn’t been totally destroyed, that after such an immense defeat with the deaths of their leaders they’re close to annihilation. And, most importantly, Luke Skywalker is now the first Jedi in decades which means he can begin training a new generation of Jedi Knights.

Except in the next movie chronologically The Force Awakens (2015) we learn that all of what’s come before — this great victory and order being returned to the galaxy — was for naught.

The Force Awakens
The Force Awakens

Here, it’s 30 years after Return of the Jedi and the Empire has been replaced by the First Order, who are the Empire in everything but name. They have a seemingly limitless supply of soldiers, ships and equipment and aren’t afraid to use them against anyone or any planet that gets out of line. And instead of the Emperor to terrorize the galaxy, there’s Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and instead of Darth Vader there’s Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). The rebellion has been replaced with the “Resistance” who are still waging a galactic war decades on. Where’s Luke Skywalker and his cadre of new Jedi Knights? He’s no where to be found, having left and hidden himself on a far-off planet abandoning his teachings.

The First Order
The First Order

So, essentially nothing that took place in the original trilogy matters much in the new. Luke could’ve stayed at home and never joined the rebellion, Leah could’ve run away and hidden on some forgotten planet and Han could’ve stayed a smuggler in the original trilogy and not much would’ve changed in the new films other than some semantics like “Empire” instead of “First Order.”

Terror still reigns supreme with good stuck fighting on it’s fringes.

I get why Disney decided to go they way they did with the with the new movies. It’s more of what the audience wanted and has come to expect from Star Wars. I just don’t think it fits very well with what’s come before. Especially knowing all of the post-Return of the Jedi stories that came out in the novels/comics before The Force Awakens. Interesting stories can be told that doesn’t essentially retell the original trilogy all over again. There can be stories about shifting powers, different alliances and new characters. But with the new trilogy we’ve gotten more of the same.

Don’t get me wrong — it’s really good “more of the same,” it’s stuff I really dig and watch whenever it’s on. But have no doubt the new trilogy is simply “more of the same” of what’s come before and is lesser because of it.

Direct Beam Comms #124

Movies

It seems like it was Christmas only yesterday, but the summer movie season starts this week. Traditionally, this movie season starts the first week of May, but because there’s so many movies out this summer Marvel decided to kick it off a week early with the release of Avengers: Infinity War on Friday.

Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool

For the longest time it seemed as if one summer would have a bunch of movies I wanted to see but the next would only have a few. And this would alternate year to year. But nowadays, for the last few years at least, each summer is filled with movies I want to see. Too many for me to see in theaters so I have to pick and choose. While there are some movies I’m dying to see and will certainly see in theaters, I’m looking at you Deadpool 2 and Solo, others like Ant Man might be ones I wait to come out on home media.

Even waiting for a home media release doesn’t mean waiting very long. A movie like Black Panther that was released at the beginning of February is set to be released on digital download just three months later at the start of May. For some movies I can wait 90 days to check them out.

I remember too when all the talk about the summer movie season used to be that it was filled with remakes and sequels. That really hasn’t been mentioned for some time now since it seems as if practically every big-budget summer movie the last few years is a sequel or based on some other pre-existing property.

Which brings me to a curiosity of movies as of late.

A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place

Over the last few years the most interesting movies being released are low-budget horror films like Get Out and, while I haven’t seen it yet, A Quiet Place. These movies cost a relative pittance to make, reportedly A Quiet Place cost $17 million and Get Out just $5 but have been earning huge returns at the box office. $255 million for Get Out and, as of this writing, more than $100 million for A Quiet Place. While these movies aren’t making anything near the amounts of cash a Marvel movie does, so far Black Panther has made more than $675 million alone, those little horror movies aren’t nearly as big a risk for the studios to take in developing them. The budget for Black Panther was a reported $200 million which means only a huge movie studio like Disney can afford to make them. When the budget for a movie is between $5 and $17 million like those horror movies the risk is a lot less and can be taken by a smaller studio.

And too, if a movie that cost between $5 and $17 million to make flops at the box office it probably doesn’t mark the death knell of the studio that made it, while the flop of a $200 million dollar movie might.

This has happened before. Back in the 1960s movie studios were producing a lot of big-budget movies then too. Movies like Doctor Doolittle and Paint Your Wagon were big-budget flops that decade which nearly bankrupted the movie studios then.

I’m not saying that any of the big-budget movies this summer in any way are going to bankrupt any movie studios — billions in box office returns the last few years testify to that — but it is something to thing about. That the movies that are crowd pleasers today might be the same type of movies that are the flops of tomorrow when tastes change as they always do.

Solo: A Star Wars Story TV spot

Deadpool 2

TV

GLOW season 2 video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwVOmTImfLA

The Reading & Watch List

Cool Movie & TV Posters of the Week

Posters of the week