Sunday, January 9, 2022

This summer I watched every piece of canon Star Wars video content in chronological order General Discussion


So, after Bad Batch finished and before The Book of Boba Fett premiered, I decided to watch every piece of canon SW video content. So that is television shows, movies, and shorts, totaling 340 pieces of content in all. Now, if 2 pieces of content happened at the same time or if one happened during the other, I didn't have multiple screens going at once. If a Forces of Destiny short happened during a movie, I never paused the movie, watched the short, then continued the movie. I watched each movie/episode in it's entirety. If 2 or more things happened at the same time, I tended to default to release order.My ranking of Star Wars films, so you can see where I'm coming from.Return of the JediA New HopeThe Force AwakensSoloEmpire Strikes BackThe Last JediRevenge of the SithRogue OneThe Rise of SkywalkerThe Phantom MenaceAttack of the ClonesNow, this wasn't my first time watching the franchise. I had watched most everything multiple times before, but I decided to watch it in chronological order out of boredom, and to see if it changed my perspective on anything.Now, for what I learned.Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, is the least Star Wars thing in the entire franchise. It may be weird to say, but it's true. You could tell George Lucas hadn't quite figured out what Star Wars was yet. Moments like calling Droids, "robots". Uncle Owen saying, "That wizard's just a crazy old man." The fact the the force is almost an after thought in the movie.I also feel people that want Jedi to be "bad ass" clearly haven't watched the franchise. The franchise is mostly a pro-pacifism franchise. Luke tossing the lightsaber aside in the 6th film was the most Jedi thing he could do. The Jedi joining the war in the prequels is why they lost. Luke's death in The Last Jedi is the most Jedi thing a Jedi has ever done. He saved the day, by sacrificing himself and causing no harm to anyone else.Before my full rewatch, I was 50/50 on the idea of bringing Palpatine back, but after my rewatch, I think it was the right move. Now, we can talk about execution until the end of time, but it would have felt jarring if the big bad for the first 2/3 of this saga, never came back after all of his talk of cloning and cheating death.The 60 year time span is the story of the Rise of the Darkside, Reign of the Darkside, Fall of the Darkside. My most controversial take, is I feel every piece of content should somehow tie into that, even loosely. If they made a movie about a random bounty hunter during this time period, that had nothing to do with anything. I'd be disappointed. Solo wasn't directly tied to that arc, but it's about a guy who eventually becomes heavily involved with it. I feel the whole "Mando-verse" will eventually tie into it.Never mind, this is my most controversial opinion; I also feel the original trilogy isn't as good as people like to think it is. I love Star Wars. It's without a doubt, my favorite franchise. I have a Star Wars tattoo. However, I feel nostalgia and rose colored glasses have tinted people's view of it. It has given people these unrealistic expectations that nothing else can live up to. As I was watching it, when I got to the Original Trilogy, I didn't feel some incredible up-tick in quality. It felt pretty on-par with most everything else I saw. Obviously, some parts of the franchise are worse than others, and what parts those are depend on the viewer.Another thing I found interesting, whether it was intentional or not is, "A Skywalker can't be killed." Shmi aside, none of the Skywalker's lives were permanently ended by someone else. Anakin died by releasing his anger and turning to the light. Luke died by exertion. Leia died reaching out to her son. Ben died transferring her essence to Rey. They all died for someone else. Anakin for Luke, Luke for Leia (and the rest of the Resistance), Leia for Ben, Ben for Rey. via /r/StarWars https://ift.tt/3HMGZu5

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