Am I the only one who thought the Star Wars movies were rather mediocre?

[tankbug]

The story is very classic. It doesn't suck, but it's not unique either.
Anyone can follow it, without it being boring. But as you said, it's not the reason that people love the franchise.
Varied characters, memorable script, special effects, great design of costumes, ships, worlds (one of the innovative things was to make it look realistic by making some things ragged, dirty, worn out, instead of all that sleek silver design of the earlier sci-fi'es). And one factor I think people underestimate is the music. I hear the opening theme or imperial march in my head just by thinking of the title.

People crave more comprehensive, deep stories today, and they aren't easy to tell in a two hour sci-fi film. So they tend to favor high-budget television series, where you have time to explore the lives and minds of the characters. Lucas was talking about a TV-show, but I guess that's not gonna happen now...unless Disney makes a "Jedi-Jane & friends" TV-show for children :P

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[FLANOFETT]

the revenge of the sith xbox game was sooooo much better than the movie story. you got to fight and kill mace windu and kill a bunch of jedi in the temple as anakin and gain more darkside powers. If they actually showed that kind of power addiction and craving in the movie it would have been good. Instead we get some relativistic bullshit where ob1 is like "Anakin. Palpatine is evil" and then anakin be like "NOOOOOOO from my point of view the jedi are evil!" ( I just vomited)

[Magpai]

Are you kidding? People bitch about the Star Wars movie all the time. How could you possibly think you're some fringe minority?

[Deleted]

I know, it seems like a bait thread. That is just how unquestionably accepted and praised Star Wars is in our culture.

I just find it to be very repetitive and unoriginal as a story:

- black and white morality with no complexity
- cliche characters with unrealistic character development
- a very basic plot that uses the same situations multiple times (not even referring to how they shamelessly rehash the death star as the main plot of two of the three movies)
- disconnected plots between the movies that would suggest the writers were just making up crap as they went along without an overall plan (I'd say they didn't think they'd get past the first movie, seems they didn't plan past it. Unless they thought awkward incesty encounters were dramatic and deep or something.)
- the saviors of the universe were goddamn ewoks.
- many other things I don't have the time and patience to specifically point out.

I remember when the movies first came out, and damn they were amazingly revolutionary in graphics and scope, but I've always been perplexed by people's praise of the movies' actual story. I am ready for crucifixion - to be honest I thought the movie with the best story by far was Revenge of the Sith. It had the most realistic characters and the most complex, intriguing plot developments.

The universe of Star Wars is amazing and it has produced an amazing franchise, KOTOR remains one of my favorite games of all time and who doesn't love Battlefront. The movies of Star Wars though, not so much. Your thoughts?

if you compare it to what we have now ofc it feels that way, you have to compare it with the stuff that came out at that time. At that time it was huge if it came now it wouldn't get much attention.

[IIamaKing]

I think the critics disagree with you

The worst movie appears to be the last one.... Clone Wars...
But all others are well in the 75 - 90+ range.

Funny, its almost as if liking a movie is subjective.

[PBitt]

I like them (and own them all) but I wouldn't consider myself a fan. You said it yourself: they were hot shit at the time because of the effects and the whole sci-fi thing. But you definitely make some good points. Lucas isn't the best writer and that really, really showed in the latest three installments. I honestly don't think there are many fans of the Star Wars movies because of the 'story' but more for the characters (sure, of which most are cliche black and white characters) and the universe it's set in. I sure as hell don't watch it for the amazing story and to re-live the plot-twists that aren't there (well, other than 'I am your father!'). I just watch them for the enjoyment factor when I feel like watching them every once in a while.

[The Flavour Cat]

Yeah, it is a basic plot but they're still fun films. The original trilogy might have dated with the dialogue, but it's still not that bad nowadays. It doesn't have award-worthy scripts, but the characters still learn things and have standard character development. The films aren't complicated or deep, but they have a basic emotional crux to them which is why they're so engaging. One of my main problems is that Lucas keeps adding unnecessary changes to the OT. If you judge a film based on the script, direction, other aspects, acting and story/plot/character development, then they fall into 'average' territory, more or less.
To be more specific, I'll add how it would be out of 10 in brackets:
Episode I: 2/5 stars (3/10)
II: 1/5 (2/10)
III: 2/5 (3/10)
IV: 3/5 (5/10)
V: 4/5 (7/10-on the border of being average)
VI: 3/5 (5/10)

Oh, and I'll add the plot for Star Wars (ep IV) is basic, and bares similarities to Seven Samurai and many other typical Fantasy stories. It was just an 'original' concept for a Western audience.

[Baracuda]

The quality is awful in the first movies, the plot is decent at best. Vice versa in the new ones?

[Deleted]

I loved the first three star wars movies, IV, V, VI; The others i was 50/50 with.

Just never really felt the appeal to them as compared to the older ones, i enjoyed reading a few novels within that series though.

[Deleted]

Let me guess, you find the first cars and airplanes lame as well?

[eschatological]

Fun fact: Vader never said "Luke, I am your father".

Vader: "Obi-wan never told you what happened to your father."
Luke: "He told me enough. He told me you killed him."
Vader: "No. I am your father."

Anyways, Star Wars has some classic (which some may consider "cliched" themes) that hold up pretty damn well. Hating something because it's been used before is silly as hell. And I think what separated Star Wars from the pack was the mix of fantasy in a sci-fi backdrop. The religious cult of the Jedi, the wise master Yoda who spoke backwards and in riddles...that's what made the movies great, imo.

That's why I still think The Empire Strikes Back is the best movie, because it does the "fall" part of the classic trilogy formula best. First movie is about birth, coming into one's own (Luke learning his larger heritage, learning the rudiments of his Jedi background), second movie is about the obstacle, the fall from grace (Luke being tempted by the dark side, failing Yoda's tests, learning of his own father's fall from Grace), third movie is about Redemption (Luke becoming a true Jedi, overcoming his father's sins, and the father's redemption itself). This is by no means a new formula. It's pretty standard for any dramatic 3 act play for the last 4000 years. Sophocles used it, and you know you're old if you're a Greek guy with just one name. That doesn't make it mediocre.

[Deleted]

I know, it seems like a bait thread. That is just how unquestionably accepted and praised Star Wars is in our culture.

I just find it to be very repetitive and unoriginal as a story:

- black and white morality with no complexity
- cliche characters with unrealistic character development
- a very basic plot that uses the same situations multiple times (not even referring to how they shamelessly rehash the death star as the main plot of two of the three movies)
- disconnected plots between the movies that would suggest the writers were just making up crap as they went along without an overall plan (I'd say they didn't think they'd get past the first movie, seems they didn't plan past it. Unless they thought awkward incesty encounters were dramatic and deep or something.)
- the saviors of the universe were goddamn ewoks.
- many other things I don't have the time and patience to specifically point out.

I remember when the movies first came out, and damn they were amazingly revolutionary in graphics and scope, but I've always been perplexed by people's praise of the movies' actual story. I am ready for crucifixion - to be honest I thought the movie with the best story by far was Revenge of the Sith. It had the most realistic characters and the most complex, intriguing plot developments.

The universe of Star Wars is amazing and it has produced an amazing franchise, KOTOR remains one of my favorite games of all time and who doesn't love Battlefront. The movies of Star Wars though, not so much. Your thoughts?

The force is weak in this one.

[Frozenbeef]

I loved the story in swtor so i thought I'd watch one of the star wars films...i turned it off after like 30minutes, love the cartoon the clone wars as well they are great :P

Think it's just because it's really outdated/ feels really cheap i'm sure if they remade it i would fall in love with starwars but currently the closest I'm getting to the franchise is swtor >.<

Also in those sort of things i always want the bad guys to win

[Katchii]

I try not to get too invested in why I think a movie is good, if I like it...I just go with it. The Star Wars movies entertained me and made me laugh for different reasons, and it introduced one of the most iconic and immersive fantasy universes. Just go with it.... If you don't like it, it's OK....

[Denkou]

I was born in the 90s (92 to be exact) and I've always liked the older films. Obviously, they came out before my time, so I didn't watch them until I was around 15 or 16 or so and they happened to be on TV. The newer films, I watched as they came out, and the only one I really like is Episode III. I love all three of the first films, especially Episode IV and V. Of course the production quality is going to seem outdated to me, but I still enjoyed them nonetheless.

I feel the same way about the Indiana Jones movies; I love the original three movies despite not watching them until I was in my teens, but I cannot stand the latest one.

If you don't like them, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure a lot of other people feel that way. Personally, I cannot stand the Matrix Trilogy, yet a lot of people really love it.