In retrospect, Bond driving a Lotus Esprit in TSWLM feels like a HUGE risk. “Oh, not, where is the Aston Martin? Without it, this can’t be a real Bond film!!!”
Generally, the Moore era was quite innovative: introducing him at his flat, not in the PTS, and so on…
And he never orders a martini. He’s served a few, but he never actually asks for one.
Smoking cigars too - something you have trouble imagining Bond do, even if Fleming mentions him having one in Moonraker.
And that Lotus was even white, not really a cool colour for a car (but helped no doubt shooting the underwater sequences).
Star Wars created an entire universe, one with almost limitless possibilities. Outside of the films novels, comics and video games have done a great job expanding the universe and exploring new time periods. Knights of the Old Republic/ The Old Republic showed us thousands of years before the film while the new ‘High Republic’ project is establishing a new era hundreds of years before the films. I’d love to see a see a similar idea applied to a future timeline combined with seeing Star Wars on the big screen again.
The constant referencing you mention is a serious problem with a lot of franchises today, especially with the latest Star Wars. As well as Force Awakens repeating story beats from the original I’m also disappointed that the stand alones end up being ‘Death Star Heist’ and ‘Han Solo Origin’ (even though I greatly enjoyed Rogue One and consider it to be the best of the Disney-era Star Wars). But I do sincerely believe there’s still more life Star Wars and more stories to be told. The only limit is the imagination of the creative team (and I suppose studio mandates as well). That’s why I put so much thought into my fan pitch.
I sympathise. There’s a reason I’m positing this here and not an actual Star Wars forum, fans have become unbearable. I’m actually concerned that going forward that creators and actors may start giving Star Wars a wide birth because of the fanbase.
I am a fan of the new trilogy, and even the one of movies made and love the original trilogy.
I am less of a fan with the prequel trilogy, but then again my daughter loves them passionately and we still can talk both about our love for Star Wars.
I have met some crazy SW fans who talk about death of their passion and betrayal of their series, which is stupid as it is Disneys series, and want no longer watch SW unless their demands are met. Which is nuts in my humble opinion. Such so-called fans should be ignored, the majority of people go and see a SW come home entertained. They are the crowds they should start catering to.
I want some new SW movie soon they always draw me to a cinema theater because the first time I want to see it on the big screen.
My assessment on the films:
The original trilogy will always be top dog.
Revenge of the Sith is the standout prequel.
Rogue One is the best of the Disney era, hands down.
Solo is underrated.
The Force Awakens is okay but a rehash/missed opportunity.
The Last Jedi works as a stand-alone, but not for a franchise.
The Rise of Skywalker is the worst in the series.
It’s not great, but I think I’d have to take another look at THE PHANTOM MENACE and ATTACK OF THE CLONES to compare.
With some tweaks, I think that RISE OF SKYWALKER might have made a better Episode VIII than THE LAST JEDI (although the second half of that film I think works pretty well). The core idea is decent, even if it would have been better to leave Palpatine out of it. Maybe incorporate the idea of a hidden Sith fleet as something that is thought to be a myth, with the film ending on Kylo Ren gaining access to the fleet with the intent to do whatever it was they were planning on doing with it. Then an Episode IX after that would focus on rallying the troops and going to war with Ren and the First Order in something that would have the appropriate sense of scale and scope for what is supposed to be the climactic chapter of the Star Wars franchise.
For me revenge of the Sith is horrible where Darth Vader changed from badass to sniffling loser named Anakin Skywalker. the whole romance was badly perceived and even worse acted.
Revenge of the Sith destroyed Darth Vader as a cool villain immediately. So it can never be considered any good.
For me, the gold standard was always the first two films (in theaters): Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back.
Return of the Jedi already felt like a rehash to me as a 14 year old, although I enjoyed watching it (back then I enjoyed every rehash of something I loved anyway.)
Then as an adult I was disappointed by the prequels - because they were not like the original trilogy. I appreciated them more a few years later, but they still are not what I return to regularly.
The new trilogy is something I enjoyed a lot when I watched them for the first time. But re-watching them again make me think: nice try, but mainly… a rehash.
And before someone says “But Bond films basically are rehashes since, well, YOLT” - yeah, kind of. But they are more like remakes of one film, and most of the time very entertaining remakes, with different perspectives and rejuvenated ideas.
Star Wars - well, I point to Dustin´s idea to really move forward in time and completely differentiate new stories from everything that came before. Only then it will have the potential to, well, not be a rehash.
Notice what the key word here seems to be, due to limited vocabulary, I suppose.
I won’t devote precious time listing the many plot holes and outright stupidity I see in TROS, because I think so lowly of it. I’ll just keep things short and say it jumps around way too much, lessening my connection with the film further and negating breathing room. There’s also one fakeout after another, which becomes very frustrating and boring as it results in very few lasting consequences. I just didn’t feel the movie at all, especially as the lasting word on this particular arc.
To me, the latest trilogy has felt similar to a band that has been going since the 1970s has had members leave and replaced, and now hardly has any original members left, and feels like an ageing tribute act.
But they still play the hits! And that’s what people want.
I understood it had ended?
Oh, I don’t disagree at all (I just remember thinking the other two were worse, but it’s been so long that I need to revisit them). I watched TROS again the other day and, outside of a theatrical setting, I was surprised at how badly it suffers from not having the big screen to give it the punch that it needs to hold together at all.
It’s even worse as a wrap-up to the whole saga, which is why I felt that some of its better ideas could have been used for a better Episode VIII leading into a film that had the kind of scale that a finale of a very long-running franchise demands and deserves.
The tales of the Jedi comics, for all their pulp did try to do just that.
And personally I do think more can be done. But I also understand why people hate Last Jedi. It felt it was being subversive for the hell of being subversive.
Hell I’ve seen some outlines that were genuinely good.