Disney ran the franchise into the ground, and no one cares anymore.
I hit this point around Mandalorian (I like the first two seasons) but have slowly lost interest. And now it seems the general watching public has reached that point.
Sad, but true. Kathleen Kennedy ran it into the ground. Although Disney+ screwing over Gina Carano and Mark Hamill's public libtard implosion haven't helped either.
Thank God the effects, YouTube, and RPG fans haven't given up.
I've said it before, but outside the Luke/Vader & Rebel/Empire dynamic, there isn't really much to the Star Wars IP. It's just a generic "space battle" franchise now.
Of course, it doesn't help that Disney has no plan and no desire to create a new dynamic to define the SW universe.
The Acolyte was so bad that it tanked Skeleton Crew before that show even aired.
Quote from: yosemitemike on February 15, 2025, 07:45:46 PMThe Acolyte was so bad that it tanked Skeleton Crew before that show even aired.
If Skeleton Crew had focused on Jude Law's character and not the kids, it would have held my interest. As it was, there were a few fun scenes streched across several hours.
Quote from: HappyDaze on February 16, 2025, 02:03:32 AMIf Skeleton Crew had focused on Jude Law's character and not the kids, it would have held my interest. As it was, there were a few fun scenes streched across several hours.
I thought it was a solid, decently entertaining show even though I am not the target audience. I thought it certainly was not bad enough to explain how hard it tanked in isolation. After a string of mediocre (Book of Boba Fett) to bad (The Acoltye) shows, I think people just don't care about Star Wars any more. The audience has checked out.
I just played in a big Star Wars game at DunDraCon this past weekend. Star Wars still has a big fan base - but the interest of that fan base has often waxed and waned.
There was less interest in Star Wars after the conclusion of the prequel trilogy, hence the long gap of over a decade before more feature films were attempted.
Recently, there have been a huge number of Star Wars series on streaming - far more media than in any previous period. Regardless of the quality of any single series, I think there was bound to be a dip in the quality and attention. I liked some of those series - like the early part of The Mandalorian along with Ahsoka and especially Andor.
I don't follow the release plans, but I suspect they'll hold off on new releases for a time before releasing the next film in May 2026 ("The Mandalorian and Grogu"). I'd guess it will turn a profit but not a big one. The degree of its success will determine how to space out future releases.
I grew up in the 70s (DOB 1966) and the original trilogy was amazing, though I really never got hooked onto the toys and everything else (I was more of a Trek kid). When the Phantom Menace came out, though, I was completely turned off and to this day still haven't watched the entire prequel trilogy. That said, I still wanted good Star Wars movies. I am apparently one of the few who liked Solo. I liked Rogue One. I did the last trilogy which, while not great, was still better than the prequel trilogy.
By the time things hit streaming, though, I was pretty much done. A casual watcher, I did some Mandalorian and Andor looked interesting. Anything else... I didn't even bother with. And I'm not an animation fan (well, Looney Tunes, but that's different).
So I'm one of the fandom they lost and certainly won't generate any revenue on as long as it remains Disney-fied. Sort of just like WotC and D&D. Dee You Enn Dun.
I'm tired of Star Trek and Star Wars. I wish people would make new franchises. But it feels like that's impossible now.
The only scifi franchise that I find remotely interesting anymore is Hasbro's cancelled Star*Drive setting. It feels distinct from Star Trek and Star Wars while expansive enough to compete with them
Quote from: Shteve on February 18, 2025, 04:04:52 PMI grew up in the 70s (DOB 1966) and the original trilogy was amazing, though I really never got hooked onto the toys and everything else (I was more of a Trek kid). When the Phantom Menace came out, though, I was completely turned off and to this day still haven't watched the entire prequel trilogy. That said, I still wanted good Star Wars movies. I am apparently one of the few who liked Solo. I liked Rogue One. I did the last trilogy which, while not great, was still better than the prequel trilogy.
By the time things hit streaming, though, I was pretty much done.
I am similar. I liked the original trilogy though I wasn't a huge fan, and I hated the prequels intensely. Those completely turned me off to Star Wars. I did like Rogue One, but I hated Solo and disliked the sequel trilogy.
If it wasn't for role-playing, I doubt I'd have watched most of those. However, I do enjoy Star Wars gaming so I've watched a bunch of these as research for games.
Because of that research, though, I have found things I liked. Andor for me has been my favorite Star Wars adaptation since the original trilogy, and Ahsoka and some of The Mandalorian have been on par with RotJ and Rogue One.
Quote from: Shteve on February 18, 2025, 04:04:52 PMI grew up in the 70s (DOB 1966) and the original trilogy was amazing, though I really never got hooked onto the toys and everything else (I was more of a Trek kid). When the Phantom Menace came out, though, I was completely turned off and to this day still haven't watched the entire prequel trilogy. That said, I still wanted good Star Wars movies. I am apparently one of the few who liked Solo.
I did too. (I have my quibbles with it) I think Solo suffered from the Star Wars burnout that's been increasing as Disney keeps fumbling about with the propery.
Not true. I just watched Mark Hamill's pants fall off at the BAFTA awards, and I enjoyed it immensely. So there!
Quote from: Ratman_tf on February 14, 2025, 09:36:32 PMDisney ran the franchise into the ground, and no one cares anymore.
I hit this point around Mandalorian (I like the first two seasons) but have slowly lost interest. And now it seems the general watching public has reached that point.
that^ is pretty much my take atm. the original trilogy is the only part that i liked more or less without serious reservations. as for the rest:
of prequels only #3 was more or less fine.
clone wars was variable, last half of the last "half a season" - the series' ahsoka story finished basically - was fucking amazing, but impossible to understand alone, without derping through most of the previous shit, so it's understandable that most people never noticed it.
rebels was variable, kinda like clone wars.
sequels were total crap and so were rogue one, solo, andor and obi (edit: and bobf).
mando was okay for about a season and a half, then i stopped.
ahsoka was better than just about everything since rebels, but very problematic still.
i watched half an episode of acolite and that was it. fuck it, i'm not even "avast ye!"-ing anything they make anymore.
Quote from: Shteve on February 18, 2025, 04:04:52 PMWhen the Phantom Menace came out, though, I was completely turned off and to this day still haven't watched the entire prequel trilogy.
You're not missing a whole lot. Attack of the Clones is somehow even more boring that Phantom Menace. My god that movie drags on. This movie should not have been 2 hours and 22 minutes long. It just feels bloated, meandering and self-indulgent. Even the stuff that should be exciting is boring and too long. The third one isn't as bad with this but it's still there. Even the big climactic fight goes on so long that it starts to get tedious.
Quote from: yosemitemike on February 15, 2025, 07:45:46 PMThe Acolyte was so bad that it tanked Skeleton Crew before that show even aired.
right. i think it's a pretty safe bet that anything they ever make around the original trilogy' timeline or even connected to it in any way will suffer the same fate. it's fucked up so thoroughly nothing will hold, not for a long while anyway, imo.
maybe there's still hope for the old republic - i think there were some ideas of making, like, a revan movie or something - but i wouldn't hold my breath.
The Disney took the themes away from Samurai-Western concepts of honor, duty, family, and justice... and it became generic woke sci-fi fantasy with tolerance, forced multiculturalism, teh ghey, and moral relativism.
To me, Star Wars worked best as a Samurai-Western concept with the thin veneer of laser swords and blasters. Once you take steps away from that, it doesn't work so well.
IMO, modern storytellers are too wrapped up in their own sh-t. They don't understand things like story structure, the hero's journey, the classics like the Iliad or even Kurosawa's movies. That's the fundamental problem to me. Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but that sonofabitch knows story structure. And most other modern storytellers do not understand that at all.
Quote from: bromides on February 25, 2025, 11:26:12 AMThe Disney took the themes away from Samurai-Western concepts of honor, duty, family, and justice... and it became generic woke sci-fi fantasy with tolerance, forced multiculturalism, teh ghey, and moral relativism.
To me, Star Wars worked best as a Samurai-Western concept with the thin veneer of laser swords and blasters. Once you take steps away from that, it doesn't work so well.
IMO, modern storytellers are too wrapped up in their own sh-t. They don't understand things like story structure, the hero's journey, the classics like the Iliad or even Kurosawa's movies. That's the fundamental problem to me.
I partly agree, but I think Rogue One and The Mandalorian are the closest to pure Samurai-Western of the Star Wars properties, besides the original trilogy.
I definitely don't think the prequel trilogy or Clone Wars are anywhere close to Samurai-Western or honor, duty, family, and justice.
Andor was actually very good - as a show in general and not just genre material. Unfortunately, it came out when all the other shit like Obi Wan and worse The Acoylte was fouling the pool.
Quote from: bromides on February 25, 2025, 11:26:12 AMThe Disney took the themes away from Samurai-Western concepts of honor, duty, family, and justice... and it became generic woke sci-fi fantasy with tolerance, forced multiculturalism, teh ghey, and moral relativism.
To me, Star Wars worked best as a Samurai-Western concept with the thin veneer of laser swords and blasters. Once you take steps away from that, it doesn't work so well.
IMO, modern storytellers are too wrapped up in their own sh-t. They don't understand things like story structure, the hero's journey, the classics like the Iliad or even Kurosawa's movies. That's the fundamental problem to me. Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but that sonofabitch knows story structure. And most other modern storytellers do not understand that at all.
I couldn't possibly +1 this post enough!
Quote from: jhkim on February 25, 2025, 12:43:28 PMQuote from: bromides on February 25, 2025, 11:26:12 AMThe Disney took the themes away from Samurai-Western concepts of honor, duty, family, and justice... and it became generic woke sci-fi fantasy with tolerance, forced multiculturalism, teh ghey, and moral relativism.
To me, Star Wars worked best as a Samurai-Western concept with the thin veneer of laser swords and blasters. Once you take steps away from that, it doesn't work so well.
IMO, modern storytellers are too wrapped up in their own sh-t. They don't understand things like story structure, the hero's journey, the classics like the Iliad or even Kurosawa's movies. That's the fundamental problem to me.
I partly agree, but I think Rogue One and The Mandalorian are the closest to pure Samurai-Western of the Star Wars properties, besides the original trilogy.
I definitely don't think the prequel trilogy or Clone Wars are anywhere close to Samurai-Western or honor, duty, family, and justice.
And when I think about the works from this century, the ones you mention are the only ones I really like. I think you hit the nail on the head.
But I guess I'm in the minority in that I actually enjoyed Solo. I'd rather watch it than the Prequels, although that's not saying much. I will only watch the Prequels as that spliced together mess of all three movies into one that I found years ago on the internet.
Season 2 of Andor is out.
Quote from: Kiero on March 26, 2025, 06:21:40 AMSeason 2 of Andor is out.
I haven't watched season 1 yet.
The only Star Wars sequel I'll watch is about the Megaroad-1's journey to discover the origins of the Supervision Army.
Quote from: Spooky on Today at 12:40:08 AMThe only Star Wars sequel I'll watch is about the Megaroad-1's journey to discover the origins of the Supervision Army.
I am so thankful that I just went ahead and bought the DVDs from overseas.