The decline of Star Wars

Spectator World ^ | 09/05/2024 | Alexander Larman

[SeekAndFind]

The video game Star Wars Outlaws is to be released this week. The game is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi — so in the universe of the original, still-greatest film trilogy — and has been several years in development. According to its “narrative director” Navid Khavari, “We didn’t just look at the original films, we looked at George Lucas’s own inspirations: Akira Kurosawa, World War Two movies like The Dambusters and spaghetti westerns. You see the care that was taken in that original trilogy to make it tonally consistent. We need to make this feel…

The video game Star Wars Outlaws is to be released this week. The game is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi — so in the universe of the original, still-greatest film trilogy — and has been several years in development. According to its “narrative director” Navid Khavari, “We didn’t just look at the original films, we looked at George Lucas’s own inspirations: Akira Kurosawa, World War Two movies like The Dambusters and spaghetti westerns. You see the care that was taken in that original trilogy to make it tonally consistent. We need to make this feel like it has high stakes, lighthearted humor, emotional tension, growth between characters [and] the hero’s journey.” All of which makes this expensive game rather more exciting than the usual run-of-the-mill fare. The player takes on the guise of Kay Vess, a young woman who lives by her wits and is planning a heist to pay off a syndicate.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars was essential viewing

If this sounds vaguely like the crime-picture trappings of the unsuccessful Star Wars prequel Solo, then you wouldn’t be wrong. Ever since Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney in 2012, there has been an tendency, by now bordering on some sort of compulsion, to mine its intellectual property for any profitable purpose. In the case of the first of the Star Wars sequels, 2015’s The Force Awakens, this led to vast financial success, glowing reviews and a rejuvenated interest in the series. In fact, it was better than the mediocre, George Lucas-directed prequels. Another two films followed, the divisive The Last Jedi and the ridiculed (but actually quite entertaining) The Rise of Skywalker. Then the floodgates opened.

Some of the films and TV shows produced by the Disney regime have, admittedly, been splendid. Rogue One was thrilling. It delivered sheer spectacle and fun better than any of the Star Wars sequels — despite, or because, of a downbeat ending that saw the deaths of the principal cast. Its prequel (confused yet?) Andor was also popular, earning the sobriquet “a Star Wars television series for people who don’t like Star Wars,” although to be honest it’s hard to see why such people would bother watching it. Likewise, The Mandalorian did well during its first two seasons, although last year’s third installment was less enjoyable and less watched. Nevertheless, there is a feature film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, planned for 2026, as well as a possible fourth series.

And this is where Disney has got it so spectacularly wrong. What’s happened is the Marvel-ification of Star Wars. Marvel films were once entertaining, unpretentious adventures with some sly winks to comic-book connoisseurs. They became a hugely complex, virtually incomprehensible behemoth spanning several different platforms. The same is now true for the expanded Star Wars universe, where it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up. There are now too many TV shows to list here, and the recent news that The Acolyte, the latest release, was cancelled after one series was a tacit acknowledgment that the flabby franchise is faltering.

Yet still they come; the latest, December’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew appears to be a family-friendly adventure about children adrift in the galaxy, with Jude Law as a suitably paternal Jedi guiding them on their way. (Law, incidentally, deserves some sort of medal for the number of franchises he has given gravitas to, what with his appearances in the Harry Potter prequels, Captain Marveland now this; surely his M in the rebooted James Bond is inevitable casting at this point.)

I was too young to appreciate Star Wars the first time round, but a generation of film fans and directors still talk, admiringly, about the sheer effect that seeing the pictures had on them. It brought about the realization, amid a decade in which cinema had become far more cynical, that there was still wonder and breathless fun to be had. Today, the exploitation of Star Wars’s ideas and iconography for the gawping chasm of streaming means that the wonder and awe have been swallowed whole.

I sincerely hope that Star Wars Outlaws really does live up to expectations, because it will be one of the very few offshoots of an increasingly tarnished brand that does. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars was essential viewing. But now, it’s just there, a product to be consumed or ignored, like 99 percent of the rest of what’s on the streamers. For anyone who has a child still somewhere inside them, asking to be awestruck, it’s a pity.

[cowboyusa]

Asokha was REALLY good.

[dfwgator]

The Empire had their own Military Industrial Complex.

[Ciaphas Cain]

I used to be one of the biggest Star Wars fans around. I did a LOT out of love for the saga. Even had a Star Wars-themed marriage proposal to my (now ex) wife. I've been able to meet most of the cast of the first two trilogies, including an afternoon spent with Carrie Fisher.

What Disney has done to the franchise, especially The Acolyte, turned me off of Star Wars forever.

Okay, not ALL of it. I still have the Blu-rays of episodes 1-6. But everything else is dead to me.

[dfwgator]

[dfwgator]

“You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll kiss three bucks goodbye....Hardware Wars!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccfbw2RJ3ow

[cowboyusa]

Ha!

[one guy in new jersey]

Has anyone else caught some of the Flash Gordon silver screen serials from the 1930’s and 1940’s?

So much of what is in those serials ended up almost straight-up copied into in the first three Star Wars movies by George Lucas. It’s kind of shocking actually.

[KarlInOhio]

How can any discussion about when Star Wars hit the skids take place without the word “Ewok” front and center?

[Yardstick]

I turned off Solo about 2/3 of the way through and never bothered to watch the rest of it. Seems like Rogue One was kind of okay. The rest were so lame that I can't remember which is which. I couldn't tell you what the plots were about.

I loved the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back. I even loved Return of the Jedi, although I do think that if I had been a little older when it came out I would have been more aware of the schmaltziness of the Ewoks.

[Jeff Chandler]

Those stupid Teddy bears ruined it for me.

[Yardstick]

What puzzles me about George Lucas is that he created both THX 1138, which to me is a sophisticated and tasteful piece of art, and the horrible Star Wars prequels. It’s like, how could the same guy make both of these?

[alternatives?]

I think it is about power and a perceived need for revenge.

[Windcatcher]

That almost ruined it for me, and The Phantom Menace was the final nail. I stopped watching and never looked back.

[Apinealgland 2]

The holiday special was tv only. The empire strikes back is objectively better than a new hope too.

The prequels started rough but episode 3 was very good.

The real downfall started right after the last medium. I didn’t hate it, but they had no ideas what to do with 9 and it really shows. Then Lucasfilm salted the earth by firing Gina carano and letting the shows become 100 percent girl power fever dreams. They also destroyed Indiana Jones so my hatred for Kennedy and Disney is boundless now

[Tax-chick]

My sons say it’s been all downhill since “Battlefront II” and “Knights of the Old Republic”, except for one that was okay but I don’t remember the name of it.

[DiogenesLamp]

Originally Star Wars main audience was nerdy boys and young men. That is who bought the Lego sets and other merchandise. Disney is producing products that cater to women and transexuals and turning off their core audience. I don’t think a software game with a female lead will be successful.

Boys cannot empathize with Female "Heroes." Boys want to imagine themselves as the hero, and if you make the hero female, you have just turned your core audience off to caring about what happens to your hero.

[DiogenesLamp]

If it weren’t for Marcia Lukas having reediting the movie...

She did Star Wars, and Empire Strikes Back. The only two good movies they ever made.

The teddy bear movie was just stupid.

Everything else was even worse.

[MinorityRepublican]

Boys cannot empathize with Female "Heroes." Boys want to imagine themselves as the hero, and if you make the hero female, you have just turned your core audience off to caring about what happens to your hero.

I did that subconsciously. Although Jennifer Lawrence was great in Hunger Games. That was a rare exception.

[DiogenesLamp]

The empire strikes back is objectively better than a new hope too.

No it isn't. While admittedly Empire is better than anything produced after it, it was a pale shadow of the masterpiece that was Star Wars.

[DiogenesLamp]

I did that subconsciously. Although Jennifer Lawrence was great in Hunger Games. That was a rare exception.

I must admit there are a few exceptions. Ridley in Alien and Aliens, and Sarah Connors in the Terminator comes to mind.

But these aren't *GIRL POWER* bosses, they are ordinary people caught in a situation where they desperately fight for their lives.

Even Hunger Games is a similar situation.

But girl warriors? Doesn't resonate with anyone.