Its fine if they make a film that isn't connected with the Skywalkers...just don't call it Episode 7. I would be totally fine if they said "this is not a Star Wars sequel. This is just a story set in the Star Wars universe." But if you rank this series of side-films alongside the original trilogy then its just going to crumble.

People complained about the Clone Wars film, but I didn't care because the moment the film started I realised this had nothing to do with Star Wars. It was nothing but a really bad pilot for a really bad TV show (apparently it got better later, but by that point everyone had stopped caring). It wasn't ruining the Star Wars franchise because it was barely a part of it. However, if you had slapped an Episode number at the end of the title, RedLetterMedia's review would've been longer than a Japanese RPG. If Disney turned round and said "Hah! JJ Abrams is actually doing 'Star Wars: The Adventures of IG-88" I would drop all my cries of "Lame!" or "Boring!" because we're obviously not supposed to compare this Star Wars film to the OT.

I don't really know how to articulate why Episode 7 shouldn't be made any-more. I've harped on and on about why making more sequels is a terrible, terrible idea - and I don't seem to be convincing everyone. At first I just felt the same way I did about The Dark Knight Rises (one day the world will realise that film actually sucked quite a lot), but then I realised that the problem was clearly me. I made this Brickfilm, but I think that only explores one of the many possible Episode 7's that could come out in a few years - and I still think that doesn't summarise the gut feeling I have about the sequels.

All I know is that I see my shiny Star Wars boxset on my DVD shelf, and I already don't like how its hanging around with those three repulsive prequels on its left hand side, but I'm even more worried about the prospect of more films joining it on the right. I don't like the idea of my boxset getting squashed and lost in a sea of strange aside-films that may or may not be OK. I suppose I can just go in denial and pretend I live in an alternate dimension where George Lucas watched the première of Episode 6 and thought "This franchise is in danger of becoming very stupid indeed. I'm going to lock these films away and leave them alone before things get really bad. Fans can make games and comics and novels, but your not touching my films! No one can - not even me!"

It's because you're not keeping an open mind.

Oh baby I hope ILM set up a post production studio in London, I am totally going to work on the new Star Wars.

I imagine when General Kitchener suggested that the best way to take out the German machine guns would be to walk slowly towards them, someone raised their hand and said "I'm sorry, from whatever way I look at this plan, it does not sound like a good idea at all", whereupon another man with a beautiful moustache turned round and exclaimed "Nonsense! Your just not keeping an open mind! Now lets get out there and show those guns what for!"

Me? Over-analyse something? NEVER!

This isn't exactly the best scenario to support your argument, as being "open-minded" in this case would involve innovating and thinking of a better strategy rather than rigidly sticking to outdated battle plans (which is exactly what the British generals did in WWI*).  And I daresay that I detect a hint (or possibly more) of this same attitude in your own response.

I can follow your logic up to a certain point, but I lost you completely after your Clone Wars statement.  It's a Star Wars film like the rest--it takes place in the same timeline as the Saga, heck it even has Anakin and Obi-Wan as main characters.  I'm just as aware as everyone else that it's a naked cash-grab, but that still doesn't preclude it from being a Star Wars movie--if we were to follow that line of thought we might as well chuck out the entire Prequel trilogy.  (And, to a certain extent, all professionally made movies are cash-grabs since in the end they have to make a profit.)

Judging by what you've written, you believe that the only thing 7 can offer is a rehash of 1-6, and this instantly condemns it to being an awful movie (despite the fact we know nothing about this film yet).  Yes, I realise Episode 7 has the potential to be crappy, but it could still end up being (*collective gasp of shock and horror*) a decent film.  Just like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade managed to be infinitely better than the awful Temple of Doom--it managed to take what could have been a very bland and cliched concept (specifically, the father-and-son thing, and having Nazis as enemies again) and made it into a very entertaining and funny film.  We'll have to wait and see.

*By the way, it was General Haig, not Kitchener, who ordered the now-infamous attack on the Somme.  (And no, I don't have a "beautiful moustache", either.)

To me, this doesn't fit with everything else you've said.  Fairy Tales (I would definitely agree that SW is just that) typically have happy endings, and having Han killed off might come across as forced or trying awkwardly to be all grown-up and mature, which would really go against the whole feel of Star Wars.  What made Episode VI inferior to me personally was that cringeworthy song-and-dance number in Jabba's palace, and the whole Ewoks-defeating-Stormtroopers thing (no matter which way you slice it, having a bunch of diminutive ursine muppets defeat the supposedly most ruthless troops of the Empire is just ridiculous, even by the standards of SW).

And here we go again...

Last edited by Mr Vertigo (July 15, 2013 (02:04pm))

This is a tangent, but the "fairy-tale ending" trope is a relatively new one, largely due to the influence of Disney. If you go back and read earlier versions of many fairy tales, you'll find that characters you may think you know end up with very dark fates as a way of delivering a moral lesson to their audiences. Examples off the top of my head include Pinnochio being hanged for his wickedness and the little mermaid being turned to sea foam and then seeking spiritual absolvement, rather than living her life with the prince.

From this article:

He's got a point.

That's debatable.

I think killing off Han would have been out-of tone. Episode 4 is a bundle of fun and Episode 5 is the (slightly)  darker middle chapter that raised the stakes. It would have just been depressing if Episode 6 got even darker, and wouldn't have felt like much of a victory. This isn't like 1984 where its clear from the beginning that there isn't really anything left of the world to save and Big Brother will exist forever. Neither is it like Harry Potter when mid-way through JK Rowling suddenly hit puberty and begun killing off main characters faster than a soap opera. Its not even like Les Misérables where everyone in the resistance already accepts the fact that they're probably all going to die.  The fact that in Episode 4 they had an enormous celebration when the Death Star was destroyed rather than a vigil for the hundreds of people that died show precisely what tone the series was keeping here.

On the other hand, killing Han would have at least removed those darn Ewoks. I still think setting it in Chewbacca's home-world would have been better, especially considering that all Wookies were slaves and thus everything would be all dystopian until the rebellion free a load of them and they all go around throwing Stormtroopers out of windows. Plus, Wookies are still cuddly enough to sell toys.

You know, getting back on topic a little - I've just realised how much I love Star Wars. The fact that despite all the Ewoks, Gungans, prequels, sequels, shoddy games, crappy books, contrived comics, and MY-EYES-THE-GOGGLES-THEY-DO-NOTHING Christmas Specials I'm still actually caring about this franchise proves how much I enjoy the first two films (and any part of Episode 6 with Darth Vader and/or the Emperor in it). I've always believed that good art is worth defending, because if all art is ultimately useless then we should only waste our time with the art that's worth it.