Will The Disney Star War Sequel Trilogy Stand the Test of Time
Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 5:57 am
Okay, last SW's forum I intend to post for a Very Long Time but after reading all the thoughts on The Last Jedi I figured this was the next logical place to take this topic. So, here's something that was just brought to my attention in regards to the Disney Sequel Trilogy vs. The Original Trilogy, The Prequel Trilogy (aka the Clone Wars TV Series) and The Thrawn Trilogy which is out of four, the Disney Era has had little to no impact on pop culture.
When the latter three were first released the impact they had could be felt everywhere you went even if you never saw them you heard about Adventures characters were having in that Galaxy Far, Far Away. And with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kanobi, Mace Windu, Yoda, Boba Fett, Lando Calrissian, Palpatine, Talon Karrde, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade all became house hold names and you knew everything about these characters even if you had never seen the films or read the books.
Everyone also knew how the plots of these stories went even if, again, you had never seen the films or read the books. You could also quote these stories by heart, "My the Force Be With You", "Did You Ever Hear of the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise", "I am Your Father" and "The Hand of the Emperor" were phrases that you didn't, and still don't, need context for. You know who said them and what they mean.
Love these stories or hate these stories there is no question that they have left their mark on pop culture and will still likely be referenced years from now. But with the Disney Sequel Trilogy, or really any other SW Disney Product, will anyone remember these stories?
Sure, there are stories that aren't as well known as others but could be argued to have stood the test of time. For Example there aren't nearly as many people who know about Deep Space Nine as they do about TOS or TNG but anyone who has seen DS9 will tell you that it is a great show that is worth checking out.
But to turn that around, Voyager isn't as well known as TOS or TNG and there aren't many fans who would recommend checking the series out. Not because it's terrible and it Does have many good episodes and a few good characters and the actors are all good, in the end it's nothing to really write home about. As Chuck once said, Voyager is pretty much just TNG with a different crew and in the end, while it did take a few risks, it will likely never be seen as anything that interesting with it's ideas that the series didn't already did elsewhere.
Everything that has been done in DST has been done in SW before. Force Bonds, Soldiers (or Assassins) who once worked for the Evil Empire joining the heroes, The Battle with the Republic and Empire still going on, the son of Han and Leia going over to the Dark Side, Luke becoming more cynical and considering killing his own family, the plots of Awakens and TLJ being the plots of Hope and Empire respectfully. We've seen all this before in SW and, IMHO, done better in films, TV Shows, Games, Comics and Novels.
As Chuck also said, in his review for Into Darkness, big summer blockbusters like that are loved in their day and then forgotten while great movies are loved forever. Sure I doubt anyone will say they LOVE the Prequels but there Are MANY fans who will say they love The Clone Wars, which IS part of the Prequels and forever will be.
And I have no doubt that TOT and TTT will always be seen as classics and loved for decades to come, because that's already happened. It has been 41 years since the release of A New Hope, and 27 years since the release of Heir to the Empire and people still talk about these stories like it was yesterday.
So will DST be seen as the Star Trek Voyager/Into Darkness of Star Wars, popular in it's day but not really something anyone talks about years later? To close this out, and referencing another point Chuck made in his review of Into Darkness with the quote from Nicholas Meyer.
"In my sort of artistic worldview, if you’re going to do an homage you have to add something. You have to put another layer on it, and they didn’t."
When the latter three were first released the impact they had could be felt everywhere you went even if you never saw them you heard about Adventures characters were having in that Galaxy Far, Far Away. And with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kanobi, Mace Windu, Yoda, Boba Fett, Lando Calrissian, Palpatine, Talon Karrde, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade all became house hold names and you knew everything about these characters even if you had never seen the films or read the books.
Everyone also knew how the plots of these stories went even if, again, you had never seen the films or read the books. You could also quote these stories by heart, "My the Force Be With You", "Did You Ever Hear of the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise", "I am Your Father" and "The Hand of the Emperor" were phrases that you didn't, and still don't, need context for. You know who said them and what they mean.
Love these stories or hate these stories there is no question that they have left their mark on pop culture and will still likely be referenced years from now. But with the Disney Sequel Trilogy, or really any other SW Disney Product, will anyone remember these stories?
Sure, there are stories that aren't as well known as others but could be argued to have stood the test of time. For Example there aren't nearly as many people who know about Deep Space Nine as they do about TOS or TNG but anyone who has seen DS9 will tell you that it is a great show that is worth checking out.
But to turn that around, Voyager isn't as well known as TOS or TNG and there aren't many fans who would recommend checking the series out. Not because it's terrible and it Does have many good episodes and a few good characters and the actors are all good, in the end it's nothing to really write home about. As Chuck once said, Voyager is pretty much just TNG with a different crew and in the end, while it did take a few risks, it will likely never be seen as anything that interesting with it's ideas that the series didn't already did elsewhere.
Everything that has been done in DST has been done in SW before. Force Bonds, Soldiers (or Assassins) who once worked for the Evil Empire joining the heroes, The Battle with the Republic and Empire still going on, the son of Han and Leia going over to the Dark Side, Luke becoming more cynical and considering killing his own family, the plots of Awakens and TLJ being the plots of Hope and Empire respectfully. We've seen all this before in SW and, IMHO, done better in films, TV Shows, Games, Comics and Novels.
As Chuck also said, in his review for Into Darkness, big summer blockbusters like that are loved in their day and then forgotten while great movies are loved forever. Sure I doubt anyone will say they LOVE the Prequels but there Are MANY fans who will say they love The Clone Wars, which IS part of the Prequels and forever will be.
And I have no doubt that TOT and TTT will always be seen as classics and loved for decades to come, because that's already happened. It has been 41 years since the release of A New Hope, and 27 years since the release of Heir to the Empire and people still talk about these stories like it was yesterday.
So will DST be seen as the Star Trek Voyager/Into Darkness of Star Wars, popular in it's day but not really something anyone talks about years later? To close this out, and referencing another point Chuck made in his review of Into Darkness with the quote from Nicholas Meyer.
"In my sort of artistic worldview, if you’re going to do an homage you have to add something. You have to put another layer on it, and they didn’t."