I could likely go into another essay just by responding to all of this. I agree with a lot of your ideas and opinions, but I also look at things a bit differently, too. I’ll hit some of the big points I want to respond to:
I would honestly argue that the Bionicle fanbase is one of the tamest fanbases I’ve ever seen on the large scale. We have our debates, our discussions, but at the end of the day, we can all join together under the livestream of the Biocraft film and join to type “BAN MARKUTA” into the chat. I mean, one of the three virtues is unity, something we have. The fanbase is both diverse yet unified, and Star Wars does not have that ability.
You can almost define a Star Wars fan by which trilogy they tend to prefer. I myself could be defined as a prequels fan, which I often am assaulted for. I have a few friends who are also prequels fans, and a few friend who are OT fans, and a friend who is a sequels fan (we frequently bash on him, so I’m not saying that I’m clean of Star Wars fanbase bloodshed).
Bionicle works differently, because while I am an '07 fan, I also am a All-Year fan, and find not a single year completely worthless. I have my dislikes and my preferences, and I will debate over them (Toa Inika = bad, Toa Mahri = good), but at the end of day, I am overall a Bionicle fan, not a particular year. I know you could make an argument for G1 VS G2, but that’s still much less division that Prequels VS OT VS Sequels VS Legends VS Rebels VS Clone Wars VS Spinoffs (the last two of which I could also declare myself a fan of). The Star Wars fanbase constantly seeks to kill itself, which is awful because it makes me want to enjoy spending time with Star Wars fans less. I even kind of gave up on Star Wars for a bit, until the Mandalorian came out.
I’m not actually sure whether or not I can agree with this. I enjoy every Star Wars movie, and therefore I still have a positive opinion of each, but that’s when they stand alone. If I move them to compare with each other, that’s when I appear to dislike some movies.
[details=Star Wars movies I don’t like compared to the others and why because I wanted to write this down but you guys probably don’t want to read it]I have seen ANH so many times and heard about it so many times that I feel as if all the fun and color have vanished from it. I say it’s my least favorite film, not because I don’t like it, but because I don’t have a whole lot of fun watching it.
I totally see TFA looking so much like ANH that that one falls next in line, despite its few and mainly uninteresting differences.
And then, RoS I probably would not be so hard on if it wasn’t the last film of the Skywalker Saga. I wasn’t wanting Endgame. I was wanting a good, exciting finale, at least decent. I didn’t expect to have one, no, no, but I just wanted a fluid, fun movie and I did not see myself get that.[/details]
Whenever a line of expectation is built by the fans and the film does not meet or exceed it, no matter how good it is, it will likely be hated upon.
I believe each trilogy at least as something good going for it:
Prequels = Best stories (I know I’m going to get attacked for this one, I already have, but I truly believe the prequels have brilliant plots and could be fantastic if redone, my main problem with the films is the dialogue)
OT = Best reality (They turned out the best overall, despite an underwhelming plot if you strip away the characters, setting, really the only brilliant moment is the big twist everyone in the world knows)
Sequels = Best visuals (They really were good)
I truly believe haters should louder than lovers.
I may be being overly optimistic, but I think/hope this is true for all three prequels
Which makes absolutely no sense with his character, but then again, his character itself made no sense in the movie
THIS is what dooms films. But, not giving the fans what they want also dooms them.
I think the biggest flaw with the sequel trilogy is a flaw I see with so many Disney films that I am critical towards: they play the audience for nostalgia.
Force Awakens, they just re-skinned A New Hope, which certainly warrants debate, but I am not looking for an argument, merely a response to this. they used that nostalgia to make you like the movie… until people realized this and hated it for it.
Nostalgia is a weapon. It will make or break a film/product. In the cases of Star Wars, we can see where it fails, excluding a few instances such as the latest season of Clone Wars and the spinoff films. I still think Endgame handled fan service/nostalgia properly.
The trick about nostalgia is that I believe you can never make it the main attraction to your movie. If your film doesn’t stand good on its own, nostalgia will not support it. Nostalgia is a bonus.
No. The Prequels must reign supreme.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I love Star Wars. I love a lot of it, I like another big chunk, I’m indifferent towards a bit, and I despise a part as well. The same thing goes with every franchise I’ve ever been invested in. I know I love different parts than other people, and I know that others hate the parts I love (especially this part), but I also know that my opinion is mine and that their opinion is theirs. I spoke with a friend of mine about RoS, and I, who didn’t really like it, could not, no matter how hard I would ever be able to try, be able to overcome his strongest argument for why it’s his favorite piece of Star Wars media of all time: “Well, I enjoyed the movie.” We have evidence, debates, and logic, but all of that can be trumped by opinion, regardless of how valid it is.
Star Wars for me has never, ever been about the movies. It’s tied for my favorite franchise of all time (or at least up there), and yet only one of the eleven (thirteen if you count Clone Wars film and Holiday Special) films makes it into my top ten favorite movies of all time (Rogue One hype). Star Wars has been about the world, which is why I prefer the Clone Wars and the Mandalorian and Jedi: Fallen Order to 10/11 movies. It’s just who I am. I love the aliens, the ships, the planets, the bounty hunters, the battles, so maybe that’s why I like the things I do about Star Wars.
TL;DR
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Bionicle is far more united as a fanbase than Star Wars, my reasoning is explained above.
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I enjoyed every Star Wars movie as a movie, but not every Star Wars movie as a Star Wars movie.
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Every trilogy has at least something that makes it cool.
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Hate shouts louder than appreciation.
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Prequels are comin’ back…
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Kylo Ren is weird
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Film studios should focus a lot more on making a good movie over using the fans’ nostalgia against them, or else they will easily be trashed on (look at live action Lion King, if you want a clear example).
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Prequels are great
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Opinions will overpower logic, for better or for worse.
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I like Star Wars as a world more than Star Wars as a set of films.
I guess that’s all I felt I needed to say. Oh, yeah, I should mention that nostalgia isn’t a massive factor into me liking or disliking Star Wars (it still is one, for sure), for all films except the Phantom Menace, which, as a kid, was my favorite of the four films I was able to watch, that and the OT. So, in other words, if Disney wants to play my nostalgia, put Jar-Jar into a bunch of things. I still like 'im.
Also Disney is garbage and should let Marvel and Star Wars and Pixar do their own thing.