The Star Wars franchise has been a well-known and established property since 1977 and has continued to grow in popularity over the years.
A total of three trilogies have been released to a connected saga and have been received differently by fans.
The original trilogy is what created the fan base and will always be regarded as the best for its imaginative storytelling, the prequels were memed and the Disney trilogy disappointed.
Acting as the foundation for any and all future movies, books and video games, these three movies set the ground rules for how to bring in a broad audience, solidifying the originals as the
best trilogy.
The first Star Wars movie, later named “Star Wars: Episode IV– A New Hope,” was released to theaters in 1977 and was welcomed with positive opinions from fans and critics alike.
The special effects were revolutionary for the time and still hold up to this day.
The simple use of models will always make the trio of movies look a touch more realistic than computer– generated imagery.
Although it was a cliche story of good guys overcoming the bad guys, it worked.
The second movie of the original trilogy, “The Empire Strikes Back,” was released three years later and was welcomed with little complaint.
The plot was another easy-to-follow premise, the villains make a comeback, and people fall in love.
It even ended with the heroes on the run, separated and licking their wounds.
Having a larger budget to work with allowed for certain changes such as the lasers and lightsabers. The lightsabers, most notably, went from a fragile glowing stick to a sturdy stick that would receive its glow in post-production.
Another three years passed which brought the world the final installment of
the trilogy, “Return of the Jedi.”
The big finale to the story, after six long years, went out with a grand and satisfying finish. The heroes made a return and beat the villains one final time.
However, the idea of bloodthirsty furry bear creatures with pointy sticks being able to overpower a platoon of technologically superior soldiers twice their height makes no sense.
The original trilogy was shown to me by my parents first.
While I didn’t understand the movies at my young age, I still loved watching them. The same could not be said about what happened a decade later with the new films.
“Episode I– The Phantom Menace” is the first flop of the Star Wars franchise.
The story is confusing, it involves fictional politics with a main villain that had fans excited, just to be killed off while a hated new character, Jar Jar Binks, lived.
CGI was used in place of models for the first time, as it allowed for greater creative freedom, which is funny considering the movie was dull and easily skippable if you’re having a Star Wars marathon.
A few years later, “Episode II– Attack of the Clones” was released and is only slightly better.
The use of politics in the story slowed the plot and there was some of the most horrendous romantic dialogue that made me want to rub sand in
my ears.
However, there were some entertaining aspects such as two CGI armies’ fighting each other and the first CGI lightsaber duel.
We now come to the final installment of the prequel trilogy with “Episode III– Revenge of the Sith” in 2005.
It was greatly preferred over the last two installments because the writing became more coherent and emotional, though this may have been the result of a
stellar soundtrack.
The ending tied itself to the events of “Episode IV,” making the overall story a six chapter series of events and a complete story with nothing needed to say, psych.
Though not nearly as revolutionary as the original trilogy, the sequel trilogy made an admirable effort to expand on the franchise. This could not be said about the Disney trilogy.
The first film of the Disney empire came in 2015 when “Episode VII– The Force Awakens” was released.
The film was well received by Disney fans and had long time Star Wars fans curious.
While the movie performed well overall, it sparked a conflict between audiences and creators.
The CGI was stunning, though the story was a near copy and paste of “Episode IV.”
Two years later, “Episode VIII– The Last Jedi” was released with praise from critics and disdain from fans.
The story was atrocious as it destroyed old characters so as to favor the new members of the saga.
The story was a glorified chase scene that made stuff up to justify its existence.
“Episode IX– The Rise of Skywalker” was the film to end it all last year and was surprisingly liked by fans and hated by critics.
Much like the previous films in the recent trilogy, the CGI impressed, though the story could best be described as literary lobotomy.
It served to please the Disney fans with a satisfying conclusion to the Star Wars saga as
a whole.
The Disney trilogy is an abomination that spits in the face of the original films and should be burned out of existence.
The original trilogy is far superior as every attempt made to imitate their success could never come close.
They have established a foothold in film history that will always be fondly remembered.
