RECOMMENDED. Movie/s. “Star Wars Trilogy.” The first set of three films produced in the Star Wars franchise by George Lucas. 1977: “Star Wars.” 1980: “The Empire Strikes Back.” 1983: “Return of the Jedi.” Then there was a prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, and a sequel trilogy between 2015 and 2019. And so on and so forth.
Collectively, all these or post-1983 (including the first 3) are referred to as the "Skywalker Saga," which I don’t really care about. As far as me is concerned, “Star Wars” ended in “Return of the Jedi.” Sure, there was a woman Yoda named Yaddle, and there could be LGBT or trans or dog and cat versions of the Old and Green Master, as well as New Correctness equivalents of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2. I bet Ewoks would be “inappropriate” so puppies and kittens may replace Ewoks?
The Galactic Civil War is fiction, not a fact. The fight between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire, to me, is classic Bad vs Good played up in grand make-believe cinema. Not Republicans vs Democrats or Conservatives vs Liberals. So don’t push it, okay? LOL!
If you are a fan of Akira Kurosawa and have seen “Kagemusha” (1980) and “Ran” (1985), there are striking similarities. But the former was set during old Japan’s Sengoku period (1457 to 1615), long before the United States was born, and the latter was based on William Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
The genius of George Lucas is his sheer improvisational inventiveness (in melding historical facts and what “could be” future parallels) and amazing flair in effectively crosscutting a coterie of you and me characters with fantastical inventions without losing grip. Did I see all these in succeeding prequels and sequels and spinoffs? I don’t know. I don’t even know what post-1983 Star Wars derivative I saw, started and didn’t finish, or is there another one or two coming?
That’s when we lose the magic and realism of “Star Wars.” Commercialism’s nauseating excess. 🎬🎭🎬
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