Rate the Star Wars Movies

[Mercurius]

Sure. Tell that to a bored six-year-old.

Six-year olds also prefer donuts to kale. Should we listen to them for nutritional guidance and let them decide on their diet? Ultimately it is the parents' choice what their six-year old eats, just as it is the choice of adult film producers* what they're selling to young people. What we've seen for the last 40 years is a kind of "stimulation inflation," which has encouraged a kind of numbing of the senses in younger people, who want more and bigger and faster. I see it as a kind of cultural decline.

And just so we're clear, I think we've evolved in some ways as well. But film--as a whole--has become more about dopamine excitement than good story and myth telling.

*Edit: By this, I mean film producers who are adults, not people who produce "adult films"

 

[Jester David]

Six-year olds also prefer donuts to kale. Should we listen to them for nutritional guidance and let them decide on their diet? Ultimately it is the parents' choice what their six-year old eats, just as it is the choice of adult film producers what they're selling to young people. What we've seen for the last 40 years is a kind of "stimulation inflation," which has encouraged a kind of numbing of the senses in younger people, who want more and bigger and faster. I see it as a kind of cultural decline.

And just so we're clear, I think we've evolved in some ways as well. But film--as a whole--has become more about dopamine excitement than good story and myth telling.

There’s a big difference between dietary health and getting them to enjoy a movie. You can’t force someone to enjoy a film or become a fan of a franchise.
Not anymore than I’m a soccer fan because my dad kept exposing me to games.

 

[Zardnaar]

Sure. Tell that to a bored six-year-old.

Kids these days, attention span of a gnat.

 

[Jester David]

Kids these days, attention span of a gnat.

 

[Jester David]

(This was me for a loooong while. My son had no interest in watching the movies with me.)

 

[Mercurius]

Sure. Tell that to a bored six-year-old.

There’s a big difference between dietary health and getting them to enjoy a movie. You can’t force someone to enjoy a film or become a fan of a franchise.
Not anymore than I’m a soccer fan because my dad kept exposing me to games.

Well, first of all I'd question taking a six-year old to see a Star Wars movie. But that aside, I would ask, why doesn't a six-year old today like the original Star Wars (presumably) but six-year olds in 1977 did? I would argue it is because of prior "dietary habits."

So yes, it is dependent upon what the parents expose them to. Media is a form of diet - it is food for the nervous system. If you feed a child bowls of sugar and then an apple, they'll find the apple "boring." Same thing with films.

 

[Zardnaar]

View attachment 103607

And get off my lawn.

Its more the 18-26 years olds I have noticed. Can't stay off the phones when its a health and safety thing. Feel free to get hit by forklift idiot.

 

[ccs]

Honestly, I think the views of this thread say more about how old we are here at ENWorld.

Here's the thing: younger Star Wars fans like the prequels. That was sometimes their introduction to the franchise and they have fond memories of those movies. The original trilogy can be cheesy at times, with weak special effects and really slow action scenes. A New Hope is really slow in the middle and the "fight" between Vader and Obi-Wan is kinda sad to watch. It may have been Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones that made them fall in love with Star Wars. Being more familiar with The Clone Wars they may be more attached to Anakin than Luke.
After twenty years, there's a lot of growing affection for the prequels.

1) Oh, I completely understand. When I watched PM the moment it opened there were two versions of myself sitting in that seat. My 29 year old self was watching it more from a technical PoV - and thinks Lucas could have done a better job story/plot wise. My 7 year old self though was quite entertained. But I generally like PM (and Clones & Sith - though again, my adult self is positive the story/plot could've been better). Not as much as I like the original trilogy, but I do like them.

2) And now there's TFA, TLJ, Solo, & R1 to contrast the prequels against. Compared to most on this list the prequels end up looking pretty damned good.

 

[Zardnaar]

Prequels had a better plot than most give credit. It was the execution.

 

[Jester David]

Well, first of all I'd question taking a six-year old to see a Star Wars movie.

Who do you think the Star Wars movies are for, apart from kids?
The success of the films owes as much to toy sales as the box office.