i finished the star wars universe: part I

May 4, 2024

Trilogies, stand-alone movies, novels, comics, seasons of series… an investment of years, a test of patience, a roller coaster of frustrations. That’s what it took to get me there: To make every major character, event, timeline in the Star Wars franchise relevant to the memory of a layman who didn’t know anything about it before 2017. Before that, I’d heard the name Obi Wan (my mother used to call me that), and I knew there was a guy in black suit, who was father to some main boy. I’m still quite the anti-fan about this whole thing, but there were some highlights that kept the journey bearable and going for me, and there are definitely some complains to rant about. Join me in a series of painfully long articles, because you have nothing better to do with your life.

disclaimer before the geeks get agitated: there is probably no one on earth who actually “finished” SWU with all its canon+legends material. the amount of material I claim as the finishing point is the one I feel saturated with.

what is the big deal about this? the original trilogy.

Let’s set the records straight. Looking back from the modern times to the “original trilogy” of the 70s, which is the perfect monolith every other follow-up tries to live up to, it is not well above mediocre. What I felt about the Indiana Jones movies of Harrison Ford, is probably what I feel about the Star Wars trilogy of Harrison Ford as well.

It was in 2017 when the second movie of the sequel trilogy (The Last Jedi) was hyped, and before I found the nearest undubbed theatre in Italy (70km away), I tasked myself with watching the original trilogy as well as the first movie of the sequels (The Force Awakens). I was honestly confused after watching the original trilogy, with one thing in my mind: All this fandom, demand for endless merchandising, decades of legacy, the IP that is bought for billions by a giant like Disney… should’ve originated from much better movies. I immediately fired this question to some internet people who previously worked in IGN Turkey: “What was the big fuss about?” The answer was simple. Indeed, if you watch them today, those movies won’t be that big of deals. But if you watched it then, as a kid, looking at things that were never reflected on the screen before, it would have been magical.

So, long story in short. It is revolutionary in terms of production. State-of-art visual effects, models, props. Extensive art design that gives character and life to a whole fictitious galaxy with its species, planets and technology. So I am supposedly looking at the Mona Lisa of film production… That’s OK. But I’ve never looked at Mona Lisa for more than 5 seconds. After all, I am no art historian.

Isn’t there anything noteworthy in them? There sure is. (I recently re-watched the original trilogy.) There’s the music. There is a scene with Luke standing in front of the double-sunset sky, with the music on the background. There’s a thrilling sequence involving Lando. There’s a good dynamic between the apprentice and his small, green master with an exceptional humour. I think I did justice to the original trilogy with this paragraph.

hundreds of hours of investment… is it worth it?

See the question above. Well, the answer might actually be yes, on a condition. Despite everything disappointing I said about the best trick of the whole franchise, it still deserves a chance depending on the following: Do you like The Mandalorian? Did you like the first seasons of Ahsoka, or Andor? Rogue One? To the extend that you’d enjoy it more if they were a lot more relevant? Then hell yes, it’s worth it. The Mandalorian, for example. I liked it from the get-go. But damn, it was hard to understand the relevance of that drop of water in a vast sea. Now I like that the sea is known waters to me. And when I saw Luke in Season 3, I could feel something. Something big.

Sorry to disappoint the hardcore fans, but, despite all the shitty writing and murderous decision-making by Disney, these Disney-produced shows, although not deprived of the same Disney habits at all, are way more thrilling, and better reasons for me to dive in this universe, than the original trilogy.

Though it doesn’t end there. Grand Admiral Thrawn (introduced with novels in the 90s) is a character that is worth getting to know. Ahsoka, although starts out as an annoying teen in late 2000s, is one to cheer, root, and deeply feel for. “The chosen one” of the good guys is so intriguing to discover, with the prequel trilogy and the comics that followed, how he can be systematically corrupted to become the machine of destruction for the evil. These are some of the attraction points that would still exist without the live-action Disney+ productions.

I think at the end, if you are on a very tight schedule, want to dive into something self-consistent, not exploited and sold out carelessly by a giant corporation, not thriving on the nostalgia of a mediocre trilogy, and if you still haven’t involved with some of the most popular fantasy universes like the Witcher’s, Lord of the Rings’, whatever… better go do that instead of this. Though if you have some catalyst, like a group of friends whose SW chatter you’d like to get, like an abundance of time, or a particular curiosity about a particular SW character/story/time period, then dive in like I did, and bear all the negatives that comes with it while enjoying the positives here and there.