Few film franchises have achieved the legacy of Star Wars. Released in 1977, A New Hope, originally only referred to as Star Wars, spawned a multimedia empire to which new content is being added nearly every day. Countless novels, comics, and television series that all take place in the ***Star Wars universe, as do the three trilogies and multiple standalone movies.
Star Wars has a fascinating history with its own distinct eras, from the original trilogy up to its recent purchase by Disney.
Admittedly, going into this project, I was biased. I’ve never really understood why people were so attached to Star Wars, but I could see why and how the original trilogy had impacted media, most notably sci-fi media, as it offers an extensive universe for fans to explore and will influence countless generations of storytellers to come.
So with that in mind, I sat down to watch the main line of Star Wars feature films. That is, the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, and the Disney trilogy, which I watched in chronological order, based on the release date.
To serve as an official warning: this article will also be discussing spoilers for all of the films.
Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
The original trilogy was never supposed to happen — and you can tell. Watching A New Hope, it’s clear that the writer, George Lucas, was not thinking that it would ever become a trilogy. There is no set up for the events of the later films, and the movie ends with a big, celebratory ceremony. This makes no sense when the next film tells us that, while the Rebels have secured a major victory over the Empire, there is still a war going on and it’s too early to celebrate.
A New Hope is the shortest film at 121 minutes, barely two hours long, and yet its overly simple story doesn’t make it a compelling watch. I loathe to call it a beat-for-beat illustration of Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey,” but it cannot be denied that it is apt. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) goes on the hero’s journey with no major deviations from that formula. This wouldn’t be a bad thing if Luke was a character who had any interesting traits. Luke, at least in this movie, is a very flat character. The only real major motivation he has is wanting to know who he is, which mostly comes in the form of asking his uncle who his father was. He would have been more compelling if he had actively made the choice to go on the adventure, given it’s his motivation from the start to not be on Tatooine.
The film is a space opera and gives the audience the knowledge that this universe is expansive while keeping the story constrained to only a few planets, allowing them the space to ponder what possible planets left unexplored by the series may look like. Coupled with the very loose mythology and limited explanation surrounding the Jedi and the Force, which functions as a soft magic system, this adds a sense of wonder to the universe.
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The Empire Strikes Back is the most emblematic of the writing problems apparent in the original trilogy. When approached as a whole, one can very plainly see that each part of the narrative was written separately, which makes the storytelling feel inorganic. This is made worse when coupled with the very loosely defined rules about how the Star Wars universe works. While the vaguely established rules of the universe are fantastic for fans looking to make their own stories with as little limitation as possible, it is not good groundwork for a universe-expanding adventure. The fact that Obi-Wan’s ghost is pretty much only included to provide exposition instead of organically building the world is disappointing.
The big reveal really bothered me. Near the end of the film, it’s revealed that Darth Vader did not kill Luke’s father, but rather was Luke’s father. Knowing this going into the movie, it’s easy to miss, or ignore, that this reveal has no set up. In fact, in A New Hope, Obi-Wan tells Luke who his father was (while never naming him), but his story suggests that Luke’s father was not intended to be Vader.
Another problem this movie suffers from is the poorly written romance between Han and Leia. The way the characters interact with each other doesn’t convey that they like each other, with much of Leia’s physicality and lines suggesting that she is mildly annoyed with Han’s antics.
On the whole, The Empire Strikes Back was stronger both in writing and acting than ***A New Hope, while still not being that great a movie.
Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
Return of the Jedi is the strongest cinematic experience of the original three movies. Mark Hamill delivers his best performance from the original trilogy. The relationship between Han and Leia is better written and there is a lot of chemistry between the two actors.
This movie has the most unique alien designs, brought to life through a mix of puppetry and visual effects. The film begins in the residence of Jabba the Hutt at a party with all different kinds of alien guests, showing the stunning array of character designs in play. This movie has ewoks (small bear-like aliens) and a significant period of time is spent on Endor, a forest-like planet that has the strongest environment design of the planets in the original movies. C-3PO’s side story in this movie as a mechanical ewok god is fantastic and hilarious.
There are still problems with this movie, as the writing is still lacking and the Force still isn’t defined well, though this does keep a certain degree of wonder around the magic system. The twist that Leia and Luke are siblings is bizarre and not set up effectively.
The movie runs a little long, and I definitely felt it should have been over even when there were still 45 minutes until the end.
Episodes I-III: The Prequel Trilogy (1999-2005)
The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), and Revenge of the Sith (2005) are all not great. They run long, there are very few standout performances, lots of the puppeteering had been replaced by dodgy CGI, and the dialogue strikes an infuriating chord which is not realistic, but also not stylized effectively.
That being said, I enjoyed the concept of these movies. The idea of telling the story of the Empire’s rise to power, while looking very directly at how the world and politics function, is interesting and set up parts of the world that should have been set up previously — the execution, however, is lacking.
It’s at this point where I’d like to state that I don’t think that George Lucas is a very good writer. What he is great at is creating worlds that are visually engaging and capture the imagination, and I do see some of that in these movies. The Phantom Menace has the most strikingly designed antagonist of the series: Darth Maul. These movies are easy to make fun of and, as far as I can tell, thoroughly hated by the Star Wars community. They’re not great.
Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Going into The Force Awakens, I was skeptical. I had heard that it was long, and basically just A New Hope retold for a new audience. Disney is known for taking stories and watering them down for the sake of being family-friendly, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the film. Part of this was the more modern approach to the film in writing both action, with there being proper build up and pacing to it, and characters who all felt dynamic. The cast consists of characters that are both new and returning, and that all have well-defined personalities and clear motivations. Each decision made by a character feels like it has been informed by how that character has grown up and how they see the world. The events of the original trilogy have been mythologised in this movie and the sheer scope of the universe of Star Wars makes this believable.
That being said, not all of the worldbuilding it sets up really works or is necessary to enjoy the larger canon. While the deeper look into the First Order’s treatment of stormtroopers is interesting, they still function as fodder enemies. This allows for some, but not all, to have empathetic connections to the audience. Rey’s insistent search for a family is believable but doesn’t have the writing to support it. The First Order and Kylo Ren’s ideologies feel undefined: I know they are bad, but I’m not certain why they are bad, other than Kylo Ren’s clear idealization of Vader. This feels like it should be more of a commentary on how people latched onto that character than it is.
More than anything, The Force Awakens feels a little like a Star Wars film for people who aren’t all that into Star Wars.
Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
The Last Jedi (2017) is fine. Mark Hamill is back, and with the experience he has gained far surpasses his performances in any of the original movies. There’s a lot of backfill lore on the Jedi, as well as the on socio-economic divide between classes in the Star Wars universe.
Kylo Ren and Rey have an interesting storyline about being the last two young people with any real training with the Force, and that dynamic is fun to watch play out. Finn’s continued dedication to Rey feels very real as the two of them are the only real friends either’s ever had, and I like that it remained platonic. The storyline with Finn and Rose is interesting, despite the rushed romantic relationship, because of how the characters play off of each other with their clashing ideals.
Finn and Rose’s relationship also brings up the point that the romantic relationships in Star Wars never have the proper chemistry, build up, or writing behind them to warrant their existence. These movies would be as or more enjoyable if there wasn’t any romance.
However, this film has the best designed planet of the Disney trilogy: the planet Crait, which is as striking as anything from the original trilogy. The mineral salt turning red through contact with the spaceships in the climactic battle is a particularly strong example of this. This movie also showcases impeccable creature design; both the crystal creatures and the porgs are excellent.
I’ve seen some criticism on the sudden reveal of Leia’s Force abilities, which in this series is laughable considering that not only has ***Star Wars never had good setup for any of its twists, but this was actually mentioned in Return of the Jedi. I find it within Leia’s character to know she has the ability, but to never use it until absolutely pushed to.
Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Going into the film, the general buzz around it was disappointment. While there were a few baffling writing choices, my feelings on the movie were positive. Much of the sequel trilogy harkens back to earlier films, both in its story beats and planetary aesthetics: beginning on desert planets, the snow planet and the salt planet, and this movie’s main location is a tropical jungle, a clever nod to Endor. This, for fans of the original movies, would probably feel quite pandering — but as an illustration of the theme of the trilogy being a legacy, it is an effective tactic.
The parallels between Rey and who she’s descended from feel very much in line with Luke’s personal arc from Return of the Jedi — but could be further explored. Kylo Ren switching sides only comes after the significant loss of his mother and an act of kindness, which is believable, but Leia’s training as a Jedi feels incredibly out of character from how she has always been written. Though the amount of emotion that this gives the film is really effective.
For Star Wars fans, it’s probably heartbreaking to see something they love so dearly watered down for a general audience. The Disney Star Wars is really just the old Star Wars rewritten and remixed for people who are just getting acquainted with the franchise.
Star Wars will not connect with everyone, but as a living, breathing universe to be explored it offers an extensive world for one to get lost in, with a dozen different tones of stories to be told there. It’s entertaining to watch what is essentially a galactic family drama, and a war movie. There is the groundwork of a compelling world, with different locations, cultures, technology economics, and socio-political ideas that can be expanded, adapted, and explored for generations to come. This is the legacy of Star Wars.
