Unplugged: A Solo Situation - Michael talks the fate of Star Wars

[@jeenkzk5919]

Very well said! They had Han, Luke, and Leia together with a once in a lifetime chance!...and they blew it

[@kinghell9061]

Jeenkz K This is one of the most egregious aspects of this entire fiasco.

[@joncoxe3703]

I would agree with you but from all the backlash I've seen it would probably just be accused of being derivative and doing something that was a kin to the original trilogy

[@johnjamele]

They also had a great opportunity to tell us the story of how the restored republic crumbled again....and decided to punt instead.

[@monkeybubblessupperdude1016]

@@jeffpatton6358 the prequels were actually great when looked at as part of the bigger picture....sure they had their problems such as jar jar and aotc spending too much time and effort on the love story between padme and anikan...last time I looked it was star wars and not star love story but by and large the achived their aim of showing us the fall of the reupblic,palpatines rise to power and the transformation of the old republic into the galactic empire...rogue one notwitstading I don't know what this shit Disney is putting out but it's NOT starwars and NEVER will be.

[@monkeybubblessupperdude1016]

@@jeffpatton6358 I know what you were saying....a lot of people hate the prequels and got on his case so in return he said "fuck you guys...I'm selling sw to disney....and if you think the prequels are bad wait until you see the garbage Disney are going to release and you only have yourselves to blame"....and he was right.

[@jasonknight8581]

By the way Michael, I did not notice one edit or one jump cut. You just gave a 27 minute speech in one take. Impressive. Most impressive.

[@Geek_Chorus]

Those who justify Solo bombing as "Star Wars fatigue" is like a drug dealer who cuts his product with rat poison then blaming his low sales on "cocaine fatigue"

[@SniffHeinkel]

Solo failed because the fans boycotted it. They even said they were going to boycott it way before it was released. Its a shame too because I thought it was a really neat movie.

[@lazerwolfdiecast]

perfect analogy!

[@willierants5880]

@@SniffHeinkel correction, if failed because the movie was weak through and through. Had the movie actually exceeded or even met viewer expectation those boycotters would've quickly recanted their decision to boycott the movie and have seen it. I saw it in the theater and I can tell you. Nobody in my family really enjoyed it. It was a chore toi watch. We could drone on and on about how the film didn't work, but what irked me the most was the the intro between Han and Chewie. It was as poorly conceived as possible. Absolutely horrible in every way possible.

[@commandercaptain4664]

@@SniffHeinkel Solo failed because it cost a mint and was hardly advertised. Fans barely had anything to do with that.

[@WCBs]

You aren't alone in your dislike for TFA. Trust me

[@juanc1328]

Any way Katheleen Kennedy be fired or removed?

[@rahdigga6031]

I’ve hated the Disney SW movies sans Solo cause I haven’t seen it yet. But once I saw Disney getting away from the core movie themes like the wipes transitions or the title scroll of Rogue One and even in the Rebels cartoon which are classic SW it just told me the writers and directors wouldn’t respect the franchise

[@chrisesposito5530]

TFA is a great movie if you're a casual Star Wars fan that doesn't think about the movies or their meaning. If you're really into Star Wars and like to examine it's meaning and plot, TFA falls apart like a cheap card table. All shine no substance.

[@rahdigga6031]

Define casual Star Wars fan? I think a casual fan would say it was "cool" but not great. And I think you mean casual movie goer because a casual fan (someone that has watched all of the movies preceding it) would probably say "Another Death Star?"

[@carlitoandino9538]

I don't like episode 7 too

[@falleneldor]

The more Disney tightens their grip, the more fans slip through their fingers.

[@TheMellowPumpkin]

Charming to the last. You don't know how hard they found it signing the order to terminate your fandom.

[@johnr7279]

Ha ha ha ha!!!

[@blaazepower386]

I so totally agree with: «I'd rather have star wars die on its feet, than live on its knees.» For me star wars is dead (for now). Awaiting its revival, in 5 - 10- 15 years from now. I'd rather wait another decade than watch all the crap thats coming out of this studio right now. Great vid !

[@rahdigga6031]

10 minutes into this video and my applause of your analysis is thunderous

[@johnr7279]

Ha ha ha...yup!

[@commandercaptain4664]

So this is how channels thrive... with smashed like buttons...

[@Grim2]

This is what makes this channel great. Zero fear to speak out sincerely.

[@pbest4675]

You are exactly correct in every point you made. Very nicely put!!!

[@macmcleod1188]

Basic Customer Service: Do not attack your customers. TLJ was bad enough to break my interest in star wars. But kennedy, abrahms, and johnson made it personal.

[@justice2383]

You are exactly on point.Well said Michael.

[@michealcormier2555]

Well said. It's nice to hear a more balanced and more level headed analyses of the situation. Really love what you do.

[@mandofoe7447]

Thank you thank you Michael. Finally!!!! Someone hit the nail right on the freaking head!!! No imagination, poor storytelling, nonsense scripts and crappy directors. You are 1000% right. There is one version of Star Wars that is good currently and that is Dave Filoni’s Star Wars and it’s absolutely mind boggling that he is not in complete creative control of lucasfilm. Filoni for president of lucasfilm!!!!!

[@colorin81colorado]

Now that we are finally in 2021 what have we learn? We have learn that you were right all along! How can you have such a clear vision of the future?

[@diggingattycho7908]

The problem is much bigger than just Star Wars or even Disney. Keep in mind the people running the show influence the troops. We have seen at least two studios doing the same thing in recent years. Trolling the audience, while trying to push the fan base away. Hollywood has much bigger problems than a failing franchise or two or three or four. This behavior was observed in print media, they pretty much did the same thing. Along with the music industry, which today is no longer as powerful as it once was. Which I think is the problem, sure Disney is huge. But look how many other studios they have been buying up. If times for these companies was really good, none of the companies Disney bought would have been for sale. We would have have a huge catalog of movies to see, not just a handful of blockbusters. That keep following the same formula, year after year after... There is Star Wars fatigue, but it only occurs when people like the current leadership of LFL are calling the shots.

[@wikkidperson]

Ive been quoting you on this, and adding that any movie which is a test of your politics or loyalty, or which will result in you getting called names if you don’t happen to like it, ruins the fun/gives me a bad feeling about itself.

[@CarltonWhitfield]

"I just want a good Star Wars story" ---I want this on a T-shirt

[@jhunt5440]

This is one of the best thought out observations about the state of the current Star Wars films. Thanks for another great video.

[@AnikinSolo19]

Wow what an excellent topic of discussion you hit all the problems with Star Wars 100% on the head and you did it in a very mature proper non disrespectful Manor this was very well said!

[@itwsntme]

I'm with you. At first I thought I liked TFA, but over time I realised I really did not. After seeing Rogue One I realised I could not muster an iota of care for any of the new characters or stories. Went to TLJ for two and only two reasons, Mark Hamill and of course our beloved Carrie Fisher. What I got was a slap in the face so hard that I just stood there wondering if I had really seen what what I thought I'd seen. Star Wars is dead. It's become fan fiction, and bad one at that. LucasFilm will never get another dollar from me.

[@SamGuthrie1977]

Great video, Michael. I sat in that theater last winter and had to watch the great Luke Skywalker nonchalantly throw his lightsaber into the sea, suck the teat milk of a creepy alien, try to kill his own nephew (who is also his best friend's son), and then lazily "phoned it in" and unceremoniously died when his sister and friends were in dire trouble. I got up, walked out and said "I'm done with Disney Wars." I haven't watched Solo, I have no desire to do so, and I never will. There is too much ill will and ugly spirit in what Disney is doing with Star Wars. I'll never support it.

[@aarongamer4975]

SamGuthrie1977 reading this took me back to that night. star wars will never be the same again

[@harveyplissken4604]

SamGuthrie1977 Reading that reminded of my experience watching TLJ with my family on Christmas morning (I was the only one in the pack that hated it BTW). Literally, the first thing that I said once the movie was over and the credits rolled was "well, this makes me appreciate the prequels more now. Everything I said about the prequels, I take them all back. This is worse." I'll even go as far as to say that I would watch the Holiday Special before I would ever watch The Last Jedi without a second thought.

[@Geerladenlad]

Unfortunately it was lucasfilm for the current people in charge of lucasfilm that is putting politics in the movies and in my opinion that stuff doesn't belong in a galaxy far far away! Star Wars is an Escape for people. People want to come to be entertained they don't want to think about all these messages they're trying to put in there and watch them deconstruct characters that grew up on. I don't know how lucasfilm didn't think there was going to be a backlash over this.

[@xenofett7008]

Geerladenlad Exactly! Just tell a good story that everyone can enjoy and escape to. Keep politics out, left or right.

[@אנונימיתאנונימי]

Geerladenlad At least they were less blunt about that like in the OT and PT, instead of shoving it into your face.

[@joncoxe3703]

What are these politics that are supposedly in these new Star Wars movies I must have missed them all I saw was characters interacting with each other please attempt to describe it without using gender pronouns if you can

[@alexanderfish4797]

Politics has been a part of Star Wars since the beginning. It's nothing new. Phantom Menace was ALL about politics.

[@skinflutey]

Well said. As a share holder in Disney I find it mind boggling with how they are handling criticism. It’s not just Lucasfilms though. They have this same problem with Marvel comics. Personally I’m past the point of wanting KK gone. I’m starting to think it’s time for Iger to go sense he seems more pre occupied with just buying IPs and not cultivating them. I’ve never seen such a level of unprofessionalism from companies to their fans within these past few years.

[@AvengerII]

KK is an ideologue -- ultra far left -- and Iger is a businessman. Iger is NOT a creative. Creative people are NOT in charge at Disney now. Some of the business types, like Eisner did before, have fallen into the trap of believing they're adequate story editors when they have no clue about storytelling and filmmaking. They're financiers and balancing the books and talking the heads off people to get money is NOT the same thing as writing and shooting movies! They're two different skill sets and very few people are good at both! Business executives are STILL needed to keep the creatives' feet on the ground and hold them to a budget. That's the way Disney used to be run, btw. There were two brothers -- Walt, the younger fellow who created the IP's and nurtured talent within the company, and the elder brother, Roy, who balanced the books and kept Walt from spending the company into the ground! Needless to say, there was occasionally friction between those two but for nearly 40 years they kept their company together and during that time it was one of the most creative organizations in entertainment! In the same timeframe, other studio moguls came and went but by the time the late 1960s rolled around, there were very few families still left in control of the studios they founded! I think one of the keys may have been the Disneys kept control of their company and owned the majority of it. Nowadays, the company is very much answerable to the shareholders and the CEOs feel compelled to deliver a certain percentage growth every year and that puts tremendous pressure on anyone. The problem is Iger (and Eisner before) doesn't have the touch that Walt did and can't sense or predict what the public wants. We're also in a very different world now where it seems almost every major thing has been done in entertainment and it's hard to come up with anything new. That being the case, there still needs to be a high level of quality maintained (which doesn't necessarily spending into bankruptcy!) and I think that QA is broken down for most of Hollywood clearly, and arguably for Disney, too. As a FORMER huge Disney fan, it was a disappointment for me to see Disney buy up the Muppets, Pixar, and LucasFilm and ignore their own classic characters and existing properties. Oh, Disney is focusing on the Princess line and I've got no problem if they want to exploit that market (without going crazy in either direction of the political spectrum) but what about the characters I grew up with? At this point, Mickey Mouse is a symbol/a figurehead hardly remembered for his classic animated shorts. More should be done with him, Donald, Goofy, and the other characters but Disney has stepped away from this except for some very dumbed down kids shows where the animation is all done in "puppet-toon" CG which frankly looks stiff and awful. There are web shorts that have been done with the classic Disney characters but they're very cheap-looking, limited animation affairs and hardly look anything like the best animated shorts done with these characters in the 1930s and 1940s! There was no reason for Disney to go on a buying spree other than the powers-that-be obviously had no faith in their employees and felt the quick, easy to fix the situation was to buy existing, ready-made properties and make quick cash on them. That hasn't happened -- the Disney Muppet TV shows and movies have been bland, the DisneyWars mediocre at best, and while Pixar is still successful it's mired in producing sequels to all its films because that's the easy way to make a buck. Oh, you still need a balance between the creative and business sides but it's not there at Disney today. It's driven solely by business and you have business people like KK who have NO IDEA how to tell stories and they can't read their audiences and they are certainly as hell do not understand the fictional universities/properties they're shepherding, either!

[@skinflutey]

AvengerII my problem with Iger isn’t that he himself isn’t creative. It’s that he seems to be more interested in buying IPs before Disney properly cultivate the ones they have or just bought. My bigger issue is that Iger seems to not be clamping down on what his employees are saying to fans. In the past few years some major companies have become completely arrogant. With two of them being subdivisions of Disney. Then there is the espn issue but I’m not going to get into that here.

[@marcrichardson2814]

This is the most honest view on how the Star Wars franchise is being treated that I have seen on KZbin. Thank you Michael for this video.

[@lepterfirefall]

Love the MST3000 servo and crow. Awesome. Solo was a good film. It could have been better. The droid was REALLY anoying. The rest was good. This was a balanced opinion piece on the problems of the franchise. This isn't going to go away. The franchise will die on its current road. Great video.

[@mechachrist]

He needs Gypsy! And could Cambot secretly be the Retroblasting cameraman?

[@bradbruhn9586]

Peter James Ledwith I agree with you on Solo. I actually have enjoyed the anthology films more than the two new chapters Disney put out...on a side note, I noticed Tom Servo and Crow as well...where wa as Gypsy? ( I know she used to sleep through the movies on MST3K)

[@bradbruhn9586]

mechachrist, Gypsy was probably sleeping through the podcast the way she did through the movies on MST3K...her loss...it was a great podcast

[@joshmaul73]

You have just made me rethink everything I've thought about these recent star wars movies. I have been lying to myself about these movies because of my love for the original trilogy. I have forced myself to like them because I feel that if I don't I am going to lose this thing that I have loved for so long. Thank you

[@Lio_Convoy]

Man......Michael. My heart breaks for you, man. I’m not a Star Wars fan, but it’s something I know you’re passionate about, and I’ve kept up with it’s mishandling in more recent years. I’m sorry the stuff you love is being ran into the muck for the pigs to play with. If you even need a fellow nerd to rage with, I’m here for you.

[@wanpaulinacini4617]

Really glad I found your video. You nailed it Micheal, thoughtful and thorough comments on the subject matter. Good job

[@chrisgates6772]

You are spot on with EVERYTHING you said. I personally think too much damage has been done, its irreversible, and the end of TLJ was it for me. I personally think George Lucas hates this and this was never his vision. I have been a huge fan since 77 and I am female. I'm beyond disgusted and I hate walking away from a trilogy that I have loved since I was a little girl but I am tired of being angry and disappointed. The number one thing that infuriates me the most is that we never got a reunion of the big three. I will never forgive Disney, Kennedy, Etc. for that.

[@S4ns]

LucasFilm didn't learn the lesson of Ghostbusters 2016. It played politics over people. It blamed the fans instead of taking responsibility for a poor product. LucasFilm is relying on brand name recognition to carry the movies instead of good story, good writing, and good characters.

[@joncoxe3703]

S4ns the only politics in these movies are the ones you choose to see but I guess women having positions of power is political now? Or like those silly people who made Ghostbusters by assembling one of the Premier all-star casts of comedians and actors to make a movie. What the hell were they thinking trying to make something they thought people would enjoy.

[@comichound]

I think Sony knew the film they had was garbage, but knew they could manipulate people into supporting the film blindly if they controlled the narrative by making the “controversy” about sex and race. The saddest part of such petty, disingenuous behavior is they a like the little boy crying, “wolf.” By constantly vilifying the general public as racist and sexist, they trivialize the terms and debilitate attempts to criticize real racists and sexists.

[@captainbloodofkirby9526]

I will share that video with all my friends. Well said, well tought out and thanks for saying it much better than I could.

[@BenKurth]

“I’d rather see Star Wars die on its feet then live on their knees.” A perfect summation of a very, very bad direction at Lucasfilm.

[@weepingkoopa2862]

It's a quote by Emilio Zapata.

[@otfan522botjournalismisdea2]

I could not agree with you more on this point.

[@joncoxe3703]

At this point I would rather see the fandom die on its feet then Star Wars because that's what's destroying my love of it and it has nothing to do with JJ Abrams Kathleen Kennedy or Rian Johnson

[@BenKurth]

jon coxe pump the hate breaks Thanos. Lucasfilm is there for the sole purposes to serve the fans. The movie going public and the fans don’t serve Lucasfilm.

[@joncoxe3703]

Ben Kurth sweet I've never been called Thanos before! I like it!

[@Guernicaman]

Brilliantly said. It's important to also note that unlike the MCU, the new Star Wars movies feel improvised. It's like they're making things up as they go along. From the very beginning, they should've used George Lucas' basic story thread & improved upon it by getting a single creative that knows the mythology in & out. Then get someone who's read Campbell & knows story structure & character arcs that can span more than one film. For directors, they should've gotten the Steven Spielbergs, the Joe Johnstons, heck the Ron Howards, to direct the episodes & the stand alone films. People who were making movies like Star Wars back then. These brash auteur directors don't understand Star Wars. They might make other types of great movies, but they clearly don't understand Star Wars. Also, I feel it would be better if they made brand new stories within the Star Wars universe. How awesome would a new trilogy of Rogue Squadron or an Old Republic movies be? You would have the same archetypes as in the Star Wars movies, but the freedom to take risks narratively. It's wouldn't feel like you're watching a movie backwards, which was the biggest problem the prequels & even Rogue One had.

[@DarrenBrader]

Guernicaman they already have Dave Filoni who was trained by George while working in the Clone Wars series but chose to stick him working on Rebels. Which was a great show but his talent could be better used supervising all creative at Lucasfilm.

[@Peppers19781978]

Here was Lucas' plans for the new movies from a 2012 article the day after the sale to Disney... "What we do know thus far is that, once again bucking fan expectations, Lucas has decided to no longer use the revered books, the expanded universe as it is known, as they were mostly not his creations, not his stories but the ideas of others which were officially licensed by Lucasfilm with Lucas retaining the rights to draw from those stories, change them as he saw fit for future projects or avoid them all together which it appears he was now doing. Instead Lucas is launching an original story, one that will reportedly feature Luke Skywalker, now in his 30s or 40s, in a tale that will follow “Stars Wars: Episode IV - Return Of The Jedi. and will feature a young cast aged 8-16 as the new stars” Lucas felt the franchise needs to get back to being geared more towards families and kids, less darker than previous films. And while a treatment is done, it appears that George Lucas was open to other ideas." As for the writers...Lucasfilm brought back Lawerence Kasdan who wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He wrote The Force Awakens and Solo. He has been just as vital to the success of SW as Lucas. Lucas brought him also to write Raiders of the Lost Ark. Lucas also gushed over the decision of J.J. Abrams as director. Lucas' idea for Episode. Also Spielberg sadly is no longer the director he once was. Like Lucas he seems to be more into the look of cartoonish CGI over story and also seems to be making movies based on books, real life events rather than original ideas. Lucas also shunned people like that on the prequels. Ron Howard wanted to direct a prequel, Spielberg was asked but Lucas decided to do everything himself, write and direct...he he was terrible at it. He also had yes man Rick McCallum as his producer, a guy who only worked with Lucas. Lucas is a good storyteller but his stories are best when others write the scripts. When Kennedy took over, Kasdan returned, some crew from the originals returned. James Mangold, who made Logan, has been tapped to write and direct Boba Fett...genius decision.

[@RyanCzaplinski]

This is probably one of the most level-headed arguments I have heard about what is going on and I agree. I went to see Solo because I am one of those Star Wars fans who has to see everything non-animated feature film related (admittedly). Solo was substantially better than TLJ, but I can't say i'm surprised at the numbers being a lot lower due to the damage done on TLJ. It's been a huge rollercoaster with TLJ going from hating it, to negotiating and trying to reason with the why of things and learning to appreciate it more, but it's been tough dealing with what went on in that film, and especially with Luke. There didn't need to be any rush in getting rid of him, and I hated the attitude they gave Luke after all this time. I know time and tragedy can change a person, but this was a guy who saw the absolute smallest sliver of hope from a monster no one else could see ever turning back to the good side (Vader) and now he's a grumpy old man who didn't even want to train someone that his own sister vouched for... not even give her the time of day. And yes, they completely ignored so much of what TFA had strung us along with and cut off almost every last bit of mystery left in one fell swoop. It's open to start anew and they have a lot of work to do in creating an engaging story. I don't even know where it's going to go from here. I am sick of the political agenda and ignoring the fans. It's quite amazing how the same company ownership is treating this franchise completely different to Marvel.

[@ordovices7440]

It's different. Vader and Luke were in a duel right before the emperor. Ben solo was sleeping and he was just a padawan or something, no direct danger at the moment. Luke had plenty of time to talk with Leia and talk with Ben. Luke gave so many chances even to Jabba the hut before killing all of them.

[@adamperry4347]

TLJ is like a terminator, it can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with, it doesn't feel pity or remorse and it simply will not stop until SW is dead. I saw SW when it came out in 77, I was eight years old, but I refuse to gobble up any more plastic Bantha Poodo simply because it has a SW logo on it. The nostalgia of TFA sucked me in, fool me once shame on you, I went to see TLJ, fool me twice shame on me, but I won't be fooled again. George Lucas once stated, during the time he was filming the prequels and catching heat, that nostalgia can kill creativity, seems he was right.

[@classicactionfigures3454]

Excellent video. I'm glad you guys made this. I really do hope that Disney makes the necessary changes to make great Star Wars stories that we can all enjoy.

[@joncoxe3703]

Classic Action Figures it's impossible to make Star Wars movies that everybody likes there's too many time periods too many people's own special attachments to the time they watched it and there's just too much non-canon and Canon stuff spread out between cartoons multiple movies over multiple years Books & Comics. After they made the first one the cat was out of the bag you can never put it back in

[@aliciadrigo3277]

i've never watched these movies but isn't the point of business to cater to the fans of your franchise first and foremost?Sure you should try and bring in new fans,but these old fans are the ones who will seeing these movies multiple times and bringing along their friends/family too rather than a casual audience who only likely see the movie once and probably won't pick up the bunches of merchandise either. I honestly don't think people wouldn't be as upset as they are if they hadn't made the clearly nostalgia money baiting choice of bringing the OT characters back for the ST trilogy. Think about it. You could cut all the OT characters out of the main movies(that's not even getting into the pointless prequels),replace them,and nothing in the plot would change that much. Disney easily could've just focused on the new characters and while fans might've criticized the movies,it wouldn't be as bad and they would've forgotten them. It's the blatant disrespect of the SW franchise and mythos that are getting fans in an uproar. All of the trilogies are meant to be an ongoing saga(not separate standalone movies),so when the connections between TFA and TLJ are inconsistent at best(when the latter is a SEQUEL),what does that say about how much disney respects the brand? It's even more baffling to me when you compare it to Disney's other main franchise:Marvel. All of the movies have more care put into them and certainly more respect for the source material. The timeline of the Marvel films are always kept in mind when making new films so it's never jarring. It seems to me that the Marvel movies had........ maybe not a rock solid plan,but at least something of a direction they wanted to go in and the fact the the main movies are such a mess tells me that that wasn't the case with the SW ST. Marvel had David Fiege to oversee the Marvel films and it was lucky that he happens to know the source material while also having good business sense.It's too bad they couldn't find such a person for SW. all the issues Kennedy has been having with the films behind the scenes shows that she's at least a little over her head.

[@aliciadrigo3277]

Also, to me it's the height of hypocrisy that Disney declared the EU non-canon and yet pieces of the EU keep popping up in the Disney canon. it's like they can't make up their minds or they can't come up with their own stuff. The causal fan is not going to know fuck all about the EU so there's no point in putting it in there if they're aiming for a newer audience to begin with. I was surprised when i watched a video explaining that Holdo was an actual character in the EU.

[@jimrayno1361]

Lucasfilm, critics and fans of the Star Wars situation should watch this video. Beautifully said. Nice to have an intellectual articulate this perfectly.

[@jamesmincks3804]

great video. Star Wars as a brand and as a franchise is in trouble. Its slowly dying and many fans are living in denial. No imagination bad scripts and bad business and story direction are killing Star Wars.

[@contra241]

No, more fans are waking up. That's why Solo bombed. When they announced that Lando is pansexual. I said I'm done with Kathleen Kennedy's Star Wars

[@RickyPrickles]

Loved that Michael used Ghostbusters 2016 as an example, perfect comparison.

[@johnr7279]

Yeah, it was perfect, wasn't it?!

[@CosmoShidan]

How's that even perfect? GB 2016 is a superior film compared to 1984 GB.

[@JoeBeaven]

Luke Skywalker was treated the way he was because of politics. I don't see how you can separate out the politics from the storytelling. They are intertwined.

[@snarkymcsnarkface1863]

LOL i was not a fan of TFA but had TLJ been good I was willing to overlook the issues I have with TFA. Now I am #donewithdisney

[@dergrizzlyreaper]

That Crow and Tom Servo...Awesome!!! WHere did he get those??!

[@tdm7680]

"They are not good story tellers" That simple phrase says it all. The current "creators" are focused on how star wars is supposed to look (and they cant even get this right) and lack a fundamental understanding of what star wars is about. They do not understand the lore, nor have they taken the time to learn about it. This is an impatient lazy attitude and it clearly shows in the films we were given (with the exception of Rogue One). This is also demonstrated in an issue I have that many will probably disagree with me about, the claimed Ralph Mcquarrie worship by the LF team (as seen heavily in the Rebels TV show). Yes, Mcquarrie is an incredible artist and yes his ideas were the foundation of the star wars designs, but his overall aesthetic is not what made it into the films. His ideas were refined and modified by Joe Johnston and the ILM model makers, they created the final look of Star Wars. Now we have the LF creative team (including Dave Felloni) making everything look like and be influenced by Mcquarries original designs, this does not make sense and is out of place. This is a direct result of lazy cherry picking of elements that the creative team does not understand. It is infuriating to me. The overuse of the "force theme" music is another pain, but I will save that rant for later...

[@loosecannon6852]

With Crow and Tom Servo in the background, I have a new level of respect. !

[@MegaTheloki]

Oh, I'm afraid The Boycott will be quite operational when your friends arrive.

[@lifetranscendence3711]

Loki Fults that’s a great meme in the making! Just need an emperor photo!

[@jumpinjimflash]

Thank you, Michael. Great POV. Additionally, I will never forgive them for having our original trilogy characters act independently in these films. Not one heroic scene together? Insanity. Also, newsflash... These movies were always about R2 and 3PO. They are reduced to marginal gags in the new movies. Rogue One was amazing, though.

[@Hewylewis]

I like TFA and TLJ, but I understand why the majority do NOT like them. I just want the fanbase to be united again and for a star wars movie that we can ALL enjoy.

[@ChemistryTalkwithDan]

Thank you sir for being the voice of reason. It's also refreshing to hear that someone else didn't like TFA. For me that was the beginning of the end. In a way, though, the downward spiral of the movies has been a good thing for me because it's given me a reason to finally catch up on the EU books that I haven't yet read. There are some really good stories out there!

[@keymasterpete8996]

They obviously learned nothing from Ghostbusters 2016

[@keymasterpete8996]

bigevilworldwide1 I already know everything you said. Your long winded comment was pointless. But thanks anyway.

[@lordsofoctoberofficial]

A ton of people hated the Ghostbusters idea before they saw one frame. Make of that what you will. I know on the internet there were pockets of pissed alpha males organizing boycotts months before the trailer dropped.

[@jakob8800]

Wow. Perfectly articulated exactly how so many of us feel. Good work! I never comment on videos (particularly Star Wars related) because it is so toxic out there rn but had to say thanks for this.

[@lukebaldock4672]

Last Jedi sucked and the treatment of Luke Skywalker is unforgivable to me.

[@rashedqureshi7437]

Hell yes. Nicely put, Michael.

[@Mant111]

Just a detail: this isn't a chicken and egg case. Fans can only react to things, Lucasfilm can implement them. Nobody would be talking about the political side of this if The Last Jedi didn't so heavily introduce them into Star Wars.

[@אנונימיתאנונימי]

Davidt Dunlop Actaully some do and the PT politics weren't full blown far left crap. They could be even considered as pro-libertarian to some extent (God bless Bush, just kidding, he was big government money spending moron like the hypocrite liberals who complained about him). I support the separatists, they're far more interesting and contrasting than the Rebels/Republic (democrats/communists, the Ewoks are totally vile Viet Cong) vs the Empire (republicans or fascists/Nazis because it's practically the same-_-, ugh).

[@sxhbk]

Agreed .. but what is that thing behind you and in front of Crow T Robot and Tom Servo? It's huge!

[@retroblasting]

Sectaurs Hyve

[@DarthIllusive1]

Outstanding Mike! Thank you!!

[@phaserface2971]

You just articulated everything I feel right now about my old reliable love that is Star Wars.

[@TheRysumm]

Thank you for your two cents Michael! I agree 💯

[@K-7Spacestation]

Very very intriguing to listen to you shed some light on this Michel

[@Drawkcabi]

Michael, I am so thankful the fan community has your voice and levelheadedness. When something needs to be said, you say it and you say it well. Thank you.

[@MakThaNife]

I agree completely. This video expressed my sentiments about the new films to a tee.

[@IsiahTomas]

I'll second that. You hit the nail on so many points. Especially about the state of arguments. If anyone is confused why people hate politicians, they should listen to the setup of this versus situation. I have zero interest in it and complete interest in watching a well crafted story. This is coming from the perspective of one who was less a fan and someone who just grew up with the toys and games. And speaking as a fan of Teen Titans, New Warriors, Doctor Who, Transformers, and Mass Effect, I'm way too used to this baloney.

[@marshallsnyder145]

Thank you for the level headed video on what I think a lot of us feel but can't quite articulate right now.

[@BrookieSmallz]

First Starwars movie I will not be buying a ticket for seeing in theaters. Just terrible choices they are making with no good ideasz

[@timh9834]

Hi Mike, you mentioned Lucas being above politics in his vision, though didn't he insert some political commentary into Revenge of the Sith? (Obi-Wan used the word "democracy", a term never used before (or after) that movie to describe the Republic, which after all is chock full of aristocrats and royalty).

[@אנונימיתאנונימי]

Tim H There was also politics in the OT (Ewoks=Viet Cong), but the PT and OT politics were far less blunt than the new ones, plus the OT was mainly watched by kids back than so it flow over their heads. I really like the PT politics, ironically, they're more pro-right wing, but that was during the time Bush made all the hypocrite liberals semi-libertarians (you know, limit government when "evil republicans" are in charge, but when we're in charge we need to control everything "for the sake of the little man".).

[@yvonnerogers6429]

Wow! Thanks for the another wonderful video essay, Michael. I really love listening to you. I hope the pair of you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend and that the office party's a blast!

[@craigpickard8706]

Fantastic video, thank you. It's great to see genuine fans standing up. I agree with everything that was said

[@GradiusPilot]

This was very refreshing; thank you. I agree that it’s all about the creativity and NOT the politics. Lucasfilm is not focusing on character and story. I enjoyed Solo - but I almost did not go because of Last Jedi. Many of my friends have “opted out” fully. I also have a theory that one reason the filmmakers and fan base are getting more political is because the new writing has deliberately tossed out the mythological/archetypical structure of the old movies. Doing that is very risky to the balance of the Force - because it almost guarantees a more ideological subtext to the narrative. Star Wars felt timeless because its stories were timeless.

[@CuteFluff8]

Very true! Our money is our vote! Why don't they get hard core Star Wars fans to sit down and read over the script etc. to make sure their on the right track? It's like there isn't a soul on the new Star Wars movies set were fans of the fransdise.

[@10mtproductions55]

Well said Micahel, well said. I'll admit, when Lucasfilm started off the Disney era with 'Star Wars: Rebels', I actually had hope for the future of the franchise. I was one of those people who wanted to see the Star Wars universe outside of the Skywalker family by introducing new characters and expanding the universe. For the most part I really enjoyed what Rebels did. When 'The Force Awakens' dropped, I enjoyed it. Yeah it was a retread of 'A New Hope' for the most part, but I enjoyed it, but I noticed that I wasn't really connecting with most of the new characters like I had with the original trilogy. As for 'Rouge One', I felt that they nailed it with that one. It was fun to see the whole plot point of how the Rebel Alliance obtained the Death Star plans and doing it without needing to shoehorn in as many classic characters as possible. But what I really enjoyed the most was it didn't paint the Rebel Alliance up as the brave heroes that the galaxy needs. They are a war with the Empire and during war, both sides of any conflict will end up doing questionable things and actions that they'll regret later in life, but at that moment in time, they justify what they do for a greater good. It painted a picture that showed the Rebels aren't the perfect heroes that they've always been made out to be. But when 'The Last Jedi' released. It was just... disappointing on so many levels. And not in a way where I felt "Oh, well that wasn't all that great. But maybe the next movie will be better", but more like "Wow... That was 7 different kinds of not awesome." It just felt so flat and lifeless and knowing that Rian Johnson has stated that he didn't care for the fans, it showed in the final product. I'm not saying that any franchise has to exclusively cater to the fandom and just the fandom, but fandoms are important to the success of any franchise and if the creative team just goes ahead and pisses all over the fans, it's only going to hurt the franchise in the long run. Like you mentioned, It happened with Ghostbusters, it happened with Star Trek and now it's happening with Star Wars. As for 'Solo', I do plan on seeing it at some point as it is an Anthology entry rather than one of the main series Episodes, I'm just not in a rush to go and see it. But when it comes to Episode 9, I'm not sure if I want to see how this new trilogy closes.

[@nodarkthings]

You somehow manage to vocalise my thoughts and feelings on this subject perfectly. It really annoys me when people comment with a one-word "this" but, dammit! This!

[@BruceKenobi]

excellent video, you just captured the zeitgeist in a very objective way. Lucasfilm can't or won't adress the fact that they can't write this stuff in their arrogance, and that's why they tap the political side....sad to see the Greatest Franchise go down the drain...

[@earlallison]

All I can do is applaud you for your level-headed commentary. I admit I got more than a little heated over this topic, so again, well done.

[@johnathankirkland4801]

I think the truncated release timetable also doesn’t help. These were event movies that didn’t crowd each other. Admittedly there is now an 18 month hiatus until IX but these movies need time to breathe.

[@dgray7537]

Johnathan Kirkland Thor Ragnarock and Black Panther came out just a bit before Infinity war after like a decade of multiple releases per year and they all did well. Even Dead Pool 2 did good. The only reason they should rest a brand like Star Wars is to pick the next series if novels they should adapt.

[@_Only_Zuul]

this is probably the best video on youtube addressing the whole situation with star wars and lucasfilm. well said michael. thank you 👍👍👍

[@Raaaww]

I waited a long time with seeing tlj because I saw it coming in tfa. But I was still shocked by how bad tlj really was.

[@der_benson4478]

TFA was incompetent, TLJ was malicious.

[@NewAgeGigolo]

Your commentary was spot on, professional, and reasoned. Thank you on behalf of a 1977 Star Wars fan....(who is STILL waiting for my spring action missile Boba Fett figure in the mail!!)

[@azhorsley]

Thank you for the honesty, particularly about George Lucas creating the films he wanted; don't get me wrong, the prequels can't be argued as being 'good', but they are the vision of an artist. The sequel/story films are made by committee, so therefore lack any individual personality.

[@rickconsort2671]

Adrian Horsley Agreed about George Lucas. Well put.

[@joncoxe3703]

I find it hilarious that people's hate for Disney is rewriting the history of George Lucas by giving him a vision because the original Star Wars would have bombed in the box office had his wife not edited it into the Masterpiece that it is now

[@huckleberry602]

Yep you nailed it exactly.

[@jime6688]

Appreciate this observation on the war between the studio and fans. Thanks.

[@visionaryventures12]

Justice League was surprisingly a cohesive story. I don’t know if it’s one of the best, but it’s a clear story being told.

[@Ryan-vt3np]

The only star wars fatigues I am aware of is when Michael dresses up like Luke in Empire ;) thank you for such a concise level headed acurite perspective.

[@Ryan-vt3np]

And, might I add. In this world of hateful name calling and finger pointing I'm loving the troll free safety of RetroBlasting. Thank you again Michael and Melinda for putting a stop to it and giving us all a platform to discuss our passions for childish things in an adult fashion.

[@ciaranmcnulty8675]

Michael, I fucking love you for saying all this. Thank you. Incredibly well put and representative of so many viewers.

[@DarrenBrader]

George Lucas always responded to negative comments about the prequels by saying "I just want to tell my story", he never attacked the fans. George Lucas is a true visionary and always put the story first.

[@larryzeno7133]

Love you both, keep it real as usual!

[@mr.funiverse]

Another great video from a great channel

[@JohnnyUndaunted]

The lack of a vision is pretty apparent by the fact that they (supposedly) had a plot outline for the new trilogy, but they still allowed Rian Johnson to deviate from the plan completely in Episode 8 (although personally I think the apparent existence of an outline was just Disney trying to save face after seeing the backlash that the movie got). I don't see the point of a consumer's revolt against Kathleen Turner at any rate. Episode 7 was underwhelming enough for me to dissuade me from seeing the further entries.

[@Rhett-Christopher]

Awesome job Mike! I agree totally with your assessment. I saw TLJ at a theater one afternoon in Dec and there wasn't alot of people in the theater. After the movie was over I was disappointed walking out of the theater. Kinda the same way I felt about TFA. I just saw Solo in the theater and I was happy about this movie. I liked Solo! I was surprised I liked it! This Solo movie was the first Star Wars as of late that I felt I would go see in the theater or have no hesitancy to buy on disc when it was released.

[@paralentor]

Geez I didn't see the TLJ for the exact same reason. My present day fandom died the second Han did. 19:00 You had a really nice gem there 'getting wrapped up in politics leaves little room left for imagination'.

[@robertjacques6812]

This video is the Truth! Amen.

[@johnsteele2986]

I look at Rogue One and see the direction that I want Star Wars to go. It doesn't hurt the old characters but compliments them nicely, it gives a new characters we can get behind and a taste of the old action and heart that made my childhood memories of star wars so enjoyable.

[@justinreilly6619]

The fan and studio reaction to The Last Jedi, which has bled profusely into Solo has been hugely upsetting for me as a Star Wars fan. Taking out any criticism of these two movies, the hatred that comes from the two different sides to me just is not what the Star Wars universe is all about. Great post Michael, I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on a franchise that is now becoming so divisive, an island of rationality in a sea of anger. And we all know where those thoughts lead. 😢

[@juanc1328]

Three groups of Star Wars fans 1. The traditionalist/purist fans- the original Trilogy only matter, Han shot first. 2. The rebirth 90s fans- Old EU and special editions, and prequels. 3. The Modernist fans-Disney era.

[@jaredgmetz]

Excellent analysis!

[@SINCHIROCA07]

This is the most thoughtful video on Star Wars made so far, ever!

[@christopherulichney]

The number one thing wrong with modern Star Wars movies is vision. The original trilogy and the prequel trilogy were both the vision of one man, George Lucas. Lucasfilm today has no one person defining the vision of what Star Wars should be, and this lack of a center point has lead to a disjointed hodge podge of uncoordinated movies. All the modern movies tell stand alone "fan fiction" stories that are not aligned to the same vision that George Lucas had. The former expanded universe (now Legends) novels were all written by different people , but because they had to be approved by Lucas they all fallowed Lucas' vision of Star Wars. Without VISION Star Wars is not "Star Wars". Its just sci-fi using the names of Star Wars characters, and using them poorly.

[@joncoxe3703]

CHRISTOPHER ULICHNEY I could get behind that if Lucas had any vision for the franchise whatsoever. I mean let's be honest the guy claimed that he knew the entire back story of what would become the prequels which he didn't because after he made those movies had to change everything in our beloved original trilogy going as far as to change Boba Fetts voice to a clone voice and there are so many inaccuracies that lineup now between the prequels and The Originals it's laughable not to mention the fact that the original Star Wars movie would have bombed harder than just about any other movie in the universe had his wife not saved it in the editing process I mean the death star explosion wasn't even the finale of the original movie and Brian DePalma walked out of the screening that Lucas asked him to watch dumbfounded by how horrible the movie was so I have never subscribed to this b******* theory that George Lucas had everything figured out it's clear he was flying by the seat of his pants the entire time.

[@joncoxe3703]

CHRISTOPHER ULICHNEY and for the record I do love George Lucas he's just like Vince McMahon to me he's giving me some of my greatest joys but also frustrated me more than any other person on the planet

[@christopherulichney]

I in no way mean for anyone to take it that George Lucas had a master plan from the beginning and saw it through to the end. (I happen to know too much about Gary Kurtz and the goings on behind the scenes of Star Wars to think that.) But what I do mean is that every time the original concept was altered it was altered by the vision of George Lucas. Here's an example of what I mean. In Empire Strikes Back Yoda says "there is another". In the original plans (as I have heard) episodes 7, 8, & 9 were to be about searchind for Luke's lost sister, who was NOT Princess Leia. But George became tired of the whole film making process and wanted to raise his kids so HE altered his intended storyline so that Leia IS Luke's sister, to tie up the loose end of "there is another " out there somewhere. HE and only HE altered and edited the original story concept.

[@joncoxe3703]

CHRISTOPHER ULICHNEY I just always assumed he did that with Leia to try and capitalize a second time on the pop that he got from having Vader be Luke's father much the same way he put the Death Star back in Jedi to recapitalize on that lol

[@prolefeed101]

I've not been a Star Wars since the mid nineties. However, everything you said here perfectly encapsulates my feelings towards the modern film adaptations of Batman. I refuse to watch or support anything in DCs cinematic universe regardless of my love for the characters. I will still buy the comics and some of the other mediums. Well articulated man.

[@TabbyTimeOut]

A big thumbs up for your analysis. The failure of Solo is more because of the bad taste TLJ left with people.

[@vernonwilmervideo]

Star Wars, Empire, Jedi. (Original theatrical.) Those are my three Star Wars films, those are the toys I collect.

[@65Davis65]

Well said Michael. New subscriber here, very much enjoying your channel. Cheers, Davis.

[@badideabearcub2747]

That corpse analogy was inspired and on point.

[@thenuclearsandwich]

I can forgive politics in a film. I'll cringe and roll my eyes with what I disagree with but if the story is good I will look past that and give kudos where they are deserved. The story telling and cohesion between FA and TLJ is just terrible. Johnson just completely disrespected the source material with which he drew upon to create that elementary school story we got. At least with Abrams I felt like he was at least putting an effort in to capture the "magic" of Star Wars even though it fell short. It was Disney's inaugural attempt at a Star Wars movie so I forgave it. Rogue One got a bit better for me. But then comes along TLJ. I never thought I would continually check my watch and wonder if a Star Wars movie is almost over. Now with Solo here, I'm now like meh do I really care to see it. Prior to TLJ there was never a 2nd thought in my mind if I was going to see a Star Wars movie.

[@אנונימיתאנונימי]

Nuclear Sandwich I can do that for certain degree; depends on how much political references and how bad each one.

[@Phoenix2312]

Well said! There is a film to be salvaged... TLJ could be saved with whats there in teh right hands... But Johnson is NOT the right person to lead a Star Wars movie!

[@LOTRFAN33]

Nuclear Sandwich Well said. TLJ was bad regardless of the politics. They could make it all white Male characters and it would still stink.

[@scottboyer8450]

Thank you, Michael for your maturity and tact on this issue. It has helped me reconsider some of my own opinions about Disney Star Wars and Lucas Film.

[@Sano1970]

Love it, so true. Dump the politics! Star Wars is in trouble!