Who likes Star Wars. Why 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' can piss you off with your friends
Esquire correspondent Matt Miller ranked Star Wars movies from worst to best. Of course, every fan of the franchise will have their own point of view on this matter, and while opinions may differ radically, comparing such lists is an exciting experience.
9. Star Wars. Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Lucasfilm
Okay, Jar Jar Binks was greatly reduced in the second prequel, but those terrible dialogue completely ruined a key romance. Hayden Christensen's performance does nothing to alleviate this situation. The love that made Anakin Skywalker defect to dark side, which destroyed the balance of power - in this film it looks like an awkward theatrical adaptation of another bestseller by Nicholas Sparks.
8. Star Wars. Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Lucasfilm
Despite the abundance of annoying scenes with Jar Jar Binks, The Phantom Menace has enough characteristics that make this movie better than Attack of the Clones. Although the potential of Darth Maul was not fully revealed, perhaps this is the coolest Star Wars villain. The only memorable moments are the final battle with Maul and the racing sequence: thanks to these two scenes, The Phantom Menace is not such a lousy movie.
7. Star Wars. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Lucasfilm
Several setbacks in Return of the Jedi put the entire franchise in a difficult position. First, ewoks are soft creatures, like teddy bears. Apparently, George Lucas created them to expand the possibilities of merchandising (same with Jar Jar Binks). Secondly, a repetitive narrative in which we see another Death Star. Plus, it's hard to stop thinking about all these deaths of innocent contractors who built the Death Star, and that under the guise of the greatest villain in the history of cinema was a slightly stocky white dude.
6 Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Lucasfilm
In Waking Life, JJ Abrams did the impossible. He rebooted the Star Wars universe and still managed not to completely destroy the integrity of the franchise. More importantly, he got to the heart of Star Wars by making the story more inclusive, setting a solid foundation for the new trilogy, and sketching new circle stable characters. But there's a problem: it sticks to the same old Star Wars tropes so blatantly that it looks like a 1977 reboot of A New Hope. A little more and such lack of originality would be unforgivable.
5. Rogue One Star Wars: Stories
Lucasfilm
Plot holes aside, Rogue One should get a huge amount of credit for allowing this franchise to finally break the cycle of repetitive storytelling. Has anyone seen Disney kill the main characters? Hell no! Also, the final scene, which ties in perfectly with the opening scene of A New Hope, is extremely gripping.
4. Star Wars. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Lucasfilm
After two films, someone finally taught Hayden how to act. Not to say that he is good, but in any case, he is no longer as bad as before. Surely he was selected for this role only for his ability to frown and kill children. But Lucas really deserves credit here for managing to tie this uneven prequel trilogy quite satisfactorily. Anakin's betrayal, the rise of the Empire, the destruction of the Jedi - it's all executed ruthlessly and almost perfectly.
3 Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Lucasfilm
The Star Wars movies aren't particularly complex. They should not plunge the viewer into darkness or be ambiguous. Rian Johnson made a movie that has it all. Yes, the space cow and the casino planet were bad moves, but that's forgivable for such a great movie. This is the first film in the franchise to present good and evil as a spectrum. Movie " The Last Jedi explores the nuances of the morals and psychology of the characters far more thoughtfully than any previous Star Wars film. It's a visually beautiful chapter that successfully deflects repetition.
2. Star Wars. Episode IV: A New Hope
Lucasfilm
This is the movie that changed pop culture forever. If Star Wars ended with him, he would still be one of the greatest films in the history of cinema. Yet the creators of Star Wars have launched a franchise that, four decades later, is stronger and bigger than ever.
1. Star Wars. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Lucasfilm
The Empire Strikes Back vividly portrays topics such as love, loss, pain and fear, explaining them even to a child who has not previously come close to these feelings and emotions (the quotes "I know" and "I am your father" are forever imprinted in memory). Characters such as Han, Leia and Luke reflect the best that is in each of us. They were not just heroes, for millions of people they were living characters, real people who can feel the bitterness of loss, fear or insecurity. This film has put these characters through incredibly difficult times, but there is always hope.
0 December 9, 2015, 04:43 PMVery soon, on December 14, the premiere of a new episode of the Star Wars movie saga will take place - ( Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens). For those who are preparing to join Star Wars fans, we offer a guide to the universe.
Chronology
First of all, it is worth figuring out in what order to watch the Star Wars movie series. There is an original trilogy and a prequel. The original trilogy includes Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983).
In 1999-2005, George Lucas directed a prequel trilogy consisting of films: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Thus, it would be logical to start viewing with the 1999 film subtitled "The Phantom Menace", then the episodes should be watched in the usual order: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The fact that 4, 5 and 6 films were filmed in the distant 70 -80s should not confuse you.
It's worth noting that the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a sequel to the original trilogy - meaning it takes place after the events of the 1983 film Return of the Jedi.
Plot
In the Star Wars universe, the plot of the films is based on the confrontation between the light and dark sides of the force, political intrigues, and the struggle for power. All this here takes on galactic proportions.
To enjoy the film, you do not need to be an expert and meticulously understand all the nuances of the series. If you carefully watch the movie, then in the course of the plot everything becomes clear.
Each character has his own goal. The intrigues of the Empire and the Council are far from the center of the story. The film also describes the personal experiences of the characters: Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Obi Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Princess Leia. Their feelings and sympathies. In addition, various adventures await the heroes. Lucas is not afraid of realism, Star Wars is not a fairy tale with happy ending. Be prepared for the fact that the light side of the force will also suffer losses, and you will have to say goodbye to some of your favorite heroes.
Characters
One of the main characters in the film is Anakin Skywalker. He served the Galactic Republic as a Jedi Knight. Anakin is very sensitive to the force, at some point in his life, the Jedi goes to the dark side. After Anakin makes his choice, he becomes Darth Vader - Lord of the hostile Sith. In the second and third episodes, the role of Anakin was played by Canadian actor Hayden Christensen.
Anakin Skywalker on the light side of the force
Anakin or Darth Vader on the dark side of the force
Young Anakin became secret husband Senator from Naboo, Padmé Amidala Naberri. He then becomes the father of Grand Master Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa.
Queen of the planet Naboo, secret wife of Anakin Skywalker. Defended rights and freedoms local residents, making her the most respected politician in the galaxy. She played an important role in political events before the Clone Wars. Her role was played by actress Natalie Portman.
Luke Skywalker Son of Senator Padmé Amidala and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. The older twin brother of Leia Organa-Solo. When his mother died in childbirth, Luke was sent to the planet Tatooine, where Luke spent his childhood under the care of his guardians and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. The adult Luke was played by Mark Hamill.
When his family acquired two droids - C-3PO and R2-D2- The life of young Skywalker has changed dramatically. The droid R2-D2 carried important information for the rebels. After meeting the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke was forced to leave his former life behind.
Obi-Wan Kenobi- Legendary Jedi Master. He was Anakin Skywalker's teacher. After Anakin's fall to the dark side, he became the teacher of his son, Luke. Young Obi-Wan was played by Ewan McGregor.
Obi-Wan was played by actor Alex Guinness in the original trilogy.
Yoda- one of the most powerful and wise Jedi. Possessing longevity, he reached the title of Grand Master at the age of approximately 600 years. After a duel with Darth Sidious, Yoda went into self-imposed exile on the planet Dagoba. Master Yoda was one of the strongest Jedi of his time and the wisest of them all. In possession of a lightsaber, only the strongest Jedi could compare with Yoda.
Han Solo became famous throughout the galaxy as a participant in the Rebellion. In his youth, Khan managed to enter the service of the Empire. Solo put an end to his career when he stood up for a slave - Wookie Chewbacca. Together they escaped and eventually became partners. Khan later purchased the Millennium Falcon and became a smuggler. He played the role of Han Solo in the film, the character turned out to be bright, charismatic and with a sense of humor.
Leia Organa-Solo Daughter of Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala, twin sister of Luke Skywalker. Organa is the unwavering leader during the Galactic civil war and other subsequent galactic conflicts, became one of the greatest heroes Galaxies. She later married Han Solo and became the mother of three children. She was played by Carey Fisher in the film.
Star Wars in Russia
The fourth episode, the world premiere of which took place back in 1977, was released in our country only in 1990. It is noteworthy that the premiere of the fifth episode took place two years earlier - in 1988, the film was shown for the first time at the Horizon and Zaryadye cinemas as part of the US Cinema Days in the USSR.
In the summer of 1990, the Ostankino TV channel (now called Channel One - ed.) tried to organize a Star Wars television premiere and show Episode IV. A New Hope. However, after a warning from Sovexportfilm and subsequent demands from 20th Century Fox, the premiere is cancelled. The reason for the claim was copyright infringement: the TV channel acquired the rights to show from a company that only had the rights to broadcast the film in the cinema.
Later it turned out that Russian distributors refused to purchase the Star Wars trilogy for wide film distribution. For this reason, the acquaintance of the Russian moviegoer with the films of George Lucas was delayed.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a sequel to the 1986 film, subtitled Return of the Jedi. The action takes place thirty years after the death of Darth Vader. The galaxy is still in danger. public education New order led by the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke and his right-hand man Kylo Ren is trying to seize all power.
Unexpectedly, fate brings the girl Rey and the former New Order stormtrooper Finn with the heroes of the war with the Empire - Han Solo, Chewbacca and Queen Leia. Together, the team prepares to confront the New Order.
Images from the movie "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
The sequel was directed by JJ Abrams. Star Trek"). Actors Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher returned to their roles. The audience is also waiting for new characters, modern special effects and unexpected plot twists. The fantastic film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will be released in Russian cinemas on December 17.
The new film from the Star Wars franchise, The Last Jedi, narrowly fell short of the world box office record of the previous series and divided viewers into two irreconcilable camps. Some curse the Disney company and the creators of the picture, others lavish enthusiasm and consider it perhaps the best part of the saga. Medialeaks figured out why this is happening.
After the premiere of The Last Jedi on December 9 in the United States (we had it five days later), the box office receipts for the film for the first weekend became known, and they speak for themselves: $ 450 million worldwide, not counting China (the film will be released there). January only), according to Box Office Mojo. Thus, the eighth installment of the Star Wars franchise took second place in the ranking of the highest grossing opening weekends. The first place is occupied by the seventh part - "The Force Awakens".
At the same time, The Last Jedi, on the one hand, collected a lot of positive reviews in all the world's media, and also reaped a storm of enthusiasm in social networks, and on the other hand, no less sharply. negative reviews. Opinions about the film are polar: some consider it the worst in 40 years, others - if not the best, then at least one of the best.
Film critics are almost unanimous. The Roger Ebert website rated it 4 out of 4. Positive reviews have appeared in many major publications. The New York Times wrote that The Last Jedi is "filled with magic and mystery".
Indeed, everything in the film acting heroes- women, men either do stupid things, or are shown as scum, or hesitate and suffer, a separate episode of the picture is devoted to criticism of capitalist exploitation, and racial diversity was enhanced by the fact that a woman with an Asian appearance was included among the main characters. This explains the alt-right dislike of the film.
The same picture in Russia: critics love The Last Jedi and do not hesitate to write about it not only for money, but also for free, in in social networks. The film brought together people of completely different tastes: Vasily Stepanov from Séance, Anton Dolin from Meduza, and Roman Volobuev, a former Afisha columnist.
Vasily Stepanov
Anton Dolin
My Star Wars.Spoilers here are tiny, almost imperceptible. For me, it's not a spoiler at all. But there may be other opinions.
Roman Volobuev
Fak it, I sit down to write a fan letter to Rian Johnson.An exception was Stanislav Zelvensky's review in Afisha, who wrote that being considered "one of the best" episodes, of which there are only eight and three of which everyone hates, is "not a very great achievement".
However, in Russia, the film was not accepted by sincere fans of the saga, who grew up on the old parts of the 70-80s. This is clearly seen in Russian user reviews. The most popular review of Afisha describes the film this way:
I do not know what to say. Badly. Unspeakably bad. And no, not bad movie rather bad feeling after watching. It's like you've been spat into your soul.
To sum it up, the Disney evil corporation has completely mutilated and finished off one of my favorite franchises. They destroyed almost everything for which the series of these films received worldwide recognition. And it pains me to see how this film is biased by critics, bloggers and corrupt media around the world.
Meduza editor Mikhail Zelensky formulates this position as briefly and intelligibly as possible.
Star Wars is not losing popularity. Photo: vanityfair.comToday marks the 40th anniversary of the most famous science fiction franchise of the twentieth century. Her symbols are so ubiquitous that even those who haven't seen the series know a lot about her.
For example, everyone remembers who Ewoks are and what they look like. However, this word is never heard in the original trilogy. Films and their marketing have become so widespread that some things from this universe seem to us to be taken for granted.
Star Wars is 40 years old, and for the universe's birthday, they released a teaser for the eighth part - "The Last Jedi" (or "The Last Jedi", many argue). And this means that interest in films has increased again.
But what is the success of Star Wars? Why this weird sci-fi movie has become so popular since 1977 cultural phenomenon?
Reason 1: "Star Wars is a great mix of old and new"
The Star Wars universe is built on various films: stories about World War II test pilots, films by Akira Kurosawa, and even B-movies.
Nevertheless, the plot of the film is quite universal - the teenager Luke, like any person of his age, is bored with the monotonous planet Tatooine. Suffice it to recall the moment in which Luke looks at the two suns of Tatooine - it's a familiar feeling for 17-year-olds when we realize that there is something else beyond this world, although we are not sure what it is.
Star Wars is literally built on the bones of other films. But Lucas turns a familiar plot into something people haven't seen before. The original Star Wars is the perfect impulse generator. It begins with Luke meeting several robots, and ends with the kid blowing up a huge, deadly space station. The construction of history is gradual and entirely inevitable.
The trilogy was also captivating from a technical point of view at that time, although now it is almost not noticeable. And Gilbert Taylor's cinematography beautifully transforms scenes on Earth into views of other worlds.
Reason 2: Star Wars is the most engaging fictional universe
Critic Drew McWeeny points out one important thing that few people notice: everything has a name. He wrote: "One of the things that really makes Star Wars such a powerful fantasy world for young viewers, is the detail density. They want to know the names of every strange and bizarre thing they see on the screen, and they like to say the names, they like to brag to each other that they remember them. They can dig as deep as they want, and they keep coming up with little things to look at, talk about or add to the current game of the imagination.”
Children like to know what is called, they like to know everything about their hobby or favorite thing. This can manifest itself, for example, in remembering each indicator about each player in a particular sport. Star Wars is tempting to memorize everything, because the universe is spelled out in detail.
People love things with the Star Wars logo. Photo: tbo.com Reason 3: It's a marketing machine
Star Wars has long been a brand. An incredible amount of merch made Lucas a real rich man. Star Wars stuff is sometimes more important than the movie itself. Such things become fashionable, and even those who have not seen a single part are already wearing them. This helps the franchise to remain incredibly popular year after year, even if new films don't come out for decades.
Sometimes it seems that the prequels were filmed solely so that children could be interested in collecting goods.
It's very easy to be cynical about certain aspects of the Star Wars machine, as they are now, in many ways, turning into a series of blockbusters similar to previous films.
This is especially true now, since Disney acquired the rights to Star Wars and all of its characters in 2012. The Force Awakens got huge promotion, and the studio basically eliminated Lucas from production process. What this means is that films are now turning into placing favorite characters in various life events. Some of the films are likely to be quite good. But the important thing is that you keep buying things with the Star Wars logo.
Reason 4: Star Wars was the first - and we are all living in their shadow
Star Wars has generated many references, and many modern heroes are similar to the characters in the universe. Between another famous movie, « gone With the Wind”, and the first Star Wars film is also 40 years apart. However, it is much easier to make connections with Star Wars and modern heroes than with Star Wars and pre-franchise characters.
But at the same time, this history consists of problems that have existed for millennia, of basic values and beliefs. Star Wars, no matter how strange it may sound, is one of the first built on myth in modern processing. And that means they touch everyone. After all, everyone in childhood heard fairy tales about the beautiful young guy, a princess, a wise old man, a group of like-minded people and a dragon to defeat.
