Agree to disagree then. To me it was a bunch of nothing that failed to advance any true story.
I'm a hardcore Star Wars nerd. Hard. Core. I despise Episode 1 and 2. The last time I saw them was in the damn theatre when they were released. Damn, I was at the grand charity premiere in DC for Episode 1 in 99 almost a week before it was released, with the reception care of the Tunisian ambassador if memory serves. (Figured he probably got shot during the Arab Spring uprising.) Like I said, hardcore SW fan, and also one of the biggest Ep 1&2 haters around. Wizard? Die, Jake Lloyd, die.
So all that said... Episode 3? Sorry, as insane and deluded as Lucas got, Episode 3 is as good as Star Wars gets. After order 66, when the Jedi die and Anakin kills the freaking Padawan kids? I could watch it a million times and still get chills.
But regardless of quality, the actors? Ain't gonna be around forever. Now is the time where they are aged perfectly for a next generation movie as parents. That's why I love it when actors return one last time to a role they defined, and that defined them. Recast all you want, use CG to put them in after they die. It isn't the same.
Me? I love watching old movies that an actor returned to a role they made one last time, even if the movie and plot suck. Because at the end of the day, that's all she wrote. One last message left to the annals of history, one last time playing that magical role. Seems most think that stuff degrades a legacy, but me, I enjoy knowing there's that one extra tale in the cosmos with them in that role. Because although 99 might be utter garbage, there's always that one that recaptures the magic.
And now that Lucas is hands off, all the creative people inspired by the OT, that worship and could contribute to new, better stories, with all the money invested? If these suck, they'd have to almost intentionally blow it so long as Lucas isn't involved.
If these movies don't have Mark, Carrie and Harrison? F*** them. So long as that hasn't been ruled out, it's the reason I await their release.
