Kevin's Watch

Okay I know how that sounds. "I miss Star Wars". Isn't Star Wars all around us? Aren't the films replayed continuously on various cable channels? What about the Clone Wars tv show on Cartoon Network?

In many ways Star Wars has been a constant in our lives for decades but that's not what I'm getting at here.

Love them or hate them while the prequel trilogy was being created there was a subtle level of excitement and anticipation that was floating around in the air like medicholorians. Sure I was crazy disappointed with The Phantom Menace even though I went back to see it 3 times. However at the time I remember thinking "That kind of sucked but we'll get 'em next time."
Well the Clone Wars was a little better...kind of, so I can't say I was crushed when I finally saw it. Revenge of the Sith was even better though by the time the film came out I knew that the prequels had managed to make me appreciate Return of the Jedi far more than I ever thought possible and that the original trilogy was remarkably more entertaining than the new films.

Okay so what the hell is my problem? My problem is that I miss the anticipation of a new Star Wars film. I liked looking forward to them whether I actually liked them or not. I like the feeling of subtle excitement knowing that sometime, in a year or so, there would be a new film.

All of that is gone. Unless someone cracks George Lucas over the head and steals the rights to the franchise we're not going to see a new Star Wars film...period.

At least Gene Roddenberry didn't hoard Star Trek to himself, never allowing anyone to meddle in his grand vision.
I GET to be excited about a new Star Trek film and unlike the Star Wars prequels I'm pretty confident Star Trek Into Darkness will be at the very least pretty good and probably awesome.

All I'm saying is...I miss Star Wars and it might be a cold day in hell before I see another one.

Well, there is the whole extended universe...and what I've heard about Star Wars 1313 sounds pretty good...

--A

proving once again that Star Trek is much superior to Star Wars.

i read two Star Wars books that proved way more entertaining than the main films.

one was a collection of stories about the bounty hunters that Darth Vader hired.

the other was a collection of stories about the beings at the Mos Eisley cantina.

I got tired of Lucas creating great bad guys (Boba Fett, Darth Maul) then killing them off.

eewoks? the step n' fetchit character?

Lucas needs to allow someone else control of the empire.

Yep video games and books are super cool but that's something I CAN have. People want what they CAN'T have and what I can't have is a new Star Wars feature film.

Someone needs to bankroll a Splinter of the Mind's Eye movie.

I'd totally watch that.

Cail, I loved that book. It had a bit of a creepy, atmospheric feel to it that was nice departure from bold kiddie color of the films. The Vader character was more intimidating and mysterious than he's ever been.

Would totally love to see that film.

Now I have to read it again.

For me, it's really the extended universe novels that keep the story alive. I like it that the story carries on past the films, that they have futures and pasts. Sure, some of them aren't great, but some of them do it well.

--A

Eh, at least we have the Hobbit movies to anticipate.

I've never read a single SW book. Can someone come up with a list of the best ones?

The very best are the very first. heh. Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire series.
Heir to the Empire
Dark Force Rising
The Last Command

They introduced some characters that have been around since. Particularly Mara Jade. And Grand Admiral Thrawn (the series is also called the Thrawn Trilogy) is one of the greatest of all characters.

But I guess the clone parts can't be considered canon, because of the prequels. Ah well, it's still great stuff.

Agree with Fist...those are great.

And technically, since they had to be "authorised" they should have been canon. (They would also probably have made great sequels. )

There's also that one with Vader and the bounty hunters that fits between Empire and Jedi...can never remember it's name...

Will take a look and see which others I particularly enjoyed...The Jedi Academy trilogy was pretty good too.

--A

I feel this is appropriate here.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJlbPXZEpREg

Thanks for the info, guys. I heard about the Zahn books in college and forgot about them. I'll have to check them out.