Is The Disney Company a hoarder that destroys our favorite franchises?
- Thread starter Sci-fi fan
- Start date
I think Star Wars was done without Disney, there was no will to make more movies. Marvel was definitely in the toilet with little hope.
What if it’s off a cliff into a big pile of money?
So Disney owns Fox now too?
Pieces of it.
Not really; in ANH, Obi-Wan (once aboard the Death Star) sensed what was to come. Technically, he did not need to let Vader "kill" him, but he did, and no matter what happened afterward, by becoming one with the force, he was still able to help Luke, though he let go of his physical life.
Ah, but in ROTJ, when he told Leia the truth, then surrendered to the Imperials, he knew there was a chance he might not return (Yoda did warn him not to underestimate the powers of the Emperor), taking the Sith's focus to their territory (and possibly buying his friends more time to complete their end of the mission). Remember, Luke mocked the Emperor's confidence by promising that both would soon be dead; Luke being ready, willing and able to sacrifice himself was a form of selflessness that was as "Jedi" in philosophy as anything seen in the franchise.
I think Robert Meyer Burnett had a more nuanced argument lately about Star Wars. He suggests that all franchises have a maximum cultural expiration date and that Star Wars has reached it. I think there's a case to be made for that. You might also say the same thing about Star Trek, frankly.
The sequel trilogy reflects a straining to try to continue Star Wars in a meaningful way. The pendulum swung in two different directions--direct homage with The Force Awakens and cynical subverting of expectations (and political soapboxing) in The Last Jedi. Either way, the result simply doesn't resonate even close to what the original Star Wars films did from 77-83. They just don't. It reaches the point of diminishing returns. And everything I hear about Episode 9 screams "try hard". A cavalcade of force ghosts and openings of mystery boxes, all sound and fury signifying nothing.
There's only so many times you can watch a lightsaber battle or some revelation that somebody is a father/brother/sister/boyfriend before it gets stale, especially since Star Wars itself merely took a bunch of tropes from decades past, dusted them off, and mashed them together and presented them to a new generation that hadn't been exposed to them yet.
And the same thing will happen to the MCU. You eventually wear out a genre after a while. We've had, what, 20 years or so of the modern comic book movie craze. I don't know where the genre will peak but it's probably a safe bet that Endgame's grosses will never be matched in the foreseeable future.
Anything done in excess will wear out its welcome, period, even when done well. Even Bob Iger hinted at SW franchise fatigue, did he not?
Note that the first Star Wars movies were special because you had to wait three years for each one and sci-fi movies (and TV) during that period were much more uncommon than today. Today there is sooo much competition for entertainment that even tent-pole movies just don't impress nearly as much as they used to, hence we had a string of under-performers or outright bombs this summer.
The seeds of failure for the sequel trilogy really started with JJ insisting that the old actors be utilized as much as possible. Passing the torch is really hard to do well. The more you give the old guard to do, the more you prevent the new characters from asserting themselves. For instance, Harrison Ford really carried most of The Force Awakens. But the logistical need to get the old guard off the stage leads to some contrived situations like unceremoniously offing Ford or Luke dissolving from exhaustion. It just doesn't flow naturally. When Obi-Wan died in A New Hope, we had just met him. He was not an old actor that the fans remembered from prior Star Wars movies decades earlier, so that sort of thing worked far better. It's just really hard to establish a steady continuation, one generation to the next, which is something CBS is going to have to tackle next with Picard.
What was the big risk in The Dark Knight?
I understand how someone can think TDK was better quality than other superhero movies (though I personally don't always agree) but riskier?
Batman's been dark since the 80s, including, for example, in the Tim Burton films. Nolan was a highly proven filmmaker. WB already tested their more 'realism' inspired approach in Batman Begins. The only even remotely significant risk I'm seeing is casting a primarily comedic actor as the Joker, but if his audition was anything like his performance, that wasn't really a risk, either, it was just the filmmakers being privy to a side of him no one else had seen yet.
A higher risk move was Burton hiring a comedian to play Batman.
Some movies are unrepeatable. Some movies should never be repeated. There are many sequels and remakes that I will never chose to see because I know they'll just ruin the original for me.
The Wizard of Oz
Starship Troopers
Tron
Ghost Busters
One exception would be Indiana Jones.
And who could possibly replace Jack Nicholson as the Joker?
The Wizard of Oz
Starship Troopers
Tron
Ghost Busters
One exception would be Indiana Jones.
And who could possibly replace Jack Nicholson as the Joker?
Heath Ledger.
Pretty sure the 1939 version was a remake.
He was just doing Jack Nicholson in clown face. Was not impressed
I love Jack's Joker but he was a poor man's Cesar Romero, at best. Ledger gave the character a truly new take.
"The original."
You do realize that the 1939 musical version of The Wizard of Oz wasn't the first adaptation of the novel, right?
And Mark Hamill, Jared Leto, Cameron Monaghan, John DiMaggio, Troy Baker, Richard Epcar and Zach Galifianakis. Honestly, Jack Nicholson is one of my least favorite onscreen Jokers, he was pretty much just doing his usual Nicholoson thing, and didn't really feel like the Joker.
Ok then. You're absolutely right, Cesar Romero was great on the TV version. I only wish they would put it up on Netflix. I can't find it anywhere.
It’s on MeTv and you can buy it on Blu-ray and DVD.
Amazon has the complete series on Blu-ray for 50 bucks.
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