Why don't I like Star Wars? (no spoilers)

[TomFoolery]

I'm possibly the only person under the age of 70 who doesn't even remotely enjoy the franchise. It's not like I haven't tried. My husband and I recently watched episodes I-VI to get ready for the new one (which we still haven't seen). I want to like Star Wars: I just find it boring. It's like a soap opera with a complicated political background and a lot of weird religious undertones. Also interesting to note, admitting you don't like Star Wars in some circles might be worse than admitting you're an atheist.

What I find so bizarre is that I really like Star Trek and routinely forgive it for its numerous plot holes, anachronisms, bad acting, and bad graphics. Why can't I do the same for Star Wars? Is there some social or psychological reason for liking one but not the other?

I also don't like Lord of the Rings or Dr. Who, and everyone seems to think that's really fucking bananas too, as if I'm a defective geek or some sort of poseur. I do enjoy Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and even the Chronicles of Narnia which is just a thinly-veiled Christian allegory (that I do my best to overlook).

[Sargon The Grape]

Well if it's any consolation, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are the only two I actually like all that much. The rest are just kind of meh.

[stromboli]

I'm generally more into books than the movie version, so the Lord Of The Rings didn't impress me that much, other than I think Jackson mostly got it right. Star Wars as I've mentioned elsewhere is basically a shoot em' up western with space warp and light sabers. I can take it or leave it.

I don't like Tarantino, personally. Inglorious Basterds was a ripoff of an older movie that in my opinion was better, and all the other movies haven't impressed me that much. The best thing he did was the trailer sword fight in Kill Bill, THAT was good. Otherwise meh.

[aitm]

I also don't like Lord of the Rings 

You are dead to me.

;]

[Atheon]

The original 1977 movie, re-branded as A New Hope, but which I still simply call Star Wars, is the gold standard by which to evaluate these movies. None of the prequels live up to it. They can be ignored.

Generally, it needs to be considered from the context of the time. It was the first space movie to depict space scenes as dirty, old, unorganized, etc. There is a general lack of hokiness and melodrama in Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back (also Raiders of the Lost Ark) that had affected so many other space and adventure movies before that time; indeed, hoky ideas are turned on their head: "You go on without me." / "What kind of talk is that?" in Star Wars, or Indy gunning down the swordsman in Raiders. (Hokiness starts entering the Lucas world in Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, sadly. Both these movies disappointed me.).

It was the first space movie to portray fantasy and mysticism in a believable way without exposition.

These are movies that put you right into the middle of the action; they don't even have opening credits. You are immediately thrust into the middle of the world.

I saw Star Wars in the theater in 1977 as an 11-year-old, and was immediately hooked. I remember the magic of the opening scene, when the small ship passes by, pursued by a giant ship that just kept on going and going, and just when you thought it was about to pass, it kept going and going! I was young enough to be captivated by its magic, but old enough to be able to look at it with some degree of critical thought. And back then we had to wait 3 years for the next (not so bad for Empire because I didn't know they were making a new one until several months before its release, but following the cliffhanger of Empire, waiting 3 years to find out what happens was quite painful. Talk about anticipation!!)

[gentle_dissident]

I love all the Star Wars movies and TV shows, except the Christmas special. I love all the Star Trek movies and TV shows, except Enterprise. I'm glued to Doctor Who when the girls watch it, but I don't seek it out. I don't care for the other stuff mentioned.

The world needs nerds of all flavors.

It's like a soap opera with a complicated political background and a lot of weird religious undertones

These are reasons I like Star Wars and DS9.

[Hydra009]

I want to like Star Wars: I just find it boring. It's like a soap opera with a complicated political background and a lot of weird religious undertones.

I can see that, though there enough different adaptions of it that there should be at least a couple hits.  Oh well, different strokes for different folks.

What I find so bizarre is that I really like Star Trek and routinely forgive it for its numerous plot holes, anachronisms, bad acting, and bad graphics. Why can't I do the same for Star Wars? Is there some social or psychological reason for liking one but not the other?

Probably.  It could be a dislike of the fantasy elements or the hero's journey plotline.

I also don't like Lord of the Rings or Dr. Who

I do enjoy Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and even the Chronicles of Narnia which is just a thinly-veiled Christian allegory (that I do my best to overlook).

That almost makes up for that above.  :)

[TomFoolery]

You are dead to me.

;]

It's ok. My husband feels the same way. He said I was crazy for liking Harry Potter and hating LotR. His argument? They're practically the same: both have dragons, elves, magic, adventure... Sorry, but that's like saying Tomb Raider and Resident Evil are the same thing because they both have strong female protagonists who walk around in skimpy, grungy clothes.

The original 1977 movie, re-branded as A New Hope, but which I still simply call Star Wars, is the gold standard by which to evaluate these movies. None of the prequels live up to it. They can be ignored.

I fell asleep during the Phantom Menace and wanted to rip Hayden Christensen's tongue out of his mouth in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith for his awful acting. William Shatner, might, have been, a bad actor, but, I never, hated, him half so much, as Hayden Christensen. <-- or at least that's what William Shatner would say.

Generally, it needs to be considered from the context of the time.

I remember the magic of the opening scene, when the small ship passes by, pursued by a giant ship that just kept on going and going, and just when you thought it was about to pass, it kept going and going!

I definitely give Star Wars higher marks for graphics than anything Star Trek ever produced. The stuff Star Wars did even in the 1970s and early 1980s far surpasses anything the Trek ever did short of the rebooted films.

I love all the Star Wars movies and TV shows, except the Christmas special. I love all the Star Trek movies and TV shows, except Enterprise.

These are reasons I like Star Wars and DS9.

I agree. Enterprise hurt to watch. Strangely enough, I actually liked DS9. I really enjoyed the serial format and at least the stuff with all the mysticism and prophets had a scientific explanation: they were just non-corporeal aliens that lived in a wormhole and existed somehow beyond temporal mechanics. Only irritating Major Kira made a big deal out of worshipping them and even after Captain Sisko went "full-Jesus" with being the emissary, I still liked how Jadzia got away with calling them what they were: wormhole aliens.

[Hydra009]

I fell asleep during the Phantom Menace and wanted to rip Hayden Christensen's tongue out of his mouth in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith for his awful acting. William Shatner, might, have been, a bad actor, but, I never, hated, him half so much, as Hayden Christensen. <-- or at least that's what William Shatner would say.

Imo, much of the bad acting from Hayden Christensen was a direct result of bad directing and writing.  The actors basically walk up to a green screen, do what they're told to do, and have to have a lot of faith that what they're doing gels in the finished product.  With Anakin's horrible portrayal,  apparently that's what either Lucas was shooting for or he didn't realize the mistake.  Either one speaks ill of him.

[GSOgymrat]

I just bought Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-Ray two hours ago so I can catch up before watching Episode VII. I like Star Wars but I've always been more of a Star Trek fan. I'll watch or read almost any sci-fi/fantasy. I enjoy Star Wars but I can name a lot more series and movies that I'm more into.

[GSOgymrat]

Imo, much of the bad acting from Hayden Christensen was a direct result of bad directing and writing.

I don't know of anyone who could have pulled off that dialogue. I remember physically cringing in the theater.

[SGOS]

I'm possibly the only person under the age of 70 who doesn't even remotely enjoy the franchise. It's not like I haven't tried. My husband and I recently watched episodes I-VI to get ready for the new one (which we still haven't seen). I want to like Star Wars: I just find it boring. 

Well, I'm 72, so I don't demographically fit into the under 70 qualifier, but I still feel young, and I love sci-fi, romantic comedy, and all of the Marvel comic book super heroes.  But like you, I've never been a Star Wars fan.  I remember the hype of the first movie, and everyone talking it up in the lunch room, but I don't get off on it either, and again, like you, I wish I did.  You're just supposed to like it.

Now there are some good parts, the bar scenes are cool, and the robots offer comic relief, but it lacks the thought provoking aspects which seem so important in a lot of Sci-fi.  I like alien entities that are so far advanced that they rival the Gods and live in societies that are wildly different from ours.  These things frequently show up in Star Trek, well at least the older Star Trek movies and episodes, and they would often create interesting commentary about our own shortcomings.  The crew of the Enterprise would escape tight situations often through clever thinking, but sometimes only by the good graces of the superior beings themselves.  Sometimes they might even end up respecting each other.

Star Wars is just two mostly equally matched societies differing only on the basis of good and evil.  You know that good will triumph because it's Hollywood, but you don't get a chance to understand the enemy's perspective or feel compassion for them or even understand them except on superficial levels.  It ends up just being a high tech shootout in space.  While there's plenty of action, it doesn't seem like great story telling to me.  I never once wondered how in the world the heroes were ever going to get out of this or that pickle, and I don't find that very interesting.  While the original Star Trek is dated now, it was ground breaking coming on the heels of enumerable over done Westerns hosted by all the networks.  Why anyone would classify Star Trek as a "Western" is baffling to me.  Star Wars is more like a Western to me.  Although, neither of them were really Westerns at all.  That comparison doesn't make sense to me.

But to each his own.  I saw the last Star Wars for the same reason I don't miss a James Bond film, but I didn't want to comment on it until this thread came up.  Those of us who aren't impressed need to band together and be our own support group, or we might end up going crazy at best, or instigating flame wars by blurting out ad hominems at the Star Wars fans at worst.   :19:

[Hydra009]

Star Wars is just two mostly equally matched societies differing only on the basis of good and evil.

The funny thing is, they're not evenly matched.  In the original trilogy, the good side is the underdog.  In the prequels, the evil side is the underdog until part of the way through the 3rd film.  I get your point, though.  It's rebel trooper vs stormtrooper, jedi vs sith, x-wing vs tie fighter.

You know that good will triumph because it's Hollywood, but you don't get a chance to understand the enemy's perspective or feel compassion for them or even understand them except on superficial levels.

I know, right!  I would kill a great many Bothans to watch a show from the Imperials' perspectives.  We do get to be a fly on the wall in the Death Star and in the ATATs and hear a couple speeches, but we get almost nothing else from their perspective.  If it's anything like this, I would love it to pieces!

It ends up just being a high tech shootout in space.  While there's plenty of action, it doesn't seem like great story telling to me.  I never once wondered how in the world the heroes were ever going to get out of this or that pickle, and I don't find that very interesting.

I actually did wonder how they'd get out of it during the trash compactor scene, the cloud city visit from vader, and the attempted execution at jabba's palace.  Granted, I was like 9 at the time.

[Baruch]

I'm possibly the only person under the age of 70 who doesn't even remotely enjoy the franchise. It's not like I haven't tried. My husband and I recently watched episodes I-VI to get ready for the new one (which we still haven't seen). I want to like Star Wars: I just find it boring. It's like a soap opera with a complicated political background and a lot of weird religious undertones. Also interesting to note, admitting you don't like Star Wars in some circles might be worse than admitting you're an atheist.

What I find so bizarre is that I really like Star Trek and routinely forgive it for its numerous plot holes, anachronisms, bad acting, and bad graphics. Why can't I do the same for Star Wars? Is there some social or psychological reason for liking one but not the other?

I also don't like Lord of the Rings or Dr. Who, and everyone seems to think that's really fucking bananas too, as if I'm a defective geek or some sort of poseur. I do enjoy Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and even the Chronicles of Narnia which is just a thinly-veiled Christian allegory (that I do my best to overlook).

I detect a pattern here ... you are better able to tolerate American acting and less able to tolerate British acting? ;-)

[Atheon]

I just bought Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-Ray two hours ago so I can catch up before watching Episode VII. I like Star Wars but I've always been more of a Star Trek fan. I'll watch or read almost any sci-fi/fantasy. I enjoy Star Wars but I can name a lot more series and movies that I'm more into.

Good news: There's no need to watch the prequels to enjoy this movie (other than perhaps it explains who the Sith are).