My first memory of Star Wars is getting the remastered Star Wars Trilogy on VHS from my Nan on Christmas Day back in 1997. My cousin was into the Space Swashbuckling saga, so she decided to take her chance on me this year. It changed my life.
I was surrounded by football enthusiasts and the odd Batman fan. Whilst I loved Batman, I felt like an outsider. I just wasn’t interested in the status quo. I tried my hand at Scouts, Boys Brigade, football and youth groups. It all bored me. It was just me and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on my Mega Drive II.
I idolised my cousin growing up and as such I watched the trilogy over and over. So much so that the tracking on my VHS player made the wear and tear worse, I was hooked on finding out more about a ‘galaxy far’ far away’. I could recite lines from the film and do impressions of Yoda to anyone who cared to listen. As I found my friends as a pre teen we started collecting information we sourced from books, comics and later video games (You’re my hero, Karl Ktarn!)
Herd of Nerds
The WH Smiths and Waterstones of the Greater Manchester area were crowded with my friends and I using the stores as a reference library for our Star Wars obsession. Very occasionally buying essential guides, visual dictionaries and encyclopedias should our spending money permit. You know, value for money etc.
After becoming familiar with the then post- Return of the Jedi canon, collecting 100s of ‘Power of the Force’ figures and getting my Encyclopedia signed by Kenny Baker, I started to wonder what’s next? Were talking pre affordable dial up Internet, so a lot of the collectives information came from school ground rumours and magazines.
Then, rumours circulated about a prequel trilogy covering the rise and fall of ‘Anakin Skywalker’ and the transformation into ‘Darth Vader’. Filming had actually started the first year I entered that ‘galaxy far, far away’, I just didn’t know about it. I remember me and my pals going to watch ‘The Mighty Joe Young‘ just for the New trailer in ’99, with one friend in particular managing to download the second, alternative trailer on his Dad’s top spec PC and Internet connection. We lost our minds!
Lucasfilm kicked up the biggest marketing storm following its 16 year hiatus from the Franchise in cinema. New toys, new sponsorships, Star Wars was at the forefront of pop culture for the first time in my life. I couldn’t believe it, people finally started to understand why I loved the franchise so much.
First Return
When the film released in May ’99, many Boomer SW loyalists hated what they had done to the franchise which now featured a more child-friendly script and new additions to the cannon such as Midichlorians explaining a Jedi’s level of power in the Force.
I think George Lucas was clever with the marketing and angle of the prequel trilogy (1-3). This wasn’t for die hard fans in my opinion, this was for 90s kids to jump into a galaxy far, far away to never return. This now shows with the general opinion of the prequel trilogy gaining a more positive stance as the series’ millennial fans grew up.
Whatever your opinion of the prequel trilogy was, Star Wars was back in full force and capturing imaginations of millions of kids worldwide. We now had Lego sets, new toys and new characters to relate too. I loved kid Anakin Skywalker, as I felt I could relate to the moody and convulsed depiction of Skywalker in The Clone Wars due to my own personal struggles.
As Revenge of the Sith wrapped up in may 2005, I was in College, playing in bands and having a great time. Episode 3 represented my graduation into adulthood and also the conclusion of my childhood. It provided a satisfying conclusion to the prequel trilogy and really showed off the strength and will of Anakin, Obi Wan and Palpatine.
Spin-Offs and Side Plots
Following this, we saw the release of the animated Clone Wars film following a Samurai Jack style mini series on Cartoon Network. Whilst the film was shocking and introduced Asoka Tanno out of thin air, it gave birth to the Clone Wars animated TV series.
Clone Wars realised its audience was quickly maturing and dealt with some tough issues. One plotline deals with Obi Wan suffering the loss of a romantic interest. Clone Wars also padded the cannon of the prequel trilogy out such as Qui Gon learning to become a force ghost etc.
The Disney Era
Star Wars Rebels, an amazing series, followed after Disney acquired Lucasfilm. The buyout was, for me, a double-edged sword at first. All events that didn’t take place on film were established as legends and considered non-canon – a knife in the back of my childhood self.
Disney borrows from legends every now and again, such as bringing back Timothy Zahns ‘Grand Admiral Thrawn’ from the outer rim, and to great effect! However, it still saddens me that all of my adventures I threw myself into never really happened. This did however spark my excitement whilst waiting for the first film in the sequel trilogy, ‘The Force Awakens’.
Material new and old was combined to make an exciting yet safe return to Star Wars. Whilst TFA is guilty of mirroring A New Hope, it was a solid return to cinema for the Franchise with thanks to JJ Abrams of Star Trek fame. The shock of seeing Han Solo meet his end by his son Ben Solo was buffered by the scripts respect for legends in having Solo’s son turning to the dark side.
Who’s Snoke? What actually happened to Luke’s Temple? Why did Luke just abandon the galaxy? Who are Rey’s parents? The Fandom was ablaze with fan theorys and general enthusiasm. Then ‘The Last Jedi’ happened…
Lost in Space
Rian Johnston opted to go against the status quo, in some ways adopting the approach to The Empire Strikes Back. I walked out of the cinema back in 2017 feeling lost, confused and disappointed. The main antagonist was dead, Luke Skywalker was dead (And not the Luke I knew in legends), Reys lineage was a letdown and we were left with a film full of poor humour and frankly retarded logic. Ultimately, the Fanbase was divided.
Although the Star Wars fanbase can be venomous at times with the treatment of George Lucas in the prequel-era, this was a new low for the franchise. No one really knew where the last instalment of the Skywalker Saga would take us, some of us wished for a complete retcon within novelisations to even the playing field.
Gaming Follows Where Movies Lead
Star Wars wasn’t doing to well in the gaming space either. SW: Battlefront‘ was basically online-only with lacklustre content. The ‘Uncharted’ style ‘1313’ was canceled. Battlefront II attempted to fix this with a cannon campaign covering the Emperor’s contingency plan. The impressive if brief single-player campaign was, however, overshadowed by EA’s greed with loot boxes, sparking worldwide controversy to the point of political debate.
For the first time in my memory, EA admitted its faults and attempted to stop the train wreck, with developer support still active in regards to online content. Jedi Fallen Order marked a return to form for EA with Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment at the helm. Fallen Order follows a padawan survivor of Order 66 finding his way in a post Republic galaxy, dodging the Empires iron fist at every turn. It is a truly great single player experience and one I would recommend.
A New Frontier
In April of this year, the first trailer for The Rise of Skywalker was released at Star Wars Celebration. This was the point that my faith in Disney and Lucasfilm was truly restored, we heard the spine chilling cackle of Emperor Palpatine. I have chills running down my spine just writing about it. After the trailer was aired, Ian McDermid took to the celebration stage and said (in character) “Roll it again…” to thunderous applause.
The Rise of Skywalker has caused a lot of debate since its release, but I will hand on heart say that I found Episode 9 to be thrilling, surprising and truly satisfying. 22 years after first discovering Star Wars, my only feelings forwards to franchise is excitement and wonder.
The Mandalorian shows what Disney and Lucas film is now capable of thanks to the capable minds of Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau. Taking the franchise back to its Space Western roots, I have high hopes for future instalments now that Lucasfilm is free from the constraints of the Skywalker bloodline. I’m even more excited to see how Lucas film will usher in Star Wars for a new generation – just like they did for me 22 years ago.
