Before the dark times

Continuing my reading of Timothy Zahn's excellent trilogy today while eating lunch at the office, I was reflecting on when they were actually written. A long time ago, indeed. 1991. I was just starting my career, had moved to Michigan for a short year and half, was learning or trying to learn how to accept my new wive's subtleties...

Yeah, I'll just leave that one there.

But I remember specifically seeing the book cover in a Target store. And I went WOW!. See, I just discovered a few months prior that I would enjoy reading books if I liked what the books are about. Weird that such right in front of your face common sense has a way of slowly seeping into my psyche until I actually get it. There's probably a drug for that, too...

So I dug into these books and loved them. For me, they contained everything Star Wars is supposed to be and nothing it's not. Han Solo attitude and feistiness, Leia strong despite being pregnant, Luke powerful and still imperfect, R2, Chewie, Lando, plus some great new characters that really feel right. And evil commander, great plots, and lots of different planets. They really move.

I still to this day (obviously) read them like I watch the movies; they are real Star Wars moments for me.

But maybe it's that 1991 part that gets it right. This is only 8 years after Return of the Jedi was released. There's no Special Editions, there's no Prequels, there's no Episode I... no Ani.  It's still pure, un-cluttered Star Wars. Just as it should be.

Rogue One, for me, was very close to that initial magic, and was a great modern execution of that era and that simple idea. Characters. That's all.

I've mentioned before about what seems like it fits in Star Wars and something that don't. I'm trying to remember some I've noticed lately, but at the moment they elude me. There is one that I've mentioned to a friend during our occasional Star Wars banters; the 'shield gate' thing in Rogue One.

I know studios think they need to spell everything out for audiences, and often they actually do need to. But it's their own fault, since most of what Hollywood creates these days is so simple minded drivel of superhero nonsense, each trying to outdo the other in the lunacy that are special effects these days. So the shield gate, although a plot line, didn't have to be. We didn't have to see the shield to know it's there. To me, it was more Star Trek and Star Wars, which is always about showing that tech. Star Wars has a more subtle way or eluding to it without actually showing it.

In many ways, it was a genius move by George and Irvin and others to actually build some of this world around the fact that since we don't have the technology to create that for you, we're gonna shoot around it or show you a small piece of it, or even better elude to it being there and not show you at all.

The imagination is a powerful thing, after all. And watching A New Hope way back when, when it was just called Star Wars... we all had our imaginations at full speed ahead, point five past light speed. Even without seeing a shield over Hoth we knew it was there. Vader knew it was there; why can't we?

My new hope for the next movies? (yes, see what I did there?)... I hope there's no more super weapons, I hope there's no tech that can suddenly Star Trek our bodies around without needing a ship that's a hunk of bolts. And above all else, it's about the characters, not the tech.

More like 1991.