Another interesting cycle I just thought of: Anakin begins as a slave to circumstance (physical), becomes a slave to passion (emotional), ends as a slave to tyranny and psychological suffering (spiritual).
It’s funny you mention George having it all planned from the start because in the “opening crawl” of the OG book “Star Wars” indistinctly lays out all 3 trilogies and the cyclical fight between good and evil with the republic vs confederation, empire vs rebels, and the resistance vs some undefined tyranny. Not to be a book Andy but it really is wild how these great modern literary works spell everything out in the beginning to sort of prepare your mind for the wider story
Your videos have been incredible thus far, truly incredible. You, Rick Worley, Nerdonymous, Style is Substance, Anomaly Inc. and So Uncivilised. and many others in this cinephile community of Star Wars fans have all done superb jobs in defending the art of George Lucas in recent years. I can't express how refreshing your approaches are, simply taking the side of the auteur, appreciating them, analysing their decisions, and through that analysis, breathing new life into and helping others understand said appreciation. Thank you, with all my heart.
Yeah I would say that the main ideas on display here were implied but not fully explored in Klimo's original essay and I'm glad for you going through all this effort to elborate them. The real tragedy is that we never got to see Lucas' Episodes 7-8-9 (if he ever intended to make them to begin with) to see how ring theory might have worked in such a schema, my pet theory that the ring 'graph' would take on more of a three-dimensional character, becoming like an 'orb'.
It's insane how Star Wars ring theory validades my favourite watching ordem, which is: IV, I, II, V, VI, III So it's C', A, B, B', A', C It still maintains the mirror aspect of the cronological and release orders
@@VeguldenZilverling it kinda began as a reinterpretation of the machete order (lol) but without the hate of the prequels, and a way to keep the best beginning and ending to the saga while maintaining some of the "twists"
Interesting way to watch them, with how often I’d seen them I usually just go in number order these days, but when I show it to people who haven’t seen it I go 4,5,1,2,3,6. I don’t know much about the methods people use, but I find this one works as it doesn’t spoil the Vader twist with the prequels, but gives the necessary understanding of Anakin/Vader to have his eventual return to light get more of an impact. This method does unfortunately spoil the Leia and Luke being siblings twist, but I find the trade off of the Anakin story being worth it.
I write scifi music and have subconciously embedded these theories into multiple albums, thank you george for embedding such powerful foundations into star wars, its made me who i am creatively
I think most who are really paying attention at least subconsciously notice most of it, but just don’t fully piece it together. It also doesn’t help that a large portion of the fanbase still fervently hates the prequels, even with its recent resurgence, so naturally will not deep dive into those films, which stops them from seeing the full scope of it all and how those 2 trilogy’s flow together beyond just the basic point a to point b storyline.
What an incredible synopsis of the two theories. To quote Vader "we need not be adversaries" and I truly enjoyed how you presented them to mesh with eachother rather than oppose one another. My perspective after watching is actually that these two theories should coexist, and it would be best described as a "mirror theory." The plots of the movies correlate, but have opposing arcs, they mirror eachother in a 1:1 fashion.. 123, 456, same plot, but in reverse. Dialectics. The mirror image of abc, is cba. Relate this to the 2 trilogies.. 123, 654. 1 correlates to 6, 2 to 5, 3 to 4. Ring theory. Theyre a mirror of eachother.
"Incredibly wise and enigmatic," goodness. Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm sure that word choice came from my comments on your videos thus far, and I have to thank you for the space to think and express myself while interacting with your structure of ideas. In that vein! I'm glad you've mentioned the RLM criticisms. Both you an Mike Stolklasa have influenced my thoughts on the prequels. You've managed to knock over a number of Mike's arguments, but there are still some I see validity in. By addressing ring theory, and showing Mike's comments about the opening of The Phantom Menace, it struck me, before you started your narration, that the opening shot of TPM was supposed to mirror the landing on Endor and that the usurpation of exceptions were very intentional. Over the last few months, I've come to see Mike Stolklasa's criticisms as holding water regarding the process of film making, rather than his points about the writing. His comments are safe, but I think the kernel that comes through is synthesized well with your observations about Jurassic Park's use of CGI. Red Letter Media does produce their own (lovingly) schlock, so it makes sense that Mike's criticisms are derived from his practice. In the same way, you're a writing consultant and have shown a light on what the prequels have done right from a writing perspective. While Jurassic Park excelled in the use of CGI, I do think the prequel trilogy did itself a disservice by trying to capture images which were only possible through CG, or at least putting a coat of CG paint on things. I think a good example of this is the submarine used to travel to Theed. They made a practical model! But it doesn't blend seamlessly with the underwater scenes, we can tell which is which. To me, that reached a point where it became a distraction which stopped some people from finding the strong structure of the films and their homilies with the original trilogy. It becomes an invitation for criticism rather than an invitation for contemplation. The scenes added to a the 97 re-releases of A New Hope certainly add to the overall narrative, but people keep getting caught up in their presentation. The well thought out structure of the prequels comes through with repeat viewings, unless someone is trained in, or familliar with, writing. But I think a stronger film would have been able to nail those points sooner for those who aren't. A lot of that can just come down to not liking things which are different, in the same way a lot of people didn't like the operatic elements of Empire when compared to the realism they felt from A New Hope. Sometimes people just aren't going to be able to accept the differences. Maybe this is just me showing my own ass as an organizer, but I need to be able to show people my argument from the start rather than having to set up Marxist analysis to explain the things that workers see in their every day lives. In a world as sick as ours, trying to communicate high philosophy in the most condensed and easy to understand way possible is an incredibly difficult task. It takes a lot more thought and effort than anything I've done in my life. It makes me respect how well Lucas did overall, because a little bit of secondary explanation goes a long way. But in that regard, I see the prequels are high art while the original trilogy is high art for the commons. The original trilogy was Lucas' brilliance strained through the sieve of other film makers, while I do think he held much more creative control over the prequels. They are raw Lucas, and in the same way that A New Hope was a film "saved in the editing room," the prequels didn't land for a lot of people because of that raw brilliance. Ultimately, I'm not saying Lucas should have done anything different, I now appreciate them for what they are and the control Lucas had, but this is also me reflecting on how I've seen these films over the years, since I first saw the re-releases in the theaters at the age of 6. I frankly didn't notice the differences until I was old enough to spot the CGI, but then I couldn't unsee it. Reaching adulthood, I game mastered a couple RPG sessions set in the Star Wars universe. It gave me the opportunity to sat down to think about the structure of the prequels and figure out what I would change given the opportunity. The answer I came away with was simply "not much", but the presentation was what always stuck in my craw. I appreciate your exploration of Jurassic Park's preponderance of the future of CGI, because it does hold a lot of water when discussing the prequels, even if that creative control added a lot to Lucas' overall vision. Anyway, a lot to think about as always with your uploads, thanks for the thought fodder and the shout out!
Always appreciate your thoughts PfB. As for RLM and Stolklasa, I can't say I have engaged with their content much outside of Rick Worley's video essays and what's mentioned here. I appreciate and respect the fact that they're doing a performance and playing characters (to some extent) since ultimately I'm doing the same thing. However, in the realm of cultural critique, throwing some shade around playfully is part of the sport. As long as it's in good form and we're all having fun. I like what you're saying about the Prequels being brilliant in a less obvious way, and that it might not land with people for that very reason. I had to go on a long journey to seeing that brilliance myself, so I always understand when people don't see it right away... It takes a special kind of artist to make something that can sustain this many years of critical attention and still yield new insights, while at the same being entertaining for a mass audience watching it for the very first time.
"sustain this many years of critical attention and still yield new insights" is a good encapsulation of a phenomenon I've been noticing about the prequels. History doesn't repeat, "it's like poetry, (it) rhymes". Given the politics of the Bush years being a doubling down on the Reagan years, and our own decade being a doubling down on the Bush years, I think there's been more discussion of the prequels because there's more real world examples to elucidate Lucas' reflections on the Bush years. Canada applauding a literal member of the SS the other day sure has some eerie similarities to the scene in RotS where democracy dies to thunderous applause. First as tragedy, then as farce, or something lol. It's like how the lyrics of a Dead Kennedy's song hasn't lost its poignancy because the core issue hasn't changed.
Thanks for watching! Find me on Letterboxd letterboxd.com/jeshuam/ Instagram instagram.com/josh_from_xboxlive Patreon patreon.com/Josh_from_xbolive Twitter twitter.com/josh_from_xbox
Great video, only issue I have with the dialectics theory is that by including the Sequels it treats Star Wars as one continuous creative narrative. But with Lucas not being involved in the final trilogy and Disney bringing in an almost completely new team, there isn't enough continuation between 1-6 and 7-9. So any theory that tries to encompass all 9 films is going to be artificially imposed by default, simply because there wasn't a singular creative force behind all of the films.
Agreed, as these are pretty high level and we know for a fact that JJ Abrams was t interested in the prequels at all. It would work better to try and ring theory the OT and the sequels, or to impose two seperate things somehow to see if they can fit into a ring with the OT, which I think we know they dont
It's not artificially imposed. It doesn't have to involve a singular creative team. It merely needs to involve filmmakers with fidelity to the methods he used. And I can tell you at the very least that they did continue with Ring Theory.
Episode 1: Padme wears a headdress in the senate with a similar looking symbol to the rebel alliance insignia in front of her head. Episode 3: Padme wears a headdress in the senate with a similar looking symbol to the rebel alliance insignia behind her head.
Not only does it match up 1-6, 2-5, and 3-4 via the ring structure, but it also matches up 1-4, 2-5, and 3-6; and how it matches up one way 'rhymes' the inverse way in the other match up scheme. And it isn't just shots that match up, but themes, ideas, etc. For instance, Ep. I ending of Qui-Gon pyre scene clearly matches Ep. VI; Anakin lost a father, but Luke gained his father back. I is negative, and VI is positive. Now, the celebration scenes clearly match from Ep. I and Ep. IV; but since it is a 'forward rhyme,' I becomes 'positive; and IV becomes 'negative.' That is, in Ep. I, they won and all seems be well, but evil is lurking in the background, while in Ep. IV, the good is lurking in the background whilst the Empire still is in control and will retaliate very soon The 'positive' and 'negative' don't refer to what is good or bad, but, rather, the polarities of the rhyming scheme; "It is like poetry; it rhymes." George Lucas is an absolute genius that created the greatest movie saga of all time, by far
Stellar vidoe man! The light that your shining on the structure of star wars is making me think alot about writing and story telling. It's becoming a large influence on the stories that I write.
this is a great video! as someone who's heard both the ring theory and the dialectics theory, I think you did a great job of explaining both of them! thanks for making stuff like this ---- also just realized the way i probably heard the dialectics theory was from your Skywalker Arc videos so thanks for that too. Wishing you all the luck and success possible for your channel and creative pursuits.
Warrior of Peace and Priest of Death are some of the most wonderful and fitting terms I have seen these two lads described 😅 According to the late (great) J. W. Rinzler, George Lucas himself has described Star Wars as his onion. You can peel back layers upon layers and find new layers underneath. I don’t think he sat down and made a master plan and held to that - that’s too limiting for him - but intuition awareness and planning together crafted this meticulous saga over thirty years. I will forever lament that he never made his version of the sequel trilogy - what I hear sounds really interesting - but am so glad and thankful for what we have. I also recommend Rick Woley‘s long videos on the saga „How to watch Star Wars“.
It is wonderful how you uphold the works of George Lucas and Mike Klimo! That is so considered of you! Thank you so very much for defending George Lucas and the true nature of Star Wars (I-VI)!!! Keep doing these kind of videos!
Very well done, yet again. Please stop breaking my understanding of something I thought I understood twenty-plus years ago. You are a dangerous individual, or are you.
I like it, but George's intent was never to make any further films. He'd completed his story, and the only reason he even wrote a 7 onwards trilogy was because he knew whoever he sold the series to would make a new trilogy. And yet, they threw that out.
With Lucas's sequel trilogy in mind, couldn't a chiastic structure work well too? Episode 6 mirrors 4 Episode 7 would mirror 3 Episode 8 would mirror 2 Episode 9 would mirror 1 Episode 5 would be the odd one out, as it's the turning point of the story where the hero from the first half (Anakin/Vader) duels the hero from the second half (Luke) for the first time.
Darth Vader takes the identity of Anakin Skywalker from Luke Skywalker in the form of his Jedi lightsaber, Luke Skywalker takes the identity of Darth Vader from Anakin Skywalker in the form of his Sith lightsaber.
Amazing video. Great extension of the ring theory. Although I don't think Mike Klimo has ruled out another reading. He also goes into the chronological parallels. I think he talks about the parallels between Luke and Anakin with the makers of "The Prequels strikes back". And they can't be depicted through the Ring cycle in particular, but chronologically. Only if you look at the overarching structure of the films does the Ring theory make more sense. Episode I has many similarities to Episode VI and IV, but that's also because Episode VI already had many parallels to IV (Tatooine, Death Star).
Enjoyed this one! Occasionally an individual example was a hard sell to me (like 12:10, where the connection of the Ewoks scene to Han/Leia torture in 4&5 is reaching a bit, or 16:25, where the examples are only related in a very abstract way), but I like your overall theory and am now convinced Lucas was going for dialectic style connections within each trilogy
I think an interesting dimension of Anakin being "led to resurrection on a chariot" is that he is resurrected to a sort of living death as he remains tormented by his physical AND spiritual wounds; a sort of synthesis of both life and death.
Your previous star wars videos were very nice, genuine, honest and full of thought. I have send them to my starwars pals to check them out as you truly did bring new light on some of the characters. And it pains me to say it, but this one is wishful thinking and looking for stuff that is not there. Looking for anything that is resembling a an intent but is just random seaming similarity. Or is obvious intentional similarity (e.g. repeating senteces during the whole saga - "I have bad feeling about this"). During my stuides I have spend so much time listening to academics talking about significant culture pieces and this slipery slope way of thinking is as tempting as the dark side is. Trying to looks for some even more deep and hidden meaning. And what ends up happing is letting your own imagination and creativity to take over. Many incredibly knowledgeable people I respect have fallen for this type of thinking at occasions. It wasnt permanent and I dont think it will be here as well. I just had to say it, becuase your previous videos were so well done. This video needs disclamer at the start syaing that this videos is entering hypotetical space with some interesting ideas. But that it is not trying to actually comment on the piece. Thanks for all the work you put in your videos. I will be looking forward for the next one. And Im sorry if it sounds harsh, Im not ENG native. Now when I read it back it may sound a bit harsh. P.S. I never told this to my professors on the uni. Even tho they were one of the most knowledgeable folks in my country. But I am telling to you a) its anonymous:) b) because we share same passion for star wars which is somethign my professors and I didnt have back in uni.
Whether it was conscious intent by GL or subconsciously embedded in the material is an interesting question. Either way, I think this model works. That’s what makes it art. There many other trilogies out there that are fundamentally uninteresting and devoid of any intent other than titalating audience to make more money.
i agree with you that this analysis strays a little to far at places, like with the droids being reunited and stuff, but i think there is still some merit to it, at the very least ep1 does mirror ep6, with the end of the empire and its inception in the senate, the final battle being in 3 fronts and the death of important mentors in qui gon and vader/yoda, while also being very similar to ep4, with it being the begining of the hero's story and their relations to their family and friends, while also having similar arcs. Though im no expert and i could very well be over my head with this
Exactly. This is just over-analyzing things too far. If anybody had a ring theory or even a hero's arc, it was unintentional and just happened to hit it right. After the OT there was some plan initially, but mostly throwing "I have a baad feeling..." quotes in there for feelgood. That's it. This is what perplexes me by modern academia. It is mostly a dissection of what was never there.
I think the reason ring theory is "closed" and kinda "limited" is because ring theory is essentially analyzing what exists. Also, as you say, its more "form" based. I do like your triadic dialectical theory; but your dialectical theory almost necessitates a sequel trilogy by george. So while we can acknowledge george may have set a dialectic frame work in place, ring theory is still a useful tool for visual analysis. Kinda reaching your conclusion of how both are useful. What's interesting is that this dialectic idea i think almost formalizes George's Visual Jazz idea. Essentially; instead of a more formalized theory, i think its more appropriate to compare that George is treating his story telling of star wars as jazz performances; each narrative and visual element is a note. He'll play with the structure for different goals; he'll tweak and change his previous performances to match the goal of the current complete view. This also explains some interesting "rule breaks" guys like Rick Worely brings up; (ep 2's upside down opening and ep 5's non-group shot closing)
Man, Hegel is the best. Isn't reading Hegel just the best? Your world opens up after reading that man. He is so important to understand - after all, he *is* the last philosopher of history, and essential to understanding and mastering the greater thinker that came after him, his student: Mr. Marx.
@@WizzdummHeadley That's why Marx did what he did. He freed the philosophy of Hegel from that power/control edifice, as did Lenin, as did Mao. These people were friends to the common man. More than any other philosopher or political thinker could hope to be.
@@WackazI'm sorry to burst your bubble but Marx/Hegel were both CUT FROM THE SAME MASONIC CLOTH were BOTH part of the same control/power edifice that has been maintained to this day & will continue to be so into the future . What good did communism/socialism do for the common people ???!!! I think you & I both know the dreadful answer to that !? Capitalism/communism/socialism are all ONE & THE SAME THING make no mistake in that a cabal/coterie controls the wealth/resources .
*Josh, what do you think about the Star Wars series and films made by Disney? They don't seem like stories to me, but rather lifeless content made to entertain and sell subscriptions.* *By **_always_** bringing classic and old characters, it seems to me that they have enormous difficulty/inability to let go of the "old". Respect the past, but don't live in it. Lucas himself did this in the prequels.*
Rian Johnson was going somewhere, Gilroy did something interesting and brilliant even if it isn't Star Wars, and Filoni *is* going somewhere. That's all I'll say really. Well said about Lucas mate - you make a wonderful point there. Lucas has taught me so much through Star Wars, and for that and many other things, I will forever be eternally grateful toward him.
@@Wackaz With all due respect mate, I don't think Rian wanted to go anywhere. His film, apart from one moment or another, is just a political and social commentary on something contemporary, and not immortal like the Originals or Prequels. Filoni is another story (at least for now hahaha)
josh i have a degree in philology and your essays are one of the most profound among the ones from 21st century i've come to know; and even though i do not agree with every single bit of them, please, make more
I'm curious, ignoring the sequels and what everyone says Lucas's sequel trilogy would be, what the sequel trilogy would look like by simply following Dialectics and ring theory
I'm gonna be real; including the sequels in this makes no sense; they weren't created by George Lucas and therefore cannot be part of his scheme. The only real star wars that exists is Ep. I-VI Why would you even want to include the sequels? This is look trying to append Rings of Power to Tolkien's works; it just makes no sense
It's about seeing the possibilities of what could have been. If you watch my other Star Wars videos, I make it clear I'm no fan of Disney Star Wars, but I like to think that there is a world where a sequel trilogy carries the spirit and design of the original saga forwards. Thanks for watching!
@@josh_from_xboxlive Oh, that makes way more sense. Sorry, I haven't seen any others besides this and "Does Anakin have an Arc?" Top tier quality content, though. I also left a long ass comment describing what you basically described, except I was terrible at wording it
These are approaches and methods of storytelling. George Lucas is not the sole person who can implement them. Abrams and Johnson did follow Ring Theory at least. I haven't examined them for dialectics.
The ring theory is not a theory it’s a fact. Based on the writing ms of Joseph Campbell and other philosophers like Robert Moore and Robert Bly, it’s normal to have in our subconscious repetitive storylines and archetypes of heros and anti heros based on the thousands of years of evolution and storytelling, from epic or religious stories told to us in schools to simple and tiny folklore bed time stories Lucas studied this under Joseph Campbell in his mythology class in college this is why he nailed it the best. But even other storytellers like James Cameron or Nolan or Tolkien who probably didn’t study these things nailed it too because the earlier reason I mentioned, evaluation and cultural stories both epic and folklore. And because of that reason I’m selling to bet that half of the ring theory was not even planned, Lucas just did it subconsciously, repeating things like poetry and making it rhyme unknowingly. That’s the beauty of it half of it was done intentionally the other just resembles the mature and cultivated part of Lucas’ subconscious Anyways the force awakens was great and was everything I hope it would be 😅🤗
okay, i really enjoyed the video but i don't get one thing the ring theory doesnt really make sense because as you say it has only room for 6 movies but george lucas had plans for the next 3 episodes after return of the jedi. Maybe I didn't get something and all I'm saying is wrong.
Who is "they", Lucas? If so, yes, Lucas applies dialectics with purpose. He studied anthropology, which arises and is complimenting with a plethora of understanding in philosophy and sociology; it only makes sense Lucas came across the dialectic in his studies, but even then, you can still be dialectic and not literally know what a dialectic is. Rather, in George's words, for him it's all poetry, rythmic, *operatic.* All of these forms of storytelling are dialectic.
@@josh_from_xboxliveIf Lucas didn't do it on purpose, then the artistic analysis present with ring theory and your dialectic theory is void. If the artist didn't intend it, then it's worthless analysing, because it didn't exist in the first place. I have loved your videos thus far and part of that is because I assumed you are one of the rare cinephiles out there who has finally cracked the intentions of Lucas' work in Star Wars. Lucas absolutely *did* intend the ring theory as he did dialectics, even if he didn't himself call it a "ring" or "dialectic" form of storytelling. For Lucas it's about poetry, and quoting other films of history to create new meaning in his films through said quotes. Have you seen Rick Worley's How To Watch Star Wars: Part 1? He does a phenomenal job explaining all this.
@@WackazThe artists intent matters 0 to the artistic experience of the viewer. Art is the experience of viewing the art object, not the object itself. If we cared about the authorial intent fully, Darth Vader isn't Lukes father in EP4
The thesis, anti thesis, synthesis is necessary in SW. Prequels criticize liberal democrazy, Orig trig critizices autocrazy. This left a triligy to synthicise into a left wing, communist or anarchist position for the galaxy !!
naw, Lucas is more than a little bit of an idiot...but also a bit of a savant. 💁♂by which I mean: he's an intuitive more than an intellectual, and perhaps the most relatable, if not profound things we can admire and draw meaning from have their roots in the spiritually profane rather than in the literary sublime. 🤷♂
I think all these theories are distractions that Prequel Fans needs to stop wasting time on. I love the Prequel on their own, as stand alone movies independent of their relationship to any other films with Star and Wars in the title, in fact I really don't even like the original trilogy. But I don't have the skills to make Video Essays however so I keep hoping someone will start defending the Prequels on their own merits instead of on the merits of how much they reference other stuff.
I don't disagree, and by using the pronoun "they" you must agree that we can discuss them as a trilogy, and not just three individual films. This video essay is largely concerned with analyzing how "they" work as a trilogy, how each film relates to the other two in the trilogy. From there it's not a big leap to discuss how one trilogy relates to the other trilogy. I don't see the harm :)
Wow… now use word salad to make Highlander 2 movie appear brilliant. Just because Lucas reuses the same imagery and gags doesn’t necessarily make a turd less a turd.
I love Star Wars as much as the next guy but this is an over analysis of the movies. Yeah something might be intentional but others are just for continuity. In reality most of the Star Wars movies are okay (not great) but entertaining movies. It’s not bladerunner
Ring theory is cool in all, but I think it is totally lazy. Like Lucas couldn't come up with anything new and just repeated the hits. I don't like it. But I guess it is kinda a flex.
All of that stuff doesn't really save Episode 1 and 2. If a poem fails to engage the audience it doesn't really matter how much it rhymes. I'm not even sure if it matters if it does engage the audience.
Another interesting cycle I just thought of: Anakin begins as a slave to circumstance (physical), becomes a slave to passion (emotional), ends as a slave to tyranny and psychological suffering (spiritual).
this man simply doesn't miss
Only imperial stormtroopers are so precise
Praying to the TH-cam algorithm the fandom starts to recognize this channel
I just discovered it. It happens.
LOL SAME
It’s funny you mention George having it all planned from the start because in the “opening crawl” of the OG book “Star Wars” indistinctly lays out all 3 trilogies and the cyclical fight between good and evil with the republic vs confederation, empire vs rebels, and the resistance vs some undefined tyranny. Not to be a book Andy but it really is wild how these great modern literary works spell everything out in the beginning to sort of prepare your mind for the wider story
I loved the ring theory essay but you've elevated it into a different realm. Amazing video dude.
This man has put forth more effort in this single video then Disney did in their entire trilogy and all of their spinoffs
This is the best piece of secondary star wars media i think i've ever seen
Your videos have been incredible thus far, truly incredible. You, Rick Worley, Nerdonymous, Style is Substance, Anomaly Inc. and So Uncivilised. and many others in this cinephile community of Star Wars fans have all done superb jobs in defending the art of George Lucas in recent years. I can't express how refreshing your approaches are, simply taking the side of the auteur, appreciating them, analysing their decisions, and through that analysis, breathing new life into and helping others understand said appreciation.
Thank you, with all my heart.
Glad to know I know all those guys
Except for Rick
Yeah I would say that the main ideas on display here were implied but not fully explored in Klimo's original essay and I'm glad for you going through all this effort to elborate them. The real tragedy is that we never got to see Lucas' Episodes 7-8-9 (if he ever intended to make them to begin with) to see how ring theory might have worked in such a schema, my pet theory that the ring 'graph' would take on more of a three-dimensional character, becoming like an 'orb'.
With finding this channel, I feel like I found TH-cam’s best kept secret
It's insane how Star Wars ring theory validades my favourite watching ordem, which is: IV, I, II, V, VI, III
So it's C', A, B, B', A', C
It still maintains the mirror aspect of the cronological and release orders
Talk about Machete order on steroids.
@@VeguldenZilverling it kinda began as a reinterpretation of the machete order (lol) but without the hate of the prequels, and a way to keep the best beginning and ending to the saga while maintaining some of the "twists"
Interesting way to watch them, with how often I’d seen them I usually just go in number order these days, but when I show it to people who haven’t seen it I go 4,5,1,2,3,6.
I don’t know much about the methods people use, but I find this one works as it doesn’t spoil the Vader twist with the prequels, but gives the necessary understanding of Anakin/Vader to have his eventual return to light get more of an impact.
This method does unfortunately spoil the Leia and Luke being siblings twist, but I find the trade off of the Anakin story being worth it.
I write scifi music and have subconciously embedded these theories into multiple albums, thank you george for embedding such powerful foundations into star wars, its made me who i am creatively
It’s amazing to me that so many Star Wars fans don’t even know about or even notice this pattern.
I think most who are really paying attention at least subconsciously notice most of it, but just don’t fully piece it together.
It also doesn’t help that a large portion of the fanbase still fervently hates the prequels, even with its recent resurgence, so naturally will not deep dive into those films, which stops them from seeing the full scope of it all and how those 2 trilogy’s flow together beyond just the basic point a to point b storyline.
What an incredible synopsis of the two theories. To quote Vader "we need not be adversaries" and I truly enjoyed how you presented them to mesh with eachother rather than oppose one another.
My perspective after watching is actually that these two theories should coexist, and it would be best described as a "mirror theory."
The plots of the movies correlate, but have opposing arcs, they mirror eachother in a 1:1 fashion.. 123, 456, same plot, but in reverse. Dialectics.
The mirror image of abc, is cba. Relate this to the 2 trilogies.. 123, 654. 1 correlates to 6, 2 to 5, 3 to 4. Ring theory.
Theyre a mirror of eachother.
"Incredibly wise and enigmatic," goodness. Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm sure that word choice came from my comments on your videos thus far, and I have to thank you for the space to think and express myself while interacting with your structure of ideas.
In that vein! I'm glad you've mentioned the RLM criticisms. Both you an Mike Stolklasa have influenced my thoughts on the prequels. You've managed to knock over a number of Mike's arguments, but there are still some I see validity in.
By addressing ring theory, and showing Mike's comments about the opening of The Phantom Menace, it struck me, before you started your narration, that the opening shot of TPM was supposed to mirror the landing on Endor and that the usurpation of exceptions were very intentional. Over the last few months, I've come to see Mike Stolklasa's criticisms as holding water regarding the process of film making, rather than his points about the writing.
His comments are safe, but I think the kernel that comes through is synthesized well with your observations about Jurassic Park's use of CGI. Red Letter Media does produce their own (lovingly) schlock, so it makes sense that Mike's criticisms are derived from his practice. In the same way, you're a writing consultant and have shown a light on what the prequels have done right from a writing perspective.
While Jurassic Park excelled in the use of CGI, I do think the prequel trilogy did itself a disservice by trying to capture images which were only possible through CG, or at least putting a coat of CG paint on things. I think a good example of this is the submarine used to travel to Theed. They made a practical model! But it doesn't blend seamlessly with the underwater scenes, we can tell which is which. To me, that reached a point where it became a distraction which stopped some people from finding the strong structure of the films and their homilies with the original trilogy. It becomes an invitation for criticism rather than an invitation for contemplation. The scenes added to a the 97 re-releases of A New Hope certainly add to the overall narrative, but people keep getting caught up in their presentation.
The well thought out structure of the prequels comes through with repeat viewings, unless someone is trained in, or familliar with, writing. But I think a stronger film would have been able to nail those points sooner for those who aren't. A lot of that can just come down to not liking things which are different, in the same way a lot of people didn't like the operatic elements of Empire when compared to the realism they felt from A New Hope. Sometimes people just aren't going to be able to accept the differences.
Maybe this is just me showing my own ass as an organizer, but I need to be able to show people my argument from the start rather than having to set up Marxist analysis to explain the things that workers see in their every day lives. In a world as sick as ours, trying to communicate high philosophy in the most condensed and easy to understand way possible is an incredibly difficult task. It takes a lot more thought and effort than anything I've done in my life. It makes me respect how well Lucas did overall, because a little bit of secondary explanation goes a long way.
But in that regard, I see the prequels are high art while the original trilogy is high art for the commons. The original trilogy was Lucas' brilliance strained through the sieve of other film makers, while I do think he held much more creative control over the prequels. They are raw Lucas, and in the same way that A New Hope was a film "saved in the editing room," the prequels didn't land for a lot of people because of that raw brilliance.
Ultimately, I'm not saying Lucas should have done anything different, I now appreciate them for what they are and the control Lucas had, but this is also me reflecting on how I've seen these films over the years, since I first saw the re-releases in the theaters at the age of 6. I frankly didn't notice the differences until I was old enough to spot the CGI, but then I couldn't unsee it.
Reaching adulthood, I game mastered a couple RPG sessions set in the Star Wars universe. It gave me the opportunity to sat down to think about the structure of the prequels and figure out what I would change given the opportunity. The answer I came away with was simply "not much", but the presentation was what always stuck in my craw.
I appreciate your exploration of Jurassic Park's preponderance of the future of CGI, because it does hold a lot of water when discussing the prequels, even if that creative control added a lot to Lucas' overall vision.
Anyway, a lot to think about as always with your uploads, thanks for the thought fodder and the shout out!
Always appreciate your thoughts PfB. As for RLM and Stolklasa, I can't say I have engaged with their content much outside of Rick Worley's video essays and what's mentioned here. I appreciate and respect the fact that they're doing a performance and playing characters (to some extent) since ultimately I'm doing the same thing. However, in the realm of cultural critique, throwing some shade around playfully is part of the sport. As long as it's in good form and we're all having fun.
I like what you're saying about the Prequels being brilliant in a less obvious way, and that it might not land with people for that very reason. I had to go on a long journey to seeing that brilliance myself, so I always understand when people don't see it right away... It takes a special kind of artist to make something that can sustain this many years of critical attention and still yield new insights, while at the same being entertaining for a mass audience watching it for the very first time.
"sustain this many years of critical attention and still yield new insights" is a good encapsulation of a phenomenon I've been noticing about the prequels.
History doesn't repeat, "it's like poetry, (it) rhymes". Given the politics of the Bush years being a doubling down on the Reagan years, and our own decade being a doubling down on the Bush years, I think there's been more discussion of the prequels because there's more real world examples to elucidate Lucas' reflections on the Bush years.
Canada applauding a literal member of the SS the other day sure has some eerie similarities to the scene in RotS where democracy dies to thunderous applause.
First as tragedy, then as farce, or something lol. It's like how the lyrics of a Dead Kennedy's song hasn't lost its poignancy because the core issue hasn't changed.
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12:41
I nearly spit out my drink.
Videos like this keep showing us why the sequels are rotting harder than a carcass during noon in the African Savanna.
I’m glad you mentioned that Hegel didn’t actually use those terms haha
Great video, only issue I have with the dialectics theory is that by including the Sequels it treats Star Wars as one continuous creative narrative. But with Lucas not being involved in the final trilogy and Disney bringing in an almost completely new team, there isn't enough continuation between 1-6 and 7-9. So any theory that tries to encompass all 9 films is going to be artificially imposed by default, simply because there wasn't a singular creative force behind all of the films.
Agreed, as these are pretty high level and we know for a fact that JJ Abrams was t interested in the prequels at all. It would work better to try and ring theory the OT and the sequels, or to impose two seperate things somehow to see if they can fit into a ring with the OT, which I think we know they dont
Yeah, if there are any links, they are coincidences, not considered choices with the whole 9 film arc and connections in mind.
It's not artificially imposed. It doesn't have to involve a singular creative team. It merely needs to involve filmmakers with fidelity to the methods he used. And I can tell you at the very least that they did continue with Ring Theory.
@@beavisdoge237no, the links are there and just as considered. Each sequel film has a rhyming partner from each of the other two trilogies.
I've been learning so much about Star Wars and storytelling from your videos. Thank you for making them. Can't wait for the next one!
Great essay dude, would watch again. 10/10
Episode 1: Padme wears a headdress in the senate with a similar looking symbol to the rebel alliance insignia in front of her head.
Episode 3: Padme wears a headdress in the senate with a similar looking symbol to the rebel alliance insignia behind her head.
Not only does it match up 1-6, 2-5, and 3-4 via the ring structure, but it also matches up 1-4, 2-5, and 3-6; and how it matches up one way 'rhymes' the inverse way in the other match up scheme. And it isn't just shots that match up, but themes, ideas, etc.
For instance, Ep. I ending of Qui-Gon pyre scene clearly matches Ep. VI; Anakin lost a father, but Luke gained his father back. I is negative, and VI is positive. Now, the celebration scenes clearly match from Ep. I and Ep. IV; but since it is a 'forward rhyme,' I becomes 'positive; and IV becomes 'negative.' That is, in Ep. I, they won and all seems be well, but evil is lurking in the background, while in Ep. IV, the good is lurking in the background whilst the Empire still is in control and will retaliate very soon
The 'positive' and 'negative' don't refer to what is good or bad, but, rather, the polarities of the rhyming scheme; "It is like poetry; it rhymes." George Lucas is an absolute genius that created the greatest movie saga of all time, by far
Always a welcome surprise to see you upload. Stellar stuff as usual; keep ‘em coming! Can never get enough of these intellectual SW analyses
Stellar vidoe man! The light that your shining on the structure of star wars is making me think alot about writing and story telling. It's becoming a large influence on the stories that I write.
this is a great video! as someone who's heard both the ring theory and the dialectics theory, I think you did a great job of explaining both of them! thanks for making stuff like this ---- also just realized the way i probably heard the dialectics theory was from your Skywalker Arc videos so thanks for that too. Wishing you all the luck and success possible for your channel and creative pursuits.
These videos are completely awesome! Brilliant, creative and intellectual analyses of cinema I would otherwise never had cared about.
Phenomenal video, keep doing what ur doing
Warrior of Peace and Priest of Death are some of the most wonderful and fitting terms I have seen these two lads described 😅
According to the late (great) J. W. Rinzler, George Lucas himself has described Star Wars as his onion. You can peel back layers upon layers and find new layers underneath. I don’t think he sat down and made a master plan and held to that - that’s too limiting for him - but intuition awareness and planning together crafted this meticulous saga over thirty years. I will forever lament that he never made his version of the sequel trilogy - what I hear sounds really interesting - but am so glad and thankful for what we have.
I also recommend Rick Woley‘s long videos on the saga „How to watch Star Wars“.
It is wonderful how you uphold the works of George Lucas and Mike Klimo! That is so considered of you! Thank you so very much for defending George Lucas and the true nature of Star Wars (I-VI)!!!
Keep doing these kind of videos!
outstanding!
Such a GREEEEEAT essay, thanks man
Very well done, yet again. Please stop breaking my understanding of something I thought I understood twenty-plus years ago.
You are a dangerous individual, or are you.
Absolutely love all of your star wars breakdowns
I like it, but George's intent was never to make any further films. He'd completed his story, and the only reason he even wrote a 7 onwards trilogy was because he knew whoever he sold the series to would make a new trilogy. And yet, they threw that out.
My lord what an incredible video and observation.
this video is pure gold
With Lucas's sequel trilogy in mind, couldn't a chiastic structure work well too?
Episode 6 mirrors 4
Episode 7 would mirror 3
Episode 8 would mirror 2
Episode 9 would mirror 1
Episode 5 would be the odd one out, as it's the turning point of the story where the hero from the first half (Anakin/Vader) duels the hero from the second half (Luke) for the first time.
Fantastic. Gave me a new way to.understand Star Wars ❤
Your channel is phenomenal. Can’t wait to see it blow up!
The design of the world between worlds SO FAR looks like a mirror and a portal.
Well!
Darth Vader takes the identity of Anakin Skywalker from Luke Skywalker in the form of his Jedi lightsaber, Luke Skywalker takes the identity of Darth Vader from Anakin Skywalker in the form of his Sith lightsaber.
Amazing video. Great extension of the ring theory. Although I don't think Mike Klimo has ruled out another reading. He also goes into the chronological parallels. I think he talks about the parallels between Luke and Anakin with the makers of "The Prequels strikes back". And they can't be depicted through the Ring cycle in particular, but chronologically. Only if you look at the overarching structure of the films does the Ring theory make more sense. Episode I has many similarities to Episode VI and IV, but that's also because Episode VI already had many parallels to IV (Tatooine, Death Star).
this is real star wars theory🔥🔥🔥
4th dimensional star wars is distilled Star Wars
Enjoyed this one! Occasionally an individual example was a hard sell to me (like 12:10, where the connection of the Ewoks scene to Han/Leia torture in 4&5 is reaching a bit, or 16:25, where the examples are only related in a very abstract way), but I like your overall theory and am now convinced Lucas was going for dialectic style connections within each trilogy
Oh hey wasn't expecting a vid on this! This should be interesting.
I think an interesting dimension of Anakin being "led to resurrection on a chariot" is that he is resurrected to a sort of living death as he remains tormented by his physical AND spiritual wounds; a sort of synthesis of both life and death.
How would hypothetical George's sequels with Darth Maul fit into ring theory and is it possible to reverse-engineer scenes based on it?
Your previous star wars videos were very nice, genuine, honest and full of thought. I have send them to my starwars pals to check them out as you truly did bring new light on some of the characters. And it pains me to say it, but this one is wishful thinking and looking for stuff that is not there. Looking for anything that is resembling a an intent but is just random seaming similarity. Or is obvious intentional similarity (e.g. repeating senteces during the whole saga - "I have bad feeling about this").
During my stuides I have spend so much time listening to academics talking about significant culture pieces and this slipery slope way of thinking is as tempting as the dark side is. Trying to looks for some even more deep and hidden meaning. And what ends up happing is letting your own imagination and creativity to take over.
Many incredibly knowledgeable people I respect have fallen for this type of thinking at occasions. It wasnt permanent and I dont think it will be here as well. I just had to say it, becuase your previous videos were so well done.
This video needs disclamer at the start syaing that this videos is entering hypotetical space with some interesting ideas. But that it is not trying to actually comment on the piece.
Thanks for all the work you put in your videos. I will be looking forward for the next one. And Im sorry if it sounds harsh, Im not ENG native. Now when I read it back it may sound a bit harsh.
P.S. I never told this to my professors on the uni. Even tho they were one of the most knowledgeable folks in my country. But I am telling to you a) its anonymous:) b) because we share same passion for star wars which is somethign my professors and I didnt have back in uni.
Whether it was conscious intent by GL or subconsciously embedded in the material is an interesting question. Either way, I think this model works. That’s what makes it art. There many other trilogies out there that are fundamentally uninteresting and devoid of any intent other than titalating audience to make more money.
i agree with you that this analysis strays a little to far at places, like with the droids being reunited and stuff, but i think there is still some merit to it, at the very least ep1 does mirror ep6, with the end of the empire and its inception in the senate, the final battle being in 3 fronts and the death of important mentors in qui gon and vader/yoda, while also being very similar to ep4, with it being the begining of the hero's story and their relations to their family and friends, while also having similar arcs. Though im no expert and i could very well be over my head with this
@@dubstyle311 I do think that a lot of what goes into art occurs on the subconscious level.
Exactly. This is just over-analyzing things too far. If anybody had a ring theory or even a hero's arc, it was unintentional and just happened to hit it right. After the OT there was some plan initially, but mostly throwing "I have a baad feeling..." quotes in there for feelgood. That's it.
This is what perplexes me by modern academia. It is mostly a dissection of what was never there.
Wow, Jesus dude.... this is amazing
It was about time that somebody called out Hello Greedo, man, he´s so pretentious and condescending
This is so good
I think the reason ring theory is "closed" and kinda "limited" is because ring theory is essentially analyzing what exists. Also, as you say, its more "form" based.
I do like your triadic dialectical theory; but your dialectical theory almost necessitates a sequel trilogy by george. So while we can acknowledge george may have set a dialectic frame work in place, ring theory is still a useful tool for visual analysis. Kinda reaching your conclusion of how both are useful.
What's interesting is that this dialectic idea i think almost formalizes George's Visual Jazz idea.
Essentially; instead of a more formalized theory, i think its more appropriate to compare that George is treating his story telling of star wars as jazz performances; each narrative and visual element is a note. He'll play with the structure for different goals; he'll tweak and change his previous performances to match the goal of the current complete view.
This also explains some interesting "rule breaks" guys like Rick Worely brings up; (ep 2's upside down opening and ep 5's non-group shot closing)
Man, Hegel is the best. Isn't reading Hegel just the best? Your world opens up after reading that man. He is so important to understand - after all, he *is* the last philosopher of history, and essential to understanding and mastering the greater thinker that came after him, his student: Mr. Marx.
Hegel & those of his ilk were & continue to be a vital part of the power/control edifice ! They are NOT nor were they EVER friends to the common man .
@@WizzdummHeadley That's why Marx did what he did. He freed the philosophy of Hegel from that power/control edifice, as did Lenin, as did Mao. These people were friends to the common man. More than any other philosopher or political thinker could hope to be.
@@WackazI'm sorry to burst your bubble but Marx/Hegel were both CUT FROM THE SAME MASONIC CLOTH were BOTH part of the same control/power edifice that has been maintained to this day & will continue to be so into the future . What good did communism/socialism do for the common people ???!!! I think you & I both know the dreadful answer to that !? Capitalism/communism/socialism are all ONE & THE SAME THING make no mistake in that a cabal/coterie controls the wealth/resources .
I'm sure the Chinese people who died in famines at hands of Mao were good buddies.@@Wackaz
@@Wackaz I think josh might have omitted a mention of the main man to avoid a slew of "iPhone, vuvuzela" comments. You've let the cat out of the bag.
16:30 Senator is indeed hot
Mr plinkett would say otherwise
Star Wars Ring Theory is currently being censored because it casts doubt on Disney Wars' right to exist. Just saying.
16:00 maaaaan why didn't you mention Obi-Wan losing his lightsaber in the Jango rain fight?
Good video tho, you really had gold here.
*Josh, what do you think about the Star Wars series and films made by Disney? They don't seem like stories to me, but rather lifeless content made to entertain and sell subscriptions.*
*By **_always_** bringing classic and old characters, it seems to me that they have enormous difficulty/inability to let go of the "old". Respect the past, but don't live in it. Lucas himself did this in the prequels.*
Rian Johnson was going somewhere, Gilroy did something interesting and brilliant even if it isn't Star Wars, and Filoni *is* going somewhere. That's all I'll say really. Well said about Lucas mate - you make a wonderful point there. Lucas has taught me so much through Star Wars, and for that and many other things, I will forever be eternally grateful toward him.
@@Wackaz With all due respect mate, I don't think Rian wanted to go anywhere. His film, apart from one moment or another, is just a political and social commentary on something contemporary, and not immortal like the Originals or Prequels.
Filoni is another story (at least for now hahaha)
It’s like poetry it rhymes
”It’s like poetry, they rhime.”- George Lucas
19:59 And the sequels should have been both an ascent and descent for the grandchildren of Anakin.
I love how fart jokes just strengthen this argument 😂
josh i have a degree in philology and your essays are one of the most profound among the ones from 21st century i've come to know; and even though i do not agree with every single bit of them, please, make more
16:32 Yes, she is :D
You’re the best. But like… why not “Duel of the Star Wars Theories”?
Well the thumbnail is from RotS and the song playing there is Battle of the Heroes :)
@@josh_from_xboxlive Aaaaah! Of course. That makes too much sense.
umm spoiler warning at 16:48 for uncle palps having an apprentice...
What music do you use at 8:20? Sounds like jrpg
I'm curious, ignoring the sequels and what everyone says Lucas's sequel trilogy would be, what the sequel trilogy would look like by simply following Dialectics and ring theory
The sequels did follow Ring Theory. The rhyming sets are 4=3=7, 5=2=9, 6=1=8
Each sequel film rhymes with a film from each of the other two trilogies.
I'm gonna be real; including the sequels in this makes no sense; they weren't created by George Lucas and therefore cannot be part of his scheme. The only real star wars that exists is Ep. I-VI
Why would you even want to include the sequels? This is look trying to append Rings of Power to Tolkien's works; it just makes no sense
It's about seeing the possibilities of what could have been. If you watch my other Star Wars videos, I make it clear I'm no fan of Disney Star Wars, but I like to think that there is a world where a sequel trilogy carries the spirit and design of the original saga forwards. Thanks for watching!
@@josh_from_xboxlive Oh, that makes way more sense. Sorry, I haven't seen any others besides this and "Does Anakin have an Arc?"
Top tier quality content, though. I also left a long ass comment describing what you basically described, except I was terrible at wording it
These are approaches and methods of storytelling. George Lucas is not the sole person who can implement them. Abrams and Johnson did follow Ring Theory at least. I haven't examined them for dialectics.
Excellent video, hate being this guy though ronto ≠ dewback
The ring theory is not a theory it’s a fact.
Based on the writing ms of Joseph Campbell and other philosophers like Robert Moore and Robert Bly, it’s normal to have in our subconscious repetitive storylines and archetypes of heros and anti heros based on the thousands of years of evolution and storytelling, from epic or religious stories told to us in schools to simple and tiny folklore bed time stories
Lucas studied this under Joseph Campbell in his mythology class in college this is why he nailed it the best.
But even other storytellers like James Cameron or Nolan or Tolkien who probably didn’t study these things nailed it too because the earlier reason I mentioned, evaluation and cultural stories both epic and folklore.
And because of that reason I’m selling to bet that half of the ring theory was not even planned, Lucas just did it subconsciously, repeating things like poetry and making it rhyme unknowingly. That’s the beauty of it half of it was done intentionally the other just resembles the mature and cultivated part of Lucas’ subconscious
Anyways the force awakens was great and was everything I hope it would be 😅🤗
George has stated many times that the stories are cyclical and like and it rhymes
swag vid
okay, i really enjoyed the video but i don't get one thing the ring theory doesnt really make sense because as you say it has only room for 6 movies but george lucas had plans for the next 3 episodes after return of the jedi. Maybe I didn't get something and all I'm saying is wrong.
Darth Bane lol 8:58
Woah. Do you think they did all that on purpose?
No
Who is "they", Lucas? If so, yes, Lucas applies dialectics with purpose. He studied anthropology, which arises and is complimenting with a plethora of understanding in philosophy and sociology; it only makes sense Lucas came across the dialectic in his studies, but even then, you can still be dialectic and not literally know what a dialectic is. Rather, in George's words, for him it's all poetry, rythmic, *operatic.* All of these forms of storytelling are dialectic.
@@josh_from_xboxliveIf Lucas didn't do it on purpose, then the artistic analysis present with ring theory and your dialectic theory is void. If the artist didn't intend it, then it's worthless analysing, because it didn't exist in the first place. I have loved your videos thus far and part of that is because I assumed you are one of the rare cinephiles out there who has finally cracked the intentions of Lucas' work in Star Wars. Lucas absolutely *did* intend the ring theory as he did dialectics, even if he didn't himself call it a "ring" or "dialectic" form of storytelling. For Lucas it's about poetry, and quoting other films of history to create new meaning in his films through said quotes. Have you seen Rick Worley's How To Watch Star Wars: Part 1? He does a phenomenal job explaining all this.
@@WackazThe artists intent matters 0 to the artistic experience of the viewer. Art is the experience of viewing the art object, not the object itself. If we cared about the authorial intent fully, Darth Vader isn't Lukes father in EP4
1:21 Desmond???
The thesis, anti thesis, synthesis is necessary in SW.
Prequels criticize liberal democrazy,
Orig trig critizices autocrazy.
This left a triligy to synthicise into a left wing, communist or anarchist position for the galaxy !!
naw, Lucas is more than a little bit of an idiot...but also a bit of a savant.
💁♂by which I mean: he's an intuitive more than an intellectual, and perhaps the most relatable, if not profound things we can admire and draw meaning from have their roots in the spiritually profane rather than in the literary sublime. 🤷♂
I think all these theories are distractions that Prequel Fans needs to stop wasting time on. I love the Prequel on their own, as stand alone movies independent of their relationship to any other films with Star and Wars in the title, in fact I really don't even like the original trilogy. But I don't have the skills to make Video Essays however so I keep hoping someone will start defending the Prequels on their own merits instead of on the merits of how much they reference other stuff.
I don't think the role of theories like this one are to defend films, but rather to understand them.
I think Understanding the Prequels needs to begin with understanding how they work on their own.@@josh_from_xboxlive
I don't disagree, and by using the pronoun "they" you must agree that we can discuss them as a trilogy, and not just three individual films. This video essay is largely concerned with analyzing how "they" work as a trilogy, how each film relates to the other two in the trilogy. From there it's not a big leap to discuss how one trilogy relates to the other trilogy. I don't see the harm :)
@@josh_from_xboxlive They work as Stand Alone films and as a Trilogy.
Wow… now use word salad to make Highlander 2 movie appear brilliant. Just because Lucas reuses the same imagery and gags doesn’t necessarily make a turd less a turd.
I love Star Wars as much as the next guy but this is an over analysis of the movies. Yeah something might be intentional but others are just for continuity. In reality most of the Star Wars movies are okay (not great) but entertaining movies. It’s not bladerunner
Ring theory is cool in all, but I think it is totally lazy. Like Lucas couldn't come up with anything new and just repeated the hits. I don't like it. But I guess it is kinda a flex.
All of that stuff doesn't really save Episode 1 and 2. If a poem fails to engage the audience it doesn't really matter how much it rhymes. I'm not even sure if it matters if it does engage the audience.
This is worse than Anakins Thesis
Ring theory is nonsense and you are coping.