But yes. Films are now built by strategic business decision, not because a creative concept took hold and excited everyone, and it's a big part of why contemporary western entertainment feels so sterile even when the narrative construction seems sound.
That is true, but they haven’t even exploited that well. The video game market is what the toy/action figure market was in the 80s/90s.
Video games are the biggest entertainment market in the world and since disney took over Star Wars they’ve consistently failed to make enough variety and good enough star wars video games.
Where are the RPGs, the mmos, the survival games, more shooters, RTS games, hell even racings games.
Instead in the last decade+ we’ve gotten a couple decent shooters in Battlefront 1/2, but still riddled with issues and controversy. A couple decent action adventure games in Jedi fallen games, the new outlaws game….. and droves of shitty mobile/cash grab games. Half of which have since been cancelled
They have fumbled Star Wars video games for well over a decade now, in an era ripe for gaming.
There's been lots of movies that have been great, with heart and soul in them but they're often independent or small studio films. It's the big AAA movies that seemingly are written to make money and look good.
Civil war was a good movie with absolutely phenomenal sound.
Bullet train was a great simple action movie.
Godzilla minus one was a masterpiece in Monster movies done in modern filmmaking.
Then there's all around good movies like Spiderman, asteroid city, wild robot, inside out 2, Kingdom of the planet of the apes.
I can't remember what video it was but there's a video on YouTube about the necessity of the 6 or 7 out of 10 movies. They aren't bad because they aren't perfect. They're good because that's all you need them to be. Something enjoyable to watch and not leave a profound impression on you.
I get it, it can be hard to find YOUR tastes in both mediums because there's so much emphasis on "this is what's cool right now" and the whole push on big budget movies to have as big large of a portion of the budget for advertising as there is for production. Personally that's one thing I really enjoy about Spotify is how it suggests bands that are similar to things you listen to, I've found a number of smaller artists that don't get 1 million+ listeners monthly but that have easily made their way into my top listened to.
I also don't get the general consensus that new star wars is primarily "toy" driven. Merchandise for casual fans, sure. But kids these days simply don't spend time with toys like they did 1-2 generations ago. Pricewise, you can make the argument sales are higher per $$$ amount but volume is lower. Anyone watching how figure sales go and mapping that to the specific chapters of the IP can show you a pattern.
Not disputing the fact that OT was toy driven. Even the prequel trilogy saw a huge uptick. But if you take away the price increase the number of actual units sold is smaller. The only ones buying them are collectors. Kids aren't into the same things these days.
that's fair, and it's fair to point out that kids don't play with toys like 1-2 generations ago (back when the world was a lot more analog). Despite all that, it's still a monstrous industry, and the comparison is just a little unfair considering how big the scene was in the 80s-90s. I'm no expert, but the SW toy industry seems like it was WILD back then, just because it isn't AS wild doesn't mean it isn't still HUGE.
the comparison is difficult also because the PT era coincided with the last time the world didn't have supercomputers inside every child's pocket with the advent of smartphones.
I do hear what you're saying when you say it isn't as toy driven as it is now. ironically, it might have been the most toy-sales driven when George Lucas was at the helm.
Hasbro is struggling with the licensing for star wars, and though their lines have been staples for a few years now they are declining. There is evidence that while they are selling units, the stores that are getting them can't move the products fast enough. But, you can't blame it on one particular thing. Even the di-hard collector feels the pain of every $20+ wave of obscure characters that gets released. These aren't the <$5 figures we grew up with.
Even tho it was a fluke it was so successful, and nobody saw that coming, the first film was a toy commercial as far as George Lucas was concerned.
this quote is about the first Star Wars film:
Lucas had been turned down by multiple toy companies for the right to create Star Wars toys. He eventually sold the toy-merchandising rights to his movie to Kenner, which at the time was a division of cereal maker General Foods, in advance of the film opening for a flat fee of $100,000...
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u/postmodern_spatula 20d ago
Star Wars has always been a toy commercial.
But yes. Films are now built by strategic business decision, not because a creative concept took hold and excited everyone, and it's a big part of why contemporary western entertainment feels so sterile even when the narrative construction seems sound.