I grew up watching Star Wars a few years before the prequels came out.

I loved it! I was a big Star Wars fan. I honestly almost completely lost interest in it after I became an even bigger Trek fan.

I’ve been playing Lego Star Wars and it’s been fun, but it made me realize that the stories all seem surface deep to me.

I get the movies from the 70s were not going to deep dive in Luke’s training, but in each film it’s just like, “And… you’re a Jedi master now.”

There are other races and we do not get to really learn much about them. I guess the Mandalorian filled that out some, but I couldn’t get into that show.

I guess this is more of a rant about how Star Wars feels like and empty shell of a series than something with more substance.

I really wish, that there was something that went deeper.

I have not watched all the Disney+ shows yet, but I might start Ahsoka or Andor tonight. I watched Obi Wan and liked it, I tried Mando 2 times and did not like it one bit.

I loved the Shadows of the Empire book.

    • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.worldEnglish
      71·
      8 months ago

      Andor falls into the same category as Knights of the Old Republic 2: it’s amongst the best Star Wars despite (or rather because of) it not being very Star Wars-y.

      Much like KOTOR 2 deconstructed Jedi, the Force, and their roles in the universe, Andor deconstructs and elaborates on how the universe would work as shown: instead of waving everything away into the background to focus on a Chosen One with space magic, you get to see how normal people live in a messed up universe like that. It’s also depressingly relevant with its focus on the slide into an authoritarian regime and how people respond and adapt.

      If you go in expecting the normal black-and-white power fantasy you’ll probably be disappointed, but if you’re looking for a masterful character-driven drama with morally gray protagonists and antagonists then you’ll be riveted.

      (Another thing both have in common is the beginning can be a bit of a slog - try to make it past episode 3 before calling it quits.)

    • falidorn@lemmy.world
      12·
      8 months ago

      Yea… there’s no way a tv show is better than a film. No matter how great a show is, there is inevitably padding, stretching, and pacing issues. At least let a release simmer a little bit in the cultural ether before you start making statements that it’s better than a movie still held in the highest regard 50 years later.

        • falidorn@lemmy.world
          1·
          8 months ago

          I mean you’re right. I still say you can’t say it’s “the best Star Wars has ever been” because the OG trilogy was genre defining and ground breaking. Andor is “just” a really good show.

    • WindyRebel@lemmy.world
      2·
      8 months ago

      The X-Wing book series was so good to me! I need to reread it as an adult and see if I still feel the same, but there was a ton of relationship building, more on characters like Wedge and Tycho and how they were important to the rebellion and new republic, and the descriptions of the star fighter battles were really good.

    • whotookkarl@lemmy.world
      2·
      8 months ago

      The EU books, comics, and video games from the couple of decades between when rotj was released and before the prequels came out are peak Star wars for me

    • mysticpickle@lemmy.ca
      1·
      8 months ago

      Didn’t read the Thrawn Trilogy, but I really like the bits and pieces of him I saw in Tie Fighter :>

  • NIB@lemmy.world
    8·
    8 months ago

    Andor and the Knights of the Old Republic(kotor) games are the best star wars content because ultimately, they are great content with good writing and characters. Everything else is pretty mid(with some cool music or visuals). Mandalorian season 1 was decent.

    • neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      2·
      8 months ago

      Loved Andor. Just finished the first season and it’s exactly the kind of world building Star Wars needs.

      At this point I don’t really care about the Jedi, let’s get some more stories about the rebels!

  • SSTF@lemmy.worldM
    3·
    8 months ago

    I’d recommend reading the original Thrawn trilogy. It is set in the original expanded universe continuity, which is no longer part of the Disney canon- but you can still read and enjoy this old version.

    In it, Luke is aware he doesn’t have the knowledge of the old masters and is searching for it. Jedi knowledge was treated as more obscure and lost in the old books. In the wider galaxy, there are varying perceptions of Luke given that most people simply know he went into the Death Star II in handcuffs and left with Vader and the Emperor dead. Most people don’t know the details so fill them in with myth.

    As for alien races, the movies laid out brief moments which the EU often ran with. There are tons of books that expanded what races are like. Going back to the Thrawn books, the admiral explicitly learns about alien cultures to better understand and destroy them.