The opinions of the Star Wars fan community are constantly shifting. For example, in the late 2000s, it was widely accepted that the prequel trilogy represented a catastrophic low point for the franchise, with The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith mocked for their tin-eared dialogue, questionable plotting, and overuse of CGI.
Now that those who were children when the prequels landed are now adults, they’ve gotten a huge critical rehabilitation, while it’s the Disney era busily being pilloried. We suspect that the sequel trilogy will one day get the same treatment, and so the cycle continues.
A good example of this nostalgia filter is on display in this Reddit post, which argues that the peak Star Wars years were 2003-2005:
To be fair, this was a golden age for Star Wars video games, especially considering we saw the classic RPG Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel released in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The prequel trilogies being underway also meant there was a lot of fun spinoff material, and we’ll always go to bat for Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars miniseries.
But the best Star Wars has ever been? Fans have their doubts:
It’s worth remembering just how vitriolic fans became at this moment, neatly coinciding with online fan communities solidifying on message boards:
Is 1983 the real peak?
There are some very upbeat outlooks on this that we have to respect:
Star Wars‘ quality has always been in the eye of the beholder, and the debates between original, prequel, and sequel trilogy fans are part of what keeps online discussion so vibrant. So, in a way, everyone’s right when they identify their personal peak for a galaxy far, far away, which just so often happens to be when the fan was in their early teens.
Published: Jan 2, 2023 05:53 am