No Right Answer: This Generation's "Star Wars"

[Yeager942]

Shit just got serious.

 

[Vault101]

Harry potter hands down

1. many of us LITERALY grew up with it, and were the corresponding age of the main charachters and the target audience

2. its fucking HUGE big enough to rival starwars..and EVERYONE could like harry potter, nerds, jocks, teenage girls its mass apeal is massive

 

[Aardvaarkman]

This generation sucks.

 

[TheSchaef]

You're all wrong, it's the Matrix trilogy.

...

I could go on, but I think I've made my point, if you're looking for "this generation's Star Wars" look no further than The Matrix trilogy because it's all there, whether you like it or not, it's all there.

I wish that were so, but the follow-on films didn't really live up to the promise of the first. The Matrix moved special effects forward but it was eclipsed pretty quickly by Lord of the Rings, and those guys did it with a no-name effects shop in New Zealand using TRS-80's or something. And while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the truth is everyone gets parodied these days, and in terms of copying techniques, the only real innovation to come out of the series is time dilation. And this is from the guy who is enough of an apologist that he bought the Blu-Ray super pack with all the extra crap included.

No, Gen-Y's Star Wars, unfortunately, is Avatar. Aside from being the biggest movie since (groan) Titanic, and being the first movie to really legitimize the recent 3D movie trend, Avatar pushed "live-action" CGI over the Rubicon. Previously you would shoot a movie in a real location and drop in CGI effects (something they were doing all the way back with Star Wars). Avatar achieved a complete reversal: now the movie location is entirely CGI and the live actors are the ones getting "dropped in". That "inversion" of the use of CGI in filmmaking, in my view, is the clear demarcation line for the current generation between movies that came before it and movies that will come after it.

And as a side note, Star Wars is actually Generation X's Citizen Kane, so there's that.

 

[Nouw]

I have that Two Towers Box Set . Hours of extras for the win. Looking forward to a three-way two parter!

 

[Cain_Zeros]

Avatar: The Last Airbender anyone?

That hasn't really made a huge impact the way the original Star Wars did. It has a lot of dedicated fans, but it's not one of those things everyone knows about like Star Wars, or Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings (and a lot of the people who weren't fans of the series just know the fucking terrible movie).

 

[Squilookle]

Toy Story should be this generations Star Wars.

I was thinking that too. Surprised it didn't come up earlier.

Though The Matrix has a pretty strong claim as well. I still say Toy Story though.

 

[Dhatz]

Because the quantity and quality of produced art crossed a critical point, nothing can get as massive as SW. Generation Z's SW is GTA. Gen I's is MLP FIM. Welcome to the third millenium.

 

[Pariahwulfen]

Oh come on, everyone knows the Star Wars of Gen Y is Batman.
/pointstoALLTHEMOVIES
/dropsmic
Edit: Apparently I should point out that Gen Y starts with 1980, which means I am pointing from the '89 film to The Dark Knight Rises.

 

[TastyCarcass]

My film studies teacher told me it was Toy Story. I have to agree to an extent, it did bring on a whole new technology and inspired a genre.

 

[nightazday]

I think Star Wars is not this gens Star Wars. The main people that talk about Star Wars are the people that watched Star Wars as a kid when it first came out. What ever Star Wars fans it has in this gen is overshadowed by the ones in last Gen and most fans of this Gen likes the prequels because they never were as attached to the original series

I like to think it is Harry Potter books. This Gen is being more and more cynical towards Hollywood and tends to move on to other mediums whereas the Star Wars generation was still in the "new Hollywood" era so "this Gen's Star Wars" doesn't have to be a movie like in the past (it could even be Zelda)

also it's called the Millennial Generation

 

[necromanzer52]

Harry Potter is hands down the winner of this one. LotR has been around for decades, and though the movies were very popular, they simply weren't the massive phenomenon that Harry Potter was.

If I had to pick something to argue against it, I probably would have gone with Pokemon, which was pretty fuckin big, around the same time as Harry Potter.

 

[Lunar Templar]

o.0

are they allowed to post footage of a '3-way' on the escapist /badjoke

but, hmm i'd say ether LotR or SW. why? cause, i've seen (most) the SW prequels, and i've seen all 3 LotR movies, where as i've only seen like 2 HP movies

 

[CleverCover]

I have to agree with the Harry Potter bit and not just because it represents my childhood.
Or maybe because it represents my childhood.

And I'm sorry, but I had to watch that video twice, because the first time I was too busying comparing Dan to Dan Vs. I swear they look alike... >.>

 

[Xanadu84]

First off, long live Lord of the Rings. I prefer it to HP OR Star Wars. So yes, LotR was the Star Wars of a generation. But that generation was the Greatest Generation. Frodo Lives anyone? Maybe a bit of the Baby Boomers. It brought to life huge worlds for kids. Later it became a great movie, but it was more an adult movie. It didn't shape as many kids lives, because it was aimed a bit older, especially at people who had already read the books. It was a homage to a classic. HP shaped the childhoods of countless, brought books to the forefront, and had a full life as both book and movie independently.

New Star Wars may be lucrative and iconic, but a lot of that is nostalgic, oftentimes dissapointed older people, not the newer generation. Hardly the cultural, defining force of HP, not by a long shot.

Of course were really talking about late gen Y'ers. Someone born during the Reagan years didn't grow up with Harry Potter. If I had to choose something for them, probably Star Wars, original. Besides that, the field was kind of barren.

 

[Firefilm]

Happy Birthday, Dan!

Honestly, between those two, I'd say Harry Potter better fits the description of Generation Y's "Star Wars". I love Lord of the Rings and don't really care about Harry Potter, but Harry probably has more cultural significance than Frodo.

You guys read the comments don't you? We asked for a 3 way debate back when Dan first appeared and now you're giving us one. Not to mention, just putting Dan in more of these videos seems to suggest that you read the comments, since we also asked for that, too. In that case, I'll just point out that I always look forward to these videos. They make the rough work day on Thursday worth while.

Avatar: The Last Airbender anyone?

Yeah, that was a great show. Doesn't quite fit the description, though.

Yes, we do read the comments. Glad to hear that we put a little sunshine in your Thursdays. hopefully you enjoy the three-way debate.

 

[JediMB]

80's and forward? That's me, I guess.

Star Wars is my Star Wars. The originals, the games, the comics, and even the prequels.

I haven't even touched Harry Potter, and don't care that much for Lord of the Rings. For fantasy, I'm going with Discworld.

 

[SirCannonFodder]

-That one is a catch for HP, it doesn't have it's Yoda or it's "I am your father" moment. As far as I know anyway. There's not one seriously memorable moment that I can think of, that sounds bad but what I mean is there isn't one unifying moment in Harry Potter. It's got plenty of moments but not one that makes every single fan tingle.

Don't know about other people, but I'd put the death of Sirius as HP's "I am your father" moment. I remember reading it and just feeling like I'd been hit with a sledgehammer

 

[HalfTangible]

I was born 1991, and I have to say that my 'Star Wars'... was Star Wars. The ORIGINAL star wars.

Guys, it really hasn't been as long as you seem to think since these movies were released on VHS for the last time. I remember watching Star Wars in my living room and going wide-eyed over and over every time Vader said "I am your father". I remember my mother pulling me out of school early to go see the first of the prequels. I was ecstatic to see more of the series that made me squeal like a happy puppy throughout my childhood, not because my parents were excited (my dad didn't care at all) And frankly the original star wars has stayed with me for far longer and much more strongly than Harry Potter.

 

[ScorpSt]

Harry Potter: Hey, you think the movies are good? You should read the books!

Lord of the Rings: Hey, you think the movies are long? You... probably shouldn't read the books.

Star Wars Prequels: Hey, you think the movies are good? Really? What's wrong with you?

Personally, I don't think we have a Star Wars for the same reason we don't have a Carson. There's too much to choose from and that just dilutes all the choices.