Guardians of the Galaxy Hold up JJ, is Guardians of the Galaxy, "Star Wars for the 21st century?"

[Batmannerism]

Hey folks, loved GOTG, 9.5/10.

Star Wars (1977) was and still is considered a cultural phenomenon. Now GOTG might not have the same cultural impact, because that genie got out of the bottle in 1977 and despite
some pretty mediocre follow ups is still alive and well.

Yes, I know that JJ Abrams is actually doing a Star Wars for the 21st Century, but IMO, GOTG is the closest anyone's come to recapturing that incredible vibe that made Star Wars (1977) so amazing. In that first film Lucas did something so truly amazing - that he wasn't able to replicate to the same extent in any of the subsequent Star Wars films.
(remember that he didn't direct Empire Strikes back)

Serenity had some Star Wars moments, but GOTG was really something else.
(although the soundtrack made me think of "Heavy Metal", well the PG version anyway).

But what does everyone else think ?

And this is coming from someone who's not really a fan of Marvel films (IMO GOTG is waayyy better than Avengers, which was pretty good).

 

[Mysteryman]

GOTG is Guardians for the 21st century, how about that?

 

[Batmannerism]

GOTG is Guardians for the 21st century, how about that?

Could you explain that a bit more please ?
It's Friday afternoon and my intellect is always greatly diminished on Friday afternoons (especially as I'm going to have to work Saturday and Sunday).

 

[Thundercrack85]

It's derivative. If that's what you mean.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

When GotG makes 1.4 billion domestic, maybe then you can compare it to A New Hope.

Maybe.

 

[DA_Champion]

James Gunn is clearly hoping for this as he lifted a great number of scenes directly from Star Wars.

That said I doubt it. Star Wars is the most successful blockbuster of the past 40 years, so for any individual to be as successful as Star Wars is extremely unlikely.

 

[Mad Ones]

Is this a thing people are saying?

 

[flickchick85]

As much as I feel like this franchise is "Marvel's Star Wars" (just as Green Lantern could've been "DC's Star Wars"), there is no "new Star Wars." There is only Star Wars, and other stuff. This movie was some fantastic other stuff.

 

[Batmannerism]

When GotG makes 1.4 billion domestic, maybe then you can compare it to A New Hope.

Maybe.

Dude it's got to be about more than the money. Hell if we're looking at box office, the Transformers films are timeless classics. Are they ? No, IMO they're noisy pieces of ****, (well the first one was okay, but the subsequent ones are pretty crap). Box office is important, but not the sole indicator of
a film's greatness. Some of the greatest films of all time never made huge box office returns.

Also, I'm not saying GOTG is the same kind of phenomenon that Star Wars was, either in its impact, or just how good the film is.
What I'm saying is that IMO this is the closest anyone's come to capturing the vibe that made Star Wars Episode IV so amazing - hell, even Lucas himself couldn't do it (especially with those mediocre prequel films).

I guess GOTG had that same feel of adventure that Star Wars had.
And for those that say its derivative, hey Star Wars borrowed a lot of stuff from the Flash Gordon serials, so even Star Wars derived its ideas from other places. However, Star Wars did what it did so well that it catapulted sci-fi adventure flicks from Saturday serials onto the big screen and established the genre single-handed.
(and story wise it borrowed a bunch of elements from various sci-fi novels, inlcuding Dune).


I knew this question would bring out some strong views on Star Wars. Agree or disagree it's good to hear what people think. For many people Star Wars is one of the greatest films of all time, I remember seeing it as a kid and there's really been nothing since that compared. However, I think GOTG comes as close as we've seen so far.

 

[LauraT]

I loved Guardians a whole lot, but it was a little too self aware of everything that had come before and motif-y to be “as close as it gets” for me. I really enjoyed those parts and I’m aware Lucas borrowed a lot of mythical motifs as well, but this movie knew it was a movie (in a good way).

I think a big reason no other movie is “the new Star Wars” is because everyone keeps asking if its “the new Star Wars” as they do every time a space opera or space team movie comes out. If another series really takes over as the definitive space opera, then it will be because the cultural reach of SW has diminished to the point of it not being a relevant question anymore.

Obvious as has been discussed its much harder to get that much cultural saturation these days, although Marvel brand as a whole has the opportunity – along with several others (part of the issue) but that’s only if the bubble doesn’t burst in 5 years time and with a lot more movies than 3 (soon to be 9).

 

[Batmannerism]

I loved Guardians a whole lot, but it was a little too self aware of everything that had come before and motif-y to be “as close as it gets” for me. I really enjoyed those parts and I’m aware Lucas borrowed a lot of mythical motifs as well, but this movie knew it was a movie (in a good way).

I think a big reason no other movie is “the new Star Wars” is because everyone keeps asking if its “the new Star Wars” as they do every time a space opera or space team movie comes out. If another series really takes over as the definitive space opera, then it will be because the cultural reach of SW has diminished to the point of it not being a relevant question anymore.

Obvious as has been discussed its much harder to get that much cultural saturation these days, although Marvel brand as a whole has the opportunity – along with several others (part of the issue) but that’s only if the bubble doesn’t burst in 5 years time and with a lot more movies than 3 (soon to be 9).

Wow ! I can't imagine Star Wars diminishing in cultural relevance to the point of disappearing - but maybe that's nostalgia talking. Plus, if JJ extends the franchise and makes a good go of it, it will reinvigorate the original trilogy.

As far as definitive Space operas......well IMO Star Wars will always be the definitive Space Opera, because it pretty much launched the genre.

Like I said, it's about the vibe. When Serenity came out, I saw it and came out feeling like it had more in common with A New Hope than any of the prequel films. It's like Joss Whedon picked up the vibe, and Gunn has done so here.
I suppose Star Wars hit the cultural phenomenon status because it showed us stuff we'd never seen before (like before then, you could almost see the strings holding up the spaceships !) in terms of effects and quality. The story was nothing new, evil empire, brave rebels, hidden identities, mystical warriors, etc, pretty standard stuff. But its visual depiction of a galaxy far far away was so complete that now we just expect that stuff, so its tough to break new ground.

I guess Avatar would have been a contender for "new Star wars" but for its incredibly derivative story.....talk about derivative, it's basically Pocahontas (or Dances with Wolves if you prefer) in outer space.

I kind of hope that GOTG has some staying power with the masses, as I think it's a very worthy outing - it did a lot more for me than Avengers did.

In some ways maybe it would be good for the bubble to burst. Then we'd get 2 really good comic book films a year ( 1 from WB and 1 from Disney/Marvel) rather than 4 or so, with some of them being rather mediocre. Better still, if they alternated years. I mean, at the moment I'm more excited about going to work than I am about the upcoming FF film.

 

[MadVillainy]

Loved Guardians. Great movie

But people need to stop comparing it to Star Wars. Star Wars is monumentally huge. GOTG isnt.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Dude it's got to be about more than the money. Hell if we're looking at box office, the Transformers films are timeless classics. Are they ? No, IMO they're noisy pieces of ****, (well the first one was okay, but the subsequent ones are pretty crap). Box office is important, but not the sole indicator of
a film's greatness. Some of the greatest films of all time never made huge box office returns.

Also, I'm not saying GOTG is the same kind of phenomenon that Star Wars was, either in its impact, or just how good the film is.
What I'm saying is that IMO this is the closest anyone's come to capturing the vibe that made Star Wars Episode IV so amazing - hell, even Lucas himself couldn't do it (especially with those mediocre prequel films).

I guess GOTG had that same feel of adventure that Star Wars had.
And for those that say its derivative, hey Star Wars borrowed a lot of stuff from the Flash Gordon serials, so even Star Wars derived its ideas from other places. However, Star Wars did what it did so well that it catapulted sci-fi adventure flicks from Saturday serials onto the big screen and established the genre single-handed.
(and story wise it borrowed a bunch of elements from various sci-fi novels, inlcuding Dune).


I knew this question would bring out some strong views on Star Wars. Agree or disagree it's good to hear what people think. For many people Star Wars is one of the greatest films of all time, I remember seeing it as a kid and there's really been nothing since that compared. However, I think GOTG comes as close as we've seen so far.

My post was to point out how big/popular Star Wars was. Bayformers doesn't come close. Neither does GotG.

Basically you need to get record-breaking box office to even BEGIN the Star Wars comparisons. Other factors come into play after a movie qualifies but it can't qualify without first being a mega-blockbuster.

Blade Runner, as good as it is, could never be "the next Star Wars" because it wasn't nearly as popular. Ditto for GotG.

 

[MadVillainy]

The closest thing to "the next Star Wars" or "this generation's Star Wars" is either Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings

 

[Bren]

Other than the fact that they operate in Space, I don't really see much similarity.
If people mean how ingrained Star Wars is culturally, I say no, GOTG is not, but the MCU potentially is.

 

[ctsketch]

I compare this more to Firefly then to SW

 

[Heretic]

This movie has characters that I can easily people loving and caring about in 20 years. That is kind of what it takes to be "the next Star Wars."

Box office-wise, this will not catch Star Wars...but that's okay...since it is merely a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which WILL overtake Star Wars, just due to sheer number of films combined with popularity and crossover into the general public.

 

[LauraT]

The thing is, its not just "be loved in 20 years (nearly 40 years at this point) its "still generate world wide headlines just by announcing another set of movies." Which is what happened with the Ep 7 announcement. Mark Hamill was interviewed at a GOTG premiere about ep7 - they focused on ep 7 and his reaction to it (obviously as that is his thing) and his "Jedi beard" image made news around the world as GOTG was setting August records.

I agree that Harry Potter is probably currently as close as it comes cultural saturation wise, books and movies combined. Again MCU has a high chance of dethroning a lot BO wise, but how that will translate is another matter.

 

[Spider-Vader]

Guardians is an amazing movie (might even be top 10 favorite movie material for me), but it's no Star Wars. The tones of the movies are completely different; Star Wars has a fairy tale feeling to it, while Guardians is a straight-up action/comedy.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

It reminded me more of Spaceballs than Star Wars.

 

[Adversary]

Not sure why so much people even compare it to Star Wars. Is it just because they are both in space or because Rocket/Groot has a small resemblance to Han/Chewy? Both have completely different tones overall.

As far as it becoming as big of a cultural phenomenon it's not even close. The cultural impact that Star Wars has is far too great to even compare to most modern franchises let alone one that only just started to get attention from mainstream audiences. Star Wars is what made Sci-Fi films a blockbuster genre.

 

[mkilban2]

Considering I've hated all Star Wars films I'm glad this gave me no feelings of those lol.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Not sure why so much people even compare it to Star Wars. Is it just because they are both in space or because Rocket/Groot has a small resemblance to Han/Chewy? Both have completely different tones overall.

As far as it becoming as big of a cultural phenomenon it's not even close. The cultural impact that Star Wars has is far too great to even compare to most modern franchises let alone one that only just started to get attention from mainstream audiences. Star Wars is what made Sci-Fi films a blockbuster genre.

Might be all the scenes "borrowed" from Star Wars.

GotG has a little more in common with Star Wars then say Harry Potter did, but both series wearing their influences on their sleeves and are in the end their own thing.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

Not sure why so much people even compare it to Star Wars. Is it just because they are both in space or because Rocket/Groot has a small resemblance to Han/Chewy? Both have completely different tones overall.

As far as it becoming as big of a cultural phenomenon it's not even close. The cultural impact that Star Wars has is far too great to even compare to most modern franchises let alone one that only just started to get attention from mainstream audiences. Star Wars is what made Sci-Fi films a blockbuster genre.

Agreed. There's almost no way for a Sci-Fi/CB movie to make as much cultural impact as Star Wars did because they all chasing that same blockbuster feel that SW helped start. Plus, the market is so crowded with these types of movies and other franchises that any impact on the larger pop culture is minute.

 

[CK Spider]

I think it depends on what people mean by "Star Wars for the 21st century". Will it be as much financially sucessful or culturally relevant? Nope. But quality-wise? It's debatable, but I'd say so. For my money, GOTG is better than 5 of the 6 Star Wars movies. I would even be hard-pressed choosing between GOTG and Empire Strikes Back, as I believe both have advantages on each other.

I also think it's fair to compare them, because, let's be honest, when was the last time such a fun and remarkable non-sequel space opera has hit the big screen? It may operate in another level in terms of popularity and cultural impact, but it brought back the spotlight on space operas in a way no other movie could in a long time. Also, if we measure popularity and cultural impact of the MCU as a whole, it does get much nearer to Star Wars.