For most, the thought of Star Wars may evoke warm memories of amazement at the original trilogy. With spaceships firing lasers at each other in immense space battles, brooding space magicians shooting lightning from their fingertips, and a murderous teddy bear tribe, it is hard to forget such a franchise. Not only has Star Wars stood out as a cultural marvel, the series has also brought an unfortunate side effect to cinematography; its downfall.

The special effects of Star Wars were truly an achievement for film, especially since the first film (number four in the overall series) was released in 1977. What would follow is a trend of unnecessary sequels and overkill of special effects.

The original trilogy (Episodes IV, V, and VI) of Star Wars contained a decent blend of action and storytelling. A majority of the older fans will proudly declare that the original three were far better than the prequel trilogy (Episodes I, II, and III) and with good reason. The dialogue was more engaging and thought provoking in the originals (“Do or do not, there is no try,” – Yoda) while the prequels had their budgets funneled into the special effects. The prequel trilogy has noticeably more intense battle situations than the likes of the originals. The best example of this is how Episode III started off with a dreary warzone akin to the opening of Saving Private Ryan, except in space and entirely excessive. Episode III on its own was nothing more than robots either shooting or blowing each other up with only a slightly coherent story presented in the last five minutes of the film.

It seems that the prequel trilogy put more emphasis on the “war” part of Star Wars.

The aftermath of Star War’s revolutionary use of special effects are other movies trying to imitate the popular sci-fi series. Sequels or additional installments seem to play into this trend as well. Other movie series such as Fast and Furious and Transformers seem to release new explosion/stunt/special effect extravaganzas every year. In turn, these films are almost completely devoid of plot.

With a seemingly new direction, one can only hope that the new Star Wars movie does not  follow the all-too familiar path of the prequel series. There are already enough meaningless acts of mass destruction that are passed off as “films” in the industry. Perhaps Star Wars: The Force Awakens may bring a new hope of seeing something other than fiery explosions in films.