Incidentally, for any people interested. I edited this while in Ireland over the Christmas holidays. Towards the end, just as I was tidying up the last pieces of footage, two disasters struck. 1: Dropbox had stopped syncing my folders, without me realising and 2: my laptop broke. As a result, I lost nearly everything, including the majority of all the video clips I'd spent weeks compiling. So this edit you're looking at is a recreation of the original. Yes.... I had to make this whole thing twice.

And they don't even necessarily need to throw out those older themes completely. They could be very powerful if used sparingly for important moments that genuinely call for it.

"If you steal from one source its plagiarism, if you steal from a lot of sources its research" - George R R Martin

"Future composers need to do away with leitmotifs." Somewhere, Sideways is frothing at the mouth.

I agree with this but I feel the blame should be placed upon a studio that requires a similar experience as to before in order to make profit. This results on harsh guidelines for the composer. Just blame the system for what it is and not the I individuals whom have showed much greater development in other works. Producers who want the same are to blame.

Another reason that the “Force Theme” lost most of it’s strength is due to how often it was used. It’s like if you ate your favorite food for every meal, it would loose all what made it special.

”This is a technique called incompetence” 😂 comedy gold right there

23:19 NOOO!!! Leitmotif can still be a very powerful tool, if used properly. You just demonstrated this with Luke's theme (force theme) in A New Hope. The same exact melody was reused, but John Williams evolved it throughout the film, using its familiarity as a foundation to add new meaning on top of. It gained layers of nuance and subtlety each time it was reinterpreted for a new context. The theme's familiarity allowed those layers of nuance to take hold because, being an evolution of an earlier theme, it could call back to a previous scene. It's almost like Williams was using it to say, "Hey, remember that scene when Luke dreamed of being free from his aunt and uncle? Well that was just achieved, but in the worst way possible." It also gave the audience a direct comparison of the two emotional contexts, making it easier to spot and understand the nuanced differences. The same is true the third time around in the famous "Use the Force, Luke" scene. This just doesn't work as well with an entirely new piece of music. The new films weren't bad because they reused the same theme over and over again. They were bad because they didn't do anything NEW with it. It was just the same predictable 'force theme' with no significant modification or development. They just failed to find the appropriate balance between novelty and familiarity, which is something the original trilogy, and even the prequels, excelled at and used to great effect. Every well-established franchise has a particular and recognizable musical 'flavor' and leitmotif is an important part of that. At the same time, music can easily get stale if it lacks development. Composers just need to remember that leitmotif is a tool, not a magic 'silver bullet.' Just like having a hammer doesn't mean every problem is a nail, Leitmotif isn't always the right answer, but it is still useful when the situation warrants it.

"overall, the themes in the force awakens feel like a bargain bin version of the originals" well in that case john williams did his job perfectly, because thats what the entire movie is.

"Horns blasting all the time." God that's what irritated me about the new Jurassic World movies, instead of it being a crescendo that ends up being the narrative of what you see, it's turned into this overwhelming blare of violins and horns telling you "DO YOU REMEMBER THAT BRACHIOSAURUS SCENE FROM THE FIRST MOVIE?! YEAH YOU SHOULD FEEL THAT." And especially the trailers, ugh, they took the entire phrase of the theme and blasted it to your face in 3 notes, all in this tonally dissonant state. HEY THIS IS SPOOKY It just hurts my ears

Kylo Ren's theme, sing it with me: "Here comes... the bad, guy."

“I promise Star Wars is almost here” - yeah Disney has been saying that since 2017 and I am still waiting.

I think leitmotifs can definitely be overdone and predictable, but they can be very cool when they're employed in more subtle ways (rather than just playing the same theme everytime the villain shows up, etc.)

When I walked out of "The Force Awakens", my first reaction was that it was a shame that they didn't use John Williams for the score. I was *shocked* to find out that it was Williams work. It was so devoid of his usual creativity that I was convinced it wasn't him.

A video about Star Wars, with a brief cameo by Georg Lukacs. ...wait a minute

Idk if you still check comments from 2 year old videos, but i wanted to say this actually helped me a lot. i'm writing a little album for a project of mine and it was starting to become nothing but lietmotifs. If i hadnt watched this i might still be doing that

The Prequels had a lot of new musical ideas, as well as creative use of old ones. It's more like the sequels are creatively bankrupt. I wouldn't blame John. Someone above telling him what checklist to fill, instead of letting new ideas flow like George and the Duel of the Fates choir.

The single largest creative influence on the new Star Wars movies is other Star Wars movies. Gone are they days when they were distilled from samurai films, newsreel footage, car culture, suburban teen angst, and personal expression.

While I agree with many of your comments, I do believe that 'Rogue One' should be cut a break when it comes to this reification concept. The movie is all about connecting the dots between Ep. 3 & 4, and I think that reusing a number of the classic star wars motifs is a justified part of that. That scene at the end with darth vader. That's MEANT to make you think of 'a new hope', because that movie leads on immediately after this one. You're MEANT to be thinking of the original trilogy when you see the X-Wings. And as for the movie itself, I believe the type of story was very refreshing as far as the hashed-out star wars formula goes. The sequel trilogy had a chance to break new ground though, and it's in this case that I 100% agree with your points.

Stars Wars then: a passionate space opera who borrowed from all over the place to create a pop culture epic. Star Wars now: hey remember when we did that cool thing like 20 years ago? Wanna see me do it again for like the seventh time?

I think Williams is struggling with the material he's given to work with on the sequel trilogy as well. Uninspired art rarely inspires another artist. I would NOT remove the title crawl on the saga films though, ever.

fillum

I think the major issue with star wars which most people seem to miss is that the original movies were not original. You mentioned many of the inspirations in this video. The story is the classical Heroes journey. There really is not a lot of truly original ideas here. The reason why the prequels enjoy cult status, despite having awful dialogue, terrible CGI and some serious pacing issues, is because they were written using the same process. Instead of being inspired by more modern tropes such as the Heroes journey, they were inspired by antique tragedies like the odyssey, mixed with the Roman Empire (a senator who overthrows a republic to build an empire). In a way this makes a lot of sense. You made a trilogy heavily inspired by tropes which originated in medieval Sagas and now you want to create prequels. What came before the medieval times? the Roman Empire. Which tropes do the modern movies draw from? More Star Wars. Tropes inspired by Tropes. Tropeception. Or they try to be original, which then leads to them not feeling like Star Wars. One Way they could have made the new Movies, while make them feel like Star Wars without referencing their own work could have been by tapping into some tropes which weren't used in Star Wars before. One idea could have been to continue down the timeline. First the antique tragedy, then the medieval sage, next something like Shakespear or Operas. Another option could have been to look at Fairy Tales, such as those collected by the brothers Grimm. The Original trilogy works so well, because it uses tropes which have been ingrained into our culture over centuries. We all know the significance of Obi-Wan as the wise mentor, which is why nobody questions why his death has so much significance for Luke. There are many examples for this. Star Wars attempts to tell great stories, while being limited to only a few hours of screen time. Without pre-made structures to reference, this would not be possible. When Obi-Wan dies, we barely knew him. Without a structure to assign him meaning, his death would feel meaningless or cheap.

And then came *The Mandolorian* soundtrack. I'd love to hear your take on that. Personally, I loved it. It was new and original with a classic quality that gave a sense that it was made back when the original movies were made. That combination of old recorders, modern synths, distorted guitars, and just the right amount of horns and orchestral elements was lightning in a bottle, IMO. Ludwig Goransson is one talented dude.

Another brilliant moment of music complimenting character? “I’m a Jedi. I know I’m better than this.” *Imperial March*

As a banjo player I really hate people constantly making fun of my instrument. The banjo can be a really sad and daunting instrument connected with dark and interesting themes.

15:38 - 16:26 Nonstop chills even now. The tracks in the originals were so much more than they are now

Well, the "force" theme is actually Luke's _secondary leitmotif,_ although it was originally intended to be Obi-Wan's. The main theme was Luke's primary. It's just had its meaning overwritten, much as Luke's character was overwritten in these sequel films.

This is a technique called: INCOMPETENCE

"This is a technique called... Incompetence." Forgive me, but I'm gonna have to steal this and add it to my standard verbal repertoire.

remember in the original movies, when we would get long periods where no music was playing? and the tension just built in the silence?

The worst thing about Ride of the Valkyries in Watchmen is that the exact piece has a completely different meaning in the graphic novel!!!

I think you are completely wrong about leitmotifs, your critisim was pretty much that the themes weren't good..not that they were leitmotifs. Where I think you are correct is that the familiar themes had played out their roles, and that they weren't used correctly. For instance, the "force theme" was actually more of a "Luke's theme", as you pointed out. That's not the same as the music idea of leitmotifs is wrong. Leitmotifs built up as a structure to give familiarity, done as a framework with the same musical idea to express sadness, epicness, heroism, fear etc. for some character is pretty much unbeatable. "Inside the score" here on youtube explains this better than I ever could. There are GOLD soundtracks in most movies. What makes movies and movie series themes stand out in this oversaturated market is leitmotifs. /Leitmotifnazi out

Hot take: ROTS has the best soundtrack

Not sure if you did it intentionally; but in a video on reification in Star Wars, putting Georg Lukács on the screen was excellent. 👌🏻

Any time "In the Hall of the Mountain King" plays in a commercial or other media I instantly tune out. People use the *Incompetence* technique you mentioned because the score itself is epic and they want [PRODUCT] to seem epic, when there's absolutely no gravity behind it 100% of the time.

The problem is the way the movies are shot. There really is no place for music in the new movies. It used to be a great part of the movie, almost a character in itself. Now the scenes are too fast paced and there is not time for the music to fully develop.

Trailer music is almost never done by the film's composer. Trailers are edited by a trailer house, in which they will source scores or even remake scores specifically for that trailer. Most times they create an "epic" version with loads more orchestral stuff going on to give the illusion this is big, grand, and epic. These scores are usually done ion the computer with digital instruments or editing the original scores.

Can we just have a moment of silence for the greatness that is the Phantom Menace soundtrack? The movie might not be respected, but the soundtrack is just crazy good.

Tantacrul: The preocess of reififcation. Sheeve Palpatine: Ironic.

Say what you want about the Prequels, but the music was excellent. The Sequel Trilogy music is basically Williams phoning it in.

This video was put together very well, but I have to disagree with your conclusion. Leitmotifs keep music across a film saga consistent and memorable to the audience. The Harry Potter Films did exactly what you wanted, getting rid of (most) leitmotifs and having each film (except for the first couple) be new compositional works. As a result, the music deteriorated into unmemorable blandness as new composers came in and out and discarded the musical themes that had come before them. Inside the Score has a great video on this: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bshnYJadtM3GYmg.html Now I do agree that Star Wars rehashes the old themes too many times, but in no way should we discard William's excellent themes that keep movie goers (like me) returning to the theaters. Just use them more sparingly and in more important moments.

I'm glad to see that the Mandalorian theme didnt have this issue. It was completely new, while still having the _spirit_ of star wars music.

I think the leitmotif and reification in Star Wars suits the franchise. It truly makes it feel like a coherent and consistent universe. I think it can be dialed back a bit (Like overusage of the force theme) but I still believe that themes like the Imperial March are crucial to Star Wars and shouldn't be completely discarded

I completely disagree with you about the opening credits of Star Wars. This was done on purpose to compliment the episodic nature of the old serials that Star Wars harkens back to. It is no different than a TV show having the same opening theme. As long as it is an episode of the saga, it is going to be the same.

Original Trilogy: Whatever that Tatooine one was, Main Star Wars theme, Imperial March Prequels: Duel of the fates, Duel of Heroes Sequels: ??? honestly I don't remember anything other than remixes of the original soundtrack

I think you’re right about music needing creativity and reusing the same leitmotifs is definitely a mistake. However, I think leitmotifs are highly beneficial when written and used correctly. Consider the Mandalorian TV show. I think the Mandalorian score is great but when a character uses the force and the yoda/force motifs don’t play, I feel like Im in a completely different cinematic universe. Again, I’m not saying all music should be recycled over and over. But sometimes music is as much as part of the world as characters, setting, and rules. Also, I would have to disagree about your point about Rey’s theme. I feel like Rey’s theme is one of the strongest musical pieces in the star wars universe. You claim that the star wars universe lacks originality and I totally agree. Rey’s theme suits her character (however awful it may be) well so why does it matter if it FEELS like star wars music or not? If something doesn’t feel like star wars, it’s the fault of the thing itself, not the music describing it. Overall I think this was a great video but some of the points were a bit off. The leitmotifs hold incredible value to the cinematic universe and they should be used appropriately.

Tantacrul: "Film hacks transform meaningful music into lazy shorthand." Film Colorists: "WELCOME TO OUR LIVING HELL."

Michael Giacchino had less than 4 weeks to replace the previous composer, Alexandre Desplat, and that's why I'm giving Michael huge respect for his quick turnaround. You need to put everything in context than just past judgment without understanding the situation.

All of Star Wars has deteriorated immensely under Disney. Story, characters, and look at the horrible fighting choreography to give another example.

It's so funny to see that EVERYONE with technical knowledge hates the new star wars movies. A dude did a tactical analysis, another fight scene analysis, you did a musical analysis, another did the technical story telling aspect.

There was a great disturbance in the score, like a million motifs crying out ...and being abused.

LOL, John Williams almost destroyed "Duel of Fates".... interesting...

18:03 whoa there, it's a pretty big (and subjective) leap to claim that Williams was afraid of creating new music. First off, that whole duel of the fates theme is new which is contrary to your premise. Second, the film features a lot of moments that do present the duel of the fates without choir and it works fantastically. Williams' role is to provide the film with a coherent musical tone and the concern of a full-on choir being a little too operatic and on-the-nose is a totally valid composer's perspective which doesn't have anything to do with fear of being "new". Additionally, we do know that the recording sessions with Williams are done with the choir live with the orchestra, which means the elements bleed together in the masters. So the suggestion of recording an additional orchestra-only track is just professional forward-thinking from a very experienced composer because it gives everyone the OPTION to use or not use the choir when the music is edited to the picture. That's just a smart, professional suggestion to make, and many takes of songs are recorded with certain elements swapped to other instruments, or changed on the fly, simply to give the music editor more options.

I liked Rogue One's soundtrack because it was similar to the OTs. I love the Imperial Suite, it's a nice variation of the Imperial March and it fits for representing the Empire as a whole, while the Imperial March is more for Darth Vader. I didn't like Force Awakens because it had nothing good sounding and iconic. At leas RO sounded good.

Oh my god, until now I never knew why Tchaikovskys Violin Concerto had this familiarity...

Prequel-era star wars had the best original themes imo

I CLAPPED WHEN I SAW RED LETTER MEDIA I RECOGNIZE THOSE HACK FRAUDS! But seriously, great video.

One day I want to hear a Star Wars score that's just the weird alien jazz band doing avant-garde improvisations with one instrument representing each character.

Tantacrul: "I'm free if you need me." You know what happened with musescore...

i’ve gone so long without hearing or thinking about “look what you made me do” thanks a lot

I agree that the Force Theme is obscenely overused, but I adore leitmotifs. I think (if used correctly) they can elicit the perfect thought and emotion for the moment. I do believe in the Star Wars sequels the Force Theme is complete fanservice (for the most part). Interestingly, you rag on Rey's Theme for being a Harry Potter reject and not something that feels like Star Wars, but didn't you say that Star Wars should take chances and makes changes to try to be original and different? So Williams wrote a theme to be driving-but-delicate (to represent the different facets of, Rey's personality) but you say it's bad because it didn't sound like something out of Star Wars (something familiar/possibly reference)? It's new. It's original. Sure, it's not as complex as 'Luke and Leia', as sweeping as 'Across the Stars', or as "catchy" as the 'Imperial March,' but it's still decently memorable and it's still very pretty. And it does it's job. Having her theme be a leitmotif instead being fully thematic, lends to modern film making's way of faster editing. Plus, you can stick the theme into many situations without having to commit to trying to develop it each time you use it. Interesting video on the whole, but I think your general point was muddled down by a little contradiction. Maybe personal bias?

9:46 I remember George Lucas talking about some of this in an interview that was on the first VHS remaster of the star wars trilogy (yes I'm that old) Where he talked about writing the scene to music, using it as a temp-track for editing, and then handing those tracks to John Williams saying "can you use some of these melodies, or evoke some of these feelings."

At 15:09, I think the force theme is used here to symbolize Bail Organa as the Rebellion's connection to Obi-Wan. Binary Sunset was used as Obi-Wan's theme for most of the first movie, and later in Rogue One, when Bail is talking about Obi-Wan the force theme comes back. The use of the force theme during Bail's first appearance in the movie isn't pandering to nostalgia (at least that's not it's only purpose); it's a reminder of Bail's importance to the story of A New Hope and the music itself shows the connection.

Michael Giacchino will always have a soft spot in my heart Rogue One was like Medal Of Honor in space

The trailer for the Last Jedi was not scored by John Williams, it was done by a trailer composer.

13:33 kinda dried out how everyone uses Zack as the "hack" director. What about if he understood the meaning behind the initial use of the music and decided to reuse that to gove the exact same feeling. America unceremoniously kills but heres ceremonial music

Update: They completely ingored what you said, and even straight up had Rey commit identity theft. *slowly sinks into couch until completely eaten*

Am I the only one who thinks Kylo’s theme sounds like a badass version of the classic “WAH WAAAAAH”? Seems pretty fitting, I have to say.

"Duel of the Fates"" was the best thing to come from the prequels.

Honestly a little disappointed that this wasn't just a long talk on reification and music theory with Star Wars in the title to get views, honestly kind of expected that after the first couple of minutes.

I had no idea they had new music, so...

20:56 "It would take a whole video to do this piece justice..." Oh, go on then. :)

I should also note that the reasons Williams stuff in SW has a lot of similarity to Holst etc, is a practical one. George Lucas had edited the film using orchestral pieces he thought fit then handed that to Williams and told him to rebuild it with original tunes. So basically Williams kinda rewrote the tunes. This is pretty common in film scoring apparently

To be fair, Michael Giacchino legit had *4 weeks* to do the whole film score, and I honestly really love his original melodic material for that film which I think is often overlooked

Tantacrul: we should abandon Leitmotif Sideways: *deus* *vult*

Excellent analysis. Hard no on abandoning leitmotifs, though -- Yes, the soundtracks for the Disney Star Wars movies heavily abuse the original leitmotifs. Yes, references to the original soundtracks in sequel movies ought to be sparing and carefully considered. However, linking musical ideas with elements of a story allows for extremely powerful musical payoffs when done well. Just because it can be done poorly doesn't mean the technique should be abandoned. The emotional resonance of meaningful, returning themes makes leitmotifs among the most powerful tools available when making a movie. The Lord of the Rings soundtrack is a masterful example of this -- though, interestingly, The Hobbit soundtrack is comparatively a disaster. I think the main issue with the Disney Star Wars movies (and The Hobbit) is abject failure on the part of the writers, compounded with other dubious choices (Rogue One's intro shots, for instance). Given the quality of the writing, maybe it would have been better to compose without leitmotifs. How can Rey be given a fitting leitmotif when she is so poorly characterized? For all that she begins the film lonely and fiery in her self-defense, she ends the film an all-powerful Force fairy with whim as her overriding motivation. How can the First Order's theme be compelling when the First Order is not? I think the theme is exquisitely appropriate -- as the First Order is generic and dull, so the theme is. It's like Williams knows that the new movies are parodies of Star Wars, and is writing his music accordingly. Then again, maybe incessant returns of the original leitmotifs is one of the main reasons people are still excited to see a Star Wars movie. Cheap though it is, and as much as it destroys the efficacy of the leitmotifs, it's more effective than having dramatically different music that doesn't reference the original soundtracks. Hopefully the market, restricted and distorted though it is (i.e. ridden with cronyism and corporate welfare), and ignorant and foolish though most consumers are, successfully convinces Disney executives to reconsider their plans. Solo's box office performance gives me hope.

oi stop bashing my leitmotifs they are fundamentally why lotr and star wars music is so good

I agree on pretty much everything you are saying, but considering why these movies have been decided to be made in the first place, it pretty much explains everything.

Bruh fix your subtitles

Still waiting for the Sideways Vs Tentacrul leitmotif smackdown.

I was really enjoying this video for how well it explains the structure of music and how Williams took bits and pieces from other maestros to create his own masterpiece. But then I lost you at you whining over the use of leitmotifs. Star Wars was pretty much always about leitmotifs. Williams' music is all about leitmotifs. The problem is not leitmotifs themselves, but how they're being used. It's how they're being dropped as musical cues to tingle to nostalgia instead of being, as you said, part of how the story is being told. Pity, I was really enjoying this until that point. Makes me wonder if your original version was better thought out on that last part.

Watching this video again after finishing Season 2 of The Mandalorian, I’m REALLY curious as to whether Ludwig Göransson watched your video and shaped his soundtrack based off of your suggestions. Or it’s possible that he’s just a musical genius the likes of which we haven’t seen since Ennio Morricone. The music in The Mandalorian has many themes, for sure, and they are repeated A LOT. But, first of all, he didn’t just use a traditional 3-piece orchestra like you mentioned. The main theme is played on bass recorder, electric guitar, vintage synthesizers, and a bunch of other wild instruments. And until the very last episode, where Luke actually comes onscreen, the Force is depicted not by a theme per se, but by an ostinato effect in the guitar. As a matter of fact, a lot of the music is not themes, but ambience. It lends a VERY original feel to the show, and this original music makes a lot of moments in Season 1 (lifting the mud horn, the mandalorians leaving the covert to attack, etc.) feel super powerful. In Season 2, there’s more of a return to using leitmotifs, but very sparingly. When Cara Dune is offered the chance to join the New Republic, the officer mentions Alderaan and how many lives were lost. And a beautiful rendition of “March of the Resistance” plays in the strings. It’s not just “oh, the resistance is here, so we’re playing the resistance music” like in the sequels. Göransson is making a musical connection between the spirit of rebellion against the Empire and the growth of the New Republic, and dare I say it, he uses Williams’s music better than Williams did himself. So yeah, either Göransson saw your video and was inspired, or he’s just completely brilliant. Either way, I’m excited to see where the music for The Mandalorian goes in the future. tl;dr: the music in The Mandalorian is amazing and it basically follows Tantacrul’s suggestions for Star Wars music to a tee.

Seeing George Lucas say "I love the chorus" makes me want to second-guess Mr Plinkett. Pity that Disney didn't consult with George when making their fanfic.

Revenge of the sith had the best score....star wars music at it's best

Rey-ification that’s kind of what I heard people complaining about with the film.

Good video. I'm surprised no one mentions the resemblance of the "Force Theme" to some moments in the final movement of Mahler's 2nd

I really like the idea Rian Johnson had, to rewrite the whole narrative. Sadly, it cannot work in the middle of a trilogy. He could have done it with his own trilogy or stand alone movie, but to try it on the middle of a trilogy, pure idiocy.

I loved how Rouge 1 opened as prelude up to its true, though brief title frame and musical theme. Making Star Wars different in any way yet still retaining similar feelings is an imposing task. I think it worked.

I heard that John Williams couldn't work with a complete cut of the Last Jedi, so he was hamstrung. Jaws, ET, Starwars, Close Encounters, Indiana Jones, AI. Don't blame the master John Williams. Blame Johnson, Kennedy and Disney.

“If you haven’t experienced [a car crash or a kiss] I’d recommend a kiss.”

In 2019. this is why the Mandalorian theme is so awesome. Its new

"The Force Awakens..." "original and creative..." WELL, THERE GOES YOUR CREDIBILITY.

I appreciate your musical expertise on the subject, but I got to have to disagree about you saying that Rogue One was not as good with the musical choices as The Force Awakens. I think the use of certain themes or pieces of established music helps Rogue One. I can agree the the Force Theme playing with Bail Organa appeared on the screen was probably not the best use of it, but everything else was great. Check out Sideways video of Rogue One to get his defense of liefmotifs in Rogue One.

From a musicology point of view, your thesis comes across a little weak. I appreciate the research and most of your info is on point, but you don't really land at the core problem of what is happening with these films. You're posing a black and white fallacy when you say there at two choices: 1. Create a new score or 2. Just use the existing melodies. Both choices are actually incorrect in the case for Star Wars. The first choice is bad because John Williams's score is really great and iconic BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, because familiar musical material helps to flesh out a fictional world, story, or aesthetic. Even if John Williams' original score was mediocre, later composers should still look to use its best parts and improve the weaker parts while adding to it, rather than taking it away. The idea is crafting a believable world and music is a big part of that, which is why the original score is extremely important, unless the world you're crafting not meant to be linked by music and aesthetics in general. The second choice is bad because of the arguments you present - composers risk overusing the same material without any deviation until its meaning and power is diluted. So then I ask, how was Wagner able to re-use his same musical motives in his grand saga of Der Ring without destroying his themes of meaning? It's because of the third choice - musical development. He didn't just copy and paste the same melodies for 15 hours... He changed them organically, extended them, varied the texture, changed the instruments, transposed them or modulated them, and used other means of keeping them relevant to the narrative. The first time we hear Siegfried's tragic motif and the very last time we hear it, they sound recognizably the same, have a similar meaning and function, but don't sound stale because of the motif's musical journey alongside with the story narrative. The melody went from a sort of reserved, melancholic, optimism, in the end of Die Walkure, to a more heroic straight forward optimism in Siegfried, and then back again in the end of the saga - a span of three operas. Wagner's leitmotivs gain meaning with repetition whereas the motifs in Star Wars have the reverse effect. In short, the reason is a lack of musical development, which is why the themes become static and stale. However, this option is not mutually exclusive with writing more original material. A good composer would do both and I agree that the parts in between the motifs are weak and forgettable. There is just no real way to excuse that.

The Mandalorian went in a completely different direction with it's music and it worked really well.

Finding Georg Lukács referenced in Star Wars: ✓

As someone who loves Rogue One, I'll acknowledge that the use of Luke's theme when Bail Organa appears was a misuse of the theme. However, the use of the Rebel's theme when the X-Wing saved the Scarif ground troops and the use of the Imperial theme when Vader is present is *perfectly* appropriate, and I don't know why you're criticizing themes for being used when the things they represent are *on screen* as "uncreative". This leads in to your improper criticism of Rogue One as a whole; you criticize it for using staple classic Star Wars icons when the film literally takes place where those things first appeared. The film was never meant to be wholly brand-new and different; that's what The Force Awakens should have been. Using X-Wings in a film that takes place immediately before A New Hope is proper, not uncreative; whereas using X-Wings in a film that takes place 30 years after the original trilogy is improper and uncreative. Rogue One was different and creative in its stories and main cast, yet you just yawn at those. Like you said yourself, when you do something different there's no pleasing everyone and apparently it didn't please you.

I feel like Lyle's take on when The Force Awakens was accurate and applied to each Star Wars movie after it. Constantly, it's like the movies are saying to you, "Remember Star Wars?" not bringing anything too original or creative to the table

Great video, but I will point out that in the Watchmen graphic novel, someone mentions that Flight of the Valkyries is a hateful song (paraphrasing or mis-remembering). It was in one of the text-only section that was at the end of each chapter, which collected newspaper clippings and other things, like chapters from Hollis' book. IIRC, it was the original Night Owl. So that song was at least mentioned by the original author.