The Star Wars thread

[Peter_B]

Why not start a new thread, specifically for TLJ, that contains a spoiler warning in the title?

[yogi-bear]

as a comparison, there is an interesting article about the reception of The Empire Strikes Back when it came out. Warning contains some spoilers on The Last Jedi and lots of spoilers for The Empire Strikes Back.

http://www.acriticalhit.com/fans-react-empire-strikes-back-1980/?utm_source=digg&utm_medium=email

[Nitomor]

Anyone remember this? lol.

[Grastens]

Star Wars and the Rebel Alliance pilots inspired me to decorate my ice hockey helmet accordingly:

This scheme was done entirely with a combination of hockey tape (sort of like a thin cloth tape), Gorilla Tape, and red duct tape. They were chosen as they were the only tapes I had on hand, and I have plenty of experience manipulating it for hockey sticks:

Cutting the tape designs is much like cutting out decals, so I am well-trained  Depending on its durability, I will either keep it or revert my helmet to its original state, which is why the team decals are still on the sides.

Since I am a goalie, playing with a visor as my only facial protection might be dangerous! So, a full facial cage will be reinstalled later.

Edit: With the cage reinstalled:

The original design sketch is below. Changes were made as the tape was cut:

[Wandy]

On 15/01/2018 at 5:25 PM, Nitomor said:

Anyone remember this? lol.

I'm trying to forget that I ever saw The Last Jedi. 

[TWINSET]

I thought Leia flying through space was a comedy highlight of the film

I'm 50/50 on it - it had some cool parts which, if I'd seen 'em on their own I'd have been impressed with, but it was more like a few nice scenes interspersed with a lot of filler.

[Nitomor]

Cool bits;

Millenium Falcon cool screen time - never get enough of that.

Lightspeed carnage. One of the coolest moments of the film. Hey, why did no one think of that before! I think I fancied Admiral Holdo a little too.

Er, grasping at straws now, I didn’t know X wings could hover stationary in space, it would have made blowing the deathstar a lot easier lol.

Everything else was pretty crap. Maybe slicing snook dog in half and needing a lightsaber like a hole in the head, if the rest of that scene wasn’t so **** cringeworthy. I’m struggling to give the rest more than 4 to 5 out of ten.

Bad bits...I’ll let some others take the lead before I launch into a tirade.

It was poor poor poor, I really cringed at so many scenes. By the end urgh, I was actually looking forward to Finn getting consumed by the cannon, shame Rosie went and saved him. Better still had it taken the pair of them out to save any more poor casinoesque scenes from future movies, eurgh.

Not to forget all the BS political messages clearly apparent. I’m hoping the next film will go the way of Dallas, Rey waking up and finding  Luke in the shower on porg island, after she just woke up from obviously having a really really bad dream lol!! Apart from getting it on with dreamy Poe at the end lol.

 

 

 

[yogi-bear]

I'm going to buck the trend here and say I liked the movie, maybe giving it a 7/10. Thats not to say I think its perfect, my two biggest issues being Leia's Mary Poppins moment ( that was weird) and that Casino trip. And while its not the way I expected Luke to be, I didn't mind it. 

I did like Luke's fight scene at the end and did anyone pick up on the ancient Jedi texts being on the Millennium Falcon at the end? I missed that the first time (yes, I did see it twice), plus there were lots of little homages to the original movies scattered throughout (err, I had to google to find them though, but saw them the second time around).  

For me, its still Ep 1 and 2 that are the truely awful ones. I can accept Ep 3 as its the making of Darth Vader, but I think its still not the best.

[Nitomor]

Oddly, given how I feel about the movie, the Leia Poppins scene was one that I personally didn’t mind, it was nicely shot to give Leia her force glory moment doing something we’ve never seen the force do before and a touching homage to Carrie in a nice peaceful framing of her as we know and love her, it’s about the only scene in the film where the pace slows down to an acceptable level and actually gives a moment for reflection and contemplation. In fact I’d go as far as to say that was actually a scene I appreciated.

What did annoy on the Leia scene was how Admiral Ackbar was despatched without a seconds mourning, they all got sucked out into the vacuum of space yet Poe opens the door back up for her without getting sucked out, really poor continuity there, I know you go to the cinema and suspend disbelief at the door but its hard when the physics is not even consistent within the same scene.

While we’re talking about the force, super Kylo who can freeze laser bolts in the air and touch knock people out and take what he wants, gets bested by the red gimp guards, requiring Rey’s assistance. What an utterly pathetic fight scene that was. Bring back Darth Maul, the only cool thing to come out of EP1, proper fighting Sith lol.

[Wandy]

21 hours ago, TWINSET said:

I thought Leia flying through space was a comedy highlight of the film

I'm 50/50 on it - it had some cool parts which, if I'd seen 'em on their own I'd have been impressed with, but it was more like a few nice scenes interspersed with a lot of filler.

 

It gets a rock solid 10/90 against with me....with the 10% for the undeniably spectacular visuals. Everything else about it is utter trash IMO.

I saw it twice, just to make sure that I hadn't got it wrong the 1st time. Nope, I loathed it as much the second time.

It's easy to see why the average viewer and casual Star Wars fan could have enjoyed it though. Switch your brain off, question nothing and forget that the original trilogy ever happened and it's a visually pleasing 2.5 hours of mindless, forgettable entertainment with some impressive set pieces. As a part of the Star Wars Skywalker/Jedi story though it's an abomination of a movie that deliberately and needlessly burns down to the ground everything that was painstakingly established from 1977 to 1983, and also throws in the bin everything that happens in it's predecessor The Force Awakens.

I really hope Disney suffer a significant backlash from this, with poor DVD/Blu Ray sales of the film together with people boycotting Episode IX. And no way should Johnson get to make his own trilogy.

I'm curious to know what percentage of the total audience the haters like me represent though, as there can be no doubt that the film has been overwhelmingly savaged by audiences on every online movie review site.

[backtomyroots]

The biggest disappointment to me was the way Luke was written out.  I had my fingers crossed the whole movie waiting for him to wake up and show up to go out in style with an epic light saber battle using the force to the fullest.  Nope. Just written out in a lame, lame way.

Perhaps the problem is lack of direction ? Force Awakens, Last Jedi had different writers and directors right ?

How do you plan a trilogy and spin offs without first writing them ?  Disney has rushed these films out and ruined Star Wars I think.  

[Wandy]

1 hour ago, backtomyroots said:

The biggest disappointment to me was the way Luke was written out.  I had my fingers crossed the whole movie waiting for him to wake up and show up to go out in style with an epic light saber battle using the force to the fullest.  Nope. Just written out in a lame, lame way.

Perhaps the problem is lack of direction ? Force Awakens, Last Jedi had different writers and directors right ?

How do you plan a trilogy and spin offs without first writing them ?  Disney has rushed these films out and ruined Star Wars I think.  

 

The way they turned Luke into a coward & recluse who turned his back on his family, friends, Jedi Order and the fight against the evil in the galaxy was the very worst thing about the movie. There is simply not a chance that the Luke Skywalker at the end of Return Of The Jedi would have turned into the character we see now, and especially not simply because he saw darkness in his nephew and had a fleeting moment of considering killing him. In fact he simply would not have had those thoughts at all in the way that is portrayed here. And to then claim he has cemented a hero status simply by turning up as a holgram at the end, only to die from the effort in doing it, was just laughable.

And even if Luke had somehow turned into this character, it is the job of the movie to show the audience how this happened, through proper character and story development, instead of just throwing a massive curveball that says "Oh yeah, that guy? He's now the opposite of how he used to be" 

That is one of the many problems with the film though. Stuff just happens and it doesnt explain how or why that could be. The whole story is impossibly contrived and hollow.

Oh yeah...and it rips off key scenes & dialogue from Empire Strikes Back & Return Of The Jedi. Like, literally, almost word for word in some instances.

[Thommo]

Ha Ha.... Disney should be made to recall that one and start again and definitely with a different director and story-board writers.  I walked away from the first viewing absolutely puzzled and that's a feeling I never would have expected.  Like Luke says, "This is not going to go the way you think"..... no kidding !     Maybe a second viewing will give me some clarity but I kinda doubt it.

I totally agree with what you Guy's have already detailed, both positives and negatives.  Great idea to reveal Leia's true power but turning her into an indestructible Mary Poppins......just crazy so that scene becomes unnecessary.  Casino scene....unnecessary.  Rose and her mission with Fin....unnecessary.  Rose....unnecessary along with a host of other new characters, none of which I can remember hence my feeling that they were a complete waste of disc space.

What I disliked most was the complete disregard for R2-D2.  You have an iconic character there that is globally adored and absolutely critical in the overall saga, (except maybe in Ep VII - R2-D2 Awakens) and gets minimal screen time.  Boooo is all I can say to that.  I totally get it that BB8 is the new fun droid but imagine if the two paired up and R2 showed BB8 a few tricks or they were sent on a mission together.

Again just like Ep VII - R2-D2 Awakens, our kids are the target audience and the kids I took along to my first viewing absolutely loved it.  They were super pumped for it and that's a credit to Disney.  It's funny that this comment mirrors exactly what I said about Ep VII.  If you take your X-generation Star Wars tragic hat off and put your 10 year old kid hat on, it's a completely different movie.

Looking back now at Rogue One.... WOW !  That's how it's done.  Star Wars formula and relevance down to a tee.  Heck, get that Guy to make more Star Wars movies please.

[Badcrumble]

9 hours ago, Thommo said:

.  If you take your X-generation Star Wars tragic hat off and put your 10 year old kid hat on, it's a completely different movie.

Looking back now at Rogue One.... WOW !  That's how it's done.  Star Wars formula and relevance down to a tee.  Heck, get that Guy to make more Star Wars movies please.

This for me. I saw the latest film twice on day of release, once with work colleagues and then with my wife (she’s more of a fan than me).

I nearly fell asleep during the second viewing of the casino section though I liked del Toro’s character and would keep that whole sub-plot just for him. Having that sub-plot rounded things out a little, even if it felt heavy-handed.

I don’t know if anyone can make a Star Wars film now that will please those who grew up with it and kids at the same time.

Perhaps that is why I like Rogue One so much. 

[firefoxussr]

I hadn't seen this thread in a while.  My my was TLJ that bad?  I saw it twice and enjoyed it quite a bit.  Does it have the character of the 40+ year old films?  No, how could it.  Was it as bad as episode 1-3, of course not.  Was it as good as ESB? No, that's the best.  As charming as ANH? Nah, too modern.  As good as R1? Close but I'd place it around the quality of RotJ (pre-Jedi Rocks, of course).  Does it mostly work and have a lot of fun with the characters and topple the patriarchy? Resoundingly yes.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for 4k77.  It's almost there.

[Juggular]

I thought it was okay.  Was it like A New Hope in my memory?  That will just never happen. 

I still remember the initial scene of Leia's ship on the screen.  I could've sworn that the blockade runner was flying slower, showing every detail of it.  It was a huge ship.  It was shooting laser guns off the stern.  Alright, space wars.  Cool.  Then the Star Destroyer loomed over.  And the underbelly of the Star Destroyer went on forever and ever!  I was blown away from that first scene.  For 40 years after that, we've seen hundreds of space movies with better and better special effects.  

My Goddaughter couldn't understand why I'm into Star Wars.  I tried to explain how huge the Star Destroyer looked to me.  She was completely unimpressed.  Surely, there are better SF movies coming out every year.  Then it occurred to me.  Star Wars is like Bette Davis old timers were talking about.  Nobody was as great as Bette Davis they saw when my grandpas were horny teenagers.  You couldn't convince them Kathy Ireland was hotter.  Just like you can't convince me Kate Upton is hotter (I only know the name... I'm not a horny teen anymore).  I resign to the fact that it will never be like when I was a teen --watching Star Wars a decade after the initial release--. 

I thought of Last Jedi like a TV drama episode.  Then it's alright.  It's the 9th movie.  I can't expect the 9th movie of Indiana Jones (or Jaws #9) would be as good.  Besides, I think The Last Jedi is supposed to be a remake of Empire Strikes Back.  This new trilogy is basically to introduce the Star Wars series to teens (or rather, they get dragged to see The Force Awakens with their dads).  I'm just glad that they decided that Jar-Jar Binks shouldn't be fumbling around in recent movies.  Thank the Force for that.  

[Edit, exactly 10 months later...]

I read "The lost Star" and "Ahsoka."  Two books won't make a dent in Star Wars books out there, but having read some decent plots and gone back to The Last Jedi...?  OMG, TLJ was horribly written.  As I've said 10 months ago, it's like a TV drama (a bad one at that).  Not at the level of "cinema." 

And then I learned about the efforts to make Rey a Rambo.  Just because she's a woman, she has to be a superhero?  I think Rambo and Commando were simple characters... stating that fact doesn't make me a man-hater.  Why should women go back to the 80's and recreate the same kind of stupid characters as men did?  Shouldn't women be smarter than men?  

If Disney wanted to create strong female characters, hire a woman director (and women writers)!  The Empire Strikes Back was written by a woman called Leigh Brackett.  If that was done in 1979, why hire a man to direct a woman in 2017?  Is it any wonder he created a Rambo out of Rey.