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STAR WARS Everything


Steve9347
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1 hour ago, KrankinSox said:

Just got out of the theater. Rise of Skywalker was enjoyable. Entertaining and did not drag. Super action-packed fast-paced first half of the movie. Didn't love nor hate the ending, it was fine. Definitely worth seeing.

 

37 minutes ago, ChiliIrishHammock24 said:

I think RoS was better than TLJ for sure, but I still liked The Force Awakens more. The reviews about it being extremely and over the top fan service was true. A couple of things towards the end seemed really out of place and strange. But it was definitely action packed and a thrill ride. But they had many, many chances to really put their stamp on this trilogy and they really played it safe and made sure they gave everyone a soft landing. Didn't hate it, I'm not mad, but it just seemed it was just fine. Series finales are tough though, and Rian Johnson shitting on the middle act of the trilogy doesn't help.

Yeah, this was my reaction and the general consensus I'm seeing online. It was meh, it was ok, it was fine. Some of the decisions they made in this movie (not the ending, but the overall context) still leave me with a lot of questions though. 

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1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Definitely an underwhelming finish to the overall saga.  The lack of creative direction for this sequel trilogy is ever apparent after how this all plays out.

You know it’s in trouble when you keep looking at your watch or phone waiting for it to at least reach the 90 minute and 2 hour mark.

One of my good friends here said last night he almost walked out of the cinema.  That might be a bit too dramatic, but it was a rough one to sit through and had just as many issues as the prequels (outside of CGI/effects.)

The simplest take is that audiences just are not connecting with or caring enough about the fate of the four main characters, compared to the original cast.  The investment isn’t there...or hasn’t been earned.  And Adam Driver, while a very talented performer, just doesn’t quite possess the physicality or intimidation factor of the best villains from the first six.  I get the reasons why he’s conflicted, but he just doesn’t have that menacing malevolent presence of a Darth Vader or Voldemort.

Fans seem to care more about Mando and Baby Yoda at present.  That shouldn’t happen if the movie writing/plot is on spot-on.

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15 minutes ago, Tony said:

Just got out of the theater. I’m incredibly curious to read all the negative reviews, because I just don’t get it. I liked TFA, TLJ really grew on me and when I walked out tonight, my reaction was “Yeah, that’s about right.” 
 

Was it rushed at times? Yes. Did that last scene feel really out of place? For me, yes. But overall I enjoyed my experience and it was a fun ride. There was no possible way for JJ to make a movie that was universally liked to finish the most popular saga of all time. They played it safe, but I’m not sure what people expected? When has Star Wars really taken huge narrative risks? It felt very on brand for me, and I happen to like the Star Wars brand. 

It wasn’t a boring movie, but it’s a really dumb movie filled with numerous plot holes and contains some decisions that sort of break the previous movies.  It also has a fairy unsatisfying conclusion, but that should have been expected when they didn’t have one creative voice in charge of the whole trilogy.  Let me be clear, I don’t hate any of these movies (even the TLJ), but it really is amazing how much better Disney has handled Marvel.

As for narrative risks, I’d say the entire prequel trilogy represents one.  You could also argue for Rogue One.

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32 minutes ago, Tony said:

Just got out of the theater. I’m incredibly curious to read all the negative reviews, because I just don’t get it. I liked TFA, TLJ really grew on me and when I walked out tonight, my reaction was “Yeah, that’s about right.” 
 

Was it rushed at times? Yes. Did that last scene feel really out of place? For me, yes. But overall I enjoyed my experience and it was a fun ride. There was no possible way for JJ to make a movie that was universally liked to finish the most popular saga of all time. They played it safe, but I’m not sure what people expected? When has Star Wars really taken huge narrative risks? It felt very on brand for me, and I happen to like the Star Wars brand. 

On brand...there’s the problem.  For Lucas fans, especially the original trilogy or Disney theme park brand?  Then you had the intermixing of so many directors, writers and conflicting visions.

Partly a generational thing.  Anyone who grew up in the 70s and 80s and attended those iconic films with their parents or friends is going to feel underwhelmed.  Maybe it’s even similar to the nostalgia older Americans feel for the 1950s and early 60s, similar to comparing baseball of the era to today.  Memories are always going to be stronger...and make the present seem to pale in comparison.

Rogue One was the only one that really stands out...felt new, different, non-derivative.  TFA just copied the structure of a NHA, and not even incredible acting and storytelling was going to surpass Harrison Ford as the original Solo.

Edited by caulfield12
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I agree with caulfield original take. I think there was a good core in these trilogies of Rey and Kylo. 
 

But the editing is a mess. The trilogies were utterly tanked by a completely uninteresting supporting cast. Rather that an incoherent, ever expanding set of story lines, it was constantly in search of new characters to instantly give their back stories to try and make FIN and Oscar Isaac guy interesting but it just always felt like a waste of time.

People love chewie. We don’t need to know his motivations or back story. He’s cranky and loyal. They established that with like 25 seconds of screen focus.

They spent a bunch of time on Fins back story and how he was taken but I’m not even sure he particularly cared and was driven by wanting to find home. They could have done that in like 4 lines of dialogue instead of their choice with 500.

Basically the harder they tried to give characters depth the harder it failed because it wasn’t relevant to the plot.

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11 minutes ago, bmags said:

I agree with caulfield original take. I think there was a good core in these trilogies of Rey and Kylo. 
 

But the editing is a mess. The trilogies were utterly tanked by a completely uninteresting supporting cast. Rather that an incoherent, ever expanding set of story lines, it was constantly in search of new characters to instantly give their back stories to try and make FIN and Oscar Isaac guy interesting but it just always felt like a waste of time.

People love chewie. We don’t need to know his motivations or back story. He’s cranky and loyal. They established that with like 25 seconds of screen focus.

They spent a bunch of time on Fins back story and how he was taken but I’m not even sure he particularly cared and was driven by wanting to find home. They could have done that in like 4 lines of dialogue instead of their choice with 500.

Basically the harder they tried to give characters depth the harder it failed because it wasn’t relevant to the plot.

The really sad thing is that John Boyega took a bit of a back seat in part because of the fact that black actors are not embraced in China...which has pretty much rejected Star Wars in general , with box office decreasing for each successive movie since TFA.

If you look at the marketing posters here, he was put into a corner or periphery or left off altogether...even when he was a central character in the first two.   They tease relationships with him and Rey, with him and Rose, it all felt just a little bit too convenient.  And just left hanging.

The strangest thing of all was not doing any test screenings, while another property, Avengers: Endgame, went through four separate focus groups.  Yet this Star Wars felt like it was cobbled together by marketing execs and Hasbro.  By the end of the movie, I was almost ready to welcome a Baby Yoda appearance.
 

 

And apparently these sophisticated Imperial Destroyers don’t have the ability to do anything but fly straight ahead without dipping their angle to port or starboard?   

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12 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

The really sad thing is that John Boyega took a bit of a back seat in part because of the fact that black actors are not embraced in China...which has pretty much rejected Star Wars in general , with box office decreasing for each successive movie since TFA.

If you look at the marketing posters here, he was put into a corner or periphery or left off altogether...even when he was a central character in the first two.   They tease relationships with him and Rey, with him and Rose, it all felt just a little bit too convenient.  And just left hanging.

The strangest thing of all was not doing any test screenings, while another property, Avengers: Endgame, went through four separate focus groups.  Yet this Star Wars felt like it was cobbled together by marketing execs and Hasbro.  By the end of the movie, I was almost ready to welcome a Baby Yoda appearance.
 

 

And apparently these sophisticated Imperial Destroyers don’t have the ability to do anything but fly straight ahead without dipping their angle to port or starboard?   

Here’s a better Finn:

Leaves the first order to try and find home. Helps rebels but keeps trying to prioritize his main goal of getting home. Eventually realizes he already has family and chooses to go back and fight full throated for rebels.

Instead he was a whimpering puppy, first a coward, then just pathetically loyal.

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5 minutes ago, bmags said:

Here’s a better Finn:

Leaves the first order to try and find home. Helps rebels but keeps trying to prioritize his main goal of getting home. Eventually realizes he already has family and chooses to go back and fight full throated for rebels.

Instead he was a whimpering puppy, first a coward, then just pathetically loyal.

And don’t forget finally a General!  Apparently it doesn’t take much to achieve the highest military rank in the Resistance!

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5 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

And don’t forget finally a General!  Apparently it doesn’t take much to achieve the highest military rank in the Resistance!

Reminds me of my fav scene

”I have this.”

”you can go anywhere with that!”

”yes. And I’ve been saving up for that for years. come with me”

”you know I can’t. I have to do this, but the only way to do it is with the thing you have just introduced.”

”ok. take this thing I have just introduced”

”ok”

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2 minutes ago, bmags said:

Reminds me of my fav scene

”I have this.”

”you can go anywhere with that!”

”yes. And I’ve been saving up for that for years. come with me”

”you know I can’t. I have to do this, but the only way to do it is with the thing you have just introduced.”

”ok. take this thing I have just introduced”

”ok”

Lol...that was hilarious.  Like I said in a previous post, it was an entertaining film but my god was it stupid.

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2 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Lol...that was hilarious.  Like I said in a previous post, it was an entertaining film but my god was it stupid.

Rey and Kylos use of force in fighting in this one made for the best light Sabre battles in a while. 

one thing Abrams does have a real talent for is showing the interaction between the power of ships and machinery and the actual environment around them. When kylo is flying close to the ground and you hear and see the earth flying up around it and it chipping the ship it makes you realize how fantastic these planes are. Not just floating set pieces. But plot and dialogue... ehhhh

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The film was fun and extremely packed from end to end. Unforunately it was too packed so it didnt necessarily make for a great movie. This should have been two movies, with The Last Jedi never existing.

The world building was very poor across the trilogy. While the prequel trilogy may have been bad movies, they excelled greatly at world building. Lots of interesting worlds, side characters, side stories that you could see the potential of more exploring of that time period. Meanwhile with this trilogy theres none of that and I cant really see them ever going back here.

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I think the most troubling part is that the entire final trilogy ended with Romeo and Juliet.

Personally I think that Abrams was just too worried about fan service and that is why 7 and 9 are too timid in taking chances. I also think he brought back Palpatine because he was afraid of the potential reaction to whoever he made the new or ultimate villain. 

And maybe that is the real problem. I dont think they knew what direction they were going when 7/8 were made. I think Lucas did when he wrote the other 6. Therefore he was telling a story that was going towards a natural end. 

In the end, I think Star Wars fans shot themselves in the foot when they hated so hard on 8.

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The prequel trilogy gets way too much hate.  No doubt the writing was terrible at times, all the romance stuff was hard to stomach, and it occasionally lost its sense of adventure in exchange for world building.  However, when viewed in aggregate they told a comprehensive origin story that led to a very satisfying conclusion even if we knew what was coming.  I know it will be an unpopular opinion, but I probably like them more than the sequel trilogy, warts and all.

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24 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

The prequel trilogy gets way too much hate.  No doubt the writing was terrible at times, all the romance stuff was hard to stomach, and it occasionally lost its sense of adventure in exchange for world building.  However, when viewed in aggregate they told a comprehensive origin story that led to a very satisfying conclusion even if we knew what was coming.  I know it will be an unpopular opinion, but I probably like them more than the sequel trilogy, warts and all.

To build off this, I am of the opinion that Revenge of the Sith, "high ground" and all, is the best of all the Star Wars movies. I know I'm in a vast minority, but the story is executed so perfectly. 

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