The Star Wars thread

I've now seen it 2x and between that and some online commentary from Rian Johnson, I have a slightly better grasp on what he is trying to accomplish and why it was needed to make sure the trilogy could move forward. Some things that I was a little challenged with, I now understand and am ok with. There are a couple of areas that I still feel are very problematic though...the Rose/Finn arc (unnecessary and added 30 min to the film), Mary Poppins (those that have seen it will get it) and just some of the general flow of the film.

I consider myself a bit of a SW nerd and I think that what was toughest for me was 25+ years of books and other media that firmly entrenched in my mind how certain characters should act or what "the force" should be that Johnson's approach was a bit challenging to say the least. On the other hand, my wife and daughters, who are very casual Star Wars fans, loved it...thought it was the best SW film to date.
 
The fact that already after the first weekend of release, Johnson is in full damage control "explaining" his film, and point to 20 minutes of scenes that were cut is QUITE telling.


Think of Star Wars and the latest The Last Jedi installment as a 9 chapter book.

You have read all 7 chapters so far. All characters and their motives clearly established. The realm and "rules" CLEARLY established.
2 chapters to go until resolution. Chapter 7 clearly leaves off with "paths/stories/characters" to be addressed and resolved within the next two chapters.

Then comes chapter 8. The tone of the story completely changes. It's as if a completely different author stepped in to write this chapter.
What happened in chapters 1-7 matters no more. Characters you knew significantly changed. Some characters with depth/charisma now wooden and completely worthless to the story.
Some characters have completely changed, with hardly a reason to tell why. While others, their story line stops completely with no resolution....you wonder why they were even a part of the stories.

As for the realm and rules....completely changed. It's as if you have been playing basketball for 3 quarters and in the 4th quarter you get blindsided that it's now a baseball game.
Sure baseball is a sport like basketball, but it clearly is no longer basketball. When you realize the game has changed, and inquire as to why....no real answer is given......just a "Isn't baseball cool and different?"


Change in a saga is fine. Change with meaningful reason, resolution, and well written story is fantastic.
You will find very little of that here in Episode 8......just change....nothing more.
 
I should have known the way this movie was going to go with Poe's dialog in the beginning of the film. I turned to my wife & said, I hope this isn't going to be a marvel movie. Sure enough, it was.
 
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After my first opening night Thursday viewing, I would say it ended with shock. A smattering of applause which is quite rare up here (but the theater was packed with die-hard fans).

Who wouldve thought "You must unlearn what you have learned" would be so relevant.

After my second viewing, I found it much more enjoyable. Sure there are problems and sure everyone could've written it differently, but I'll go with the flow.

Not sure where 9 will go, but JJ should be fine. It seems these new characters will not be in later films, so I will hopefully enjoy them for one last time in his finale.

I am quite concerned about the new Rian trilogy as I feel Disney may get some WB DCEU-itis after the weekend.
 
^^ Interesting character that was yet again like others, thrown away. I see no reason for him to return in Episode IX.
 
I thought Last Jedi was fine. I was not blown away by it as a whole, but there were moments — both story-wise and visually — that did surprise/amaze/awe me. However, I found it clunky overall and was not a huge fan of the editing in either the smaller sense and the larger sense. I will probably see it twice more, mainly for two different technical experiences.
 
Moog said:
The fact that already after the first weekend of release, Johnson is in full damage control "explaining" his film, and point to 20 minutes of scenes that were cut is QUITE telling.


Think of Star Wars and the latest The Last Jedi installment as a 9 chapter book.

You have read all 7 chapters so far. All characters and their motives clearly established. The realm and "rules" CLEARLY established.
2 chapters to go until resolution. Chapter 7 clearly leaves off with "paths/stories/characters" to be addressed and resolved within the next two chapters.

Then comes chapter 8. The tone of the story completely changes. It's as if a completely different author stepped in to write this chapter.
What happened in chapters 1-7 matters no more. Characters you knew significantly changed. Some characters with depth/charisma now wooden and completely worthless to the story.
Some characters have completely changed, with hardly a reason to tell why. While others, their story line stops completely with no resolution....you wonder why they were even a part of the stories.
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That is one of the more jarring things and what concerns me about Ep IX. George, love him or hate him, has a basic starting and ending point and it was then up to him how to get from beginning to end across 3 (or 6) movies. With this new trilogy, it's completely the opposite. JJ told the story he wanted, Rian told the story he wanted and now JJ will finish up...but there is no master plan, just 3 stories that will be tied together by the same characters but whose actions may not make sense relative to what was seen previously.
 
LAKingSteve said:
That is one of the more jarring things and what concerns me about Ep IX. George, love him or hate him, has a basic starting and ending point and it was then up to him how to get from beginning to end across 3 (or 6) movies. With this new trilogy, it's completely the opposite. JJ told the story he wanted, Rian told the story he wanted and now JJ will finish up...but there is no master plan, just 3 stories that will be tied together by the same characters but whose actions may not make sense relative to what was seen previously.
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As you said, they don’t have a plan, they’re making it up as they go. One thing is for sure, they’re following the Marvel playbook. Not good
 
LAKingSteve said:
That is one of the more jarring things and what concerns me about Ep IX. George, love him or hate him, has a basic starting and ending point and it was then up to him how to get from beginning to end across 3 (or 6) movies. With this new trilogy, it's completely the opposite. JJ told the story he wanted, Rian told the story he wanted and now JJ will finish up...but there is no master plan, just 3 stories that will be tied together by the same characters but whose actions may not make sense relative to what was seen previously.
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Is it, though? I mean, you say that now, 40 years after the original and after having lived with the completed trilogy for over 30 years.

Lucas told the original, a space adventure. Then it was Kershner, with a Kasdan/Brackett script, who took the same characters and went in a wildly new direction. The characters got split up, faced different challenges, and then came back together and left it on a huge downer. I dunno if it seemed like there was some kind of master plan in place then. Or if there was the same kind of access to filmmakers back then if there would have been next day explanations.

The third one got the band back together and then tied it all up under a third director. And only at that point did the whole story come full circle, make sense, and seem complete.



nocturn said:
Can we talk about the movie now? When does the spoiler embargo end?
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Dude. It hasn't even been a week yet.
 
darby said:
Is it, though? I mean, you say that now, 40 years after the original and after having lived with the completed trilogy for over 30 years.

Lucas told the original, a space adventure. Then it was Kershner, with a Kasdan/Brackett script, who took the same characters and went in a wildly new direction. The characters got split up, faced different challenges, and then came back together and left it on a huge downer. I dunno if it seemed like there was some kind of master plan in place then. Or if there was the same kind of access to filmmakers back then if there would have been next day explanations.

The third one got the band back together and then tied it all up under a third director. And only at that point did the whole story come full circle, make sense, and seem complete.




Dude. It hasn't even been a week yet.
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Dude, go watch the f***ing movie already.

Edit: Actually, let me know when you're ready to talk about it. Its The Star Wars thread and a new movie just dropped. There shouldn't even be an embargo in here, FFS.
 
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nocturn said:
Can we talk about the movie now? When does the spoiler embargo end?
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I think we can wait a few more days. Friday?

And yes, there should be spoiler free talk for at least a week. Not an embargo, got no power here, so do what you want. Asking you to consider others.
 
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Totally agree with some points being made. I may be in the minority, but I didn't even think The Force Awakens was anything special. It had nostalgia with some of the characters coming back and it was nice to see it move away from the CGI world of the prequels, but story-wise, I thought it was dull. This movie did nothing to enhance it's predecessor for me and on it's own, didn't offer much. What happened in this movie that made it necessary? I'm still asking the same questions after two movies. The writing and acting may have been less than desirable in the prequels but at least there was an overall story from 1-6 that really made Star Wars unique. Episodes 7 and 8 seem purposeless.

One more note before we lift the spoiler embargo. A movie is only as good as its villain.
 
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darby said:
Is it, though? I mean, you say that now, 40 years after the original and after having lived with the completed trilogy for over 30 years.

Lucas told the original, a space adventure. Then it was Kershner, with a Kasdan/Brackett script, who took the same characters and went in a wildly new direction. The characters got split up, faced different challenges, and then came back together and left it on a huge downer. I dunno if it seemed like there was some kind of master plan in place then. Or if there was the same kind of access to filmmakers back then if there would have been next day explanations.

The third one got the band back together and then tied it all up under a third director. And only at that point did the whole story come full circle, make sense, and seem complete.




Dude. It hasn't even been a week yet.
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Lucas was still captaining the ship though. It was his vision with input from others. The fact that he didn't kill Vader at the end of the first movie proves he had more ideas. This one is lacking that central figure and it's noticeable.
 
For the record, I'm fine with spoilers cause I'm likely not going to see it til it hits bluray. Anything I read til then I'll probably forget anyways.
 
There are some pretty cool theories coming out now that people have had a chance to chill the f*** out and watch the movie for what it was and not what they wish it could have been. There are a LOT of Easter Eggs being found. Some really cool Snoke stuff.
 
nocturn said:
There are some pretty cool theories coming out now that people have had a chance to chill the f*** out and watch the movie for what it was and not what they wish it could have been. There are a LOT of Easter Eggs being found. Some really cool Snoke stuff.
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Start linking mofo, I think the moratorium is lifting
 
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