All things Star Wars

Ooh-Rah said:
I am actually holding out hope for the new Star Wars, only because all of the reviews are terrible and the primary reason is that the film seems to "pander to its core fans, without any originality."

That's what I want! LOL
Click to expand...

That's what we all want, unfortunately that is not what this is. This is Disney trying to:
  1. Convince sweet, naive, gullible souls like yourself to shell out some cash and get your ass in a theater seat
  2. Craft a narrative ahead of the coming blood; one that in this case kind of throws JJ under the bus, but blames US (the fans) rather than any of the key key Disney and Lucasfilm execs.
The narrative is that they movie sucks because JJ Abrams gave in and pandered to those toxic manbabies who hated TLJ (and we all know they hated it because they just can't stand to see a female jedi wrecking stuff, or a black dude as a main-ish character - they're all racist, misogynist, alt-righters afterall).

FALSE. Soullessly cramming anything that could possibly induce nostalgia into a movie, without ever having understood what those fans loved about the franchise in the first place (hint: it's not shakycam, bloom, and jump cuts of illogical fleets of thousands of star destroyers and horses riding around on parts of the 1st death star in the ocean, never mind that it was basically atomized) is not fan service. Or rather, it's only servicing those "fans" whose attachment to the universe is anchored on the Disney Trilogy, so they're like "ohh, there used to be some big moon-like space station right? there it is, cool!". It's the bald attempt by the corporate equivalent of the matrix to suck some more juice out of us.

I'm juiced out. Media + Disney want to blame the poor reviews on the so-called Fandom Menace. Hey Mickey, did you know that when you point at someone the other fingers are pointing back at yourself? Who did you hire to write this movie again? Right, the same guy (Chris Terrio) who did such cinematic gems as Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and, um, Justice League (yikes!). Who'd you hire to direct it? Right, mystery-box-loving, can't finish a plot (cause there's never a plan - look at Lost), JJ Abrams. Did you watch his Star Trek movie? Does that remind you of any of the shots in this movie? Maybe even the exact same major beats?

Star Wars: Into Darkness is not a poor movie because it panders to the fans. It is the should-be-expected result of Disney trying to print money off the back of fans without ever respecting them or the franchise, after having spent the entire last movie flipping them off. They may have tried to pander, but failed hard.

/rant
 
Mickey Mouse went full stupid on this one.

Every single "plot twist" was visible from 1 million miles away.

If you like episodes 1-3, you're wrong. This was another example of those dumpster fires.
 
I have to admit, I liked it. Not the best one, but better than some of the others. Did a good job of tying up loose ends, even had an homage to other scenes from other movies. I enjoyed it.
 
Disney has forever ruined the franchise This moment here was my favorite of the series when Luke finally passes the test his father failed and states to The Emperor he is a Jedi Like his Father before him and The Emperor acknowledges the fact he has became his hated enemy a Jedi Knight.It was to me the moment Luke became the Hope all surviving Jedi wished for since The purge. However Disney took that moment and shat all over it with Rey doesnt Struggle Palpatine Skywalker
 
I think ROTJ is very underrated. It has my most fav moments of the franchise. The above mentioned and the conversation on Endor.


My views on the Rise of Skywalker.

First to the positives:

- Some of the visuals were fine.

- Kylo Ren. This movie finaly made me like that character.
They gave him an interesting and coherent arc. It felt well written and genuine for once. Which is upsetting to me because I feel like we were robbed of a potentialy great journey over three movies, and only got served the conclusion of one.
The fact he was the last of the Solo / Skywalker line ( I think ) adds to the tragedy, and it's genuinely sad.

- Han Solo showing up to tell the audience that he forgave his son.
I was fine with that father-son moment but thought the reason for it was funny.

- Rey loses the sword fight with Kylo. Because otherwise she is ridiculously overpowered in this movie.

- Leia was done really well given the limited material they were working with.
Personaly I also liked her young CGI version in that brief training montage. Thought that was cool.

Now to the problems I had with this movie.

- Some of the visuals were murky.

- The pacing and exposition in the first half was horrendous.

- Rey.
Imo one of the most broken and uninspired characters in all of Star Wars, and the most broken in the movies.
She just happens to know how to use the force without proper training and any explanation. Levitates and lifts dozens of rocks, yet we see in the other movies trained Jedi and Sith, even masters, struggle with single objects.
Palpatine disables a huge chunk of Resistance fleet with his force lightning but Rey simply blocks it with her lightsabers.
When Mace, a Jedi Master, did that, he struggled, and Palpatine wasn't powered by "aLl thE SitH", taking down entire fleets.
The movie tries to excuse it with "sHe iS tHe GraNd dAugHtEr oF PalpAtinE".
That doesn't add up.
Palpatine spent years and decades to learn those things, and most of his knowledge originates from his master, Darth Plagueis.
Kylo Ren was trained by a Jedi Knight (Luke Skywalker) and a Sith Lord (Snoke). Again, for years. So him knowing how to use the force, makes perfect sense.
I like Daisy Ridley but Rey is an incredibly poorly written and defined character.

Okay, so they completly abandon the idea from TLJ that it doesn't matter who you are, and resort back to the old bloodline and creating life through midi-chlorian manipulation gig.
The movie should have been called "The Rise of Palpatine".
Rey accepting her bloodline and ending the movie with her going on a quest to clear her family name and rebuilding the Jedi Order.

- Reylo.
They really try to lay it on thick with the Romeo and Juliet montage and it just falls completly flat without proper build up, only very mild implications. Again, it feels like we skipped a movie or two. This could have easily been two movies.

- Off the charts lazy writing.
Palpatine's return is not explained. Instead they quote a vague Prequels line that only raises more questions.
The most conveniently placed and discovered plot devices I've ever seen. Way too videogame. One where you inevitably bump into every required quest item regardless of wheter you even try to find them, but compressed into 30 minutes.
There is a part where Finn questions how Poe simply knows things. He just does, and then in the last act when someone asks Finn how he knows where to attack, he replies "I uh, just have a feeling".
By that point, they weren't even trying anymore ...

- Wasted characters.
f they had removed Finn and Poe from the movie, I wouldn't have missed them.
Speaking of completly wasted characters. Hux, and also his replacement, Pryde. I get where they were going with him, and I am so glad the rumors about Thrawn's return turned out to be complete humbug. One of the few that weren't true and I'm very happy about that. LoL
 
Last edited:
Gordus said:
I think ROTJ is very underrated. It has my most fav moments of the franchise. The above mentioned and the conversation on Endor.


My views on the Rise of Skywalker.

First to the positives:

- Some of the visuals were fine.

- Kylo Ren. This movie finaly made me like that character.
They gave him an interesting and coherent arc. It felt well written and genuine for once. Which is upsetting to me because I feel like we were robbed of a potentialy great journey over three movies, and only got served the conclusion of one.
The fact he was the last of the Solo / Skywalker line ( I think ) adds to the tragedy, and it's genuinely sad.

- Han Solo showing up to tell the audience that he forgave his son.
I was fine with that father-son moment but thought the reason for it was funny.

- Rey loses the sword fight with Kylo. Because otherwise she is ridiculously overpowered in this movie.

- Leia was done really well given the limited material they were working with.
Personaly I also liked her young CGI version in that brief training montage. Thought that was cool.

Now to the problems I had with this movie.

- Some of the visuals were murky.

- The pacing and exposition in the first half was horrendous.

- Rey.
Imo one of the most broken and uninspired characters in all of Star Wars, and the most broken in the movies.
She just happens to know how to use the force without proper training and any explanation. Levitates and lifts dozens of rocks, yet we see in the other movies trained Jedi and Sith, even masters, struggle with single objects.
Palpatine disables a huge chunk of Resistance fleet with his force lightning but Rey simply blocks it with her lightsabers.
When Mace, a Jedi Master, did that, he struggled, and Palpatine wasn't powered by "aLl thE SitH", taking down entire fleets.
The movie tries to excuse it with "sHe iS tHe GraNd dAugHtEr oF PalpAtinE".
That doesn't add up.
Palpatine spent years and decades to learn those things, and most of his knowledge originates from his master, Darth Plagueis.
Kylo Ren was trained by a Jedi Knight (Luke Skywalker) and a Sith Lord (Snoke). Again, for years. So him knowing how to use the force, makes perfect sense.
I like Daisy Ridley but Rey is an incredibly poorly written and defined character.

Okay, so they completly abandon the idea from TLJ that it doesn't matter who you are, and resort back to the old bloodline and creating life through midi-chlorian manipulation gig.
The movie should have been called "The Rise of Palpatine".
Rey accepting her bloodline and ending the movie with her going on a quest to clear her family name and rebuilding the Jedi Order.

- Reylo.
They really try to lay it on thick with the Romeo and Juliet montage and it just falls completly flat without proper build up, only very mild implications. Again, it feels like we skipped a movie or two. This could have easily been two movies.

- Off the charts lazy writing.
Palpatine's return is not explained. Instead they quote a vague Prequels line that only raises more questions.
The most conveniently placed and discovered plot devices I've ever seen. Way too videogame. One where you inevitably bump into every required quest item regardless of wheter you even try to find them, but compressed into 30 minutes.
There is a part where Finn questions how Poe simply knows things. He just does, and then in the last act when someone asks Finn how he knows where to attack, he replies "I uh, just have a feeling".
By that point, they weren't even trying anymore ...

- Wasted characters.
f they had removed Finn and Poe from the movie, I wouldn't have missed them.
Speaking of completly wasted characters. Hux, and also his replacement, Pryde. I get where they were going with him, and I am so glad the rumors about Thrawn's return turned out to be complete humbug. One of the few that weren't true and I'm very happy about that. LoL
Click to expand...
Nice analysis bro Right on the money
 
Gunz said:
Complete with an "LGBT moment." You gotta have that because...y'know, there's a lot of that going on in outer space.
Click to expand...
It isn’t a super in your face erotic moment, rather just two people kissing because they’re celebrating a major victory, it’s probably been done in other movies just with straight people.
 
I watched it last night. I would say that I enjoyed the movie as much as can be expected, somethings irked my nerves badly and some “surprises” you could see coming from a mile away. I’m not a movie critic or terribly invested in the franchise as others are, so I’d rate it a 7/10.
 
I am sad that the Skywalker Saga is over. Having been born in the 80's, I grew up watching the old ones on VHS and cable, and experiencing the crappy 90's prequels.

JJ Abrams and especially Rian Johnson destroyed a franchise. I'd argue that the sequels are more important than the prequels because we already knew for the most part the info learned in the prequels. What we did not know is how it would all end. There was too much forced comedy in the last 2 episodes that took away the seriousness of it all. When George Lucas did the original episodes, the humor was not forced or rushed, it fell into place.

Sticking solely to the Rise of Skywalker, it was clear what was going to happen. There were no surprises except I thought the old Jedi council would make an entrance.
 
BloodStripe said:
I'm behind the curve, but has anyone heard of Project Luminous?
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty cool, and I hadn't heard of it.

Just been immersing myself in KOTOR II and PT and OT recently. Plenty of goofiness all through, but Star Wars was never about the physics of spaceflight, or the stupid unrealistic aliens with annoying speech patterns.

Rant warning:
It was a classic Western myth of light vs. dark told through the lens of a post-hippy reading of Eastern Mysticism, dressed up in space clothing. It was about the internal battle of good/order/control/logic against the seductive power of evil/chaos/abandon/emotion. It was defined by an aesthetic; one worn in and weary, but lived in and vibrant. One of wide, lingering shots that lets us inhabit that aesthetic world. One that lets the weight of characters struggles and decisions and inevitable consequences sit with the audience. Everything that the mouse binned in order to serve up some reheated nUstaljah™ rammed down your throat at a neuroscientifically-determined-dopamine-inducing-optimumal-interval of 1 serving every 8.3 seconds.
/rant


Reminds me of Sunutai Corporations's Mongoliad: a collaborative series of semi-alternate universe historical fiction set during the Mongol invasion of Europe during the 13th century. Much of the main line of books follows a fictional sect of warrior monks, martial artists in the Western tradition, known as the Shield Brethren. It also flips perspectives and follows several characters in Odegai's camp.

Definitely worth checking out if you're into historically accurate and realistic depictions of bladed combat circa the peak of the Middle Ages. Plenty of Jedi-like characters, only their swords are metal.
 
I think this days it all.. Just got back from it and have to say I enjoyed it. My expectations were so low

20191225_134132.jpg
 
My non-spoilery observations on The Mandalorian:

- That was a solid ending for the season. Tied up some loose ends, left some open, and gave us a great transition to another season.
- A couple of the episodes didn't make a lot of sense until the final episode. The DOL FID mission really drops into context with the last episode (even if we could see where it was going).
- I'll take the heat for this, but Gina Carano is attractive.
- The "troopers on scooters" scene made me think of Red vs. Blue dialogue. The blaster shooting was a nice, if obvious, touch.
- Moff Fring has the potential to be an excellent bad guy.
- 30 minute episodes suck, they should be at least 45 minutes.
- Pedro Pascal is underrated as an actor.
 

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