Star Wars-The Last Jedi

[Flint]

I have to be honest, after seeing the perfect Episode 4 that was supposed to reflect Lucas' original vision for Star Wars (with the computer generated Jabba), I stopped giving a crap about the franchise. When Episode 1 was released, I bought the fancy disc version they released, and really, aside from the visual effects, I hated it. At that point I stopped watching anything with the Star Wars name on it.

I am saddened, because as a child I was one of those kids who attended the original showing of Star Wars Ep 4 about 10 times in three weeks with all of my friends. I was a super fan who slowly lost interest in the franchise after each new release and update.

So, should I watch this new movie? I haven't seen anything new for well over a decade.

 

[Batman]

^ probably not. Although it’s damn hard to resist this hype machine. I’m no super-fan but I give each Episode it’s fair opportunity to impress me. I loathe the prequels, with the exception of a collection of moments but those moments don’t give the trilogy any replay value to me and for a time brought the entire franchise down a few notches. Ive since come back around on the original trilogy even if primarily for nostalgic reasons. I think these new films are good enough to carry the torch. But since you’ve seemingly lost all interest, I don’t think these will do much to bring you back. With that said, if you cave I’d recommend watching The Force Awaken before The Last Jedi.

 

[Randy]

^ probably not. Although it’s damn hard to resist this hype machine. I’m no super-fan but I give each Episode it’s fair opportunity to impress me. I loathe the prequels, with the exception of a collection of moments but those moments don’t give the trilogy any replay value to me and for a time brought the entire franchise down a few notches. Ive since come back around on the original trilogy even if primarily for nostalgic reasons. I think these new films are good enough to carry the torch. But since you’ve seemingly lost all interest, I don’t think these will do much to bring you back. With that said, if you cave I’d recommend watching The Force Awaken before The Last Jedi.

I guess I am going to have to go back and watch The Force Awakens. Might hit the video store tonight.

 

[Akula]

Just got home from it. Great fun. Lots of action, and it was good action.

And I loved the Porgs. God help me, I loved the Porgs.

 

[Huey]

Do they still use cute little Muppets in these films? I havnt seen any since the Jabba the but one. I'm no fan that's for sure but I may try and watch rogue one on Netflix.

I'll never forget me and a friend sitting in the theater for the premier of Star Wars. The woman behind us was trying to explain the new "Dolby thing" to her companion.

I will say yes on the muppets, but I don't want to say any more that might give it away. Not sure when we can start talking spoilers on here, I would hate to ruin any body else's fun.

I will say this, while watching the movie, I was really enjoying it, except for a few scenes that I thought were drug out way to long. Then after, started thinking that they could have at least told more of the back story, and I could see why some didn't care for the new movie. It will still be a day one purchase for me, and we will probably even take our son to see it here in the near future. He just doesn't do well with the crowds, so we'll wait a few weeks when the theater has thinned out a bit.

Getting home Saturday night, I decided to throw Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase in the player and realized that Christmas Vacation and Last Jedi have a connection. Anybody know what that is?

 

[Huey]

Just got home from it. Great fun. Lots of action, and it was good action.

And I loved the Porgs. God help me, I loved the Porgs.

The scene with Chewie and the Porgs was pretty funny.

 

[Randy]

The scene with Chewie and the Porgs was pretty funny.

ABSOLUTELY!

 

[The DirtMerchant]

Watched it yesterday and enjoyed it. It wasn't the best movie ever, but it was very good.
I love me some Star Wars.

For anyone that drinks hater-ade or for whatever disliked Episodes I,II,II or VII...
I highly suggest you watch Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Best War movie to come out recently...and also is a Star Wars movie.

 

[Huey]

This article lists some of the reasons people are disliking/not loving the movie. LINK Not trying to persuade anybody from seeing it, just the opposite, but IMHO this movie has a few disappointments, but it is still a pretty good movie.

 

[Batman]

^^ that article pretty much sums it up. JJ Abrams has some work cut out for him.

 

[Bote]

M

I went last evening. Literally a last minute decision as I needed to kill a few hours between driving Gen and a friend to a Xmas party, and then picking them up.

I'll avoid spoilers.

It was good. Well made. But... I'm not a fanboy (although I've seen all of them) so I'll really losing interest in this whole Force thingy. By the completely predictable (plot twists???) ending I'd had my fill of it.

Oh and you know a series is getting old and stale by counting the number of self-deprecating jokes. Sure they drew some chuckles, even some laughs, but it had a real same-old same-old feel to it.

Ok, one example: wasn't that the same fat guy with a goatee in an orange flight suit getting blown up in a fighter as we've seen at least once before? I mean the Star Wars fat guy with a goatee in the orange jump suit in a fighter is like a Star Trek ensign in a red uniform as part of landing party mission to a strange planet. You just know it's not going to end well for either!

Still, given my other choices at the multiplex last night, I believe I chose wisely.

Jeff

My beef with the force awakens is too much gasping of the lead characters. Did you notice they gasped at almost every scene. Making them look like they got asthma. Lol!

 

[Akula]

This article lists some of the reasons people are disliking/not loving the movie. LINK Not trying to persuade anybody from seeing it, just the opposite, but IMHO this movie has a few disappointments, but it is still a pretty good movie.

Those felt a lot like nit picking. Ok, some of them I can understand, but I don't think they weakened the film. They were just gaps that people were wanting to have filled in. Well, Star Wars has ALWAYS had gaps that were left unexplored in films (the infamous Kessel Run in 12 parsecs bit, the amount of time Luke was on Dagobah/Falcon in transit to Cloud City, etc.). Not once has every single thing been explained in the films, usually leaving it up to the viewer's imagination or the EU (Expanded Universe, not European Union, those useless folks) to fill out.

I felt it was a very fun movie, and while the humor spread throughout was a bit of a different feel for a Star Wars movie, I liked the end result. It tied up some story lines (maybe not with as perfect a bow as some would like) and set things up for the next one.

I wouldn't mind addressing those points bit by bit, but I also don't want to go giving spoilers.

 

[Huey]

Those felt a lot like nit picking. Ok, some of them I can understand, but I don't think they weakened the film. They were just gaps that people were wanting to have filled in. Well, Star Wars has ALWAYS had gaps that were left unexplored in films (the infamous Kessel Run in 12 parsecs bit, the amount of time Luke was on Dagobah/Falcon in transit to Cloud City, etc.). Not once has every single thing been explained in the films, usually leaving it up to the viewer's imagination or the EU (Expanded Universe, not European Union, those useless folks) to fill out.

I felt it was a very fun movie, and while the humor spread throughout was a bit of a different feel for a Star Wars movie, I liked the end result. It tied up some story lines (maybe not with as perfect a bow as some would like) and set things up for the next one.

I wouldn't mind addressing those points bit by bit, but I also don't want to go giving spoilers.

It could have been written by a die hard Star Wars fanatic, so maybe their opinion is a little skewed with emotions. But for the most part, I could see where they are coming from. I'd say more as well, but I'll give it a few days for those that haven't seen it to see it. The one thing I will say, nobody is comparing this to Empire Strikes Back like they did with Force Awakens/New Hope.

I will say that before even seeing the movie, that the trailers didn't give you the same feels as the Force Awaken trailer did. I still get goosebumps watching the Force Awakens trailer, especially the shot of the speeder whizzing by the downed Star Destroyer on Jakku, with music playing in the background. Can't say I had any moments like that in The Last Jedi trailer. Again, still think it's a good movie and would encourage anybody who has seen the other ones to see it.

 

[Huey]

This showed up in Facebook feed, and Rian Johnson says there are a bunch of deleted scenes that will be included with the Bluray. I had heard he shot a bunch of stuff, and the studio forced him to edit it down for time. He says there are complete scenes that he had to cut, so maybe we'll get a directors version that the fans can argue about for years to come. LINK

 

[Huey]

The Last Jedi is now tied with Attack of the Clones for the lowest fan score at Rotten Tomatoes at 56%. Critics score though is still high at 96%. The movie is much better than a 56%, but there's just that one thing in the movie that I think disappointed everybody.

 

[The DirtMerchant]

I've read a couple reviews of The Last Jedi and they bring up a very good point.
It seems that the director purposefully moved in a different direction and did what The Force Awakens should have done.
It went to war with its true fanboi fanbase so that it could move towards a new future.
As so many complained about with the Force Awakens, it was a rehash of previous movies. This Forcibly moved
in a completely new direction.

I'm liking it more and more as I think about it.

And Disney has a franchise that will seemingly continue to payoff for decades to come.
Along with Marvel.
And the X-Men.
And the Fantastic Four (meh...at least so far)
And Deadpool.
And Avatar.
And Planet of the Apes (these good?)


So, you would have to assume they'll bring X-Men and the Fantastic Four and Deadpool into the MCU...
Always loved the crossovers!

 

[Akula]

The Last Jedi is now tied with Attack of the Clones for the lowest fan score at Rotten Tomatoes at 56%. Critics score though is still high at 96%. The movie is much better than a 56%, but there's just that one thing in the movie that I think disappointed everybody.

There's nothing that would have pleased the haters. I was reading people talking about how the movie was crap before it even opened. You can't do anything with those people. And those are the sorts who feel strongly enough to go tank a rating on a website. The folks I've talked with who have seen it enjoyed it- they admit it has a bit of a different feel to it than previous Star Wars movies, but it was fun.

I truly don't know what would have kept the neckbeards happy. They hated The Force Awakens. They hated Rogue One. Nothing was going to please them. So yeah, I agree with the director- if they ain't gonna be happy, screw 'em.

 

[Akula]

I've read a couple reviews of The Last Jedi and they bring up a very good point.
It seems that the director purposefully moved in a different direction and did what The Force Awakens should have done.
It went to war with its true fanboi fanbase so that it could move towards a new future.
As so many complained about with the Force Awakens, it was a rehash of previous movies. This Forcibly moved
in a completely new direction.

I'm liking it more and more as I think about it.

And Disney has a franchise that will seemingly continue to payoff for decades to come.
Along with Marvel.
And the X-Men.
And the Fantastic Four (meh...at least so far)
And Deadpool.
And Avatar.
And Planet of the Apes (these good?)


So, you would have to assume they'll bring X-Men and the Fantastic Four and Deadpool into the MCU...
Always loved the crossovers!

X-Men in X-Wings!

Seriously, though, I think that point about moving in a new direction dovetailed nicely with some themes in the movie itself. There is fundamentally no way to keep Star Wars going as a media entity if it's going to have to fit into the same boxes as the previous movies. Can't happen. Disney recognized this, and that's why they chucked everything but the movies and some TV stuff into the "Legends" bin (effectively writing off the vast majority of the extended universe). They may keep some of it, but keeping all of it was utterly impossible.

I still think Disney may end up rebooting the prequels. It would really piss off the fanboys, but honestly, I think most fans would prefer better backstory.

 

[Huey]

There are some that are even calling for them to scrap this movie completely and have a do over. That's insane. I understand why some people are having such a problem with this movie, parts of it feel unfulfilling, but overall I think it's a pretty good movie. Hopefully, Disney lets Rian put together kind of a directors cut with all of the missing footage he cut. Maybe that will make some people more forgiving.

BTW, is it time to put spoilers in the title and talk openly about it? I think most that are discussing it hear have seen the movie.

 

[Batman]

We should start a spoiler thread to get more in depth. I have my issues with it for sure but can really get into it. And I liked it a lot so there’s that.