Star Wars Thread - Spoilers, yo.

[Monkee]

I’m ready! 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Monkee

[HarmonicGenerator]

I’ve just woken up after going to a midnight Last Jedi. Lots to take in - I’m going to have to go again!

[Merzbow]

Just one question before I go see it, how great is Laura Dern?

[cobra_gordo]

Was at a midnight screening of The Last Jedi. I'll definitely be going to see it again. There's a couple of scenes that didn't feel right to me and came across as a bit naff but the rest of the movie is great. 2 and a half hours flew by and I was definitely left wanting more when it finished.

[SuperBacon]

OK, just got home from Star Wars: The Last Jedi and to be honest, am utterly amazed. I'll need to watch that again, but that might actually be my favourite Star Wars film, trumping Empire.

I am a huge fan and have been through a shit time this year so was really looking forward to this for a long time, and I have this weird thing where I actually get a bit emotional at anything connected with Star Wars. There is just something about the iconography that sets me off, and as soon as the music hit, I was in tears. Such a mark.

Non spoilery bits: I thought the humour, the writing, the scenery, the direction were absolutely all on point (it's a very pretty film), but what got me, and it feels weird to say this, is the performances, which you don't expect from a film with occasionally clunky dialogue and not much to go on. I thought pretty much everyone was excellent, with special mentions to Adam Driver, Oscar Isaacs and Mark Hamill, but the standout for me was Daisy Ridley. I thought she was absolutely brilliant, and made scenes her own with ease.

Also, I think Poe Dameron might be my favourite SW character now.

Oh and Carrie... every scene with her was just so sad, bless her.

Spoilery bits:

YODA!!! Fucking YODA!!! Absolutely bantering Luke off , great stuff.
Kylo Ren's 360 turn BROTHER was very choreographed, but well done.
The Porgs were really fun, added some nice humour, and never felt shoehorned in
Was in bits when Luke said "No one ever really goes" to Leia
It's very Empire isn't it? Luke/Rey=Luke/Yoda, Hoth-ish scene at end, complete with AT-ATs
What's the deal with the kid at the end then? A proper character, or just showing us that there are pockets of resistance still?
If the next one isn't called The Final Resistance or something similar, I'll eat my hat

[SuperBacon]

@johnnyboy Nope! I must've literally looked to pick up my jacket at that exact moment!

[ColinBollocks]

IDK, there is a lot to love in The Last Jedi, but also quite a bit to dislike. As discussed, some scenes were proper hokey rubbish, while others are undeniably thrilling. I didn't like it as much as Force Awakens, because after that film I immediately wanted to watch it again. It did fly by quickly, however.

I proper disliked the death of Snoke. I thought one of the more interesting questions from The Force Awakens was "who is Snoke?", all cool manner of theories and what not, but in the end he got a bit Bane'd in The Dark Knight Rises.

On a positive note, the highlights of the film are Luke Skywalker related. Particularly the Yoda bit and his final scenes. It was like a train coming down a dark tunnel, but I was proper bummed out when they offed him (or his physical form).

[Guy Bifkin]

I went to watch The Last Jedi yesterday morning along with a lot of other white men in their 40s. It does all the important stuff very well - the space battles, the lightsaber fights and the central good vs evil storyline but it is far too long and a fairly large chunk of the film doesn't work. 

Spoilery thoughts - 

• The humour is quite jarring in places. However the balls out Spaceballs tribute genuinely made me laugh out loud. 
• I really enjoyed what they did with Luke and loved the "training" sequences. 
• The whole fleet being on the run from the First Order storyline was botched from the moment Princess Leia turned into a cosmic Mary Poppins (audible groans in the theatre for that), to that whole fucking casino mission, the point of which was seemingly forgotten by the writers. Why didn't the First Order just light jump a fleet ahead of the Resistance?
• I quite enjoyed the filmakers crushing the dreams of YouTubers everywhere by killing off Snoke early doors and making Rey's parents being nobody of consequence. I felt everything from the central story between Kylo and Rey was spot on and the battle in the throne room was genuinely thrilling.
• The final battle is spectacular, one of the best in the series. Goosebumps as they built up the battle between Luke and Kylo, that was some Sergio Leone shit there. Enjoyed the twist and though it was a perfect ending for Luke. "See you around kid"!
• Overall much better than the Force Awakens but too many things that didn't quite come off to stop it being better than the originals. 

[ColinBollocks]

Boo to you, Guy! My issue with them killing Snoke was mainly because it added to the feeling you were clearly watching two different visions, with JJ setting up a lot of questions, which you assumed tied in with the mythology (after all, a big part of the appeal of the franchise), but Rian Johnson seemed to be dead against it. IDK, I just hate when they do a good job building up a big baddy and the pay off is a bit of an after thought.

I agree some of the humour was very hit and miss. Luke wiping his shoulder was brilliant, but everything else nearly fell flat.

And, aye, the final Luke scenes are possibly the best in the series. Heart-racing, thrilling, funny and poignant.

[cobra_gordo]

More spoilery Space Warz thoughts.

• Hand on heart, that first lightsaber battle in the throne room is probably now my favourite lightsaber sequence in all of the films.
• Mary Poppins Leia, Mirror Rey and Holding Hands In A Hut were the only bits that did my tree in.
• I liked the humour. Luke chucking his saber over his shoulder was great.
• Final battle was beautiful, the red dust clouds looked fantastic in regular 2D, I'd love to see what it looks like in Imax.
• Soundtrack was typically wonderful.
• I burst out laughing when they did the Rey's parents reveal and let out an audible "Yes!". The wife reckons it'll turn out it's Kylo trying to get in Rey's head to make her turn, I secretly hope they never mention it again after they've had everybody talking for 2 years about whether she's a Skywalker or a Solo or even a Kenobi.
• The Luke twist was fantastic. Tear in my eye when his cloak collapsed.
• Thought Yoda looked a bit rubbish when he first appeared but once we got close ups of proper puppet Yoda I had a massive grin on my face.
• Adrian fucking Edmunson!
• Gareth Edwards cameo!

I'm seeing a lot more backlash to it this morning. Seems everyone that went to midnight screenings loved it, despite the couple of hokey scenes. A few of my mates that went last night, who are fans but don't quite go to the extent of having the tattoos, feel like they were let down after the build up but will agree that there were a few great action scenes and that it looks stunning. Seems to be the story they're attacking the most and that it doesn't fall in line with all their theories or that it doesn't go in to EU territory. 

It'll be interesting to see what the opinion of it will be in a years time. Force Awakens seems to have been turned on completely by some despite how much it was loved when it first came out, wonder if we'll have something similar with The Last Jedi?

[HarmonicGenerator]

Response to a bit of Cobra's post re Laser Swords 8

If people don't like it because it doesn't line up with their theories or doesn't include EU stuff - it's a real shame. That's not the film's fault, that's down to their own expectations put on the film, and it'd be a shame if it gets turned on for those reasons.

[ColinBollocks]

 

In fairness, the EU stuff is very much a big part of Star Wars and its allure for a big chunk of the audience. Not all good, of course, but the melding of characters and mystical elements is huge. It's a film built on it's own mythology. If some of the bigger dorks feel like it's been discarded (it wasn't, totally) then I can understand why it would be an issue.

My issues with the death of Snoke was they did such a grand job in the last one building him up as this mysterious evil, but did little to add to it in The Last Jedi - again, I assumed we were getting some cool tie-in, as it is incestual Star Wars. As I typed, I've not felt that deflated by a villains demise since Bane, but (similar to Bane) that's all down to them doing such a brilliant job building him up in the first act. It's probably my biggest criticism of the film.

Edited December 15, 2017 by ColinBollocks
Maybe we should create a Star Wars thread, eh?

[ColinBollocks]

Maybe best creating this as an open place to discuss without ruining the film for others, seeing as the Film thread is just turning into a spoiler tag-fest and I assume it will remain that way for ages.

Anyway, thoughts?

[Merzbow]

Holdo owns my heart

I'm in no way a Star Wars buff, or even much of a fan but I adored this movie. It's pretty much the perfect big hollywood blockbuster, a great story with multiple fleshed out characters and god it looks pretty. Maybe a few too many laughs for some but the kids will dig 'em and they even managed to make the not-ewoks enjoyable and not at all annoying, cool Pokemon cameo too.

How are the ultra nerds taking it? I could see a few things being picked at as they don't fit in with the shitty fanfics. Snoke dying the way he did has to be one but I'm assuming there's a bigger plan at play there, he's no generic big bad (neither was Ben, which I liked).

[ColinBollocks]

I'm not a huge Star Wars nerd too, but, as I've mentioned in the Film thread, I thought Snoke's death was proper unsatisfying. Partly because they did such a good job building him in the first and how much of an after thought he turned out to be - although, the dual between Ren and Rey was very good. It's probably my biggest annoyance (and that Mary Poppins scene). JJ and co did a good job building Snoke and he wasn't much of anything.

When the jokes hit, they were very good (the two Skywalker ones at the end were brilliant), but almost all of them fell flat.

Without question, the highlights of the film were Skywalker related, which was pleasing. Realistically, they could not have created a better death for him. Genuinely may be the high point of the entire series.