- This topic has 321 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 6 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
And it’s weird, because while Abrams films have often been a little shaky on plot dynamics, the relationship dynamics and emotional beats are his strong suit.
- Women sense my power and they seek the life essence.
This is probably my favourite new bit of kit from the new film:
Not as cool as Han’s (no blaster ever will be) or the stormtrooper rifles, but pretty darn close. Plus it will always remind me of poor old Han.
- Women sense my power and they seek the life essence.
Wrong movie, sure, but this was the easiest Star Wars thread to find, so here’s something I liked from the Prequels – good old Coruscant:
- Women sense my power and they seek the life essence.
I watched this at the end of December – the plot of A New Hope screamed out during the whole movie and I couldn’t really enjoy it as much as I wanted. I tried to suspend my knowledge that this story was very similar but it just couldn’t happen.
As far as the rest of the movie goes, it looked great and the time really flew by. I watched it in the “Ultra AVX” theatres we have here in Canada, 3D and improved sound. I wonder if they flubbed the mix on purpose to make people go back more often? Didn’t have that issue as I went a few weeks after release.
I dislike the film because JJ’s signature is all fucking over it. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was the “comedic interjections” that he threw in, where the story is going along all seriously and the narrative is working, then all of a sudden you have Finn or someone say “what does that mean, like seriously? No really.” It halts the movie so suddenly and it happens more than once. In my opinion these kind of scenes are completely worthless in the franchise. He did it in the new Star Trek movies (also ruined imo) and I really hated it then too. Maybe it’s just not my style, I prefer a clearcut serious narrative.
Will I see it again? Yes, on bluray or 4k when it comes out. Will I see VIII? Probably, with a new director maybe they can save it completely.
Did you follow any of the more “political-based” coverage of the production? (you may have covered this earlier in the thread but I only skimmed it) Apparently lot more progressive narrative was planned to be put into this movie but the execs or whoever pushed back really hard because it deviates from what the franchise is all about. Maybe it’s speculation or whatever but I think this movie could have been ruined if Hollywood got their hands all over it.
It’s all my opinion, of course. I think I come from a totally different place than you folks as I grew up in the generation where I II and III came out and were the cult classics of the time, although I watched and loved IV, V, VI, before the new ones came out. They weren’t new releases in my time and I didn’t grow up with them, but I can still see the impact they would have made at the time and the strength of the stories throughout.
Now with some time and distance from it, I believe that the movie was a direct response to the years of complaints about the prequels. From Disney’s point of view, their main goal was to get the entirety of movie-going audiences interested in Star Wars again. Even though I don’t think it’s the best film out of the saga, it’s extremely entertaining while playing homage to what many believe to be the reason we’re all here, the one that started it all.
Now, with that first one out of the way, they can tell a whole new story, and the more I think about where they’re headed (or seem to be headed), I’m very excited. I still think that although overall I prefer the original movies to the prequels, George still made some amazing movies that, all flaws included, are still better than 95% of the shit that comes out every year.
My biggest complaint isn’t so much the humor or anything like that – I think the biggest flaw is that it wants to move so fast that we don’t get a whole lot of character-building. Also, story motivations – I get that the First Order is bad, but…why? I think of the scene in A New Hope where Vader chokes the dude. That scene not only explains how the Empire views their new weapon, it places all the pieces on the board – it’s a very elegantly crafted scene, because a lot of exposition is done rather quickly. We didn’t get scenes like that in VII.
Overall though, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I want more.
You have a good point about the buildup to this story, so from that perspective I can see why they went with the narrative they did in this movie. I’m also really hopeful for the rest of the trilogy and hopefully some spin-offs.
It was really quick now that I think about the story line, and your point about lack of development of the First Order is well taken. Other than a big friggin’ laser they don’t have much else (unless you count the bad guy’s temper tantrum which actually made me laugh in the theatre)
Yeah, Kylo Ren is such an interesting character. If you listen to the prequel haters, he’s “Anakin done right”, but I think he’s just really well done. I think part of what really lets his character connect with the audience is the way Han looks at him. If you really think about it, sure, some of the things were derivative of the other movies, sometimes coming off as sort of a greatest hits collection, but it really is worth the price of admission to not only see Han again, but seeing him do something that matters. Sure Leia’s off in the background, and that’s really what I expected them to do with all of the OT characters, just put ’em off in the background with little to do. But Han’s arc was really great, and I’m just really thankful for that.
Han’s arc was just his (barely) re-heated OT arc crammed into one movie so Kasdan could finally grant Harrison Ford his Han death wish. It disappointed me pretty good that the best they could come up with was to contrive a way for Old Han to be where Young Han was when we met him in ANH. It plays as a combination of fan-pandering and failure of imagination, although the two are usually hand in hand so I’m not even sure why I’m making the distinction.
The relationships he has along the way with Finn and Rey are a lot of fun though. Han was always the funniest character and as (unlike Ben I guess) an OT guy first and foremost, I far prefer the less serious vibe of the original movies to the oddly po-faced prequels. There were laughs galore all through Episodes IV to VI from not just Han and the droids but from Leia, Luke and Lando too. Even Yoda gets in on the comedy. The initial meeting on Dagobah is such goofy, cutesy humour it even feels like ESB becomes The Muppet Show for 10 minutes.
Not every joke in TFA landed, but plenty of them did for me, especially from Finn.
- Women sense my power and they seek the life essence.
I’m not sure if I like your attitude regarding Captain Solo, Mr. Man.
Nah, I get it. But I gotta tell you, when the movie was happening, I didn’t question it at all and just accepted it. I read 30 minutes prior that Luke was missing, so for me, learning that Han was a smuggler again didn’t surprise me at all. In a way, it makes him look like a huge child. Or an addict. Or it could be a lesson of “you are who you are”. Or it’s just tragic – once learning that his beloved son was a killer, he just ran away to the only thing that made sense.
Hey, opinions! I see your point. In fact, there have been other “cons” that I’ve read or listened to that I can also see the points of view. I think in my old age, I’ve been more accepting of some of the things that 10 years ago I would’ve filled up my pants with pudding about. I mean, hell, I enjoyed Terminator: Genisys for crying out loud.
Chewy going “Haaan … Haaan …” around 5:25 almost made my head fall off.
Good find Ben.
- Women sense my power and they seek the life essence.
Any chance this thread could just be renamed “Star Wars” Captain? I reckon it makes more sense to have all Star Wars stuff in one place rather than a hundred 3 and 4 post threads littering the joint, and this might as well be it.
Anyway, here’s this cool explanation of why the space battles in the Star Wars OT have such a distinctive vibe:
I think this guy is actually a pro, working on the 4K transfer or something, and he has a bunch of these vids giving some sweet insights.
- Women sense my power and they seek the life essence.
I watched this. Yeah, it almost sounds like he’s doing his own cleanup of the original, non Special Edition. Kinda like Harmy’s “Despecialized” versions. Those are great, but they’re not 1080p. The first 4K Blu Ray players have come out, so I wonder if Disney is going to go that route for rereleases.
I’d honestly pay for the OT again if it meant I could have it in 1080p.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.