The Star Wars Thread

[Langers]

Don't forget your spoiler tags, folks.

I think I liked 8 more than 7 or R1.

 

It wasn't perfect by any means (I didnt think the Canto Bight section was up to much) but overall I loved it. I think the best thing about it is something that a lot of people didn't like about it - it was unpredictable. It's being taken in a completely different direction to what I expected but that's by no means a bad thing.

In that sense it was the polar opposite to TFA and I think its what the series needed.

Luke, Rey and Ren were all fantastic, and the way they offed Snoke totally took me by surprise.

I was chatting to my mate about it and he said they've nowhere to go for Episode 9. On the contrary, its now a blank slate as 8 has broken the restraints the saga seemed to have. Risks may have been taken but I'm looking forward to seeing where JJ Abrams takes the trilogy, and what happens beyond that.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Off the top of my head I think the things that bothered me were:

 

The Canto Bright section. That whole plot line was rendered a bit pointless as they failed in their mission and the Rebels went with a different plan in the end anyway. Benicio Del Toro's character could have been good but didn't really go anywhere apart from betraying them.

The lack of Maz Kanata. She was a great character in TFA and should have had more than a token scene in this one.

The whole plot line surrounding the fact that the First Order ships had to stay just out of reach of the Rebel ship was a bit iffy.

I really enjoyed the death of Snoke but it seemed a bit odd that there was no real back story to him. He just appeared in the last film as the leader of the First Order and was then killed off without us finding out much about him.

The bit where Leia was able to use the force after being blasted into space was really bad. TBH, they should have killed her off then I thought.

We also need to talk about Yoda. I'm pleased he made an appearance but I can't yet work out if his role was good or not!

I'm probably just nitpicking, and I did enjoy it. Rey is a great character and a worthy hero for the new trilogy. Overall, I think what bugs me most about Episodes 7 & 8 is that it feels like TFA was written without too much thought about where the rest of the trilogy was going to go and aspects of TLJ add to this.

 

the lack of back story to Snoke, the big anti-climax of Rey's parents for example. Plus the way it ended felt like they didn't really know where they were going with the next one

Both films feel a bit disjointed to me (it feels like there were too many rewrites). Before they made TFA they should have had the basic plot arcs for the whole trilogy mapped out. Maybe they did but it didn't feel like it.

Having said all that, there were lots to enjoy and I think I will appreciate both this one (and TFA) once I've watched it again. At the end of the day, no Star Wars film is ever going to match up to the hype and expectations.

 

[Langers]

Seems to me that TFA was reintroducing the saga with familiar themes but TLJ is showing the new direction and vision for the future. Makes sense. I've no doubt that they know where they're heading with it - of course they've thought about the direction!

 

Totally disagree about Rey's parents and Snoke. The former was 100% the right thing to do and it'll echo with other force sensitive beings such as the slave kid at the very end.

As for Snoke - I never saw that coming but I liked it. It adds a lot to Ren's character and all for the better.

Main negatives:

Canto Bight - though this is surely a precursor for a slave rebellion style plotline?
Phasma - criminally underused!! Twice in a row now. Quite annoyed by that.
Admiral Holdo - geeky but she was a bit different to how she appears in the book I read.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Seems to me that TFA was reintroducing the saga with familiar themes but TLJ is showing the new direction and vision for the future. Makes sense. I've no doubt that they know where they're heading with it - of course they've thought about the direction!

 

Totally disagree about Rey's parents and Snoke. The former was 100% the right thing to do and it'll echo with other force sensitive beings such as the slave kid at the very end.

As for Snoke - I never saw that coming but I liked it. It adds a lot to Ren's character and all for the better.

Main negatives:

Canto Bight - though this is surely a precursor for a slave rebellion style plotline?
Phasma - criminally underused!! Twice in a row now. Quite annoyed by that.
Admiral Holdo - geeky but she was a bit different to how she appears in the book I read.

Yeah, on reflection I agree with you. I'm probably just talking bollocks. I usually do tbf!

You'll also be pleased to know that I should be reading both Lost Stars and Bloodline sometime after Christmas

 

[Langers]

Cool - I'll be interested too hear what you think of them.

 

[AndyWolves]

 

I though the Luke not wanting to be involved and seemingly not a hero wasn't a bad thing, in fact, I thought it made him fallible and not an all conquering hero . He'd been through the same journey as Obi-Wan and totally understandable that he didn't want to create more evil

The benicio del torro character was ok, but his character could have been sooooo good. A missed opportunity

I liked that the big, outlandish plans didn't work as they had done in other films. The more pragmatic approach won every time, a bit of a step change in my view compared to other films.

You also got the feeling that the rebel alliance was right on the brink, in fact, they still are.

Leia using the force to survive in outer space was bullshit though

I think most criticism is because the film didn't go in the direction people were expecting.

 

[nimrod]

saw the film this afternoon. quite enjoyed it though I don’t really take the storyline very seriously. Its quite ‘disneyish’. Some great looking scenes though - Luke on the battlefield with the walkers behind him. Loved that.

 

[Alan]

saw the film this afternoon. quite enjoyed it though I don’t really take the storyline very seriously. Its quite ‘disneyish’. Some great looking scenes though - Luke on the battlefield with the walkers behind him. Loved that.

Whoever decided to have red salt under the white salt on Criat deserves an award. Such a striking visual design.

 

[nimrod]

Whoever decided to have red salt under the white salt on Criat deserves an award. Such a striking visual design.

I was actually going to write about that but thought not for anyone who hadn’t seen it, but totally agree it was a brilliant idea and worked really well.

 

[Carrotdude]

Lots of spoiler tags being missed here....

I saw it yesterday and thought it was great, could nitpick certain bits but I enjoyed it and that’s the main thing for me.

 

[Alan]

Lots of spoiler tags being missed here....

I saw it yesterday and thought it was great, could nitpick certain bits but I enjoyed it and that’s the main thing for me.

I must be blind as I can't find a spoiler button.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Just enclose the secret stuff with [.spoiler] and [./spoiler]

Leave the dots out though, they are there so it doesn't work automatically in this post

the site will take care of the rest

 

[Alan]

Just enclose the secret stuff with [.spoiler] and [./spoiler]

Leave the dots out though, they are there so it doesn't work automatically in this post

the site will take care of the rest

Cheers, Pad.

 

[Tredman]

Finally seen the film today. Not impressed at all, seemed to be a bit all over the place and with no clear storyline. Disappointing, especially after Rogue One being so good, and TFA being pretty decent too.

 

[Templeton Peck]

Saw it again and absolutely loved it.

 

Never noticed that Rey takes the jedi holy books. Not sure why fans are so angry as this means the jedi will continue.
Also, we're not robbed of Luke as by the end of the film he has rediscovered his optimism.
Love that Rose gets the biggest win of the film by simply giving the ring to the boy.

 

[Johnny75]

Saw the film over the weekend. As the middle act in a trilogy I thought it did the job putting characters in place for the final act. As a standalone film it is borderline unwatachable.

How it got there was very dubious and some things were obviously crowbarred in. I found it hard to enjoy the film as it was so disjointed and where Tarantino's split stories are relatively easy to follow Johnson's were a mess.

I agree with T-Dan's thoughts in general and look forward to the final act.

 

[Langers]

Second viewing last night and I liked it even more the 2nd time round. Couldn't disagree more with Johnny saying it's borderline unwatchable as a standalone film. Not that you'd watch it as a standalone film anyway, in the same way you wouldn't watch Empire Strikes Back as a standalone film. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but when you don't have the shock of the plot twists to distract from other things, I think it works.

So - a few things I enjoyed more this time as well as some general thoughts:

 

• The red soil under the sand on Crait. Absolutely awesome effect, the speeders zooming along, the gunfire from the First Order churning up the red soil, fantastic visuals.
• Luke's final words to Ben after he tells him if he strikes him down, he'll always be with him. Like his father: "See you round, kid."
• Now I knew what was going to happen, Snoke's death and the subsequent fight with the Praetorian Guards was brilliant.
• The music. A few days after it was released, I read someone's review of TLJ mentioning that there was nothing memorable about it but I disagree. It's easy to pass over it the first time you see a film you're engrossed in, but when Luke walks onto the plains of Crait, the score is Williams at his best.

Also, at the very end, I didn't notice the kid pick up the broom using the force the first time around. And TBH I'd have missed it the 2nd time as well if I hadn't have spoken to a few people who mentioned it. Ace touch.

Poe's character has been given plenty of criticism but I think he's great in this. He has to learn a lot, he's correctly shut out by Haldo (he was demoted - why should he have been privy to the Admiral's plans?) and by the end, he seems to have learned that the survival of the Resistance is more crucial that the destruction of the First Order.

There were also a few things I wasn't so impressed with.

• I think the exchange between Poe and Hux at the very start is pitched wrong. It feels too early to have a comedic exchange and damages the pace of that opening scene (which is otherwise excellent)
• Finn saying 'bastard' also felt a bit odd
• DJ - didn't like him TBH. Del Toro's performance didn't seem to work very well.

The worst section of the film is definitely the Canto Bight scenes, but it's now much clearer to me why it was added to the film.

I think it's great for Finn's character. We need to remember that he's only just defected from the First Order. He's having to learn a lot about the Resistance and the war in general from the other side of the fence. By the end of TLJ, Finn is pretty much in the same place as Poe was at the start of the film. He wants to attack, he wants to win but hasn't yet thought about the casualties that could result from it.

The Slave trading aspect is bound to be key in IX. But I wonder if it might cause conflict within the Resistance? On DJ's ship, it showed that the revellers on Canto Bight weren't just supplying the First Order with weapons.

I wasn't sure where they could possibly go with things after TLJ but there are a few clues that I missed the first time around.

The last scene of the film is great. When they were on Crait, they said the distress signal had been received by many systems. Clearly the final battle will show these systems rising up. The whole point of the few Resistance fighters surviving was so a spark could be started to unite the galaxy.

I guess in a way that TLJ echoes ESB - the 'good guys' are decimated, the 'bad guys' are all powerful - how will they win from here?

I think TLJ is a great Star Wars film. It's not the BEST Star Wars film and it's not perfect, but I think it's taking the series in the right direction and opens up so many more possibilities. I've read this thread, I've read opinions on other forums and there many criticisms of the film. Whilst I'd never suggest they weren't valid criticisms (they are - and they're worthy of discussion), I simply don't agree with most of them.

 

[Johnny75]

Do you really think you can watch TLJ not knowing about any of the characters and what they were up to?

 

[PPB]

I'm having to go to see this over the weekend. Not by choice, but in return I get to see Paddington2.

2 and a half hours seems a bit long though, hope it don't drag.

 

[Johnny75]

I'm having to go to see this over the weekend. Not by choice, but in return I get to see Paddington2.

2 and a half hours seems a bit long though, hope it don't drag.

I didn't find it a drag at all. I think apart from the odd scene that seems to jar unnecessarily it ticks along and even the quieter bits are necessary.